OPC car- front end respray or reject?
Discussion
Hi
I went to see an OPC used car today and unfortunately it had far too many chips for my liking. It's a 2015 car so I was expecting some but not this many, mainly in the usual places ie front bumper and bonnet.
For now I've said I'm not interested and walked away however we did have a tentative discussion about respraying the 'front end'. This would involve the bumper, bonnet and both front wings to get a good result.
It's non metallic white so assuming we can get a good match are there any other downsides to be aware of from respraying?
If the car was otherwise to your liking would you go for the respray or walk away?
Thanks
I went to see an OPC used car today and unfortunately it had far too many chips for my liking. It's a 2015 car so I was expecting some but not this many, mainly in the usual places ie front bumper and bonnet.
For now I've said I'm not interested and walked away however we did have a tentative discussion about respraying the 'front end'. This would involve the bumper, bonnet and both front wings to get a good result.
It's non metallic white so assuming we can get a good match are there any other downsides to be aware of from respraying?
If the car was otherwise to your liking would you go for the respray or walk away?
Thanks
Can't see a problem myself.
It's an area of the car that's susceptible to stonechips as you've identified and it's normal for front end paint to rectify.
If your worried about future values and the potential for someone picking it up for having paint when you come to sell, just take some pictures before and after and ask for OPC paperwork detailing work carried out.
If they'd prepped it before you viewed it, you'd be none the wiser and probably be sat in it soon.
Get it bought
It's an area of the car that's susceptible to stonechips as you've identified and it's normal for front end paint to rectify.
If your worried about future values and the potential for someone picking it up for having paint when you come to sell, just take some pictures before and after and ask for OPC paperwork detailing work carried out.
If they'd prepped it before you viewed it, you'd be none the wiser and probably be sat in it soon.
Get it bought
It wouldn't put me off at all if the car is otherwise what you want.
I have visited only three OPC's so, from that, it is hard to generalise..... But, in all cases the cosmetic condition of the used cars I saw was appalling; sometimes the new cars too for that matter.
The low mileage car I bought had some stone chips on the bumper and trunk lid that the dealer promised to rectify before I picked the car up. They did do some work but it was crap.
Nevertheless I drove the car home and have since repaired the chips on the trunk lid myself, had the bumper removed and re-sprayed by a a local guy (£400 for a perfect job) and detailed the car myself. The car now looks better than anything I have seen in an OPC showroom.
I'd negotiate a bit of a discount next time, knowing that I have to get the work done elsewhere. Based on what I have seen I wouldn't trust an OPC to prep a car to anything like close to satisfactory.
I have visited only three OPC's so, from that, it is hard to generalise..... But, in all cases the cosmetic condition of the used cars I saw was appalling; sometimes the new cars too for that matter.
The low mileage car I bought had some stone chips on the bumper and trunk lid that the dealer promised to rectify before I picked the car up. They did do some work but it was crap.
Nevertheless I drove the car home and have since repaired the chips on the trunk lid myself, had the bumper removed and re-sprayed by a a local guy (£400 for a perfect job) and detailed the car myself. The car now looks better than anything I have seen in an OPC showroom.
I'd negotiate a bit of a discount next time, knowing that I have to get the work done elsewhere. Based on what I have seen I wouldn't trust an OPC to prep a car to anything like close to satisfactory.
Typically speaking I would never buy a car if its seen paint, and that includes from an OPC.
99% of the time it'll never match and it won't be the same quality, seeing the colour difference in the light every time I looked at the car would annoy me.
I'm not very OCD but I don't know how people tolerate it. Stone chips are definitely the lesser of two evils.
99% of the time it'll never match and it won't be the same quality, seeing the colour difference in the light every time I looked at the car would annoy me.
I'm not very OCD but I don't know how people tolerate it. Stone chips are definitely the lesser of two evils.
Thanks, that all sounds very reassuring.
To be honest I was a bit shocked by the prep on the car. The salesman said 'It's in great condition isn't it?" For once I couldn't be my normal diplomatic self and told him that no it wasn't.
Forget about the stone chips there was 'muck' embedded between the Porsche lettering and dead fly residue on the headlamps.
If I buy the car I'll have to budget about £600 for a detail as I don't trust them to do it.
Thanks for the advice so far
To be honest I was a bit shocked by the prep on the car. The salesman said 'It's in great condition isn't it?" For once I couldn't be my normal diplomatic self and told him that no it wasn't.
Forget about the stone chips there was 'muck' embedded between the Porsche lettering and dead fly residue on the headlamps.
If I buy the car I'll have to budget about £600 for a detail as I don't trust them to do it.
Thanks for the advice so far
MartinRS2K said:
Kendal, Bolton, Wilmslow and Chester all use Road and Race Restorations in Manchester for all their Approved bodywork jobs and they are amazing.
John Bradshaw the owner has an excellent reputation and is happily let him look after any of my Porsche cars (and other makes)
I bought my previous car from Wilmslow and though it didn't have any panels resprayed it was prepped very wellJohn Bradshaw the owner has an excellent reputation and is happily let him look after any of my Porsche cars (and other makes)
SkinnyPete said:
Typically speaking I would never buy a car if its seen paint, and that includes from an OPC.
99% of the time it'll never match and it won't be the same quality, seeing the colour difference in the light every time I looked at the car would annoy me.
I'm not very OCD but I don't know how people tolerate it. Stone chips are definitely the lesser of two evils.
Is that actually true? If a panel could never be resprayed without it standing out like a sore thumb we'd see loads of accident repaired cars on the road that looked awful. 99% of the time it'll never match and it won't be the same quality, seeing the colour difference in the light every time I looked at the car would annoy me.
I'm not very OCD but I don't know how people tolerate it. Stone chips are definitely the lesser of two evils.
Twinfan said:
It's all down to the painter IMHO. Mrs Twinfan had to have some substantial work done on her old GT86 (not her fault) which was metallic orange. Once fixed I couldn't tell it had been damaged, so fantastic work can be done by the right skilled people.
Yep - that's been my experience. I couldn't see the difference even in various natural and artificial lights ... and that was done at a Generic paint shop with a good rep. In the past I've had some bad expensive jobs from stealer dedicated paint shops with proper filtration systems and paint booths. Specs of dust in the paint, overspray and paint runs that were just flattened down was the worst.
It down to reputation and skilled people.
In terms of new paints resistance to chips, I'm not sure - l'd be tempted to put a paintshield film on after painting anyway. I was quoted £1800+ for a front respray in metallic - film is significantly cheaper.
The last time I talked to the dealer over new cars, he moaned about how easily new cars picked stone chips on the PDI drive and even refuelling ready for delivery!
timely topic.
My 991 GT3 has picked up its fair share of stone chips on the front PU.
I was going to have it resprayed this winter (PU only , but would take advice from body shop)
Surely most people would look at the condition of the car, and assuming that its an excellent paint job, not even quibble about it having a PU re-spray ?
My 991 GT3 has picked up its fair share of stone chips on the front PU.
I was going to have it resprayed this winter (PU only , but would take advice from body shop)
Surely most people would look at the condition of the car, and assuming that its an excellent paint job, not even quibble about it having a PU re-spray ?
Ok now I'm really confused lol.
Perhaps better to just walk away then. It's a 2015 991 TTS with circa 15k miles and I just wasn't expecting this level of paint damage.
I previously had a 991 TTS with similar miles but it had nowhere near the same number of chips.
I don't want to end up agreeing to buy the car if they respray and then end up with a bodge job. It's a significant amout of money for me and I intend to keep the car for at least three years so it needs to be right.
Cheers
Perhaps better to just walk away then. It's a 2015 991 TTS with circa 15k miles and I just wasn't expecting this level of paint damage.
I previously had a 991 TTS with similar miles but it had nowhere near the same number of chips.
I don't want to end up agreeing to buy the car if they respray and then end up with a bodge job. It's a significant amout of money for me and I intend to keep the car for at least three years so it needs to be right.
Cheers
15 years ago OPC's used to work to a standard of 3 stone chips on a panel and it would be repainted as part of the preparation standards.
Now the PLC's have taken over the standards have slipped considerably.
I think to expect to find an immaculate car that hasn't had the front end resprayed would be impossible
Now the PLC's have taken over the standards have slipped considerably.
I think to expect to find an immaculate car that hasn't had the front end resprayed would be impossible
Deep said:
Ok now I'm really confused lol.
Perhaps better to just walk away then. It's a 2015 991 TTS with circa 15k miles and I just wasn't expecting this level of paint damage.
I previously had a 991 TTS with similar miles but it had nowhere near the same number of chips.
I don't want to end up agreeing to buy the car if they respray and then end up with a bodge job. It's a significant amout of money for me and I intend to keep the car for at least three years so it needs to be right.
Cheers
Can you not agree to buy it on the approval of the respray? If the price of the car is good they might decline and leave it as is and wait for a less discerning buyer to come along.Perhaps better to just walk away then. It's a 2015 991 TTS with circa 15k miles and I just wasn't expecting this level of paint damage.
I previously had a 991 TTS with similar miles but it had nowhere near the same number of chips.
I don't want to end up agreeing to buy the car if they respray and then end up with a bodge job. It's a significant amout of money for me and I intend to keep the car for at least three years so it needs to be right.
Cheers
Deep said:
SkinnyPete said:
Typically speaking I would never buy a car if its seen paint, and that includes from an OPC.
99% of the time it'll never match and it won't be the same quality, seeing the colour difference in the light every time I looked at the car would annoy me.
I'm not very OCD but I don't know how people tolerate it. Stone chips are definitely the lesser of two evils.
Is that actually true? If a panel could never be resprayed without it standing out like a sore thumb we'd see loads of accident repaired cars on the road that looked awful. 99% of the time it'll never match and it won't be the same quality, seeing the colour difference in the light every time I looked at the car would annoy me.
I'm not very OCD but I don't know how people tolerate it. Stone chips are definitely the lesser of two evils.
It's a bit of a dilemma; if any dealer, OPC or otherwise, gets paint done, it can put off quite a few customers, not just from the POV of originality, but also, potentially, on the question of what prompted the re-spray; was it merely cosmetic or was it something more serious?
Then there's the madness of pain protection film, unless I'm mistaken, a well executed front-end wrap costs nearly twice what a decent re-spray of the same panels might. Too further complicate things, there's also the consideration of how long the film lasts too.
Having just bought a, low mileage car, this is something very much on my mind right now.
Edited by Digga on Wednesday 11th October 10:27
Some cars get 'excessively' stone chipped because of the roads they're driven on and/or the driver gets too close to the vehicle in front. My CGTS with 9K miles when I got it had far more chips than my 16K S that I parted with. A decent detailing job and PPF have made it look great now though.
PPF is expensive. I reckon a front re-spray can be cheaper.
'Original' paint is only significant for true garage queens and collector cars IMO.
PPF is expensive. I reckon a front re-spray can be cheaper.
'Original' paint is only significant for true garage queens and collector cars IMO.
Maxym said:
'Original' paint is only significant for true garage queens and collector cars IMO.
^ this. If you're not buying a R or 4.0 or something similar, as long as a respray is well done (not always a given) it is not an issue to me. Perhaps negotiating the price of the respray off and brignging it to someone you know will do a good job might be better than leaving it to the OPC?
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