Is this repairable?

[juan king]

Came back to my car yesterday to find a massive dent/hole in my rear bumper. That some moron has kindly left me.

I'm just wondering if it is repairable and if so, is it worth repairing?

Also can anyone recommend a reasonably priced good bodyshop in the Sheffield/Rotherham area?

Thanks, Gaz

Edited by juan king on Friday 25th May 10:10

[JulesB]

Yes very repairable, a bit of heat and a few taps from the back will get the majority of it out, shoudl only need a smidge of filler. Main problem is the colour, babysick gold is a horrendous colour to match

[juan king]

Thanks, I'm hoping to get my spoiler and front bumper painted too. Is it really that bad to match?

[JulesB]

Gold is a bit of a funny colour to paint, fortunatley there are few gold cars in comparison to the other colours out there. It can be repaired well by the right guy and if you are not happy with the colour match you are well within your rights to have it redone by the repairer, you may be seen as a problem customer but when quoted for the repair they will be quoting to do it right. My advice is dont go to chipsaway, they wont be able to get the colour right. Dont let my initial comment scare you, it is doable!

If you need the whole front bumper painting you are looking at the £200-300 mark, spoiler £100-180 and the back bumper between £100-160, pricing goes down to how much the quoter likes you and how much work is involved in the job. Ofcourse you could go to a backstreet bodyshop or a friend of a friend who used to paint once upon a time, but with all things, you get what you pay for.

Hope this helps

[Squiggs]

JulesB said:

Gold is a bit of a funny colour to paint, fortunatley there are few gold cars in comparison to the other colours out there. It can be repaired well by the right guy and if you are not happy with the colour match you are well within your rights to have it redone by the repairer, you may be seen as a problem customer but when quoted for the repair they will be quoting to do it right. My advice is dont go to chipsaway, they wont be able to get the colour right. Dont let my initial comment scare you, it is doable!

If you need the whole front bumper painting you are looking at the £200-300 mark, spoiler £100-180 and the back bumper between £100-160, pricing goes down to how much the quoter likes you and how much work is involved in the job. Ofcourse you could go to a backstreet bodyshop or a friend of a friend who used to paint once upon a time, but with all things, you get what you pay for.

Hope this helps

I agree with all the above .... except there is no logical reason why a chipsaway tech wouldn't be able to get the colour right.
As long the individual (Chipsaway, independent smart or bodyshop) has the necessary experience then it is a doable job.
But it is a difficult colour to match/blend for any smart repairer and quite a problematic colour even when going edge to edge or blending larger in a shop.
Whoever you get to do the job(s) just make sure that they have recognised that it's a difficult colour and feel confident in taking it on (ie they know what they're talking about and have knowledge and experience)
If you have any doubts find someone else.

[juan king]

thanks for your advice

[JulesB]

Squiggs said:

I agree with all the above .... except there is no logical reason why a chipsaway tech wouldn't be able to get the colour right.
As long the individual (Chipsaway, independent smart or bodyshop) has the necessary experience then it is a doable job.
But it is a difficult colour to match/blend for any smart repairer and quite a problematic colour even when going edge to edge or blending larger in a shop.
Whoever you get to do the job(s) just make sure that they have recognised that it's a difficult colour and feel confident in taking it on (ie they know what they're talking about and have knowledge and experience)
If you have any doubts find someone else.

Dull laquer and dodgy tints, i'd steer clear!

[Squiggs]

JulesB said:

Dull laquer and dodgy tints, i'd steer clear!

SShhh ... and don't tell anyone ... but ... 'allegedly' the tints they use are from one of recognised main stream suppliers. So loads of other top smart repairers and indeed bodyshops using a waterbased scheme are probably using the exact same tints without knowing it and without any problems. There's nothing 'different' about the tints to make them dodgy.
The lacquer's robust enough - some techs might bake it off in-correctly or try mixing it different ways to speed up drying 'allegedly' - but I guess anybody anywhere using whatever lacquer can experiment or not bake off correctly and get poor results.
After that it's down to the experience of the tech and application rather than the products
(I'm not with CA BTW)

[JulesB]

Squiggs said:

SShhh ... and don't tell anyone ... but ... 'allegedly' the tints they use are from one of recognised main stream suppliers. So loads of other top smart repairers and indeed bodyshops using a waterbased scheme are probably using the exact same tints without knowing it and without any problems. There's nothing 'different' about the tints to make them dodgy.
The lacquer's robust enough - some techs might bake it off in-correctly or try mixing it different ways to speed up drying 'allegedly' - but I guess anybody anywhere using whatever lacquer can experiment or not bake off correctly and get poor results.
After that it's down to the experience of the tech and application rather than the products
(I'm not with CA BTW)

Yeah the tints are from a recognised main stream supplier but it doesnt make them great. No matter how well you apply, bake and polish the laquer it will not last. I suspect you are not a CA franchisee but perhaps ex To say its all down to application and nothing to do with product is very naive.

[Squiggs]

JulesB said:

Yeah the tints are from a recognised main stream supplier but it doesnt make them great. No matter how well you apply, bake and polish the laquer it will not last. I suspect you are not a CA franchisee but perhaps ex To say its all down to application and nothing to do with product is very naive.

But similarly it doesn't make the tints dodgy.
There are only so many suppliers of w/b paint systems, if one of the systems was dodgy they'd get found out other bodyshops and smart repairers wouldn't use it and the manufacturer wouldn't survive.

I could take you to jobs that years on that not only have lasted, they also haven't dropped their gloss.
The same as the base of a good job is all about prep, the finish is all about the application of lacquer - which amongst other things includes the correct mix, correctly applied to a panel that's at the correct temp, correctly baked, correctly allowed to cool and finally correctly polished.
Done properly I believe the lacquer isn't bad. And let's face it - if it was uniformly bad then the brand and the 300+ techs would end up in-front of trading standards.

[JulesB]

Squiggs said:

But similarly it doesn't make the tints dodgy.
There are only so many suppliers of w/b paint systems, if one of the systems was dodgy they'd get found out other bodyshops and smart repairers wouldn't use it and the manufacturer wouldn't survive.

I could take you to jobs that years on that not only have lasted, they also haven't dropped their gloss.
The same as the base of a good job is all about prep, the finish is all about the application of lacquer - which amongst other things includes the correct mix, correctly applied to a panel that's at the correct temp, correctly baked, correctly allowed to cool and finally correctly polished.
Done properly I believe the lacquer isn't bad. And let's face it - if it was uniformly bad then the brand and the 300+ techs would end up in-front of trading standards.

I am sure you could but I can guarantee it was not done with CA supplied paint and lacquer. When EA standards changed and it became compulsory to use WB paints CA went with the first thing they could find which was a cheap shoddy lacquer that never properly sets, no matter how well you apply or bake it resulting in a poor finish that lasts no more than 6 months.

Its funny how its 300+ franchisees every year and yet every year they claim to take on 50+ more...
You can be the best tech in the world but if you are working with duff paint with crap etching properties then the repair is going to be useless! If you believe the lacquer is not bad then you need help! Yes there are good CA guys out there but those guys are not using CA branded product. Guys do make money out of it but it doesnt mean the quality of repair is up to 'scratch' (excuse the pun) I completely agree with your point about the base of a good job being in the prep but if you put poor quality on top then obviously it will not last.

[Squiggs]

JulesB said:

I am sure you could but I can guarantee it was not done with CA supplied paint and lacquer. When EA standards changed and it became compulsory to use WB paints CA went with the first thing they could find which was a cheap shoddy lacquer that never properly sets, no matter how well you apply or bake it resulting in a poor finish that lasts no more than 6 months.

Its funny how its 300+ franchisees every year and yet every year they claim to take on 50+ more...
You can be the best tech in the world but if you are working with duff paint with crap etching properties then the repair is going to be useless! If you believe the lacquer is not bad then you need help! Yes there are good CA guys out there but those guys are not using CA branded product. Guys do make money out of it but it doesnt mean the quality of repair is up to 'scratch' (excuse the pun) I completely agree with your point about the base of a good job being in the prep but if you put poor quality on top then obviously it will not last.

You have completely moved this topic from your original comments to the OP's post!
There is no reason why CA tints couldn't match, and no reason why the lacquer will dull!
And the jobs I did years ago were done with CA products were of a perfect colour match and have not lost gloss!

Get off your soap box!

Yes there are CA guys out there that make money using only CA products (and there are many individual businesses making money using the same or similar products) and I'd bet my last pound that there are more CA 'techs' that have been trained to use CA products that have failed or fail to deliver on lasting jobs.
But it isn't down to the products (more especially tint matching as your first post suggested!) but more down to the individual techs ability to deliver. Whether it be down his ability to do a good job, or ability to run their own business - which could easily apply to any individual business.

It's easy to 'have a go' at an organisation of 300+ techs when perhaps a few don't deliver on overall quality - but that doesn't mean to say that the products they use can't perform when used correctly.

Oh ... just to correct you ... paint doesn't have etching properties, never has had, and probably never will do

[JulesB]

You can say what you like, but we both know the lacquer is duff

[FrontRowForward]

juan king said:

Also can anyone recommend a reasonably priced good bodyshop in the Sheffield/Rotherham area?

Ive used M C Smart Repairs based in the Attercliffe area of Sheffield. He did a good job on the front and rear bumpers of my S2000 for a decent price.