low lifes

[NA55]

Woke up this morning, had a nice hearty breakfast and left the house with a spring in my step knowing that it was Friday and was only a few hours away to what should be a good weekend. I walk towards the car park only to find that the some idiot has scraped the back of the caymans bumper overnight...

Not sure why (i really should know better), but i checked the windscreen in the vain hope that who ever did it would have had the common decency to leave a note... no such luck, suffice to say the day was ruined.

Advice and help needed now... where can i get this scrape/scratch repaired without spending a fortune. The car is a Cayman S (Gen 1) and has the porsche warranty so i maybe a little handcuffed regarding options... also any ideas on cost?

[Lordglenmorangie]

Really sorry for you. Don't get Porsche involved find a good body shop, Porsche don't paint cars they farm it out .

[mrdemon]

might polish out enough for you not to add paint and live with.

depends what the bigger circle is, are they crease marks ?

[hornetrider]

I think it looks like that may polish, although the pic quality isn't great.

[gsewell]

Firstly - totally gutted for you.

If the car is a "keeper" a decent body shop should fix that for a couple of hundred. If the car is a "seller" then chips away type companies should be a lot cheaper.

[supersport]

Not nice.

I think this should be pretty cheap to fix. I have watched an official Porsche body clinic do this kind of thing in a couple of hours, if you go direct you won't pay through the nose.

[NA55]

Any recommendations regarding body-shops in the south? (Nearest OPC is east London)
I am quite surprised how calm a am about it all, probably just relieved as it could have been much worse as definitely does not look dented more scratched and scraped.

The circle marks is just a big scrape/scratch, not sure why it’s a circle though - physics never was my strongest subject :P

Thanks again…

[SonnyM]

Sorry to hear this. I had exactly the same thing after stopping outside a friends house for 5 minutes!

Don't bother with a smart repair as they just crack after a year and you'll end up respraying like I did.

Even though I live in Limehouse I always take my car to OPC MS as they are amazing. They use SL Resoration in Crawley but better to go through MS as the repair is guaranteed for life. Call Steven at MS send him the pics and he will take care of you. It's worth the drive down trust me. They can also pick your car up.

MS have done my front and back resprays and they are flawless with a perfect colour match - GT Silver.

Fix it properly else you will end up doing it again.

[Trev450]

As has already been suggested, it looks as if it could be polished out. Try rubbing it gently with some T-Cut and if that works then finish with a good coat of polish.

[mrdemon]

NA55 said:

Any recommendations regarding body-shops in the south? (Nearest OPC is east London)
I am quite surprised how calm a am about it all, probably just relieved as it could have been much worse as definitely does not look dented more scratched and scraped.

The circle marks is just a big scrape/scratch, not sure why it’s a circle though - physics never was my strongest subject :P

Thanks again…

why do you want a body shop when we are all saying get it polished out and then see what needs doing.

I would not let a body shop near it yet.

[NA55]

Thanks.. will try and get it cleaned and polished over the weekend and if still needed take it to OPC MS (have dealt with them before and definitely great customer service) to touch up.

hopefully a bit of spit and polish should do it, but i fear some touch up or corrective work will definitely be needed as some paint has been scraped off but pictures do not really show that (was still half asleep when i took them)

[mrdemon]

if the paint has not gone though you might just be able to lacquer over the scratch without adding colour, you can then wet sand the lacquer back and re polish as to not lost any paint depth.

[red997]

you'd be amazed what a skilled professional with a rotary polisher & the correct cutting /polishing compounds can do;
my 2p is to try this route first - nothing to loose - any you keep your factory paint, with no matching issues.
David

[tezza77]

That sucks, almost a reason for having on board cameras rolling all the time... then again if you did that you'd only end up coming back to find the windows smashed and the camera nicked.

[Bennachie]

The 'circle' is where the bumper has deformed and been pushed in to a flat to accommodate the shape of whatever dinged your car. It has since returned to shape. The outer will probably polish out but the dark central stuff looks from the picture to have penetrated the paint down to the plastic of the bumper itself.................

Almost guarantee it will have been a 4x4............

[MiseryStreak]

I will join in the collective wish that the offending scrotal sack dies of syphilis.

[NA55]

got myself booked in with OPC MS in a few weeks time... will let you know how i get on.
If you see any 4x4 with some silver scuff marks at the same hieght as a cayman bumper, let me know guys :P

Edited by NA55 on Friday 29th June 17:09

[Actus Reus]

Hope it's a cheap job to fix. Have had similar on a number of occasions (and one of the main reasons I left my old street). Brand new VW Scirocco had a dent in the wing and a nick out of the alloy, a Golf GTi got a whole front bumper and a headlamp done... Became too much in the end, and only let myself get the Porsche when we moved and I got a garage.

Scummy thing to do, but now it's happened to me so many times, would I stop and leave details? I'd like to think I would, but twice it's happened to me and neither time did anybody leave any details and they MUST have known they'd done it, surely?

[anonymous-user]

NA55 said:

Woke up this morning, had a nice hearty breakfast and left the house with a spring in my step knowing that it was Friday and was only a few hours away to what should be a good weekend. I walk towards the car park only to find that the some idiot has scraped the back of the caymans bumper overnight...

Not sure why (i really should know better), but i checked the windscreen in the vain hope that who ever did it would have had the common decency to leave a note... no such luck, suffice to say the day was ruined.

Advice and help needed now... where can i get this scrape/scratch repaired without spending a fortune. The car is a Cayman S (Gen 1) and has the porsche warranty so i maybe a little handcuffed regarding options... also any ideas on cost?

Gutted for you mate. Karma will get them.

I think that will polish out, I'd recommend Meguires Professional Speed Glaze 80, 83 and 105. Choose the grade based on the severity and then machine it using an orbital polisher. Start with the lightest and build it up. I would caution against T-cut as it is potentially a bit harsh for a first pass but I'd recommend cleaning it first to remove the scuffs which will allow you to get a better sense of how bad it is. If it's gouged the bumper, you can do all but that and have to live with anything deeper. The rear bumper will likely have compressed under pressure so possibly stressed the paint and saved gouges. Depending on the car that hit you, you'll hopefully just have rubbing from the friction of impact. If there are deep scratches, the paint may be cracked or weakened. Hard to tell from your photos but in that case, it may be better to respray.

My nearest OPC is East London as well so it sounds like you're not too far away. If you're stuck, DM me and I don't mind if you pop round with a jar or two and I can give you a little of each cutting compound to help you on your way.

[SunDiver]

It's hard to tell from the photo, but a machine polisher can do great things.
Are there any bits you can catch your fingernail on, gouges etc? If not, you may be surprised at how much it can be polished up.

Good luck.