Will we ever go to "that will buff out" mindset?

[TheLoraxxZeus]

I'm not sure how to title this, but in the UK (from my limited driving experience and general internet browsing) people are quick to jump on the insurance claim for scratches/dents, even on slightly older cars (10~ years old). I see it posted on Reddit daily, and throughout various Facebook groups.

With the cost of everything rising, the price of new cars and state of the road network do we think the UK will ever go from new and shiny car every X years to more of a keep whatever they have running mindset?

I understand not a lot of people can afford to fix crash damage that is more than cosmetic so insurance is a must.

[fflump]

It almost always pays to not involve insurers with minor dings and dents. Most true PH’ers will know how useful a cash only body shop under the arches type of operator for cosmetic repairs. I use one that is a favorite with local black cab drivers and is a great service.

[Aunty Pasty]

Most people do not know how to do a decent job of repairing minor dings or scratches and do not want to be seen driving around in a bodge job.

[vikingaero]

That will buff out goes hand in hand with people that expect panels to be repaired and resprayed for £50, and call any decent bodyshop wanting to charge £200-300 a bloody rip off.

[-Lummox-]

vikingaero said:

That will buff out goes hand in hand with people that expect panels to be repaired and resprayed for £50, and call any decent bodyshop wanting to charge £200-300 a bloody rip off.

THIS

I've been in situations like that before where I've been in non-fault accidents and the party at fault has tried to go outside of the insurance and then baulked at the cost of the entirely reasonable indy bodyshop.

So many clueless numpties out there who think that panels can be repaired for less than their insurance excess (or that you'll take £50 or £100 cash and pocket it in order to forget about the whole thing, whilst driving around in a car they damaged).

Also I think there's a world of difference between people making the decision to ignore minor damage on their own vehicle (if they don't want to claim for it and don't have the skills to sort it themselves) and people who damage other people's vehicles then start spouting the "it'll buff out" nonsense. If you caused the damage, you don't get to tell people not to claim for it. That's idiot tax for damaging someone else's car.

Edited by -Lummox- on Friday 13th September 11:52

[mwstewart]

The thread title doesn't necessarily match the message, which I'm a complete advocate of: I love to run and maintain older cars. The value for money is fantastic - more so now because cars were 95% perfected years ago.

[-Lummox-]

mwstewart said:

The thread title doesn't necessarily match the message, which I'm a complete advocate of: I love to run and maintain older cars. The value for money is fantastic - more so now because cars were 95% perfected years ago.

Agreed. People who say "that'll buff out" are usually responsible for damaging your / someone else's car and trying to weasel out of paying for it to be properly repaired.

[Jordie Barretts sock]

Different era that has passed.


Someone rear ends you in 1975 and dents the chrome bumper on your Vauxhall Viva. "Here mate, £50 and we're good, yeah?" Off you go to the scrapyard, four bolts later and £20 you have as good as new bumper. Job done.

Try that now with the cracked rear plastic bumper on your Vauxhall Astra. Can't be done. Most people wouldn't even know where to begin.

It's not so much the buff out mentality, as cars aren't quite so simple to repair. Double skinned, crash protection, pedestrian protection...

[fflump]

mwstewart said:

The thread title doesn't necessarily match the message, which I'm a complete advocate of: I love to run and maintain older cars. The value for money is fantastic - more so now because cars were 95% perfected years ago.

Quite right. I’ve a car nigh on 10 years old and I’m struggling to think of a mechanical electrical or technological feature that I miss by not having a new car

[-Lummox-]

TheLoraxxZeus said:

...people are quick to jump on the insurance claim for scratches/dents, even on slightly older cars (10~ years old).

With the cost of everything rising, the price of new cars and state of the road network do we think the UK will ever go from new and shiny car every X years to more of a keep whatever they have running mindset?

I don't really think these two statements are automatically related?

There's a difference between keeping your car in perfect working order, and perfect cosmetic order.

The fact that your car is older may (for some people) give you less incentive to worry about its appearance, but I see no reason to neglect its mechanicals just because it is a car more than 10 years old.

Both the cars in my household are 10 or more years old and I still do my best to ensure that neither of them have any mechanical problems whatsoever. I can't see myself thinking, as they get older, that it's any less important they remain fully working.

FWIW I don't think a lot of people change cars for brand new leases because they have dents or scrapes on them. They change them because they like the lease model of car borrowing (I won't call it ownership, because it isn't) and they like not facing the prospect of big unexpected maintenance bills. Personally, I'd rather save the money by driving something older rather than spend it anyway in advance to preclude worries of "what if" and I suspect the same is true of a lot of people on this forum.

[TheLoraxxZeus]

Apologies perhaps my title is poorly written and misrepresents my view.

By a "that will buff out" I meant more of, "I can fix that" or simply live with it. It seems that most people simply can't live with it and it must be fixed, cosmetically of course. Anyone who neglects a mechanic issue is either uneducated on the consequences or are fully aware but literally can't afford to fix it.

A personal example on my end is my partner. When loading 500kg of garden materials into the back, I accidently put a small scrape. It's not down to the paint, but she wants it fixed. The fact it's been 4 months or so and she has forgotten kind of tells really. The frustration of it happening clouds all logic and judgement. Also, I could polish it out but I don't see the point as it does not affect the car.

[Jimjimhim]

fflump said:

mwstewart said:

The thread title doesn't necessarily match the message, which I'm a complete advocate of: I love to run and maintain older cars. The value for money is fantastic - more so now because cars were 95% perfected years ago.

Quite right. I’ve a car nigh on 10 years old and I’m struggling to think of a mechanical electrical or technological feature that I miss by not having a new car

What car have you got?

[-Lummox-]

TheLoraxxZeus said:

Apologies perhaps my title is poorly written and misrepresents my view.

By a "that will buff out" I meant more of, "I can fix that" or simply live with it. It seems that most people simply can't live with it and it must be fixed, cosmetically of course. Anyone who neglects a mechanic issue is either uneducated on the consequences or are fully aware but literally can't afford to fix it.

A personal example on my end is my partner. When loading 500kg of garden materials into the back, I accidently put a small scrape. It's not down to the paint, but she wants it fixed. The fact it's been 4 months or so and she has forgotten kind of tells really. The frustration of it happening clouds all logic and judgement. Also, I could polish it out but I don't see the point as it does not affect the car.

TBH there's very little cosmetic damage people could actually fix themselves these days. Even small simple scratches don't actually buff out very easily. It was easier to do in the good old days when cars didn't tend to have metallic paint and if you kept rubbing away you'd get enough paint layers off for the scratch to vainsh... can't do that with metallics as you'll go through the laquer on anything much beyond surface swirl marks and then need to respray the panel anyway.

[MajorMantra]

I thought this thread was going to be about the incredibly tedious comment ("that will buff out" or "just needs a bit of T-Cut") that every single story about a crash somehow still generates.

[Wheel Turned Out]

TheLoraxxZeus said:

Apologies perhaps my title is poorly written and misrepresents my view.

By a "that will buff out" I meant more of, "I can fix that" or simply live with it. It seems that most people simply can't live with it and it must be fixed, cosmetically of course. Anyone who neglects a mechanic issue is either uneducated on the consequences or are fully aware but literally can't afford to fix it.

A personal example on my end is my partner. When loading 500kg of garden materials into the back, I accidently put a small scrape. It's not down to the paint, but she wants it fixed. The fact it's been 4 months or so and she has forgotten kind of tells really. The frustration of it happening clouds all logic and judgement. Also, I could polish it out but I don't see the point as it does not affect the car.

When it comes to just "living with it" for me it depends on the car.

If it's a 15 year old snotter, I wouldn't mind so much and will be more willing to say "it is what it is". If it's something nearly new that I'm still making payments on and you've damaged it, then yes I'd quite like you to sort it out properly thanks.

[TheLoraxxZeus]

Wheel Turned Out said:

If it's something nearly new that I'm still making payments on and you've damaged it, then yes I'd quite like you to sort it out properly thanks.

Yeah still think my title is messing with my point lol. This isn't if someone specifically damaged your car, maybe they did but you never seen it happen. I fully expect that if someone damaged my car when we are both present they would make it right, as I would.

My mum likes to get wheels refurb'd, yet she will hit a curb a week later. The car has to be perfect, why? That is kind of what I'm talking about, a car can look like absolute dogst and be completely mechanically sound but I feel like in the UK that simply isn't good enough for anyone.

[rottenegg]

TheLoraxxZeus said:

do we think the UK will ever go from new and shiny car every X years to more of a keep whatever they have running mindset?

I've never subscribed to that personally. I prefer to buy a car outright and keep it for years, but not everyone has the time, inclination, tools or skill to maintain a car to a good standard, so leasing and or brand new outright every 3 years suits those sorts.

Not to mention the cost of keeping older cars roadworthy is becoming more and more unfeasible due to the cost of repair and soaring parts prices. Needing a new engine or transmission can easily write off an otherwise perfectly good car. I think a lot of people would prefer to keep a car for longer, but it doesn't make financial sense, especially if it's a German car. Keeping anything older than 5-6 years old going indefinitely generally only suits hobbyists and DIYers who are keen and adept with the spanners.

[C n C]

Jimjimhim said:

fflump said:

mwstewart said:

The thread title doesn't necessarily match the message, which I'm a complete advocate of: I love to run and maintain older cars. The value for money is fantastic - more so now because cars were 95% perfected years ago.

Quite right. I’ve a car nigh on 10 years old and I’m struggling to think of a mechanical electrical or technological feature that I miss by not having a new car

What car have you got?

I've also got a 10 year old car (Skoda Octavia vRS), and also a 13 year old one (Honda Civic).
Both do exactly what I want them to do, both bought outright for cash. Both are manuals and I am not in the slightest bit interested in any of the new tech which just seems to overcomplicate things, such as lane assist, adaptive cruise control, auto braking, electronic handbrakes etc..


In terms of the original post, before getting the current 2, we used to run a very old Ford Fiesta as a shed. I have a friend who runs a garage, and it was regularly serviced, and any mechanical issue sorted immediately. In terms of dents, scrapes, cosmetic damage, I couldn't care less. It already had a few dents when I got it, and it was rather liberating not worrying about any new dings picked up from supermarket car parks and the like.

Since replacing it with the Skoda and Civic, despite them being much newer, I'm still of a similar attitude. Mechanically they are kept in top condition, but I'm not going to be re-furbishing the wheels, despite a few scuffs, and I'm not going to be getting panels re-strayed for a few scratches/dings. I also don't worry about loading stuff like kayaks on the roof bars and the possibility of the odd scratch here and there.

I guess it depends on the type of car though. When I had the Noble, any slight cosmetic issue was sorted straight away. The same will be true of the Skyline when we eventually get it back on the road.

[captain_cynic]

fflump said:

It almost always pays to not involve insurers with minor dings and dents. Most true PH’ers will know how useful a cash only body shop under the arches type of operator for cosmetic repairs. I use one that is a favorite with local black cab drivers and is a great service.

Most non cash body shops are happy to give you a decent price for your business.

I have been told repeatedly by those in the repair trade that insurance companies can take months to pay an invoice.

Someone paying by card will have the money in their account almost instantly.

[-Lummox-]

A lot of the people who are driving brand new cars these days are doing so on lease. Brand new cars not supplied as company vehicles cost a fortune and as such, for many that want a new vehicle, it's cheaper to borrow it than buy it.

But if you pick up any cosmetic damage on a leased vehicle, and return it to the lease company without sorting it, you can absolutely guarantee they'll take you to the cleaners for the cost of the repair / devaluing of the vehicle. So it's in these drivers' interest to sort out any cosmetic damage the vehicle picks up whilst in their possession.