complete body respray or not

[mercedes4480]

Hello, i'm new here, I'm from Belgium and i love Mercedes from my early teens. But for the moment i have a dilemma... One of my cars is a C 220 CDI Elegance automatique from 1998 (w202) It's a great car i took over from my grandmother, 1st owner with about 90.000 miles fully equipped (mushroom leather, pts, electric window blind, electric seats ...). Only problem it had been standing still for 2 years so i dropped it off at my Mercedes dealership and it came back fully operational after a 4.100£ bill. A lot for an old car but it was a sentimental rather then economical decision. But now i'm hesitating, because the next point is the bodywork. It has no rot, not the doors, not the sills, not the front or rear blenders, nothing..., even Mercedes told me this was really exceptionnal. But there are some parking dents and scratches... When i asked for the price of a complete body respray in the original "vivinate green" Mercedes told me 3.700£.
Quite a lot but because there is no rot or rust i'm hesitating of what to do. leave it with the signs of the years or repaint it so it will look completely new like the mecanics and the interior... I'm confused for this, what do you think? Shall i repaint it or leave it like this. Thanks for reading this and helping me with my decision.

 

[Reggie-rock]

Why not consider having the car vinyl wrapped which is cheaper than paint and the choices you have are wide, so you could be totally unique if you wish and turn many heads as you drive past.

 

[mercedes4480]

Well i have been thinking about that, but it won't eliminate the parking dents and i really like the original colour, and i also prefer cars to be in the condition they came out of the factory, but yes it's more economical... so i'm only hesitating between leaving it like it is or a complete respray. But thanks for your opinion

 

[DouglasMM]

Get a quote from an independent paint shop rather than the dealer, it will be much cheaper and likely just as good. Get references, look at previous work etc. Also, how deep are the scratches? The usual test is can you catch a fingernail when you drag one across the scratch. If the scratches are light enough a good detailing pro might be able to polish them out and then you can either live with the door dings or have a couple of panels filled and blown over. With a proper detail the car might look like new again. Some pics would be helpful. Finally, if you have the money, get the car done, you obviously love it and with proper servicing it will outlast you.

 

[kid-jensen]

Is the majority of the paintwork in good condition, apart from the dents?

I'm talking avbout the sort of condition that would look new or nearly new once you've polished it...

If so, one of these mobile dent repair places would certainly be cheaper thana comnplete respray, as they only deal with the damage, not the paintwork around it.

If the dents haven't cracked the paint, they won't need to respray it at all, just tease the dents out.

Unless the car is rare and likely to be appreciating in value, a respray will always be an indulgence and the cost will never be recovered when you sell it.. Get the dents removed individually, and the chances are you will incresae the resale value of the car.

 

[Giantvanman]

Is the paint in reasonable condition? If so, have you considered trying to have the dents removed without damage to the paintwork? There are several dent removal companies in the UK; I imagine there must be the same in Belgium. It really is quite remarkable how they remove dents without damaging the paint as well as being considerable cheaper than a full respray.

Edit: defeated by the curse of the delayed post again. What he said ^^^^^

 

[grober]

Only reason to respray a car with good paintwork and cosmetic damage would be change the colour completely! Any good body shop should be able repair selected damaged areas and match them to existing paint work. Where you might have a problem is if the car paint has faded badly with exposure to the sun but there are remedies for this also short of a complete respray. Keep it orginal as far as possible.

 

[mercedes4480]

Hello, first of all thank you for responding to my question. Actually i could be cheaper an independant body shop, i never thaught about that because i always go for everything to the dealer. But it's a good idea, and like you said i just have to ask for some references. The paint is good a litlle bit faded and the scratches are not to deep with the exception of one scratch. the dents are the normal parking area dents but the drivers door has the paint chipped of from the side from tuching the wall when my grandmother used to open her door. I will take some pictures this week-end to post them on monday.

 

[Power_n_Glory]

As mentioned above, a good independent can match the colour to the faded paint and get a really good match. So if the rest is in good condition except for a bit of fade then repairing and painting just the affected panels should be possible.

 

[dinoy]

i have friend with respray outfit in wembley he probably do whole car for 2kish many of the forum members use him his name is ****me 07411112908

 

[ShaunB]

Have the car professionally detailed?

 

[markjay]

Where are you based?

 

[mercedes4480]

Hello, well i will go and have a look at some local body shop for local repairs. I'm based in Belgium at about 5 miles from Brussels. I just hope they can match the paint. As soon as i have got some news i will let you know...

 

[DouglasMM]

I'd also see if there is a car detailer around, a deep polish with a machine can do amazing things and even sort our some paint fading and remove light scratches... Combine that with a paintless dent repair service and a localised repair for your door damage and you should have a new looking car for under a grand...

 

[rusty55]

Tried detailing my self my car is 18 yrs old and paint came back to a better finish or as good as new bar some feet scratches .
My white 7 yrs old white van looks newly re sprayed did both for a 288 £ out lay plus my time

 

[Power_n_Glory]

A good body shop will exactly match the colour by measuring the colour to get the right paint mix for how it is right now. It's well worth using a fine abrasive paint polish/restorer like 'T -Cut' or similar on the existing surface so that you have a baseline you can return to and do this BEFORE you get the paint matched.

 

[mercedes4480]

hello, i'm sorry i didn't yet have the time to take and post some pictures... But i went to see 3 body shops, 2 told me dent removal and some parts to respray and one said a complete body respray because the fading is not regulary. But the quotes are between 1.200£ and 2.300£. So i had a talk again with my Mercedes dealer, and finally, because i'm a good client and recently ordered a new one... they said we'll do a complete repaint for 2.500£ but without taxes, so no invoice and to be paid cash. Is this a good deal? it already sound much much better than 3.700£ and not that much more than wath the independant body shops asked, but done at Mercedes...

 

[kid-jensen]

If you have an emotional attachment to the car, then obviously go ahead.

But...I'll bet it would be MUCH cheaper to sell it as-is and buy another one that already has an immaculate body.

 

[Giantvanman]

hello, i'm sorry i didn't yet have the time to take and post some pictures... But i went to see 3 body shops, 2 told me dent removal and some parts to respray and one said a complete body respray because the fading is not regulary. But the quotes are between 1.200£ and 2.300£. So i had a talk again with my Mercedes dealer, and finally, because i'm a good client and recently ordered a new one... they said we'll do a complete repaint for 2.500£ but without taxes, so no invoice and to be paid cash. Is this a good deal? it already sound much much better than 3.700£ and not that much more than wath the independant body shops asked, but done at Mercedes...

It really depends on what they do. Will they 'simply' sort the dents, scuff the paint to get a key, prime and add another layer of paint and lacquer or are sanding down to metal and applying base coat, paint and lacquer? For that price they are quoting, I suspect it is the former. If done correctly, this should last okay and look okay but may not be as good as a bare metal respray in the long term.

 

[garyholm]

We had one side and the bonnet of our estate sprayed as someone had kindly poured chemicals over it about 6 months ago.... she looked her wonderful self for 4 days then on holiday last week some **** went down the side with a key... totally gutted