car damage on pcp

[billywoblyneck]

Someones dinged my wing in supermarket car park !!! have only had the car two months.
My question is this - if you have a car on a PCP and you scrape the paint - are you supposed to take it back to the main dealer you got it from for bodyshop repair ? That way when the time comes to hand it back they will already be aware of the scratch and have dealt with it themselves up to their standards - Or are you free to go elsewhere and take the chance of possibly reducing the cars final value if found out - ?
Thankfully the damage isn't that bad , But I would prefer to get it done properly at Merc - but ££££ ?

 

[Lennox]

I would argue that a) they would never know b) they don't care.

 

[Deleted member 149005]

Depending on your excess, claim through your insurance and the job will be warrantied

 

[SarahAnn200]

I doubt they would care. A general manager at Lookers audi told me that most of their cars have had paint jobs (and that was a 2 month old car we I had rejected from them). If it's the 2017 car on your post, it could have already had paint anyway

 

[Wheelnut58]

I would argue that a) they would never know b) they don't care.

I agree if done properly they may never know, but if you just intend to walk away at end of contract they will care, if it’s above a certain size, length depth they will charge you to put right, if you decide to keep car and buy it, it doesn’t matter, if you px car towards another it will just reflect in px price, in the last few months before end of contract you will get a letter detailing what they will ignore as fair wear and tear and what they will charge to put right, I think they should give you this letter when you sign up, not at the end of contract, they will tell you about paying for damage at start, but the letter at the end comes with measurements and size examples.

 

[DSM10000]

Someones dinged my wing in supermarket car park !!! have only had the car two months.
My question is this - if you have a car on a PCP and you scrape the paint - are you supposed to take it back to the main dealer you got it from for bodyshop repair ? That way when the time comes to hand it back they will already be aware of the scratch and have dealt with it themselves up to their standards - Or are you free to go elsewhere and take the chance of possibly reducing the cars final value if found out - ?
Thankfully the damage isn't that bad , But I would prefer to get it done properly at Merc - but ££££ ?

What does your PCP contract say?

 

[MrRight]

the trouble is , for any paint job, they generally quote 2k plus

 

[John]

How would they know if you didn't tell them, assuming it was done to a standard where it was not obvious?

Does measuring the paint thickness as they can do make it obvious due to coats done at the factory vs. non-factory?

There are some good bodyshops who are reasonable albeit probably rare!

 

[whitenemesis]

Does measuring the paint thickness as they can do make it obvious due to coats done at the factory vs. non-factory?

Paint thickness gauge will immediately show up any repairs/touch-up to the bodywork

 

[T5R+]

Find out who your local FMBD uses - many do not have an inhouse bodyshop anymore. In fact if you can establish who is their "dent man" even better but this is more difficult.

Ask them to complete as a private customer.

Essentially, if any comments at handback - has been completed at a MB approved repairer.

 

[clk320x]

Paint thickness gauge will immediately show up any repairs/touch-up to the bodywork

They don’t check paint thickness on PCP returns.

 

[Y15HAL]

If there has been no paint removed, just get a PDR (Paintless Dent Repair) done

 

[Rup328]

Afew year ago I had a Peugeot 2008 on lease - I looked after the car and then, 2 weeks before the car was due for return, my wife thoght it would be a good idea to put some wood planks end on at the side of the garage about 6 feet from where the car was parked (garages are for motorbikes !!). That night was very windy and in the morning some the wood had hit the front wing, denting it but not damaging paint. I had no time to get it sorted, but the PCP company just charged me £60 for a paintless dent repair. I was still miffed with the better half though!!!!

 

[whitenemesis]

They don’t check paint thickness on PCP returns.

Indeed, why would they if the repairs have been done to a satisfactory standard i.e. invisible?

 

[richard]

I returned my GLC250d on Mercedes PCP a few months ago. You are allowed a few dings - there's a guide on their website as to size and count. I got mr Dent around to remove any dings and a smart paint person to sort the small scratch in the side of front bumper done by some-other drive in a carpark.

They spent about 30 mins with it, and no deductions .. MB Dealer who bought it at MB auction must have been pleased as it was ready to retail basically !

R

 

[barian]

You will need to look at your contract, but I think the answer to your question (which nobody has actually addressed) is that you can probably do either. The risk of taking it elsewhere is that the repair might be deemed to be not to MB standards when you return the car, but you should be able to cover this by getting the repairer to warrant (in writing) that it meets them.

 

[LTD]

You can :

1. Do nothing. You will be charged a fee at hand back

2. Warrantied Repair to manufacturer standard. This proves that everything is done the way it should be. Needs a manufacturer approved body shop. It should be noted at this point that not all Insurance Approved repairers are Manufacturer Approved. You are free to request to have your car repaired at your preferred repairer.

3. Cheap repair and hope. Could be discovered at hand back and charged to resolve.

Ultimately it is your call

 

[billywoblyneck]

Ok thanks so much all who replied, This forum is a fantastic source of help - Lots to think about.