Car scratched... Vandalism? And how to repair?

[markjay]

Found this damage to the bonnet this morning:

 

[nigel cross]

ouch

 

[Sp!ke]

That looks like evidence of a thrown house brick.

I suspect the whole bonnet will need repair and respray from what I can see in the picture.

 

[markjay]

These are wide and very deep scratches, in two areas bare metal is exposed, about 300mm long and 4-5mm wide (!).

The photo seems to show that the bonnet is dented, but luckily this not so. The bonnet appears to be made of quite tough sheet metal, and the factory paint is apparently multi-layered and thick - the 'dent' is in fact the area where the thick paint was forcibly removed.

Now the odd bit... the white powder looks like chalky rock dust, so it seems that the deep scratches were made by someone forcefully rubbing the bonnet with a large piece of masonry.

I can not see how this could have happened, really - the car was parked overnight near the central reservation, and there's no building work being carried out anywhere in the street...

The damage is on the side near the narrow pavement and away from the road, which precludes the possibility of something bouncing off a lorry, and at any rate the object that caused the damage was nowhere to found in the vicinity of the car.

I can only think of someone taking a large piece of rock, crossing the road and walking over to the central reservation, picking-out my car, scratching it with some force, then leave, taking the rock with them... however I must admit that even this potential explanation is rather odd.

 

[markjay]

That looks like evidence of a thrown house brick.

I suspect the whole bonnet will need repair and respray from what I can see in the picture.

Possibly, but perhaps not obviously so...

Firstly, as said there is no dent - it seems that the damage is the result of forceful rubbing rather than dropping or bouncing off.

Secondly, there are no building work being carried out in the area and there isn't a loose brick in site.

Thirdly, the powdery dust was white and chalky, the houses in our street are made of red London brick, does not really seem like brick dust.

But even so... why would anyone throw a brick at my car... and then bother to take the brick away?

The object could have not fallen from anywhere either, the car was parked in the middle of the road far away from the houses.

And no, I do not have any enemies... I am a peaceful man

 

[markjay]

ouch

You can say that again...

 

[markjay]

Anyway... thankfully it is a dry day today, I applied a couple of layers on primer to stop any rust from forming, while I contemplate my next step:

 

[markjay]

With the primer in place, it is clear that the paint can be levelled without any metal beating or applying thick layers of filler.

So what do I do...?

1. Do nothing - as Nick Froome proposed in another thread - and wait for something else to happens - other paint damage elsewhere etc - before turning to the body shop for a comprehensive solution.

2. Smart Repair it?

3. Respray the entire bonnet?

The colour is, incidentally, that common-as-muck Obsidian Black which I believe is pearlescent.

The primer came from this kit:

(though I doubt I can use it to touch-up this one... )

 

[Barry-p]

That's not a very nice thing to have to wake up to first thing in the morning.
You could carry out a local repair other then that its a full bonnet :-(

 

[martyz]

Not nice at all,I do feel for you.You may be able to get it smart repaired,but black is one of the worst colours to match.If I was you I would be scouring the net for a good s/h bonnet it would be the cheapest option coupled with the fact it will more than likely be in factory paint.There is always the insurance route once reported to the police and crime number obtained.Good luck whatever you decide to do.

 

[Mike Walker]

Sorry to see that. I recently had bonnet/boot and wheel arch repaired /painted by a local body shop for under £500 in arctic white. Respray of bonnet only may be cheaper than one thinks if you shop around?

 

[markjay]

Sorry to see that. I recently had bonnet/boot and wheel arch repaired /painted by a local body shop for under £500 in arctic white. Respray of bonnet only may be cheaper than one thinks if you shop around?

Thanks.

These figures do not sound like an insurance claim, especially given that my excess is £250 anyway.

Would go for Smart Repair, if that's possible - reason being that while it may not look perfect, it will allow me to keep the original factory paint on the rest of the bonnet - the original paintwork on my 2006 car seems very high quality.

A second-hand Obsidian Black bonnet also sounds appealing, though I would be concerned about alignment - I would not want the car to end-up with odd panel gaps...

Something to consider.

Any recommendations re Smart Repair firm - preferably in or near Central/West/North London?

 

[martyz]

Had a quick look on ebay,there are a few black W203's being dismantled in and around the London area.From the pictures they look to have decent bonnets. I searched under Mercedes W203 breaking.Worth a look?

 

[npuk]

Had it happen on the TT but a long horizontal scratch along the middle of the bonnet. Every smart repair place said they wouldnt do a bonnet as it wouldnt ever look right.

I can highly recommend Acton Coachworks. http://www.actoncoachworks.co.uk/

 

[John]

Sorry to see that MJ.

I thought primer was porous so wouldn't it rust anyway?

I had an Alpina repaired by Autohaus in North London but if you are prepared to travel, it maybe financially beneficial to send some pictures of the damage to Scuffbusters - GUARANTEED lowest price high quality car body repairs (Tunbridge Wells) for comparison - I would guess they would re-spray the whole bonnet.

This second firm repaired a huge scuff on my front bumper and did an excellent job.

 

[marc.l]

Looking at it I would say a bike hit it , the end of the handle bars doing one scratch and the brake lever doing the other .
Hope it dose not cost to much to repair .

 

[markjay]

Looking at it I would say a bike hit it , the end of the handle bars doing one scratch and the brake lever doing the other .
Hope it dose not cost to much to repair .

I think you may be actually right, Sherlock

Many people chain their bikes to lampposts in the middle of the road because chaining them to the rails is not permitted.

They then attempt the impossible fit of actually riding the bike down the narrow pavement between the two rows of parked cars.

I now think that the white/grey 'dust' was in fact fragments of the car's own thick under-paint primer.

The funny thing is that I usually prefer to park the car in the center because it keeps it away from the local hooded youth who cycle along the pavement looking into parked cars...

Oh well...I guess no where is safe

 

[Barry-p]

Sorry to see that MJ.

I thought primer was porous so wouldn't it rust anyway?

Yes most primers will be porous but in this weather it will be ok for a short period.

 

[Tebs]

Not nice at all. I've had mine done twice now. First time good n proper, keyed 8 panels in total and then 6 months later two panels. I'd estimate between £250-300 for the bonnet

 

[markjay]

Rubbed-down the primer with wet 1200 paper and liberally applied touch-up paint... Impossible to spread the paint properly with the tiny brush provided, so the affected area now looks like the moon through a telescope. Still, it will hold back the rust until I figure-out an action plan.