Estimated cost for damage caused by hit and run

[waa]

Hi All,

As the title indicates, some moron's hit my parked car and driven off.

The car is now at the stealership and I'm awaiting on a quote early next week. What do you guys think is a reasonable amount to pay for what seems to be damaged paintwork?

I'm quite **** about any work carried out, I want to to be 100%...

Any advice would be welcomed!

 

[geraldrobins]

I received a small dent and scuff when I returned to my car a couple of years ago and it cost me £630. No panels were replaced. It was an authorised insurance repairer not MB.
I had another Quote from another repairer of about £1100.

not sure how easy it is to repair the panel you have as its not metal but fibreglass or similar.

 

[Giantvanman]

I feel your pain; not a nice thing to happen.

More information needed……any cracks, deep gouges, has the plastic sprung back into correct shape, are the retaining fixings okay etc? The price from a dealer and something like a body shop will be worlds apart. Basically, it is likely the bumper will have to be repaired (filled and sanded) and sprayed. Another option is second hand bumper and trim in the correct colour. Lots of variables to consider.

 

[waa]

Thank you both for your replies.

No cracks luckily, it's more of a surface scuff that's taken some paint off. I'm no expert but I assume it's definitely repairable, it requires a little filling for the 'curve' that's been essentially sanded down by the other car.

I'm guessing they'll fill and sand it and then respray. I would be extremely irritated if they outsourced it to a 'smart' repairer as I do think it's possible for them to fix this. But I don't want issues later down the line, I've had work completed by them on other Mercedes I've owned only to have the top layers peeling off.

 

[John]

OP, where are you based?

 

[geraldrobins]

When you say 'they' do you mean your insurer.

 

[waa]

I'm in West London, I don't want to go through insurance as it will be considered my fault I'm guessing. I'm quite young so my insurance is in the thousands currently, I'd rather not have my premiums go up and pay a high excess.

 

[jazzyglobe]

Prime Paint & Body

Give these guys a call. Speak to Erdal. Tell him Saj sent you. He will sort it properly.

No matter where you end up getting it repaired, always go and check out their workshop and see what other jobs they are working on before handing your car over.

Erdal and the chaps do a proper job. Done once, done right, no hassle.

 

[waa]

Thank you for the recommendation.

Unfortunately they are quite a bit away from me. I was hoping to get figures/estimates on what I should be looking at for a complete repair in the context of Stealership vs. Private/Local Bodyshop...

 

[jaymanek]

Trade price circa £160 if no actual deformation to the bumper.

MB Stealer Price id guess £800.. But you can have a free coffee in the waiting area.

 

[waa]

Thank you for your response.

So am I right in assuming that a well reputable Bodyshop would charge in the region of £500-600 (that's everything labour/VAT) and the Stealers in the region of £600-800?

Also would they have any grounds to charge in excess of £1k?

If only I find the guy who did this. He would pay for the stress I'm taking on.

 

[Blue Moon]

Hi All,

As the title indicates, some moron's hit my parked car and driven off.

The car is now at the stealership and I'm awaiting on a quote early next week. What do you guys think is a reasonable amount to pay for what seems to be damaged paintwork?

I'm quite **** about any work carried out, I want to to be 100%...

Any advice would be welcomed!

I'm a professional SMART repairer, and I'm extremely irritated at the intimation that a 'SMART' repair done properly is anyway inferior to an overpriced bodyshop repair . I'd respectfully suggest in order for you to be 100% happy, you pay an inflated bodyshop repair cost to have the whole bumper resprayed, and blended into the o/s wing.

However, IMHO, it's a classic SMART repair with what appears no structural damage, only cosmetic, assuming it's not Iridium or Diamond silver, as most silvers are a pig to blend out. I'd do that for around £300 and it would be in and out in a day.

But as they say, life is all about choice

 

[Howard]

How do you guys keep the dust down when you are painting ?

 

[waa]

Blue Moon, I understand you believe strongly in the quality of your workmanship. I however can only base my opinions on past experiences, on two separate occasions the work completed was either peeling or done poorly.

I am pickey, but only to have work completed to 100% which means I was prepared to pay Stealership rates to avoid horrors late down the line.

Unforutnely my paintwork is Iridium Silver, would this mean the job may cost far more?

 

[Blue Moon]

How do you guys keep the dust down when you are painting ?

What dust ?

We / I spray much less than 30g of paint at 10 to 15psi so you could probably blow as hard.

I do my repairs either mobile at customers convenience in a fully fitted out mobile workshop, or in my 2000sq ft Express Repair workshop. I use electric sanders with dust free extraction so there is no 'dust' as such. All mobile repairs are hand finished anyway to remove any 'imperfections' such as flies that always land in the fresh lacquer before it's fully cured by I.R then finally machine polished.

The hardest part is keeping the manufacturers standard rubbish factory finish orange peel in the repair area

 

[Blue Moon]

Blue Moon, I understand you believe strongly in the quality of your workmanship. I however can only base my opinions on past experiences, on two separate occasions the work completed was either peeling or done poorly.

I am pickey, but only to have work completed to 100% which means I was prepared to pay Stealership rates to avoid horrors late down the line.

Unforutnely my paintwork is Iridium Silver, would this mean the job may cost far more?

No, it wouldn't cost more, but with my experience of silver metallics, and your expectations, I would probably turn the job down. You generally have to blend this colour out much futher, so a full bumper re-spray might be your best option. My job is as much about managing expectation and customer experience as about painting.

Chances are if you looked at the join line where the bumper meets the wing now, the silver would be a different shade from the factory anyway. They nearly always are, but you probably wouldn't spot it or look for it until after it had been repaired.

With 'stealership' rates, do you get to see who will actually paint it ? Is it the senior paint technician on £20ph, or the 2nd year NVQ apprentice on £8ph ? The apprentice would probably do a good and acceptable job, but don't confuse price with quality, they are not mutually exclusive

 

[flowrider]

I wouldn't go to the MB dealer for this as they will charge a small fortune. A few years ago i had a dent about the size of a 50p in a rear quarter panel, a dealer quoted circa £500, an independant body shop circa £350 and a smart repairer £60. Guess who got the job. The repair was perfect.

 

[AkisGr]

I can't believe on these prices!

It's hard for me to understand the numbers you all talking about.
Same thing happened to my CLS ,a year ago,on the rear bumper.
Had the whole bumper done perfectly with iridium silver on a body shop for 250 euro.In Cyprus.

There's nothing that justifies the prices mentioned here! Unbelievable.

 

[boxbrownie]

It's hard for me to understand the numbers you all talking about.
Same thing happened to my CLS ,a year ago,on the rear bumper.
Had the whole bumper done perfectly with iridium silver on a body shop for 250 euro.In Cyprus.

There's nothing that justifies the prices mentioned here! Unbelievable.

There you go "WAA" just drive over to Cyprus

 

[geraldrobins]

No, it wouldn't cost more, but with my experience of silver metallics, and your expectations, I would probably turn the job down. You generally have to blend this colour out much futher, so a full bumper re-spray might be your best option. My job is as much about managing expectation and customer experience as about painting.

Chances are if you looked at the join line where the bumper meets the wing now, the silver would be a different shade from the factory anyway. They nearly always are, but you probably wouldn't spot it or look for it until after it had been repaired.

With 'stealership' rates, do you get to see who will actually paint it ? Is it the senior paint technician on £20ph, or the 2nd year NVQ apprentice on £8ph ? The apprentice would probably do a good and acceptable job, but don't confuse price with quality, they are not mutually exclusive

!Highly paid apprentice! Id say.