To respray or not?

[Fez7]

Hi all, this is my first post but I've been following this forum since buying my first Merc, W204 C250 AMG Sport Plus in April.

Last weekend during a stay in London unfortunately someone scraped my vehicle whilst parked on the street without stopping. Luckily it should be easily repairable but I'm in 2 minds about how to go about it.

I'm trying to upload photos from my phone but it's saying the files are too large?

Obviously the corner of the bumper needs respraying but I'm not sure what to do about the wing.

Option 1: body shop to respray both the bumper corner and wing, £220 but will need to leave the car for 2-3 days.
Option 2: body shop to respray the bumper corner only and touch up the wing for free. He reckons most of the wing will buff out after cleaning off the red paint. Obviously this wouldn't be perfect but I'd rather avoid respraying the full wing for a small scrape if it'll then be hardly noticeable? Cost £120 and will need to leave the car overnight for 1 full day.
Option 3: mobile SMART repair both panels for £190-£220. Quickest and most convenient option as they can come to me but would like to know people's thoughts or experiences on mobile SMART repairers vs a traditional body shop. Could be done on my driveway in half a day.
Option 4: SMART repair both panels in their workshop for £180, they'd need the car for the full day but I could have it back the same day. Again, not sure on whether there would be a difference in quality/finish in going down this route compared to the traditional body shop if there is a difference in equipment and materials used?

Thanks in advance.
Fez

 

[GeeJayW]

I managed to scrape the rear bumper on our S205 a couple of years ago. Got it repaired/sprayed by the local MB approved paint shop. Very pleased with the outcome, which cost a couple of hundred. So, that’s what I would do FWIW.

 

[ChipChop]

Assuming your car has factory paint on the wing i would go with option 2. Professionally touched in factory paint is better than a resprayed complete wing that may or may not satisfactorily match the door or bonnet.

 

[SmartAmg]

Welcome, a good mobile repair, company should be able to do that, no problem.

 

[Fez7]

Thanks guys. I was also leaning towards option 2 personally.

I'm just curious as to what the benefits are of going to a traditional body shop compared to a SMART repairer. Is there a difference in quality or are the SMART methods so advanced that there is no real benefit?

 

[chic0821]

I have had Chipsaway repairs done in the past. Excellent work but depends on the person doing it. Would never have it done by a mobile repairer only go to someone who has a workshop where they have the proper equipment to cure the paint & its under cover with bodyshop equipment, not on your drive subject to weather & wind. Check with your local Chipsaway, as if they are any good they will say they can do it or you should take it to a bodyshop. after all its not worth their reputation doing shoddy work for the sake of a couple of hundred pounds.

 

[Fastcar155]

Hi , as it's a silver paint I would use a smart repair.

As mentioned before all repairs are down to the operative doing the work.

 

[Will]

It might be just me, but the bumper to the front wing looks like they are ever slightly different shades of silver anyway - so I would not worry if the bumper needs paint.

You might as well see how well it polishes out and touches up - you could even do that yourself. If you need to get it painted anyway you haven’t really lost anything. If you can smart repair (polish and touch in) that wing and paint the bumper that would probably be my choice

 

[RAB36]

Obvious choice is to repair and paint the wing and corner bumper so (option 1) then its back to how its meant to be, the issue is and its up to you obviously is the money, the wing once polished will only be left with that tiny little chip showing the primer which there probably charging you around the £160-170 mark for alone, so its a lot of money for a little chip BUT it will be back to oem but that brings me onto the next issue, its only going to be oem if its in the right hands just do your research on the shop you use and your be fine, shame you wasn't closer to me id have that repaired, painted and back to you in the same day, its minor and colour matching wont be an issue as its minimal paint and plenty of blending room.

Also to answer another reply bumpers "generally" always sit a slight different colour not always noticeable but some more than others and that's because the basecoat sits different on plastic than they do metal.

When all said and done the choice you choose is down to what your expectations are to be honest.

 

[clk320x]

shame you wasn't closer to me id have that repaired, painted and back to you in the same day, its minor and colour matching wont be an issue as its minimal paint and plenty of blending room

How much would you charge to Respray a 212 bonnet for stone chips?

 

[zipdip]

Well if you are going the smart repair route make certain your local guy is good,my one is very poor I would only recommend him to somebody I hated.

 

[Fez7]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm going to get the bumper only done and touch up the wing as I can't justify paying for the full wing to be resprayed for such a small chip. If I'm not happy with the finish then I can always get the wing done next time.

I'm also going to go for the traditional body shop if they can book me in soon enough. There's one local to me which is a small family business that's been around for 60 odd years who have great reviews and offer a lifetime guarantee. That way I know which person will be doing the respray and looking at his portfolio people have trusted him with their Bentley's and Ferrari's.

Alternatively I'll go for the SMART repair at their large workshop, although this would be cheaper and quicker than the body shop it could be any 1 of a number of staff doing the repair even though I know this will be an easy job for them. Either way I am definitely not going to go for a mobile repair as I don't like the idea of having a respray done outside.

 

[Will]

Sounds like a sensible choice

 

[RAB36]

How much would you charge to Respray a 212 bonnet for stone chips?

Depending on colour and how bad damage is it will be around £250-300

 

[mioba]

A paint job is only as good as the operator, the red will all buff out but that doesnt get away from what is underneath. I would opt for a body shop. They tend to have better equipment, better facilities for an overall better finish given the difference in price you mention and the value of the car.

 

[slipons]

It looks from the pic (which isn't brilliant) that the wing will buff out. So I would get the bumper repainted. But if this was my pride and joy, I would not be cutting corners. If it needs doing it needs doing properly. I know someone else messed it up and you shouldn't have to be paying for it, but if you do it properly, then at least you won't have to keep looking at it every time you approach the car being reminded that someone messed it up and you didn't fix it properly. Once it's fixed properly, you can put all of that behind you.

 

[Fez7]

So I did get this sorted in the end. I went for option 2 and was very happy with the outcome. The wing was touched in for free and is barely noticeable, not once have I been reminded of it when walking up to the car which is what I was dreading. The bumper corner was resprayed and the body shop matched the paint perfectly. 2 months later and the paint is still solid too no sign of peeling or any other defect.

Yes I could have got the wing resprayed too but glad I saved myself some notes now having seen the result as the car is bound to pick up the odd stone chip here and there in the future and I wouldn't get a full panel resprayed just for that and this looks even less noticeable than a stone chip now since it's been touched in. I have photos but it's saying the files are too large to upload.

 

[slipons]

Glad you got it sorted, and are happy with the results. Be mindful of where you park it, and hopefully this will minimise the chances of someone doing this again......

 

[Fez7]

Glad you got it sorted, and are happy with the results. Be mindful of where you park it, and hopefully this will minimise the chances of someone doing this again......

The sad thing is I'm usually very picky about where and how I park... much to my wife's annoyance. I'm usually that guy who parks a bit further away where there's more space but typically someone ends up parking right next to me anyway and this is actually the 3rd time this has happened to me now.

The first was in my first BMW when I parked in a busy retail park so there were hardly any empty spots and came back to find my bumper scraped and headlight smashed. No one had stopped to leave a note or anything and I was devastated. I was that gutted I didn't even bother trying to obtain CCTV etc as I knew it would hardly get me anywhere anyway so I just forked out for the repair from my own pocket.

The second time was in my second BMW in the office car park. Again bay parking and no other empty spots when my colleague ran up to me just before the end of the day to tell me he had just seen someone reverse into my bumper when pulling out. Again the person just drove off but luckily we managed to identify him the next day and he offered to pay for whatever it cost me to get fixed which is fair enough.

This time I parked outside my brother in law's house where he usually parks his 2nd car and in all the time he's lived there he's had no issues previously so I don't know whether I am just incredibly unlucky or what.

I guess the only positive to come out of the previous incidents is that I wasn't that gutted this time knowing these things happen and clearly can't be helped no matter what I do and that it's only a piece of metal at the end of the day. This time I was of the attitude that at least it can be easily repaired and that the damage could have been much worse and much more costly, as in at least I didn't have to go and buy a new headlight this time

It's probably a factor in why I didn't bother going all out with the repair too by getting both panels resprayed knowing that sadly, something like this could well happen again in the future although hopefully not!