Wheel arch scuff - Chipsaway any good?

[Kourosh]

I have scuffed the wheel arch on my SL350

Not wishing to spend huge sums repairing, I have a quote from Chipsway to fix for less than £200. Anyone used them before, and are they any good?

They claim to be the small/medium repairer to the MB Porsche and Aston Martin dealers in Cambridge, so I figure they must be OK

Oh, and yes I know, I am an idiot

 

[evdok]

Surely a decent body shop can do it for similar price, will paint warranty be void with C.A?

 

[Kourosh]

Surely a decent body shop can do it for similar price, will paint warranty be void with C.A?

Hmm...

Had not thought about paint warranty; what does that cover, just rust?

 

[evdok]

Any defect I think.

 

[x332race]

Chipsaway did a good job on my wife's CLK when she managed to scuff the front wheelarch but I gather the result can depend on the operative....we have a good chap in our area.
I get the impression that main dealers use chipsaway (or similar) to prepare their cars prior to sale???

 

[MrT]

^ As above, they are franchises, so YMMV. I used one and the results were pretty good (good enough) but not perfect - although it was raining at the time they did the job.

 

[flango]

Have used chipsaway a few times and results have varied, also paint seams to fade very easily 12 - 24 months from my experience,for £200 an approved body shop would sort that out quite easily, back panel on my CLK cost less than that to sort and colour match was perfect never used chipsaway since.

 

[crockers]

If you use a non approved body shop / repairer - the paint warranty is VOID only on the area repaired...so if rust or any other problems occur elsewhere you are covered but that arch isn't....hope that helps...

I had a vandalised scratch to one door - this need blending in over 3 panels -- all done for £200 cash .....MB wanted £650....



PS Blame the wife .......................

 

[evdok]

If you use a non approved body shop / repairer - the paint warranty is VOID only on the area repaired..

You 100% sure on this?

 

[crockers]

You 100% sure on this?

It was what was told to me by MB dealer............and if you think about it - is logical. But I'll stand to be corrected if it's wrong.

 

[maddog]

It was what was told to me by MB dealer............and if you think about it - is logical. But I'll stand to be corrected if it's wrong.

thats what i was told as well , they measure the paint thickness on each panel to determine if a repair has occurred in the past .

 

[Smiley]

Dont let chipsaway loose on that for £200; quality is very variable and from experience they seem to use cheaper materials - looks OK for a few months - if it were my four yr old SL I would either get a proper job via MB - protect the body warranty - or I would carefully touch it in with a touch up stick. You would be very surprised how well this can be done esp on a dark colour. You would need to spend a couple of hours on it - not a few minutes. If you go this way get some fine wet and dry - 600 to carefully smooth the edges of the scratch - then put the primer (rub down of course) and paint on - and once dry rub down with wet soapy 1500 paper to rub smooth and blend in - then polish.

 

[Kourosh]

I have now had the ChipsAway guy round to look at the car; the formal quote is £184 inc VAT. He claims that the repair will be excellent, with a 2 year warranty. He wants to paint quite a large area over the wing and the front bonnet, which makes me really worried: If it is not a near perfect match, I will be worse off than I am now!

Incidentally, he did not seem bothered by the fact that the black colour has lots of lillte specs/colours in it. He thought he could match it; Also claims they sort out lots of small/medium problems like this for the maindealers (including MB).

I think I will get a quote for an MB-approved bodyshop before deciding.

Will let you know the outcome...

 

[Kourosh]

...touch up stick. You would be very surprised how well this can be done esp on a dark colour. You would need to spend a couple of hours on it - not a few minutes. If you go this way get some fine wet and dry - 600 to carefully smooth the edges of the scratch - then put the primer (rub down of course) and paint on - and once dry rub down with wet soapy 1500 paper to rub smooth and blend in - then polish.

I do not think I would do a good enough job myself doing this. But then again, at least I would not b****r the half of the front wing and bumper; just a bit of it

 

[Setanta]

The guy who has one of the ChipsAway franchises up your way is actually supposed to be very good (highly recommended on pistonheads) - his name is Tol

These are the details that I have: [email protected]; [email protected]

 

[Kourosh]

The guy who has one of the ChipsAway franchises up your way is actually supposed to be very good (highly recommended on pistonheads) - his name is Tol

These are the details that I have: [email protected]; [email protected]

Thanks; I have just spotted this myself. There is a useful thread from him at:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...i=0&nmt=ChipsAway reviews on the forums&mid=0

The problem is that he is busy today and sent his 'technician' to see my car (who would do the job). I guess I could always request for the work to be done by the big boss himself

 

[evdok]

Don't cut corners, get it done proper on a car like that!

 

[Smiley]

I do not think I would do a good enough job myself doing this. But then again, at least I would not b****r the half of the front wing and bumper; just a bit of it

Exactly - at least you will be able to see that the damage was limited.

 

[Kourosh]

Just had a quote from my local MB dealer: £408 incl VAT. They'll need the car for five days and will give me a "not glamerous" courtesy car. For comparison, ChipsAway was £184 and will do the job in a couple of hours on my driveway

I am AMAZED that for once MB is actually cheaper than I had thought

Although by all accounts my local ChipsAway are excellent, I suppose I cannot go wrong by a 'proper' MB job...

 

[Smiley]

Just had a quote from my local MB dealer: £408 incl VAT. They'll need the car for five days and will give me a "not glamerous" courtesy car. For comparison, ChipsAway was £184 and will do the job in a couple of hours on my driveway

I am AMAZED that for once MB is actually cheaper than I had thought

Although by all accounts my local ChipsAway are excellent, I suppose I cannot go wrong by a 'proper' MB job...

MB job will be baked in an oven using proper materials; Chipsaway on your drive in the freezing cold. Right choice is easy.