Hi all,

This morning I stupidly rolled into a wall and took out a drain pipe! It has scuffed the paint work on the bumper.

Chips away have quoted me £156 Inc vat. Is that good? 

I would be more concerned if the chips away guy is good, afterall he will most likey just been on a training course on smart repairs not apprentice trained like some bodyshops

My view is you get what you pay for, I was lucky to find a trained mobile repaired, who had a spray booth at his home so I went there (can't expect great result been paint on a driveway with dust blowing about) cheaper than a bodyshop, invisible to the eye when he was done Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I've had chips away carry out stone chip repairs on a MINI and (on the same morning) repair some scuffs on a Volvo.

The method for repairing the stone chips was so simple it was brilliant and I was very happy with the results.

The method for repairing the scuffs was by using a small airbrush to touch in the damaged areas and the results were only marginally better than having a go with an aerosol from Halfords

I wouldn't let them near it. I had some fairly major damaged repaired on the rear bumper at my local bodyshop. They welded the cracks, filled some damage, professionally resprayed about 1/4 of the total bumper and charged me "only" £200. I'd go and talk to your local bodyshop, tell them it's not an insurance job and it'll be payment on collection and I think you'll find they are very accommodating

Last edited by Tigger on 7th Sep 2011 8:04 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Had a quote from Chips Away for a scratch on the front bumper of my last FL2.
They wanted £150 plus VAT went to local bodyshop who did the job for £120 all in and that included a full respray of the bumper not just a touch up of the repair.

rchrdleigh wrote:

Had a quote from Chips Away for a scratch on the front bumper of my last FL2.
They wanted £150 plus VAT went to local bodyshop who did the job for £120 all in and that included a full respray of the bumper not just a touch up of the repair.

certainly worth asking around a couple of body shops for quotes!

Does it matter about my GARDX treatment? 

stownrow wrote:

Does it matter about my GARDX treatment?

Not now, seeing as you left it on the wall and drain pipe

New paint will need re-doing though, to echo the others, find a good body shop, they will be glad of the business

Depends on wether GaurdX has silicone or anyother product you have used on the car, as painting and silicone don't get on well

Even if you have sprayed the wing mirrors or something let them know

You might also want to reapply gaurdX to the painted area as it may fade differently to the other areas Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Got a couple of quotes today! Cheapest was £250 Inc vat seems slot but I think if I want it right it's the way to do it !? 

Based on my past experience with our local Chips Away chap, I would recommend paying the extra and getting it done in a decent body shop.

A couple of years ago I caught a bmw putting a fairly deep ding into my last car. I paid Chips Away £178 to fix. To be fair the chap tried his best, spending best part of three days sanding, filling, drying, spraying.. but the end result was a 5 inch squared patch of wavy surface surrounded by slightly darker shade of silver than the rest of the car! It looked worse than the original ding.

I took it to a local body shop who quoted £220 to do the job right, but only after he had laughed his ass off at the Chips Away handy work.

Sounds like he had the same training as the Chips away cap that did my dad Lexus door very badly Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I badly scraped my rear bumper by reversing into a stone wall. My local bodyshop did a professional repair, all in one day for £192 inc. VAT.

SamYPKP wrote:

Based on my past experience with our local Chips Away chap, I would recommend paying the extra and getting it done in a decent body shop.

A couple of years ago I caught a bmw putting a fairly deep ding into my last car. I paid Chips Away £178 to fix. To be fair the chap tried his best, spending best part of three days sanding, filling, drying, spraying.. but the end result was a 5 inch squared patch of wavy surface surrounded by slightly darker shade of silver than the rest of the car! It looked worse than the original ding.

I took it to a local body shop who quoted £220 to do the job right, but only after he had laughed his ass off at the Chips Away handy work.

That sounds very familiar!

If you don't mind travelling a bit I can recommend Finishline in Graveley near Stevenage. They did an excellent job for me (twice) and were reasonably priced and came highly recommended by others who have used them. When I was there they were doing a full body respray for a customer in Germany who'd paid to ship his car to them and back again.

Hi guys ! Thanks again for help! Took it to a body shop today! £236 Inc vat! They took the bumper off and I'm gonna drive back and have it refitted in a couple of days!  

Bumper in the body shop now...

Only thing I've just though of is the parking aid..... it sometimes randomly beeps when I go to reverse! Should I have taken the fuse out and have I just cost an expensive reset at a dealer?