Got a small (5p size) dent in the bonnet whats gone through the paint.

Luckily the boy next door told us what happened - apparently they were messing around and lobbing stones in the air - as young boys are known to do. Went round to the boys house and after a bit of 'discussion' - the culprit admitted to it. Almost felt sorry for the poor lad - getting it in the ear from his mother - possibly for admitting to it in front of me as up to then the mum was doing a good job of explaining why his son would never have done something like that...

I reckon it will need a bit of filler and respray.. Any ideas about how much this is likely to cost?

Chips Away, West Ealing did my bumper dent for a reasonable price....might be a franchise closer to you, JT Upgraded to an ex demo, 7 mth old, Rimini Red/Ebony Napoli Auto HSE on 28th Jan 2011, added roof rails, mudflaps and side strips.
Gone - A great 57 Plate, Auto SE, Bought Feb 2009, Roof Rails and Mudflaps added on purchase. Blue colour, anything but drug dealer black.....

Yep...I'd recommend Chips Away. You should get them to touch up any other stione chips and scratches while they're at it. garioch43

2009 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE - Santorini Black/Black Leather
2002 MGF 1.8i - British Racing Green/Cream Leather with loads of walnut and chrome bits

garioch43 wrote:

Yep...I'd recommend Chips Away. You should get them to touch up any other stione chips and scratches while they're at it.

Had a similar issue with my last car (RRS). Some scumbad keyed the bonnet through to the metal with a 7" scratch. Chipsaway bloke just said he'd never get the finish right; I thanked him for his honesty. Bodyshop at my LR dealers quoted £700 and after being told it wasn't an insurance job the pirce came down to £500. it was a whole bonnet respray, which any decent VBRA accredited body shop should be able to do.

You would be better going to a independent (time server apprentice) mobile repair man or a proper body shop

Chipsaway people are normally just people who have gone on a few days course on how to spray a car and pay a fee to become a franchise, obviously there will be the very good ones amongst thoses

The one who did my dads car door spent hours doing and redoing the work and you could still see it standing out like a sore thumb

The chap i used when my last car was keyed, took it away and sprayed front wing and door and the colour match was perfect charged £160 compared to the LR bodyshops £500

Last edited by npinks on 20th Mar 2012 10:12 am. Edited 1 time in total

Thanks for the recommendations.

I've had a bad experience with Chips Away on our last car where a small but deep door ding was turned into a massive wavy patch of slightly darker silver than the rest of the car. Couldnt fault the chap for effort - he spent best part of three days sanding, filling, drying and spraying - but the flimsy metal they use on Vauxhall Antara's just wasnt having it. He admited defeat and refunded the £160 charge but the door looked a lot worse after his attempt to fix.

I've been given a estimate (without seeing the damage) from local LR dealer of £300 which seems somewhat reasonable given its a entire bonnet respray - maybe solid colors are easier?

Next step is to see if the boys parents will do the decent thing and pay for the respray..

If they refuse - any (sensible) suggestions about how I can get them to cough up?

Last edited by SamYPKP on 20th Mar 2012 10:37 am. Edited 1 time in total

its your word against theirs so i don't think there will be an easy way round it, even though the kid accepted blame

bonnets can be hard to fix due too the double skin, my car had a small dint just near the front badges when I was buying, dealer said he would fix it no problems. in the end it took him ages a difficult job, even had to debadge it and fit a new badge, yours may be in a place with no double skin however At work
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You’ll find that most ‘smart’ repair companies won’t touch either bonnet (or roof) as they are such big areas, so a full respray of the bonnet may be the only answer.

I had a Subaru before my Freelander that got a really nasty ding in it’s aluminium bonnet and a bodyshop here in Glasgow did a full bonnet respray for a reasonable £400 (and they removed and refitted the bonnet to do the job - it cannot be sprayed in situ)!