Travelled down to Cornwall to visit my daughter and grandaughter for the weekend and foolishly scraped the front nearside bumper and a little bit of the wing against a wall - luckily no impact damage just deeply scratched paintwork. Now for the painful bit - £198 quote from Chips Away. They reckon on 5 hours work - deep clean area, grind and backfill with filler and smooth off, 2 coats primer, 2 coats of colour and finally 2 coats of lacquer. They will also dress some scratches on the top of the wing where my neighbours cat has slid of after jumping up to try and find a nice warm spot. He will get at least 2 laceholes if I catch him trying to do that again  MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

unless you have seen Mr Chips Aways work I wouldn't touch him IMO

They are normally not fully trained bodyshop specialists and just somebody who has gone on a weeks (if that) training course in smart repairs

You do get some good ones out there, but the one that did my dads car the repair work stood out a mile away

Try your local bodyshops to compare prices, even some of the backstreet ones have good rep

My dealers wanted £500 when my car was keyed, My Apprentice trained repairer did it for £168 and it was spotless and colour matched perfectly.

I found my chap by asking for advice on Detailing World and even met the chap who had work done to see the quality. Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

and ouch i bet you was gutted and blamed the Mrs for talking too much  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

my 'smart repair' mate did a great job.. the day after he did the work the car went for its service and paint check, the paint check form states 'no sign of any paint repairs'  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

It would be a bit rich for a dealer to say that Chips Away (Smart repair) was evidence of paint repair as every dealer that I have used use Chips Away to do their repairs. (Ford, BMW, Audi)

After mine was done recently, and a very good job done too, I pointed out my business partners 10 plate Audi. He looked at the number plate, "Did 3 x 10 plates up there last week" (just before delivery)

He'd done a Range Rover on a 10 plate. I guess experiences vary, but I have always been impressed. Hi Darling, I'll be home in 10 mins. If I'm not back, please read this message again...

Working at BMW you wouldn't believe how many cars needed smart repairs when they came off the transporter. Luckily for me I've always managed to find out when our cars have been delivered in the past to the dealer, and inspected them as they come of the transporter  Mine: 2012 Golf GTI Edition 35
Family's: 2009 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Auto, Stornoway

Yorkshire - God's County

I always had an idea that the wifes car had it's door resprayed when I saw paint over spray on the door handle, my paint thickness gauge confirmed it  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Take it to a proper body shop. I valeted a customers 1 month old VW Golf recently & when I had finished I asked him if he had had the car damaged or whether the dealer had damaged & repaired it without telling him. His answer was that he had had a small ding & got Chips Away out. The job was dreadfull with dull bits behind the area where the tailgate sits. If you arn't bothered about the finish then use them but you can't beat a decent bodyshop as they are temperature controlled & not open to the elements & of course dust! (Past) Freelander 2 HSE 2010 MY In Rimini Red.
(Past) RR Evoque Dynamic Lux Si4 In Firenze Red.
(Past) RR Evouque Pure Tech in Barollo Black with bespoke Firenze Red colour coding.
(Present) Freelander Metropolis 2015 MY In Santorini Black with Ivory Premium Leather.

Here is a pic of the damage causing me so much angst - more upset about the £198 repair bill but taking on board the mixed comments on balance will stick with Chips Away. The bloke who is doing it next Tuesday is the Franchisee and has 18months with Chips - prior to that he ran a car body shop with his father. Seems a decent enough bloke and if it does take 5 hours is probably worth it. I shall be watching like a hawk. Will post "after" pictures in due course.

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I'm glad I'm not the only one who scraped the front side of the car... Did something like yours when entering my garage (I've to turn in backwards due to lack of space) but left it like it was (mine is only on the plastic bumper) I guess that as a LR driver you have a very good look and feeling where the corners of your car are (you see the bonnet!) but when becomming too confident... it's expensive. Fl2 zermattsilver TD4 S man

Sounds like one of the good ones, time served in his body shop

End of the day though, not happy dont pay until completley satisfied  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

npinks wrote:

Sounds like one of the good ones, time served in his body shop

End of the day though, not happy dont pay until completley satisfied

Was it trying to get this satisfaction that caused the mishap with the wheel whilst crawling along  p****d off with a Digital Keyboard Warrior

 Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Had Chips Away out to my badly scraped 'the wife didn't see the wall' bumper.

The guy done a brilliant job, took him about 3 hrs, £146.

Very pleased, he did say that he's been doing it for about 8 years though, would use again, hopefully won't have to. Lago Grey 2.2 s td4..e

Well the man from Chips turned up at 9am replete with mini marquee, heaters, compressor et al. 51/2 hours later job done. He also did a couple of scratches not shown on before/after pics.

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge