I had just finished washing my race blue mk3 vas this morning when my window cleaner showed up, and after a brief chat while he cleaned my front windows he went to move his stuff down my drive into my rear garden...

 

While I was applying tyre gel to my f/n/s wheel I heard a light banging and scraping sound, I stood up to see him feeding his hose reel over my bonnet while he was stood in the back garden!! The grit and dirt on the hose line has caused numerous scratches up my bonnet and f/o/s wing and needless to say I immediately alerted him to the fact…..!!

 

I am grateful at least that I witnessed this careless act, had I been inside and come out to find it later I would have been struggling to prove it was his hose line that caused it.   I've got some photos of the damage and also importantly the position of his hose reel at the back of his van which shows the line coming from it and running directly in line to my bonnet towards the back garden.

 

I also got him to join me in writing individual statements to which he has signed, admitting fault, stating the damage appeared fresh, admitting the hose line was covered in the usual grit and dirt and that had pulled it in to the back garden and that it must have risen up over my bonnet.

 

My question to you gents, is presumably he will need to claim back the repairs off his public liability insurance?

Yes you get it repaired and send him the bill , might be worth speaking to a pro detailer first though , personally id rather my car was polished than painted

 

I know how you feel I had 3 windows smashed on my brand new Freelander by a careless gardener with a strimmer

That's rather unfortunate. Do you know whether the Window Cleaner is officially registered or doing it off the books to "cover his Dole money"? If he is unregistered there will be no insurance cover on his part.

If the scratches have not gone down to the primer then good polish or t-cut may remove them easily. If you can see primer it may be worth calling a scratch and dent repairer and obtaining a quote. Whether the WC has insurance or not he may be willing to pay reasonable costs in cash.

Finally, it's just some scratches on a piece of metal that will be scrap in 10 years. Don't let it bother you too much.

Finally, it's just some scratches on a piece of metal that will be scrap in 10 years. Don't let it bother you too much.

 Orville you are quite right and exactly what my mrs said…even a broken clock can be right twice a day  :peek:

 

But yes I believe he is registered and in fairness seems a decent bloke. 

 

If it is down to the primer, what colour should I expect to see underneath? I shall try and upload some photos

If you see any colour other than blue then it's down to primer. Usually white or grey

Octavia primer should be medium grey in colour. It's actually quite hard to scratch that deep without doing it deliberately so my guess is that a good polish and wax will see them disappear.

The reason scratches don't bother me is because my wife collects them. She ca apply much faster than I can remove them so I just give up.

Whilst I understand wanting it repaired at a bodyshop, of the damage is isolated to scratches a professional polish will be cheaper, avoid potential colour match issues and also hopefully maintain a good relationship with your cleaner. I'd be interested to see photos

Ps even scratches can look like they've gone through to base coat you'll be surprised.

This was about as bad as I would really have liked on a car.  Looks awful yes?

 

 

 

Bit of sanding and polishing later!

 

 

 

Up close it looked even worse :(

 

Is that from the local £5 jetwash after they have dropped the sponge on the floor and carried on washing with it?

No the above was caused by a small child drawing pretty patterns with a rock...

If you see any colour other than blue then it's down to primer. Usually white or grey

I think you would be surprised what someone who knows what they are doing can do , just like the other results posted

 

I did a neighbours Audi A4 after it was damaged by kids

 

 

 

After

 

 

My question to you gents, is presumably he will need to claim back the repairs off his public liability insurance?

Public Liability insurance isn't a legal requirement so your window cleaner may not have any in place, would be worth checking with him as he seems to be quite amicable about the situation.

He may wish to settle with you without claiming via his PL cover anyway.

Sweet job RichF how did you manage that; the paint on that A4 looked faaked!

And sorry to the OP, unfortunate but of course it wasnt intentional.

A detailer worth their salts would be able to rectify it I would expect unless its down to the primer; I would get an opinion and then agree with the guy to settle with you cash for the detailing costs.

Id do anything to avoid having it painted and it does sound as though painting might be overkill in this case.

Edited 30 January, 201511 yr by pipsyp

k9matt, sorry to hear about that. I hope you get it sorted. I agree with the comments about polish, it's certainly worth a try. It's better than (needlessly) ending up with a bonnet in slightly different colour.

If you see any colour other than blue then it's down to primer. Usually white or grey

 

aaah. In fact k9matt could ask the window cleaner to do it to the whole car and he'd end up with meteor grey :peek:

No the above was caused by a small child drawing pretty patterns with a rock...

 

*runs to his little boy and put's him in a straight jacket.*

I have seen my neighbours kid cleaning the car: drop the sponge in the gravel, pick up and continue...

You need to remember the lacquer is a coat approx 1mm thick, sometimes more, often less. scratches can go down through say 0.25 mm and I would consider that a fair scratch! However bring surrounding paint down to same level, scratch will be gone. Polish and bob's your mother's brother.

Sweet job RichF how did you manage that; the paint on that A4 looked faaked!

3000 grade wet and dry and then machine polishing with a Rupes big foot , all in including washing it down after was 1 hour

I would definitely try the polishing before the paint route.

 

I damaged the front bumper on mine which unfortunately required re-painting over a smallish area. Like yours mine is Race Blue, and I cannot get the colour match right. I've tried 2 different bodyshops and they both warned me before starting work that the match for this particular colour is difficult.

 

They were right. From some angles and in dull light the match can look perfect, but from other angles and/or different light the resprayed part is definitely slightly darker compared to the surrounding parts. 

 

Maybe I have been unlucky with the body shops, but one of them I have used before. That was for minor repairs on a Cappucino beige Octy2, and I was assured the match would be good. And so it was.   

OP . Post some pics and if i think I can help i'll do it FOC for you if you bring it to me

+1 for the mopping/polishing route. I made the same stupid mistake with my last VRS with its 1st and only ever garage car wash. After having dragged the grit-encrusted hose over almost every panel, I took this as an unexpected-expensive opportunity to get the stone-chipped front spoiler, bonnet and faded spoiler sprayed. They matched very well, with the other affected panels, roof, A pillars and rear hatch, which were mopped. No damage was visible afterwards and the car is still very shiny 2.5 years later.

Many many thanks for the replies and advice on here today guys, it's really appreciated. Not to mention the offer of practical help from Richf. My neighbour who works at Aston Martin came home in the afternoon and offered his advice, which was exactly the same as yours..try polishing out, as the scratches weren't that deep. 

 

So this afternoon we knuckled down with the dual action polisher and have brought all the scratches out on the bonnet and f/o/s wing panels. 

 

To say i'm relieved is an understatement, I did have concerns over the paint match particularly over such a large and prominent area of the car. 

 

Once again, many thanks for all of your quick and helpful replies  :clap:

Maybe the window cleaner will bring you a nice bottle of red for being so reasonable

Maybe the window cleaner will bring you a nice bottle of red for being so reasonable

better not, he may want to celebrate and smash it "ship style" against the car.

K9matt, glad top hear it worked out

Many many thanks for the replies and advice on here today guys, it's really appreciated. Not to mention the offer of practical help from Richf. My neighbour who works at Aston Martin came home in the afternoon and offered his advice, which was exactly the same as yours..try polishing out, as the scratches weren't that deep. 

 

So this afternoon we knuckled down with the dual action polisher and have brought all the scratches out on the bonnet and f/o/s wing panels. 

 

To say i'm relieved is an understatement, I did have concerns over the paint match particularly over such a large and prominent area of the car. 

 

Once again, many thanks for all of your quick and helpful replies  :clap:

 

Good to hear, and good to see a pleasant outcome.