I'd personally attempting a repair on the "keying" aiming for a 95% perfect invisible repair, but that comes from having the skill and experience to do so.  Its only filling a crack, most of us are pretty good at that (lol).

Less so with the dent though, that looks like moderate bodywork to me that I would be more concerned I could do myself.
That said I have seen a very skilled PDR at work - but that looks like it needs a bit more. I reckon the right person could do that too but most would go the lazy route of quote spraying a bigger portion of panel.

I wouldn't have an expensive respray on the whole panel that on face value looks worse but isn't but I would consult an expert for the other damage and you never know if they are that good they could probably tackle the scratch.

14 hours ago, vRSAnt said:

I'd personally attempting a repair on the "keying" aiming for a 95% perfect invisible repair, but that comes from having the skill and experience to do so.

 

Nothing less than 100% perfection satisfies me.

 

By the way, what is an 'invisible' repair?  My standards are such that if it's visible then it's not a repair.

Edited 2 July, 20187 yr by Guest

My father seems to knows far bettter than anyone about paint perfect as he was the expert scientist in his field for car paints at 3m dealing directly with car plants, engineering innovative Alumium oxide products for paint perfection ( PerfectIT, FinesseIT, etc)

In many cases the rejections some manufacturers had were huge and he could justify selling them sandpaper twice as expensive (that worked) because of the huge number of oversprayed cars returning as failed. So yesteryear paint was well below 100%.

Thankfully things are a lot better and I guess y'all can thank the involvement of people like my father for your high expectations !
Yet, car are still just "production" made to a point, I bet if an expert eye cast over they might even spot a minor manufacturing defect as the average person isn't trained to look for problem in paints and don't have the equipment like micrometer to really tell?
Its just cars, they are meant to be driven to be honest.....all cars pick up scratches etc just in use.

Anyway my point about repair is that its acceptable to have in many cases an "acceptable repair".

One very possible likelihood is it could happen again by the very scum who did it last time, so in a cycle.
In that case would you rather a) have an ongoing basis to deal with it yourself without getting a sweat on or b - keep going through polava with insurance, third parties at large cost, etc.

Just making a suggestion that solution A is considered as an actual worthwhile comment on this thread, as its something I would try, not for all but for those with some confidence and the right know how is worth a look. It can be cheap, although a bit time consuming.

Edited 2 July, 20187 yr by vRSAnt

2 hours ago, vRSAnt said:

My father seems to knows far bettter than anyone about paint perfect as he was the expert scientist in his field for car paints at 3m dealing directly with car plants, engineering innovative Alumium oxide products for paint perfection ( PerfectIT, FinesseIT, etc)

In many cases the rejections some manufacturers had were huge and he could justify selling them sandpaper twice as expensive (that worked) because of the huge number of oversprayed cars returning as failed. So yesteryear paint was well below 100%.

Thankfully things are a lot better and I guess y'all can thank the involvement of people like my father for your high expectations !
Yet, car are still just "production" made to a point, I bet if an expert eye cast over they might even spot a minor manufacturing defect as the average person isn't trained to look for problem in paints and don't have the equipment like micrometer to really tell?
Its just cars, they are meant to be driven to be honest.....all cars pick up scratches etc just in use.

Anyway my point about repair is that its acceptable to have in many cases an "acceptable repair".

One very possible likelihood is it could happen again by the very scum who did it last time, so in a cycle.
In that case would you rather a) have an ongoing basis to deal with it yourself without getting a sweat on or b - keep going through polava with insurance, third parties at large cost, etc.

Just making a suggestion that solution A is considered as an actual worthwhile comment on this thread, as its something I would try, not for all but for those with some confidence and the right know how is worth a look. It can be cheap, although a bit time consuming.

 

I'd keep going thru insurance. If they're going to charge me handsomely for accidental damage, I'm going to make damned sure they pay when accidental damage occurs.

 

BTW - parents are interesting. My father served 43years as a coachpainter and you remind me of somethings that happened a number of years ago. You mention to the trained eye. I've mostly gone for VW but always had a look at Skoda (would never take the plunge up until now). It may have been when mk2 Octavia came out, he came with me to look at a new car - took one look at it and said 'rubbish'. What do you mean rubbish, it's basically the same car as VW and Audi? Nope, he said the paint was far too thin. He actually rated Audi as one of the best paint finishes of any car. And it's true - look at a well kept old Audi (something like an A2 say) and they still look as if they're brand new.

 

Same with his workmates who went on to own spray shop businesses of their own. They're all retired now so any work he's had to be done on his car these days, the local repairer who he trusts, gets a paint code from the manufacturer, but those guys would just mix the paint-by-eye and it was a perfect match.

 

Another good one with the 'trained eye' - we were picking up his new car when we saw a salesman going over the body work of an older car with a meter. Inquisitive, I asked him what was he doing? - "Oh it's just a tool we use to discover the depth of the paint, the car is a part-ex, just checking there's no accident damage". My dad butts in... "Yeh dinnae need that thing son, there's damage here, here and here". Right enough the guy places his meter over the areas and discovers the car had been resprayed. The look on that guy's face...  

 

I've no option but only settle for 100% perfection, otherwise I'd get reminders everytime he sees my car.   

Loved the days before Water Based Paints, then when repairs / refinishing could be done not using water based paints, but things move on, 

and the processes move on, and sometimes the likes of Ford or Mercedes put out new cars with paint finishes / thickness and even what looks like orange peel

which we would have had rejected if we had painted a car like that a few decades ago, but now people like paint that looks thick and like properly painted.

 

In the 1980's i worked as an Industrial Sprayer in the Oil & Gas Industry, and Plant and Mining, Factory Equipment painting.

The specifications and standards required were far beyond those expected or required in the Motor Trade.

(But actually there were still those in Q&A / Inspections that were winging it and had not a clue about what was involved in getting the product from the fabricators / welders to the finished item then transported undamaged.) What was samples to win a contract, then how the rest were being prepped and painted.

Edited 2 July, 20187 yr by Offski

Although not an expert at doing panel and paint repairs, I tend to agree with Offski in that there are some excellent repairers who bring the whole mobile kit in a van to your place and fix dents and scratches.  I had some cracked plastic and chipped metal fixed very nicely by one in my area for £280.  He stayed most of the day and I thought his work and rates were very reasonable.  I did give him lunch and coffee as well mind.

1 hour ago, Oldmansomerset said:

Although not an expert at doing panel and paint repairs, I tend to agree with Offski in that there are some excellent repairers who bring the whole mobile kit in a van to your place and fix dents and scratches.  I had some cracked plastic and chipped metal fixed very nicely by one in my area for £280.  He stayed most of the day and I thought his work and rates were very reasonable.  I did give him lunch and coffee as well mind.

I’m in Somerset too. Could you tell me who that is? PM me if you prefer. 

 

Cheers,

dunc 

On 7/1/2018 at 20:20, Octy0GG said:

.......additionally the assessor would be very quick to note that the original damage was pre-existing......
.......Insurance companies are keen to ensure that customers do not enjoy any 'betterment' at their expense.....

What pre-existing damage are you meaning?  The entire right side of the car has been keyed, and that's the claim I would be meaning.

And interestingly, the insurance just told me to go out and get my own quote... only wanted 1, and they didn't need it to be assessed by their own team, which I also found odd, but I'm not arguing with it.
I intend getting several quotes though.

And fully understood about them minimising their payouts... but it's MY car, and i'm paying them MY money, so if I insist on a full respray, then surely that's my choice?
Considering the car isn't even 2 years old - and I'm going to have to pay the excess myself, as I cannot identify the responsible party yet.... and doubt the police will identify them either.

9 minutes ago, spinifex said:

What pre-existing damage are you meaning?  

The damage that was the topic of your original post, with the screw as the possible cause, I understood that was previous to and unrelated to the later vandalism. Hope you get a satisfactory resolution. My experience of insurance repairs was in a different century, in a different country and with an older car, your experience may well be much better. 

26 minutes ago, Octy0GG said:

The damage that was the topic of your original post, with the screw as the possible cause, I understood that was previous to and unrelated to the later vandalism. Hope you get a satisfactory resolution. My experience of insurance repairs was in a different century, in a different country and with an older car, your experience may well be much better. 

 

Ahhh.... fair enough.

Yes, well since the entire rear panel needs to be repaired, I doubt they'll be able to distinguish between a proportion of damaged caused by the screw, versus the vandalism.

15 hours ago, Scot5 said:

 

I'd keep going thru insurance. If they're going to charge me handsomely for accidental damage, I'm going to make damned sure they pay when accidental damage occurs.

 

BTW - parents are interesting. My father served 43years as a coachpainter and you remind me of somethings that happened a number of years ago. You mention to the trained eye. I've mostly gone for VW but always had a look at Skoda (would never take the plunge up until now). It may have been when mk2 Octavia came out, he came with me to look at a new car - took one look at it and said 'rubbish'. What do you mean rubbish, it's basically the same car as VW and Audi? Nope, he said the paint was far too thin. He actually rated Audi as one of the best paint finishes of any car. And it's true - look at a well kept old Audi (something like an A2 say) and they still look as if they're brand new.

 

Same with his workmates who went on to own spray shop businesses of their own. They're all retired now so any work he's had to be done on his car these days, the local repairer who he trusts, gets a paint code from the manufacturer, but those guys would just mix the paint-by-eye and it was a perfect match.

 

Another good one with the 'trained eye' - we were picking up his new car when we saw a salesman going over the body work of an older car with a meter. Inquisitive, I asked him what was he doing? - "Oh it's just a tool we use to discover the depth of the paint, the car is a part-ex, just checking there's no accident damage". My dad butts in... "Yeh dinnae need that thing son, there's damage here, here and here". Right enough the guy places his meter over the areas and discovers the car had been resprayed. The look on that guy's face...  

 

I've no option but only settle for 100% perfection, otherwise I'd get reminders everytime he sees my car.   

 

Is Audi A2 build on aluminium chassis?

Wonderful cars ahead of their time IMO and a real shame VW Group could not do as a EV.

Likely they cost more to design and build material wise than Audi were selling them for.

11 hours ago, dunc69 said:

I’m in Somerset too. Could you tell me who that is? PM me if you prefer. 

 

Cheers,

dunc 

No problem. He is Martin Hutson (The Hitman) Tel: 07941686599.  I think he is based in Bristol but is fully mobile and does a lot of commercial work especially in Bath.  You may have to wait a while for him to make an appointment.  Good luck!

3 hours ago, Oldmansomerset said:

No problem. He is Martin Hutson (The Hitman) Tel: 07941686599.  I think he is based in Bristol but is fully mobile and does a lot of commercial work especially in Bath.  You may have to wait a while for him to make an appointment.  Good luck!

Many thanks!