Bodywork - what would you do

[1animal1]

kk chaps..... my car is in desperate need of some bodywork, so far i havent been ****(even with the Audi warranty claim)...but Audis in the park has got my motivation going.

Just taken it to an old boy with his own workshop, jig and spray booth, to spray one side (keyed), both bumpers and repair the rear which needs plastic welding - oh and to spray the rear number plate trim - hes been doing it since 1974 and has good recommendations - £200

local lad i know from school who owns his own workshop with 4-5 employees (helpers), used him before and he is good ....wants £450 saying it will cost £150 in materials!

the old boy preferred i remove as much trim as possible, even the rear quarter window if i couldm were as the young lad says he will give the car back in top condition and i dont need to remove many bits including the window

on top of this the old fella recommended i go to Audi as the outer front of the rear arches (both sides) both have a quarter circle of small bumps which indicates some sort of pre paint spot welds or similar from the factory, so i went to Audi today too and got them to do a report on these and the roof which has light corrosion - the kid was spot on but said he'd had a noggy in a few weeks before which much worse than mine and they rejected it, so im gonna wait a week to hear from Audi (max 2) then both shops can fit me in before the show - but im scratching my head, for £200 its gotta be worth a punt, or has it

 

[1animal1]

oh and both have said to replace the number plate trim as its heavily corroded and will just come back again if i dont replace

 

[Ian W]

Wouldn't say the £200 one is worth a punt just cos its cheap, if he makes a right mess of it then your talking more paint afterwards.

As for taking bits off yourself and all that, been there and done that myself, to much hassle - go for the drive in drive out job imo.

 

[Dani_B19]

Well the place i use have just quoted me £1300 to do the following:

Full outer respray (not doing door shuts, engine bay etc)
Fit new wing
Plastic weld front bumper
Fit new drivers door blade
Fix roof corrosion
(fit rs4 vents into front bumper, but i havent told him about that yet lol, so that will be £100)

So £1300 for all that i think is good, their work is top notch too.

 

[1animal1]

was thinking the same Ian but i was going to question the chap first and maybe chuck another £50-£100 and say i want a top job, thing is hes still in business after 30 years which must say something about him - Dani, this chaps at Catcliffe if you wana give him a go for a quote, down the road from you isn't it...Rotherham

 

[Dani_B19]

was thinking the same Ian but i was going to question the chap first and maybe chuck another £50-£100 and say i want a top job, thing is hes still in business after 30 years which must say something about him - Dani, this chaps at Catcliffe if you wana give him a go for a quote, down the road from you isn't it...Rotherham

How dare you, im from barnsley, rotherham = inbred, lmao.

Im ok mate, the kid im useing is local and a mate.

 

[1animal1]

yeah but doood, lad whos quoted me is a mate from school, but a 250% mark up from my last price isnt mates rates IMO

im waiting to hear back from someone else i know whos used this chap.... must say £1300 sounds like silly money for what your wanting

 

[Welly]

was thinking the same Ian but i was going to question the chap first and maybe chuck another £50-£100 and say i want a top job, thing is hes still in business after 30 years which must say something about him

Thats how I would look at it personally. I always go on reputation....

 

[Dani_B19]

yeah but doood, lad whos quoted me is a mate from school, but a 250% mark up from my last price isnt mates rates IMO

im waiting to hear back from someone else i know whos used this chap.... must say £1300 sounds like silly money for what your wanting

You mean silly as in cheap or dear?

 

[1animal1]

Welly...i think ive answered my own question havent i

Dani... expensive fella, never had all that done but id say a grand tops from a retail price

 

[Dani_B19]

Really! Tbh i thought it was quite good, may have to have a little shop around and see what other's say but from the quotes my mates just recieved, he's got a toyota yaris sport, he's had a door fitted and sprayed for £280, every were else was well over £500, so i dont think my mates too bad on prices.

Ill shop around though.

 

[1animal1]

tbh ive used this mate for a couple of jobs and he's come good, although slight under spray on the last set of mirrors i asked for.....just thought id shop this time and didnt even mention i was going elsewhere to this old fella....making me think

young lad claims to need at least £150 for materials yet someone i know says thats wey more than what it costs them making the old chaps prices more realistic

 

[mk1chopper]

I've got a quote at home for having the rust sorted on the roof (both sides and been rejected by audi) and also to have a key mark sparyed and front bumber wings and bonnet done due to stone chips, i'll dig it out for the price, the company came recommend from my brother who had them repair his car and he is a perfectionist himself so wouldnt be happy with just an ok job.

 

[emery1990]

Is he a good friend?

Id probably go for the old guy as he has been in business for ages so must be pretty good and might not know how to price a job or something?

I got a full machine polish both front and back bumpers sprayed rear bumper repaired first, lots of rust on the rear arch had been fixed and full interior cleaned for £250 and that was dads mates rates, so £200 does seem very cheap! dont know how much more works was involved in mine other yours though.

 

[BigD-a3tq]

£1300 is waaay to much, i got my bonnet, both wings and front bumper ( plastic welded and sprayed) all for £400cash.

I'd shop around and get a few quotes, in todays market buyers have got the upper hand!

just my 2penneth worth

 

[jojo]

Well the place i use have just quoted me £1300 to do the following:

Full outer respray (not doing door shuts, engine bay etc)
Fit new wing
Plastic weld front bumper
Fit new drivers door blade
Fix roof corrosion
(fit rs4 vents into front bumper, but i havent told him about that yet lol, so that will be £100)

So £1300 for all that i think is good, their work is top notch too.

So , it's basically a full respray(minus doorshuts and engine bay etc.) for £1300, which, in my opinion, is a bargain!, providing they do a good job! The going rate per panel is £150, and for the whole car, you are looking at 11 panels individually.

My opinion of course.

 

[AARON77]

ive had many cars painted including a full resspray on my S3 and its alleays good to have a nose round the paint shop to see what sort of cars they are painting and the quality of the work???? lots of sprayers are good at making the car look good when it leaves the paint shop its what it looks like 6 months a year down the line?????????? when i had my S3 painted i had a few mods done (aerial removed, side repeaters removed, bumpers smoothed, badges removed and all the grey trim colour coded oh and repair to the rear quater and new side trims) the guy at the paint shop who paints cars for the local audi dealership and bmw dealer said you can have two types of paint job" i can do it for 1500 or 2300 " i asked him what the difference was and he said he can make it look like a brand new car for years or a quick blow over that will look dire in a years time and evey 1 will ask if you have had your car painted!!! i went with the more expensive job, and it ended up being 2700 . but it looks the dogs even a year and 3 months down the line???? SOOOOO in my opinion you get what you pay for????

 

[mk1chopper]

break down of quote I was given:

To repair scratch to n/s door and n/s rear quarter panel and rust to top of n/s rear quater panel at roof, prepare and spray to match and mop and polish as possible to marks on ret of vehicle Labour £512+VAT paint and material £140

To repair stone chips to bonnet, o/s and n/s front wings and front bumper (prepare and spray front end complete) Labour £544+VAT paint and materials £180+VAT

To prepare and spray new roof rails Labour £64+VAT paint and materials £20+VAT

This is just a quote given to me, I have not had this work undertaken but gives you another quote to compare too. I'd say that this company has a high hourly rate but then they specialise in classic cars and perform a very high quality job so can probably charge a premium.

 

[scottie123]

Totally agree with you get what you pay for. Painting can be done cheaply, with corners cut, quite easily to lower the price. But it wont be as good a job.

I use a body shop 2 doors down from where I work. I know them very well, and they help me out with my car. Even at mates rate's, proper painting is expensive and time consuming.

Just my opinion

 

[1animal1]

thanks peoples, appreciate opinions which is why i asked

my thinking is that this lad i know (a friend from school, year below me) said that he can work around the trims without removing telling me not to bother breaking my clips on the side mouldings and not trying to open the rear quarter window anymore.....the old chap, i said im removing this that and the other and he was dead keen to remove the window to ensure the laquaer took and didnt peel later on...... so in my mind the old chap is asking the right questions and doing what i would expect a proper job looks like by removing instead of spraying around things

other thing is that i have access to a polisher and cutting compounds which could reduce any orange peel effect from the laquer should it be a bad job.... although i want to see a car or two that hes done..... he had the jig and a nice spray booth which for a man on his own is quite good i thought, he must know what hes doin

thoughts?

 

[s3_kev]

what a headache, intially id say younger guy but i would never get a part masked off for painting as it will laqure peel at some point.. i made sure everything was done to last on my spary job i was in there all the time and my mate also works there so was a bonus.
the old guy swings it for me on quality of work but you have to question the quality of materials used if he's doing it so cheap even bunging him extra cash wont get him to use better meterials if thats what he's using of course.
i'd reckomed getting a quote from a merc and bmw approved shop as there work quility has to be spot on, my shop i use is bmw approved

 

[1animal1]

yup see what ya sayin kev, i still dont trust approved shops, how many have you seen on here where its come back a mess, in my mind the bigger they are the bigger the targets to get more cars out the doors, luckily you know someone better than i do who works at one......one of my neighbours works for vauxhall and he hasnt got a clue yet sprays many cars a day and gets big bonus's for doing more cars than his quota....used to be the same when i worked for them

 

[s3_kev]

yeah bonus places aint good, but bmw and merc have higher standards then audi imo.. basically you need to see previous work or have a mate who's had so good work done

 

[1animal1]

well thats why im torn, the young lad ive had our mini bumpers done, the mirror cups had a slight bit missed on them....... the older fella i have someone asking a bloke whos used him tomorrow so hopefully that will come up trumps

 

[thegoal007]

I completely agree with AARON77.

I would just question whether everyone here is a good judge of a good paintwork. I maintain there are tell tell signs on a bad paintowrk which may seem mint on initial inspection. Also could you tell if it was resprayed due to a huge accident , a small accident or no accident. I hate to open a door and see quite clearly where the respray lines end. I hate to look under bumpers and parts not normally visible unless on a ramp to see oversprays or not finished to the same standard as the rest of the panel, some panels flatter than others, blended in panels, etc.

Best solution if you have a few stone chips or even a bit of a bump , then leave it original. It will probably never be the same (maybe worse in my opinion) again unless you pay silly money to do the lot and then there is still no guarantee ! It's just so easy to add more work to a job. If you have to do a repair keep it to the absolute minimum. Don't start adding panels becuase of a small scratch here and there - you'll regret it.

ALSO.....with regards to one of your first comments..."but im scratching my head, for £200 its gotta be worth a punt, or has it " I would say it is not worth a punt it is quite the opposite. You cannot then undo it ! OK, you may get someone to try it again, but you are already on the slippery slope. Make sure to the best of your abilities you get it right first time if your going to get it done.

AND.. I say all this becuase I've seen so many S3 where owners have thought their cars were mint and didn't want to shutter their illusions and just walked away without saying anything - I'm not the one have a go at someone's work. Once you mess with panels I don't believe you'll ever get them the same as new. My number one rule to buying any car is bodywork anything else is repairable.

 

[DaveA3]

get the old guy to spray a splitter or a cheap door or something then see what his work is like.