Skirt Problem - Need advice

[loafofbrett]

Hi,

Looking for a little advice about how the RS3 skirts are fitted so maybe I can tackle this problem myself.

Short story, the car was jacked up and it slipped (fortunately the wheel was on) but it must've clipped the skirt and pushed it out a little, which you can see in the picture (I've included the good side and the bad side).

It only looks like a minor thing on face value, to me at least, but as you can see from the attached quote, a garage has quoted me £752 to what I see as tucking the skirt back in a few mm! Maybe they're right and I'm not taking it seriously enough.

I'm hoping someone can advise how the skirts are mounted onto the car and maybe what has likely happened and how to rectify it. Giving it a good smack or pushing it certainly doesn't sort it, those things are fairly rigid.

Hopefully I've posted this in the right place, apologies if not, been a while since I've been on here.

Cheers

 

[8YARWY]

Double sided tape and clips.


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[loafofbrett]

Double sided tape and clips.

It's kind of bent out though, like something is holding it in position. It won't even flex back into how it should be. Do you know where the clip points are and could one have bent maybe? Is there anything inside each arch holding them in place too? Cheers.

 

[Liam Morris]

They are bonded on, A mounting goes on first that's both double sided on and held on by plastic nuts and then the Painted cover is Double sided onto the mounting bracket/body work.
6.7 Hours labour seems excessive looking at the damage, would take a tech no more then 20 minutes to remove it, an hour or 2 to repair it and max an hour to refit it. Paint isn't too bad as you want it being prepped and painted properly seeing as its in the muck stream behind the Front wheel.

 

[loafofbrett]

They are bonded on, A mounting goes on first that's both double sided on and held on by plastic nuts and then the Painted cover is Double sided onto the mounting bracket/body work.
6.7 Hours labour seems excessive looking at the damage, would take a tech no more then 20 minutes to remove it, an hour or 2 to repair it and max an hour to refit it. Paint isn't too bad as you want it being prepped and painted properly seeing as its in the muck stream behind the Front wheel.

Thanks for this. I'm assuming the weight of the car vs the jack has twisted the mounting toward the front of the car. I guess in my naivety I assumed it could just be bent back into the correct position without too much drama, but maybe not The repair quote was a little shocking for something it's only I notice, but I'd rather it was fixed. I guess I best try some other garages. Given what you've said it looks like I'll only save a few hours labour cost however

 

[Liam Morris]

Honestly it depends how far you want to chase it really, Is the paint work actually damaged? or could you live without it being painted? If so you could probably find somewhere that will just remove the cover and repair the mounting so it sits right and refit the painted cover as is and would save you quite a bit, alternatively you could keep an eye out for one off a Motor being stripped for parts and that could save you needing to paint and just remove old and refit new.
Is the trim badly damaged? There would be a small possibility the metal work of the Sill could be damaged underneath the molding which could be holding the whole assembly (Mounting and painted cover) out of place but you would probably need to remove the skirt to confirm this.
Also, it's minor but have you considered claiming on your insurance? depends on your excess and your premiums price/potential increase but that coul be another way of getting it done and done properly at that!

 

[loafofbrett]

Honestly it depends how far you want to chase it really, Is the paint work actually damaged? or could you live without it being painted? If so you could probably find somewhere that will just remove the cover and repair the mounting so it sits right and refit the painted cover as is and would save you quite a bit, alternatively you could keep an eye out for one off a Motor being stripped for parts and that could save you needing to paint and just remove old and refit new.
Is the trim badly damaged? There would be a small possibility the metal work of the Sill could be damaged underneath the molding which could be holding the whole assembly (Mounting and painted cover) out of place but you would probably need to remove the skirt to confirm this.
Also, it's minor but have you considered claiming on your insurance? depends on your excess and your premiums price/potential increase but that coul be another way of getting it done and done properly at that!

I was actually baffled why there was a price for paint on the quote There is no visible paint damage at all, it's quite literally that the skirt is coming away 5mm or so at the front of the car. I made the assumption that it was a first class garage I'd gone to and were going to strip it all down a re-do from scratch, hence the price, which is fair enough. However, if there was someone who could just do the fix for cheap without going to town I wouldn't be overly fussed as long as it looked how it should I actually bobbed into the garage assuming I'd slip them a little cash, they'd pop it on a ramp and sort it in five minutes, but I was very wrong It sounds like at the minimum it's a case of removing the skirt, fixing the mount and re-sticking (work is open to any locals in Manchester ). I hadn't considered trying to claim on the insurance, it's not something I've ever done through fear of the repercussions come renewal Appreciate your advice, thanks.

 

[Liam Morris]

No problem, if its dry at any point try getting a few pictures from underneath that part of the skirt where the jack slipped so we can get a better picture of what we are dealing with.

Also, it probably won't solve it but it 'could' help is if you have access to a Hot air gun (just an electric wall socket one is fine like attatched) you could warm up that section of the Skirt and try bending it back into shape, if you get any movement and it looks like it will close the gap up ok then you might have to warm it and hold it in place a couple of times to get the better results but that could improve it however that's never gonna be 100% compared to removing and resticking/bonding the skirt on.

Shame you're not closer to me else I'd come and see what can be done but I'm Milton Keynes based so quite a way away.

But again, a few pictures from underneath the skirt On both the Good and Bad side will help to see quite what's gone wrong hopefully and it won't cost and arm and a leg to fix, damn Audi for wanting to Stick them on rather then clip them on like they do for most!

 

[loafofbrett]

No problem, if its dry at any point try getting a few pictures from underneath that part of the skirt where the jack slipped so we can get a better picture of what we are dealing with.

Also, it probably won't solve it but it 'could' help is if you have access to a Hot air gun (just an electric wall socket one is fine like attatched) you could warm up that section of the Skirt and try bending it back into shape, if you get any movement and it looks like it will close the gap up ok then you might have to warm it and hold it in place a couple of times to get the better results but that could improve it however that's never gonna be 100% compared to removing and resticking/bonding the skirt on.

Shame you're not closer to me else I'd come and see what can be done but I'm Milton Keynes based so quite a way away.

But again, a few pictures from underneath the skirt On both the Good and Bad side will help to see quite what's gone wrong hopefully and it won't cost and arm and a leg to fix, damn Audi for wanting to Stick them on rather then clip them on like they do for most!

I will do, tomorrow hopefully, cheers pal.

I've got a hot air gun, not sure i'm confident enough to take it to the car body though I'm 100% that it isn't that the skirt is bent as such, it's whatever is fixing it in place is and making it stay that way.

It's not a massive deal in reality, people tell me only I can see it, but I know it's there nonetheless ha Car is immaculate otherwise.

To be fair, fuel money would be trivial for you to look at it compared to £750, even if I put money in your pocket for the trouble too

I'll see how the weather plays out over weekend and do an update Thanks again.

 

[loafofbrett]

Wow, it's not easy getting pics without jacking it up, but I'm never ever jacking it up again

Each side attached, can't see anything obvious myself.

 

[wuta3]

Wow, it's not easy getting pics without jacking it up, but I'm never ever jacking it up again

Each side attached, can't see anything obvious myself.

Looks like it just needs persuading in to place to me

 

[loafofbrett]

Looks like it just needs persuading in to place to me

Any ideas on the best form of persuasion? I have thought that it looks like it just needs protecting sufficiently and a good smack from the bottom tbh.

 

[8YARWY]

Any ideas on the best form of persuasion? I have thought that it looks like it just needs protecting sufficiently and a good smack from the bottom tbh.

I think what you have there is the fact the double sided tape has been stretched open by the jack slip, making it expand so it's pushed open the gap and distorted the plastic cill.

It’s a two part thing.

You basically have the trim which is clipped in and uses double sided tape

The trim clips and is stuck by double sided tape onto a mounting part which is held on by nuts and Double sided tape

If you look at the pictures and text below.
You basically need to tease the outer trim off with a hot air blower and trim removal tool, but bear in mind there are a row of clips on the underside that unclip last.

I’d be inclined to heat the top part up as below and see if it’ll move back in or remove it completely re-apply double sided tape then refit it.

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[loafofbrett]

Thanks for that. I understand what you're saying, it's just the part is so rigid and there's zero flex to it, it's like there's something underneath making it want to come away

I'm not sure I've got the balls to take it all off and start again, but my take away from this is that I probably shouldn't be paying more than a few hundred for the repair, certainly not going on £800. If there's any volunteers then please speak up

Thanks again to everyone who has offered advice.