Help! Stupid accidental bonnet damage - expensive repair? What to do?

Jesthar

Hi all,

Please be gentle, I'm not in the best of moods! Managed to stupidly, stupidy hit an overhanging car park sensor this morning, and the result is a four inch dent in the middle of the bonnet with a 10p piece size of paint scraped off down to the lower regions of the white primer. Totally my fault, hence the bad mood at myself! :mad:

Car is an 05 Ford Fiesta, the colour is 'Aquarius' - yes, it's metallic, always wanted a car this colour. Given that, I suspect it's going to be horribly expensive to get repaired? Any suggestions as to possible - and most MSE - courses of action? What options do I have?

~Jes

neilmcl

Do you have protected no claims and lowish excess, in which case let your insurance deal with it, that's what they're there for. Check out a few bodyshops in your area, incl, your local Ford dealer's and get some quotes for the damage. You'll be surprised what can be repaired.

C_Mababejive

Just as a guide, i know someone who had to have their boot lid resprayed at a manufs approved body shop and it cost about £800 as it had to be totally stripped,repainted and the sides had to be blended to a perfect match. It was metallic also.

I suspect yours will be cheaper though.

JQ.

Search ebay and scrap yards for a secondhand bonnet in your colour. Lots of scrapyards are now online, such as this one not far from me www.car-transplants.co.uk . Even if you can't get one in your colour it will be alot cheaper to get an undented bonnet sprayed than get yours repaired.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

If you can't afford to get it done straight away, please please get a bottle of touch-up paint and cover the exposed metal, to stop it rusting.

C_Mababejive

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

If you can't afford to get it done straight away, please please get a bottle of touch-up paint and cover the exposed metal, to stop it rusting.

Or blob it with some Waxoyl. Winters coming.

thescouselander

I dont think it should be too expensive to get repaired - depending on where you live £200 should see to it at a reputable body shop.

cyclonebri1

As said bang a search on the web at breakers for one of exactly the right colour, don't bother with any other, wait untill one comes along. A reputable bodyshop will need to blend in all the adjacent panels as the colour will be slightly different and the individual sprayer will get a differnt shade.

Original Ford colour from the same era car ought to be the cheapest and best chance of a cheap match. :money:

And please spill the beans on how you did the damage. ?

neilmcl

thescouselander wrote: »

I dont think it should be too expensive to get repaired - depending on where you live £200 should see to it at a reputable body shop.

I can't see any "reputable" body shop doing a repair like this and a full bonnet respray for £200.

Jesthar

bullau wrote: »

Fiesta? should be cheaper to get another one than a respray, lmao.

This overhanging sensor, what is that about? May be your fault in reality but depending on what this sensor is and where the carpark others may not see it that way. Nothing should be overhanging in a public carpark so that it is capable of causing damage to vehicles.

Oooh, meow! Mine's a great little car! And definitely worth more than a respray, too.

Well, I *say* a sensor, in reality I'm not sure exactly what it is, but there seems to be one at the front of every space along the centre wall in this particular car park, hanging about a foot above standard bumper height. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking straight enough to take a photo when I did it, too annoyed with myself... Might do next time I go there. Reading Station multi storey, in case anyone is remotely interested.

They're a sort of round metal case, about 2/3 inches across and maybe 1/2 inch thick, fixed to the end of a metal strut coming down from the next half floor up. Not sure if there's something similar for the mid floor/edge spaces, never thought to look before! I will be next time... There's definitely one for each centre wall space, though, so that's at least 20 bays per floor with one.

cyclonebri1, all I did was drive an inch too far forwards (Daft, huh? Especially when I've parker there dozens of times in the past... ), and the hanging thing gently scraped and dented it's way an inch into my bonnet. Could have gone several inches more before hitting the actual wall! I'm sure the car-park owners argument would be 'well, you shouldn't have gone so far forwards, then should you?', though.

Anyway, have had a somewhat calmer look at the damage now, and I'm hoping it's not as bad as it first seemed - certainly the dent doesn't seem as big as I thought, and if I'm lucky the scrape hasn't gone completely through the primer underneath. A good mechanic I know and trust is going to be having a look whilst I'm on holiday next week, see what can be done.

mvteng

Just had a small dent & scratch on my bonnet fixed. (Also stupidly my fault)

Dent removed by a local dent repair company (Dent Central) - £40

Bonnet prepared, resprayed / blended & polished by local recommended bodyshop - £250

Highest quote I got was £450+VAT, cheapest was £200 all inclusive.

I searched on Detailing World forum to get a recommendation for a good local bodyshop. There seems to be many horror stories.

Hope this gives you an idea of prices.