Minor Accident

[wellerina]

I recently caused some minor damage to the bumper & front wing of a BMW 1 Series during some slap-dash parking. Despite the damage being fairly minor, I left my contact details and the owner has since contacted me to say that neither parts need replacing, only re-spraying. The quote she has obtained for this work is over £640!!

This seems utterly excessive to me, the damage was little more than light scuffing. Am I being fleeced or is this a standard price for a respray? If the former, what should I do?

Any thoughts and advice appreciated.

[Count-A-Strong]

I had the side of a new 3 series resprayed and it was 1200 quid. They have probably replaced the whole bumper.

[ChuckFickens]

I'm concerned about the "Despite the damage being fairly minor, I left my contact details"

you hit a car, you leave your details. the level of damage should have no bearing on This!

Why not ask them to provide a couple more quotes.

[bookbinder]

Ask her if she will allow you to send your own expert along to assess the damage. If she's playing fair she can't object to that.

[jake-the-peg]

At a guess she's gone to a BMW main dealer and that's the quote.

If you went to an independant body shop it would probably be half of that.

You can ask her nicely to get a quote from somewhere like that but if she says no there's not much you can do if you don't want to go through the insurance - which would probably end up costing you more with increased premiums and loss of no claims

[woofgang]

well you did the damage...if she wants to go to a main dealer for the respray, that's her privelege. If it was me I'd say sure, send your assessorBUT I would ask for his info (business name etc) so as to protect myself ..and I would ask him for his credentials when he got there. What you could do is ask for sight of the quote and say you will settle it direct...If its a main dealer they will have given her a written itemised quote.

[ummmm]

I use to own a car repair company....that sounds cheap.

[Mamyalynne]

As Ummmm rightly points out, that is not unreasonable for Bodywork in this instance, even if a scuff is only an inch across you cannot just fill in, needs lots more work than you think.

[ummmm]

You've damaged two panels. You can't just respray a panel....it need to be blended in to the next panel.

It sounds really cheap......pay for it before they get a second opinion.

[McMouse]

Sounds about right to me.

[Nosha123]

there is a franchise company called Chips Away - dont know if they cover your area but they do small respray and repair jobs... no where near as expensive as a garage and will come to you...

[ruthie]

We have a 3 series BMW and had some relatively minor damage to a front wing - not the whole wing just 1sq ft area and that cost us £540!! Slight dent and a respray needed.

[AlBags]

Paint repairs are now really expensive.
Focus rear bumper .. £400 ... prep and spray ... another £400

[chas2008]

Smart repairs (ie Chips AWay) are NOT a recognised insurance repair, they just do a tidy up job, if it was my car i wouldnt want them repairing it. IT needs to be done in a professional body shop.
The costs are about right, the whole bumper would be painted plus possibly blending door/bonnet.I dont think people realise the cost of paint and materials, some BMW laquer is £250+ per 5 litres !

[BLHC]

There is a Chips away guy in our area (Pontypool) and I know of a couple of jobs he has done - VERY WELL..
Whatever, I would certainly want to look at all quotes and pay the bill direct - is she pocketing the money?

[chas2008]

Sorry but smart repairs are and never will be to insurance or manufacturers standards,not unless they carry a proper paint oven around with them,hence why insurance companies dont use them and lets be honest insurance are always looking for a cheap option.
They also use different paint schemes and repair methods which are not up to manufacturers spec..
The reason i know all this is i work in and run a bodyshop i also run 3 smart vans to cover car sales sites (if we didnt someone else would , if you cant beat them join them)

[ruthie]

Hi BLHC! I'm and Abergavennian (if there is such a thing!) and have p-i-l living in New Inn. Small world. Not living there now, have moved to Cheshire. Ruthie

[ummmm]

Chas...you're wrong. I had a smart repairs company. We had two insurance companies backing.