Repairing Minor Accidents/ Scratches

[ShanTheBest]

Hi all,

I had a very minor accident. i.e when I parked my car in the garden it hit with and set of flower pots. Now there are minor scratches in the front bumper. Is it worth to call insurance and get a claim for that? I mean is it worth to repaint entire bumper because of that minor scratches? I am seeking experts advice as Im not much familiar with those things.

Thanks,

shan

[Ayad Zubair]

Whats Your Car

[ShanTheBest]

Its toyota vitz 2010

[jdnet]

are the scratches deep? if it's only in the clear coat, it can be buffed out. If not it would cost you only a couple of thousand. Not worth losing your insurance bonus over. Your deductible will be more than a thousand rupees anyway.

Edited August 6, 2012 by jdnet

[ShanTheBest]

Scratches are bit deep. I already did a claim earlier. so I think nothing much difference this time for the bonus

[C Perera]

Then Claim it

[ozzie]

did you claim it? knocked your pots.. I knocked my roller gate ha ha, a few scratches and and the paint has rubbed off a bit.. if I repaint it would it be good as new?

[iRage]

Depends. How bad is the paint scratch for it to need painting. Whether it will look as good as new can hinge on on how well the color was matched (also depends on the color), how well the tinkering (dent removal) was done, on how good the painter was in laying down thhe paint...and even then a sharp eye might be able to pick it out.

Then again depending on the location of the scratch u might be able to get away with it not showing any difference at all

Edited February 11, 2015 by iRage

[Jor-el]

I, too, have a scratch on side of my front bumper, Should I repaint the whole buffer or will I be able to get away with painting only the affected part of the bumper?

[bycap]

I have some too. some made by stupid tuk tuk drivers. But I dont bother. wait some time for a bigger one. then paint the whole thing :D lol

[Crosswind]

Are we this paranoid about driving a 100% scratch free car?

[Knight]

I think if you can upload a photo to photobucket or some image hosting server and post the link here, others can give a more accurate assessment.

Anyway, if there isn't a dent and largely visible scratches, you can try some of those fix pens or similar stuff available on these local deal sites. Get a quote for the paint job. Then you can decide if you should pay or claim insurance. I doubt they will just paint the affected area, unless your vehicle is really new (so they don't have to colour match).

@Crosswind - Hahaha some even have names to their cars so

[Kavvz]

Are we this paranoid about driving a 100% scratch free car?

Seriously! And do we need to hand hold and ask each other before we paint / repaint / let the darn thing be?

For crying out loud what's with all you buggers?

[Schiffer]

It depends on the color of your car too. its a bit easier to cover up small scratches in dark color cars.

get a hold of that Clear coat pen thing on teleseen marketing. that might help

[Jor-el]

Seriously! And do we need to hand hold and ask each other before we paint / repaint / let the darn thing be?

For crying out loud what's with all you buggers?

[Kavvz]

Seriously! And do we need to hand hold and ask each other before we paint / repaint / let the darn thing be?

For crying out loud what's with all you buggers?

lol ! I guess I'm the opposite. My car takes quite a beating and doesn't even get washed off unless someone else in the family needs to drive it.

My gripe though is not about anyone wanting to own a pristine car, its about all the virtual hand holding. If like me you don't give a shit about the day-to-day scrapes and dings so be it. On the other hand if its a big deal; go to a reputable place, preferably one that has a paint booth, and get it fixed. End of story.

No virtual hand holding or general pussyfooting around required

Edited February 11, 2015 by Kavvz

[ozzie]

Hi Guys

This was caused by hitting the roller gate.

I suppose I'd have to paint the buffer, since it's a minor issue, Do you think I should get it fixed? or let it be.

The insurance stated it would cost about 8k to repaint it and it will look good as new.

How is Mr Paint? Do they do a good job? any other better recommendations?

Thanks

[Crosswind]

Hi Guys

This was caused by hitting the roller gate.

I suppose I'd have to paint the buffer, since it's a minor issue, Do you think I should get it fixed? or let it be.

The insurance stated it would cost about 8k to repaint it and it will look good as new.

How is Mr Paint? Do they do a good job? any other better recommendations?

Thanks

how about some tippex over it?

[bycap]

Hi Guys

This was caused by hitting the roller gate.

I suppose I'd have to paint the buffer, since it's a minor issue, Do you think I should get it fixed? or let it be.

The insurance stated it would cost about 8k to repaint it and it will look good as new.

How is Mr Paint? Do they do a good job? any other better recommendations?

Thanks

If I were you, I wouldn't bother about it. these buffers are tend to scratch frequently. wait till few other damages to happen then paint the whole buffer. Otherwise you have to go through same claiming procedure again and again....

how about some tippex over it?

pretty simple solution.

since your car is white, I suppose simple DIY spray job will do the treatment.

[Davy]

From the photo, it looks like the scratches can be polished out. But the spots where the black plastic is exposed (I count 9 spots) will still be visible.

For that you can just use a touch up paint stick together with a clear coat stick and polish it after the paint has settled well. You will not be able to even notice this after you've done the touch up. I wouldn't bother painting the whole bumper for something as small as this.

The paint sticks will come in handy in the future too.

[ozzie]

If I were you, I wouldn't bother about it. these buffers are tend to scratch frequently. wait till few other damages to happen then paint the whole buffer. Otherwise you have to go through same claiming procedure again and again....

pretty simple solution.

since your car is white, I suppose simple DIY spray job will do the treatment.

Thanks for the reply, what kind of DIY spray job can I do, just to cover it up at the moment?

[ozzie]

From the photo, it looks like the scratches can be polished out. But the spots where the black plastic is exposed (I count 9 spots) will still be visible.

For that you can just use a touch up paint stick together with a clear coat stick and polish it after the paint has settled well. You will not be able to even notice this after you've done the touch up. I wouldn't bother painting the whole bumper for something as small as this.

The paint sticks will come in handy in the future too.

Do you know what the black plastic is? it kind of looks ugly.

Do you know where I could get a touch up paint stick, and a clear coat stick to do it on my own? Yes painting the whole bumper would take up 2-3 days to claim and repair, just looking for temporary solutions.

I love the idea of an paint stick but I don't know where to get one.

Thanks for all your help!

[Davy]

Do you know what the black plastic is? it kind of looks ugly.

Do you know where I could get a touch up paint stick, and a clear coat stick to do it on my own? Yes painting the whole bumper would take up 2-3 days to claim and repair, just looking for temporary solutions.

I love the idea of an paint stick but I don't know where to get one.

Thanks for all your help!

The black plastic is the original colour of the bumper. The manufacturer painted it to match the colour of the vehicle. An option referred to as "Colour keyed bumpers". This is applied to other plastic parts such as door handles and rear view mirrors as well.

I'm sure touch up pens were discussed on the forum, so do a search and you might find a few local places. But if I were you, I'd get it off eBay because you can get a kit to match the exact colour code of your vehicle.

[Crosswind]

Do you know what the black plastic is? it kind of looks ugly.

Do you know where I could get a touch up paint stick, and a clear coat stick to do it on my own? Yes painting the whole bumper would take up 2-3 days to claim and repair, just looking for temporary solutions.

I love the idea of an paint stick but I don't know where to get one.

Thanks for all your help!

women!

There's another reason why we don't recommend painting panels/bumpers. Sri lankan painters are exceptional at messing up paint jobs. if by any chance, the painter got the job messed up, the bumper will appear in a different shade from the body when time passes. This will make the car look uglier than having a few black scratches.

I suggest taking it to a service station and getting them to rub it off as much as possible with compound. Then do a touch up job like davy and bycap suggested. I have bad experience with touch-up pens bought from local shops. If you are buying off e-bay, try to get a good quality one, not those cheap shite frm china.

[ozzie]

women!

There's another reason why we don't recommend painting panels/bumpers. Sri lankan painters are exceptional at messing up paint jobs. if by any chance, the painter got the job messed up, the bumper will appear in a different shade from the body when time passes. This will make the car look uglier than having a few black scratches.

I suggest taking it to a service station and getting them to rub it off as much as possible with compound. Then do a touch up job like davy and bycap suggested. I have bad experience with touch-up pens bought from local shops. If you are buying off e-bay, try to get a good quality one, not those cheap shite frm china.

An Insurance guy came and said that they will have to repaint it from Mr. Paint, and that they will do an exceptional job matching the whole thing. I get it, it will look even uglier with a mismatched paint job.

So take it to Auto Miraj and ask them to rub it off with compound? how do I get the touch up jobs done? I checked eBay, but couldn't find any good ones, they only have scratch pens and stuff like that.

Your information is very valuable since I am a women I am not really great with these things.