No one can complain about Audi paint.... got in an accident

adg44 · 02-21-04, 09:54

So... it finally happened. The audi, after 10 months and 11,000 miles of being perfectly cared for - got in an accident, and it was my fault.

Some woman was stopped in the middle of the parking garage for literally 10 seconds, I moved to the left to pass her, and she starts backing up and almost side swipes my car. So I throw it in reverse quickly, because when I first pulled up there was no one behind me, but of course someone had just come around the corner, I didn't see him, backed up, and hit his bumper.

However, I did not hit my bumper - I hit my quarter panel!!

So I got in an accident to avoid getting in an accident. Excellent.

The valance is where the quarter panel should be... so the wheel well got deformed pretty well. I went to my body shop (Wagonwork Collision) and they said they wanted about 20 units/hours to repair the quarter panel. The insurance came and did an estimate and gave 6 hours. The insurances estimate was half of what the body shop told me, and the insurances estimate included blending the door (which we are not doing) and it includes replacing the wheel ($450). So actually, the estimate is for 1/3 of what the body shop told me. This is a big difference!!!! All I know is that in the end, I'll be the one who is screwed.

Anyways, I pulled off part of the bumper (the valance is molded to the bumper on the newer Audi's) and removed the wheel and the fender liner and used some 3M adhesive remover, and then polished a few times with FI-II, and it came out looking like this in the end:

I was pretty shocked - the paint barely got scraped except for a few places. This has to be some of the thickets and toughest paint I have ever seen! I don't know how so many audi owners complain about their paint.

So, any of you guys who know metal working very well - just how bad of a hit is that? I know the quarter panel is one of the worst places you can get hit, and I have a bad feeling it will never look the same once it gets repaired.

Just thought I would share...

- Anthony

G35stilez · 02-21-04, 10:31

First off, very sorry to hear about the accident. I encounter horrific drivers up here in CT and have to keep such an eye out. I'm not saying you are terrible at all, but it sounds like the lady you avoided had her head up her a$$ while driving as most people do.

Anyways, my friend got in an accident in his 2000 Audi A4 (silver too

) . The lady who hit him MESSSED up her Civic bad, while he had a slightly scuffed rear bumper and 2 bent exhaust tips.

Well, you are right. Audi paint is some of the best I have encountered. Smooth as glass with a TOUGH clear coat. Bad news is that your silver is a 3-stage paint which costs more to paint. Make sure you find a good body shop otherwise you'll end up with unmatched finishes. Be sure to ask them if they thoroughly color sand, then compound, then polish to remove all OP and and other defects left from the painting process.

I would also get the black plastic lower pieces painted while you're at it. I think it looks really sharp when a car is monochromatic. Painting the lower pieces will not only make your car look more sleek, but its a lot nicer to just detail paint

.

Good luck with your repairs and keep us posted.

ragman · 02-21-04, 11:13

Quote:

Originally posted by adg44
This has to be some of the thickets and toughest paint I have ever seen! I don't know how so many audi owners complain about their paint.

- Anthony

Anthony - sorry about your accident. Sounds like a case of real bad luck rather than it being your fault.

Anyway - I wanted to second your thought on Audi paint. It is is amazing. Seems very thick, and durable - along with holding its shine for a very long time.

Good luck with repairs!

adg44 · 02-21-04, 11:16

I can either do that, or get the S4 rear bumper, and then get a caractere front bumper, and side skirts of some sort, and the S4 door flares.

Not quite sure how I want to handle this yet.....

And yes, that lady had her head up her *** the whole time I was behind her - good thing she drove away (didn't even get out of her car or anything) or I would have probably been arrested.

Accumulator · 02-21-04, 12:54

Yep, while we might complain about how hard Audi paint is to work with, it sure does hold up well!

adg44- First, I want to commend you for accepting responsibility for the accident

As I always say, if I'm driving, even if a meteorite falls out of the sky and hits my car, it's on ME.

Gee, this is a tough season for silver Audis! In my case, when the repair ran over the insurance estimate, they picked up the difference. Check with the person handling your claim, it oughta work that way for you, too.

Don't be so quick to say "don't blend into the door". I was leery of having it done that way on my S8 but it was the right thing to do and the repair turned out VERY well. I think I can sorta see it, but if I didn't know it was done, I dunno. It sure doesn't jump out at you the way it could have.

My friend had something sorta similar happen to HER silver A6 4.2 (used to belong to my late father). They blended it and everything turned out great. Like the S8, I can just BARELY see it (or THINK that I can) under certain light, and only because I know what I'm looking for. You really can't expect silver to turn out absolutely, 100% perfect; it's just the nature of the beast (I've had at least 6 silver Audis painted over the years). But they can come MIGHTY close.

Her sheetmetal damage was a LOT worse than yours, and Stoddard Imports fixed it just fine; THAT part of the repair is truly undetectable. You shouldn't have to worry about that, just let the shop know how particular you're gonna be up front.

GoodnClean · 02-21-04, 01:02

Sorry to hear about it..

Bill D · 02-21-04, 01:32

Glad to hear everyone is ok and no real severe damage. I hope black Audi paint would fair as well as your silver did. Lets us know how the rest of repairs go.

Don M · 02-21-04, 01:52

From the pics, I don't see any creases in the sheet metal, so you MIGHT want to consider checking with a Paintless Dent Repair shop. Some of them even do paintwork. It would be a lot cheaper than a bodyshop (something to think about since you might end up paying out of pocket for some of it) and most of them do some really excellent work.

After all, the worst they could say is that they can't help you.

Jesstzn · 02-21-04, 03:18

I think its correct to blend in a panel. Especially with the likes of silver if you paint the full panel you will see the difference against the mating panel eg the next door. The blending in the middle of a panel eliminates this.

BTW sorry bout the accident.

GoodnClean · 02-21-04, 05:26

No PDR shop is going to touch that. My dad had similar damage on his LS400 one time, it also polished out to look pretty much like that, I took it to several PDR shops and nobody would touch it. You're in my area I can tell you where he had his fixed, it was silver and it was 100% flawless, they blended into the panel.

Blending is the best way to go if they don't do computerized paint matching. Also with a metallic silver they have to make the flake match up too. Wagonwerk's is supposed to be a great shop...

adg44 · 02-21-04, 05:36

I thought about PDR, but it will have to repainted anyway because there are some chips/scratches that can't be buffed out.

When I was at the boy shop, they said they would have two "hands" size between where they end the paint and where the door starts, so they wouldn't need to blend into the door. Especially once they see it now after I buffed it, I doubt they will have to paint very much at all.... They paint with Standox, which I believe is the same manufacturer of the Audi silvers (I was told this some time ago).

They are they best body shop in the area - if you guys remember they painted the hood of our BMW (I have a thread on here about that) and because it is chipping so badly they are going to strip the hood, and redo the whole thing.

They know how picky I am, they have done work on the BMW twice, and this will be the third time when they do the work on my Audi. So if they said they are going to be able to do it without blending the door, then I have no doubt that they will be able to.

I think I am going to order the S4 rear bumper... I went down to my Audi dealer today and looked at one, and I think it will go well with the car once I am finished with it. I'll also get the lip spoiler now since they will already be painting, I bet they will do it for fairly cheap.

adg44 · 02-21-04, 05:39

Quote:

Originally posted by GoodnClean

Blending is the best way to go if they don't do computerized paint matching. Also with a metallic silver they have to make the flake match up too. Wagonwerk's is supposed to be a great shop...

They will blend within the panel - but there is enough room that they won't have to touch the door. I mean the scratches are at the bottom part of the QP, there is a good 2 feet between that area and the door.

I was told by the bodyshop (wagonwork) that there are two audi silvers. One is good and the other one is bad to match with, mine (LY7W) is the good one. Phew!