Detail or bodyshop? Please advise

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onesounds

New member
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What you see in the four horrifying pictures are some of the worst areas of my car. They include scuffed and chipped front bumper, chipped edges on doors, terrible touchup paint job on a dent, and cracks along rear bumper.



I basically want my car to look and feel new again, and I wasn't really sure if this is something that can be done with extensive detailing with sanding, touch up paint, etc. I apologize for any discomfort I may have caused with my pictures and thank you in advance for your help.
 
wascallyrabbit said:
a competent body shop/painter should be able to fix it up. to have it done correctly may cost more than you prepared for.
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Agreed. Proper repair is going to require each of those panels be repainted. A rough estimate is about $500-1000 per panel in my area.



You probably want to look up the Dr. Colorchip and Langka systems and just make it better yourself. Whatever you do, don't shop around for someone that will do it for $XXX, you will likely be very disappointed in the results if you plan on keeping the car long term.
 
onesounds- Welcome to Autopia!



I just had to make that call on one of my vehicles. It's not one of my "good cars" so I decided to do the Dr Colorchips thing instead of spending many thousands of dollars to have it "done right" by one of the shops that I know will satisfy me.



Touchups aren't rocket science, and if you both it up you're only out a little $ and some time (it's easy to "undo" touchups). If you use Dr Colorchips or the Langka system, you can avoid the wetsanding, which is where many people get into trouble (and where it's possible, perhaps even likely, to do some real damage that will require professional work).



If you go with a shop, better find somebody *GOOD*, and that's a tall order. And yeah, it really will cost thousands to have it done right.



I strongly encourage you to do the Dr Colorchips or Langka type touchups, live with it for a few months, and see if you'd rather spend a few grand getting it better. I bet you'll decide it's plenty good enough.
 
If you want it to look new, that damage will need a good body shop. Touch up paint is ok for some things, but will never make it look good enough to look new. Then you're prob going to need a good detailer to correct the buffer trails the bodyshop will most likely leave behind, as detailing is really not a body shop's forte.
 
Accumulator said:
onesounds- Welcome to Autopia!



I just had to make that call on one of my vehicles. It's not one of my "good cars" so I decided to do the Dr Colorchips thing instead of spending many thousands of dollars to have it "done right" by one of the shops that I know will satisfy me.



Touchups aren't rocket science, and if you both it up you're only out a little $ and some time (it's easy to "undo" touchups). If you use Dr Colorchips or the Langka system, you can avoid the wetsanding, which is where many people get into trouble (and where it's possible, perhaps even likely, to do some real damage that will require professional work).



If you go with a shop, better find somebody *GOOD*, and that's a tall order. And yeah, it really will cost thousands to have it done right.



I strongly encourage you to do the Dr Colorchips or Langka type touchups, live with it for a few months, and see if you'd rather spend a few grand getting it better. I bet you'll decide it's plenty good enough.
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To each there own, but I have to disagree. The Dr. Colorchip is a fine system but metallic in paint will never look the same unless it's sprayed. The car is metallic blue and IMO a Porsche deserves more respect then "just a touch up".
 
Thank you very much for valuable input guys! I have two left hands (and I'm right handed) so I think I may have to spends some money to have it done properly at a body shop.



Unless there's a brave soul who would like to give my car a shot. I'm in VA so if someone wants a challenge please let me know, thanks :)
 
That repair could end up costing you a few thousand to fix seeing that the damage is on 4 major panels and will also require blending of adjacent ones too. Depending on the car, it might or might not be worth it. You might be happy having it touched up and ultimately detailed by a fellow Autopian. A detail could make even more of an impact then the refinish work. Good luck.
 
RaskyR1 said:
To each there own, but I have to disagree. The Dr. Colorchip is a fine system but metallic in paint will never look the same unless it's sprayed. The car is metallic blue and IMO a Porsche deserves more respect then "just a touch up".
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Oh, we're not really disagreeing (other than the "a Porsche deserves.." and even then, sure I spend money like a drunken sailor on such stuff when it's my good cars..that's why the A8 is up getting its front bumpercover done right now). Of all the metallic touchups I've done over the last zillion years, only a handful really looked OK.



David Fermani said:
A detail could make even more of an impact then the refinish work.
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Right :xyxthumbs Once a car is looking *really* nice overall, the small areas of imperfection often don't detract all that much. I know it sounds counterintuitive, one would often expect them to stick out like a sore thumb on an otherwise swell looking car, but IME it often (usually?) doesn't work out that way. Hey, my '93 Audi (medium/dark blue) needs a paintjob something *awful* and I think its worst areas really jump out at ya, but that car gets so many compliments it's just amazing...nobody else thinks it needs anything, let alone a full repaint.
 
onesounds said:
Thank you very much for valuable input guys! I have two left hands (and I'm right handed) so I think I may have to spends some money to have it done properly at a body shop..
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It's nice to see somebody a) take some of these caveats seriously, and b) know what they should/shouldn't tackle. IF/when you get it done, I'd be interested to hear what it costs and how satisfied you are with the work.
 
Yes, I agree with David here. The car has a lot of damage and could end up costing you quite a bit to fix. However, you would be amazed at what a good detail could do just to get it cleaned up and polished. Figure out what the car is worth, how long you plan on keeping the vehicle and make a decision from there. Somethings are just not worth the additional expense or efforts. Good luck to you...
 
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