help! can i fix this scratch by myself?

J

jav246

New member
Hey everyone, any help for this would be greatly appreciated...



Found a scrape along the wheel edge of my TL 2004 today; got it estimated to fix at a body shop at my Acura dealer for $550. Was wondering if 1) this was reasonable, and 2) if it was possible to fix by myself with the paintscratch kit (primer, body paint, clearcoat) I got. If I did do it myself, would it turn out alright? I know smaller scrapes and scratches can be fixed, but what about something like this?



2.jpg


3.jpg


4.jpg




Thanks for any advice!
 
I work at a car dealer, and we see stuff like that all the time.



I would recommend doing what we do, and getting the price of a mobile paint repair guy. The one we use would be significantly less than that, and does great work.



I don't know if someone could do that by themselves. No position to offer a valuable opinion.
 
Is the metal deformed? How are you going to fix that?



Sure, you can toss some touch up paint on it and "hide" it. It won't be perfect but it may be marginally acceptable.
 
:( I agree, a very sad first post...



tom p. said:
Is the metal deformed? How are you going to fix that?



Sure, you can toss some touch up paint on it and "hide" it. It won't be perfect but it may be marginally acceptable.
Click to expand...



autoracer, thanks for the tips -- though i am slightly scared to use someone i don't know very well.



tom -- yeah, the metal is slightly dented in (though i didn't even realize it until the body shop guy told me). Essentially, i was looking at the estimate he prepped for me -- materials and such only come out to about $100, whereas most of the cost is labor. He explained that to fix it "right," he'd need to remove the rear lamp, the side rear light, and the door and upper molding on the right side as well so that no overspray would be noticable on the blending... though i'd imagine, if they do their stuff, it'd come out relatively perfect.



*sigh* my biggest fear is that if i don't do anything about it, the exposed metal might rust or the surrounding paint might flake... would your advice be just to suck it up and give it to the shop?



(on an unrelated note, as this car is only 2 months old, do i need to do anything re: glazing or waxing before the winter time? if so, which is preferable?)
 
make no mistake about the rust. I will show up very quickly, if it hasn't already, and that will change the scope of the job.
 
Oh, you're here in the Fair City...Oh, my. yes, $100/hr for labor is not that crazy. Sounds like he might be looking at 5 hours which is not a lot. My wife scraped the front fender of her car, a bit worse than yours, and the dealer needed $1900+ to fix with that. The repair made was perfect....just lots of labor involved.
 
It's actually $36/hr for labor in the body shop (other service is usually 90/hr)... on the estimate, it says 5.5 hrs for the actual repair and refinish, the other 6 or 7 for misc prepping, removing, and covering up stuff.



$1900 for a fender fix? wow... i guess one has to pay for quality work.



btw, do you have any recommendations for what a good detailing place is in this wonderfully cold and cramped city of ours? :) i've heard good things about allston car wash, and they do offer different package deals...



thanks for the help again.
 
Hi there,



I have a 99 TL and am in NY.



I have a Satin Silver Metallic.



I have had the fender repaired and cost should not be higher than $350. I pay anywhere from $250-$300.



It will come out just as good from the dealer without the dealer price.



You Acura dealer will do a good job but you can find same quality yet less expensive elsewhere.



Ask around see if you can find someone in your area and visit the paintshop. Always makre sure they have a baking room so that they can do a good job in repainting and get things writtend down on paper.



try Acura-tl.com and ask other TL'ers to see where they have work done in your area.



If you want to do it yourself you can but I personally think it will only reduce not completely be gone. Take some time and effort some touch up paint tiny brushes and masking tape then wetsand it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top