Small prang - need advice re cost of repair

Hi

Had my first accident in 25+ years when front nearside clipped rear offside of a Corsa on an unfamiliar large and busy roundabout (6 roads: 4 A trunk and 2 Bs) with unusual lanes layout and poor road markings.

Having washed the car and removed the black tyre marks it doesn't look too bad and I'm thinking of not claiming on the insurance (£200 excess and presumably the basic premium will go up next year, though the NCB is protected - max 1 claim per year). Risk of course that the other driver will claim on my insurance.

I'm pretty sure there is no structural damage. The bonnet gutter did reduce by a few mm but I slacked the screws holding it to the frame and reset it (photo 1).

So here is the damage with photos and advice of likely repair cost appreciated.

1. wheel: (photo 2) A) needs a refurb to one spoke area. OR B) black tyre scrub is difficult to remove but if it came off then maybe I could fill the damaged surface and respray that area.

2. headlight unit: (photo 3) A) replace with 2nd hand unit OR B) remove scratches - how? - as they are not in line of sight of the main or dipped beam. Also the top clip holding the unit broke but that could be fixed with araldite.

3. wheel arch (photo 4, 5 & 6): Has a long thin dent and some paint damage. The lower black part has scratches - are these sections painted black or is it lacquer over black plastic? Is the wheel arch separate to the wing?

4. bumper (photo 7 & 8 in next post): some paint damage to upper and lower. The lower part has very sight distortion but I could live with that if the little hill-lock could be removed. I used cellulose to remove the rubber and some staining remains - any suggestions for removing?

Thanks for reading

2 other photos

To be honest i would just pay £200 if you want it finished well, wheel repair £50 , new light mmm, paint, plus if you need bonnet gap .Plus at the same time gat them to do stone chips or anything else your not happy with happy day not ehh

The only prob with claiming even with protected no claims discount they will alway put your premium up.

Someone drove into my wheel arch and did a lot more damage to my wheel arch than you have. I got a smart repair and I am very happy with the results. A lot better than I expected to be honest.

It would not do any harm to get a quote from a smart repair company before you decide to clame or not. The body shop quoted in execs of £1000 for my repair in the body shop. The smart repar ended up about £150.
If you find one that is a Vbra member you should get a good result.

http://www.vbra.co.uk/

Good luck

David

To be honest the bonnet gap doesn't look that bad looks (from the angle of the photo) to be even along the lenght, as for the rest well you'll be looking at around the £200 mark for bumper and arch (is the wing ok?) the black at the bottom is an easy fix and some places do full paint inc repair on wheels for around the £50

Headlight ask Tony (hotstuff) i think he's breaking an A2 so may stil have the head light as polishing them they never look right

Phil

Thanks guys.

Phil: the photo of the bonnet - wing gap is after I loosened and adjusted the wing position (see photo below for the post accident situation). The wing itself looks ok.

I forgot to mention I may need a wheel alignment but the tyres will need replacing within months so it may be worth doing it then. I noticed the steering wheel spokes are not level (slightly down on the left side) but then maybe it never was

Sorry to hear your misfortune. I would try to tighten up the screws and realign and see, there may be nothing in it. Wheel region repair for £50 is not far off for a full refurb anyway. I have scratches like your on my wings as well as bumper. I'm saving up for a blow-over/spray so all the other minor damages get done at the same time.

The light unit is expensive to replace. I think you can stick with it. My wife did more damage to mine than what appears on your photos. Audi sells a repair kit for the light top hinge, but I've not tried it. Epoxy type glue should be good enough. The lens is definitely polish-able. The damage area is on the side like mine, it should not affect the beam pattern too badly. I used 1200 grit paper and basically wet sand the damages. If you look real close up you may see the work but it is largely unnoticeable. Finish quality depends on how patient you are with the sand paper. Good luck!

Alan,

I'm currently breaking an '03 Sport and think I have all the parts if you choose to replace however, the colour is Dolphin Grey

If you need anything, please send me a PM

Dan

Thanks for the advise humps. Like you I have minor stone chips and fine scratches so it's tempting to do the whole wing. I'm 50% through waxing and then I take it to some body repairers for quotes. Let's see what options they suggest.

But with my limited experience of spraying I think there is still a need for much prep to fill the stone chips otherwise the dip always seem show through. But filling can lead to the opposite - a small dimple - can't win!

Unless Dan can tempt me with a good price for a headlight unit them I will follow your advise and try the wet and dry.

VonB said:

can you tell me how do you adjusted the wing posistion? mines not been quite right for a while now. VonB.

Click to expand...

Hi VonB

just went through 51 gallery pages and couldn't find a single engine bay shot! Found one that I cropped and enlarged. If it's not clear then I can photo my car when I take off the bonnet to clean and wax the edges in the next day or so.

There are 2 large torx bolts, circled in red in the attached image. Slacken off, adjust wing and re-tighten. I had to keep the wing under tension while tightening. There must be many other bolts holding the wing on, but I guess they are hidden away.

Hi humps

I tried wet and dry paper using it wet. Pressed too hard to start with but eased off and kept it well lubricated with a hose. The finished with T-cut. Could do with a little more but I've got it to the point were the "repair" is better than the rest of the unit and better than the off-side which is very pitted on the side. Maybe the whole units on both sides need similar treatment.

Before and after pics

Thanks David

I tried the http://www.vbra.co.uk/ but nothing local.

Has anyone else experience of Harry Lowton of ChipsAway franchise in Salisbury?
http://www.chipsaway.co.uk/harry-lowton?form=true

the grim reeper said:

... the black at the bottom is an easy fix - Phil

Click to expand...

Thanks Phil. Is the black section black paint or is it black plastic with a deep lacquer finish. I gives the appearance of a mirror like finish. If a deep lacquer finish I could maybe do that myself - what do you mean by "an easy fix"

thanks

Alan_uk said:

Hi humps

I tried wet and dry paper using it wet. Pressed too hard to start with but eased off and kept it well lubricated with a hose. The finished with T-cut. Could do with a little more but I've got it to the point were the "repair" is better than the rest of the unit and better than the off-side which is very pitted on the side. Maybe the whole units on both sides need similar treatment.

Before and after pics

Click to expand...

Well done, I'd say! That is very acceptable and yes I had the same problem where the sanded area is more smooth than the other side or the rest of the same lens, which battled road dirt for 10 years! Hope the lamp unit hinge repair goes well too and you've just saved yourself at least £200 of a new unit! Best of luck with the rest as well.

Here's the damage £££££

I've got 5 quotes for my little prang

Work is basically
- rumb down circa 12 scratches on front wheel arch and bumper corner varying from 1mm to about 40mm long
- fill small thin dent in front wheel arch about 60mm long
- spray wheel arch, black section below arch, and corner of bumper up to the number plate.
- scraped alloy rim 210mm + damaged surface to one spoke - either touch-up or refurb of whole wheel

Picture below - note I've already sorted the headlight scratches myself.

1. First up is a backstreet garage near the station. I was not happy with the location as they were sharing the yard with other small units and the yard was full of vehicles and difficult to manoeuvre. I can see the vehicle getting another prang. Didn't see into the work unit. Cost £216. Quote on a business card.

2. Repairer was one recommended by the local independent VW Audi dealer who I've happily used a number of times for servicing and mechanical work. Repairer was operating from a nissan hut and whole lot looked messy. Couldn't envisage a dust free respray. £156 wing+bumper and £60 wheel. Verbal quote

3. A nearby repairer also working out of another nissan hut. Same issues re work environment. £120 wing+bumper and £35 to touch up the wheel. Verbal quote

4. ChipsAway franchise. Operates from a modern lock up unit. Looked very tidy. Uses lamps to heat painted areas. Gave a written quote using standard form indicating all items to repair/paint. £180 wing+bumper and £66 wheel.

5. Main VW Audi dealer. Wouldn't let me see the paint shop for H&S reasons but said they used a special spray booth with extract blowers and (I think) air filters + ovens. Written quote with labour, materials and sundries. Cost --- are you sitting down ------ £455 wing+bumper and £101 wheel. Ouch! Paint for the wing+bumper was £127 and the wheel paint was £36!
They do offer courtesy car, nice lady on reception, free coffee, chilled bottled water and soft drinks, magazines, newspapers, wi-fi, large TV screen with news feeds and adverts of new Audis to make you salivate, and even real cars to sit and salivate even more, air con in the waiting lounge and comfy sofas, car wash and vacuum, etc.

Main VW Audi dealer would be the choice if money no object but will probably have an attempt to do the wheel myself and go for ChipsAway for the wing and bumper.

Quote number 2 don't be put off by what you see some of the best paint jobs i've seen have come out of garage's full of dust (its all in what they do before they paint that counts) as we've got one of the best sparay booths in the country at work and i've seen some shocking paint jobs come out of there. Just to say about the heat lamp method just remember that the blowin' edge if now baked properly will edge back when polished so if you are a bit of a clean freak check the guarantee and what they recomend for up keep of the area

Phil

Thanks Phil. I'll think about it.

I'm also thinking about using one of those small Badger modelling spray guns and just trying to touch up the paint damage. In some ways it seems a shame to completely spray over what is perfectly good original paintwork. This wouldn't address the dent though (the elongated area almost at the top of the wheel arch)