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Well, matter of time…scratched it!

4K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  3boystoys 
#1 · (Edited)
Believe it or not, just literally backing out of, and putting the car back in the garage. Snow everywhere, driveway had a lot of ice on it.

I was cutting the car to the right hard to position it into it's parking spot and it kept going straight! I mashed on the brake pedal because I was heading right into the side frame of my garage door….but it didn't stop! Mind you, I never hit the gas this entire time..car was at cold idle still. The front brakes locked up but the rears didn't, so it pushed the front tires sideways on the ice towards the door frame.

t MIGHT have been going 1/8 of 1 MPH…it finally stopped. I didn't even think I had hit anything, but it was seriously close - I knew that.

So I cut the wheel back, put it in reverse and re-aimed the car and pulled into the garage. And here's what I found:


So after being pissed off at myself, the car and everything else…I waited and I initially figure I can just touch this up with spot paint…which I still think I can, but it won't be perfect and I doubt I can hide it completely…

So - not being a body/paint guy, I thought matbe a shop could feather this scrape out, add the paint feather everything out again and clear coat it so it's invisible….not the case I found.

So I have an estimate from one shop for over 1K to remove the entire bumper cover, re-paint it and add the stripes back/reinstall. I thought that was out-f'ing rageous…so I went to a shop I had a cople vehicles repaired at in the past….I know they do good work.

They said the same thing! To fix it right, the whole thing needs to be removed and repainted! He also says any clear coat they put on will eventually begin to peel up after a few years. At least the price was a LITTLE cheaper…860 bucks!! :disgust:

So - I'm hesitant to file a claim with my insurance over this…500 dollar deductible….guy at the shop says they shouldn't raise my rates. This great insurance company I have said that about 10 years ago when I hit a deer in my truck…guess what? They raised my rates.

What do you guys think?
-Spot paint?
-Make a claim and get her done "the right way"
-Pay for it myself and lick my wounds..lol

BTW, I don't even have 8K miles on the thing…but I guess that doesn't matter...
 
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#2 ·
Color match Spot paint..... Wax then a good buff over.... Don't feel too bad man. Stuff like this will just pop up. Same thing kinda went down at my house. It was like -something outside and my hotwater heater had a leak in it... Water turned into ice, but I could not see it when I pulled in. I did a lil slide into my Red Honda and my car is black. So I had this crazy long Red mark deep in my paint. I did a good buff and used a matched paint pin. Then I hit it with the same color wax and another buff and now it looks like new. I'm sure you will be fine with what ever you are going to do. Just take your time and do it right.... :thumbsup:
 
#5 ·
^^^ what I'd do.. my luck I'd pay a lot of money to replace and try to make it perfect and some yahoo in a parking lot would do worse to it in a week.
there's a touch up paint guy here in town that does phenomenal work for $50... found him at a local Ford dealer when I had my Mustang. got a little rock chip on my hood I'm going to get him to do, I'll give the Ford boys something else to talk about, my window tinter works there too. good luck,
 
#7 · (Edited)
Welp…I decided I'll try and see if I can touch it up myself. I figure…what do I have to lose? If it turns out horrible, guess it's to the body shop….:fight:

Thanks for the help/advice everyone…that's why this forum rocks!
 
#8 ·
Use a hobby knife to trim the loose stuff off first so your edges are nice and flat and solid before you add your paint. Use multiple thin coats vs globbing it on. Just barely overlap the existing paint to keep the repair as small as possible. I would instruct you to wetsand your repair but I don't think you're ready for that. Definitely NOT worth $860.
 
#9 ·
If it is a driver touch it up and ignore it if you can. If it is a garage queen and you make enough money that $1000 is pocket change go for the total fix. But be aware that going for the total fix you may end up with something worse than you have now - mismatched paint, some other ding, fasteners not replaced correctly etc.
 
#10 ·
Believe it or not, just literally backing out of, and putting the car back in the garage. Snow everywhere, driveway had a lot of ice on it.

I was cutting the car to the right hard to position it into it's parking spot and it kept going straight! I mashed on the brake pedal because I was heading right into the side frame of my garage door….but it didn't stop! Mind you, I never hit the gas this entire time..car was at cold idle still. The front brakes locked up but the rears didn't, so it pushed the front tires sideways on the ice towards the door frame.
Don't feel bad, I backed into a concrete wall the other day parking. Park Assist was screaming but I thought I'd hit the parking curb before the wall but nooooooo. Just barely moving but I did manage to put a couple scuff marks on the very bottom part of the bumper.

The only person who's going to see it is me so the hell with it. Life goes on. :pimp:
 
#11 ·
As you mentioned.............."Make a claim and get her done "the right way."

I dare say you've paid "thousands" over the years to insure, not only your Challenger, but other cars/trucks as well. This is a time to contact them and file a claim; so as to "get it right," as you say !!

If your insurer raises your rates for this "petty claim," find another company that promises "accident forgivness," many of the top tier companies do !!

There's no sense in paying all you've paid throughout the years and then not using it when necessary.

Note that a slightly different "twist" to your story, might result in a comprehensive claim, which might very well carry a lower deductible and spare you a collision claim..........just sayin.' :scratchhead:

Good luck, my friend........

Best regards,

Gary aka "beamg5"
 
#12 ·
Well - after reading this - you're right. I've been with this insurance company going on the better part of 20 years. I decided to file a claim. Of course, this will be a petty claim for them if you discount my 500 dollar deductible from the repair cost. They'll be paying less than I am! Of course they consider it "collision" since I'm the one the damaged it. Guess I'll see if they jack up my rates after this...

I'll be on the Hot Rod Power Tour starting in June with the car, so I want the car to be as flawless as I can. I also want to make the right impression considering it's a newer car among older muscle there. I really want to take my supercharged Camaro to be honest, but there is no luxury or comfort with that car…no AC, not even cup holders!….it's just a beast…but I built it.

But when your wife goes along…happy wife = happy life you know?
 
#13 ·
Damn that sucks....it looks like it scraped all the way through the paint to bumper. I would touch it up until you can talk yourself into having a reputable shop repaint it. Gluck
 
#16 · (Edited)
Thanks for your opinion. It almost sounds like what the adjuster is going to say when I take the car to him. Of course, any adjuster is going to have a conflicting interest in what the customer wants vice what the company wants.

It goes without saying that the company would rather not pay any claims and continue to collect as much as possible for as long as possible from each person. And when they are forced to pay to repair any car in this case, they have an interest in getting it done as cheaply as possible, and the quality of the repair should be good enough to at least till the warranty runs out. But I'm biased due to bad dealings when I hit a deer in my truck in the past. About 6 years ago, I hit the thing on the passenger front. It came out of some brush on the edge of the road…no way to miss it.

Truck was only 2 years old and less than 20K on it. It smashed out the cheap plastic grill and tweaked the front bumper.

I made a claim and the insurance company said it "shouldn't" effect my rates. The adjuster would call me in a couple of days. Well, 2 days go by…and I was home after a night shift from work. My dog started barking like crazy outside…I walked out to find this guy with a clipboard looking at my truck in my driveway…he didn't ring the doorbell, introduce himself or anything.

So I asked him.."is there something I can do for you?" Still not introducing himself, he said "doesn't look that bad..I'll cut you a check for 150 bucks and I have a paper for you to sign". I declined and said that I would get estimates…I had full coverage supposedly. The ACTUAL repairs ranged from 1400 dollars (complete ripoff) to 345 dollars which was the CHEAPEST. Glad I didn't take that check. Oh - and my rates went up anyway. I got a letter in the mail that said everyone's rates were being raised because too many policy holders in my area were making claims. So you can understand why I have a sour taste for insurance companies..

Bottom line is as I said…no body shop around here will do a feather and spray on it and put any kind of a warranty on it. All three said pretty much the same thing…since it's on a body line, the clear won't hold up. Otherwise, I'm all for any repair that won't cost this much…for me or anyone else.

So the car looks as good as new….except for this. It's a garage queen I'll admit, with less than 8K on the clock. I plan to keep this car for a long time so I want it fixed right.
 
#17 ·
Just dropped the car off at the body shop, and had to get a ride home from them. Turned out to be the owner of the place that gave me a ride. He introduced himself and said "That's a nice Charger you have there"...:shrug03:
 
#18 ·
I hope it turns out great, maybe I've just had bad luck but I've never had anything re-painted on the front of a car that held up like factory paint. it always chipped and flaked very easily.. I hope your shop is the exception and surpasses your expectations. :)
 
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