Ron says it all.......



I'm not sure how I would do......I cringe when my niece gets near Wensleydale

 

to old for late term abortion??? My daughter is 26 and I have been known to threaten her for far less then that. I have a mouse that I sent to "Ratatouille" heaven for chewing on 'Rita's wires!!!

 

This is great, sorry afxok, but this thread is bringing in lots a folks who otherwise don't come to this forum.

Mark

 

Probably the first step you need to do is decide how deep the scratches really are. If they are only to the clear coat you can probably wet sand and buff out. If they are through the clear coat but not through the base or color coat then you can probably GENTLY wet sand around the scratches that are down to the color coat(being very, very careful to not go through the color coat to the primer), feathering the edges of the scratches, apply some clear coat, wet sand again, then buff to a nice shine. If they are through to the primer you can try to wet sand down to nice feathered edges, get some paint in your color, mask and paint, wet sand, repeat as necessary until a good color match is found, clear coat, wet sand, repeat as necessary, then buff out. If right about now you are thinking that you would be nuts to try this yourself, ignore everything above and find a good body shop to quote you a price and have them do it. If you are still interested in pursuing things from here I can give you the specific details on what worked for me when I did some work on my 71 Triumph TR6 this summer after an SUV backed out and turned the bumper into my parked car.

 

When I was about 6 or 7, I washed my Dad's MG with an SOS pad.

He said it needed a new paint job anyway. :D

 

afxok,

I did some checking on this and we (State Farm), under our policy, would cover your damages under your Comprehensive coverage.

Check with your insurance company and see if they will do the same.

 

I realized pretty quick that's what I needed to do. Otherwise it would still be eating at me. MINI still motors so life's too short to dwell on it. Our family does more fun things these days because it's fun to get there! That's the important part.

 

Sometimes I am reminded how GREAT it is to live in the DEEEEEP South !!!
I feel your CONFLICT....Kill, Love, Kill, Love

 

You can kill children in the deep south ?!?!!

 

I'm pretty sure my insurance would cover it too, although I was sort of ruling that out thinking that the repair would probably be about as much as the deductible ($500) and not really worth filing a claim. On the other hand, if it had to be repainted it might be worth it.

Are there any risks with getting a mismatched finish? I've never had any body issues on any of my previous vehicles so I'm not sure what to expect. It just seems overkill since MINI is only 6mo. old!

You all will probably be able to give me a better idea on that once I get a picture up (still -10 degrees today and I'm afraid to wash it).

 

Unless you let your kids paint it , no chance of paint mis-match.

Even on cars that are old and faded, a good paint man can match it and blend it in a way that you would never know it was painted. So on a 6-month old car with paint in good condition, piece of cake for them !

Yeah, I hope the repair is cheap and you don't need your policy. But in the event you do, always nice to know it is covered.

Good luck.

 

No problem. I'm mostly over it. And the feedback here has been starting to make me feel it's not quite as bad as I feared. I knew I came to the right place! The kids are probably the main reason I don't get here as much as I'd like .

Going off topic here, but at least the kids still fit. I sized them both up at the dealer before I bought it. Since then, I've had other MINI owners spy both of my booster seats in the back and say "You mean you didn't have to get rid of the MINI when you had the kids?" Nope, the kids came first!

--Tony

 

I feel your pain.
Good advice here - now's the time to justify buying a a Porter Cable polisher...

I think I was five when I 'helped mommy' by pounding a nail through our linoleum floor.:impatient
Sounds like you've got a good perspective.

Another alternative - Don't repair the damage, and use it as psychological blackmail as they get older and can understand what they did!

 

yah, i can always tell when panels are repainted.
sucks for me.

 

You're going to the wrong body shops, Ken ! Ask any good paint tech and they'll bet you $100 or the keys to your G that you wouldn't be able to spot a painted panel on a nearly-new car.

 

Yeah, like THATS going to happen

Mark

 

That's what my dad always told me when I was a kid... and I believed him.

 

One can only **imagine** what kind of problems you presented as a child, Blimey.

 

Mark

 

Pretty funny thread here. I missed what color your MCS is? Btw, I don't think the 2007's have a primer coat.

I can also spot a repaint. Usually the tell tale signs are in the edges--did the trim get removed or did they mask up to the edge. Was the repainted area colorsanded? If so, was it done too well where there is no orange peel while the rest of the car has orange peel? Did they color sand in areas that you can't buff so they left sanding marks behind? When they painted the panel, did they remove the existing paint or just paint over it? My electronic thickness gauge would tell me.

On metallics, I can spot blending lines--where the painter tried to feather the edge back into the paint instead of stopping at a panel line or wrapping it around an edge.
Depending on the severity of the damage, a PC may not have enough muscle to correct severe paint damage.
Some MINIs are repainted days old without your knowledge before you pick it up, lol. Overkill? No. Are there risks? Always. Whatever body shop you use, make sure they will redo the job to your satisfaction. Inspect the job under bright sunlight--don't have any cause of the snow? Take a set of 500 watt halogen work lamps with you. If that's too bulky, get the brightest Xenon or LED flashlight you can find and point it at the finish and inspect it very closely looking at where they painted it. Outside under sunlight from different angles is where you will see whether the paint matches.

+2 on the pix!

 

Okay, Richard... some of those points you made are the difference between a good paint man and a great paint man.

And if you have to whip out your guage to measure thickness to determine if a body part was repainted, it was a very good piece of body work !

 

It shouldn't be too early to enroll the kids in bodywork classes. It's a marketable skill they can use in the future.

 

I know your heart sank...but inside I did laugh a little - sorry... Little kiddos are so innocent at that age and they just wanted to help. I can only imagine how you must of felt... Do I scream??? Do I yell??? Do I calmly take hold of the situation??? Ugggg.....

I know your MINI will be fixed as good as new soon.

Donna

 

yah, we could use more great paint man in our area...
even clearcoat only, i can tell it was repainted. perhaps
im too sensitive.

 

No such thing when it comes to body repair work.