I have a scratch on my hood that goes right through the paint and am afraid the only fix is to repaint the hood. Has anyone had to do this? What was the cost and how did it look when done. BTW - My color is sparkling silver.

 

Sparkling silver is a metallic color IIRC. Hence, a touch up isn't going to blend in right. Spot painting with a very gifted painter can hide it well but unfortunately a trained eye can spot it. Depending on who you go to, the price can vary. Obviously a local shop is the way to go since shipping the hood is expensive.

How bad is the scratch? And is it easily covered with maybe stripes(if you go this route, definitely patch it up first since bare metal is always a bad idea)? If painting the whole hood is the only way to go, the cheapest I've found is $150(local fella) and the most I've gotten is $550(local award winning body shop). I would not skimp on the hood though cause it's the most obvious thing on the car.

Oh hey, try asking a vinyl shop who does art on vehicles. Sometimes the airbrush artist can do it for alot cheaper.

 

Thanks for the information. The scratch is about 2 inches long and looks like it was done with a key or screw driver. All I can see is black coming through. It is right over the hood scoop on my S and unfortunately I already have stripes, and the scratch is nowhere near it. I took it back to my Mini dealership, and their regular touch up guy won't touch it. They were going to investigate someone else for me. It is a real let down since I just bought the car and did not notice it at time of purchase since the car was covered with dirt and salt from winter. The car was washed before I took it home, but it was below zero with wind chill and my inspection was cut short because my eye ***** were freezing in my head. I did not see the scratch until I got home.

 

There are many companies now days that specialize in professional spot repairs. You should avoid repainting the hood as that will have a negative impact in your vehicle's resale value. I don't see the need for such drastic measure to repair a 2 inch scratch.

When you cut your finger, you don't grab an axe an amputate your hand...don't you?

 

Please post a pic of the scratch so we can see the extent of the damage. I still contend that repainting the hood of a brand new car will kill your resale value.

 

I had to have my hood repaired (a few deep scratches and dents, scoop too) and re-sprayed. That, including new graphics and installation was an insurance claim of $650-ish. Worth my $200 comp deductible.

Lewis is BRG metallic and you can't even tell his bonnet was re-sprayed. The body shop did a really good job. In my thinking having a rusty scratch and dent would kill resale worse than a repaint. I have all the records for the repair so it's not like I can't prove what was done and why. Besides - not all buyers are that informed. I didn't want to live with a banged up car, I'll take my chances on resale when it comes to that however many years from now that is.

If you're set against repainting the whole hood get some MINI touch up paint, make sure you clean out the scratch really well, and touch it up good. I've heard Langka works well to smooth things over (it's been too cold here) - that would at least stop it from rusting and you could have a body shop look at it again in the spring.

 

ClubmanS: Your analogy is a little off point, is it not? That's like saying, if there's a scratch on the hood, you remove the hood. I do agree that avoiding the route as best is definitely a good idea.

 

I know professional used car appraisers. To them a repainted panel in a car is a repainted panel = loss of value.

They don't care if the re-spray was done due to a 1cm scratch or a more severe event. It is simply viewed as the car no longer has an OEM finish element.

These people are trained to spot non-factory paint jobs. What could pass to me and you as a "spotless repair" to them is the original factory paint has been removed with an aftermarket job.

My personal approach in these situations is to take the less intrusive solution first and work from there. Why PDR is so popular? Because a ding or dent no longer means repairing a damaged panel with bondo, sanding and repainting. With PDR, the ding/dent can be popped out to perfection (or near it) while preserving your original OEM paint finish.

Body shops are very dead set on their traditional repair methods. It is how they make money after all. You as the owner of the vehicle, you have the right to seek different opinions and alternatives as to how best repair the damage.

I have seen incredible repair jobs done in the PDR and spot repair arena. I have seen torn plastic bumpers repaired to perfection for a 1/3 of the cost of replacement (not to mention the aggravation of being out of the car for days/weeks).

Sorry I am a believer in seeking the less intrusive way first.

 

Yes I intentionally exaggerated my analogy to drive the point home

 

In regards to what ClubmanS states, it depends on who you go to in regards to appraisal. When I was selling my 2003 MCS, many did not notice the hood was not original. There was only one MINI connoisseur who could tell the hood wasn't original. That being said, if an appraiser wants to, they can very quickly and simply chemically test the paint to know if it isn't original factory OEM paint.

misslindsey hit the nail on the head: It really comes down to if you'd rather have a noticeable deep scratch on your bonnet that may rust and will probably lower resale value anyways or if you'd take the chance to get it covered up and have somebody notice the fix. If you can find somebody to just touch-up the spot, awesome! The only time I used Langka was in regards to a paint chip and it helped a bit but was still very noticeable. As IzzyG originally stated light metallic colors can be hard to match. Even with the OEM MINI touch-up paint the color wasn't quite right (too light and not metallic enough) and the Langka simply removed the lumps, but the outline of the damage was still noticeable in my case. A paint-shop could have done better even if it wasn't perfect.

 

Check around for a replacement hood from a salvage yard - you've got a common color, and it'd retain the factory paint. They'd take your scratched hood in trade as well.

Or...

I like the airbrush idea. Just make sure there's some good primer underneath to forestall the rustbug.