Some complete stranger (at least I don't think anyone dislikes me enough for this) key'd the entire drive side of my mini from taillight to headlight. The scratch is very thin, and in some places doesnt even go al the way through the paint. Took it to a body shop, and it's about $1,100 to repair. Has anyone tried doing a similar repair with touch-up paint? If so how did it come out? It seems crazy to spend that much on such a thin scratch. My car is Indi Blue, so another concern I have it touch up paint being too dark due to my paint having possibly fainted.

 

Man, that sucks. I have an Indi Blue Cooper, and I touched up some relatively minor scratches on the rear quarter panel(my own fault) with decent results, but if you look closely, the touch-up paint looks darker than the original paint. You may want to take it to a detailing shop since your scratch sounds pretty shallow. They may be able to make it less noticeable for a lot less money. If I was touch up paint, I also would have fainted when I heard that it was going to run over $1000! (I know you meant faded.)

 

haha i just hit the spell correction...i must of had a typo and it went with faint rather than fade. Thanks for the advice...its so small that i think i may try touch up in the few places where its deep and see how it goes. Did you get the bottles or a touch up pen?

 

I bought a bottle of touch up paint when I bought the car. I don't think my paint has faded that much. It is kept covered in the garage when not being driven, and I try not to park in direct sun. The car is now 10 years old, but most people think it much newer. Plus the scratches occurred within the first year or two, if I recall, so not much time to fade. I just think the touch-up paint was darker.

 

Sincere commiseration. You need to contact Dr. Colorchip and some high end detail shops in your area before you start trying to touch it up yourself. You may end up making matters worse. Dr. Colorchip or the Langha system may afford you some excellent results with not a lot of money. In addition, you, or a good detail shop may be able to polish out the clearcoat and get rid of some of the scratch.

 

what about insurance? this is vandalism. you may only be responsible for the deductible.

 

Yes, but they'll bump up the premium first chance they get!

 

I would certainly check with the insurance company to at least make sure that if you try to fix and it does not work out, you don't put yourself in a corner when you try to claim it or need work down the road.

Sad commentary on a segment of the human race. . .

 

X3 on "check with insurance" a lot of companies don't have a deductible for Vandalism. I know my cr@ppy State Farm policy years ago even had a zero deductible for it. And they never wanted to pay for ANYTHING. Also see if you have an "accident forgiveness" in the plan.

It never hurts to ask.

 

Mean people suck

Your premium should not be affected when filing a claim under "Comprehensive"

I have a zero deductible for Comp and $1,000 for collision.

Every couple of years I get the windshields replaced or repaired for free when they are pitted.

My policy premium has actually gone down over the last couple of years.