Hi folks.

My poor '05 EB/W MCS was keyed two weeks ago, on the driver-side door panel and just above the front wheel arch. I took it in to Bob Smith MINI to have their detailing crew have a look while it was in for a few other fixes. Their diagnosis was that the scratches were too deep to simply detail away, so it looks like I'm in the market for a top-notch, reputable paint/body shop.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I live in Simi Valley, but work in Universal City, so anywhere in that general vicinity will work well-enough. I don't really know what's involved in getting the panels fixed and repainted, so if anyone has any experience or advice to offer, that would be much-appreciated!

Thanks all.
Julie

 

I use Acme Coachworks Burbank Ca. (818) 842-2800 ask for James. Tell him Bob Scheer sent you he's a buddy & the owner. They fixed my 2004 MCS good as new! 10 min. drive from your work.

 

I can only tell you how sorry I am as the same thing happened to me last year when my Cabrio was only a month old... Mine was a $2500 fix - from front to back on the drivers side.

So my question for you is - have you claimed it on your insurance? You might be surprised at how EXPENSIVE it might be to fix. Body and paint work is not cheap. Our insurance company gave us 3 referrals - all 4/5 star rated. The place we picked did an EXCELLENT job...:smile: I can only hope you have the same good luck.

Donna

 

i am a partner in a MINI friendly bodyshop in Oxnard-and I live in Thousand Oaks. ARE you claiming it on insurance or wish to do it out of pocket? in either case, we can take care of your repair. We recently painted the wheel arches on another list memebrs car, mike sampson and it turned out great! give me a call at 805-485-7222. looking forward to hearing from you.

 

OMG Julie!!!

You are alive!!!! Oh what a sad post. I'm so sorry to hear about your MINI.

Richard

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your MINI. I can't imagine why someone would do something so disrespectful, some people have no respect for another persons property.

 

Pity. Some angry people trolling around. No self control. It's hard to believe that Donna/Mike had to pay $2500 for a partial repaint. I am definitely reviewing my insurance policy.

 

Well folks, I've been looking closely at the scratches, and I'm not sold on the fact that the panels need a repaint. It looks to me like it MIGHT just be a clearcoat scratch?? From a short distance it looks like the scratches have gone down to the primer, with white showing through. But when you get up REALLY close and eyeball it, i can still see the metallic blue paint showing through the back.

It may simply be a case of wishful thining on my part, but I'm wondering if it might be worth trying to detail away? While I took it in to Bob Smith MINI to have their "detailing crew" look at it - I don't really know how skilled they are - they might just be some people who are adept at washing, waxing, and going to down with a q-tip, but unskilled at using a buffer. *Shrug* The scratches are deep enough to fail the "fingernail test" I've heard about, but does that pretty much mean a re-surface, re-paint, no matter what?

 

why dont you let me have a look at it and we'll see? if buffing will fix it, we can take care of that as well. avoiding paint work is always the best solution.

 

Julie,

as I mentioned before, you're welcome to come on back to a c3 clinic to have a look at it. Below are pictures of scratches that I've pulled out (basically clear coat scratches of varying degrees, and below that are scratches that well, aren't.) In every case, the owner was super pleased that the scratch was no longer visible, but it takes a trained eye to be able to determine ahead of time whether anything can be done or not.









This is obviously a scratch of a different type--Cobwebs


No this wasn't a MINI, it was a Saturn-but had gouges and scratches and oxidation issues




Nothing can be done if your keyed scratch looks like these:

 

Richard,


From glancing at the pics, my scratches appear similar to those in the 2nd and 4th pics (unless, on that 2nd pic, I'm mistaking that long white line for a scratch when it's actually a reflection?). In any case, my scratches are nothing near the bottom two pics, thankfully. stage1scott has been kind enough to offer to have a look at the scratches this weekend, so we'll see what happens!

 

If that's the case, a few seconds on the rotary with a mild paint cleaner like M80 will remove them easily.

Good luck.

Richard