The front of my XJ has more than a few chips here n there on the bonnet, bumper and leading edges of the wings.

I guess as it's so flat faced it's to be expected at around 82k miles and after a few motorway miles and some fairly speedy runs.
To be fair once she's cleaned up and Blackholed she looks great, but the lower front bumper seems the worst ( especially to my critical eyes )

Anyhow, called a bodyshop friend of mine (I've put around 6 of my cars and friends cars to him over the last few years ) and he's cut me a pretty good deal on a front end respray, so I may take him up on that shortly.

Anyone else had theirs freshened up?
Any experiences to share?

 

Jim,

Our '04 is going to need the same treatment eventually. I had the front air dam and hood/bonnet resprayed on our BMW a few years ago and was very happy with the results, although it's already showing more stone chips.... But definitely worth doing if you trust the shop to match the color, properly prep the surfaces, expertly apply the paint, and charge you a reasonable price.

Cheers,

Don

 

I actually had a "full body" job on mine. When I bought it, sight unseen, it had some spots where I could plainly see that they tried touching up on the back qtr panels, front right fender, & by the driver side doors & rear passenger door. I can't stand seeing things like that myself. The trunk/boot lid looked like a cat played with a mouse on it, so that was 1 of the 1st things I did. Paint match is perfect, being there's no seen difference from when I open the door(s) & see the door jams versus the rest of the car. I put a Clear Bra on it after the paint was ready for that...

 

About how much does a full body respray cost these days?

 

I got somewhat of a discount, being I am close to a Maaco owner; I spent $1600 on what would've cost me $2600 (or something like that) 5 yr warranty (last 2yrs prorated/i actually got it resprayed already due to a little bubbling from to much Tire shine from the previous owner)

 

+1 on Maaco.

Work on our BMW and one of our Altimas was done through a friend who works at a local Maaco and it was excellent all around. Maaco gets a bit of a bum rap because they're a chain and their prices are reasonable, but all the work they've done for me has been great.

 

Yup, I did it to my 05 immediately after buying it. The road salt must've stayed on it too long with the previous owner and it ate through the front bumper cover...but not the hood, fortunately. I removed myself, disassembled it and transported it sticking out the top of the convertible to my local body shop (top down obviously and on side roads). I saved hundreds on the R&R.

 

Car booked in for bonnet, bumper, both wings and sills as well as rear bumper 28th April!
Should be in for 3 days or so and then I'll fit the new front fog light housing surrounds too......loads going on!

Jim

 

Jim , I would invest in a CAR BRA once you repair your paint chips

I use mine every time every time on country trips or high speed highway driving and to date have no stone chips on bumper , lower apron or bonnet .

They work well , don't damage or rub paint work and are quick to install and remove .

Jaguar do sell an original two piece CAR BRA for the X350 , my one came with the car , it is one piece and was tailor made to fit .















Cheers mate ,

Sid

 

No offence Sid, I would rather have stone chips than have to use that on long journeys (neally all the time for Jim ), but if your happy with it then that's the main thing . I personally am considering a clear wrap. I have just painted the front bumper and side cills on mine.

 

I have the Clear Bra (paint protection film) on my JAG as well as my Range Rover. (No point in showing it, as you can't see it)

I'd definitely go with that versus an actual Bra, but of course, to each his own.

But seriously Jim, being you're about to get resprayed, I'd do that as soon as it cures enough to do so (which is what I did after getting my car repainted)

 

None taken .

 

Thanks guys, appreciate the comments and advice
Not overly keen on the Bra though Sid I must say, but each to their own and as long as it does what it says on the tin I guess.


Yes, just racked up around 1500 miles this week so approaching the 100k mark now rapidly. I may yet consider a clear wrap, we'll see on that one as I seem to be spending rather a lot .....lol


Thanks
Jim

 

I had a dealer installed clear wrap on my White Cat that was removed last month. It approached its useful life ( 11+ years) and started to crack a year after I got the car.

 

Car dropped off for paint today, should get her back on Saturday afternoon sometime
I'm excited but also a little nervous!!


I've ordered a new front plate as mine is stuck on with 3M tape and may be damaged as he removes the plinth.....it may or may not, but I'm not taking any chances.

Fingers are crossed as these things always seem to be a bit of a lottery no matter where it goes

 

Ok, it's official I'm a saddo....lol
Called in to the paint shop today to see where they were with my car, getting an update to calm my nerves.
Have to say it's early days but looking good so far.....
Received a new number plate today that I'll put on when I collect her the old one was fine but stuck on and was probably ok, but, may have been a little warped etc so just put a new one on and be done with it. Assuming it's ok I can always keep it as a get you going spare.
Roll on tomorrow.....fingers / legs and arms crossed for a good result at the end up
Jim

 

Well got my car back around 12 pm today, and to be honest, really pretty satisfied. Looks to be a good paint match and a good finish overall, and reasonably clean afterwards too.

You may or may not have seen, there was a little stone chip damage to the front bumper and it was flat, almost a matt finish somewhat. The wings and bonnet also had some minor stonechips and swirls, the sills were quite stone chipped and were difficult to bring back to a gloss black finish.

Over and above this some numpty had kindly left an 18" scratch on my rear bumper marking the paint too.
Now all resolved in one fell swoop.

Before I add the pictures, I must say, still not quite finished but you may get the idea.
Also I'd like to ask the following.....

I've had cars reworked by OEM Vauxhall and Ford dealerships, by Nationwide car body repairers as well as by Audi dealerships as well. In all that time, from any of them, there's always and I mean ALWAYS been some issue
There's either slight hologramming of the paint
There's polish residue in panel shut lines / headlights
Not cleaned out properly
etc etc etc

Never, has a car came back absolutely 100% perfect in that regard, to be fair this is no different. There are a few slight holograms and a little polish here n there.
Has anyone, ever, I mean ever had a car come back 100% perfect, bearing in mind high standards??

Overall I'm very happy with the result and intend to get my DA polishing machine out to sort out the roof, doors and bootlid and also to rework a few holograms left by the machine polishing process, then some PB Blackhole topped with BLACK wax by Chemical guys, should be really something when finished I hope.....










New foglight housings fitted too as well as a new number plate to complete the look.
Well chuffed

Jim

 

If you already have the black wax from Chemical guys, have at it. If not, I just detailed my XK and tried Turtlewax Color Magic Black and was/am thoroughly impressed. Was $14 U.S. at the local auto parts store and when they tried to ring it up, the computer couldn't recognize the bar code so he just gave it to me:-)

 

Here she is

 

Already got it thanks Sean.
Cool story and win on the free wax at local parts store!
Car's looking good.