I have a bit of road rash on my front bumper which i want to get sorted. There is a guy from ChipsAway going to look at the car tomorrow. Just wondering has anyone used these guys, some mixed reviews. Looked at some vids on you tube, results look good, but you never see the bad ones.

 

Variable results - I had the following done at various times:

• Mini, pearlescent purple, small repair - very good result, excellent paint match, almost undetectable, which was surprising given the complexity of the colour
• XJ-S, black, dent & damaged paint on door - not brilliant, probably because it was a large area and a plain colour that showed every defect (same guy who did a good job on the Mini)
• XK8, anthracite, scrape on wheel arch - acceptable, looked better originally but some hazing around the edges visible after a couple of years
• XK8, flaking on window trims - excellent job, looked 100%, but no blending required

Bottom line: not as good as a proper respray/repair, but a lot cheaper, and if it's an area that's just going to get damaged again, it's acceptable. It will look better than the current rash...

 

He was to come today to do the job , but i had to put him off for a week because of business. He came to view the work he has to do. The front bumper needs to be done it is bad with rash from previous owner as you can see from the picture, so will have to be primed ( the bottom of my grill was popped out in picture have it sorted now) and 2 blemishes on the rear bumper. He has quoted me €450-£330, which i think isn't too bad. Funny enough my bonnet is perfect. He is the only franchise for ChipsAway in Ireland , so he travels the country. He's originally from England and moved over here and has been at this 8 years. Have seen his reviews and all good comments. He seems to be a man that is proud of his work which is a good thing and said he would take the whole day on this job. His dad he tells me collects vintage cars in the UK and he has a red e-type. As i am a bit weary of getting it done he says his work will be 100% with a life time guarantee.
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If it was a part of the car that won't receive similar damage over time anyway, it would be a harder call. But, as I said, you're going to get bumper scuffs & stone chips regardless, so why spend big €€€ on making it look perfect for a few months?

 

The back bumper blemishes do look crap all the time so will be getting them done, as for the front it is quite noticeable on a good day. After i polish it i get those grey type spots, yuk. Anyway i had a xk8 for 6 years and the front was as good as the first day, as i never kept close to any traffic. The previous owner must have loved tailgating. I know if i get it done it should last as i always keep my distance as i just like to cruise along. What do you think of the price for the job.

 

Price sounds similar to what I was charged - sorry, can't remember for sure, and the cars are all sold so I don't have my pile of receipts anymore. I can tell you that a proper insurance re-spray for a small scrape on the left wing of my XK8, courtesy of a badly driven London taxi, cost £600 four years ago..

 

I was just quoted $956 by a Jaguar approved body shop for 1/2" square chip on the rear bumper. Probably a total re-spray. By the way the chip is the courtesy of a valet parker.

 

FFS - are they going to gold-plate it first?

 

I'll tell ya, some of these chip repair guys are miracle workers. I due to my stupidity, loaned my car to a friend just to go to town. Car came back with a 14" scrape on the front bumper, he drove the front right over a curb, bet the lip back and scratched it deep. Body shop quoted me 1350$ to re and re the bumper with body work and a color match respray. A local chip repair guy saw my car and said he could do it for under 100$. I figured, worst case I'd have the body shop do it, but why not let this guy have a go..

he completely made the damage invisible, the bumper looks as good as new, even the body shop couldn't tell work had been done.

I've never been happier and I will always take my car to him before the collision repair body shop.