I'm getting my entire right side (all four panels) repainted due to a keying incident. I was also planning to have the front driver's side door (left side) and the C pillar area (left side) repainted due to 2-3 rock chips on the driver's door and 3 clear coat scratches (2 are 3 mm long, the last is about 2 cm long) on the C pillar.

While getting some dings removed a couple weeks ago, the PDR guy said it probably wouldn't be worth having the left side panels repainted for those minor cosmetic defects. Said I should just live with the clearcoat scratches and try to touch up the rock chips on the driver's door, since a repaint would not look as good.

Okay, here are some pics. Not very good ones, mind you, but the best I could do...

This first set is of the longer clearcoat scratch on the left C pillar.









This next set is of the two smaller clearcoat scratches on the left C pillar.









Also, here's a pic of the scratches in one picture.

 

Lastly, here's the rock chips (3) on the door.





Here's the second pic with the rock chips circled (the rest of the shmuts is just salt...):



If I need to circle the area in any of the pics I posted, let me know.

What do y'all think? Repaint? Not worth it? I need to make a decision soon, so should I go ahead and let Wagonwork (or First Choice) in Arlington, VA paint the left side, or should I call my insurance to modify my claim to leave out the left panels?

TIA.

 

seriously i think they are pretty minor, almost like just a matter of time before they happen

if you repaint those as well, my suggestion is might just as well repaint the whole car

 

I guess my issue was they were paint imperfections that I can have this first-rate body shop fix at no extra cost to me. Repainting the whole car would cost a lot more and wouldn't be covered by my insurance co.

But you think it wouldn't be worth possible paint mismatch?

 

yup that's what i was thinking. if you paint the left, you are going to paint way more than half of the car. so might just as well?

 

A good body shop should be able to touch those up and match them perfectly with the rest of the paint. I like to avoid re-paints; they are almost never as good as the factory paint.

 

A full repaint is out of the question, as it would be $$$$$ that I don't have nor want to spend...

So among my options:

1. have them do nothing to the left panels
2. fully repaint the two panels
3. touch up the panels

It sounds like 1 or 3 are the most suggested?

 

Touch up or do nothing and ignore it. Seriously, these little imperfections would happen sooner or later anyways.....

 

First, as always, try SCRATCH-OUT. You may have to rub it hard. If the scratches are too deep for that ( as I suspect ) then try one of the waxes that actually have color impregnated in them....they may be able to put some color in the white scratch area that will approxiate the paint color and make the scratch less noticeable. You can find these at auto parts stores. If this doesn't work, sometimes paint-colored pieces of weather-resistant tape can be put over the scratches to at least hide them some. If none of these easy fixes will work, then of course consider a more expensive repaint.

In some cases, black trim or tape stripes can be put in the area of the scratches.......with matching ones on the oppopsite side of the car, of course.......to cover the scratch and make it look like black factory trim...but this can only be done a few times and in certain places. You can't do it just anywhere.

 

Regardless of what you do make sure to get some primer into them asap. The longer the metal sits exposed the better chance you have of forming rust.

 

Damn that color is beautiful!

All I know is that any repaint is never as durable as the factory finish. I had my 325i hood repainted after an accident and the rock chips that it got after the repaint were unreal.

However, if you do the repaint, and the body shop is as good as you say, then the match should be perfect.

edit: what happened with the keying incident? Pics?

 

I disagree at least to some extent. With a GOOD body shop ( and believe me, I know how to inspect bodywork ) there is virtually no difference at all. Modern body-shop techniques today, especially with today's clearcoat durability, can produce just about factory-quality paint without having to bake it at the super-high temperatures that would otherwise damage the car.

 

Honestly, in my experience, without that high temp bake, the paint never seems as durable - I don't see how it could be. But hey, I'm not in the business either!

 

Not to be a ****, but the swirl marks look FAR worse than the actual defects... I'd touch up the defects, then take it to a good detailer to finish removing the minor swirls and scratches.

 

Damn, u really pissed someone off on the internet arguing.

J/K dam that sucks, I've had my car keyed before. If the shop is top notch, they can make it look new with no paint matching issues.