Car park scrapes advice

Craazysteve

So I was parked in Blanchardstown shopping centre on Saturday for about two hours, when I returned to my car I found some very considerate driver had left these nice scrapes on the bumper and front wing of my car:

No note left. There were no corresponding scrapes on the car that was parked beside me when I got back, so whoever did it obviously drove off.
I reported it to security there, and they reviewed the cctv footage and got back to me the next day. They couldn't see the incident apparently, as the cctv cameras are not static and so were not covering my car for the whole two hours it was there.

All of which means I'll be fixing this out of my own pocket, so now that I've got my little rant over, I'm really just looking for tips on getting these scrapes fixed up properly, at a reasonable price.
It's an 08 Focus with metallic paint.

EazyD

Craazysteve wrote: »

So I was parked in Blanchardstown shopping centre on Saturday for about two hours, when I returned to my car I found some very considerate driver had left these nice scrapes on the bumper and front wing of my car:

No note left. There were no corresponding scrapes on the car that was parked beside me when I got back, so whoever did it obviously drove off.
I reported it to security there, and they reviewed the cctv footage and got back to me the next day. They couldn't see the incident apparently, as the cctv cameras are not static and so were not covering my car for the whole two hours it was there.

All of which means I'll be fixing this out of my own pocket, so now that I've got my little rant over, I'm really just looking for tips on getting these scrapes fixed up properly, at a reasonable price.
It's an 08 Focus with metallic paint.

If the CCTV hasn't picked up the incident there's not a lot that can be done unfortunately and it more likely than not will be cheaper to get fixed yourself than get insurance involved.

I park quite frequently in Blanchardstown and use the Leisureplex side as it tends to attract less of the careless type.

thehouses

Compound will take most of that out if you ask me but a mechanic would know better. My doors are full of dents from people opening their doors against the car and there is nothing I can do about it. Was even sitting in a car once and there was a loud bang as a child banged their door against the car with an ignorant owner staring blankly - people in general seem to be jerks. I always park in places out of the way now with one side beside a wall to minimise the risk and far enough out that people are unlikely to park beside me.

EazyD

thehouses wrote: »

Compound will take most of that out if you ask me but a mechanic would know better. My doors are full of dents from people opening their doors against the car and there is nothing I can do about it. Was even sitting in a car once and there was a loud bang as a child banged their door against the car with an ignorant owner staring blankly - people in general seem to be jerks. I always park in places out of the way now with one side beside a wall to minimise the risk and far enough out that people are unlikely to park beside me.

Scratches appear to be down to the primer, which means either touch up paint (cheap option) or professional respray on bumper. Compound only really works on light ones that the fingernail can pass over the groove.

Craazysteve

The carpark was very busy, and I actually chose to park quite far away in an empty-ish part of the carpark to hopefully avoid this kind of thing! Anyone have any recommendations for getting paint touched up in Dublin? It's too visible a location to try it myself, and I presume the other option is full panel resprays, which on two panels will be quite expensive (I'm guessing).

Stallingrad

Hard to see how a car would have caused that, looks for like a trolley fired at the car at speed. Bummer OP. Does your policy allow you to make a claim without affecting your no-claims?

blinding

I kinda think a few minor bumps and bruises add a little character to my old bangers.

Third_Echelon

Stallingrad wrote: »

Hard to see how a car would have caused that, looks for like a trolley fired at the car at speed. Bummer OP. Does your policy allow you to make a claim without affecting your no-claims?

Was just about to say that... doesn't seem like a car could make a scrape that high up?! Keyed perhaps?

EazyD

Craazysteve wrote: »

The carpark was very busy, and I actually chose to park quite far away in an empty-ish part of the carpark to hopefully avoid this kind of thing! Anyone have any recommendations for getting paint touched up in Dublin? It's too visible a location to try it myself, and I presume the other option is full panel resprays, which on two panels will be quite expensive (I'm guessing).

There's a couple of mobile services that will come to you to do it, one of them is chipsaway.ie, I've never used them myself but there are others like Car Cosmetix in Sandyford that are well regarded on here and very well priced from my experience with them.

Craazysteve

Thanks for those recommendations EazyD, I'll look into them.
I'll have to check the details of my insurance, with the excess though I'd imagine a job this size wouldn't be worth the hassle (unless I had the details of who did it).
As for bumps and bruises adding character to old bangers...I don't consider it to be an old banger yet! These are the first real scratches on it and it's only done ~70k km's!
I'm pretty sure from looking closely that the scratches were caused by another vehicle, maybe a taller vehicle as the deepest scratch is quite high alright, but all the marks in the picture appeared at the same time so the lower scratches wouldn't be from a key anyways.

goz83

Love the colour. Forget about insurance, it won't be worth it. Should be cheap to compound most of that out yourself. The rest can easily be done with touch up paint. Take your time doing it over a couple of days ideally to let the paint dry before reapplying. Worst case scenario is you muck it up and pay for it to be done properly.

charcosull

Similar thing happened to be. I got a kit off motorcolour.ie.
With a bit of effort I got a very good finish. Worth a go before paying to get it done professionally.

Craazysteve

Thanks charcosull, I'll look into that option too.