Being charged crazy prices

Swaine55

Hi, So i caused a scratch on a drivers car and initially we agreed their was minor damage done and he told me he'd get back to me about it.

Got a call today saying id have to pay up €1571. The man on the phone was from the garage and kept asking me if i was going through me insurance. I told him it was a crazy price and requested the breakdown of prices. Roughly 1100 for labour (18hours@€55 and 400 for paint. )

I told him id rather go elsewhere and he said the owner of the car wanted it done properly and since he was a Renault affiliated garage, it would not effect his warranty.

Is it just me or is this crazy. surely warrantys are not effected by pain repairs, and surely this is not 18hours of work, and above all €1571 is crazy

Its even hard to see it in the picture its that insignificant. But the scratch on the door and the scratch over the wheel is what im talking about.

Toyotafanboi

it could affect his perforation and corrosion warranty if repaired poorly.

that said, 18 hours is one man working for 2 days. your photo is a little deceptive with the lighting i think, does that scratch take in both doors?

process for both doors:
remove the internal door card, possibly the window and mechanism
tap out the dent as best as possible
fill the door and shape it
prep and paint it
polish it back
refit window mechanisms
tap in/ out the wheel arch
fill and shape it
paint it and buff it back too

i can easily see how this would take one man two working days.

it would probably cost more to replace the doors so i'd keep the head down.

Swaine55

The scratch is only the rear door and the wheel arch. There is no dent, just the scratch.

MetzgerMeister

If that photo is anything to go by, you are being totally and utterly ripped off.

Toyotafanboi

here's an image of the photo that i've edited the colour in a little, helps you see the marks better. see the 2 scratches above one another on the rear door. it looks like there is a corresponding contact patch up to about half way up the front door, you can see as the dirt has been cleared off of the paint, this is likely to have mis-shapen the door a bit.

maybe not a lot to the untrained eye, but i can see where they are coming from. i'm all for helping people out and i don't like to see anyone being had, but it does look like there is likely to be damage (even if just minimal) to both doors. 2 new doors would be much dearer, but i'd say insurance wouldn't pay out for them in this instance. edit: look at the panel gap towards the bottom of the door compared to the top, looks like the door is shunted in a little.

imo you are bunched in this case. get a few more opinions on here first though, by all means. it's a few years since i've done an estimate.

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

If that photo is anything to go by, you are being totally and utterly ripped off.

you'd take the 335i down a back street would you?

MetzgerMeister

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

you'd take the 335i down a back street would you?

Wha

Just because I wouldn't take it down a back street doesn't mean I'd pay well over the odds either.

From looking at the picture and from what the OP said about the damage being localised to the bottom of the rear door and arch, a detailer would have the majority of that gone in less than an hour.

Swaine55

Whoa, i appreciate the effort in changing the color of the picture, but the change in shading is because he ran his hand along the car to feel the scratch. That is all that took the dust off the car. The two scratches on top of each other is the damage, along with the wheel arch.

challengemaster

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

From looking at the picture and from what the OP said about the damage being localised to the bottom of the rear door and arch, a detailer would have that gone in less than an hour.

Unless you've found a miraculous way of restoring paint where it's been scraped off, I don't think a detailer would do anything with it

@OP - It is what it is, you caused the damage. The owner of the car is entitled to get it fixed wherever they want. So you pay whatever it costs. End of story really.

Toyotafanboi

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Wha

Just because I wouldn't take it down a back street doesn't mean I'd pay well over the odds either.

From looking at the picture and from what the OP said about the damage being localised to the bottom of the rear door and arch, a detailer would have that gone in less than an hour.

you can buff out stretched metal can you? wipe away uneven panel gaps.

i think nobody can say for certain from a photo of that lack of quality and unless the op (who by human nature will want to play down the damage) is a panel beater, then their word isn't really much to go on.

no chancer is chancey enough to charge €1500 for something that could be buffed away in 5 minutes. i'd say the taxi driver has taken it to a main dealer because after all, this vehicle is his means of income, so it has to be kept well. now we all know dealers farm out bodywork, so maybe there is an €2-300 premium going to the dealer here, but there is still a tasty bit of work involved.

half an hour buffing might sort out the scratch, but the car wouldn't be in "pre-accident condition".

edit: i must say i'm not having a pop at you personally MM, just trying to rationalise what is happening to the OP. sorry if i've came on all strong :P

Theboinkmaster

Send pictures & description to Shane in Carcraft and he will give you a reasonable quote.

vectra

in fairness you would almost get a full same color respray for that much.
Taxi?
Quick cash in pocket for christmas

MetzgerMeister

Right lads, please point out where it says that the paint is scratched off down to the metal because honestly, I've missed it.

I've done it many times before where someone thinks that the paint is totally gone just because it's white but a bit of work and know-how will bring it back to the way it should be.

Curran

The image with the area in question, with how it might look in decent light!



Judging by that; Id say the majority would respond well to machine correction, but not all!
At the end of the day, it is two panels damaged. Quote is expensive, and someone would do an equally good job for less, but its the up to the person who owns the car to decide where they want the work done! Its what insurance is for.

Mr Detail

It seems excessive but it's very hard to get marks like that without some sort of minor damage. Also will be refinishing whole panels.

I'm sure plenty of that would come out but it's unlikely to get it perfect and that's what the person deserves.

That said, it does seem pretty bloody steep.

Dia1988

I didn't even think a Renault Fluence was worth 1,500 euro!