mx5cartalk.com

Hi guys

As I have mentioned my MX5 has a ding in it and I will be getting it repaired via my insurance. The body shop are going to blend in the paint to the front guard by painting the bonnet, front bumper and into the passenger side door.

Now my question is this.. currently the drivers side door and front guard are a good shade darker than the rest of the car, its been repaired before I'd say (obviously) and they've done a very poor job matching color.

My brother and I were looking at the car last night and he said why not pay the bit extra to get them to respray the entire car. He said that cos the car will be painted the same colour that there is very minimal prep required. The car with exception of 2 minuscule parking dents is straight as.

So what are all your thoughts? Would you do it if it was your car? Am I wasting my money? If I do try to sell the car will the varying shades of green make it really hard to sell??? How much extra would this bit be?

TIA
Amanda

I would get them to match the colour from the rest of the car(not the bit that is much darker). A bad match job isn't common in good panel shops, so i would hope that they can do a nice job of it.

On your other question, I take it you bought the car with different shades of green? So obviously it isn't that noticable, and you should be able to sell the car.

Is this still from the pedestrian incident?

Boags

Hi Amanda

Getting the rest of the car painted to match is definitely a good idea, nothing worse than mismatched panels ( I have one on Katie, drives me nuts )

I would get the body shop to paint the drivers side door and front guard to match, although a complete respray may be easier and more consistent, might come down to cost.

You can only ask.

EDIT : Bugga, Boags beat me !

Richard

Amanda, 'blending' across panels is done by progressively thinning the paint untill you are virtually spraying thinners only. It will look great when you get it back, but within 2 years you will see the blend line coming through and the mismatch will be obvious. Don't let them do it - only paint the panels that are damaged and get them to analyse the colour and match it properly. Respraying the whole car would be ideal, but only if the prep is done properly, and won't be cheap as the shops have a price per panel thaey work to.

Thanks guys.

Given I am going through insurance (I take the car to GIO assesment centre they then take it to the panel beaters) that the panel beater will just do their thing and not take into account what I want done.

Is this likely?

By what Bigdog is saying I tell them to ONLY repair the front guard and match the paint perfectly to the rest of the car. This panel shop is supposed to be a good one, its 'Barnets' on Macaulay Rd Kensington.

Maybe I ring the MX5 Factory in Ringwood, see if they partner up with my insurance.

Does anyone know of any other reputable panel shops in Melbourne???


EDIT: MX5Factory are a partner of Suncorp (GIoO) so yipeee maybe I'd be better off taking my baby there???

From what the Vic guys have said about the MX5 Factory, I'd say that was definitely a better option Amanda. Always go with the experts if you can!