FAO Fox

TS7 · 13 May 2010 at 18:22

mr tommo said:
The body shop place that I use (too frequently) quoted me £110 IIRC to respray the front bumper when I had the Z4. Never had it done but have sent lots of people there and I've always been really ahppy with his work.

That's an excellent price. I may have to make a trip down after my exams.

I was quoted £250 for the bumper on my Fiesta.

firefilesuk · 13 May 2010 at 18:23

peterattheboro said:
This should be renamed to the Official Ask Fox thread.

I may need to pick his brains over an E36 328i Sport Coupe

I'd say thats a downgrade from your current car given how old the e36 is these days, why bother

peterattheboro · 13 May 2010 at 20:28

firefilesuk said:
I'd say thats a downgrade from your current car given how old the e36 is these days, why bother

Well my Uncle is possibly selling his and it's a MINT condition 80,000 miler for £3000. That's what he wants but dunno if it's a fair price.

I also want to make the move to RWD as FWD bores me. Plus the E36 is probably cheaper to run.

Gaijin · 13 May 2010 at 21:45

800 quid for a bumper and wings is a shocker.

Many dealerships outsource the work to local bodyshops anyway and load a premium.

For instance, the bodyshop I got the cupboard scar sorted at had worked booked in from the local Mitsubishi, and Honda dealership.

I wish I'd got a quote from Mitsu to see what the markup would have been.

Ah, the benefit of hindsight.

taximike · 13 May 2010 at 21:56

I think you get what you pay for to be honest. I know a garage in Edinburgh (Dunwell Coachworks) that will respray a bonnet for £80. But it's not factory standard - it's okay for old cars or cars you don't really care about. You have to look closely to see the imperfections but they are definitely there.

For £800 they probably sandblast the old paint off first so it looks like a new job I'd imagine. One would hope - anyway!

[TW]Fox · 13 May 2010 at 22:03

Yup, it looks absolutely fantastic

Gaijin · 13 May 2010 at 22:08

taximike said:
I think you get what you pay for to be honest. I know a garage in Edinburgh (Dunwell Coachworks) that will respray a bonnet for £80. But it's not factory standard - it's okay for old cars or cars you don't really care about. You have to look closely to see the imperfections but they are definitely there.

For £800 they probably sandblast the old paint off first so it looks like a new job I'd imagine. One would hope - anyway!

I agree to an extent, which is why I always ascertain what to expect during the quote.

The last place I used, I asked how good it would be, and the answer was "as if it was new".

Thus if it were anything but, I would have taken it back.

Minxy · 13 May 2010 at 23:50

[TW]Fox;16548983 said:
800 quid for the front end inc both wings. Took a week.

£800? Were there many imperfections in the panels that required knocking out/filling etc or was it a straight forward spray?

Gaijin, which bodyshop do you use please?

[TW]Fox · 13 May 2010 at 23:51

Straight forward spray, though the bonnet had stonechips which needed to be prepped.

Minxy · 13 May 2010 at 23:54

[TW]Fox;16551913 said:
Straight forward spray, though the bonnet had stonechips which needed to be prepped.

£800 for a simple spray seems a lot of money to me. :eek:

The stonechips are likely to only have been filled with a fine putty or similar and sanded so that's no huge issue. I'd have expected nearer £500-£600. You'd have been better off going to a BMW approved shop rather than BMW itself for value for money.

[TW]Fox · 14 May 2010 at 00:03

I wasn't particularly interested in value for money as I wasn't the one footing the bill.

I just wanted the job done properly. I only had to pay about £200 of it.

Minxy · 14 May 2010 at 00:04

That's not so bad then.

Stormster · 14 May 2010 at 00:54

mr tommo said:
Sean at Turning Heads burslem/middleport. He does seem to quote me fairly cheaply as I'm always in and out (I take my parents cars and have taken the work cars there too) but everyone else I have sent there have been more than happy with the price. Always seem to be working on fairly decent cars and between them there's an E60 M5, Porsche Boxster and I think a Range Rover Sport.

I hear good things about these guys, being local too.

A friend of mine has gone all out on her little Polo. Bumpers front and rear have been "smoothed" and thus painted, boot handle removed, front end resprayed and blended, spoiler resprayed, boot sprayed and some other bits and bobs and paid 700 smackers.

Bargain really!

I am going there soonish to have my boot sorted as it's got a touch of rust under the rear window, so it's a window out job, quoted 150 quid.

Django x2 · 14 May 2010 at 01:04

Wow, £800 notes. Shafted!

mr tommo · 14 May 2010 at 08:00

Stormster said:
I hear good things about these guys, being local too.

A friend of mine has gone all out on her little Polo. Bumpers front and rear have been "smoothed" and thus painted, boot handle removed, front end resprayed and blended, spoiler resprayed, boot sprayed and some other bits and bobs and paid 700 smackers.

Bargain really!

I am going there soonish to have my boot sorted as it's got a touch of rust under the rear window, so it's a window out job, quoted 150 quid.

Yeah definitly worth going there

[TW]Fox · 14 May 2010 at 08:15

Lucero said:
Wow, £800 notes. Shafted!

Not really, as like I said, I didnt pay for the bulk of the work, somebody else did. Finding a decent bodyshop is very difficult as you dont know how good they are until they've done the work and most of them are rubbish

VFR_KID · 14 May 2010 at 10:06

[TW]Fox;16552635 said:
Finding a decent bodyshop is very difficult as you dont know how good they are until they've done the work and most of them are rubbish

Amen to that.

I was recommended to go to a Friend of my Father in-laws. By god I wish I never bothered.

A year later and the rust was back worse than before. I washed the car as often as i could so cannot for the life of me think it was from lack of care. My Wife then took her car there to get a few bits touched up. Looks like he just went round with a pen and colored bits in. This guy was apparently one of the best and a good family friend. Yeah OK.

Participant · 14 May 2010 at 10:40

VFR_KID said:
My Wife then took her car there to get a few bits touched up.

Rarrrrr!

Listen, if you are dumb enough to go back / let your wife go back to a guy that very effectively fudged up the previous job you gave him, then you deserve everything you get

.

VFR_KID · 14 May 2010 at 10:44

Robbie G said:
Rarrrrr!

Listen, if you are dumb enough to go back / let your wife go back to a guy that very effectively fudged up the previous job you gave him, then you deserve everything you get .

Not my car (Her exact Words). I told her not to and her old man then got defensive saying all work he ever did was top class and would highly recommend anyone to use him, at this point I gave up arguing as I was getting no where. People at the work even say he is good. He cant even blame it on another worker as he does it all himself.