body repair info

[gixerben]

Hi guys, some careless woman hit my mothers 6R Polo after a week of ownership and damaged the rear door and scuffed the rear arch.
The car has been in for repairs and the bodyshop has filled the dent and blow in the paint.

The problem is that they have "lost the sharp line that runs up and over the door and continues over the arch due to the filler.

Question is should this have been filled? back end of door with shutting etc, will it crack?
I have returned the car as its a poor repair and my mother wants a new door/skin.

Any you guys in the trade with a view on this sort of thing?

[garrardrj]

Depends how much you paid for the repair as to whether , sounds like a bodge job , how old is the car ?

[gixerben]

The car is just over a year old and cost unknown as insurance claim off the other driver, was filling up when a lady drove into the rear door.
The body repair centre dont want to replace the door, but fill it, I would be very impressed if they can get the sharp edge back with filler.

[Andy]

I would want a new door skin

[garrardrj]

A car that age should have no filler in any repair , it has not repaired by a VW approved bodyshop , who chose the bodyshop ? Your Mothers insurance company would have sent her to a bodyshop ? Why not VW approved ? I would insist on it with a 1 year old VW .

[gixerben]

yeah, the insurance company picked the repair shop, the body shop called last night to inform her that they will take the car back in, but if she wanted a new door she needs to discuss it with the manager!

[DDM]

sorry to hear bud, on a car like that it should be repaired properly, not with filler, a new skin should of been fitted and  the dent removed from the rear quarter, and the whole side of the car resprayed, and at a vw approved bodyshop, just incase you have problems in years to come with the 12 yrs anti corrosion warranty, this way vw know all about the cars previous repairs. i had an argument with an insurance assessor not long ago regarding a customers car, he wanted to repair this car with what he called white label parts (non genuine) my argument was the car had genuine parts fitted at the time of the accident so why not put the car to exactly how it was before hand, his reply was if they did he'd prefer to write the car off due to the extra cost.

[gixerben]

Just a quick update....

The polo has been in again for the original repairs to be re done as I stated in the first post and they haave continued to use filler in the door..
The repair is better than the first attemped but still not perfect or to the state before the accicdent.

The bodyshop have stated that no new skin will be fitted and basically she has to live with it
Also the VW body warranty is now not covering the door and the bodyshop cover there work for 5 years only.

So as you can imagine my mum's NOT happy..

Views?

[DDM]

thats not on, contact your insurance company bud, tell them your taking the car to vw for it to be repaired to their standard so to validate the cars anti corrosion warranty, and that you expect them to foot the bill as the bodyshop previously used are of no use.

[Monty0881]

At the end of the day it's down to the insurance company not wanting to pay for a new door! ...although the filler work does sound rather poor. Filler is always a dirty word in the car game, but it isn't that bad if done correctly! Obviously there should only be a light skim used... Any more than a few mil and there will be problems with shrinking etc over time.

I'm a painter by trade, working on BMW group cars. Including rolls royce. Filler is involved sometimes... It has to be. Fitting a brand new wing on a car (ever a Roller) requires a bit of filling where it's joined. As per the manufacturers repair instructions.

[Monty0881]

As said by DDM go to the insurance company... They've paid for a "quality repair" so they want it decent too!

[gixerben]

The insurance company dont seem to care, my mum has made a complaint and it will be delt with in ten working days, but she isnt holding out much hope..

She requested the invoice and the repair work came to £953.56!!! £260 was paint and non metalic/pearl white at that!

I read somewhere that any claim under a grand gets the nod so its easy money for the insurance company and bodyshop...

That type/quality repair is about £250-£300 in my book.

[Monty0881]

That makes sense as regards getting the nod ASAP.

Only 2 panels painted for nearly a grand!? Wow. That's rediculous! It's places like this that give us painters a bad name.

All I can say is stick to your guns, get a professional to go round the car and make a snag list! I've done it a few times for my brothers old cursed passat, (got drove into 3 seperate times)!

[gixerben]

Yeah its a joke, companys all making money off the poor general public again.

I have said to stick to her guns but its gonna be a long fight 

[Monty0881]

I remember years ago (when I was still at school :/ ) my uncle had a bump in his civic... It got repaired, he wasn't upset with the end result, the insurance came out to do a random check on it and they sent it back to be redone!!

(y)