jnor10

as other astute members have mentioned in previous posts, you might consider the idea of negotiating with the insurance company over the "now diminished value" of your car.

Good Luck,

Jeff N.

993inNC

well I would say the milage has pretty much diminished its value down to the purchase price of 27K I just paid for it! 28 if you include the brakes I replaced. What more will a painted front end of any kind further do to the value?

jnor10

well, they don't know that! its worth the try, just mention it and see how the agent responds. Maybe this approach could cover the front end spray?

Jeff N.

993inNC

well now you do have a point, suppose its worth a try maybe even a small arguement (negotiation) with the insurance person. Play my cards right, maybe I could get the entire car done

Air Kuul TT

Chris,

Ouch!! Sorry to see that. IMHO, I would repaint the whole front end... with 90k on the clock its better to keep you happy and the car looking good. I realized that unless you paint the entire car the paint won't match but its better than the fender not matching the metalflaked hood and bumper. Just my .02 Good luck.

993inNC

yeah Tony, thats about where I'm at, at this point its about a nice looking driver. Thanks for the tears

rcwelch

993inNC...If the dealer told you that repaint would raise some red flags and the lady's insurance is involved, I would think about going after a "diminished value" claim. If your car would suffer devaluation from the repair you might have a case (check your state law). I just successfully settled a claim on my car for the drop in value it suffered from an accident.

mborkow

chris, i sent you pm...

David in LA

I would respray the hood, bumper and both fenders. If car is as "sandblasted" as you say it is then respraying just one fender will be very noticeable. Plus it's inevitable that sooner or later you will respray the front end, so might as well have the cost partially subsidized by the insurance co. Just document with before, during and after pics in case you decide to sell it.

Just my $0.02

dianic

Hmmm difficult choices. Let me add my thoughts. Firstly, be picky of the body shop. I know from my years in the US that there are guys out there that charge an arm and a leg, but some of them are ACTUALLY worth it. And they can factor in ageing in the color, and go for a perfect match. Then, you take the car in for a nice detail job, and I mean nice (buff with two three layers of creams, thicker to thinner). Take off 90k miles worth of grime! That is the only way the car will look perfect... You will spend more money, but trust me it will be cheaper to do it from the start than actually go down the cheaper path, then decide it is actually not good enough, and then go the expensive way for a respary over respray... (been there... done that...). A poor paint job and an unsatisfactory result made me not like my car anymore a few years back. I stopped washing it so I couldnt see the color. All from a ding in the door right on the crease (and no paintless dent removal in Greece!) So get it right the first time around. And I dont mean take it to the dealer. There are bodyshops that are excellent, maybe some of the forumites here can help you locating one.
Good luck. Get your baby fixed as best you can. Daily driver or not, it deserves it.

993inNC

Dianic - Amen brother....and I deserve it too! I worked hard to have what I have and now that she has lessened it, I want it right! It would seem the general opinion so far has been to just paint the front end and be done with it. Settled then, thats what I'll do. Now I just need to find a paint guy I feel comfortable with. The quotes have run the gammot. $600 to fix that fender to $2500 to replace and paint front end.

dianic

Find a shop that lets you see their work. Tour the facility, look at repaired cars. Check if the "orange peel" in their work matches that of the factory, look at dark colors in daylight and under flurecent lights which show flaws. If they have a p-car even better. If they are enthousiasts they will understand your requests. I went to a body shop for the respray of the door of my Audi TT and I said to him "look at it. If you can see the flaw I will let you fix it. If you cannot then I am out of here". The door was -to me- a diff color. He couldnt see it, started talking about varnishes and stuff, so he lost my business.

Members in NC? Any suggestions? Back in the old days when I lived in Boston (1987-94) there was a good autobody which I recall did excellent work (at a price of course) I believe it was Dicks Autobody. But its been 10 years since I left. In any case, look around, ask as many people as you can.

Davies

I agree, go for the front end repair/respray with a proper high end restoration/body shop . I just had my drivers side fender (rust at the bottom of the headlight..) repaired and resprayed, and while I was there, I had Josh Hoffman's old turbo bumper cover resprayed and installed (thanks Josh!!!) and had a door-check strap repaired. The finished result was absolutely stunning. I had a lump in my throat when I picked up the car on Friday.
My car is polar silver, which is considered to be one of the hardest to match, so I spent a little extra
going with a high end shop and it was worth every penny. I didn't realize how crappy the front bumper of my car looked until seeing a new one on it with beautifully applied fresh paint.

At 90k miles, Whatever perceived loss of value (it's not like your car was hit hard - that would be a different story) is more than worth the feeling of seeing your car look like it did when it first rolled out of the showroom.

Now I'm just going back outside to stare at my front bumper again for a while...

Dr. No

Whenever the shop says it's okay, you may want to put on a clear bra to protect that beautiful new bumper from a piece of gravel hurled at you by an SUV tire.

993inNC

Well thank you all again, very interesting points of view. I met with the woman that hit the car today....se didn't like the price to fix it ($2500) so looks like we get to battle the insurance people. She's going to wish she had paid it I plan on using the diminished value route as well as that I don't want a bang and bondo job, I want the fender replaced and the paint blended (across the entire front of the car )and if they don't like it.......

Now the question is....whats the diminished value amount and how is it calculated? ......to be continued......