[jeepster_chd]

My father's daily drive since February 2000 is a Santro. This car also happens to be our family's first car and over the years has taken a lot of beating. It drives very well, not a single breakdown during all these years - from gear shift to suspension, everything feels like new. However, with new cars becoming part of the family, our beloved Santro has not seen shade for last over a decade or so. The result? The car has started rusting and is rusting very fast - rust on roof, left fender, bonnet is what catches your eye when you first look at the car. I am sure there will be places hidden to naked eye where the damage will be more.

Over the years, I have got the car repaired including denting and painting at multiple Hyundai workshops in Chandigarh but none of the experience was confidence inspiring. My dad do not drives any other car nor he want's to buy a new car for himself. He is like one car man

So my humble request to fellow BHPians in the tricity is that if you know a good workshop where I can get the car dented and painted, kindly let me know. It will be in fact, the greatest thing you will help me do for my dad.

[JozfGT]

I see no one has discussed anything on thermochromic pigments yet..! For all the paint work fans out there , it is quite an exciting thing to have some color changing parts on your rides.

Basically, thermochromic pigment does only this much : It turns transparent at a specific temperature and above. It is available in different colours and can be painted on top of any paint or vinyl work that needs to stay hidden on ocassions.
People use it on engine blocks to show up red hot engine graphics only when the engine is actually hot or for decals that will be seen only on rainy days...stuff like that. I really want to do it on my car , however , since I am in UAE now , I don't know when it will be possible..!
As a newbie , i hope you all will help me out and give me more information on this amazing stuff and please correct me if I got any information wrong. I am just another guy who appreciates good body work.

[Yieldway17]

Hi all, my 2 month old car got a long deep scratch on the driver side door and front bumper from an overtaking bike due to 70% fault of mine negotiating a narrow and busy road. Pains me to see the scratch everytime.

Is there a DIY solution which would work and not make it more bad?

I'm yet to get an estimate from Honda Service Center but expect to be high with repainting of whole bumper and door frame. If anyone have done similar work from Honda, what could be the damage to my wallet?

Also, if there are any very reputable 3rd party shops which does this work in Chennai, I'm open for the same.

As a new car owner, any help and guidance is much appreciated.

Note: Picture below might appear to show a dent but it's because of the picture angle and the character lines in the car. There are no dents but only multiple scratches.

[Guite]

How much would you consider to be "high" amount for reprinting? I had my Vento door repainted while it was less than two months old. I spent about 6,000 rupees at the VW workshop. For the quality of finish, which is as good as original, I find it reasonable. Honda may cost less.

[saisrujan]

Excellent thread, got a lot of insight into what the body shop does when they dent and paint a panel. Looking for recommendations for denting and painting work in Hyderabad, preferably in Gachibowli / Hitec City area. Multiple panels on my Ecosport have dents and scratches and I hope to get these wounds finally healed. Please let me know.

[prabhu.reddy92]

Hi All,

When my car was 3 months old, i hit the car to the entrance gate of my home while parking in the reverse direction. The rear bumper took a hit and got cracked and had minor scratches all over the place. Replaced the rear bumper and got it repainted under insurance. The work was carried out in Himavasini Hyundai Hosur showroom.
And now after another 3 months, the paint is chipping off from the corners of the rear bumper. The quality of the work done was good initially except the corners of the bumper, as finishing was not that good. I knew that paint will chip off after some days and yes it became true. I should have asked them to repaint at the time they delivered but there was no such strong concerns that they would repaint again other than the rough edges and some minor scratches at the corners of the newly painted bumper.
Please suggest me if i can ask the showroom guys to repaint the bumper in the next service.
Please refer the below images.

[reihem]

Nothing really to contribute here. I’m just so pleased with the job the workshop did on my car that I wanted to share a before and after comparison!

[HMV]

Originally Posted by prabhu.reddy92

And now after another 3 months, the paint is chipping off from the corners of the rear bumper. The quality of the work done was good initially except the corners of the bumper, as finishing was not that good. I knew that paint will chip off after some days and yes it became true.

Hyundai Workshops' repaint quality is really pathetic. Recently, we'd the rear bumper repainted which was damaged by them during the scheduled service. The quality of repaint was really pathetic and the overspray was all around the car including the rear windscreen and the rear alloys. Also, we'd told them to repaint a small part of the front bumper and the overspray of it whitened the black wheel-well cladding. I am really disappointed with it!

[bharatbits]

Hi, I drive a Linea Diesel. 41 months and 47000 kms of running so far. I saw my first scratch today. Damn the 2 feet high iron pillar by the side of the road.

Ignore the dirty car. My car cleaner who otherwise does a very good job is not turning up to clean the car everyday due to the ongoing Covid 19 restrictions in the society.

I am in Mumbai, Sion. What would be your recommendations to get this fixed? I'd prefer not to claim insurance.

Change the running board completely? What is it called in Fiat lingo? I couldn't find anything similar to "running board" on 99rpm for Linea. How easy or difficult it is to pullout the dent and get it back to original shape? What hurts me more are the minute dents on the doors which can be difficult to pull out. The good thing is the paint on the doors has not peeled off. Just the paint on the runing board has peeled off. Is a Paintless Dent Removal possible on the doors. I am assuming painting both the doors to Fiat quality will cost me quite a bit. The running board anyway doesn't high gloss finish and i can get it done from any reputed paint people even outside Fiat.

Look forward to your recommendations.

[HimuraKenshin]

Originally Posted by bharatbits

Hi, I drive a Linea Diesel. 41 months and 47000 kms of running so far. I saw my first scratch today. Damn the 2 feet high iron pillar by the side of the road.

Hi,
I too drive a linea and just happened to do a full over coat. No need to change the running board i think. I know a reliable denter and painter in sion who should be able to help you out.
Let the covid situation end, ill put you in touch.

[gischethans]

I ended up with this on our Alto 800 yesterday - got scraped by an electricity pole due to wrong gap judgement. Entirely my fault.

I spoke to the local Maruti dealer who suggested visiting their body repair shop. They estimated the work to be dent removal and painting for two doors which could cost ~₹10000. I am planning to go to an FNG this time as dealer body repair shops are expensive and take longer. As I am new to all these, would like to know if I should keep anything in mind while they recommend solutions? I am wondering if it would be possible to avoid repainting the whole door panels and just some touch-ups possible in this case? I understand it might not look perfect but I am not certain about various possibilities.

[self_driven]

Originally Posted by gischethans

I am wondering if it would be possible to avoid repainting the whole door panels and just some touch-ups possible in this case?

Paint touch-up won't work. Even if a painter agrees to remove the dents and touch-up the scratched areas, the end result will be far from perfect because of the sheer amount of scratches. You can't leave the damage unattended either, because exposed bare metal will catch rust sooner than later.

Claim insurance and get both the doors repainted through the dealership. Go with FNG only if there's a significant difference in repair quotes, which is unlikely because two body panels are damaged.

[gischethans]

Originally Posted by self_driven

Paint touch-up won't work.

Claim insurance and get both the doors repainted through the dealership. Go with FNG only if there's a significant difference in repair quotes, which is unlikely because two body panels are damaged.

Thanks, @self_driven for your inputs. Before I read your answer, just an hour ago, I dropped the car at an FNG, an authorized Maruti Service Station. The amount quoted was a maximum of 8.5k for a near-perfect job (90% good, I was told). I took this call since the dealer's body repair shop is a few km away and they are expected to take a week or so. The FNG said it would be ready in 3-4 days and I need the car by then.

[Quinn]

I got a significant dent and scratches on my rear door due to my fault of wrong gap judgement and scraped by a parking lot pillar. Cursing myself for the impulsive novice mess! The door however locks and unlocks properly and no damage to upper side or inside of it with no damage to handles/window/glass. Only the metal part has dent and ugly looking scratches.

Authorised service centre executive says entire door needs replacement and quoting 18k and suggesting to go for insurance claim. I am not very comfortable with the high pricing and prospect of entire door replacement. Also, it is not even a month of I purchased this and the car is still in run-in period so claiming insurance will tie my hands later if need arises for another potential claim throughout the year (we never know when it might arise).

Can someone suggest me if we go to FNG for dent repair and body paint, will that somehow become a negative and affect warranty? I am guessing FNG will charge a lot less for repair work. Or should I go ahead and spend the whopping 18k for door replacement (but not claim insurance) at the authorised service centre? The prospect of that much spend makes me dizzy but any suggestions would be great.

[drsachin]

Got another piece of work done on my car, this time denting painting.

Car fluidic verna 2014 model 80000kms run.
Did some research and later selected Autofixers in Sahibabad for the Job. Well it was affordable and there were lots of cars getting denting , painting , with good results. Together with my car there were atleast 10/15 cars there in que to get denting painting, most required almost full body denting painting. There was one car from Indore, which was brought here under total loss, getting a restoration. Never seen so many cars for Denting painting in any of ASS i have used. Good facilities as described here.

So just sharing a review of their work to help those who need denting painting work at affordable rates near Anand vihar/Vaishali/Ghaziabad..

Parts needing Denting painting
1. Right quarter panel.(Big dent with a small hole plus another barely noticable dent)
2. Left quarter panel(Lots of deep scratches with some minor dents here and there)
3. Front bumper ( Had a crack near Right fog light) , a crack near left fog light , grill was getting loose,may be some locks had broken off, both fog lights were getting loose, again locks issue)
4. Rear bumper, had a big crack in the lower part on the left, usual broken locks on left side near wheel.
5. Left running board(Big dent, had developed some corrosion)

Facilities
1. Proper paint booth. Although not sure with the kind of numbers they are doing, if they are giving proper time to each car to dry, within paint booth.
No evidence of dust induced damage on any of the car getting work there. I checked almost all the cars.
2. Good denting painting with more emphasis on removing dent and with very little filler material (putty) used.
3. Proper grinder used after dent removal.
4. Claims to use DuPont paints only. Didn't check myself.
5. Proper colour matching. After my work, I could not differentiate between parts factory painted (7yrs back) from newly painted ones, even after looking carefully. They first did rubbing polishing of adjoining panel and later colour matched with it( of course mixed that to my car colour code)
6. Good post paint rubbing polishing using 3M products. Done right before me.
7. I think they did all the steps as mentioned in the opening post. Supervisor sent photos to me after every coat explaining things.
6. Ofcourse great manager (Mr Rawat), who acted as supervisor ,who negotiated costs with me. He personally sent all photos, supervised my work, explained everything in detail. I really appreciated the way he was pointing things to his workers various small miss outs or minor defects here and there for rectification.

Time taken (4 days, including car wash, and whole car rubbing polishing)

Things I didn't like
1. Mr Rawat confirmed that they don't have electric denter.
2.on enguiring about method used to remove running board dent . He said they welded a piece of iron in lower part and pulled the running board dent out. Not sure if that's a proper way.
3. Despite covering those parts which didn't require painting with newspapers there were some stray marks of fresh paint , specially near tire covers. As seen from photos attached.

Total price Rs9700/ for Denting painting rubbing polishing.

Attaching photos