This happened!!

[AlanS]

Wife scraped the side of the IS on a low wall last night, only 7months old!! 

Just been to the rrg body shop in Bolton for them to have a look, needs new rear door, and skirts, front door can be repaired, not looking forward to the quotes they'll be emailing me.

Reading this article, apparently the Azure Blue is a very tricky paint to match?

Anyone had paint done in this colour and how do you find the finish and match?

http://blog.lexus.co.uk/lexus-paintwork-look-good/

 

Will also be going to a local highly recommended bodyshop for them to have a look.

[bluenose1940]

Sorry to hear about the mishap Alan.  Hope you can get it sorted without too much damage to the wallet!!

It never ceases to amaze me how little damage can result in having to replace panels/doors etc.  It wasn't always like this.............................was it?

[sorcerer]

45 minutes ago, bluenose1940 said:

It never ceases to amaze me how little damage can result in having to replace panels/doors etc.  It wasn't always like this.............................was it?

 

No, it wasn't. Old school panel beaters/sprayers used to take pride in their work and it was a fantastic finish, very highly skilled work, but not anymore.

[Malc]

1 hour ago, sorcerer said:

very highly skilled work, but not anymore.

I think that if you approach a classic car restorer business you might find " old school "  bodywork and spraying skills alive and kicking and at a sensible price too.

Its a shame you're in Lancashire, my son-in-law is such a skills clever guy and works for such a business ................. but in Kent !

Malc

[Mr Vlad]

Hi Alan. That's a bummer. I'l get back to this thread with a name and number for you. This place I've experienced is top notch. I had a Deep Impact Blue ford focus which is a stunning metallic blue. I had a rear wing including a roof section and black plastic trim colour matched. I was gobsmacked by how good it was. They use a very clever camera which scans the car at many different angles then it tells the computerised paint mixer what to mix and hey presto.

Ok this paint shop is in Openshaw Manchester but you're not too far. I'l post details when I get home from work. 

[Linas.P]

4 hours ago, AlanS said:

Reading this article, apparently the Azure Blue is a very tricky paint to match?

Maybe you would be lucky enough to find matching colour door in breakers?

[parkman]

According to a friend of mine, who runs a body repair business, it is all to do with the insurance companies trying to force down the cost of repairs but giving them a bigger profit on insurance costs.

My friend is constantly being hassled by insurance companies over costs. If he quotes using a special paint then the insurance company will try to make him use a cheaper product, even though it might not blend in with the original paint. All the insurance companies want is the cheapest job, and the quality of the job is of no interest to them.

If you repair, for instance, Mercedes or BMW, then you have to go to all sorts of training and buy in special equipment, and have the company site inspected by the car company before you can get a franchise. This is a very expensive over-head. However, the insurance companies want my friend to ignore all the quality checks and methods and just do quick repairs. So it is quite possible, depending on who repairs your Mercedes, that the bodywork warranty will be null and void if it repaired by a big insurance company.

Basically these insurance companies are just a bunch of cheapskates who are only interested in profit. They will instruct a repair company to throw a cheap, third party, wing onto the car, whatever make the car is, rather than using an original part. Then you wonder why the wing, or door or whatever, starts to rust after 3 or 4 years even though the car has a 30 year body warranty guarantee against corrosion.

The answer is [a] don't trust the insurance company, and try to get the car repaired yourself by a reputable, and responsible, body repair company.

Parkman.

[Mr Vlad]

Good point parkman and quite true having read similar in other car forums. 

However if my celestial black is300h had to have an insurance body repair and they instructed the repairer to 'skimp' the repair then after I would inspect the repair and not be happy with it and I would get all the info from the repairer I'd let the insurance company knowand threaten them with legal action if the repair was not up to manufacturer quality. 

All my insurance policies have had built in to them a top notch repair.

But this threads originator isn't going thru his insurance. He's paying cash.

[AlanS]

Thanks all for the advice, looks like I may go down the insurance route and have Rrg accident repairs to carry out the work because the age of my car and are Lexus approved, atleast I have some sort of comeback if I'm not happy with the job.

estimate came back at £2.5k.

[Andrew888]

I've just literally come out of a bodyshop collecting the wifes CRZ. I'm with Admiral and the bodyshop used were instructed to source genuine Honda parts. I took 20 mins inspecting everything from shutlines, panel gaps, factory bumper/trim clips were used. From the markings I can see and identify, the radiator, aircon condenser, bumper and undertray were all genuine. the bodyshop absolutely shat themselves when I had diagrams, photos etc of what 'it' should look like. Apart from them doing a crap job mopping the car in which they redid it while I waited as I pointed it out it 'looked' ok as the rain didn't help.

Have you tried to source the parts yourself and pay for the labour and paint? you 'could' save yourself a few quid rather going down the insurance route. My wifes clanger didnt help as it was her fault and the 3rd party was going to claim against her anyway. So I bit the bullet and went down the insurance route. If no other party was involved I would repair the car myself and have that piece of mind that parts are genuine and everything is done to spec and correctly.

Short term pain for long term gain I would say...

[rayaans]

8 hours ago, AlanS said:

Thanks all for the advice, looks like I may go down the insurance route and have Rrg accident repairs to carry out the work because the age of my car and are Lexus approved, atleast I have some sort of comeback if I'm not happy with the job.

estimate came back at £2.5k.

My wife did the same on our IS except she went into the garage door.

My dealer is Lexus Bradford who use the RRG bodyshop in Bolton. I had to pay non approved repairer excess I think but all the panels were fitted properly, the paint patch was spot on and panel gaps were all the same. 

I went through insurance and it was £2.3k needing new front bumper and wing with front door, a pillar and bonnet needing blending in. Lexus picked up the car, fixed it in a week and dropped it off again. Massively efficient service and the job was top notch. Been 2 years since and no problems at all, no one would know

Tbh I wouldn't take the IS to anyone other than Lexus. These guys know how to take the car apart and put it back without any diagrams. I wouldn't take my car to someone who probably hadn't even worked on an IS before. 

Oh, this is my wifes car this year when I washed it

 

[AlanS]

Good to hear they're up to standards Rayaans, I went direct to them rather than through Lexus Bolton, do you know if I can still request a Lexus loaner.

[rayaans]

4 hours ago, AlanS said:

Good to hear they're up to standards Rayaans, I went direct to them rather than through Lexus Bolton, do you know if I can still request a Lexus loaner.

Probably depends on availability and how quick you need it doing. I asked for one but they said they had them all booked for services etc and I'd have to wait for a few weeks. I chose to get an immediate fix and forego the loaner. Just dropped and picked up both kids from school instead for 5 days as the car was back pretty quickly.

The only reason I went to Bradford first is because i didn't know who they used at the time but I do now so Id probably go direct as well.

[Bratman91]

On 15/12/2017 at 10:02 PM, Mr Vlad said:

However if my celestial black is300h had to have an insurance body repair and they instructed the repairer to 'skimp' the repair then after I would inspect the repair and not be happy with it and I would get all the info from the repairer I'd let the insurance company knowand threaten them with legal action if the repair was not up to manufacturer quality. 

I share your contempt for any insurance company that tries to get a sub-standard repair done but I wonder if any threat of legal action would worry them. They could probably afford the best legal advice and counsel, and an individual trying to match this would risk bankruptcy. I doubt that many of them are even woried too much about their reputation as so many insurance policies are with a company underwritten by XXXX and a subsidiary to YYY and trading under the name of ZZZ, or some similar web of subterfuge. 

[Mr Vlad]

Yup good point bratman. I wouldn' go bankrupt because my union would do the case should it ever happen.

But I now remember some years ago a repair was done substandard to me. I refused it and the insurance company took the car elsewhere and a good proper job was done. Ok it was in the 90's and probably things are different. 

[Dealkent]

On 15/12/2017 at 5:36 PM, Malc said:

I think that if you approach a classic car restorer business you might find " old school "  bodywork and spraying skills alive and kicking and at a sensible price too.

Its a shame you're in Lancashire, my son-in-law is such a skills clever guy and works for such a business ................. but in Kent !

Malc

Where is your son in Kent ? Can you pass on his details ? 

[Malc]

He works for a Classic car restorer business, I can get that company's details if you wish ?

He is just one of the very professional guys who work there

Malc

[Mark G]

Had this on my blue IS-F, the wing had a very small repair and Lexus sent it for repair, I wasn't happy and it went back, still not happy so I sent it to an independent local to me and he got the match spot on, I think you are right to get a couple of quotes.

[tayaste]

Came back to a small dent on our azure blue, photo doesn’t look as bad as it was, needed pulling, filling and repainting. 

Dropped it off at lexus for them to give to give to their local smart repair co. 

They did a great job of matching the paint.

 

[Malc]

looks brilliant ............. so how much ££££££££   ?  ....  courtesy car too ?

Malc

[tayaste]

I’ve just found the bill. It was £210 inc vat and courtesy car was also included.

 

 

[AlanS]

Looks an excellent job!

Dropped mine off at the RRG bodyshop in Bolton on Monday for repairs, should be done next week.

From the top photo it looks like it can be removed by a dent removal man?

what alloy wheels is on the car in the first pic?

[tayaste]

Yes, what you can’t see though is where a friend of mine who also does paintless dent removal, had a go first with his glue puller and removed about 50p coin size worth of paint.   I never took a photo of that bit.

 

Wheels are a set of aftermarket 16’s with winter tyres on. I stick em on for the cold. Also have a set of 18’s with winter tyres for our white IS. They make a hell of a difference in the cold stuff.

Here’s the blue one on its winters.

 

And the white one on its winters.