Off Topic A little 'thump' today on the pearlescent...

[loveshandbags]

I had a tiny accident today - well at 10.20 on Sunday morning. Heading into town on the bus lane (it can be used on Sundays) and a car turned into me giving the car a 'thump' on the rear quarter panel on the driver's side. The main lane had slowed down so a guy in a 97 Polo decided to switch into my lane. Anyway I went on for a little bit before pulling over and mounting the footpath. Insurance details exchanged, photos taken etc. Couldn't really tell if there was any damage (it was raining). His wife, baby and mother-in-law were in the car and the driven spoke in broken english (don't know where he was from). I checked to make sure that everyone was OK and then we went on our merry way.

When I got back this evening I rubbed off the bumper marks on the side with some 'elbow grease' and wax and noticed that the pearlescent white paint had creased/cracked - a bit like icing on a cake - something I haven't seen before. Generally I don't repair little damage like this and generally tend to leave it in all its glory 'cause if leaves the car 'original'. Still - I will have a little chat with the body shop man tomorrow.

Funny sensation getting the thump. 500 felt solid and I could feel the grip of the 16s contis holding their line not allowing a polo (!) to knock it off course. Well I thought about - because the 500 is so short - when I got near level with him - he would have looked in his mirror - not seen me - didn't look over (mistake) and then pulled out into me.

It's definitely a plus have a bright white little car with DRLs - it helps to make it visible. 500 is great for parking in town. But it's shortness has a downside to it.

 

[SiliconS]

That's bad luck. Sorry to hear this. I'd be irritated if this happened to my wife's 500, but at least ours is Pasadoble Red and should be easy to repair. If it happened to my car, however, I'd be very upset.

 

[jrkitching]

I had a tiny accident today - well at 10.20 on Sunday morning.

Bother! What terribly bad luck.

Heartfelt commiserations - from your photo it looks to be in that agonising nomansland between being too trivial to be worth repairing & being too noticeable to live with.

If it's cracked the paint, though, I guess it's best to bite the bullet & get it sorted properly as it will otherwise annoy you every time you clean the car. On a solid colour I'd chance a spot repair, but with that paint I don't think I'd risk it. I guess you're looking a bumper respray.

 

[TwinAir Newbie]

This is probably not relevant in this case but I remember when my wife had her Ford Ka banged up the rear at a roundabout.

The offending bloke was very apologetic and gave her a tenner to fix the cracked number plate.

My wife had never had a bump before and really didn't know what to do.

Anyway, I had a look at the car (Ka- take your pick) and saw that the impact had caused the floor in the boot to buckle.

The point I'm making is that an innocuous bump may cause more than is apparent at first glance.

I'm sure the man at the bodyshop will inspect it for any other damage, though it appears that this is a different bump altogether.

Sorry that this happened to you.

 

[RobinPJ]

Again, a comment which seems irrelevant strictly speaking in your case, but a lesson I learned from bitter experience: even if you are hit from the rear, do not move the vehicles an inch until you have photograpphed them from every conveivable angle showing local points of reference (lamp posts, shop fronts, junctions and road markings).

I failed to do that once when hit by a builder's lorry, on the basis that there was no way it could have been my fault, but the driver later claimed that I had pulled into his lane (photograpghs would have shown me wholly in my lane and him pulling out to overtake).

The case went to court and I won, but only because the loss adjustor sent out by my insurer had described the damage in his report in a way which indicated a direct hit from the rear.

 

[arorat]

Sorry to hear that, such a nice car too.

Suggest you get the work done as otherwise it will bug you or worst still get rusty.

 

[loveshandbags]

Many thanks for all the comments - feel kinda stupid given the size of the little problem.
The guy who owns the repair workshop - it's a 'proper one' with a dedicated spray booth and the bits and bobs - his first re-action was 'Oh no' it's pearlescent paint ! Anyway after he settled down he had a look and despite trying to discourage him saying that its not worth fixing - he said - ah no - you have to fix it - it will look worse after while once the dirt gets into, etc. He then stood back and admired the colour and said that Fiat have brought out quite a few 'cool' colours.
He spoke about the fact that you cann't get zirillac ? paint anymore (doesn't affect Fiats !) since the reactor situation in Japan and that some paintshops are buying up whatever they can get before the supply runs out.
When I got him back on topic he said that the pealescent paint would cost €110 as opposed to €45 as an example and to spray the paint is a 4 stage process with a base coat, first pearl coat, then he needs to 'play' with the paint to get the 2nd right and then a lacquer. He noticed that the bumpers front and back were slightly different in colour to the car (something about the lacquer being different) and that it was 'normal' for the car. On an actual figure on the difference in a repair job with pearlescent he gave me a figure of 30% under duress .

 

[Heidi]

Many thanks for all the comments - feel kinda stupid given the size of the little problem.
The guy who owns the repair workshop - it's a 'proper one' with a dedicated spray booth and the bits and bobs - his first re-action was 'Oh no' it's pearlescent paint ! Anyway after he settled down he had a look and despite trying to discourage him saying that its not worth fixing - he said - ah no - you have to fix it - it will look worse after while once the dirt gets into, etc. He then stood back and admired the colour and said that Fiat have brought out quite a few 'cool' colours.
He spoke about the fact that you cann't get zirillac ? paint anymore (doesn't affect Fiats !) since the reactor situation in Japan and that some paintshops are buying up whatever they can get before the supply runs out.
When I got him back on topic he said that the pealescent paint would cost €110 as opposed to €45 as an example and to spray the paint is a 4 stage process with a base coat, first pearl coat, then he needs to 'play' with the paint to get the 2nd right and then a lacquer. He noticed that the bumpers front and back were slightly different in colour to the car (something about the lacquer being different) and that it was 'normal' for the car. On an actual figure on the difference in a repair job with pearlescent he gave me a figure of 30% under duress .

If you are anywhere down here then my dealer did a fab job on my funk white when it was gouged on delivery

 

[arorat]

If you are anywhere down here then my dealer did a fab job on my funk white when it was gouged on delivery

It will take a week and you will have to stay in a hotel only kidding.

 

[loveshandbags]

If you are anywhere down here then my dealer did a fab job on my funk white when it was gouged on delivery

It's good to see you back on form Heidi and that the 500 is making to again. I hope you got some decent car mats - only kidding.

 

[Heidi]

It's good to see you back on form Heidi and that the 500 is making to again. I hope you got some decent car mats - only kidding.

Haven't spent the voucher yet! Haven't had time to weigh up the spending power of it lol

The only thing I CAN praise the dealer for is their body shop for sorting that out.....nothing else though...

 

[loveshandbags]

the pealescent paint would cost €110 as opposed to €45 as an example ..... on the difference in a repair job with pearlescent he gave me a figure of 30% under duress .

I've got the quote for the wee repair job and it's a bit more than was thought . In proper daylight it can be seen that the 'shape' of the arch from the side has been 'pushed'.
Paint €195. Labour 10 hours @ €50 + vat comes to €800
On another wee job that was quoted for in January this year on a metallic paint (my old car) - there's was a sharp dent on the passenger rear quarter panel on the arch of the wheel (near the bumper) from a 'snow' bump : Paint €120 Labour €250 + vat = €450 + a stripe @ €175
(I have attached a picture of this car)
His new quote is done on a much more detailed template where everything is broken for an Insurance assessment. It looks like the rigour been applied to insurance assessments has driven up costs or else the labour involved for getting the pearlescent colour right is twice as long as ordinary paint.

 

[loveshandbags]

Sending the Funk white (Pearlescent) 500 in tomorrow to get the wee little job done on the side arch. Over the last 5 months the paint crack has become more noticeable along with it being 'off line'. Everytime I wash it - it annoys me. Delayed the job for different reasons but mainly because I did not feel right about something that small costing so much money (even though I will not be paying for it - his insurance). Also concerned that they may not get a match on the paint given the number of stages of spraying needed to get the colour to match on pearlescent. It's not a Fiat approved bodyshop. The last 500 done had a job done on the front passenger wing in one and it was not lacquered correctly. It will be interesting to see if they can do it right. I'm getting the scuffed multispokes done as well as a separate job. Secondhand wheels would be cheaper.

 

[jrkitching]

Sending the Funk white (Pearlescent) 500 in tomorrow to get the wee little job done on the side arch. Over the last 5 months the paint crack has become more noticeable along with it being 'off line'. Everytime I wash it - it annoys me. Delayed the job for different reasons but mainly because I did not feel right about something that small costing so much money (even though I will not be paying for it - his insurance is). Also concerned that they may not get a match on the paint given the number of stages of spraying needed to get the colour to match on pearlescent. It's not a Fiat approved bodyshop. The last 500 done had a job done on the front passenger wing in one and it was not lacquered correctly. It will be interesting to see if they can do it right. I'm getting the scuffed multispokes done as well as a separate job. Secondhand wheels would be cheaper.

The extortionate price is at least in part down to the pearly paint. On a job like this, using a FIAT approved bodyshop is far less important than going somewhere that's experienced in working with this type of finish.

Fingers crossed that you get a result you're happy with.

 

[306maxi]

Sending the Funk white (Pearlescent) 500 in tomorrow to get the wee little job done on the side arch. Over the last 5 months the paint crack has become more noticeable along with it being 'off line'. Everytime I wash it - it annoys me. Delayed the job for different reasons but mainly because I did not feel right about something that small costing so much money (even though I will not be paying for it - his insurance is). Also concerned that they may not get a match on the paint given the number of stages of spraying needed to get the colour to match on pearlescent. It's not a Fiat approved bodyshop. The last 500 done had a job done on the front passenger wing in one and it was not lacquered correctly. It will be interesting to see if they can do it right. I'm getting the scuffed multispokes done as well as a separate job. Secondhand wheels would be cheaper.

Michael, I'm wondering if perhaps we should split a set of multispokes if one becomes available :chin: One of my has a gouge on it from when I first fitted my winter tyres and I whacked one of the rims with another.

 

[loveshandbags]

Michael, I'm wondering if perhaps we should split a set of multispokes if one becomes available :chin: One of my has a gouge on it from when I first fitted my winter tyres and I whacked one of the rims with another.

I had my eye on that set that was up for grabs here recently and would have bought the 4. By the time I added the courier charge on it would have been close to the €280 odd for getting the 4 wheels refurbished. Plus when I saw that a 'decent' offer was put in by an Irish flagged member I thought I'd leave him to it.
I did look at a set in Halfords that looked very similar to Esseesse wheels but had a PCB of 4x100 so it meant wobble bolts. Insurance guys here might have had a problem with it.
If I was based in the UK and I was holding onto a F500 I know what I would do. :idea:

 

[ahmett]

I had a tiny accident today - well at 10.20 on Sunday morning. Heading into town on the bus lane (it can be used on Sundays) and a car turned into me giving the car a 'thump' on the rear quarter panel on the driver's side. The main lane had slowed down so a guy in a 97 Polo decided to switch into my lane. Anyway I went on for a little bit before pulling over and mounting the footpath. Insurance details exchanged, photos taken etc. Couldn't really tell if there was any damage (it was raining). His wife, baby and mother-in-law were in the car and the driven spoke in broken english (don't know where he was from). I checked to make sure that everyone was OK and then we went on our merry way.

When I got back this evening I rubbed off the bumper marks on the side with some 'elbow grease' and wax and noticed that the pearlescent white paint had creased/cracked - a bit like icing on a cake - something I haven't seen before. Generally I don't repair little damage like this and generally tend to leave it in all its glory 'cause if leaves the car 'original'. Still - I will have a little chat with the body shop man tomorrow.

Funny sensation getting the thump. 500 felt solid and I could feel the grip of the 16s contis holding their line not allowing a polo (!) to knock it off course. Well I thought about - because the 500 is so short - when I got near level with him - he would have looked in his mirror - not seen me - didn't look over (mistake) and then pulled out into me.

It's definitely a plus have a bright white little car with DRLs - it helps to make it visible. 500 is great for parking in town. But it's shortness has a downside to it.

Try Chipsaway (search them on google.)

I have used them twice and they have been flawless.

1st time this idiot drove into me at slow speed when trying to join the main road when i was stuck in traffic as he didnt see me. 2nd day of owning the car!!!!! I didnt want to bother with insurance on something so small (my greek insurance policy has 400 euros excess!!!!!! thats the minimum!!!) and wait hours for the police, so i asked him to give me cash which he did since he was reasonable and he knew it was his fault. He gave me 90 euros and it cost me 100 euros. There was a dent on the front left of the car just behind the front wheel arch. It was fixed in one day and cant even notice it.

2nd time i have used them was when i was turning into my garage in the office and scrubbed the car against the stone wall! (completely my fault).
There was a dent and a proper scratch on the steel part so i had to get that dealt with. This time it cost 130 euros and again absolutely perfectly done.

I didnt even want to go near the dealer but i did for a laugh and for dent no.1 he asked i think 300 euros without VAT!

I really recommend you give them a try they are a franchise so they have it in UK and Greece.

 

[loveshandbags]

Try Chipsaway (search them on google.)
I have used them twice and they have been flawless.
....
I really recommend you give them a try they are a franchise so they have it in UK and Greece.

Googled them and they are also here as well. I did get a 2nd opinion on the paint crack and indentation on the arch and the repair guy said that it would need fixing and that he personally wouldn't be confident on getting the paint right. He recommended that a guy with a spray booth, etc. take on the work and to make sure that he need what he was doing given the nature of spraying pearlescent paint. I wouldn't bore you with the steps involved but I would not be alone.

 

[jrkitching]

Googled them and they are also here as well. I did get a 2nd opinion on the paint crack and indentation on the arch and the repair guy said that it would need fixing and that he personally wouldn't be confident on getting the paint right. He recommended that a guy with a spray booth, etc. take on the work and to make sure that he need what he was doing given the nature of spraying pearlescent paint. I wouldn't bore you with the steps involved but I would not be alone.

Thanks for sharing that link. The appearance of these special finishes changes subtly depending on the viewing angle & light levels & that makes it so much harder to get the match right. Back in the '70s I got a scratch on a motorbike painted in a 'Candy' finish which was impossible to touch up, because the final paint & lacquer layers were semitransparent & if these weren't exactly the right thickness the repair stood out like a sore thumb. No chance of polishing your mistakes away - it had to be perfect straight out of the gun. Finding a paintshop with the necessary skill and experience is everything & I'm sure lots of us await your verdict on the final result with interest; I'm just sorry you're having to be the guinea pig.

 

[Chrisilda]

Unfortunately accidents happen. Hope to get your beauty fixed soon