The people i use are a small bodyshop, which has given up on insurance work in the main (though would accommodate a regular) and given up on much of the trade work too, who think they can pin a decent pro bodyshop down to the 'lasts a few months' mobile costs, and no you don't get a lasting finish from a largish repair painted out in the cold no matter how 'smart' they might be, though the smart people are handy for pushing paintless dents out and general touching up and of course they come to you.

My little place has now morphed onto the classic side of things instead, the paint finishes are excellent, they did the whole front bumper on my car which was clouted and creased by anonymous shortly after i bought it, you would never know it wasn't original finish, done many jobs for me over the years and family too, no complaints.

Little places like these are usually stacked out with work, i doubt they would take kindly to public promotion as such, preferring the recommendation route, where i go they seem happy to carry on the size they are, suits us all.

2 Harwich Road
CO4 3BN Colchester

01206 87028

ORB, Many thanks

missing digit.....

sorry phone number is 01206 870288

Rare that cheap paint repairs are up to scratch.

Dads Micra suffered car park damage when it was about 2 years old. The paint was completely down to the black plastic on the bumper with deep gauges. Minor damage to paint of rear wing where the bumper had flexed. Local bodyshop wanted over £400 to replace bumper and paint the whole of the rear of the car and part of the side.

Took car to local smart repairer on an unfashionable business park. Quoted us £55 cash to sort. I was not expecting it to be brilliant but was wrong, it looked like new. 6 years later when we sold it the car still as good as it did the day it was repaired.

The £400+ repair would have been no better.

I am sure the tax man will be there shortly then.

Why? small businesses with low turnover can not (don't have to?) charge vat under a certain turnover..

Edited by oldroverboy. on 03/05/2019 at 18:57

I have had Chipsaway & Dentmaster in the past.

The experiences have varied from great to very poor with Chipsaway. Very poor was how I would sum up once franchisee owner who came twice & finally his employee who fixed out the original scratches & his boss's botched attempts.

Best Chipsaway experience - SWMBO was dog walking & came back to find the rear bumper with "streamers of paint" hanging from it. Car was about 2 years old & immaculate - invisible repair still 100% when I resold the car 13 years later.

Dentmaster(twice) & local dent man ( multiple) 10/10 every time. Same man for some 25 years - he has a few garages he visits & comes when he is next at my local Ford to fix up trade-ins for re-sale - no travel time £30-£50 a panel. A bag of bent wires & magic skills he irons out the dings & dents as long as there are no breaks in the paint - normally 10-20 minutes from start to finish.

If I were to book my car in at the local garage that he does you can add a huge mark-up+ VAT. He limits his turnover to £60K - £70K by working 3 days per week - as he says his modest business costs are an old Volvo estate (with lunar miles which he can service & fix himself), his phone & diesel.

I would like to know opinions as to whether it's worth paying to have bumper scuffs repaired at all on our cars. Our focus is 9 years old and has cosmetic damage on the front bumper which doesn't bother us, although it is noticeable. Car is worth what? 2k? Would I ever recoup the couple of hundred back when I come to trade it in or not? To me it feels like dead money. Our 12 reg Civic has a very poor paint job on the back bumper which would look much better redone, again I feel it's a waste of money, but I may be wrong. I have no interest in having them pristine, they are just tools which inevitably get scuffed, but am I correct?