When we talk about a body shop repair such as dents, scrapes, scuffs, and stone chips, most are shocked at the cost to fix a small, simple dent.
We can Google how to fix these issues and find some weird and wonderful body repair shop methods, but if you want the job done right, then you really need a vehicle body repair shop, and I will highlight the reasons why later.
The issue with body repair is that you can get a quote which is incredibly cheap or expensive.
Let us explore some of the reasons.
There is a market for everyone and everything. One vehicle owner could be happy opting for a cheap repair knowing that the repair finish might not be great. Short term issues such as:
-Flaking lacquer
-Colour mismatch
-Dirt in the lacquer
Whilst another vehicle owner is spending the right money to a repair shop who will give the vehicle that perfect showroom finish (or better).
One owner might sell the vehicle, so they don’t bother too much about the finish. They want to maximise their profits.
The other person who wants to pay for the showroom finish, loves their car. Maybe they are keeping the car, or they want to hand it back to the lease company with confidence knowing that they will not receive a bill for poor repair work. There is a market for all types of people.
Let us take a car door dent for example.
A cheap repairer process is normally:
– Fill the dent
– Sand it down
– Sometimes apply primer and then give the door a sand down
They might not have a paint spraying booth and could also be ordering paint in.
– First, we need to wash the car. This removes any dirt and silicon that is in products such as tyre dressing. The reason we cannot have any silicon is because it interferes the paintwork stage and contaminates the materials.
– The car is stripped down and in the case of a door dent, the door handle is taken off, the waste moulding, any trims, the door mirror and any badges. If we don’t remove these parts, it can cause issues such as flaking lacquer and bridging onto other parts.
– Before applying filler to the dent, we must pull and straightened the area before applying filler.
– Next up is the primer stage. The repaired area is cleaned and the car is masked up to stop overspray floating onto the rest of the car. It’s important to use the correct primer.
– Before we can paint, we need to sand the primer along with the rest of the door. Then it’s time to clean and mask the car again for painting.
– The car is ready to have paint applied. To ensure the paint materials are cured, the car is painted in the spray-painting booth.
– Dirt in the air can sometimes land on the lacquer. During the polishing stage, these are taken away with a light sanding.
– Build the car back up.
Spray booths are vital for priming or painting a car. To allow the wet materials to cure properly and provide a clean job whilst extracting overspray and toxins away, a spray booth is vital. Without a spray booth and correct workwear, dirt particles and dust land on the painted panel. There will always be dust flying around and it’s easier to rectify with a spray booth compared to having no booth.
So, as you see, there is a big difference in labour times between a cheap repair and an honest priced repair. We didn’t talk about spraying test cards to ensure the colour match is correct or not. Nor did we mention anything about blending any other panels due to the location of the dent or details about the correct materials and equipment. But we can talk about that another time!
Hopefully, this gives you an idea of why repairing something such as a small dent can be costly and the differences between each repair shop.
Looking for high quality car repairs near you? We offer numerous services to keep your car looking great and running smoothly from our headquarters in Cambuslang, Glasgow.
Contact us today to find out what we can do for you and keep up to date with all things Dentzap on our socials.
Instagram Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
Call us on 0333 002 0128 or visit our website for more information www.dentzap.co.uk
Highest Quality Repairs
