Dudes, I have a 'ikkle dilemma which I believe that you may be able to help me with.

I'm in the market to get me skirts colour coded (DBM MY00 4 dooer)now i'm no bodyshop specialist or anything but get this............£250.00 by my dealer. DO WHAT????

After i'd threatend to get them in a head lock and cut thier faces off with a spoon (Yep I was THAT Shocked ) they then set about trying to justify the cost, telling me all about having the paint baked on and 3 coats being applied in a dust free environment. Then there's the labour charges and this that and the other.

I asked about any guarantees against shoddy work and was told, " ahh the thing is, we don't actually do it here, we use a third party" so therefore will not guarantee his work!!! (Take my money on his behalf though why don't you )

So I then goes shopping around other dealers just to see if they are all quoting the same and it seems the further south you go, the CHEAPER it is. £400.00 PLUS VAT was king quote of the day and i'm sorry to say, I openly swore at that chap

Now whats my point, well, i'm reckoning that to get the job done properly, I need to be looking at about £100-£150. The cheapest quote I had was £45 + VAT by a backstreet chap!

Whats the score with these things, I'm not a cheapskate, but neither am I here for dealers to stitch up.

What sort of questions should i be asking when I talk to bodyshops/garages etc?

How do i know if im asking them to do the right thing?

Will "How much will you charge me to spray these 4 bits of plastic, the same colour as the rest of the car" do?

In general, is a side-skirt the type of item that will get some sort of work guarantee or not?

Yours in anticipation

MIKEY

 

Mikey,

Cheam quoted me £200 to paint the sills.

Don't know if this helps or not...

Matt

 

Mikey,

my dealer (via 3rd party bodyshop) did mine for £100 all in.

as its now one of the few parts of the car with no chips i've never had to ask about guarante- but would be interested in peoples views on this as my wheels (done by dealer) are starting to flake and im on the verge of tackling them about this.


Tiggs

 

Hmm...

Colour coding plastic sills is a difficult job. Need particular types of flexible filler, special paints etc.

Would doubt it would take less than 3 hours to do + materials.

I'd say £200 was fair price.

D

 

Interesting.........

I was quoted £250, as I want to get mine done as well.

The bodyshop I went to mentioned preparing the plastic so the paint would not flake. I would have to leave the side and rear skirts with him for a week.

Still haven't got round to doing it.

Cheers

J

 

I'm looking at having mine done, and have been quoted by a bodyshop i know and trust 125 to paint the sill's and bit under the rear bumper that also happens to be black. I think this is a reasonable amount considering these have to be plastercised first to stop the flakeing.

This fellow who quoted you 45 + vat, be warrey, I'm sure the paint, plasterciser and undercoat would cost more than 40.

Anyway good luck m8, just make sure it's a good job don't want to spoil a nice car by flakeing side skirt's.

Feel free to correct me as i'm no expert, just had a few cars in bodyshops.

 

If you can, get it done at a dealer, more often than not paint will eventually chip/come off of plastic. Make sure you get a guarantee. Special editions are painted and are covered so why not a Subaru aftermarket jobie...

Dom

 

I paid £500 (inc VAT)!!! But i got:

Side skirts colour coded
Wing mirrors colour coded
Rear bumper bits colour coded
Prodrive WRC rear spoiler (supplied, painted & Fitted!)

I think I got a good deal!

 

Have been quoted 75 quid by a "back street garage" who did a damn fine job on my front bumper so think i know where im going to go but best to look around and ask whos best, it doesnt need to be expensive to be good! and if its used by accident repairers or an affiliated member then its going to be up to scratch

Tony

 

Good point Tony,

Any other views/experiences of getting it right or badly wrong?

MIKEY

 

Sideskirts done via Scoobysport, top job, £155 a pair...

 

I had mine done for £100 + vat that includes

Door mirrors
Side skirts
back skirts/spoiler
door handles

But I had it done when I bought the car!!

You guys should haggle more ,you be suprised what you can get.

From CVC Subaru main dealer they have their own bodyshop aswell all guarenteed.

 

Yes, but that was at least two years ago if a new car, if a secondhand one they'd probably already taken a £2000 gross profit off you.....

 

As a general warning to potential users of backstreet garages;

YOU ONLY GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

I'm having to get my rear bumper resprayed because the last guy who did it used "normal" laquers, which are ok for the first year or so,
but craze over in time because they shrink, and also discolour. Diablo's right - it needs to be done properly. Come and see mine if you want to see what a cheap job looks like...

Terry

 

Hiya Terry,
Sorry to hear that the guy who did yours did a bad job of it but..... if you read what i put before then you may understand that not all "backstreet garages" are bad, just the ones that dont or are not qualified/or approved accident repair centers, these are the ones you want to go to as that certificate that they have covers YOUR back! and the guy i took my car to is qualified and has been spraying for around 30yrs, hes good and also pretty cheap but then again i live up north where things cost less!

Tony

 

Oh, forgot to say, quote on how long the job will take for the 75 quid, 3 days!!

Tony

 

£100 of a man who works for me and has sprayed for 15 years now £57 for the paint which is cost price 4 hours to do it @£10 per hour so with a fair profit £150 is okay any other is dealer profit VAT etc

 

Is the wise bbs collective saying to me that £250 nicker is a fair price to pay and my dealer is not pulling my plonker?

I accept that there is probably cheaper out there, but the thought of being scoobless for 3 days un-nerves me somewhat

MIKEY

 

Mikey
3 daye - the plastic primer alone needs 24 hours to go off until it is touched - then there is the basecoat, then the lacquer......

 

£175 was my quote when I had m,ine done, but that was 2 years ago now.

It's definitley worth it !!!

 

Here goes.

Quote :
1. to remove sills from vehicle clean and prepare for basecoat and to apply basecoat. 2 hours @ £ 22.00

2. to flat sills down then to paint with 2 pack isosianate flexible paint and lacquer 3 hours @ £ 22.00.

3. to refit sills and buff finished paint
2 hours @ £ 22.00

materials primer,masking(coffee) £ no charge
1/4 litre DBM isosianate paint £ 65.00
15 years of skill £ no extra charge.

total bill labour £ 154.00
total bill paint £ 65.00
total £ 219.00
v.a.t @ 17.5 % £ 38.32

grand total £ 257.32

do you think the bloke at £ 45.00 is going to do this.

your choice ive seen good jobs and bad jobs and put many right, what normally happens is you go for the lowest quote i.e. £ 45.00 turns out crap you then decide to go back to the people who you should have given the job in the first place they get miffed tell you that yes they will sort it for you but because of the dreadfull state its in it'll now be £ 350.00 which when added to the £ 45.00 comes to £ 395.00.

Thought for the day maybee as this applies to all things cars, houses, boats etc IMHO.

Regards

Tim

 

I bought my car from a dutch dealer who did it for NLG 500,00 (about £140). I've had the car over a year now and they still look almost perfect. There's one stone chip in it, but the paint isn't peeling around the edge of the chip.

Nick

 

Sounds ok to me, if you compare it against spoiling the look of your £21,000 pride and joy.

Dave

 

I just bought a black scoob, instant colour coding

 

mikey
they need to be prepared well with a good primer that is strong and felxible, or they will start to shell off......if its not done right you will have skirts look like you've prayed it with spray cans from your local car shop....

think £250 would be about right, just cus its only 4 little bits of plastic still means that there 'set up' will still be the same, drying time won't be any less!, just not as much paint!

done properly they will look good, done cr*p they will start to chip with every stone that bounces up on to them!!!!

Phil