04 Jul Why you should leave car body repair to the professionals
If your car bodywork is damaged you might be tempted to have a go repairing it yourself, or you might be tempted to go for a cheap repair locally. Perhaps you’ve even considered a smart repair, which is essentially a scratch and dent repair service on wheels. If any of these apply to you, take a moment to consider repair quality.
A high-quality bodywork repair should be untraceable. It should repair car bodywork to an ‘as new’ standard. The repair should be indistinguishable from the surrounding vehicle’s bodywork. Low quality repairs stick out like a sore thumb, and believe us when we say even the slightest, most minor repair imperfections give the game away.
The aim here is to repair your car to the standard it was when it was new. Correct? To achieve that, you’ve got to leave it to the professionals. And by professionals, we mean the people with a bodyshop and time to get the job done right. If you don’t, you might end up with a decent repair. You might not. If you’re not willing to take the risk, your money should be on a reputable bodyshop every time.
The need for a professional
It’s important we point out that some repairs can be achieved just fine by an amateur’s hand. Swirl marks, for example, can be buffed out with practice.
However, repairs such as scrapes, and dents should be repaired by a professional. The same goes for bodywork that needs replacing. Bumpers, panels, bump stops should all be replaced, and most importantly, sprayed by a competent professional to match the paint.
If you don’t use a professional, you risk a botched job. It’s rare for amateurs to have insurance, and because they typically don’t operate as a business, you can’t hold them liable for damage to your car. It just isn’t worth it for ‘mates rates’.
Getting paintwork right
If your car body needs repainting (from a panel to a full respray), the most important thing you can do is hire a bodyshop with experience.
The bodyshop should have their own studio and enclosed environment to spray paint panels. The bodyshop should also be competent with removing interior trim and exterior panels. These will need removing, or covering up, so that a proper finish can be achieved.
Depending on the condition of your existing paint and the scale of the repainting, it might also be beneficial to detail the rest of the car. This will greatly reduce imperfections in your paintwork, to help match the new paint with the old.
Scratch and dent removal
One of the most common repairs bodyshops make is scratch and dent remove, usually caused by supermarket dings and parking mistakes.
Most small scratches and dents can be removed without fully respraying or replacing the panels. A repair can be achieved by sanding down the area, filling it where necessary, then painting it. This will achieve a proper repair that’ll stand the test of time.
If you are tempted by a smart repair, don’t be. These repairs look fine for a year but start to degrade after that (in our experience). It’s important to remember that smart repairers have a timeslot for every job, so lots of work gets rushed.
Panel beating and manipulation
On older vehicles, panel beating, and manipulation is often required to bring a car’s bodywork back up to spec. This is an old technique, and one that only an experienced head should ever attempt. Otherwise, the panel beating could make bodywork worse.
Panel beating is generally used to reshape aluminium and steel bodywork. It’s used on classic cars and vehicles where replacement parts are hard to fine, or very expensive. With a good beating, a car’s bodywork will look like new.
Avoiding future patch ups and repairs
One of the most striking things we have noticed about low quality repairs is that while they might look fine at first, over time they look awful. This can be because of low quality materials or workmanship. Both of these can be avoided by using a reputable bodyshop.
Reputable bodyshops, such as ourselves, use paint recommended by manufacturers, tools we’ve vetted over months and techniques that are considered industry standards. We don’t take risks, nor do we experiment on client vehicles. We always play it safe and recommend the right solution for every job. This ensures a durable repair for the customer.
To speak to our experts about car body repair in Leeds, call us on 0113 440 1327.
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