[kuttapan]

Thad, I suggest going to a MASS and getting yourself armed with a quote before going anywhere else. None of your pictures indicate a panel replace job(except the wheel arch one, if MASS isn't confident about doing a good job otherwise). Once you have a quote, you can compare it with the one that the other chap gives.

From my experience, MASS' can do a job as good or as bad as anyone. It depends on the person who does the painting, proper curing etc. But sometimes, I have had to make them paint a bumper 3 times to get it done to my satisfaction. If you don't like a paint job done by MASS, put your foot down and refuse to take the vehicle until they redo it. Never take delivery of a painted car in late evening or after checking the finish in artificial light.

Of course, this course of action is only viable if you have a lot of spare time on your hand. Else it is - give it, take it, forget it

[snaronikar]

Originally Posted by nitrous

Speak to him. He'll help you out and you won't be milked.

Are you sure? IMHO, Thad is a Brit and anybody seeing the foreigner coming to them for repairs would surely mean that the rates will be higher than normal.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Neel, it would be nice to have the dents knocked out. What worries me with Maruti is that they will push to replace body parts rather than fix.

It may be true (sometimes). But your case does not warrant for any replacement of body parts. You need to be firm with them that you only need to do the tinkering and repainting and no parts replacement.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Had that with the rear bumper. A motorcyclist drove into it on our fourth day of having the car. They wanted to replace the whole piece, but I insisted they try to put it back in to shape --- they actually did a great job; you would not know that that particular bit of the car had been dented! Cost a few hundred instead of a few thousand.

The family has bought two cars from Indus in the past year, so I would hope they have an interest in getting Maruti to keep us happy. Actually, they did a decent job on the second one, which caught the attention of a drunk vandal and got a badly dented wing.

On the costing side, our problem is not knowing the benchmark, but I wouldn't have done in London either, I guess. When there is bargaining to be done, I leave the field and my wife gets to work --- and she is tough! (But not mean; she understands that reducing the price to a level where it is hardly worth while means getting a lousy job)

[benbsb29]

Thad, take your wife along (if she has the time) when visiting the MASS to get an estimate. She can help putting your point across, and firmly if it requires it. As Kuttapan mentioned earlier, this would probably give you an idea of how much to expect in terms of damages to your wallet. Insist that you will not agree for replacing the panel.

As far as matching the paint goes, even the new panel will require to be painted to match the current color.

[Thad E Ginathom]

She has the time.

Not only wife, but financial manager too () ---she wouldn't trust me to do such haggling on my own!

[lancer_rit]

Thad, in case you are thinking of a complete painting, I would advise find some good non-A.S.S. guys (on the lines of thread on good paintjobs in BLR). A.S.S. has to pay a service tax of 12.36% on all labour (and paint also comes in labour). So, if your paint bill is 10000, you pay 12xx to the govt. On the other hand, an equally big workshop that is not a A.S.S. of any manufacturer pays nothing !!
If its a smaller job, go to A.S.S. for peace of mind and less hassle.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Fine scratches, such as kids make with stones, or keys, whatever, can be easily touched up with the right colour paints, even including metallic and opalescent finishes with their clear topcoats. I've no doubt that the quality of the job varies, but there even companies that send a guy with a van to your house, in the same way that we have people who come out and replace broken glass at the roadside.

It's a great business idea for someone! Last time the car went for service, and I showed fine scratches, they muttered about having to paint the whole panel.

Maruti do not help us by making their top coat of paint so thin, and the layer beneath it contrasting. I think that, because of this, rubbing is not going to fix my scratches --- but I might have a go on an area that has bad scratches anyway, just to check.

Lancer, thanks for the tax hint!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Ball-park figure from Maruthi is 25,000, which covers painting the whole car. They do not want to fiddle with touching up small scratches, saying that some would come out good, others would not.

The guy says it'll look like a new car --- and so it should!

Spoke to someone the other day who got his whole car (Opel Corsa) sprayed ---because he wanted it a different colour. Some tinkering, I don't know how much, but it cost him 16,000.

Now to ask Electra.

[theMAG]

Painting the entire car is overkill for this kind of damage. Computer-aided color matching is so precise these days that even a trained eye will be hard-pressed to identify the repainted parts.

[iraghava]

Three panels in the best workshop in Delhi is 10k painting, denting extra. Colour matching guaranteed.

[Shashank.A]

I guess the Maruti guys can easily do the panels rather than the whole car. Painting the panels is not touch up.

[snaronikar]

25K is a total rip off. Try with other pvt players and you may find in a good deal. Maybe Electra. Why paint the whole car for just a dent and scratches?

[2theMax]

Electra Body Shop is just before the Prince IT park. And Signboard says 'Electra Hyundai'.

Iam getting a quote for my Corsa from these people and MYTVS Body Shop @Ekkagatuthangal (or whatever!) 9940043767.

BTW Can you let me know where your friend got this quote of 16k for his Corsa ? Cheers.

[Shashank.A]

If 2theMax got a quote of Rs.16k for Corsa, then swift should be in range of Rs. 13K.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Shashank.A

I guess the Maruti guys can easily do the panels rather than the whole car. Painting the panels is not touch up.

My pics show only the major damage, there is scratch damage on every pane, and even the major damage extends to one whole side and one panel of the other side.

Thanks for letting me know exactly where to find Electra. Is that on the North or South side of Prince? No problem; I can look both sides