Garage for respray job?

Can anyone recommend a local garage they have used recently to get re-spray work done ?

The roof of my car got tagged big-time at the weekend (in an NCP car park outside of London), no body work needed, just a plain black respray, not metalic or anything.

I've tried lots of the garages mentioned here previously, but most of them don't do their own paint work, and those that do, I've had estimates ranging from £ 400 to over £ 1,000 ! Don't mind paying what the job is worth, but some are just taking the p*ss. The £ 400 estimate would mean giving up my car for 7 days so I'm not too keen on that option either.



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 29 September 2004 11.14am by James Hatts.

Go and chat up a taxi driver, and find out where he takes his car to be touched up.

You're being ripped off -body shops are notorious for this. Make gentle threats that you know you can have it done for well under £200, but you were just passing, and wondered whether they'd be interested in the job.




Edited 1 times. Last edit at 29 September 2004 11.14am by James Hatts.

Yes I can. Try Westminster (020 7261 0561 Roger Meadows), its on Hercules road, just off Lambeth rd. They have done a couple of jobs for me in the past - nice guys and the car is off the road for a max 3 days.

Thanks both - will give Westminster a call and, if all else fails, go back home to Yorkshire where I can be pretty certain I can get it done for under £ 300.

Sorry to hear about that, Harriet.

(You didn't fancy spending a few quid on some more aerosols and getting some local youths to make the rest of the car match the roof then? I'd have thought that would be just the sort of "edgy" thing one of us SouthBankSiders would do. Imagine how your new pride and joy would look parked outside The Hartley :0))

Is a funny thing, but I don't thing I've ever felt as unsafe walking around SE1 on my own in the dead of night, as I did walking back through Cambridge about 10pm last weekend with two (female) colleagues. At one point we actually got pelted with empties by a bunch of kids on bicycles !

The tagging of the car was just the icing on the cake (not just my car, but several left in the hotel's section of the NCP), they also let all the tyres down and stole the stereo from the one car who'd left the front piece in the dashboard. Far from the dreaming spires that I had (obviously naively) expected.

As for spraypainting the rest - is a great idea, but I suspect the kitty might refuse to be transported in it afterwards...plus the tag clearly incorporates a word which would cause offence to many in SE1 and probably lead to charges of inciting racial hatred...

*Edited to say, on reflection, that last bit may explain some of the wilder quotes I've been getting for a respray - as soon as they see it, they know I need to get it covered up pretty quickly !



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 29 September 2004 1.11pm by Siduhe.

If it is just spray paint could it not be T Cut away?

I used a franchise place called Chips Away when my car got keyed (with a VERY unpleasant word) and they charge me £100 + VAT for taking the paintwork right down to the metal and respraying the back of the car. They might be worth a shout.

Hi Birdie,

Nope, sadly not T-cuttable - has slightly eaten into the existing paint and the hotel tried to scrub it off with something (probably t-cut) causing even more scratches.

Chips Away sound like a good plan though - will try them too.