Car Body Work Recommendations

[timmyg]

I managed to scrape my car down a protruding step and have scraped/dented both doors and put a big old dent and scrape in the sill underneath them.

I've gone and got quotes from deveral places, with a massive range coming out of between £500 (Motorama in the Bassett Downs Industrial Estate) up to £1,400 (Nationwide Repairs at Hawksworth Estate).

The big companies/garages all say that the sill in a replace, not a repair job, but Motorama guy reckons he could get it out.

Anyone have any recommendations for panel/body repairs in the RWB/Swindon area?

[Samdy Gray]

I recently used Panelcraft and they were very good. Like Nationwide they were more expensive, but their work is to insurance & manufacturer approved standards which means if there's still any manufacturer warranty or paint warranty on the car it won't be affected by the repair.

If you don't have warranty concerns then you can use someone who'll just do a "smart" repair which is generally cheaper but the results might not be as good.

[timmyg]

Is Panelcraft the Dick Lovett place?

I'm really hoping not to go through insurance as it'll wipe my no claims bonus, but at £1,000+ I'll have to suck it up and claim I suppose.

It's a 6 year old car with no warranty or anything, but I'd prefer not to have a dent in the side of it for years!

[Sippo]

Simtek in GorseHill. Back street, but top top notch. Will probably do you a deal for cash.

[Barry Scott]

I managed to scrape my car down a protruding step and have scraped/dented both doors and put a big old dent and scrape in the sill underneath them.

I've gone and got quotes from deveral places, with a massive range coming out of between £500 (Motorama in the Bassett Downs Industrial Estate) up to £1,400 (Nationwide Repairs at Hawksworth Estate).

The big companies/garages all say that the sill in a replace, not a repair job, but Motorama guy reckons he could get it out.

Anyone have any recommendations for panel/body repairs in the RWB/Swindon area?

My old man swears by Motorama and has had numerous work done by them over the years. Ray's Autos on Morse Street is also very good.

[jonny72]

Is Panelcraft the Dick Lovett place?

I'm really hoping not to go through insurance as it'll wipe my no claims bonus, but at £1,000+ I'll have to suck it up and claim I suppose.

It's a 6 year old car with no warranty or anything, but I'd prefer not to have a dent in the side of it for years!

No, Dick Lovett's body shop is Spraymaster. I'd highly recommend them but they are expensive, so only if it's an insurance job or you need the very best for resale or something. They did a stunning job on my nearly new car a while back when about half of it had to be re-sprayed, took them a few attempts (some blemishes they missed) but they got there in the end.

[Mother Brown]

No, Dick Lovett's body shop is Spraymaster. I'd highly recommend them but they are expensive, so only if it's an insurance job or you need the very best for resale or something. They did a stunning job on my nearly new car a while back when about half of it had to be re-sprayed, took them a few attempts (some blemishes they missed) but they got there in the end.

they sound really good.

[deltaincline]

Motorama fixed my old mans motor after some geek hit him in town. Courtesy motor, great service and dealt with the insurance companies so he didn't have to worry. Car came back valeted, clean, tidy and polished with the obligatory plastic car seat covers and paper foot-well mats in place.

Based purely on that, I'd reccommend them to anyone.

[Red and Proud]

Simtek in GorseHill. Back street, but top top notch. Will probably do you a deal for cash.

They did my old mondeo about 6 years ago. They rang me late the day before collection to say the paintwork was not good enough and they wanted to do it again! I had to wait another cpl of days but they got there in the end. The colour was a shit to spray (Ford White Grape) which to me and everyone else is a lightish metallic gold.