Well, hullo there everyone Wish I had a happier post for my first post here, but questions need to be asked.

About a year ago my poor LY Mini was keyed, about an 8-9' (yes, FOOT) scratch down the passenger side. I had taken it into the insurance company's damage place for them to check it out, and their paint-guy didn't seem that comfortable with Mini Coopers or with how they'd get the lemon yellow paint to blend well, and since the deductible was $500 and the paint-guy quoted me something like $493, I figured I'd try to poke around some and see if I might be able to find a better deal or a more comfortable paint tech.

A month or so back, I ended up buying one of those Paintscratch fix-it-up paint-pens and a few weeks back I tried fixing it up myself... the color matches passably, but it's kind of ugly looking and once you see the scratches I attempted to fix up then you can really see how bad it looks. I almost (but not quite) think that I might have made it look worse. At least it's on the passenger side so I don't have to look at it every day I get in the Mini! That's one of the reasons why it's taken me so long to get it fixed.

Anyway, so after my attempt at fixing it myself, I figured I might as well pay up to get it done right by someone who knows what they're doing, and who won't laugh me out of the shop for what I've done with trying to fix it up myself. Any suggestions? I live in Silver Spring, but really anywhere between Silver Spring and Baltimore and Annapolis would work... I hunted around the previous posts, but it seemed that all the places that had been mentioned so far were in Virginia and I'd rather not have to go all the way down there if I could avoid it (unless the shops down there are That Good!).

Thanks!

 

ApexinM3 works at a paint & body shop just on the other side of the chesapeake bridge. Send him a PM.

 

$493 dollars sounds pretty cheap. I dont think I would let that shop paint your car. Sounds like they would not remove any trim or your door handles or blend the paint into adjacent panels. Here in New Jersey, going rate for repairs like yours depending on color is $275-$400 a panel. That includes repairing the scratch, prepping panel(s), removing all exterior trim and components, color, clear, sand and buff, reinstall removed parts, clean the car, and deliver. And being lemon yellow, I would blend into your rear hatch, and maybe the hood.

www.lambspeed.com