Had my 8 hit and run while parked
 

So, I took it to the shop today and the damage to the pocket book isn't as bad as I had thought. Repair and refinish of the paint would be $462.00 (for a 95-98% paint match according to the body shop guy) and for a blended repaint, it would be $600 (for a 100% match). I was wondering what you guys suggest I should go with? I'm guessing if the guy does get it to 95-98% match, it would be good?

Pic posted

How olds the car? Is the paint in good shape?
If so you could always just go to mazda and order the paint, might be a cheaper option.

You dont want your car to look slightly off, especially if you like to show her off at car shows. The satisfaction for $138 more...I think thats worth it, but it depends of you can spare that money for the satisfaction

Why would you even consider not getting the 100% match?

Do it right. :)

I'm just worried that blending the paint won't even achieve the 100% match. The blending only goes to the bumper, so wouldn't there be some slight color variation from the quater panel to the bumper and to other parts of the body not blended. He mentioned how unblended, the color will wear differently, with the new paint always being darker than the old. Wouldn't that still be the case with blended?

The car's a 2004, from nov 2004. So it's about 2.5 years old. The paint at that location is pretty good. The front hood and bumper are a different story because of rocks and such.

What do you guys think? Is the cost of $460 and $600 good? I haven't had time to take it to another body shop yet and I'm really anxious to get this done. I'm just looking for opinons. If general concious isit's a good price and they can match 100% AND I should go for the blended, I guess I'll do it. I can definitely afford the $130, but I'm cheap!!!

$600 to repair that and get the closest paint possible is cheap. I'd take that in a heartbeat for the job needed.

you should always have it blended just to be safe.

Can someone esplain what blending really entails? The guy told me, they would repaint to the edges so the color will match to that point. Wuldn't that panel just look a little different from my unpainted bumper then?

Wouldn't it be only $60 more?

Or do you have a deductible higher than $500?

go for the 100% match, because you'll always look at it later and be like, "Damn, i wish i had spent that 130 bucks so this would be the right color"

Is he guaranteeing you a 100% match?

My deductible is $500. I'm not using insurance since it was a parked hit and run (no idea where the other car went or who they were). I didn't even bother contacting insurance. I'm paying out of pocket.

I'm not sure if he's guranteeing a 100% match. He only said the blend would be 100%. I guess I should ask.

Thats a really weird dent ... looks more like two kids w/ baseball bats hit your fender.

Any idea how it happened??

Hit & run bastards should all burn in the depth of hades !!

wouldn't your insurance consider that vandalism? that doesn't look like a car hit and run. i can't see because of the glare, but is the paint scratched at all? if not try a paintless dent removal company. You should report that to your insurance company. If it is vandalism it won't raise your rates. Put your insurance premiums to use.

when we do it, we do it right!!! ofcause blended repaint!!

It looks like two hits to me. :dunno:

I can imagine it took some hefty pressure to cause those. :sad:

Definitely do the blended. Down the road when you sell the car it will be worth $500 more than if you didn't and they notice. ;)

I don't see any scratches but I think it would be tough to do paintless dent removal since it is on a curve. Still check into it since it could be a less expensive option that you won't have to mess with painting. ;)

For the savings difference you could have it re-cleared to ensure any small micro cracks are sealed. :)

I'm pretty sure pdr is out of th question since I sent like a million pictures in better detail to one shop. There's also some paint that's not scratched but kinda cracking (maybe still held on by clear coat) near the border of one of the dents.

I was afraid to contact insurance because I figured I'd need to pay the deductible if I wanted any work done anyways and I knew the damage would cost a little more than $500 so I figured, why risk my rates. I'm pretty sure a car or mayb a bike (that's heavy) hit me because at the part of the wheel well, it's very hard. I don't think a bat would cause that damage. In either case, I have state farm and they do determine it is vandalism as opposed to hit and run, then I wouldn;t have to pay the deductible? I checked my insurance paperwork, but I can't seem to locate that part.

If you sent a million pictures to one shop then they are probably still going through them. They'll get finished in about eleven and a half days, if they see a picture each second of the day. If they can't stay up that many days in a row at that rate but have an eight hour day instead of 24 then it will take about 34.5 business days. Keep in mind that doesn't include changing media or downloading the pictures.

It must have taken you quite some time to take all of those pictures. How long ago did this happen? :rolleyes:

I forgot to finish my statement. The PDR shop recommended I go to a body shop. It happened about a month ago. Been too busy with work and school to deal with it. I finished my last final as of monday and have since been planning on getting my car fixed asap!