Newbie with a 6R Polo Gti

[minty]

Hi everyone,

New to the forums (just registered today), but have been browsing through alot over the past week as I am the proud owner of a brand new Polo Gti.

[pyro-zn]

Congrats buddy

[JPAsp]

Welcome bud, congrats on the new ride.

To post pics you need to upload them to photobucket and then load them onto here.

[Preggz]

Welcome bud...
I know the feeling
im owning mines under & a week now and enjoying it everytime im behind the wheel.

[minty]

Hi Guys,

So my car which is around 2 months old has gone through some crap this morning. Some a**hole in an Audi A6 on Grayston Drive this morning was behind me chopping out of the lane and scraped/scratched my bumper. As a result, he just sped off going through a red robot and making a dash for it. Didn't manage to get the guy or his numberplates or anything.

And this **** happens to me on my birthday..

Anyways, I just wanted to know what and how can I "fix" this. Please see the uploaded pics below.

Spoke to a guy at work this morning, and he mentioned that it could just be buffed/polished or something like that. I am really not sure, so please help guys.

[lawrence]

Congrats on the new ride bud

Sorry about your bumper. From the pics it does not look like polishing will resolve all of it.

There seems to be some paint transfer, which should come off with claying/polishing, however there are definitely some deeper scratches there. The problem with going after them is that:

a) the bumper is plastic and polishing plastic is more risky as it doesn't dissipate heat as well as a metal panel, so you get increased heat buildup which can dramatically increase the chance of striking through the clear and

b) the damage is right on a raised body line - the problem with this is that firstly, raised body lines tend to have thinner paint (gravity pulls the paint off the raised line during curing) and secondly when you polish over a raised line you effectively decrease the surface area of the polishing pad, conversely increasing the cutting ability (same force over smaller area = more work being done per cm²)

My gut instinct is that the safer option, which will yield the better result, will be a re-spray. HOWEVER, if you do that then:

a) make sure you find a panel beater you trust
b) instruct them NOT TO POLISH THE REST OF YOUR CAR - in fact, if you can get away with only supplying them the bumper, do that - invariably then polish out the whole car as a 'favor' to the customer, but do more harm than good.

Hope this helps a little....

[VW 'John Deere' TDI]

Congrats on the new ride bud

Sorry about your bumper. From the pics it does not look like polishing will resolve all of it.

There seems to be some paint transfer, which should come off with claying/polishing, however there are definitely some deeper scratches there. The problem with going after them is that:

a) the bumper is plastic and polishing plastic is more risky as it doesn't dissipate heat as well as a metal panel, so you get increased heat buildup which can dramatically increase the chance of striking through the clear and

b) the damage is right on a raised body line - the problem with this is that firstly, raised body lines tend to have thinner paint (gravity pulls the paint off the raised line during curing) and secondly when you polish over a raised line you effectively decrease the surface area of the polishing pad, conversely increasing the cutting ability (same force over smaller area = more work being done per cm²)

My gut instinct is that the safer option, which will yield the better result, will be a re-spray. HOWEVER, if you do that then:

a) make sure you find a panel beater you trust
b) instruct them NOT TO POLISH THE REST OF YOUR CAR - in fact, if you can get away with only supplying them the bumper, do that - invariably then polish out the whole car as a 'favor' to the customer, but do more harm than good.

Hope this helps a little....

Was going to say something similar to this, but I'm glad you did first. My post would have useless in comparison.

Some good advise there Lawrence.

Oh yeah, and welcome to the forum Uzair.

[minty]

Thanks so much for the input. Really appreciate it.

I am totally lost when it comes to everything related to my car. Could somebody please suggest a good panelbeater that I could take my car to. I live in the South of Johannesburg, but work in the North (Sandton).

And also just to gauge what this is going to cost me, please advise on what would a reasonable fee be for respraying the bumper as Lance mentioned, without polishing the the whole car.

[lawrence]

When you get some time have a read through this - hopefully it will go some way in helping you keep the car looking good without inflicting any unnecessary damage....

http://vwclub.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=166322

[minty]

Wow that is insane.. I honestly had no idea paint maintenance was so in depth.

Thank you so much for the help, and that ultimate detailing guide is immense. Will have to read through it a few more times coz its alot to grasp...

[minty]

Can somebody please suggest a good panelbeater in JHB somewhere?

Also, and idea on what it will cost to respray the back bumper?

[lawrence]

good panelbeater

[Unobeat]

Welcome bud to the forum and congrats on the beautiful car.

[SoDub]

Try Northcity panelbeaters in Kramerville. They are pretty good but it will be pricey. A scratch and tiny bump from a gate on my wife's rear bumper landed up at just over 6k.