Stone Damage-AAAhhh!!

[mjhpadi]

Last night while coming home from an evening of diving, about 10pm I heard some stones hit the car. There was no other traffic around, I suspect some one threw some stones from the side of the road. Don't know why, I was traveling at about 58 mph. This morning I decided to hand wash the car and found some dents in the hood. I'm really upset. My problem is I don't know when to get them fixed in my area. Questions: Has anyone had any experience with Dent Wizard? Or does anyone in Central Pennsylvania know a body shop that does paintless dent removal, and does outstanding work? I really don't want to have the hood repainted because I'm afraid of matching problems. Any advice/help/comments are appreciated. Here's some photo's of the damage:









And lastly for your enjoyment one picture of the great looking caliper covers :laugh_ti:

 

[Crash712us]

OUCH. Been in paint repair for 25yrs there is no way to pick them out with out breaking the paint. But the good news is color matching won't be a problem. However if you had platinum white forget about it, even at the factory it can not be matched.

 

[mjhpadi]

That's what I was afraid of, now the problem is finding a body shop that I trust, I haven't need one for years, so I'm going to ask at my dealer when it goes in to have the new taillights replaced next week.

 

[SHO-MAN]

Mjhpadi,
I am located in central pa. I have had experience with a body shop in mechanicsburg. I've had several cars worked on there. Contact auto bodies by Lucas, talk to Morgan and tell him Aaron sent you. He will hook you up. He does great work and will not have a problem matching the paint...good luck

 

[Unknown_Driver]

ouch sorry to hear, i'd try one of those ding king dent king wizard of dents dentec mr ding dent-b-gone places first, but those look really deep

 

[mjhpadi]

Yes, they are pretty deep, and that's part of my problem. They are deep enough to be very noticeable, but I really don't want to have the whole hood repainted. I really don't know what I'm going to do at this point...I'm really bummed. I think I will live with them for a few days and talk with some people who are better versed with body shops around here and see what they think. I know that one of the dealerships guarantee their repairs in writing for life or ownership of the vehicle...but I really don't know if I want to have the whole hood redone.:banghd:

 

[itguy08]

Where in PA are you? I've got a recommendation for both a dent guy and a body shop in the Harrisburg area. The dent guy did awesome work on my G35 and the body guy did awesome work on the hood of my SHO.

 

[mjhpadi]

Where in PA are you? I've got a recommendation for both a dent guy and a body shop in the Harrisburg area. The dent guy did awesome work on my G35 and the body guy did awesome work on the hood of my SHO.

I had sent you a PM stating that I'm in Lewisburg. I do get to Harrisburg fairly regularly. I bought the car at LB Smith, and they have done most of the service on it.

 

[itguy08]

I had sent you a PM stating that I'm in Lewisburg. I do get to Harrisburg fairly regularly. I bought the car at LB Smith, and they have done most of the service on it.

Shot you another PM with the recommendations. Hope they help!

 

[RedCandySHO]

Go to Dent Wizards website, they have a dealer locator there. I have used a similar service for years with incredible results. Have them get the dents out, they take it to the body shop to have the paint fixed. Either way....it sucks royally. I got a small dent on the hood of mine I gotta address when I get home. Not idea where it came from.

 

[thebigjimsho]

At least now your calipers look better than the hood.



But, seriously, nothing infuriates more than vandalism. When I had my '92 SHO, I was driving home around 2AM and passed a house with some kids partying. One threw a 2x4 at my car from right off the road. I could even identify the ass who did it. I drove to the police station and got ignored even though I had a huge dent in my hood. But while I was there, some old lounge lizard looking guy came in looking bewildered. They did the same thing to him but hit his windshield and he had glass all over him.

The police went down to "check it out" but nothing came out of it. I filed a report and pestered them for weeks but they did jack. For years, I was thinking of some sort of molotov cocktail justice on those bastards.

In the end, I paid a couple hundred bucks for a friend to redo the hood for me...

 

[mjhpadi]

I understand about vandalism...never did understand it. Anyway, I'm speaking to a couple of PSP (Pennsylvania State Police) who work out of the barracks in the area where it happened. I have a connection with them because they learned to scuba dive and dive with us out of our scuba center, so I'm asking them for advice, whether I should bother to file a report. At this point, I'm still not decided whether I want to leave the dents alone for now or have them repaired. Will speak with some body folks next week and after getting their input I'll make my finally decision on what I'm going to do. Just really upset that it happened. But my vehicle was the perfect target for the vandals, traveling alone with no traffic in front or behind me, so that there was no other vehicle that would have seen them...I guess I'm just glad it wasn't any worst.

 

[RedCandySHO]

Without seeing the dents in person, I would still say talk to Dent Wizards or the like. I have seen these guys work miracles, even when the metal is creased.

 

[yamahaSHO]

And lastly for your enjoyment one picture of the great looking caliper covers :laugh_ti:

Ewwww... More pictures of the hood.

 

[mjhpadi]

Without seeing the dents in person, I would still say talk to Dent Wizards or the like. I have seen these guys work miracles, even when the metal is creased.

Problem is that there is no Dent Wizard within 70 miles of me, and the only dealer that has the Dent Wizard mobile unit, discouraged me, saying they wouldn't touch anything that has a paint chip. So until I find someone who I trust that offers paintless repair, I'm really kinda lost. Surprisingly there is no one that offers dentless paint repair in my area or in Williamsport (the closest large city). Closest place to offer is in the Harrisburg area, and I don't know what kind of work any of the paintless places do...

 

[zeus268]

Problem is that there is no Dent Wizard within 70 miles of me, and the only dealer that has the Dent Wizard mobile unit, discouraged me, saying they wouldn't touch anything that has a paint chip. So until I find someone who I trust that offers paintless repair, I'm really kinda lost. Surprisingly there is no one that offers dentless paint repair in my area or in Williamsport (the closest large city). Closest place to offer is in the Harrisburg area, and I don't know what kind of work any of the paintless places do...

Hey Mark, I just read this and I feel for you bud. Senseless vandalism gets me all worked up because there is no reason for it.
I wish that I was closer to you because after working in dealerships for the last 15 years, I have some great contacts for body shop and dent repair here.
I would suggest talking to a dent guy first before repainting the hood though..... I've seen a couple dent guys work magic on vehicles that were beyond hope.

 

[hamrtyme]

that blows... dent guys should be able to fix it as long as it hasn't broken the paint..

 

[SHOrod]

Surprisingly there is no one that offers dentless paint repair in my area or in Williamsport (the closest large city).

Wow, the body shops in that area must be horrible. I'd hate to know that if I take my car in for paint repair, it's going to come out with dents!

-Rod

 

[RedCandySHO]

Wow. You should call dent wizards about a franchise.....
Might be cheaper to buy a new hood and have it painted....then again, with limited body shops around, matching the paint might be a challenge....

 

[mjhpadi]

that blows... dent guys should be able to fix it as long as it hasn't broken the paint..

But the paint has been chipped on the hood... Not very badly, just two little spots, but I'm afraid it's enough that may require the whole hood repainted. Also last evening while detailing the car, I also found damage on the front passenger wheel (chipped paint and metal), plus paint chipped on the passenger side front and rear doors, and also on the passenger side rear quarter panel. These were minor and I got some of the marks removed with chemicals and did touch-up paint on the others. Thankfully they were very small, but the mark on the wheel is pretty big, I will try to get a close up of it. I am getting ready to call my insurance company now for their advice on how to handle this whole matter.