Am I being unreasonable?

[ovlov04v]

I recently had a smart repair of a bad, multiple, deep scrape, about 175mm x 75mm, on my front bumper/valance.
As someone once said 'you can't see the join'.
It was done by a local specialist bodywork guy (sole trader) who knows his trade. £125 all in.
I would add to the previous comments. Ask them who is going to do the work. If it is going to a speclalist shop then OK; I would worry a bit if they say they do it themselves unless they have a bodywork dept on site.

[XC90Mk1]

When I looked for repairs on mine all SMART repairs were guaranteed for the life you own the vehicle.

Remember this. The smart repair person will straighten, fill and blow it in.

If you get a new one, a tech will remove the bumper, parking sensors, and camera, radar type wiring I. The way, remove everything and refit the new lower part. I would be more worried about having that work done than a smart repair myself.

[S90]

Originally Posted by Haldex

If there was no previous damage on this piece - I'd insist on a replacement. You left a car with no previous damage to it - and they will return it with a repainted bumper (section..)? Umm... NO.

I had my XC60 returned to me with a scratched leather on the steering wheel (authorized dealer, doing annual maintenance..) They tried to claim it was an earlier damage - but after I threatened with a formal complain to Volvo Cars - they replaced the steering wheel (EUR 900 at the time..) and apologized.

A new bumper will need painted, will likely take weeks to arrive. You know, cars get damaged on the production line, go round get repaired and sold as new. I use to know a guy who worked for VW in Germany on the line. A dented panel is NOT replaced, its repaired. Nothing wrong with getting it repaired.

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by S90

A new bumper will need painted, will likely take weeks to arrive. You know, cars get damaged on the production line, go round get repaired and sold as new. I use to know a guy who worked for VW in Germany on the line. A dented panel is NOT replaced, its repaired. Nothing wrong with getting it repaired.

I know someone who works in a body shop and he was saying that until recently one of his main soursces of work was the local dealers that had cars damaged in transit. He was saying quite a lot of customers are not aware that brand news cars have sometimes already had a repair.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by RussJ759

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments.
I think I'll go with the Smart repair and assuming they do a good job, insist on a lengthy warranty for peace of mind.
I'll post back with the outcome...
Russ

These Smart repair guys are very good at their job . It is not metal so no corrosion issues. If it looks good after a week it should still look good 10 years later in my experience.

[Haldex]

Originally Posted by S90

A new bumper will need painted, will likely take weeks to arrive. You know, cars get damaged on the production line, go round get repaired and sold as new. I use to know a guy who worked for VW in Germany on the line. A dented panel is NOT replaced, its repaired. Nothing wrong with getting it repaired.

You didn’t catch my drift. My point is - you break my toy - I make you pay for it - you learn a lesson - and, hopefully, you stop being careless with expensive toys.

Also - a repaired broken bumper is just that - a repaired broken bumper. You have what was once an impeccable factory-made piece - filled with putty and painted over with a couple of layers of paint - a far cry from what originally came out of Goteborg plant, that’s for sure. On the other hand, a new bumper is a NEW bumper.

Ofcourse - to each his own. 👍

[MikeGMT]

Originally Posted by Haldex

You didn’t catch my drift. My point is - you break my toy - I make you pay for it - you learn a lesson - and, hopefully, you stop being careless with expensive toys.

Also - a repaired broken bumper is just that - a repaired broken bumper. You have what was once an impeccable factory-made piece - filled with putty and painted over with a couple of layers of paint - a far cry from what originally came out of Goteborg plant, that’s for sure. On the other hand, a new bumper is a NEW bumper.

Ofcourse - to each his own. 👍

A question if I may? I'm curious, if you had caused the same damage to your own car and was paying out of your own pocket, SMART repair or new bumper?

[Haldex]

Clearly, as there is no point teaching myself a lesson - on a new car, with zero previous damage - yes, I would still replace the piece. On a car in not so immaculate condition - I would contemplate the repair option.

[S90]

Originally Posted by Haldex

You didn’t catch my drift. My point is - you break my toy - I make you pay for it - you learn a lesson - and, hopefully, you stop being careless with expensive toys.

Also - a repaired broken bumper is just that - a repaired broken bumper. You have what was once an impeccable factory-made piece - filled with putty and painted over with a couple of layers of paint - a far cry from what originally came out of Goteborg plant, that’s for sure. On the other hand, a new bumper is a NEW bumper.

Ofcourse - to each his own. 👍

I totally catch your drift. My point was that even brand new cars can have repaired damage, you'll never know, essentially they SMART repair them in the factory.

[papalazarou]

I've had a couple of SMART repairs on different vehicles in the past and as people are saying, the repair itself is very good. The problems that I experienced are that they never mask enough of the surrounding car and you get very gritty feeling paint or wheels or wherever is exposed from the overspray - I couldn't see anything but my sensitive hands could feel it!
Other than that, the repairs were fine