INSTANT EXPERT
Bodyshop repairs can be both extensive and expensive, leading Rob Marshall to team up with a leading smart repair specialist to learn how small-scale work is performed outdoors.
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Modern life is tough on car bodywork. Whether superficial damage results from a stone chip, a car park ding, corrosion, or a scratch, putting things right demands elaborate repair processes. When looked through a professional bodyshop’s perspective, curing minor blemishes can involve extensive resprays, as many ofCM’s project cars can attest. Furthermore, apart from being costly, car owners face the inconvenience of being without their vehicles for days, while the work is carried out.
The smart alternative
Consumer demand and improvements in paint and abrasive technologies have led to a whole new industry of smart repairers. These professionals conduct a localised repair, often at the car owner’s home, or workplace, in virtually any weather. As the repair areas are kept as small as possible, the cost tends to be far lower than those quoted by bodyshops. Yet, does this mean that DIYers can have a go themselves?
Jinesh (‘Jai’) Patel from Revive! Gloucester, our technical partner for this feature, reasons that the DIYer can conduct satisfactory driveway repairs but almost a quarter of his work involves correcting home user mistakes.
“Aerosol can repairs tend to be the most popular ‘Do It Yourself’ horrors that I see”, he admits.
Jai reveals that a possible explanation is that many DIYers have neither the skills, experience, nor tools to conduct a satisfactory repair. Furthermore, they may feel also that a professional repair is likely to be expensive. Professional smart repairers come equipped with a bodyshop-in-a-van, containing tools, abrasives, compressors, spray equipment and even a paint mixing booth. They also have the skillsets to deal with a vast range of repair situations and, of course, they are insured.
