Today something fell from a tree, maybe a large chesnut? It took the paint off the hood in a small 1/4 of an inch area, in 3 little spots. In one of those spots it left a very subtle dent.

I took it to the body shop that my Audi dealer recommended. They matched the paint to my dolphin gray and gave me a free touch up, but of course its still visible and doesn't look great. Although now you have to sort of look harder.

He quoted me $500 to fix it, which involves repainting and clear-coating the entire hood.

Does this sound right? Does anyone know anywhere else in the Westchester area that does this for less? $500 is steep for me. I was thinking closer to $300-350 max. He claims it will look like brand new hood and match the car perfectly. My dealer sends all their cars to him so I would have to believe him.

 

it wouldn't surprise me in the least bit man. every time something breaks it seems to be in quantities of $250 bucks, so 500 seems about right. however, they are probably going to take off the hood, roll the dent out or pop it out with a magnent, touch it up, and respray the entire hood. its a bummer i know, but the price we pay to have good looking cars. hahaha

 

I use a Place in Mt. Vernon. They have always done a great job for me. Not sure if it will be cheaper but it never hurts to check.

Quality Body Works Inc
Address: 700 S Columbus Ave, Mount Vernon, NY 10550
Phone: (914) 699-0211

Ask for Carlos

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll check out that place.

Do you think its dumb to redo the hood for such a small blemish? I took it to my salesman at Audi today and he said to stop worrying, I'm gonna get stuff like that in the winter and what I have is not even so bad. I dunno, maybe I'm hypersensative, its just that I want a perfect car. I can deal with a few nicks and scratches, but the slight ding/dent that bends the light when looking at it really bothers me.

 

its a matter of how r u with it. U may wnat to wait until after winter, but if it was me it would bug me forever and i would have it fixed.

 

There was another thread about repainting a hood recently and I think it was agreed that $500 was too high. For that kind of cash you can think about getting a CF hood and have some weight reduction along with getting rid of that spot you don't like. And you still have the old hood if you want to sell it or repaint it later.

 

CF = Carbon Fiber? Interesting. Will it really be that much lighter than Aluminum? And where would I go to get that done?

 

Yes. I meant carbon fiber. You can do a forum search on "carbon fiber hood" and find out the weight difference and many venders. I don't know that info offhand or I would tell you.

 

I love my CF hood.

 

jay -

do you ever think about painting your hood to match the rest of your car or do you like the modded look of the bare CF?

btw, I've watched your videos. You have a very impressive car there.