Bodyshop recommendation for Leeds area

[Xdama]

So some scroatbag drove into my rear left wheel arch whilst I was parked in a herringbone parking space, hit & run. I just received a quote for the repair …..£1250 from an approved Tesla bodyshop in Birstall. Anyone know of any reasonable bodyshops as opposed to the daylight robbery ones approved by Tesla. They are saying they need to decommission & recommissio the HV system to be fair but even so £1200 is a bit steep for a small dent imo. To me I’d say removing the rear left wheel, stripping the wheel arch liner and pushing it out would do the job on the dent then fade in the paint.
I realise it’s fairly close to the charging socket but no cables will be exposed conductors, would they?

 

[daveyb]

I recently used these guys.

Garforth Panel Beaters - Body Shop Center Garforth

Garforth Panel Beaters - We are a full body shop center that specializes in providing quality services. At Garforth Panel Beaters no job is too big or too small. From a simple surface scratch to complex accident damage - we've got you covered.

garforthpanelbeaters.co.uk

Decent price and quick turnaround.

 

[Sixer]

£1200 seems extortionate! Tesla approved body shops seem to be no more to an glorified recovery companies that do basic crash repair. That’s certainly the case for the one in Newcastle.

 

[Xdama]

£1200 seems extortionate! Tesla approved body shops seem to be no more to an glorified recovery companies that do basic crash repair. That’s certainly the case for the one in Newcastle.

Thats my thoughts too.

 

[daveyb]

Uh.. my dent and scuff cost me £550 all in. It wasn’t quite as bad as yours, and it was on the other side.

Only problem I had was that part of the car was spotless clean by the time they had finished, meaning I had to clean the rest of the car so it didn’t look odd.

 

[daveyb]

I’ve also heard these guys are good in Wakefield which may be more conventions.

Topgun Car Cosmetics | Mobile Body Shop Repairs | Yorkshire

www.topgunccr.co.uk

They quoted me £550 for the same job.

 

[Tommo05]

I’ve just picked my M3P up this afternoon from these guys in Wakefield: Premier Paint Car Body Repairs Wakefield Ltd
Can’t recommend them enough! Had a scuff on the rear bumper and they repainted it. It’s the white pearlescent colour too, so a difficult match. Looks mint and exactly like brand new! Quick turn around and fantastic price. They also do the body shop work for the local VW and Audi dealer, so recommended professionally.
My friend is also going to be booking in there this week, for a trolley scuff sorting on his M3.

 

[Xdama]

Thx Daveyb & Tommo05, I’ll try those

 

[Sixer]

As a long shot, perhaps cheaper option could be to try using a dent guy first. They would pull out the dent quite well I think and then it should be a simple spray job. I’m not sure if I could be bothered personally but it would likely be cheaper. If you know of a good dent guy they will tackle this quite well I would suspect. I know of a good one but he is about an hour from Leeds

 

[Xdama]

As a long shot, perhaps cheaper option could be to try using a dent guy first. They would pull out the dent quite well I think and then it should be a simple spray job. I’m not sure if I could be bothered personally but it would likely be cheaper. If you know of a good dent guy they will tackle this quite well I would suspect. I know of a good one but he is about an hour from Leeds

Tried ChipsAway which is where I had previous car done after some numpty road raged me. They won’t touch Tesla’s at all, not insured apparently . Stinks of a protection racket type thing going on to me but can’t do much about it. Certainly another X in the “Con” column of Pros n cons for Tesla ownership for me personally.
ChipsAway did a much more severe dent on the aluminium bodied BMW I had for less than £200 last year.

 

[Tommo05]

Only problem with chips away (or any other smart repair company) is that they can only use a water based paint, due to the environment. So from previous experience on previous cars, there is more chance of colours fading over time etc. Much better using a proper body shop with the correctly matched paint code etc, though it is more expensive.
You get what you pay for at the end of the day! But everyone is different in what they’re happy with, so it’s down to the individual and the result they want.

 

[Xdama]

Only problem with chips away (or any other smart repair company) is that they can only use a water based paint, due to the environment. So from previous experience on previous cars, there is more chance of colours fading over time etc. Much better using a proper body shop with the correctly matched paint code etc, though it is more expensive.
You get what you pay for at the end of the day! But everyone is different in what they’re happy with, so it’s down to the individual and the result they want.

To be fair there was no paint damage on the BM however to not work on a car make at all is pretty crap. The car is leased so to me as long as it looks ok that’ll do. It’s just a tool for me to get about in, just the fact it’s 3mth old that’s an irritant

 

[mutthouse]

Only problem with chips away (or any other smart repair company) is that they can only use a water based paint, due to the environment. So from previous experience on previous cars, there is more chance of colours fading over time etc. Much better using a proper body shop with the correctly matched paint code etc, though it is more expensive.
You get what you pay for at the end of the day! But everyone is different in what they’re happy with, so it’s down to the individual and the result they want.

All car paints are water based now aren't they?

 

[Tommo05]

All car paints are water based now aren't they?

Its mainly down to the lacquer. Mobile use single pack lacquer that dries faster (using a mobile heater) but can fade much faster as a result. Also, it’s not a controlled environment, so is open to contaminants due to wind etc. A paint shop uses two pack lacquer which is mixed with a hardener. It’s also a environment where the temperature can be controlled and no contaminants blown into the process etc.

 

[s7gpt]

was sentry mode on and if so maybe you have the other vehicles reg and can get their insurance to cover costs etc ?

 

[Xdama]

was sentry mode on and if so maybe you have the other vehicles reg and can get their insurance to cover costs etc ?

Already thought about that, but no it wasn’t. The reason being it just attracts attention to the car with flashing headlights, when parked where it was it faces into a busy footpath, it might as well put the light show on all night lol. The one night I did try it, all I had was videos of ppl getting startled walking past, should be able to disable the lights imo. Having said all of that I’ve never had sentry on any other car and parked there with no issues.

Had some quotes back now too
Premier Paint (Wakefield) £435 plus vat
Topgun (Wakefield) £550 inc vat

both of which are considerably better than the “approved” body shop. I also had a quote from a one man band over in Cottingley who does a mates car. Did my wifes a couple years back ….£175 - £200, just a pain because of dropping off picking up. He did do a good job on the wifes car though.

I had a reply back from the “approved” shop saying “there are very little repairs that don’t require the HV to be shut down, they’re more like computers than cars”.

 

[Xdama]

Already thought about that, but no it wasn’t. The reason being it just attracts attention to the car with flashing headlights, when parked where it was it faces into a busy footpath, it might as well put the light show on all night lol. The one night I did try it, all I had was videos of ppl getting startled walking past, should be able to disable the lights imo. Having said all of that I’ve never had sentry on any other car and parked there with no issues.

Had some quotes back now too
Premier Paint (Wakefield) £435 plus vat
Topgun (Wakefield) £550 inc vat

both of which are considerably better than the “approved” body shop. I also had a quote from a one man band over in Cottingley who does a mates car. Did my wifes a couple years back ….£175 - £200, just a pain because of dropping off picking up. He did do a good job on the wifes car though.

I had a reply back from the “approved” shop saying “there are very little repairs that don’t require the HV to be shut down, they’re more like computers than cars”.

Just had another quote from DWV who are mobile £366 inc vat, that’s a gamble though as they may not be able to do the work which is only confirmed when the technician arrives.

 

[Sixer]

“they’re more like computers than cars”. Oh my the BS is spreading! The so called approved body shop is Newcastle used the same quote. When I hear this now I think of the other phrases such as “you have to be careful washing EVs as they are electric” and “there is no where to charge them”

 

[Xdama]

“they’re more like computers than cars”. Oh my the BS is spreading! The so called approved body shop is Newcastle used the same quote. When I hear this now I think of the other phrases such as “you have to be careful washing EVs as they are electric” and “there is no where to charge them”

Guess they have to try justify the exorbitant quote somehow…..little do they know that I work on proper HV ie. 11kV upto 400kV not just 350 to 375V. I also know all the cables will be insulated to the nth degree and that to do that repair is no more difficult than any other car ICE or EV. It only needs the rear wheel, wheel arch liner removing to access, a few taps with a toffee hammer, fettling and then the paint repair which is minimal, most would T cut out possibly a lacquer.