Shot!
A few days ago (maybe Thursday evening) I was driving my Focus in Cottage Grove and heard BANG! I thought it was a monster rock that was kicked up by one of the tires, but the next day I discovered what it really was.
The car had been shot! It looks like a BB hit just above the rear driver's side tire on the fender lip. It dented the fender, leaving a perfect imprint of a perfectly round object, a dent within a dent. This caused the paint to spall from the front of the fender, leaving a bare spot about the size of my fingernail. I've not had a chance to check the back of the fender (fender liner covers it) to see if the paint was also ejected from there. Hopefully it wasn't, but I'd bet it's cracked, which is basically just as bad.
The problem with this is that the shock wave from the impact caused the paint to separate from the metal, and if you don't grind that paint off back to the point where it's solidly affixed to the metal, the fender is going to rust from within. And that would be a "Bad Thing".
So just dabbing on some (a lot) of touch up paint isn't really going to be even an OK fix. But, sanding the paint some means that I must be able to paint the fender perfectly, both base and clear coat, and possibly even a primer. I don't think I have the skills for that (not to mention time), and I don't think this is the time to learn.
On the other hand, the body shop wants $300 to fix it, and it's unlikely that the cost would go up dramatically if they were to have fix my screw-up plus the BB damage. Still, I think it's probably just easier to let them fix it right from the start. Maybe I can find someone that will do it a little cheaper...
However, I can't help but think, where the heck have I moved to? I thought that the Midwest was supposed to be land of down-home good people. Instead I get robbed within 5 months of moving here and have my car shot within 9 months. This isn't a good trend and I hope it stops right now.
The car had been shot! It looks like a BB hit just above the rear driver's side tire on the fender lip. It dented the fender, leaving a perfect imprint of a perfectly round object, a dent within a dent. This caused the paint to spall from the front of the fender, leaving a bare spot about the size of my fingernail. I've not had a chance to check the back of the fender (fender liner covers it) to see if the paint was also ejected from there. Hopefully it wasn't, but I'd bet it's cracked, which is basically just as bad.
The problem with this is that the shock wave from the impact caused the paint to separate from the metal, and if you don't grind that paint off back to the point where it's solidly affixed to the metal, the fender is going to rust from within. And that would be a "Bad Thing".
So just dabbing on some (a lot) of touch up paint isn't really going to be even an OK fix. But, sanding the paint some means that I must be able to paint the fender perfectly, both base and clear coat, and possibly even a primer. I don't think I have the skills for that (not to mention time), and I don't think this is the time to learn.
On the other hand, the body shop wants $300 to fix it, and it's unlikely that the cost would go up dramatically if they were to have fix my screw-up plus the BB damage. Still, I think it's probably just easier to let them fix it right from the start. Maybe I can find someone that will do it a little cheaper...
However, I can't help but think, where the heck have I moved to? I thought that the Midwest was supposed to be land of down-home good people. Instead I get robbed within 5 months of moving here and have my car shot within 9 months. This isn't a good trend and I hope it stops right now.
posted by Mark at 8:19 PM
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