Tire shop scratched my door - advice on repaint door or touch up?

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ripping r

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I had to get both passenger and drivers doors replaced due to a cart return that didn’t want to get out of the way. They painted and blended to match the paint on the truck and you can’t tell a difference. Repaint the door.


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how bad where the doors? 40 mph winds drove a shopping cart in to my passanger door this morning at walmart got my step bar also. either that or some one hit me. i did not see it.
 

njjeff201

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What color is the truck? Some colors are easier to blend than others. I didn't work body shop, I was a medchanic but I think I remember a guy there tell me white is an easy color or gray... not 100% sure. Ask the body shop. But I'd definitely get it painted. If it's a good BS it will look good. If they suck, don't use a spray booth, don't prep the primer correctly it will look orange peel... dirt under the paint or clear coat will flake off years later.
 

Ubem

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Hey all, looking for some advice on handling a scratch.

Quick story is tire shop left a 6-7” scratch in the middle of the drivers side rear door, the employee I was working with was friendly and helpful, we went first to the detail shop down the street that they work with. Detailer inspected and said “no” too deep to polish out, me being easy going and really busy and not wanting to deal with it in the first place asked if he could get it “good enough”? He suggested a paint pen from the dealership and that he could blend it. Did that, it was better looking but still obvious, took truck back to him to polish out all my forest pin-striping that I wanted to do anyways. After that, truck looked new again, all the little scuffs/scratches gone! Now....the touchup filled in scratch looks much more obvious.

So I called tire shop back, they are having the manager call me back, they are informed of the situation. They say theres no way to fix without repainting the whole panel (door), which they can do BUT....they tried to warn me (scare me off?) that when you repaint a panel it never matches the factory paint and will look worse and worse as it ages. But that its up to me.

So question is: should I push to have them repaint the door? Anyone have experience with this situation? Am I going to have a crappy looking mis-matched door in a few years if they repaint it? I dont have any experience with repainting vehicles so I really don’t know if they are just trying to steer me away from the more expensive fix option or if its a legit concern. What would you do?

The truck is a ‘19 Calssic in Delmonico Red (cherry metallic red/maroon) for reference.

Thanks for any help!
I bought a 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe brand new and three days later I put a scratch in the passenger side rear door due to the fact that I forgot to move my lawn mower away from the side of the car before I pulled it out of the garage. The color of the vehicle is a mineral gray which is a metallic color and a friend of mine who does body work bought a touch up paint pen dispenser and attempted to repair the scratch. He called me a couple days later and advised me to come and pick the vehicle up as he was totally embarrassed as to how everything had turned out. He indicated that after two different trips to his supply store none of the pens he had gotten matched the factory paint. Since this guy is a perfectionist I thought how bad could this be, well he wasn’t lying. He didn’t charge me anything and apologized but since he had done outstanding repairs on a couple of my previous vehicles I still paid him for his effort. I then went back to the dealership where I had purchased the vehicle and asked them what body shop they use for any repairs on their new vehicles. After they furnished the body shops name I then took it to them and they repaired the scratch and from that day to present you cannot tell that the door was ever repaired. A good body shop will do an excellent job and most dealerships use excellent body shops. Get it painted.
 
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Fergusontd

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Neighbor scratched my left front fender on my new '17 Big Horn. Took it to a local body shop and they matched it perfectly. Paint was Steel blue metallic.
 

JimID

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I agree. Repaint. It can be like new with the computer match, if the factory paint part number is not perfect. I would be surprised if it did not match.
 

John Muehlhausen

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Any decent paint shop should do a good enough job blending the door to match... Especially if you just had the rest of the truck polished... Id make sure you have a say in where it's getting painted...
 

jjfitch

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Hey all, looking for some advice on handling a scratch.

Quick story is tire shop left a 6-7” scratch in the middle of the drivers side rear door, the employee I was working with was friendly and helpful, we went first to the detail shop down the street that they work with. Detailer inspected and said “no” too deep to polish out, me being easy going and really busy and not wanting to deal with it in the first place asked if he could get it “good enough”? He suggested a paint pen from the dealership and that he could blend it. Did that, it was better looking but still obvious, took truck back to him to polish out all my forest pin-striping that I wanted to do anyways. After that, truck looked new again, all the little scuffs/scratches gone! Now....the touchup filled in scratch looks much more obvious.

So I called tire shop back, they are having the manager call me back, they are informed of the situation. They say theres no way to fix without repainting the whole panel (door), which they can do BUT....they tried to warn me (scare me off?) that when you repaint a panel it never matches the factory paint and will look worse and worse as it ages. But that its up to me.

So question is: should I push to have them repaint the door? Anyone have experience with this situation? Am I going to have a crappy looking mis-matched door in a few years if they repaint it? I dont have any experience with repainting vehicles so I really don’t know if they are just trying to steer me away from the more expensive fix option or if its a legit concern. What would you do?

The truck is a ‘19 Calssic in Delmonico Red (cherry metallic red/maroon) for reference.

Thanks for any help!
 

jjfitch

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The shop that did the damage will have insurance to cover this type of damage.

No competent shop will attempt to do a "blend into adjacent panels"! This is old style single stage paint technique.

Modern reputable shops have special tools for matching your paint and will make several test panels and use special lighting to get a perfect match before attempting to repair your door. The match will be perfect or you don't accept the work. The work will be expensive but worth it. $1K =/-!

Smiles,
 

Mister Luck

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Any automotive repair shop worth their salt will have a mobile paint and dent on speed dial

I have personally seen the miracles they have done at some of the places I have worked for and unless you live way out in the rural (sticks) I recommend you calling one yourself

Save the number if the service is good and get some business cards,
pass it along to your friends and or if you see a police officer at the local donut shop because they are responsible for their own vehicles they will appreciate the gesture.
 
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