SniperMan

I'm not normally one to post online, but I wanted to share my experiences. Forgive me if I waffle.

Almost exactly 8 years ago I was starting to get bored of my last car (a Seat Leon FR) so I started searching for something a bit more exciting. Originally I was looking for a VX220, but I stumbled across this forum and a comparison thread. After reading that then looking around the internet I liked what I saw so I started looking. I found one I liked the look of and jumped in the car to go and have a look and take it on a test drive. I couldn't stop smiling as I was driving it for the first time so we settled on a price and it's been mine ever since.

I've cared for it as much as can over the years - servicing, keeping it clean, careful where I park it etc. I can quite happily lose a day cleaning it when I've got some tunes on and a kettle close at hand (which is what I did last weekend and prompted this post).

I was very disappointed around a year ago when someone did this in a car park and left without leaving a note. No CCTV or anything like that so I was going to have to foot the bill.



It wasn't a lot of damage, and I've seen worse damage from similar posts on here, but there's a principal I think. I was still angry. Unfortunately I was also quite skint at the time so I wasn't in a position to do much about it then.

Around the time this happened I'd started to get to know a couple of chaps through work who run their own repair garage so I took it down for them to have a lot at. As well as the damage it was showing some signs of age - lots of stone chips on the front bumper, a couple of rust spots starting to come through and the paint was starting to blister in a few places - so they agreed to respray the bumper and sort out the damage to the wing then see if they could do some remedial work to the other rough areas. We did talk about a full respray and I said it was something I was looking to do at some point, but we'd start with the wing repair and the bumper. I dropped it off in November and not long after I got a call that I should go down and have a chat about what work was needed. Some of the extra areas they were going to look at needed more than just a touch up so we changed tactics and went for the full respray.

When I went back they'd straightened out the original cause of the visit (which also needed a new bracket for the headlight)


They'd already done the bumper


There were a couple of dents on the boot lid when I bought the car that looked like someone had tried to shut the boot with something too big in it. They weren't massive, but they'd gone so I was happy!


There had been a poor repair on this rear wing at some point so they took it back to bare metal.



It was with them until February when I got the call it was ready. When I got there I was greeted with my shiny car sitting next to another one of their projects


I'd had the wheels refurbished while they were painting the car. Diamond cut on the face and painted grey on the inside of the spokes. New shiny 'H' badges for the centre caps which were painted the same colour as the inside of the spokes. That horrible number plate holder has gone and I've now got a stick on plate which isn't completely legit, but it in my opinion it looks so much better. I had a new roof from Jack Smith in Swansea a couple of years ago which has been excellent.

I've washed it a few times since I've had it back, but this weekend I got some photos of the results.




The ding in the car park resulted in me getting work done that I'd wanted to do anyway so that's kind of turned out to be a positive thing. I'm really pleased with the results and for me this car is a keeper. I enjoy it every time I get in and I usually have a look back to admire it when I park up!

Here's to the summer and plenty of top down motoring!

wat_der

Looks mint mate! Well done. I bet it must feel very rewarding and satisfying knowing what you've done to make it look this good.

GC84

Great story, and the car looks really nice, thanks for sharing. I have a few rough bits on mine if I look close, especially the stone chips at the front. Full respray could be on the cards for me in the future!

kw_21

Nice
After 13 years of ownership I still look back every time I walk away from mine too

bluepurple

Looks great!

I'm guessing more and more of our cars will need some major paint work as they age. Would you be able to mention the garage that did your work?

SniperMan

Thanks for your comments.

The paint was was done by Armstrongs in Cricklade which is just outside Swindon. The wheels were done by Platinum in Swindon.