Damaged Bonnet

[Tall dad]

When your basketball hoops falls over and lands on the bonnet the shiny metallic paint offers little defence against gravitational pull.

I now have reasonably sized dents in the aluminium panel.

Should I

a) get it filled by the local bodywork guys who say they will 'blend' the paintwork into the existing (£600)
b) wait for a replacement on eBay and get it resprayed (£1500)
c) but the bullet and claim on the insurance for a new bonnet resprayed by Jaguar (£countless shagging thousands on increased premiums for the rest of my years!)

I'm tempted to b) eBay as I can't stand the thought of driving Effie knowing it has body filler in

What would you folks do?

[steveh]

That is a shame, I would go for the insurance option and get a proper job done. That is why we pay the premiums.
Good luck,
Steve.

[Myer]

I would have a specialist dent removal technician remove the dents and then have the bonnet professionally painted by a recommended body shop. The bonnet is easily removed it takes less than five minutes to take off, which will most likely be required to get to the dents from the underside. As to the price the dent guy should charge no more than £100 and the re spray around £500.

[davidd]

I’d agree. Take it to a specialist see what they say. Don’t get it filled though.

[daytona650]

Some of these specialists are incredible at what they can do.

When i was in a Jag dealer a few years ago there was a guy sorting out an XJ bonnet in the showroom (brand new car) as a child had come in with a customer and bashed the bonnet causing dents.

When he'd finished you couldn't see the damage at all.

At least worth getting one to have a look.

So sorry for the damage - so unfortunate!

[mickjaguar]

I'd get a dent removal guy to take a look first. Particularly if the paint isn't broken. I had a ding the size of a tennis ball in the wing on a black car, after 40 minutes manipulation the scar had vanished completely.

[Tall dad]

Thanks for your advice so far.

My main reservation is having work done by Dave The Dent only to find the job wasn’t invisible.

I understand that aluminium stretches and is a bit of a sod to bend back into its original shape.

Here are the scars for analysis

Tears nearly dry now!

[dezzy]

I would definitely go insurance. Assume you have protected NCB?

A bonnet is approx £1k unpainted from Jaguar. Paint and labour on top of course.

I know it's a pain but I wouldn't risk it with a dent removal company. It's such a large area you'd need a talented painter to get it right.

[Tel]

Dent removal would't touch that I think, and even if they did, it would then need to be flatted, prepped and resprayed then lacquered, polished and finished.

Quite an arse of a job, one of which I would quite happily slope over to the insurance Co.

[Myer]

Dent removal will address 95% of the damage, it will then require flatting, prep & respray of course but that way you will have a perfect job without the need to purchase a new bonnet, for me its the only sane way to go.

If someone else caused the damage fair enough let them or their insurer pay but why waste your NCB, even if it is protected for something you can sort for around £600, I am sure you have an excess so deduct that to see what you will actually loose.