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    My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Hi guys - my car was keyed the other night. A big circle around the Porsche badge on the bonnet. It's not horribly deep but you can feel it as a little ridge when you run your nail over it.

    I've spoken to a few bodyshop people and all say that my bonnet at least will need respraying. One suggested that because my car is Slate Grey, they would probably respray the front wings as well.

    Obviously this is going to cost a fortune - at least Pounds700 - and whilst I could just put this down to experience, the chances are it could happen again I guess so I want to go for the cheapest option whilst keeping the quality of the paintwork etc.

    Any ideas?

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    They will partial spray the area and clear coat the whole area. That's how they do it in CA and no one can even tell. I am so sorry. Stupid Jealous people what do they gain by this???

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    I hate when I see this type of thread pop up on the message board. I know sooner or later its going to happen to me too! Not too many 911 in my country, and the green eye monster always lurking around here.

    My suggestion, if it doesn't bother you too much: Wait a few months, until you get more wear and tear on your front end. and repaint it. Otherwise its going to be an expensive maintenance everytime your car gets a scratched or keyed.

    Bright side: luckily that's all they did to your car.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Sorry to hear this. I would suggest painting as much of the front as you can in order to match the paint.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    If it was me, I would paint it the next day. You wouldn't be able to tell if you find the right painter.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Ed,

    I am so sorry to hear of this. Makes me feel really angry!

    From my past experience of vandalism, they will need to spray paint the adjacent panels too (partially) just to help the newly resprayed front hood blend with the front wings. Otherwise, your front hood will look new and the paintwork on the adjacent panels will look ever so slightly different in sunlight due to oxidation, fading etc especially considering your car is nearly 2 years old (if I remember correctly)...

    Best of luck with it. Don't worry, when the bodyshop have finished with it, it will look like nothing ever happened to it.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Quote:
    Ed J said:
    cheapest option whilst keeping the quality of the paintwork etc.




    Be careful not to go too cheap , it could have a fatal consequences (crap job) .. I myself would definitely go to a P dealer , just for the back up insurance....

    Also , do try looking via recommendations , there's so many bodge jobbers out there ...

    There just far too many scum about these days ..

    All the very best with a first class repair....

    throt.....

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Really sorry to hear about this Ed.

    I'm so paranoid about that type of thing happening to me that I don't park the car anywhere that I think it could be vulnerable. In fact I don't even go anywhere these days in the Porsche where I don't already know where I'm going to park!! Otherwise I take my Audi. Ah well, keeps the mileage down I suppose

    Anyway, what I wanted to ask you is can you claim this on your insurance or would that send your premiums through the roof?

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Have you considered an 'invisible' repair to reduce the visiblity of the damage? You're going to pick up more chips in that area anyway. Cheaper than a full re-spray, and less change to the factory paint job...
    http://www.clean-image.co.uk/stonechips.htm

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Sorry to hear about this - but don't let them get you down or they've won.IMHO the best place to do the work is a Porsche Centre. It gives less chance of any arguments at trade-in time and you'll get a warranty as well. Most used 911's get the nose painted by the dealer to get rid of stone chips etc and you'll never know the work has been done.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Slate grey is quite a difficult color. I'd go also to a P dealer because of the color.

    Your bodyshop told you to repray the front wings too because he's afraid there will be a color miss match. good luck with it.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Be thankful that you are the happy one.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Sorry to hear this. I had a minor altercation in mine a month or so back that required part of the rear bumper to be built up and then re-sprayed. I used Chips Away after various recommendations and it's fine. I'm in Essex so quite close, I'll PM you the number of the guy I used.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Porsche paint is quite soft, I've had mine buffed away with a high speed buffer by a professional. The idea is that high speed rotation creates heat, heat melts paint, slightly softened paint covers scratch, add another layer of clear coat and you're set. Down side is that the paint does get thinner but if unnoticeable, who cares?

    My cut wasn't too deep and the color is easy (speed yellow), so not sure if it'll work on yours as well but worth getting an opinion.

    Cheers man, you're the one driving the Porsche, not the bxstxrd who scratched it.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    to bad you won't know of the misfortune that will most certainly be headed toward the dirtbag who did this, perhaps it's just his life in general...get your body guy recommendation from the p-car store, they do this stuff all the time....i've been amazed a time or 2 as to what will buff out...best of luck

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Quote:
    wtsnet said:
    Have you considered an 'invisible' repair to reduce the visiblity of the damage? You're going to pick up more chips in that area anyway. Cheaper than a full re-spray, and less change to the factory paint job...
    http://www.clean-image.co.uk/stonechips.htm




    Agreed. Just try to clean it up and wait for the big dent or another major scratch THEN go the full-repair route.

    I "lost interest" in baby-ing my CarreraS and haven't used a Q-tip on it in months. Sure, do all the maintenance, keep a good coat of wax on it, and pay attention to what's going on... .

    IOW in a few months you're gonna have different priorities and the scratch isn't gonna be a big deal; maybe you'll label it "normal wear and tear."


    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Quote:
    amazon said:


    Your bodyshop told you to repray the front wings too because he's afraid there will be a color miss match. good luck with it.



    You mean the front fenders? NO fing WAY! better just to have the only hood messed up.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    BTW, where did the vandalism happen? (I recall you park on the street outside your house).

    Don't let it get you down mate. Let the insurance take the strain. Hopefully, you only have a small excess. And yes, you're the lucky one driving the Porsche not the a***hole walking past you to the nearest Jobcentre.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Slate grey is no more difficult to repair than any other metallic paint and any good body shop should be able to match it up perfectly. I would however take it to a body shop that is familiar with high end cars like Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar etc.

    When I took delivery of my Slate grey 997S there was a scratch about 2 inches long and fairly deep, well through the paint and into the plastic on the rear bumper that needed repair.

    I had waited 6 long months for this car and all I wanted to do was drive! The repair could wait so a few weeks later I took it to the body shop of my choice where they repaired it to perfection (and the dealer paid the tab) and I challenge anyone to find the repair, I'll even point out the area where it was done! They only paint the area around the scratch and then clear coat the entire section (in my case just the bumper, in your case just the hood).

    I would be willing to bet that when they are finished you too will not be able to see where the work was done. Good luck!

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    That's horrible.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Lots of sound advice here, I have just had a nasty stone chip to the front offside wing (GT Silver) touched in by my local Porsche approved body shop. Cost Pounds30 I was warned that it wouldn't be an invisible repair and it isn't but it is smooth and it looks better than it did. I thought Pounds30 for a temporary fix (until something worse happens) was good value for money and there was always an outside chance that it would be invisible .

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Ed, I am sorry this had to happen. It truly is a shame when someone defaces someone else's property. Events such as this one, and others similar it, fill me with a great sense of disappointment. Once again, I apologize for your troubles.

    Best of luck to you,
    Ray

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    The best approach to this is to have the best paint shop in your area block out and repaint JUST the area affected and blend it into the adjoining area of the hood. Do not let them take the color coat beyond the area of the damage,--once they do the wings might need to be done. You want to minimise the amount that gets the color. Then finish it all up with clearcoat to match the 'finish' of the front end. It's not inexpensive but it is worth noting that the talent is out there to fix these things.

    That in itself should allow you not to get too upset about such petty things. Remember, it is a mild irritant in the grand scheme of things.

    dan

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    First off, you said it wasn't that deep. If so, eliminate the possibility that it didn't go through the color coat, such that the area could be sanded, and the hood re-cleared, with no color-matching being involved.

    If you DO have to spray color, I think the shop that suggested painting the fenders to match the hood are full of ****. Here's why. If they re-spray the fenders, who's to say that the fenders will now not be a good match to the doors??? And if you're facing possible SLIGHT mis-match, you're FAR better off and the mismatch is far more hidden if the deviation occurs on the top of the car.

    1. You would have to be standing directly in front of the car, or over the car, to have a chance of noticing.

    2. Since the fenders meet the hood at an angle, and are curved, a slight color mis-match would largely be masked and imperceptable due to shadowing and differences in light reflection/refraction between the hood and fenders.

    For these reasons, I would only touch the hood. THAT WAY, they can un-bolt the hood, and refinish it off the car, so your entire car doesn't wind up completely barfed up by overspray and compound and sanding dust, etc.etc....

    When you have a slight color mis-match between a fender and a door, THEN you've got something that absolutely screams "REPAIR JOB", as the surfaces meet on the same plane and curve, and reflect light the same, making the ever-so-slightest variation jump out like black and white. And everyone notices, because the sides of your car is what is seen going down the road, in the parking lot, etc....

    Sorry to hear of your misfortune, but at least they didn't run the key heavy down the side of the car. Coulda been a ton worse. Also, make sure the shop sands out the scratch, and builds up the entire area in primer, and then blocks smooth. Some shops will just sand a bit, and then skim-coat filler into the key scratch. Over time, the filler shrinks a bit, and you can percieve the faint key scratch under the paint....

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Quote:
    Alex (UK) said:


    I'm so paranoid about that type of thing happening to me that I don't park the car anywhere that I think it could be vulnerable. In fact I don't even go anywhere these days in the Porsche where I don't already know where I'm going to park!! Otherwise I take my Audi. Ah well, keeps the mileage down I suppose





    I disagree. It's just a car (an expensive one, yes). It's of no use in your garage or driveway. Actually, when I drive into NYC, I prefer to park on the street so the drag racers in the parking lots don't get a chance to practice on my car. I rather take the chance on a keying or someone hitting me then let them at it.

    And I know I'll feel really crappy the day I get hit.

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Oh, forgot to mention:

    Consider calling a few friends and UNBOLT AND REMOVE the hood entirely to bring it to the paintshop (if that's what you decide). No sense in exposing the whole car, with all it's intricacies, to the dust and BS of a repair joint. Otherwise There's a high probability you'll be finding dust everywhere for the life of the car.

    They wonn't like it because it makes their job a little less conveeeeeenient since they have to build/furnish some kind of support for the piece.


    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    I suggest you take it directly to a Porsche approved bodyshop. They will take care of it but I can't imagine it being cheap however, on the plus side, you get a lifetime guarantee on the work done subject to periodic inspections.

    Sunil

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Let the bodyshop unbolt and remove the hood entirely. They can store your car in a totally different area and not risk overspray. That's the best way to treat that thing anyway,--off the car. Let THEM reinstall the hood and get the alignment right.

    Dan

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Sorry to hear that Ed. Nothing worst then free jealousy. What a sad world we living in. The guy who did that, should have his B... cut. No it would even not changing much.
    Instead of saying " Lucky one and i'm happy for him" the guy do this just for free. . What a world

    Re: My car has been keyed - any advice?

    Too bad... there certainly are a few cement heads out there. I have a Cayenne Turbo which was keyed along the entire side TWICE. First time the near one, then the far side. I took it to the Porsche dealer, but soon found out that P-approved body shop quotations vary widely ... do check within a 200mile radius and you may secure big savings.

     
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