A nearly new Range Rover Sport with red paint spilled in the boot. James, Edward and Connor worked through it over two days -- 20 hours in total, £1,650. The battery had to come out. Sound deadening had to be stripped. Cables were re-wrapped. The customer had tried to clean the bodywork with something abrasive and scratched through the paint on the passenger side.
A nearly new Range Rover Sport. Red paint spilled in the boot. The customer Lewis is updated in a series of progress videos over two days as James, Edward and Connor work through it.
What to Do First -- Before You Bring It In
Do not try to clean it up. Do not try to get the worst of it out. Paint is far easier to remove when it is still wet -- spreading it around or thinning it makes it dry faster and makes the problem worse.
Get some towels, wet them until damp, and lay them over the paint. Wet newspaper or even plastic sheeting will help. Keep it moist with a garden sprayer. If you cannot get the car to us for a few days, you can still keep the paint workable -- just keep it out of the sun. Do not try to wash it out, and do not scrub it with kitchen scourers. On this Range Rover you can see on the passenger side what happens when someone tries to clean the bodywork with something abrasive: the scratches go through the lacquer into the paint and cannot be polished out without proper correction. That damage was not from the spillage -- it was from the clean-up attempt.
What This Job Actually Involved
Seven hours in, James was filming updates for Lewis to show where they had got to. By the end, the total was 20 hours across two days and the end invoice was £1,650.
The paint had gone under the boot trims, past the speaker, down into the battery area. The battery had to come out -- there was paint underneath it. The sound deadening behind the battery had to be stripped to get to paint behind it. All the cabling that runs across that area had to be released from the back panel to allow access, and was re-wrapped and re-run correctly afterwards. One internal box section was accessed partially and flushed rather than stripped -- it could not be fully cleaned in any other way. A slight red dye remained on some of the sound deadening material that could not be fully removed.
On the exterior, Connor wet-sanded the rear arch and bumper to address the scratches from the cleaning attempt and buffed them back up. When polishing the rear quarter, groove marks appeared underneath the paint -- consistent with previous filler work at some point. The surface scratches from the cleaning attempt came off; the underlying marks are from the previous repair, not the spillage.
Progress Report Approach
We filmed the job in stages and sent each update to Lewis so he could see exactly what had been found and what decisions were being made. When the original estimate needed extending, James rang to explain and confirm before continuing. This is how we handle jobs where the full extent only becomes clear once work begins: transparent updates, customer approval before additional charges.
When we quoted an additional two hours and then overran by one more, we absorbed it. The capped total was 20 hours at £1,650.
Insurance and the DIY Centre
Call your insurance company immediately -- tell them what has happened. They will not hold it against you, especially if getting it cleaned quickly saves them money on parts. Many insurers will work with us directly once you have made contact.
If the paint came from a DIY centre tin that popped open, it is worth talking to them. Not shouting -- talking. In our experience, when approached reasonably, they will often contribute to at least half the bill. Some pay for all of it. It is worth the conversation.
See our car paint spill clean-up service and our paint spillage emergency guide if you need first-response advice right now.
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