An overview of smart repair -- what it covers, where it stops, and when you need a midi repair or a body shop instead. Gary explains the football-sized area rule, why smart repair rarely works on a bonnet, and the lease return mistake most people make.
You have a scuff on your bumper and you are not sure whether to call a mobile technician, go to a body shop, or come to us. Gary explains how smart repair works, where it stops being the right answer, and what to do instead when it is not.
What Smart Repair Covers
Smart repair -- Small to Medium Area Repair Technique -- covers damage up to roughly the size of a football. A scuff on the corner of a bumper is the most common job we do. Minor dents on most panels, small scratches, repairs to seats and upholstery in low-wear areas -- all smart repair territory. Our technicians work at the workshop or can come to your driveway or workplace, depending on the job.
Anything more involved than a corner scuff -- say a bump that has caught the wing and pushed it in slightly -- moves into midi repair territory. That is a different process, but still often something you would not need to claim on insurance for.
When Smart Repair Is Not the Answer
The honest answer about bonnets: Gary has not seen a smart repair on a bonnet work properly on a modern car. Some technicians will spray a football-sized area in the middle of your bonnet -- it might be acceptable on a twenty-year-old car where the paint is already a bit tired. On a car you care about, a bad stone chip or scuff on a bonnet means respraying the whole panel, and probably lacquering the wings to match. That is a body shop job. We have a long-standing relationship with Kraftwork and will point you in the right direction if that is what is needed.
If You Are Returning a Lease Car
This is where most people make a mistake. They spot a scuff on the bumper, book it in, get it fixed, and hand the car back -- without knowing what else is on the car that they will get charged for. Get the whole car inspected first. We go through it properly, advise on what is worth repairing and what the lease company is likely to charge anyway, and you make an informed decision. Sometimes the recharge for something you did not even know was there is the same as -- or less than -- what you were about to spend on the scuff you did know about.
Book the inspection a month before the return date if you can, or at least a week. Give us a call, describe what you have got, and we will advise on whether it is a smart repair, a midi repair, or a body shop job. See our scratch repair and paintwork correction service and our end-of-lease inspection service.
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