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General 500 has been keyed :(

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General 500 has been keyed :(

RachelJ said:
My brand new 500 has been keyed overnight! I'm devastated to be honest, I've had it less than 2 months, and live in a quiet little town near Bath. And I don't have any spare money to get it sorted.
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This is bad news... there are some vile people out there, I just don't get how some peoples minds work at all.

Daughter had her new Ford Ka dented by a shopping trolley a couple of weeks back. The person who did it must have known but didn't leave a note or anything. Luckily the damage is not too bad and the paint is not broken.

I would follow the advice of a few in here and get it fixed as soon as you can afford it. Ask around and choose a body shop on their reputation, and this may turn out to be the one or two man outfit rather than somebody from a 'glass palace' Some of these smaller outfits can be absolutely brilliant at their job as they live or die by their reputation.

I had a wing done on a BMW a few years back by a small independent guy local to us, I thought it would need a new wing but he did some good old fashioned panel beating, painted where the paint had cracked - cost just £100.

It really was as good as new - so chin up! :)
 
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RachelJ said:
Who was that? I'll have a look. I know that area fairly well, I used to live in Thornbury. I just want to make sure the colour is exactly right, especially as I'm doing one of those pay monthly things so the car technically isn't mine yet! I don't want them to notice straight away if I go back.
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Great stuff, I grew up in Thornbury many years ago and it looks like i'll be moving back soon (y)

These are the guys...

http://jbmotorsltd.co.uk/

They sprayed my spoiler a few weeks ago and it looks perfect, my car is metallic black so i'm guessing that was fairly easy to blend compared to the 500's purple (which by the way is a fantastic colour for the 500!)

They were friendly and knew their stuff. They also had another fiat having work done while I was there :)
 
Really sorry to hear this, and it is something I've been pretty worried about happening to me as well.

Mine's just over a month old now, but got a nice chip on the bonnet within 3 weeks of having it. (Car is black, and the paint came off to the white underneath) However, I've used ChipEx which was about £30, and has completely covered it and another ding on the door I found.

They make the paint up from the paint code and its a very good, if not perfect match. I actually lost the chip on the door after I did the initial filling it matched so well. It can be used for scratches, but would have to be evaluated for suitability (and they recommend not using some of the solution used on paint under 2 months old) but it may be a cheaper alternative with a decent paint match.
 
Here's a picture of it. You'll have to excuse how filthy the car looks, I live and work in the countryside and the roads are very mucky at the moment!

This is the driver's door, there is also a smaller scratch below the rear window.
 

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RachelJ said:
Here's a picture of it. You'll have to excuse how filthy the car looks, I live and work in the countryside and the roads are very mucky at the moment!

This is the driver's door, there is also a smaller scratch below the rear window.
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Its a great shame but if i'm honest thats not as bad as I was expecting. Still cant understand how someone could do this though :/
 
I know its not that bad really, it's just that it's so new! I think it goes through to the metal on the wider bits, the thin bits are just white.
 
I could see white on mine, and have been able to fix it with the stuff mentioned earlier.

Those are quite long, and look a bit deep in places, might be worth looking into some of the bodyshop options mentioned previously. I'm not sure the stuff I have would be able to fix something that long with it being fairly obvious.

Looking at that picture makes me equally sad/angry. I almost went for the purple myself, except I couldn't get the all-black interior like on the S.
 
Go to a bodyshop. The white is likely to be the undercoat, and don't forget that the 500 is galvanized, so that's an extra protection - and can look white too ;)

And don't worry about colour match, mine was metallic and I can't see the difference. Plus, your car is new, so the original paint won't have discoloured in any way.

Just get down there and show them the scratches and ask how much it will cost to repair. This happens all the time and paint shops are used to it.

We live in a ****e country unfortunately, and the scumbags live out of our taxes and then thank us by being vile.
 
One more thing, it might be an idea to talk to fiat and use one of their approved body shops as it could void your perforation warranty if the car has had paintwork done.

They measure paint depth etc to make sure its still factory paint.
 
Sweex said:
One more thing, it might be an idea to talk to fiat and use one of their approved body shops as it could void your perforation warranty if the car has had paintwork done.

They measure paint depth etc to make sure its still factory paint.
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The 8 year perforation warranty (according to my warranty and services handbook) only covers the 'structural elements' of the body work.

So even if the door skin rusted from the inside to the outside (another perforation warranty stipulation) I don't believe it would be covered any way.

The 3 year paintwork warranty does however state it doesn't cover repairs not carried out by the FIAT Service network. So that particular repair would not be covered.

But if the OP used a quality reputable repairer as suggested this wouldn't really matter. :)
 
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MJG said:
The 8 year perforation warranty (according to my warranty and services handbook) only covers the 'structural elements' of the body work.

So even if the door skin rusted from the inside to the outside (another perforation warranty stipulation) I don't believe it would be covered any way.

The 3 year paintwork warranty does however state it doesn't cover repairs not carried out by the FIAT Service network. So that particular repair would not be covered.

But if the OP used a quality reputable repairer as suggested this wouldn't really matter. :)
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Thanks for clearing that up!
 
There are some real idiots in this world or people that just don't like 500's, my hire car got pinstripes while on holiday in spain on the second day I had it, then it got a nice dent that looked like somebody had punched it on the second week.
 
There is a product you can get made by Turtle Wax, its a colour repair and comes with a scratch/chip stick. I'm not sure if you can buy them in the UK but it will only set you back under $50 and you can use the chip stick to cover the scratch completely until fixable. If you can find a purple one (had a look there should be one or just ask at your car care store) it will solve a fair bit of the stress and you shouldn't be able to see the scratch. I've used them before on a dark green paint and it works very well. Hope that helps.
 
I think I'd rather pay a bit more for a proper person to do it, seeing as the car is so new. But thanks for all the diy help, I'll definitely look into that if I get a chip or smaller scratch.

I've contacted Chips Away and that one in Cromhall for quotes, does anyone know of anyone else in the Bristol/Bath area?

Now I'm worried that if I get it done the same person will do it again. A risk I have to take I suppose.
 
RachelJ said:
I think I'd rather pay a bit more for a proper person to do it, seeing as the car is so new. But thanks for all the diy help, I'll definitely look into that if I get a chip or smaller scratch.

I've contacted Chips Away and that one in Cromhall for quotes, does anyone know of anyone else in the Bristol/Bath area?

Now I'm worried that if I get it done the same person will do it again. A risk I have to take I suppose.
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The only way to be sure of that is CCTV in the car = )
 
It is appalling what has happened and I can appreciate that you want to get it fixed, so you can have your car looking as good as the day you bought it. I hate any blemishes on mine and have to get them fixed straight away.

Get your quotes, go down the insurance route and check to see if it is a viable option for you taking into account the excess on the policy you will have to pay and also whether your no claims bonus is protected or not.

Taking the above into account it may be cheaper just to pay for the repair and leave the insurance alone.

Hope you can get it sorted soon.
 
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