SMART REPAIRS. small to medium area repair technology.
Smart repairs are suitable for thing like bumper scuffs, stone chips on bonnets, small scratches etc...
We understand that in this ever turbulent economic climate, that people are becoming more and more cost conscious. With our fully equipped body shop and dedicated smart repair bay, we truly believe that we offer far better quality and service than a mobile service can provide 'on your drive' or 'outside work'. With most small jobs being completed on a 'same day' basis, and courtesy cars available for bigger jobs, there's no major 'downtime' either.
Here's why...
Waterborne basecoat is sensitive to moisture levels, not such a problem in summer when it’s hot and dry (what about all the dust though?), but what happens in cooler or damper weather? Even on a dry day there is moisture in the air, applying the clear lacquer over water based paint that isn't correctly dry, will lead to moisture being trapped between the clearcoat and the paint, and that will lead to blisters.
Two pack Lacquer needs to cure. Just 'drying’ it isn’t enough, it needs to be baked, so that it is hard all the way through. Using infra red lamps to flash dry the top surface is ok for primer (which is quick drying anyway), but infra red lamps combined with 'accelerators' in the lacquer to speed up the 'drying' process leads to 'gloss drop' at the very least. Smart repairs need to be polished to complete the 'blending' process. Incorrectly cured paint is very difficult to polish, which invariably leads to an 'edge' around the repair. Some 'technicians' get around this by using 'single pack' lacquer. This is early 80's technology at best, and should be avoided at all cost.
In order to comply with stringent environmental legislation, the lacquer that we use is what is known as 'ultra high solids' or UHS for short. This is the same as manufactures use when vehicles are painted at the factory. UHS lacquer uses much less solvent than conventional lacquer, and so, is less damaging to the environment. Because of the associated health risks of products that contain isocyanides (poisonous fumes that can cause asthma), all our paintwork is done in our low bake oven, wearing special respiratory equipment.
Mobile repairers like to promote themselves on cost, and typically list prices as £95 for a single panel repair and up to £175 for upto two panels. This raises 2 issues - 1, the cost isn't significantly cheaper than if it were brought to our body shop, and 2, 'multiple panels' is hardly small to medium area.
The only area where a smart repairer can beat us, is that we'll need to keep your car all day. It's only the same as when you have it serviced - drop it off on the way to work, get a lift into work, and then pick it up on the way home. We'll even wash it for you when it’s done!!
Some examples of smart repairs.
