Delboy52 Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 I've been quoted £640 to repair my rotting rear wheel arch as a bodged repair from another body shop last year has made the problem worse than ever. Can anyone recommend a place in or near Milton Keynes? Does this quote seem about right? Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe588 Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 I've been quoted £640 to repair my rotting rear wheel arch as a bodged repair from another body shop last year has made the problem worse than ever. Can anyone recommend a place in or near Milton Keynes? Does this quote seem about right? Cheers Mike What's wrong with it? Take pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delboy52 Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 The arch was repaired a year ago by cutting away part of the wheel arch and welding in a "universal wheel arch." The new body shop has never heard of this "universal arch." Well, whatever it was it's now bulging apart from the inner and outer skins and a small rust spot has appeared lower down. Looks like they reshaped the arch with filler and it has created a massive water trap. Will get take some photos tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gen6GT Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 Why don't you take it back to the original bodyshop and make them put it right? Take loads of pics and if it ends up in Small Claims Court you'll get your money back with costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowchinaman Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 I've heard of the universal wheel arch. It's basically a strip of metal with fin cuts on it. Allows it to curve and be welded to the arch for corroded arches. Its not very good and should only be used on classic cars where arches are not available. We're not near you but can do the job for you. However I'd take it up with the original body shop if I where you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delboy52 Posted January 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 The job has been done several times before with them, always cash jobs to keep the cost down. This is the 1st time a universal arch has been used and it's now separating from the inner skin. I thought about going back to the body shop but there's been too much fail already with them (not just this job,) so I want to take it somewhere else. As it was a cash job, the small claims route is not an option. Where abouts in London are you Ray? The M1 gets me to the M25 in about 30-40 minutes. Can PM me a price? Went to take some pics this lunchtime, but photographing a dark green car that is very dirty and in dim overcast wet weather is not going to show too much. The worst can be seen from inside the arch using a mirror or feeling it. The inner and outer skins have parted and are now just pushing each other apart along the arch. This seems to have opened up some water traps and is spreading the rust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gen6GT Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 The job has been done several times before with them, always cash jobs to keep the cost down. This is the 1st time a universal arch has been used and it's now separating from the inner skin. I thought about going back to the body shop but there's been too much fail already with them (not just this job,) so I want to take it somewhere else. As it was a cash job, the small claims route is not an option.Where abouts in London are you Ray? The M1 gets me to the M25 in about 30-40 minutes. Can PM me a price? Went to take some pics this lunchtime, but photographing a dark green car that is very dirty and in dim overcast wet weather is not going to show too much. The worst can be seen from inside the arch using a mirror or feeling it. The inner and outer skins have parted and are now just pushing each other apart along the arch. This seems to have opened up some water traps and is spreading the rust. On the contrary, even if you paid cash the Small Claims Court is still an option. All you have to do is to show that they did the work and you paid them to do it. In addition, if it was a cash job the bodyshop almost certainly will not have declared it with HMRC either on their tax return or on their VAT return or, indeed, on both, and it doesn't take much to get the taxman interested in cash-in-hand transactions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delboy52 Posted January 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 I do happen to have a receipt for the work. If I was to take it to them, I'd expect they'd offer to repair it but regardless if they'd charge me or not I've lost confidence in them being able to do a better job than before. Can I simply ask for my money back? Repair is dated 14.01.09. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowchinaman Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 We are located near Kew gardens jsut 15 mins from Hangerlane roundabout off the A406. If you send me some pictures first for me to assess and I'll let you know my opinion. My email is Ray@rt-performance.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delboy52 Posted January 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 (edited) Tried taking some photos but it's very hard to show properly, so took some videos to try and show the problem. This is a pic of the distortion: This is a video of the arch from inside. You can see how the metal has developed a hole at one point and is distorting along the arch curve: This video I try to show how the metal is now rippled along the edge of the arch. Also the top part where the outer skin is distorting the most. Edited January 28, 2011 by Delboy52 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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