I use a roof rack on my 09 911 for my bikes.

A recent incident with the rack resulted in 4 dings in the roof. None of them are big, easily smaller than common hail damage.

I found the most prestigious body shop in my area (where my colleagues take their vehicles) to get a quote.

One problem is that one of the dings on the roof went down to the primer. The other problem is that one other ding is actually outside of the roof section, above the door shared with the rear quarter panel.

My quote was for just over $1700. The money is less concerning to me than what was entailed. 1.) remove dings and repaint the entire roof section 2.) Sand sunroof section and repaint despite it having no damage whatsoever 3.) remove ding above door and repaint the entire rear quarter panel to taillight, under door.

I'm not really questioning the body shops' approach, especially towards the roof repaint (should I be?). I'm more concerned with the entire paint job associated with a tiny ding, long term quality, removing the factory paint, resell? What about a targa-esque look with a dark vinyl wrap over the roof?

Second opinion?



Yes, I've heard the Clampets and Griswall comments already, thx.

 

Live with it for a few months and see if bothers you as much. If yes, get it fixed after checking with a few other shops to support/refute the procedure outlines by first shop.

What kind of mishap did you have?

 

Good advice. Thought about waiting until spring anyways.

Mishap?, Uh, er.....decided to place my fully assembled rack on the roof mounts instead of putting in on in pieces. All to save time!

It was a little heavy, awkward, and simply slipped on all for corners from the plastic yakima mounts from a distance of ~2". Enough to put a few dimples in the roof.

 

Have you looked into Paint-less-Dent-Removal? Wont work for the primer exposed one , but maybe the others. Just a thought. Good Luck.

 

Personally, I wouldn't have the roof re-painted. Nothing is better then original paint, plus then a section of the car was re-painted and may cause problems if you decide to sell.

I would touch up the dings with OEM touch up paint stick, then go to a graphics place and have them wrap the roof with a matching seal grey...it will give some protection until you decide to pull off the roof rack for good!!

 

If it is a small chip why not just hit it with touch up rather than have a full repaint?

 

Thanks; this is exactly why I posted the question and was looking for some morale support from 911 peers.

I too thought a full repaint was a bit extreme. Especially when told, for instance, that I need to have the sunroof completely resanded and painted when it is completely blemish-free (just to match to clearcoat?)

Will most likely go with touch-up and paintless dent removal.

Thanks everyone.

 

I have to ask... Is this your only car?

 

Don't repaint the car - it will be harder for you to sell it... Try to paintless dent removal approach. These guys can do wonders. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

PDR is the way to go. Check with your dealer and use who they use on expensive cars. I wouldn't look up some random shmo though.

That's a great rack setup. Shows you use the car and are getting your money out of it.

Good luck.

 

looks great with roof rack btw, i wish i still had my road bike so i could put it on top...

 

I once had my car GOUGED by an open gate swinging from its secure position from a big wind gust..

It was a corrugated iron fence paling which put THREE big gouges in the drivers side rear quarter panel. I was shattered!

I thought it was irreparable without a full body re-spray. I brought it over to a paint-less dent removal guy and MIRACULOUSLY he removed ALL the gouges and there was not even a significant scratch otherwise. Only the clear-coat was slightly scuffed which was buffed out with some elbow grease!

The results were so amazing and perfect. It was un-noticeable afterwards. Had I not been so traumatised by the visual impact of the metal-scaring I might've kept the pictures to show, but I wanted to remove all those nasty memories of it so they're gone!

Take it to a paint-less dent removal shop. It really lies in the skill of the craftsman who does the job! Get one from a recommendation from a friend/s who have gone there before.

Good luck,

H

 

BTW, NICE colour! I have a Meteor Grey 911.2 as well!

I'm from australia and I'm so sorry that you guys in the states have it mandated to have amber-coloured side markers. In Aus we have them clear. At least Porsche designed the markers where they are for all markets, other manufacturers don't have them there so they have to cut holes for them in the guards, ruining the original design intent of the vehicle.

 

Yes I love "using" my car to its full abilities. In the summer the track wheels go on the roof.

I will go with paintless dent removal and see the outcome. I've come across a couple of products that I haven't really seen before. Should the PDR successfully remove the dents but some deep scratches remain I may try this Carbon Fiber Film from 3M DI-NOC. It's basically a vinyl wrap.

Look at this link and on their gallery page they have a white Cayman with the film on the roof.
carbonfiberfilm.com/
There is also a video on autoblog where an F430 has a matte black wrap to the entire car.
autoblog.com/2009/12/06/video-thats-a-wrap-ferrari-f430-spider-gets-the-vinyl-treatme/#continued

I may consider this on the roof, not sure.