The Grand Sport. Part 2: The experience.

[Jeff V.]

Got the film off it yesterday. That went surprisingly well. The news isn't good though. I found cracked paint in the driver's side of the bumper where it was hit. I'm surprised it didn't let go when I was taking the PPF off. So it's going to need a repaint. I guess that's good. There's a ton of stone chips. I'm not sure why the last guy even bothered to put PPF over it.



The headlight is also trashed. The wood actually pushed the lens down into the frosted running lamp strip. It left witness marks on the inside of the lens. There's a good half inch of space between those parts. There's a couple other places where it hit, and the outer edge is also separating at the seal with the bucket. I can't believe it didn't shatter.





So I'm going to get an estimate from the shop that re-did the clearcoat on the carbon roof for the white car. Since they're going to have it apart, I might see about paying out of pocket to get the splitter re-cleared, and have the side rails on the carbon roof painted gray so I can put it on this car.

It still could have been worse. But this is definitely not good.

[Duck Vader]

Damn

[Jeff V.]

Those two parallel lines on the paint damage got me thinking. I just went and measured, and it's exactly the size of a 2x4.

[aaronatstate]

That sucks man. Sounds like they’ll take care of it though so that’s good at least. And you get rid of stone chips etc.

[DCIV]

Maybe they will just give you money so you can keep it off carfax?


Coop

[Chris GTO TT]

If it's a business they're going to just let insurance cover it.

[Jeff V.]

It'd be the body shop that would put it on Carfax. I'm not going to worry about it right now. Right now I'm just hoping it's not stuck in a shop when my mom comes to visit in a few weeks.

[ChargerX3]

[Jeff V.]

Just had a really nice meeting with the body shop guy. $3700 estimate. Almost $1700 of that is the headlight. Good news is, the light is easily available, and their schedule is wide open too. So they can take it whenever the insurer agrees to the claim, and I should have it back in about a week.

I'm also asking for to pay out of pocket to have my old exposed carbon roof color matched to this car. It's a non-standard quote, so he had to ask the shop owner how he wants to price it.

[vr4]

I'm amazed you found a shop that has availability. When my g got hit it took 3 months to get in. In that time it got hit again. Had they been on the same claim it woulda totaled it.

Granted the shop I went to is easily the best in the area. Only use oe parts. Paint match on a 15 year old slightly faded metallic was perfect.

[aaronatstate]

Just had a really nice meeting with the body shop guy. $3700 estimate. Almost $1700 of that is the headlight. Good news is, the light is easily available, and their schedule is wide open too. So they can take it whenever the insurer agrees to the claim, and I should have it back in about a week.

I'm also asking for to pay out of pocket to have my old exposed carbon roof color matched to this car. It's a non-standard quote, so he had to ask the shop owner how he wants to price it.

These headlights these days are insane. Part of the reason I got the extended warranty on the RS. Headlights are $1200 a piece on that thing...for a Focus...

[Jeff V.]

This is the place I'm using.

https://prestigeautokc.com/

Back when I wanted to get the CF roof redone, I looked around for places that were certified on high end luxury brands. I wanted to make sure they knew how to work with composites. It all checked out, and they did an excellent job. I was surprised they had availability too. Maybe it's because their main business is higher end cars instead of volume stuff?

I mean, their labor time sign behind the counter had a higher hourly rate listed for "Exotic body work. Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren"

Anyway, the owner has excellent taste. This was parked there when I stopped in.

[Chris GTO TT]

Ohh that's pretty and I normally don't like green cars

[Jeff V.]

It's called Sonoma Green. It's only available on the RS5, or if you pay for the Audi Exclusive ($$$$) option on other models. I don't normally like most greens either, but I love this.

[alienviking]

Ohh that's pretty and I normally don't like green cars

Ditto. To both parts.

[Jeff V.]

I have a dilemma. Need your opinions.

Part of the CE package was the matte stripe that goes down the middle of the car. It's a decal. Not painted.



If I swap to the carbon roof, it won't have the stripe.

Do I just leave that part missing?
Do I buy a new decal and cover up most of the carbon roof?
Do I delete the stripe from the back 2/3 of the car? I'd leave the one on the hood. A standalone hood stripe is pretty common on these cars. I never replaced the small piece that goes on the spoiler when I swapped to my carbon spoiler.

[aaronatstate]

I say delete the rear 2/3 of the car. You wanna see that carbon roof for sure!

[ChargerX3]

If the carbon color roof is anywhere near the color of stripe then dont bother changing anything.

[Chris GTO TT]

I’m a fan of the stripe, obviously an outlier here in the group so far lol

[DCIV]

I vote you redesign the top with two diff colors of CF. Then you get both.


Coop wins.


Coop