One not so lucky C280 owner...

[matt09]

Hello, My name is matt and I've been reading your posts for a couple of weeks and I want to congratulate all of you for making this website one of the best for W202 information, thanks for posting.
Anyways, I was going to make a thread about my car and was hoping to get some good comments, but decided I was going to wash her before taking the pictures so you guys didnt think I dont take care of this beauty.
However, a very very bad incident happened, and this pictures will let you understand:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f274/matt091988/100_1180.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f274/matt091988/100_1181.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f274/matt091988/100_1183.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f274/matt091988/100_1182.jpg

The door for the dumpster you just saw was left unlocked, and a gust of wind made the door open wildly, with such bad luck that it hit my car... Never saw who left it that way, so I cant charge anyone...
I am in deep pain... Is there anything I could do?(Not DIY, that would be stupid), How much would it probably cost?
I am afraid is going to cost a lot because of the type of paint the car has. I haven't seen any other 202 with this color and is kind of pearlescent (Dark blue over green)

[audiophile]

depends on the shop you take it to.
that car looks like has painted already.:confused:

[NEA-4311]

Its not such a big deal, dont worry. If you decide to paint it in a shop, you will ofcourse have to paint the whole rear fender and the piece that goes over the doors to the front... If im not mistaken your color is a little bit old-ish, which is a good thing because it means that your car has never been repainted. Therefore if you paint that panel it will way more vivid than the rest of the car and it will make it look like shit. But thats just me.

Its a nice car but is that... purple tints you got there?:confused:

[matt09]

No, the windows got tinted by the previous owner, and they are dark blue like on the second pic, but for some reason they look purple in the last picture.
I was thinking about detailing the spot where the paint came off. I know it'll be noticeable, but not as much as it is right now.

Someday I'll have to repaint it though, because thanks to Florida's sand and weather the clear coat is coming off near the sunroof.

...However, I dont want that day to come soon.

[c280nz]

yea if you give it a bit of a touch up itl be alot harder to notice to the untrained eye

[NEA-4311]

Well if you do need to paint the car, wait till you have to paint it all over againa, like you said. Same color offcourse. . .

[benzfan]

Any decent body shop will send the fuel filler flap to the paint supplier to be scanned. The paint match will then be perfect. Reliance on paint codes alone is a recipe for disaster with MB. There are several slight variations of some of the colors that have the exact same code. It depends on the year and the OEM paint supplier. Scanning is the only way to assure a match, especially after years of UV exposure.

My wife's old C280 was painted last Christmas after a mishap. The body man suggested not painting the roof or the trunk lid, so no logos had to be disturbed and the sunroof didn't need to be dealt with. He scanned the filler flap and the paint match on that 10 year old car was absolutely perfect in all lighting.

[matt09]

Originally posted by benzfan
Any decent body shop will send the fuel filler flap to the paint supplier to be scanned. The paint match will then be perfect. Reliance on paint codes alone is a recipe for disaster with MB. There are several slight variations of some of the colors that have the exact same code. It depends on the year and the OEM paint supplier. Scanning is the only way to assure a match, especially after years of UV exposure.

My wife's old C280 was painted last Christmas after a mishap. The body man suggested not painting the roof or the trunk lid, so no logos had to be disturbed and the sunroof didn't need to be dealt with. He scanned the filler flap and the paint match on that 10 year old car was absolutely perfect in all lighting.
Thanks for the tip, I'll see how the bodyshops around my area handle this and pick the ebst out of all of them.