2013 Audi dinged
 

Hello fellow members:

First time poster but a long time follower of the forum. In fact, before purchasing my 2013 Q5 3.0, I was on the fence between the 3.0 and the 2.0. But having read some of your reviews, I was sold on the 3.0. Now I seek your help again; my Scuba Blue Q5 was dinged on the passenger side on both the back and front door (see pics). Judging from the scene of the crime, it appears some yo-yo tried to do a 3-pt-turn.

If anyone in NYC area could recommend a good body shop. I've looked into Paintless Dent Removal (PDR) and best that they can it to is 80% of the original look. Some would not even touch it. This a not a leased so I would like to have it looking the way she did when I first picked her up last Dec.

My biggest concern is the paint match.

Please help!

So sorry you just went through this. The best when I lived in NY was North State Custom, 14 Green Lane. Bedford Hills, NY 10507. Telephone Number: (914) 241-1234 http://www.northstatecustom.com/

They do excellent work, both paint and body. When I moved from the NY area, my biggest concern was leaving them behind. (Sign of my warped priorities.) You need body work, not PDR.

Just had a fiberglass topper paint for my 2013 ram 1500. The guys here at my local body shop used a camera type thing to match the paint perfect. My ram is mineral grey. They did a awesome job. At least with a lease you don't have to worry about diminished value.

I would find a good shop w/ Audi experience & go w/ it; details below
 

I have a Scuba Blue 2013 Hybrid. Fortunately no dings, though only at 700 miles over here in Europe on European delivery. I've seen the color in a variety of lighting now.

On the other hand my 145K, 13 year old A6 4.2 Q has been through the wars, and at one point needed the front bumper cover and a fender painted due to Halloween egg vandalism. It has a color called Ming Blue, which is really a lot more complicated in terms of its appearance than Scuba Blue. Scuba looks relatively consistent, while Ming Blue is/was a pearlescent with differing color appearances in different lighting, from pretty solid blue (and darker than Scuba), through a deep purplish hue in certain lighting, particularly at sunset, to almost black. Net, many years old and many years after the work, all looks fine and consistent.

The shop that did it was a high volume shop for Audis, Porsches and sometimes Volvo's. It was connected previously to an Audi dealer. More recently for my aluminum bodied A8, I have used a shop my last Audi dealer used directly for its own work since it didn't have a body shop. And that nets to my suggestion, which really is about finding shops that know and work on Audi's all the time:

1. Get the name or names of shops from your dealer that they themselves use, particularly if they don't have their own shop.

2. Having an A8 w/ an all aluminum body, you can actually take it a step further: Track down the shops that are certified by Audi to work on the aluminum body cars (A8, R8, newer TT's IIRC). It may overlap Jag shops, since they went aluminum with the last generation XJ. Those shops will have invested in a set of aluminum tools, jigs and other things that can cost tens of thousands, if not toward six figures. It also says they have made a serious financial and training commitment. Only parts of our Q5's are aluminum, but it gets you to shops that are probably the most committed, and certified on the biggest bucks Audis.

All this assumes you have insurance and would submit a claim, since then it is between your carrier and the shop on anything past the deductible. These kinds of shops will be pricier so I wouldn't go this way if I needed the cheapest price on a steel body panel like the doors and it was customer (self) pay.

Thanks for the recommendation Gossip Girl! I sent them pics of the damaged areas. Hopefully, they'll give me a good quote.

Thanks for the advice MP4.2+6.0. I don't plan on getting insurance involved since I don't know who did it to me. Also, if I file a claim with my insurance provider; I fear that they'll raise my premium exponentially. The expense will have to come out of my pocket.

Damage done to you in a parking lot is not considered your fault. I think you should call your agent and have a confidential discussion with them without filing a claim. Good luck with North State...I'm sure they will do a great job.

Good advice. When you begin your conversation with your agent, let him/her know upfront that you don't want to file a claim, but just want to get their input on your coverage.

Not my experience
 

Net, if it's pretty clear you would/could not have inflicted the damage yourself, not much room for argument about fault to start with. Thus, I find insurance co's typically just swallow the clear side type hits like you seem to have. If the side were scraped like you could do exiting a garage, or front or rear bumper corners dinged up, or that sort of thing, sometimes more debatable.

The only debate I've had w/ my insurance co in this area has involved flying objects--one was a bird hit into the front foglight of a Mini at freeway speeds, and the other a large rock tumbling along the road that showed up in the traffic lane still moving right at sunrise, which a family member hit with an Audi. The bird hit ended up under the comprehensive part of my policy (like a windshield rock hit), then being a $100 deductible. I forget now how the tumbling rock got treated. Both were multi-thousand dollar claims, even though basically just unbolt, remove, replace and repaint type stuff. No premium increase either from these (or other claims for that matter, like windshields, the old A6 vandalism paint claim, etc.)--since it starts with no points were assessed for fault, nor did the adjuster find any once they understood what happened and could also see in each case the damage wasn't the sort of thing that happens when you carelessly drive into something.

These kinds of things happen and it won't be the first time that the insurance company dealt with a claim when the owner didn't know who did it. It's called vandalism. Hey I feel your pain! Your baby has been hurt! It's a horrible feeling.