Keyed in under a week

Hi all, It's a new record for me, I've had my latest 996 for 6 days and it's already been keyed by some jealous cretin. The car was scratch free and looked fantastic when I picked it up. It's been garaged since I got it home and has only been parked up for 5 minutes outside the bank in my local town, I'm 99% sure this is where it happened, there was a guy unloading a van 10 metres or so behind the space where I parked and he's so far the prime suspect [ ] Anyway, the passenger side door has a nice new scratch and the rear panel next to the window has a rather nasty one. I'm pretty sure the scratch in the door can be easily polished out but the one in the picture is quite deep - what do you guys reckon, will that need a respray? Can anyone recommend anyone in the Surrey/SW London area to do it? Cheers, Gavin

Hi Gavin. You have my sympathy, some people are pathetic. Is the deep scratch on the near-side rear windscreen pillar? It looks like it might be. If so (this is only a thought) are you sure that this wasn't caused by the end of the rear wiper dropping onto the pillar at some point - and maybe you hadn't noticed it before? I know it's a long shot but this happened to me and the first thing I thought was that it had been keyed, whereas in actual fact it was me who caused it while washing the car. What have all the other marks in the window rubber been caused by? If it is the rear windscreen pillar then this is a classic 996 thing to look out for - they have changed the rear wiper on the 997 to an all rubber one now! Anyway, it looks like you'll have to have the lacquer striped off the rear wing and the near-side front and back windscreen pillars and outer roof section. They'll probably only use a bit of colour where the scratch is. I've had a quote to get mine done at my local Porsche approved repair place (S.Wales) and they quoted me £300 + VAT. My car is in Seal Grey and it doesn't show up that much so I've left it alone - I might get it done before I sell it. All the best and I hope that things improve for you! Adrian.

Thanks for replying Adrian. That's exactly where the scratch is, it actually loops round and meets the window again so could very well have been caused by the wiper. I'll have another look at it tomorrow and see if this might have been the cause. If it is then I must have missed it when I picked the car up, no doubt too keen to get driving to have noticed it. I'll ring around for a few quotes tomorrow from the approved body shops in the area, £300 doesn't sound too bad. Thanks, Gavin

Hi Gavin. I hope that it is the wiper - try lifting it up and letting it down with the wiper turned at 90 degrees to the wiper arm and see if it could have physically caused the scratch - do this VERY carefully!! The best part about this is that (maybe) it wasn't done maliciously - OPC did the first one for me, then I did the other one to make a pair! All the best. Let us know how you get on. Adrian.

Sorry to hear about your car whatever the cause. Try giving Chipsaway a call (go the the website and they will direct you to your local franchise), I have used them several times and am always amazed at the great price and good results.

Chipsaway are great but it does depend on where the damage is. If it's in an area where it's quite visible and not easily masked by changing contours, they might not be able to blend in the repair. I've heard positive things about the bodyshop GT One use. They are next to them in Chertsey. Are there any on here who can share views on them?

Sounds just like the rear wiper right down to the shape of the scratch. So (a) it was self inflicted and (b) it aint cheap to fix (properly). Believe me, I've been through your pain!! I was fuming for days. NEVER leave the rear wiper in the 'up' position during washing. ALWAYS lift and hold while you wash under it. I had a quote from a porsche approved body shop and it was £7-800 I seem to remember. Windows out and all that stuff. In the end I compromised and they did their best to polish it out. The pain subsides with time ;-) I think you will find ChipsAway dont profess to like working on premium cars such as ours.

It does depend on the individual and their experience. Ecurie25 use Chipsaway (Manny) on some of the damage on their premium fleet.

Sorry to hear your bad news. B*st*rds! One of the chaps on the 944 Forum is a Chipsaway guy, and comes highly recommended (Diver944). Details on the FAQ Supplier thread.

Thanks for all the replies. It looks like I was wrong and the damage was caused by the rear wiper, apologies to the white van man! The annoying thing is that I haven't touched the wiper since I picked the car up last Thursday and it wasn't there when I had a good look over the car before I agreed to buy it. It looks like it happended during the pre-collection wash. I've attached another picture with me holding the wiper above the scratch, looks pretty conclusive. Hopefully it can be sorted without a panel respray. Gavin

I witnessed a car being cleaned at OPC West London a few weeks ago. It first begins with leaving a hose (with holes in it) on the floor aimed directly at the brake discs and left there for an hour............needless to say the car had incredibly rusty discs.........which Porsche are only too willing to tell you they're shot, and charge you an arm and a leg for.[ ]....did you buy your car from on OPC?

I didn't buy it from an OPC, was tempted by a car of similar spec at OPC West London but it was about 3k over priced IMO. The car came from an independant, I don't want to blame them for it as I really should have noticed it when I picked the car up. If it was done by the car washing lad then I doubt he would have mentioned it to the owner before I arrived. The car was checked over and washed at an OPC the day before I collected it so there's a chance it was done there. I'll take it to the bodyshop SNDa mentioned (thanks for that) it's only a few miles from me. Looking at the pictures is it the kind of thing chipsaway could sort out? Cheers, Gavin

Gavin, I had the inevitable stone chips on the front of my car (bonnet wings front PU etc) and Chipsaway wouldn't touch it which is strange seeings they are called Chipsaway and I had chips and I wanted them away!!!! RB

Gavin, Did you get this sorted? SNDa

Not yet, the car hasn't been off the drive since the Goodwood run I've since noticed 3 tiny dents in the bodywork, only spotted them when cleaning the car, they can only be seen from certain angles but will also need to be sorted out. Hoping to take it along to GT One this week to get a quote on fixing all these things. Gavin

I did this to mine a few weeks ago when washing it. A really deep scratch, and I was spitting feathers. I've improved it dramatically with some touch-up and some Langka, but it needs professional attention really. The ironic thing was, at the time I was lecturing my 5 yr old daughter who was helping me wash the car on the importance of using the second bucket for rinsing the sponge before washing again!

Me too! Leaving the rear wiper up is asking for trouble - the nice deep scratch in mine is testament to that! Like the "Boxster Chop", it is something they don't tell you about at point of sale and jolly well should. [ ]