question about road rash & repainting

[dmwallace]

I'm the 4th owner of a '89 911 and have a question about road rash (or rock chips, etc.) My car came with what appears to be a normal level of these for a car with ~80K miles and driven on the highway. I'd like to have this taken care of, which would (I assume) require a respray of the front spoiler & front bumper). Would a minor respray of these areas be viewed as a negative by a future purchaser (assuming it is done properly)?

Thanks,
David.

[Rot 911]

I've often wondered the same thing as I have the same problems. Everyone insists that a respray will lower the value, but I would think if you documented everything with pictures showing the respray was for rock chips most people wouldn't care. Or I hope they wouldn't care.

[aigel]

I would rather buy the car with rock chips and so would most other people. Neighbor just had the front of his C2S redone and there is a slight mismatch in the paint. You will never get a perfect match, especially on a metallic paint. A real bummer. Also, the bumper and spoiler are the worst places, but the hood and fenders have the rash too, so unless you do the whole front, you will have a strange contrast between a mint bumper and spoiler and a still messy hood and fenders.

George

[dmwallace]

Thanks for the feedback. I happened to speak to an independent exotic car dealer today and his advice was the same as aigel's (leave the rock chips as is). I guess it will all come down to a decision about how long to keep this car...if I decide to sell and upgrade soon I would leave as is and if I choose to keep the car for a longer term I would have it addressed.

[CarreraDan]

I disagree, I would rather buy the car that was properly touched up. Metallic paints are hard to match but a good painter can and will match the paint. I had some work done on my Carrera and the paint was matched perfectly--it did take some time and the use of a special camera but the end results are perfect. My painter showed me how you have to lay down the metallic flakes the same direction as the factory and some other little tricks. He really surpassed all of my expectations. I attached a picture, can you see his touch up work?

[dmwallace]

Thanks for all the feedback.

CarreraDan - your car looks great! In fact it almost looks like the Stone Grey Metallic on my car.

regards,
David

[CarreraDan]

Thanks David,
I spent over a month interviewing body shops to do the work. I finally started asking around at car shows and I noticed one name came up over and over as to who was the best. I made an appointment and expressed my concerns to the shop owner and I felt that he really understood what I wanted and what I expected. In the end, we tripled the budget and it took three weeks when I was told 5 days as I was a side project but I was very satisfied with the results. My only regret was simply not being able to afford to have him do the entire car--it would have been over 10k. Take your time and I can give you some good questions to ask and what to look for. The fender was stripped to bare metal and hand shaped back from a PO's cheap bondo repair. Then he blended the decklid and passenger door--I cannot find any evidence of his work on the car which I feel is work of a true craftsman.