Miata Mailing List: June 1996, Message #193
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   From: Steve Davis 
Subject: Fender bender
   Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 09:20:36 -0400


[Repost-- not sure if this made it yesterday. Sorry if this is a dupe.]


  Well, it had to happen sooner or later.  Friday afternoon, some guy in
a big Ford station wagon backed into me as I was waiting behind him to
pull out of a parking lot.  His car was undamaged, of course, but my front
bumper cover is a bit crumpled, the right parking light is shattered, and
the right headlamp cover is bent a little.  (The headlights still work,
thankfully.)

  I haven't been in for an estimate yet, but my guess is that the bumper
cover will have to be replaced, or at least repainted.  I've heard some
horror stories here about lousy repainting jobs on the front bumper, such
as paint flaking off at the mere sight of a stray piece of gravel or
something.  Any suggestions on what to watch out for here?

  While I'm at it, the paint job on the aluminum hood has faded to a
different shade of red from the rest of the car.  That being the case,
it seems silly to make the insurance company pay for color matching.
(Which panel would they match it to? :-)  I would consider getting the
hood painted as well, at my expense, or maybe even the whole car if that's
the only way to make everything match up.  So far, I haven't been exactly
thrilled with the longevity of my car's paint, especially considering
the degree of care I've given it; maybe a top-of-the-line acrylic + clear
coat paint job is the answer.  FWIW, the rear bumper cover, and especially
the panel surrounding the license plate, are also starting to chalk pretty
severely.  (I'll probably be keeping the car for a long time, so resale
value isn't really an issue here.)

  Any suggestions and/or shared experience would be greatly appreciated.
(Other than the obvious, "Don't buy a red car in Florida" advice. ;-)

Regards,

Steve
'93 Classic Red "A"
Cocoa, FL



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