Now I know why I like you. I come from a family full of teachers. My mother, sister, sister-in-law, cousins and daughter are teachers. The other reason is that we both own 2 SC430s, one of them being Matador Red Mica.

JR

 

Actually, my wife and I are both teachers, although she retired last June. I retired last year from full time, but teach a few hours each morning- dont know if I'd ever want to give it up. I really enjoy it, and teach from 7-10 AM so have the whole day ahead of me. I still have my 02, but having the 10, I can't see myself driving the 02 much. Im really in a position where I can wait until I get the right price. I will always own an SC! None better.....

 

Status update: My insurance company agreed with the body shop and is replacing the hood, repainting the roof, the section between the roof and back window, and trunk lid. They are also blending the front fenders, both quarters, and the rear bumper. In other words everthing but the doors and front bumper. In my opinion, this car was not treated as I would treated her, therefore, I don't mind the nearly full body paint job. The interior is in great shape and mechanically it is still under factory warranty, and it only has 27k miles and yes I know many of you do have '02s with less mileage, but a '10 model with 27k miles is considered low mileage. I ordinarily would prefer the original factory paint, but not in this case. The fact that I have a body shop that does super work on my 02 and custom work on other cars I've owned makes me comfortable with this purchase. There are only 329 of this model year, so I feel lucky that I've got one of them, even though its taking a bit of work to get it up to my standards. The insurance estimate is higher than the body shop. It is now $4600 and likely to go higher based on the hardtop convertible-much more labor. The Ins co is allowing that flexibility.

 

The main issue with aftermarket paint is they don't use anywhere near as many coats, so it's not as thick or durable. I'd recommend getting 3M paint protection film (or similar) installed on the front bumper and hood. Or else you may get rock chips easily and frequently.

 

Have you gotten an quote for paintless dent repair? With what the price is and the replacement panels and painting the car. I would really look into paintless dent repair. At least for price comparison.

 

Thank you for the status update Solman. We are all pulling for you! It was my initial thought that they would go with a full hood replacement, and it appears that has come to fruition. They may not be able to access all points of damage with PDR, which is possibly why they recommended to go this route. PDR is a fantastic process, but I trust your body shop with the complete paint job front to rear with blending on the qtrs. etc. (they refer to that as an 'up and over') it will be like new. I'm certainly glad the insurance co. is working in concert with the body shop on this one. Again, keep us in the fold on this one.

 

If the body were otherwise in good condition, I'd agree to paintless dent removal. It looks great right now from 10 feet away but close inspection, it doesn't come close to my standards. All the 2010's that I've checked out have been in the $50k's and I paid in the upper 30's. The saying that you get what you pay for applies. I feel I was misled by the dealer, but the hail damage works in my favor because it is now going to cover the cost of other problems that existed prior to purchase. I can't imagine that the dealer did not know of the hard to find flaws that I would not accept. In repeated emails they claim the car had no damage whatsoever. I think when my body shop is done, my SC will look like the ones I've seen that were priced in the 50's. It may not be the same as factory paint, but in my eyes it will be as close as you can get and has a lifetime guarantee on their work. Not to mention it fits my criteria of year and color combination. Not sure how many red with camel are out there, but my hunt is over and I'm satisfied with the outcome.

 

Congratulations on the purchase of your 2010 that has an excellent color combination, one of my favorites. Sorry to hear about the complications caused by the dealer, but it appears as though you were given a great deal and it is my opinion, even though it won't be same process as how the factory paint was applied, once your body shop is done with their work, the difference between the old and new paint will not be noticeable to the naked eye.

 

Solman - It seems you are getting your dream and have a very good and positive attitude - I'm sure you convey that to your students too. Like they say, you get lemons, make lemonade! I love the color combo you selected and the '10 wheels are also very nice. Great job and congratulations!

I had to have about the same repair after my deer encounter and the paint looks great also with a lifetime warranty.