Hopefully Murphy's law will not get you now - it got me again. You've read, what I wrote about my front-sceens?

I got a new windscreen for my Omega ca. half year ago. What happened last Thursday? I've seen a big stone-dent. Fortunately not in the view-area, but is bad anyways.

I have my car back from the paint shop now and the scratch is gone. I'm glad it's now been taken care of.

P.S. This morning I had an association to IMCDB in my mind: I've seen a MB SL65.

Hmmm, I understand, what you are thinking about, but G-Mann is not totally wrong. The paintwork is not the most important thing. And repainting can cause several problems:


- the costs (at least for something not really important). Premium paintwork-experts are expensive.


- the exact tone. This is not easy, even with a computerized colour-identification a lot can going wrong. This can destroy the whole impression of the car. And the value, too. More than the scratch.

I have problems with my K 70's paintwork. VW was not able to produce and paint good metallic-paintwork in the 70ies, so at my car it's getting worse year by year. And there is a very ugly paintwork-damage on the front hood's middle. Three years ago I let the car in a garage with a leaking roof. Rainwater, dripping through concrete is worst!
Two reasons made be hesitate for repainting (except the costs):
1. Every painting-professional has refused to make a partly repaint, because it's more than a lottery to catch the 100% original colour-tone (less that 100% looks like sh..) of a 36-year-old-metallic-paint.
2. I've recognized, that my car is one of the very last VW's of that age with a 90% original metallic colour. Repainted ones you can see masses of

O.k., yes, maybe not a perfect example, compared with your car, but perhaps you can see a little coherence. You wrote, that you want to keep your car for a long time...


- the quality of the work. Is the painterman a real crack and has a good reputation? Everyone can make a garage-cough.


- repainting really can lower the value of the car. Original is original. Repainted is repainted and will always be repainted.


- originality. Sure, this scratch happened due a bad situation, but at my cars, mainly my K 70, I am seeing it's scratches and minor damages as a kind of "live experience" and "scars of the life" (like my scars and other damages ).
When I see a little dent in the left back door I think more about my Sweden-vacations in 2000 and less about the Norwegian Saab-driver, who had opened his door careless on the ferryboat between Denmark and Sweden.
Some dirt of old tape on the right passengers door makes me think about our Scotland-tour in 2001 and that exactly at the parking-lot of the legendary Eilean Donan Castle I had to fix the window-mechanic with this tape from the first-aid-box.
O.k., this example is really not from me, it's from a friend. Really. The *ahem* dirt-spot on one seat is a souvenir from a closer *ahem* "talk" with a fantastic girl.


- at last something psychological/philosophical: do you know "Muphy's Law"?
I had this "fact" at least three times after repairing or changing windscreens...

Sorry, I didn't realise you paid for it. I assumed since it was already in the family, it was given to you. This is quite common, my first car was a hand-me-down from my dad, he didn't ask for any money for it (it was 9-year-old Fiat Punto with 100K on the clock).

I did buy it off a relative with my own money, and I make payments for it. I guess you could say that it was a hand me down, but I didn't get the car for free. If my grandmother didn't buy it a long time ago, I'd be driving the F150. It would have been more of a hand me down because I would have been able to drive it under my mom's name, I'd just pay for the gas and the insurance. I know what you mean about forgetting about it, and just leave it as is, but I want to fix it. I want to keep this car for a long time and I want it to look its best. I have also decided that I'm not even going to modify the car. I'll just leave it stock.

EDIT: You should be able to talk to someone at your insurance company about your deducible. I know not everyone’s insurance is the same, but I’ve known people who had their cars fixed from vandalism or other damage without raised rates.

If it isn't really noticable from a few feet away, you should probably save your money for something more useful and try to forget about the whole thing (it's not good to dwell on unpleasant little incidents). I mean it's a nice car for a 17-year-old but it was a hand-me-down, wasn't it? What about the cars you really want? Also when something more important goes wrong with the car (bear in mind its age) you may need to fork out for repairs then. This year I've spent over £350 on my car sorting out engine faults, the tracking and a new tyre. And that's nothing compared to the cost of some of the repairs it's had to have over the years.

Today I used rubbing compound and polish to fix the scratch. It did okay, but I think it'd be better to take the car to the paint shop to get the scratches painted over. I honestly think rubbing compound and polish doesn't do the best job. Also, I thought I'd apologize for making a big deal out of the situation to some of you guys. I was just really stressed and concerned. Tomorrow I'm going to get estimates on the cost to fix the damage. For sure it will not be cheap, and it's because of one c*** sucking mother f***er. Excuse the language. I try not to cuss here.

Can scratches like that be buffed out with a bit of polish? I think my Omega get keyed right down the length of the passenger side recently, I don't know when, where or why (I'm always careful when I park and I don't how a plain old Vauxhall would inspire envy or resent in anyone), but it's not very noticeable, it's not a deep scratch and the silver paintwork hides it (silver's always a good colour for cars).