Plastic or Metal Panels on my A6?

[nb99]

Hi All

First post! So I need some help regarding my A6 estate which is just 4yrs old. I rather annoyingly managed to clip the side of the car on a pillar while navigating a rather tight car-park and have scratched the side of the car. The rear door panel is thankfully fine - was just paint from the pillar, but the panel behind it, over the rear right wheel, took some minor scratches - between the door and the wheel arch. Having cleaned up the wound, there are a few minor scratches in the paint, and I'm trying to work out is this panel actual made from plastic or metal, ie will these scratches rust if not treated. The damage, if it won't rust is barely noticeable, but obviously if it's going to rust I need to take action. Apologies if this is a somewhat stupid question but I don't know cars at all therefore would appreciate your help.

Thanks

Niall

[NickPicks]

The rear wheel arches are galvanised steel. If the scratches have gone through the paint and the galvanising, the it'll rust.

[nb99]

Thanks for the reply. I'm afraid this is where my knowledge is limited - how will I know if I've gone through the galvanising. What I can see at the bottom of the scratch is silver coloured - is that likely to be the steel or the galvanising?

One other thing to check is whether the panel I'm talking about is different material to the door panel as it sounds/feels different to the door...would that be correct?

[MFGF]

Hi,

If you car is four years old, it's probably the newer 4f model, which has painted plastic moldings across the bottom of each door. The leading rear wheelarch is painted galvanised steel. Depending how deep the scratches in the wheelarch are, you may just have scratched through the top coat of paint to the primer, or exposed the zinc galvanising layer, or penetrated this to the steel below. Whichever, I'd be very reluctant to just leave it unprotected if I were you. Galvanisation provides a sacrificial protection process for the steel panel, where the zinc will oxidise rather than the steel (because it is more reactive), but it's not intended to be left open to the elements long-term. If you decide not to have it professionally repaired, I would at least touch the scratches in with some touch-up paint to offer some protection.

MF.

[nb99]

Thanks for your thoughts MF. One last question - if the scratches are not particularly deep and in a 4 inch squared section on just one panel, what should I expect to pay roughly to have it repaired professionally and how "good" a finish will it give? Not had to do this before so just trying to get an idea...thanks

[kite]

Have a look in your area for "little knocks " or "chips away" for small repairs.....

[MFGF]

Hi Niall,

From previous experience ("wet finger in the air guesstimate") at a backstreet body shop, probably around £100 to £150. Using Chips Away as Kite suggests, probably between £70 and £100.

On my last A6, I had a door molding and front bumper scratch repaired and repainted at a great little local body shop, and it cost me £150 all in.

Cheers!

MF.

[nb99]

Thanks folks....much appreciated.

[MFGF]

No problem. Let us know how you get on when you have the damage fixed.

MF.