I’ve a 100mm vertical split in my front bumper after my mum’s neighbour reversed into my parked car. She’s a nice old bird and a good neighbour to my mum so I’d like to see if I can get it properly fixed at a reasonable price without necessarily going through the insurance.
Has anyone any experiences (good or bad) with Chips Away or their ilk? I know they’re a franchise so might be a bit variable but I’m keen to hear what you’ve got to say. Cheers!

*Waits for inevitable Chipps Away photoshoppery*

Same thing happened with my wife car. They sorted it without bother.

…then she put it into the gate post about a month later. Mustn’t grumble though because I did it too the week after. I’d cut the hedge and messed up the turning in reference point.

Caught my bumper with a suitcase wheel doh!

Might ring them now actually.

I guess it must depend on the individual franchise but our local one (chesterfield) was pretty amazing at sorting out our Mundano after my wife introduced 5 feet of it to a brick gate post :-/

The work was guaranteed for the life of the car too.

I’ve used my local one twice and were very good indeed. Can’t see anything now they’re fixed.

James

Used them 3/4 times … think they are great… but only used to touch up scratches/small dings.

Get them round to quote and see if you think the chap is trustable or a wally.

I used them once in the past to respray a wheel arch and they were fine. Bear in mind that other smart repair services are available if you don’t get a good feeling about your local ChipsAway franchise – there’s just one ‘p’ in chips btw, unless this is some sort of STW editorial version.

Had a pretty good experience with them, I’d asked about a couple of other scratches while getting a quote for a cracked bumper and the guy ended up touching them up for free with the leftover paint.

Only issue was actually paying him as he wanted to come round for cash but only during working hours while I was (surprisingly) at work. Eventually he agreed to a bank transfer but it was a bit of a hassle to sort out.

Used them a few times – Scratched mirror/scratched wing/damaged alloy and he was very good. For that sort of thing I wouldn’t have any issues going to them again.

My only doubt in this case is how are they going to fix the crack? I know it’s common to staple cracks in plastic bumpers but I wouldn’t have that on my car.
Might be worth asking first.

Also try a couple of local proper bodyshops. You might be surprised that they’re not too expensive.

I had a dent repaired and nearly half the side of the car sprayed for under £300.

Talking of local bodyshops…………
I had deer put a split in my front bumper. I went to the insurance companies “approved” repairer and he was considering stapling the split and wanted £1100 (there was other damage besides the bumper – such as lights, brake ducts etc) so just for a laugh I drive into a main dealer with a bodyshop on the premises. He did it for £850, new bumper and a written guarentee stating the work was to the same standard as the original.
When I asked why the difference he replied he can always under cut the locals but the insurance companies will never give him the work because they have contracts in place.
My advice – ask around you maybe surprised………..

Thanks all, seems pretty positive on the whole. I’ll price them up against a body shop but I’m not too optimistic about that. I had an insurance repair done a couple of years ago and it ended up at over 2 grand. I didn’t see a full statement of work but it looked like it was just a dented bumper with a tiny bit of paint off the wing where the bumper had been pushed into it.

Had a couple of small touch up jobs done years ago no probs. Recently had some end of lease repairs done by a different branch (they’re franchised) and it was shit. The inspection guy from the lease co who came said they don’t have the best reputation.

I’m going back a good few years here ..I used a franchise in Hexham to touch up a lease car and they / he did an appalling job of matching up the paint ( light metallic blue ..06 Passat Sport ) ..£600 for the privelige and then point blank refused to issue a receipt as he claimed it was a cash job ..which was never agreed .
The bloke was a complete tosser ..and I vowed never to use them again …had me over a barrel though as the car was due back ..

I used my local Chips Away a couple of years ago after some kind soul hit my front bumper overnight without bothering to leave a note – left a couple of splits about 70mm long. I also had some minor scuffs in offside rear wheel arch.

They sorted both jobs in one go, nice work, quick and a whole lot cheaper than the local body shop i’d got a quote from

Had some work done on a tvr many years ago. Very pleased. Cheap, and good enough to pass casual inspection, meaning I’d know – because I knew the car. They quote for free and have a satisfaction guarantee ( or used to )

Used them twice in different parts of the country. Both were excellent. Will use them again after I rubbed paint off the bumper of our crv. Truth be told, matching light metal is hard and small patches may show. The other answer is to respray a whole panel. Which will be a lot more expensive in a full body shop.

Used the Broughty Ferry branch for a small-ish dent on the front wing of our old Civic. The quality of the work was amazing, looked like they just swapped for a new wing, the paint matching was perfect. Dunno what other branches are like but I’d have no qualms using that branch again.