Interior Exterior
Q:
Got the car back from SVAG a couple of hours ago.
Here's some photos of the job.
They are a little more noticeable than I thought they would be. The both also stick out from the car about 1/4 inch which you can see in the photos. But oh well - their purpose is functional not visual. The price + painting still came out under $300.
In one of the pics you can see the rivets underneath.
-doma
IMO its not even worth 50$, this is a ****ty ass job, for 100$ I could have you custom CF protectors with teflon pads...and a GOOD install
-Seb
A:
>IMO its not even worth 50$, this is a ****ty ass job
Larry, do yours stick out? I can't tell from your photos.
A:
Doma,
Seriously, I think they messed up with your install. Looking at LarryB's photos, the guards look like they are at least flush and attached to the body. It looks like yours were just riveted, but no silicone sealer was used to attach the top and sides. You should have them finish the job in my opinion. You may not mind, but I don't think that looks quite right. Especially from the side. Good luck.
Chris
A:
Doma,
Seriously, I think they messed up with your install. Looking at LarryB's photos, the guards look like they are at least flush and attached to the body. It looks like yous were just riveted, but no silicone sealer was used to attach the top and sides. You should have them finish the job in my opinion. You may not mind, but I don't think that looks quite right. Especially from the side. Good luck.
Chris
Add me in as another vote for "something's not right with that install."
A:
Not right. How could that not just fill with dirt and whatever?
A:
The weird thing is, if I read correctly, it looks like both installs were done by the same dealer - SVAG. You would think they'd mess up the first time and get it right the second instead of the other way around.
A:
Hey LARRY B how about a side shot of your guards like DOMA has. It seems like yours is almost not visible compared to his but hard to tell with the shots you have Thanks Adam
A:
doma- Nope mine are a flush fit. Have attached the one pic off hand that I've got that sort of shows it. Suggest you contact the shop manager to see what they can do... I'd agree they can and should have done a better job.
edit- In taking a closer look at your pics, kind of looks like the outer ends weren't wrapped tight before they attached it.
A:
It looks much better on Larry's. It seems SVAG has QC issue.
A:
yikes. that means punching MORE holes in the car to fix.
SVAG isn't touching my car except for warranty service after seeing that. yikes.
A:
yikes. that means punching MORE holes in the car to fix.
Can't they punch them in the guards themselves?
A:
I don't quite understand these. You don't want the clam to get scratched up, so you drill holes in it to put a guard on. But then you paint the guard. Now when you get a scrape the guard will show it and it will look just as bad. Or am I missing something?
A:
I don't quite understand these. You don't want the clam to get scratched up, so you drill holes in it to put a guard on. But then you paint the guard. Now when you get a scrape the guard will show it and it will look just as bad. Or am I missing something?
yes, visually you'll still have to deal with scratched paint and the extra piece stuck onto the bottom of the clam, but at least you won't have a hole in the clam which is what seems to happen with the slightest of scrapes.
A:
I don't quite understand these. You don't want the clam to get scratched up, so you drill holes in it to put a guard on. But then you paint the guard. Now when you get a scrape the guard will show it and it will look just as bad. Or am I missing something?
Because it can potentially be more than just cosmetic. My scrape took a chunk out of the fiberglass, and the quote was $1300 to repair. Admittedly that probably was a gold-plated estimate, but even Randy who got a much better quote paid $350 approx. if I recall correctly.
I fixed it myself but it cost me $175 in materials, not to mention 10+hours of amateur labor (mine.) And then I scuffed it again 5 days later. Just paint though, no fiberglass damage.
So it is better to let this replaceable part take the beating instead of the clam in my view. I wish I had these on the car from the day I picked it up...
If you are only concerned about chipping, you have a point. But I think it is fairly easy to scrape the clam hard. I didn't see the pothole that caused the front end to dip and scrape it, and I wasn't going very fast (just rolled away from a full stop.)
DLY
A:
But then you paint the guard. Now when you get a scrape the guard will show it and it will look just as bad. Or am I missing something?
The paint goes on the inside surface of the protectors.
A:
Over 12,000 miles and no scrapes up there! Years of driving lowered BMWs must have trained me to be on the alert for possible trouble spots. Speed bump looks kinda high? Drive a different way. Not sure about a driveway? Don't do it without a spotter.
A:
yes, visually you'll still have to deal with scratched paint and the extra piece stuck onto the bottom of the clam, but at least you won't have a hole in the clam which is what seems to happen with the slightest of scrapes.
I'd hate anyone to try this theory, but IMO, ok...if you go up a steep driveway, you will scuff the scuff guard. But a really bad hit or hitting a concrete parking thing or anything else will result in a cracked clam anyway, no?
A:
I've got another sports car, for 6-7 years it's been lower then the Elise with more overhang. Haven't caught the front end yet. Have seen a few Elise (doma being one) have minor contact and put a hole in the bottom of the clam. These scuff guards would protect me from any light contact I'd make at some point or other. I consider it cheap insurance.
A:
I'd hate anyone to try this theory, but IMO, ok...if you go up a steep driveway, you will scuff the scuff guard. But a really bad hit or hitting a concrete parking thing or anything else will result in a cracked clam anyway, no?
the scuff guard isn't designed to stop the clam from cracking in a "really bad hit." Aren't these only considered "scuff guards?"
A:
the scuff guard isn't designed to stop the clam from cracking in a "really bad hit." Aren't these only considered "scuff guards?"
I'm just thinking of a scenario (e.g. Doma hitting the pothole causing a hole in the clam) where the scuff guard doesn't break away as the regular fiberglass would and instead, distributes the load over a large enough surface such that instead of a repairable hole, you have a cracked clam. While the cracked clam is still repairable, I'd rather repair a hole than a big ass crack...not to be confused with a big ass crack
Anyway, none of this replaces good driving techniques and alertedness. All the brain dead people at my former client used to pull into a parking area until the front tires hit the curb. WHY!?!?! RETARDS! And when they backed in, they backed in until the rear tires hit to curb. WHY!?!?!?! As for parking the Elise, it's sooooo small that you don't have to pull in all the way and in fact, you shouldn't since a car might try to swing in real fast only to see last minute that a car is there.
Another mindless driver story...I was replacing the winshield of my M3 with the help of a few friends. One friend parked his car in the driveway of the adjacent house since we own that too. My other friend in a Phoenix Yellow (sooo easy to see) M3 parked in front of my driveway on the street. We just finished the job and were hanging out admiring the job when my neighbor of 30+ years backs his car out of a driveway from across the street. As most braindead drivers do, he swung wide (meaning that the path to pull in the driveway wasn't the same as the path coming out and that he was headed towards the parked car lane) and continued to go and go and go. My friend just watched and all of a sudden, you hear crunch! It would have been too late if he had started screaming and running out to stop him. He backed right into the car. He got out and said, "Oops." Well, the paint on my friend's M3 was cracked. He said, "Well, gee...I'm sorry...I'm not used to a car being parked there." WTF?!?!?! So people who normally don't stand in the street and aren't usually in that space...if they were to stand there, you'd just maul them over like Britney Spears' publicist??? Since he was a friend, we said we'd settle this without insurance... So we were just saying how most good shops will charge between $300 - $400 to paint a front bumper. He started flipping out. He said, "WHAT?!?! Three hun-ed dollars?!?! Gee Whiz...I said I was sorry....Three hun-ed dollars!!! That's impossible!" Back and forth we went and then I said, "Well, you didn't have to hit his car!" Since my friend's bumper was pretty trashed from rock chips and he was planning on having it repainted anyway, he said $150 would be fine. Could you imagine if my neighbor backed into the Elise?