# Beware - Aluminium Repairs



## T7 KRD (Oct 2, 2006)

Just under two weeks ago, I had the misfortune of an accident. Before I go any further into detail, the incident was caused through my fault.

I shall not bore you with the detail of how the accident occured, but concentrate on the consequences. However, for the record my beautiful TT took an instant dislike to a Peugot 206.

The damage on first inspection always looks worse than it actually is, but nevertheless it was a reasonable impact. Given the 206 glanced the front nearside of my car, the initial damage looked as follows. Front nearside wing, bonnet, headlamp / fog lamp, plastic trim around fog lamp, grill. There was also a slight ripple in the front offside wing which gives a small clue to the overall problem.

The incident took place on a Thursday evening and by Friday mid morning the following day I was driving away in a courtesy car. Please do not enquire what make and model. Needless to say I felt I was impersonating 'Mr Bean'.

The garage in question Stratford Car Bodies (approved by Stratford Audi), were an incredibly friendly and helpful bunch. They estimated that the car would be with them for around 7 to 10 working days. Fine, or at least I thought so until I got a call from a Norwich Union engineer who soon put matters in perspective.

After an intial brief conversation, it appeared that my precious TT was out of line by 3mm and required a little more than cosmetic surgery. Whilst the garage in Stratford had such items as jigs etc, they could not carry out the work.

At this point I found out about sealed booths and the need for my car to be repaired in one. What the hell was a sealed booth? I have since found out and the fact that only five garages around the UK have them that are approved by Audi. The first port of call by the engineer was Wayside Audi in Milton Keynes and they could'nt commence work until early August. Thankfully, a garage in Cannock (Staffs), namely Shorade have since started the work. It appears a number of prestige car are made in Aluminium, Porsche, Jaguar, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Audi and end up at these type of garages

On a final point, if the car had not been repaired at one of these garages, I am reliably informed that the Audi warranty would be deemed void.

Ill keep you posted.

Regards

Keith


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## AudiYaLikeIt (Dec 20, 2002)

Interesting, hope you get it pack as good as new soon; given that info, I'm amazed that insurance premiums aren't a lot higher than they are.


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## cheechy (Nov 8, 2006)

We'll obviously find out when people start crashing them more! :lol:


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## loic (Nov 14, 2006)

T7 KRD said:


> Just under two weeks ago, I had the misfortune of an accident. Before I go any further into detail, the incident was caused through my fault.


I know exactly how you feel [smiley=bigcry.gif]

I managed to bend and hole the n/s chassis leg in a very embarrassing incident with a steel girder in a multi-storey car park!!

Considering the imapct speed, I was amazed at the amount of damage caused to the car.










*Close up of hole in chassis leg....*










My insurance company sent my car to one of their approved bodyshops, who assured me that they were more than capable of complex aluminium repairs. Upon further inspection, they contacted the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre at Thatcham, who advised them that the repair should be carried out at a specialist repairer - either Bristol Audi or Wayside Audi. The car is currently enroute to Bristol and I should know in the next day or two how long it will be before it's repaired.

Obviously, I'll be checking out the post-repair warranty situation and may even pay for an independent inspection before I part up with my excess and take the car away.

If what you say is right, I could well be in for a long wait.... [smiley=bigcry.gif]


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## BMW330Ci (Apr 7, 2006)

Thats a nasty scratch you've got there.

Does anyone get that sinking feeling that insurance companies might start upping our premiums due to the complex repairs required ?


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## T7 KRD (Oct 2, 2006)

Hi loic

The damage to your car is more or less identical to mine.

For the record, if you have any problems with the garage in Bristol, speak to the following,

Nicky Shore
Shorade Accident Repair Centre
Walsall Road
Cannock
Staffs
WS11 0HP

Tel - 01543 462200

She has and the rest of the guys there have been top drawer!

I sincerely hope all goes well for you.

Keith


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## loic (Nov 14, 2006)

Thanks Keith,

Likewise, I hope all goes well with your repair.

FYI, I found an intertesting article whilst trawling the net for info on aluminium repairs.....

All the relevant information is on page 3.

http://www.thatcham.org/research/pdfs/newsletters/insurer_autoView_september.pdf

It seems that there are currently only 10 centres in England that can carry out structural repairs.


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## Necroscope (Apr 9, 2006)

While we all hope we never need to know this stuff, its absolutely invaluable.

Thanks for all the important and relevant information.


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## T7 KRD (Oct 2, 2006)

Thanks loic

Appreciate that

Keith


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## Godzilla (Feb 20, 2007)

The worrying thing is that these 5 or 10 repair shops do not all have a "jig" each. They hire one and if its at another repair shop - guess what. No repairs till the others have finished with it


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## faulky (Dec 5, 2005)

Might be a blessing in disguise that you,ve got your car away from Stratford Car Bodies though Keith when i had my Mk1 from Stratford Audi i wasnt very impressed by a large scratch on the spoiler .Three times they had a go at a very small job for any body shop but finally got it somewhere near although there were very bad swirl marks and oh yes they even used my cigarette lighter for that well earned ***!! :? .
When i complained to Stratford Audi i was told they were going to use a different body shop as they were not up to standard... obviously not!!!.
There isnt a proffesional body shop in Stratford to my Knowledge iv,e done the rounds on that one so you may have had a result !! :wink:


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## T7 KRD (Oct 2, 2006)

Godzilla

The sealed booth at Shorade is very much fixed and all the tooling in it. My understanding is that it has to remain that way in their case.

Keith


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## T7 KRD (Oct 2, 2006)

Godzilla

The sealed booth at Shorade is very much fixed and all the tooling in it. My understanding is that it has to remain that way in their case.

Keith


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## Godzilla (Feb 20, 2007)

What exactly is a "sealed booth" with regards to your repair?


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## T7 KRD (Oct 2, 2006)

Hi Faulky

It was Christian at Stratford Audi who put me in touch, even though they have their own body shop in Coventry (quietly told to keep away!).

Anyway, given the circumstances, the garage over at Cannock look first class, albeit time will be judge of that I guess. Fingers crossed.

Did you enjoy Donnington? I felt an appearance in a Ford Fiesta was'nt a good idea and did nothing for my street cred!

Keith


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## T7 KRD (Oct 2, 2006)

Godzilla,

I have called Shorade in Cannock and they are going to get Steve Shore who runs the business to give me a call tomorrow. He is actually in Germany as we speak with Audi.

I am told that Shorade spend in excess of Â£100k per year on training their engineers at places like Audi, Porsche and Merc in order to keep abreast of the techniques used to repair vehicles using Aluminium and learn about new car models.

Once I spoken to Steve at Shorade I will hopefully post you your answer as to why the cars have to go into sealed booths. Bear with me, this is all new to me as well!

Regards

Keith


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## loic (Nov 14, 2006)

Godzilla said:


> What exactly is a "sealed booth" with regards to your repair?


It may (and this is only a guess) have something to do with the use of 'structural adhesive' in the construction of the car??


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## Godzilla (Feb 20, 2007)

Thanks Kieth,

Will be interesting to hear what he has to say.

Thanks


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## loic (Nov 14, 2006)

Godzilla said:


> What exactly is a "sealed booth" with regards to your repair?


Just got off the phone from a friend who's an insurance assessor and the reason for the sealed booth is environmental. As aluminium and steel do not mix too well (_electrolytic corrosion_***), all aluminium repairs are carried out in a sealed booth to prevent cross-contamination between the steel dust and aluminium dust. Seperate tools are also used for the aluminium repairs.

_**The Science Bit: *Aluminium has an EMF of +1.66 volts and stainless steel an EMF of -0.34 volts. When these two metals are in contact in the presence of a fluid (rain water etc) electrolytic corrosion takes place resulting in the erosion of the anode (the positively charged metal in which in this case is aluminium). The greater the difference between the difference in the EMF's of the two metals the greater the level of corrosion._


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