Well, here's the latest. As I said before, the two estimates were for about $1000.

One was from a very reputable body shop that wanted to replace the fender. That meant blending the paint back into the door. Which meant removing the mirror, strakes, front splash guard, etc. Seemed like a bit much to me. The more they fool with, the more to go wrong.

The other was from the Mazda dealer where I get my '8 serviced. They proposed repairing the fender for about the same price. But that meant only dealing with the fender. A simpler process.

I was really uncertain about which way to go. I have not trusted dealers for most of my car owning life. But, I also didn't like the idea of involving the door, mirror, etc. if it wasn't really necessary.

After some reassuring words from the Service manager that I have trusted for a number of months now, I decided to go with the dealer. If it were a more complicated repair, I might have gone the other way. (I know, what else was the service manager going to say, right?)

Well, I just got a call tonight that she is ready. That's a day sooner than the estimate, and the total is $350 LESS than the estimate.

So, the proof in the pudding will be tomorrow when I pick her up and inspect the job!

I'll let you know.

Zoom, Zoom!

 

let us know

 

Wow, tough call on who to use! Do let us know how it turned out.

And when you're checking for color match, make sure you check it under DIFFERENT kinds of light: sunlight, daylight with clouds/no sun, and ESPECIALLY artificial light, like in a parking lot at night. (Sometimes the paint will match perfectly in the sun but look noticeably darker or lighter at other times. That's not acceptable, IMHO.)

 

Well, picked her up today. It was a nice, clear, sunny day, so I got to do a bright sunlight inspection on the affected area. And the verdict is....Looks Good! I've looked at it in shade and sunlight, and I don't see a problem. I've always heard that the VR paint is one of the hardest to match for the '8. The metal flakes often don't "lay" the same way in a repainted area and it can be very noticible. Well, maybe I just haven't seen it in the right light yet, but so far it looks really good. Other than the fact that I no longer have the Clear Bra protection on that part of the fender, I can't tell the difference from the factory fender.

I'll reserve final judgement until I examine it under multiple lighting conditions, and see if it holds up over time, but, so far so good!!!!

I didn't get any pix yet, but all you would see is a normal RX-8 fender. Since the human eye can see so many more subtleties than a camera can, I don't think pix would show you anything.

Zoom, Zoom!

 

 

i have to take mines in for a makeover, i want every single ding out, and the MTA hit me too so i gotta get the money from that also. those ****** want me to fix it first then send them the bill. not gonna happen.

 

awesome, glad it worked out well for you!