Seven o two the Car feature time for the car feature on seven o two afternoons and in our car feature for today, we are chatting about the costs of scratches and small dents on Dance rather and what they really really do cost and share your stories and experiences Audible one w A three oh seven o two in the WhatsApp line oh seven two seven oh two one seven o two. We're joined in this conversation by Tundo and Gibet, senior manager at Budget Insurance. Tundo, welcome to
the show. Thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you very much, and welcome hello to seven listens.
Yes, you can welcome them to as well. Right, it's our home together now.
I love that. I love that.
Okay, So let's talk about scratches and dents. And I never want to assume everybody can tell the difference. So from an insurance perspective of how are scratches and dents differentiated in that world?
Yes, so I think maybe if I just give you a sentence for each you know, a scratch would usually be defined as a thin or shallow, lengthy mark on the top coat of the vehicle's paint. So that's what we're called a scratch, and then you nobody have a dent, which is a hollow indent on the surface of the vehicle. So in a difference that the scratches usually really get into that paint layer, and then the dents usually actually get into the surface of the vehicle without necessarily damaging the paint.
I got you, I got you, okay, So why is it important to know these costs? I see many people who are ensured driving around with little dents and scratches on their vehicles. I'm probably one of them. Yeah, I'm one of them.
And then well, feel that the reason it's important to the two things. It's important to fix these scratches when they happen, and if you are in a position where you can afford to fix them, you want to do that. But otherwise, the specific covers that are available in the market that deal specifically with scratch and dents. And let me tell you why it's important. Cosmetic damage on a vehicle, which is what we're talking about, devalues the value of
the vehicle at the point of selling. So what happens is that the dealers that offer to buy your vehicle need to get that vehicle looking as close as possible to show room condition, and whatever money they have to spend after purchasing your vehicle to fix those scratches and dents, they will gut that from the offer that they make you, so it never to be you actually get less money for your vehicle if it has multiple scratches and dents.
Why do you think it is that people don't take you head over and repair some of these scratches and dents immediately if they do have access. And I will speak for myself to say, sometimes the scratch or the dent, if I look at it and say, this is probably going to be the same amount as my excess, or it's not that big of a deal. I'm just also not trying to put too many dents on my relationship with my insurer. What are the reasons that you've also heard people speak of.
I think, really you've actually you've touched on the most important one. I think most people when the scratch or the dent happens, or the chip, people tend to think, oh jeez, I've got an insurance policy which has got generally an excess that is quite a sizeable amount. And I don't want to ruin my relationship with my insurer.
Now that is very true as far as your comprehensive insurance cover goes, because that is there to protect you usually from the bigger incidence the accidents, the thefts, et cetera, where we have to replace parts and do big repairs. These products that we are speaking about, which I think some people might not know of, are specifically designed only to deal with these covers and don't affect what happens
with your comprehensive insurance policy. So it is understanding. It is understood when these products are made that customers are going to get a lot of tips and dents. Therefore, it does not impact whatever is going on your main policy, which would be your comprehensive vehicle insurance policy.
Okay, and I think many people do sadly find themselves in some of those situations. Is there a risk that dents and scratches outside of the windscreen and I'm not sure you'll have to clarify if you speak of scratches on a windscreen in the same way or you only refer to them as cracks, But is it possible that leaving them can actually make them worse?
Sure? So, when we dealing particularly with scratches, I think there there is an opportunity that when the paint gets damaged, it exposes that it'll the neat to moisture and to oxygen, and those are really the ingredients for rust. And if you're in the coastal areas, that problem is exacerbated because the salty air and the high humidity in those regions
can accelerate that rust. So, unlike in a windscreen where a chip can can become a crack, in this particular space, what we normally find is the risk of getting rust onto your vehicle, which is more expensive to fix later down the line.
I did not know that at all. Excuse me, I did not know at all that you that that scratch would expose it to start rusting quickly, just in terms of you know, you're saying that you want your car to be in its base condition. If a person has already the decided that I'm going to be keeping this car forever, they would probably have less incentive or interest to do that.
Yes, that is definitely the case. We normally see that with with consumers, But I think it's important to highlight their religilated that even though you might not want to spend a lot of money because you're going to keep the car for a long time. But not all of these damages actually require paint to fix. So we usually see that some of the small surface scratches that happen on the metal parts and plastic parts of a vehicle can actually be polished out. So there are other solutions
for people out there. So if you take it to a car wash or to a place that polishes vehicles, always ask them to have an attempt, and usually they're quite telling you what they can just polish out. And then in that way it's a much more cost effective way to still take care of your vehicle without spending too much money.
All right, we're going to take a break, Tundle. When we come back, we take all of your questions and calls O double one double through your seven oh two on the WhatsApp line oh seven two seven O two one seven two seven O two the car feature twelve minutes two three o'clock. We continue with our car feature on double one double A three oh seven O two and the WhatsApp line oh seven two seven O two
one seven O two. We are chatting about the real cost of scratches and dents with ton don't give a senior manager at Budget Insurance on oh double one double three oh seven oh two and the WhatsApp line oh seven two seven oh two one seven two, And now we open up the lines. We've got a voice.
Note, Lay, my car is scratched. The scratch is you know, a one rand coin. That's how big the scratch is. But it's okay. The surface level paint is off, but it's like a one rand coin. And the quotation to fix that was four thousand, seven hundred. Does that make sense? Why is it so expensive four thousand and seven hundred, Tao, No, I know, now, how must I not have it? How can I have a relationship with my insurer with the four thousand and seven hundred quotation for a fifty cent scratch?
No, my goodness, Sam, thank you so much. Sam Tunder Maybe chat to us about when vehicles go for assessments. I'm sure majority of the time customers are shocked at how expensive it is.
Yes, we're gonna you see it on a daily basis, And I think maybe this paint example is a good one to explain some of the reasons why it is so expensive. So let's say you drive a red vehicle when you come into my panel beating shop. I don't have that specific paint for your vehicle ready and waiting for you because these vehicles have got different paint coats.
That is how we identify the different colors. So usually if you've owned the car for let's say two, three, four years, depending on where you parked the vehicle in the sun damage, it also happens that even your original paint code is no longer accurate for your car because
it has experienced damage because of the sun. What that needs to happen is that the panel detail, which they usually would have a painting department, those guys would have to make multiple paints in order to get to the exact paint of your vehicle, and that is a very cost exercise. Paint work vehicle pods goes out every single year, and I think most customers who don't deal in that industry are only short just to why it is so expensive. But that's some of the realities that are out there.
I love that you mentioned the color matching because that is quite a big deal. Whereas for drivers you just assume how red is red, green is green, but it becomes very specific. But outside of for example, the color matching. What are some of the other things that you can share with us are a part of that process of repairing a scratch that, like you said, has gone beyond the paint level.
So I think again, it will just depend on what is going on with that particular vehicle. So another example is the panel Beetles will do their best to keep costs low by stalking the most common colors of paint so that they are ready to mix. But if, for example, you arise and they don't have a color for you, it is not as if because the scratch is a one grand coin they can from their supplier order the amount of paint you need to paint a one grand
coin area. They need to order the smallest bottle they can fight, which could be three hundred miles four hundred miles, in order to do the mixing process, and then they can only fix that little portion for you, and they might never be able to use that paint again. So beyond how expensive it is to just match, it's also expensive to buy small amounts of paint because you are not always certain that you'll be able to use that paint again, and that increases the costs.
Okay, and I think that makes sense in terms of after the let's say the filing down if I can use that term that U s Lave people would understand, and then doing the painting. There are other layers obviously that need to go on top of that.
Yes, So what we find with vehicles is that there's a lot of prep work that goes into painting. So as you were mentioning that the finding down process where they have to prepare the car for paint, and often they prepare that vehicle for painting. Only then can the painting start. And I think what's important to you to mention here. Chill is a concept that they usually referred to as blending, depending on where the dentists, for example, the dentists on your door close to another part like
a fender. Sometimes baby to paint across both areas in order to get that color matching looking the way it should be, because sometimes if you just paint one specific small spot, no matter how good you are trying to match that paint, it becomes very visible that some work was done on at one point, So you normally end up needing to paint a bigger area than just the scratch in order to measure. There's the lived in well.
Otherwise the customer is not going to be satisfied with the job if they can see what you've worked on. They want the car to look the way it looked before, which means you usually end up covering a way bigger area than just the damage to the vehicle.
We've got another voice.
Notehilaire, mine is not insurance related. But when I sold my previous vehicle, I took it into a repair shop to touch up the scratch, scratches and tents. When I traded in that car, I received tenfold back and what it cost me to repair that scratches and then so it was worthwhile for me to spend that money to repair the scratches and thence because I got it back
ten times on the that the dealer gives me. So I think it's a very good thing, and it makes your call look better and you feel much prouder of your car.
Seel pretoria harle will Yo cas crashes So my car was it by a hail? But then the damage is just on a bonnet, Yeah, on a bonnet. Luckily the san rufe is fine, so I.
Claim with my insurance and then the quotation comes back as twenty four thousand, twenty four thousand, just tosk to fix the bonnet. Then I went to these other guy's in partorial wast I said, guys, yes, my car, can you assays and give me a quotation? The quotation was six thousand, So why then Sara quotation was twenty four thousand?
Really all right, so Tonto maybe help us understand why it is that the preferred suppliers of insurance companies are sometimes more expensive than other people.
Sure, I definitely would love to explain that to you. So there are multiple factors that creates that condition. So one of them is that insurance companies would usually use panel beaters that have to meet certain criteria. So, for example, when you buy a vehicle from your manufacturer, your manufacturer will give licensing to certain panel beaters to have permission to work on that vehicle. And for panel beaters to attend that licensing, they have to buy very expensive equipment.
So if you look at their splay food area, it
is very expensive. Some of this equipment costs millions. So essentially the operating costs of a panel shop that intends to do work for an insurance company is much more expensive than if tundor opens up his own operation with the intention to only service you know, his own customers, because they're the requirement for me to have all the certification or the equipm for me to have a qualified spray painter, qualified panel better, I would not have that requirement,
but unfortunately the guys on the insurance panel have that requirement and as a result, it costs them more to run their businesses. Jency would normally find that when it comes to quotes, the air quotes can sometimes be higher than what you are able to find if you go in to search for your own supplier.
And that makes sense because obviously insurance companies want to retain the best services for their clients, so if a person wants to go out and fix it themselves, it is at their own risk. A Tondle, thank you so so much for chatting to us about this. And there's so many questions that were coming through on this and we'll revisit them in another car feature.