Paintwork Reconditioning for Export
Where a car would arrive the better for it, we can have its paintwork reconditioned before it leaves the UK. Stone chips, scratches and scuffs can be put right, and the paint machine polished, while the car is with us, rather than left for you to sort out after it lands. It is an optional extra on a car we source or buy for you, or one we collect and hold before it sails, and it is quoted separately from the shipping price.
What You Get
- Options we can arrange and quote: stone chips touched in, light scratches and scuffs put right, and a machine polish where the paint has gone dull or carries fine swirl marks
- What the paintwork needs, and what it would cost, set out before you decide
- Marks shown in an auction condition report, or in the photos and video from our viewing of a car we buy for you, priced at the same time if you ask
- The work done while the car is with us in the UK, before it is handed over for loading
- Quoted separately from the shipping price, and added to your quotation only if you want it
How It Works
- 1
Ask for it
Ask when you get your shipping quote, or once you have seen the auction condition report or the photos and video from our viewing. Tell us which marks you want dealt with, or ask us what the paintwork needs.
- 2
We quote it
Once we have seen the car, or its condition report and photos, we tell you what we can arrange and what it costs. It goes on your quotation separately from the shipping price, and nothing is done until you agree.
- 3
Done before it sails
The work is done while the car is with us in the UK, before it is handed to the port or carrier for loading. We confirm the timing in your quotation.
Paintwork Before Export: What to Know
What reconditioning can cover, why it is worth doing before the car ships, and what it does not change. Exactly what can be done depends on the car and its paint, so we confirm it in your quotation.
What Reconditioning Can Cover
Paint picks up small marks in everyday use. The options we can arrange and quote include:
- Stone chips, which gather on the bonnet, the front bumper and the leading edges of a car, cleaned up and touched in
- Light scratches and scuffs, such as marks on bumper corners or around door handles
- A machine polish, to take out fine swirl marks and bring back the shine on paint that has gone dull
A deep scratch, a dent or a panel that needs repainting is more than reconditioning. Tell us about it, and we will tell you whether we can arrange the repair and what it would cost.
Why Do It Before the Car Ships
The car is already with us. Having the work done in the UK means it is finished before the car is loaded, instead of you finding someone at the other end and arranging it from a distance once the car has been cleared and released.
If the car is being sold on when it arrives, it is ready to show to a buyer. If it is for you, the work is done before you see it, not added to your list of jobs after it lands.
A chip that has gone through to bare metal can start to rust if it is left, so it is better dealt with early.
What It Does Not Change
Reconditioning improves how a car looks. It does not change its history: a car recorded as an insurance write-off stays recorded as one. When we buy a car for you, the history check and the viewing come before any paintwork, so you know what you are buying first.
Paintwork reconditioning is not part of the shipping price, and we publish no figure for it because it depends on the car and what it needs. We quote it separately once we know both.
Our Other Export Services
Ready to Get Started?
Tell us the vehicle and the destination — we'll confirm the price, the paperwork and the next available sailing.