Roof panel

[Hal Adams]

Before I post on the A3 forum, might anyone here be au fait with the A3 body panels. especially the roof panel - is it difficult to replace?

My car has been peppered by hailstones during a rogue thunderstorm, and AXA are now saying they might write it off due the difficulty (hence cost) of replacing the panels. This is fine on the face of it, but a quick look around and it is still not going to be cheap to find a car of the same spec, let alone move onto an FL or TTRS! I am therefore wondering if I should buy my car back and take the risk of the repair myself...

 

[monopole]

This chap may be full of good advice

https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threa...nroof-retrofit-s3-facelift-conversion.364843/

 

[Hal Adams]

Thanks for the intro! We have had a message thread on this, but his experience is with a car with a pano roof. Mine does not have one. The assessor was saying something about the possibility of the repair looking as if it had a twist in the roof.
Anyway, I got to thinking and if all this goes ahead and I have to buy the car back, I coulkd fill the dimples (they are ever so slight) with a soft filler mix and wrap the roof in a matt black - shouldn/t be too expensive...

 

[D0C]

Thanks for the intro! We have had a message thread on this, but his experience is with a car with a pano roof. Mine does not have one. The assessor was saying something about the possibility of the repair looking as if it had a twist in the roof.
Anyway, I got to thinking and if all this goes ahead and I have to buy the car back, I coulkd fill the dimples (they are ever so slight) with a soft filler mix and wrap the roof in a matt black - shouldn/t be too expensive...

If they are just small dimples, surely a professional could get these out? I've seen plenty of people with quite hefty dents and dings in their cars get them removed for minimal cost.

 

[Gnasher]

If they write it off, as you say buy it back, strip the roof lining etc out yourself (that's where a decent chunk of the costs would be - labour) and see if you can get a good PDR guy in to get the dents out.

Always worth a try anyway.

 

[Phil3]

I’ve no knowledge or experience with anything like this, but I think you’d be right buying it back and sorting it... the filler and wrap would be the easiest option and a black roof would look great on the car anyway