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MG ZR ZS ZT Technical - Afternoon out in Cambridge

Had a GREAT afternoon out in Cambridge yesterday...

Took my wife and kids to see The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen at the cinema. Got to the city at about 14:00 as we planned a quick meal in Burger King, and some christmas shopping, film was due to start at 16:00. Grafton parking was full and all other places near the cinema were full too, managed to find a parking place after some driving around for about 15 minutes. the place was about 10 minute walk from the cinema, but was free.

Had a great time, film was good apart from a group of kids that were extremely rde and noisy behind us. I quitened them with some threats, but they were still bloody annoying throughout the film. several people gave them a manner of threats.

Got back to car after a cold walk to find that both my rear and front badges had been swiped!!! plus the boot has a small scratch where they had slipped something under the badge.

so today i am off to the MG body shop to get all this sorted.

I know it could have been worse, and i really am thankful that is all that was done to the car. but now i have totally lost my confidence in leaving my car in Cambridge. i felt sick when i found my pride and joy in this state, looking all over the car expecting to find key scratches etc. anything could have happened!

do i chance leaving my MG ZS anywhere after dark again? I doubt very much i will be doing so in Cambridge!

:o(
Demon

I dont suppose the Park and Ride was running? Cambridge on a Sunday is no as busy as a Saturday and I dont know why they dont run it 7 days a week.

The toe rags want their hands chopping off!!
Kelvin

I tried the park and ride Saturday - ended up waiting extra 10 mins for the bus so walked to Car Park and beat the bus! I admit there were some roadworks that slowed the bus down - but still!!

I don't really like spending all that money keeping the car on the road just to pay out more for someone else to take me. i would use park & ride if my usage actually gave me discount on road tax or something. until then... :o/

Gonna cost me a fortune to get a 0.5 cm scratch that is down to the base coat sorted out - i can just imagine it. Bodyshop says new ZS badge too as it has to come off for an almost complete re-spray. gonna see what the quote says before making a decision on whether to get it done. there is a chunk taken out near where the edge of the where the badge sohuld be - not sure if the badge will overlap and cover it or not.

i might print a sign on the car window saying that if they call 07989 30**** i will buy the badges for them - or can they remove them more carefully if they have to steal them!

i feel so crappy - not looking forward to the estimate. i can just imagine driving round in my scarred MG ZS, cos it is not cost efficient enough to get it done.

i will keep ya all posted - incase you are interested.

:o(
Demon

Kelvin - chopping hands off seems to work well in some cultures - you don't get this kind of c**p in those parts of the world! :-)

Demon, know how you feel, mine got rammed on a roundabout, scratched paint sufficient to notice but insufficient to warrant blowing insurance premiums next year. Added to the door dent at 3 weeks old last year, I am slowing starting to live with it on the assumption no-ones going to notice a slightly scarred car, and they have made my car personal to me! But a pain nevertheless! What about trying a spot of touch up paint and polishing to at least diminish the damage?
Martin

I park by the botanical gardens, never had a problem down there P&D ticket or over the lights and it's free, then a short 10 min walk to town.
Mike (ex Sawstonite)
Mike

I'll be honest, parking in Cambridge security wise is usually pretty good, the Grafton being better than the Lion Yard. Sounds like you were unlucky, should cost too much to fix though if just a scratch, what colour is your car?? Bodyshops will always say complete respray of the affected area but good repairs using blending can be acheived if you find someone with the skill.

Gareth
Gareth Kidman

Going by the posts on this and the F BBS there seems to be a spate of badge stealing at the moment. Is this restricted to MG or is it more general?


Ralph
Ralph

Gareth - I was not parked in Grafton, I had to park down a street (asking for it i know - but then again was i?)

Bodyshop quoted £314 inc VAT (almost a complete re-spray). I have decided to leave the scratch and touch it up with some lacquer - i have metallic silver paint - so scaremare to match up. the scratch is only noticeable if you know it is there or you look very hard for it.

i bought a new front badge - £7, and the rear is on order. the gorgeous receptionist at Marshall MG is sorting the rear badge out.

i may look into getting some sensors in the car for when it is parked. i used to have a movement sensor in the shed that run on batteries (bloody good) - i could get 2 of them and have one on front dash and the other on parcel shelf - just placed there when parked up. it would detect anybody walking past, and go off - don't bother me. i would have an alarm that sensed people looking at my car if i could :o/

:o
Demon

>>>>>>>Gareth - I was not parked in Grafton, I had to park down a street (asking for it i know - but then again was i?)<<<<<<,

I know you wasn't, but if you had been, you might still have your badges ;-)

>>>>>>Bodyshop quoted £314 inc VAT (almost a complete re-spray). I have decided to leave the scratch and touch it up with some lacquer - i have metallic silver paint - so scaremare to match up. the scratch is only noticeable if you know it is there or you look very hard for it.
<<<<<<,

If you can, send me a jpeg of the scratch, could see if anything could be done without a respray? I'm a professional car valetor and i'm in Cambridge everyday. I also do minor spraywork and blending :-) Drop me a mail if your interested as this would be a cheaper option for you.

Gareth
Gareth Kidman

How much for full valet Gareth?
Kelvin

I have two full valet's, basic one at £30 and pukka one at £40 which includess shampoo. Engine clean optional. At Cambridge Business Park every Thursday :-))

Gareth
Gareth Kidman

I usually park in Newnham (Lamasland <sp?>) and walk into town along the river (nice on a sunny day, bleedin' horrible when it's p*ssing down!) :-)

I have two mates who's cars were stolen from the Grafton Centre car park (oddly, both Mk1 MR2s) and so i never park there. To be honest Cambridge is a p*xy place to try to visit in a car, the provision for vehicles is inadequate or unsafe and to get to them you have to dodge kamkaze cyclists.

Nice city, pain in the *rse to drive round - i keep my visits to a minimum... ;-)

SF
Scarlet Fever

DEMON.......DONT DO IT MATE- it will look crap and you will always regret it!
I had a similar problem with my wifes Mercedes, the scar was just 4mm wide and 2mm thick, i got the company "Chips away" to sort it out, £35 and you would never guess there had once been a problem....mind then i had to but the badge...£62! Ouch.
Cut their hands off i woul joyfully plug these louts into the national grid, tongue first!
Jon Boyden

I offer a similar service to ChipAway...

Gareth
Gareth Kidman

I will sort out getting a Digital pic of it - i only have DV camera - but it does take stills. i will do this at weekend.

i bought some Halfords scratch repair for 9.99 today - Platinum Silver. i am not sure if i trust myself to do it myself. the scratches are invisible unless caught in light. well one is a scratch 5mm long - eep down to base coat - the other is a round shape about 5mm in diameter where the top layer of paint has just chipped off. the round one will be the difficult one.

i was saying to my wife maybe i should consider printing fake MG badges - sticking on cardboard and covering in cling film. get some small double sided sticky pads and stick them on the car - easy to pull off. so if anyone wants to nick my badges again they will see they are just cardboard and extremely easy to take off. if you loose them - print some more ;op
Demon

Chips away is definately the answer to your problem...the halforde kit is not up to much...give Chips Away a call you will be totally impressed with the results.
Jon Boyden

Gareth

i have sent you a pic of the scratch on the back of my ZS.

thanks

Demon

How did the scratch repair go today??

Gareth
Gareth Kidman

Hi

Got the rapair done yesterday by Chips Away. everything went swimmingly - they done an excellent job. it took a couple of hours and cost me £135.13 inc VAT.

i cannot put the rear badge on until Saturday, so i am still driving around anonymously (well from the back any way as i have the front badge on).

i will post a link of before and after at some point for all to see.

Demon.
Demon

Glad you got it sorted in the end. I would have done it for a £100 though ;-) If you would like your car valeting or know of anyone at your work that would like regular car cleaning could you drop me a mail?

Gareth
Gareth Kidman

Gareth

i dis send you a piccy of the scratch but did not get areply :o(

otherwise i would have used your service.

can you send me complete details of your valeting service so i can pass them on to the office :o)]

Demon
Demon

Hiya, i wouldnt have been able to do the repair before the new year anyway's. I'm working for a temporary driver hire place, which is how i know you had your car repaired by a chap with a white van and infra-red heater ;-) I'll pass on my valeting details to you. If you could let your work colleagues know, i'll be in the area from next Monday. Thanks.

Gareth
Gareth Kidman

This thread was discussed between 17/11/2003 and 08/12/2003

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