Over the years, we have repaired hundreds of Bentley and Rolls-Royce trim pieces, for dealers with vehicles still under warranty.
One day in October, we received three damaged trim pieces from three different dealerships from across the country.
The first piece that arrived in our shop was from a Rolls-Royce Phantom (shown below) which was damaged and “fixed” by someone at the dealership. The decision to “fix” the damage at the dealership was a bad choice. A mechanic glued the broken part back in place. What kind of glue was used? Was the piece properly aligned, and clamped? These are things that can’t be reversed, and even if the part was glued properly, the finish will still need to be addressed. The best thing to do is to let us make the repair. You only trust your engine with a skilled engine expert, and only trust your wood with wood experts.
The second damaged piece of trim to arrive on our doorstep was a door-cap to a new Rolls-Royce Ghost. This door-cap had damage on both ends, but thankfully nobody tried to repair this part before sending it to us. The real challenge with this part wasn’t the repair but removing the chrome trim. The chrome wasn’t attached to the door-cap with screws or fasteners, but rather glued in place. This being the first time we’ve worked on this style of door-cap, we’ve never removed the chrome piece before, so we talked with the dealership and they didn’t know how to remove it ether. The dealer ordered a new chrome piece just in case it was damaged in our attempt to remove it, but we were successful and the replacement was not needed.
The third piece was from a brand new Bentley and dealership needed it back as soon as possible. We do not have a photo of the damage, but we do have a photo of the repair before it was finished.
These three parts were repaired in one day. Two of the parts shipped out the next day, and the last was shipped out the day after.
PERFECT - Rolls-Royce Dealer
We received the wood, and it looks fine! - Bentley Dealer #1
Once again you have outdone yourself! The piece looks great. – Bentley Dealer #2
Once again you have outdone yourself! The piece looks great. – Bentley Dealer #2
Over the years we’ve repaired many trim pieces, but receiving three pieces from three different dealerships on one day is a bit unusual for us. What are the odds that three parts are damaged in three different dealerships, and they all arrive on our doorstep on the same day? Maybe we won the wood workers lottery, but the real winners here are the three dealerships that came to us for their wood needs. The lesson of this story is that you should only trust your wood to wood experts. For more information regarding the value of repairing wood versus replacing it, read the Modern Lady article “Interchangeable Parts”.
rau-autowood.com
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Many thanks a whole lot for sharing! I will definitely be back.