What would you do?

[WutApex]

So I've been all over the place looking for the right ST and with inventory dwindling it's getting more difficult to find what I'm looking for. I've had a couple get sold as I was negotiating, two that were perfect only to find out they had hail damage, and others that had a bunch of miles on them (>50mi).

With that said, I did come across my preferred color and was working the details with an out-of-state dealer. Well, there's a door ding on the car. The dealership stated they'd fix it but I chatted with my local Ford collision center as well as a couple other local shops - they believe the door will need to come off, get repaired and resprayed, and the other adjacent panels may need to get resprayed to blend it in.

So I'm looking at:
(a) Walk away and look for a Metallic (second color choice), since white is difficult to find in my area
(b) Have them fix it and run the risk of the blending not being perfect. I'm OCD with my cars and it'll drive me crazy if there's a slight shade difference. I thought Pearl colors are hard to get perfect? And now it's a new, repaired car which will likely bother me for the sake of bothering me.
(c) Suck it up and put some touch up paint on there; it'll be noticeable but only in a small area on the passenger side

I'm not getting the best of pricing on it (and it has a moonroof and A/S tires I don't want), but I think it's reasonable considering the latest rush on ppl buying out the last ones on the lots.

What do you guys (and gals) think?

 

[SteveS]

There are 3 white ones in Denver and 1 in Pueblo...

 

[koozy]

I'd choose (c) before considering (b). If the metal is not dinged there's a good chance it could be repaired with touch-up. The key is finding and making sure the touch-up matches. You can color sand and buff to match the area, but the color has to be spot on for it to blend in undetected. If the metal is dinged too, a paintless dent repair guy can fix it. He might be able to fix the whole thing including the touch up.

 

[LargeRubberFist]

It looks great but the white platinum does not respray/touch up well.

What I would do in your situation is expand my search area and find a good deal on the car I want without a moonroof/exterior damage and fly out to pick it up or get one in a different color and wrap it in green envy since that's the only color that looks better than the platinum white.

 

[FJ16]

Negotiate a discount and touch it up yourself.

 

[WutApex]

There are 3 white ones in Denver and 1 in Pueblo...

The one in Pueblo I test drove - it had a CEL (possibly from a low battery, I don't know), has over 60mi, has a manufacturer build date of 12/18 (why has it been on the lot that long?), had a bunch of dirty oil and dirt all over the filler cap and engine cover. They are also trying to charge $1K for their "special" dealer installed anti-theft device. It is the only one in any color that has the Recaros though.

As for the Denver ones - one just got sold (the one I wanted), one has hail damage (unknown severity), and the third has 176mi on it.

Taking into account the peeling white paint on my Excursion's hood and all the issues I've had with locating a white FiSt, maybe the universe is telling me to stay away from this color of vehicles...

 

[MKVIIST]

Personally it would bother me too much. But if you're okay with touching it up, you can always have someone install paint protection film over the entire door to protect against peeling afterwards.

 

[WutApex]

Negotiate a discount and touch it up yourself.

So what is a reasonable discount for something like this? $500? I have no clue.

 

[Ford ST]

I absolutely hate and I do mean hate white vehicles, so I would say the universe is telling you screw a white car and get something that's not as boring as a refrigerator.
So my answer is go with choice A.


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[FJ16]

So what is a reasonable discount for something like this? $500? I have no clue.

Good question - it doesn't look like there's any denting from the pic, so assuming it's only paint I would try for $500 to $1000 probably? Hard to say... but I'm not overly picky on touch-up spots myself, so I know I could live with it. If you can't, then that's probably not a road you wanna get lost on. Also depends on how much you wanna haggle with a salesman - I personally hate that shit.

 

[WutApex]

Has anyone with the white platinum had to touch up their paint? Did it come out alright?

The more I read on these tri-coat paints, it seems they are difficult to get color matched...

 

[skold]

The one in Pueblo I test drove - it had a CEL (possibly from a low battery, I don't know), has over 60mi, has a manufacturer build date of 12/18 (why has it been on the lot that long?), had a bunch of dirty oil and dirt all over the filler cap and engine cover. They are also trying to charge $1K for their "special" dealer installed anti-theft device. It is the only one in any color that has the Recaros though.

As for the Denver ones - one just got sold (the one I wanted), one has hail damage (unknown severity), and the third has 176mi on it.

Taking into account the peeling white paint on my Excursion's hood and all the issues I've had with locating a white FiSt, maybe the universe is telling me to stay away from this color of vehicles...

I bought that Denver one...please don't hate me. Got a GREAT deal too!

 

[Dj4Monie]

I bought that Denver one...please don't hate me. Got a GREAT deal too!

The cars Phil Long has left must all have some form of hail damage. I've been offered one of the black 2019 base models.

A local dealer contacted me and is willing to match it so we'll see.

 

[WutApex]

I bought that Denver one...please don't hate me. Got a GREAT deal too!

Ha, NP man. Have fun with it!

 

[scooter123]

The key question is how good are the body shops in your area. I live in the Metro Detroit area and we have body shops here that could repair that door with a 100% perfect match. Of course they aren't cheap because they are shops that do a lot of restoration paint jobs but spend the money and perfection is typical.

BTW I restored and repainted my motorcycle by myself and used Dupont Chromaclear in a gray metallic and the way that paint works is amazing to see. When you first lay the paint down it will look a bit spotchy in regards to the metallic flakes but when you watch it for about 2 minutes you can actually see those flakes shifting within the wet paint to produce a perfectly even distribution. While Dupont probably won't say how they managed that particular feat I suspect that the flakes are magnetized and that is why they spread out so evenly. Note, if it's not magnetism at work I do think I may start to believe that the Harry Potter series is actual History. Because to watch those flakes in the paint even out is like seeing Magic first hand. I will also Note that Chromaclear was NOT cheap.

 

[skold]

The cars Phil Long has left must all have some form of hail damage. I've been offered one of the black 2019 base models.

A local dealer contacted me and is willing to match it so we'll see.

I think you are right. The hail damage on at least some of them seems very minimal and can probably easily fixed via PDR. What kind of deal are they offering? PM me if you prefer.

 

[Ford ST]

Paintless dent repair can definitely fix hail damage. My Ford Focus got tore up by hail hood, roof and the trunk lid not one drop of paint was used. I would hope a dealership would actually fix that before they sell the car though. Most painless dent repair technicians in my area don't really work for anybody they travel.

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[WutApex]

they've offered to PDR it. PM'd the offer they gave to me.

I haven't checked yet - how does a previously hail damaged (no matter how minor) car play into getting any insurance payout if it gets hit with another hail storm? We've been absolutely blasted by hail the past couple of years here and would hate for them to deny or reduce the claim if it happened.

 

[skold]

Paintless dent repair can definitely fix hail damage. My Ford Focus got tore up by hail hood, roof and the trunk lid not one drop of paint was used. I would hope a dealership would actually fix that before they sell the car though. Most painless dent repair technicians in my area don't really work for anybody they travel.

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They'll fix it before they sell it but you can get that cost rolled into the discount and deal with it privately. Phil Longs purchased vehicles will have ZERO record of hail damage so it would never affect insurance, resell, carfax, or other per the salesperson. I think that is only if the damage is severe enough to require insurance claim and/or a certain level of repair. This damage seems to be negligible to the level of a ding that happens in transit that they can handle in house without being flagged in any way. I'd not hesitate to buy one of the Phil Long ones. In fact, I'm glad I didn't.

 

[fxsts]

The one in Pueblo I test drove - it had a CEL (possibly from a low battery, I don't know), has over 60mi, has a manufacturer build date of 12/18 (why has it been on the lot that long?), had a bunch of dirty oil and dirt all over the filler cap and engine cover. They are also trying to charge $1K for their "special" dealer installed anti-theft device. It is the only one in any color that has the Recaros though.

As for the Denver ones - one just got sold (the one I wanted), one has hail damage (unknown severity), and the third has 176mi on it.

Taking into account the peeling white paint on my Excursion's hood and all the issues I've had with locating a white FiSt, maybe the universe is telling me to stay away from this color of vehicles...

I would rather take the car with 176 miles on it over the one with the damaged door any day. I am not sure why you are making such a big deal out of cars having >50 miles especially when the inventory is scarce.