Car bodywork

MOTRIO garages carry out the full range of car body repair services on all makes and models. The service includes car scratch repair, car paint repair with manufacturer-equivalent paint and colour match, paintless dent removal (PDR) for shallow dents, panel beating and panel straightening, component replacement, plastic bumper repair, alloy wheel repair (kerbed alloys, straightening, refurbishment), anti-corrosion treatment and full damage assessment with personalised advice on the best technique to use. Car bodywork prices are confirmed by upfront quote before every job, with insurance documentation support where required. The service is available by appointment at MOTRIO garages across the UK, with a 1-year warranty on parts and labour.

Book your car body repair, scratch fix, dent removal or alloy wheel refurbishment directly at your nearest MOTRIO garage. The MOTRIO network covers the whole of the UK, ready to work on any vehicle at the right price, with a 1-year warranty on parts and labour.

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In addition to car bodywork repair, MOTRIO garages offer a full range of services for your vehicle. From regular maintenance to the braking system, from tyres to the battery:

• Tyres → damaged alloys can affect tyre seal and tyre wear

• MOT → sharp bodywork edges and severe corrosion cause MOT failure

• Wiper blades & visibility → windscreen repair and replacement

• Vehicle maintenance → full check-up and service

We recommend regularly checking your bodywork: leaving damage unrepaired can lead to serious consequences over time:

• Reduced passenger safety: a damaged panel may not absorb impact correctly in a collision; airbags and crumple zones are designed to work with intact bodywork.

• A potential MOT failure, depending on the severity of the damage. Sharp edges, missing parts, severe corrosion or compromised structural panels are MOT fail items.

• Chassis deterioration and corrosion: once paint is broken, water penetrates the metal underneath; the first sign is a small bubble, then full rust-through within 12–24 months.

• Higher repair costs later: a £80 scratch repair today is a £500+ panel repaint after 18 months of corrosion.

• Reduced resale value: neglected bodywork can knock several hundred pounds off your part-exchange value or private-sale price — visible defects scare buyers.

The three primary repair techniques used at a MOTRIO garage depending on the type of damage:

• Paintless Dent Removal (PDR): for shallow dents (door dings, hail damage, supermarket trolleys) where the paint surface is intact — fastest and cheapest option.

• Component replacement: when the damaged part is too compromised to repair — typical for bumpers, wings and doors after a sharp impact.

• Panel straightening: for larger dents where PDR isn't possible but the panel can be saved without full replacement — followed by filler, primer and paint.

The repair technique for a car scratch depends on how deep it is. A simple fingernail test tells you most of what you need to know — run your fingernail across the scratch:

• Clear coat scratch (fingernail glides over): only the top transparent layer is damaged. Often repaired by polishing — a 30-minute job.

• Paint scratch (fingernail catches slightly): the colour layer is affected. Requires touch-up paint matched to your car's exact colour code, often with wet-sanding and polishing.

• Primer scratch (white or grey visible): the paint is gone and the primer is exposed. Needs repainting of the affected area to prevent rust.

• Deep scratch (bare metal visible): requires anti-corrosion treatment, primer, paint and clear coat. The longer you wait, the worse it gets — rust starts within days on exposed steel.

For scratches over 10 cm long, deep gouges or multiple scratches in the same panel, a partial panel respray at a MOTRIO garage will give a much better finish than DIY touch-up — and stay invisible thanks to colour blending into the adjacent panels.

In most cases, yes. A kerbed alloy (the typical scrape from parallel-parking against a kerb) is one of the most common bodywork issues in the UK — and one of the most rewarding to repair, because the result looks like new and costs a fraction of buying a new wheel.

Repairable damage:

• Kerb rash and surface scratches on the rim edge.

• Minor scuffs on the spokes or face.

• Light buckling (the wheel can be straightened).

• Paint or lacquer peeling.

Not repairable (replacement only):

• Cracks that compromise the structural integrity of the wheel.

• Severe buckling that affects tyre seal.

• Forged or diamond-cut wheels with deep impact damage (some can be refurbished, others cannot).

A typical alloy wheel repair at a MOTRIO garage involves sanding back the damaged area, filling deep marks, priming, repainting (or powder coating for full refurbishment) and a final lacquer. The job takes a few hours per wheel and includes wheel balancing after refit. Driving on a kerbed alloy isn't dangerous in itself, but a buckled wheel causes vibration, uneven tyre wear and can damage suspension bushes — so get it inspected if you notice steering wheel vibration after a kerb hit.

Paintless dent removal (PDR) is a specialist repair technique that removes shallow dents from the panel without sanding, filler or paint. The technician uses precision rods and tools, working from behind the panel, to massage the metal back into its original shape — preserving the original factory paint completely.

PDR is ideal for:

• Door dings from car park trolleys or other car doors.

• Hail damage (multiple shallow dents from a hailstorm).

• Minor parking knocks.

• Light creases on bonnet, doors, wings or roof.

PDR is not suitable when:

• The paint surface is broken or cracked.

• The dent has a sharp crease (the metal has stretched).

• Damage is on a panel edge or near a body line.

• Dents are too deep or the metal is already worked.

Advantages: PDR is faster, cheaper and preserves the original paint — important for resale value, because cars with original paint are worth more than respray cars. A typical PDR repair at a MOTRIO garage takes 1–3 hours per dent and can save several hundred pounds compared to a panel repaint.