Whereas I was quite envious of the more subtle, less in-your-face, body colours of your older cars. That said, do like the green of TeaBag's car...

Uncle A knows Tony the brush, he sprays the cars for Caterham.
Do you want his number?

another time maybe... was pleased with how helpful the chaps at Caterham were, so having committed I will be stay with what's in place... but thanks Hatter!

Welcome BigCol

Big COL,

Sorry to hear about the cost of the wing mte. Quick question for you , if a lease car is involved in a minor scratch damage do you have to give the car back to the lease company to repair or can you go private for the repair. any advice would be greatly appreciated.. cheers, frank.

frank
C'est la vie (or as the French say "that's life"!) Frank...

Assuming Contract Hire, the important thing is that the vehicle is returned to the leasing company at the end of the contract in an appropriate condition for age and mileage (ie not showroom condition, minor stone chips etc OK but not broken glass, stoved-in panels, split rear wings etc). Otherwise they will levy dehire damage charges. What happens before then is of no concern to them. So get it fixed properly but cheaply! No need to involve the leasing company.

If it's on Finance Lease (usually vans, rarely cars), you will have to dispose of the vehicle and settle the final payment (aka 'balloon"). The condition of the vehicle will affect its value, so if damaged you'll get less and so possibly have to find more to settle the balloon. Whether that's better than paying for the repair and then getting more at disposal is your shout.

Thankyou Big COL, thats a big help.