Hello. I was pulling up in front of a car yesterday and didn't realize that the driver had parked with their wheel completely turned to the left so her front tire was sticking out quite a bit... and I ended up rubbing my right side on her wheel. Luckily, nothing happened to their car (not even a scratch) but my car got some minor damage. There were some dents which I poped out with a "ding king" I had laying around, but some of it didn't come out. Anyways, my main concern is the paint. Some of it got scraped off, and some is flaky. What would you guys suggest I do about getting it fixed. Are there any kits which would fix it nicely, or would I be stuck with taking it to a body shop? I am currently unemployed so I want to keep this a reasonable cost. How much do you guys think a shop would charge to fix it up? Also, does anyone know the technical name of my paint color? color code? Thanks
Okay, I'm a little obsessive, but if that were my car? I'd have a hard time defining that as a "mini accident". That damage looks pretty substantial to me. What standard of repair are you looking for? Maybe some people might have some cheaper options, but I can tell you what I suspect you already know, and that is that a bodyshop and professional paint, would be pretty expensive. Good Luck that's painful to look at....
Thanks for the reply. Well, The pictures do make it look worse than it acutally looks in real life. Look that the first picture and as it represents more what it looks like in real life. Anyone with experince have any idea how much it would cost at the body shop? I know it differs from place to place, but I want to be prepared so I won't get ripped off by the first shop I take it to. A mechanic friend of mine said I should be able to get it done for 120 at a body shop he knows.
If you take the time to get estimates from 3 different shops recommended by your local friends then chances are you won't be ripped off. 120 sounds a bit too low though. Good luck!
If this can be repaired, repainted and buffed out for about 120, I'd like to take a look at that body shop's other work. You've got damage right on a body line on both doors. Some decent tin-knocking skills will be needed to get this to look right at all-can't just plaster it over with filler and paint it. I've not done body work in years, but you've got to have at least 3 hours in labor plus paint (not cheap), filler and the consumables (sandpaper, masking tape/paper, prepsol/degreaser, tack cloths etc). Even a pro body guy working out of his own garage "on the side" should need to charge 2X that. Any pro body guys out there; please jump in. But, if they can do what is, to you, a satisfactory job of it at that price, I'd say go for it.
That repair should be left to a body shop. I would estimate $1000-1500. There's painting of several panels to get the paint to blend to match and there's sheet metal work there too! The door panel crease damage looks pretty substantial to me.
I'm no body shop guy or anything, but I agree with both Danvee and Azipod - $120 sounds way too low for a real body job, and since the sheet metal is damaged/disfigured, there is some reshaping required. $120 will probably only cover the materials excluding labour - and labour will make up the bulk of the bill. As suggested, if you want the lowest price possible, then you should expect a less-than perfect result. I can appreciate your budget is tight being unemployed, so perhaps this might the kind of repair you can hold off for for a couple months until you are in a better financial position to repair it properly? But the one aspect I still find very strange - this was actually damage from an outturned tire? Doesn't a tire only extend about 4-6" (depending on wheelsize, body, etc.) outside the "footprint" of the car? Were you really passing that closely to a parked car...?
I had a similar damage before. Quoted 3 shops and the best was $900. They took out two door panels and did great job. I paid cash. No insurance. Just for your reference. Good luck!
I was quite close the the car, but thats normal for that street as it is very narrow. It was a mini cooper and the front tire is pretty close to the front of the car so if you look at the angle between the front of the car and the furthest part of the tire, its pretty big, big enough to mess up your perception of clearance if you didn't notice the tire was turned out. Also, I have taken these photos from pretty close, the actual paint damage part is only about the size of 2-3 quarters and the pictures make it look quite a lot worse than it is in real life. If the paint didn't come off, the damage would be pretty unnoticeable. Hopefully, I will pop out the rest of the dents with my ding king this weekend and then take it to the shop to get some estimates.
Hello. Its been a while since I updated this thread. I didn't end up getting it fixed as the estimates were way past my budget currently. However, I was looking through the course catalog for the local community college and they offer a dent repair class once a week on Friday nights. So I thought perfect. The semester just started so we have had 3 classes so far and luckily for me, the instructor (30 yrs experience in auto body, and a perfectionist) chose my car to demonstrate how to fix a dent for the class. He pretty much fixed my front door and has done a lot of the back door. I will end up finishing the back door myself. The college just upgraded their shop to a state of the art facility so we get to use the latest and greatest. Once I fix the dents, I will paint it myself. Anyway, I have 3 photos so far and will post more as progress is made. It isn't just about saving the $1500-$2000 in cost, it is also a very good learning experience.
Wow, you lucked out! You'll probably need to buff the paint out pretty good to match the surface texture of the rest of the bodywork, but you hit paydirt at your local CC!
