Well this weekend my girlfriends sister decided to back into the side of my camaro and completly dent the crap out of the driver quarter panel. I have taken the car to several body shops and they all estimate the price for just that area. They say that the only thing needed to be painted is that area and that they will blend the surrounding area to match. But more than once these guys say that the painting may be noticeable. Also because I have a crack in the driver door they said they cant paint the door to blend it so it will be more visible I guess. Well I have a door that Ive had for a year now waiting to put it on the car to be painted because it is white. I want to know if this was you what would you do? I dont want to pay to have the whole car repainted but I dont want the area where I was hit to be noticable because I had a really nice factory paint job before it was destroyed by my girlfriends stupid sister. Her sister is suppose to pay for the repair without going through insurance. I just dont think I should have to settle for a less than perfect job because before I was hit everything matched perfectly. So please give me your opinions. Also will a aftermarket paint job be close to factory? Anybody know a really good body shop that does good work? Thanks for all your help.

 

first what could is your car, depending on this it maybe harder or easier to get a match

how much was a quote for a full blow over job compared to just the damaged area, maybe you and your gf's sis could come to an agreement so you can get a full paint job?

 

Yeah like maudy said, I would make her pay for the initial repairs of the car and then go like 50/50 with her on a full paint job if you care about it that much.

And what color is it? Certain colors are more expensive to paint. Black and white are the cheapest colors and red is the most expensive color, at least thats what like 3 paint shops told me.

 

It was estimated at around 1400 for the repair and paint that area. The color is mystic teal 79u. One place said 3500 for paint job and maaco has it at 2400

 

I would say go for the maaco paint job bc it is cheaper, but all maacos are different. There are two maacos by me. One I know does very good work for being a maaco, but the other maaco is a full 180 from the first. But like I said before, if you really love the car and you want it to be perfect, you would pay for quality. Like they always say, you pay for what you get.

 

For me personally, i would like to have it the way it was before it got wrecked. It would bother me putting out half of what the repaint would cost, but id do it anyway so i wouldn't have to look at that nasty reminder. Its your baby make it look right.

But like timmy said, if it means that much to you, pay it. I would.

 

Here is how this deal works... She cannot be held responsible for any thing other than the damage she caused. No court will allow you to sue for more than her part of the damage even tho you need to fix the door to make everything look right again. So... get at least 3 estimates, make her pay the middle one up front and within a reasonable time (2 weeks is what I would say) and then cut a deal with the body shop to see about cutting in the new door and painting it to match and it would have to be blended into the front fender. You could use the low estimate shop to offset the addition of the door.

Call insurance agents in your area for recomendations on body shops. Some are better than others and some that were good a few years ago may not be as good any more. Case in point. The shop I used to work at was #2 in the state while I was working there. Good management got them there but after the first owner retired and gave the shop to his son things went down hill pretty good. The shop owner's wife liked having the money the shop made when business was good, now that business is not so good, she still wanted the money and the shop suffered ALOT to the point that the shop almost went under. Trash pick up was even at a pay per pickup basis. Now that the owner has passed on, a new manager who does not own the shop is running the show and giving the wife an allowance, based on the profitability of the shop, and starting to turn things around. He so far has hired a few body men that take pride in their work and also produce quality work quickly, the paint shop has 2 painters now (we had 4 when I was there (3 journeymen and me cut in/primer), and now that the owner's wife is not draining the funds the shop is able to pay for the men that can put the work out and get the shop's good name back.

So check the local insurance agents for recommendations. Do as much of the work on the door that you can (if you have the shop cut the door in and then you hang it that should save you a few hundred) and have them fix the car. If she cant pony up the money then go through insurance, try to talk the body shop into putting in a suppliment for the door to offset the cost a little in your favor.

Massey

 

I found a better body shop that said they would match the paint perfectly and the dent would be completly repaired. So im gonna go with them and hope im not screwed anymore than I already am. One shop actually tried to tell me they needed to cut off the section and weld a new one on and it would be cheaper. The dealer estimate was actually lower than theirs by alot. Ill just put that other door on when I have enough money to paint the whole car. I didnt really want to make her pay alot for the repairs but if she hadnt have hit me I would have still had a uniform paint job. Thanks for all the replies. I decided against Maaco because I knew more about their techniques than the guy doing the estimate. Pretty sad when he has to go get a tech to answer a question on how they pull dents. He had no idea what a stud welder was.

 

Alot of the time it is faster and easier to just cut off the damage and weld on new. I have done it more times than I can count. The job requires less body filler, retains the factory strength and appearance. Post some pics and I will let you know how I would have made the repair.

Massey

 

Here are some pictures there are some creases along the wheel well that cant really be seen. The bumper is scraped and the metal is scraped becuase she backed up the entire length of her car into mine. So on her car it goes from her front fender to rear quarter panel. The dent beside the fuel cap is creased in alot of directions.