Last pic.

 

The shop that was suggesting to replace the panel is the one that's doing it the right way. Your quarter panel is going to get heated, pulled, hammered, and body filled smooth. Not quite what you used to have, is it? When done, it should look just fine, but I wouldn't opt for that procedure if it was my car.

 

Seriously? Ive gotten quotes from 13 different shops and this is the only one that said to do this. Even the dealer didnt suggest it. If it gets cut out and a new one put in will it look like it did before? Will it still have the same strength as it had from the factory? Will anyone be able to tell its been replaced? Thanks for letting me know. I thought they were just trying to make more money. The quote to replace the panel was 2500 while the one I was going to use said 1200 to pull the dents.

 

A lot of times if the dents are pulled and body filled afterward, it won't be noticeable to the naked eye if the job was done correctly. With my car, the body filler came out good from an accident that I just found out it was in and you can't see it, but if you knock on it, you can tell it's bondo.

And getting it cut and a new piece welded in will give you the same strength it had from the factory. The body shop should be able to weld it in the same spots that it was originally welded, giving it factory strength.

 

Then thats what I will do. If its going to be fixed I want it to be fixed right. It wont be noticeable will it that it has been cut out and welded in?

 

No it shouldn't be noticeable at all if it is done the right way. If either way is done right then it shouldn't be noticeable, but with a new welded in piece, it will give you factory strength to that section of the body.

 

Normally do you think the new piece would be more expensive than having the dent pulled and bondoed? Im thinking I might ask the shop I was going to have pull the dent to give me an estimate on replacing it instead. I really appreciate everyone letting me know about this because I thought the shop that said they were going to cut the piece off and weld another one on was crazy. I asked them if they knew it was not removable. I had never thought there was replacement panels (Like the quarter panel, not removable) for this car before.

 

Yeah, it is replaceable but it has to be cu and welded replaced lol and I do believe that getting it cut and welded in would be more expensive bc that takes a whole new skill in fabrication instead of just bondo and sanding. I mean you pay for what you get I guess.

 

With that damage it is a flip of a coin as to what would be easier to do. Repairing that damage near the bumper is easy to fix you can get to the back side of the dent. What I would worry about more than anything else is the stuff in the front of that. A nail gun would be hard pressed to get the rest of that panel straight. Maybe weld a pull tab and use a pogo stick to get a little more force on it.

Replacing the qtr is much easier but also alot of work. You do not lose any structural strength by replacing the entire panel. The amount of filler is minimal most of the welds will be in the factory locations.

Massey

 

I agree with massey. I had a similar accident, just on the other side. I ended up getting the quarter panel replaced. Accidents happen, its how they are fixed that matters...and "cheap work is not good, and good work is not cheap."

Any decent shop will be able to make the weld invisible. My car is black and I couldn't even see the weld when the shop showed me where they did it.