That’s a great post @Tester . An inexpensive method to de-dent a fender. Doesn’t make it good as new, but pretty good. Since it is such a simple procedure, I think that would be very helpful for students in a beginning auto shop to learn. Just curious, does it work w/ both metal and plastic?
It’s called heat shrinking.
You heat a material up. This causes the material to expand thru it’s thickness. Then when it’s suddenly chilled, the material can’t return to it’s original thickness fast enough which causes the material to get tighter on the surface which causes the dent to be removed.
Tester
plan C,
do nothing.
drive it like that.
My 79 has dents from each of my kids’ learning to drive. The fence, our other cars, the trash can etc. No need to race off to the body shop for each one. We’ll wait for the next repaint and do the whole job once.
^
Ken–With all due respect, you live in an area that is very dry, and that allows you more flexibility in terms of how soon you repair body damage.
If the OP lives in an area of the country that receives more precipitation than you do, and–especially–if he lives in an area where the roads are salted in the winter, doing nothing will begin an inevitable process of very rapid deterioration of the body of this new car.
Like you, what I might do in a situation like this would depend to some extent on the age of the car and whether or not it was likely to get more dents as a result of inexperienced drivers who use the car. However, delaying body repair on a new car is just not wise, IMHO, and if the OP lives in an area with a lot of precip and/or road salt, I believe that delaying expert body repair would be…very unwise.
Please check with your States requirement for reporting a motor vehicle accident. In Oregon it is the total of all damages for all vehicles involved exceeding $1,000. If there is even a very minor injury it must be reported. I hope you have drivers license number, vehicle license number and insurance information from the kid who hit you otherwise you will be paying for repairs from your pocket! When I called the idiot who rear ended me and informed them that the low estimate was $1,568 they started screaming that they had a “buddy” who could fix the little dent for $50. The “little dent” on the rear bumper cover looked minor. The interior energy absorbing bumper was completely destroyed and the uni-body was slightly tweaked plus paint. My vehicle had less than 7,000 miles on the odometer. State law guarantees return to pre-accident condition. I can almost guarantee your college kid has no money to repair your vehicle. Please report the accident to your insurance company and State.
Gentlemen, may I remind you that the OP’s brand new car was hit by a kid who doesn’t want it reported? “Fixes” that result in other than a profession job resulting in having a brand new car once again are, IMHO, inadequate and those “roads” should not even be considered. This is NOT a situation that the OP should compromise in. IMHO it should be reported to the insurance, the police (if the OPs’ state requires), and the car should get a good, professional repair job.
This is a brand new car, not a beater.
I agree with mountainbike that this is a new car not deserving of any so-so fix.
Hopefully this will not turn into a dispute if the college kid has a change of heart and decides that he wasn’t at fault and/or the price is too high.
When I was a young kid in the '60s with a freshly-inked new license I got hit in the rear in my mom’s car by a kid who didn’t want to report it. He promised to fix it. He had a buddy who 'worked on cars". My dad decided to give the kid a break. Guess what? It never got fixed. He wanted to put some ratty old bumper from a junkyard on it. My dad said “no way”, took the car to a body shop, and paid for it himself. The kid got off totally scott free, just because of my dad’s compassion. My dad, of course, got screwed. Me? I got an education.
Dear Fellow Car Talkers,
I would like to say thank you for all the information and commentary on the matter. It only comes to show how lively this community and the reason why I lurk to learn about cars (I even learned how to fix dents on cars and alternative means of repairing cars. The more you know) . I am going to be honest, and as transparent as possible in writing the conclusion of this episode. As of this posting has been resolved peacefully, without any physical damage to both parties.
On hearing on college students that have turned back against you, family, or people you know I wish to tell you the conclusion of this story that perhaps change your mind. First off I have a confession to make, the story takes places in the Bay Area and the car was a 2015 Camry (not a 2014 Corolla as a I originally suspected), while everything I said is entirely true except I was that college student. I originally posted impersonating as the owner as I wanted to get an honest answer to the question, and I originally suspected people might instead troll me in my time of embarrassment and frustration.
I did a three point turn and in the middle of transition (Imagine a T and I was the I ) a car to my left, who popped up honked and the driver yelled at me caused me to flip out and accident accelerate a little too fast for my own good. of course in hindsight I should have told the lady to hold her horses and move on carefully (This is my third month driving (after a 2 year hiatus and 4 month Hiatus, I was spending time in a university campus where parking was outrageous and students had free bus fair, with the last four month in Shanghai) I have no prior accidents, and my father (who has an impeccable driving career of no traffic accidents) taught me, and I got some lessons from a driving tutor to sharpen my skills. You can take my story as it is or with a grain of salt due to my previous track record of posting.
Anyway the car I hit was a neighbor. a Chinese man who speaks Hakka (Mind you being Half Asian myself, I can only speak Cantonese) so of course I gave him my contact information, insurance, drivers ID. I took the picture shown there. Originally I wanted to run, the initial fear etc. etc., but I wanted to be honest and well man up. I later found out he speaks Mandarin, which my mother can speak and I decided to ask if we can arrange a deal out of insurance way. He didn’t call the cops because he couldn’t speak English, Being 22 years old, my insurance would annihilate me. My father did this arrangement successfully and without fault earlier in his life so I decided to do the same. So with the help of my mother acting as a translator and mediator we decided to start the process. [ Yes the same mountain-bike and others I know this is illegal in California but I fully understand what I did wrong and I already told my parents I was going to pay for it with the job I have with the help of you guys I had a rough estimate of 1000-2000 dollars so no iffy business right there. Asked some other people in the inter-webs said a body shop can do it for 1500] The next day the guy comes by and gives me a very shady hand written estimate from a body shop in Oakland. [First picture] This raised some red flags in my mind, usually estimates come with detailed computer print out with labor, parts, paint etc. the cost was $2000 so nothing too crazy. That evening when my mother arrived my neighbor noticed her crossing the street. She asked politely if he has the estimate, the response from what she said and another neighbor was yelling "You are lucky it’s not 3000-5000 dollars, and continued to ridiculed her saying how he is making a great deal to your son by being overly generous (which is true, but the execution of the discussion painted him as someone who is not trustworthy, especially with the hand written estimate)
So the next day, as per following how insurance claims works I went to another body shop (ironically is another neighbor). they told me they can do it for 1698 USD the exact copy of what the hand written estimate said but cheaper, also that it was very shady confirming my fears that I am getting Conned, I can’t do much about it but it’s my fault right ladies and gentlemen? my mother and I went to the guys house and asked if they can use this body shop. To save 300 dollars, and just being neighbors in a good neighborhood. He said first off he wanted a brand new door (not just the shell), and some new parts. Even though this particular shop has been around for 30+ years. Called it a scam, he knew he had the upper hand (which he did) and decided to pursue the 2000$ to pocket 300 for himself. In the end I gave him my cash and we left. Did I deserve it, sure I made a very bad beginner’s mistake and paid for it dearly. Was I naive that a neighbor would be generous, yes why make bad blood with the people you live next to? Will I be more careful in the future, You bet I will. What did I get out of this? I cheaper car insurance that will save me money in the long term.
To sound if off, I would like to thank mountainbike, Tester, sgtrock21 for the information they provided, and everyone else for their insightful commentary and stories. I hope my experience and story can be a lesson for newer, younger drivers that roam this website and internet. For future Toyota Camry 2015* owners on the price in fixing their driver door shell and fender, and that Gentlemen Agreements most of time comes back and bites you in the arse.