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Fixing paint damage on car door

Maintenance/Repairs
#1

After having to wait about 2 months to drive my car due to an injury, I just started driving again this week. However, this week I also discovered that someone had chipped off a tiny spot of paint on one of the doors.

I did not see it actually happen, but it looks like whoever did it knew and then tried to wipe at it, smudging the dirt in that area. I think it was likely one of my apartment neighbors, but they did not leave a note and I don’t expect they will fess up even if I approached them. (The first week they moved in, they were barbecuing directly underneath my balcony, and didn’t think it was a big deal when I pointed out it was a fire hazard and the smoke was clearly coming straight into my apartment!)

I’ve never had something like this repaired, so I’m curious what it would involve and what it might cost? I am not prepared to fix this myself, so I would need to take it to a body shop. The car is pretty new, just purchased last December, and this the first damage to the car.

If it helps, it’s a 2020 Honda Accord, black in color.

#2

This is where you have a body shop ( now called Collision Centers ) give you a price . After that you can decide to just pay for it or use your insurance . The other thing is to buy a small touchup bottle of paint to match .

1 Like
#3

A body shop will make it like new, probably for mid-hundreds - their time is in matching paint and firing up the spray gun. Or you can have a body shop smooth the edges and touch up just the spot in a few minutes for much less - this will prevent rust and most people won’t notice, but you’ll detect it if you look closely. Or you can get a tube of matching touch up paint and do it yourself in a few minutes. If doing it yourself, consider getting a proper brush and and applying several thin coats as opposed to globing it on with the supplied brush. There are good how-to’s on the internet. If you don’t like the result, no harm done and you still can visit the body shop.

Over time you’re likely to gather little stone nicks in the hood and maybe a few more door dings, touching them up as they happen avoids rust and after you accumulate more of them you can consider going in for a professional job while paying for just one spray gun set up.

1 Like
#4

I’d rather avoid DIY options for now, though a friend suggested using a Sharpie, since it’s a black car :sweat_smile:

I know this is just one of those things that comes with having and driving a car – especially parking it near other people’s cars – and my old car had all sorts of scrapes and damage to it from parking it on the street. I guess it’s the principle of the thing, that it’s a pretty new car, this is the first damage done to it, and they didn’t leave a note. But I guess most people don’t.

I also noticed there is some damage to the right front door handle, so I think they may have done this on a few occasions. :neutral_face:

Thanks!

#5

You can get a “touch up pen” with matching paint from either the dealership or an auto store. Some of these have tips that works much like a Sharpie and allows fine control of delivery. If you buy one at a dealership and ask nice one of their people even might show you how to use it, for less time than trips to a body shop - it’s truly about as easy as using a felt tip pen.

There are services that perform small jobs like this at your home or workplace, recently a neighbor had a whole door repaired and repainted in his driveway and received a decent job.

| digitalmaven
November 13 |

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ken2116:

A body shop will make it like new, probably for mid-hundreds - their time is in matching paint and firing up the spray gun. …
Or you can get a tube of matching touch up paint and do it yourself in a few minutes. …
If you don’t like the result, no harm done and you still can visit the body shop.

Over time you’re likely to gather little stone nicks in the hood and maybe a few more door dings, touching them up as they happen avoids rust and after you accumulate more of them you can consider going in for a professional job while paying for just one spray gun set up.

I’d rather avoid DIY options for now, though a friend suggested using a Sharpie, since it’s a black car :sweat_smile:

I know this is just one of those things that comes with having and driving a car – especially parking it near other people’s cars – and my old car had all sorts of scrapes and damage to it from parking it on the street. I guess it’s the principle of the thing, that it’s a pretty new car, this is the first damage done to it, and they didn’t leave a note. But I guess most people don’t.

I also noticed there is some damage to the right front door handle, so I think they may have done this on a few occasions. :neutral_face:

Thanks!