Hit on rightside rear - Replacing door

Maintenance/Repairs
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2011 Honda Civic LX
4 cyl
roughly 50,000 miles

I was hit in an intersection while on my way back to school. The only damage to the car was mostly on the right rear side, the airbags deployed on the right side as you can see. Since I’m in school, I haven’t been able to take my car to get an estimate on how much it would cost to replace the door and anything else that needed repaired.

Based on this photo, about how much do you think it would cost to repair whatever needs fixed and where would I need to find a replacement door if needed?

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The damage goes well beyond the door. Just the airbags add many hundreds to a few thousand to the cost, and then there is the rear quarter panel.

Didn’t the person who hit you have insurance?

3

Is not the other person’s insurance taking care of this? If not do you have full coverage yourself. As for a guess over the internet that is a waste of time. The only estimate that counts is one made in person by a collision center. If insurance is involved just let them handle it.

4

A new door might be nice, but you will need a lot of work to make it close correctly. I would give you a guess of 3 grand min, but you really need a hands on estimate.

5

Looks like about $10,000 in damage. The quarter panel is beyond repair, the rocker panel is damaged and the B-pillar is probably bent. A replacement door will never close with that damage. The insurance company might declare this a total loss.

6

WAY more than 3 grand . . .

My mom’s car was t-boned a few months ago . . . 2014 Civic, one generation newer than OP’s car, but quite similar

2 new doors, rocker panel repair, rear bumper refinish, buff out rim, alignment, etc.

And no airbags were deployed

About 5 grand to fix my mom’s car. The other party’s insurance paid, because their driver was clearly at fault

The damage on this car is much more extensive, versus my mom’s car

I think you need to get your insurance involved . . . this is what you have it for

7

I’d say you’d be between $7,500 and $10,000. Why would you be finding a door and not your body shop?

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I think we would all still like to know why there has been no mention of the insurance company . . . ?!

If you or somebody tries to hang a door, it will NOT close

This car needs extensive body work for it to even be mechanically functional again, let alone look good

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I agree with the others, this is way, way, way more than $3K worth of damage. And that wrinkle in the arc over the door is a really bad sign. That is a critical part of the unibody structure, constructed of high strength steel and designed to transfer energy around the passenger cabin. Tot cause that to buckle takes some serious energy. IMHO an insurance company would total this car, as a proper repair would cost more than the car’s value.

The good news is that the design apparently did its job of protecting the passengers. Cars are replaceable, people not so much.

I also wondered about the insurance issue.

1 Like
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I agree with mountainbike

If/when the insurance gets involved, they’ll quickly decide to declare a total loss

11

Thanks for all of the feedback, sorry for the late response. I had to switch to liability about a couple of months before the accident because it was getting expensive only until I could find a job during the semester. It was just unfortunate that I got into an accident on my way back to school.

I was found at fault for a failure to yield by an officer on the spot, I knew I had the green arrow but I must have been caught in the intersection as the light had changed. Both drivers had insurance and my company paid for the damage of the other person’s vehicle and because I switched down they wouldn’t be able to cover my vehicle.

I was hoping I could replace and repair everything by next January and that it wouldn’t be too bad, but if it’s just not worth it I might have to consider looking for another car. I will still take it to get an estimate in person though.

12

Let us know what the shops says. We do care.

I’m betting they’ll be quoting an entire rear quarter “clip” along with a great deal of other work. That would mean the entire rear quarter of the unibody would be chopped from a boneyard car and welded to your car… in addition to a whole new door (boneyard), squaring the unibody on a “rack” (a huge flat surface with chains, hydraulic rams, and calibrated measuring components) that can bend a body back straight. That is not a cheap process. Looking at the damage to the wheel, I’m going to guess that you may have damage to the rear suspension and chassis components as well.