How long do repairs for this kind of damage take?

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

I recently got into an accident and my car is currently being seen at the shop and looked over to analyze the damage and get an estimate. Admittedly, I have no experience with this sort of thing. The visible damage so far is the entire side panel, the door, and the front bumper. Generally, if my car does end up being declared repairable and not deemed a total loss; how long do repairs generally take for that kind of damage? Does anyone have any experience and a ballpark estimate? Obviously I need to find out any possible structural damage as well(if there is any), but for things like side panels and doors and bumpers, how long does repairing that stuff generally take?

2

When we’ve had comparable damage from suicidal deer, it’s taken our body shop about two weeks each time (pre-pandemic).

Make sure you don’t wash the car for a month after it’s painted so that the paint can cure fully. A hand wash would be preferred at that point to be extra safe.

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3

No one on the web can even make a decent guess . Vehicles are being damaged all over the US because of winter storms . Only the shop can give a time line.

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4

It took about 2 weeks, maybe a tad less, for the body shop to repair my VW Rabbit. Got severely crunched from behind, on a rear corner. Besides panels/fenders/bumper etc, required some frame stretching to get everything back to the correct dimensions. I have to say those folks did a remarkably good job, couldn’t tell it even had any damage afterward. Long time ago, I don’t recall being involved in the money aspect, insurance company dealt directly with body shop.

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5

As VOLVO-70 said the shop can give you an estimate of time. but it might take longer than they say if parts are delayed. even some car dealerships have been waiting for months for certain parts. so, take the shop time estimate as a good guess. but you can ask them if they think any of the parts, they need have been hard to get. check your vehicle insurance and see if you have car rental insurance. and do not forget your insurance will probably have a deductible that you will have to pay when the vehicle is completed. unless you took out $0 deductible.

6

+1
As I found out recently when I asked the dealership to install mud guards on my vehicle, the mfr has not yet gotten-around to stocking them, even though that model has been in production for more than one year. I’m guessing that, with supply chain issues, parts like that are not a high priority for them.

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7

To be on the safe side, I’d say you should plan on being without your car for a month

There’s a lot of body shop hours involved, and parts probably need to be ordered, plus all sorts of logistical stuff

Considering the time of year, there are probably plenty of cars in the body shop(s) waiting to be repaired . . . due to crashes . . . so your shop might be especially busy at the moment and may not even get around to starting on your car for awhile

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8

Thanks for the responses so far, appreciate it. I saw some comments somewhere claiming that if the time it takes to fix the car extends beyond the time the insurance will pay for your rental car, the shop has to foot the bill for the rental car, is this true? I was worried about what would happen when that runs out, since I assumed I’d be stuck paying for that out of pocket once the time runs out on that.

9

I’ve never heard that one before. It doesn’t sound sensible to me.

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10

The shop is not going to pay for your rental vehicle . Of course if you ask the insurance company you will get a real answer .

You still have not said if the other persons insurance or yours is paying for this repair . Insurance policies are not all the same in every state if you are even the US .

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11

Without reading, up to a month depending on parts availability and how soon you can get in. So rent a car and sit back.

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12

We had to wait about 2 months as parts were not available, and too new for parts I guess. It did not look too bad and was driveable.

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13

With Geico the insurance adjuster would always call me in the beginning of the process and gave me his phone number to call if I had any questions. if you have to wait longer for parts I would give the adjuster a call and see if he would allow more time with a car rental.

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14

I don’t believe it is a requirement, but it is a good gesture. The body shop I worked with as a technician paid for the customers rental car after the first 30 days. I have seen repair jobs stretched out more than 4 months.

15

Our body shop will provide a free loaner/rental for the duration of the repair.

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16

Your shop has a relationship with the insurer, ask them. The insurer may have worked out arrangements of this type. They may also be willing to extend the rental car time depending on the repair. Don’t call until you are sure the repair will take longer than the customary rental period.

17

The above responses are reasonable Short answer is task the body shop, and the insurer also might have insight about how long jobs like yours are taking in your area.

Having been through a few of these in the past 10 years the process goes something like this:

  • Insurance company’s adjuster looks at the car either in person (might take a week to schedule) or at photos (faster) and issues an initial authorization which most likely will be low but allows the repair process to start.

  • Body shop discovers additional damage after they disassemble the outer pieces and submit their findings to the insurance company who approve an increased amount (or total the car…)

  • Body shop orders parts which might be new, refurbished, or used depending on what the insurance company approves and availability. This might go quickly but difficult to find parts could take weeks or more (let’s hope this isn’t a Tesla - some of their parts used to take months but I don’t know about now).

  • Once parts are on hand and the shop’s schedule allows the repairs usually proceed fairly quickly, maybe a few days. If the car needs to go to another facility for specialized work, maybe frame straightening, add some time for that.

  • Painting, several layers with associated baking and smoothing - maybe a few days.

  • Reassembly, should go quickly.

18

They sill bake paint??

19

My body shop does or did, he told me he can only go to 145 degrees because of tire&gas, factory bakes paint at 175 since they do that before the body is mounted.

20

I don’t think the new killer paints need baking. The last time I used the high cost stuff, it was hard enough after a few hours for color sanding and buffing. Th old enamels needed baking or leaving it out in the sun.

You don’t use those without a scba and air supply though.