Hello everyone. I am a new member.
We own a Honda Civic 2013. Last year during winter, it slid on ice and bumped into a metal pole. There is a dent and paint around it has come off. Body shop gave a quote of 4300 dollarsđ±
Are these type of jobs always expensive? We are planning to sell the car anyways. It runs great and only has this cosmetic damage. Will it be worth to get this work done? Not sure how much we will get by selling the car. What are our options?
Thanks a lot
Is this an insurance job? If so, donât worry about it. If you donât have collision damage insurance, then get another estimate or two. It will be expensive. They have to paint the entire panel up to a break in the body panel to avoid two tone paint appearance. They might also have to cut and replace the damaged panel if itâs too bad. Did you get an itemized list of the repairs? You should to compare estimates.
Yes, I would repair it. If you donât, someone else will and it will cost the same no matter what. That cost of repair will be deducted from the sales price. Also, you are basically locked into selling it to a dealer and they will offer trade-in cost less the repair.
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Agree with @jtsanders ⊠body repair is expensive. Paint booths can cost $50,000 and up, those costs get passed to you.
If a rear fender was damaged, it may require the fender be cut off and new one welded in place. That is labor intensive and expensive.
Post pics so we can see what youâre dealing with.
But yeah, in general body shop estimates are one of those things that have almost stopped surprising me with the surprising cost of services.
And admittedly, Iâm pretty decent with a wrench in the engine bay, but body work is just not something Iâm particularly good at. Might as well be witchcraft for all my understanding of it. So I figure the people who are good at it probably deserve what theyâre charging.
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The only way to know if itâs a reasonable price is to get another estimate from a different shop.
There is far more to paint/body than one might think both as to labor and materials. You might post a picture of the damage.
About a dozen years ago someone backed into the left rear of my Lincoln. They left a note on the windshield and offered to pay in cash with an estimate to keep it off of their insurance.
The scrape above the LR tail lamp was about 6" long and not really that noticeable. Cheapest estimate was 1100 dollars (2 others 12 and 1300) so it does not take much to add up.
Thanks a lot everyone. Will be taking another estimate and post here what happens.
Note that you will not recoup the entire cost of the repair when you sell the car.
Some dents can be diyâer repaired without too much effort provided you are willing to accept a âlooks pretty good from 6 feetâ appearance. The problem is that most body shops wonât do that sort of imperfect work even if you are willing to accept an imperfect appearance.
Many years ago, my neighbor got some curbside body repair done by a guy who went around the neighborhood ringing doorbells to drum-up business⊠because the best craftsmen solicit business in that manner⊠
Anyway, several hours later, the dents in her rear door and rear fender had been ârepairedâ and the area had been repainted. For the first few months, it looked âokayâ from 30 feet, but looked pretty bad at closer distances. Then, when the Bondo started to come off, her old Volvo looked worse than it did prior to the ârepairâ.
Yep, there are several independent (being charitable) car lots near me. Occasionally see something interesting. Saw a mid 60s Coupe Deville, already bubbling under the paint, overspray on the chrome and rubber. I suspect extensive amount of bondo.
Have seen similar at collector car consignment stores, vehicle look great online, not so great in person.