Originally Posted by Vegaslegal
Been a little down on my car lately because it's no longer 'as new.' It took a hit at the rear of the driver's side door to the center of the wheel well. From height it looks like a large SUV or PU touched the area as he was turning out of an adjacent parking space.
Damage was so slight that I didn't even notice it until I was lookng at the car in my office parking space--a day or even a week later. What I saw was more of a ripple than a dent. Thought I'd get it fixed w/o involving insurance company, but estimates ranged from $1200-1600. When I worked in body shops in the seventies, it would have been a $350.00 repair on the outside. Insurance guy showed me the estimate he prepared, and the body shop will be removing about a dozen parts, including rubber, wheel well, and even rear tail light to fix the quarterpanel. Times change, but unlike the repairs we used to do, it appears that this may be returned to 'as new.'
Depending on the "ripple" if it's creased or not, I had a similar incident some time back and was so smooth I didn,'t notice it until I was cleaning the car for waxing. I was about the size of a canteloupe in diameter and possiblt 3/4 " deep. Aplace where I had had body work done in the past called a fix a dent guy and he came over and gave me a $125.00 estimate. I said go and he drove the car in the shop and back out in about 20 mnutes. Can't tell where it was. He went in thru the taillight anddidn't remove anythin g else. I was impressed. Sorry, no pics.
John P
FTroopChief