Another Wreck (1 Viewer)

[TomH]

I was driving home from Costco the other night with the family - wife, three kids, mother-in-law - and a load of stuff. As I was going through an intersection, a young girl in a 2005 Trailblazer decided to run the red light. We got real lucky and almost escaped without damage but just when I thought I'd made it, she hit the drivers side rear quarter. No injuries to anyone.

Damage doesn't look horrible but when I stopped by the body shop, he came up with a $4K estimate. Wants to replace the whole quarter panel. It's probably the best way to fix it but I'm a little leary about having the whole panel cut out and replaced.

If it wasn't for the fit of the tail light I'd probably just put a Hanna Quality bumper on the back and call it good (plus put about $2K in my pocket). Not sure how to go about dealing with this.

Oh, and the other drivers insurance had lapsed. She was on her parents policy. Looks like my insurance company is going to end up paying for everything - and then probably raise my rates.

 

[e9999]

sorry to read this.
looks like it's not that bad. Can't they pop it back out?
If you're not at fault, they should not (can not?) raise your rate.

 

[ginericLC]

Does your tailgate open and close?

Personally, I'd take a deflated football in there and air it up and see how much I could get to pop out.

 

[Clutchee]

Remove the left portion of the bumper & inside the quarter panel & goto work.

I would get out as much damage as I could & use some touch up paint.

Seeing the pictures & knowing the estimate was 4K WOW

Take the money & add bumpers.

 

[lagwagon]

I would pop that out and get a good bumper if you are going to keep it forever. If you are ever going to sell it you might want to fix it.

 

[450 DUDE]

Im with these guys, bang the thing out or have someone do and throw a good bumper on there.

Good luck!

ken

 

[83bj60]

Highway Robbery!

Damage doesn't look horrible but when I stopped by the body shop, he came up with a $4K estimate. Wants to replace the whole quarter panel.

You must be kidding! The guy saw you coming and quicly estimated himself a vacation for his family to Disneyland.

From the pictures, the same repair on a Blazer would set you back maybe $700!

Just have the job done in a real body shop!!!

I hate profiteers with a passion. Go shop around and deal with an old timer who knows what he's doing, mention you don't have insurance and see the difference!

 

[PHAEDRUS]

Whoa ther kiddies,
When was the last time you actually wrote an estimate on a newer model land cruiser?? I have repaired a similar dent in my 92 80 series and it was a bitch.

Tom,
Call your insurance, show them the shop bid, show them the multiple compromised body lines, If they come out to look at it pull the bumper cap off and have it clearly viewable. Pull the light out,
as far as fisin it yourself, That will be tough with out a pin gun and a slide hammper, pic 2 shows the 1/4 hitting the tail gate. You might be able to put a hook end on a slide hammer with the light out and get it to come over, This will be tricky as you can over stress the metal where the little light sits.

If you will be wheeling it (or driving in seattle traffic) just pound it out and paint the lower part. Then spend the insurance $$ on a hanna or slee or ............. rear bumper.

Dave

 

[Fly Rod]

Sorry for the PITA and damage to your rig. I am glad everyone was ok. I am with the others, find a good after market bumper and installer. Maybe they can pound it out and make it fit for a reasonable amount.

So who knows what the deal is these days? Insurance is required by law in every state yet get in an accident without insurance and, Oh Well??? WTF??? Is there no recourse by law? They should loose thier vehicle until they can pay for the damage and prove they are insured. I wonder how the girls parents would react to an offer for a reasonable out of insurance settlement.

 

[rockclmbr]

You gotta love the way these insurance companies run these days. My wife was hit by a teen driver who flip'd a bitch in front of her across double yellow. The other party was 100% at fault and admitted so. Because her insurance co was bigger than ours they won and we are now at fault because we should have avoided it even though the other party broke 3 traffic laws.

I love California!

Do not use Mercury Insurance EVER!!!!

Good luck on that one.

 

[83bj60]

Whoa ther kiddies,
When was the last time you actually wrote an estimate on a newer model land cruiser?? I have repaired a similar dent in my 92 80 series and it was a bitch.

Indeed not. I was speaking from recent experience with two different vehicles. Right side rear dent on a Blazer, new plastic bumperette and new tailight. Total parts: $120. The body job and paint has been estimated by one shop at $500 but we're shopping around as we've had friends with similar accidents who paid $300 on previous jobs.

The other vehicle, I believe it was a Civic, similar damage, cost around $700 IIRC, more expensive parts.

Both were actual, recent fender benders of my wife's and my ex's in the past 6 months.

Heck three years ago my wife had the whole right side of her tercel repaired and the whole car repainted to boot after she got bumped into at the shopping mall (dented passenger door, front fender and part of the rear fender), for $1,500, and the job was perfect...

Come on! $4,000 for that damage? Is that $3,000 for potential liability and $1,000 for the shop?!

6 years ago I had my WHOLE TRUCK (BJ60) de-rusted, welded, replaced quarter panels, sanded, primed and painted for... $2,500, and that was $1,000 more than the guy agreed to do it for, because of the welding and other repairs!

So excuse me, but I do think the price is excessive!

 

[CodyRx7]

I can believe thats $4000 worth.....

I had a 2000 Accord sedan and someone just stabbed a screwdriver through the passenger rear (moveable) and little fixed window. Damage was 2 broken windows and a little trim piece between the 2 that had a stab mark.

We took it to the insurance co, the guy walked around the car with a handheld computer thing....and he starts saying they will have to pull out the rear windshield and the trunk might need restraightening (?????) all sorts of stuff.

(there was NO damage to anything but the 2 windows and a tiny dent in the trim piece)

He came up to like $2900 and said he could schedule us in 3 days with their body shop or write us a check and we can fix it.

I figured the check would be smaller if we chose to fix it....but nope, same amount.

It took like $200 in glass and install for the fix, and $2700 worth of toys and tools later we lived happily ever after.

 

[mot]

Tom,

Sorry to hear about your accident.
At least it was not your wife driving this time!

I, too, would either leave it alone or try to pound it out, slap on a good bumper and call it good.

I'm glad no one was hurt, especially your MIL!

Mot

 

[Erratic]

Indeed not. I was speaking from recent experience with two different vehicles. Right side rear dent on a Blazer, new plastic bumperette and new tailight. Total parts: $120. The body job and paint has been estimated by one shop at $500 but we're shopping around as we've had friends with similar accidents who paid $300 on previous jobs.

The other vehicle, I believe it was a Civic, similar damage, cost around $700 IIRC, more expensive parts.

Both were actual, recent fender benders of my wife's and my ex's in the past 6 months.

Heck three years ago my wife had the whole right side of her tercel repaired and the whole car repainted to boot after she got bumped into at the shopping mall (dented passenger door, front fender and part of the rear fender), for $1,500, and the job was perfect...

Come on! $4,000 for that damage? Is that $3,000 for potential liability and $1,000 for the shop?!

6 years ago I had my WHOLE TRUCK (BJ60) de-rusted, welded, replaced quarter panels, sanded, primed and painted for... $2,500, and that was $1,000 more than the guy agreed to do it for, because of the welding and other repairs!

So excuse me, but I do think the price is excessive!

Youve got a good deal going on there. Hold on to it! Wont even touch that in my neck of the woods. Just for a respray of same color with no body work your looking at a minimum of 2500 to 3k. After doing some painting and body work myself I can see why. It takes TIME to do it right and the materials are expensive. 4k to completely cut out and weld in a new quarter, paint, new light, bumper cover and other misc doesn't sound out of the realm to me.

 

[cruiserdan]

,snip.

Come on! $4,000 for that damage? Is that $3,000 for potential liability and $1,000 for the shop?!

<snip>
So excuse me, but I do think the price is excessive!

Well,

You are wrong.

A new quarter panel skin, in the box, before anybody even touches anything, is OVER 1,000 dollars.


By the way, PHAEDRUS has been a body shop collision estimator. He ought to know of what he speaks.

 

[TomH]

I'm really not questioning the estimate - it seems reasonable. I'm just trying to decide if it is best to get it fixed or half-a$$ it and add a nice bumper and maybe even a lift.

To fix it right, I don't think the estimate is totally unreasonable. If you look at the lower portion of that quarter panel, there in a lot going on. There are about four lines, the curve down the lower portion and around the back, and of course the tail light housing. To repair without replacing metal would take a very skilled craftsman and probably a lot of time. Also, one thing I didn't mention is that one of the holes that the marker light attaches to is gone - so adding new metal is required. The question becomes where to cut. Body shop say the small lines by the rear window are best.

I suspect the standard body shop these days just does a remove and replace wherever possible. In this case, the quarter panel alone is $1300 and they are adding 16 hours for the work. Another thing to keep in mind is this is two tone paint so that probably doubles the cost of the paint work.

The totals, just for fun:
Parts - 1739.65
Body labor - 29.9 hours @ $49/hr
Paint labor - 11.1 hours @ $49/hr
Paint supplies - 11.1 hours @ $25/hr
Body supplies - 19.7 hours @ $2.5/hr

Tom

 

[TomH]

Does your tailgate open and close?

Yep, tailgate works perfectly. Might be a little rub, but not much - the paint isn't even damaged.

 

[PHAEDRUS]

Thanks Dan,

I know Tom is up in Seattle, Mucho expensive for good body work. If Tom was ok with someone pounding s0ome of the dents out and then throwing mud and sanding down to shape will be ok then he can save some serious coin. This is not a good long term viable solution, If this repair is not done correctly one of two things will happen.

1. the "bondo" or whatever brand they use will split and crack and allow moisture to accumulate behind it and start to rust. the mud will then crack at fall off. This will look really good at first and most people would not know to look closer.

2. The second way to go is what I would do in this situation, pound and weld it out best you can, grind it clean of all paint and throw rhino liner over the top of it. Seriously save you some coin and gets you back to looking pretty good and still have $$ left over for a nice rear bumper with side wing protection.

Just my .02, Take it for what its worth.
Tom, You have my number if you need it.

Dave

 

[Tentsontop]

$4,000 sounds about right. You're paying for labor. It looks like it's creased in the tightest/worst area to get to. Trying to pull that out will take about as long and never look right. IIRC: Romer had some rear quarter damage a bit ago. I don't what Oleg charged him, but it looked like $3,000-$5,000 worth of damage in the pics.

I'm an original metal fan. I'd rather have them pull it out as best they can and add a bumper.

 

[Kalawang]

TomH,

You've pinned it down correctly. It's a choice between skilled labor and welding in a new part, which will also require skilled labor but less time. Frankly, skilled labor is a rare commodity as even in the labor friendly environment of the USA, they aren't compensated properly. You don't develop the required skills if new parts can be slapped on for less effort. Cost wise both alternatives should come out pretty close, but risk in looks wise, replacement would more likely produce the acceptable than repair because less skill is required. Of course, if your intended use is off road, considerations and potential costs change dramatically.

Your choice is reduced to a matter of what looks you can live with after the repair.


Kalawang