How much $$ to fix a dent?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Friend A bumped into Friend B’s car. The damage was a dent about the size of a baseball (so A says), and is not keeping the car from functioning in any way. B’s dad took the car, a mid-90s Nissan Altima, to get an estimate for repairing the dent. He was told the repairs would cost a little less than $1000. A and I agree that this sounds like an awful lot.

Should B and B’s dad shop around for other prices? I don’t know if location has anything to do with it, but we live on Long Island (so if anyone around here knows a good place in southwest Nassau, do tell!).

OR does anyone here have a good idea of how much something like that costs to repair?

2

If the paint isn’t broken, a mechanic can just pop it out by suction, and it’s really cheap. If the paint is broken, then there’s repainting and such to deal with, and it costs a lot more. Sorry, I don’t really have figures.

3

You can pick up a “Ding King” for $20 and pop it yourself.

As long as the metal’s not sharply bent, the paint’s probably intact and the dent will un-dent with no problems.

For $1000, is the shop planning to replace the panel and repaint the entire car?

4

Depends on where the dent is and the kind of car, but it cost $1200 for the body shop to fix an itty bitty dent in my front fender. Paid by insurance, at least.

5

I’ll have to find out if the paint was chipped, I don’t know (I haven’t seen the damage first-hand). I’m really asking for a friend who’s being asked to pay the $1000 since she’s the one that caused the damage.

I’ve recommended the car get checked out at a place by my house that my family has trusted for years and who do very good business. I’m curious to see what they say if she takes the car there.

6

Does it cross panels?

7

Oh, and on the repair estimate, what is the rate are they billing for labor?

8

Wow. All this damage only cost $3800 to fix. Including some stuff inside the engine compartment.

9

“does anyone here have a good idea of how much something like that costs to repair?”

Yeah, $1000…

Of course if you can get behind it you can hit it with a rubber mallet (ABout $5) & it should come right out. Do not use a regular hammer.