It will cost what??? Advice needed about auto body repair estimate.

So my car suffered from a minor coming-together on the freeway last week.

Other person’s fault, and they didn’t pull over. I called the cops, but when the CHP guy arrived, he said that he couldn’t really arrest the other party for failure to stop because the damage to my car was minor enough that the person could reasonably argue that they did not know they hit us. The cop was very nice and very sympathetic, but he also pointed out (correctly) that it would also be a case of the other guy’s word against mine about whose fault it was.

So, i’m left with a ding on the left quarter-panel, just above the wheel well, that needs taking care of. It’s a 2008 Honda Civic Coupe. Here are a few cellphone pics to give you an idea of the damage. The damage is about 10-11 inches across.

I took the car to a body shop around the corner today to get an estimate, because i wanted to work out whether it’s worth going through insurance.

And fuck me, it looks like i’ll have to. I admit that this is not my area of expertise, and there’s no reason that my own sense of what it should cost is actually accurate, but i was pretty surprised.

The estimate was $2,121.75.

19.4 hours of body labor
10.4 hours of paint labor
plus about $374 for paint supplies

Now, if i go through insurance, this isn’t going to cost me much at all. I have a $250 deductible, and rental car coverage. But i was, i admit, quite staggered at the price. Now i want to know whether i was simply ignorant about the costs of body work, or if the shop if unusually expensive.*

I know that there are people on the Dope with expertise in these things, including people who have worked with cars, and people who work in insurance, so i just thought i’d ask: does that price seem about right to you?

Any info would be most welcome.

  • The shop certainly seems like a good one, in terms of quality. They are always busy, and they get excellent reviews on Yelp etc. I have no doubt that they would do a great job of actually fixing the problem.

I would take it to another shop for an estimate. Make sure they understand you intend to pay for this out of pocket. That typically makes the estimates much lower.

I think most places expect insurance to cover damage so always try for the best fix possible. That seems like the kind of money you’d expect to pay for a full repair and repaint. A few years back, I had a deer destroy a front quarter panel on a car that I only had liability insurance on. I went to some of the big body shops, and they all gave me that kind of estimate - match the part, then repaint the car or match the shade of the paint in that area, all around $2k. So I went to a little hole-in-the-wall body shop, and got them to find a replacement panel that was roughly the same color and skip the painting, cost me around $500. You might want to check into that if insurance balks at paying for yours.

Grrr!

But lower enough to actually pay out of pocket? I mean, if i go to another shop and they give me an estimate of $1,000 (i.e., less than half my current estimate), it will still cost me an extra $750 (i.e., more than my deductible) to pay for it myself.

It seems unlikely that my rates would increase by enough to offset this benefit, although that is another area where i’m a bit in the dark. I don’t know how much a claim like this would raise my rates, and i can’t really ask my insurance company until i’m certain that i’m going to use them.

Pantastic

I thought of trying something like you suggested. I had assumed that they would fix the dent and then paint the affected area, but the guy who did my estimate told me that they don’t do spot painting; they paint the whole panel (which runs right along the roof and below the door sill, and in order to do this they have to remove things like the rear tail-light assembly, and a few other parts of the car that i thought were basically irrelevant to the repair.

Twice I’ve taken a vehicle in for body work, with a version of the following:

[mechanic]: Well, you’re looking at $2,000
[me]: uh, wow
[mechanic]: don’t worry–your insurance will pick up most of that
[me]: I was planning on avoiding getting my insurance company involved if possible and just pay out of pocket.
[mechanic]: Oh, in that case I can do it for $300.

And you wonder why insurance rates are so high.

So, like others have mentioned, see how well the mechanic can hook you up for out-of-pocket.

Another time I bumped a guy from behind. My fault. Ok, I figured the ding was so minor and on the bumper that it couldn’t be all that much. And the estimate came in at like $358. When talking with my insurance company they told me the “raise your rates” threshold was $300. I can’t see how any estimate could ever come in lower than $300, so I just figured any claim whatsoever, no matter how minor, would cause a rate jump.

If you pay for it yourself, with no guarantees of workmanship, another shop will spot paint it for much, much less. Is that the kind of repair you want though? I’d be fine with that on my car.

YMMV.

I know that if i make a claim, i’ll get hit with a rate increase.

My question is more about whether the increase will cost me more than taking advantage of insurance.

So, with my current estimate of $2,121, i’ll be out $250 for my deductible, and will save about $1,870 by using insurance. This would almost definitely be worthwhile. In order to lose out here, i would have to suffer an insurance increase of over $600 per year for the next three years. That seems unlikely.

But if the estimate is $1,000, that means i’m out $250 deductible, and my insurance pays $750. If making the claim increases my rates by $250 per year for three years, i might be better off paying for it myself. But if making the claim only increases my rates by $100 per year for three years, then i’m better off making the claim. It’s about cost/benefit in the longer run.

Leaffan: I’d probably be fine with that too. As i said, it’s actually what my expectation was when i fist took the car for an estimate. I didn’t realize that it was standard practice (at some shops, at least) to paint the whole panel.

I might take the car out to a couple of other places this afternoon and see what they say if i’m tell them that i’m definitely going to pay for it myself.

Look up the value of your car in a used car price guide. I am seeing a value of around $5,000.
http://clearbook.truecar.com/used-honda-prices/civic-coupe-pricing/2008#show/6akk/90401/96000/good/6u7/6gk/o/t_curve

It’s a mistake to spend serious money on body repairs for a car of this little value.

Frankly if I were you I would drop comprehensive insurance coverage and limit myself to liability. Get some numbers: How much are you paying a year for comprehensive. How much would you pay just for liability?

If my quick math is right, you’re being charged around $59.00/hour for roughly 30 hours labour. Considering you’d pay around $100/hr + around here, sounds like you’re getting away cheap.

Yeah thanks, but exactly how does that help my current situation?

Whether or not you think i should be paying for comprehensive, the fact is that i have been paying for it, and the fact that i am covered by that insurance necessarily factors into the decision that i am making here.

I’m paying about $300 per year for collision. While the value of my car is listed on a few places at around $5,000, looking around suggests that it would probably cost me more than that to get into a car of equivalent mileage and condition, especially when you add in things like taxes.

I can live with $300 per year as a hedge against an accident that totals my car and leaves me looking for five or six thousand dollars to replace it.

I had nearly identical damage done to my car once under similar circumstances (although mine was a 2003 Infiniti FX35). I took it to three places to get quotes and got $2000-ish quotes with much the same run around you received. Even the places that said they would fix the damage and just spot paint said their high quote was due to needing to pay for the cost of removing and re-installing the quarter panel, which is apparently labor intensive. Then I found a highly rated place on Yelp and took it to them for a quote, specifically telling them I was paying out of pocket. They repaired the panel while still on the car, spot painted it, and it looked perfect - all for $320. Not only that, but they did it in two days rather than the one week the other places wanted.

If you turn the car down to fair condition and take the low number it shows a value of around 3700.00. I’d be more likely just to not fix the dent. If you plan on driving it for a few more years I don’t think it will really change the trade-in value.

Sure, the CHP guy wouldnt declare it to be the other guys fault, but that’s not really his job.

If you have his insurance info, make a claim. You were hit in the rear/side, unless you were backing up, he had to hit you.

That looks like a good candidate for paintless dent repair. That is usually done on site by trained technicians that use special tools and techniques to slowly bend the dent back in shape.

It is fascinating to watch and amazing what a good one can do with a few simple tools. I had an almost identical dent that they fixed that way. It wasn’t 100% perfect because I told them it didn’t need to be but good luck spotting any damage from 3 feet away when the technician was done. Best of all, he came to my workplace, fixed it in less than 2 hours and it only cost $150.

Have you gotten the alignment checked? I’d be less worried about cosmetic damage to the car, than the fact that a side hit, even a rear one, can mess up the alignment. Also, even though the damage is slight, you need to make sure there’s no chassis damage. Did the body shops check this, or were they just concerned with the cosmetic damage?

I once had my driver’s side door T-boned, and somehow, the cosmetic damage was contained to the door, so it was a no-brainer to replace and repaint the door. However, the chassis and wheels needed to be realigned, and that cost much more than hanging a new door. Fortunately, the other driver stopped, so his insurance paid for it.

8 years later, the same car, which was at that point, paid for, was rear-ended, and the damage was only cosmetic. I banked the $1,670 the insurance company gave me, and two years after that, used it for a down payment on a new car.

Bank the check from your insurance and live with it. Still, the car looks like it’s worth fixing, but if you don’t, somewhere along the way the damage detracts from the value in a trade or private sale. It isn’t likely to keep the car from passing inspection. Or, say nothing to the insurance, live with it and get no extra surcharges on your policy, which is what I’d do. Touch up any broken paint.

Depends on whether you’re going to drive the car to the bitter end or if you’re going to sell it. If the car is “your baby” (I have a cousin like that), you’re going to restore it to perfect. It looks like a very nice finish on the car. Is it a V6/Leather, all that? If so, it’s still worth 8 or 10K.

I’ve just been to two other places. One guy said $550, and the other said $1200. Each of them were pretty clear, however, that they wouldn’t be doing the sort of comprehensive paint job that the first place quoted. The $1200 guy said he’d paint about half the panel, and fade the new paint into the old for a seamless appearance. The $550 guy, i think, was basically going to get the ding out and touch it up.

Thanks for the suggestion. That was actually already one of the options that i was considering. There are a few of those around here and, like in your experience, some of them come to you.

But…

The issue of non-cosmetic damage is something to consider.

I’m not worried about alignment, and i’m not at all worried about chassis damage. This was a little tap. Even in our relatively small car, we felt it as nothing more than a nudge. There was less of a bump than when we hit a medium-sized pothole.

But i’ve been to three places now, and two of them said that the first thing they would look for, given the location of the ding, is possible damage to the fuel filler area and the top of the gas tank. They asked me if i had smelled any gas in the days since the accident. I told them i had not, and they said this probably means it’s OK, but they would check just to make sure.

Anyway, i’m leaning towards just going with my insurance. I’ve been paying for collision, so i might as well use it, especially since all the places i went to said they’d need the car for about three days, maybe up to five, and i have car rental coverage with my insurance.

Assuming i make the claim, does anyone have any sense of how big a hit i’m likely to take in the form of increased premiums?

Well, he did hit me, and i’m confident that it was his fault. The fact that he (or she; couldn’t see because of tinted windows) failed to stop, despite my honking and flashing lights and hands out the window, also suggests a knowledge of guilt.

But on a freeway i can think of quite a few ways in which it would be quite possible to get a ding like that even if it were my fault. For example, if i changed lanes to the left, without checking over my shoulder, it would be possible for my rear left quarter panel to hit front right side of the other car.

This is not what happened, but if it did, my car would look just about the same even though i would have been the one at fault.

It’s a Honda Civic. I don’t think a Civic has ever been shipped with a V6 engine or leather. I think you’re mistaking it for an Accord Coupe.

I did indeed. Still, if the pics are indicative of the finish on the rest of the car, you’ve taken good care of it. I own a New England Subaru Outback and no matter the care, these rust from the inside out. Worst car body ever. Good luck…