Why is Auto Body work so F%#@ing EXPENSIVE?

[devilgrrl]

I dented/scraped a fender, nothing needs to be replaced, just knock out the dent and repaint the area. Why would a job like that cost $1400.00????

:wtf:



BTW, does DU have automobile/car group?

[devilgrrl]

1. Anyone here do auto body work?

:popcorn:

[appal_jack]

4. i tried... itz teh diffikult!

When my mom was in Chemo, and I was back in NYC to visit her, I was the one who got to pick her up from the hospital and bring it home.

Well, all the health/family issues, combined with driving her 5-sp. Honda Accord in the city, must have been a stress on me, because as I attempted to thread my way past a double-parked semi, I left plenty of room on my side, but that semi's steel opened up the passenger-side of the Accord's doors like a sardine can.

Being a poor (as in, broke at the time) dude, I figured I would patch it myself with Bondo. I discovered two things:

1- Bondo is like chemical warfare on top of Love Canal, with a side order of Elizabeth New Jersey. Anyone who can breathe those fumes for more than ten minutes (and I was working outside!) is a superhuman-toxic-avenger-mutant-freak. You could not possibly pay me enough to work with that stuff.

2- I suck at it anyway. After too long messing with layers of Bondo and various scrapers, rasps, sanders, etc. I achieved the basic profile of the original door, but with a texture somewhere between cottage cheese and bubblegum that was stuck under a classroom desk. Not a pretty sight.

Oh well, it gave my kid sister (who eventually inherited that Honda, and then replaced the door for real) something to tease me about.

-app

[LostInAnomie]

2. In my experience, you don't find too many auto body shops that...

... actually repair anything anymore. They just replace.

It's easier (and more expensive for the customer) to just replace the part.

[devilgrrl]

3. Well, I guess I'll have to keep on looking

What a tremendous waste - and a rip-off too boot! :mad:

[devilgrrl]

5. kick

Just in case the morning crowd has any suggestions.

[The Traveler]

6. Ground effect skirt looks torn

That's probably polyurethane or some other flexible plastic ... the lower part of the fender. Hard to tell from a picture but those things are hard to fix. The metal work looks easy enough. But, as someone else has pointed out, body work is hard to do ... something of an art and I suck at it.

[mikeytherat]

7. I agree - if the front apron is torn, they will need to replace the whole thing.

Unfortunately, it looks like the front apron and lip spoiler are part of one piece, so replacement will be the only option. Or, just get the dent taken out (Dent Doctors or some such local place), get the touch-up paint from the dealer, and with a little elbow grease, it should look pretty good.

The proliferation of integrated bumpers and aprons is one of the reasons I still drive this:


Real bumpers.

mikey_the_rat

[devilgrrl]

9. It's NOT torn - it's knocked out of place!

:crazy:

There's no tears.

[mikeytherat]

11. It also looks like the plastic fender lining has torn loose, but still $1,400???

The fender lining can be held back in place with new clips (or zip ties and baling wire), the small dent can be tapped out for less than $50, and all you need is some rubbing compound to remove some of the surface "skids" (if they are not deep), some touch-up paint, and a few hours of work. The whole thing should cost you under $100. Whoever quoted $1,400 wants to replace lots of stuff.

mikey_the_rat

[devilgrrl]

15. Exactly!

I'm going to write back the shop and tell they that. $1400 is plain and simply silly.

[Blue Diadem]

8. Is that a price through a dealer's auto body shop or a private shop?

If it's a dealer, it'll automatically be much higher.

[devilgrrl]

10. Private

Nothing's torn btw

[HughBeaumont]

12. Because of the slight crease and the paint mixing.

Believe it or not, at least half to 2/3 of that repair is going to come from the paint and blending costs. I've had enough body work on two cars to know. You'd be surprised at how much paint costs, especially for a color like that. You need to get it just right or else it's going to look like ass.

If that crease were a little more intense, it would have cost more for the sanding, mudding and refinishing. But from what it seems, it's not all that big a deal to pull that out. I think they'll still need to do some refinishing after it's done, which again, adds to the cost.

[flvegan]

13. If that poly-whateverthehell 5mph bumper has anything more than

superficial surface scratching, they'll replace it. They'll probably also replace the fender, rather than trying to get that wheel well crease just right. Bondo and sanding is time consuming. I've tried it and I suck at it. Then you've got a day in the paint booth blending the color for two new body panels.

$1400 still seems like much. Have you gotten a quote from a discount place like Maaco or Carsmetics?

[SacredCow]

14. It's the nature of modern cars....

everything is made to be replaced- not repaired. Hell, The plastic of my front bumper covers freakin' STYROFOAM!!!

[Infomaniac]

16. Haggle. Shop Around.

I haggled the estimate down $900 bucks from $2500 to $1600. I got three estimates. Took me a little more in time, but saving $900 bucks was worth it.

[devilgrrl]

17. Thanks for the advise...

I'll get more estimates.

One guy estimated $900 but it would take three days to completed. In the past I've had a damaged door plastered, sanded and painted in a day - 3 days is just silly.

[Initech]

18. Yeah, take this advice.

I got in a fender bender a couple months ago and got three different estimates. The most expensive was $1750 and I got it boiled down to $1200.