You did say that they ended up having to blend the majority of the side of your car to make it match. I explained both costs that I quoted him based on the work being performed. $500 was assuming no parts needed replaced and that the full blend could be kept within the door.

As for the people saying to get a whole new door from Mitsubishi and it will come prepainted. Wrong, on 2 counts.

1) A whole new door will easily cost over $1500 (won't save any money). Then you still have to transfer all of the stuff out of your door and into this one.

2) You are only going to be able to get the door prepainted if it is from a junkyard. Assuming you can actually get a new door as a complete assembly, it will come primered. It is a semi-gloss black, but nowhere near the color of your car, and the primer will not have any kind of UV resistance which will cause it to wear down and become chalky in a matter of a few months.

Got through insurance, and take it to a high end body shop. Get it fixed right, and you will be much happier with it.

 

heres what you gotta do.

Go through your insurance company, get an estimate, but tell them you will get the door yourself. You then look around junk yards, or here on EvoM and get a used door for cheap.

Then you have it painted.

The difference in money that it costs for a new door versus the used one you get will cover your deductible. eg.

A brand new door from mitsu, glass and all, costs: $1500.
You get a used one from here on EvoM for $300

So then the insurance company will take that $1200 difference, take $500 out for the deductible, and give you the rest back, so you actually make money.

I just did it with my hood, grill and suspension.
i payed $300 for a carbon fiber hood and a JDM grill. And i fitted all the suspension parts, and hood & grill myself.

So i ended up saving over $1000, which covered my deductible (on 2 claims), plus i got $60 back from the insrance company.

So instead of being $1000 out of pocket in deductible payments, i was only $300, and i got a custom painted carbon fiber hood, and a JDM grill

 

Crypto, you're thinking on the right wave length there... but if his insurance company is anything like 90% of the rest of insurance companies in the world, after the car is 1 year old they are allowed to use aftermarket parts (cheaper, and slightly lower quality than OEM), after 2 years old they are allowed to use "used" parts (even cheaper still, generally sourced from the same junkyard you would have gotten the part from anyways, but at a better price). You might end up getting a little bit to pocket on this deal, but I doubt it.

But, if you do file a claim through his insurance, generally they give you an "inconvenience settlement", in your case probably like $200. All it is for is just to keep you from trying to sue him or any of that BS. If it had been a more serious accident, then you would get a larger settlement.

Still, best bet is to go through insurance and just let it go to a shop to get fixed. Not only will you get the proper repair, but if any hidden damage is found, then you will not have to fight with insurance of the other guy... the body shop will fight insurance.

 

alright well i just got back from getting some estimates.
1.) 1056 without blending
2.)1240 with blending
3.)1570 with blending

im going with the 1240.

 

Are they just going to repair the damage, or are they putting a new skin on the door?

 

new skin, new moldings ,seals,blah blah what ever else parts go into a door.
this shop is one of the best. hope all works out well

 

get the money from the guy and buy more mods, if you go fast enough no1 will notice your dent

 

Chances are, if you ask them, they are going to reuse the molding and seals. All of the internals that are not damages (shouldn't be any of them messed up from that little hit) will be left in the door. All they do when they put a new skin on it is take off the outer piece (the one that is dented) and then put a new one on. I make it sound far simpler than it is, but you will still have all of the same stuff, just a new piece of sheet metal on the outside. And then they will more than likely paint it (obviously) and blend into the door and quarter panel, possibly the rocker panel, but I wouldn't bank on it. All in all, the repair should be fairly unnoticeable. You will have a bit of a paint edge on lip in the door jamb where everything was taped off, but that comes with almost all paint work of that type.

Post up some good pics of the repair when they are finished with it.

 

ill post pics as soon as its done.... prolly by end of next week