yea so some guys backs out of his driveway straight into my car door........i call the cops....ive got a police report and everything but the guy wants to pay for it and not go through insurance. im going tomorrow to get an estimate but i just wanted to get your input ...how much would it cost to repair or would it be better to just replace the whole door.
thanks

 

Its just a door shouldn`t be more than 200-300 dollars. thats just the door not talking about paint and so on

 

so how much you think paint and labor would be

 

^ that's what estimates are for

 

if damage is just on the door... get the enture door replaced. probably can get on right from mitsu allready painted. If your paint is in rough shape or faded you may want them to color match it though.

 

^ that's what i would suggest, it should match up good enough so you wont be able to tell the difference (unless you're looking for it)

 

someone tried breaking into my car and the security scared them off, but not before they took a flat head screw driver to the passenger door scratching and almost pierced through the door by the handle. that ended up costing $750 to fix. i would go through insurance so you don't get screwed in any way. there's more work that needs to be done than meets the eye, sorta, ex. when they fix the door, they are going to have to blend the paint on both sides of the damage. if you got a whole new door, then they'll have to blend all around the door. that's just a little something to think about, but go through insurance is the best advice i could give. your insurance will not go up if you make a claim.

 

i had an incident like that
but remember they usually end up spraying a major portion of the side of your car to match it

 

I would say just go through insurance. Because if you just take cash for the amount of the estimate, then you are going to chance running into hidden damage that will have to come out of your pocket, or end up in court fighting for the rest.

Chances are, you are into about $500-1000 to get it fixed at a shop. (Assuming no hidden damage)

It could be fixed without having to have a new skin put on. The damage, although it looks bad, would probably only take me about 2 hours to get it back within 1/8" of the original shape and then smooth out with filler. Possible to keep the repainting isolated to the area that is repaired, and the blend within the door. If they can do that, it will probably be about $500.

If it was my car, I would just skin that door, rather than trying to repair it and having damaged metal and bondo. The downside is that they will have to paint the new skin, blend into the front door and quarter panel, and then clear all three. More expensive, but a better repair in the end.

Due to the location of the damage (extending to the door handle mounting point), you could probably push the insurance company to pay for the new skin method rather than the cheap method.

Up to you which way you choose.

 

that shyt sucks.. but aint that bad.. it can get pulled out and fixed EASY.. get enough from him for the simple repair and extra parts..

 

That is really close to being creased. To smooth that out will also cause the metal to weaken a bit pushing and rolling it back into place. Then you will have to use filler, which anything more then a skim job is to much. Most shops will then tape right up against the window seal instead of removing the window and rubber around it. That causes a rough edge.

Body work should never look like you had body work ever done. You should be able to see your car and wonder if it is yours and if the damage ever really happened. Anything short of that it crap work. I would go through insurance and when the adjuster comes out tell him you want a new door and make sure he checks the door jam for damage also. This guy hit you...you don't owe him anything have him fix the car to the way it was...or as close to factory as they can.

Don't let him tell you were he would like you to take it if he is paying out of his pocket. Take it to some place you trust. I take mine to a local guy here in town that is known for his show paint jobs. My insurance company has never complained and he has always done a great job.

My two cents...been there before. An ahole hit my wife when she was driving my car. He did not have insurance which made it even worse but he paid out of his pocket. I let him pick the place and then after I got my car back I ended up getting it repainted and done over by that local guy and my insurance paid for it.

 

500 no way
my damage was way less than that and my estimates ran upwards of a grand and up
but thats everything
r and r parts
repair paint blend etc
now i cant even see where it was hit

 

Go through insurance, if you wait on this guy there is a good chance you'll have difficulty extracting money from him if hidden charges appear. All you should care about is yourself and your car. I know you're trying to be a nice guy but in the end you'll just get screwed again. Maybe next time he'll realize just how important it is to use rear view mirrors.. All you care about is getting it fixed, don't care about anything or anyone else. Remember nice guys finish last. I've heard of a similar story and the guy stopped paying insurance and changed address. The insurance couldn't track him and they told my friend it was his fault for not claiming it quick enough, there was no validity to his claim. He had only liability.

 

If you go thru the insurance company it will then go on your cars record. Come trad-in time you'll regret it...Let the guy pay for it Dont go thru the insurance company..As one suggested get the entire door thru the Mitsubishi dealership it will be color matched. If then it doesn't match the paint then get it blended...you can probably search the WWW for the replcement door.....I would NOT get the door fixed....get a new one....

 

I don’t agree with Street. If they do a ****ty job outside of insurance during trade in it will be noticed and you will not get as much for your car. If it is fixed right the dealer will never know and even if it ends up on a carfax report it will not matter seeing that no flooding, fire and the frame did not need straightened and there was no structural damage done to the car chassis just the door. Plus if you have records of who fixed it and what they used...for example factory new OEM parts then it will trade in even better. Especially if the dealer that fixes it is the dealer trading they will know they did the repair the right way. Have his insurance cover it…if there are issues the money will be there and it will be done right. Carfax reports are there to protect the buyer. There is nothing that happened to your car that would hurt you during trade in or the next buyer especially if fixed right.