Ugh, need to replace hood
 

So I was driving down the highway when I heard what sounded like a large rock bouncing off somewhere in the front of the car. I pull off and see that I have some major damage to the hood (but luckily, just isolated to the hood and not the hinges).

Anyone know what it costs to get a full hood replacement? Or, is it preferable to buy the hood, paint it, and install it?

Any experienced advice would be helpful. Thanks!

A picture or it didn't happened. Fair enough?

Unless you find a used hood in the same color on Car-part.com and swap out yourself most likely you won't really save any significant money by buying the hood yourself taking it to a body shop and having them paint it.

The bodyshop is going to buy the hood at a discount and charge you list. Yes, you can probably buy it online at a discount, but then you have shipping. Plus if it is damaged in transport, now you have to deal with that. Maybe you can find a local parts department that might discount you? Then you'll piss off the bodyshop and they will just charge more for the paint. Sure you can spend a day or more getting quotes for the paint work but what is your time worth? To actually perform the repair correctly for color match they would blend the fenders, meaning blend the color and re-clear. If you rattle can it will look like dick or a taxi cab and rock chip easily and cost more when you take it to a body shop for them to remove the crap you put on. Personally, I'd turn it into your insurance company or take it to a reputable shop and pay out of pocket for a turn key repair.

Fair enough... but when I have the time.

Sounds like good advice. I plan on heading over to some body shops to see if the hood is salvageable. It doesn't look that bad except theres this one huge indentation where part of the hood is almost punctured.

Pics to follow later in the day.

Is it dent or paint damage? A Paintless dent removal will work if the paint is still good.

They usually don't fix hoods, at least around Chicago. It's usually quicker/cheaper to just replace the hood

Give those paintless dent repair guys a chance for their opinion. Maybe the repair may not be perfect, but in time, you could save a lot of money by ignoring the imperfection.

If you have comprehensive insurance, it should cost you no more than your deductible out of pocket.

When I caught a deer on the hood with my '09 Fit, it cost about $1100 to replace the hood IIRC. That was having the body shop source the hood, paint it and install it. My insurance paid all but the deductible.

Bang it back into shape, Bondo if necessary, then vinyl wrap to save the most money.

Or just get a black hood if you really don't care about color matching, since black will go with every other color out there.

I did a black aftermarket hood after it was bent in an accident (in my DC Integra).

Currently my GK hood is 3M clear protected. If it was dinged, I might do the bang and wrap.

I'm curious in seeing a picture.

Both dent and paint damage.

Thats what I was thinking ....

With a $1000 deductible, its going to be close. I have an oil change due in a month so I'll get a quote from the dealer. But I know the answer, it's going to be better going to an indy shop.

See attached....

I got a little busy but here are the pics. I cleaned the snow and salt grime from the hood and all in all, it doesn't look that bad. The scratches can be buffed out but that one big dent that looks punctured looks problematic.

One garage I visited quoted me $300 which is ok for me....

I'm not sure what happened...all my wife and I heard was a loud thud against the body while we were going 35-45mph on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. Whatever it was, it looks sizable so it looks like an object fell off somewhere or someone chucked something from their car.

We'll see what the my body shop guy at Citi Field can do for $300. He's worked magic before. To replace the hood, OEM, will be $600. Not as bad as I thought.

Not sure what the affordability of deductible as anything to do with this topic.

The damage is right along the crease, difficult to get it right. Even if you get it repaired rather than to get a new hood, you will notice that the line of sight will not be straight. Either live with it, or get it done right. Ugggghhhhh.

Yea it hurts. My wife has been in a sour mood as this is her car. I'm gonna see how my guy Shah at Citi Field does with our baby Fit. I'll post pics afterwards.

i’d get a new hood and paint.