So I noticed the other day that some kind soul has opened their door into my Fit and put a dent into the right rear fender. I take it to the body shop at the dealer where I bought it and they give me a ridiculous estimate. $642.00!?!? Is that right? Wow, thanks Jerk, you opened your car door and it cost me $650 dollars.

The Damage:


The estimate page 1:


The estimate page 2:


It make me so mad that people get away with this; both the idiot that can't control his door-opening speed or the body shop that preys on us with the door dings on the new cars....

 

holly cow man thats way too much.... taht kinda dent cost me on my DC5 not even 60 bucks bro

 

They told me they would have to remove the whole quarter panel and repair and repaint it.

 

"...they would have to remove the whole quarter panel and repair and repaint it."

Sounds like a doctor that needs to remove the leg so he wrap the sprained ankle.

 

^^...I doubt that very much. You'll be lucky if they even bother to pull or punch out the ding before repairing it. It's so small, they'll probably just bondoe (spelling?) it. The estimate sounds about right, though....for a dealer. :P If your insurance covers it, then go ahead. If not, take it elsewhere.

 

How about one of those dent repair guys?

 

Well since its a uni-body car and that panel is not removable I seriously doubt they are going to remove it to repair it. Look for a mobile dent repair, Dent Doctor or ish in the yellow pages, or better yet yp.yahoo.com Forget the dealer that is insane, paintless dent repair should be on the cheap, $100 or less.

 

like I said dentless guy will do it around 150 bucks and if u know one of them he will do it for around 60 or even less... thats how I got rip of mine when I got my DC5

 

That estimate is completely full of sh*t.

Get another estimate elsewhere, and at another place and another.

And get them to bid against each other.

And don't forget to park away from other cars. You'll have to walk more, but it's healthier for you and your Fit.

 

Sorry to hear. I would get another estimate. But it looks like it took paint, so a dentless repair will not fix it completely. Also it's near a crease, and I thought it's more difficult to repair by dentless.

 

Hopkins Honda is a rip off. I wouldn't take my car there for anything. They're probably throwing you that huge bill because they need the money to help pay for that new buidling of theirs.

I'd just take it to the Paintless Dent Remover dude..

PS... Hopkins Honda sucks, they're not fair to their technicians.

 

pffft. that's a right ripoff. You could easily just fill that up with polyfiller or something and get it repainted.

 

Hell - for $300 in these parts you could get that leaded and blend painted with a warranty!

 

thats totally ridiculous. You should look for a ding doctor.

 

All of the "R&I" stuff for the bumper and taillight assembly is to remove and install it, so they can get full access to the quarter panel. When it's painted, because they can overlap the paint into the (now removed) bumper and taillight areas, you won't get a hard edge on the paint, like you might if they had to mask off the bumper and taillights.

The software they use for doing the estimates are pretty generous, as far as how much time it assigns for doing the R&I's.

I'd get several estimates, ranging from the full paint job (like your first quote), down to the paintless dent dudes. Being right on a crease, the dent dudes aren't going to be able to get you a hard edge, though.

Since your car is Vivid Blue Pearl, I can attest to the fact that using the Honda Touch-up Paint results in a very good color match. I have to really search for the scratches I had to touch up on my Fit. You may decide that a dent doctor can get you close enough, and a little touch up paint from Honda will take care of the nicks good enough for you.

 

all cars should come pre-dented so you don't have to stress about stuff like this. now you have a dent so you can just relax and drive. personally i'm scared to get a new car - mine has dents on every side.

 

I wish I had better news for you, a Dent Doctor, or Paintless Dent Removal guy can't fix that. If they can I'd be shocked. When I was doing windows I became pretty good friends with the Dent guy that worked the same lots as I did. If the ding/dent is in the flat of the door/fender panel then you're good, if it's close to a seam or body line it's possible to fix but difficult, in the spot where your damage is, I'd be really surprised if they can fix that. It never hurts to check but I'd do what a couple others have suggested, get multiple estimates and see what's up. If they're all in the same range then go with the shop that has the best reputation. If a couple are grossly higher you know they're trying to gouge you. Good luck

 

I've had great luck at Lehman's and there are a few around the Cities. There are several dent repair places as well but I always just go to Lehman's.

 

You should be able to take that to a dent guy and have them just pop it out maybe

 

that is a bunch of BS yo find someone that will do it at a price not so ridiculous