My silly mistake :(

[PeaceOfMind]

Had my brand new Lancer SX for a week. I absolutely love this car! BUT then disaster struck...

Was driving into my exceptionally narrow garage gate at very slow speed. Car was too close to the left. I got the left side mirror in but the rear door was pressed hard against the gate.



Guys, I really need some advice on repairing the door. This will be my first time dealing with car repairer. I hope to make it look brand new again. Can anyone recommend a good repairer in Parramatta / Liverpool / Campbelltown region? At this stage I am thinking of getting a good paintless dent repair tech to fix the panel and then use some touch up paint to fix the scratches. Does it sound right? How much will this repair cost? I do have comprehensive but want to keep my rating.

Thanks for reading guys!

[AJjnr86]

Hey Jay

Sorry to b the bearer of bad news, but when I asked a dent repairer if they could remove large dents he told me that he could do it but the metal might stretch and not come out 100%. I would phone a few tho and check with them, hopefully they can repair it for u

[aspir3]

Dont bother with a scratch and dent guy. They are good if you want to sell the car as they rarely last.

Off to a panel beater you go. Cost some where around $300 - $400.

May I suggest when you drive in narrow areas you stay as close to the drivers side as possible or back in.

[tomtom]

I scratched my driver side mirror going into my garage. Was just after i got my licence, was focusing more on a hill start :S hope you can fix it mate

[The X]

Had my brand new Lancer SX for a week. I absolutely love this car! BUT then disaster struck...

Was driving into my exceptionally narrow garage gate at very slow speed. Car was too close to the left. I got the left side mirror in but the rear door was pressed hard against the gate.

Guys, I really need some advice on repairing the door. This will be my first time dealing with car repairer. I hope to make it look brand new again. Can anyone recommend a good repairer in Parramatta / Liverpool / Campbelltown region? At this stage I am thinking of getting a good paintless dent repair tech to fix the panel and then use some touch up paint to fix the scratches. Does it sound right? How much will this repair cost? I do have comprehensive but want to keep my rating.

Thanks for reading guys!

Ah your first dent, it's always the worst. Has the paint actually broken or is it just a dent with the paint still intact?
If it's not broken might be an option to defer repairing it. Getting every small dent and scratch repaired everytime something happens is going to cost you a small fortune.
I have a small dent in my rear driver's side passenger door (probably shopping trolley handle or a 4wd passenger rear door).
At first it bugged me, but it's minor and hard to see that now I'm less bugged about it.
I'm going to wait until i have enough dents and bumps and things, to warrant the time and money to take to someone to fix properly.
Touch wood luckily all I have thus far is that dent and a slightly deformed rear bumper bar, obviously someone tapping into me probably in a parking space or something.
So if you can live with it, spend the money on mods and worry about repairs for minor issues down the track when you have enough of them to warrant the time and labour and the downtime of the car whilst it's in repairs.

[PeaceOfMind]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies and advices!

Today I got a mechanic to look over the damage. We can see a couple of places where the paint have be scratched. The largest patch is about 6cm long 5mm wide (I can see the bare metal). Also, It may not be apparent from my photo but the dent is quite large. About an elbow length from top to bottom.

The mechanic suggested me to replace the whole door and respray the left side of the car. Would cost about $1500 -1700. That's a lot of money to spend!

Since the door is still perfectly functional is it really necessary to replace it? Thanks Stacey I will give the smash repair guys a call.

[The X]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies and advices!

Today I got a mechanic to look over the damage. We can see a couple of places where the paint have be scratched. The largest patch is about 6cm long 5mm wide (I can see the bare metal). Also, It may not be apparent from my photo but the dent is quite large. About an elbow length from top to bottom.

The mechanic suggested me to replace the whole door and respray the left side of the car. Would cost about $1500 -1700. That's a lot of money to spend!

Since the door is still perfectly functional is it really necessary to replace it? Thanks Stacey I will give the smash repair guys a call.

Replace the whole door!?!?!? If the outer skin has been perforated then maybe the door skin needs to be replaced (but not the entire door!). But if it's just dents and scratches, bang it out and a re-spray is sufficient.
Sounds like that guy is trying to take you for a ride or doesn't know what he's talking about...... run!

[liam92]

No way would they need to replace the door! Unless the metal is punctured I cant even see how he would contemplate it :S

[os1so]

I talked to my best mate who's owns a panel shop, his advise is to take it to several panel shops and get advice & prices, try to see some of there work so you get an idea of there quality. But as he has said with out seeing the damage, a new door (second hand) and a quick blow over, could work out cheaper to replace than striping the dented area bogging it then respraying it, just in time it takes (they all charge by the hour). As for respraying the side this is done on met paint so it all blends in, you are less likely to see the resprayed area, because different paint manufactures have very small differences in the paint from factory paint, it just how it is, so in some lights you will notice it, spray the side and your less likely to see any colour change. Hope that helps a bit.

[PeaceOfMind]

Hi again, thanks again for all the information!

Today I got a quote from a smash repair in Granville. We had another good look at the door panel and luckily there's no crack or puncture. The metal on the dented area became very flexible though.

The owner gave me a quote of $800 (no tax invoice) to repair the door and respray the left side. He said the job takes 5 business days or more depending on weather.

During our chat the owner said he's going to wait until a sunny day to do the paint colour mixing because for metallic paint its the hard to tell if the colours right without ample sunlight. He sounds like he know what hes talking about eh? He also said he'll try not to use any putty filler as it may crack in the long run.

Guys, do you think $800 is a fair price? Cheers!

[Blakey]

if you go to a real panel beaters that actually do what there name says rather then just replace everything, then they would know the job can be fixed with very minimal filler. there is a spot welder that can be gotten that can weld small keys to metal. to pull the dent out they weld a heap of these keys to the door, and a special device that uses pads on strong parts of the existing parts of the car, push against the car, and pull the dent back out so it pops back out. once that is done, they can apply a high heat. that will relax the metal. letting it further spring back into its original shape. once that is done, snap the keys off, grind of the small lumps from the keys, sand the metal back smooth. check for dents, and fill any that didn't come out when the heat was applied, sand, paint, clear done.

that one way how it can be done with minimal filler. whole job can be done in a day if organized properly. if he says 5 days for a small dent in the door then that's way to long.
it only too 6 days to repair, a good portion of my car when i got the boot, roof, and pillar repaired, and all mine where replacements. and removing the roof skin is an all day job. so if my car can get all of that stuff fixed in less then a week, then, that guy can fix a small dent if less then 5 days.

[PNKBBY]

go see Deni at SprayFever in Campbelltown.. they pulled a massive rabbit out of a hat for my car, even with the painful paint.. just mention a pink CE to him.. he fixed my car after a arguement with a gate