body shop "shopping" aroaund, first day experience
 

SO, I got this "little" dent.... Ok, so someone hit my rear driver side door and a little (4" x4") corner on the rear quarter panel, after going back and forth, the other party didn't have insurance, therefore I am eating it, as I dont' think I will be putting a claim through my insurance company :( ...

Anyway, it seems I will need the door skin (I was told they dont' sell just the door skin, just the whole door), repair that 4x4 corner, refinish the scratches on the bumper (plastic), and paint (blend in , etc) rear qtr panel, and door.... didn't seem like too much of a job....

First quote I got about a month ago $2.3K

Second quote I got today, $900 . They said they could fix the door panel (seems like alot of work to get it EVEN to me, but they said they could do it), quoted $900... I was like, "hmm, not bad..

Second place today said they neded to replace the whole door as they dont' sell just the skin, quoted $1,900. Big difference...

I must say, the second body shop looked more professional, well kept, the quality of cars was high caliber (jaguar, cadillac, MB.....).

How the heck can you trust anyone, if you have no referals....it's not good, I am going to have to get a few more quotes and see where they fall at. Going to try the local MB dealer and see if its in the $2K range or higher.


Does anyone know how many coats they are supposed to put on? Then again, you'll never know... first shop said 3 paint and 3 clear, second said 2/2..... :confused:

Isn't insurance manditory in Florida??? How can the person who hit you not have it? What about suing them in small claims court to recover it?

When it comes to choosing a body shop I use the same instincts I use when choosing any other service. Is the shop clean and well organized and is the person you are dealing with a professional who knows what he is talking about? Use your gut. It is better than any referral. Ask to see some of their finished work on the lot.

I think you can tell within 30 seconds after seeing a shop if it is a good one or not. Don't choose based upon price if what you are looking for is good work. Cheap work looks it.

sticker shock
 

I just took both my 123s into a body shop, that was very highly recommended, to see about cleaning up a few minor dings and nicks (stuff that most people would never even notice). I was thinking it would be a few hundred dollars for each car. I guess I haven't priced body work in a while, it was almost $2000 for each car. I will get the work done there, based on the quality of their work and my "gut" feeling that they know what they're doing after talking to them. I was just surprised how easy it is to spend money on body work and paint. I don't even want to guess how much a good repaint would cost these days.

I have to do some business next the MB dealer, so I will see if they can price out the work, since they have a body shop and benchmark the others on that.....$2K for a door (they claim they don't sell the skin individually), a 4x4 repair , and paint 2-3 panels..... I can see how the whole car painting would be $4K, more or less.... I am not even going to bother asking them how much to paint the whole thing.....lol....

Funny how putting 30K miles on a car in a yr and 3 months shows up in wear and tear of the body :( ..... 2 small door jobs on the passenger side, one scratch on the passenger side bottom panel due to something on the road, and now this "dent" on the driver side... you need a freaking tank to drive here :eek: