Worst day ever, lemme tell ya (outer door panel replacement).

[Dirty-EB-Chicago]

So today has turned into a nightmare. late for work by several hours combined with no sleep resulted in scraping and denting my drivers side outer door panel against the concrete wall in a parking garage. :headbonk: :frusty: Needless to say I'm way past dwelling on how stupid and avoidable this mistake was and now I need to remedy the damage.

So my question for the forum is how would you go about fixing this? my insurance deductible is $1000, which I now realize is higher than I'd like it to be. I'm at a loss on this one, and I'm really not sure how to approach this repair, hoping to get some much needed advice from the community before I do anything.

Sponsored

 

[therealdannye]

You have my sympathy. I agree though, let's focus on "can do" instead of "dammitdammitdammit."

The paint scrape I bet could be fixed for cheap, any good paint shop should be able to take care of that. That dent though... I'd take it to a good body shop and ask if it can be mostly popped out? Seems like it would be overkill to get a new door.

 

[MELLOWYELLOW06]

Go to a few body shops and get estimates

This way you could see what you are looking at from a professionals view

 

[ElAviator72]

The paint scrape I bet could be fixed for cheap, any good paint shop should be able to take care of that. That dent though... I'd take it to a good body shop and ask if it can be mostly popped out? Seems like it would be overkill to get a new door.

In the old days, the dent would be filled with Bondo (as long as there's no internal damage to the door-which would be evident from a window malfunction or a door lock malfunction). It probably is pullable, you'd be surprised at how thin the sheet metal on newer cars is ;)

If it weren't for the dent, a halfway good detailer might have been able to take care of this as long as the scrape doesn't go down to the primer :(

 

[Road Dog]

Well there Dirty

You sound like a prime customer for Carsmetics.. You can probably get this done for a lot less than $1000.

 

[Dirty-EB-Chicago]

In the old days, the dent would be filled with Bondo (as long as there's no internal damage to the door-which would be evident from a window malfunction or a door lock malfunction). It probably is pullable, you'd be surprised at how thin the sheet metal on newer cars is ;)

If it weren't for the dent, a halfway good detailer might have been able to take care of this as long as the scrape doesn't go down to the primer :(

Wow thanks for the quick responses guys. I will be leaving the city from work shortly so ill be able to check for any malfunctions in the door mechanics / electrical system. As for the depth of the scratch im fairly certain the main gash is into the primer, i really managed to dig the character line of the car into that damn wall. which was probably the sharpest edge on any wall ive ever seen in my life lol. Ill take a few more pictures before i take off for clarity.

I have the weekend off so ill have some time to visit a few body shops and evaluate the damage and cost to repair. Honestly this is the first time I've hit anything like this, and I cant tell you how much i appreciate the insights guys.

 

[Dirty-EB-Chicago]

You sound like a prime customer for Carsmetics.. You can probably get this done for a lot less than $1000.

:( Their website looks really good, but I'm in Chicago, and they don't have anything in Illinois. They do look pretty respectable at a glance and the financing option for the repairs is appealing. thanks for the tip none-the-less.

 

[WKT]

I feel sure a good body shop can fix this with out replacing the door and very little body filler. Go get some estimates and see what they can tell you. Good luck with the repairs.

 

[Doskiller]

Ugh ........... I get a queasy feeling just looking at it. You will not feel better until it's fixed ......... trust.

 

[Redcruzer]

You have my sympathy. Had a Day like that a few years back. No sleep totally stressed out from work and ill Mother in law. Was in a huge, totally empty parking lot, well, except for the one car that drove by me as I pulled out....going forward.

 

[HTX]

http://andersoncomposites.com/products/carbon-fiber-doors-for-2015-2016-ford-mustang

 

[EcoSwag1990]

I feel for you. I did the exact same thing to my last car. Never did get it fixed lol

 

[stangs-R-me]

With a $1000 deductible, I would get this fixed on my own and not get my insurance company involved.

Even with no deductible, I'd not contact my insurance company in a situation with this minor of damage where it was 100% my fault and no other vehicle or police report was involved.

Doug

 

[Edwin]

I got tboned by an old man in a Suzuki last summer. He was only going about 10-15 but he hit me right where the door meets the rear quarter panel. It cost me $1200 to get both repaired. My dent was a little worse than yours on the door panel but they didn't have to completely replace anything. They popped it added a tiny bit of filler and repainted it. If they charge you more than $1000 for yours Id say go somewhere else.

 

[Dirty-EB-Chicago]

Thank you everyone for the input and insight, To be honest I halfway expected to get "haha dumbass" responses, so this was an incredibly nice surprise for me. I'm planning to keep this thread going as repairs get done in the very near future. Gotta put the money together real quick.
The saddest part in all this is what this money was supposed to go towards, that being a performance tune, and FMIC. The upside to this is that ill never park frivolously ever again lol.

Sponsored