Ignore my huge stock suspension wheel gap for a moment and tell me what you guys think it'd cost to get this fixed.

Dude swiped me today in Berkeley when he thought a left turn only lane was also a straight lane. I went straight, he went straight - into my lane and me. He was in this huge *** lifted Excursion with ginormous tires and the whole nine yards. Lucky it didn't run my whole damn car over cause it probably could.

Front door looks pretty well dented in multiple areas. Rear door doesn't have any apparent movement inward - just paint or scuff mark as far as I can tell - but my expertise isn't body work so I don't know the real extent of any damage. Side skirt is detached a little in the middle but still holding on pretty firmly - looks a little bent in some spots as well.

Anyway he'd rather pay out of pocket than deal with insurance. I'm still weighing my options but thought I'd run it by you guys to get an idea of how much it'd cost this guy.

Any recommendations on a good body shop in the Berkeley or San Jose areas? Living up here for school but I go back home to SJ every weekend.

 

dang, wild guess $2000? if you could find some spare doors and do it yourself...

at least the damage looks cool and you werent crushed to death monster truck style

 

wow that sucks....

Looks like you'll need both left side doors, unless that dent is just a glare from a reflection, id say about $1500 a piece if you get lucky.... plus paint....

 

Well, I'd go through his insurance company, otherwise he might try to screw you, been there done that. I'd say about $2 to 2.5k.. Try buffing that black out now that you have pics, you might also be able to pop the doors out..

Or, go find 3 body shops and get the most expensive quote and get him to pay that and then go back to the shop with a lower quote.

Also, goto YEAMAN's in Palo Alto, my buddy is the manager there, his name is Jeff, mention my name(Bryan) and he might cut you a deal. They do a really good job there and have lots of experience with Suby's..

 

insurance replaced my driver's side door. around $1500...

 

You really need to handle this through his insurance.

 

Don't deal directly with the other driver. Just get his insurance carrier's name and his policy number, then give the information to your insurance carrier. He may already be a high-risk policy holder and with no police report, the longer you wait or the longer he can stall you for time, the worse off you'll be regarding your vehicle repair. You should always notify your own insurance company as soon as possible.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

do you have a witness, or will the driver admit that its his fault? i got sideswiped and the guy cut over a solid white line into me and since there were no witnesses, im not gonna get jack. his word against mine

Now i have to take him to court. hopefully being under oath will help

 

You do realize, people still lie thier asses off under oath.... if it comes to court, you need evidence that proves beyond any reason for doubt.... take pictures of where it happened, like road markings...etc.... then if the guy tries to lie his *** off, bring the pictures out and tell him to explain to the court how exactly you have 2 giant tire marks on the side of your car, using the pictures as a diagram.

That is always fun =)

 

claybar ftw =]


jk... im sorry that happened.

 

damn !
i just got my hood dented, and it was 1250. the only things that were done were paintless removal, and repaint the hood.
So i would guess, if you wanna "repair" the doors, it'll cost 3000 or more.
But definitely try to just get them replaced. I was stupid enough to let the body shop repair my hood, and who knows how much bondo they have put on my hood.
I think you can probably get an estimate for "repairing" first, then have the other guy's insurance pay you, then just get 2 new doors? maybe you can get some extra cash that way?

I go to UC berkeley and come back to san jose once every 2 weeks too !!!
AND i drive a WHITE wrx! haha
I would recommend Creative Kustoms in San Jose.

 

no bad, just a door skin, then paint for the door and ajoining panels, maybe...30 hour work? shoudl be aroun 2-3k to fix

 

He did say it was his fault, but admitting fault by word of mouth after the accident occured doesn't mean admitting fault in the case of an insurance claim/investigation. I did have my girlfriend riding with me who would be a witness if it came down to arguing it.

He did have insurance and everything, but he seemed rather adamant about taking care of it from his own pocket because he didn't want to get dinged on his insurance record. He actually cut me a post-dated blank check on the spot and told me to get back to him with repair quotes. In hindsight I realize maybe I shouldn't have taken it though, because that could possibly be construed as restitution for the damages that were caused. (anyone?)

 

your girlfriend wont count as a witness as i found out with my friend, especially since she was in the car. i know... its bs

if the guy is rolling in an excursion lifted up and all gas thirsty-like, and if you can estimate how much money he makes, id get the cash from him and call it a day.

you could fix that yourself with a new doorskin like said above, i dont think it will be 30 hours if you do it yourself. maybe 5 hours? might need to weld it in place i dunno, i did my front fender, it was easy.

 

Those door shells will cost ~600 each the side skirt is running ~300, painting and installation are going to run another 1k or so.

I'd say right around 2.5k out of his pocket should do the trick.