drew303

So I a young kid decided to back up (in the corner leading into the drive thru of a taco bell) and right into me. It's not a huge dent but he missed the bed which i dont care about and hit my lower B pillar.

To me this seems like it'd be a pita for a body shop to repair since the cab is one big welded together deal. No easy fender to bolt on.





So I already opened up the claim w/ his insurance since the kid was trying to act like there wasn't any damage to my truck "i thought i hit your tire" .. uh no jackass you hit my cab. anyway.. Im waiting for the claims adjuster to contact me once she's contacted him or his mom/dad.

Just wondering what im in for! How will they match 21yr old paint? How do they fix a dent like that anyways? Cut it out and weld in new sheet metal?

Have to paint my whole truck? .. .will the total it? Im not sure how much an insurance company thinks my 1987 4x4 standard single cab pickup with a 22r and 197k miles is worth? I hear body repairs are EXPENSIVE...

anyhoo, thoughts?

ps.. after this is fixed (or not fixed) im ordering my damn rock sliders LOL

iam_turner

I don't know where you are, but these questions largely depend on the autobody shop you go to. Up here in Northern Canada these jobs are quite expensive. They may just to a patch up job (using some filler) which isn't a great fix, paint it and buff it up. This would be the cheapest, if they cut it out, bang it straight, and add new metal (which is the best fix) it will be more expensive. It is hard to match up old paint, really hard, good shops can do a fairly decent job of it - you might notice a slight colour difference. I'm guessing 2-5 thousand Depending on how thorough they are.

I Don't believe they can want to scrap your truck, it also depends on how much work/aftermarket stuff you have on your beast. There can be some negotiating with the insurance adjuster...Definitely try to ensure they don't just cheese it up (with bondo) if you can.

Good luck.

drew303

wow you think that much? I was thinking high like that to =/ Yeah I definetly don't want them to bondo it over and spray on some similar red paint. It's going to get fixed right, or not fixed at all. I can live w/ the dent if the payout gets me my SAS =p

but if it can be fixed right id rather have it fixed since the truck is straight and this is the only dent (other than one other tiny ding) in the whole truck. All the trails Ive been on and missed every tree n rock by millimeters is something im proud of! no dents! =p hehe

-MUDSLINGER-

battle scars, add character!

rowdy235

Well I'd probably just pull it out and bondo it

But that job around here would run 1 to 2 thousand

toyotatom93

From the pic it doesent look that bad, but who knows how many hours it will take to get it to look perfect again because like you said you cant just order a new cab. And Paint is the other thing.

If it were me I guess I wouldent worry about it till I heard from the insurance company...then again I dont live in the states so I have no idea how the insurance works there. Seems like you could sue or something if insurance tries to stick something up your bum. But since it wasent your fault and insurance should cover it you should be able to fix it without spending a dime.

I'm mostly going by when I hit a deer in my previous car, insurance covered it and the only crappy part was driving around for a month waiting to get into the body shop. Other then that it was not a bad experience at all.

I was also thinking along the lines of settlement and keeping the $$ and dent.

sinister_rn61

I say if they cut you a check just spend the money on something else like lockers. It's not that bad, plus sooner or later you are gonna hit something while wheeling.

DudeBud

i would charge in the range of 600 to 1200 for that paint is not as hard to match as people think plus it can be blended. make sure your right there with the adjuster and just start pointing stuff out also sure its washed and really clean

GV27

+1 For me that wouldn't be worth repairing.

drew303

will definetly wash it before anyone looks at it.

The main concern folks have been telling me is if the repairs exceed the value of the truck (what ever value his insurance company thinks my truck is worth) they will total the vehicle and offer to buy it from me. ie take the truck or i buy it back at a $X price.

when i was t-boned in my moms jeep grand cherokee 4-5 yrs ago. The repairs far exceeded the value of the SUV so they paid her off for what they thought it was worth (before getting hit) and offered to sell it back for $1 grand.

drew303

heh, if it is a large amt of $ and they dont shaft me and think the truck is totalled or if they do and we work out some settlement i can def live w/ the dent and could really appreciate the funds to jumpstart my SAS. =p

horunner

pull some interior and get a lil rounded piece of metal and a hammer and go at it from the inside you can get it pretty good if you take your time i use to work at a body shopand thats all they do
unless you want to go the expencive route and have them add the panel
and paint is a brease to match if the painter knows what hes doing
and use the pay out for paint and sliders

tampabayota

that looks like it will buff out with no problems

b.miller123

do you know anybody that works at a body shop?

If not, then find a place that will do a free quote for the damages (most places will, if they wont, then go elsewhere) they are used to this kind of thing. Just make sure that they give you everything in writing, and layout what they are going to do to fix it, ie. not just filling the dent with bondo, either pulling it out or cutting it out and putting in a patch panel

This will give you a better idea of what you should be getting paid by the other insurance company,

Don't let the insurance adjuster low-ball you, and if need be, show them the quote if you have too, these people are either really good at what they do and will either know exactly what they have to pay you (and they can low ball you or give you what it's really going to cost) or they are total morons and wont actually have any clue what to pay you

Oh, and if the adjuster calls you before hand (which they will do to set up a time for them to come look at it) tell them to find the amount that it is going to take to total your truck (insurance companies use different systems to estimate values of vehicles) that way you will know how much it will take to total it


Personally, I would just take the money and put it some other good use, and eventually fix it yourself whenever you get around to it, or just leave it until your truck has more dents than you can count

yotasavg

why not just show it off?

jtlinna3vze

if i was going to fix that itd be about $500 bucks.. give or take.. most paint shops and stores have a gun that will give you a paint code for any faded color.. but blending will work just fine.. the top dent i could probly walk out with my paintless dent tools.. the bottom would get pounded out as flat as i could get it.. then depending on how rippled it still was id use filler primer or fiberglass to smooth it out.. then paint..
most insurance companys will go to the top dog in town to get a quote.. someone they can accredit. so they may say $1500 or more.. id just take whatever cash i could get form the insurance and have someone else fix it.. shop around..


now if this was michigan.. if you were parked. they have to pay for everything!!! it could be a 67 ford pinto and someone hit it when it was parked.. they could end up buying me a new 67 pinto.. lol.. on the other hand if you were behind the wheel in line at the drivethrough and he just backed up and hit your bumper.. thatd be a ticket for you for fallowing to close.. i love laws..

rdlsz24

I would keep the cash if they cut you a check

Rob

TORTIS

iTrader: (1)

mine has been totaled twice, and my damage was about like yours both times. first check was 2200 bucks after the buy back, and the second time it was 1700 after buy back. i only gave 3500 for the truck. it pays to have state farm......

Etype R

Looks like it could be pounded out from the inside fairly well.

Targetnut

a good sheetmetal guy can straighten that out. It'll end up with a bit of filler. the hard part will be matching the paint. red fades worse than just about any other color and if you just mix some up by the paint code it'll be way off from that. Some shops can scan the paint color and blend a special color to match it which works OK most of the time.

any how I would expect that damage to be $700 to get fixed and painted.

But prices on labor vary regionally so the best thing would be to get some estimates from your local bodyshops. Make sure whoever works on it is repatable though.