Had a minor collision, need advice on repairs

[djs1122]

I accidentally rear ended a pick up truck during the evacuation of Houston last week. My damage is not great, but there is a 3 inch dent in the hood, no paint harmed, and a small indentation in the front bumper, again no real paint damage. I am going to take it to the dealer's body shop. They do not do paintless dent repair, they do the regular repair apparently according the the factory specs. My question is should I try to find a paintless dent guy or go with the dealer, which might involve repainting the whole hood.

[peterkulesza]

yes. this has to be a trusted mechanic that you knwo, cos sometimes this is tricky.

repaint is sometimes better, (no dent left), but paint matching may be difficult on black white, or older than 3 years cars.

[AIO]

Originally Posted by djs1122

I accidentally rear ended a pick up truck during the evacuation of Houston last week. My damage is not great, but there is a 3 inch dent in the hood, no paint harmed, and a small indentation in the front bumper, again no real paint damage. I am going to take it to the dealer's body shop. They do not do paintless dent repair, they do the regular repair apparently according the the factory specs. My question is should I try to find a paintless dent guy or go with the dealer, which might involve repainting the whole hood.

How old is your car?

[eboy1978]

I think that a 3inch dent could be too big for rolling it out. This technique is usually used on smaller parking dents or large stone dents etc.
Also depends on where it is - on a flat/curved section etc.
Good luck with it though, post a pic and let's see. it's easier to judge if it's in front of you.

[djs1122]

The car is a 2004, just over a year old. The dealer says it probably cannot be fixed by paintless dent repair, so it looks like the hood will have to be repainted.

[djs1122]

OK all here is the answer. It is too big for paintless dent repair. But the dealer said they don't have to paint the entire hood, they can blend it in since the damage is on the nose of the hood. Entire cost throught dealers body shop is $950, of which I pay my $250 deductble only.

[djs1122]

OK all here is the fianl answer. The dealer did a great job. They fixrd the dent in the front of the hoos and the bumber. Repainted both and looks like new. Cost was $950.

[djs1122]

Wow, sorry about the bad spelling in the previous post. I didn't check it before posting it. fianl is final, fixrd is fixed, hoos is hood, and bumber is bumper.

[drz]

Good to know you're back in good cosmetic shape.