A friend of mine got a nice big dent that goes across two of her driver side door panels (don't worry - she drives a Toyota - not a TSX)! So, she went to have repairs priced and all the body shops told her that she would have to have the door panels replaced entirely. She got quote several prices that were above $1000.

It made me wonder what happened to the old days when they banged the dent out instead of replacing parts.

So, my question is this, when do they replace panels and when do they attempt a repair?

 

I remember talking to a friend about this topic, and he said that the trend has changed from just banging the dent back out to replacing the entire panel. IMO, if I had to pay for the damage out of my own pocket (do not get the insurance involve), I would find a good shop that can do the repair in the "old way". But if the insurance co. is paying for the repair (i.e. not my fault and I don't have to pay for the deductible), then I would still go to a good body shop, but tell them that I want the panel to be replace entirely.

 

how big of a dent are we talking? and if you have to pay out of the pocket and you arent look at a paint issue, check out a paintless dent repair, they can fix a dent, usually to like 80-90% for a lot cheaper than rmoving the part, sanding, painting, etc. The extra 10-20% to fix the problem is where the cost is.

 

I don't think the dents she has are hugh, but there is definitely a paint issue.