PointQ

Leaving a Dave Matthews concert last night and this drunk kid punched my car a few times. Definitely left some dents on the back right quarterpanel, on par with reasonably bad door dings.

So the question: what are my options? there's no chance im leaving them, so what recommendations does everyone have for me fixing them expeditiously. is this a fairly routine procedure for a dealership? can they just pop em out? what am i looking at for cost? ive never pursued fixing door dings before.

And now the answers: No, I didn't do anything to provoke him to punch my car. He was definitely angry at something, though. And no, I didn't immediately hop out of the car with my friend and kick the living shit out of him (though nothing would have given me more pleasure). I have a security clearance, and the place was swarming with cops. Not to mention I was making incredible time beating traffic out of the concert.

I don't have to say that I was completely devastated when I saw these. Any help would be very, very appreciated.

Thanks.

Colin

wow that sucks! It sounds like the paintless dent removal should do the trick, but they cannot always guarantee 100% results (especially if it's on a crease). The only other alternative is to see a body shop for traditional repair. Paintless should be in the 100-150 range, and body shop in the 800-1000 depending how many panels they have to blend.

09TSX

PointQ...I am sorry for what you had to go through....you have alot more restrain than me...I would have put the car in reverse, use the backup camera to make sure I wouldn't miss my target and run him over!! I DESPISE little punks who can't respect people's property.....I second what Colin says, eith the paintless repairs if they can do something about it, otherwise, its going to be more costly as you will need the traditional repairs...

Do you have any pics of the dammage?

PointQ

Yeah, I think I'll snap some pics and post 'em up. Thanks for the sympathy.. it's really quite devastating.

I called an acura dealership, and they referred me to the body shop they use, so I think I'll run over there now and have them take a look at it. Colin, if I'm hearing you right, it sounds like I might be able to repair it myself and not take it in to a body shop and save lots of money. I'll post some pics.. there are either 4 or 5 dents all within a square foot of each other, and none of them cross seams or anything, they're fairly well centered above the back rear tire on the quarterpanel.

Like I said, I've never had to do anything like this before, so I don't know what paintless dent removal is. Is this something I can do myself?

BTW, there's no paint damage whatsoever than I can tell, only dents. Thanks again for the help.

09TSX

pointQ....I think the best thing is to have some pics taken so that everyone can see the extent of the damages. This way, you will be able to get a better opinion...

PointQ

will do 09tsx, should be up within a few hours. ill still run by the auto body place and have them take a look, and provided it's not like unbelievably inexpensive to repair, ill bring the estimate back here for some feedback.

09TSX

Good idea, it never hurts to explore all your options.....

jackspat2

You did the right thing PointQ. If I were in your position, I probably would have done the same. Otherwise, you may have been paying a bigger price later. Otherwise, I would have got out and kicked his ass.

Good luck with your repairs

PointQ

Alright, pics... the dents were much harder to capture on camera than I had hoped, and are more noticable in person. Right now, I'm counting 4, and only 2 showed up. The other 2 are right next to each other and much less severe, most likely from the kid's fist. I put some circles around the less obvious dent. But as you can see, no paint damage. I'm really hoping this is something routine that can just get done and forgot about. Like it never happened......

09TSX

ouch....Well, I am not an expert but you may be able to get a few out with 'paintless' repairs however, one does appear dangerously close to the crease line and deep enough that may require more conventional repairs. I'd go have it checked by both a tradional repair shop recommended by your dealership and a paintless repair shot, get a free quote and then come back to us and we'll see if we can pull our heads together and find the best and more economical solution to your situation. You know, one thing to keep in mind that sometimes,saving a few dollars may not be worth it if the repair is not 100% but that being said, if you can leave the original finish on the car, that can also be a good thing...a few things to keep in mind...

ill45

looks like a paintless dent repair canidate to me

PointQ

alright, so went to the auto shop recommended by the dealer, and got a quote for $250 to repair all 4 dents.

09TSX, you're right, I didn't fully understand the crease thing, but the guy at the shop did say that the worst dent there is spilling over a very little bit into the crease. He said they'd have to drill in through the trunk to repair all of the dents, and the worst dent may not come out 100% (in his words, if not 100%, 95%).

sound reasonable? do you guys think there's any reason why he maybe wouldn't have to drill in through the trunk? is paintless dent removal always done by coming in from behind?

Colin

Whenever a repair is close to the crease, they risk 'losing' the contour when the pop it back out. Then they have to try to 'reform' the character line. In this case, you are at 95% or less. On some dents they can use the epoxy to pull the dent. but this is less reliable and requires 'pounding' back in after you pull it. IMO, I'd play it safe and go with conventional repair.

ill45

I'd go paintless repair for sure. I wouldn't want to re-paint the brand new paint... They always have to drill a hole when they do this procedure so you tellin us they have to drill through the trunk seems normal.

Jim Holloman

You best option might very well be the one that you don't like.

Having a body shop drill holes in your new car, patch with bondo, sand down to bear metal, then prime, paint and clear coat could easily leave you with an obvious difference in color, or sheen, or both. The area will be much larger than the current dents and could actually reduce the resale value more than the dents -- for the car might then appear to have been in some kind of accident.

And, I can't imagine how any body shop would do a good job for $250.00 -- assuming a traditional repair as described. I would say $800-$1,000 to get it done right. But, there is no guarantee it will look "new". However, painting the entire panel would produce a less noticeable mismatch.

The very night I brought my 6000 home from the dealership, I left it outside without a second thought. That night a large thunderstorm dropped one piece of large hail on the roof -- and put a large dent in the roof. The dent was still there 20 years later. It taught me a little humility -- for I was full of pride over my new car.

BTW, you will never seen, nor notice, the dents while driving. My suggestion -- live with them for a few weeks, or months, and then do the repair if you still wish to do so.

PointQ

Thanks for the advice. Jim.. from what I've heard, $250 sounds reasonable (but not too cheap), and on par with typical paintless dent removal procedures. When you say I should be spending $800-$1000 dollars, what exactly are you talking about me having done?

If they really can get out the three less noticable dents completely, and the fourth on the crease 95% out, for $250, it might be worth it to me to have 5% of a dent sitting there to save $750. I mean the dents are bad, but I just don't see me needing to pay a grand to fix them.

But Jim, I am curious what procedure you're talking about that will cost me that. Thanks again.

09TSX

PointQ....Jim was describing traditional repairs where the car is sanded down, repaired, spray painted and so on,,,

You are going the route of the paintless repairs which may not yield the results as good as traditional repairs but may be good enough providing they feel confident they can restor your sheet metal to at least 95% of what it once was....

ill45

I personally would rather have 95% good than having to repaint the whole side panel, unless i knew the paint and finish is going to look exactly as it was which is hard to get unless your shelling out a nice chunk of change.

PointQ

Well I'm leaning toward the paintless repair.. I may just take it back and get a second opinion to see if they really think they can just about get the entire dent out.

[R]isque'

Man, that sucks.
I'd be leaving dents in the drunk kid.....

They should be able to get that out though.