Repairing body damage myself - any advice ?

**bd32322** · 02-07-2006, 08:40 PM

Hi I am a new member and a new RX-8 owner from Worcester, MA.

Unfortunately, 2 weeks after I got my car, it got hit in the parking lot and got some decent damage. And ofcourse nobody left a note and no one seems to have seen the incident either. See http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=82208 for pics. Scroll down on the same page for more pics.

Anyway I have 3 choices:

1. Get it repaired professionally - remove dents, paint and paint match (cost $1100)

2. Have a new door panel installed, paint and paint matched (cost $1600)

3. Take a course at a auto-training school where people get to work on their own cars. They also have their own dust-free paint booth and are supposedly pretty well equipped. I can fix the dents or replace panel, put whatever base coats I safely can and then leave the final top coat work and paint matching work to the experts. Cost ($370 for course + door panel if replacing + top coat work from third party).

I have 0 experience at doing any body work or paint work. Also people have told me that the door is made of aluminum and it will be hard to repair and not compromise structural strength. Given all this, should I go ahead with taking the course and fixing most of it myself ?

My insurance deductible is $1000 and I could not catch the culprit yet - thats why I am going to all these lengths. Plus getting some body work experience on my car will be fun. Also the course is taught by an instructor who has 30 years experience in restoring cars. The course runs for 4 hours per week for 11 weeks.

Thanks,

Bodi

**tguil** · 02-08-2006, 08:40 AM

Simple:

Get it repaired by the best body shop you can find. You don`t want to learn body shop repair on a new car. Why the high deductible?

Tom

**Accumulator** · 02-08-2006, 08:54 AM

Absolutely right! DO NOT try to do this yourself. I did body/paint work on my project cars back in the day and a) today`s technologies don`t really favor the DIYer the way they used to, b) you don`t want to learn on your nice car, c) it`s a *LOT* harder than you`d ever imagine to get things to turn out right, and d) a less than perfect repair will torpedo the value of your car and drive you crazy every time you look at it.

Unless you have a burning desire to be an autobody man, just let the pros handle it and spend your time and energies on something else. That $1K deductible might be the smartest $1,000 you`ve spent in a while

**White95Max** · 02-08-2006, 02:25 PM

Have it done professionally.

And you could also measure the height of the damage on your car to the damage on the suspected car. If they are even, definitely leave a note on his/her car about it. If he/she doesn`t fess up, call the police.

**bd32322** · 02-08-2006, 05:05 PM

when you guys talk about the process being hard - which part are you talking about? The painting and paint matching parts or the dent removal? I was thinking of doing only the basic simple labor-intensive stuff like pulling dents and stuff and removing the old paint, masking etc. I plan on leaving the actual job of painting the top-coat color and paint matching to the body shop.

And you could also measure the height of the damage on your car to the damage on the suspected car. If they are even, definitely leave a note on his/her car about it. If he/she doesn`t fess up, call the police.

I did find such a car and called the police - but the guy said he hit a guard rail elsewhere. Also the size of the damage did not match. I believe the actual car is not coming back to the apartment parking lot, but I am looking for him around the area.

Bodi

**imported_Denzil** · 02-08-2006, 05:24 PM

The ENTIRE process is difficult. Your lack of bodywork experience will show in your work. Bodywork experience is all in the "mileage."

**WSUcommuter** · 02-08-2006, 05:31 PM

Having done DIY body repairs I can attest to the previous comment that you will have to LIVE WITH YOUR REPAIR FOR THE LIFE OF YOUR CAR OWNERSHIP. I saved $1200 by blasting, sanding, filling, pulling/repairing dents, dings, rust, etc on my first vehicle but two areas (out of about 12 fixed) came out less than perfect. Nobody ever knew the other ten and didn`t appreciate the fact that I fixed them to non-existence, but the two that were still visible drew criticism from more than just myself.

I firmly believe you cannot learn too much and always value learning a new skill. I would make this more of a personal question than a financial one, if you are prepared to live with the results. Financially though, given the information reveals your rear door is aluminum, I could not justify it.

Sorry to hear that this happened to you. I`ve been there, done that... I had a nice big dent on my S-10 with sea foam green paint left on the contact transfer. A friend of mine just so happened to see Mr. X`s sea foam green Beretta parked beside me the day my dent happened. I was on property monitored with cameras but this incident did not get caught, of course :angry

**bd32322** · 02-09-2006, 06:43 AM

Thanks very much for your input. I think I`ll get it done professionally since its such a new car and mistakes are bound to happen. Even if other people dont notice it, I will notice it (as you guys mentioned above).

On the flip side if the professionals make any mistake - I will probably not notice it

During this process however, I have read up on a bunch of books and I guess I sort of know what imperfections to look for.

I had a nice big dent on my S-10 with sea foam green paint left on the contact transfer. A friend of mine just so happened to see Mr. X`s sea foam green Beretta parked beside me the day my dent happened.

Sorry to hear that .. I am thinking of hanging a cheap surveillance camera or something off my window, if the apartment people dont do it.

Thanks again,

Bodi

**imported_NT2SHBBY** · 02-09-2006, 06:54 AM

Originally Posted by bd32322

Sorry to hear that .. I am thinking of hanging a cheap surveillance camera or something off my window, if the apartment people dont do it.

Thanks again,

Bodi

honestly, my $.02 is that you bought a Mazda, not a Maybach....there is no need to go to those extremes. If you are that worried about it, I would rent a garage in your area (plus you can work on it indoors too-a definite plus)

I would suck it up, and deal with it. I came out from Home Depot last winter and found my Lexus smashed in the parking lot with of course no letter telling me who did it. I was pissed, but what do you do? I actually left it until consequently some idiot hit the other side of my front and had him pay for both spots at the same time :sign

**bd32322** · 02-09-2006, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by NT2SHBBY

honestly, my $.02 is that you bought a Mazda, not a Maybach....there is no need to go to those extremes. If you are that worried about it, I would rent a garage in your area (plus you can work on it indoors too-a definite plus)

I would suck it up, and deal with it. I came out from Home Depot last winter and found my Lexus smashed in the parking lot with of course no letter telling me who did it. I was pissed, but what do you do? I actually left it until consequently some idiot hit the other side of my front and had him pay for both spots at the same time :sign

hmm .. didnt know you could rent garages. I`ll do that if I can rent one for just a day a week, when I am cleaning it.

As for Mazda/Maybach - this is a Mazda rx-8 with GT package (retails for 33k) and prolly as expensive as your lexus if not more. Given my income its a Maybach to me. And besides its my first car and so I have some attachment to it.

As for cameras - its just to catch the ******* that next hits my car and doesnt leave a note. Also saves me money and costs me less on insurance.

Bodi

**White95Max** · 02-09-2006, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by bd32322

As for Mazda/Maybach - this is a Mazda rx-8 with GT package (retails for 33k) and prolly as expensive as your lexus if not more. Given my income its a Maybach to me. And besides its my first car and so I have some attachment to it.

That`s right. It`s a beautiful car and I`d be piss*d off too. I`d want to catch the culprit if at all possible...whether it happened to a Mazda or a Maybach. My car is only worth ~$6K, but that doesn`t mean I wouldn`t be actively investigating damage to my car.

**Lowejackson** · 02-09-2006, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by White95Max

That`s right. It`s a beautiful car and I`d be piss*d off too. I`d want to catch the culprit if at all possible...whether it happened to a Mazda or a Maybach. My car is only worth ~$6K, but that doesn`t mean I wouldn`t be actively investigating damage to my car.

And my car is worth about $1000 but I would still not attempt to respray it. I did a short course a few years ago at a local collage. Spraying may look easy but it is a skilled job if you want a decent finish