Fixing or replacing?
 

I just bought my 2001 mustang off the showroom floor this past August. It now has 3,000 miles on it and a HUGE dent! I knew eventually living up here in the great frozen north (Alaska) I would get hit or I would do some hitting of my own. (My car wags its tail more than a happy dog) Anyhow, here's my problem... I took my car to the ford auto body shop to see what the cost and what not would be and he told me I ought to pull the dent, do the bondo thing and keep the area to be repainted to a minimum, so the paint difference won't be so bad. (Note: My car is electric green) BUT, I also have the option to replace the back fender and have a larger area repainted. He also said if the paint doesn't match it was my problem and it would cost more, SO YIKES! I'm not a rich chick, yet I'm still leery of the bondo thing. What would you do? Replace the fender? Bondo and be happy?

~MustGo(GetFixed)

Pictures
 

Take a look at the pictures. (If I even got the pictures on here correctly)

A good body shop should be able to repaint the damage and match the paint perfectly.

Some clown bent the quarter panel on my '89 about 5 years ago. The panel was replace and repainted. To this day, you can't tell that the repair was done. It's maroon, one of the hardest colors to match. They guaranteed the paint not to fade or discolor for 3 years.

I'd find another body shop.

I work at a body shop writing estimates, so i would tell you to replace that fender. Also, if the color is stock, on the side of the door there is a paint code. If the body shop your taking it to knows what they're doing, they should have no problem matching the color. We here input that paint code into a system that tells us exactly what to mix to get that color. Also, they were telling you to blend to the sides, this usally makes the sides a bit glossier because of the clear coat, but it's actually better so the fender wont stick out from the rest of the paint. Regarding warranty, we offer a year from our part, and i believe its 3-5yrs from the company. I'm actually at work, but my estimating system is crashing, so i'm a reboot and repost an estimate on how much it should cost down here in california. The only thing that'll change in price is labor rates.

OUCH! :eek: $1060.92
This includes a new fender, paint the fender, blend the hood and the side door.
$960 - W/aftermarket fender
$726.13 - No blend w/aftermarket fender
$827.92 - No blend w/oem fender.

Basically its $234 for the fender, and the rest is labor ... to re move old fender, place new fender on, and paint it.

BTW, its $62 p/hr on labor wise, and $28 p/hr on materials.

Thank you, Maroon 5.0 LX and Beavis. I appreciate your help.

Holy Moly! And that would be like a weeks worth of labor! I can't say much, It's going to cost me $962 to pull my dent and repaint (That's with labor). Do you think it's best to take this car (Or any other, I guess) to the dealer itself to have body work done? I thought since my car was so new and had so few miles that if I took it to the dealer it wouldn't hurt my warranty so much. By the way, thanks for the estimates!
:)

if you take your car to the dealer, they won't repair it themselves. They'll just take it to a body shop near by, and just charge you extra. Maybe they'll charge you 1500 and they pay the other bodyshop 900... So, don't bother with the dealer. And trust me, i know this cuz thats what we work with =)

Its like, theres this BMW place near by.. If someone takes a car to get body work done, they'll prob send it our way.

Thank you for your time, Beavis. You've been alot of help. (I'm still stuck on $62 an hour, I want to be in that business!!) :)

Carsmetics
 

We got places here in Florida called "Carsmetics".They say they can do the work of Body Shops for half the price(repair dents).Lets see,that would be about $300 bucks.If thats "SNOW" under your cars picture,I say you are probaly going to wind up with more "Dings"&"Dents".Cars don't like ICE!:mad:

I'd have to go to fla, no? Very nice car, by the way.

Where You Live
 

Well could'nt you use a Vacation:D .
:cool: Sunny Florida?
Check around where you are.There maybe some places similar to the one here I mentioned.
Thanks for the comment about the car:D .I was driving her Sunday with the Top Down!:cool:

There is no such creature here
 

I looked around up here and there aren't any carmetics in Alaska :( It would be an awesome business to start up here. Thanks for your help, HarryP.