Quote on dent repair

s-j-cooper_2

After my neighbour left his handbrake off and his car rolled into mine, I've been left with some light scratching and scuffing (which isn't too much of a problem), but there is also a dent a couple of inches long that runs into the gap between the front and rear passenger side doors.

A couple of dent removal specialists have both been out and said they can sort our most of the stuff, but the end of the dent right on the edge of the door and a bit above where the paint has been slightly scuffed off needs to be done in a body shop.

The neighbour doesn't want to go through his insurance as he has a £400 excess, and actually the damage doesn't look bad at all, so I was thinking about getting him to pay me the cost to repair the damage (including courtesy car etc) and just keeping the money, touching up the paintwork bit myself.

The only problem is that neither of us have any idea about how much it would cost and I'm really struggling to find time to take it to a bodyshop. I've had a look on some car valuation websites at the difference between 'good' and 'average' vehicles and it is about £250, so I was wondering whether to approach him for this amount, or do you reckon this might be too much or too little? I think he was expecting it to be in the region of £100 or so, but I'm pretty sure it'll be more than that.

Obviously if it's going to be in the region of £400 or more it would be better to go through his insurance.

It's a '04 Zafira by the way.

Any help/ advice from people with experience of this kind of thing would be greatly appreciated!

Chippy_Minton_2

Not sure what you mean?

The price of a halfrauds touch up kit will be in the region of £10.

s-j-cooper_2

I am wondering what the cost to sort out the dent will be as it needs to be taken to a bodyshop because it's on the edge of the door instead of in the middle.

It doesn't look bad, so I'm not too bothered about getting it sorted, but obviously the car has been devalued, so I would like to get the money from my neighbour that would cover the cost of the repair, even if I decide to leave the dent and just touch up the paintwork myself.

harveybobbles

The problem with dent removal specialists is the dents near the edge are always hard to shift as the pannels are double skinned or have braces etc.

your best bet is to take it to a few body shops for a few quotes, then ask your neighbour to cough up.

NickWarren_2

New door skins do not come cheap, I can remember a 4 figure bill for a friend that needed a new rear quarter and door skin, when somebody vandalised his car.

Also be very wary of the smart touch ups and removals regarding paintwork, Like your nan used to say, it'll come out in the wash.

motorguy

Have you spoken to your neighbour about taking the money off him but not having the car repaired?

Is he comfortable with that?

s-j-cooper_2

I think he'd be happy with that, but I need to find out how much to ask him for before sorting anything out. Obviously if he's not happy to do that, I'll get the car done.

I was actually thinking of asking him for a bit less than the quotes so that we both do 'alright'.

I don't see what the problem would be though - he will be paying out either way and when I sell the car or get it fixed in the future, the payment will cover that.

If it's going to be more than his excess, then I'll go through his insurance anyway.

dacouch

If your neighboor is not claiming off his own insurance for his own repairs just yours then he normally does not have to pay his excess, he only pays that towards the cost of repairs to his own vehicle