Reasonable Cost For Fitting Tailgate And Tail Light?

sasparillo

Involved in a collision and settled with the driver outside insurance.

My car is an automatic 3 door hatchback, old but low mileage and with current MOT and mechanically very sound. The back windscreen is blown out, the left hand side of the tailgate is badly dented and the boot will not unlock and the n/s tail light outer casing is shattered but the bulb works. The bumper and side of the car is fine.

I have sourced a tailgate with window and tail light. What might be a reasonable cost for fitting the tailgate and tail light? Also what might the cost of respraying be? I appreciate it will be a ballpark figure and not exact.

caprikid1

impossible to say, depends on where you take it and the level of damage. I struggle to see that the bumper is not affected and or something else if it is not locking correctly.


Drive it around and get some quotes, you have not said the make and model of the car but I would be budgeting £500 - £1000 personally. I think standard price to spray a panel is c£400.

sasparillo

Thanks. It hit the spare wheel on the back of a 4x4, hence the damage is all above the bumper. But it is very dented on the left up to the middle of the car with the left side of the number plate also dented. So the bumper is ok but the boot tailgate is warped around the lock.

PS I should say, even though it still runs well, I can’t drive it around in its present condition!

AdrianC

Just fitting the tailgate and light might be less than half an hour's work, if there's no adjustment of hinges or strikers required, everything removes and reconnects smoothly, and the wiring just connects straight up and works.


Painting it... Hold on, let me just measure this piece of string...
Metallic or solid? Clearcoat or not? Faded (sure...?)? How good a match do you want? Any blending in around it? How much prep on both the tailgate and the bits to be blended? Do you want every fitting removed before paint, or are you happy for them to be masked-around? What part of the country are you?


It'd be a lot simpler just to find a tailgate the right colour to start with.

sasparillo

Hi,

Um, this is a hatchback from - er - 1996. But low mileage, one owner from new. I may look for another car eventually but if it can be fixed, I prefer to have plenty of time for that. I may have matched the colour - the scrapyard says silver, the official colour of my car is !!!8220;grey!!!8221; I am not too fussed about but it would be nice to have a match of course. I think it should be straightforward but I am learning about these matters as I go along ...

AdrianC

sasparillo wrote: »

Um, this is a hatchback from - er - 1996.

<shrug> Yes, and?


The newest vehicle I own is 1997...


So what is it?

sasparillo

Vauxhall Corsa 3 door

AdrianC

sasparillo wrote: »

Vauxhall Corsa 3 door

Shouldn't be too hard to find, then. I thought it was going to be something oddball...


"Corsa B" is the magic phrase you're asking the breaker networks/eBay for. Find the colour code on the car, too, so you get the right shade.

Five door is a different rear roofline to three door on those, so you definitely need a 3dr tailgate.

sasparillo

It has not been so easy. I have found a silver one and a tail light for a 3 door. But finding one nearby was impossible and then I had to find someone who had the right one and could deliver. Maybe I was unlucky but it took a lot of searching over a few weeks. As you rightly say the B version is the one. I am having trouble finding the colour code on either the driver or the passenger side. Believe me, I know I am a klutz about this but this is the first time I have had to do this and I need to get the car up and running asap. So I greatly appreciate any help and advice offered by you and the others on this thread! !!!!

molerat

https://www.vauxhall-accessories.com/how-to-find-my-vauxhall-paint-code

System

I got rear ended once in an Astra, similar damage although the rear window hadn't blown out. Once I opened the hatchback I couldn't close it again because other damage ended up being revealed, in this case that the rear quarter panel had become twisted bending it in and altering the shape of the hole the tailgate sat in. Got it straight with the help of some power jacks at a friend's body shop but it highlights that what you can see isn't always the sum total.

You may find that whilst you think the side of the car hasn't been damaged it actually has been and you may find that out once you can finally open the hatchback.

Very silly to not go through insurance and settle the damage when you're not sure of the sum total of damage done.