Car body repair question

elsien

The parental vehicle appears to have sustained some damage just below the rear window. No clue how it happened.

Wondering what the cheapest way of getting it repaired is? Would going to a scrapyard mean getting the whole tailgate bit replaced or is it possible to fix just the damaged bit and if so, how would we know what part to look for?
Or just take it to a body shop and have done with it.

Car is 12 years old with a fair few dents along the way and the parent may not be driving for more than another year or so so doesn’t want to spend silly money but is concerned about water getting into the boot.

Thanks all.

EssexExile

It looks like plastic so I suspect that panel would be available separately, or even repairable by a specialist. I've no idea which would be cheaper.

Arunmor

Is that filler in there already?

elsien

No. We haven’t touched it and the car came from new so no previous repairs.
That is just the white inside where the plastic has split.

QrizB

Is the trim piece one of these? (This one is the wrong colour but it gives an idea of price).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266268169838

Bigwheels1111

Unless water is leaking into the boot I would do noting.

Mildly_Miffed

That's a plastic trim piece, separate to the steel tailgate.

It'll be cheap enough to swap that over if you can find one in the right colour - there's breaker networks that you can contact to ask for one. It might be easier to just find a complete used tailgate in the right colour.

How's it happened? Somebody's reversed without looking. You can see where the trim piece is pushed in right on the fold, and it's bulged and fractured outwards above that, because it's got nowhere else to go.

A good push in the right place, and the broken edges will align again, and you'll just see a network of cracks from outside. Given we're talking about a 10-14yo Fiesta with a decent layer of moss, how much time/effort/money do you want to throw at a minor cosmetic issue?

daveyjp

Push it back together and apply gaffer tape.

Arunmor

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81946022#Comment_81946022

Classy!

elsien

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81945918#Comment_81945918

Very little but parent was worried it would leak.

Bigwheels1111

There are 2 difficult parts to replacing this panel.

One, removing the inside trim to gain access to the bolts, screws or clips holding it in place.

Two, Removing the wiper arm, it is only one nut but the arm will probably be stuck fast to the spindle and its splines, you will need a puller.

Get a heavy duty version as I mean stuck, like it’s super glued or welded together.

Look at these.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/wiper-arm-removal-tool/s?k=wiper+arm+removal+tool