Body shop recommendation? - Fort Smith AR

[Gulfsurfer]

Minor quarter panel, corner-bender dent repair on a 2003 e53. Softball size dent. Prefer to stay away from big shops that live on high dollar insurance work.

Not interested in someone who will want to cut quarter panel out and weld new one in. I've done this work in a previous life. I know what can and what shouldn't be done.

PM is OK. Thx!

[Russianblue]

do those kind of shops exist any more? people that will fix a dent in your door without having to paint the entire side of the car?

my wife has a 1 inch long dent on her QX60 door and the shop literally wants to paint the entire side of the car and fade in the paint all the way around the front and rear quarter panels for $2500 because they "have a reputation to protect".

Can't have any paint mismatch on the panels!

[Gulfsurfer]

[QUOTE=...fix a dent in your door without having to paint the entire side of the car? ...shop literally wants to paint the entire side of the car ... because they "have a reputation to protect". [/QUOTE]

Yeah, you see that a lot. Nowadays, many large shops have a huge sunk cost to finance due to restrictive VOC emissions regulations, complex vehicle assemblies requiring lots of special tools, technician training, etc. So they try to minimize the number of dissatisfied customers who might spread bad reviews via social media, word of mouth etc. And they live on very large repairs paid for by insurance. Besides, they aren't paying the bill, right? Many ppl finance their vehicles so are forced into carrying Comp/Collision coverage. Those of us who are self insured for those risks have a hard time finding reasonable repair opportunities. I get all that.

But back to basics. Dents in the middle of large, 'flatter' panels are more difficult to repair. Metallic paints are harder to blend. Park a vehicle under a high pressure sodium light at night and you can easily spot crappy body filler work and paint match discrepancies.

My case is a small area of damage in a corner where the bumper abuts. Plenty of surface borders to confuse even the trained eye to less than perfect curve development using body filler. Alpine white, possibly the easiest color there is to match. This kind of fairly simple repair lets a good body repair tech shine. Some guys work in larger shops M-F then take on small jobs on weekends or nights to make side money.

[Russianblue]

I know people are different but for me, i couldn't care less if my 16 year old car with 100k plus miles has an ever so slightly different shade on the adjacent door. i've had an expert buddy point out to me (while shopping for used cars) what he called 'shoddy' and 'would drive him crazy' and i only noticed after he pointed it out and didn't really get the big deal.

it's certainly not as noticeable as the softball size dent in my door. i'll take the "mismatched" panels.

[Gulfsurfer]

Originally Posted by Russianblue

...i'll take the "mismatched" panels.

I'm with you 100%. Just trying to keep our '03 e53 kinda presentable!

[Happy]

https://youtu.be/I6LcAJS0k9U

[Russianblue]

Originally Posted by Happy

https://youtu.be/I6LcAJS0k9U

that is pure excellence.

[EODguy]

Originally Posted by Russianblue

I know people are different but for me, i couldn't care less if my 16 year old car with 100k plus miles has an ever so slightly different shade on the adjacent door. i've had an expert buddy point out to me (while shopping for used cars) what he called 'shoddy' and 'would drive him crazy' and i only noticed after he pointed it out and didn't really get the big deal.

it's certainly not as noticeable as the softball size dent in my door. i'll take the "mismatched" panels.

It could be worse....

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[BondoBen]

I say this based upon actual hands on experience. If it's smaller........more on the dent and paint level.......and not heavy damage.......you might give Caliber Collision a try. Yes.....they are a production based shop and custom work is not in their wheelhouse.......they give you an advantage over others. They have bosses. A lot of them. If this is a CP (customer pay) you lose some of the advantages. But.....again.......they have a lot of bosses. Tell the service advisor what your expectations are and leave it at that. Nothing else. Don't over do it. Keep it simple. You don't want to come off as a potentially "trouble customer". When the work has been completed and you look it over......check for "fisheyes" ......and you're not satisfied. Just tell him/her in the presence of the manager what your complaint is and let them correct it. Don't let them "sell" you on lesser work. Then if you're not satisfied you contact the regional manager or customer service in Lewisville, Tx.