Repair Cost Question?

[kozman31]

I was looking at a used car for sale and the when I contacted the guy he said that it had a gotten a recent dent in the rear quarter panel. He sent a picture of it, I was wondering what it might cost to try to repair? He offered to knock $700 off the price because of it. I'm thinking to repair it would cost a bit more. Overall it's a 97 Integra, 150,000 miles, aftermarket stereo and car alarm installed, and he dropped the price to $2800 because of the dent. The rest of the car seems to be in good condition. Opinions?

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/kozman31/dent.jpg

 

[darom]

Take that picture to a shop and get an estimate. I don't think it would be complicated since you can pull/pop the dent out. The paint might chip, that's where the major expense will be in repairing.

 

[StageLeft]

That sounds reasonable. It's what i paid for a new rear bumper including paint on my maxima.

I know you hate this idea, but I wouldl buy the car and leave the dent there. Don't spend $700 for body work on a $2800 car.

 

[darom]

Or better yet, get one of those dent removal tools and pull the dent out yourself
http://search.harborfreight.co...keyword=dent&Submit=Go

 

[Arkaign]

That's a poor buy. Well taken care of, the 1.8L in that Integra will go into the 200k mile range, but you have absolutely no idea how the previous owners took care of it. If it's an automatic, you'll likely run into issues there as well. $2,800 will get you a *MUCH* better deal elsewhere. The car you find might not be as 'cool' as an Integra, but trust me, you can find a better deal on a lower-mileage car.

A quick Autotrader search of Delaware pulled this up : http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...x_price=3000&cardist=5

It's a '92 Honda Accord with 92k miles. IF it's in decent shape, you'd want to find out if the timing belt has been changed, etc, then that car should easily last well into the 200k range, while getting outstanding fuel economy and offering more practicality than the Integra. Performance won't be that different either, the Integras other than the Type R were actually pretty slow, particularly with the automatic.

It's your money, but nearly $3k for a car that's almost used up is not a good deal IMHO.

 

[bruceb]

That dent is almost right where the panel makes the corner for the door jamb. So it may be tricky to pull out. Then again, depending on the boy shop tech, it may just pop back to where it should with no damage to the paint. I would call a few shops or stop with the photo and see what they say. I would not spend more than $500 to fix it on a car that is that old.

 

[aleckz]

No, that will be a bitch to repair if my eye treats me right. Right by the door jam, majority of it can be pulled out, but the rest of the metal that is near the door will wrinkle and will need extensive work. Then put it in the cost of paint and its probably going to be a waste of time to do the repair unless you really want it to be fixed.

 

[ayabe]

$2800? Maybe for a GSR, otherwise that's way too much.