Quarterpanel replacement or body shop?

[Phanleo]

My baby just been in a minor accident, a lady reverse and jammed into my passenger side scooper and rear quarter panel. There are few scratches and a crack to the quarter panel between door and quarter panel. The body shop quoted $4200 to fix it, feels like it is a pretty expensive fix for a minor thing. I know it is an aluminum body and it is hard to weld or seal the crack so it makes sense to replace the whole panel. My question is if I can find a red quarter panel and scoop, could that work? Would the paint match to the car?
What do you guy think or anyone been in this situation before would help me out.

Regards,
Leo

 

[Jinks]

That seems a bit excessive by quite a stretch.

 

[Old Guy]

Dent or crack in the panel? Hard to tell in the photos. If a crack, I can understand the plan for a panel replacement. The list price on the right rear 1/4 panel is around $2500. If $4200 included a new panel painted and fitted, I think that is probably really reasonable - almost too low. Quality paint work from legit shops that comply with OH&S and environmental standards is just so expensive.

Too hard to say whether you can find a used 1/4 panel in nice shape with matching paint. Remember, the 'reds' changed during the production run. You didn't specify the year of your car. It might be easier to find a matching red on an early car than on a later car. Chances are that any used panel will not be pristine. Also, panel fitting on an NSX is not for fools.

 

[Hass]

From your photos it does not appear to require replacement, I have seen worse repaired without replacement. They will need to blend the door, remove and install some parts but I still don't see $4200 from these damages. I would like to see their written estimate, did they provide a written estimate or they just said $4,200 jusr from looking at it.

i would recommend getting 2nd, 3rd and 4th estimates from well known shops that have worked on a similar vehicle

 

[Phanleo]

Dent or crack in the panel? Hard to tell in the photos. If a crack, I can understand the plan for a panel replacement. The list price on the right rear 1/4 panel is around $2500. If $4200 included a new panel painted and fitted, I think that is probably really reasonable - almost too low. Quality paint work from legit shops that comply with OH&S and environmental standards is just so expensive.

Too hard to say whether you can find a used 1/4 panel in nice shape with matching paint. Remember, the 'reds' changed during the production run. You didn't specify the year of your car. It might be easier to find a matching red on an early car than on a later car. Chances are that any used panel will not be pristine. Also, panel fitting on an NSX is not for fools.

It's a crack, about 2ft long. Yes, $4200 included a new panel painted and installed. This shop is known to do high end cars. I saw a couple NSX in the shop while I was there.
I was thinking the same too about matching paint even if I can find a red one. My NSX is a 91, paint is still great. If $4200 sounds right then I'm more than willing to let them fix the damage. There was another red NSX there who went through the same and the new paint looked great.

 

[Phanleo]

From your photos it does not appear to require replacement, I have seen worse repaired without replacement. They will need to blend the door, remove and install some parts but I still don't see $4200 from these damages. I would like to see their written estimate, did they provide a written estimate or they just said $4,200 jusr from looking at it.

i would recommend getting 2nd, 3rd and 4th estimates from well known shops that have worked on a similar vehicle

Can aluminum be welded together? The quarter panel doesn't look bad other than a few scratches and a 2ft crack. This is a written estimate from a well known shop that do high end cars. I don't see other shops with the same caliber of services.

 

[Hass]

Is the crack at the seam where it meets another panel or part of the panel. I've seen it welded aluminum before, it has to be done perfect. If the part is $2300 how much is the labor? Can upload the estimate? Curious how they got to 4200.

 

[Old Guy]

A competent welder can probably do a series of tack welds to patch up the seam. The 1/4 panel is a non structural part so you are not dealing with structural safety issues. My concern would be that the crack looks like it is right along the door recess which is a multi profile complex shape. The accident may have distorted that area and the tack welds could potentially add some additional distortion into the panel. Getting the panel back to the OEM profile that matches the door edge could be tricky. If ever there is a place where panel profile mismatches stick out like a sore thumb its at the panel edges / gaps. You don't want somebody fixing it by using a lot of body filler to get the profile correct.

A new panel at $2500 list is serious coin. You might be able to save some money if you can source a second hand 1/4 panel. The big uncertainty is what shape is it in. If this is a reputable shop, I presume that they are giving you some guarantees around the quality of the work. They may not be prepared to give the same guarantees if it is based upon using a used panel that they have never seen. The other consideration is that if you source a second hand panel in a non matching color, you should probably plan to have the paint stripped which adds some costs back in. Stone chips that expose primer are unfortunate; but, a fact of life. Stone chips that expose Monaco Blue Pearl on a red car would be ........

 

[Phanleo]

Is the crack at the seam where it meets another panel or part of the panel. I've seen it welded aluminum before, it has to be done perfect. If the part is $2300 how much is the labor? Can upload the estimate? Curious how they got to 4200.

Yes, the crack is at the seam. The estimate listed body labor is $900, paint labor is 500 and paint supplies is 260. There is no details to those labor of what exactly they do.

 

[Phanleo]

A competent welder can probably do a series of tack welds to patch up the seam. The 1/4 panel is a non structural part so you are not dealing with structural safety issues. My concern would be that the crack looks like it is right along the door recess which is a multi profile complex shape. The accident may have distorted that area and the tack welds could potentially add some additional distortion into the panel. Getting the panel back to the OEM profile that matches the door edge could be tricky. If ever there is a place where panel profile mismatches stick out like a sore thumb its at the panel edges / gaps. You don't want somebody fixing it by using a lot of body filler to get the profile correct.

A new panel at $2500 list is serious coin. You might be able to save some money if you can source a second hand 1/4 panel. The big uncertainty is what shape is it in. If this is a reputable shop, I presume that they are giving you some guarantees around the quality of the work. They may not be prepared to give the same guarantees if it is based upon using a used panel that they have never seen. The other consideration is that if you source a second hand panel in a non matching color, you should probably plan to have the paint stripped which adds some costs back in. Stone chips that expose primer are unfortunate; but, a fact of life. Stone chips that expose Monaco Blue Pearl on a red car would be ........

I don't think structural damage is the case with this. And the crack is exactly where you said it is, right along the seam of a humped shape and the door. Yes, I don't think there will be any warranty if I bring in a used panel instead of them finding one. I think I will leave it in their hands to get my baby back to normal condition. It's such a shame to have this accident. First night out ever for dinner and it got hit. And the damn lady tried to get out of it and told me it was just a car and I shouldn't be so upset. She reported to her insurance as a Corvette! LOL

 

[Old Guy]

Ask the repair shop for the original panel back. You might be able to sell it (damaged as is) on Prime to recoup a little money. If you have the storage space you could keep it and in a number of years it might be worth a lot, even damaged. At some point replacement panels are going to become unobtanium from Honda and people doing future restorations might be prepared to pay for a repairable panel.

Or, it could make an interesting, if slightly painful reminder, piece of garage wall art.

 

[Hass]

Yes, the crack is at the seam. The estimate listed body labor is $900, paint labor is 500 and paint supplies is 260. There is no details to those labor of what exactly they do.

They should provide you with a breakdown on how they come up with the dollar amount on labor. Mitchell's estimating software stats remove and install of a QP is 4 hours of labor. That's not including prep for paint etc. I would ask them to write up the estimate like they would write it up for an insurance pay. Keep in mind you will pay for them to blend the door, remove and install of the door handles and other small items. I would feel more comfortable if shop itemizes everything