Did the same (!) thing to my Honda Civic at the gas pumps. Hit that damned concrete and steel pump guard elbow while trying to avoid an idiot. It crushed and rolled the lowest horizontal portion of that same area, wrinkled it up pretty good and skinned all the paint off it as well. Final repair quote: (sit down) $2300 the dent was less deep than my fingernail is wide and was approx 18"-20" long and .5 to 3" wide.
Auto repair shops make a very good living. First the dent repair or just replace the panels costs money. Then paint the whole panel.
My wife has some paint knocked off in the same area no dent. Told her whole panel gets painted then the wrong or right repair shop would insist on repainting the whole suv to match the new paint on the panel.
Plus the other thing is any shop that does charge less is called a non quality shop by the rest of them like peer pressure. Well you want it done right don't you.
I put a dent on my Dodge Ram's right rear fender, a few years ago. All I did was reach behind the dent and whacked it with the palm of my hand. That popped that major part of it out. The remaining dent I left there. IMO, trucks aren't supposed to be pretty. They are supposed to be "rough" and used.
Hence why mine has split paint on the bed liner and all that. Then again, I try to keep my vehicles for 10 plus years, so resale value is no concern of mine.
That's what insurance is for. What's your deductible?
That's what really pisses me off.....I just had my deductible raised last month from $500 to $2000.
I moved 40 miles closer to Los Angeles and it raised my rate $400 a year. I've never in my life had to file a claim with my insurance company, so I went ahead and raised the deductible to offset the rate increase from moving.
Sorry Postal, I tried to warn you. Yeah, I still got the $500 deductible, so I was out that $500... still, you are gonna feel it at $1800.
Got a suggestion. Go locate a vocational tech school in your area that does autobody. Your average high school autobody student can do this at a substantial discount. You may need to buy the paint, the filler material (if needed), and allow for a little extra time to do the job. They might be able to save you a huge amount of money, and your insurance company need not know about it. It's called an end run, by the way. Hope this helps.
Only had the truck 6 weeks. All I can do is stand there and stare at the dent and beat myself up....
Sure can understand how upsetting this dent is to you....I probably be so pissed I'd trade it in for another one.
Get a few more estimates and post on a Toyota Tacoma forum..you might luck out and get someone who is near you who can hook you up at a better price...
I've seen a bodyshop fix a dent in my father's rear bumper using suction and heat. The body shop guy simply suggested a tip (Was given 20$).
Your dent seems like a candidate. It's not a dent is folded, it looks more like it's only bent.
Think of it like a sheet of paper. You can bend it without making permanent damage, but if you fold it, then you have a permanent mark.
As for the paint... well, since it's new, then the body shop can use the OEM paint color and it will match the rest of the body as the car paint didn't have time to fade with age.
The problem nowadays is they mostly just get a new panel, repairs are fast becoming a thing of the past! So I'd also say the repair/replacement would be as say above around the $2000.00 mark give or take a few dollars!
Is this with the panel (s) replaced? Seriously some panels are way overpriced then all the body shop has to do is paint. not even really prep so easy work or almost no work just fun times and a large pay check. I remember when they used to take dents out and maybe add a little filler. Then prep and paint. Didn't cost anywhere near as much. But now for safety and wanting quality work you need an oem panel then paint which is way less work but costs so much more.
The estimate was to fix the panel, not replace it.
He said they would take the panel off, fix it, re-paint the whole thing, and then put on a new "TRD Off Road" sticker ($100 bucks just for the sticker).
It was something like $400 in parts. All the rest was labor.
He said they would take the panel off, fix it, re-paint the whole thing, and then put on a new "TRD Off Road" sticker ($100 bucks just for the sticker).
It's been a month, but I haven't put the truck in the shop yet.
Basically it boils down to this.....one shop says they will fix the dent for $1822. Another shop says the dent is too deep to repair (doesn't look all that deep to me) and wants $2300 to replace the panel.
I would go the route that ensures your corrosion warranty is valid.
A pure repair puts the onus for any occurrence of rust on the shop that repairs the panel. Do you trust them to come good if a rust repair is needed in 5 years?
