got a big crease-type dent in the driver's side door on my 97 Ranger, the Ford body shop wants $1100 to do it up right, new sheet metal and paint. I know somebody who can arrange something at a much lower price, which I think will involve Bondo, but I'm thinking I will just leave it the way it is - too much money to spend on a very basic PU that's not worth a lot to begin with.
Anybody got any thoughts on this subject?
thx Tom Seattle
On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:51:04 +0000, I Love Edsels rearranged some electrons to form:
money to spend
I guess it depends on you... if you don't mind the way it looks, just leave it alone.
Most body shops want to just replace the sheet metal; I would assume it's a lot more profitable to mark up a part than a lot of labor to beat a dent out of a panel. I would try a couple of shops, I have found that they can vary widely depending on what they plan to do. I had to repair a fender on a '94 Jeep a while back; the Jeep dealer of course wanted to put a new fender on, the fender alone was $800.
An independent shop straightened the dent and repainted it for $500, and you can't even see the repair.
There is nothing wrong with body filler if it is used correctly, which is to skin over minor imperfections *after* the metal has been properly straightened. Unfortunately it gets a bad rap when people glob it on to cover wrinkled metal and are surprised when it starts falling out soon after that.
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