How much to replace the hood?

A ding? Have it repaired (banged out, filled in and spot painted). Brand new hoods come with shipping dings - plus they have to be sanded, primed and completley painted. You're looking at $500.

Well...okay...a big ding. But that gives me a good idea of the pricing, thanks! (Big ding means bald tyres + wet road = skidding into back of truck with the ladder at the back = front of hood has a crease and scraping from side to side between the headlamps. Is that the sort of ding that can be banged out?)

You can repair just about any body panel. In geographical areas where there are people with panel beating skills, and reasonably low salary levels, it might be an option.

(If you ask the question whether it can be done, that would presuppose that you are not capable of doing it yourself.)

Your use of the spelling 'tyres' suggests you might not be in the USA, but had you been in the UK, I would have expected you to say 'bonnet'.

Sometimes it is cheaper to get an undamaged panel from a junkyard, repaint, and install.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hmm, good going, Sherlock, about the use of "tyres". But as you noticed, he said "hood" instead of "bonnet" and described the vehicle he ran into as a truck, not a "lorry"......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just an uneducated guess, but since it's the best selling sedan in the US (in the world?) I'd think there would be plenty of hoods in wrecking yards waiting for new owners, and likely at a much lower price than buying from a dealer. Heck, you may even find one in the right color~ and locating one shouldn't be too hard, since major wrecking yards have hotlines between them, in which they ask other yards if they have a particular part and get an answer in minutes.

Holmes, the original poster appears to be from Delaware, United States, based on his/her IP address.

- "Dr. Watson" ;)

Check ebay if not the local junk yard.

there are always ppl selling used and new hoods on ebay

A 'dealer' would be the last place to go, and then only in the direst of desperation.

Try

Thanks for all the input. And to end the speculation...I'm originally from New Zealand, living in Pennsylvania USA. I used hood instead of bonnet because I've encountered a lot of blank stares since I moved here if I use "bonnet" and "boot" instead of "hood" and "trunk".