Accident Repair

[VY2SS]

Hi guys, I would like to know how satisfied you've been with the outcome of an accident repair. Did the panel look exactly the same as it was before? I'm being a bit paranoid and need reassurance lol

Please note: I don't mean panels that have been completely replaced, I am refering to steel that has been knocked back out.

[ari666]

it will never look the same. never. never ever. dont listen to your beater when he says "you wont even notice" cos with a trained eye you can ALWAYS tell. even if they replace the whole panel, a spray painted in a booth will never achieve the same result as a robot on a production line.

just be prepared. lol. soz.

[alien]

It depends on what panel it is and how bad the damage is to how well or bad it will be. Got any pics so people can compare to say they had similar?

Sadly i can't comment though, last car never got fixed, was a write off.

[illusionalvr]

some of the work my dad did cant be noticed. that was a few years ago though.

[VY2SS]

It just a dent on the rear 1/4 panel and I was told they knock the dent out as perfect as they can, use bog to smooth it out, sand, colour code with a special machine that matches your cars exact colour (mines black) and start to respray. The panel beater said they have done many cars my make and colour and the customers couldn't tell the difference. If the results were obvious, I don't think they will be in business ari666.

[illusionalvr]

what about trying a different method, other than a hammer? and i assume the damage is in the vy ss? you would probably be better off just replacing the panel.

[BRAWT_4TH]

i beg to differ im a fellow panel beater myself and all it comes down to at the end of the day is if the painter rubs the panel down right some dont care others like the guy at my work will rub it down looking for any high spots or low spots and it also comes down to how good the panel beater is you mite want to try paintless dent removal it can be costly but im pritty sure itll be cheaper than getting your whole 1/4 panel repaired and resprayed only if the dent isnt to big though other then that try fixing it yourself

[VY2SS]

Well I asked him what the usual process is and he said there's no way he would replace the whole panel because it will lose originality of the car. Again, if the repair was still noticeable, why are they still in business? People aren't taking their cars back saying "that will do" are they?

[Zeussy]

Nah, unless its a dodgey back yarder the average person won't be able to tell if it has been repaired...

I'm guessing its just a smallish dint? If its the rear quarter panel, then no, they won't just replace it as easily as say a front one. Its spot welded all the way around, bit of a pain to get off. Which also has a fair bit to do with the structual integrity of the vehicle...

Paintless dent removal is usually good enough, but under certain lights/different angles, sometimes (if the repairer isn't the best at it) you can see a ripple, or defect in the panel.

If you're worried about the paint finish, don't be, its very hard if not impossible to match the factory 'peel' or paint finish, but a quick cut back/polish over the whole car will flatten it all out making it look as flat as a piece of glass.

And lastly, you get what you pay for, if you pay a couple of hundred for a quick repair, would it be worth that little bit more for a 'better' panel beater/spray painter, and a better end result?!

If you're not sure on their quality of work, just walk around the workshop car park, looking at their work/cars in pieces, to see if it looks like they do a good quality job or not

[HoldrodeoLT]

It just a dent on the rear 1/4 panel and I was told they knock the dent out as perfect as they can, use bog to smooth it out, sand, colour code with a special machine that matches your cars exact colour (mines black) and start to respray. The panel beater said they have done many cars my make and colour and the customers couldn't tell the difference. If the results were obvious, I don't think they will be in business ari666.

He wasnt saying it was going to be obvious, 83% of people will not be able to tell the difference... i wouldnt stress too much.

[Dayvo]

If its not too big a good panel beater will be able to knock it out and use little if any bog. I used to knock dents out of brand new commodores ,and you would be amazed at the amount of damage a new car can get even before it leaves the production line .The dents are not allowed to be bogged up , they have to be knocked out and file finished or lead wiped then the panel is resprayed.
Before you hand over the cash , have a look at the repair in full sun and make sure that if they have washed the car that they dry it off. Black is a pretty easy color to match , mine is black and had one of my rear doors resprayed and it is hard to pick the difference.

[VY2SS]

it's about the size of a rockmelon, decent dent, but what i wanna know is guys, how do they get the shape of the lines on top of the wheel arch back?

[andyman]

noticability comes directly from how cheap you are,

if you go in and say you want this fixed and how cheap, all youll get is a quick knock job, bog, sand and a small section painted and blended, rubbed back, a cut and buff and its done in a day

if you go in there and say you want the dint repaired and the panel re-sprayed and pay for the quality you will get it,

personal experiance, i had my tail gate reparied and re-sprayed under new car warrenty, they matched the paint by using the colour chart/colour matcher, the colour is completly off, mycar is obiously blue but has a hint of green pearl in it, the colour code has way too much green in it, which in direct light is clear as dogs balls once you notice it,

on the other hand, when i had all my body panels sprayed for the ss kit, my mate used the paint code off the compliance plate and it is spot on, cant see the differance in it

[Zeussy]

it's about the size of a rockmelon, decent dent, but what i wanna know is guys, how do they get the shape of the lines on top of the wheel arch back?

Lots of hammer'ing and dolly'ing, should see it almost back to original.

And more than likely a skim of bog.


I had a dent (more like a major dent) in my rear quater. (about 50cm's long, and 30cm's high) and the scrape went most of the way over the wheel arch, and beyond... lol, which I replaced the panel, now, I wish I had just repaired the originial panel. A lot less work in fixing whats there!

[VY2SS]

Thanks for the support guys, really appreciate it. I guess it just bloody hurts to look at it every day until it gets fixed in 2 weeks. You never think it would happen to you until it does. In terms of paying for it, it wasn't my fault so I took it to Symes accident repair in Doncaster East and the manager looked at it and said it's nothing to stress about. I guess I have to think about all the expensive european car owners that have gone through the same thing. Unfortunately, you can be the most cautious driver but you can't control other idiots out there on the road. I was 2 bloody houses away from home, what did I possibly do to deserve such a thing? makes you wonder sometimes. This lady was reversing out of the driveway and I assumed she would see me unless she's visially impaired. So I drove into the other lane to give her room just incase and what happens, as soon as I pass her I noticed she's still reversing, OH SHIT...BANG...still kills me as to why I didn't beep and warn her but It wasn't my responsibility to do so.