Someone drove into my car earlier this week. They want to go down the route of paying for it themselves rather than insurance.

This is the damage-

I’ve been to a couple of garages- one says repairing it is better because it’s cheaper and will retain all the factory quality sealing on the door trim and window. The other says replacing it is best because the whole door now has a ripple to it that a dent repair will not fix.

I don’t want to shaft the guy- the bill (including other damage) for a repair will be £1200, for a replacement £1700. Which will give me the best repair?

Thanks

What car age etc? And why have you buried it? Older car id source a good 2nd hand door from breakers and just bolt off bolt on.

Get a third garage’s opinion?

62 plate so a new car. I’m working on site tomorrow and all next week so don’t have any more time to swan about garages. It’s been enough of a hassle doing it today but the guy is only young and doesn’t want his premium to rocket and I know how he feels.

Repair, no problem.

Whatever your insurance recommends.

I suspect once you have delivered the repair figures to the other party they might have a change of mind, plus you technically have to report these things to them in any case.

I went through similar and ended up with an insurers recommended repair centre replacing the part.

Aye repair.

That looks relatively minor in the grand scheme.

A decent body shop will repair that without leaving a trace

I’d not give the work to a body shop that suggested it was beyond them to repair it

I was surprised/disappointed when my insurance went for the cheapest option, so you might find it better to just go through insurance..

I went down the replacement door route when the father in law decided to back into my scoob! It never shut as well as the original factory fitted door.

Damage looks minor any half decent body shop should be able to repair without replacing the panel. If it was an older car id just have some beer money and live with it.

I had worse than that on a 1 year old car, deeper crease and across door and wing. Filled sanded and painted, £400. Those prices are 😯

Any decent bodyshop will repair that to a standard that is better than new. Probably have to machine polish the whole car to stop the new paint from standing out so much. A new door will only be a skin anyway. 1200 quid is a ridiculous amount of money for that. 400 tops I would of thought. My car rolled back into the back of some one’s car at work. Cracked the bumper and pushed the mounts back. Whole bumper repaired and sprayed new decals and trim 140 pounds. The paint was the most expensive item.

the bill (including other damage)

Other damage? I presume you mean the front wing or rear quarter panel?

Should be an easy repair for any decent bodyshop, as long as your door shuts perfectly just now, and the panel gaps haven’t been affected, although a lot of shops do prefer to just replace bolt-on panels.

The prices include the rear door repair, rear bumper repair, rear alloy repair, new badges and some trim. He’s decided to go for insurance anyway.

was this the citigo ?