Any idea how they're going to fix this?!

[Karl Alesbury]

Hi,

Somebody managed to drive into my car in a pub car park last week, and they've dented the driver's side rear door and rear wheel arch, and scratched it up a fair bit too.

Pictures are here:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1692546/car-dent-1.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1692546/car-dent-2.JPG

It looks like the rear wheel arch is part of one huge panel!

When it happened, I got in touch with Audi Ensurance, and they've handled most of the claim for me, and have referred the car to an approved body shop. How do you think an approved body shop is going to fix this?!

Cheers,

Karl

 

[Zygote]

I had a similar experience recently. I took it to a micropaint place and they got my car back to looking new and shiny. They straightened out dents too. I believe they do this by heating up the metal and reshaping it. I'm not completely sure.

At any rate, it wasnt too expensive and the result was perfect.

 

[chadc]

the universe is cruel

 

[Karl Alesbury]

The insurance company have been given an estimate of just over £1,500 for this, and it's apparently going to take anywhere up to five working days to fix!

 

[elpaulio]

That'll be a new C-Panel skin and respray then I'd think.

 

[1wheelonly]

That'll be a new C-Panel skin and respray then I'd think.

That's what I'd expect and insist on as its a damaged panel
But I bet they don't !
My guess is that they will straighten it out and blow it over

 

[Karl Alesbury]

I can guess what a c panel is, but what's a skin? Is it a metal coating that sits on top of the panel?

 

[elpaulio]

Some panels can have the skin (the thin metal outer sheet) replaced without having to remove and replace the structural part of the panel.
It may not be the same on your car as my experience if with much older cars.

 

[steverobertsbbc]

I would take it to a local SMART repair centre for an alternative quote. When I had my A3 passenger door dented and scraped in a pub car park, they needed to pull the dent and respray the door. Total cost was £224 and it's factory perfect, couldn't be more pleased. This was by Little Knocks in South Ruislip.

 

[S32B]

Did the other driver stop?

 

[steeve]

For me, I'd rather have the dents pulled out and painted, that way all the original e.coat will be left intact.

 

[Karl Alesbury]

I dropped the car off this morning, and asked what was down to be done. They said they'd be repairing the existing panel. However, they had submitted an initial estimate to the insurance company to replace the whole panel. The insurance company rejected the estimate and told them to repair it instead. I've rang the insurance company and asked their engineer to explain why they've rejected an Audi-approved estimate for a replacement and gone for a repair instead. I'm awaiting a call back when they have an answer.
If they can explain precisely why they're doing it, then fine, but at the moment it's just a question mark.

In the meantime, I've got a BMW M3 diesel hire car with 5,000 miles on it to knock about in, so not all bad.

 

[Karl Alesbury]

Did the other driver stop?

They did get out after hitting the car and come into the pub I was in to find me to let me know what had happened, admit liability and swap insurance info. I did appreciate it, and I wasn't angry at them. Just disappointed.

 

[S32B]

That's good news then (if you can say anything's good about the situation), I have a mate who left the pub to find someone had reversed into the side of his car caving in both doors and they had just ******** off! My dad came out of the doctors and someone had done the same to his drivers door, cost him £400 excess to fix.

 

[Karl Alesbury]

That's good news then (if you can say anything's good about the situation), I have a mate who left the pub to find someone had reversed into the side of his car caving in both doors and they had just ******** off! My dad came out of the doctors and someone had done the same to his drivers door, cost him £400 excess to fix.

Yeah I was fortunate really in that sense.

Sounds like a repair on the panel, so I'll take a couple of pictures when it's sorted. It's going to take around 5 working days apparently!