My first accident

[spidernut]

That's way too high for the damage shown in the photo. The headlight ring and gasket, headlight bucket and bumper end can be obtained for under $200 for all pieces on Ebay or from us here on Fiatspider.com. If you need them, I'm almost positive that I have all three and would sell them to you in a heartbeat for $100 plus shipping. The body shop will price new parts for their estimates which will make it a lot more expensive.

I'm not sure what the estimate repair book says for labor cost, but I see about 2-4 hours of bodywork needed for the dent ($500-$1,000). The paint will run about $1,000 for a paint match and blend. $4K makes no sense from the photo unless they're planning on cutting the entire fender off and replacing it. The damage that I can see in the photo does not warrant that.

The other option is to take the $4,000 settlement from her insurance company and have it fixed yourself somewhere reasonably priced and pocket the difference. It won't be totaled as long as the cost of repairs do not exceed the value of the car. If you can prove your car is worth more than the $4,000 estimate, your car won't be totaled.

I would recommend getting several estimates before doing anything. Stop by your local Maaco (not that you should have them do the work since they're known for just bondo-ing over the dents) and see what they would charge. You don't have to provide their estimate to the insurance company. Then, try a few more reputable shops and offer to provide the parts I mentioned.

If your car is just a daily driver and not a show car, you could have it done by a good economy shop and have them fix the dent and repaint the entire car for under $4K. Most charge $2,900 for a basecoat/clearcoat with 5 year guarantee. I had mine painted 16 years ago and it still looks great.

I've done a lot of bodywork from welding panels to fixing large and small dents. This is a rather easy repair. The hardest part is the headlight ring area is bent inwards. With the proper tools, that will pull out easily. Any good body shop should be able to do it.

Both of these cars were painted by economy paint shops. I did all the bodywork, but they did the paint. The silver car is base/clear that cost under $2K. The red car is a single stage "integrated clearcoat" that cost $900.

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http://smg.photobucket.com/user/spidern ... a.jpg.html

[DieselSpider]

The photo does appear to show that the hood is no longer in alignment so especially since the other driver is at fault do not allow a Barn Yard repair to be done and have a good shop fix it right. Here even Maco will charge a minimum of $2,000 if they have to work out some simple dimples and if you want a good paint used instead of the simple econo-mix they normally use your talking $3,000. With a major repair with a fender pushed out of alignment with the hood $4,000 could be quite reasonable especially if their not just hiding the damage by filling it with 10 lbs of bondo.

You also should not be having to do any of the work yourself to save the at-fault driver from paying for all the labor. It should all be done and warrantied by a pro at the other drivers expense.

[spidernut]

I didn't see the hood alignment issue until you mentioned it. If it pushed the fender in that far, expect BIG money to repair it correctly.

[spiderbit]

Finally received my official appraisal. $2,500 in damage. So not nearly as much as the first estimate of $4k. Looks I'll be get the car back on the road!