I took my car into a local body shop in my area to fix 3 small dents because I was just curious about how much it would cost, and I received a quote of $1800.00.

Is that a reasonable amount to charge for them? I never had to go into any shops for any repairs before, is why I ask.

Here are some pictures of the dents, 2 on the first photo and 1 on the second.

 

I would never pay that much to repair the dents, I think the have quoted you to repair the dents and respray the full panels. A good shop will just heat up the dents and push them back out, if you can get behind them that is.
I would rather spend $1800 on a nice set of wheels or coilovers.

 

A PDR guy should charge between $50-$75 per panel. The one on the rear door looks like a crease which may mean body work but either was that's ridiculous.

 

Get more quotes on other local body shops. Who knows, you might find a shop that you could afford to get it fixed, good luck.

 

None of the local body shops do paintless dent removal and they are all $1200.00 and up even though there are only 3 here in my area.

Anyone from Austin here that would know a good place? I may just leave the dents alone, many people tell me they aren't really all that bad.

 

the amount of wrong info people give to others as advice is staggering sometimes


first, if the paint isnt cracked they COULD be PDR'd BUT

no way are those 50-75 a panel, they are all at least half sized and oversized,
what that means is a dime to nickel is about 75 a door for 1 dents, but the half sized and oversized your looking at 150-200+ thats for the doors, the one on the quarter is 200-300 due to the body liner etc and would be extremely tricky for a average pdr tech,

if you get a hail chaser you have a much better chance at a better repair, but they are alot harder to find and track down.

your best bet imo is to find an area with hail damage and go look for shops that have pdr guys around. these are usually the best guys to do it, also the fastest, you will pay more but def worth it,

if someone quotes you under 100 per dent, make sure you see thier work first. do not trust a lot lizard or dealership pdr guy to get you 100%

the body work wise 1200-1800 is not far off, and in the long run is the best repair, as pdr can (although rare) lead to rusting from the inside out as all the scratching on the back of the panels can lead to rust.

but also with repairing and painting you can run into more issues unfortunatly, but make sure the shop offers a lifetime warrenty.

also make sure they are not taping off parts.

ie make sure they are going to take off your

rear bumper cover,
rt tail lamp,
rt rocker molding (have them research to remove it)
replace rt 1/4 stone protector,
rt rear door glass
rt front door handle, belt molding, applique, run channel etc etc

any other questions please ask


BTW i am a licensed auto appraiser and i am dealing with my rx8 in the shop right now atm so all parts etc are in my head, and for reference i am also fixing my rear cover right 1/4 panel rt rear door and rt front door, and the estimate i wrote on it is 3800, granted damage was alot worse but you get the idea

 

If you got a heat gun, turn it up all the way and let it heat up. Put it pretty close to the dent and move it in a circular motion. After about 5 to 10 minutes, it should, depending on the dent, pop right out. This is what they do for hail damage, except they use an oxy acetylene torch, and the metal is stripped down. You put the flame on the edge of the dent, go circular and work your way in to the middle. Once there, you put the flame down to the very tip almost for a few seconds, pull up and wipe with water.

Honestly, looks like all you need is a body hammer and a few taps. But if you've never done it before, its kinda hard to judge how hard to hit it. If you do it wrong, the metal will stretch, more work and then you'd totally need a paint job too. I would just try the heat gun if you have one.