"Flying" Bolt hit my car. Need your advice.
 

Hey guys. First off my apologies if this is in the incorrect forum. To make a long story short. I was driving on the highway when a bolt that was kicked up by another car comes flying at my car and strikes the right side of my car and deflects into my side mirror. Deep scratches and scuffs to the panel and passenger side mirror.

Took my car to the body shop and get the following estimate to repair. They said they need to remove sand down, paint and clear coat the ENTIRE panel to fix it. The mirror they would take off and repaint which is expected. However for the other two scratches to my surprise it was MUCH more involved. Dropping bumper to be able to remove panel and like I said sanding down repainting and clearcoating the entire thing for those 2 points of contact.
I'm no paint expert or repair expert which is why I'm asking for your advice. Am I getting ripped off? Thanks everyone for any advice you can provide.

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no your not getting ripped off. call your insurance that damage is covered by your comprehensive part of your insurance. im betting you dont have more than a 500 deductible.

Price looks good to me
 

I was guessing you might be looking at $1500. Use your comprehensive

Got to clear the whole panel to get it smooooooth.

Price doesn't look too bad, $48/hr is pretty good rate.

Body may be a little high. Nose/Fender comes off in under 30 minutes.

At $812 I don't know if I would bring my insurance into the equation. If you have a $500 deductible they are only going to cover the remaining bit. Might be worth the savings on future premiums if they should increase your rates (or future claims). Comprehensive claims don't seem to usually be the thing that kicks insurance rates up, but you might want to keep 'em out of the loop just in case they do!

Buy a new car. :-)

Seriously though, get more than one estimate.

Better yet, go back to the dealership and have it done. Lifetime warranty on the repair.

My thoughts exactly. Im actually leaning towards just paying it outright and keeping my insurance company out of this one. Another $312 to ensure my premiums wont be raised as a result of this dumb mishap seems worth it to me.


Thanks guys for your replies...I have much more peace of mind now hearing from you all. My biggest concern is that I was being ripped off with the price and work as I do not have much experience with stuff like this.

Camaro5 FTW!, once again.

well whats your comp deductible? and can you afford $800.00? alot of shops will help out with deductibles, and i dont know about you but i dont carry a high comp deductible so it would be worthwhile for me to go through the insurance. typically rates wont go up for a comp claim. they do if you have multiple comp claims in a short period, but 1 comp claim will not affect your rates.. think of it this way if you get broke into thats a comp claim, broken windshield comp claim, someone keys your car comp claim. what im getting at these things are not your fault therefor the insurance companies cut you a bit of slack for these claims.

seems about right to me. I'm a autobody student, if that means anything lol

sounds good to me

a flying bolt.... all of us fear such a thing. sorry for your bad luck, the estimate isn't bad at all especially if the shop is very reputable...

My deductible is $500. The quote I received is from the Auto complex (where I bought my car) collision/body shop who I know does great work. In speaking to my insurance company they would want me to get it repaired at a place they recommend. So another factor is $300 extra dollars to know that it will be perfect vs. The unknown.

Means something to me. More knowledge than I currently have. Thank you

no, that's a great estimate. I have to do the EXACT same thing with my car. I went to the dealer, their estimate was $1250. I went somewhere else that has a great reputation and does great work (been there before), and they estimated $850.