After two years of very carefully parking my '08 C2S, someone finally "door-dinged" it on the right rear fender (I believe on purpose!). I've had both Dent Pro and Dent Dr. look at it. Both guys said they couldn't get the ding out because of the location, and the ridge around the fender. The P-dealer recommended a "high-end" body shop whose estimate was $900. Actually, what bothers me is what the estimator at the body shop said they would have to do to the car: remove the entire rear bumper assembly, take out the rear and right windows, mouldings, right stone guard, etc. And keep the car for a week. $900 aside, I just can't bring myself to allow my car to be taken apart like that. It just doesn't seem right to me (although the dent bothers me greatly). I would have thought that an experienced bodyman could simply "putty" the dent, and feather in a little paint? I'm trying to decide what to do (just live with it?), and would appreciate any advice, suggestions, comments (and empathy!) I've attached photos. Thanks!!!

 

If you can't seperate yourself from the car for that amount of time, you will obviously live with it. Initially you feel really bad about the ding but as time passes other things will fill that feeling. I am not an expert by any means and I do not know if the bodyshop has to do all that to repair it so I hope others will chime in and let you know. Good luck in what you decide to do, and think of it as a battle scar and not a dent. If you drive it, expect things like that to happen (hopefully not often). Prepare for the worse and hope for the best.

 

Sorry to hear.. there's so many idiots out there that don't watch when they open their doors. I fear door dings but luckily I have none.
If 900bux fixes it the right way then you mind as well take the plunge.

 

I got a ding in the SAME EXACT SPOT!

Yes your body shop is right, the would have to remove all that just to do the ding. My body shop (which I trust and is the best) told me the exact same thing.

A GOOD ding guy can make it look 90-99% gone!

I have a great gut that did another one for me on the front dender that was worse than that and got it 99.9% off.

He's in San Diego and charged me $200

 

i had a young girl ding my last car right in front of me and her parents just said "thats ok honey" i had the car 2 days when this happened... i *****ed at the parents and they *****ed back at me 10x worse and ganged up on me and i just left.... amazing how some people dont even care... the little girl literally kicked the door open on their explorer and it smashed the hell out of my car.. small ding but hit it hard... i never got that dent out :-(

 

I know a guy who can do it but you are 2500 miles away . He's that good . In fact he's so good that he can even fix a botched dent repair .

I cringe and empathize for how you feel with this .

 

Offer to fly him in and pay his expenses - may actually be less than the $900 body shop repair and avoids paintwork on your car.

 

Sorry to hear this man. If you get into paint work, the process you stated is the only way to do it 100% correctly. If they don't take out the windows, moldings, etc., there will be a line where they masked these sections off and you'll be able to see where the new paint meets the old paint.

I would also advise trying to find another PDR shop. Some of those guys can work miracles.

 

sorry to hear about your bad luck.

Are comprehensive coverage not included in insurance policies in the US? Up here I would pay $200 deductable and it would be repaired almost as good as new (never as good IMO).

 

I had matching ones on both of my flared fenders on my E46 M3. Classic ding from the rear door of an SUV when a kid gets out an nails your car. Miraculously, a dent removal guy got one out, but didn't get out the other. Only paid $300 for those and several more. I would note that I took the car to an indi shop and ther "dent guy" couldn't get any of them out. Went to the ding guy at the BMW dealer (someone who worked independently on cars that came in for service) and he took them all out. I also got dings above the wheelwell on the fender - seemed like a really bad spot. Guy took them out. Highly recommend shopping around. The paintless dent removal is an art and some people that do it are artists, others aren't. I feel your pain.

 

I am amazed how people just don't care...
I had this rather large lady eating an ice cream cone swing her door open and ding my last car in the same spot while I was waiting for my wife to come out of a hotel.

I just looked at here and said could you be a little more careful and she told me to f off...I was stunned as she walked away into the hotel..

That area is really hard for paintless repair because the ding forms in a v shape with right angles which don't pull out easily...a "dimple" ding pops out if done right by a skilled tech.

Nothing worse it drove me crazy until the day I sold the car.

 

that suck !

 

Wow that is quite the ding! That is a very strong spot - right angle and seamed vs a body panel open area.
Same thing happened on my E60 M5, caught on of my employees on surveillance tape after I came out and noticed it at the end of the day.
Mine was about $900 and same deal....had to take apart the panels ect to fix it.
I am so particular about where I park and drives my GF crazy....to the point where I sometimes drop her off at the door and go park.
People are so disrespectful...I don't care if it is a sunfire or lambo.....geez.

Accidents happen....to the poster with the "kid" story....I would have called the cops or gone to small claims court.

It was horrifying to watch the guy hit my m5 with the door of a 1-ton F350, considering where I was park and how much space I left, fling the door open, bounce off my car back at him, re push the door to "lean" on my car, get his stuff out of his truck, try to scrape the white paint transfer off with his fingernail...then walk into the building....lets just say I didn't feel bad watching him stroke a cheque, even though it was a good chunk of cash for him.

Good luck with the repair....I would suck it up and get it done, everytime you look at the dent it will **** you off.

Cheers
Omes.

 

The hardest spot to fix a dent is the roof of a Lamborgini . My repair guy told me he spend two days on a car to get it right . That V shaped ding on the fender would take him 15 minutes at most. Miami is 3K miles away but you can always combine some modding, a beach vacation, and a ding repair into one big summer road trip.

 

I got one on my old M3 in the same spot too. There is a double layer of metal there such that a paintless dent repair usually cannot be done there. This is literally THE worst place to get one on a car.