Looking for some advice after someone did a H&R on my door + fender.



I've since buffed out almost all of the paint damage, but there's still a wrinkle in the door as well as in the front fender.

My deductible is $500, but I'm wary of the paint matching on Suzuka, which is why I didn't fix the damage immediately. Now a circumstance is arising that may require me to sell the car. Any thoughts on whether I should list it AS-IS with the damage with a lower cost, or taking it to a body shop and fixing it but charging more, while risking a paint-match fail?

Thanks.

 

I think you're going to have to take more than a $500 hit on your selling price if you sell it without fixing that first. In the end, you'll profit more if you pony up the $500 for your deductible and have a reputable body shop fix it.

 

Shoot, addendum:

The car is an '03, so it's got 9 years worth of little nicks, dings, and tiny chips in the paint. If I'm doing ANY bodywork, I would want to pay to have those taken care of as well. Heck, and entire respray would be my first choice so I don't have to worry about blending issues.

The question is whether I should spend money out of pocket to make the body pristine, so I can sell it for more.... or just leave it as is, and save the cash and headaches.

 

you can also list it for sale as-is and see what kind of offers you get. if people are lowballing you too much or using the damage to leverage against the price then you can always try fixing the damage and listing again. i guess it depends on how much you want for the car in the end...

 

Buff it and have a good PDR guy take out the wrinkle. My old s2000 had a kid back into the rear quarter panel and I buffed out the paint and the PDR guy took out the indention 95%. This way you don't have to do paintwork and it will be very hard to even notice.

 

That's what I wanted to do, but apparently neither of the body shops I took it to said they could use PDR so close to the edge like that. It needs to be pulled out and filled.

 

I'd check a few more I had several shops tell me mine couldn't be pulled out and I found a guy that was good and he did it. I couldn't even tell the spots that he said he couldn't get perfect.

My dent was the size of a size 10 show and an inch deep

 

I'd give a PDR tech a go at it, but that's it. No need investing because you don't know who your buyer is and an estimate repair can mitigate price difference if need be when selling.

 

My father got a nasty dent out of his Tundra from a PDR and it looks like it never happened. Worth a shot.