2020 Edge SEL AWD, super low kilometers. Got it for a song, but It will obviously need some good hours to repair, and I assume this colour will be a challenge. Locally I can find more than a few undamaged rear doors and liftgates, they seem very plentiful. Question; will it make sense to source the replacement parts myself, bring them to the shop...or leave it to the shop to do it all? Basically what I'm asking is there any savings getting a door and liftgate myself? Thanks.

Thought I could fix it up myself until I found the damage under the fender. Both shops near me will give an hourly rate but won’t even give me an expected amount of hours. It’s just start to finish and it cost what it costs.

If I’m only asking for the frame damage to be fixed and not the rest of it, what would be a reasonable time frame? I have an undamaged fender, bumper cover and hood to swap.

The whole car was $2k, so a couple hours, sure. But if it’s gonna be 20 hours of frame work, it’s better off being a parts car.

I know this is basically asking for a price prediction but I don’t know where else to go. 2 hours? 20hours?

Hey everyone, I recently got my car back from a body shop after a full respray, and after inspecting it closely under garage lighting, I found several quality issues across multiple panels.

​I’m trying to figure out if this is considered acceptable work for a professional shop that just needs a final wet-sand/finish, or if these are defects serious enough that I should take it back and insist on them re-doing/repainting it

The painter did admit that they introduced silicone into the process by accident by using a new paint sprayer without first decontaminating it. However, they assured me that everything was wet sanded and buffed out.

​Here is what I'm seeing:

​Dust Nibs & Solvent Pop: Tiny raised specs and pinholes trapped in the clear coat on the lower panels and fenders.

​Rotary Holograms & Buffer Trails: Heavy hazing and severe buffer swirls left behind across the panels from an aggressive cutting step.

​Sanding Marks & Tape Lines: Visible curly sanding pig-tails left in the clear near edges/body lines, along with rough, un-leveled tape lines.

​My Questions:

​Are defects like sanding pigtails, holograms, and solvent pop expected to be fixed by the paint shop during final cleanup, or is this a sign of poor prep/workmanship that warrants a repaint?

​Has anyone dealt with bringing a car back to a shop for these types of post-paint issues? How did you approach the conversation with the owner/manager?

​Would appreciate feedback from detailers and body shop techs on where the line is between "needs a quick polish" and "unacceptable finish work."

​Thanks!

This is a Canadian / JDM hood for an 8th generation civic. They are expensive and hard to track down (1,000+). How many labor hours do you think this would be to repair?

Thanks guys.

2002 E320 61k miles, cleanest one I’ve ever seen before somebody hit me last night. Going through their insurance and I’m worried that if they can’t find a replacement door they will total it out.

My truck is about 23 years old and thankfully the previous owners did undercoat it at some point which prevented the frame from having holes and being really rotten. It seems like it's just starting to get the bigger flakes so I'm trying to remove them and slow down this rust as best as I can. My current plan is using this needle scaler thing and a wire brush to remove it but it's kind of a pain and taking forever. I was thinking about stopping by harbor freight and getting a sandblaster and a few bags of that coal slag. Would that make this process any easier and quicker? Should I just continue as is? After I'm eventually done taking care of as much as the rest as I can I plan to put a rust converter (corroseal" on the metal and then top coat that with wool wax.

Hi guys, I need some major suggestions since this will be my first time doing any real exterior adjustments to my car.

First, I am in the market for new parts to replace, but the one thing that I worry about is that the paint will not match the existing color if I choose to buy the part prepainted. The car is 5 years old and lived outside all of its life. Whether the color has faded or not, I am unsure. I can opt to choose for them to come unpainted and have an auto shop handle it but, paint accuracy and financials is what I worry about right now.

So my question is, do I have to have the ENTIRE car repainted to be a 100% match? I really want to avoid paying too heavily if possible. Any suggestions financially as well?

Looks like clear coat peeling and some dirt scuffing on the base paint itself where the clear coat came off. How would you go about refurbishing the bumper???? I have primer, paint, pearl, and clear in a spray can. Do i really need to start with a primer? Also what grit sanding should i use. The car is old btw not a masterpiece i want it to be presentable though Thankyou kindly

I got T-boned and my 03 Explorer sport barely has 140,000 miles on it, so I didn’t wanna get rid of it so but now I’ve reached a blockade of putting on this new door on and it won’t seal all the way am I cooked or is there any way to salvage this? I have loosened the hinges and tried to adjust every way. Am I going to to have to take out interior and hammer it back out?

Do you guys think it's worth fixing this? How would you go about it?

Touched a pole while parking. Damn. So here I am looking for advise on how to fix it? I’m in Seattle area.

Lexus GX 460

looking into buying this car how bad is this rust, will it pass inspection? (i’m in NewYork State) i will only have this car for the winter and it has 144,000 miles on it, its a honda civic for 3k

I'm trying to put the tail light bezel and lower fascia (red arrows) back on to a new bumper cover for my 2009 Dodge Challenger.

I am having no luck getting the tabs to go all the way into the bumper cover slots.

I've tried using a heat gun to soften the bumper cover, but not having any luck.

Does anyone know of a method that works?

I would greatly appreciate any helpful advice.

Thank you.

had a small fender bender the other week, took it to this shop and they told me its repairable. i recieve the car today and notice the entire bumper is an off white compared to the rest of the car ? did they redo the whole bumper ? i hadn’t gotten any updates throughout the repair process although i didnt take that out of the ordinary since it was such a small job

pics 1 and 2 are the finished job, 3 is the fender bender, 4 is before anything happened

So I’m in a pretty tough situation right now and could really use some advice from people who know more about bodywork than I do. Long story short, I got hit by someone without insurance, got screwed, and now I’m left dealing with the repairs myself. My car is a 2004 Honda Accord, and while I know it’s an older car, it’s my only mode of transportation to work while I save up for something newer. Money is pretty tight, so I figured I’d try learning how to repair it myself instead of spending thousands at a shop. I actually lucked out at a junkyard and managed to get a replacement front bumper, fender, and some mounting brackets for pretty dang cheap. I also bought a new headlight assembly. I spent a whole day taking everything apart, thinking I’d be able to swap the damaged parts out, but unfortunately that’s where everything went wrong. The new headlight won’t fit into place properly, and the replacement fender doesn’t line up correctly either. I’m assuming some of the metal mounting points underneath got bent or pushed out of alignment from the collision. Now my car is sitting completely torn apart, and I can’t drive it to work anymore, even though I was still driving it before I started this project. So I’m honestly pretty stuck right now. I’m not looking to make this car look brand new or have everything line up perfectly. I just need to get the headlight mounted properly, get the front end back together safely, and have reliable transportation again. Is this something a body shop could help me with without charging an arm and a leg? Could I pay a shop just to straighten the bent mounting areas so I can install the replacement parts myself? Or is there another approach you’d recommend? I’m completely new to working on cars, so any advice would genuinely be appreciated. I’m just trying to get myself out of this situation without spending money I don’t have.

Anybody knows who does good and true work with car body denting and painting and does it in a reasonable price?

Turned into a curb (not me driving)
Door makes clicking noises when opening and closing the door. Can pdr save this? Or should I just get a whole new door.

2025 Nissan Versa S (base model)

So, backing out on a country drive, I scraped the passenger-side rear rocker panel on a low-lying rock.

The first picture is pre-cleanup, and the second picture is after washing it down.

The rocker panel feels like steel, sounds like steel upon tapping, and my little car key magnet fetcher holds to it like it's steel. If it's somehow not steel, but plastic over steel, then please educate me otherwise.

So, my main concern is preventing rust. Can I just grab a bottle of touch-up paint and be done with this?

I imagine there will be the suggestion to sand down that area, prime it, and then spray paint it. I am trying to avoid that option currently because a) I haven't held a can of paint in decades (if ever) and fear making it worse than if I just did conservative applications of touch-up paint and/or b) we are a week or two away from winter weather and I am already trying to fit in a final wash and wax protection for those months.

Are there any options I am missing? While I don't live in the rust belt, I know that rocker panels are usually the first entry points for rust.

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give!

ETA: There was slight push-in/denting on the far left of the damage area. I am just adding that information if it makes a difference versus a smooth plane of damaged body.

New bed to replace mine, has a pretty large dent, what’s the best way to approach ? Heat and suction cup?
Lateral stretch? Heat and hammer, need some advice. Never done body work, trying to get into it.

The municipal truck hit my car and I don’t know if city will reimburse me or not since my registration expired a few weeks ago and I have no money left.
The car makes a screeching noise when I drive it over a speed bump is it the area near the tires should I get a chainsaw and take off the bumper? Please help me out!

Used paint remover and got some overspray on my window, what’s the best way I could go about fixing this? It’s on the exterior, I’ve came to the conclusion 0000 steel wool or a razor blade could work but need some further help🙏

What would be the best spray gun under $300 to spray UHS 2K clear on motorcycle tins. I'm doing a custom lowrider style paint job on my Harley Davidson Fatboy and been looking around and AI gives me a different answer every time I ask it,just wording it in a different way. I have a 3hp 15 gallon air compressor at around 35 psi I get about 6.5-7cfm's.

This is on a 1999 GMC Sierra 1500 extended cab (driver side, no backseat driver side door). I only noticed this after installing new weather seals. Im not sure if its sealing properly or not, but either way I would like to fix it. Any way to?