Hey guys,

So it was inevitable. The savages in my neighborhood finally reminded me that I live among a bunch of transplants who don't know how to parallel park without using other cars as a guide to park. A SUV decide to blask the nose of my car, push the front part near the emblem in. While, it's not devastating, it's an eyesore and will definitely need to be fixed at some point. The damage is only on the hood, not the bumper or grill.

I know this may be hard to determine without a pic (I will provide one tonight), but around how much will I be looking at to get to get this dent on the nose of my hood fixed? I am pretty lost as to how much body work costs and want to make sure I don't get ripped off.

Thanks

 

Please say whoever did this fessed up by leaving a note, whatnot. Otherwise, vandals would be the more appropraite term for those you live around.

 

How bad is it? This was my hood after an SUV at a stop light reversed into me. I had hood, bumper, grill and radiator damage that came out to about $3500. The whole hood had to be replaced, along with my clear bra. I don't want to quote for certain since I don't have the estimate sheet in front of me, but I think the hood was about $500. I hope that yours isn't bad enough to need the whole hood replaced. Sucks, especially when it isn't your fault.

 

if it is a pure metal dent and the paint is good then you can have a paintless dent removal guy take a look at it.

If they can do it expect from $100 to $200 and up depending on the size and complexity and where you live . . . my door ding was $250 thru the dealer and I expect there was a minimum 100% markup.

Look in the yellow pages for dent doctor or dent wizard
http://www.dentdoctor.com/
http://www.dentwizard.com/

or call a dealer near you and ask who they use. My last MINI dealer had a guy who came in once a week and handled these jobs. I dropped the car for regular scheduled service, when the guy came in he called me with a price and the job was done when I picked up the car that afternoon.....but I did pay extra for this dealer service. These dent guys will come to you direct.....

BUT if there is trim damage, paint damage or panel alignment issues then you may be looking at much more involved repairs.

 

I would say my dent is similar but not as bad. The pinch in the dent doesn't really exist on my dent. My dent is more flat across and not pushed back as much. I have no bumper, grill or radiator issues as a result of this. There are some paint issues though. I can see a few cracks in the paint. I'll be using my car tonight so I'll definitely take some shots and post. Got home too late to get them up last night.

@usafdrew - Unfortunately, the VANDALS did not leave a note. I do have a good idea who did it though since the guy didn't even leave after he did it. The SUV in front was the right height and had a black rubber lower bumper that conveniently had scuff marks all over it. And guess what was on my dented hood when I originally discovered the dent? Black rubber plastic that I was able to wipe off. Considering only 10 hrs passed from when I parked that overnight and parking spots being such a premium in my area (especially during that snow storm), I am certain this guy did not leave after he did the damage.

Thanks for the help guys. I'll post some pics and follow ups for those interested.

 

That looks like a hood replacement. The problem is that the tightly formed and shaped part of the hood at the front where it meets the grill is badly deformed. That's not easy to put straight again. If it was in the middle of the hood, then you might have a change. I just had someone back into my hood and take out the right headlight as well. The estimate was 4500 dollars. Aside from the fact that the headlight unit costs nearly 700 dollars and the hinges and latches were being replaced as well, the high cost is due to the fact that to properly match the existing paint, the new paint needs to be blended into the existing paint for a miminum distance of 18". Since the hood is way less than 18" from the doors, it means that the doors have to be stripped of the inside panels, the window and mechanism, the rear view mirrors, the handles and any trim. Lots of labor to do it "by the book". Of course, you could just do the hood, but the color difference might then be noticable between the hood and the rest of the car. Bummer, I know.

I made the decision to have it done right. I'm trusting that the shop guys know how to disassemble and reassemble the doors properly and I specified that all new clips be used when reassembling the door and it's panels. And since the hood was new, I'm paying them a little extra to weld the holes where the Mini emblem mounts and finish it off smooth. And I bought an extra set of door handles and stripped the chrome off them so they can be painted body color. And even though it's an S model, I bought the black plastic side marker grills for a standard and I'm having them paint those body color as well. It should look great when I get it back.

Bottom line.....to repair your hood properly is going to be expensive. And look for other damage. Like the hood splaying out to the side closer to the doors. Bent hood hinges. Damaged hood latch. Etc......

 

Finally...here are a few shots of the damage done to mine. This was done by someone backing into my car while parking. Not from a car accident. Don't mind the dead fly on the hood. It was a long drive from DC :-)

 

Is that silk green, or just weird lighting. If it is SG, !

 

Actually pure silver. Ha It's probably a combo of the leaves reflecting and the iphones inability to get a good white balance.

 

I'd talk to a paintless guy but my gut feeling is since you are on the edge there it will be out of paintess scope and you need to talk to a body shop.

Doesn't cost anything to get an estimate but again cuz of the location your probably talking a bit more then if the dent was up a bit higher and a question will be if they think they can do it without the need for paint....

IF it is gonna require paint - because the paint will be messed up getting the dent out - you can easliy be looking at over $100 just in materials.... I'm afraid you are going to be shocked when you get a cost on this .. sorry.

 

I was afraid of that. I think I have a $500 deductable on no fault accidents so if it's significantly more than that I may have to file one. Hmmm.

I think I can swallow spend $350-500. More than that and I may have to go blow up that guys car, uh, um, I mean spit on it.

 

Did you call the police? get an accident report? Basically, it's a hit and run.

I'd call my insurance co. , probably not too late..

 

You should be able to get that fixed for under $500 ... but it may be close to.

Questions to think about

- will you want to respray the entire bonnet, or ask them to spot and blend? I prefer to respray the whole thing but that ups the materials cost of paint. On the other hand spotting costs more in labor and in my opinion you run a higher risk of clear delamination of the spot/blend down the road. When you get an extimate ASK which way they will be fixing it....

- you could look also for a replacement bonnet from a wreck. If you get REAL lucky you find a good one in your color and it is a bolt on replacement (over simplification)

- know any local car freaks - maybe a collector guy - local MINI club??? Ask for body shop recommendations. The best guys (or gals....excuse me) are found by word of mouth.

 

A serious thanks for all of this great info and tips. I am not sure about a local mini club but I am sure there has to be one in the local NYC area. I'll search the web for some contacts who can send me in the right direction locally.

Here is a non-direct question regarding repairs...As I have mentioned above, I live in area where people fight for parking and squeeze into whatever space they can physically fit there car into. Other cars bumpers and hoods be damned. I will probably be living in this neighborhood for the next 18 months. Would it be foolish of me to get the repairs done now knowing there is a chance something like this this could happen again? Or is that me just becoming too cynical and paranoid, given an accident can happen anytime, anywhere?

 

Does anybody have any thoughts on popping out a dent in the center of the bonnet? My concern is mostly for my rally stripes and I dont want them to crack in the process, does anyone think that might happen if i was to try and get the dent out??

 

Hi,
I'm the "fixed my wrecked 05 S" guy. You asked me over their for some info. I did not fix my hood, I replaced it. It was hit way too hard. I also own a dealership/service/body shop. My total estimate to repair your hood would be. $460.00 Thats straightening with thin fill coat, blending the color in the local area and clear coat all the way to the edges of the hood. And replacing the emblem. Don't waist your time with "dent lizards" anyone with any knowledge and a good eye can pin point any work done by most lizards. This is way beyond that anyways.
Cheers

 

Pretty sure you're answering my question. Thanks man. My dents aren't as bad as yours were by any means. I'll probably post a thread or try to get a hold of my local club to see what they think I should do with my situation.

 

I would call the cops and have them look at the matchup between the damage to your car and the SUV infront of you. Why pay anything if it is some idiots fault? No doubt in my mind they did it if you see a matching scuff.

Junk yards hate to match paint color on body parts, but, if you can find one who will or get lucky, you can fix it yourself.

 

Damage is close to 800 easy.

Maybe you can perform a bonnet badge delete and have the badge holes filled in same time ?

 

At this point I think I would be too far along to get the cops involved. Am I wrong? It was almost two months at this point. Plus I was able to get the plastic scuff from his bumper off of my car.

I think I may have to keep an eye out for a pure silver hood or just cough up the money ot get it fixed when I move out of this parking-challenged neighborhood.

Can anyone direct me to a local NYC or Brooklyn MINI owners club so that I can find out where they get their body work done?

Thanks!

 

A new hood is about 500 dollars, as I recall. You might save yourself some money by buying a used one even if it's not the proper color and then having it painted. Do the install yourself.

 

Thanks. From what I am hearing on the board, that may be the way to go. Is the install that easy?