musicmax

Parked at the mall last weekend and came back to a 1-1/2" long door ding, through the paint. Some jerk who didn't leave their contact info did quite a number on it. Right rear door, halfway between the window and the bend where the metal turns vertical.

I took it to the "MB-certified" shop and they want $1100 to fix it, including paint going as far back as the rear bumper, and up to the roof. Does that sound right? Both the price and the size area they claim that needs to be blended?

thebenzbar

Sounds like they want alot of your money!

Polar Bear

You can expect to pay a lot for good work. So many shops don't really take pride in what they do and to do it right it will cost. I would look at some of their other work first and see if it is satisfactory.

A botched-up job with dust and a different texture would look worse than the door ding IMO.

OPALW208

+38277570450235775303001

you can find a Maaco or Earl Scheib to paint your entire car for $199.00. you can also find a high-end paint shop to paint your entire car for $12,500.

mbuskuhl

Post a picture if you can. I'd try PDR first for under $100 and see if I could live with the results before I spent $1100. Might consider making an insurance claim if it really bothers you. Keep in mind people prefer original paint on cars.

Long Islander

Sounds like overkill. Have the ding removed by a paintless ding guy, then buy some touch-up paint and touch it up yourself. Use the Langka product (www.langka.com) to smooth out the touch up. I did about 20 or paint chips on the hood of one of my other cars a couple of weeks ago, and the results are remarkable. I wanted to show my wife the spots that I touched up, but I couldn't even find them after the touch up and Langka treatment!

Polar Bear

I tried that product a while back on a W210 and had mixed results. Perhaps it was the way I was using it. Any advice?

pinebaron

I use Langka for paint chips; if done right, it can look pretty near perfect. I doubt if langka will work for your 1 1/2" dent; it all depends on how much base preparation is required after pulling the dent out. A few close-up pictures may be useful to gain expert advise from forum readers who have experienced similar damage to their vehicles.

amdeutsch

What I find interesting is that they want to paint non-affected body panels. Where is the ding exactly? Do you have any pictures?

musicmax

Here are some pics.

365v

Try some dry ice on the ding. It just might pop it out.

amdeutsch

Thanx for the pics. From those I can see no reason to paint the rear quarter panel. I would get another estimate.

Diesel Benz

I don't understand this, are they afraid of the new paint being a bit different? But painting the rear quarter makes the rear door and the rear quarter the same but then the front door would be different. Why not paint the whole car then?

A pity the paint has got that damage, the ding itself would be easy for a paintless ding fix.

Long Islander

Apply your touch up paint. Go have lunch. Come back 1-2 hours later. Then use Langka on an old cotton T-shirt that you've cut up into small pieces and wrapped tightly around the plastic card they give you. Have another clean towel ready to wipe up the excess. Use more Langka if the cotton rag starts to dry up.

Long Islander

Musicmax, based on your photos I still would not have it repainted. The paintless ding removal + touch-up won't be 100% perfect, but you also won't have a large area of your car that's been repainted. If you're not sure you can do the touch-up well yourself, go to a local detailing place with the touch-up paint and the Langka after the ding guy removes the dent. Plus, you'll save around $900.

usc96

OMG! That's not worth $1,100.00 to fix. Try the touch up method. With three kids and a wife who somehow achieves bigger dings and scratches on a regular basis (), I guess I'm not much of a car perfectionist anymore.

Davel

Actually, thats a decent price for the amount of painting they are proposing to do. It they do it right, its a lot prep work involved to give a good finish. but for the size of the ding/dent i would go the paintless removal method first with touchup paint, i've use the langka too. If your patient your repair is almost invisible...

dw8083

I have a similar scratch 16" to the right of the rear passenger door handle. I went to 2 different body shops that specialize in MB's in Los Gatos, Ca. The estimates were $1050 and $900. They need to blend in the paint and that takes a fairly wide area. Both shops said the paint chip/scratch touch-up method recommended above would be an 80% fix as opposed to 100% if they repainted.

Just another data point to consider.

-David

michakaveli

Uninsured Motorist claim my friend...

Diesel Benz

The problem with the full paint is that it isn't a 100% fix either. If the shop is good, the colour is very much the same as the rest of the car, initially, but later on there will be a difference. Quite possible that there is a difference from day one (equally easy to see as a well done chip repair).

One option is to fix the ding only now and paint the whole door and rear later if you start feeling so. Of course you should in this case get the full compensation as if the full fix was done.

bigben320e

Dry ice? I have small ding on my hood, just apply the ice by itself or in a cloth or what?

sgaar

I got a ding fixed at the dealer who subcontracted out to Dent Wizard this past week for $199. Can't tell that the dent was ever there. 1st class work!

Take the car to them and see what they can do for you. The collision guy wanted about $850 to fix the same thing.