Dented door/ body work advice needed - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

V · 03-11-2018, 04:17 PM

So this morning someone decided to back out of their driveway and play bumper cars with my moms '14 Cadillac ATS. Well, both drivers side doors got damaged. The other party is paying for repairs, either privately or insurance, so I need to now go take the car this week to get an estimate or two.

My question is as to whether I should expect the doors to be fixed or replaced. I have some experience with dealing with body work and estimates before and I've always been pretty close on what I come up with compared to the body shop but I need some input as to when a door is repaired vs. being replaced. The hit was mainly right between the 2 doors, and the rocker/b-pillar do not seem to have been touched. The front door is caved in right at the edge but when you open the door, the inside edge/frame is also deformed slightly and the paint has cracked/flaked off. This leads me to believe the whole door may be quicker to swap then to bodywork back into shape(cheaper from a financial aspect too). The rear door, I feel is repairable, but the hinge was affected and the door shifted down in the back where the latch is. The bottom edges of the doors where they meet are also out of alignment, but I feel this could easily be corrected with adjustment or a new hinge at the most.

Being that the repair is not an insurance job (as of right now), should I request the estimate to reflect replacing both doors entirely? I priced them out through GM and the door shells are just shy of 600 each. I feel with the repair on the current front door, labor would exceed, or at least match that amount. Plus they have to remove the door panel and weather stripping in order to repaint the inner jambs properly anyway.

Another thing is the paint. It is a tri-coat metallic, "red obsession". So blending the paint will involve a little more skill and also a little more cost for the paint.

In my mind, I'm figuring on an estimate between $2500 and $3500. With replacing both doors, I'd expect it to be on the higher end, at 3100-3500. With repairing both doors, I'd expect around 2500, maybe just under. And I feel that replacing the front door and fixing the rear would be around the 3k mark. Personally, I think I'd want the front door replaced.

As for the car it is a 2014 Cadillac ATS Luxury, 2.0 turbo awd auto, all basically options, one owner, with only 6,xxx miles.

sweetbmxrider · 03-11-2018, 04:47 PM

You sound right around where I would guesstimate as well. Another option would be a used door. What do door skins go for? That could happen as well depending on how deformed the inner is.

V · 03-11-2018, 05:00 PM

GM doors skins are around 330.
I just looked at used doors an ebay and one with internals is around 600-700 shipped. However, at that point(and since its not an insurance job yet) I feel the low mileage of the car kinda forces a new door shell rather than a 50k+ mileage used door. At least that's my opinion.

The person who hit the car seemed very eager to pay privately, even after I told her that this isn't going to be a "couple hundred dollar repair". So we'll see if she's willing to do the 3000 range, lol. She'll end up paying either way since a police report was made and the police even called her number on the note she left and had her come down to the station to provide all of her information.

V · 03-11-2018, 08:24 PM

Pictures of inside the door.
The two creases on the backside are where the door was pushed into the rear door hinge. The white areas are where the paint flaked/is missing.

Anti_Rice_Guy · 03-12-2018, 07:43 AM

I would still get an estimate (even if not at your end shop) and write up some sort of agreement with the person. This isn't just a $500 repair.

My good friend's family owns Plaid Motors in Lyndhurst if you need a reputable shop.

sweetbmxrider · 03-12-2018, 04:14 PM

What are the insurance companies? I feel like she'll end up going that direction and that will dictate the new/used/aftermarket parts/labor to complete the repair.

edpontiac91 · 03-13-2018, 11:01 AM

I would advise getting 2 OEM NEW Cadillac doors. It may be more expensive, but if the person who made the damage will agree to the estimate, go with it. No guessing with the TOTAL amount of body work to bring those damaged doors back to ORIGINAL condition.
As for the paint, you should have the ENTIRE drivers side painted, to MATCH the paint work on the 2 doors. The time this paint job has been in the weather for the last 4 years will affect whatever comes out of a can and will never be a 100% match unless you do it right. The amount of TRYING to match just the two doors will always look different where ever you stop.

sweetbmxrider · 03-13-2018, 11:15 AM

You can get the paint close via camera shot and blend into the panels on either side.

V · 03-13-2018, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edpontiac91

I would advise getting 2 OEM NEW Cadillac doors. It may be more expensive, but if the person who made the damage will agree to the estimate, go with it. No guessing with the TOTAL amount of body work to bring those damaged doors back to ORIGINAL condition.
As for the paint, you should have the ENTIRE drivers side painted, to MATCH the paint work on the 2 doors. The time this paint job has been in the weather for the last 4 years will affect whatever comes out of a can and will never be a 100% match unless you do it right. The amount of TRYING to match just the two doors will always look different where ever you stop.

I understand how body repair works and I also do some of my own painting.

V · 03-13-2018, 07:20 PM

Estimate is in. $4,030.33 (3,779 before tax so close to the 3,500 I thought)
Both doors are a write off.
As the guy walked up to the car, first thing he said was "Oh, needs both doors".
The "beam" inside the front door was crushed and the lower section of the rear door was pushed in enough to twist the whole door structure.
B pillars were untouched.
Whole side of the car needs to be painted due to the tri-coat metallic paint.

Other party has "Amica" insurance.
We'll see if they want to hand over 4k, or go the insurance route.

v6folyfe · 03-15-2018, 02:15 PM

I'm gunna say the go through insurance. What body shop did you go to? I hope not Rich's in Emerson. That guy will bill out for a new door and the use $30 of bondo to fill in the doors on it now and send it on its way.

By the way, this is Tim, Amanda says Hi