Quote:
Originally Posted by rwh963
when can you be here! i'm pretty good at doing mechanical things. i don't weld/paint/body work.
i stopped by a second shop today. they do a lot of work with the local toyota dealer. pdf'ed a visual estimate (neither shop dismantled anything. not actually sure the procedure for getting a full evaluation without feeling like i need to commit to that shop, or else pay them something for the dismantling/re-assembly). they differed from the first shop. did not think the radiator support was involved. might be able to re-use the fender (to keep VIN and best fit), said could not re-use hood due to crease which is a safety concern. was concerned about the front hood/fender gap, felt things were pushed in that direction. their estimate was $4200.
i washed the front down a little. saw the green container paint on the light lens. it was not a straight on impact, it was a offset impact.
as for impact on safety, what little has happened should not have an impact on front end ability to endure a more significant accident. i think about helmuts, where it is recommended to replace it they hit the ground, even if little visual damage has occurred.
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Haha For context, i'm not a body guy, but i'd be happy to check it out if you're local.
In my experience, shops won't take in your car and take it apart for an estimate. So your initial quote/final OTD price could be significantly different the more they take apart your car.
I'm a bit confused why they care to reuse the fender for the VIN/best fit? Parts are pretty universal and I'm fairly certain there's no VIN stamped on the fender. The only concern here would be that if they needed to paint it or got a used part, the color could be a bit off due to fade or needing to paint match and blend(costly).
Yea, looking at the pics some more after you said it might be an offset impact, your gap might just be due to the headlight/fender being pushed back and outwards, causing it to look it it has a gap, making it seem worse than it is. I say with some level of confidence since the headlight is pushed down under the tab and back a bit in the 6th photo and the third photo you posted has the quarter panel being popped off from the front portion of the fender, along with the top corner of the headlight breaking off which means that the fender had quite some pressure on that bit, enough to break the plastic.
If you have the time, I'd try carefully trying to push the headlight forward from the back by removing the battery and see how the fender moves with it with it. once you get that out, compare the pass/driver side fender looking straight at it from the front and see if the driver side is kicked out a bit. If this is the case, you might just be able to heat up the fender and push it back in towards the hood to reduce the gap.
I highly doubt it's a significant enough impact to even care about your safety (but what do I know... I'm just a rando on the internet). In terms of the helmet metaphor, I'd say it's as if you dropped the helmet out of your trunk while getting your bike out and it hitting the ground. It's not a hard impact to need to replace the helmet, but a minor enough incident to leave a scratch.
