Long Island Legacy Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 A Few Nights ago I was parked outside my girlfriends house and her sisters freidn had backed into my driver side door on my legacy with her chevy cobalt. Needless to say i got 2 estiamtes today and two very differnt stories. The first body ship i went to gave me a quote based upon the fact that the dent in my door(pix below) could be filled in and the door skin would not need to be replaced. Body shop number two who i have used in the past said that he wants to replace the door skin because filling the door in on the legacy wont come out 100% or as close to original as replacing the skin. when he was writing up the estimate he told me that there is no such thing a replacement skin on the legacy because our doors are made of a high strength kind of steal for safety and the whole door shell needs to be replaced. Now The first body shop did not tell me that the legacy had some crazy kind of door shell which leads me to believe that to correctly repair this i need the new shell. He said its not worth the labor because it would take longer or just as long to work the door by filling it in and it would be better to put a whole;e new shell on. What do you think i should do? Sorry car is so dirty in pix. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v695/creamfan/DSCN2719.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v695/creamfan/DSCN2718.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v695/creamfan/DSCN2717.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTATV Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 I think bondo is the way to go.... on an older car but you wont get a perfect result. On such a new car id say sorry to the friend but you want it done right. I dont know if there is a skin or if the whole door piece has to be done like your body shop said but I wouldnt fill it with bondo this early in the life of the car. not saying bondo cant look really good, but its a real art not a lot of people can do it flawlessly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim1969 Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 North Coast Subaru in Glen Cove has their own body shop. You may want to see what they say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 I'll be worried about color matching as well. They may have to re-spray the whole side of the car and blend it. X --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Island Legacy Posted November 26, 2007 Author Share Posted November 26, 2007 I hear you on the bondo i am very much concerned about the paint match. Theres northing worse then seeing a car that obviously had bodywork by the crap of a pint match that is clearly visible. Is North Coast Subaru a good body shop to go to. There kind of far for me but i mine as well give it a try sine I'm gonna own this car and i want it perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgLGT Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Go with a new door! Filler is only meant to take minor imperfections out, not big dents. That much filler could also crack and come off later. One of the first things you do to appraise rare, vintage cars is take a magnet to the body to see if the restoration has been done right. If a body shop ever told me they were going to use filler to take a dent out I would GTHO ASAP! As for the safety thing, any plastic deformation to a metal component will change its strength. As in a stamping process, shaping adds strength to thin sheet metal. Dents can weaken the integrity, think about bicycle frames here. In your case it's probably not enough deformation to really matter. However, using a bunch of bondo is just plain ghetto. If insurance is paying, why not get a whole new door instead of band-aid fixing a busted one. Seeing as how you've had body work done before with the second guy, I'd stick with him if you like his work. Knowing you're a repeat can only help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Island Legacy Posted November 26, 2007 Author Share Posted November 26, 2007 Yea. Does anyone know antyhign about the type of material in the leggys doors. Also like Bg said the door is pretty concave its not straight so it really takes an "artist" per say to master that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Only our hood and trunk are aluminum IIRC. The doors have a structural beam inside for protection, but I doubt that was bent in such a small dent. I would guess the door is just regular metal stamp, nothing out there. A good body shop will fix anything to like new. Nissan's has the doors in two parts in that you can buy the outer skin from the dealership and just replace it. This will be easier for a body shop to do since there would not be any body work done, just painting. I think this is what the guy meant when he said there are no replacements, and the metal part was just BS. All body shops are looking into getting the most money with the least amount of work without having the customer come back. X --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim1969 Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 I hear you on the bondo i am very much concerned about the paint match. Theres northing worse then seeing a car that obviously had bodywork by the crap of a pint match that is clearly visible. Is North Coast Subaru a good body shop to go to. There kind of far for me but i mine as well give it a try sine I'm gonna own this car and i want it perfect. try the local subie site for info about North Coast's bodywork. http://www.thelisc.com I've never used them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Island Legacy Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 Only our hood and trunk are aluminum IIRC. The doors have a structural beam inside for protection, but I doubt that was bent in such a small dent. I would guess the door is just regular metal stamp, nothing out there. A good body shop will fix anything to like new. Nissan's has the doors in two parts in that you can buy the outer skin from the dealership and just replace it. This will be easier for a body shop to do since there would not be any body work done, just painting. I think this is what the guy meant when he said there are no replacements, and the metal part was just BS. All body shops are looking into getting the most money with the least amount of work without having the customer come back. X Why do you think it was BS. WHy don't you do the research and see if there are door skins for a legacy. Cause there aren't! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Why do you think it was BS. WHy don't you do the research and see if there are door skins for a legacy. Cause there aren't! Exactly, there are no door skins. BS on the legacy using some rare material for the door that comes from mars or something. It is a Subaru after all! Big change was from 05 to 06 in getting support bars on the doors to get a better safety rating. He wants to change the whole door out so that there is no body work. X --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBLU24 Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 according to my collision software the legacy door comes as a shell.....no door skin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Island Legacy Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 Yea thats what I have heard. Now why is that? Cause the Legacy has a high strength steel door? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimalistic Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Get the new door. It could be that body shop #1 is some how affiliated with your insurance company. They might get a kickback for lowering the cost of the repair. Chances are body shop #1 knew that you couldn't just get the door skin and it would come out cheaper for the insurance company to just patch it. If you've used body shop #2 in the past and were satisfied with their work why not use them for this job too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniStiGuy Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 there is a door skin for the Legacy. I have worked with many bodyshops and had the same thing happen to me. The reason they wouldn't want and you might not want to replace the skin is because it takes a very talented person to do it right. If done right you wont be able to tell where they reattached/welded it on the inner side of the door. If done wrong then you'll notice it and it will possibly be flimsy and rattle or flex while you drive. Clean the door and take shots from the top, side facing front, side facing back, and head on at a close range within I'd say 3 ft or less so that we can see the actually damage better. OEM HID's Rx330 Retro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doccrowley Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Had the same damage on my 06 wagon. Dealer body shop replaced the entire door because the internal beam was involved in the damage. Needed to blend the entire driver side of the vehicle (twice) to get it right. bummer deal on the drivers door because your manufacturer stickers inside the door with VIN, etc will be gone after the fix. At least mine are now gone! LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaos22B Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 She hit you, she's paying for it. Get your car back to the condition it was prior (or better!) Don't settle for the filler! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wales Garage Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 bondo FTL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesuby Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Most insurance companies will require the body shop to look for a used door and paint it. If unavailable, you'll get a new door. I had the drivers door replaced on a six year old Acura TL. The body shop was very discriminating about accepting a used door which was perfect. The color match was excellent and everything came out fine...18 months later and no problems. Everything depends on getting a good body shop versus imbeciles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamRmr Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Once again you CAN NOT buy a door skin for a legacy “I also know the impreza is the same" only a door shell. If the door is going to be replaced the shop will need to blend the paint in to the front fender and back door. From the photo it looks like the door can be repaired and the paint would only be blended to the back door. If it was at are shop i would ask for a repair on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outback07 Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 pm my guy is amazing he does ferraris lambo and so cheap he fixed my front bumper he bondoed and repainted it for 250. Hes a family friend i m in jersey 15 min from the gwb come down and ill take you there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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