Back in August someone hit my 98 gS4 in a parking lot. My wife had it and the lady who did came out and admitted fault (she had to be strung out on pain killers or something she said, it looked like she went a few rounds with Rocky...).

Either way, been a long time, but I am finally getting around to fixing it. Got the drivers door, pushed it in some, everything works ok at least.

Tips? Advice? Color is Antique Bronze Mica. Hard to match?

I am mixed, insurance company has "certified repair shops" claiming they will give me lifetime warranty on the work, pain (chipping, fading, etc), rust, etc. But I have a friend of a friend who I know does fantstic body work. He is an Oldsmobile racer and does his and many other race cars. Seeing his work he would do a Lexus proud.

Thoughts? I have hardly ever needed a body shop, don't know what to expect.

 

Shop with warranty most def. Your friend may be good, but are you guaranteed a warranty with him?

 

I'll have to ask him when I talk to him tomorrow. He might, he has a full shop at home too. Paint booth and all.

I just hate seeing a car that looked good at one point then faded a few years later and looks badly.

 

Post some pictures of the damage

 

It looks completely contained to the drivers door, no fender hit. It is pushed in 1/2" to 1".

 

 

I would have it buffed out and a dent place pull the dent out. Doesnt look like you need a body shop and painting. At least give it a try rather then bondo and paint the door.

 

Just replace the door with a matching one from an auto recycler. They can't be any more expensive than having your door repaired. If your glass and internals are all good, you can probably just buy a skin and frame in decent shape and swap everything over.

 

^you'll be lucky with weathering if the paint will actually match though so then you have to paint/blend....this would probably be the route i went though

 

It's worth a shot. And it's better to have a factory straight door than one that's been pulled and straightened. It might just match well enough that it's barely noticeable. If it's really off, then you paint/blend. That wouldn't be *too* expensive and you'd have a door with no bondo.

 

It is pushed in 1/2" to an 1", might buff some of the scratch, but the dent, I don't see it. The other driver insurance pays for it. I hate the idea of bondoing up the door, so I might look for another door and have them paint it. Often that is best to do, reskinning is often not a good idea either.

 

look for a used door in same color it may match if not you will have to paint it

 

I am looking to see what I find. Seems to be lots of doors out there. Just finding color and worthy grade to get.

 

I'll have to ask him when I talk to him tomorrow.

 

I don't get the hassle with the OP. Someone else hit you, so I'm sure their insurance has already paid you for this to go get it fixed. Did you take the insurance money and now you are trying to find the cheapest way to perserve most of the money you were paid? I don't get it. I was going to do that with my car (someone caused damaged trying to break into my car recently), but got tired of the hassle and took my car to the lexus body shop to let them handle it.