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Unfortunately, while sitting in my car parked at the dry cleaner the other day, some kid in a U-Haul van wasn’t paying attention and backed right into me. Pictures of the damage are attached. The damage to the trunk is worse than it looks in the pictures. It's bent on the right side and the lines are off on the top of the trunk where it meets the quarter panel. His insurance company is paying for it but I have a decision to make regarding the trunk repair.
The rear bumper cover definitely needs to be replaced, but the trunk lid can likely be repaired versus replaced. I'm comfortable pushing the insurance company to replace it if that’s the best choice. The shop I'm going to supports either option - repairing the existing trunk, which they seem comfortable doing, or advising the insurance company it needs to be replaced.
Here’s my dilemma: I prefer getting a new trunk lid, but there is a potential downside to it. Here’s a list of the pros and cons that I came up with if I get a new trunk lid instead of repairing the damaged trunk.
NEW TRUNK PROS: New trunk lid guarantees it will be straight, line up properly, and no issues with the integrity/structure. If the shop repairs my damaged trunk, they’ll have to hammer nails into it followed by bondo, filler, sanding etc. just to try to get the lines straight again, which may never be perfect like they were before. If I get the new trunk, I’ll have peace of mind knowing it’s a brand new trunk.
NEW TRUNK CONS: If they replace the entire trunk, they will obviously have to paint the entire trunk, which would then require blending paint on the upper rear quarter panels that connect to the top panel of the trunk lid. The only benefit that I can think of if I repair the trunk instead of replace it is that shop will only have to paint the lower panel of the trunk where the license plate is mounted, which will not require any paint blending on the quarter panels.
Maybe I'm seriously overthinking it and should just have the shop repair the existing trunk. I think it would be a much easier decision if I was at fault in causing the damage, but it was solely the other driver's fault. Also, if it makes a difference, I own the car outright and plan to hang on to it for several more years. Any thoughts or suggestions? I have no idea which route to go. Your feedback is much appreciated!
If you get the trunk repaired, it will still need a paint job and blending so I would get all new parts and focus on a reputable repair shop that can fully replicate Ultra White.
can easily be repaired. the bumper can probably be pushed out with some heat and the dent on the trunk is very minor. I'd always choose repair over replace especially for minor/easy fixes so you have the original parts on the car
I'd repair and blend. That is very minor and very easy for body shop to fix. There is only a dent that needs to be pulled . It's not like the metal bent harshly. And the bumper needs to be repainted also correct? Or will it be a pop out dent and cut and buff only needed ?
I would get the trunk lid repaired, so the paint on the top would match the top quarter panels. You'd have the same paint variance if any on the lower part of the trunk lid to match the bumper. If you have any butt match, it will only be where the sides of the bumper meet the quarter panels, but since the car is so new and it's white it shouldn't be an issue.
As for the bumper, even after it is heated and pushed out, a decent amount of sanding down to the plastic to get everything all smooth is time consuming and I can't see an insurance company paying the time to do it right and make it like new. I'd fear they would just slap filler on it and if you ever get tapped lightly there, it's going to break and flake off. My car was tapped on the bumper in the same spot when the previous owner had it and insurance replaced the bumper.
I just looked at your pics again. Make sure your trunk isn't bent because when I just looked, the lines where they meet the lights, they look off. Hopefully, it is just me.
Yeah that's a nothing-repair as far as the trunk lid goes. Pull the low spots as high as possible and fill and sand, primer, paint, clear, wetsand/blend.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I dropped off the car at the body shop this morning. The bumper is cracked and warped pretty badly, so that is going to be replaced with a new OEM bumper. With regard to the trunk lid, the line on the right side was bent worse than it appears in the photos. The shop advised me that they could straighten it out and probably get the lines pretty close, but it might not be spot on. Based on this and several other factors which I won't get into, I decided to pull the trigger on the new trunk lid. The guy who hit me wanted to avoid an insurance claim, so he paid me cash and it's enough to cover all the repairs costs plus a rental car for the week.
08-12-16, 06:02 PM
Repair vs. Replace? Please help decide!
