Opinions on what to do to 100% repair my damaged fender?

B

BluBrett

New member
I got this car last month, and within weeks someone had apparently crashed their bicycle into the fender and dented it in 5+ spots, some large some small, plus the brace behind the fender created an outward dent, plus the entire area to the rear of the fender flare is set in a bit more than it should be. I originally wanted to repair it but the thought of any slight waviness, flat spots, etc. turned me away from repair and to replacement instead. I have a brand new OEM fender sitting in the garage but now my buddy who owns a large new-car body repair place is saying not to replace it but to repair it instead to avoid massive amounts of blending, the possibility of the blending to be visible, and the possibility of the brand new fender not lining up perfectly on an 8 year old car. I don't know what to do now, especially with the paint being Moroccan Red Pearl, I just want the repair to be as close to "never happened" as possible. I have 2 out of about 20 paint shops I visited that appear to match color and orange peel well enough for my critical eye.

Does anyone with experience having damage on a car this color or similar have any recommendation for me either way? Any exceptionally positive or negative experiences?



 
Replace the fender and panel blend the door and the hood. Sorry about your body shop friend, but the mechanical is easy, you need a good painter.
 
Ccrew said:
Replace the fender and panel blend the door and the hood. Sorry about your body shop friend, but the mechanical is easy, you need a good painter.
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I agree. Replacement is usually less expensive than repair and with replacement, you know the panel is going to be straight, on a repair, not so much. It will depend on the abilities of the bondo guy. Not to mention that you will always know that under the paint, the panel is still damaged :unsure:
 
As long as you have an authentic OE replacement part in hand that's the route I'd suggest. You're going to need to paint or blend either way, keeping fillers out of it will be a better long term solution. Now if your fender is an aftermarket replacement...
 
I'd install the new fender, but I'd give the whole blending thing some serious thought. I doubt I'd blend into the hood, might not even blend into the door.

FWIW, I've had this sort of thing done *countless* times (not just ten or twenty) and my first-hand experience is why I don't always recommend blending. It just opens a can-o'-worms that can bears careful consideration, no matter how good the shop is (or appears to be).
 
Accumulator said:
I'd install the new fender, but I'd give the whole blending thing some serious thought. I doubt I'd blend into the hood, might not even blend into the door.

FWIW, I've had this sort of thing done *countless* times (not just ten or twenty) and my first-hand experience is why I don't always recommend blending. It just opens a can-o'-worms that can bears careful consideration, no matter how good the shop is (or appears to be).
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I've gone to so many shops I can't even count them, and every single one said because it is a red car with pearl in the base coat, I need to blend it because it will NOT match. I've asked every place I've gone to if they can do it without blending and have received a resounding "NO," even from the best of the best.
 
BluBrett- Ah, OK, I missed the "pearl" part! Gotta read more carefully, my bad. That makes sense...hope it turns out OK. At least you seem to have good shops in your area.
 
Go to a good body shop and let rm do what they do. I find that if you are at the right place you will get the right job. It only the times I have chased a deal or shopped a price that I was disappointed.

If you were in NY I have the place for you. In California I would call a detailer and get a recommendation or get one from a satisfied friend.
 
Look at it this way, either way, to repair it, weather replacing or repairing the fender, the fender will need to be repainted. So no way to avoid that part. Replacement will be best, blend the hood and door. I'd have a dealership body shop do it because they have experience with that specific color, more so than another shop since dealerships tend to get mostly their brand vehicles in for repair. So they will have the most experience when it comes to mixing and blending your vehicles color
 
ShaneB said:
So they will have the most experience when it comes to mixing and blending your vehicles color
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I can understand the apprehension. I mean until you see it when you get it back there's always that apprehension that it's a mess. Kinda like a blind date.
 
PDR all day long. That is a great candidate for PDR. Some great techs in Cali. Checkout Myke Toledo or techs on doording.
 
Isn't the damage a little severe for pdr? Especially the part over the body line in the fender? I could be wrong, worth asking though
 
Guys are fixing major collision damage with PDR. Some of the repairs would blow your mind. Repairs are being made on damage a lot of shops say have to be replaced. Creases on body lines are the norm these days. I would definitely look into PDR for this damage. If the paint is OK, that is a feasible repair. Check out Myke, Sal Contreras, or another highly reputable tech and it should be a 100% repair.
 
My concerns with PDRing this is that the impact might have compromised the backside, as in...rust-out in a few years if the paint/ecoat is cracked.

My concerns with having a dealership bodyshop do it is that in nearly four decades of this stuff I can count on ONE finger the number of dealership body/paint shops that I've been satisfied with, and I've lost count of the ones that disappointed me (including the one I worked at). I will say that the one shop that was good was *VERY* good, until Penske bought it and totally [messed] it up.
 
If the paint didn't crack on the front, it's probably intact on the backside. You could always touch up the back side with primer. And the damage caused on the backside of a panel by a stud gun or metal slapping a much worse than any pdr repair, and they never repair that damage.
 
I've seen PDR guys do some amazing things. I can't help but think if you were to go that route you wouldn't stop and look at the fender everytime you walked by it. I can't see that one coming out 100%.
 
MikeC. said:
If the paint didn't crack on the front, it's probably intact on the backside. You could always touch up the back side with primer. And the damage caused on the backside of a panel by a stud gun or metal slapping a much worse than any pdr repair, and they never repair that damage.
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My experience has been that panels rust out if the back side's coating/paint has been compromised. As in, learned the hard way first-hand. Heh heh, any shop that didn't properly take care of the back side would be buying me a redo if/when I found out about it, though I've learned that I should check in with them to see such stuff before it gets buttoned-up if only for my peace of mind.
 
Decided to try PDR after serious research to find the best of the best. He happened to be a mile from my work. He spent 5.5-6 hours total on my fender. I'm impressed, and the car delivery center I work for hired him as a vendor on the spot after seeing his work.





And parked outside my friend's house



LEVEL PDR in Santa Ana, CA for anyone who is interested.
 
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