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Body Shop Costs for W116

Started by paulbarras, 30 August 2006, 12:33 PM

paulbarras

Hi all,

I was recently very shaken by a parking accident I had while driving a Honda Accord. The simple parking ding wasn't as simple as I had thought. I accidentally hit a car while parking the vehicle and the damage caused was largely superficial, with the bumper showing paint marks and a small crack with the headlamp a little out of alignment. The bill for the damage, according to a body shop, came to about $2000, without any underlying structural damage. The estimate placed was roughly $400 worth of parts and $1600 worth of labor.

This has really shaken me up and I was wondering how much it would cost to repair such damage on a W116. Understandably, the bumpers would probably not have shown any signs of distress, but are the bodywork repair costs for the W116 comparable to a recent Honda Accord? Is their bodywork easier to repair, for such minor parking dings?


alabbasi

That sounds excessive. Are you going through an insurance company or paying for it yourself? If your going through an insurance company, then body shops tend to over charge. If your going private, then you may want to do a lot of shopping around. Go to the seedier parts of town and check the shops there. Make sure you tell them that this is coming out of your pocket and try to source the parts yourself on eBay.

All the best

Al
With best regards

Al
Dallas, TX USA.

macatron

$2,000 does seem excessive for what you describe.  I worked at an auto body shop briefly...  One of the estimators told me (with a smile) that they'll routinely estimate repairs on newer cars higher regardless of make.  The reason for this is that customers with newer cars are more likely to see their cars as worth the expense because of the investment they've already made.  Regardless of what I'm having repaired or where I'm having it repaired, I walk into the shop with an attitude of "I just need to get this heap back on the road, so what are you going to do to help me out?".  I also ask for everything to be itemized and I question everything they list.  "Is this necessary and why?"  And so forth...

As for the body shop I worked at, I quit after 1 week.  I can't work for a crooked company.