So some girls decided it would be fun to act out a little "Grand Theft Auto" and took my keys and my car out for a joyride. While they were at it they managed to back into a guys chevy nova. Needless to say, he escaped with paint chips, and it looks like im gonna have to do big work the the passenger rear body panel. its a hardtop so it has that part that goes all the way over the door to the hood. I'd prefer to pay the extra and just replace it so i dont have to tell everyone its Bondo when i eventually resell it in the future, but I cant seem to find anywhere that has the piece im looking for. any ideas?

sidenote: is it just me or is $650 for touch-up on a '68 nova ridiculous?

 

umm. i dont care how hot those girls are (not even sayin they are) but WTF

 

How bad is the damage? Replacing the entire quarter panel cannot be done without some bondo work. Typically the quarter panel extends up to where it joins the roof, so to replace it the sheet metal has to be cut in that area, the new quarter panel welded in to join with the roof, and bondo used to smooth it all out. There's just no getting away from some filler on something that serious. If the damage isn't too bad you're better off just getting it repaired rather than replacing the panel. A good body man can get the panel smoothed out so that very little filler is required.

PS, what's up with the joy ride? Did these girls steal your car or was it family that did this? If my kids took my car out w/o permission they'd need some body filler too

 

it was some girls at school who asked me to take them home after we finished up teching for a big show this weekend. I said sure, and while i was working they went into my bag and got my keys and went out. of course they told me all this after we had left and i go out into the parking lot to find a big dent in the back. Neither one of them had licenses, not that that makes stealing any better. but they were totally inexperienced drivers on top of having less than half a brain to share between the two of them. I personally like how one told me that they just moved it over a space ( B.S.!) and the other one told me she didnt take it as far... Oh good, im glad to know you didnt steal as much....[:@]Im close to pressing charges, but i really do hate dealing with all that paperwork and whatnot. I thought you could just buy a replacement stock panel from the factory. i dont have any pictures right now, but how much do you think it would be to hammer out and bondo something like that? theres a wide shallow dent that could be popped out, and the crumpled part is over the wheel well so it'd be easy to get a body hammer and anvil to it.

 

im getting my side panel completely replaced (bc my car had a arrgument wiht my moms suburban... long story) ANYWHO... im not sure how much trouble that would be for u but im geting a local body shop to do it... along with replacing some other stuff... so no biggie...

personally id beat the **** out of them girls... hell id beat the **** out of my best friends if they even thought about driving my car (unles i was wasted n couldnt possibly drive home ... but then again i think id call us a cab or sumthin...) the ONLY person allowed to drive my car is my bf ... i dont even let my dad drive the car (although technicallly it is his)

but yeah side panels suck ot replace bc hey costing my *** a pretty penny

 

==Im close to pressing charges, but i really do hate dealing with all that paperwork and whatnot.==

Press charges ASAP. You're not going to get any money from them otherwise, and more importantly they will have learned the wrong lesson (that they can do something like this and get away with it). They'll be much more likely to do it next time if they get away with it this time.

==I thought you could just buy a replacement stock panel from the factory.==

Yes, replacement quarter panels are available. But installing a quarter panel requires body work as I described above. It doesn't just bolt in place like a front fender does. It's tack welded around the perimeter and fully welded at the roof.

==but how much do you think it would be to hammer out and bondo something like that? theres a wide shallow dent that could be popped out, and the crumpled part is over the wheel well so it'd be easy to get a body hammer and anvil to it. ==

I'd guess it's going to run around a grand if they can get away with just painting & clearcoating the quarter panel. If they have to clearcoat the quarter panel, roof and quarter panel on the other side it might run 1500 or so. I'm not sure if they can feather the clearcoat in or not.

 

thank you very much for your help, and just to let you know, I came to my senses and pressed charges. your absolutely right, what kind of lesson are you going to learn if you think you can get away with something so reckless and stupid? I also make sure to lock my keys up if im ever away from my bag. Im going to get it appraised this weekend. ill let you know how it comes out.

 

Good luck Chris_m.......personally I'd take it out oftheir A**.

 

yah 1500 is a likely figure, my dad backed into a mazda 4.0 (ford ranger with Mazda badges) and to replace just the front trim in the bumper and paint it was over 1200, press charges or black mail them .

"Note, The information and suggestions in this post are not meant to be taken literaly and neither do i agree or condone the use of black mail" unless its for money

Paul

 

hmmm i missed this post when reading thru it, oh well what ever. good job on pressing charges

Paul