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Door damage after sideswiped while parked in hit and run

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by Dan Y, Feb 6, 2023.

  1. Dan Y

    Dan Y Junior Member

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    Our 2022 Prius that we've had now for about 18 months was sideswiped while parked by a hit and run driver. A lot of front half of door has scratches, many with paint transfer, and then there's a whole constellation of denting.

    We're not even sure when or where it happened, best guess is the parking lot at my wife's work (which is a big lot serving various people) and she is actually getting security to check surveillance and see if they can find perpetrator but I wouldn't hold my breath. She goes to work in the dark, parks on the street at home here in Brooklyn, and all the damage was passenger side and the car is mostly being used for her to drive alone to work and back during week...so she only noticed it after driving home from work anyway.

    I just thought I'd post this picture and see what folks on here thought about the potential of repairing this with "paintless dent repair" or other more DIY methods vs. going through normal auto body shop, or any other thoughts. So far it looks like at minimum going through insurance would be out of pocket $500 (and I don't know if our premiums could go up because of this, Geico rep. seemed to say no when I asked about this kind of scenario as a hypothetical once but for some reason I'm not sure I believe them). I'm in process of trying to get estimate from 1 or 2 local paintless dent repair shops right now.
     

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  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    This is not a paintless repair as the damage goes deeper than the paint. You most likely will need to replace the door skin.
     
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  3. Todd Bonzalez

    Todd Bonzalez Active Member

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    Same thing happened to me before Christmas. Cops tracked down the other driver, who took off because they were uninsured.

    I got a junkyard door in the same color for less than my deductible. Something to think about if you don't want to make a claim...
     
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  4. Dan Y

    Dan Y Junior Member

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    Wow, I'm curious, how did the cops track them down?

    Junkyard door, eh? For a Gen 4? Roughly how much did it cost and did you put it on yourself? This is probably not something I'm going to do now but very interesting. If there are any problems now that lead to just leaving this for time being it might be something I pursue in future too.

    EDIT: Oh I notice you're in Ireland so prices maybe not transferable anyway and this was for a 2004 which I think is not Gen 4 (?)
     
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  5. Dan Y

    Dan Y Junior Member

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    Thank for the insight.
     
  6. Dan Y

    Dan Y Junior Member

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    Actually how can you tell damage goes deeper than paint, because of scratches and paint transfer? Most of what is visible that's not dent is paint transfer.
     
  7. Todd Bonzalez

    Todd Bonzalez Active Member

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    I live 100 yards away from a bank. The cops tracked them down from the bank cameras and a red light camera at the bottom of the street.

    No, a gen 2 door but to be honest you'd find it easier to get your hands on a gen 4 door these days. I appreciate not everybody is willing or able to swap out a door which is why I wrote "Something to think about...". The door skin replacement sounds interesting though
     
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  8. ColoradoBoo

    ColoradoBoo Senior Member

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    That stinks! Easiest thing would be to replace the door and looks like the panel next to it needs fixing or replacement. If it were me, I'd go through my insurance so my wife wouldn't have to drive around a dented car, she's worth it...and that's why we have insurance!
     
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  9. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Not a Gen4, but my 2021 PP was side-swiped when it was less than two months old. Before getting the insurance quote, I got 4-5 independent auto body shops to estimate the cost of repair. It was a very wide distribution from the cheapest $848 all the way to $4420 for the same repair. The insurance (GEICO) quoted $1700. I ended up taking it to a Toyota Certified body shop which gave me a quote of $2840, but I have no idea what the final price was paid by my insurance.

    It did not cost me anything. I have zero deductible. I did not get a premium increase after the claim. And I don't think I lost anything on the resale value when I sold the car last year.

    Geico virtual estimate from photos: $1,693 (parts $148, labor @$48/hr 28hr $1344, paint supplies $207, +misc&tax)

    Local Bodyshop1 inspected: $3,271(parts $781, labor @$52/hr 39hr $2028, paint supplies $358m +misc&tax)
    Local Bodyshop2 inspected: $4,419 (parts $435, labor @$55/hr 61.5hr $3382m paint supplies $548, +misc&tax)
    Toyota Certified shop inspected: $2,838 (parts $476, labor @$56/hr 35hr $1960, paint supplies $378 +misc&tax)
    National Bodyshop1 virtual estimate from photos: $2,212 (parts $433, labor@$55/hr 27hr $1485, paint supplies $246, +misc&tax)
    Local Bodyshop3: $1,055 (parts $41, labor @$50/hr 16hr $800, paint supplies $202 +misc&tax)
    Local Bodyshop4: $848 (parts $0, labor @$44/hr 15hr $660, paint supplies $176 +misc&tax)

    upload_2023-2-6_12-14-38.png
     
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  10. Dan Y

    Dan Y Junior Member

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    Thanks. The nearest Toyota Certified shop appears to be an hour drive away unfortunately but still quite interesting!
     
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  11. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Yeah, mine was also over 1hr away. And I had to wait over 3 months to get an appointment, and it took 10 days to finish. I used rental coverage on my insurance during the wait. I probably could have done it locally, and gotten a good result if I pick the shop correctly. But it seems bodywork is more of an art than science. If I did not have no-deductable insurance and the car was older, then I might have chosen differently. But in the end, it worked out perfectly.

    I just realized the right fender was de-badged. LOL I did not catch it until now. Oh well, the car is already sold. I wonder whoever bought it noticed it??? :whistle:
    upload_2023-2-6_15-42-21.png
     
  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    You don't notice stuff like that, till you have before and after side-by-side lol.
     
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  13. Doug McC

    Doug McC Active Member

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    Ya think?
     
  14. Doug McC

    Doug McC Active Member

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    The dent is the giveaway on that one. Paint just doesn’t have the ability to fix dents.
     
  15. Doug McC

    Doug McC Active Member

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    You’re in Brooklyn and an hour away from the nearest Toyota Certified Shop?
     
  16. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    see what the paintless dent guys tell you. If that's all the damage shown in the pic above, i'd be interested to know what the estimate and initial work order looks like. It's not going to be pretty, since both the door skin ahd the fender can be repaired fairly easy, but the paint is usually where price starts to climb into thinner air space.
    I only had similar damage to the passenger door. the initial estimate was 1850 for a new doorskin and paint. But the morning I took the car to the shop I got a call at 4 pm with a new work order and price.

    For others reading. a complete door with minimal damage was going for around $400 4 years ago. I still haven't found on in decent shape in my color. And I done about 90% of the repair myself with paintless dent tools. It's not prefect, but one has to get real close to see the small defects that are still there.
     
  17. Dan Y

    Dan Y Junior Member

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    Yep I live as far south as you can go in Brooklyn and not end up in the water and it's way up in Englewood, NJ. Which is only 30-40 miles depending which route you take but this is NYC metro area so that takes over an hour (and traveling over or through multiple bridges and/or tunnels).
     
  18. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    And I did mine pulling only. Pushing is always preferred if there is access and you've got the right tools to push. Patience, the right settings, with an induction heater is nice when there's no access..
    It's easy to bork a job if you don't understand it.
     
  19. Dan Y

    Dan Y Junior Member

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    Can you tell me more about how you pulled out passenger door dents, what you used, process, etc.?

    I gave up on paintless repair shops after contacted 3 places and:

    1) first guy said he couldn't assess from photos then started swearing at me on the phone for asking too many questions and trying to nail down if he thought it was an over or under roughly $500 job (the deductible on my insurance);

    2) second guy also asked me to come in person and I did (he was very conveniently located which helped) and he looked at it for 5 seconds and estimated $900 and said he'd have to take the door off. I asked about using insurance and told him my deductible was $500 and he said he would then charge more total (which I've heard is standard) but could "help me out" with the deductible (which seemed slightly sketchy). I might go back with a smaller dent if cost was cheaper but I wasn't sure I wanted this guy to take my door off and try to involve me in potential insurance fraud.

    3) third guy assessed only based on photos and told me these dents were too extensive for paintless dent repair.

    I have a claim in with Geico but am procrastinating on deciding what to do next. Most likely to use relatively nearby Geico shop we used when rear-ended when car was only a month old. Honestly with these 2 accidents in 18 months and NYC ever more full of cars and drivers who have lost their mind it's hard to feel like one wants to bother fixing every little dent esp. if you lose your own car for almost 2 weeks (or more) as happened last time!

    So I'm wondering if I can just use Turtle Wax Scratch Repair and Renew on area and maybe pop dents out somewhat anyway with DIY methods!
     
  20. alftoy

    alftoy Senior Member

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    Remove interior panel and gently push on dent area.
     
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