My son took the Mustang to a friend's house tonight. About 10pm, I get a text with the picture of a driver's license. It was from my son and I had no idea who the other person was. Before i could respond and ask who it was, I got another picture of a dent. It didn't register at first, but then I saw the side view mirror and knew it was the Mustang. I called my son to make sure he was ok and found out that the car was parked and someone backed into it. It doesn't look too bad here, but the door is collapsed to the point that I don't want to put down the window.

At least the driver of the other vehicle had the decency to notify us.

 

Dang. New door skin, probably, PDR won't be gettin' that out... will it? (read the other thread where you said you were a PDR guy.)

Then again... I'd be wondering about the interior structure of the door... so new door.

Sucks. But at least everyone's ok, right?

 

That sucks, at least the person was decent enough to leave their info. I would say a new door, I don't think PDR can fix that.

 

Glad nobody was hurt and at least the person was compassionate enough to provide his info.. Hopefully your Mustang will be as good as new in no time

 

Easy fix for a body shop. Matching the color might be hard. When i got hit the body shop told me they had a hard time matching the 'orange peel' done from the crappy factory paint job

 

No. PDR ain't fixing this!! Right in the middle of the door, there's a crease that stretched the metal. The pic above doesn't show how bad the dent is, The paint's gone where the bumper hit the door. This is a new door skin, at least, if not a new door. I need to take the door panel off today to check.

The driver of the other vehicle went knocking on doors to find my son and let him know what happened, so I give him credit for that in today's society. I went to see the car at the scene and thanked him for his integrity. He was on his way out and waited for me to arrive before he continued on his journey. It's nice knowing that there are some people out there that still take responsibility for their actions.

 

Exactly what happened to one of my cars.
But I had bought the kids a Hyundai to share (I owned the car).
The kid that hit the little car didn't even have insurance.
Luckily my boy saw it happen and knew the kid.

 

I hope the shop I go to can match the ruby red paint! That's my biggest concern now.

 

A good shop is going to blend into the fenders. It's should be fine.

 

Wow. That's... kinda amazing, really. Good on them for doin' that! Top notch person (on the face of it) right there. Buy 'em a beer or something when it's all over, I say, just because they did the right thing by y'all!

Or... y'know.. just take their money and fix the car.

 

He doesn't have to take their money to fix the car.. The other driver not only did the right thing by being considerate and honest enough to provide his info, but also went knocking on door to door to find his son to let him know what happened..

Therefore I assume when the other driver provided his info, it also included his insurance info as well which will cover the expenses for getting the car fixed !

 

That absolutely sucks!! Sorry about your car.
At least the owner of the other car didn't take off like a scumbag. Good luck going forward!

 

Its not a big deal, new door will be put on and your existing components (door card, speakers etc) will be utilized. The body shop will probably be able to get you a used door... thats the best way since its cheaper and they have to paint it anyway. New Ford door is around $1200... used anywhere from 500-800$ depending on the deal they can work out for it. They can grab paint code from the vin easily and any reputable shop can match it. I wouldn't sweat it.

 

I'm not sweatin' it. I also don't want a used door. While it's unfortunate that this happened, the other guy did this and admitted that he didn't look before backing up. Sorry, but used parts or imported parts are not acceptable. I want new OE parts used and I will not accept the car back if the paint isn't an exact match!

The way I see it is my car was in a certain condition before someone else's negligence damaged it. Insurance is supposed to get you back to the place you were in before the damage happened, and that's what I expect. Nothing less.

 

You guys know I meant "take the insurance money" to mean "get them to fix it right", right?

 

Exactly 100% spot on.. As I also wouldn't settle for anything less other than new OEM parts.. This is the reason and purpose for having car insurance in the first place, as you don't pay the insurance company your premiums for just the hell of it.. Therefore you shouldn't have to settle for anything less back in return to begin with

 

After re-reading your post where you mentioned "take their money" I should had realized you were referring to the insurance company and not from the other driver personally..

In the meantime, my mistake for misinterpreting your previous post

 

Received my first quote. $2400. It looks like a new door skin is about $500+, but then will require the time to install, seal, etc. The shop said a used door shell will cost $700 plus (we looked it up while there), but will require some work to prep it for a respray, and a new door shell from Ford is only $900. Based on that, he quoted me for a new shell and said it's not worth it to skin it or go used. He also said that to do it right, the front and rear bumper covers need to be pulled away from the body and the headlight removed. This shop is planning to do it correctly, which is what I want. Now to see what the insurance company comes up with in comparison.

 

The insurance company usually requests 3 estimates and which ever is the least expensive, is what they'll agree to settle on..

What I would do, is just get your estimates from 3 different dealerships and insist that you want a new door and not just a re-skin..

 

I plan on getting multiple quotes. The insurance company has no say in which quote they will pay. In this case, I can take the car to any repair facility I want and they will have to negotiate rates with the shop. The insurance company should not have any say in used or aftermarket parts getting used or require where the car gets fixed. I've been dealing with insurance companies for many years, so I know how to handle them.

I'm also not planning on using a dealership to fix the car. There are much better body shops that I would prefer using than a dealership shop.