Any of you guys work at a autobody shop that can help me?
 

Hi guys im just wondering if any of you works at a autobody shop that can help me out with my situation, my cousin hit a pole while backing out of a parking lot and left a pretty big scratch on her car. we took it to honda but they said they dont deal with cosmetic stuffs, so we brought it to a autobody shop and they quoted us 600$ for the fix, does that sound reasonable price to you guys? ive never dealt with any autobody so im not sure what the pricing are. Its a 2015 Honda civic ex. maybe someone can hook me up with a better deal? thanks guys! http://imgur.com/ckWUUNz
Incase the pic doesnt work its here: Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

That's more than a "big scratch"...

^Doesnt matter, it's all the same to a body shop just remove bumper sand and paint.

Too many shops charge excessive labour removing and replacing the bumper. That should be a $300ish job, I sent you a PM with contact info Ruckrider.

$600 sounds reasonable for that.
Remove bumper and parts on the bumper.
Sand/Repair, Repaint, reinstall bumper.

The black cover also looks damaged to me. Its up to you if you want to spend more and replace that too.

Anyone else wondering how a pothole caused that or is it just me? Someone school me on potholes.

i'm confused. where did you get "pothole" from? :confused:

^^ He was probably just reading Limitless' journal about hitting a pothole and killing his axle.

I thought the same thing and needed a double take at the OP. :lawl:

@OP: $600 for bumper re/re, prep and paint, sounds about right unfortunately. Yet it can be cheaper dependant on the autobody shop.

Potholes.... BibleThump

Yeah, $600 sounds about right at a good bodyshop. Most of the time you get what you pay for, the $300 quick fixes may or may not turn out as good.. Personally I would fork out the extra money to make sure that the bumper comes out looking proper, rather than saving some money and getting the car back with a mismatched or not fully fixed bumper. Of course, not all cheap shops are like that, but definitely do some research on the shop before you go imo. Fasttrack and Automind are some pretty well known shops in Richmond. We deal with New Profession SVA in Richmond and also their other shop in Vancouver if you want some more choices, those always turn out great.

Yup, as others have said, $600 is about market price including paint & labour.

Might be able to get it for cheaper if you know people, but assuming you don't, expect to pay $600.

Conversely, $600 or more doesn't ensure you'll get what you pay for. Go to a shop with a good reputation.

I'll make the joke before someone else does... Take it to VIP Autobody.

LOL, my bad, my dyslexia had me read "hit a pole" as pothole:facepalm:

$600 sounds about right tbh

You're supposed to open with, "How well does your odometer work?"

$600-$800 is pretty much industry standard to R+I repair and refinish a bumper cover, depending on size/vehicle. if you take it to a mom+pop type shop you could probably get it closer to $300-400. be warned though, most places (icbc accredited shops) carry a lifetime guarantee on repairs/paintwork whereas your mom+pop shops won't

Pure conjecture.

My friend's shop will do jobs like that all day for $300-400 he's not an ICBC valet shop but he stands behind his work and if anything is ever wrong he is happy to fix it. All ICBC accreditation means is that you took some tests (which any Autobody person can pass) and paid a shitload of money to ICBC which many independent shops can't afford to pay -- hence why valet shops charge more for their work. It has very little to do with quality.

People are allowed to be proud of their business and also not overcharge.

^ Share the name of the shop?

Just my two cents but it doesn't look outrageously bad. If your cousin really wants to fix it then by all means do it. I agree with most people that $600 sounds reasonable.

On the other hand if it was my cousin I might suggest to leave it. I had a friend who fixed a bumper over some scratches only to have it scratched again a few weeks later in a parking lot. Also I'm not saying your cousin is a bad driver but if she is someone who recently got their license, maybe hold off on repairing the bumper for now because who knows something might happen again?

But it's all up to your cousin! I know it sucks to have a brand new car scratched. Hope they can find a good shop, I don't really have any suggestions there.

PM'd I don't want to post, it's not fair to sponsors since I'm slightly biased having a personal relationship with the owner

You don't pay a shit load of money to icbc to be accredited, its more of having certain procedures in place more than anything. Its under $500 a year. Maybe your friends shop who is doing a job for 3-400 is undercutting themselves and that's why they cant pay to be accredited?

i agree entirely, it does have very little (more like nothing) to do with quality. just saying that's industry standard, and by industry i mean icbc, because for the most part that's how any and all rates are determined in bc

but yeah like vr6gti said, it isn't so much about the money paid by the shops, it's mostly by procedures. right down to things like requirements in the customer waiting area, providing alternate transportation regardless of what that entails, etc etc. many independant shops will still attain this goal, so not sure what you're getting at with that. small shop =/= better work

Sorry, I shouldn't have said "to" ICBC, but you have to spend a shitload of money to get to what they consider to be an accredited shop. It's fine if people want to go to those places, some of them do great work, but I hate it when I go somewhere and I know I'm going to get the exact same computer software printout estimate of the cost at every place I go to instead of someone actually looking at what needs to be done and deciding where they need to be on their price to make a profit and still be reasonable/competitive. Personally, I don't care if I am getting a loaner car or a cup of coffee while I wait because you are paying for that big-time. If ICBC is covering the costs? Then great, go for it, might as well soak up all the perks while someone else is paying the tab... but if you're getting work done that occurred as damage from something that was your own fault or just mods on your car it makes no sense whatsoever to pay more just "because".

I really don't get why you failed my first post, I was just helping the guy out and what I said was true. It's not like I don't have any experience in this industry, I'm not a bodyman or painter myself, but I've been working around it/dealing in it for over a decade.

you could try just ordering the paint for the vehicle and repaint it yourself if money was a issue. it might not turn out perfect but at least the colour of the area will be the same.

I failed you because of your "Too many shops charge excessive labour removing and replacing the bumper"
Removing a honda civic bumper, removing the necessary parts like fog lamps grilles etc to paint a bumper properly is like 1.2hrs @ say 72.11/hr. That's $86. Does that seem excessive? Do you know that 2/3 of body shops are currently looking for skilled trades people to fill the gaps because there is nobody getting into the trade? Try finding a mechanic that is skilled in what they do for less than $80+hr. A computer technician $90+ the list goes on.