MapleSyrup

A friend was using my garage and knocked a creeper off the wall resulting in the attached damage. I havent even made the first payment on my car yet (Just bought it end of August). There is no damage to the paint but the dent itself is quite deep.. and VERY visible from a distance. The picture doesnt do it justice.

My Concerns:

-Will they have to replace the whole panel?
-If they do, how bad is the new paint going to look compared to my faded paint job from 2005.

I was so proud of my Z.. until about 5 hours ago. Now i feel like im going to be driving around in a car thats 2 different colors after the repairs. Feelin hopeless here as im not made of money and just used what little money i had to order a spoiler (which now im guessing i wont be able to get painted/attached) please no flames.

R350Zz33

iTrader: (4)

did you look into paintless dent removal after doing so give bill to said friend

JCITY

iTrader: (2)

Sorry to hear about the ding,Bro.

Paintless dent removal may be an option.A good thing...the dent is in a less visable area.I'd think,given the area of the car thayits in,a GOOD piaint shop could repair and blend in the paint.They do it all the time.Done right,you'll never notice.\!
I know how you must feel--NEW Z,this happens.
Take it easy.See what the options are before you stress out.

JERZ350

iTrader: (2)

I second this, google PDR. They will come to your house and inspect/repair.

beezee

iTrader: (19)

Looks like this is towards the back of the car, right? That is a tough spot. If it was just the sideskirt, you could easily replace that. It is always easier to find some locally because of shipping. The paintless dent removal could solve the problem on the dent that is not on the sideskirt. Color-matching can be tough but a good bodyshop can come close. Anyway try to enjoy the car. I know how you feel.

Bottled Water

that sucks OP. not as bad as mine. had my 07 for 5 days and hit a truck tire tread on the i-95 going through jacksonville fl. i was surrounded by traffic so i couldnt hit my brakes or change lanes! the underliner was a loss and so was the bumper. broke all my radiator mounts and the shock broke the tabs that hold the passenger headlight!

MapleSyrup

Thanks guys, its on the back panel right above the side skirt but about half a foot from the drivers side door. I cant approach my car without cringing in pain. I'll look into PDR. Gonna take it to the dealership tomorrow evening to get an estimate on what they could do. Really sucks because my front lip i ordered JUST showed up after lunch time xD

5 days.. wow.. i guess i should i stop complaining about a dent. Couldve been much worse. Atleast yours has a warranty though! I got nothin cept the 30 day warranty xD

I'll keep my head up for now and just be sure to pull forward into spots so people cant see my drivers side.

beezee

iTrader: (19)

A little advise to you though. Try and use the dealership as a last resort. It will save you lots of money.

sdZ33

iTrader: (39)

^^^
No it wont

Sickboy101

iTrader: (45)

A shop that specializes in paintless dent removal should be able to get that out. It's a good thing that the paint did not get chipped or scratched. I had a door ding pulled out and it looks flawless - PDR guys are magicians when it comes to making dents disappear.

Best of luck!

TravisFTW

iTrader: (3)

god this happened to me a week after i got my z, exact same situation, truck tire tread was laying on its side and i had nowhere to go doing 75 mph, i just closed my eyes, guess i got lucky though, it just ripped the fender liner completely out, everything else seems to be fine.


as for the OP . i'd look at the paintless dent repair first, see what they have to say and go from there...... and if your friend is any kind of friend he would at lease help pay for half of the bill if not the entire bill.

JCITY

iTrader: (2)

I sure would'nt go to a dealership to get it fixed.Talk about expensive!
I don't know what area you live in but if the dent removal guys can't fix it,I'd take it to a good body shop.Especially one that does Mercedes/BMW...their
paint is hard to match.They should be able to blend in the panel for you.

3hree5ive0ero

iTrader: (95)

I've always wanted to see if the following would work (there are vids of it working and not working). Why don't you give it a try and let us know? It couldn't hurt, right?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oQpks0ZsUM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILVWPzO_swY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTARm_Wze3M


You're supposed to heat up the dent (as long as it's not creased) until it's toasty and then spray the air duster upside down, starting from the center working your way around to the outside of the dent.

Bottled Water

yeah i dont think mine would have been so bad but my car is lowered on h&r springs. i dragged the tire for a little bit when it got caught on the y pipe.

OP. all these posts are right. find a highend body shop or a really good PDR guy. iv had dents pulled my 04 that you could hardly tell they were there!
i took mine to a place called the rod shop where they do restorations on very old cars. so my dent was nothing to them!

MapleSyrup

Wow that compressed air technique is pretty unbelievable, i wish i had known about that when i had my last car! Unfortunately its hard to tell from the pic i posted but its pretty severely creased. I'll give it a go anyways after a quick trip to wal mart to buy some spray. I took it to the dealership earlier today just because it was on my way home and got their opinions. My dad knows the guy so he's pretty nice to me. Said they'll try to PDR it, if it doesnt come out they wont charge me. If it does come out he said it'd be like $100. So if this doesnt work, and PDR doesnt work, i guess its insurance time.

And btw, my friend is paying

350Z Project X

iTrader: (2)

tried it on my honda i honda i had a while ago and it didnt work Ive used a metal coat hanger to get dents out of last car, it takes a lot of work but helped a lot and was paintless. bend coat hanger in u shape and the friction and heat from underneath heat up and push it out

MapleSyrup

I tried and nothing happened, no pop sound for me. Used the whole can of air too I think its just to deep. Thanks though, brilliant idea and i'll definitely keep it in mind for future dents!!!

3hree5ive0ero

iTrader: (95)

Dang, so myth busted, I guess. Thanks for letting us know. Either way, since your friend who is responsible for the damage is paying, you're good to go. I doubt they'll replace the entire panel or even repaint, though.

secwind

iTrader: (8)

^ I tried with dry ice on a couple door dings. After 20 min, nothing happened.