The wind caught my door at a gas pump and it banged the edge of the front door on her Toyota Sequoia into one of those brick columns. It hit so hard that the edge bent around (~1/4 inch) and and a strip of paint about the half the size of a dollar bill flaked right off. The bent edge was pretty easy to bend back, but I still have the paint problem to fix.

I took it to 3 body shops for estimates. 2 out of 3 want to paint both doors on the drivers side because they claim they cannot gurantee a good color match otherwise(white???). The third said he would do just he drivers door, but that he could only do his best to match the color(no guarantees). The estimate for fixing the one door is about $850 and the other 2 are about $1400

My questions are:
1. Doesn't anyone do spot paint repairs without taking off all the moldings, door handles, etc.?
2. How hard is it to match white? For Petes sakes-These guys paint cars for a living!!!
3. My first inclination is to stay away from the guys that want to paint both doors. I'm of the opinion that no paint is as good as the factory paint and that painting a door that is not damaged is crazy. What do you think of the blending excuse?
4. Has anyone had good touchup experience with Maaco like shops?

I know this message is a bit long, but I am in serious need of venting. My wife thinks the more you spend the better the job will be...God help me

 

Ok, first things first - yes they can repair a door without taking off moulding ect.. but not with the amount of damage your describing also the paint match...

White is VERY easy to match unfortunatly you dont have white you have whats called a pear paint - EXTREME difficulty in matching it (went thru hell with my cadillac). So Im assuming all are telling you the truth.

The problem with white paint with sparkles in it is that there is 3 layers of paint all colored differently, Id go with the guy painting both doors if he will stand behind the job if you can afford it.

 

Thanks for the reply Abomination. Any other input?

 

Whats your deductible? If its less than $250, I would get both doors painted.

Pearl is not cheap.

 

This color is not a pearl paint. It is called natural white.