Door Skins or New Doors ???

Driving home from work, and just minding my own when this lady decides to make herself a right turn from the left lane a creams the drivers side of my car, I don't normally drive along side another vehicle but it's just the way it worked out, another 3 seconds and I would have been past her, we were parallel, travelling in the same direction, I was a little ahead actually, I was about 30 mph she was a little slower cause I was overtaking her, I was not in her blind spot, she obviously made the turn into the side of my car, she was so eager to call the cops(typical) so she did, An officer came out and asked what happened, I said she turned right from the left side of the road and hit me, she said she was just driving along and I hit her,,, She said I HIT HER, the nerve of some people, The cop looked at the damage, took our statements, exchanged our information, informed me the he cited her for "DRIVING WHILE LICENSE REVOKED" and told me I could just go, I did not get cited,,,

Her insurance is N/A, So I either use my my collision to cover it, @ $500.00 deductible or fix as much as I can myself with $$$ out of my pocket,

Anyway, I've got Drivers side damage, No damage to my nose though, No damage from the front wheel forward and no damaged from the rear wheel backward. Everything is between the wheels, The rims are marked with rubber and the tires came out unscathed. Because her wheel was turned to the right most of the damage is from her tire digging into the side of my car, The thing is when she first hit me she didn't back off she just kept on turning. Damage starts on the drivers front wheel and draaaaaaaaggggggggs along side the fender, drivers door, mirror ripped off, passenger door and ends on the rear wheel, really no damage to the wheels or rims, just a bunch of rubber that I can clean off,

Thinking about doing the repairs myself and then taking it to have it painted, ???

Drivers side Front Fender, Mirror / Mount, Front and Rear Door.

So front fender is damaged between the wheel and the door jamb, The actual doors themselves are not damaged and the both of them operate just fine, they are aligned and open and close, lock OK, Glass is all intact and the widows go up and down just fine, The mirror housing is still good and can be reused but the mirror it's mount and the servo mech is not and will need to be replaced, Have several salvage yards in and around my area, Gonna look around this weekend and gather up some info and prices for parts and pieces

My Question : Can I just replace the door skins or do I need to do the whole door ?

I have never done this, Need advise ???

I know I can handle the fender but what to do about the doors ???

I am "Sooo Pissed Off" just done the transmission fluid / filter, oil change, the struts, had it aligned, washed, waxed, detailed, it was looking / riding sooo good @ 177,000 mi

You guys are great I know you all can help me get through this... Any advise will be greatly appreciated, Thanks... DC

1) Check the salvage yards for a used door 1st, you might beable to find the right color match.
2) Also get an appraisal from a scratchless dent Doctor.
3) If the car needs paint, than go with a DIY new door skin + paint for under $500.
There's tools to remove the outer door skin, and the new one canbe glued or bonded.

Try to get the accident report, good pic's, and let the judge decide in small claims.

D,

Thanks for chiming in,

Spent a little time on Saturday checking out the junk yards, No luck so far, lots of older models but nothing for my 2006, I've got two estimates so far $2610.0067 and another for $2258.02 and I found a couple of doors out on the internet,,, Anywhere from $495.00 up to +- $1000.00 or so and they still need to be painted, One guy I talked to said the door has damage to the structure that would need to be repaired for a skin to applied and look good, so I would be better off looking at replacing the whole door assembly. Still weighing my options but it's looking more like I'll be using my collision insurance to get it all fixed...

BTW, I'm in the Stancils Chapel area out past Percy Flowers on 42E, any other yards you can point me to? I know there are some in and about the back roads around here, I know of two that were closed on Saturday, I might check them out on my way home today.

Thanks Again,,, DC

Used is the way to go. Try Ed Morad, moradpartscompany.com. He specializes in Grand Prix and Buick Regals and should be able to help you. His prices are good and he may even have parts that will match the color of your vehicle so you can eliminate the painting. You can check his e-bay store to see if he has your particular model and color or go to his website and do a parts request. If Ed can't help you try searching Car-part.com.

I am going to chime in and say how ticked I would be at that lady. definatly have it fixed, and save ALL your reciepts.

Now on to the body work. Used is perfectly fine to go with. In fact, most body shops use used parts instead of new parts to help keep cost down.

On another note, if anything needs painting, you are going to have to do a blend. IE if your passenger side door needs paint, you are going to have to paint a little on your front fender, and back door to blend the colors together. Unless you are not too picky, but something tells me you are like me. You have seen cars driving down the road where the whole car is say silver, but one door is a little different shad of silver than the rest. That tells me someone painted just the door and didn't do a blend. Paint never is never the exact same color no matter how good it is mixed.

Your best bet sorry to say, is to probably bite the bullit and take it to a good body shop and pay the deductible. Trust me, been there, done that. It sucks. Expecially if you live in a state like MN, even if the accident isn't your fault and the other party's insurance is covering it, your insurance goes up because "if you wouldn't have been there, it wouldn't have happened". Ok, yeah, so if I wouldn't have had my car parked in my work parking lot, it wouldn't have gotten hit. Ya think?

Yup, Gonna bite the bullet in have it fixed using my collision insurance., Took some time yesterday and buffed the rubber off the car, looks a lot better now, hardly noticeable #&$% !!!, Maybe and ego / pride thing but I couldn't continue driving it looking like that.http://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq339/dc1263/IMG_1848.jpghttp://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq339/dc1263/IMG_1843-1.jpghttp://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq339/dc1263/IMG_1844-1.jpghttp://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq339/dc1263/IMG_1845-1.jpghttp://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq339/dc1263/IMG_1853.jpghttp://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq339/dc1263/IMG_1897.jpghttp://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq339/dc1263/IMG_1903.jpghttp://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq339/dc1263/IMG_1909.jpg

2-door skins, fender, and half the car gets a new paint job to match color.
What year is this car, and how many miles?
Check KBB, NADA, and the insurance company for value - damage.

Sounds like a good deal for $500, you can get a free loaner with good MPG and go to the beach!

2006 @ 177,000 miles

Found a guy with the front fender and both doors in the same color as my car,
Liquid Metallic Silver delivered for $ 1300.00, Trouble is I don't have the cash to put out
Gonna talk to my Insurance guy see if they can work the deal for me.

If the damage is 3k, I wouldn't settle for no less than 2.5k.

Unless you are extrememly lucky, or this donar car was painted right before or right after your car, and the temp and humidity in the paint booth at the GM plant was the exact same, the replacement parts arent gonna match. So be carefull.

The back door can be fixed by a good body shop. The font door is done. I'd just pay the deductible and have it fixed right so your not unhappy.

I never even though about all those variables, I thought the same color code would be the same color? This has been a ten day headache for sure, All this hunting at my local junk yards and searching the I-net trying to save myself some cash has not worked out in my favor at all. Even if I installed the parts I found myself, I would still need paint, I stopped by a local Hotrod custom shop and that's what the guys there said, the front door is toast,,, said it could be fixed / restored but with the labor involved in getting it back in shape to accept the skin would outweigh the cost of a replacement door, If it were an old car where the parts were not available they would do it but being that the car is newer and replacement parts are available they recommended just getting another door. So with parts and paint I'm well up into +$2000.00 anyway, I'm gonna just take it to the shop and let them take care of it all and when I get it back it will be what it needs to be.

Thanks for all the input,,, greatly appreciated,,, DC

Good luck, don't forget to document everything and take that lady to court for your deductible at least.