I bumped into a 2000 nissan pathfinder during the weekend and ran to the body shop for an estimate... They gave me an estimate for $1500 because besides the bumper they said the frame was a bit bent and it needed work.
the bumper itself is 265 plus tax and paint would be needed.
is this a fair estimate? or am I being ripped off?
2007-05-14 15:00:29 · 6 answers · asked by G-gnomegrl 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
I thought I had only bumped into her since it wasn't at a high speed or anything like that... my car's bumper is ok but opening the hood you can see the top part of the frame of the radiator is a bit broken... now since mine is a car and her's is an SUV then my car is shorter so it kinda hit the bottom part of her back bumper so it was kinda just pulled down.. Is there any way to know if the frame was damaged without taking off the bumper?
2007-05-14 15:17:58 · update #1
Frame work is notoriously expensive so that with the added bumper, paint and labor charges makes $1500 sound about right, unfortunately. Maybe you could shop around and find an estimate that is a little lower. Good luck!
2007-05-14 15:12:38 · answer #1 · answered by camd42 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Body shop is writing an estimate using a pre-set labor time guide for replacing and painting a bumper. 265 for a bumper, 100 to install it, and probably 250 to paint it. Thats about 600.00 so far. 900.00 extra to get to 1500.00 is a lot of additional damage. With medium to extreme frame damage, figure 80.00 to set your truck up and measure it, and lets say 180.00 to pull and repair. ok, now we are up to about 860.00. Are there any more parts being replaced? Anything else being painted? Occasionaly, a body shop will want to blend adjacent panels, in your case the quarter panels and maybe even the tailgate. You said the bumper was damaged, i am assuming you mean the cover.....what about the rear bumper reinforcement and mounting brackets. That can easily add another 400.00 or so. How are the gaps around your taillamps and your tailgate? Does everything seem to line up? Crawl underneath, see any buckles in your frame rails? Does your hatch open and close ok? Best thing you can do....go get 2 more estimates. You can go to your insurance agent and have them look at it before filing a claim also. Oh yeah, do you have a hitch in the back? Did they figure replacing it?
2007-05-14 22:29:04 · answer #2 · answered by boohoolaaa 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How hard did you bump the Pathfinder? If it was a slight bump, I don't think the frame is bent. Have someone with a knowledge of cars take a look for you. If the frame is OK, then the estimate is too high.
Your insurance adjuster can give you an accurate estimate.
2007-05-14 22:08:47 · answer #3 · answered by notadeadbeat 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take the vehicle to several shops and get estimates on the damage...ask the other shops if there's frame damage and how much of the estimate is to fix just that. Sounds pretty high to me but I'm in Wisconsin. Pictures of the damage would be good too.
2007-05-14 22:21:21 · answer #4 · answered by paul h 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Never take the first estimate. Then again, you get what you pay for. It's hard to know exactly because some places will put everything back exactly as it should be, and sometimes that isn't necessary. I know a shop that does beautiful work but I no longer deal with them because they can cost two to four times as much as "good enough".
2007-05-14 22:14:28 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
not to far off, id question the bent frame
2007-05-14 22:05:25 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋