Back fender repair question Options

[bcelica555]

Last night I backed into these wooden steps pretty bad and messed up my back fender




I was just wondering if the whole fender needs replaced since its seems to be connected to the roof. My cars getting alot of miles on it and im thinking about not getting it fixed and I'm just wondering my options for tring to make it look a little bit better. What all different ways would a garage try to fix it for me

[dgbldr]

Richee, I can't say if it's a fair price without seeing the car and the estimate, but charging "flat rates" is definitely the sign of a hack.

Reputable body shops will give a breakdown of all the mechanical, sheetmetal and paint work hours and the hourly rates. Hourly rates are different for mechanical, sheetmetal and paint. And parts, of course. Most "standard" operations are covered in an estimating book or software they have, but not all. So if the book doesn't have the hours for "repair big dent in quarter panel" vs. "repair small dent in quarter panel" they should estimate it themselves and put down the hours.

My local body shop charges something around $50-60/hr for sheetmetal work, so $350 would be about right for the quarter panel you show. But not for a small dent. That includes about half hour of removing interior trim, but does not include the paint work, of course.