A lovely lady across the road has backed into my beloved. 
Straight question. What do we think? Can this be repaired to as-new, or should I get a new wing? Looks like a repair is around £600, a replace is more like £1k Bear in mind I’m not paying, but avoiding the faff of going through her insurance would be less painful.
TIA
Andy
I’m no expert, far from it, but I’d take it to a reputable repair business and get their view on it…but what you dont want is a half kilo of filler either. It’ll need to pass The Magnet Test, But, I’m sure that could be pulled. The equipment these people have these days is amazing…and as we know Mazda steel is traditionally thin. Sometimes too thin!
And the paint is so thin it usually doesn’t flake off…
You might be surprised how good some of the local body shops are for sorting a tiny ding like that.
Well it looks like that will be academic. She’s now disputing it was her fault so I’ve had to make a claim. Says I “parked dangerously” across from the drive.
She has reversed across a two way road - in to a stationary unoccupied car - but claims it is your fault !!!
By the look of the speed humps - you are in a 20mph residential area.
She should be expecting parked cars, bikes, kids, dogs etc in a residential area.
Don’t think she has a leg to stand on.
Unless she plays the “Parked half on the pavement, facing the wrong way…” card.
I know from experience that people use anything to get out of blame.
She’s been talking to “people”. Usual barfly lawyers c.r.a.p.achino
Don’t suppose anyone nearby has CCTV?
This area of the car does not need to pass the “magnet test”, if by that you mean it will be inspected structurally during MOT inspection. It is a quarter panel, not part of the monocoque. The car would pass MOT with that dent on it, the only stipulations for a quarter panel is that it is fixed on firmly and doesn’t have anything sharp on it that could injure a pedestrian in an incident.
In terms of fault, there’s absolutely no way the blame could be pinned on you. Even if somebody is violating parking restrictions, if somebody in a moving vehicle makes contact with a parked vehicle then it is the moving vehicle’s fault unless under very special circumstances. This would come under the “due care and attention” part of holding a driving licence.
600 big ones sounds rather steep. Maybe if you get the new panel and the paint job it will be approaching that much, but I would expect a repair price to be much lower by someone who knows what they’re doing. Saying that, these quarter panels can be a right pain, so it would need knocking about to put it back to shape as close as possible, then filled, primed, painted lacquered, so overall these things are never small jobs.
Just take it through her insurance if she’s being funny about it, and only communicate through text, because then you have a record.
As Scottishfiver says, she is being encouraged to show what an excellent driver she is. More a case now of “sorry, you had your chance, now its on you and your insurance… hope you have NCD.”
There’s a ring across the road I’ve asked for footage from, but I don’t think I need it with all the photos, including of her car.
It will take a bit of time but start looking for a secondhand wing. By far the cheapest solution if you can track down the right colour. Be patient and the right part will eventually come your way.
Cheapest solution is not his to find. Why should he give up his valuable time scouring breaker yards and facebook marketplace because some silly bint backed her far-too-large “family” car into his gorgeous little 5?
Thanks guys, I’m not communicating with her at all after her ultimatum. She even told me I was liable for 50% of the damage to her car!
Best off left to the insurers I think.
Im pretty sure a decent repair shop will make that good again. Dont think it needs replacing. Have a look on the tube for videos of repairs being done. Its amazing .
This was the front wing on my car when I bought it and I was told it could be repaired but in the end I found a new genuine Mazda wing on eBay for £110 and had that sprayed and fitted. I guess a lot depends on how much an hour the body shop charges and how long it would take them to repair it. One advantage with a new wing is no rust! I’ve worked for a motor factor for many years and could immediately tell the difference between a genuine wing and a pattern part, genuine was much heavier and even the sprayer commented on it.
Yes the rust thing has been a consideration!
Oh yeah that’s very similar, the arch liner has popped in the same place too.
I simply meant , post repair, how much filler if any had been used. I’m quite aware it’s not an MOT matter or structural.
