[gatchaman]

Everyone unharmed. I was rear-ended at very low speed, but their tow hooks did some damage.

My question. Body shop wants to replace bumper cover, but repair tailgate which is dented and scraped but still closes. Any reason I should be concerned and ask for a full Liftgate replace? Thoughts?

Thanks for any feedback,
G~

 

[packout]

Everyone unharmed. I was rear-ended at very low speed, but their tow hooks did some damage.

My question. Body shop wants to replace bumper cover, but repair tailgate which is dented and scraped but still closes. Any reason I should be concerned and ask for a full tailgate replace? Thoughts?
View attachment 11764
Thanks for any feedback,
G~

I am not a body repair guy, but I wonder how they repair such a large dent without involving a lot of metal fatigue. Ask two additional body shops for their opinion. You are able to have it repaired anywhere you choose.

 

[RobertD]

Did you go to a Subaru approved body shop?

Certified Collision Centers | Subaru

Our highly trained technicians will repair and restore your vehicle to factory condition with genuine Subaru collision parts. Don't trust just any body shop.

www.subaru.com

 

[Ey31]

Doesn't look that big of a damage. I wouldn't be shocked if others say the same

 

[Titanrx8]

Ask to see cars in their shop where they are hammering out creased metal rather than replacing the panel. Creases are a different animal than dents. A good tech can hammer and dolly that out with no/almost no Bondo. A typical shop is gonna Bondo the hell out of that.

 

[Titanrx8]

BTW,I hope that they included testing and replacement as necessary for the sensors. Doesn't take much to misalign sensors.

 

[RoyBin]

from the picture, I think repair is better than replace. assuming the body shop uses OEM parts, but even OEM parts sometimes don’t get the perfect fit to the car, tech might need to modify the hinges in order to re-align the rear gate.

 

[gatchaman]

Thanks everyone for the replies and giving me something to think about. I'm at lest having a few more estimates performed this week to compare and will proceed from there. Have a great weekend all!

 

[pro10is]

Accept no repair which requires body putty. This is a lot less expensive for the insurance company. Body putty will look fine at first but may deteriorate and crack over the years. It is also structurally unsound.

An insurance company might insist on such repairs for older vehicles, but for any newer vehicle, you have the right to insist on new OEM body panels with no body putty.

 

[Graves]

Your biggest concern should be to find a reputable auto body repair shop, just like any other profession, you are going to have shops that are only concerned about putting money in there pocket, they could care less about fixing your vehicle correctly, then there are other shops wanting to make a customer for life and fix the vehicle correctly following all OEM recommended procedures.,

I am an insurance appraiser over 35 years experience, my opinion is your vehicle is going to have hidden damages, once the rear bumper is taken off, a good appraiser would want the tailgate open to see any damage to the inside frame before making a determination to repair or replace.

A good shop would negotiate the proper repair with the insurance appraiser

Using body filler correctly is not a bad thing, it is used on some welded seams in the manufacturing process.

 

[Jimno]

Everyone unharmed. I was rear-ended at very low speed, but their tow hooks did some damage.

My question. Body shop wants to replace bumper cover, but repair tailgate which is dented and scraped but still closes. Any reason I should be concerned and ask for a full Liftgate replace? Thoughts?
View attachment 11764
Thanks for any feedback,
G~

I had very similar damage in about the same spot and they said they couldn’t repair and ended up replacing the whole tail gate. My damage was caused by our garage door.

 

[cindyascent]

If you look at how the hood flexes when you place it in the open position, it doesn’t make repair a feel good option. what the difference in price for the options?>what does your insurance company say? Can you open it and take a few pics? because the standard for modern repairs for like door dents is to change the whole outer panel and reuse the rest of the door if it’s not bent. Maybe the rear panel is available and can be done the same way.

bottom line is you said rear ended and tow hook damage so you are fully covered get the repair that makes you happy because they will pay for it or you will not be surcharged, only they will make an entry for a claim in the systems they use and it will cost you if you change insurance companies in the next five years - at least that’s what geico did to us- so we dropped them but also because their prices were crazy.
if I were you I’d have a brand new everything, and I can’t see with the pice but you may have some damage to the frame so you want a good place that does good work and will not leave bare hammered metal so you have a bucket of rust down the road.

 

[Titanrx8]

If you look at how the hood flexes when you place it in the open position, it doesn’t make repair a feel good option.

The hood is aluminum. Other panels are steel.