Car Body Work Guide: How much does it cost?
The car you drive is often as much of a statement about who you are as it is a means of getting from A to B. Do you drive a cool contemporary city car, an ecologically sound electric model, a hot-hatchback or a high-performance supercar? Whichever make and model we choose, we want our cars to look their best. Achieving the premium appearance of its gleaming glory years will no doubt depend on the state of its bodywork.
From accident damaged bodywork panels to rust repair
Any marks, defects, scratches or dents will downgrade your car’s appearance. Bent or broken bumpers, rusty wheel sills, pit-marked panels and more, all add to the tired and worn look of what was once your pride and joy.
Car body shop repair costs
Like many of the automotive services available to motorists, pinpointing the actual cost of body shop repairs can be as challenging as determining ‘how long is a piece of string’. Recent research investigated the charges of over 6,000 garages in the UK. It determined the hourly rate of mechanics and motor bodywork specialists to range from £36 to over £200 an hour!
Independent garages were found to charge around 40% less than main dealers
With an average rate of £56/hour, independent garages were found to be charging almost half the price of the main dealers and franchised workshops. The dealer/franchise hourly rate was averaged out to £99/hour. Utilising Fixter’s network of trusted garages could save you even more—often around 15–20% more.
It pays to shop around for car bodywork repairs
Because there’s such variation in price, it makes sense to gather a range of quotes for your car bodywork repairs. At Fixter, we do exactly that. We’ve got a vast network of specialist partners ready to provide competitive quotes that consistently save our customers from 15 to 30% compared to regional market prices.
The extensive range of car body damage repairs
Our experienced and qualified mechanics are perfectly equipped to carry out all kinds of repairs to your vehicle’s bodywork:
- Clear-coat scratches Light, surface scratches that haven’t gone deep enough to damage the paintwork, and a respray is easily avoided.
- Paint scratches and scuffs A little more costly, these scratches are deep enough to have inflicted damage to your paintwork. Additional costs of painting are unavoidable.
- Deep paint scratches Any scratch that has made it through the paintwork, to expose the base metal of the body panel, is going to require more effort to blend it seamlessly into the existing finish.
- Bodywork and car panel dents Depending on where the dent is—and they can occur almost anywhere on your car—dictates how easy or difficult it is to remedy.The level of seriousness to how the dent happened will dictate if a panel will need repainting, replacing, or whether you will be able to settle for a simple paintless dent removal. Significant repairs could include severely damaged areas requiring filler or fibreglass, before being sanded back to its original shape for respraying.
- Rust repair Over time, especially at the hands of every type of weather we’re blessed to suffer in the UK, practically all cars will be victim to rust at some point. Bubbles under the surface of the paint, heavy corrosion around wheel arches and pitted and pocked areas of chrome metalwork are all areas that deter from the pristine look of a vehicle.
- Accident damage Collisions with other cars or stationary objects can cause the most impact on our bodywork.Even if a bodywork panel is to be replaced, you’ll still need to find a specialist paint sprayer to match your car’s colour.
- Paint matching Depending on the age of your car, its paintwork could have been exposed to a life of deterioration and fading.Whether through UV exposure, constant wear or regular washing and polishing, your car’s paint colour can be up to 2 or 3 shades lighter than its showroom condition.
- Plastic bumpers and textured bumper repair Many modern cars will have plastic bumpers that are integrated into the car’s colour scheme.Given their job of protecting the rest of the vehicle and its passengers using impact-absorbing materials, they’re probably the most likely part of the car to receive regular damage. Carrying out repairs to these types of materials, and avoiding more expensive replacements, needs to be carried out by professionals, just as any other serious bodywork issue should be.
It’s more than just a paint and panel job
The overall appearance of your car and its bodywork doesn’t just stop at its paint finish. Damage and deterioration to any of the following will cause unsightly aspects of your vehicle and will also lower its value when you decide to sell it.
- Polished alloy wheels
- Wing mirrors
- Door handles
- Radiator grills
- Diamond cut or powdered coated alloy wheels
Our bodywork experts are available to carry out repair and restoration work on any of these parts and components and more.
Is it time to return your car to its former glory?
Get in touch with our specialists at Fixter to find out the exact costs — and superb savings — you could be taking advantage of. With our range of experts waiting to hear from you, and their selection of top prices, your car could be returning to pristine condition for much less than you think.
About Fixter
Fixter is revolutionising the car maintenance industry, one repair at a time. Fixter was founded to make car maintenance as easy as booking a taxi. Digital, transparent and stress-free, with world-class customer service. Since launching in Manchester in 2017, Fixter has expanded to more than 100 cities across the UK and provided thousands of car owners with honest, convenient and affordable car repair services.