ATXSS

My buddies 02 ZO6 with less than 50K got hit this morning while in a parking spot at home. A guy tried to swing into the spot next to him and clipped the front bumper and quarter panel on the driver side with his Avalanche ( at least it was another Chevy).

Car is in perfect condition with low miles and I was wondering if you guys thought it would be best to go straight to the dealership to have it looked at or go to one of the very trusted body shops in town with a fantastic reputation. It's EB but the paint show's no signs of fading, my biggest worry is that if the front bumper and driver quarter panel is replaced the paint just wont match up. The owner is sick to his stomach about this and his head is a bag of cats so I'm trying to help figure out the best course of action, which leads me to you guys.

I know there are some good advisors here on the boards and some good local Vette guys i'll be talking to but just wanted to get my feelers out there. Pics attached below, any advice would be much appreciated, we DO NOT want to see another Vette off of the road.

Sox-Fan

A good body shop can match the paint, no problem. try not to let the insurance company talk him into used or crap aftermarket parts. insist on genuine gm.

ATXSS

Oh definitely, as long as paint matches it should be fine. We will demand nothing but genuine GM. Thanks for the reply Sox.

Ferg03 Z06

My brother had a 02 SS Camaro back in the day and he was involved in a wreck where he was NOT at fault. The other drivers insurance, same insurance company and local rep as his, Nationwide) convinced him to take it to one of their recommended and "trusted" body shops.

Well the shop finished the work...it needed a new front bumper and driver side fender along with the supports and driver side view mirror.

After about 10 days they called and said it was done..well it was done but it was the worse thing that we had ever saw. I mean it was hideous!!! The hood was shut on top of the bumper, the gap on one side of the hood was about a an inch and it was touching the new driver's side fender...the gap from the fender and the body on the driver's side fender near the top of the hood was so large that I could stick my arm down it up past my elbow!!!

He refused to accept it and the body shop said they were ordered to use "aftermarket" body panels, but they would check into getting original GM panels.

After another 10 days or so, they called and said it was finished. This time it was MUCH better and honestly looked brand new!!! They used original GM body panels and it made a world of difference.

Moral of the story is if its not repaired to HIS satisfaction do NOT accept it, and make sure they use original GM panels. This also was 6 or 7 years ago.

envyz06

Ouch that sucks, any decent painter can match paint easy.

mainecobra

Go get three quotes at the highest cost shops around and then tell them you want to bring it on your own time to get fixed and get a check sent to you. Really there are a lot of good body shops out there. Get a new oem bumper cover and any other parts it needs and they should be able to match and blend the oem paint perfect. It's not a bad hit I wouldn't be to worried. He should be able to pocket some cash for mods if he does everything right.

JETninja

They shouldn't have to blend if they have any skill, my 95 M3 (Hellrot - Bright Red) was rear ended back in 2010, shop repainted the rear end, wing and drivers door (CC failure) with no blending at all and they perfecting matched 15 year old paint. Still looks great today....

03 Z-oh-6

Oh man, I would be PISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Metallic paint is not easy to match.

Bill Dearborn

Most any shop should be able to match the paint right down to the orange peel. It looks like the damage was limited to the front fascia. The tear is big enough to dictate replacing the fascia Vs repairing it. However, I had an almost identical tear on the passenger side of my 97 and the dealer body shop was able to mend it and repaint the fascia. It was a Torch Red car and the only way I knew the fascia was painted when they finished painting was where they stopped cleaning the bumper before they painted it. The bug strikes and other dirt were still on the driver's side and the freshly painted section was on the passenger side. Once the car was washed I couldn't tell it had been painted even though I knew exactly where the new paint met the old paint.

Bill

ONE BMF

I hate stupid people