New to forum as our 2000 Millennium Yellow Corvette was damaged last night in a parking lot accident. Driver "did not see" the car because "it sits so low" and backed into the passenger rear quarter panel causing a 6 inch crack. That is the only visible damage. This is the first damage we've had with this car, so we are not sure how to proceed. (police report, admission by other driver and pictures are in hand.)

I'm looking for reassurance that the repair will be to replace that panel. Is there anything we should know or look for when we take it to the repair shop? Since it is a likely a replacement panel, is the dealer the best place? We are in Indianapolis, so suggestions for a repair shop would be appreciated. thanks!!

 

I would insist on replacement of the quarter panel with a crack that large. Also insist on OEM parts for replacement.

One of the issues I see is getting the paint to match. Mil Yellow is a tri-coat paint and can be a bit difficult to match perfectly. Some blending may be needed on adjoining panels. Choose the shop you feel cfortable with, not necessarily the one the other driver's insurance company wants you to use.

Good luck - hope it all turns out well for you and the car.

 

My previous car, an MX5 Miata was damaged in a parking lot with $900 damage. Their insurance paid but at the end the carfax said "accident damage, multiple locations". See if you can collect additional $$ for the decrease in value you have as a result of this incident (legal in some states) Take pictures before and after

 

Do you ever have any intentions on upgrades which would include wider rear fenders? Now would be the time.

Sorry to hear about the incident. (Notice, I didn't say accident.)

 

Sorry to hear but

 

Fenders are pretty easy to come by. (aurally less than $400) If you're really lucky, you might even find one in the correct color. With today's paint technology the matching of colors is pretty easy to do. Contact Vettenuts (CF vendor) or John Llewellyn both are recyclers of C-5s etc and might be able to find a correct color fender.

(John Llewellyn 865-604-0498)

 

As an example:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/98-04-Corvette-C5-Rear-Quarter-Panel-RIGHT-Convertible-YELLOW-Passenger-/371342820718?hash=item5675c1c56e&vxp=mtr

 

Sorry to hear about the damage. If you haven't already, post your inquiry regarding body shops in the "Regional Discussion - Great Lakes" forum; hopefully some locals will be able to direct you to a good shop. Best of luck.

 

Please let me know if the photo of the damage changes opinions on repair vs. replace. First shop suggested repair, although I cannot understand why.

 

The first shop (dealer referral) suggested repair over replacement due to the "computer" estimating the replacement as less expensive than the repair. It seems that the same amount of painting and blending would be necessary. If the door, trunk, trunk lid and rear have to be sanded and repainted to blend for the repair, wouldn't the same occur during a replacement?

 

Nah - - only accept a full panel replacement IMO.

Where are you located - - lotsa of painted panels available reasonably out there . . Good luck !

 

 

We are in Indianapolis, IN. It seemed like a lot of extra work to repair-riveting, fiberglass, sanding, remove rivets, fiberglass, sand and paint. Full panel seems like the way to go.

Insurance is covering it (other party admitted fault), so I don't care about the expense, I just want it fixed right. Seems like a panel replacement would be a better option for eventual resale value.

thanks

 

That's certainly good news. It's amazing how many times stuff like this happens and other driver uses every excuse in the book to try to get out of it.

 

No way would I settle for less than a replacement panel.

Would you buy the vette with a patched panel?

You vette just lost 2k in value so there is no need to pile on top of it.

 

Everyone will have a different spin on what would be a way to get your car repaired. My opinion would be after settling with the insurance company, that you find a reputable local paint/repair shop and find out what they would charge you to remove and install a rear panel that 'you' provide. The reasoning is this, as mentioned in a prior reply, I would locate a pristine used rear panel (such as vettenuts or whomever). You will stand a better chance of getting a more exact color match from a factory used fender than having a shop color match and then try to blend (especially yellow), and the out of pocket costs should be to your advantage in the end. GM keeps pretty tight quality control of the colors used on Corvettes, not to say that a local shop can't do the paint, but if you found a perfect color match on a used fender you can use the extra monies saved for other things. Good luck in whatever way you decide to go !!

 

I had a similar incident a long time ago with my car, same type of accident and same excuse from the person that backed into my fender. Cop said to the woman, how could you not see a bright red car? Anyway, the body shop just went ahead and bought a brand new OEM fender. Car was perfect afterward. The incident was a blessing in disguise because I always wanted to get rid of the dorky fixed antenna on the Z06's right rear. The shop filled the antenna hole before painting and I remounted the antenna. It came out great and made me happy.

 

I would visit with several shops in your area and talk to the actual people who will do the repairs. Find out how many Corvettes they have worked on. It's not just the lowest bid your looking for but the experience of the guy doing the repair and paint matching. You may even run across someone who has matched mill. yellow paint with success. The extra time doing the due diligence should pay off in work your happy with. At least that was my experience.

 

I had a lady run over the front fender and leading edge of my door on the passenger side last year in early winter. You will want to do a full panel replacement no doubt. The other thing you'll want to look at is the inner fender. I had what appeared to be a very small amount of damage to my fender, but what actually was damaged more was the inner liner and it required an entirely new replacement part there as well. It was cracked all to heck and back and actually ended up costing more than panel and paint on the fender.

I've seen a lot of people talk about paint here and in other threads and honestly I too was worried about paint on my Nassau Blue '99 and even inquired about it here. Modern quality paint work is absolutely fabulous. On my car it's virtually impossible to tell it's been painted. I had a shop familiar with C5s do the work and the painted front fender and re-painted door have no visible variances to other colors, including the depth of the metallic. My car is garaged daily though which probably helps. I'm going to echo a suggestion above and agree that my suggestion also if you go through a dealer network is see if they have a body shop with an individual that is certified to work on a Corvette. Most GM shops are supposed to, and the one I found had a near 20 year veteran of Corvette work still working there so he was very familiar with C5s and their repair processes.