Couple of Car Questions

[nikoneko]

We have a 2006 Honda Fit that has a car-length scratch/dent/gash along the entire left side. I caught it on something, I still have no idea what, driving on a narrow road back in Kobe.

First question is if I want to sell the car is it better to fix that first do you think considering repair cost/sale price ratio?

Any ideas what fixing something like that will cost me around here?

[Coligny]

Dealership paint alone is usually 4 man per panel (4 panels per side) but vary wildly with brand and/or indep shop.
Audi and Mitsu are 4 mans, Nissan had special touch up only option for the price of two happy meals and an extra fries.

For the resell value... If you buy a new car at a dealership it usually don't matter much the trade in price is rigid and they just don't cared of the road worthiness of the car. When we bought the Note trading in the old krauter for a nickel they didn't even care if it was still starting or not. Same for the Note trade in, I did extensive(ly) bad exterior tweaks to make it look like a Renault Gordini, they didn't give a flying fuck, just asked and confirmed that I had removed all form of weaponization if any.
Now if I remember well 2006 was the last year of the G1 fit (now at G3) so unless you sell to real humans your not going to make much of it...

[nikoneko]

Okay that is a lot then. This is going to need more than paint too as whatever did it caught into the rear wheel area and left a 500 yen size hole there. And the rest is dented in pretty good. It also got the left side rear view mirror which has some damage on it too.

This would not be a trade-in but basically selling the car to get rid of it if we move out of Japan. If we stay here we'll keep it and get the damage repaired as it's a great little car.

[Russell]

Many many years ago, when I still cared about dents in my cars, I had some repair done at my favorite garage (favorite, because they gave good service at reasonable price). Typically, getting dents out of one door and repainting it would run up to 100,000 Yen. If you have two doors, that would be twice that. A dealer would charge more.

I don't know what those specialized "de-denting" shops charge, though. I once saw a video (maybe on YT) of a guy who did de-denting work by going inside doors with a specially shaped metal bar via the window openings, and pushed dents out. This would save you from having to take the door apart to hammer it out, so I guess his costs would be a bit lower.

Anyway, if I hear the damage you describe, my rough estimate is at least 250,000 Yen. Better sell it on Yahoo auction, or give it to a relative or friend with the option to borrow it from them for your future holidays in Japan.

[Coligny]

There is dozens of way to de-dent a panel. Usually, the more simple a tool is, the more practice/experience you need to get a good result. With the more complicate, there is no limit to how much more damage you can make.

What would be super important would be to seal any exposed metal with whatever spray paint you got to limit rusting, and plug the holes to avoid inside rain damages. Ugly, but help keep the car in a repairable state.

Putting vinyl striping over the patched paint can help make it more... On purpose...

[simplebeing]

Give me 25man and I can most probably get u a honda fit with some shaken left on it. Just sell it and move on mate.


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