I was going out to dinner with some friends of mine tonight. I parked in my friend's apartment parking lot and waited for him to come out. I needed to show him where to go, and he was going to follow me in his car, so I started backing out. I was looking over my left shoulder for cars coming, and backing out sharply to the right. There was a tree surrounded by two metal poles to hold it up (it was a pretty young tree) that I failed to see on my right, and I ran into it. I hit my right side fender, door, and it popped the mirror housing off, but didn't damage it. The paint it scuffed, and the dents look repairable. It didn't hit my wheel, so my alignment should be fine. The trim that runs along the side of the door is messed up, and will probably be replaced. I'm a little freaked out about it, but I'm also really pissed.

Tomorrow I'm going to get a couple estimates from some body shops, as well as one my friend recommended he could get a good deal on.

I imagine it will come in around $1500 or so unless they don't repaint it. There aren't any deep scratches, just regular paint scuffs you get around the edges of an accident.

This really sucks right now because I'm not working, and my parents are already pissed because the stupid attendance office keeps calling saying I am cutting class when I am not. My dad looked at it, and started to get mad, but then he said, "Okay, its your car. You fix it." To be honest, I really don't blame him considering it is my own ignorance that resulted in this. Besides, mommy and daddy aren't around to bail me out, I need to take responsibility for it. They will probably be willing to loan me the money once I have a job, but even if they did offer to pay it all out, I would feel like a douchebag every night before I go to bed.

So, bentframe... know any good body shops in Norcal?

Pics up tomorrow after I get home tomorrow if it's still light out.

 

that sucks man, atleast other cars weren't involved like mine i had a week ago, it sucks a lot, but you get over it pretty soon as life goes on, but i feel ya on this, i know i was really upset after mine.

Goodluck on patched the beast up.

 

Yep, life does go on. Just seems like it moves at a slower pace when you don't have the dent fixed. At least its on the passenger side, that way I won't see it all the time.

ETA: On the bright side, I can tell people my Audi totally owned a tree.

 

ah, but the people you pass will see it...thats the worst...i had a civic with a big fat nasty dent in it....sold it because of that thing. i love audi's, and if those scratches arent too deep you should try to buff them out man....and as far as dents go....go w/ a dent king. im sure you can find them on e-bay.

 

Heh.. honestly, there aren't any real paint scratches I could see. I think the thing that is going to cost me the most is the plastic moulding that runs along the doors. Its definately going to be replaced. I probably could have popped the dent in my fender out myself if it weren't for the inner fender. Its really superficial, I just know people aren't going to give me a hard time about it. I have a few older, wiser friends who already ask me just about every time they see me, "Did you wreck that Audi yet?" I'm really not pleased, but it could be worse.

You guys will get a better idea of the damage when I get the pictures up. I'd got for a dent king sort of thing, but I really want to get it done right. I'll see what the body shops say first.

 

i hate friends that have lesser cars than them and they "want" you to crash your nice audi. And then you do, and they laugh and then you **** them up hardcore!

just my thoughts

 

I just got home, and it is dark now, so I probably won't be taking any pictures. I went to a body shop this morning and got an estimate for $2201.88. Parts are around $800, the rest is all in the labor. Labor was quoted at $60/hr because I have allstate insurance, even though I am paying it out of my own pocket.

I also checked out a really good looking shop, but the estimate guy took off early. I happened to see some of their other work, and it looked really nice. I left my info, and they are going to call me tomorrow so I can come in and get an estimate done. If it isn't too much more than the other place I took it to earlier, I will take it there for sure. There was a race prep shop next door too. There were a couple Evos and a really nice looking Porshe 944.

I'm almost considering finding a B5 Audi that is being parted out and trying to get the front left fender and left front door, then make it my project to strip the door card out and replace it. I have a friend who knows body work well enough and has access to tools that would help me get it aligned correctly. Then I'll sand it, and take it to a paint shop to be painted and blended with the other parts.

 

Good idea.

 

I got another quote from the nice shop for $1825. I'm going to go through with doing the work myself, and then having them blend it and work on a another bit of damage I've had for a while.

Here's the pics:





The last pic makes it look alot worse than it is, but its just because of all the glare and no flash. I went back to the scene and realized that it was my mirror that took out the tree, and the metal poles did all the body work.

 

Ah, that does make it look bad. Not TOO bad of a price quote, couldve been much higher. Good luck with the work.