Nearside rear wheel arch repair

[Phil595]

I'm looking for advice on the repair of a nearside rear wheel arch that was damaged in a stupid car park slow speed collision with a concrete barrier. I have taken the van for a quote at a local body shop who have given me a £5.5k quote to replace the rear panel complete. This would be an insurance job. The shop panel beater took a look and said although it's always better to keep the original metal, the damage was quite extensive and has rippled the panel which, in his opinion the insurance company would want replacing. I have not contacted the insurance company yet and I'm wondering if there is an alternative solution that would give a long term high quality repair that does not involve cutting away the original wing. I'm in the South East.

 

[Perfectos]

It’s always difficult to assess true damage from a single photo, although this does not look that bad.

if it were me , I’d get another opinion and state that you want to keep the panel as original, I.e panel beat it out, not replace it.

the problem with replacing the whole rear quarter panel is the welding of the new panel, where the welds cannot be accessed (once the new panel is fixed) there is a higher chance of rust in future.

A decent old skool panel beater should be able to get that looking like new with minimal filler, it will take a lot of work, but looks like it can be done in the right hands.

interior panels and wheel arch liner will need to come off to Allow access to the inside of the exterior panels.

body shops will naturally want to replace the whole rear quarter as it requires less “skilled” work And the end result is guaranteed to look good. (I.e it’s the easiest repair for them with the best guaranteed results)

try AD Williams : Enfield, if it can be done they will tell you accordingly, it won’t be cheap due to labour time.

edit : to the Beach Club, sorry your first post isn’t a happy one