Howdy. I posted a few days ago about my left rear door that was hit by my neighbor. I have some pictures up now...

http://home.rochester.rr.com/bthart/VolvoDoorLeft.jpg
http://home.rochester.rr.com/bthart/VolvoDoorCenter.jpg
http://home.rochester.rr.com/bthart/VolvoDoorRight.jpg

I went to the adjuster today and they cut me a check for $900, based on the following breakdown:
New door: $195
Body Labor: $308 (8 hours)
Paint Labor: $216 (5 hours)
Paint supplies: $108
and some misc items.

So I guess my question is what to do now? I think I have three levels of choices:

1) take the car to a shop, say "fix the whole thing for me like the insurance estimate says". Seems pretty simple, but will probably use up most of (if not more than) what I was given.

2) Look around for a door, haul it to a shop myself, and ask them to just do the install, maybe do some of the paint repair on the rear quarter panel. This option takes some time and effort (finding the door), but would probably let me keep some money in my pocket.

3) Bare minimum, find a door and try to install it myself. Is this hard to do? (I'm an IPD "level 2", with no body work experience.)

So are these my choices? Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks,
Brian

Thanks for all the input. I'll probably go to several body shops and run options 1 and 2 by them to see what the costs and warranty levels are. As this is the only car for my family of four and it's cold here in Rochester this time of year, I'm really leaning towards whatever is going to fix it the fastest. (The rust already forming on the bare metal is a testament to the quantity of salt dumped on the roads up here).

Progun/Paul - I'm in NY, so probably won't see you anytime soon.

Chris - you're right, if the cost of repairs exceeds the already paid-out estimate, the body shop will contact the insurance company and work it out. That does sound like a big plus.

Brian

I think the shop would be the best bet for a good repair. You could install the door and then have them do all the paintwork. But you probably won't save a whole lot of money doing it that way. But you probably WILL gain a little experience. The one thing is, in most states, if a shop opens the car up and finds it needs more repair than you were paid for, they will re-open the claim. If you do it yourself, they won't. That might be reason enough to have the shop do the work and let them haggle with the insurance company.
--
Chris Herbst, near Chicago.

Where are you at? I am in Louisiana. Paul

I would think a good compromise would be to scrounge the door (would be great to get one the same color...) and get somebody to help you hang and adjust it. This would:

1. Save you some bux.
2. Give you a little taste of body repair. Hanging a door is not that hard if you're careful.
3. Take the Brick (with new door) to body shop and have them fix the quarter panel and do the paint work.

Or, if you don't really care what it looks like you could take some of your booty and buy an air compresor and paint gun and attempt to do everything yourself. I remember that my first paint job didn't look too bad (from 10 feet away) but each one got better. You might even find it enjoyable.

Good luck and have fun,

Justin B.
83 244 Turbo

I don't know where you are but here I would go to a wrecking yard get a door take it to a local independant paint shop have them install the door, paint the whole car, and still put a couple hundred in my pocket. But things my be more expensive where you are.
Bret
--
rust free in west Texas

BTH: You can't be serious, can you? The insurance company allotted 13 hours for mechanical and paint labor for a PROFESSIONAL to do the job, along with about $300 in parts and materials. Then there's you with little or no bodywork experience, and prob'ly even less time behind a paint gun, and even asking what's involved in replacing the door. When all is said and done, what do you think the job is going to look like when YOU get through with it? How durable do you think it's going to be? And when the whole thing goes south in a year or so (maybe even a few months) and you've spent the remainder of the insurance money on other things, what's the car going to look like...and who's going to ever buy it from you with backyard bodywork? Don't you think that will call into the question the rest of the integrity of the car? Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all for DIY repairs on these lovely beasts, both as a cost saving measure, but also as a means to get to know the car better. Heaven knows, I've spent hours behind the wrench, but body and paint work is not one of those 'learn as you go' deals. This is one area of auto repairs that is most assuredly left to the professionals. Take the money, get the car fixed correctly, and rest easy in the satisfaction that you have some recourse against the body shop if, at some point, the job doesn't meet with your approval. If you botch it up, not only have you wasted your dough, but you only have yourself to blame. And by the way, I don't know of ANY shop that will hang your used door, only do a "little" prepwork, and not get to put a final paint on it. Too much liability if it doesn't turn out correctly. Good luck.

Brad

this may sound evill.. but what about using no door at all :)

I would just take the best way out of going to the place and getting the stuff done eXACTLY how it was done up like the adjuster. Make it look like the person never smashed it.
--
1980 244DL, 1982 245GL, 1987 744GLE, 1991 245SE, 1996 855GLT, 2001 V70

I say it all depends on how the rest of the car looks and how you want it to look.

If you want it to look like nothing happened to it at all, go with options 1 or 2. If you don't mind it looking less than perfect, go with option 3 and keep the difference.

As for how hard it is to DIY ... you'll deal with wiring if it's got power windows and door locks, which will entail removal of the inner door panel and then unplugging the wiring (and/or swapping the power accessories). Otherwise, it's just 4 bolts off the hinge (you'll see 'em when you open the front door) and put on the new (used) one with help from an aide (they aren't light!). A little extra tinker time to align it correctly ... that's about it. If it's a different color, have a shop just repaint that panel.

Cheapest ... just remove the door panel, poke a 2x2 (or any wood, really) against the dented portions, and start pounding 'em out with a hammer. It'll be far from perfect, but you'll get a good little workout, and the worst thing that can happen is that you made it look even worse than the dent and have to replace it anyways. Play with Bondo afterwards if you wish, but otherwise, just find the closest color spray paint to touch back up the damaged part (that as I can tell from the pics, is starting to rust). Total outlay ... a few hours and a few bucks. Keep the rest for upgrading something else ...

-- Kane ... or getting another Volvo, whatever you decide. :)
--
Blossom II - '91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles - '74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup - '86 245GL/AW70 ... The Wayback Machine - '64 P220/M40