Did I get ripped off?
 

Hello, I'm new to the whole car enthusiast thing and i recently got a it and run and i got a scratch that scraped off the paint as well as some chips in my bumper that have to be molded before having to be painted. I went to a body shop to get it fixed and the guy charged me 400 dollars to get everything fixed. they were pretty big scratches, but i want to know if i got ripped off. Did he give me an average price or did i completely get screwed? Im a noob to the whole car thing and im learning a lot but just didnt know if it was an ok price cuz it seemed a lot to me:/

Do you have any picture of the scratches? I have seen lots of people complaining about chips and what not, and doesn't the warranty have some sort of clause in it about repairing paint damage?

it does but i think only after a certain amount of time they will repaint it for me:( and unfortunately no. the scratches were pretty decent from a close range as well as the chips. they were really noticeable but not while its being driven of course.

It's hard to say without pictures, but paint and body work are always expensive, so it doesn't sound too outrageous to me.

Body work and paint is VERY subjective(for price and results)...if you're happy with the results, I wouldn't worry about it, especially since the work is done.

At least show us some before and after shots!

thanks guys. really starting to sound more relieved about all this. ill try to see if i have any before shots. will try and post the after shots soon!:)

Based on your excellent description it doesn't sound like you got ripped off. Most of the body work that I've ever had done cost a good bit more than that. Granted that includes hitting a deer and having a few people add their own custom pinstriping to the sides of my vehicle.

You get what you pay for. With that said, that price sounds about right. Don't forget that depending on how bad it is, they're not just painting over the scratches. They may actually take your whole bumper off and paint the whole thing.

Depends on what they did - if he just used some filler and left everything unpainted afterwards, then yeah - you probably paid too much. If they had to respray everything it's a great price. Sounds like the repair fell somewhere in the middle, so I'd say you got a pretty decent deal.

Well from the way you described them it seems like a fair price, take some after pics too if you can so we can see how well the work was done. But all body work tends to get pretty pricey, maybe invest in an opticoat like product to keep this from happening again?

i would of went to a few shops and get an estimate at each shop

As others pointed out it depends on whether it was a full bumper respray, since your car is red and matching red can be tough, I'm going to assume it was a full respray and that's why it seemed high. You must have gotten a statement showing detailing the work, have a look and see what you were charged.

sounds spot on. figure 1.0 hour to r&i the cover, 2 hours repair, 3.0 hours paint/1.0 clear coat time. with my rates at $40/hr body, $40/hr paint, $26/hr paint material you are at about $400. that's without even seeing anything, just a general guess

You're lucky you didn't run into a shady guy who can tell you don't know anything about cars/repairs. He could have taken you for a real ride. Always get estimates from different shops for non-warranty repairs if you are lacking in the knowledge department.