Body shops
shops having separate facilities for aluminum repair, needing all manner of specialized tooling etc etc.
what is the consensus on choosing a qualified shop and do I need to be worried about warranty issues?
The Ford dealer closest to me has their own body shop in-house and, of course, they are certified.
Last time I had to have a vehicle repaired was my less than one year 2017 Lincoln MKZ Reserve Sport 3.0L twin Turbo AWD 400hp. Some rat bas...ed decided he needed my tires/rims more than I did. Then the tow truck driver, even thought I explained it in detail over the phone,
he thought it would be best to just drag a less than a 1oneyear old car onto the ramp truck and not use some sort of dolly. Well $14,000+ later... (no out of pocket cost to me, the dealer was so pissed about this happening, even covered my $500 deductible)
The reason for this story is, I was told that due to insurance regulations here in MA, and since the car was less than a year old, they are required to install brand new OEM parts, and couldn't use take off's or junk yard parts. It was repaired by the dealership's body shop, car was a special Black Metallic and couldn't tell anything happened. So some dealer body shops know their poop and do great work.
With your dent, and how big the damage is, I would think they would replace the door vs trying to fix it (repair labor + cost of supplies vs new). Even more so being aluminum. Then it's only getting the paint to match vs the body work on top of it.
Last time I had to have a vehicle repaired was my less than one year 2017 Lincoln MKZ Reserve Sport 3.0L twin Turbo AWD 400hp. Some rat bas...ed decided he needed my tires/rims more than I did. Then the tow truck driver, even thought I explained it in detail over the phone,
he thought it would be best to just drag a less than a 1oneyear old car onto the ramp truck and not use some sort of dolly. Well $14,000+ later... (no out of pocket cost to me, the dealer was so pissed about this happening, even covered my $500 deductible)
The reason for this story is, I was told that due to insurance regulations here in MA, and since the car was less than a year old, they are required to install brand new OEM parts, and couldn't use take off's or junk yard parts. It was repaired by the dealership's body shop, car was a special Black Metallic and couldn't tell anything happened. So some dealer body shops know their poop and do great work.
With your dent, and how big the damage is, I would think they would replace the door vs trying to fix it (repair labor + cost of supplies vs new). Even more so being aluminum. Then it's only getting the paint to match vs the body work on top of it.









