Repair Options

[Lokiel]

Made an unintended mod to Buzz on the weekend:





Getting a quote today but am wondering if I should do all the work EXCEPT the respray myself.

Via eBay I can can get a replacement Mazda BK Rear Left Hatchback door from anywhere between $165 and $225 - there will be additional S&H if it's not local.
I can paint-strip and sand the door right back, leaving a paint-shop to do the re-spray.

Most places are flat-out at the moment and this will save me a LOT of money (who wants to pay anyone $50 to remove trim and then another $50 to replace it?

I've almost convinced myself to do it so if anyone else has done this, please let me know if it's worth doing or just hand it over to a shop and pay the $$$.

I assume that any paint shop could easily fit in the respray of a single door, most of the labour is in stripping the original paint.

[bruce]

Panel shops are flat out, booked out a month in advance.
Hardest thing is the paint match. To do a good job they will have to blend the front door and quarter. Painting is the expensive part.
I'd lean towards paying the insurance excess, ask for a new door (they may be able to just replace the skin) and to blend the extra panels (or paint match door exactly, which is nigh impossible).
You will need a new body moulding and possibly the side skirt (small repair). Door jamb looks like a repair and paint as well.
I help out at a panel shop one day a week and see and discuss such things all the time.

[KevGoat]

Just the colour matching and blending to the other door and rear panels is worth taking it to an approved workshop. Any reason why you don’t seem to want to go with insurance? Even allowing for excess I would always rather do that - especially as I have no car bodywork skills whatsoever.

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[bruce]

Due to the age and colour of the car (fade) , it will need blending.

[bruce]

How did the quote go?

[Lokiel]

If this accident was someone else's fault I'd go through insurance but it wasn't, it was completely my fault - I'd rather NOT have it impact future insurance costs with the car since I plan to keep Buzz until replacement by an electric vehicle - and the insurance cost isn't too bad.

Based on Bruce's comments and a subsequent chat with a repairer, because of the age of the car and that I don't demand a perfect colour match or perfect job (if it passes "the 5-foot test" I'm OK), I'll let them do the work but remove the front and rear door cards since I refuse to pay over $100 for someone to uninstall and re-install them when each one will only take 10 minutes of my time in total.

When I first bought Gina, I had an alarm and stereo system installed professionally.
They itemised all the work done and had fixed prices for everything rather than charging based on time spent (~$30 to remove each door's trim and another ~$30 to re-install it).
Annoyingly I ended up re-installing the head unit because they'd used the fastest of the 3x mounting options available in the kit which meant it protruded from the rest of the centre console and it annoyed me like hell. The way they mounted the stereo speaker crossover units was dodgy-as hell; after a month one of the screws on their crappy bracket fell out of the driver-side door leaving the crossover unit banging away in the door.
I ended up removing all their crappy little brackets and making my own which I pop-riveted to the door, ONE bracket per side that the crossover unit was fixed to, not 2x short brackets per side as they'd done, each with one end screwed into the door sheet metal and the other bolted to the crossover unit using its provided nuts and bolts.
THIS experience is what lead me to the wonderful world of DIY, I'll DIY-it myself whenever possible.

[Lokiel]

How did the quote go?

Still waiting on a call-back.

I'd hoped to have received one by now and queried them yesterday at 4:30pm.
Their secretary said that requests for the door have been sent out.

I did my own research yesterday and found several available on eBay and at Boss wrecking near me - maybe I should buy the door and tell them to use that?

But then there'd be no mark-up for them I guess

[StanTheMan]

ring this guy, see if he has the rear door.

road trip
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/28391935760 ... SwO9Ze7Cq5

[bruce]

That listing is for a sedan. He needs a door for a hatch.

[Lokiel]

Bruce is right.
Believe it or not, but the doors, panels and bonnet are not shared between the hatchback and sedan Mazda 3 BK/BL models, NOT one!

The sedan has less leg room in the back and the doors aren't as long.
Not sure why the front doors and front of the car aren't the same though.

There's a yellow hatchback being wrecked in Adelaide but unfortunately there are 3x yellows that I know of in the Mazda 3 BKs (yellow was one of the exclusive colours for SP versions of Mazda 323/3s so it's harder to find, which defeated one of my "MUST HAVES" in buying a DD - a DD should be easy to find parts for):
1. Faded yellow
2. Bright canary yellow (mine)
3, Orangey-yellow (like the one in Adelaide)
- so even if I bought the one in Adelaide, I'd need to paint it anyway

[bootz]

Unless you are OCD (and I know you are) I would just hang out for a good yellow door to become available.
You may have to wait a couple of years, but by then you would have forgotten about it.

[Lokiel]

I just don't like the look of rust on a car and here in QLD with the humidity, it seems to accelerate quickly.
I could easily pop out the top dent (haven't even tried yet) but could apply some protective paint to the paint that's down to the bare metal and do what you suggest.

My 1982 Mitsubishi JA Starion started rusting rapidly when I moved to QLD after owning it for 15+ years in Adelaide and 3 in Melbourne.

I also lived in Minnesota for 3 years and memories of their "Winter Beaters" (cars they drove in Winter when the roads were salted so that they could garage their good car until winter was over) still haunt me.
One guy parked his "truck" at the local grocery chain and when he slammed the door shut, half the bottom of the outer skin just fell off. It would have looked great in a comedy movie but was an everyday occurrence for Winter Beaters.
The number of 2-3 year old cars driving around with rusted wheel arches shocked me too - in Australia they'd last over 20 years before they got to that stage.
One of my Canadian mates I'd met on an O/S tour came to visit one Christmas and he was infatuated with the OLD cars that were still driving around and that they looked so good.
We joked that we should go into business, I'd ship him the old shells (or whole cars) and he'd ship me engines from cars <5 years old. If we'd both been richer, it would have been a very viable business (and probably still is).

[bruce]

I do wonder what the long term effect on the insurance premium would be if you made a claim. In your case does it go up $50 a year for a few years. After a few years the premium should drop if no more claims made.
If it was a big claim say $8k of damage (on a dearer car), and the premium goes up a $200 a year, doesn't that mean the driver is still way ahead overall? I can't see the premium going up $1000 a year (even then the driver is still ahead).
Also factor in the excess.

[greenMachine]

Geeze, have I got you fixed!

Just come on down to the Springfield motel, there is a panel shop operating in the carparks outside the rooms. Last night they were fixing a rear door on a Mazda 3 (I think). Fabulous service, they were still working at 10pm!! You have to go a long way to find service like that these days!!!

Can't speak for the warranty on the repairs though ...

[bootz]

I think that company is called 'Midnight Spares" has been going on for ages.