I am a moron. Any suggestions?

[giraffe]

Hello fellow CX-7ers. I am a moron and was driving after being kept awake on call overnight. I drove over a huge frozen chunk of ice and in the process, dented the bottom of my driver's side door, and knocked off the black plastic things running along the bottom of the front and back driver's side doors. I think the plastic clips that held them on are (surprise) broken. It looks ugly. Anybody have any ideas for how I may be able to get the dent out of the door and reattach those plastic thingies without being financially violated at the body shop? The back door isn't (noticably) dented, but the front is too bent up for the plastic to fit on right now. I know it's too much to expect miracles, but if I can just get a decent aesthetic result without spending too much moola (they don't pay us much) I'll be happy. Thanks for any suggestions!
Your local overworked intern, Giraffe

 

[erhayes]

I think I would visit a body shop to get a proffesional opinion and maybe some suggestions. If the cost is too high, then at least you may get some good suggestions. You don't want to mess it up more than it is. JMHO Ed

 

[offset_98]

If it were me, I'd hit up a body shop.

 

[kickniteasy]

oh man....when I first read it I thought it said, "I'm a mormon, any suggestions?" bump for info

 

[koala]

If its along the edge of the door you're going to need the bodyshop to do the repair.

If it was just the door panel that was dented you could probably do paintless dent removal.

 

[giraffe]

Thanks guys. I suppose I will follow the wisdom of my fellow CX'ers and get some references for good (and CHEAP) body shops in the area. If it's too much, I'll just save up for a couple months and then do the repair. *sigh* Despite the damage, she still looks good, tho

 

[CHICO2003]

Depending on your insurance, your rates might not increase if you file a claim. Since a repair like this will most likely cost well over a grand (sorry) you might be able to stomach the deductible... If you're the type that doesn't mind bending the rules in order to get ahead in life, buddy up with the bodyshop owner and see if he can help you out. Often times, they're friends with the appraiser and can easily get the estimate bumped up by your deductible... or more. A special handshake later and you've felt no pain. so what if the rest of us will hate you for contributing to ever increasing cost of insurance? at least your car will be back to normal.

 

[koala]

Thanks guys. I suppose I will follow the wisdom of my fellow CX'ers and get some references for good (and CHEAP) body shops in the area. If it's too much, I'll just save up for a couple months and then do the repair. *sigh* Despite the damage, she still looks good, tho

From my experience good and cheap cannot exist together. One or the other...

 

[jmhumr]

If the dent is on a flat surface of the door and not along the bottom edge then it can probably be removed by a door-ding remover shop (where they'd just pop it out). Any scratches left by the ice can probably be reduced with a good polish/wax job.

If the dent has actually creased the metal, you're SOL and gotta go to a shop.

You should be able to fix the plastic parts yourself, but I'm afraid to know how much they cost from the dealership.

 

[heavendown]

Bondo!!! Hahaha