Neighbor hit my door, what are my options for repairs?

[LewisM]

A fortnight ago my neighbor reversed off her drive into the side of my car. She's accepted full responsibility, but said she'd rather pay herself instead of going through her insurance and losing her no claims bonus.
I went to a few body shops who quoted anywhere from £800-1200, all of them saying I'd need a completely new door that would in turn have to be sprayed to match my car. I found one garage that said he could do it for £450-500 with a second hand door, but even that seems steep.
To be honest I think I could do it myself - I've never done anything like this before but it doesn't look that bad. Plus I have access to a commercial spray booth, so I might even be able to spray it myself.

Everything on the door still works, so as far as I can see my options are:

1. Buy an entire door 2nd hand for about £100-150 and fit that. I'd rather not do this as the chances of finding a whole door that fits and is a good colour match seems slim. Plus taking an entire door off seems like it would be pretty complicated?
2. Try to push the dent back out, fill and sand where it's needed and attempt to respray the door. I've never actually done any spraying, let alone a car so I'm really not sure about this. I was hoping there might be some sort of product I could use that would make it easier?
3. I saw someone online talking about buying door skins, which I'm presuming are the metal that goes on the outside of a car. This seems like it would be perfect for what I need, can anyone point me in the right direction for this?

I get on pretty well with my neighbor, she's got a young kid so I don't want to slap them with a huge bill. I'm also not super bothered if the car doesn't look perfectly new, I just want it looking better than it currently does.

Any advice greatly appreciated - thanks!

Oh and it's a silver 2002 Yaris, if that makes a difference.

[RUToyota]

Wouldn't even begin to think about that as DIY job tbh...way too much damage.

You could go the door skin route of I guess...or second hand door.. and get it sprayed professionally.

Silver is a very hard colour to match well with existing panels.

[LewisM]

I'm really not that bothered if it doesn't match perfectly, I just want something that doesn't have the dents / scratches.

How hard would either a skin or a new door be to fit?

[alan333]

That'll not be easy to push out, fill, sand, level and paint.  Replacing a door skin isn't easy either since the skin wraps around the frame of the door and needs a professional fit/finish.  A replacement door would be easier but you'd need to make sure your new door has the correct electrics etc or you'll spend ages swapping it all over.  Obviously you'll need to swap the door lock.

[Sofia]

4 hours ago, LewisM said:

A fortnight ago my neighbor reversed off her drive into the side of my car. She's accepted full responsibility, but said she'd rather pay herself instead of going through her insurance and losing her no claims bonus.
I went to a few body shops who quoted anywhere from £800-1200, all of them saying I'd need a completely new door that would in turn have to be sprayed to match my car. I found one garage that said he could do it for £450-500 with a second hand door, but even that seems steep.
To be honest I think I could do it myself - I've never done anything like this before but it doesn't look that bad. Plus I have access to a commercial spray booth, so I might even be able to spray it myself.

Everything on the door still works, so as far as I can see my options are:

1. Buy an entire door 2nd hand for about £100-150 and fit that. I'd rather not do this as the chances of finding a whole door that fits and is a good colour match seems slim. Plus taking an entire door off seems like it would be pretty complicated?
2. Try to push the dent back out, fill and sand where it's needed and attempt to respray the door. I've never actually done any spraying, let alone a car so I'm really not sure about this. I was hoping there might be some sort of product I could use that would make it easier?
3. I saw someone online talking about buying door skins, which I'm presuming are the metal that goes on the outside of a car. This seems like it would be perfect for what I need, can anyone point me in the right direction for this?

I get on pretty well with my neighbor, she's got a young kid so I don't want to slap them with a huge bill. I'm also not super bothered if the car doesn't look perfectly new, I just want it looking better than it currently does.

Any advice greatly appreciated - thanks!

Oh and it's a silver 2002 Yaris, if that makes a difference.

That's so sad. Thank god I have reversing camera so as new driver I am doing my best not to hit anyone. Even then I don't rely on revrsing  camera as during driving test didn't rely. I turn my neck look back even my neck has been aching as I am not use to the driving.

That's a lot of damage.

Was she a new driver?

[LewisM]

1 hour ago, alan333 said:

A replacement door would be easier but you'd need to make sure your new door has the correct electrics etc or you'll spend ages swapping it all over.  Obviously you'll need to swap the door lock.

Yea most people are telling me to just get an entire new door - I'm going to try and find a tutorial on how to switch them over.

47 minutes ago, Sofia said:

Was she a new driver?

Nope, women in her mid 30's at a guess. Her reason was that nobody normally parks behind her, so she just reversed straight out...

[alan333]

Personally, I'd insist she either pay for it to get fixed or go through her insurance. I wouldn't be messing about trying to do it on the cheap - that's her problem. 

[Willss]

12 minutes ago, alan333 said:

Personally, I'd insist she either pay for it to get fixed or go through her insurance. I wouldn't be messing about trying to do it on the cheap - that's her problem. 

Agreed,  politely say that you'd like her insurance to repair it or, if she wants to keep her no claims discount in tact, ask her to pay for a 'new' door to be fitted (to the same quality as an insurance repair).  Be civil but it's not your fault so your car should look like it used to before the damage at minimal hassle to you.

[Madasafish]

Based on my experience a brand new door professionally fitted is £1500 plus. The car is worth c £1000.

 

Buy a good used door...lots of scrap yards who advertise on eBay or Parts Gateway https://www.partsgateway.co.uk/

[saxo265]

4 hours ago, alan333 said:

Personally, I'd insist she either pay for it to get fixed or go through her insurance. I wouldn't be messing about trying to do it on the cheap - that's her problem. 

Agree in principal but a word of warning, if it goes thru' her insurance (yours will also have to know about it) they could write it off and leave you with £300-500 payout and no car car! Not a nice situation to be in but a second hand door in the right colour might be your best bet if you don't go the insurance way, or go for it and a bit of bashing and rattle can you could improve the look (of course not to look like new!!!) good luck with it, hope you get it sorted to your satisfaction.

[FROSTYBALLS]

As regards her insurance, it may not be just the no claims discount she may lose - her premium may increase. All the NCD does is to protect the percentage discount one receives - it doesn't change whether the premium increases as a result of a claim, both at next and subsequent renewals.

So if you agree that she pays for the damage herself, she is avoiding loss of NCD and possibly an increase in premium.

I wouldn't be too concerned about saving her additional money.

Go with whichever bodyshop repair you wish, but check with her beforehand she is OK with the costs, and how she is going to pay. Ideally she pays the bodyshop directly.

Depending how much it is, she may decide to go the insurance route, which also carries the risk that, due to the age of the car, etc, it may be written off (ie a Category C write off - cost of repairs potentially exceeds the value of the car).

[Madasafish]

If she agrees nothing in writing, then beware...