YACT: Share your auto body shop/collision repair experiences. Please!!!

[SoyBoy004]

Originally posted by: Psyber
It really sucks... I rear-ended this truck (yes I'm an idiot) and since it was such a high hit, it messed up my grill and hood on my 97 civic ex. I'm paying out of pocket (instead of insurance) and I've gotten quotes ranging from $850-$1500. Some questions since there are some car experts here:

-Does it matter if I get an after-market part? Will that affect resale value?

-How do i know if an auto body shop is good other than references from other people? btw, if anyone lives inthe Philadelphia or Montgomery, PA area give me some references.

-I worried about matching colors, the $850 guy thinks that I don't need to blend the fenders, the other 2 think I do need to blend. Any experience on this?

-Should I just repaint my whole car. I was planning on getting a new car at the end of the year, but there really isn't anything wrong with this one. I'll probably be happy with just having it painted another color. Is there any issues with painting the entire car? Is the quality worse? same?

Thanks in advance,
Psyber

I'll agree with the post above about getting parts off a similar civic. Hondas and toyotas are so common that finding these parts should not be a problem. with a vehicle of your year, you have to blend the fenders or else it won't look right as paint does fade. I would go with reconditioned parts (parts pulled off other cars and restored or refinished) over aftermarket parts. HOWEVER, if you do go aftermarket parts (which are quite inexpensive for Hondas), try to get KAPA parts as they have a guarantee to fit perfectly, or they will buy an OEM one for you.