When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Without knowing the full extent of the damage, I'm going to hazard a guess at $13-15K. Definitely not a DIY and assuming you have insurance, let them take care of it. Unless you have the proper equipment (and skill), painting requires proper blending, a heat booth and a dealer would have to do the sensor alignment.
If there is any aluminum damage, it will require special treatment (my dealer's collision center does aluminum and Audi requires a dedicated "clean" room, specific tools and training). Any of these things like the painting in a certified Audi collision center could trigger a Carfax report in any case.
It will be a no fault comp claim so your insurance premiums should not be affected. As to "diminished value", it depends on your state. Some, i.e. here in MA, do not provide for it.
One cold morning (4 degrees) in Salt Lake City I hit a deer in my 911, or rather the deer hit me. $10,000 and the car was never the same. Good luck.
I've never repaired a major collision (over 2K) and had it be the same. tow jeeps, an infiniti and a pacifica all had damage that when i got back never drove quite right.
I was also going to have the bumper swapped for the S8 but between the nervous dealer and the insurance company I ended up just having it replaced like for like
Looks like it's going to be $16k-$18k. Radiator support is broken everywhere the headlight mounts.
As far as DIY goes I plan to have a body shop do all the paint work. Everything else is easy bolt on and I have the skill and tools to do it. I like working on my cars and this will give me the chance to get to know the D4. It actually looks a lot simpler than the D3 and I had my D3 apart a few times. Haven't decided on whether or not I want to do the S8 front end. I've thought about going to the face lift front end and getting matrix headlights from Germany but I think that's going to be too much work.
Final verdict was $15k. I'm headed to CA for 10 days starting tomorrow but the parts are ordered and hopefully they will be here waiting when I get back. I have to replace the radiator support and I think that will be the hardest part. Once I get her all back together she's off to the body shop for paint. I decided against converting to the S8 front end.
Well I have it most of the way taken apart. Just the core support left to remove but I need an extra pair of hands so that will have to wait until this weekend. Pretty much identical to the D3 as far as disassembly goes. Hood, bumper, and fender are at the body shop being painted.
On a side note I took a lot of pictures if anyone needs to know what it looks like under the skin. I'll take more of the front of the engine once I remove the core support.
Another side note the plenum drains appear to be much larger than the D3 and probably less prone to clogging.
03-29-2017, 06:11 AM
