Mark Shaefer

Well, get ready for this one. The details are still a little unclear as far as who has communicated what to whom, but....

We took the car to one shop to start the repairs based on the conclusion that the estimate seemed fair. Still felt like a lot of money, but you gotta take your licks and move on sometimes. The shop took the bumper off and discovered what we're told is additional damage to the underlying aluminum that can only be repaired at a certified Audi shop that has a special machine for welding and repairing aluminum. If we don't use one of the certified shops, the car cannot in the future be traded in or certified as CPO. Since our local shop was not certified, they buttoned up the back end again and gave us the car back - no charge. I was impressed that they didn't charge us and they even brought the car back to our house for us. Very generous in my opinion.

We then coordinated with the certified shop - the one that has the special machine for repairing the aluminum - and they tell us (based on pictures alone...see picture above) that it cannot be repaired, that the quarter panel and bumper must be replaced, and that it is going to cost....$10,000 - $15,000!!! There have been some communication issues that we're trying to remedy, but there's no WAY that number is right, is there!?

Please, someone tell me that there has been some kind of very major mix up and that this is not even remotely possible. The picture is at the top of this post. (Heck, there's even video of the unfortunate event above too.) I'm absolutely not trying to nickle and dime the repair shop, but I absolutely cannot fathom that replacing both bumper covers and a quarter panel could possibly cost as much as almost a quarter of what we paid for the car. Also, I don't know now who's telling the truth about the aluminum repair. I mean, the only reason we went to the Certified shop was to have the aluminum repaired so we wouldn't have to have it replaced. Now that same shop is telling us that it can't be repaired and it HAS to be replaced. I'm to the point where I don't know who to believe and so I was hoping someone here could lend some insight. Obviously there's only so much I know about the damage and the pictures only say so much but stilll...$10K-$15k cash is preposterous! Any ideas?

crumbird

Man I'm jealous of that labor rate! Doesn't seem too bananas to me. Oh wait, just saw your update. $10-15k....ouch!

nokfromapp

Unfortunately it is possible that it costs as much as they are saying
I had two small paint chips on my door (2 mm) and it set me back by $500. Body shops are expensive, specially the certified ones

BigKutta

I believe it. The insurance premium on my Audi is more than the premiums on my BMW and MB COMBINED. That was sticker shock for me more, and the insurance company told me that they assess each model individually and set premiums based on anticipated repair costs, The Q is apparently very costly to fix

JT4

WOW that is crazy, but the problem is repairing the aluminum panels..

As you found out, not everyone is certified or even qualified for that matter to work on / weld aluminum. I knew going in the Q7 was going to cost more insurance wise due to this, but I was shocked when I originally received the quote to put it on my policy.. After reading your updated post now more than ever I understand why..

The other issue is since there are limited shops that can do this work, there is limited competition which equals higher costs..

Gsrjc

When my 2015 Q5 was in an accident, insurance had to replace the front driver door because the bottom of it was messed up when a driver turned into my while changing lanes. The bodyshop (certified with Audi) couldn't fix the issue because of the aluminum panels so they had to order a brand new door and then paint and all that stuff. Just that alone for the front driver door was $5,000. So hope that gives a little idea for you.