Minor Body Work Question

OK, so my newly purchased 2001 came fully equipped with a few road scars.

http://www.nofuture.com/myvx/scratches1.jpg

http://www.nofuture.com/myvx/scratches2.jpg

http://www.nofuture.com/myvx/scratches3.jpg

The first 2 images show the area on the tail gate where there are roughly 3 nasty scratches/dings as well as a nice gouge out of the small cladding piece. The cladding gouge does not really bother me, however the other 3 spots do. This damage was done by a hurled brick, I know this because the previous owner told me. No, I have no idea what he did to prompt someone to chuck a brick at him, but it must have been not so nice. :)

The third ding is on the hood and almost not at all noticable. But, I notice it.

So, my questions:

1) How difficult/expensive are dings like this for a good body shop to fix?
2) What is the method for repairing spots like this (small dents, deep scratches)? Do they fill these areas and then sand and repaint?
3) What should I look for in a body shop to make sure they are going to do this right?

Any help from anyone appreciated.

Thanks! Bart

PS - The rain spots will get washed off tomorrow morning.

tsk, tsk, tsk...

how do you sleep at night knowing your VX is so dirty? as a vx noob, you should be ashamed. :p

Wash her up, take new pics, and THEN I'll help answer your question. (LOL...).

-biju.

(totally kidding... sort of :eek: .)

COME ON NOW! Yes, I know. I AM ashamed. She is getting washed tomorrow morning. The only reason I havent washed her is because the weather here has been totally sporatic (ask any other Chicago VXer). SUN rain SUN rain SUN rain SUN rain. Its been like this for the last 3 weeks, basically since I bought the VX! It has been sunny all day today, and when I was coming back from lunch (right before the pics were taken) it drizzled on me for about 2 minutes....and the sun was STILL OUT! So go figure. Also, a bird shat upon my VX too, so not to worry. A washing she will get bright and early tomorrow (I think, better check weather.com).

:) Bart

Quote:

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Originally Posted by biju

tsk, tsk, tsk...

how do you sleep at night knowing your VX is so dirty? as a vx noob, you should be ashamed. :p

Wash her up, take new pics, and THEN I'll help answer your question. (LOL...).

-biju.

(totally kidding... sort of :eek: .)

---

...this will be my VXs "home away from home" :)

http://www.simonsshineshop.com/

Your minor damage can be fixed by your local dent repair technician. They basically massage the metal with special pre-bent rods from the inside or backside of the sheetmetal. A seasoned tech can make it like new and all you have to do is get the paint chips re-painted with a painter with a air-brush. The repairs shouldn't cost an arm and a leg and can be negotiable if you're doing more than one repair during the same time.

Body shops WILL be more expensive and may take a couple of days in the shop. The dent techs will fix the dents that same day but you need to get another person to airbrush the chips which may take another day to do. Good luck.