r1234567
Well-known member
The front of my Leaf was hit today while it was parked. I was going to bring it to my local repair place or do I need to bring it to a Nissan dealer? There is a scratch and a ding but it looks cosmetic.
Minor body damage
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r1234567 said:
Local repair place. Very few dealers have on-site body shops anymore (at least not out this way). Just make sure they bake (to cure fresh paint) at less than 120 degrees!
garsh
Well-known member
If you're planning to have your insurance pay to fix it, call them first. They often have body shops they want you to use.
r1234567
Well-known member
It's the place approved by my insurance, I was more concerned if there is anything special to consider about work being done due to it being an EV.
As long as the charging port area isn't damaged it should be normal bodywork.
kubel
Well-known member
r1234567 said:
Battery should be removed if they bake the paint due to the heat which can fry the pack. Other than that, there isn't much to consider.
Have you thought about a dent-pro type place? It depends on the size of the dent and they won't be able to get out the scratch. I had a rock fly up and hit my car on the freeway a few months back, put a nice silver dollar size dent in the rear fender. My deductible for a regular body shop was $250 and that would have required re-painting the quarterpanel. The dentpro shop got it out in 30 minutes for $80!
garsh
Well-known member
And for a localized problem like yours, they might just aim some heat guns at the repainted panels instead of baking the whole car.kubel said:
For your own piece of mind, just ask them how they plan to cure the paint, and if they mention baking, make sure they know (and have the ability) to remove the battery.
Battery doesn't need to be removed if the paint curing is done at under 120 degrees. My body shop said that they cycle heat and it never gets above 105 degrees.
Actually, if you're actively looking to kill your pack so, oh I don't know, you're certain to qualify for the capacity warranty, it might be a good idea to tell them to leave it in on "broil" for a few days!
Actually, if you're actively looking to kill your pack so, oh I don't know, you're certain to qualify for the capacity warranty, it might be a good idea to tell them to leave it in on "broil" for a few days!
Stanton
Well-known member
You didn't specify, but if it's the front BUMPER, they can paint BEFORE they put it on the car. I did this with my BACK bumper (was rear-ended awhile ago).
Stanton said:
When Fix Auto Body put my car back together they used the wrong bolt and the latch was stuck. They removed and reinstalled the front bumper in 15 min to put the proper bolt in.
Indeed, the bumper would be repaired off of the car.
garsh
Well-known member
When repainting a body panel, they'll often want to repaint a much larger area in order to blend in the new paint with the old, to hide any slight color differences. So it's quite likely that they'll also want to repaint a body panel next to the bumper, and in that case they may just leave it on the car.GlennD said:
r1234567
Well-known member
The damage was to the front bumper and the panel above the left front tire. They are going to remove the bumper and repair it. When that is complete, they are going to remove the panel above the tire and paint that and then install both pieces. It's a little more expensive this way but they said their paint requires 150 degrees and they don't want to mess up the battery. They can run the heat lower but they are afraid I might have paint issues down the road. They said removing the battery would be even more expensive than doing the panels.
