Panel damage to ute tub

[benmgsr]

Good Evening,

I recently bought a 2013 RX D40.
Last night it rolled out of our carport, over the road and into a neighbour's tree.
As you can see from the attached photos, it crushed the rear right tail light and punched in the rear quarter.
I have been thinking about the options to fix it...
-Insurance job ($600 excess)
-Body shop fix ($??)
-By a new tail light and ute tub and replace myself (approx $600????)

What are your thoughts?

 

[Old.Tony]

Welcome to the forum.

Send a PM to Nizzbits about the tail light (and perhaps the tub too). Failing that, consider Niss4x4.com.au, they might be able to source you a tub.

 

[nathand22]

I bought a complete tub last week as i smashed mine at the son of trials 4x4 event,
anyway the complete brand new tub with chrome bar, sports bar, all the lights tail gate ect was $300.
I missed one last night on ebay with out the tail gate and lights rear bar ect, it was in QLD and sold for $65 it also was brand new.
there is another new white one on ebay right now and is in VIC and is at $150 with the lot.

Its far cheaper to buy a new one then go to a panel shop or go through insurance.

 

[nathand22]

I bought a complete tub last week as i smashed mine at the son of trials 4x4 event,
anyway the complete brand new tub with chrome bar, sports bar, all the lights tail gate ect was $300.
I missed one last night on ebay with out the tail gate and lights rear bar ect, it was in QLD and sold for $65 it also was brand new.
there is another new white one on ebay right now and is in VIC and is at $150 with the lot.

Its far cheaper to buy a new one then go to a panel shop or go through insurance.

here is that one on ebay, click the link.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/231091937706?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

[nathand22]

or a brand new set of tail lights for $99

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Genuine-...=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f2bcd4309

 

[benmgsr]

Thanks for the quick reply guys. I am looking into it as we speak.

 

[nathand22]

the only thing is the ST and the RX are a slightly different white,(one is polar white and one is arctic white) BUT a mate of mine even bought a tub from a car yard that had installed a ally tray for the customer, so they sold it to him for $200 apparently. That may be another option for you to try.

 

[benmgsr]

Oh well that's no good. I'll keep looking

 

[doc]

That would be a right prick of a job to repair. Getting that pulled back in to shape would be time consuming.

Is it enough to justify an insurance fix? If it were my ute, yes. Protected no-claim, old bugger, small excess. Personal circumstances will help you decide.

Can you live without the ute for the week that the insurance company will want it for?

Even if you find the right tub, are you happy to do the myriad of little jobs required to transfer over? Also, you have to transfer the new tub (without damaging it) to your place or wherever you are going to do the repair. Then you have to transport your old tub to the scrap yard or wherever.

If your ute is a Spanish built model, the tail lights are approx $600 or $700 each from memory (new, retail). They are available off the net of course.

few things to think about - hope it helps.

 

[happy john]

As Nathan said complete tubs are so cheap a mate got one for $150 unused it will be a job to remove and refit the canopy but if you have the know how and are competent do it ,and you are not alone in letting your car roll down the drive i went to answer the phone and forgot about the handbrake and it slowly rolled onto the road as i went into the house no damage thankfully.

 

[nathand22]

It took me about 2-3hrs to remove my old tray and refit the new one start to finish including the wiring, sports bar, ladder rack brackets (drill 8 holes remove and replace tail lights) tonneau cover rails x 6 (stuck on with double sided tap and rivets x 25).
I had two people helping lift the old one off and put the new one on, The tray itself is only held on by four bolts.

 

[benmgsr]

I should be able to handle the task ok, just have to find a tub in the right colour for the right price. Insurance might be the go just to get it done.

 

[navman75]

If you pop into a panel shop get a cash price to repair the dint. Should well and truly be cheaper than your excess. It is not a hard repair, I do one in that spot every two weeks or so!!