Certified Body Repair Prices Are Outrageous

[FrankieJ]

I backed into a trailer and put a small dent in the rear of my R1T as well as cracking the tail light. I took it to 2 of the 3 Rivian certified body shops in Houston. The dent is small at less than 4 inches wide and about about an inch and a half wide. I have yet to receive the estimates but both shops said they would need to remove the entire left side panel of the vehicle (it’s one piece) as well as the doors and much of the trim around the bed of the truck. One of the shops said I might need to replace the entire panel. They gave me the impression I would be receiving estimates that would be no less than $4K and substantially more if the panel has to be replaced. I have had similar dents taken care in other vehicles by tapping out as much as they can and then using Bondo to finish it off. After talking to several shops, they all said that I should not be concerned about the use of Bondo and indicated that the Certified repair shops operate at a unrealistic standard and are likely not allowed to use Bondo. I have attached a picture of the dent. The shadows makes the dent look larger than it actually is. I would be interested in any observations but it feels like the Certified repair shops are a bit of a rip-off.

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[FrankieJ]

I backed into a trailer and put a small dent in the rear of my R1T as well as cracking the tail light. I took it to 2 of the 3 Rivian certified body shops in Houston. The dent is small at less than 4 inches wide and about about an inch and a half wide. I have yet to receive the estimates but both shops said they would need to remove the entire left side panel of the vehicle (it’s one piece) as well as the doors and much of the trim around the bed of the truck. One of the shops said I might need to replace the entire panel. They gave me the impression I would be receiving estimates that would be no less than $4K and substantially more if the panel has to be replaced. I have had similar dents taken care in other vehicles by tapping out as much as they can and then using Bondo to finish it off. After talking to several shops, they all said that I should not be concerned about the use of Bondo and indicated that the Certified repair shops operate at a unrealistic standard and are likely not allowed to use Bondo. I have attached a picture of the dent. The shadows makes the dent look larger than it actually is. I would be interested in any observations but it feels like the Certified repair shops are a bit of a rip-off.

I just received the first estimate. This does not involve replacing the panel.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

It’s not fair to call it a ripoff. Certified body shops repair vehicles to factory new condition. They use all OEM parts and the repair is indistinguishable from factory new. It’s a different standard than the slap and tickle bondo boys making it look good from 20’ away until you hit a bump and the bondo falls off.

Just like anything else you get what you pay for.

 

[bael]

Weren't there some members who had luck with PDR? May be worth a look as well

 

[FrankieJ]

It’s not fair to call it a ripoff. Certified body shops repair vehicles to factory new condition. They use all OEM parts and the repair is indistinguishable from factory new. It’s a different standard than the slap and tickle bondo boys making it look good from 20’ away until you hit a bump and the bondo falls off.

Just like anything else you get what you pay for.

I don’t mean to be argumentative since I did ask for comments but I have had plenty of cars that have had minor bondo work and if done correctly they look good from up close and far away and I have never had bondo fall off. Still feels like big time overkill to me.

 

[FrankieJ]

Weren't there some members who had luck with PDR? May be worth a look as well

Thanks for the comment. I am going to stop by to have a PDR shop look at it but I suspect it will be a challenge with the crease that is in it.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I don’t mean to be argumentative since I did ask for comments but I have had plenty of cars that have had minor bondo work and if done correctly they look good from up close and far away and I have never had bondo fall off. Still feels like big time overkill to me.

Sure I don't doubt that at all. I've done some decent stuff personally using Bondo to smooth over minor sins that lasted pretty well. The problem with below industry standard work though is that once you throw away "factory new" as the standard the degree of quality you get is going to be at a sliding scale. You might take it to the guy who hammers it out 95%, Bondos it for the rest and it looks great and is a solid repair or you might get the guy with the fiber fix Bondo who doesn't do shit to hammer that dent out and just uses half the can on it as it sits.

It's not so much overkill making it factory new as it is a repeatable standard. It may seem like it is overkill to you in this situation but consider going through your insurance and the place you take it to has Cletus with the fiber fix and the watercolor paint. How pissed off would you be if that's what your insurance company paid for? That's why the standard is factory new condition for insurance work and that's what the certified in certified repair shop means. It means that Rivian has trained these people or they have the skills required to restore the truck to factory new.

As other people mentioned if it were me personally I'd probably just find a good PDR guy that's going to take that minor dent and fix it 95-98% of the way. Good enough that you'd need to look for it to see a slight wave, pay the 1K or less for that and go about my day. My truck is a truck and I use it to haul and tow stuff as such it's going to get a dent here or there.

 

[Ngkgb]

I had almost the exact same sent with the taillight and everything. Body shops were quoting 5k. PDR guy did it for a few hundred. Is it perfect? No. But unless I point it out, nobody will know.

 

[FrankieJ]

I had almost the exact same sent with the taillight and everything. Body shops were quoting 5k. PDR guy did it for a few hundred. Is it perfect? No. But unless I point it out, nobody will know.

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[FrankieJ]

Thanks. Looks pretty good. I could live live with that.

 

[Count Orlok]

That is a lot of labor both in hours and the rate. The certified shop I used for a collision repair only charged $66 per hour. Is either of the shops one of your insurer's perferred? Perhaps the rate for my repair was the rate negotiated with my insurance company.

 

[FrankieJ]

That is a lot of labor both in hours and the rate. The certified shop I used for a collision repair only charged $66 per hour. Is either of the shops one of your insurer's perferred? Perhaps the rate for my repair was the rate negotiated with my insurance company.

Yes. It’s one of the 3 shops in Houston certified by Rivian. The other shop that will be giving me an estimate wants to replace the entire body panel front to back. I appreciate the comments I have received about getting what you pay for but this is serious overkill. I knew when I purchased the Rivian R1T it would be expensive to repair but I didn’t realize I needed to set aside my cost savings ( I got the preorder price) to take care of a few minor dings and scrapes.

 

[FrankieJ]

Yes. It’s one of the 3 shops in Houston certified by Rivian. The other shop that will be giving me an estimate wants to replace the entire body panel front to back. I appreciate the comments I have received about getting what you pay for but this is serious overkill. I knew when I purchased the Rivian R1T it would be expensive to repair but I didn’t realize I needed to set aside my cost savings ( I got the preorder price) to take care of a few minor dings and scrapes.

I haven’t even talked to my insurance agent since I intend to come out of pocket for a more conventional repair.

 

[DuoRivians]

That seems reasonable to me…

 

[txtravwill]

Crazy. Although I took delivery with a tiny door dent and Rivian wants to replace the entire door as a fix. These things are delicate.

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