opinion on cosmetic damage
 

Hi,
I wanted to ask the forum your thoughts on a situation with my 2002S.

While jacking the car to change the AOS, the floor jack slipped off of the jack point and crushed the body pretty good. Thank God for jack stands or it would have fallen on my chest.

Anyway, the damage is cosmetic only and could be repaired for 1100$ or it could be covered with side skirts. My questions are....How would it look with side skirts without doing anything to the front bumper? Can I get a good set of skirts placed and painted for 1100 or less?

The dent bothers me and everytime I see it, I am reminded of my stupidity.

Fix the car properly and then if you sell it later you will not have any "dirty secrets" to hide. If I was buying a car and found that side skirts covered damaged body panels, I would feel cheated. Plus deep inside you will know the car is still imperfect and it will continue to bother you if you don't do it right.

+1 for using jackstands. Glad you're around to worry about how to fix it. :cheers:

Was the paint broken along with the dent ?

I changed mine without having to jack the car high and place it on stands. Most the work can be done top side. I just jacked it high enough to get the wheel off and then did the final disconnect of the bolts and bellows from below. Glad you had no major damage and that you didn't get mushed either. :cheers:

no paint damage, it looks like a fist size dent coming up from the bottom. its pretty messed up. I guess I will send it to the body shop next week.

If the paint has not been damaged (i.e. broken or cracked in anyway), you'd be amazed at what a skilled dent removal tech can do in these situations . I've seen some pretty nasty dents and creases over the years fixed to perfection . I strongly suggest that you look into it .