Hail damage-worth the wait for Toyota body shop?

So my 19 w/ 5k got smashed pretty good by hail last Friday. Gonna need new hood, roof panel, and PDI. That being said, the local Toyota body shop has me booked for 3/4/2020. Is it worth the wait to get in to the Toyota dealer or should I check some of the reputable independent body shops around town?

 

They have an eight month long waiting list????.I could not wait that long.
.

 

Yeah, try somewhere else.

Look up Paintless Dent Repair/Dent Wizard. Those guys are literally worth every pennyy. Complete magicians. Way better than some hackjob body filler and paint guy

 

It's CO, with the amount of hail we have everyone is bound to be booked out pretty far.

 

I would go to an independent shop with a good reputation before the dealer even if there was no wait. Sounds like a good time to get them to put on a scooped hood if you've always wanted one also.

 

I have had some of the best color matched paint (and body work) done by local, word-of-mouth shops. Check around. Make sure they color blend if they are not painting the whole truck.

 

There are plenty of independent shops that do quality repairs.
Regardless of the perceived quality to the untrained eye, the bottom line is that Toyota does not train or certify Independent non-dealer collision repair centers.
So the question you should be asking yourself is...if I need to have the cab gutted and the roof replaced because of the damage, do I want someone who has been trained and certified by the manufacturer on how to do it, and has done it before doing the job?
Or do I want someone who possibly fixes an bunch of random cars and may never have done something like this before doing the job?

 

Growing up in Collision do your self a favor and dont go to the Toyota shop they always have constant turn over

 

Toyota doesnt train body technicians not sure where you got this info. You can take Toyota specific classes another big one is "I-CAR" the techs at our company are certified to work on pretty much anything and receive up to date training on all our certifications as soon as something is released

 

Is insurance paying for a rental? What do they have you driving?

 

F the dealer (Pedersen?). Check out NoCo Dent Repair in Windsor. They took care of me when I had hail damage last year and did a great job. Also, I'd insist that they PDR the roof panel. On my claim, State Farm would only pay for a new roof panel due to the sheer number of dents, but I wasn't gonna go for that. No way were they going to hack my roof off and weld/Bondo a new new one. I went to NoCo Dent Repair and they PDR'd the roof with no issues. When all was said and done, my claim ended up being 100% PDR with no new sheet metal and no new paint and I actually made money on the deal (didn't have to pay my $500 deductible and came out another $300 under the State Farm settlement, so $800 under estimate). Seriously, don't go to the dealer, they're going to job most of it out to a PDR shop anyway.

 

I would hit up Front Range Dent Removal. Talk to Ingrid. Right after I moved to Denver, 2 years ago, my 4Runner was destroyed in a hail storm. 1,100+ dents. Ingrid’s guys had the 4R for a few weeks but did the entire job with PDR. Looked perfect when it was done (no crooked panels, etc).

I have an employee with a vehicle there right now from the storm a few weeks back.

 

Sir you are grossly misinformed.
In fact Toyota does not even recognize I-car training.
Toyota trains and certifies collision repair.
I hold a Toyota certification, and for good measure, here is a picture of one of Toyota’s collision training facilities.
And yes that is a body in white of the new Supra.

 

Thanks for all the advice. I think I'll hit up some local shops for sure. As far as the roof goes, there are dents on the creases that go along the roof. I really really don't like the idea of chopping the roof off so is that something that actually could be done w/pdr?

 

I opted to leave the roof and used the money towards a gobi rack.

 

I don't think that dealer wants the job .

 

I guess it depends on the extent of the damage. Talk directly to a couple PDR shops and then you'll know.

 

THIS! you will be hard pressed to find less than 6 MO wait

 

Oh and as far as what rental I'm getting, I dunno yet last year (yeah my old truck got hit and I made it 366 fucking days) Enterprise gave me a Sentra so assuming it will probably be the same or similar so if that happens I'd rather just drive myself off a cliff.

 

Why would you think a Toyota branded body shop would be any better? Body work is body work and it is an art that is not vehicle specific. You don't get better at painting by painting the same brand over and over. Ask around who does good work in your area and go with them.