What's Crazier Than Smashing An Aluminum Ford F-150 With A Sledgehammer? The Repair B

Found this on Yahoo today.

Editors at the consumer advice website bought a $52,000 F-150 4X4 Super Crew for their long-term test fleet, then promptly took a sledgehammer to the rear quarter panel — twice — intentionally denting it so they could investigate the repair costs. (My first thought was, “Brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that?!”)

Here’s what Edmunds found: It wasn’t just the two fist-sized dents behind the rear wheel that needed repairing. The energy from the blows also left at least four creases in the aluminum panel. And, it turns out, that energy was enough to crack the rear tail light as well, which drove up the repair costs (way more, in fact, than you might imagine).

When all was said and done, the bill to fix the bludgeoned pickup was $2,938.44, which included more than 20 hours of labor to straighten the panel, apply a specialized aluminum paint filler, then prime, paint, color sand and buff the panel. That was a discount, actually, because the Ford service technician took pity on the brand new truck owner (never identified as Edmunds to protect the integrity of the experiment) and charged him the regular $60-per-hour labor rate, instead of the $120-per-hour aluminum labor rate. If the dealer had charged the full $120 rate, Edmunds figures the bill would have come to $4,138.44 — $1,800, or nearly 77 percent, more than the cost of repairing a steel panel for a typical 10 hours at $60 per hour.



http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmu...ledgehammer-the-repair-bill/?partner=yahootix

 

DeLorean style

 

I think that was stainless steel....not aluminum.

 

But still not painted.

 

Makes me think about how cheap it must be to fix a Tacoma now w/ so many already on the market and the aftermarket support. Plus it's simplistic design and features.