Dented Tailgate

Thanks for all the replies. Super helpful to hear different perspectives and experiences. Wish I knew what a pain in the ass a tailgate dent is. When it happened I thought, oh well, that's gonna cost a couple hundreds bucks to have someone pull it out. Anyway.

As far as bodyshops go... Any reason I should assume the dealership will do a better job than an independent guy? Or just they they will charge more for the work, as they do with pretty much everything else? Both shops quote me for the same work, more or less.

 

I've worked at several dealers that merely farmed their body work out to a local bodyshop.

 

Having been in the industry for nearly 30 years, I can telll you that most dealerships don't have body shops for a reason, and those that do have them treat them as a necessary evil. The $ is in parts and service, not collision repair. The vast majority of dealership shops fall somewhere between B+ work and D+ work.

 

To be honest I would grab whole tailgate from junkyard, paint it and that's it. Who knows maybe you won't even need to paint it, if you find same color.

 

That's what I like about car-part, you can search junkyards and often they list a color.

 

This. The more we own, the more we are owned. Resist the urge to make it look it never happened; save your money. People get creative with body damage in ways that are it funny. That's small potatoes.

 

this^^

 

I had a similar dent on my tailgate fixed by a mobile dent repair guy. Cost $425 and you can’t tell there was a problem. Pushed the dent out from the inside. Called himself the dent doctor.

 

Sorry to hear about the damage to all you guys but most 3rd Gen Tacomas have back up cameras so you don't back into things. With tail gate down I can see the camera being useless but still it would tell you the camera is off, tail gate etc etc so look in the mirrors. Shit happens.

 

That dent is now a weak spot.
Even if it is repaired to look new, it will still be the weak spot.

Now, does a weak spot really matter? Maybe, maybe not

if you are going to continue to use your truck as a truck, you might want to give it some protection.

 

Good point and with the reputation our tailgates have I'd say it definitely matters.

 

you could always replace the inside composite layer with the metal one that a guy on here makes (i think, in the vendor section).
the composite bed is really fkin strong, toyota should have made the tailgate layer just as thick.
Personally, i wouldn't try and make the dent look pretty again, but that is because i am paranoid. IE- fix it and then immediately dent it again

 

My 2009 tailgate weighs half what my 2023 does. The 2009 has been used & abused & there's not a single ding in it. The 2023 has 2 small dents in it from a shopping cart that barely hit it.

 

Theft proof if you don’t repair it