How expensive is it to fix intentional key damage to paint on a tailgate?

Happened to my previous Tacoma. Took the tailgate off and dropped it off at a local shop. They fixed it for $350. Looked perfect.

I’m with a few others on the subject though. Get that thing fully covered (insurance wise) first. Insurance isn’t generally wise for a small claim like this … but that truck is worth nearly $35k right now. You get in an at fault wreck and you are hosed. Set the deductible at $1000 and you’ll save some money. That way if you are in a $16000 wreck (like a guy I read about on another forum) you are only out $1000.

Not telling you how to manage finances, just friendly advice. Hopefully that will be fixed easily and will look great! (I get it - I use my truck as a truck a lot… but I also take very good care of it). Good luck!

 

Yes, but if the deductible is too high and you can't afford it, you shoot yourself in the foot when something happens. Overall, I do agree with you though, and good info on the cost of repairs. Also agreed that it's a financial balance only the person making it can decide
They way I learned to kinda suck it up is if I didn't have a regular x amount in savings, I could never afford the deductible and thus insurance was worthless. I went from paying more per month to paying less later in life due to more savings. We live and we learn!

 

Yes. I'm pretty sure if the scratches are white, they are just in the clear coat.
I bumped into my passenger door with my lawnmower handle. F%$#!!! It left a white scratch. I could feel the scratch with my fingernail (just like you).
I buffed it out by hand, and then waxed over the area. Even I can't tell anything was there.

 

Try buffing it out first. About 10 bucks and 10 minutes.

 

I have used this stuff before and it works well. love it.

OP sorry that someone did this. People that do this, usually either don't have a car or have such a POS that scratching it wouldn't be noticeable. I agree with others though, I would still get better coverage since it is a newer truck

 

I agree. Picked up my new Tacoma in Montana. Stopped in Shelly, Idaho and while getting a bite to eat someone came in and said there was a guy outside keying the hood of a Tacoma. I went outside immediately and could find no one around my truck but the hood had a 3 ft long scratch from a key. I was able to buff it out using a buff wax. May take several coats of the wax but it worked for me. Worth a shot.

 

Just wanted to post an update on what I ended up doing. I ended up taking it to a Toyota Collision repair shop department of a local Toyota Dealership here in South Florida because I figured that they would have the original paint for the truck since their a Toyota dealership's body shop. The collision center repainted the tailgate and gave it back to me 24 hours later (which I thought was super fast), the job ended up costing me $640. When they gave me back the tailgate I saw some minor flaws (indents) on the paint, they told me that I shouldnt mess with the paint too much to let it settle in since it was freshly painted and that I could take it back after 20 days so that they could do a "wet sand" on the indents (which they said wouldnt costs me anything extra). I also noticed that they did a pretty good job when I look at the tailgate from above but if I crouch down and look at the tailgate from the bottom from up close I can still see the lines where the person keyed the tailgate (I dont know if "wet sanding" will fix that) but I will show the shop that the marks are still visible from the bottom next Tuesday when I take it back for the wet sand.

 

Oh, boy! Of course the body shop suggested repainting the whole tailgate (more profit for them.)

You should have tried buffing it out. I'd bet 90% or more would have disappeared. If you lived in AZ I could have buffed most of that out in about 10 minutes for free. Repainting has numerous potential problems as you're now figuring out.

It sounds like the "prep work" wasn't done correctly, like they needed to sand the scratches further and build it back up with primer to fill in the low spots of the scratches before spraying with color.

I've done my fair share of body work and have detailed cars for years too. They're b-s-ing you, because they don't want to repaint it. Only way to fix that is sand, prime, sand, paint, clear, wet sand, buff.

In any event, the body shop should guarantee their work. If you're unhappy refuse to take the vehicle until it's fixed. I hope it works out for you, sorry to hear the news.

 

The tailgate had a bunch of small rock chips on it too so I figured that the best thing to do would be to repaint the whole thing after they sanded down all the little rock chips and the intentional key damage. When they gave the tailgate back to me I didnt notice that some of the marks were still visible because their only visible if you crouch down and look at the tailgate from the bottom (you can still see the key mark damage from the bottom view). I already paid them too, but in the paperwork that they gave me it had a phone number and a message from I guess the manager at the dealership saying that if I was not satisfied with the work performed I can contact them. I guess I will show them the marks that are still visible next Tuesday when I have my day off and hope that they fix it without me having to do anything like escalating to a manager, the credit card company that I paid with, or small claims court over $640.

 

well you had better stay on the pavement