Car body repair costs can range from relatively modest sums for small cosmetic work to several thousand pounds for more extensive panel, structural or accident damage.
The biggest factor is usually not the size of the visible mark, but the amount of labour required to put the metal, structure and paintwork right underneath.
At White's Bodyworks, current published labour rates are:
Paint, materials and replacement parts are additional where required. Larger or less predictable jobs are normally given a top-end and bottom-end estimate because corrosion, previous repairs or hidden damage can change the amount of work once the vehicle is stripped or inspected properly.
For example, four hours of body or fabrication work would represent around £260 in labour before paint, materials or parts are added. A full day of fabrication work is currently £650.
You can see our current fee schedule and terms of service here.
The main factors are:
Two dents that look almost identical from a distance may therefore produce very different quotations.
A small dent can be one of the less involved body repairs if the paint remains intact and the metal has not stretched significantly.
In suitable cases, paintless dent removal can reshape the panel without filling or repainting it. This can reduce both labour and material costs compared with conventional body repair.
If the dent is sharply creased, the paint has cracked or the metal has stretched, the panel may instead need reshaping, preparation and refinishing.
As a simple illustration, two hours of bodywork at the current £65 hourly rate represents around £130 in labour before any paint or materials. More complex dents can take considerably longer.
The cost depends largely on how deeply the scratch has penetrated the paint.
Very light clear-coat marks may sometimes be improved through polishing. Deeper scratches can require preparation and paintwork, while damage through to bare steel should also be protected against corrosion.
For smaller cosmetic damage, see our dent and scratch repair service.
The labour involved may be relatively limited, but paint and material costs become more important once refinishing is required.
Panel repair cost depends heavily on whether the original panel can be saved.
A repairable wing, door or quarter panel may be reshaped and refinished. More severely damaged panels may need replacing.
Replacement is not automatically cheaper because a new panel still needs fitting, aligning, preparing and painting.
A straightforward repair involving four hours of fabrication or bodywork would represent around £260 in labour at the current hourly rate. A larger panel-repair job requiring a full fabrication day would be around £650 in labour, before paint, materials or replacement parts.
Rust is one of the hardest bodywork problems to price accurately from photographs.
A small bubble in the paint may be genuinely localised, or it may be the visible edge of a much larger corroded area behind the panel.
Where the metal has deteriorated, the affected section may need to be cut back to sound material and rebuilt using a replacement or fabricated section.
That means labour can range from a relatively short repair to several days of fabrication on more extensive corrosion.
At White's current rates, one fabrication day is £650 and two days would represent £1,300 in labour before paint, materials and any replacement panels.
Where welding is the main requirement, see our automotive welding service.
Collision damage varies enormously because the visible bodywork may not reflect the full extent of the impact.
A damaged bumper, wing or door may be relatively straightforward. More significant impacts can affect:
Accident repairs can also combine several different types of labour: bodywork, fabrication, mechanical work and paint.
For example, current mechanical labour is £79 per hour or £720 per day, while fabrication/bodywork is £65 per hour or £650 per day. The final repair price depends on how much of each type of work is needed, plus parts, paint and materials.
For collision-specific work, see our car accident repair service.
Paintwork can form a significant part of the final bill because the visible spraying stage comes after substantial preparation.
The process may involve:
White's published labour day rates exclude paint and materials, so these are additional to the labour required for the repair itself.
For broader refinishing, our car respray service explains the professional paintwork process, while our separate car respray cost guide provides more specific indicative respray pricing.
It often can be because the original paint is retained and the repair avoids filling, priming and refinishing.
However, PDR is only suitable where the damage allows it.
A shallow dent with intact paint may require relatively little labour. A sharp crease with broken paint can require several stages of body repair and refinishing, making the total cost much higher.
That depends on both labour and parts cost.
Repair may be preferable where:
Replacement may make more sense where:
The right comparison is therefore the total repair cost rather than simply the price of the replacement panel.
Different quotations may include very different amounts of preparation and labour.
One repairer may quote only for the obvious visible damage. Another may allow time for removing trim, correcting previous repairs, dealing with corrosion and blending the paint properly.
White's uses top-end and bottom-end estimates for this reason. On older vehicles or jobs where damage is partly concealed, the exact amount of work cannot always be known before the repair begins.
The final invoice is based on the actual time taken at the applicable labour rate.
Yes. Many body repairs are paid for privately, particularly where the damage is relatively minor.
Whether that makes financial sense depends on the repair cost, insurance excess, vehicle value and the circumstances of the damage.
For more substantial collision damage, insurer involvement may still be appropriate.
That depends on the vehicle and the extent of the work.
On a low-value car with widespread cosmetic deterioration, spending heavily on perfect bodywork may not make financial sense.
On a well-maintained older vehicle, specialist car or one you intend to keep, repairing a damaged area can be entirely worthwhile.
Classic and unusual vehicles are particularly difficult to judge purely against market value because condition, rarity, sentimental value and replacement difficulty can all affect the decision.
Photographs are useful for an initial assessment and can often show the general type and scale of damage.
However, they cannot always reveal:
For this reason, White's may provide a range rather than a fixed figure until the vehicle has been inspected or the damaged area exposed.
White's Bodyworks provides car body repairs in Sussex, including dent repair, damaged panels, corrosion, welding, accident damage and refinishing.
Current bodywork and fabrication labour is £65 per hour, with a £650 fabrication day rate. Mechanical work is £79 per hour or £720 per day. Paint, materials and replacement parts are additional where required.
If you would like an initial indication of the likely repair cost, send us photographs of the damage together with the make, model and age of the vehicle.
