Question Damaged basement door estimate

[Rich-MLsRV]

My front left basement door got damaged. Functionally the door is fine. It's cosmetic damage. Repair estimate from local Newmar dealers is $6800. Much higher than I expected. Should I expect it to be this much?

I can claim on insurance but wondering whether there are alternatives for getting this repaired?

Thanks,

 

[lostinfla]

When I got side swiped on I75 a few years ago, it took out 4 bin doors and carved a long deep groove in the side above the bins. 24k was the bill, repaired by North Trail. So, 4 new doors and paint most of the curb side for that, I'd say they're way overpriced.

 

[Neal]

I got my left aft rear door fixed after a power pedestal lunged out of the concrete and tried to attack me! It was closer to $3K. I think your estimate is very high, not sure why. Did you back up and take a picture to show which exact door is being repaired? I paid out of pocket, I should have used insurance. I was trying to protect my rates but even with no claims that company I'm no longer with (Nat General) did a 33% raise in rates so I left.

 

[Neemer]

Holy cow, that sounds incredibly steep to me. I would probably remove the door and take it to just about any body shop and have them work their magic. I’m sure you could get a much better price doing that.

 

[Rich-MLsRV]

I got my left aft rear door fixed after a power pedestal lunged out of the concrete and tried to attack me! It was closer to $3K. I think your estimate is very high, not sure why. Did you back up and take a picture to show which exact door is being repaired? I paid out of pocket, I should have used insurance. I was trying to protect my rates but even with no claims that company I'm no longer with (Nat General) did a 33% raise in rates so I left.

Front left driver's side door where the fuses are located.

Same happened to me tree stumped attacked while backing into a site.

Did you use a local body shop to get the door repaired?

I am wondering if I could call Newmar to get a replacement door and then have a local body shop paint/repair?

If I use insurance maybe I don't care so much on the repair cost. I may have to shop around next year if my rates jump. Currently we have Nat General (like you). Rates did not jump much last year.

 

[Neal]

Newmar did mine. It sounds like they may be estimating for a larger door, still crazy, but I'd go back and tell them which door and also mention it's a small basement door. You may want to inquire with a dealer that also does body work such as NIRVC.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

I don’t have a Newmar but a Renegade. We are scheduled to have a couple panels replaced in a couple months, and each large panel is much cheaper than what you are quoted (with 5 color custom paint work needed). I would see what a local body/paint shop could do for you.

 

[Rich-MLsRV]

Here's the breakdown. Looks to me like the door cost is ~$500 and labor to repair / install is ~$4600. Looks like to local Newmar dealer is charging $1500 to manage the repair. This is their quote. I need to determine whether there are cheaper methods to repair.

 

[Neal]

Email [email protected] and include a picture.

 

[Neal]

For my job I was billed an amount of hours for labor. The coach was in paint maybe an hour. I asked the team leader to come over as I was hooking up to leave when I wanted to question it. You billed me for X hours of labor but it only took Y. He said, it's not the time but time multiplied by number of people. Weird. So if it takes one hour and four people are involved it's billed as 4 hours of labor. I'm in the wrong line of work!

 

[Texas Clodhopper]

I was in the paint and body shop business and in hindsight wished I had worked on nothing but RV's. It's crazy what shops can get away with charging. The issue starts with there are no established book times for RV's like there are for autos. The shops can tell the adjuster almost anything and the adjuster has nothing to dispute their estimate. Like others, I had a post jump out and attack the left rear cap on my Ventana. I estimated/guessed that it would be about a $2 -3,000 job. The shop presented an estimate of $21,000 and the insurance agreed with it. I huge part of their estimate included R & I of the rear cap. They didn't remove it and I knew they wouldn't need to repair the fiberglass on the cap. They completed the job in 3 days using one man.

I think the charge the OP is asking about is absurd. He could go to five different shops and get five hugely different prices.

 

[NWIP]

Price you are being quoted is ridiculous. Too put in perspective, that was more than Newmar Service Center quoted to remove, install and paint new rear cap on 2017 DS. I actually had them repair fiberglass damage instead. I would try and get a quote from them.

 

[Buly]

What about looking around for a door at the many RV grave yards? If you can buy a door and have it painted, could be much less?

 

[Neal]

There's not much to the door, you could build your own. Seeing mine before paint it's just a sheet of aluminum stock with foam core attached, etc. The paint is where the money is.

 

[MapNerd]

Crazy. Walk away. Had a similar scratch on my wetbay. $1,200 at Newmar.

 

[Ken C]

My front left basement door got damaged. Functionally the door is fine. It's cosmetic damage. Repair estimate from local Newmar dealers is $6800. Much higher than I expected. Should I expect it to be this much?

I can claim on insurance but wondering whether there are alternatives for getting this repaired?

Thanks,


View attachment 8235

You might consider just ordering a new outer skin from Newmar. It appears to be just bonded onto the door frame so should not be a big deal to change. Paint work will be the most costly portion of the repair cost.

 

[Webz]

Had a tree root jump out and took out 3 bay doors. Dealer wanted 11K to fix. Ordered new unpainted doors from Newmar. $600.00 each. Had a body shop come and take off the doors and take them to his shop. Painted all three and installed for 1K.
Happy with the results.

 

[Rich-MLsRV]

Email [email protected] and include a picture.

Thanks Neal. Quote came back at $1870. Much more reasonable price. Definitely need to shop around.