Garage Door Ripped Out Shark Fin Antenna - Need Advice on Repairs

[noseyp]

The garage door in my apartment building closed on me as I was driving in. The door caught on the antenna as I was driving forward and ripped it out (see images). I received two dramatically different repair quotes and I'm curious what folks think about the options (will also get a third quote).

One quote required 17 total labor hours (6.5 body labor, 10 total in paint and paint supplies). The other quote required 68 total labor hours (27 body labor, 35 total in paint and paint supplies and 6 mechanical). The cost difference is equal to the labor hour difference (4x). The difference is driven by double hours on the roof (only place with damage) and hours in sections that have no hours in the other quote: (1) front & rear door, (2) windshield, (3) back glass, (4) trunk lid, (5) rear lamps, and (6) rear bumper. I didn't follow the logic but the 'or else' commentary was that clear coat will start to peel off if all these panels aren't removed to 'fix the roof the right way'.

The 68 hour quote is from the Audi dealer referred "European Body Shop". The 17 hour quote is from [Insert My City] Collision Center that works with the local Buick GMC dealer. The 17 hour shop did good work on my Mazda CX9 after my gf cut a turn too close and swiped the wall (final bill even came in below estimate).

Good personal experience with the shop and 75% cost savings seems like a no brainer. Am I missing something? Is there a good reason why the Euro body shop 'requires' 4x the labor to 'do it the right way'? I mostly care about making sure the Antenna-to-roof seal is waterproof. I don't use XM and was surprised that the radio and navigation still work flawlessly. I self-insure collision so this is all out of my pocket (no regrets).

Bonus picture shows off new 18 inch Weds TC105x. Garage door hit me returning from my first test drive with the new wheels… Thanks to Paul @ supremepower for providing the new wheels & tires! I was surprised but you can definitely feel the wheel weight reduction (weds are < 17 lbs each).

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[catalyst686]

Shouldn't the apartment be paying for this? My old car, b8.5 S4 had a leaky pipe over the parking spot at my old apartment, I asked them to fix it multiple time as it was leaving rust residue and scratching/ staining the paint. Documented everything for months, they told me to get quotes on how much is would cost to replace the ceramic and fix the paint. I got 3 quotes and they all were around $700, told me to get bent after they said they'd fix it so I called my insurance agent. Their insurance ended up cutting a check for north of 3k. All that needed to be done was paint correction on the roof which was like $300. I ended up trading the car soon after to get my RS3.

[VirtuousWolf]

I don’t know what those quotes mean in terms of dollars, but I know the carbon fiber roof for the RS3 is like 2k, not sure on the price of installation though. Best of luck with everything!

[Porra46]

My wife did the same to her Volkswagen Polo once. Ripped the fin right off. The fin is the cheap part. The dented roof is the crazy part.

The bodyshop has to remove the C, B and A pillar covers. Obviously the seat belt hangers first. Then the interior lights, followed by the whole headliner. The windscreen must also be removed as the headliner goes out that way. The rear section is too small. Besides, they have to sand/flat the whole roof when prepping for paint and yes, if they don't strip properly the clear coat will start to peel in a few months. And the labour intensifies if you have a sunroof cause that must be disassembled too. Repairs are then done and the whole roof gets painted. Since your car is a sedan, the rear window and rubbers must also come out. The hatchback has a door you can remove.

This is the right way to do it. Have seen guys do it cheaper by not stripping. But they then sell the car so the new owner later sits with a car with peeling paint.

Edit: Just saw now that your car has a pearl paint in it too. That will involve a lot more strip work cause they will have to blend a lot of panels. That colour is terrible to match.

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[DrBoost]

Think about it for a minute. Will that take one guy almost two weeks to repair doing absolutely nothing else but working on your car? 68 hours is absolutely ludicrous unless they wrote to freakin reskin the entire roof panel for some stupid reason. 17 hrs is definitely way more realistic.

Turn it into your insurance company and have them produce an estimate and pay for the repair. The software they use is standardized and most body shops use it. Plus if the apt building is responsible your insurance company will go after them and refund ur deductible if that's the case. I doubt that is the case though.

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[MXblau]

I have those same wheels (powdercoated silver)! Good luck with your repairs.

[noseyp]

I got a third quote. 24 hours of body work and 15 hours of paint. Almost all body work on roof and headliner. Cost is ~2.5x the low quote, in line with the labor difference. The savings vs the high quote is mostly in paint labor (15 vs 35).

There may be something to 'doing it the right way' for long-term paint perfection. The unfortunate reality is that a perfect repair probably costs about the same as a new Carbon Fiber roof + install so it's hard to justify the perfect repair (all repair quotes were 4 figures). I'm going to go with the low quote and if paint or other issues come up I'll probably switch to a carbon fiber roof before spending any more repair money. If I could magically have a CF roof show up tomorrow, I'd probably go that route but I think it will be weeks of wait time. I'm double checking as the antenna will take 2-4 weeks to arrive anyway.

The apartment is going to fight me because they have signs that say:
'gates timed for one vehicle. Tailgating may cause damage to the vehicle. Owner and management not liable for liability caused by problems or malfunction of gates.'
'Gate closes after each vehicle'

A neighbor mentioned the door closed on her car and also ripped off the antenna. Apartment building hasn't covered so I'm not optimistic. She has a leased VW Atlas and received a dealer repair quote along the lines of my low quote.

Carbon Fiber roof thread for those curious:
https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...bon-fiber-roof