The car door is one of the more common places of damage when you're in a minor collision. Someone may bump it when pulling into a parking space or you might accidentally scrape the door when pulling out of the garage. If there's no other damage to your car, you might be willing to put up with a scraped and dented car door, but it's still best to have the door inspected by a collision repair shop just to make sure it is safe to drive with it in a damaged condition. If you decide to have it fixed, these are some options you could have.

Repair The Damage

One advantage to repairing the dent is that the factory seals are still in place. As long as the door isn't warped out of shape and the seals are still good, then your door should be good as new once the cosmetic repairs are done by filling in the dent and painting the door to cover the damages. Another advantage to repairs over replacement is that they are usually less expensive.

Replace The Door

Depending on the extent of damage, your mechanic may recommend replacing the door completely. The door is inspected to see what kind of damage it sustained. Although all you may see is a huge dent and scrape on the door, it's possible the door is no longer in alignment. The seal around the door is checked to make sure there are no gaps. The door is also checked for smooth operation to make sure there is no damage to the hinges that cause it to get stuck. If you have a newer car, you can have a new door put on and have it paid for by your insurance company.

If you have an older model car and you want to pay for the repairs out of pocket, you might want to buy a door from a car at a junkyard and have it placed on your car. A junked door might not be as attractive on the inside, but it could save quite a bit of money on the repairs. You probably won't want to drive the car if the door is a different color than the rest of the car, so you can have it painted to match your car, or just have the whole car painted to make sure the door blends in flawlessly.

The first step in deciding how to have your car door fixed is to decide if you want to file an insurance claim or fix the damage yourself. Then get quotes from a few collision repair shops to get an idea of the cost and to get advice on the best way to get the door functional and looking like new.