A guide to bodywork repairs

Ellie Dyer-Brown, 3 years ago

5 min read

  • Repair
  • Bodywork
Mechanic cleaning car body

After an accident, the car’s body work often takes the brunt of the damage. Body work repairs vary extensively depending on the severity of the damage and the components that have been affected.

Even the most careful amongst drivers cannot prevent general wear and tear issues or even accidents.

Subsequently, car body repairs are one of the most commonly reported problems drivers encounter with their vehicles. The introduction of electric cars and vast improvements made to steel, glass and paint has reduced the number of car body repairs taken to garages.

However, scuffs and scratches can’t always be premeditated and certainly aren’t always your fault.

For instance, incidents in car parks are one of the most common causes for body work damage and technological advances can not eliminate these.

Guide Contents:

Mobile Car Body Work Repairs

Essential Body Work Repairs

DIY Bodywork Tips


Mobile Car Body Work Repairs

Some car body work repairs can be dealt with on a mobile basis.

Mobile mechanics can fix a multitude of body work problems on the road.

For example, a mobile repairer can restore most of the metalwork and plastic on your vehicle. In addition to fixing those components, they can often fix lights, grilles, wings and bumpers too.


Essential Body Work Repairs

Some body repair damage can be viewed as purely cosmetic, such as minor scratches and dents, and is therefore not a priority for repair.

However, there are a number of repairs that are essential, including:

  • A missing or broken number plate, to not replace this is against the law

  • A smashed passenger window or windscreen

  • Wing mirrors that have fallen off

  • If the bonnet won’t open or securely close

  • Light fixture damage

  • Sharp edges on your car that could injure pedestrians


DIY Bodywork Tips

Some small body repair tasks are doable at home.

However, it is important to consider the risks involved with a DIY body repair job. There is also the possibility that you may end up causing more damage than in the first place.

If you do decide to undertake small body repairs at home, ensure that your tools are appropriate for use. It is also important to consider whether you will do an effective enough job, if anything goes wrong you may end up doing more damage than the initial issue.

The easiest jobs to undertake at home include smaller paint jobs and dents which can be solved with a plunger or hairdryer and compressed air combo.

Do not attempt a large area of painting at home or indeed try to tackle any larger dents and alignment problems. Rust is also rather difficult to deal with at home, often ‘invisible rust’ gets missed as it cannot be tackled without specialist garage equipment.

Free no-obligation quotes for body work repair from WhoCanFixMyCar