My car was run to the ground when I got it so I know what you mean. The engine was shot and the car was smashed on the passenger side. Not to mention all the bent and missing parts under the car. Got that fixed over time, but there are a few quirks I don't like about that side body job. So ask the guys here to see if you can find a shop/place that knows what they are doing around your area and can fix the body for a reasonable price. Or ask around and take pictures of what you need done and show talk with people. It also helps if you get the parts yourself to make the process a bit faster, but don't take any parts to any shop until you know you want them to do the work. It's a hassle moving stuff around and if you decide not to have them do it, it may be awkward. i didn't do that, just saying since I was asked to bring the parts so they could tell me what it would cost me to do the work and moving my messed up car in that shape was not something I wanted to do. I was still able to drive it a bit, but still now you know what I mean.
Fast forward to a few yeas later, and some guy hit my father on the front corner of the car. So far all the damage has been panels so that's why I have been able to get it back together and since the engine was on the back, that made it much better. As long as the front damage is on the panels and not on the carriage, that can be changed with some time and will be back to normal. I had to look around for a lot of the parts myself and that alone took about 3 months. Now you know why I don't like to race/abuse my car. Like I said in another posting, it's not perfect, but it's my car. I would like to get a few things out like scratches and small dings,(some due to stupid people/neighbors that don't care) but I don't know anyone that can do body work around here. The other place that fixed the last hit did a good job keeping things straight, but rushed through the job at the end, and well, that's another bit that I hated because it showed were that happened. Very minor, but those are the things I notice. Maybe I'm just picky or maybe I have just seen to many half ass jobs in my short life that it drive me off the wall.
I sent pictures to another place before getting these things fixed, but they just quoted me an enormous amount and basically told me it wasn't worth it since that would cost more to fix than the car was worth. I was referred to this place for good work by a friend of mine, but I guess they only like to work on new cars. Frankly I don't care what car it is. I can understand why, but this sort of thing will bring you down a bit when your stuff is down and you have no idea where to turn.
So far, my experience with body shops hasn't been a good one at all. it's always great to find someone that enjoys what they are doing because they enjoy it. Many people do what they do because they have to. I always enjoy finding watching people that know what they are doing. This can be a mechanic, electrician, computer geek, it doesn't matter. I guess because they are pretty rare, but you can tell when someone knows what they are doing, but most importantly loves what they do. Except, I wouldn't want to watch my father because he puts me too sleep with his patience and his the one always telling me not to do things if I'm not going to finish them.
He's very knowledgeble and meticulate about his work. I do like watching the things that some people have done here, a lot of great work and every now and then you pick up something new.