[:@] I was pulling out of a gas station a few days ago and smashed the right passenger light on my '98 dodge caravan. My passenger door also is difficult to open. The right turn signal flickers rapidly and is making a clicking sound. This car has had so many issues in the last few months. Is there any way I can get out of paying more than $1700 for what I did? This was according to a guy who did an estimate for me today. Apparently all sorts of stuff needs to replaced. The paint is also coming off, but I am not too concerned about that. Please help in whatever way you guys can. Thanks.

Jake (a college student who does not want to deal with his p.o.s. car by paying obscene amounts of cash!)

 

Well hate to tell ya but the work will need done. Sounds like you pushed the fender back. That in turn causes it to come in contact with the door. The reason The turnsignal is making a clicking sound probably because there is a short in the harness at the front headlamp assembly causes the light to flicker ( or just the turnsignal bulb is just not operating at all because the bulb is broken).

You can try to do the work yourself. If you go to rockauto.com you can find most of the stuff you might need. It will be primered, but if your a college kid that would be good enough to get you by.

In all honesty with out seeing the damage $1700 isn't too bad considering labor and parts I think. But if you want to save money... do it your self and you will save a good chunk of change

 

I agree 1700is really cheap sound like you got off pretty easy like one phat cracka said you could do the work your self but I think you would be wise to have a professional do it unless you feel like you can do it yourself doesn't sound too major so you might be able to do it

 

Alright, well I appreciate you guys responding. There is no way I could end up doing this myself. I have no experience working on cars. Is there any reason that I should maybe have another estimate done just in case that was too much? I should add to the story I mentioned, the light is also totally gone, nothing left behind it either. I will see what I can do.

 

I'll bet the blinker bulb is just broken, which explains the rapid blink. Changing out the fender and lights, really is not that hard, just will take some time. The passenger side is a little more difficult, just because of the antenna, but for the most part all you need is a 10mm socket for almost all of the fender and headlight assembly bolts and a phillips screwdriver. There are a couple of semi hidden bolts, a couple of 8mm ones too, but, I'm sure you can do it. Because of hitting deer, I've been changing doors/hoods/fenders on 3 generations of caravans. I think the 3rd gen (yours) is the easiest of all to line stuff up. Look into a salvage yard for the fender and headlight and if you're lucky, they'll have the right color. Expect to pay roughly half of new for good condition from a salvage yard. In my experience though, pay $135 for a new headlight assembly from Rock Auto or the like (Salvage ones usually are yellowed or hazed like your old one). I'd say you should be able to make a functional repair yourself for under $500(probably more like $300 with about 3-4hrs invested for your first time) good luck.

 

I will speak to my dad about this and see what he says. I really appreciate everyone's responses.

 

What do you mean by "the light is also totally gone, nothing left behind it either"? Is the whole headlight turnsignal assembly missing? Are there bare wires left behind or is there still a socket attached to the wires?

For a functional fix go to a wrecking yard and buy a used light assmbly and mabe part of the wires and plug going to it. Go to Home Depot and buy some duct tape, electrical tape,and a package of wooden door shims. Slpice the wires from the wrecking yard light to the wires on your vehicle by twisting them tight and wrapping with electrical tape. You will need to use a pocket knife or some other handy tool to strip the plastic insulation from about an inch of the wires before twisting them. Make sure the electrical tape covers all of the copper on the wires plus about and inch ore more of the plastic coating. Duct tape the light assembly to what is left of your fender. Take one wooden shim and driveit between your door edge and the front fender to spread them apart. Keep adding shims until you get enough sparation between the door edge and fender so they don't scrap when opening (with the shims removed).

Make sure to throw away your cell phone and ipod so the same thing does not happen again.

 

Jubadah, what I mean by this is that the whole headlight is gone, there is a scrap of plastic remaining and there are some other wires still attached, although I do not know enough about cars to know what wires they are. I am not sure if I mentioned this before, but I am also having a hard time opening the right passenger door because of this accident. Thanks for the help guys.

 

The door is most likely bound because of the fender being pushed. Removing the fender will also give the chance to readjust the door if needed (but I doubt it). If you've ever hit a deer at 50 - 60mph then you know what no headlight assembly left is like. If the light bulb sockets are actually gone I'd be surprised, but they do make pigtail harnesses to attach to the wires you have left. Is there any chance of a pic of the damage to better assess?

 

Yes, I do have a picture FloorSlayer, but its on my phone currently, if I can, I will take a picture over the weekend and send it. Is there a way to upload pictures via this message board? Or I could personally send it to you via e-mail, just let me know what your e-mail is. Thanks again.