'98 Civic Door Skin

I recently had some damage done to my drivers side door. Someone
backed into it in a parking lot and then (ARUGH!) took off. The door
still aligns o.k. and the power window still works well.

My father claims that I am wasting my money by having the auto body
place repair the large dent in the door (I would rather not claim this
against my insurance). He believes that I could simply find a 'door
skin' at a local parts yard and replace the outside face of the door
myself. I think he should watch a little less McGyver - I've never
heard of replacing a door skin.

Has anyone done this before? Comments? Suggestions? Help!

Thank you!

 

We had the door skin replaced on our 1999 Civic at a local body shop. It
cost around $1,500 after labor and painting. I believe that the skin itself
was a couple hundred bucks, and I believe, though not for certain, that they
used a new one. You (should) learn something new every day.

Earle

 

You can do it, but it's lots and lots of labor. It will be far cheaper to
get them to bang out the dent.

Door skin replacements are usually done when restoring a classic for which
parts are expensive or scarce.

 

skinning, as mentioned by the others, is expensive and unnecessary.
unless you want this car to look showroom, your father probably has the
best advice. your next cheapest option is to buy a whole door at a junk
yard, already the correct color of course. a skinning operation rarely
looks as good as original and frequently is subject to premature
corrosion because it's never sealed as well as factory - that alone
should be a significant discouragement for you.