January 29, 2025
Your car’s fender can get damaged in five main ways: dents from hits and crashes, scratches from things hitting it, damage to how it’s attached, wear from bad weather, and rust building up over time. When something hits your fender, the damage often spreads out from where it was hit, making clear marks you can see and sometimes causing hidden weak spots. Most fender damage happens when parking, while things like road salt and salty sea air make rust happen faster. When looking at fender damage, check both what you can see and how strong the fender still is underneath. Knowing these kinds of damage helps you figure out how to fix it.
Fenders can get damaged in many ways during normal driving and accidents. The most common issue is denting - from small bumps in parking lots to big dents from crashes. Flying rocks and road debris often leave scratches and chip the paint, while harder hits can create deep cuts in the metal.
Rust is also a big problem, especially in wet areas where roads are salted in winter. It usually starts where paint is damaged and then spreads under the surface. The fender can also suffer worse damage like bent mounting areas, damaged wheel openings, and cracks in support parts.
To fix fender damage, you need to decide if repairs will work or if you need a new fender. Small and medium dents can often be fixed by pushing them out or doing body work.
But when there’s lots of rust, serious structural damage, or bad creasing, it’s usually better and cheaper to replace the whole fender. This also makes sure your car stays safe and looks right.
When something hits a vehicle’s fender, the force spreads out from where it struck, leaving clear signs of damage that show how bad the crash was.
The metal or plastic material usually shows clear lines, folds, or bends that go beyond just where it was hit. Knowing how to read these damage signs helps fix fenders properly and stop future damage.
You can tell how bad a crash was by looking at three main things:
Look at all the damage before starting repairs.
If you see waves or weak spots far from where the crash happened, the fender might be damaged deep inside. When the hit was very hard, you might need to put on a new fender instead of fixing the old one to keep the car safe and looking good.
Weather can damage car fenders even though they’re built to be tough. Hard hail can leave many small dents across the fender’s surface, breaking the paint and weakening the metal. Sometimes these dents can be fixed without painting, but bad damage might mean replacing the whole fender.
Winter brings its own problems. Snow can build up in wheel wells, push against the metal, and cause rust, especially where protective paint has worn off.
When snow mixes with road salt, it speeds up rust around the spots where fenders attach to the car and along their edges.
Strong sunlight breaks down the clear protective layer on fenders, making paint fade and turn dull. Near the ocean, salty air makes metal rust faster.
Check your fenders often for signs of weather damage like paint bubbles, rust spots, or cracks. To protect against weather damage, you can add protective coatings, wash your car regularly, and keep it waxed.
Most fender damage happens when parking or during slow crashes under 10 mph.
When you park in tight spaces or back out, your car’s fender is more likely to hit other cars, walls, or objects. Shopping carts can leave clear marks and dents, while hitting curbs often leaves paint marks and bends the bottom of the fender.
Common parking damage to fenders includes:
To check parking-related fender damage, look at where the hit happened, which way the force went, and how the metal bent.
Light scratches can be fixed by sanding and painting the spot, while bigger dents need repair work or a new fender. If the hood or doors don’t line up right after a slow crash, look at the fender’s mounting points to see if they’re broken.
Small parking accidents that chip or scratch your fender’s paint can start a bigger problem: rust and corrosion. When paint breaks off, the bare metal gets exposed to rain and harmful substances. As soon as water and air touch the metal, it starts to rust.
The first signs of rust look like small, reddish-brown dots near damaged spots. Without quick repairs, these dots grow bigger and make the paint bubble up. Rust grows faster in spots where salt, road chemicals, and water collect, mostly in wheel wells and bottom parts of fenders.
You need to fix rust spots right away with proper rust treatments and protective layers to stop bigger damage.
Quick action is key to stop rust from spreading. Check your fenders often for paint damage, fix scratches with touch-up paint, and keep a layer of protective wax on them.
When you find rust, you must sand it off completely, use a rust-stopping product, add primer, and paint over it. Bad rust spots might need the metal cut out and replaced to keep the fender strong.
Driving with a damaged fender can get you in trouble with the law. Your car needs to be safe for the road, so you should fix any broken fender parts before you get behind the wheel.
Yes, you’ll probably pay more for your insurance after claiming fender repair costs, since insurance companies usually count it as an accident that was your fault. The higher rates typically stick around for three years after you make the claim.
A fender repair at a repair shop usually takes 2-4 days to finish. Small dents can be fixed in 1-2 days, but bigger damage that needs new paint will take 3-5 days to repair fully.
The quality of aftermarket fenders can be very different from part to part. Some high-end replacements can be as good as the car maker’s own parts, but most don’t use the same mix of materials and might not fit as perfectly as factory-made parts.
You’ll need these basic tools to fix car fenders at home: metal hammers, curved metal blocks for shaping, sandpaper and sanders, fix-up paste, base coat, paint tools, flat scrapers, and safety gear like gloves and masks.
You’ll need to address fender damage promptly to prevent structural deterioration. Inspect impact zones for paint delamination, substrate deformation, and mounting point integrity. If you’ve identified stress fractures or microcracks, contact Texas Collision Centers to implement appropriate repair protocols based on material composition. Don’t neglect corrosion mitigation measures, especially in welded sections. Guarantee proper clearance tolerances post-repair to maintain OEM specifications and prevent further damage
Learn more about the collision repair process with insights from the TCC team.
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