A TikTok user has said that a minor scratch he got on the back of his car led to a massive repair bill. Donn Duly (@donnduly) posted a viral video on his account that currently has 456,000 views, in which he recounted what happened.
Duly showed off the damage to his car, which included a scratch at the rear as well as a few smudges, but the damage initially did not appear to be substantial. The TikTok user had to get in touch with the driver who had hit his car to sort it out.
“Alright – it’s a little scratch, not like I totaled your car. But feel free to send me the shop of your choice and have them contact me,” the driver texted Duly, clearly willing to pay for the damage so as not to annoy the driver he had hit.
So imagine the shock that Duly had when, after getting the invoice for the fix, he found out that it was going to cost over $8,000 to repair the car. Naturally, the TikTok user was stunned that what looked like a minor scratch could cost so much money.
What Actually Happened to Duly and His Car?
Duly did not discuss how the car got damaged, or when or where the accident happened. But his video did show the damage at the back, which showed a long scratch and a few other black smudges. But it looked like there was no serious damage to the car, and certainly not $8,000 worth.
After Duly got the scratch fixed, he soon had the invoice. He showed it off in the video, and the invoice read that the total cost to fix it was $8,440 after taxes. It said that the parts totaled $3,475 alone, with the labor costs reported to be 39 hours, with a huge 27 hours of those dedicated to repairing the body itself. Duly was confused, and as it turned out, so were those who watched the video.
The comments section of Duly’s viral video was full of people baffled by how much he had to pay. “Potentially ruining someone’s life over a baby scratch,” said one of the commenters. “Body shop owner here, that’s a $600 to maybe like $800 job,” another one added. “I run a mobile auto body service, and I would personally fix that for around $500. All fees included. But at the shop, the most that it should be is $2,500. And that’s going to a very high-end shop,” one said. So even those who worked in the industry were shocked by the price.
Should a Minor Scratch Really Cost Over $8,000?
The short answer is no; a repair to a car of this nature should not cost over $8,000. They can cost more than a few hundred dollars, however. A Denali driver had to pay over $3,000 for repairs to her car after a basketball hoop fell onto it. Scratch repairs can include buffing, polishing, retouching of paint, spot repainting, and panel painting, which will drive the costs up.
Other factors can raise the cost. The size and depth of the scratch, for example, and where on the car it has happened. But even taking all of that into consideration, the fact that Duly was charged over $8,000 for his repair, which looked quite minor, is still quite a shock. Some car owners have even resorted to the ‘Comet hack’ to avoid paying such prices and to try to buff car paint themselves.