Driver's Quarter Panel advice?

I don't have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, but before you go spending that kind of money, you might check into Paintless Dent Repair (PDR).  A really skilled technician may be able to work wonders with that dent.  It's amazing the kind of magic some of those PDR guys/gals can do.  It probably would not cost you anything (or much) to get an estimate for PDR.  Maybe even have a few technicians look at it and get separate estimates.  Again, I don't know if that can be fixed with PDR, but if it were my car, that's the first route I would explore.  Let us know what you find out so we can learn from each other.

@uncle-mush thanks for the line on PDR! I'll call around and see what I can drum up.

At this point though, i'm getting kind of curious to see if I can cut my teeth on some bodywork. I've done bondo work before but never hammered panels. Worst comes to worst, I have to buy a new panel anyways lol. Also found a really good video series on YouTube explaining how to handle this dent type specifically.

While this situation kind of blows, it also gives me a good excuse to pull the trigger on wrapping the car haha

If the insurance company is cutting me a check then I would take that money and buy a used quarter panel on EBay salvage and install it. 

From what I understand the panels were designed come off relatively easy. 

Before I would do that I would do what UM suggests and see if a dent guy can massage it out. 

They say as long as the dent doesn't have creases it can be a good candidate for this kind of repair. 

The body shops want to rack up the hours doing in the long way to get paid and that is why the estimates are usually high. 

That's a prime PDR repair; doesn't need a complex job done to it. Hope you get it all figured out easily.

Thanks for the advice guys. Still haven't gotten around to getting it fixed, but my friend turned me on to a good local PDR guy who is gonna take a look.

In other news, someone backed into me while I was parked today. There hitch took a nice nibble at my front bumper. Got everything on dashcam except for the very moment it happened (video cuts out like 2s before). So now I'll be going through that little hassle as well.....

in retrospect looking at the footage, it would have been a safer move for me to park in the space behind the one I parked in. However, I left as much space as possible when parking. the image shows how much space there was after the guy pulled forward after backing into the mr2. There was at least that much when I parked. He probably had limited visibilty of me behind him, however, who backs up that much to get out of a parallel park space lol.

Anyways, im looking forward to when I eventually get all the visuals for the car up to spec again. Mechanically, everything has been great. about 18000 into my engine rebuild and piston mod and no issues or oil burning.

Wow!  Man, you are having a rough year when it comes to car stuff.  Sorry about this additional mishap.  Glad to see you are able to keep your sense of humor in all of this.  Good luck getting everything sorted out and fixed-up agan.

I have replaced the quarter panels. By recollection, the part was around $300. Removal was pretty easy, just a series of bolts. The fuel door and the bolts along the soft top was a bit of a hassle, but overall, simple. I had replacement parts primed (although they come primed), multi base coated as well as a clear coat on the under and exposed sides before putting on. This took much less time than bondo, etc.

Good luck.

@uncle-mush haha you know it. At the end of the day, I daily the MR2 in a urban environment and drive a lot so it comes with the territory. As long as we're still banging corners, life is good. Also, as long as im strategic with parking, no one notices haha. Took someone on a date the other day and they were none the wiser lol 

@ispy thank you for the advice! If pdr doesnt work out that'll probably be the way to go. Time comes at a premium and bondo/ tapping panels wouldn't be able to happen until spring.