Car Body Repair Cost Guide (London & UK)

The honest answer to “how much does car body repair cost?” is that it depends on the damage in front of us — and any guide that hands you a single flat figure is guessing. What a repair actually costs turns on which panel or wheel is affected, how far the damage runs, whether the colour needs blending into the surrounding paint, and the make of the car. This guide sets out realistic UK price ranges for the most common jobs, explains what pushes a quote up or down, and shows where the money genuinely goes — so you can judge a quote on its merits and avoid overpaying.

The figures below are indicative UK ranges drawn from published cost data across the trade. Treat them as a sense of scale, not a quote: the same dent can cost very different amounts on a supermini and a prestige saloon. The only accurate figure is one attached to your car, which is why every price here ends in the same place — a free, no-obligation quote. Bodyteq is a family-run car body repair and accident repair centre working from a fixed workshop in Greenwich, and we assess, repair, paint and finish every job in-house.

• Car body repair costs at a glance
• Car body repair costs by type of damage
• What affects the price of a car body repair
• SMART repair or a full-panel repair — which is cheaper?
• Insurance or paying privately?
• What car body repair costs in London
• Frequently asked questions
• Get a free, accurate quote

Car body repair costs at a glance

Here are typical UK price ranges for the jobs we are asked about most. London labour can sit towards the higher end of each band — more on why below.

Every one of these ranges is wide for a reason. A “scratch” might be a light key mark or a deep gouge through to bare metal across two panels; a “dent” might pop out in minutes or need filling and refinishing. The tiers matter far more than the averages, which is why the rest of this guide breaks each job down properly.

Car body repair costs by type of damage

Scratch repair

A light, clear-coat scratch treated as a localised SMART repair typically costs around £75 to £250. Deeper scratches that reach the primer or bare metal, or that run across more than one panel, need filling, priming and repainting, and more often fall between £300 and £700. The real cost driver is depth and area, not length — a short scratch through to metal is dearer to put right than a long, shallow one that has only caught the lacquer. Our car scratch repair service explains how each type is treated.

Paintless dent repair

Where the paint is unbroken, paintless dent repair (PDR) works the dent out from behind the panel and leaves your original factory paint untouched — the most economical way to remove car-park dings, minor creases and shallow dents. Expect roughly £60 to £450, depending on the size, depth and number of dents and how accessible the panel is from behind. Sharp creases, dents that have cracked the paint, or damage on a bonded panel need conventional filling and refinishing instead, which costs more. Our paintless dent repair page sets out when PDR is and is not the right route.

Bumper repair and respray

A scuffed or lightly cracked bumper repaired in place typically costs around £75 to £250. A full bumper respray — stripping, priming and repainting the whole bumper for an even colour — usually runs £200 to £500. Bumpers are the part most likely to be kerbed, scuffed or clipped in traffic, so repairing rather than replacing them is almost always the cheaper and quicker option, and keeps the original fit. See our car bumper repair service for detail.

Alloy wheel refurbishment

A standard alloy wheel refurbishment — stripping, repairing kerb damage, repainting and lacquering — is usually around £75 to £200 per wheel. Diamond-cut wheels, which are machined on a CNC lathe to that bright turned finish, cost more because of the extra process, and cracked or buckled wheels that need welding or straightening are quoted individually on condition. Our alloy wheel refurbishment service covers standard refinishing, diamond-cut, powder coating and straightening.

Single panel respray

Respraying a single panel — a door, wing or bonnet — commonly costs £300 to £700, covering preparation, paint, blending into the adjacent panels and lacquering. The figure moves with the panel’s size and shape, the paint type (metallic, pearlescent and specialist finishes are harder and slower to match) and how much surrounding blending the colour needs to stay invisible. A good panel respray is judged by whether you can see where it starts — and you should not be able to.

Full or whole-car respray

A full, whole-car respray is the widest range of all — anywhere from about £1,000 to £5,000, and sometimes beyond. That spread is not a hedge; it reflects a genuine gulf in the work. A budget respray is a quick colour change over the existing surface. A proper one means removing trim, badges and fittings, preparing every panel back to a sound base, and refinishing in a booth so the colour is even and durable. What you pay for is the preparation and the number of coats far more than the paint itself, so be wary of any full respray quoted suspiciously cheaply — the corners are being cut in the prep you cannot see.

Accident and collision repair

Collision repair is quoted on the specific damage after inspection, because it can involve anything from a single replacement panel to structural realignment, new parts and a full refinish. As a rough guide, minor accident damage often lands around £300 to £500, while more severe structural work runs from £400 to well over £1,000 once parts and labour are counted. Heavier jobs are set up on our alignment jig so the structure of the car is returned to specification, not just made to look right. Full car body repair for accident damage always begins with a proper inspection.

Interior damage is costed separately from bodywork — see our car upholstery repair service for scuffed trim, torn seats, cigarette burns and headlining work.

What affects the price of a car body repair

Two cars with what looks like the same damage can carry very different quotes. These are the factors that move the number:

• Which panel or part is affected — a plastic bumper cover behaves differently to a steel wing or an aluminium bonnet, and some parts have to be replaced rather than repaired.
• The extent of the damage — depth and area drive the labour; damage that reaches bare metal needs filling, priming and painting, not just a respray over the top.
• Colour match and blending — metallic, pearlescent and three-stage finishes are harder to match, and making a repair disappear means blending into the panels either side, which adds time.
• The paint system — a lasting repair uses a primer, base coat and lacquer cured in a low-bake oven; that is what makes it colour-stable and durable rather than a finish that dulls or peels.
• Severity and safety — structural or accident damage needs realignment and checking, which is more involved than cosmetic work.
• The vehicle itself — prestige and performance marques (we regularly refinish BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche among others) carry pricier parts, specialist paints and tighter tolerances, so the same damage costs more to put right correctly.

SMART repair or a full-panel repair — which is cheaper?

For small, localised cosmetic damage, SMART repair — Small to Medium Area Repair Technology — is almost always the most cost-efficient route. Instead of stripping and repainting a whole panel, a SMART repair treats only the damaged area: the scuff, the ding, the kerbed rim. Less material, less labour and less time mean a lower price, and more of your car’s original paint stays intact.

It is not the answer to everything. Damage spread across a panel, deep dents that have broken the paint, or anything structural needs a conventional repair or a full respray to come out right. The skill is matching the method to the damage — over-repairing a small scuff wastes your money, and under-repairing a large one shows. We will tell you honestly which your car needs rather than default to the dearer job. Our SMART repairs page goes into more detail.

Insurance or paying privately?

For minor cosmetic damage, it is often cheaper to pay privately than to claim. If the repair costs less than — or not much more than — your policy excess, a claim rarely makes sense, and it can cost you your no-claims discount and push up future premiums. A quick quote tells you which side of that line your repair falls on.

For accident and heavier damage, a claim usually is the right route. We take on repairs put through your own insurance, work with all insurers, and can deal directly with your insurance company from the estimate through to authorisation, so you are not left managing the paperwork. Where a claim covers it, a courtesy car can be provided to keep you moving while your car is with us. Either way you get a clear, itemised quote first, so the decision is yours with the numbers in front of you.

What car body repair costs in London

London prices tend to sit towards the upper end of the national ranges, and that is mostly labour. Premises, business rates and skilled-technician wages all cost more in the capital than in much of the country, and body repair is labour-intensive work carried out by hand. That is not a reason to accept an inflated quote — it is a reason to compare like with like. A cheaper quote that skips preparation, uses inferior paint or sends the work out to a subcontractor is not really cheaper; it just moves the cost to the day the finish fails or the colour stops matching.

We keep our pricing transparent and itemised, so a London quote from us shows exactly what the work involves and why. Cars are brought to our Greenwich workshop from across south-east London and the wider capital — you can see the areas we cover on our service areas page.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to repair bodywork on a car?

There is no single figure, because “bodywork” covers everything from a £75 scuff to a multi-thousand-pound structural rebuild. As a rough guide, most small cosmetic jobs — a scratch, a minor dent, a kerbed alloy — fall somewhere between £75 and £500, while panel resprays and accident repairs run higher. The only way to know what your repair costs is to have the specific damage assessed, and a few clear photos are usually enough for us to give you an honest estimate.

What is the most expensive part of a car to repair?

On the bodywork side, structural and safety-critical damage is the dearest to put right — anything involving the car’s chassis or crumple structure, because it needs precise realignment and checking rather than just refinishing. A full respray is the most expensive cosmetic job. Replacement panels and parts on prestige and performance cars also carry the highest costs, both for the parts themselves and for the specialist paint and tolerances they demand.

Is it worth respraying a car?

It depends on the car and why you are doing it. To put right widespread scratching, fading or corrosion on a car you intend to keep, a quality respray can transform it and is well worth the outlay. As a purely financial exercise on an older, low-value car, a full respray may cost more than the car is worth — in which case targeted panel work or SMART repairs on the worst areas is the sensible spend. We will give you an honest view before you commit either way.

Is it cheaper to go through insurance?

Not always. For small repairs that cost around or below your excess, paying privately is usually cheaper once you account for the excess itself and the effect on your no-claims discount. For accident and larger damage, a claim generally makes sense. We can quote the repair privately so you can weigh that against your excess before deciding — and if you do claim, we deal with your insurer directly.

Get a free, accurate quote

The real answer to “how much will this cost?” is a quote for your car, not a range from a guide. It costs nothing and there is no obligation: send us a few photos of the damage or bring the car to our Greenwich workshop, and we will give you a clear, itemised price for putting it right — done properly, in-house, and built to last. Established in 2013, we treat every quote the same way, whether it is a single scuffed bumper or a full accident repair. Get in touch for a free quote or call us on 0207 998 4712.