Collision Repair Cost by Damage Type

Sourced 2026 ranges for every major damage category — including the one national sites skip: Texas hail.

The short answer: collision repairs run from a few hundred dollars for a bumper scuff to five figures for structural damage, and the average repairable claim now costs over $4,730 (CCC Intelligent Solutions). Below are sourced ranges by damage type — use them to sanity-check any estimate, then compare against what your car is worth before you commit.

Repair Cost Ranges by Damage Type

Bumper: $500–$2,000 typical replacement; $1,200–$3,500+ when park sensors or radar live in the bumper — increasingly the norm.
Fender: $150–$500 for minor repair; replacement from $200–$600 on compacts to $1,500+ on trucks and luxury models, more with paint blending.
Door: $500–$2,500 typical; $4,000+ on feature-heavy doors with speakers, sensors, and window electronics.
Hood: $300–$2,500+, with aluminum hoods on newer trucks at the top of the range.
Windshield: around $450 average — but ADAS camera recalibration adds $150–$600 on cars with lane-keep or emergency braking.
Frame/unibody: $500–$1,000 minor straightening; $10,000+ for sectional repairs — labor alone can run 15–50 hours.
Suspension: $1,120–$1,330 for shocks/struts per RepairPal; post-collision suspension work with alignment often starts around $1,500.
Airbags: $1,000–$2,000 per airbag; $3,000–$5,000+ after a multi-airbag deployment, plus $600–$1,300 for the control module. Deployed airbags alone total many older cars.
Paint: $550–$1,650 per panel for quality color-matched work.

Stack two or three categories — a rear-quarter hit that needs a door, quarter panel, paint, and suspension — and you're at $6,000–$10,000 before the first supplement. That's why the per-type view matters: it shows you where an estimate is headed before the shop does.

Hail Damage: The Texas Chapter National Sites Skip

Texas is the hail capital of the United States — 902 major hail events in 2025, the most of any state (Insurance Information Institute). The insurance bill matches: State Farm alone paid about $1.4 billion in Texas hail claims in 2025, more than any other state.

What hail repair costs: paintless dent repair (PDR) runs roughly $50–$150 per dent. Light hail (5–15 dents) typically lands at $250–$750; moderate (15–50 dents) $1,000–$2,500; severe storms push $3,000–$7,000+ once panels need replacement and repainting. Because hail touches nearly every panel at once, moderate storms routinely total older vehicles — a huge share of the "totaled but drives fine" cars we buy across DFW, Austin, San Antonio, and West Texas. Hail-hammered and don't want to fight the claim? That's a one-call sale.

Reading Any Estimate Against These Ranges

Below the range? Check the parts line — recycled or aftermarket parts aren't wrong, but you should know what you're approving.
Above the range? Ask what's driving it: labor rate, OEM-only parts, or bundled operations. Getting a second estimate is free at most shops.
Anywhere near your car's value? Stop and run the fix-it-or-sell-it math. In Texas, repairs exceeding the car's pre-damage value legally make it a salvage motor vehicle — and economically, you've crossed that line long before the statute does.

If the Math Says Sell

Wrecked and hail-damaged cars are usually non-drivable or not worth driving — which is exactly where sellers get burned twice: a "free tow" that gets deducted from the check, and an offer that shrinks once the car's on the truck. Neither happens here: the quote you accept is the amount you're paid, and towing is free anywhere in Texas — never subtracted. After any sale, to any buyer, file the Vehicle Transfer Notification (VTR-346) with TxDMV within 30 days; it's free and ends your liability for the vehicle from the sale date.

See what your damaged car is worth as-is: get your instant offer or call (214) 617-0955.

Damage-Type Cost FAQ

How much does it cost to repair frame damage on a car?

Minor frame or unibody straightening can run $500–$1,000, but sectional repairs on serious hits climb past $10,000 — frame labor alone commonly runs 15–50 hours. Frame damage is also the classic hidden-damage category: it often surfaces only after teardown, added to the bill as a supplement after you've committed to the repair.

Is a car totaled if the frame is bent?

Not automatically — it depends on the repair cost versus the car's value. Because frame work is expensive, a bent frame on an older car usually pushes the estimate past the point of sense, and in Texas, repairs exceeding the car's pre-damage actual cash value legally make it a salvage motor vehicle under Transportation Code §501.091(15). On newer, high-value cars, frames get straightened and sectioned routinely.

How much does hail damage repair cost in Texas?

Paintless dent repair runs roughly $50–$150 per dent. Light hail (5–15 dents) typically costs $250–$750, moderate hail (15–50 dents) $1,000–$2,500, and severe storms push past $3,000–$7,000 once panels need replacement and repainting. Texas leads the nation in hail — 902 major hail events in 2025 per the Insurance Information Institute — which is why hail-totaled cars are a Texas specialty.

Is it worth fixing a car with $5,000 of damage?

Only if the car is worth well over $10,000 by the common 50% rule of thumb. $5,000 is right around the national average repairable claim (about $4,730 per CCC data), and on the average 12-to-14-year-old vehicle it exceeds the entire car's value. Compare the estimate to your car's KBB value and to a real as-is cash offer before committing.

Does insurance total a car for hail damage?

Frequently, yes — hail damage is cosmetic but expensive, since it touches nearly every panel. On older cars, comprehensive claims for moderate-to-severe hail routinely exceed the vehicle's value, triggering a total loss. Texas leads the country in hail claims; State Farm alone paid about $1.4 billion in Texas hail claims in 2025.

Can I sell my hail-damaged car in Texas without fixing it?

Yes. Hail-damaged cars — repaired, unrepaired, or insurance-totaled — are bought for cash across Texas every day. The damage is priced into the offer, towing should be free (never deducted), and if you sell, file the TxDMV Vehicle Transfer Notification (VTR-346) within 30 days to end your liability for the vehicle.