No. 3
What this actually costs
Almost no collision shop publishes a figure, which is why somebody two days after a crash has no way of telling whether the number they have just been given is ordinary. These are typical ranges for this market. They are not a quotation and they are not an estimate for your car — but they will tell you whether you are in the right postcode.
First: what you pay is a different number
If a claim is open, the repair cost and your cost are two different figures. Most people pay a deductible and nothing else. It is worth being clear about this before reading any of the ranges below, because they are not bills addressed to you.
| Situation | Your cover | You pay | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| A claim is open, repair is $3,800 | Deductible $500 | $500 | The insurer pays the rest directly to the shop |
| A claim is open, repair is $3,800 | Deductible $1,000 | $1,000 | A higher deductible lowered your premium; this is where it is spent |
| Repair is $900 | Deductible $1,000 | $900 | Below your deductible — a claim gains you nothing and may cost you |
| Not at fault, other driver insured | Their liability cover | $0 | Subject to liability being accepted, which is not instant |
| Hail or animal strike | Comprehensive deductible | Often lower | Comprehensive and collision deductibles usually differ. Check yours. |
A repair below your deductible is one you pay for in full and which may count as a claim. If a quote comes in near your deductible, ask what it would cost to simply pay it — and ask us too. Telling somebody not to claim is not a sales technique anybody enjoys, but it is frequently the right answer.
No. 1 By job
Typical ranges, by what happened to the car
Parts, labour and paint together. The third column is the honest half: what actually decides where in the range a particular vehicle lands.
| Damage | What is done | Typical | What moves it within the range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bumper cover, scuffed | Repair and refinish | $500 – $1,100 | Sensors and cameras behind it; metallic or tri-coat colour |
| Bumper cover, cracked | Replace and refinish | $1,000 – $2,200 | Whether radar, parking sensors or a camera have to come out |
| Fender | Replace and refinish | $900 – $1,900 | Blending into the door and bonnet, which is usually necessary |
| Door skin | Repair and refinish | $700 – $1,500 | Crease depth, and whether the edge or a brace line is involved |
| Door | Replace and refinish | $1,400 – $3,000 | Glass, trim, wiring, mirror and any blind-spot sensor |
| Bonnet | Replace and refinish | $1,000 – $2,300 | Aluminium instead of steel; underside finishing |
| Quarter panel | Section, weld and refinish | $2,200 – $5,000 | Where the manufacturer permits the cut, and corrosion protection |
| Hail, light | Paintless dent repair, a few panels | $600 – $1,800 | Dent count per panel, and whether any paint is broken |
| Hail, heavy | Paintless dent repair, most panels | $2,500 – $7,000 | Roof and bonnet are the slow ones; aluminium costs more |
| Windscreen, no camera | Replace | $350 – $650 | Heated glass, rain sensor, acoustic laminate |
| Windscreen with camera | Replace and recalibrate | $800 – $1,800 | Whether the manufacturer requires a static target, dynamic drive, or both |
| Sensor calibration | One system, after a repair | $200 – $650 | Static, dynamic or both; some cars need a target board and a long bay |
| Pre- and post-repair scan | Diagnostic, both ends | $90 – $220 | Almost always worth insisting on. It is the evidence. |
| Structural pull | Set up, measure, pull, re-measure | $900 – $2,600 | How far the shell moved, and what else was moved with it |
| Wheel alignment | Four wheel | $110 – $220 | Required after most structural work and before some calibrations |
| Airbag deployment | Modules, belts, trim reinstatement | $1,500 – $5,000+ | How many devices fired, and what the steering and dash contain |
Figures on this page are typical market ranges for collision repair in Rock County, Wisconsin, reviewed October 2026. They include parts, labour and paint, and they exclude sales tax, towing, storage and rental. They are planning figures, not a quotation, and not an estimate for your vehicle. A real number comes from a written estimate against your car, and it changes again after teardown — which is normal, and is explained on the estimate page.
No. 2 How a figure is built
Nobody prices a repair. They price hours.
An estimate does not contain a price for “a new wing”. It contains a part number with a price, and a number of labour units, and a rate. Everything else follows from arithmetic you are allowed to see.
That is why two estimates for the same car can differ honestly: different part types, different labour units for the same operation, or a blend line that one wrote and the other did not. The estimate page takes those columns apart.
A worked line
- 1
- Front fender, replace. Part, aftermarket: $180.
- 2
- Body labour 2.8 units at $70 = $196.
- 3
- Refinish 2.4 units at $70 = $168.
- 4
- Blend into the door, 1.2 units = $84.
- 5
- Paint materials, 3.6 refinish hours at $45 = $162.
- =
- $790 for one fender — inside the $900–$1,900 range above once clips, cover removal and a second blend are added.
Illustrative arithmetic, not a quotation. The point is the shape of a line, so that the real one is readable.
No. 3 Rates
What an hour costs
These are door rates for this market. An estimate multiplies its labour units by one of them, and which category a line falls into changes the number.
| Category | Typical | Unit | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body labour | $60 – $80 | per hour | Panel repair, removal and refitting, fitting new parts |
| Refinish labour | $60 – $85 | per hour | Preparation, colour, blend, clear |
| Paint materials | $38 – $58 | per refinish hour | Billed against refinish time rather than as a part |
| Frame / structural | $80 – $120 | per hour | Bench time, measuring, pulling |
| Mechanical | $100 – $160 | per hour | Suspension, cooling, electrical, calibration work |
Because of what they are: bench time on calibrated equipment, and diagnostic work on systems that have to be put back exactly. A bill that quietly books frame work at the body rate is not a bargain — it usually means the frame work is not being done.
No. 4 The numbers behind the numbers
Four figures that frame everything above
Scale matters more than precision here. Knowing roughly where the thresholds sit stops a decision arriving as a shock in week three.
Benchmarks
Typical collision claim in this market $4,000 – $5,500 The middle of the distribution, not a cap
Insurer settles instead of repairing at roughly 70 – 80% Of the car's pre-collision value, including likely supplements
Rental allowance, typical $35 – $55 per day With a total cap, commonly $900 – $1,500 — the cap is what bites
Supplement on a real repair Usual, not a warning sign The first estimate was written from the outside of a closed car
Figures on this page are typical market ranges for collision repair in Rock County, Wisconsin, reviewed October 2026. They include parts, labour and paint, and they exclude sales tax, towing, storage and rental. They are planning figures, not a quotation, and not an estimate for your vehicle. A real number comes from a written estimate against your car, and it changes again after teardown — which is normal, and is explained on the estimate page.
Questions about money
Why will you not just give me a price on the telephone?
Because a price given without seeing the car is a guess that one of us will later have to defend. What we can do on the telephone, and will, is tell you which range above your damage falls into and what is likely to move it. That is usually the information you actually need at that moment.
Is the cheapest estimate the best one?
Not reliably, and the difference is usually visible in the document rather than in the price. A lower figure often means aftermarket parts where originals were quoted, no blend time, no calibration line, or a repair where the other shop wrote a replacement. Compare the lines, not the totals.
Will using my own shop cost me more?
Your deductible is set by your policy, not by the shop. Where an insurer and a shop disagree on the repair plan, that is negotiated between them with photographs. And the insurer cannot make coverage conditional on which shop you use — that is Wis. Stat. § 632.375(2)(a), set out on the rights page.
What if the repair costs more than the car is worth?
Then the insurer settles instead of repairing. It is arithmetic rather than a judgement about the car, and it usually bites somewhere around 70–80% of what the car was worth immediately before the collision. How that is calculated.
Do you charge for an estimate?
No. Teardown is different — taking a car apart to find out what is actually damaged is real labour, and if the repair does not then proceed, that labour has still happened. Where teardown is needed it is quoted and authorised separately before it starts. The full position is in payment and cancellation.
Tell us the damage and we will place it on this page
Describe what happened, or read us an estimate you already hold, and you will get a straight answer about which range it belongs in and whether the figure you were given is ordinary. Whether or not the car comes here.
Mon–Fri 7:30 AM–5:30 PM CT