QX4 in accident, needs to get fixed :(

[Phil G]

Hey ya'll, unfortunately, my sister backed into a mailbox while coming out of a friend's driveway today, and it busted out the left tailight and dented the tailgate of her 2001 QX4 pretty nicely . Although she will have to have the dents fixed professionally, I am hoping I can fix the tailight by myself. The lens was busted out, but there are still pieces of the lens I am guessing is still glued to the edge of the assembly. If the lens glues on, it might be more trouble than its worth and I will probably either replace the assembly or have the lens replaced professionally. What do ya'll think would be the best thing to do? And where would be the cheapest place to buy a lens or assembly? Thank you!

Here are some pictures of the damage:

[Phil G]

Closer picture of lens still stuck to edge of assembly:

[Phil G]

Picture of all damage done to back of car:

EDIT: Figured it would be a good idea to edit out the tag # just in case you have certain sketchy people lurking around here .

[SmithSR]

I am also a Phil Welcome to NICO! sorry it has to be under these circumstances, with your sister's busted up QX4.

Where to get the part? Plz check the Pinnacle sponsor link in the left hand column. Also check Everything Infiniti, for parts and pricing. As to how you should go about repairing the lens, I'll let NISTECH comment.

[NISTECH]

The lens is not available seperatly. You could replace the assembly very easily your self. with the hatch open you should see 2 10 mm bolts holding it in. remove those 2 bolts then grab ahold of the light firmly and yank it straight back to pop it out of the 2 white retainers you can see in one of your pictures behind the light assembly. You just pop the new one in and bolt it up.

of the 2 indentions of the dents to the back door you may be able to pull the larger one out your self and have a dent shop pop out the other smaller one. Because of its location it would be difficult to pop it out your self. But on the larger one there is a little trick I have used on those kind of dents......better take a seat I dont want you to hurt your self when you fall over from laughter.Grab one of those smaller rubber toilet plungers [not the 2 stage plungers] one of the old fashion style. center it over the larger dent. push in to evacuate the air and pull it back sharply. POP dent gone. Note the the movement of the metal on a car more then a couple years old will cause a fracture in the paint[ series of small cracks] you wouldnt beable to see them right away but after a couple years or so they would begin to show up. it would look like a small spot in the paint.

[NISTECH]

You know you could probably get a couple of nice looking all white lights, think thier called european lights, for about the same price as one of the original OEM lights. Just a thought;)

[leeQX4]

Phil sorry about your sis truck. Luckily it can be fixed, if i were you, I would call dent wizard or your local dent repair shop and see if your tailgate can be popped back into place. Insurance will probably be arm and leg if you write a claim on the tailgate to just remove a dent. As far as your taillights, I have ordered countless amount of parts from http://www.everythingnissan.com and they are alot cheaper then going into the dealership. If you want to change your light bulbs, I would look into PIAAs or sylvania silverstars. Goodluck on getting the truck fixed.

[Phil G]

Thank you so much for the replies! I still have yet to find out if a certain detailing shop here can fix the dent (it is difficult to work with, however, because the dent at the crease in the tailgate that is supposed to flow with the tail light is dented in and outwards at the crease). Best estimate I found to have a collision shop take care of it was $500 . Also, I went to the Pinnacle link at the sidebar and noticed that they have the rear combo lamp lens and housing (assuming this is what I want) for $95. This is definately better than the $133 that my dealer quoted me for!. Anyway, I'll try to let ya'll know what will happen in the end. Thank you so much again!