A bumper scuff from a Sainsbury's car park: £140 plus VAT. A keyed door panel: £180 average. A full respray on a metallic finish: anywhere from £1,000 to £5,000. Car bodywork prices in the UK swing wildly depending on what's wrong, what your car is made of, and who you ask. Checkatrade's 2026 data puts the average cost of dent repair and paint fixes between £60 and £450, with a simple clear-coat scratch costing around £78 and deep scratches around £335. That's a useful starting point, but the real number for your car depends on a handful of specifics.
This guide breaks down what bodywork repair actually costs in 2026, by damage type, by repair method, and by the things that quietly push your quote up by 30%.
Typical UK bodywork repair prices in 2026
Most jobs fall into one of four buckets: scratches, dents, bumper damage, and full panel work. Here's what each tends to cost.
Scratches
- Light clear-coat scratch (machine polish only): £50 to £90
- Scratch through the paint (sand and respray): £150 to £350
- Deep scratch to bare metal: £250 to £500+
- Multi-panel key damage: £200+ per panel, often discounted for multiple
Scratches in just the clear coat can be fixed for as little as £50, but anything that has cut deeper than the clear coat will need sanding and new colour, which costs anywhere from £150 to £350+. A handy way to tell is whether you can feel the scratch with your fingernail.
Dents
- Paintless Dent Removal (PDR), small ding: £90 to £150
- Trolley or parking dent, no paint damage: £75 to £250
- Larger dent needing filler and paint: £200 to £500
- Dent on an aluminium panel (BMW, Jaguar, Range Rover): add 25% to 50%
On average, repairing a dented panel in the UK costs between £220 and £450. But the panel material matters. An aluminium bonnet or door panel can increase the repair cost by 25% to 50% compared to a steel equivalent, simply because the material demands a much higher level of skill and care.
Bumpers
- Minor scuff or scrape: £100 to £250
- Cracks or splits: £200 to £500
- Full bumper replacement: £300 to £800+
Bumpers are usually the priciest panel to repair relative to size because they're often made of plastic, which requires specialist materials and tools, and the job gets more complex if there's damage to any integrated cameras, sensors or other devices. Newer cars with parking sensors and forward-facing radar in the bumper can push a routine scuff into a £500+ job once recalibration is included.
Major panel work and resprays
- Quarter panel replacement: £300 to £1,000
- Full or part respray: £1,000 to £5,000
- Severe collision repair: £1,500 to £5,000+
For severe damage or specialised repairs, costs can range from £1,500 to £5,000 or more. Full vehicle resprays, major collision repairs, and work involving advanced materials or electric vehicle components sit at the high end. Luxury and performance vehicles often incur even higher costs due to specialised parts and intricate repair requirements.
What actually drives the price up
Two cars with what looks like identical damage can produce quotes £400 apart. Here's why.
Labour rate
Research across over 6,000 UK garages found hourly rates for mechanics and bodywork specialists range from £36 to over £200 an hour. Independent garages averaged £56 per hour, almost half what main dealers and franchised workshops charged at £99 per hour. A bodyshop in central London or Manchester will charge meaningfully more than one in a market town.
Paint type
Solid white or black is cheap to match. Pearlescent, tri-coat, and manufacturer-specific metallics (think BMW Frozen, Audi Nardo Grey, anything Porsche special-order) need more layers, more time and more skill. Add £100 to £300 on top of a standard quote.
Panel location
A flat door panel is the cheapest spot to repair. A wheel arch, a roof, or anywhere near a body line costs more because accessible panels like doors and bonnets are less expensive to repair than complex areas like wheel arches or areas near trim that need careful masking. Damage near panel edges or body lines can be more challenging to repair invisibly, increasing labour time and costs.
Blending into adjacent panels
If your car is more than three or four years old, the paint has faded slightly from UV exposure. Spraying just the damaged panel will leave a visible colour step. To avoid that, a good bodyshop blends paint into the neighbouring panels, which adds time and cost but produces an invisible repair.
SMART repair vs full bodyshop: which is right for you?
SMART stands for Small to Medium Area Repair Technology. It means a localised area of the car can be fixed without repainting the whole panel, making it a quicker, easier and cheaper way of repairing a small scratch or dent. Mobile operators like ChipsAway and Dent Devils work this way, often coming to your driveway or workplace.
For minor damage, SMART is hard to beat on price. One ChipsAway customer was quoted £375 by a body repair shop with a three-day turnaround, but had the same job done for £300 in a few hours. The trade-off: SMART works best for damage smaller than a credit card. Anything larger, anything across a body line, or anything requiring panel removal needs a full bodyshop with a spray booth.
Should you claim on insurance?
Usually no, for anything under £700. Many repairs under £500 to £700 aren't worth going through insurance due to excess fees and increased premiums. A typical comprehensive policy carries a £250 to £500 excess, and even a no-fault claim can lose you a no-claims discount or push your renewal up for three to five years.
Quick test: add your excess to the likely premium increase over three years. If that total is more than the repair quote, pay out of pocket. For major collision damage, parts of £2,000+, or anything involving a third party, you'll want the insurer involved.
How to get a fair quote
- Get three quotes. Prices for the same job genuinely vary by £150 to £300.
- Send clear photos in good light: one wide shot, one close-up with a coin for scale.
- Ask whether the price includes VAT. Many smaller bodyshops quote ex-VAT by default.
- Ask if the repair is guaranteed. A lifetime paint guarantee is standard at reputable shops.
- Confirm whether they'll blend adjacent panels or just spray the damaged one.
If you're not sure where to start, browse local bodywork specialists on Fixaroo and request quotes from a few in your area. For drivers in bigger cities, our directories of garages in London and garages in Manchester list bodyshops with verified reviews.
When DIY is worth a try (and when it isn't)
For a tiny stone chip or a clear-coat scuff, a £20 touch-up kit from Halfords or a manufacturer-matched paint pen can get you 80% of the way there. Find your colour code on the sticker in the door jamb, engine bay or boot.
For anything bigger, leave it alone. It's incredibly difficult to get a DIY repair to blend in seamlessly with the rest of the paintwork, and touching in scratches and scuffs typically takes a couple of days to do properly, requiring plenty of supplies such as sandpaper, various paints, and a clean, dry area to work in. A botched DIY job often means paying a bodyshop to strip it back before they can start, which costs more than letting them do it from scratch.
Quick reference: bodywork costs at a glance
- Clear-coat scratch: £50 to £90
- Paint scratch needing respray: £150 to £350
- Small dent (PDR): £75 to £200
- Larger dent with paint: £200 to £500
- Bumper scuff: £100 to £250
- Bumper crack or split: £200 to £500
- Bumper replacement: £300 to £800
- Single door scratch (average): £180 inc VAT
- Quarter panel replacement: £300 to £1,000
- Full respray: £1,000 to £5,000
Once you've sorted the cosmetic side, it's worth checking the basics too. Our free MOT checker shows your test history and due date, useful if you're prepping a car for sale and want it looking sharp before the buyer turns up.