OUCH !!!

At what speed did the SM hit your HHR?!?! About a year ago, Dory was backed into by an Expedition, and not nearly as bad looking, but the grill "assorbed" most of the impact. Hood had to be replaced by body shop, as yours will need to be also. Dory is DBM and the "new" paint doesn't look any different, and I'm sure you will soon forget the "accident" that your HHR was involved in.

 

Have it repainted at a reputable body shop, and don't just trust the one your dealer says to go to. A good body shop with a good paint supplier will be able to match that with no problem. Black is fairly easy to match, I have always been told. I painted my door handles and liftgate handle to match and they came out the same color, and I bought the paint at a good dealer. That will make all the difference in the world on the finished product. However I am like you once it is in a wreck time to move on, just get another HHR

 

I have been a bodyman painter all of my life and this will be a non-issue as far as the repair and paint match, just be incredibly picky about the fit and adjustment and the final result. Black is really a pretty straight forward match, especially on a new vehicle. It sucks that you got tagged, but it really shouldn't be an issue...Good Luck.

 

It`ll be fine. As mentioned opaque colors are easier to match than metallics. At worst what won`t match will be the finish if you might have any washing swirls in the older paint versus the new paint. On the bright side it will give you an excuse to have the car polished out,on their dime of course.

As far as driving a "salvage" title,relax,I know its an emotional situation be it was only a hood. Unbolt it and replace it and your good as new. I had experience with something like this in the past as I had a 71 BB camaro that I had restored. It was being unloaded at a show in Las Vegas when the tailgate lift on the semi collapsed and dropped it 12 feet onto its nose. Had to replace everything from the firewall forward except the engine but a year later it was back to a 100 pt car.

 

You don't have to worry about that dealership. They are the best for taking care of the customer. I'm there 3-4 days a week. Their body shop is one of the 2 best body shops in the area. Which service guy backed into it? They will take care of you. I'll tell Jason (bodyshop manager) to make it right. That dealership also talked to me about having a show for HHR's. They will take care of you, That's why they sell more cars than anyone else in the county. The other GM dealers in the area are going broke (especially the one across from WENDY's (Big Financial problems).

 

Glad to here that the other Chevy dealer wrecked it, knew that their body shop sucked and sent it to the Good Chevy dealer. Incidently that's happened before!

 

My wife backed into my black 06 and as long as u have a good body man it will all look good

 

I too will find out if the black matches

 

If anybody can sympathize with your damage, I can. Sorry to see it on somebody elses.

 

I had a dealership damage a truck for me once. It was a 1997 Z-71 that I took in for the first oil change and they crashed into the bedside. I wanted a new bed. But they would not do that. They fixed it and garanteed it as long as I owned the truck in writing. I would insist on that at the least. Oh, by the way it was black and 180,000 miles later you can tell.