# Why Small Coach Collision Damage Rarely Stays Small > Minor collision repair covers low speed contact that did not move the chassis: corner scrapes, curb strikes, gate posts, door dings and mirror shears. On a laminated coach the posted band is $750 to $12,000 across 5 to 60 hours, because the visible mark is usually smaller than the bonded area behind it that has to come apart. Source: https://ocrv.biz/services/collision-repair/minor-collision-repair/ Business: OCRV Center, 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887. (949) 799-3387. Serving Tustin, California. Ballpark range: $750 to $12,000. Posted rates at https://ocrv.biz/prices/ ## What separates a minor hit from a major one? The dividing line is not how big the mark is. It is whether anything load bearing moved. A six inch gouge across a fiberglass corner that left the sidewall square and the door still latching correctly is minor work. A three inch dent that pushed a stud out of plane and now has the entry door binding is not, and it belongs with [major collision repair](/services/collision-repair/major-collision-repair/). Three checks decide it on the intake walk. First, does every door, compartment hatch and window still close with even gaps top to bottom? Second, does a straightedge laid across the damaged panel and its neighbors show a continuous plane, or does it rock? Third, does the roof line above the impact still run straight when sighted from the front corner? If all three pass, the repair stays in the skin and the substrate directly behind it. If any one fails, the estimate has to open up further before a number means anything. ## Why does a scrape take more hours than it looks like it should? Because an RV sidewall is a sandwich, not a sheet. Outer gelcoat and fiberglass, adhesive, luan or composite substrate, foam block or aluminum stud, then the interior wall panel. A curb strike drags across the outer skin and puts a shear load into the adhesive layer under it. The gouge is what you see. The debonded halo around the gouge, often two or three times its diameter, is what actually has to be repaired. Finding that halo is a tap test. A plastic mallet or a coin tapped across the panel rings solid over bonded areas and goes dull and hollow over debonded ones. The dull zone gets marked out in tape, and that outline, not the scrape, defines the repair area. From there the hours are predictable. Grind the damaged laminate back to sound material with a feathered edge wide enough to give the new glass something to grab. Lay cloth and resin in stages, letting each stage cure. Fair the surface with polyester filler, block it flat, prime, block again, seal. Then paint and blend into the adjacent panels so there is no visible edge. Body labor posts at $210 per hour, with body supplies calculated at $5 per body hour and paint supplies at $55 per paint hour. On a small corner repair the paint hours often exceed the body hours, which surprises people. Blending a metallic across two panels is simply more work than filling the gouge was. ## What pushes a job to the low end or the high end of the band? Four variables move the number more than anything else. **Panel material**: Painted fiberglass repairs and refinishes conventionally. Gelcoat has to be matched or the panel refinished entirely. Aluminum skin over stick framing often cannot be repaired in place at all and gets a section replaced. **Where the damage sits**: Mid panel damage is the cheapest case. Damage crossing a seam, a corner radius, a rub rail or a body line costs more because two surfaces have to end up in the same plane. **Color and finish**: A solid white with no graphics is the fast case. A three stage pearl, a full body paint scheme or a decal that crosses the repair pushes into [spot repair and blend matching](/services/paint-refinishing/spot-repair-blend-matching/) territory. **What is behind it**: A hollow section of wall is straightforward. Damage over a slide opening, a compartment box or a window frame means the structure gets addressed first. At the low end of $750 to $12,000 sits a single scuffed compartment door on a solid color. At the high end sits a full corner with the cap edge, the sidewall and the rub rail all involved on a graphic heavy coach. ## What can I check before I call? Five minutes with a phone camera saves an hour on the estimate. - Photograph the damage straight on, then from a shallow angle down the panel. The angle shot reveals whether the panel is pushed in or only marked. - Open and close every door and hatch within about six feet of the impact and note anything that binds, rubs or needs a shove. - Run a fingernail across the deepest point. If it catches on fiberglass strands rather than paint, the laminate is broken, not just the finish. - Check inside the coach on the other side of the wall for cracked trim, popped screws or a wall panel that has lifted at a seam. - Note whether the vehicle sat in rain after the hit. Water in a broken laminate changes the repair. Collision estimates are written at no charge and insurance walk ins are always welcome. Bring the photos, the claim number if there is one, and any adjuster contact you already have. Related work often scoped alongside this includes [dent removal and repair](/services/body-repair/dent-removal-repair/) and [crack, hole and impact repair](/services/fiberglass-repair/crack-hole-impact-repair/). Posted bands live on the [price sheet](/prices/). ## Questions ### Is it worth claiming a small hit on insurance? Run the estimate first, then decide. Minor coach repair starts at $750 and reaches $12,000 once caps, seams or graphics are involved, so a job that looked like a deductible sized scuff frequently is not. The written estimate gives you the number before you open a claim. ### Can you touch up a scrape without repainting the whole panel? Often yes, when the damage sits mid panel and the color is a solid that blends predictably. The blend is mapped into adjacent panels so the transition falls where the eye does not look for it. Metallics and pearls need a wider blend, which is where the paint hours climb. ### My compartment door latches but the gap is uneven. Does that matter? Yes. An uneven gap means the opening moved, and an opening that moved sits on structure that moved. That moves the job out of minor repair and into a structural look, which is a different sequence and a different estimate. ### How long will my coach be in the shop? A single panel scuff on a solid color is typically a few days once parts are on hand. Anything involving cure time on laminate, filler and paint stages sets the floor, because each stage has to finish before the next begins and rushing cure is what causes a repair to telegraph months later. ## Related - [Collision Repair](https://ocrv.biz/services/collision-repair/) - [Major Collision Repair](https://ocrv.biz/services/collision-repair/major-collision-repair/) - [Dent Removal and Repair](https://ocrv.biz/services/body-repair/dent-removal-repair/) - [Crack, Hole and Impact Repair](https://ocrv.biz/services/fiberglass-repair/crack-hole-impact-repair/) - [Prices and Posted Rates](https://ocrv.biz/prices/)