Aluminum hood repair?

[RichardZ]

Hi – My wife hit a deer with her Audi Q3. The grill looks like an easy bolt off/bolt on part, but the aluminum hood got damaged on the front edge. Being cheap, I was thinking of trying to repair this myself. I tried to bend the hood back, but it seemed brittle, and I stopped.

Is this hood repairable? I read that aluminum needs to be heated up. Would a heat gun get the metal hot enough to bend the hood back into shape. Or am I looking for a new hood?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Danno]

Take it to a couple of local body shops with good reputations. They will tell you pretty quickly.
In my opinion, it needs to be replaced.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I believe a body shop can fix that.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I believe all automotive aluminum is hot stamped - ie heated to a near plastic stage before it enters the press. So bending it back at ambient is likely not recommended. You can check with a body sop and see what they say but my guess is they will recommend replacement, because likely that is what the OEM recommends.

On the other hand if you don't care how it actually looks - its scrap now, so you can try . How new is this car - seems like it would be worth insurance claim?

 

[shortyb]

Insurance maybe? Deer impacts can be way more damaging than you can see on just the surface. Don't know what year her Q3 is, but small VW/Audi SUVs have plastic core supports and get cracked if you look at them crossed-eyed. Not to mention the A/C condenser, radiator, etc. stuff beyond cosmetics. Take it to a shop that does good European work and have them inspect it. That way, you have a starting point for proper repair and to keep the vehicle safe for her to drive. Just my opinion.

 

[Blueshound]

Insurance maybe? Deer impacts can be way more damaging than you can see on just the surface. Don't know what year her Q3 is, but small VW/Audi SUVs have plastic core supports and get cracked if you look at them crossed-eyed. Not to mention the A/C condenser, radiator, etc. stuff beyond cosmetics. Take it to a shop that does good European work and have them inspect it. That way, you have a starting point for proper repair and to keep the vehicle safe for her to drive. Just my opinion.

I agree. The hood is going to be the easy part.

In the meantime would OP please at least pick the fur out of the grill?

 

[Langanobob]

I found a few youtube videos on aluminum body repair. The amount of heat they used seemed pretty minimal. If you have any body work experience at all, I’d give it a try. Unless the insurance might say “ You messed with it so we aren’t going to cover it.”

 

[RichardZ]

Thanks for the replies. The Q3 is a 2017 with 150K+. I've had it since new and it still looks and runs good.