XL 378 propane door

Mooney 78865 · 01-22-2021, 07:55 PM

I was told many years ago when I first bought our Mooney, "there are those who have, and those who will" referring to landing with the wheels still folded in the wheel wells. Fortunately, that never happened to us.
What did happen is when filling the motorhome at the local gas station (been there many times) for what ever reason, I cut to sharp and crunched the Propane storage compartment door. That's it, zero damage anywhere else, none.
I called a parts supplier and they could get me a new door, unpainted for about $750, new latch included. This was going to leave me looking for a paint shop that would actually paint it. I then contacted the dealer we bought from (who has been great) for an estimate to supply the door and paint it. Bare in mind, it takes 6 screws to remove the door.
Both the parts supplier and the dealer were about the same on the cost of the door, and both quoted 3-4 weeks from the factory. What blew me away, was the price quoted to paint the new door. Granted there are three colors, it is 42"X27", new and unpainted... Wait for it, $3,600. That's nearly $900 per color.
So now, I have found a used door from a salvage yard and have contacted a RV collision outfit that is not real close, but within driving distance. I explained what I was doing and he said, "yeah, no problem. Need to see the layout, but probably around $500. We get them all the time"
I'm not sure if I'm smoking CRACK, the dealer is smoking CRACK, or the industry is just that strong, but $3,600 seems steep.
And for the question everyone wants to know, Yes we do have insurance. Frankly I thought I could get it done for less than the deductible…

Darrens02 · 01-22-2021, 08:43 PM

Sometimes I wonder if people just over bid it so that you will go else where. I would like to think that this is not the case. I'm sure that because of work done on others, they build in room for comebacks, or for redoing it.

seasure1 · 01-23-2021, 03:42 PM

I would be curious to see how you make out. The price they quoted you to replicate the door color seems really cheap. Just the prep work primer and three seperate coats of different color paint and maybe a clear coat in NJ would be about 1K.

Hope it works out for you!
Keep us posted

Mooney 78865 · 01-23-2021, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seasure1

I would be curious to see how you make out. The price they quoted you to replicate the door color seems really cheap. Just the prep work primer and three seperate coats of different color paint and maybe a clear coat in NJ would be about 1K.

Hope it works out for you!
Keep us posted

I think they are banking on the used door already the correct base color and that the layout will really only be the black. I'd still be good with a grand. I'll post up when it's done. The door will ship Monday out of Missouri. They seemed to think that they would need a week with both doors to get the paint done. I still figure we will be able to get it under the cost of the deductible even if the paint goes to $1,000.

whoDoMan · 01-24-2021, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mooney 78865

I think they are banking on the used door already the correct base color and that the layout will really only be the black. I'd still be good with a grand. I'll post up when it's done. The door will ship Monday out of Missouri. They seemed to think that they would need a week with both doors to get the paint done. I still figure we will be able to get it under the cost of the deductible even if the paint goes to $1,000.

I’m no expert but I’d take that door off and carry it to the body shop and see if they can work it over. Good shops can work miracles.

Mooney 78865 · 01-24-2021, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoDoMan

I’m no expert but I’d take that door off and carry it to the body shop and see if they can work it over. Good shops can work miracles.

It looks better in the picture than it is. I had to remove some of the inside of the door to get it straight enough to close. They are really pretty light weight metal over an aluminum box tube frame with Styrofoam between the inside and outside walls. The two halves are glued to either side of the Styrofoam and the aluminum tube frame work. I had to use a Dremel to open the back up to be able to take some of the twist out, and to massage some of the dents as well. That required removing a lot of the foam. Without the foam it pretty much "oil cans". And there is a pretty good crease at the top. In the end, I'd be happier with an unmolested door.

Georgetown377 · 02-01-2021, 07:49 AM

Sorry to hear about this. But with the RV market going full steam ahead. Dealers & Repair shops now call the shots.

Mooney 78865 · 02-02-2021, 10:39 AM

I received the replacement door Saturday and took it over to the shop Monday. This is going to be a process for sure. They are going to get the new door primed and have me bring the coach in to lay out the graphics. They will scan the existing paint for match but are concerned that the "butt" joint will not be as close as they want and figure that they will have to blend the base color into the adjoining doors. It's going to be a process....

Mooney 78865 · 02-25-2021, 09:46 PM

Well, we have a complete motorhome again! I brought the door over a couple weeks ago for them to get it primed while they finished up another job in front of us. Brought the coach in Monday so they could lay out the graphics and match/blend the three colors.
Picked it up today, three working days later. Fantastic job, really happy with the work and how quickly they turned it around.
All in... $1,800.
I'll edit and upload a picture. They did a great job!
Elite RV Collision and repair. Fresno, CA.

You may also like: