I hit a deer a few months ago. Bent the hood and the front tie bar (thing the radiator brackets go in, busted a headlight. I've already got a new headlight, installing that's no big deal.

 

How much do you guys figure it might cost to have another hood put on and painted, have the tie bar straightened? I haven't the slightest idea what body and paintwork costs. I'm a hard-parts guy.

Conservative estimate would be $800-1200. Hood would be $3-400, then paint matching, labor to fit, labor to straighten the supports. Just a WAG based on contracting to a body shop on occasion.

Yuck. Maybe I'll just straighten the hood with a hammer. It's not that bad. I can probably straighten the support myself too. Paint was already coming off the hood anyway.

Yuck. Maybe I'll just straighten the hood with a hammer. It's not that bad. I can probably straighten the support myself too. Paint was already coming off the hood anyway.

 

HF sells a decent body hammer/dolly set for like $20. I would use a comealong or ratchet strap to pull the support back out though

Hey, good idea! I've got a 3 ton tiedown strap. I could tie it to the wall and pull it out. Neighbor has a comealong too...I like your thinking.

Ditto to the come along. I've done this before on a mazda and a ford probe with similar damage. You can do some nice shaping with a sledge hamme, crowbar and a 20 lb dumbbell as well.

 

post up a pic. What year is the car. You can probably shop around on http://www.mypartshop.com etc. and find a good used hood in the same color. Subaru wasn't super varied when it came to colors, so you can usually find one to match if you hunt around. If it's not that bad, just use your dented one until you find your match. Hunt craigslist for parts or cars being parted. Stuff usually shows up.