roadhunter
Elite Member
Here is a good article about the subject. Pretty much confirms what common sense will tell you.
2015 Ford F-150: How Much More Will the Aluminum Truck Cost to Insure and Repair?
Parts Costs: It’s a simple fact that raw aluminum costs more than raw steel, which leads one to believe that the F-150′s aluminum body parts will be more expensive than the outgoing model’s comparable steel parts. But Ford could decide to sell the parts at cost—or even at a loss—in order to meet its claim, or perhaps cost parity will be achieved simply due to the sheer number of pieces Ford will produce. For now, however, Ford’s parts site quotes a replacement 2004 F-150 hood—the first year that panel was rendered in aluminum as standard—at $1092.72; a steel unit for the older 2003 F-150 costs $647.
Repair Costs: We called the local body shop that handles many of our repairs, VCR Automotive, to see what kind of cost differential exists with aluminum versus steel. Unsurprisingly, we were told that fixing aluminum costs more. Independent shops like VCR tend to flat-out replace a dented/crumpled aluminum panel, since the properties of the metal make cleanly popping out dents difficult. It’s not a shocker that doing so adds dollar signs to repair bills. The F-150′s panels are riveted and glued in place, and that glue isn’t cheap: Our man from VCR says it costs “about $60 per packet,” and that he recently used five packets to repair both aluminum quarter panels on a damaged car. And that’s not even counting the extra labor involved. We were also told that insurance companies often try to pressure body shops into cheaper repairs, which means, if it’s possible, merely filling in the dent and then sanding and repainting the panel.
As for extreme damage to either the cab or the bed, VCR said it would probably just replace the whole of either, as welding aluminum patch panels into, say, a pickup bed’s forward bulkhead, requires a clean room to prevent contamination of the metal. And even getting panels can be tricky: Clean-room-equipped shops are pretty rare, and we were told that many manufacturers won’t even provide replacement aluminum body sections, as a precaution against contamination. (If aluminum is contaminated, it will corrode faster than normal.) What about small repairs, such as hail damage? We spoke with Dent Wizard, a national paintless dent-repair company, and were told that if an aluminum panel could be repaired (and not all can be), customers are levied a 25-percent upcharge for the effort. Dent Wizard also reiterated aluminum’s resistance to clean dent removal.
2015 Ford F-150: How Much More Will the Aluminum Truck Cost to Insure and Repair?
Parts Costs: It’s a simple fact that raw aluminum costs more than raw steel, which leads one to believe that the F-150′s aluminum body parts will be more expensive than the outgoing model’s comparable steel parts. But Ford could decide to sell the parts at cost—or even at a loss—in order to meet its claim, or perhaps cost parity will be achieved simply due to the sheer number of pieces Ford will produce. For now, however, Ford’s parts site quotes a replacement 2004 F-150 hood—the first year that panel was rendered in aluminum as standard—at $1092.72; a steel unit for the older 2003 F-150 costs $647.
Repair Costs: We called the local body shop that handles many of our repairs, VCR Automotive, to see what kind of cost differential exists with aluminum versus steel. Unsurprisingly, we were told that fixing aluminum costs more. Independent shops like VCR tend to flat-out replace a dented/crumpled aluminum panel, since the properties of the metal make cleanly popping out dents difficult. It’s not a shocker that doing so adds dollar signs to repair bills. The F-150′s panels are riveted and glued in place, and that glue isn’t cheap: Our man from VCR says it costs “about $60 per packet,” and that he recently used five packets to repair both aluminum quarter panels on a damaged car. And that’s not even counting the extra labor involved. We were also told that insurance companies often try to pressure body shops into cheaper repairs, which means, if it’s possible, merely filling in the dent and then sanding and repainting the panel.
As for extreme damage to either the cab or the bed, VCR said it would probably just replace the whole of either, as welding aluminum patch panels into, say, a pickup bed’s forward bulkhead, requires a clean room to prevent contamination of the metal. And even getting panels can be tricky: Clean-room-equipped shops are pretty rare, and we were told that many manufacturers won’t even provide replacement aluminum body sections, as a precaution against contamination. (If aluminum is contaminated, it will corrode faster than normal.) What about small repairs, such as hail damage? We spoke with Dent Wizard, a national paintless dent-repair company, and were told that if an aluminum panel could be repaired (and not all can be), customers are levied a 25-percent upcharge for the effort. Dent Wizard also reiterated aluminum’s resistance to clean dent removal.
