The totals differ because the plans differ, so compare the plans
Two estimates on the same damage are two opinions about how to fix it, written in the same format. Before deciding which one is high, put them on the table together and go down the car one panel at a time: front cover, absorber, fender, headlight, hood. For each panel, write down what each shop intends to do. The gap almost always lives in three or four of those rows rather than spread evenly through the sheet.
Drivers paying out of pocket in North York, Scarborough or Markham often collect a few quotes from shops along their commute, and the spread can look alarming. Usually it is one shop planning a longer, more complete repair and another planning a shorter one. Neither is automatically wrong. The question is which plan leaves the car the way it was before the hit.
Repair-versus-replace decisions move the number the most
Whether a dented fender is straightened or swapped for a new one changes the parts cost, the labour hours and the refinish time all at once. A shop that is confident in its metalwork may write a repair on a panel another shop would replace. The reverse also happens: a shop may replace a cover with torn mounting tabs that another shop plans to weld, because the welded version may not hold its alignment.
Look for the operation beside each part. If one sheet says Repair with several body hours on the fender and the other says Replace with a part number, you have found a big piece of the difference. Ask each shop why it chose that route. A good answer points to something specific on the panel: a crease across a body line, stretched metal, a broken tab, a hidden bracket.
Part types: original, aftermarket, recycled and reconditioned are priced very differently
Two estimates can list the same part with very different codes. One may write an original-equipment headlight while the other writes an aftermarket copy or a recycled unit from a salvage vehicle. Ontario has no rule that forces original parts, so both are legitimate quotes, and on an older vehicle a claim estimate can legitimately specify non-original parts of comparable quality. You can ask for original and pay the difference.
Where the part is tied to safety, such as a reinforcement bar, a structural bracket or a sensor mount, the choice matters more than the price. Check each part code against the other sheet, and if one quote is lower mostly because of part choices, decide whether you are comfortable with those choices before you compare anything else.
- OEM: made by the vehicle maker, usually the highest price and the most predictable fit
- Aftermarket: a copy from a third-party manufacturer; how well it fits varies from part to part
- Recycled: an original part from another car, often a strong option for lights and trim
- Reconditioned: a repaired original, common for wheels and some covers
Blending, materials and calibration are easy to leave off a lower quote
A blend fades the fresh colour partway across the undamaged neighbouring panel, leaving no sharp border between old and new paint. It takes booth time and materials, and a low quote often omits it. On a silver or pearl car, a quote without a blend line on the adjacent door or fender is pricing a repair that may show a colour step in daylight.
The same goes for sublets. One shop may include diagnostic scans before and after the work, a wheel alignment after a front-corner hit, or a sensor calibration. Another may leave those off and add them later. When a line exists on one estimate and not on the other, ask the cheaper shop whether it is excluded or simply not written yet.
A visual quote and a teardown quote are not the same document
Some estimates are written from the outside only. Others are written after the cover or trim has come off and the hidden damage has been seen. The teardown version is almost always higher, because it includes the cracked absorber or bent bracket the visual quote could not see. That does not make the lower quote cheaper in the end; it makes it incomplete, and the rest will arrive later as a supplement.
Ask each shop one question: does this include what is behind the panel, or is that expected later? On a claim the question settles itself, because anything found behind the panel is sent to the adjuster as a supplement and waits for a yes. On a repair you fund yourself, that difference is the most important thing on either sheet.
On an insurance claim, the gap is something the shop and adjuster settle
If the damage is going through insurance, you do not need to shop the price. You choose the repair shop in Ontario, the shop sends its estimate, and the insurance company’s appraiser either agrees or writes their own figure, after which the two reconcile the lines between them. What you pay is your deductible, or usually nothing when DCPD applies and you were found entirely not at fault, regardless of which estimate started higher.
Questions people ask
Should I take the lowest quote to my insurance company?
There is no need. On a claim, the insurance company pays the agreed cost of the repair at the shop you choose, so the lowest quote does not lower your deductible. Pick the shop whose plan you trust.
Can I ask one shop to match another shop’s quote?
You can ask, but the useful version of the question is which lines differ and why. If the other quote leaves out a blend or uses an aftermarket part, matching it means doing a different repair, not the same repair for less.
One quote lists an alignment and the other does not. Which is right?
After a hit to a front or rear corner that reached a wheel, an alignment check is reasonable. If one shop left it off, ask whether they plan to check the wheel angles after the repair or whether they believe the suspension was untouched.