Thanks, guys.

Good to know about the smaller projector, Nub. Same part number, though?

Hope not, Mug, but we are all too well-experienced to know how these things go. It started with me getting an estimate from an Audi certified shop. There's some things that they MUST do, based on their contract with Audi, such as do a pre- and post-scan, etc. However, even though they display a USAA placard in their lobby, they're not a USAA-affiliated shop. So, USAA wouldn't approve their estimate, and I had to take it to their affiliate. No big deal, I suppose, but they're not an Audi-certified shop. It's a dealer's shop, and they do work on high(er) end cars (MBs), so, it should be okay, BUT they wrote the estimate differently.

The Audi-certified shop wrote an estimate for the full amount of repairs ~$5K (and got the parts numbers correct). They also cannot use used parts, per their contract. It's possible that they might come in lower, IF the quarter can be saved (honestly, I think a good paintless dent guy ought to be able to do it.

The USAA-shop, however, went the other route. They started low and will supplement up. I suppose that's the insurance way, but what gets estimated at $2K will quickly grow to 3 or 4. Their labor rates are almost half of the Audi-certified shop's though.

Don't know which is the better path, and I have my concerns. Regardless, this isn't a big job. Honestly, any good shop ought to be able to handle it. There's no crunched sub-structures, so this is just cosmetic.

CW