Are body repair questions on-topic for this site?

Question

This is brought up by a couple recently closed questions.

Scratches - both light and deep

How to remove a small dent in the front door of the car?

Although these are closed for reasons under discussion in other threads on Meta, it seems to have brought into speculation whether or not the overall topic of vehicle body repair is allowed on this site.

The body, while not generally a mechanical component, is indeed a part of any motor vehicle and does often need maintenance and repair. So, should it not stand to reason that this subject would be on-topic here?

Answer 1

Body repair sounds like it should be on topic, as long as the questions aren't vapid.

Answer 2

I would love to know more about the voodoo science of collision repair as well. I know my way around a car but body work is something I'm not too familiar with.

Any dummy can bolt on a fender but the pros can repair bent metal in ways that blow my mind sometimes.

Answer 3

I see a problem with body repair questions as a whole, in that not many people understand the depth an answer may require to accurately answer the questions.

A main reason for this is that the specialty equipment required to repair and refinish collision damage (even a key scratch) is available only to shops (usually for zone and compliance reasons).

The very glimpse at a collision related question can determine if it is something that is being asked (and should be answered by) someone in their garage or something being asked (and should be answered by) a structural, non-structural, or refinish technician.

The difference would be something like "How do I get a scratch out of my car?" and "If I can featheredge a scratch in factory paint without breaking through to metal, can I avoid sealer under waterbase?".

To answer the first question you could use about 5 or so 'garage based' answers at about 1-3 paragraphs in length. The same question would be immeasurably too vague for a professional to even start to answer.

The second question would take a professional to answer.

So to the original posted question, my opinion is that they are definitely on topic. My question is - who determines which questions are 'vapid'.