All depends on how charitable you are. Both repairs if done professionally will give a good result.

Thanks, I thought as much to be honest but having had another repair done on insurance recently (bus hit my offside front wing and drove off) I was impressed by the quality of the replacement.

The door skin would need a seriously good panel beater to make it right, possible to do but time consuming.

The sill should be no issue to fill and make good, and i'd rather not disturb the welded shell of the car if possible, due to future corrosion issues....though has the car been jacked up under the sill at the front, it looks to be dented from underneath or is that the shape to accommodate the jacking point.

Make doubly sure they are fitting a complete new door if you go that far and not reskinning the present one, again future corrosion issues.

The lads dad will probably have a rethink at the cost involved.

Thanks very much. The panel beater quoted me around 10 hours of labour (£440). Probably about right I'd say too.

Yes, the front sill damage is my error. Had to free a stone trapped in the brake disc. My car before was an 2008 A3 and that was where the jack point was. Didn't bother to check and presto - a dented sill, the jack point is further back...

I've attached both quotes below. I would presume by the cost of the second this would be for a full new door but will check.

imgur.com/a/5tZwQhW (both quotes)