Body Shop Repair
If you have to get your car repaired after an accident, it’s important to know that auto body shops have your best interest in fixing your vehicle. Unfortunately, some favor insurance companies and will try to save them money by not using top quality replacement parts, for example.
Follow these basic principles on what to look for when selecting an auto body shop, we also provide you with tips on how to be involved in the repair of your vehicle. These tips will ensure that the repairs come out looking great and costing you only the price of your insurance deductible.
Do your research
Yelp, Google, Facebook, and Angieslist can be good places to find customer reviews. Always use common sense while measuring the veracity of a review. Short oneliner negative reviews you can almost completely ignore. It the reviewer does not take the adequate time to explain a legitimate grievance you can practically count on it as being a false or fake review. It is also a good idea to visit the dedicated forums in which you can find information about the make and model of your particular vehicle. Certain shops may be better at fixing certain types of vehicles than others, and you might be able to find a users recommendation for a shop in your area.
Only use body shops that provide you with a warranty
It is always important to know that whoever is going to be working on your car can back up the quality of there work with a written warranty. Ask to see the warranty and feel free to ask questions before committing to any agreement. The best shops will offer you a lifetime warranty.
Original Manufacturers Warranties
Be sure to ask the body shop about the impact that any collision repair work might have on your vehicles manufacturer warranty. This point is critical if your vehicle is new.
If your insurer is trying to “mandate” aftermarket or used parts that will void your factory warranty, demand that the insurer give you a written guarantee identical to your factory warranty. Nine times out of ten they’ll only pay for original parts, instead of giving you the runaround.
Talk to your collision center
Let them know that you want them to use good quality replacement parts. Your vehicles repair should end up leaving your vehicle looking and feeling just like before you got into the accident. This can only happen if the parts are precisely the ones intended for your vehicle.
Look for a shop that has the training and expertise to work on your particular car’s make. Now that is not to say that only specialized shops are uniquely qualified to work on your vehicle. A good body shop trains and keeps up to date in all types of cars. Allowing them to work on just about any make and model.
Get everything in writing
When commitments are made by your insurance adjuster or auto body shop representative, you need to get it in writing. Especially after a phone conversation in which details were given about car rentals and repairs, send an email to them asking them to put it in writing. In any kind of dispute, you will be in a better position if you have it in writing.
At Royal Collision we back our work with a lifetime warranty. We use the correct parts to get your vehicle back to a pristine state, just like it was before the accident. We are continuously training to be able to fix any type of car. Sure we specialize in exotic vehicles, but that does not preclude us from fixing a more common vehicle. If we can repair a Lamborgini Aventador or a Ferrari GTX, we can also restore a Honda Pilot, for example.