Before having any maintenance or repairs performed on your car, you must locate the best automotive repair shop. So, how can you identify which car service provider is the ideal fit?
1. Find One Nearby
Even though you shouldn’t always settle for the nearest car repair garages, it’s still crucial to choose one that isn’t terribly far away. This will make monitoring the progress of your repairs a much easier undertaking. Because auto body shops want to retain clients, they shouldn’t mind if you check in regularly.
2. Inquire About the Parts
Insurance regulations do not always compel auto shops to utilize OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts when repairing vehicles. State-by-state regulations differ. If your shop uses aftermarket items, you have the right to reject them. If you choose original components, you may be required to dig deeper into your pockets.
3. Inquire About Communication
Communication is also a crucial aspect to consider when comparing different repair services. Does the car body company accept phone calls? Are their responses clear and concise? Are they willing to address problems and answer inquiries? Choose to collaborate with specialists with whom you can effectively communicate.
4. Inquire About Experience with Your Model
Even though most repair shops can repair any automobile, certain automobiles are constructed very differently than others. Automobiles manufactured in mass quantities have more uniform components, making them easier to repair. If you drive a specialty vehicle, visit a shop that has experience with your make and model.
The owner of a car or pickup truck is responsible for that vehicle’s repair and upkeep needs, and fortunately, there are countless repair shops and paint shops across the U.S., where a car can be put back into top form. Car repairs after an accident are common, for example, not to mention repairing dents from hail or changing the tires or rims. A car paint shop is the right place to touch up a car’s scratched or scraped paint job, and a tire shop offers many options for new tires on a car, including specialized models for certain driving conditions. Getting car repairs after an accident is vital for the car’s aesthetics and function alike, and even the smallest dents or scrapes should be taken seriously. Unless a car got totaled, it should be fixed up right away.
Car Repairs After an Accident: Dents and Windshields
A car accident is bound to damage a car’s body quite heavily, and even a glancing blow will put dents in the car, damage a tire, or knock a bumper loose. For example, a car is hit by a drunk driver, or a car slides out of control on ice and hits another vehicle (or property). In such a case, the doors may suffer huge dents, the hubcaps and rim may get dented or dinged, and the trunk may get crumpled or dented, too, or even the rear. Dents are a problem because not only are they unsightly, but they disrupt the car’s aerodynamic qualities, thus lowering its fuel efficiency. Large dents also lower the car’s resale value. So, car repairs after an accident mean pounding out those dents, and workers at an auto shop can use hammers and similar tools to pound metal back into shape anywhere on the car’s body and remove those dents.
It’s not just auto accidents, either; large hail can also pound dents into cars (often hail the size of golf balls or larger), not to mention vandals who throw items at a parked car or strike it with hard objects. Falling tree branches can also dent a car. Or, in traffic, a truck’s cargo (bricks, stones, etc) may come loose and go flying around, and they may strike cars behind that truck and dent them.
The car’s windshield or side windows may also suffer damage after incidents like these. Hail and falling tree branches can certainly crack a car’s windshield, not to mention flying debris from a truck or vandalism. The kinetic shock of a car accident can also crack the car’s windshield. Cracked windshields are very distracting for the driver, and worse yet, the cracks may get larger and spread over time as the car is driven, and the windshield might shatter entirely after too much force is applied. For these reasons, cars with cracked windshields tend to fail car safety inspections, and their resale value is greatly lowered. The owner must take their car to a shop and have any cracked windshields or window removed and swapped out for new ones.
Fixing the Paint
Many of these blunt hazards may damage not only the car’s metal body or its glass, but also the paint itself. Car paint isn’t just for show; the paint and sealant act as a protective skin, to prevent the car’s body from rusting. Hail, car accidents, falling tree branches, flying objects, and vandalism may scrape off a car’s paint in some areas, or put scratches all over it. Exposed metal is prone to rusting, and the car’s owner won’t like the unsightly scratches and scrapes on their car. So it’s time to visit an auto paint shop for help.
The staff at an auto shop will match the car’s paint color as best they can with stock on hand, and touch up any affected part of the car’s paint job. The cost may vary greatly, based on the extent and location of the damage. But some car owners have the skill to handle this themselves. They can open the hood and check the divider between the engine and passenger compartments for a sticker to determine the car’s paint color code, and order that paint online. Once it arrives, the owner can sand down the affected area, apply primer, then apply paint and sealant.
