We love our cars; we spend countless hours driving into them to work, driving the kids around and driving for fun. Though modern vehicles are fine machines, accidents will occur due to the sheer number of vehicles on the road, no matter how cautious and safe you are as a driver. You’ll need to take your car into the body shop when accidents happen. Because in every city and city there are so many shops, there are five keys to finding the right auto body shop that will get the job done correctly and reasonably.
How to Find Body Shop
The first thing to do is to find a couple of auto body shops in your area. The best way to do this is by referral from family, friends, neighbors, or colleagues. You can look for shops in your vicinity online too. Once you’ve got a handful of shops, online checking for reviews, ratings and testimonials is important. There are a couple of good online review sites that offer unbiased accounts about their experiences with local businesses.
It is important that your insurance company works with your auto body shop. Even if you don’t file a claim on this particular accident, it helps to establish a relationship with a body shop that willingly works with insurance companies if the need arises. Any reputable body shop should be able to work with your insurance company and coordinate repairs; if you find this is not the case then move on to the next repair facility.
Take a quick look at every shop you visit. A quick inspection will tell you whether the place is running efficiently and whether the staff is friendly. If you feel like you’re not going to be treated well, or just don’t like the vibe, go to the next location.
Ensure everybody shop that you visit is properly licensed and insured. Certificates will usually hang on the wall but it’s wise to ask about their licensing and insurance. Ask about any guarantees they offer, too.
The ultimate key is an estimation. You should get an estimate of at least three. The final estimates will vary from location to location, but it should not be too big a difference. If you get a very low estimate from one shop, that should raise a red flag. Even if you have a small job taking your car in, get the estimate in writing. The estimate should also include a finishing timeframe.
Your final selection should be based on referrals, your online homework, your feelings when visiting the site, your customer service, and your written estimation. You want to build a relationship with a reputable auto body shop; if you find one that you trust, then you can skip the first four keys the next time you need repairs, and go straight to the written estimate.
And by far the biggest help for finding a good body shop is the word – of – mouth, a friend who has done work and is pleased to let you know about the auto body shop with which he had good luck is a good sign that they have been well treated. If you don’t have any friends or coworkers who have had resentment repairs, you can try out local automotive paint supply shops in the area, they visit big and small shops every day and can help you out.