We can’t always make people happy.

A few days ago we received a 2 star review just because the person was not happy with our collision repair estimate of their vehicle

A lot of factors go into a collision repair estimate.

A seemingly benign fender bender can hide much more damage and minor damage to the bumper cover can hide damage to the bumper reinforcement which in turn can hide damage the unibody.

Another factor in a collision repair estimate is the quality of the parts used. Did the other shops quote original factory parts, aftermarket or refurbished parts? We quote original factory parts because they are a better fit.

The quality of the paint also influences the estimate, we only use the highest quality PPG paints Estimates are just that, estimates and can vary greatly.

Until a car is disassembled, no one knows just what the true cost of repair will be

A Chevy Cruze recently came in our shop after an apparent minor fender bender.

At first there did not seem to be a lot of damage and the original insurance collision repair estimate came at around $1900.

After we removed the bumper cover the real extent of the damage came to light with damage to the unibody.

You see, cars nowadays have  built in crumple zones, mainly in the front and rear areas.

The idea is to make the cars safer, in case of impact the crumple zone absorbs the main force of the impact reducing potential injuries.

The problem  with that is that in case of impact, even minor, the crumple zone can be affected and need repair and without taking some of the front elements apart, there is no way to identify a lot of the damage and as a result include it in the estimate.

A well trained professional will be able to identify signs that there is more damage than meet the eyes, signs that the vehicle owner will not see, an adjuster will skip or a less thorough collision repair facility employee will miss

That’s why we are certified by a number of car manufacturer to fix their cars and will soon be one of only 20% of shops nationwide to be I-Car Gold certified

Bottom line, by the time the insurance adjuster was done revising the estimate we were right around $9000 car come in for example, the original estimate was $1900 (per insurance adjuster) by the time we took the car apart, the insurance had corrected their estimate to $9000