Many auto body shops do not have the customer’s best interest in mind, but work with insurance companies to do the least possible work, the cheapest way. You want an auto body shop that is committed to quality work on every vehicle that they work on. Here are some thoughts on what to do when looking for a trustworthy auto body shop:
– Get more than one estimate. Look into multiple shops and go with the one you feel will give you all your needs. Quality of work, estimate price, and length of work need to be taken into consideration. If you feel uneasy about a shop, best to choose another.
– Make sure that the shop knows your expectations. Once you have made a decision of the shop you are going to choose, make sure they know your expectations. Make sure that they know that you expect that the repairs look seamless, and that anything underneath, or mechanical be fixed as well. Make sure that the shop understands that you will not sign off on the job that is not up to your standards.
– Read your estimate carefully – Make sure all repairs that are talked about being done are on the estimate and itemized. If you sign off on an estimate without checking, you may be signing off on an estimate that does not completely fix your car (alignments for example), or that add work to the estimate that does not need to be done to up the estimate price.
– Make sure work done has a warranty – All reputable shops will attached a warranty to their work.
– Be knowledgeable about your car’s warranty – Talk with your body shop about your car’s warranty, and if any work that is done to repair your car may void the vehicle’s warranty. If you are unclear as to the wordage of your warranty, feel free to contact your dealership for clarification.
