After minor accidents, we often skip car accident repair assuming we don’t need it as it is nothing major. However, if we continue driving a damaged car, it could lead to dire consequences.

A minor fender bender might be hiding greater damage so you need to visit a body shop to get the damage assessed and repaired immediately. A good Austin auto body repair shop should offer repairs like towing, denting, structural repairs, paint jobs, and frame repairs or replacements. Covert Collision in Austin is your local body shop that offers all of these premium services, and more.

The consequences of not contacting your body shop immediately are as follows:

• Safety: You are compromising your safety and that of others around you even if you experienced a minor parking lot bump. To the naked eye, the damage might appear small but a professional would be able to assess the actual damage. There could be internal damages caused by the impact which could create problems for you in the future.
• Further Damage Prevention: Basic dents and scratches on the outside don’t mean there can’t be underlying damages. There could be brake issues, problems with the steering wheel or heating problems post impact that only a professional can detect. If you overlook these issues and delay repairs, these issues might escalate and end up costing you even more.
• Covered by Insurance: If your car’s loan isn’t paid off completely yet, the state of Texas requires you to get a comprehensive damage assessment done. This policy also expresses the importance of getting repairs immediately if you want to keep your coverage. Insurance companies do not offer extra coverage if you have delayed repairs on your car or have not been keeping it up to date.
• Your Car’s Value: If your car was paid for in cash or if your loan has been paid off, you could put your car’s value at risk if you do not seek immediate attention for your collision and auto body repair services. Or if you decide to sell the car without repairs, you might not be getting the best price for your car. Used vehicles are easily sold but nobody would choose to buy a damaged and faulty car.

Getting your vehicle looked at immediately after a major or minor accident is very important as it prevents any further damages to your vehicle while keeping you safe.

Some things like running over a nail, or a battery dying for no specific reason, or the engine breaking down always happen out of the blue and you cannot be prepared for it irrespective of how particular you are with your vehicle’s inspection.

Towing companies are called in the case of several roadway incidents. Here are a few incidents when you can ask for help:

• Your vehicle breaking down (overheating, battery dying, running out of gas, flat tire)
• Your vehicle colliding with another vehicle, a fixed object, an animal, or a pedestrian
• Your vehicle running off the road
• Load Shift; cargo on the roadway
• Your car simply won’t start

1.     Thorough Research

Following an accident, you might be tempted to opt for your insurance company’s recommended auto body shop. However, your insurance company might not have the best repair partners, in terms of experience, expertise, or equipment. Or, the body shop might be across town, making it difficult for you to keep track of progress. So, take your time to find better options near you to return your car to its pre-accident state.

2.     Recommendations from Friends, Family, Or Colleagues

You most likely have people in your social circle, including friends, family, and colleagues, who have been in accidents before. Ask them for body shop recommendations in Austin on social media or call. If they rave about a particular shop in your area, you should check it out for more information and a quote. However, this doesn’t mean you should stop looking into other options.

3.     Look for Certified Technicians

This is perhaps the most important tip in learning how to find the right auto body shop in Texas. Many body shops employ highly-trained, I-Car certified professionals that can work with multiple manufacturer vehicles. Meanwhile, some specialize in individual makes and models. For instance, a certified Ford or GMC body shop will proudly show off these certifications on their employees’ uniforms, packaging, and websites. Certified auto body shops also have better tools and equipment at their disposal, meaning they can do a much better job, in terms of quality and time.

4.     Compare Prices

Just because your insurance is paying the bills doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to minimize the costs. Always ask for an estimate from different auto body shops in Austin, either by visiting, calling, or chatting. More importantly, ask about the estimated repair time, since you’ll need the car to be ready for work or other priorities. The last thing you need is to have your car stay in a shop for weeks.

5.     Read Online Reviews

Social media and sites like Autotrader and Yelp are excellent places to find authentic customer reviews. Find out what people are saying about the body shops you’re interested in. Many customers even share before and after services pictures or videos with detailed descriptions of the work and quality of service.

When you’re trying to find a quality auto body shop, reviews are an excellent resource. Take the time to visit some trusted online sources and get a sense of what other customers are saying. Oftentimes, you’ll be able to find before-and-after pictures and detailed descriptions of the work that was done, costs, waiting time, and the level of professionalism the customer experienced from the shop.

6.     Ask Questions

Whether you’re on a call with customer support or visiting a body shop in person, don’t hold back on any questions you need to ask. Professional technicians and a highly-trained staff should provide you answers to all your questions, no matter how basic or complex. Feel free to ask about written estimates, warranties, insurance, paperwork, estimate process, certifications, payment policies, and expected turnaround time, etc.

7.     Trust Your Instinct

No matter how great an auto body shop is on paper, if you feel any doubt, always follow your instinct. Getting a good vibe from the technicians fixing your car is crucial. If you find anything shady, take your car to another body shop right away.

1.     Fixing Body Damage Requires Professional Intervention

It takes a lot more than some hot water and a strong hand to pull out a dent. Auto body repair is a complicated process that requires professional intervention and specialized tools. Even if you have a garage full of specialized tools, such as dent pullers and pain guns, you’ll still need the experience to successfully do the repair job, unless you’re willing to experiment.

2.     Lack of Proper Tools and Equipment

Even the most straightforward repair jobs require essential tools and equipment, which are not cheap to procure. Many car owners only have a basic toolset that comes with a car jack, screwdrivers, spanners, and breaker bar, etc. Meanwhile, auto body workshops pack more advanced tools and equipment that they use for daily operations.

3.     More Time Consuming

DIY auto body repairs are extremely time-consuming, especially for amateurs who are learning on the job. Unless you don’t have other priorities, you should leave the repairs to professionals who can take your car apart and put it back together faster than you could change a flat tire.

4.     Health Concerns

Taking the DIY route to fix your car is potentially dangerous, especially if the repair involves welding, drilling, cutting, and painting. Hazards include paint fumes, airborne particles, carbon monoxide, fiberglass resin fumes, hot metal, etc. As a result, you’ll need to proactively procure proper safety equipment, such as safety goggles and an approved respirator.  

5.     Inferior Results

When it comes to car repairs, it all falls to expertise, experience, and equipment. The best auto body shops in Austin have decades of experience in dealing with minor fender benders and major collisions, meaning they can do a much better job than you can, quicker and cheaper. When taking the DIY route, you’ll be investing in tools and supplies, which will only add to the cost. Unless you’ve done this before many times, it’s unlikely you’ll have enough practice for a perfect finish.

6.     Damaged Vehicle Prepping is Challenging

There’s more to fixing a damaged bumper or side panel than disassembling and refitting. It requires a lot of prep work before you can install new parts. For instance, before a paint job, you need to remove all the dust particles from the surface to avoid paint scraping off over time.

7.     No Controlled Environment

Many car owners think they can carry out any type of repairs in their garage or driveway. With this approach, you’re bound to make several mistakes and risk further damage. By opting for an auto body shop, not only do you get a controlled environment with proper tools and equipment, but you also deal with less dust, dirt, and harmful chemicals.

Hail repair is a complex dent repair job that you should never try to do yourself unless you’re a certified technician. There are several things you must consider before choosing a body shop for hail damage repair in Austin, such as:

1.     Dent Types

Your vehicle can suffer from three types of dents – round dents, crease dents, and dings. These dents differ in terms of the severity of damage and repair requirements. For instance, crease dents usually don’t damage the paint and are caused by hail scraping through the sides. In contrast, round dents form when hail falls close to 90-degrees at great velocity. While most body shops can fix minor dents, repairing major dents require intervention from certified repair professionals with proper tools and equipment.

2.     Research

Before you head into a body shop in your area, take some time to do some online research, and speak to their support. Once you have a shortlist of potential shops in the vicinity, you can distinguish their services based on:

3.  Cost

If your goal is to keep the repair costs to a minimum, you might not get the best finished results. Anywhere you go, you’re likely to find similar prices for repairs. The only difference is that a professional service would be able to break down the process and share the cost of each step with you. A proper breakdown structure for cost and work is an indicator of professionals that know what they’re doing.

4. Repair Duration

The last thing you need is to wait for weeks to get your car back following hail damage repairs. Most workshops typically use PDR to fix dents, and this process hardly takes more than a few days, depending on the extent of the damage. You should ask the body shop about the ETA once they’ve done the evaluation and estimation. If they can’t find a justifiable reason for delays or long repair periods, they’re probably outsourcing the job to other services.

5.  Dent Repair and Service Quality

A renowned body shop generally offers superior customer service, better repair jobs, and escalated timeframes. They can even deal with your insurance company to make the repair job less stressful. Some might even provide you a free rental car to manage while your car gets repaired.

1.     Genuine Ford Replacement Parts

Collision repairs go beyond banging out fender benders and refreshing the paint job. Modern Ford models feature several smart sensors and tech features that rely on unique parts to function properly. This makes it vital to make repairs using genuine replacement parts designed by ford. Generic parts or low-quality copies are not all built equal. With genuine parts, you can ensure the same reliability as the original parts.

2.     Certified Ford Technicians

While you can easily purchase original replacement parts from a dealer, you’ll still need an experienced technician who understands how to properly install them. Certified Ford technicians are well-versed in the anatomy of old and new Ford models so they can take out disassemble, fix, and reassemble parts effortlessly.

3.     Proper Tools and Equipment

Every car brand, including Ford, employs several unique parts, components, and systems that are specifically designed for the models they manufacture. Choosing a certified Ford auto body shop will ensure proper repairs based on your model’s design and specifications. Unlike local shops, they have the expertise, experience, and proper tools and equipment to work on aluminum panels, complex wirings, and mechatronic infrastructure.

4.     Maintained Vehicle Value

Only by opting for a certified Ford body shop can you maintain your vehicle’s value. This means that if you plan to sell it in the future, you can get a good price even if after a major accident. Local shops generally use salvaged or reconditioned parts to keep things running, and this affects the resale value.

5.     Computerized Evaluation

All modern Ford vehicles would be hooked to a software-based scanning tool to reset or fix the coding so the vehicle functions efficiently. You cannot find this software and computers at a local body shop. Nor can you find technicians who can fix tens of thousands of codes. And even if they can, you don’t want to risk your safety by opting for improvised solutions just so you can save a few bucks. Spending money on a certified Ford auto body shop near you is a smart investment that can pay off in the long run.

1.     Take a Good Look Around

You don’t have to get your repairs done from the first body shop you walk into. The minute you head into a body shop, take a good look around. Is the workshop relatively clean and organized? Is the staff friendly and professional? How many cars are currently being repaired? A bad first impression is often a sign to take your car somewhere else for repairs.

2.     Ask About Training and Certifications

The last thing you want to is to hire a team of untrained or inexperienced professionals working a complex vehicle like a Cadillac. Ask the manager or staff what kind of training they received. Look for plaques or certificates in the auto body shop, such as:

• I-CAR Training I-CAR certified repair professionals have the relevant knowledge and skills to take on complex repair jobs in the collision industry. Look for ships with Gold Class I-CAR designation.
• ASE Certification If you see technicians with ASE Blue Seal on their uniforms, know that you’re at the right place. These professionals are trained by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence.
• OE Certification Cadillac has many certified shops throughout the country based on their criteria. You can ask the auto body shop if they’re certified by Cadillac.

3.     Get Several Estimates

Getting repair quotes from different body shops near you is a smart way to avoid overcharges. However, this does not mean that you go for the lowest quote. Only choose a cheaper shop if they have a solid reputation. Many shops unnecessarily charge more for the same job because of their location and demographics.

4.     Pay Attention to Word of Mouth and Reviews

Just because a body shop has the marketing budget to run ads on Google doesn’t necessarily mean they have the best shop in town. Any business can advertise, but those shops that family, friends, and colleagues recommend often offer better services. In many cases, that Cadillac Auto body shop might not even be the most popular one in the area. Secondly, if you search for the best Cadillac body shop near you online, make sure to look for positive and negative reviews on their websites and social media pages.

5.     Follow Your Intuition

Finally, don’t ignore your gut feeling about a body shop. If a shop has few cars, maybe that’s because they don’t have many customers. If the place is a mess, you cannot expect the technicians to offer top-notch repair services. If the staff and manager are uncooperative or hiding something, take your car to another shop.