Anytime you’re involved in a roadway accident, it’s always a tremendous hassle getting your car back on the road again. It will be necessary to file insurance claims, you’ll have to arrange for a police report, and there may be injuries resulting from the accident that requires treatment or further testing. On top of all this, the damage to your car has to be repaired, so that you can continue with your normal life and maintain your livelihood. If you’ve never dealt with Auto Collision Repair operations before, there are some important things you should know about, so you don’t get surprised by what comes after an accident.
In some cases, an insurance company will send their own appraiser to assess any damages which may have occurred to your vehicle, but you are always better off working with a very skilled appraiser whom you have confidence in. A knowledgeable appraiser will be able to identify all the damage which has been done to your vehicle, whether that damage is visible or whether it’s somewhere among the internals of the car. Your appraiser needs to convince the insurance company about all legitimate damage, otherwise, they won’t be interested in footing the bill for it. When you’re looking for an experienced and knowledgeable appraiser, make sure that he/she knows their business and can accurately assess all kinds of damage to your vehicle.
Choose the Right Repair Shop
Some insurance companies already have pre-established relationships with specific collision shops in your area, and those are likely to be the shops they prefer you to send your car to. Keep in mind that you are not required to have the work done at these recommended locations and that you have the right to choose any collision shop you want to. It’s very often in your best interest to find a collision shop other than the one recommended by the insurer, because you may have greater confidence in them, or because they can do a good job more quickly than another shop.
Avoid Body Filler
Ideally, you should avoid having the usage of body filler by any Auto Collision Repair shop which does the repairs on your vehicle, because body filler is simply sub-standard, compared to the original components your vehicle is made of. In years past, you could always determine a car that had been in an accident by running a magnet all over the surface area, because it would quickly adhere to the metal components within the body filler. Some cars are directly manufactured today with body filler which is used to conceal imperfections that might exist with the metal components of the car. Nowadays, there are paintless dent techniques that make it possible for a body shop to do repairs without using any kind of sanding or body filler in the process. Make sure you inquire with your collision shop about whether this is their practice, and you should insist on it to be sure.
Doing Warranty Work
Don’t let your insurance company tell you that they won’t cover repairs if you go to a collision shop which they don’t recommend, because the warranty will be invalid in that case. This is completely untrue because warranties are covered by the collision shop rather than the insurance company. Make sure to choose a collision shop which offers a written warranty, and which also provides a guarantee of your satisfaction with all work carried out by their specialists.
Research your Collision Shop
You must make sure all repairs are done by a reputable collision shop, which puts your needs first and which uses only high-quality replacement materials when they are necessary. Make sure also that they offer warranties and guarantees of your satisfaction, in case you should end up unhappy about any work which is done. It’s always prudent to do extensive research on any collision shop, and to read online reviews by other customers so you’ll know exactly what to expect of that organization.
OEM Parts Are Pretty Important
When it is necessary to use replacement parts in the repair of your vehicle, you should insist on original manufacturer parts (OEM), because these are quite often made to a higher standard of quality than aftermarket parts are. OEM parts are those which are originally made for the vehicle you own, and which have been patented by the car-maker. In most cases, aftermarket parts may indeed be compatible and functional for your vehicle, but it’s entirely possible that they won’t be as high-quality or as high-performance as the OEM parts are.
Totaling your Car
A car is only considered totaled by an insurance company if it costs more to repair the vehicle than the current book value is for the vehicle. That’s why an older car is much more likely to be considered totaled than a newer car because its book value is generally far less than a newer car would be. If your car is relatively new, you would have to have major damage to it, for it to be considered totaled by your insurance company.
The right Auto Collision Repair can Restore a Car
It used to be that a car that had been involved in a collision seldom if ever returned to its former state of operational excellence. However, today’s collision shops have become far more sophisticated, and it is now possible to restore many vehicles to their original condition after they’ve been involved in a collision. The key to this is making sure that all repairs performed on the vehicle are done correctly so that the car has the same sound structure, functionality, and the same beautiful appearance which it had before the collision. If your vehicle has been involved in a highway accident, make sure to find the right appraiser, and to choose the right collision shop, so that your vehicle can be just as efficient and good-looking after an accident, as it was before the collision.
