Automobile accidents are an unfortunate fact of life for lots of people in Columbia, Waterloo, Millstadt, Freeburg, and New Athens, Illinois. With scores of drivers on the road daily, many of them distracted by phone calls, messy burritos, bad weather, or lack of sleep, crashes are unavoidable. Thankfully, the majority of these accidents are pretty minor and no one gets hurt.
But a minor accident can really damage the outside of your car. Areas like the fenders and doors are particularly prone to damage.
While it's generally the insurance company's job to get your car patched up and back on the road when this happens, there are a few things you need to know in order to make certain that your vehicle is correctly fixed. Here’s some of the top auto body repair tips from the collision professionals, Charlie's Columbia CARSTAR in Columbia, Illinois.
1. You can pick the auto body shop
Insurance companies can refer you to auto body shops that they work with, but ultimately you can choose who does the work. Most insurance-recommended auto body shops are reputable and perform high-quality repairs, but there are a couple of bad eggs out there that cut corners to get the job done quicker and cheaper. These shops will attract insurance adjusters with reduced repair costs, but that could cause a sloppy repair. Before accepting an agreement to get your car fixed at an insurance-recommended auto body shop, do some research online by searching Yelp or other sites with small business reviews.
2. Avoid aftermarket parts
When you take your vehicle in for auto body repair after a collision, you should inquire about the replacement parts that are being utilized by the auto body shop. Auto body shops may use new original parts, used parts, or aftermarket parts. While used parts were made by your vehicle manufacturer and perform as well as new original parts, aftermarket parts are often cheap imitations with inferior quality. These parts can corrode, rattle, and ultimately diminish your car's value.
3. Carefully examine paint match
All too often, you see cars on the road with body panels that don't match in color. Matching a newly painted body panel to the remainder of your vehicle is a difficult challenge, and quite often there can be a large, obvious difference in shade. When you pick up your car from the auto body shop, ask which panels are original and which ones were painted. Step back ten feet from the car and see if there's a difference in color. If there is, there may be additional paint work required to get a better match.
4. Check warning lights
After an accident, there are some warning lights which could turn on in your dashboard. These can include the airbag light, the low coolant light, the check engine light, and others. Whenever you pick up your finished automobile, make sure all of the issues have been corrected and none of the lights are lightened. Illuminated lights can indicate that your automobile's on-board computer might need to be reprogrammed, or that specific electrical components need replacement.
Auto body repair is something that everybody in a collision should know about. If you'd like to learn more about this important subject, or if you would like auto body repair in Columbia, Illinois, visit Charlie's Columbia CARSTAR.
But a minor accident can really damage the outside of your car. Areas like the fenders and doors are particularly prone to damage.
While it's generally the insurance company's job to get your car patched up and back on the road when this happens, there are a few things you need to know in order to make certain that your vehicle is correctly fixed. Here’s some of the top auto body repair tips from the collision professionals, Charlie's Columbia CARSTAR in Columbia, Illinois.
1. You can pick the auto body shop
Insurance companies can refer you to auto body shops that they work with, but ultimately you can choose who does the work. Most insurance-recommended auto body shops are reputable and perform high-quality repairs, but there are a couple of bad eggs out there that cut corners to get the job done quicker and cheaper. These shops will attract insurance adjusters with reduced repair costs, but that could cause a sloppy repair. Before accepting an agreement to get your car fixed at an insurance-recommended auto body shop, do some research online by searching Yelp or other sites with small business reviews.
2. Avoid aftermarket parts
When you take your vehicle in for auto body repair after a collision, you should inquire about the replacement parts that are being utilized by the auto body shop. Auto body shops may use new original parts, used parts, or aftermarket parts. While used parts were made by your vehicle manufacturer and perform as well as new original parts, aftermarket parts are often cheap imitations with inferior quality. These parts can corrode, rattle, and ultimately diminish your car's value.
3. Carefully examine paint match
All too often, you see cars on the road with body panels that don't match in color. Matching a newly painted body panel to the remainder of your vehicle is a difficult challenge, and quite often there can be a large, obvious difference in shade. When you pick up your car from the auto body shop, ask which panels are original and which ones were painted. Step back ten feet from the car and see if there's a difference in color. If there is, there may be additional paint work required to get a better match.
4. Check warning lights
After an accident, there are some warning lights which could turn on in your dashboard. These can include the airbag light, the low coolant light, the check engine light, and others. Whenever you pick up your finished automobile, make sure all of the issues have been corrected and none of the lights are lightened. Illuminated lights can indicate that your automobile's on-board computer might need to be reprogrammed, or that specific electrical components need replacement.
Auto body repair is something that everybody in a collision should know about. If you'd like to learn more about this important subject, or if you would like auto body repair in Columbia, Illinois, visit Charlie's Columbia CARSTAR.
