Collision Repair Quality
 

1. What questions should one ask a collision repair shop to ensure they use the correct quality of parts, do a good job with paint, and conduct high-quality workmanship?

2. How would you hold them to the standard which they state?

3. Would you trust any shop recommended by an insurance agency?


Background: My Buick got rear ended and needs a new rear bumper cover and tailgate. We just moved to MD so I don't know many car-oriented people to ask about reputable shops indirectly, and I'm getting tired of driving around with a damaged vehicle, particularly one that looks fantastic (IMO) otherwise. Regal TourX in rioja red metallic.

Look for a shop that is an authorized factory repay shop. Usually they would a a bunch of car manufacturers plaques on the wall. Kinda like trophies.

The only reason why the insurance would recommend their shop is to save them money. Not becsuse they do a good job, but the shop can cut costs/corners in their favor.

Usually if insurance is paying the bill they will have a life time warranty or some thing like that.

Either way, I would ask around, coworkers or car part shops people.

Specialists doing specialized labor can charge whatever they want. Ask people YOU trust to recommend a shop that THEY trust. Then just tell the shop to take their time and do a good job.

i would never use a company recommended by the insurance company. currently, about 75% of the people i know that have gone this route have horror stories.

insurance typically guarantee's any of the work they pay for no matter what.

being that it's a metallic color, the respray is difficult-- they usually need to blend the paint further past the replaced area, otherwise the metal flake lays different and looks 'off'.

i believe your buick is new enough it won't be a problem, but if they say anything about aftermarket replacement parts, insist on oem parts. aftermarket parts have horrific fitment, no matter what they say.

avoid 'chain' stores. the good body shops around me are all family-owned small time shops.

I don't care if the insurance company recommends them or not. It could very well be that they know they do good work with a minimum of hassle. The presumption that they only send you there to rip you off and save money is not always valid.

I would NEVER go in and interview a shop owner about how they do their job. I know if I owned a shop and some dipstick came in and started interrogating me as to the quality of my work I would kick them the fuck out. If they do crappy work they are just going to lie to you anyway so there is little point in asking a bunch of questions.

Check for reviews (this is 2020 so they are easy to find) Watch out for negative reviews that have nothing to do with the work performed. "Car looks perfect, was fast and painless service but they had a pit bull running loose so I only give them one star"
Look around the shop area that you can see (they often can't let you into it due to insurance) and see if it is neat and tidy.

Are the techs you may see covered in paint, dust, smell like they bathed in thinner? Walk away.

Do they have a bunch of cars that have obviously been there a while sitting around the yard? Are there body parts (car ones!) piled up around the lot? Run away.

Is the office and reception area cluttered with paper work, phones going unanswered, everything is covered in bondo dust, 15 year old quality awards on the wall but nothing new? Run even faster.

I'd suggest you pay a visit to a local auto parts store, look for an employee over 50 years old, ask him who he would recommend do body work.


humfrz

I'd go to the dealer you trust, or just any high volume new car/certified dealer really and ask where they get their work done.
Since they are selling the cars that they respray/fix, it needs to be perfect or close to it once it gets back to their lot to sell.
Luckily for me my Toyota dealership has their own shop that repairs all their cars but they also do walk-ins and insurance work.

Thanks all for the advice folks. Thinking on some of this, would the local Buick dealer's service department be someone to ask for a recommendation?

The reason I don't just want to go off straight internet reviews is that I think I might be a bit more particular about this than most internet reviewers. The plethora of "they were nice to me and I got my car back in a week:5 stars!" reviews don't really tell me a lot. I did the 'trust the reviews' thing my first go around many years ago with my Saab, and I don't think the paint matched particularly well for some reason. Then again, they did have a very clean and well organized shop so maybe I'm just too picky.

I'll give it some more thought this weekend...

Yes, I'm crazy. :mad0259:

Lol beat me to the suggestion! Thanks.

Had my dealers collision/repair shop fix a deep rock dent/paint chip on the hood right next to the badge. They got the hood blended out perfect and in fact made the finish better than the rest of the car. Then when the time came, last month, to fix a broken windshield, I used who that shop recommended and who they use since they didn't do windshields in house.
That company came out and did a decent job but I was picky about the rubber thing peeking out that goes around not being the same exact on the left and right side, so they pulled it off the next day with a whole new window/gasket and did it over to perfection in my eyes. They all know their reputation relies on one another when they are recommending each other out so they all make sure they make every customer happy otherwise it comes back on them.

You are grossly overthinking this.

If I didn't know you were an engineer some comments would let me know you are an engineer.

Fer sure, fer sure, @Spuds.

I suggest that you lower your expectations; unless the parts aren't mated proper, or the paint is orange peeled or has runs in it, don't worry about it.

It's the back of a car, not your wife's face!

Ya wanna hear the story about my massive ulcer that damn near took out the bottom of my stomach or the story about my stroke that damn near paralyzed my right side - worrying about shit like that - ???

:sigh:


humfrz

I know where he's coming from. Some of us are neurotic about these things. Every time I wash the car, I am dreading the day comes when I see the first door ding.
When I got hit by that flying rock that hit my hood, the car was in the shop the next day. Seeing a repair done to my own vehicle that was less than perfect would drive
me nuts that I would probably resent my car and strain our relationship. Who knows, we might have to part ways.

It is one thing to expect a good job and a totally different thing to think that your expectations and assessment is far superior than everybody else.
As Hum pointed out it is a car. Shit happens. You get it fixed. Life goes on. If you can't deal with that then professional help may be in order.