One of the very first things you should think about when choosing a Collision shop is, “How much experience does the shop have?” It’s not enough to know how many years a shop has been in business, but it’s a good place to start. You should also take into account the extreme climate here in Monroe County, and the extra experience required to deal with the damage road salt can cause.
So, that’s when you start to think about what things you should know before taking your car to the Body Shop. Of course that you can go and just let them do their work, but it’s not the ideal: you have to be aware of the different processes that your car will be involved in.
I have found that, here in the Flower City, the average experience of body shop techs is slightly over seven years, and rookies are few and far between right now. That means you are quite likely to find a shop with experienced techs, if you just take the time to look around.
Dark dank body shops are a thing of the past, although you may come across one down some back alley somewhere. Today though, the majority of body shops are clean, airy, quality tools on show with clean working environments. Having said this, you still have to ensure that even though everything looks smart and clean, at the end of the day, it is the work that matters.
Most of today’s body shops are very clean, neat and very well lit. These are usually the ones at the top end of the scale. It is normal for a well run body shop to have different areas of work designated.
If the manager can’t or won’t tell you how long his techs have been working there, it may be best to move on to another auto body repair shop. Body shop technicians seem to stay longer at one shop than in many areas of the country. This stability adds up to valuable experience for you.
If there is major damage on the vehicle then it will be removed to the area set up for disassemble and onto a frame machine. There are fewer cars now that have a true frame, the machine now is really used in straightening the uni-body construction this is typical on most of the modern cars. The term uni-body basically means that sheet metal is stamped, formed, and welded together, forming the structural part of the car’s body.
It is critical to measure the vehicle’s body for correct uni-body alignment. If, for example, there is one millimeter error then that is all manufacturers will allow. Many body shops use a laser measuring system alongside a frame machine these are used to make certain everything is properly straightened.