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No one likes being involved in a car accident. They’re hugely inconvenient, they’re a major hassle and they interrupt pretty much every aspect of your life, especially if you rely on your vehicle to do just about everything. Then there is the added headache of having to find a good reputable repair shop and arrange to get the damage fixed. Not all repair shops are created equal and what you’re undoubtedly looking for is a precision auto body shop. An auto body shop that doesn’t just call itself that but actually practices precision and excellence of service so that you can rest assured your vehicle is in the best possible hands and that you’ll drive it away from their premises in as good a condition as it was prior to the collision. Finding a precision auto body shop may sound a bit like looking for a needle in the proverbial haystack but armed with a few search tools and some know-how, it is definitely ‘do-able’. How To Find A Precision Auto Body Shop Precision by nature and possibly precision by name. That’s what you’re looking for and there are 4 tools you can employ to find this needle. Choose the right auto body shop and you’ll have your car back on the road in no time, without having to mortgage the family home to pay for it and with the assurance afforded by a guarantee of quality workmanship. Do Your Research Make haste slowly or you may well repent at your leisure. Don’t try and organise repairs from the scene of the accident because unless you’re well acquainted with your local auto body shops already and know exactly the right one for this job, you could end up making a hasty decision that will turn out to be the wrong one. Wait a while. Get the vehicle home and then conduct some research. Ask friends and families if they’ve ever used an auto body shop and if so, would they recommend you use the same one. If so, why; if not, why not. Get online, find some of your local repair shops and have a look at their customer feedback; most businesses display favourable customer comments on their website. Check independent online review sites like Yelp where you will find not just good reviews but also negative ones as well as customer ratings and be able to form an idea about their reputation. Has the business responded to the negative reviews with an explanation, apology, offer to rectify? This may tell you something about the customer service values of that particular shop and what they will do to retain customer goodwill. Also see what you can discover about their prices, services and deals. Armed with this information, try to pay a visit to the premises to have a look at their facilities and to have a chat with management. This will give you the opportunity to put these other tools to work. What Is Their Experience When you talk to the manager / owner of the repair shop, ask them how much experience they’ve had with your particular model and make of vehicle. Take note of the cleanliness and tidiness of the premises, as that could give some clues about much care they take in their work. How professional are the staff, are they happy to talk to you and answer your questions and is their equipment in good order, well maintained and adequate for the job? You may not know much about what happens in an auto repair shop but common sense will tell you that if they use trolley jacks instead of hydraulic lifts to get under vehicles then there is going to be a limit to how much repair work they can do underneath and is perhaps a clue that they may be lacking other important equipment. What Are Their Certifications And Business Credentials Is there evidence of industry registration if required by the state (some states require auto body shops to be state licensed to operate)? Are the owner / manager’s qualifications, if any, displayed? Are there any industry awards on display? Some of the applicable awards would be trade school diplomas, I-CAR advanced course work training certificates and ASE certificates that indicate the technicians hold national competency accreditations. Hone Up On Your Basic Knowledge – It’s Power Particularly if you’re a female. There are unscrupulous businesses out there that will take the opportunity to scam like overcharging for labour, charging for parts that aren’t required and claiming to have done work they haven’t and didn’t need to do anyway. However, if you’ve taken the time to learn as much as possible about your model and make of car then you’re more likely to have at least a reasonable idea of what work needs to be done and can question anything you consider to be out of the ordinary. Knowledge, as they say, is power!
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Precision, Auto, Body, Shop,
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