What To Do After Auto Body Repair

You’ve asked your friends if they’ve had experience with auto body shops, you’ve gotten several quotes, you’ve asked all the right questions, and you’ve taken your car in for a service with the collision repair center you think is best for you.

Now it is time to pick up your car.

But don’t think that you can just drive off into the sunset without a second thought. There are still a couple of things that you’ll need to do once the repair on your car has been completed. Here’s the low down on what to do after auto body repair.

Understand exactly what the collision repair center has done

As a responsible vehicle owner, it is important to understand exactly what has been done to your car. You will need to know this in case anything starts going wrong when you are back on the road. Make sure that a member of staff at the collision center runs through exactly what they have done, any parts they have replaced and what they have replaced them with. You’ve probably already done this before you handed over the keys to your car, but it is important to do it again to make sure the work is true to their original quote. If it isn’t it is important to understand why.

Get a member of staff to walk around the car with you

Before you accept that the work is complete, you should walk around and inspect the entire vehicle. Ideally, this can be done at the same time as the step above. That way, the technician can point out where repairs have taken place and how they have been handled. If you see anything amiss, if there are still scratches, for example, point them out now and state that you won’t be accepting the car or paying the bill until they have been sorted.

Get a fully itemized bill

Once you are happy with the work and understand how your car has been repaired, you should ask for a fully itemized bill. This will detail how much each part was, what the labor costs were and any other charges that the repair work incurred. The bill should match up with the breakdown that the center’s mechanics talked you through. If anything stands out as expensive or incorrect, or if there is a charge that you don’t understand, make sure that you raise it with the team. Don’t leave the center unless you are happy with the bill.

Take it for a test drive

Often with collision repair, you’ll only really know how well the car has been repaired once you start driving it. That’s why you should take it for a test drive before paying the final bill. This will allow you to check if there are any strange noises coming from the car—a sign of bad repair work—or if it is handling badly. Again, only accept the car if you are completely happy with how your car drives and handles.

We don’t want you to leave our repair center unhappy. That’s why we take the following advice seriously, talking and walking you through all of the work that we have done. If you need a quote for auto body repair work, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team using our online form or by calling us at (623) 915-2886.