Auto Body Repair Basics For Your Next Collision

Automobile accidents are a regrettable fact of life for many people in Arnold, Oakville, Imperial, Festus, and St. Louis, MO. With scores of drivers on the road each day, a lot of them preoccupied by telephone calls, messy burritos, bad weather, or sleep deficiency, collisions are inevitable. Thankfully, the majority of accidents are relatively minor and no one gets injured.

But a minor accident can significantly damage the outside of your vehicle. Areas like the fenders and doors are especially prone to damage.

While it's generally the insurance company's job to get your automobile patched up and back on the road when this occurs, there are some things you should 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, Carstar Arnold in Arnold, Missouri.

1. You can choose the auto body shop

It is true that your insurance provider could refer you to an auto body shop that they like. However, do not forget that you have the right to ultimately decide on where your vehicle is taken for its repair. You can’t really demonize auto body shops that the insurance provider recommends because most are really fine shops. There are a couple of bad ones out there that might do shoddy work. Those kinds of shops will reach out to the insurance people by promising to cut costs, but unfortunately they cut corners as well when it comes to the repair. Do not simply trust an auto body shop because it is the one that the insurance company told you to go to.

2. Avoid aftermarket parts

When you take your car in for auto body repair following a collision, you should inquire about the replacement parts which are 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 work as well as new original parts, aftermarket parts are often cheap imitations with inferior quality. These parts can corrode, rattle, and ultimately diminish your vehicle's value.

3. Carefully examine paint match

More often than not, you see vehicles on the road with body panels that do not match in color. Matching a newly painted body panel to the rest of your car is a difficult challenge, and quite often there can be a large, obvious difference in shade. When you pick up your automobile from the auto body shop, ask which panels are original and which ones were painted. Step back ten feet from the automobile and see if there's a difference in color. If there's, there may be additional paint work required to get a better match.

4. Check warning lights

After an accident, there are some warning lights that may 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 illuminated. Illuminated lights can indicate that your automobile's on-board computer may need to be reprogrammed, or that particular electrical components need replacement.

Auto body repair is something that everybody in a collision needs to know about. If you'd like to find out more about this worthwhile subject, or if you would like auto body repair in Arnold, MO, visit CARSTAR Arnold.