There are many body shop options in Lompoc, Santa Maria and along the Central Coast. We wanted to help you learn how to choose the best body shop for your car.
The Cost of Body Shop Work
For Body Shop work, you pay for labor hours and parts replaced. These can vary widely across shops even in the same town.
The more qualified the technician, the higher the labor rate, but in many cases, a more highly trained technician can fix your car in less hours and ensure the work is accomplished correctly the first time.
Very inexpensive parts are used by some shops, but may not last or be designed for your car resulting in early replacement or damage to your car in the long run.
If your insurance company is paying, they specify the amount they will reimburse a body shop for each kind of repair.
Six Things to Look For in a Body Shop
Whether you or your insurance company is paying, here's six things to look for in a body shop:
- Warranty. Most important in selecting a body shop
is to get one that believes in their work enough to warranty it. At minimum you want a year warranty, best to
get a lifetime warranty.
- Clean and
orderly. This may sound crazy. Isn't a body shop filled with dust and paint
and spare parts? No, a disciplined body
shop team will bring out exactly what is needed to fix a vehicle and clean up
afterwards. Body shop work is an
exacting science. Your vehicle needs
specific parts, accurate fixes, exacting adjustments, and perfectly matching
paint. A sloppy shop is likely to do
sloppy work!
- Certified
and honest. I-CAR and ASE
certifications are awarded from the top industry training organizations that
equip their technicians with the necessary knowledge and skill to achieve
complete vehicle repair. Additional certifications from manufacturers add
model-specific training and skills. In
addition to appropriate training, staff in the body shop should be able to
explain in understandable terms what is wrong and how they will fix your
vehicle. They should be able to answer
all your questions and estimate the time required to complete the work.
- Insurance
savvy. Since insurance companies pay for most major repairs, the body shop
needs to understand how to work with insurance companies. Having a former insurance adjuster on staff
will make all the difference in their ability to negotiate the amount of work
they will be able to perform on your vehicle, whether they can repair or
replace parts, and whether they will be able to use original manufacture part
if required. An insurance savvy shop
will get you the best result possible.
- A-rated
reputation. Nothing speaks to future
success as past success. Your neighbors,
friends, work colleagues should be able to attest to the work performed by your
local body shop. If you don't know
anyone who has had work done by the shop you are considering, ask for
references.
- Experience. There is nothing to replace years of
experience. Most body shop technicians
started by tinkering with cars as teenagers. They have a sixth sense about what is wrong and the best way to approach
fixing it. They then train, achieve
certification, and continue to build skills. The best body shop managers came up through the ranks; they have experience in several areas - metal and
plastics, frames, color matching.
Meet the RocketTown Body Shop in Lompoc, CA
RocketTown's body shop excels in all the above. Technicians are experienced and certified; the manager is an I-CAR certified technician and former insurance adjuster. They are committed to do the best work and procure the best parts for your vehicle - and warranty it for life.
We look forward to welcoming you soon to the RocketTown Body Shop.
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