Are You Being Ripped Off On Collision Repair?

The ancient challenges still proves out today: just how do I know if my Saint Louis, MO auto body repair shop is aiming to take advantage of me? It is absolutely a well-founded question. Auto body mechanics pull the wool over the eyes of their customers all the time. If you do not know a whole lot about car repair, and you most likely do not if you are taking your vehicle to someone else to get it repaired, you may want some help navigating the troubled waters of auto body repair. To assist you with this, Car Craft Auto Body in Saint Louis, Missouri has noted some of the biggest lines they hear from less-than-reputable collision repair facilities in the Saint Louis, Missouri area.

The Saboteur

If you find yourself having to go back to the auto body shop to get the same thing fixed over and over again, the problem is probably not your vehicle. A lot of the time, the real issue is that the auto body shop you are visiting is either putting in bad parts or they are putting the parts in incorrectly. Often you can find information about problems that are prevalent with your car’s make and model by searching the internet. If you smell a rat, you should probably get another auto body shop.

The Problem Inventor

In the event that the auto mechanic does not know exactly what they are doing, he might attempt something, charge you for it, than try something else and charge you for that. Obviously, that is not a good way to do business. In addition to that, it is not fair to the customer having to pay for all of these unneeded “repairs.” At the same time, it is worth pointing out that a misdiagnosis can happen to the best of us. Even the auto body mechanics at Car Craft Auto Body goof from time to time. However, whenever that takes place, your auto body shop ought to be willing to write off or at least discount the misdiagnosed repair. If the auto mechanic gets it incorrect more than once, you are either dealing with an unskilled mechanic or a willfully deceptive mechanic. In either situation, it is time to take your business somewhere else.

The Dilemma Dealer

Among the most common misconceptions of auto body repair is that you have no choices about where to take your car for repair. Most commonly, dealerships will attempt to tell you that they are the only place you can go. That is simply not accurate. In truth, the only times when you are required to go to the dealer are for repairs under warranty and for recalls. Just about anything else is fair game for some other auto body shop if that is where you would like to go. In fact, dealers are normally much more costly than your neighborhood mechanics’ shop. Do not assume that dealerships always do a better job either.

Price-Inflator

Here’s the classic. Sometimes auto body mechanics may simply jack up the price of the repair they plan to do on your car. Obviously, this can be tough to detect if you do not know the business. After all, to those who do not know the market, all auto body repair costs may seem high regardless of how reasonable the price is. The concern then becomes how to understand when it is taking place. Granted, a couple of the top-of-the-line auto body shops will bill a little bit extra for some extra amenities. Nonetheless, you should not see differences of more than perhaps ten or fifteen percent from one reputable auto body shop to the next. When you have an estimate from your auto body shop of choice, call around to other repair shops and ask what they might bill for the same work. Obviously, you have to have the ability to describe the issue to the other shops to make this work. However, a reputable auto body repair shop ought to give a detailed description with their diagnosis anyway.

The Alarmist

Some mechanics like to pressure you into having your automobile fixed by telling you that your automobile will explode if you do not get it fixed right this second. Okay, perhaps they do not lay it on that strong, but the basic principle rings true nonetheless. Do not let that sort of pressure influence you. Granted, there are some malfunctions which will get worse with time. However, you should never be rushed beyond the point of making an informed decision about where you get your vehicle repaired and when to do so. These are typically the same folks who will attempt to bill you for additional things that do not have to be fixed.

As auto body mechanics themselves, the individuals at Car Craft Auto Body want to point out that not every mechanic in Saint Louis, MO and surrounding communities such as Oakville, Chesterfield, and Bridgeton, MO, Car Craft Auto Body are crooked. Actually, a lot of them are fine upstanding folks who just wish to make an honest living. Nevertheless, customers should always be on the alert for those auto mechanics who give the remainder of them a bad name. If you are not sure about your auto mechanic’s integrity or you just want to have your automobile repaired, contact Car Craft Auto Body.