With ever-increasing traffic filling our roads, people all trying to park 4 x 4’s etc into seemingly smaller car parking spaces, it is not surprising that our cars pick up little dings & dents, scrapes & scratches. So what do we do, leave them to multiply and reduce the re sale value of our car or do we take action and find a quality car body repair centre? Finding a good car body repair shop is easier than you might think once you have more idea of what you are looking for.

Some signs of a quality car body repair.

When visiting a car body repair shop where do you start on your quest to find quality? The first thing I would like to see is a car repair they have just done, or if they will allow you to, have a stroll around their shop. By looking at cars in their repair stages, you can tell if the repairs will last.

So firstly, when looking at a finished car body repair, what should we pay attention to? Take your time, let your eyes gaze over the job, does anything immediately jump out, is the colour matching good? If not that’s a good start, everything should look natural and untouched. Now look at how it was masked, are there any signs of paint on the rubbers or around the trims etc. Bend down and take a look down the panels, a good car body repair should be flat and have no signs of ripples. If it’s not flat it’s not quality, a good vehicle repair guy should be using a sanding block at all times. Take a good look into the paint work, do you see any fine scratches or little pin holes? These if present are called sinkage or mapping out, if they are not present its a good job.

Next, look at the overall texture of the paint work, does it all match? A good car body repair guy will try to match the texture of the spray job as close to the original as possible. This can be done by adjusting the pressure of the spray or changing the mixture of the paint, I know its picky but poor quality repairs will affect the re sale value of your car. Finally, don’t be shy when looking a job over (don’t be cocky or annoying either), being inquisitive and asking good questions will gain a good understanding of the type of people you are dealing with. If they are annoyed and defensive with you they are probably no good anyway.

If they are good enough to allow you to walk around the shop and look at some repairs in progress here are a few pointers. Are the cars well masked up & dust free inside, do they use dust extraction blocks and sanding machines? Looking at dent repairs, the body filler should be finished in fine scratches before the primer is applied. Course body filler scratches will sink over time, so beware of repairers that load the primer on to seal the deep scratches. Check does the body repair shop use a low bake oven? This is a must if you want bodywork repairs to last for a long time, drying the primers & paint need to be done in either an oven or with infra-red lamp.

I hope these pointers have been useful. If you want to keep your cars bodywork in tip-top condition using a quality car body repair shop is vital. Once you find a good one and build a relationship with them you are set for life, my customers are very loyal, even promotion me to all their friends and families.