Understanding the Timeline of Your Vehicle Repair

Insurance Company Actions

If you were in an accident large enough to submit a claim to your insurance company, then many times the initial process bottleneck is their approval of the written estimate of repairs. The insurance company must review and be in agreement with the labor and parts costs before giving the go-ahead to start the work. If your insurance company is not on top of the communication, this could cause a delay in the start of repairs.

Minor Collision Repairs

If your car was involved in a low-speed collision or parking lot fender bender where it might not have sustained significant damage, then your repair work might not be extensive. However, even small damages can take time to complete as the repair shop may have to wait for a simple part that is on backorder. On average, you should expect minor collisions to require about a week for repairs to be completed. Smaller jobs like scratch removal might be quicker.

Major Collision Repairs

When an accident occurs at a high speed, it usually results in more extensive damage to the vehicles involved. A vehicle that has sustained significant damage will probably need parts that are not normally stocked locally, requiring the repair shop to obtain parts from the manufacturer's warehouse. Sometimes parts need to be sourced from speciality vendors which might take some time if your car is older or rare.

Another potential problem that can occur with major collision repair is the discovery of new issues during the repair process. Technicians normally find more damage as they begin to disassemble the affected parts of your car. If there is a lot of internal damage along with external damage after a crash, it will be a much longer repair process. Usually more extensive damage can take anywhere from three to four weeks. 

Keep In Mind

It is important to know that the estimate is not the exact price or cost of the repairs, as the estimator typically only takes into initial consideration what they can immediately see and how long they believe the repair will take. Once a shop starts to work on your vehicle, they might find more hidden damage which will obviously add to the estimate of the cost. 

Many times the phrase “you get what you pay for” can apply when it comes to auto body shop repairs. If you choose the cheapest shop, you probably won’t be satisfied with your service or repair. Therefore it is important to look at the quality of the estimate and repair shop, rather than only focusing on the price they give you.

Be Patient with Your Auto Body Shop!

As a vehicle owner, you do not want the repair process of your car to be rushed, as you want your car to be fixed properly and efficiently. You put your trust into the auto repair shop that they will repair your vehicle in an appropriate amount of time. A good auto body shop will always be in contact with you to update you throughout the process and in the event they find more damage or if there is a delay. 

Other factors that might affect the completion time of your vehicle repair:

• The number of vehicles at the shop ahead of yours that need repair
• If your vehicle is foreign or specialty, parts are harder to find
• If the vehicle is current model year, most repair parts are being used for manufacturing, so backorders are normal
• Insurer taking a long time to pay the auto body shop

An industry standard, the body shop uses the total amount of job hours as calculated by the initial repair estimate to roughly determine how long a repair will take. A vehicle in the repair process is normally able to be worked on for about five uninterrupted hours per day. The total repair hours are divided by five to give a rough estimate of the amount of working days the repair will require. This does not include time waiting for parts or extra time required for hidden damages found during disassembly. 

Choose Ray’s Automotive!

At Ray’s Automotive, we are a family owned business that treats every customer like family. We care about fixing your vehicle properly and making sure you get back on the road safely. Keeping you informed about your vehicle repair is important to us. We specialize in all types of collision repair. Trust us with your vehicle and call our shop today!