Unfortunately, when you have been in an accident, a lot of decisions are based on the type of insurance you have. Specifically when it comes to your vehicle, you may have limited choices as to where you can get estimates for repair. If you have been involved in an accident and are looking for the Best Auto Body Shop in Johnson County, make sure that you know which questions to ask when comparing these estimates.
For starters, while location may be an important aspect in how you choose your body shop, keep in mind that you may be paying for this convenience. Just as with any business, location means that you have to pay more for overhead and having a shop in a busy and convenient area may mean more in terms of charges that have to be passed down to the customer. For most auto body shops this will be most obvious in the labor charges per hour. This is the first cost to consider when comparing quotes.
Next, ask for a body shop to split the costs up into hourly labor charges as well as for parts. There are a few different ways in which a body shop can fix your cars and the most popular is either with manufacturer direct parts or generic parts. Obviously, the generic parts will be a fraction of the price but they may not be acceptable to your insurance company. If you are relying solely on insurance to cover the expense then you need to find out if they will cover generic parts.
Of course you need to check references and that is usually what you can rely on your insurance company for or by checking with us. They will most likely give you a list of a few different shops in which you can pick from and they have already determined were a good recommendation. Your best line of defense in checking on the validity of a shop is to compare the estimates you receive and do a line item comparison of the hourly labor charges as well as the parts costs. Your insurance company should have a list of reasonable prices for services in your particular area.
