Welcome to CID Auto Body’s blog! If you’re visiting our blog page, chances are you in need of information regarding auto repairs, in which case you have come to the right place. We will be adding helpful articles about collision repairs, tips for maintaining your vehicle’s health, and information about Rhino bed linings.
CID Auto Body is proudly serving the communities of San Marcos in need of collision repairs, paintless dent repair, glass replacement, and more! We have a great reputation throughout both communities for providing timely and quality repairs, award-winning service, and competitive pricing. If you are searching for a trustworthy and dependable auto body shop that you can count on, give us a call and request a free estimate.
How To Choose The Best Collision Shop in San Marcos
For our first blog post, we want to educate you on what to look for when you are researching local auto body shops. Just like many businesses, collision shops operate differently and provide different services so it’s important to know what you need and what to look for.
Below are a few of our tips and suggestions to help you throughout your search for the best collision shop to get your vehicle back in good working order.
What’s Their Reputation Throughout The Community?
If you’re like most people, you take pride in your vehicle and you want it to not only look good, but you want it to get you from point A to point B in decent working order. For this reason, you’ll want to avoid selecting just any ol’ auto body shop. If you have been living in San Marcos for a while, you most likely have a good idea of which local businesses to steer clear of simply because of how they’re known throughout the community. Auto body shops are among the businesses that are constantly on the brink of jeopardizing their credibility.
The best form of marketing is through word-of-mouth, which happens to also be the original marketing method because it’s the most reliable. If your friends, family, even acquaintances have anything positive to say about a collision shop, you’re more likely to take their word for it and take your business there.
Where Is The Auto Body Shop Located?
While this is not true in all cases, but location can play a significant role in choosing a body shop. The reason being is because the labor hours vary in different parts of the city. A large body shop that has a large office staff might have higher labor hours because they will need to be able to support their salaries. Most reputable body shops charge for what is mandated by the book, but other shops, particularly in a ritzy part of town, might inflate their labor rates to accommodate other aspects of the business.
Are You Asking The Right Questions?
If you’ve never dealt with an auto body shop for collision repairs, or perhaps your previous experience wasn’t great, you probably have a lot of questions you want to ask. A professional body shop like CID Auto Body will be extremely forthcoming with their answers and help you feel comfortable with choosing them for your auto repairs. We understand that customers are looking for a body shop that they can trust with their vehicle so we do our best to provide as much information as possible. In addition to providing questions, we encourage our customers to ask any questions they have. Not everyone is familiar with auto body repairs, estimates, insurance issues, and other aspects of our industry. Bringing your car in for an estimate and listening to a long list of parts that needs to be repaired vs. replaced and trying to understand OEM and Non-OEM parts is confusing — don’t be afraid to ask questions if you aren’t sure. We will give you our honest answers and advice.
Not sure what to ask? Below are a few suggestions that any honest body shop should be able to answer up front.
- Does your shop offer warranties on the repairs?
- What happens in case there is additional damage caused while your vehicle is at the shop?
- What materials will be used? If new parts are requested as opposed to aftermarket parts, can the shop accommodate that?
As Always — Trust Your Instincts
Finally, it’s important to trust your intuition about the shop you’re considering. If a shop isn’t busy, maybe that’s because customers are avoiding it because of shoddy repairs. If the place is really dirty, cluttered or disorganized, this might reflect the kind of work you could expect the shop to do with your car. Is the shop owner or manager a grouch who seems to resent answering your questions? You’ll be happier with a shop where the owner communicates well and is straightforward with customers.