When you’ve just been in a car collision, you’re probably not thinking very clearly. It’s a scary thing to be in a car accident and your mind will be racing a mile a minute. Here’s a few good things to remember in case of collision; if you write this list down and put it in your glove box, you’ll be able to stay on top of the most important things to do without having to rack your brain for them.
1. If you are injured, don’t move. This is fairly basic, so hopefully you won’t need your list to remember it – because even reaching for the glove box can cause you more injury if something has happened to your back or you’ve broken bones. Stay put and wait for an ambulance.
2. If you aren’t injured, get out of the car away from traffic. If you’ve already pulled over to the shoulder and have plenty of room, carefully get out the driver’s side. If you don’t have room to exit without risking traffic, climb out the passenger side instead. Move away from the vehicle; cars often see a vehicle on the shoulder and think it’s a lane, so staying next to it can be dangerous.
3. If you need help, medical or otherwise, call the police. The police can help if you’ve been in a hit-and-run, if you, the driver, or any passengers are injured, or if you’re having trouble settling insurance with the other driver. If the other driver does not have insurance, call the police. You’ll want a police report for your insurance to use.
4. If you and the other driver are fine, exchange insurance information. If their insurance information is up-to-date, write down everything on the card word for word and call your insurance company before you let them go. You’ll want your insurance company to check the information. Suggest the other driver do so as well; this makes it feel more like a standard procedure and less like you’re suspicious they’re possibly not on the level.
5. If something doesn’t feel right for any reason, call the police. If the other driver is making you feel unsafe, stay in your car with the doors locked and call the police. Wait for them to arrive. If the other driver demands to know what’s going on (after all, they may just want your insurance info so they can leave) crack the window and explain you’re waiting for the police and so should they. Write down their license plate number while you’re waiting.
6. Call your insurance and collision repair shop. Some insurance companies want you to use their collision repair shop, especially if you’re dealing with the other driver’s insurance. You do not have to use their shop! Use the collision repair service you trust and feel most comfortable with. It is not your job to make things cheaper or easier for the other insurance company. Your collision repair service may also be able to get you towed to the shop more quickly than your insurance can.
We hope you avoid collisions throughout your driving lifetime, but if you do need a quality repair shop for whatever reason, contact Vinart Body Shop for the best repairs and service in Lehigh Valley, PA.
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If you’ve just been in a collision, your first impulse is probably to get your car fixed. Hold on for just a second, though – is it really worth the cost of repairs? Ask yourself these questions to figure out whether a repair job is a smart move, or whether you should simply invest the money in a new car.
How new is your car?
If you have a car you’re still paying off that’s fairly new, a repair job is probably a good idea. The price of the repair will be only a fraction of the actual worth of the car, and it will keep you from paying off a vehicle you can no longer use.
If your car is a lemon, however, go look up the blue book value for a car of your make, model, and repair needs. Then go talk to a qualified collision repair shop and get the worst-case scenario cost for repairs (get the low-end cost too, just so you have an idea of the range). Compare the two. If the cost of repairs is more than the cost of the car itself, you’re probably better off scrapping that car and getting a new one.
How badly do you need your car?
In some cases, the repairs may be worthwhile simply because of the time factor. If the repair guy can have you up and running in a few days and you badly need your car to get around, that may be worth the investment. Though it’s true you’d probably be better off in the long haul getting a new car, that hardly matter when you can’t afford a new car and you can afford the repairs on this one – especially if time is a factor. If there’s not a new car in sight and you need a car to get to your job, do the repairs. There’s no arguing with necessity.
Has your car needed recent repairs?
If your car has been giving you trouble lately, has an engine knock, slips gears, or has a slight delay when you accelerate, you’re probably heading for a major repair. If you’ve needed other repairs in the past, consider how much money you’ve been sinking into this car and whether a repair job is worth the excess.
If there haven’t been any problems in the past or foreseeable future, go ahead and get the repairs, but ask the collision shop if they can check for any problems with the car’s structure that may have been caused by the crash. For example, your suspension may now be out of alignment. Fix it now and you’ll save yourself a lot of car trouble in the future – and a good collision shop should be able to save you that repair.
For a great collision shop that also gives in-house repairs like that one, check out Vinart Body Shop in West Chester, PA
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Once the bumps and dents have been pounded out of your recent collision job, the most essential part of getting the car looking brand new again is a quality paint job. Obviously you can’t just tackle it with a can of spray paint, but how do you give your car an excellent paint job? Is it better to leave it to the professionals? This guide lets you draw your own conclusions.
A paint job involves a lot of precision and knowledge of how a car’s body and materials work. You may think that a tiny dent won’t show after you put on a new coat of paint, but a professional will know it needs to be mended first. Even the smallest imperfections are very obvious with a brand-new coat of paint because the light will reflect off of them. If you don’t have a good understanding of how your repair job will show up once you’ve added on a coat of paint, it’s probably best to go through a professional.
To prepare your car for a new paint job, a professional will get the paint all the way down to the metal to start over. It’s a long and tedious job, and if you don’t know what you’re doing it’s very easy to cause even more damage. A professional will also get rid of the rust or corrosion on your vehicle first so that the paint will adhere properly – another job that’s very easy to mess up, because removing the rust can make the surface uneven if you’re not careful.
Then of course there’s applying the conditioner, primer, and paint itself, all of which need to be done evenly and smoothly. To give you an idea of what you should look for in quality materials, check out this brief list.
1. Use a base conditioner. A metal conditioner etches the metal of your car to get rid of any rust or corrosion spots, which can damage the quality of your paint job. The conditioner will also prevent corrosion in the future, protecting your paint.
2. Use a high-quality epoxy primer to fill in scratches and imperfections. The cheaper alternatives are lacquer, but these shrink after they’re applied, which means the imperfections still show up in a slightly different way. Epoxy primers fill scratches without shrinking, and they also last much longer.
3. Use a high-quality paint for the job itself. Lacquer and enamel based paints don’t last as long as newer part-polyurethane paints, but there may be a good reason to use others instead – for example, it may be that your previous paint job cannot be matched except by a certain kind of paint. There will be at least two coats of paint, sometimes as much as three or four, depending on the job.
After the paint job has fully dried (which can take up to 10 days), you’ll need to polish the surface to make sure the paint looks smooth and even. This is another place where it’s easy to go wrong – overenthusiastic polishing goes right through the paint, which would mean you’d have to start all over. A good wax and polish completes the job.
Sound like work for a professional? We always thought so. Get the best paint jobs at Vinart Body Shop in Lehigh Valley, PA.
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When it comes to getting your car repaired after a serious collision, you may only be concerned about getting that dent banged out of the back bumper. Take a moment and think about the body shop you’re considering, though – when it comes to service, there are a few shops that stand head and shoulders above the rest, and those are the collision repair services that will ultimately save you money. Here are the 3 top things that add value to your collision repair and save you money in the long run.
Mechanical Repairs
Some collision repair shops only look at the aesthetics of a repair job. They’ll put on a brand new door and a paint job, but if your suspension has been completely knocked out of whack by the collision, that shiny new surface is only the tip of the iceberg. If you don’t get that suspension fixed, you’ll incur all sorts of other problems on your car – which you’ll wind up paying for. The best collision repair shops not only tell you what mechanical repairs need to be made in order to get your car back to normal inside and out, they’ll also offer those services in-house so you don’t have to wander all over town with incomplete repairs. Getting those problems fixed ahead of time will always save you money.
Transportation Options
If you’ve just been in a collision, you’re probably too upset to think straight. That means by the time it occurs to you to worry about how to get to work tomorrow, you’re already stressed out and exhausted – not the best mood to deal with getting price quotes on a rental car. The best collision repair shops will think of your transportation needs for you. They might have a company they recommend for car rentals and will be able to set you up with the minimum of fuss with a low rate, or they might even offer a shuttle service of their own to get you where you need to be. Great car collision services think of your needs, not just theirs – and they’re helpful about saving you money while getting them.
Guarantees
Some collision repair shops don’t guarantee their work, which is always a bad sign. If that paint job starts to peel off within a week, you want to be able to get it fixed instead of having to pay a whole new collision shop for a fresh paint job. Your collision repair shop should guarantee their work so that you never have to pay for the same job to be done twice. Sounds shady, but many collision repair shops have this problem, and it’s never failed to cost their customers money. Find out what your guarantees are in advance and make sure you’re satisfied with them.
If you need a collision repair company that hits on all these cylinders in Lehigh Valley, PA, check out Vinart Body Shop for the best service in town.
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When your car’s suffered damage, the last thing you want is to pour money into a shoddy repair job. That car takes you to work and out on the town; it may have been your travel companion for years, or you may have just spent top dollar on the ride of your dreams. Whatever its history, your car is likely one of the biggest investments you’ve ever made, and getting it back to its former glory should be a great experience, not a trying one. Here are our tips for choosing the best collision repair shop in your area.
First of all, don’t let your insurance company bully you into using the collision repair shop they recommend. Most insurance policies allow for you to choose the repair person you think is best suited to the job, so double-check your policy. If you have the right to pick your own repair shop, then ignore the insurance company’s recommendation. They’re picking the cheapest option so they have to pay the minimum amount for repairs; they don’t necessarily care about getting the job done right. And if your own independent research leads you to the body shop they recommend anyway, then at least you’ll be sure it’s not just because it’s bottom dollar – it’s because it’s high quality repair work.
When you call the repair shop, ask to see their facilities and whether you can take a look at some of the repair work they’ve recently done for other people (we mean cars that are still at the repair shop – don’t try to invade someone else’s privacy to see a repair job that has already been taken home!). If you like what you see, ask about their guarantees for your own vehicle. Do they have a guarantee that they will match your car’s color? Do they guarantee they’ll fix any mechanical problems like alignment while they’re fixing the body? Do they have a warranty on their work? Make a note of these guarantees: these are gold.
You may be only focused on getting your car fixed properly, but after you’ve established that this collision repair shop can get the job done right, make sure they can get it done conveniently. Ask how long the repair job will take and whether they can give you a definite delivery date. Ask whether they offer towing and rental services, so you can get your car to them and then get your rental without any additional hassle to you. Some collision repair shops even offer free shuttle service to your home or your job, which shows they’re really concerned with making sure you’re taken care of – a good sign.
Finally, take a look at the cost. If the collision repair shop offers all of the services you need, does great work, guarantees their work, and goes the extra mile to make sure you’re not inconvenienced by having a car out of commission, that may well be a good reason to spend a little extra on your repair. Obviously don’t go over your budget, but if you’re tempted to go with a less qualified alternative for price reasons, just remember: you get what you pay for.
If you’re looking for a great collision repair shop in Lehigh Valley, PA that meets all of these high qualifications, check out Vinart Body Shop for the best service and repair.
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