Making Your Car New Again

No one ever plans on getting into a car accident. It just happens. Afterwards, getting the vehicle repaired is priority. For those who live in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, finding a reliable, affordable and trustworthy auto repair shop is the best plan of action. There are a few places that can accommodate the repairs, and a Gabriel Sports Car auto body shop can get the vehicle back on the road quickly and affordably. These are some of the services they offer.

Frame

One of the worst problems a vehicle can have after the accident is a bent frame. Many believe that a car is never the same after the frame is bent. With new technology, however, a Gabriel Sports Car collision repair shop can make it feel like new. Choose a business that uses an efficient pulling system that can handle pulling from 360 degrees and multiple directions all at once. This will help the vehicle look like it used to, before the wreck. It will also improve its drivability and make it safer.

Cosmetic Damage

Bumps and fender benders can make it embarrassing to drive around Hampton Roads. It may not make it impossible to drive the vehicle, but most people would prefer not to do that. Paintless fixes are an option for auto repair in New York. When a new paint job in unavoidable, the consumer should choose a body shop that has state-of-the-art painting facilities and can handle more than one job at a time. This prevents customers from going several days without their vehicles while they are waiting for the paint booth to be available for their vehicle’s needs. A skilled professional in the painting booth can make a vehicle look like new.

Mechanical Problems

Sometimes auto accidents involve more than external damage. Radiators are crushed, exhaust systems are bent and wheels are demolished upon force of impact. Alignment and transmission work are also frequent necessities to have fixed after a car accident. Hoses, brakes and light lenses may also need to be replaced. It is important to have a reliable and experienced professional to fix mechanical problems. It is also more convenient for the customer to have the vehicle completely fixed on both the outside and under the hood, rather than having to go to one place for external collision repair, then a mechanic to make the vehicle run properly.

Getting Your Quotes

Body damage to a car is never a pretty sight. Luckily, today it's much easier to get them fixed without much of a hassle. Some of the best ways to get good quotes for repairing body damage to a car are:

Asking friends for references: Your friends can prove to be the best source of information for finding out the best places for fixing car body damage. They would have either dealt with it themselves or would know someone who has. And if they already know a local body shop that does it, then it will make your job even easier.

Call local auto body shops: Before you take your vehicle to any local body shop, getting quotes from several other body shops should be your primary step. Getting a quote beforehand will keep you from paying more than necessary for repairs. Also, make sure that you make a detailed list of the problems that your car faces because that will help the auto mechanic to find the problem quicker and rectify it accordingly. Don't forget to include the vehicle make, engine size and model year of your car at the top of the symptom list.

Moreover, you can also provide a detailed list of your car's symptoms online and get a quote, thus saving you a lot of your precious time at the local body shop. Since you already have the information about the cost of repairs from such workshop, any fraud or excessive charges can be avoided from unscrupulous body shop owners.

Get multiple quotes: Get multiple auto repair quotes from several body shops. Ask friends and neighbors if they are aware of some reliable body shop dealers who will do a great job. Since quotes will differ from one shop to another, it is always feasible to look around for better deals. It's your car and naturally you will want the best for your vehicle.

Where to Start After an Accident!

Accidents can happen fast and you'd never know what hit you. I am referring to what literally hit you. It will leave your head with a lot of questions, whether you need a full dent repair or just a quick repair for a minor scratch in the paint. It all boils down to one question, though - "Where do I start?"

The place to start is at the most reliable auto body repair shop near you. Auto body shops or collision repair shops are words almost synonymous to automobile damages, because it's the first place you go to after wrecking or damaging your automobile in an accident. However, auto body shops are more than this. Aside from fixing dents and scratches, there are other services that they can do. One such repair shop is Gabriel Sports Car!

Is Expensive Auto Repair Really Worth It?

But could a customer perceive the difference between a $2000 and $1000 bumper job? No chance. If I could quantify the difference, it might be (an undetectable) 5%.

I'm not advocating that you choose the lowest bid every time (there are some bad shops out there), but as a former shop owner, I can tell you with confidence that it's seldom worthwhile to choose the highest bid.

You're going to want to choose the most affordable bid from a shop with a good reputation.

Here's how to find that "just right" auto body shop:

1. Get at least 4 bids.
2. Toss the high bid.
3. Do some research on the remaining 3 bids.
4. Check online reviews: Google, Yahoo, Yelp, etc.
5. Check with the Better Business Bureau.
6. Inspect the shop...is it clean and orderly?
7. What about the customer service? Do they answer the phone? Are they polite? Do they answer your questions? Does the manager/estimator create a good, knowledgeable impression?
8. Do they guarantee their work? You will want at least a 3 year guarantee from defects like peeling and discoloration.
9. Usually, the shop will have completed cars waiting for pick up. Inspect the work. Would you pay for that work?

After you've done your investigating, circle the auto body shops you felt comfortable with trusting your car. Trust your gut instinct! Then choose the one with the lowest bid. You'll get a repair that you will be very happy with yet spend hundreds if not thousands less.

Auto Body Shops Offer More Than Just Repair

Do you know everything that an auto body shop can do for your car? Most people think of these establishments after an automobile accident, when damage to the car needs to be repaired, but there are many more services that they offer.

Painting cars is one of the most common tasks an auto body shop will undertake. While vehicles that have been in accidents usually need to be painted, the service center will also paint vehicles for other reasons. Sometimes the vehicle's owner is looking for a new color, and other times they are looking to customize the car with stripes, flames, or other decorations. Computerized paint mixing systems allow repair centers to carefully match a customer's desired color, allowing the company to do small touch ups that perfectly match the vehicle's existing paint.

Most companies have detailing services as well, which help restore a car's finish and brighten up its look, both inside and out. If you are getting ready to sell your vehicle, consider having it detailed. This will help it to truly shine as people come to look at it.

Dent repair is another task that these repair centers will handle. Small dings and dents greatly diminish the look of an otherwise nice vehicle. Most centers can quickly and easily mend these without the need to paint, restoring the vehicle to its like-new look. Similarly, repairing small paint scratches also falls in the list of tasks performed by a repair center.

How to Deal With an Auto Body Shop

It happens to all of us at one point in time. We get into an automobile collision. Hopefully, it is not too bad and we are not seriously injured. But usually the car does not fare as well and comes away with significant damage.

What is the next step? Likely, after informing the insurance company you take your vehicle to one of their "approved" vendors.

Here is what happens next. You tell the insurance company what company you choose. By this time they have already taken phones of the car and know how extensive the damage is. They have a computer system that gives them a printed estimate stating what the replacement parts and labor will be based upon a set hourly rate.

This statement is given to the auto body shop. It comes with a break down of what the labor and parts "should" be and the company has to usually be able to totally fix the car for that price. Keep in mind that what is printed out represents the best case scenario and doesn't allow for items on the car that was missed or problems that come up.

Now here are some things to watch out for. Local body shops are operating under very, very thin margins and the incentive to "cut corners" is huge. Getting an extra $300 off a job can really add up over the course of the month when you are talking about doing at least 3-5 vehicles every week.

Replacement Parts

Make sure the parts being used on your car are OEM parts. These are replacement auto body parts are sent directly from the car manufacturers and are designed with the same specs as the vehicle came with. Aftermarket parts can be significantly cheaper yet are not the same quality and make not hold up the same in the event of another accident.

Choose a Reliable Repair Shop

People have become so dependent on our vehicles for everyday life and we expect them to work all the time. When they don't work, things can get stressful, especially when we donâ't have an honest car repair shop to turn to for advice. Looking for a decent auto repair facility that you can depend on, can be challenging. It's safe to bet that at one time or another when you've had to have your car serviced, that you've considered whether or not you are being overcharged or if the repairs being done are really necessary or if the mechanics actually know what they are doing.


1. Word Of Mouth Is Best: The best way to find a decent mechanic/technician is to ask your friends, family or co-workers for recommendations. It's important to find out what type of car they have, especially whether it's foreign or domestic, what type of repairs they had done and whether or not the service was done efficiently and at the same price that was on the estimate.


2. Are There Any Complaints With The Better Business Bureau: Check to see if there have been any complaints against the facility. Don't assume though that if there are no complaints that the shop is fine. This should be just one of the factors in helping you make your decision.

3. Google It: Google often compiles reviews of auto repair facilities from various websites and will show them when you search for the name of the shop. More and more people are turning to the internet to voice their opinions.

Aluminum or Steel Rims?

Now, if you're choosing between aluminum wheels or steel rims but can't tell the difference, then what you need to know is this-most steel wheels take full wheel covers or hubcaps. Aluminum wheels take a smaller center cap cover and are either a machined finish or painted finish with a hard clear coating. However, if you're interested in chrome wheels, then you should know that chrome can either be steel or aluminum. Your auto shop should help you tell which is which. Most auto repair shops sell new and used wheels so if you're on a tight budget, you still have this option.

Gabriel Sports Car has all types and size of custom, new, and used wheels. Choose from different designs of custom and factory original 20" wheels, 17" wheels, 22" rims, and 20" rims. They carry all original brands of hubcaps and wheels such as American Racing, BBS, Eagle, Boss, Enkei, Asanti, Centerline, TSW, Panther, and Beyern. Gabriel Sports Car also provides wheel repair services and car accessory installations.

Keeping Your Shop Honest

Okay, so the above two things are things to watch out for if you haven't picked an auto collision repair shop. What, you say your vehicle is already at a repair shop that the insurance company referred you to? Don't panic, here are some things that you can do that will help you keep the shop honest:

1. Ask the shop manager to provide you with a copy of all the invoices for parts they had to purchase to fix your car, and then compare the parts list with the cost listed on the insurance company estimate.

2. Ask the shop for a written repair guarantee.

3. Ask the shop if they are a direct repair facility for more than one insurance company (just asking this will make them think twice about cutting a corner at your expense). If they are, ask them for the list.

4. Bluntly ask if they have used new Original Equipment Manufacturer Parts (OEM), used OEM parts, or aftermarket parts.

5. Ask the shop to explain "betterment" to you, just because you are curious. This is just to show them that you are reading up on the repair process.

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Trust or Not Trust Your Auto Body Shop?

If you are cool with trusting a collision repair facility, then fine, go find another article to read. But if you are like me, you want to learn how to avoid having to trust a body shop (the concept could apply to doctors and lawyers, too). Try to avoid using a shop if:

1. You were referred to the shop by an insurance company . . . here's why:

a. The shop has an agreement with the insurance company, and if you are able to get a copy of the agreement between the shop and the insurance company, you are impressive.
b. The insurance company has a vested interest in making sure repairs are as cheap as possible.
c. Questions that would normally be directed to the vehicle owner, like "should we fix this wiring while we're at it?", or "hey, did this happen in the accident?" will be directed to the insurance company and not the customer. The owner is left out of the loop.

2. The shop is dirty or unorganized . . . . I know that sounds obvious, but a lot of people just overlook that aspect because they think repairing vehicle damages is a dirty job. It's not, a good shop will be clean and organized. Dirty and unorganized implies to me that the auto repair shop is used to cutting corners to save money.

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Collision Repair and Things You Should Know

Worried about your car repair? You ought to be. In nearly 15 years as an adjuster I have seen some doozies when it comes to collision repair. As a short example, let me tell you this . . . When I was an adjuster, I caught an auto body shop and a rental car company conspiring to defraud the insurance company. What they did was that the rental company would file a claim for undercarriage damage, and we would inspect the vehicle, find the damages, write the estimate and pay the body shop. What I figured out is that instead of the damages happening like the rental company said (like a renter hit a curb, or hit some debris in the road), it was being caused by the body shop. The shop would have their technician put the car on a lift and then he would get under it with a sledge hammer and damage the oil pan or some other component, then they would give the car back to the rental company and they would file the claim.

We would pay the shop to replace the damaged component, but they would just go in an repair the component and pocket the money for the parts that we paid them. They sometimes made $400.00 or $500.00 on one scam by just faking invoices for parts that they had damaged to begin with, and then repairing the part (or replacing it with one they had lying around) and pocketing the insurance money.

Not all shops are crooks, but body shops, like any other business, are in business to make money. Most people are not experts on collision repair, and body shops know this. Taking your car to a body shop is sort of like going to the doctor or hiring an attorney. You kind of have to trust what the doctor or lawyer says because they are specially trained. It is the same for a body shop, you kind of have to trust what they tell you because they are specially trained.

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Demanding Experience and Expertise

Auto collisions are one of the leading causes of vehicle damage. They are unfortunate incidents that damage outer auto body the most and also cause technical problems in automobiles. However you cannot stop all those unfortunate incidents to be happened, you can actually get your vehicle back in its shape and working condition with the help of some experts automobile collision repair services that are dedicated to help those who are seeking a professional help to take care of their damaged vehicles.

Collision body repair is not an easy task to do as it sounds; it is a complicated process that needs expert hands and a long experience to be done right. Automobiles are complex machines that are made up of various parts with every single part performing its own unique task making a machine fully functional to serve you in its best condition. There is also a big role of the outer body of the machine that has its own importance in making a machine successful on the roads. So, experience and expertise is all that is required to repair a vehicle after an incident of collision.

When it comes to repair a damaged vehicle after a collision, a professional Automobile collision repair service can help you to get your vehicle back in its full working condition. They help you fix auto body damage of all kinds ranging from door dings, fender benders, unibody and frame repair, bumper repairs, paint less dent repairs, hail damage repairs to all paint color matching and custom painting repair services. With the help of their latest tool and technology, they help you a lot to fix your vehicle the way it should be fixed and to your satisfaction. With the expertise to do auto body repair on foreign as well as domestic vehicles, they also offer you expert assistance in claiming insurance for your damages.

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Employ Only the Best!

As roads and highways become more populated with vehicles, the results are more auto accidents. But getting involved in a car accident is virtually the last thing anybody would want or think of. Having one's own vehicle disastrously dented and damaged can leave the person psychologically and financially stressed specially if its required to be run on a daily basis. All the same, it does happen to everyone if not today then tomorrow and when it does the only thing one wants is to be able to get their vehicle repaired to its original condition in a timely manner. For this you would actually need a "car restorer" that is a collision repair specialist who can restore your car as closely as possible to its original condition following an accident. Accidental repair is one of the most difficult, highly-involved types of car repair tasks in the industry, so it is better to choose an experienced professional help that can yield out the best results in repairing your vehicle.

With the rapid advancement in technology, the auto collision repair specialist job has evolved from being purely mechanical to including electronic technology. Because vehicles today hold complex computer and electronic systems, mechanics have to have a broader base of knowledge about internal systems than in the past. This can be achieved with the aid of computer diagnostic tools with the help of which a collision repair specialist can accurately pin point the problem areas of the vehicle and implement best methods and techniques to restore the vehicle to a condition that is as good as new. He has to know what to look for when it comes to damaged internal systems.

Over all this he must be able to determine how to best restore a body's external structure which includes paint and auto body repair. A collision repair service employs a variety of experts who work together to restore a car's exterior using a broad range of state-of-the-art techniques and parts. They will completely transform the damage making it look like nothing ever happened at all. Hopefully, you will find the right and the best collision repair shop in your area that will not just repair and restore your vehicle back to itself but will also make the entire process easy for you so go along and make the most for your bucks.

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Repairing Your Headlights

How do we repair or restore the headlights on our cars? According to the New York Police Traffic Division's Traffic Safety Team:

Clean the headlights or have them professionally restored and repaired (our department uses the MDWholesale headlight restoration kit on all our police cruisers and department vehicles for maximum light output and safety. Dirty headlights can and will decrease visibility by as much as 90%.)

Up until now the only solutions were to either replace the cloudy lenses with expensive OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts at your local dealer (headlights can easily cost over $300 each) or to just take the risk and drive with the bad headlights. Now there is an alternative, headlight restoration. You can restore these cloudy headlights to like new condition and be safe again. Restored headlights look new and have the same light output and safety of new headlights for a fraction of the cost. There is a patented headlight restoration system manufactured by MDWholesale which has been determined very effective in increasing night time safety by numerous government agencies and police departments throughout the nation. Please see below link for more information on this headlight restoration system.

So it is a proven fact that worn and cloudy headlights will have a great effect on night time driving and safety. Therefore, headlight restoration is a economic and very effective alternative to headlight replacement.

Save Money on Auto Repair!

Getting an auto repaired is nothing less than a headache. With costly replacement and repair of the auto parts, one tends to search a cheaper alternative as a part of an affordable auto repair and replacement service that provides quality repair job at competitive price.

Most of the auto repair firms advertise for repairing and replacing auto vehicle at very less rates, nevertheless they do this through employing the unskilled workers and making use of inferior quality parts. Usually, the specialized shops including the old car replacement and transmission repair shops, provide, cheaper auto replacement and repairs in comparison to the general repair shops.

It is inspiring that you talk about the exact and correct nature of the repair job and spend some time with the auto mechanic prior really starting on the replacement or repair. Many of the modern auto vehicles have the computerized monitoring system that assists the mechanics in identifying the problems simply and easily. The auto repair guides and manuals tell you all the details of every repair job as well as the normal time involved in each repair. These guides and manuals can be purchased from the auto parts shops accessible in your neighborhood.

Modern Techniques in Auto Body Repair

100% Auto Paint Match

Whether your car needs whole auto body painting, spot painting for covering dents, graphics removal, or others, the new paint should match the original car paint 100%. To achieve this, photo spectrometer is used to analyze the original paint of your vehicle. Then, a computerized auto paint color match system is employed to find the true color that will match the original color of your car. After this, the painting is done carefully to achieve a seamless finish. Once the paint has dried, your car will surely look like it's just freshly taken from a showroom.

Paintless Dent Repair (PDR)

Dents are commonly caused by impacts when your vehicle comes in contact with other cars or other hard surfaces. And the problem is, dents can sometimes occur at or near the angular or curve surfaces of the car, in which case they are very noticeable and harder to repair. Today, paintless dent removal method is already in use to solve these problems. Special tools are used to press, knead, or rub down on the affected part until it is back to its normal shape. This should be done while ensuring that the paint does not get damaged. And for those dents on hard-to-reach areas such as the edge of the car's floor, fill and spray methods are used.

Body Frame Straightening

For cars that experienced collision with another vehicle or object big enough to cause a longitudinal or lateral damage on the car's frame, body frame straightening is required. A computerized tool is used in this process. An ultrasound technology measures the discrepancy of the frame alignment and then a laser is used to accurately align the frame back to its original shape.

Can You Repair Your Bumper?

You can say you have had a bad day if you get rear ended, in a car accident, or if you accidently run or bump into something. However the day you take it to get repaired could be an even worse day. Most times people are discouraged by taking their vehicle to be repaired not only due to the high costs involved, but the fact that they may be out of a vehicle for days or weeks. Finding an honest mechanic can be a challenge as well.

Things to consider: Every 17 seconds a reported rear end collision occurs, and every 8.5 seconds an unreported rear end collision occurs. The most frequent accident on the road is the rear end collision, at almost 29.7%, and 75% of these accidents occur at less than 10 mph. Something else to consider is that 36% of all minor auto body damage is to the front or rear bumper.

More than a third!

One in three people with auto body damage have plastic bumper damage.

So if you unfortunately find yourself in a situation where your bumper needs repair know that you are not alone.

There are some practical solutions for you so, read on about what can be done.

Some mechanics or auto body shops will tell you that your bumper will need to be completely replaced. Well that will involve an average of two days to repair depending on how busy the shop is at that time. Also it will cost you at a minimum 500 dollars and up from there. This is an option for you, however it is not the only or most cost effective option you have.

The fact is that bumpers have changed as does everything else in time. They used to be made of sheet metal, now the metal bumper is covered by a plastic fascia in hopes that minor abrasions might pop out more easily. However the plastic can bend, break or rip.