Getting an Accurate Car Repair Estimate
After a car accident, you’ll wonder how to get an accurate car repair estimate. A picture is worth a thousand words, sure, but there are some areas—like auto body damage and car repair costs—where pictures just won’t cut it. So how do you get a reliable auto body estimate?
Hammer’s Autoworks receives numerous requests for auto body repair estimate in email and over social media, often with a picture included. These inquiries are made in earnest, often by people who have been told by their insurance companies that all they need is a photo to generate an accurate auto body estimate.
We’re sorry to be the bearers of bad news, but this simply isn’t the case, and it has resulted in numerous drivers receiving low-balled estimates. The result is an estimate that is off the mark by hundreds, sometimes even thousands of dollars.
Why is a picture insufficient for an auto body estimate?
Well, there are a few reasons, but the largest one is this: there may well be damage to your vehicle that can’t be captured in a photo. And since most people are not auto body repair experts, you might not know where all to look for damage. The photos you do take might not show the damage as extensively as a photo taken by an auto body specialist.
An article by Inside Edition details how one car insurance company quoted $1,700 to fix damage that was in excess of $11,000. This same company offered another of their customers $1,290 for $7,396 of damages. Insurance companies, the article claims, are banking on the idea that drivers will simply take the cash payout they’re offered without realizing the true extent of what they are owed.
Dubious ethics aside, this practice is downright dangerous, especially since it wouldn’t be difficult to find a less-than-reputable auto body shop that is willing to honor the insurance company’s estimate. But are they going to perform thousands of dollars’ worth of repairs if they’re not getting paid? Of course not. What they will do is a patch-up job with what they are given, often leaving vehicles in downright dangerous states of disrepair.
So what’s the best way to get a car repair estimate? This hasn’t changed. Bring your vehicle into Hammer’s Autoworks so our technicians can take a look. We will provide an estimate based on everything a camera can capture as well as the numerous things it can’t and we will send the photos to your insurance company for you. This saves you time and frustration. You know the estimate you get is accurate, and the repair work will be performed from an OEM certified auto body shop that will fix your car right. And we’ll help you with your insurance claim as well. We work with all major insurance companies. Our job is to make sure the process is as seamless and headache-free for you as possible.
More questions on obtaining auto body repair estimates—or working with your car insurance company on the process? Get in touch with us.
