Auto Repair FAQ
At Butler’s Collision, we prefer to speak with you directly and go over all your auto repair questions, but we understand how valuable your time is. Here are some answers to frequently asked auto repair questions we receive daily! Maybe you are wondering these as well. If you have more questions, please call or drop in, we are happy to be of service to you.
Your dealer may not be your best choice for collision repair. Many of the highest-quality facilities in the area are not affiliated with dealers. Your dealer generally has no unique edge in terms of technology, techniques, or part availability when it comes to repairing your vehicle after a collision. Rather than automatically returning to your dealer for collision repairs, we encourage you to be a careful shopper when selecting a repair facility. Ask your friends, neighbors, and relatives about the experiences they have had with the collision repair facility, and select the shop you think will provide the highest quality result.
Butler’s Collision is a certified repair facility.
Butler’s Collision has great relationships with all insurance companies and we’ll stay in contact with yours throughout the repair process. We are a preferred vendor for many insurance companies, which means we meet your insurer’s standards for quality, price and service.
An honest repair shop should always say no. Your insurance policy is a contract between you and your insurance carrier. It states that if you are involved in a collision, you are responsible for the first portion of the repairs (your deductible) and any depreciation or betterment on mechanical parts. The insurance company will pay the rest. If we do fewer repairs than agreed to with the insurance company, you are still responsible for the initial amount – your deductible. Any reduction in cost would go directly, to the insurance company. However, there is a legitimate way to reduce your cost. Suppose you have a small scratch on your bumper. Suppose further that it would cost $400 to replace it. You can talk to the insurance company about an “appearance allowance.” An appearance allowance is a negotiated compensation for NOT replacing your bumper and agreeing to be compensated somewhere between $0 and $400. The agreed-upon price is a matter for you and your insurance company to negotiate.
Yes, it may be difficult. However, a high-quality facility will take the steps necessary to ensure your satisfaction with the match. The following is a brief description of how paint-matching works. Your vehicle carries a paint code, printed on a label usually located under the hood of your car. This code specifically identifies your car’s color and is used by the repair shop to determine which paint-mixing formula should be used. This works fine if your vehicle is precisely the color specified by the paint code. However, in the actual vehicle production, there are often slight variations. If your vehicle is not the exact color specified by the factory, the first step in paint matching is “tinting” or vary the amount of the components in the formula. Sometimes, a perfect match cannot be obtained by tinting alone. In these cases, blending techniques are used. The last little bit of variance is made invisible by painting portions of the vehicle adjacent to the repaired areas so that the color changes are unnoticeable. This can make the difference between a very good match and an invisible repair. Proper paint-matching techniques require a high level of skill and sometimes a great deal of patience. At Butler’s Collision, all our technicians are trained and certified by the paint manufacturers. Be sure you select a repair facility that will take the time to produce a match in the perfect range and will not be satisfied with merely good results.
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