If you're like me, you drive your car everywhere. But after 15 years of reliable services, dents and rust now cover my car's hood, trunk and doors. I don't want to sell my car and buy a new one, so I decided to take it to an auto body and paint shop. Not only did the shop repair the dents and remove the rust, the technicians repainted it. If your car or truck looks less than stellar, take it to an auto body shop for repairs. My blog shows you where to look for the best auto body services and how to even perform your own repairs at home. Don't sell your car. Give it a makeover instead.
If your vehicle was damaged in an accident, and you had to take your vehicle to an auto body repair shop to pick it up, when you pick up your vehicle, you are going to want to make sure you inspect your vehicle. You should inspect your vehicle to ensure that the work was done up to your standards.
Check the Cleanliness of Your Vehicle
The first thing you should check is the cleanliness of your vehicle. Your vehicle should be washed and clean on the outside so that you can easily inspect the outside of your vehicle. With auto body work, the mechanics often get inside of your vehicle as well, so the inside of your vehicle should be clean. Your vehicle shouldn't be less clean than when you brought it in to get the work done.
Check the Body Panel for Gaps
If any of the body panels were replaced on the vehicle, check and see how closely the body panels line up with the other body panels on your vehicle. When a body panel is correctly installed on your vehicle, there shouldn't be gaps between different panels.
Check the Paint Color
When body panels and repairs are done on your vehicle, it is common for your vehicle to need to be repainted. Depending on how extensive the damage was to your vehicle, your entire vehicle may not have been needed to be repainted. When it comes to repainting a vehicle, it can be important to get an exact color match, as the color on your vehicle changes under normal wear and tear. Check and make sure that the new paint job matches with the current paint job and blends as seamlessly as possible. It shouldn't be obvious when you glance at your vehicle that one of the body panels has new paint on it.
Check the Doors & Hood
Next, open and close all of the doors on the vehicle. Be sure to also open and close the hood and the trunk. Make sure that all the doors, hood, and trunk easily open and close. You shouldn't hear any rubbing sounds or have any problem opening or closing the doors and moveable parts on the vehicle.
It is common practice to inspect your vehicle after picking it up for auto body work. More than likely, the auto body shop will walk you through and show you everything that they did before they have you pay for the work. This is a chance for both you and the shop to review the work done, and to determine if any other little touch-ups are needed before the repair is finalized.
For more information, contact companies like Westside Fender/Body & Refinishing.
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