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When considering who should repair your damaged vehicle, you may want to consider going with an independent body shop over a shop that is “preferred or suggested” by your insurance company. In this article, we’ll give you five reasons to choose an independent body shop.

1. Quality Workmanship: An independent body shop typically specializes in specific types of vehicles that they repair. This means their technicians are often certified experts in cars made by one or more manufacturers, meaning you can trust that your car repair will be done right the first time.

2. Quality Parts: An independent body shop can acquire parts from a the original equipment manufacturer, meaning you can trust that you’re getting the highest quality parts for your repair.

3. Personalized Service: When you bring your car to an independent body shop, chances are you’ll be dealing with the same manager and technician each time. This means they’ll get to know you and your car better, meaning they can provide more personalized service and better advice.

4. Convenience: Independent body shops often offer more flexible hours than big box corporate shops, making them more convenient for individuals with busy schedules.

5. Cost Savings: We left this one for last on purpose, because it goes against conventional wisdom. Generally speaking, independent body shops tend to be less expensive than shops working in partnership with insurance companies. It may not look like it on the surface, but let’s take a look at the big picture differences in how each entity approaches a repair.

An independent body shop that only uses original equipment manufacturer parts may pay a little more for the correct parts for your car – and then transfer that cost to you (or your insurer). 

An insurance company’s “preferred” shop has no choice but to use cheap, often untested aftermarket parts. These parts often do not fit correctly, and must be forced to fit. Sometimes new holes even have to be drilled to make the part fit. And when you change the design of something – you alter its structural integrity. In essence, you compromise the way the part in question interacts with all of the other connected parts. And that can (and often does) put the occupants of that vehicle at higher risk of bad things happening in the event of another accident.

Such instances can be documented via a post-repair inspection, and trust us when we say that we’ve seen some pretty dangerous “repairs” out there. When properly documented, the insurance companies often have to pay the shop to re-repair the vehicle properly – and the time and money to do so often exceeds whatever small savings they were going for by using inferior parts the first time.

These are just 5 of the many reasons that an independent body shop might be your best choice. Of course, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are happy to help educate you about anything related to our industry.