Certified Collision Center

Most people know your favorite body shop is the place to go when your vehicle receives exterior, or body, damage.  You might be surprised to learn, though, that your body shop can also make a few key interior auto repairs as well. In fact, these are the types of auto body repairs that can transform your car’s interior and have it looking as good as, if not better than, new to you.

1. Repair Cracks in the Plastic and Hard Vinyl

These types of repairs are not for the faint of heart to try at home. Auto body shops, on the other hand, have specialty crack fillers and buffing tricks that can smooth out problem areas and have them looking as though they’ve never been damaged.

2. Carpet Reconditioning

Tired drab carpets in your car’s interior can be a dead giveaway of your car’s age and the abuse your family puts your car through day in and day out. Even with the best of care, it doesn’t take long for the carpet inside your car to begin showing signs of wear, pick up stains, and look generally dirty. Auto body shops have special shampoos and extraction methods to remove even the most stubborn stains and debris from your vehicles carpeting so it looks showroom new for you in no time.

3. Stain Removal

Stains on your seats are just as unsightly and unpleasant as stains in the carpeting of your car. Talented auto body shops have more than a few good tricks up their sleeves to eliminate stains from spilled food, beverages, and goodness knows what else in your vehicle. While there may be no crying over spilt milk, the spoiled smell it leaves behind might bring tears to your eyes. Your body shop can handle these unpleasant odors too, like the pros they are. When they are finished your car’s interior will have that “new car” look and smell to it.

4. Bringing Your Leather Back to Life

Leather interiors are investments you make in your prolonged enjoyment of your vehicle. It looks great and feels even better. Whether the leather in your car is on your seats, steering wheel, dashboards, consoles, or elsewhere, it has the tendency to pick up an enormous amount of dirt and debris that can cause its beauty to fade and diminish over time. Auto body shops understand how important a touch like this can be and can help you restore your leather back to its former glory for a car interior you’re sure to fall in love with all over again.

5. Headliner Replacement

One of the most bothersome interior repairs for automobile owners is a headliner that is ripped, dirty, or beginning to sag. It robs you of your enjoyment of your vehicle and can cause more than a small amount of embarrassment when giving friends or family rides around town. Your local auto body repair shop can replace your failing headliner for a car interior that looks put together and road ready.

These are just five of the great ways your local body shop can help make the inside of your vehicle look as beautiful and new as your car’s exterior.

auto body repiar

With all the cars on the roads these days, the occasional minor car accident almost seems like an inevitability. Little fender benders are all too common, all over the country. While huge and/or catastrophic accidents are less common, dozens of them still happen ever day in the United States. The best thing you can do to protect yourself is to drive defensively and safely. However, you cannot control what other drivers do. This means you cannot eliminate the risk of a car accident entirely.

If you are in a car accident and are not injured (or not seriously), here are the five steps you should take immediately afterward to ensure everyone’s safety and wellbeing.

1. Take Pictures of the Accident Scene

You will probably have your phone with you in your car, and that phone probably has a camera on it. Once you are sure you are okay, as well as anyone who is in your car with you, get out and take pictures of the accident scene. Make sure you are safe while doing this by staying out of the way of traffic and away from cars that are on fire, smoking, have their wheels still turning, or otherwise look dangerous.

Having these pictures from immediately after the accident will make sorting everything out much easier for the police. They will also help your insurance company determine who is at fault, how much damage was done, and how much compensation they should pay you or an involved party if any.

2. Ensure the Safety of the Surrounding Area

To the best of your ability, move any debris out of the immediate area so people do not injure themselves on it. Check on everyone involved in the accident who you can safely approach and ask how they are doing and if they need anything. If you have road flares or magnetic LED hazard lights in your car, set them up around the accident scene to alert oncoming cars that they should stay as far away from the area as possible.

These things will keep you and everyone involved in the accident as safe as possible while waiting for first responders to arrive. It will also keep the first responders safe when they get there.

3. Call First Responders

Call 9-1-1 to let first responders know there has been an accident. Even if there are no injuries, police will still need to come to the scene to do a report, get statements, and issue any necessary citations. In most states, it is illegal to leave the scene of an accident without calling first responders.

4. Exchange Insurance Information

Exchange insurance information with anyone else involved in the accident who is able to do so. For most minor fender benders, the other party will be able to do this with you. It allows you to both make a claim with the other’s insurance, if necessary.

5. Call Your Insurance Company

Your insurance company needs to know about the accident, too. They will probably need to pay out something, either to you or the other party, such as money for medical bills, car repairs, or a trip to an auto body shop or glass repair place. The information you give them lets them know what kind of claim to file for you.

When you do these things immediately after a car accident, you are keeping everyone involved as safe as possible. You are also providing valuable information to first responders and giving your insurance company the information it needs to assist you. Keep these things in mind, and you will make the most of a bad situation for everyone present.

Driving defensively can help prevent collisions that can lead to injury or a trip to your local body shop. While defensive driving generally means using your driving skills to stay safe during times of inclement weather and bad drivers, there are plenty of steps regarding your own behavior that you can implement as well.

1. Buckle Up!

The most important safe driving tip is one that works best if you engage it before you even turn your car one. Seatbelts have been proven to save lives, primarily because they reduce the likelihood that you’ll be thrown around inside the car or be ejected from it during a collision.

Be sure the seat belt is adjusted correctly in order to maximize its safety. It should be low over your hips and the shoulder strap should lay flat against your chest.

2. Put Your Cell Phone on Mute

Cell phones are a fantastic invention that has completely changed the way people interact with each other and the world. Unfortunately, they can also be a terrible distraction, inviting you to pay attention to their insistent noises at a time when you should be focused completely on your driving.

Stay safe by muting your cell phone before you drive off. Many of the newer models allow you to program an automatic message that alerts people who might contact you that you’re driving at the moment and aren’t able to take the call.

3. Don’t Eat or Drink 

While it might seem like drive-through restaurants were made to support eating and drinking in the car, doing so can be very distracting. Whether it’s trying to reach for your straw that’s rolled off the seat or mopping up a splatter of ketchup, doing so while you’re driving can make it easier for you to drift into another lane. You also won’t be able to drive as defensively and be prepared for other drivers who are driving poorly if one hand is holding a drink or food.

Though it might add a few more minutes to your trip, pull over to a safe place and enjoy your meal completely before getting back out on the road. Those few extra minutes could save your life.

4. Maintain a Safe Distance

You probably already adjust your speed so that you’re driving more slowly at night or when the weather is bad. Even on bright and sunny days, though, you should always maintain a safe distance from any cars — both in front of you and those behind you. If you don’t think there’s enough space in between you and the car behind you, slow down slightly so you have more time to react — and to let the person behind you react — if you have to stop suddenly.

5. Never Drink and Drive 

Even one alcoholic beverage can change your response time enough to compromise your safety and the safety of those around you. Before you start drinking, be sure to have a designated driver lined up or turn over your keys to a trusted friend who won’t let you behind the wheel.

While the above safe driving tips won’t prevent all collisions, they’ll help you avoid most of them.

Prevention is the best cure for almost every accident under the sun. The same holds true for automobile accidents. Especially those that take place in parking lots. One of the problems with these particular low-speed collisions and accidents is that they are often costly to repair, but not costly enough to make an insurance claim once you consider the increased future premiums and the costs of your deductibles.

While you cannot possibly prevent all parking lot accidents from taking place, there are things you can do that will reduce your risks of being involved in a parking lot accidents. These are five simple tips you can put into practice to protect your car from the damage parking lot accidents cause.

1. Avoid Distractions While Driving in Parking Lots

According to the National Safety Council, nearly 66 percent of nationwide drivers admit they would make phone calls while driving in parking lots. Many others also use this time to program their GPS systems, send out quick text messages, engage social media, watch videos, and read emails. Distracted activities like these greatly diminish your ability to respond and avoid accidents in parking lots causing more accidents in the process.

2. Utilize Technology Judiciously

Newer vehicles are equipped with mountains of technology to help you drive safer. Even in parking lots. Things like cross-traffic alerts, rear view cameras, autonomous braking, and parking assist systems can be instrumental in helping you avoid potential accidents in parking lots.

3. Be Mindful of Stray Carts

Not only can carts blowing in the wind cause accidents as drivers seek to avoid hitting them. They can also cause damage to parked cars in the lot. If you see one near your vehicle on your way in the store, grab it up and use that cart or return it to the cart return. Always return your cart to the return to spare others the hassle and headache of cart-related parking lot accidents.

4. Avoid Aggressive Parking Lot Driving

There are pedestrians, children, stay carts, and other drivers in confined spaces in parking lots. Drive courteously and try to let the bad behavior of other drivers go to create a safer atmosphere for all drivers and protect the investment you’ve made in your vehicle.

5. Park so You Can Pull Through When Possible

The ability to pull through so that you’re not forced to back out of a parking spot when leaving the store, mall, restaurant, event, etc. can help you avoid unnecessary accidents related to rearview blind spots. For the average driver, even assisted by technology and thoughtful watchfulness, backing out in a crowded parking lot is a terrifying prospect. Parking so that you pull forward when leaving, helps to eliminate the drama of leaving and may help you reduce your risks of an accident at the same time.

You don’t have to change the way you drive completely to avoid preventable parking lot accidents. Of course, the most important thing you can do to avoid collisions in parking lots is to be mindful of what’s going on around you and drive defensively at all times.

From the moment you are involved in a collision, your nerves can be rattled. Here you are with damage to your vehicle and faced with the responsibility of finding the best auto body shop to make the repairs. Even though there are more than 229,000 registered auto body shops in the United States, not all of them are going to provide the same level of service.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of horror stories to go around from drivers who ended up with subpar repairs after an accident. To help ensure you get the auto body service, take a look at this list of professional tips on finding an honest place.

The Shop Is Certified

Quality and testing standards set forth by places like the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) and I-Car are updated frequently, and the best auto body shops make sure their operations and technicians are rightly certified. Look for shops that advertise that they are ASE or I-Car certified to make sure you’re working with a reliable place.

The Shop Openly Admits Their Limitations

The most honest auto body shop won’t be afraid to refer you to someone else if they are not staffed, qualified, or equipped to handle certain repairs. For instance, if you drive a luxury vehicle and the auto body shop has no experience with restoring luxury rides, they should be upfront with you and let you know they don’t have the experience to do the job.

The Shop Gladly Answers Questions

Are you concerned about how long the repairs will take or whether the new paint color will match the old after repairs? If you have questions about the repair process, make sure you ask any technician you work with during your initial visit. How open the shop employees are to answering your questions will tell you a great deal about what kind of place you’re working with overall.

The Shop Offers Written Service Estimates

When you’re shopping around to find the best place, written estimates are highly useful. You can use these written estimates to compare the different prices among different places and choose the best. Plus, written estimates are usually required for insurance purposes after you have filed a claim.

The Shop Offers a Warranty

The best auto body shops will have no qualms about warrantying their work because they are confident that the work was done properly. Therefore, look for a shop that offers a warranty for a certain amount of time after the repairs are made to your vehicle. You will definitely find a lot of peace of mind in knowing if anything is wrong once repairs are made, the shop will take care of the problem.

Working to find the most honest and trustworthy auto body shop after an auto accident can take some time, but it is well worth the extra effort in the end. Follow these guidelines to make sure you get to eventually drive away in a vehicle that has been repaired by truly skilled professionals you can trust.

According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel, more than 1.25 million people die in automobile crashes annually. This startling statistic is enough to make even the safest driver keep their own driving habits in check. If you are prepared to start the year off on a good foot, it may be time to start looking at a few ways you can drive a little safer in your car.

1. Be Alert to Dangers on the Road

When you climb behind the wheel of your car, it is important to be on the lookout for dangers that could be present. So many accidents are caused by drivers who are either being unsafe or not paying attention that you have to be a bit of a defensive driver yourself. You should always expect the unexpected and:

• Slow down when traffic is heavier
• Utilize your vehicle’s safety functions
• Anticipate the actions of other drivers

2. Stay Alert and Avoid Distracted Driving

Driving while distracted is the number one cause of serious motor vehicle crashes. Therefore, if there is one thing you change to drive safer, it should be to make sure there are no distractions while you drive. The most common driver distractions include:

• Cell phones and other devices
• Food and drinks
• Pets
• Dropped items
• Car radio

Even though distracted driving is a bigger problem among younger drivers, older drivers are just as at risk of getting distracted on the road. Turn off your cell phone, secure pets, leave the radio alone until you stop, and save eating for when you’re safely parked.

3. Avoid Driving While Impaired

Driving while impaired is usually thought of as driving under the influence. However, there are a lot of things that can impair your ability to use your best judgment and react properly while behind the wheel. For example, driving when you’ve not had enough sleep can be deemed as driving while impaired because your reaction times may be slowed and your judgment skewed.

4. Keep Your Vehicle Well-Maintained

Even a vehicle that is not properly maintained can be the root cause of an accident. Many drivers rely on their vehicle to function as it should but they don’t do the due diligence to ensure the vehicle can. You should keep your vehicle well-maintained by:

• Replacing or servicing brakes as needed
• Having the oil changed regularly
• Regularly checking safety equipment like blinkers and lights
• Adding fluids as needed
• Changing wiper blades when they become worn

5. Be Mindful of the Weather

Safe car driving has a lot to do with properly adjusting driving habits according to the weather. You should drive slower when visibility is slow or road conditions are questionable, keep your windows cleared of ice and snow, and make sure your tires have the proper air pressure.

Accidents will always be an understood risk when you drive a car, but safe car driving can help thwart many bad situations. Make sure you are doing your part to drive safer and keep yourself and others safe on the roadways.