Small Collision Repair Explained
Six short answers that make a bumper, dent, scratch, or door estimate easier to read.
Six Things Worth Knowing
None of this is secret. It just rarely gets explained to the person paying for it.
A bumper is mostly a cover
The painted part you see is a plastic cover. Behind it sits an absorber and a metal bar. Scuffs, cracks, and tears in the cover can often be repaired. When the damage is too much, a new cover is the better fix.
How deep the scratch goes
A scratch in the clear coat can sometimes be polished out. A scratch through the color, or down to the primer or metal, needs paint. Bare metal left open to rain will start to rust, so those are worth fixing sooner.
Repair the door or replace it
A dent in a door can often be repaired and refinished. When a door took a harder hit, replacing it can cost less than fixing it. Either way, the gaps and body lines have to line up with the rest of the car.
Color match is a blend, not a code
Your car's paint code gets you close. Paint fades with sun and age, so the new paint gets blended into the next panel instead of stopping at a seam. Stopping at the seam is what leaves a line you can see from across a parking lot.
Estimate and supplement
The first estimate is written from the outside of the car. Sometimes a broken clip, bracket, or absorber turns up once a part comes off. On an insurance job, the extra goes to the insurance company as a supplement. That is normal. It means somebody looked.
Who pays
If the other driver caused it, their insurance pays for the repair and you do not owe a deductible. If you use your own collision coverage, you pay your deductible. On a small repair, paying yourself can make more sense than filing.
Four Things People Get Told
Some of these come from shops. Some come from the internet.
My insurer picks the shop.
Texas Insurance Code 1952.301 lets you choose. A suggestion from your insurance company is not an order.
A supplement means the shop is padding the bill.
A supplement means somebody took a part off and found what the first estimate could not see.
If it is repaired well, nothing will show up later.
A police report or an insurance claim can put a crash on a vehicle history report no matter who does the work. Nobody can promise it stays off.
Filing will not affect my rate.
Not-at-fault claims usually do not touch your rate. At-fault claims usually do. That is your insurance company's call, and no shop controls it.
What We Fix
We keep it to three kinds of small collision work.
Still Have Questions?
Text us photos or bring the car by. Either way you get a free estimate with nothing owed.