Thursday, June 26, 2014

Vehicles with Accident Avoidance Systems, Safer?

Vehicle technology has changed so much in the last 15 years that if you don't keep up with it you would be greatly surprised by just how many computers are on your new car. A Mercedes convertible with the folding roof has over 100 control modulers on the vehicle. A control module is a computer used to control the functions of your vehicle. The average car today has very few systems that do not run through some kind of control module to handle the command from the switches that turn on the device. Dome lights, headlights, turn signals almost everything you can imagine is controlled by a module. Now what does a crash avoidance system do?

A crash avoidance system uses a type of radar to identify slow moving or stationary objects in your vehicles path as you are maneuvering through the maze we drive through every day. The system was tested on Semi trucks and the first versions were a little quirky at best. The system can work a few different ways depending on the vehicle maker by either sounding a buzzer, making the steering wheel vibrate or lighting an indicator on the dash. Some systems are active, in other words they will slow the car down and some will even stop the car. This system coupled with stability control will greatly reduce your chances of hitting an object or losing control trying to avoid an object. This in itself will help reduce the amount of crashes for most unsuspecting drivers when an object ends up in your path.

Although I applaud the new technology, I do not embrace the amount of wiring and computers that this adds to the vehicles we drive. The average technician is going to have his hands full as these products become more prevalent on the street cars that we are driving. They not only will have to service the moving parts of a car or truck but they will have to be an electrician and a computer expert!

I would definitely not trust my backyard technician to adjust the radar sensor's on my new car! If you need collision repairs please be careful and choose someone that is certified and knows what they are doing!


Thursday, June 19, 2014

I Had An Accident, My Tail Lights And/Or Headlights Are Broken; Do I Qualify For A Rental?

YES, North Carolina state law dictates that you must have all taillights, headlights and turn signals in proper working order on your vehicle. Also, NC traffic laws state that you cannot emit a white light from the rear of your vehicle while in forward motion. If you are a claimant or have rental coverage then you should be in a rental vehicle.
You should never operate a vehicle after a collision that is unsafe to drive. Don't take a chance on getting a ticket or worse yet getting hurt in another collision! 
Your Vehicle is the second Largest investment you are likely to make. Preserve its value and your safety by having it repaired professionally. Seek out a shop with I-Car or ASE certifications; these are professional entities that make sure technicians are trained on today’s advanced vehicles. At All Precision Collision Repair, all our employee’s are trained and certified.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

What is the biggest Auto Body Repair Problem?

I have been in the auto body repair business for many years. I have worked at some good shops and some not so good shops. One of the most prevalent things I see on repaired cars is shortcuts on the repair. Either work that could have been finished properly with just a little more time spent on the repair. Sometimes it is leaving critical fasteners loose like on a bumper.

I inspected this vehicle at a shop for a customer and he was going to the lake with his boat the next day. What would have happened to his expensive boat if this bumper with the trailer hitch fell off on the highway? It surely would not be a good thing. At our shop we check every fastener with a torque spec before we let it leave our shop. Critical things, like wheels, bumpers etc. are important to your safety and well being. We surely don't want you to have another accident!

Also on the same vehicle a bed bolt was missing. Every part should be inventoried and accounted for in an organized fashion. There is no reason for this bolt to be missing. Take ten bolts out, put ten bolts in!


At All Precision Collision Repair we hold ourselves to a higher standard. This repair was done at one of the largest Toyota dealer ships in our area. This shop was on an Insurance company list of Select shops. I guess sometimes that may not be the best for you or your vehicle. See more examples from this vehicle and others that I have photo's of. Auto Body Repair Safety Inspections This is one of hundreds of vehicle I have inspected and found problems with.

What makes us different? We are trained in over 50 areas of auto body repair. Our shops is not a huge chain shop. We are family owned and operated. We have 15 years of pride in business at the same location.

Because we work one on one with you and your car we never leave you without all the bolts back in your vehicle!

We are 7 short miles from Monroe and 15 miles east of Charlotte on Highway 74 East. 

See our location here: Google map location

Come see us and get the service you deserve. The body shop that cares about you and your vehicle!




Thursday, June 12, 2014

Had a Wreck called your claim in, what's next?

It sounds great when you hear the claims handler read their script to you, well rehearsed and practiced. "We have several shops in your area". They could be called Blue Ribbon or Select Service or a dozen other names. But you live 15 miles from the shop they have on their "list". Why would they want you to use a specific shop and have you drive 15 miles out of your way to use an auto body shop? They tell you it is because this shop meets a certain criteria or if you use another shop the Insurer will not guarantee the work, or it will take longer to get your car inspected, or you can get a rental car right away if you use their shop. All of these statements are used to control you and your claim. Why?

Insurance companies have collected your premiums for years for your policy, hopefully they invested the money wisely and made some great returns on the money you loaned them in the event you had an accident and had a claim against your policy. Truth is if they control you and your claim they may be able to save hundreds and maybe thousands of dollars on your repairs. How does this happen you say?

By controlling the shop that does your repairs, they are feeding them work and in turn the shop will either not perform certain procedures, shortcut the repairs, use the cheapest materials available or basically not perform procedures necessary to restore your vehicle to the condition it was in prior to the accident.

If you can imagine that insurers saving just $100.00 a claim and they write 2,000 claims a day across the United States. this would save $200,000 a day. Now I can assure you from what I have witnessed it is a lot more than $100.00 per car they save by this "company policy". Personally I don't want my Insurance rates to go up, however I feel like if they took better care of their customers they would not have to spend 50 million dollars to create characters like flow and mayhem.

Does any of this benefit you? Well maybe if you think that helping the production companies that make the commercials stay in business or helping all the TV channels fill spots for commercials. I personally think that this practice is a waste of our investment in the Insurance companies coffers.

Because in most states insurance is mandated to at least have liability insurance and if your vehicle is financed you have to maintain full coverage insurance till the vehicle is paid off. This in itself causes me to dislike the practices of shortchanging the motoring public. Because I have to deal with the policies they create at ground level, I wanted to shed a little light on the process consumers miss.

So my main point here is not to vent but to tell all of you if you have a shop that you know and trust that fixed Grandmas car and did a great job, don't be scared to use them if you need your car fixed. The repaired vehicles I have inspected that come from the direct repair shops have all been horrible. Rust, bent chassis's, Tia-won parts, peeling paint, poor fitting parts, poor welds and the list goes on! None of this helps you or your car. Your car is one of the largest investments you will make besides your home, having it lose it's value or become unsafe in another accident is not why I got involved in this business.

I have been involved with collision repair for over 35 years. If you do a little research you will find that I have been a number one Auto Body Technician most of my career. I am certified by the largest entities in the collision repair industry and currently teach auto body repair at a local community college. I own a Body Shop at a Chevrolet dealership in a small town in NC. I opened this shop to offer the community quality auto body repair at a fair price. Not to be told by an Insurer how not to fix a car properly or shortchange a customer. As long as I am able I will fight for my customers to get what they paid for. If they want to save money on their claim that is their right and no-one else's.

A Non Insurance Auto Body Repair Shop

Loss in Value in NC

Friday, June 6, 2014

Marshville's #1 Auto Body Repair Shop In Union County North Carolina

Where is Marshville you say? Have you ever heard of Randy Travis? Randy was raised here in Marshville, a few short miles from Monroe and Charlotte North Carolina in Union County. I know there are big box store Auto Body Repair Shops around Union County but from what I found on Yelp and other places the customer service experience is lost to the cheap and the fast. No we do not take any longer to get cars in and out of our Body Shop. But we do not let pressure from Insurance companies cause us to cut corners on our customer repairs. We have a 100% Customer service experience at our collision repair shop and we are proud of it!

There is a large chain shop in my area Insurers send their customers to and you should read the reviews about the poor customer service and time it took to perform repairs here. Online reviews of Insurer recommended shop  I have no negatives anywhere on the web, we are a BBB A+ rated shop without a complaint ever!

What I am trying to say is that regardless of what Insurance companies may tell you, It does not take any longer to get quality one on one repairs, the best materials, the best color match, the finest repair job, save money on your payment portion of the repair, get a rental car, get your car towed to our body shop and have peace of mind in your repairs.

Had an accident? Need help getting through the insurance maze? Call us before you call your insurance company, 704-624-5659, out of the Charlotte area? Call our toll free number 855-280-9590. Or you can contact us for a free consultation allprecision@windstream.net

You can also get a ton of FREE information on our web site. All Precision Collision Repair on the web

Bob Winfrey
I am a certified auto body technician with over 35 years experience and 30 certifications in the Industry. Published author and a diminished value inspector.