Do you have a *go to Bodyshop* of choice

[chefwong]

Granted in any collision, the experience of going from damaged good s to -repaired goods- and seeing non dented panels, etc may affect ones emotional initial response to *great job* from any bodyshop upon pickup

I have 3 bodyshops I use.
All 3, paint match is always on point, panels aligned right.
Turnaround is always terrible

It is always stretched out to literally how many days you will have a loaner for.
So even a small repair, you can drop it off and guaranteed, I know I'll be getting it back on day 30-31.
This has been my experience Pre-CV19 so it's not a supply chain issue....
It's just how they operate

I got side swiped recently and simply hate the exceptions I know ....30 day repair, etc.

 

[Odrapnew]

I've used the same place a few times in the past and my mom is a multiple time repeat customer (LOL).
I had my 2003 Ranger repaired and my wife's 2009 CX9 repaired by the same shop. They do top notch work and I've been satisfied.

I sent a coworker to them even though they were on the other side of town and he was very impressed as well. It was just fixing some faded paint on the spoiler of his late 90's Camaro, but they gave him a tour and explained how they will do the work.

It's been over 10 years since I've done anything with them so I can't comment on turnaround time, but they will be on the short list if I need more work done in the future.

 

[chefwong]

One of the shops I use is a Autopian's dream. 2 Floors. Floor 1 is Body Work. Floor 2 is Paint. I recall him telling me Floor 2 has in ground heating in the slab so the heat minimizes dust or something to that effect. Bodywork stalls are all vacuumed control tools, enclosed areas - unlike the usual body work places where you walk in and there is Bondo Dust everywhere....Out of the 3, they are me leasfavorite out of the 3 these days. Gotten too *big* for themselves. The mouth watering slew of Exotics ,Project Cars, fabrication and paint is there on any given day.

 

[Desertnate]

Good body shops around here are very hard to find and great ones don't exist.

The one I use has been pretty good to us. Their assembly work is really good and their paint work is very good most of the time, but the sometimes struggle with color matching more unique colors. We've had to use them three times over the last 15 years or so.

One thing our shop excels at is the great customer service. They stay in contact with you the whole time with updates on progress, and where the car is in the process. They are also tied into insurance companies and even the local Enterprise rental car office so a lot of the coordination just "happens" in the background and makes it really simple for the customer.

I got rear ended in November and was really worried about parts availability since my car isn't very common or produced in large numbers. However, I think I was only in a rental car for about 2 weeks. They got parts in and the work done pretty quickly. Of everything they had to replace it was a simple backup light assembly that was the hardest to find.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

One of the shops I use is a Autopian's dream. 2 Floors. Floor 1 is Body Work. Floor 2 is Paint. I recall him telling me Floor 2 has in ground heating in the slab so the heat minimizes dust or something to that effect. Bodywork stalls are all vacuumed control tools, enclosed areas - unlike the usual body work places where you walk in and there is Bondo Dust everywhere....Out of the 3, they are me leasfavorite out of the 3 these days. Gotten too *big* for themselves. The mouth watering slew of Exotics ,Project Cars, fabrication and paint is there on any given day.

That's crazy. I thought the Bondo dust all over the inside of the car was on purpose, to give you that "destination wedding" feel, you know, the "body shop experience".