White Family Collision Repair Process

What you need to know before you drop off.

Estimating and Preparing the Repair Plan

After the accident your cell phone will be flooded with phone calls from insurance claim handlers from both parties, lawyers, medical providers etc. It can become very stressful for most people, let us take the vehicle portion off your plate. All you need to get the repair plan rolling is the insurance company’s name and a claim number. YOU have the right to take your vehicle to whatever body shop you choose!

Don’t feel obligated to jump through hoops for the insurance companies. All they are trying to do is save themselves money. On the day of your estimate appointment, you drive into our service lane and will be greeted by the staff. From there an estimator will be assigned to your claim, they will meet with you and go over the damages with you. They then will take all necessary photos and do the research for the repair on your vehicle. They then will present you with a Preliminary Estimate. Now, keep in mind that this first estimate will typically only include the visible damage. When the technicians start getting under the exterior of your car, they will most likely find even more damage, which can result in additional repair cost and time.

Blueprinting a Teardown

Once you drop the vehicle off on the day of your repair, the vehicle is going to be washed, photos taken of all prior damage and then assigned to a certified technician. Here is when the blueprinting and teardown process will take place. The technician is going to review the first estimate and start removing the damaged exterior parts from the vehicle. This is when more damage can surface that was missed on the Preliminary Estimate. Once this process is complete we will contact you with what we found. Unfortunately, this will likely add extra days to the repair. Please prepare for this before dropping off the vehicle, this is a completely expected delay in the process. This is what your estimator will refer to as a Supplement.

Body and Frame Repair

After the teardown and the supplement parts arrive, the technician will get into the body and or frame portion of the repair. This is when the technician will use OEM guidelines to repair the damaged portion of the vehicle. Depending on the severity of the damage the vehicle might also need frame repair, which we will use our state-of-the-art laser frame diagnostic system to achieve accurate measurements. Such a process will take days, weeks, or even in rare situations months to complete. Trying to give an accurate time frame is very difficult due to all the different types of damage. We will keep you up to date on the status as best as we can.

Refinish

Once the vehicle is done with the Body and Frame repair it will be moved into the paint shop for the finishing process to begin. Once the vehicle enters the refinish department, it is all about proper preparation. All panels are prepped, primed and sealed so that factory finish can be obtained. Once completely prepped for paint, our refinish team mixes BASF 90line Hybrid paint to ensure a OEM factory like finish! Our paint shop will have upward of 20-30 cars in it at one time so please understand this process will easily take days to get through the booth.

*Note - Keep in mind when it comes to painting plastic to metal parts. Very few if any leave the factory with a perfect match. Why you might ask? The answer is simple, metal and plastic take paint differently due to being two different materials.

Reassembly

After the refinishing process is done and our certified painter signs off on the vehicle, it will move back to the body team to be built. During this time the body panels are fit and gaps are checked. Once again, our body teams work on several vehicles at one time, your estimator will keep in contact with you to know where your vehicle stands in the process.

Detail and Quality Inspection

After all the bodywork is done the vehicle will move back to detail, our goal is to give your vehicle back cleaner than when you dropped it off. Your vehicle will be washed, swept out, wiped down and windows cleaned. When you get this update, we know you are getting excited to get your vehicle back but please keep it in mind that we have, on average, 20 vehicles in detail at one time, so this could take a couple of days.

Once it is clean, our quality control manager will go over the vehicle. Here we will check for any imperfection that might have been missed during the repair process. This is also when we make sure that no calibrations are needed. With newer vehicles, this is becoming very common. Your vehicle might need to go to the dealer to get this performed. Our estimators will make you aware if this is needed.

Our Goal

We hope this helps break down the repair process a little bit more for you. We understand that your vehicle is important to you, and we want to repair your vehicle the right way to ensure you and your family’s safety. This process takes time, but trust us when we say we want to get your vehicle back to you as quickly as possible! If you have any questions about anything above, please do not hesitate to reach out to your estimator or another employee here at White Family Collision Center. We look forward to working with you soon!

Important notes

  • Due to the many variables in each repair process, we regret that we are unable to guarantee a completion date. Supplements, parts, the discovery of additional or hidden damages, extensive damages, and many other factors can affect repair times. Due to this reason, we can only estimate the date of completion. Some repairs may take longer than the number of days allowed for rental coverage by many insurance companies and/or by policy limits. White Family Collision Center assumes no responsibility for rental car costs or additional expenses related to loss of use,

  • Please note that White Family Collision Center cannot guarantee the color match between plastic panels (i.e., bumpers, mirrors, spoilers, moldings, flares, etc.) from the rest of the sheet metal parts. There are many variables that affect the color match of these parts like, different substrates, mounting angles, flex additives, and differences in surfaces. Please talk with your Collision Specialist if you would like more detailed information.

  • Full payment is due upon completion of your vehicle’s repairs. No vehicle will be released without full payment.

  • During the course of repairs, additional or hidden damage may be found. In such cases, repairs to your vehicle may be stopped until a representative from your insurance company has the opportunity to inspect the additional damages. Repairs will not continue until we have confirmation of funding to proceed.