No one ever plans on getting into an accident and the moment it happens, it can turn your entire day, week or month upside down. This is especially true if the vehicle suffers significant damage and is in need of serious collision repair. When this occurs, your first thought might be to try and do whatever you can to keep the repair costs down, especially if your insurance won't cover it all. But while it's fine to try and save money, you don't want to do anything drastic that might actually hurt you more than it helps in the long run. Here are some tips to keep in mind when pricing out your collision repair.
Protect Your Investment and Resale Value
The check you send in every month to pay your rent or mortgage is probably your largest monthly expense. But if you are like most people, your car payment is likely your second biggest monthly expense. Whether you are still paying off your car or it's paid off in full, your second largest asset or investment certainly deserves the best in collision repair. A shoddy collision repair job by some fly by night operation could lead to the damage not being fully repaired in the way that it should be and the value of your car will go down. Stick with a reputable and experienced collision repair expert in your area and you can protect the long-term value of your vehicle.
Don't Void Your Warranty
If for whatever reason your accident is not completely covered by insurance, you might decide to get creative when it comes to your repair. This could include using after market parts or random parts from a junk yard that are not approved by your vehicle's manufacturer. But if your car is still within the warranty you received when you purchased the car, this might not be a good idea. Read the fine print on your warranty (or extended warranty) and you might see that the addition of non-approved or non-certified parts could completely void your warranty. Don't find this out the hard way, stick with approved parts from a reliable repair expert.
Get More Than One Quote
If you do want to try and save at least some money on your collision repair, reach out to more than one local repair shop today to get a quote. Shop around and you can surely find a reliable provider who will repair your car the right way for an affordable price. Look for a shop that offers collision repair near you.