Your car is a companion that will be with you through thick and thin, so it’s imperative that you keep it in the best condition for as long as possible. One of the most integral ingredients of maintaining a car in its optimal performance and aesthetic is working with a reliable auto body repair shop. The issue is that it can be difficult to determine which shop is the most suitable one for you. After all, there are always a few bad apples when it comes to these shops. With that said, here are three tips on how to find the best one in your area:

Read online reviews

The internet is the first and best place to look for an auto body repair shop, as you can learn a great deal about the location, professionalism, and service quality of each one. You can read reviews to see what people are saying about a place and how well they rate it according to their experience. Ideally, you will want to work with a shop that has all 5-star reviews, but this is not always possible. As a general rule, anything above 4.5 with at least 30 reviews is considered top-quality shop. When you see a 1-star review on these shops, be sure to read to see what it says, as a negative review is almost always more valuable for customers than a positive one.

Pay a visit

Once you have found a shop that you’re interested in, it’s a great idea to drop by to see the shop with your own eyes. Listed below are the elements you should look for in a shop when you see it for the first time:

// Cleanliness and professionalism

Like any other type of professional establishment, a good auto repair shop has to be spotless. A dirty shop says a lot more about the management and service quality than you’d think, as it shows that the owner doesn’t care enough about the presentation of the establishment. One more thing to remember is that a dirty, disorganized shop won’t be able to carry out a safe and effective repair, as it increases the risk of an accident. It’s always a good idea to work with a shop that’s neat, clean, and well-kept.

// Pricing

High-quality auto repair work can cost quite a large sum of money, but that doesn’t always have to be the case. You can find a great car repair shop at an affordable rate, so you shouldn’t expect to pay a fortune for a minor repair. If the shop is charging you 20% more than the other shops in the area, you need to ask what they offer that is different from what their competitors do. It won’t be worth the additional cost if they’re delivering the same service as the others. Some shops will use additional features that don’t have anything to do with the repair as an excuse to get more money out of you. It’s important that you’re aware of these tricks so that you don’t fall victim to these scams.

On the other hand, if the shop is suspiciously cheap, you need to know the reason why. If it’s cheap because they use cheap products and underqualified staff, then you need to get out of there and look for a better shop to work with. When it comes to your car, it’s worth making sure that it’s taken care of by the most experienced mechanics and technician you can find. Therefore, you should look for a certificate of excellence that indicates that a particular shop is the best one for you.

// Warranty

It’s important to look for a shop that has warranty policies. No matter how high-quality the shop is, mistakes do happen. In the unfortunate case that it does, you want to avoid having to be responsible for all the costs yourself. In an auto body repair shop, accidents can happen at any time and you shouldn’t be responsible for something that you didn’t do. Therefore, make sure that you look for a warranty policy to make sure that you’re covered if the shop does a sub-par repair job.

Ask for before and after photos

Lastly, you should look for the before and after photos of previous customers to see the difference between the car going in and out of the shop. You can find these photos on their site or social media pages, as they will usually use these photos to advertise their services.

If you’re looking for an auto body repair shop in Brantford, The Touch Up Spot is your best option. Get in touch with us today to see how we can help.