repairing auto body damage caused by your teen

Have you recently been in an automobile accident? Are you concerned that your insurance company isn't going to cover all of the repairs necessary to get your vehicle looking like new again? In certain instances, it is both less expensive in the long run and easier to simply leave your insurance company out of your auto body repair plans. But just because paying for everything out of pocket may be more affordable for you, this doesn't automatically mean that you'll be able to afford every repair; however, there are certainly some things you can do that will make overall repair costs more affordable as a whole. Some of these things include:

Travel some distance: When you live in a larger metropolitan area, everything can be more expensive. Due to the high costs of rent and labor, the exact same auto body repair can be priced significantly higher if you visit a body shop downtown as opposed to one that is further out or even one that is closer to the suburbs. Depending on the extent of the damage, you may be able to locate a more rural body shop that will be able to handle the job at a fraction of what it would cost you to have everything repaired closer to home.

Install used parts: Functionally, there should be very little difference between a body panel that came off of a similar vehicle to yours and a body panel that was ordered directly from the dealer. Aesthetically, the used body panel may be a completely different color than your own vehicle and will need to be changed later. As a matter of cost, the parts ordered from the dealer are typically significantly more expensive than the functionally equivalent used parts that you may be interested in using. Not every auto body repair shop is going to be willing to install used parts, so you may have to do a bit of research to find an auto body repair shop that will work with used parts, like http://www.chehaliscollisioncenter.com/.

Repair in stages: Contrary to what some repair technicians might tell you, you don't necessarily have to repair everything at once. Minor dents and scratches can be left for later while any structural or functional damage should be dealt with as soon as possible. Doing your auto body repair in stages might actually cost a little more in the long run, but the individual repair bills are more likely to be affordable. Make sure to discuss your budget concerns before any work commences so that you know what to expect.