There are over 6 million car accidents in the United States every year. And, unfortunately for some people, their insurance doesn’t cover the cost of these repairs.
Paying for car accident repairs, even small ones, can take a lot of money out of your pocket. If your insurance doesn’t cover your car damages, make sure you read these four tips that’ll help you save money on your car accident repairs.
1. Don’t Make Any Financial Decisions Right Away
Sometimes this can’t be helped, but if you can, avoid making any financial decisions about your car repair right after the accident. Give yourself a chance to calm down.
Don’t think about when and where to tow your car. Or what kind of repairs you’ll have to make. Or how much money it will cost. Instead, call the police, make sure the accident is reported the right way, and get some medical attention.
If you don’t give yourself this time to calm down, you might end up making hasty repair decisions. This can lead to spending more money than you actually need to spend.
Your main concern after an accident should be on your safety and the safety of anyone else involved in the accident. All the financial decisions can wait until later.
2. Find a Reputable Auto Body Shop
Reputable companies won’t overcharge you, and they have certified technicians to work on your car. If you don’t already have a trusted auto body shop, ask your friends and family members for recommendations. You can also read online reviews from platforms like Yelp and Google.
It’s typically a good idea to choose a local shop for your car repairs. Local body shops rely on word of mouth and referral business to get their names out there, so they often focus on offering good prices. You can often be sure they’ll provide good repairs with excellent customer service too.
3. Shop Around and Get Multiple Different Quotes
You can save money on your car repairs if you shop around for the best deal first. Many shops offer competitor price matching, and others will charge less than competitors in order to attract your business.
So, don’t just stick with the shop that towed your car away from the crash site.
If you can’t drive your car after the accident, ask the shop that towed your car for a quote. After that, call other auto body shops in the area to find out how much they will charge for the same repairs.
This will show you what an acceptable price is and which auto shops overcharge.
4. Always Check for Warning Signs
Just because the outside of your car seems fine, doesn’t mean all is fine. There could be damage inside the engine you can’t see. Driving with this damage could make your car worse or put you and your passengers in danger. If you address issues right away, they may not cost as much to repair either.
Always take your car to an auto body shop after an accident, even if you can’t see any of the damages yourself.
Do Your Best to Prevent Auto Body Care
An important part of saving money on auto body repairs is to prevent the damages from happening in the first place. Of course, this isn’t always possible. But whenever you can, do your best to keep your car out of harm’s way. That includes maintaining your car and driving well.
Is your car damaged? Are you looking for a way to save money on your auto body repair? Our full-service auto body repair shop in Muskego can help. Click here to see some of our services.