Auto Frame Damage: How to Choose the Best Collision Center for Auto Frame Repair

While no one wants to see it happen, there are times when damage from an accident goes all the way to your vehicle’s core. Also called the chassis, your car’s frame is essentially its skeleton. It is what everything else is built upon. So, when seeking auto frame repairs in Baton Rouge, you should seek a shop that offers experienced technicians, computerized measuring equipment, and trustworthy advice.

Experienced Technicians for Auto Frame Repairs

Let’s start with the experienced technicians. Everything in your vehicle starts with the frame and works its way out. If anything is wrong with the repair of the frame, that error will trickle down to every other stage of repair. So, you need someone who can know from the outset if the damaged frame can be bent or stretched back into place, needs to have a section replaced, or needs a whole new frame. We have been asked before why everything can’t just be bent back to the way it was. The answer is, when metal bends or gets mangled, it may stretch as well. When this happens, it can’t be squeezed or contracted back to its previous shape without affecting its stability. This means the frame would be less sturdy in the event of a future accident. There are also crumple zones to consider. A car’s uni-body frame is built with crumple zones in mind as a way to absorb the impact in a manner that protects the passengers. An experienced technician can spot the difference and respond accordingly.

Computerized Measurements for Auto Frame Repairs

You’ve heard the old carpentry phrase, “measure twice, cut once.” Well, it means, even more, when it comes to frame work. Everything from gas mileage to passenger safety is literally and figuratively riding on your vehicle’s frame. If you don’t start with a computerized frame machine to make accurate measurements, you run the risk of throwing off your car’s alignment, aerodynamics, or the crumple zones we previously mentioned.

Advice for Auto Frame Repairs

This brings us to trustworthy advice, which is just as important as making sure the repairs are done right. Why? Because when it comes to frame work, you need a body shop that will be upfront and honest about the course of action that is needed. A new frame is a very expensive and labor-intensive process. If your vehicle needs frame work as the result of an accident, it is almost guaranteed that there is other work needed as well. This means that if you have a later model vehicle of a more economical vehicle, the likelihood that your car will be totaled goes up. A car is totaled when the estimated cost of damages exceeds 75% of the National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA) value of the vehicle.

Right off the bat, this means that if you have a vehicle worth less than $40 thousand, it will probably be totaled. The reason this falls back on trustworthy advice is that if your car probably should be totaled, you don’t want to run the risk of a mechanic quoting a rate that is below 75% only to go back later and attempt to add additional charges. This will lead to headaches with your insurance company and drag out the process of getting you back on the road in a new vehicle.

From the labor-intensive side of a new frame, it is a very long process. First, there’s getting the new frame. This isn’t something that can be handled by the Postal Service, UPS of FedEx. Once the new frame is on-site, the work has only just begun. Many customers like to check in on their vehicles throughout the repair process, and generally, that’s a good thing. But, in the case of a new frame, we advise against it. At Medines, we remind our customers that their car is going to “look worse before it looks better.” Seeing your vehicle before its ready, or even far enough along in the process, can be disheartening. That means you need to trust that the shop fixing it is doing its job. We understand this is an enormous level of trust, and we go to great lengths not to betray that trust.

When faced with needing frame work, we know and understand everything that goes into repairing the frame. We know that every repair we do to the body and every other piece inside starts with getting the frame right. We also understand that this is a very stressful time for you, having just been in an accident. That is why we treat it with the utmost importance to either get you back on the road in your vehicle’s pre-accident condition or help you through the process of having your car totaled so you can be on your way to a new vehicle.