Your car is one item that you continually put money into. Whether it is the gas to get you to work, the maintenance necessary to keep it running, or the customizations that you want for the vehicle. There have been tales (and arrests) of those who are running auto body repair scams. To keep yourself and your car safe while looking for good body work, here are some ways to recognize scams.
No paint job before and after proofs
If you are interested in a custom color for your car, this is a job that you want done right. The company will have to strip your old color, properly prime the car, and layer the new color on just right. With an inexperienced or scam company, too many things can go wrong in this process, such as bubbling or paint issues. Ask to see before and after work for the auto body shop who will be doing your paint work. Make sure the car photos were taking from a variety of angles so that you can see the complete job. If the work that they post is on their website, try doing a reverse photo search online. This will tell you if the company is stealing photographs and passing it off as their work.
Up front pay is wanted
Some scams involving body work require the person to pay up front in order to get work performed on their car. The workers would then do a poor job or not finish, and the person would have little immediate recourse to getting their money back. To avoid this, don't accept work from shops that require up front pay. The truth is shops have immediate legal recourse to recoup money from work that is not paid for, including holding your vehicle until you pay.
They only operate on a mobile basis
Though mobile repair shops are more popular, you are taking a major risk with mobile shops. There are limitations to what a person can do inside of your own driveway. Most mobile repair shops will offer certain limited services at your home, like small part changes. For the rest you will need to bring the car in to be used with the tools and car suspension systems inside of the repair shops. For auto body repair and painting services, you must take the car in to a proper facility.
No traces of life online
Auto body repair shops and painting shops are used all the time. For this reason, you should be able to find reviews of the auto body repair shop on the internet. If the business has no signs of life on the internet, you should be skeptical. Even smaller places will have customers who produce reviews and post before and after photographs. If there is no trace of the company online, they may be inexperienced, or keeping themselves off of the internet for nefarious reasons.
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16 July 2015
When I graduated from college, I was able to purchase my first car. After much searching for the perfect vehicle, I selected a white sedan. This car has always been special to me because I earned the money to pay for it by myself. I even still own it. However, because it’s 13 years old now, it really needs to be painted. Instead of hiring someone to repaint it white, I’m considering trying something different. I would like to have a professional paint it either black or silver. On this blog, you will discover how to give an older vehicle a new look by hiring someone to paint it a different color.
