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Repair Process

OUR CHARLOTTE BODY REPAIR SHOP PROCESS

RENTAL VEHICLES: Rental vehicle coverage may be provided by the insurance company, with limitations. Body Works Plus does NOT provide rental vehicle coverage, including circumstances in which the length of the repair time exceeds the coverage provided by the insurance company. Rental vehicle fees are solely the responsibility of the insurance company and/or renter.

Charlotte Body Repair Shop

Repair Blueprinting

The first phase of our process at our auto collision and car dent repair shop in Charlotte involves blue printing all of the damage necessary to write an accurate plan for the repairs to your vehicle.

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Awaiting Approval​

After we develop a complete repair plan at our body repair shop in Charlotte, your repair will then advance to the second phase of the process in which we obtain approval from all necessary parties.

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Waiting on Parts

After your repair plan has been approved, the necessary replacement parts will be ordered.



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Body Repair

During this phase of the repair, our auto collision technicians in Charlotte will perform all structural repairs and replacement of parts.




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Reassembly

Once all of the repaired parts and replacement parts have been repainted and refinished, we will then re-assemble your vehicle.

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Refinishing

After structural repairs have been completed at our body repair shop in Charlotte, the repaired components and replacement parts will be painted.

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Sublet

This is the time required to send your vehicle to the dealership or other vendors to complete the final procedures necessary to fully return your vehicle to pre-loss condition.

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QC & Cleanup

Once our auto shop in Charlotte completes body repairs, refinishing, and re-assembly, your vehicle will undergo extensive detailing and quality control.

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WE ACCEPT MOST INSURANCE COMPANIES, AS WELL AS SELF-PAY: We work with most insurance companies and are proud to provide all services on non-insurance or self-pay work as well.

Original Estimate

The written estimation, made by an appraiser or estimator, upon inspection of a damaged vehicle, regarding the cost required to restore the vehicle to the condition it was in immediately prior to the loss. There are sometimes hidden damages that are not visible until the vehicle is disassembled. The initial insurance estimate is often done before “blueprinting” (see below) is completed, and may be inadequate to safely and completely return your vehicle to pre-loss condition. Additional repairs needed to complete the repair are documented in what is called a supplement (see below). Insurance companies expect this to occur and have in place billing guidelines to handle this type of situation.

Blueprinting

Production of a highly detailed statement of work needed to properly and completely repair a collision-damaged vehicle, including all labor, operations, parts, paint and other materials. A blueprint is generally written during and after a car is completely torn-down to determine the full extent of damage, including any damage that may have been hidden when the original estimate was written.

Supplement

Additional repairs needed to complete the repair that were not identified on the original estimate. It is often impossible to identify all damage to a vehicle until it’s disassembled and a complete blueprint (see above) and/or supplements (see above) have been written.

Please note that while Body Works Plus is happy to provide a Free Consultation, a $125 fee may apply for an “Estimate.” For most insurance claims, this estimate fee will NOT apply.

If you have your vehicle repaired at Body Works Plus, that estimate fee will be applied to the cost of repairing the vehicle.

Many body shops offer a “Free Estimate.” Unfortunately, this kind of verbiage is often misleading.
To do a complete “estimate” for collision repairs requires detailed blueprinting of the damage, which can require a considerable amount of work, including some disassembly of the vehicle. For this reason, in the interests of our core values of honesty and transparency, we cannot offer “Free Estimates.”

Awaiting Approval

In order to move forward with our complete repair plan, we require authorization from our client and the insurance carrier.

Approvals/Supplement Approval:

This represents the time required to obtain written authorization and approval, after our factory-trained technicians have completed extensive blueprinting of the damage to determine necessary repairs.

Waiting On Parts

During this time we are waiting for parts to be delivered from various vendors, including dealerships, for example. Unfortunately, delays beyond our power may occur during this phase of repairs, caused by the time taken by these vendors to fulfill the order.

Many factors influence parts procurement, including back-orderd parts, incorrect parts, damaged parts, incorrect fitting aftermarket parts. The typical time frame for most parts delivery is 2 to 5 days.

Click here for more information about types of parts.

Body Repair

Once all parts procurement, blueprinting, authorizations and approvals have been obtained, our technicians will perform those repairs according to manufacturer specifications.

Manufacturer specifications: As a factory-certified shop with access to resources such as ALLDATA and OEM Manufacturer databases, our trained technicians follow specific repair procedures to ensure that your vehicle is rebuilt the way it was first constructed at the factory. These repair procedures may include some or all aspects of the following, but are not limited to:

  • Body Metal Repair
  • Metal Straightening
  • Steel Structural Repairs
  • Aluminum or Exotic Material Repairs (if necessary)
  • Welding (appropriate to materials and procedures necessary for your vehicle)
  • Mechanical Repairs (including wheel alignment, these types of repairs are sometimes performed during the sublet phase of the repair process at the dealership)
  • Suspension Repairs (the duration of this phase can vary greatly depending on the complexity of repairs and manufacturer-specified repair procedures.

Reassembly

Using our complete blueprint, following the exact procedures recommended by the manufacturer, we reassemble your vehicle in order to return your vehicle to pre-loss condition.

Refinishing

This includes painting of the vehicle with our environmentally-friendly paint products from PPG. We use a computerized color matching process to ensure your paint looks the same as it did on the showroom floor. We disassemble your vehicle and paint panels and parts separately to ensure an undetectable, seamless repair.

PPG is one of the premiere automotive paint systems in the industry, offering a lifetime warranty* on all paint repairs performed at Body Works Plus.

We know how important a beautiful finish is to our clients. That’s why we use only the best materials, and color match your paint to your factory finish.
*Click here for more info about warranty and terms of use.

Sublet

This is the time required to send your vehicle to the dealership or other vendors to complete the final procedures necessary to fully return your vehicle to pre-loss condition.

At the dealership are specialized, manufacturer-specific tools designed to check, reset, and calibrate the safety systems of your vehicles. For example, if an airbag has been deployed and replaced in the course of repair, the dealership will test and recalibrate the occupancy safety systems to ensure your seat belts, sensors, and other computer elements are in perfect working order.

Not unlike parts procurement, delays that are outside of the control of Body Works Plus may be incurred during this sublet time, while procedures are being performed at the dealership or vendor.

*Click here for more info about warranty and terms of use.

Final Quality Control & Clean Up