The eight questions at a glance
| # | What you ask | A straight answer sounds like | An answer that should slow you down |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | When can you look at it? | A date. Often today | "Bring it by sometime" |
| 2 | Do I get the damage in writing? | "Yes, and you keep it" | "We send that to the insurance company" |
| 3 | Who calls my insurance company? | "We do" | "You'll want to talk to your adjuster" |
| 4 | What if you find more damage? | "We document it and file a supplement" | "We'll deal with that if it happens" |
| 5 | Can any of it be fixed without repainting? | "Depends on the damage — here is why" | "We always repaint" or "we never do" |
| 6 | What about the cameras and sensors? | "We're responsible for the recalibration" | "That's not really our department" |
| 7 | Will you tell me if it is not worth fixing? | "Yes" | Anything longer than yes |
| 8 | Who works on my car, and can I see the shop? | People, years, and an open door | "Our team of trained professionals" |
1. When can you look at my car?
Ask for a date — the date somebody walks around the vehicle and writes down what is wrong, not the date the repair starts.
Nothing in a claim moves before that document exists. Not the adjuster, not the parts order, not the schedule. Almost everybody asks how long the repair takes and forgets to ask when the file gets opened. Ask for both dates.
Ours is today. Walk in during shop hours and we go over the whole vehicle and write down every damaged part and what it needs — about thirty minutes. Then we schedule the repair.
2. Do I get the damage in writing, and do I keep it?
Yes is the only good answer here, and "we send that to your insurance company" is not that answer.
A written report is what you compare shops with, what you check the final bill against, and what you hold the conversation with your adjuster on. Read the list when you get it: if a part on your car is missing from it, that part is missing from the repair.
The inspection here is free and ends with that document. The report is yours to keep whether or not we do the work.
3. Who calls my insurance company — you or me?
This is the one question that tells you what the next few weeks are going to feel like.
A claim is a long conversation, not a form. Photos, the estimate, the supplement, the questions the adjuster sends back, the follow-up when nobody answers. Somebody makes those calls. If the shop does not, you do — from work, on hold, explaining an estimate you did not write.
We work with every insurance company. We send your insurer our estimate, the photos, and every supplement, and we answer the adjuster's questions about the repair — you do not explain an estimate you did not write. Coverage and settlement decisions stay between you and your insurer.
4. What happens if you find more damage once the panel comes off?
You want to hear the word supplement, and you want to hear that the shop files it.
Collision damage hides. A bumper cover comes off and the bracket behind it is cracked. The first estimate is written from what is visible, so on a lot of jobs it changes once the car is apart. That change is a supplement — new damage documented and taken back to the adjuster for approval. The question is not whether it happens. It is who handles it.
We photograph it, write it up, and take it to the adjuster. You hear it from us while it is happening, not from the final bill.
The fastest way to a number is to text photos of the damage to (806) 808-0990 — we send back a free estimate in minutes. For all eight answers, walk in at 4712 Englewood Ave during shop hours, no appointment. The written report takes about thirty minutes and it is yours either way.
Prefer a set time? Call or text (806) 808-0990.
5. Can any of this be fixed without repainting?
Sometimes, and the answer should depend on your damage rather than on the shop's habits.
When the paint is not broken and the back of the panel can be reached, a dent can be worked out from the inside and the original factory finish stays where it is. That is paintless dent repair, and it applies only when the damage allows it. A scratch or a stone chip in a small area can sometimes be corrected without sanding and refinishing the whole panel.
Neither one is always possible. A shop that answers "always" or "never" is answering a question about itself, not about your car.
We tell you which one you are looking at when we write the report, and we tell you when neither applies.
6. What happens to the cameras and sensors before I get the car back?
They have to be recalibrated when your vehicle needs it, and the shop is responsible for making that happen. Ask about it before the work starts.
Lane keeping, automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise — those systems read the road through cameras and sensors mounted in the windshield, the grille, the bumper. A repair that removes, replaces, or shifts any of those parts moves the sensor with it. A sensor pointed a few degrees off is worse than no sensor: it is confidently wrong, at highway speed.
Recalibration puts it back where the vehicle expects it. We are responsible for that recalibration when your vehicle needs it, and it happens before the car goes back to you.
7. Will you tell me if it is not worth fixing?
Yes should take one word. Anything longer is worth listening to closely.
Some repairs cost more than the vehicle is worth. That is a conversation to have on day one, with the damage written down in front of you — not on day twelve, with the car apart.
We will tell you if it is not worth fixing. It costs us a job and saves you a decision you would regret.
8. Who is going to work on my car, and can I see the shop?
Ask to walk through it. Any shop can say the right thing on the phone; not every shop wants you past the front counter.
There are 10+ technicians here, with more than five years of hands-on repair experience across the team, and we work in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Come in and look at the floor, the bays, and the cars sitting in them. What you see is what your vehicle sits in for the length of the repair.
Do badges and awards tell me anything?
They answer a question about training, and only that one.
A badge is a real thing — somebody sat through a course and passed something. But the useful version of the question is not "do you have one." It is: what does it cover, when was it issued, and is the person holding it the person working on my car? Those have answers. A logo on a window does not, and it does not answer any of the eight questions above.
We do not have one to show you. We would rather answer the eight questions, which is what this page just did.
What do I do with the answers?
Write them down while you are on the phone and compare shops on the same eight lines. Specific beats general: a date beats "soon," a name beats "our team." And you can get more than one estimate before you decide anything at all.
Bring us the claim number. Our estimate, the photos, and the supplements go to your insurer from us, and so do the answers to the adjuster's questions about the repair.
Text photos to (806) 808-0990 for a free estimate, or walk in at 4712 Englewood Ave.
See what collision repair covers → · Why the shop is your choice in Texas →