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3 Most Important FAQs About Auto Repair

Get answers to the most pressing questions you have about repairing your car

If your car has recently sustained damage from a collision, hailstorm, fallen tree, or another common reason, you’re likely to have a lot of questions about auto repair. How much will it cost? What kind of repairs are necessary? Will the car be devalued after the work is done? Will it be covered by my insurance? In this blog post, we will answer the three most important questions about auto repair so that you can make the best decision for your car. Read a dealer management system overview so you can feel comfortable about the place you decide to bring your car to.

What Kind of Auto Repair Lowers a Car’s Value?

One of the most important things to consider when getting your car repaired is how it will affect the value. Many people are concerned that any kind of auto repair — even something as minor as a new paint job — will devalue their car. The reality is, it all comes down to how your car got damaged and what methods are available to fix it.

In general, the biggest things that bring down the value of your car are structural damage, a damaged engine, or extensive external body damage. Repairing these things can be very costly, and they often require replacement parts. 

Because these repairs involve replacing your car’s parts with new, aftermarket components, they can significantly lower your car’s value, sometimes by as much as 33%. This is especially true if you get into a collision, because this adds damage history to your car.  

What Kind of Repair Doesn’t Lower a Car’s Value?

If your car has light damage, such as scratches or dents, and you’re worried about losing money over them, don’t give up just yet. Some repairs don’t have a significant impact on your car’s value, and there are other repairs that will even increase the value of your car. This can be true even if you have more extensive damage, like dents from a hailstorm.

Some common repairs that don’t devalue your car are windshield replacement, paint jobs (if the damage is only surface-level), and bumper repair. Essentially, anything that isn’t too invasive or doesn’t require getting new parts won’t affect the value of your car too much. 

For example, let’s say your car has sustained hail damage and needs auto hail repair. If you choose traditional dent repair, this will usually be a costly, invasive process that involves sanding your car’s surface, hammering your body panels into shape, filling in the gaps with putty, and repainting the car. This will affect your car’s value because it is heavily invasive and involves repainting.

Paintless dent repair, on the other hand, is a minimally invasive process that simply involves pushing the dent out from the inside. Because it doesn’t require repainting or intensive work, this process usually won’t devalue your car at all.

What Repairs Does Insurance Cover?

Once you have an idea of what kind of damage and repair method you want to move forward with, the next question most people have is whether or not their insurance will cover their repairs. The answer to this question depends on a few factors, like your specific policy and the type of damage your car has sustained. 

If you only have basic auto insurance, you may just have liability coverage, which covers the cost of damage to the other party where you are at-fault. If you have collision coverage, your own damages will probably be covered regardless of whether or not you’re at fault. Finally, if you have comprehensive coverage, non-collision incidents such as weather, theft, and vandalism will be covered.

If your car has hail damage and you’re looking to get PDR, you would need comprehensive coverage for it, and it is only covered if the damage is somewhat extensive (small dings aren’t covered). In general, the complete cost of your damages will be covered under this plan, and if it isn’t, the deductible is usually pretty small. If you want to get an estimate of how much PDR would cost for you, try out this hail damage repair cost calculator.

Conclusion

While auto repair can be a daunting process, it doesn’t have to be. With the right information and some careful research, you can make an informed decision about what type of repair is best for your car — and whether or not insurance will cover it.