Your vehicle is an extremely complex machine with moving parts, computer components, and a physical shell, all of which are vulnerable in a collision.

In the aftermath of a collision, repairing your vehicle is one step toward getting things settled down and so life can get back to normal. That’s why Purnell Body Shop takes pride in offering clear, fast estimates. We want you to understand, up front, what we think it will take to repair your vehicle. We encourage you to ask questions and find out what’s going on; we want you to trust that we’re taking good care of you and your vehicle.

What Goes into an Estimate? 

First, we will survey your vehicle and look for the most obvious damaged elements. We’ll also look for places where more damage may have occurred. For example, if the wheels were badly damaged and are now seriously out of alignment, we’ll know that we need to investigate the undercarriage of the car, the steering column and the brakes of the car. Most modern vehicles require disassembly to see the full extent of damage. Using that information, we’ll write up our estimate: our best understanding of the costs of parts plus the hours of work that will be involved in the repair.

Estimates vs Actual Repair Costs

For our customers, especially for those who have opted to pay out-of-pocket for their repairs, it is critical that we help them to understand the estimating and repair process as best we can. Creating an accurate estimate has gotten more difficult in the last 20 years. Vehicles are simply not built the same as they were two decades ago. Beginning in the 1990s, major manufacturers began adding a significant amount of plastic shielding and covering primarily for the purpose of eliminating road and engine noise, and in some cases to protect certain parts of the car from corrosion. What that means to us is that we cannot simply open the hood of a vehicle and view all of the parts that we used to without first having to remove dozens of pieces of plastic that simply were not there 20 years ago. Unfortunately, we may not see instances of hidden damage until we get further into a repair job. Discovering this damage later in the process will absolutely affect the final price of a
repair.

Nationwide, roughly 80% of “Sight Estimates” are low. Why? Hidden Damage.

Another change in today’s vehicles are the many sensors and cameras throughout the cars and SUVs we drive. After an accident, we need to check and calibrate every sensor and camera back to the way it was prior to its damage. Some sensors and cameras we tell have been damaged upon an initial sight estimate. Others we will not know are malfunctioning until we disassemble and, in some cases, reassemble a vehicle part such as a bumper.

At Purnell Body Shop, we do our best to give the most accurate estimates as we can, but there is no way to give a full and fair estimate until we have your vehicle apart and take the opportunity to catalog all part and equipment damage. This reality can be especially important to consider for those customers who are choosing to pay out of pocket. Our staff will be as transparent as possible about what costs you can expect to incur at every step of the process, and we will make clear how things may change as we get further into the repair of your vehicle.

Getting a Second Opinion

Whether Purnell Body Shop provides you with your first estimate or second estimate, we are confident that we will be your best choice for repairing your vehicle. Our customers choose us for any number of reasons. Our great reviews online. Winning Cecil Favorites year after year. We’ve even had customers tell us that they chose to do business with us based on the appearance of our shop and waiting room. What we have found is that once a customer has the opportunity to interact with our dedicated and knowledgable staff, they generally feel confident that we are the right body shop for the job. After 60 years in the business, we are confident that our pricing is fair and the quality of our work is second to none.

Paying through Insurance

Our relationships often mean that we are a direct repair shop for insurance companies. This means that our shops have been vetted by the insurance companies in question to make sure we can meet their standards for estimates and their customers’ standards for high-quality repairs. This can also speed the process along since insurance companies know that they’re getting a good estimate from us, without inflated costs.

If you are choosing to pay through insurance, learn more about how we make the process quick and effective for our customers at Purnell Body Shop.

Trust and Excellence

At Purnell Body Shop, one of the ways we have earned and maintained our I-CAR Gold Class certification is through our estimating process. We have demonstrated continually, that we offer fair, accurate and responsible estimates. We strive daily to do right by our clients, and that means making sure you know how much you’re likely to pay for your repairs before you agree to entrust us with the job. If you have a vehicle in need of collision repair, call the team at Purnell Body Shop today to schedule an appointment.