Collision Repair in Yonkers, NY

What a collision repair includes

A collision repair is more than the dent you can see. Impact energy travels through a car, so the job starts by finding everything the hit touched and ends with the car working the way it did before.

1. Damage check and teardown. The bumper cover or damaged panels come off so brackets, absorbers, sensors and structure behind them can be inspected. This is where most hidden damage is found.
2. Structure. If the impact reached the frame or unibody, the car is measured against the maker's published dimensions and pulled back into place. See frame and structural damage below.
3. Panels and parts. Each damaged part is repaired or replaced, following the maker's repair procedures for that model.
4. Paint. New and repaired panels are primed, painted to your car's paint code and blended into the panels beside them so the color reads as one. See car painting.
5. Reassembly and systems. Lights, trim, sensors and cameras go back in. Driver-assist systems may need to be calibrated after a repair.
6. Final check. Panel gaps, doors, lights, warning lights and finish are checked before you pick the car up.

What does collision repair cost?

The honest answer is a written estimate for your car, because two accidents that look alike can need very different work. What moves the number:

• Parts. The price of the parts for your make and model, and whether they are new parts from the carmaker, aftermarket parts or used parts. Your policy may say which kind it pays for; read OEM vs. aftermarket parts.
• Labor. The hours to remove, repair or replace and reinstall each part. Repairing a panel can take more labor than replacing it, and the other way around.
• Paint and materials. How many panels are painted, plus the neighboring panels that are blended so the color matches.
• Structural work. Measuring and straightening adds time and equipment.
• Sensors and calibration. Radar, cameras and parking sensors in the damaged area may need to be recalibrated.
• Hidden damage. Damage found after teardown is added to the estimate. On an insurance job it goes to the adjuster as a supplement.

The estimate is free, and it lists every part, labor operation and paint panel so you can see where the money goes.

If insurance is paying, you are usually responsible for your deductible when you claim through your own collision coverage, and nothing when the other driver's insurance accepts the claim.

How long do most collision repairs take?

It depends on four things more than on the size of the dent: how quickly the insurer approves the estimate, how quickly parts arrive, how much structural and paint work the car needs, and whether hidden damage turns up once panels come off. A bumper cover can be a short job; a car with structural damage and back-ordered parts can take much longer.

More detail: how long collision repairs take.

Frame and structural damage

Most cars and crossovers are unibody: body and frame are one welded structure with crumple zones built to absorb a crash. Most full-size pickups and some large SUVs are body-on-frame, with a separate ladder frame. Either can be bent in an accident, and either is repaired the same way: measured against the carmaker's published dimensions, pulled back into place in controlled steps, and re-measured until it is right. Some structural parts can be straightened; others must be replaced or sectioned only where the carmaker allows. Welds and repaired areas get corrosion protection to replace the factory coating.

Signs the structure was hit: the car pulls or the steering wheel is off center, gaps around doors, hood and trunk are uneven, a door is hard to close, the car sits lower at one corner, or tires start wearing unevenly. Ask for the measurement report before and after a structural repair. Frame damage alone does not mean a car is totaled; see frame damage explained.

After the airbags go off

A deployed airbag means more than a new airbag. Depending on the car, the crash sensors, the airbag control module, seat belt pretensioners, the dashboard or steering wheel trim, and sometimes the seats are replaced or reset, following the carmaker's procedure. If the airbag light stays on after any repair, the system needs to be checked. More: what has to be replaced after the airbags go off.

Repair or replace a panel?

A panel is usually repaired when the metal or plastic can be brought back to shape without stretching or weakening it, and replaced when it is torn, badly creased, stretched, or when the maker's procedure says it must be replaced. Structural parts follow the maker's rules exactly. Aluminum panels need different tools and methods from steel. The estimate says which way each part goes, and why.

Is your car safe to drive after the accident?

The full list of warning signs: is my car safe to drive after an accident?

How the insurance side works

In New York you can bring your car to the shop you choose; your insurer cannot require a particular shop. See insurance claim repairs. The estimate goes to the adjuster, the adjuster approves it or sends their own, and anything found during the repair goes to them as a supplement before the work is done. If you are claiming against the other driver, read your insurance or theirs.

Police reports, photos and inspections

No building permit is involved in a body repair, but paperwork matters. Your insurer may want photos, a police report number and a chance to inspect the car before the repair starts. Whether you must report the accident to the police or the state depends on the damage, injuries and state rules; see do you have to report a car accident.

What's the difference between a collision shop and a body shop?

Mostly the name. "Body shop", "collision shop", "collision center" and "auto body repair" all describe a shop that repairs the outside and structure of a car: panels, bumpers, frame and paint. Some shops also do mechanical work; a dealer's body shop does the same kind of repair, often with the brand's own parts. What matters is the shop's equipment, training and warranty, not the word on the sign. See how to choose a body shop.