You’ve been in a car accident. Fortunately, you were able to work with the insurance adjuster and submit your claim. Your car is ready to get repaired! All’s good, right? Not really. Because if your car’s in the shop, what will you use to go to work or anywhere for that matter? Which begs the next question – how long does a collision repair take anyway?! 

Any mechanic will tell you that this is a question that is often asked by their customers. That’s understandable because they need to know how long before things go back to normal. More importantly, they want to know if they need to borrow a car from someone (unless the insurance company does that) while their vehicle is out of commission. However, as simple as this question is, it’s not that easy to answer. There are plenty of factors that can affect the length of time that a car is in the shop. Let’s break it all down, shall we?

Factors That Affect How Long Your Collision Repair Takes: 

• Insurance Authorization – insurance claims take time to process and get approved. The length of time it takes for your insurance company to give its approval for repairs to start can take several days. This means that the repair shop cannot do their job until they get the go signal, no matter how much of a hurry you are in.

• The number of customers – you are not the only customer of the collision repair center. There are probably a number of cars already in the shop getting worked on. Typically, repairs are done on a first come, first serve basis. 

• The extent of damage – How much damage needs to be repaired? Some structural damage may be visible and can be used to determine the length of time it will take to fix it. But sometimes, the damage is not easily seen. It’s only when the technicians take apart the vehicle that they see it. Any additional damage will take more time to repair. Not to mention, the center will need to get the insurance company’s approval for the additional damage before they can work on fixing it. In addition, some repairs are complicated which means they take more time to do. 

• Type of the car – if you own an old car or a foreign one, then it will definitely be more difficult for the collision center to get their hands on replacement parts for your vehicle. The same goes for specialty vehicles like sports cars. 

The Repair Process

Generally, the repair process of a collision center starts with an estimate. A professional estimator will carefully inspect your vehicle and submit their evaluation as well as an estimated cost of repairs to your insurance provider. While work cannot start until the proposal is approved, some centers already pre-order replacement parts to allow time for the parts to be delivered.

Once approved, the mechanics will then disassemble the car. Any damage that is discovered during this process will need to be evaluated and submitted for approval to the insurance provider. When the insurance company gives the go signal, the repair process will resume. 

When repairs are finished, the mechanics will go over the entire vehicle to make sure that everything works correctly. After testing, the vehicle is then authorized for release. This is when the collision center will get in touch with you to inform you that your vehicle is ready to be picked up. 

It’s easy to see that there are several steps within the repair process, each of which will need time. While it may seem that the work should be done within a day or two, the entire process can take 3 to 5 days, barring any delays. 

What Happens If Repairs Are Too Long?

As we’ve already mentioned, there may be reasonable explanations as to why the repairs are taking a bit longer than you expected. But it cannot be denied that there will be times when the waiting period has become unreasonable. When this happens, the first thing you need to do is get in touch with the mechanic responsible for repairing your vehicle. If you are unable to get a reasonable explanation for the delay, you will need to get in touch with your insurance agent. 

It may be that the car will need to be transferred to a different collision center. If the delay is due to a replacement part, you may be able to speed up the repair if you are able to source it from somewhere else. For this reason, it is important that you check with your insurance agent early in the repair process if you can be reimbursed for obtaining replacement parts in case the center is unable to do so. 

Estimates

So, how long does a collision repair take? It depends. But knowing the factors discussed above can help you estimate the length of time before your car is as good as new. Make sure that you call the repair shop in order to confirm your estimate. To help you out, below are some estimates for repairs: 

It is recommended that you choose a collision repair center near you so that you can easily drop by to get status updates. Take note that your estimate is just that. It isn’t set in stone. You may be lucky enough that repairs are done much earlier than expected. You can also be unfortunate enough that the length of time surpasses your expectation. So, in all situations, it is important that you are patient and prepared to wait.