Shop Talk

Welcome to the Gold Coast Auto Body “Answer Blog,” where we periodically post news updates, technical articles, and other items of interest to our customers and friends in the luxury car community.

OEM Certification & Blueprinting

If you wonder why we’re constantly harping about the importance of strict adherence to OEM guidelines, consider the alternative:

In a recent Texas court case, a jury found a local body shop liable for some $42 million in damages, due to faulty repairs that resulted largely from their failure to follow OEM procedures.

That’s something that will never happen with GCAB, thanks to what we call a

“blueprinting process” designed to alleviate friction, prevent failures, and virtually guarantee the proper repair is done to each and every vehicle, each and every time.

That process includes two “non-negotiable” steps that are part of every repair we do, without exception.

1) First, we scan the vehicle before starting a disassembly of the damaged area.

2) Next, we research and gather OEM repair procedures, specifications and bulletins for the vehicle being blueprinted.

As a shop that is OEM-certified in many brands, GCAB enjoys direct access to the best technical information through OEM websites. And we are 100% committed to using only OEM parts and following OEM procedures and recommendations on every job we do. Because in the end, there is simply no substitute for OEM collision repair certification and repair methodology.

COLLISION REPAIR FRAUD ALERT!

A fraudulent auto repair scam has been reported to us by several people along the Elston Avenue / Logan Blvd corridor.
The perpetrators ARE NOT current nor former employees of Gold Coast Auto Body – they claim to deliver repair services at a fraction of the cost of conventional collision repairs.

This is not a legitimate service – please don’t be a victim!
These people ARE NOT employees of Gold Coast Auto Body!
Gold Coast Auto Body will offer a reward to anyone that can provide information, photographs of vehicle, license or perpetrators.

If you are approached by this group, we urge you to report it to the Chicago Police Department as soon as possible.

25 Years and Counting

In August of1992, a new auto collision repair business opened in a pair of buildings on North Avenue just East of Sheffield on Chicago’s Near North Side. The name, Gold Coast Auto Body, reflected the shop’s close proximity to the fabled lakefront neighborhood of the same name as well as the caliber of automobiles that would be serviced there. Mercedes-Benz. Porsche. Audi. The “gold standard” of automobiles.

Owner and proprietor Lorenzo Martino knew the territory. Since 1963, he had run the body shop for Loeber Motors, one of Chicagoland’s oldest and most successful Mercedes dealerships. His loyalty was rewarded in 1991 when the Loeber family, needing the body shop space for expansion, supported GCAB’s startup and gave Lorenzo the opportunity to turn his dream of owning his own shop into reality.

He certainly made the most of it. Together with sons Dominic and Mario, who joined the business shortly after opening, Lorenzo soon built GCAB into one of the most successful collision repair facilities specializing in luxury cars. By 2000, they had outgrown the original space on North Avenue, and in August of that year, GCAB moved to a new 50,000-square-foot facility at 900 West Division Street.

And that is where Gold Coast Auto Body remains today. While their father retired in 2002, Dominic and Mario Martino continue to carry on the family tradition of providing Chicagoland’s best collision repair service for the finest automobiles on the planet. They’ve been at it for 25 years – and are looking forward to 25 more!

Our Customers Weigh In

We take great pride in the work we do here at Gold Coast Auto Body, and we’re not the only ones. Read a few of the recent endorsements we’ve received from thousands of satisfied customers who know first-hand the quality and commitment we bring to every job we do.