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.
Category: Repairs
What’s the significance of “I-CAR Gold Class” certification?
I-CAR is one of the most important organizations in the technical certification field, and inarguably one of the most demanding. I-CAR Gold Class is the highest designation an auto collision repair business can attain, one that assures you that the shop is equipped, trained, and prepared to handle repairs on vehicles incorporating the latest materials and technologies. Only 10% of body shops nationwide currently qualify for Gold Class designation, and Gold Coast Auto Body is one of only a handful in the entire Chicagoland area.
What does it take to become Gold Class? To give you an idea, check out I-CAR’s training regimens for each of the following positions: Refinish Technician, Steel Structural Technician, Non-Structural Technician, and Estimator. As a Gold Class shop, we are required to have technicians on staff who have achieved “Platinum” status – I-CAR’s highest individual training level – in each of those areas. That represents an enormous investment of time and money on our part, but one that’s well worth it for any body shop that aspires to be the best in the business.
What’s the significance of “I-CAR Gold Class” certification?
I-CAR is one of the most important organizations in the technical certification field, and inarguably one of the most demanding. I-CAR Gold Class is the highest designation an auto collision repair business can attain, one that assures you that the shop is equipped, trained, and prepared to handle repairs on vehicles incorporating the latest materials and technologies. Only 10% of body shops nationwide currently qualify for Gold Class designation, and Gold Coast Auto Body is one of only a handful in the entire Chicagoland area.
What does it take to become Gold Class? To give you an idea, check out I-CAR’s training regimens for each of the following positions: Refinish Technician, Steel Structural Technician, Non-Structural Technician, and Estimator. As a Gold Class shop, we are required to have technicians on staff who have achieved “Platinum” status – I-CAR’s highest individual training level – in each of those areas. That represents an enormous investment of time and money on our part, but one that’s well worth it for any body shop that aspires to be the best in the business.
What Makes Working on Tesla Vehiclas So Much Different From Other Cars?
If you own a Tesla, you already that it’s a very unique automobile in many ways, from its unrivaled range and performance among electric vehicles, to its unprecedented perfect 5-star NHTSA safety rating – the highest in the history of automotive safety testing. Both are made possible in large part by Tesla’s aluminum structure and aluminum panels.
Few auto body shops are equipped to work with aluminum, and very few of those are certified to work on Teslas. When the company launched its certification program in 2013, they literally hand-picked the body shops they wanted to work with in each market. Gold Coast Auto Body was an obvious choice for Chicago, thanks to our experience with Mercedes, Audi, and other high-end luxury vehicles that incorporate aluminum structural components.
Even so, earning Tesla certification was a challenge. We had to invest in new equipment and update our aluminum area, and (two) of our auto body technicians spent several weeks in California undergoing intensive training in Tesla’s facilities. Now, as one of the only Tesla Approved Collision Repair Centers in the entire Chicagoland area, we are the clear choice to fix your Tesla.
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.
