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.

Preparing Your Vehicle for a Summer Road Trip

Summer is almost here. That usually means a little freedom from the office. Dare we even say: vacation?

When you have a high-end car or SUV, it’s not uncommon to eschew plane travel and hit the open road for your vacation. With that in mind, we’d like to offer you a few tips about prepping your vehicle for a summer road trip.

Let’s start with the obvious. Before you take any long road trip, you’re going to want to make sure your car is in good working order. You don’t want any unforeseen surprises when you’re on the road – miles away from the mechanics you trust.

Here’s what to check: battery, brakes, fluids, wipers and tires (check pressure and measure tread – make sure you have a working spare tire too.) Depending on your knowledge base, you might be able to check these criticals yourself. A better idea: take it to your mechanic to guarantee road worthiness.

Next up you’re going to want to check your navigation tools. In today’s day and age, most of us rely pretty heavily on GPS, whether on your phone or in the dash. However, technology doesn’t always work, especially in rural areas that you might travel through or to for your vacation. It’s advisable to have an old standby map with you for peace of mind and safety’s sake.

As much as you prepare your vehicle for a smooth summer ride off into the sunset, breakdowns and accidents are always possible. To this end, you’re going to want an emergency kit in your car. Kits are available pre-made or you can assemble one on your own. If you choose the latter, your kit should contain: blanket, flashlight, flares, first aid kit, motor oil, coolant, jumper cables, tool kit (screwdriver, pliers, adjustable wrench, pocket knife, tire pressure gauge), Fix-a-Flat (or comparable tire inflator), spare key, phone charger, and car jack.

Your car isn’t the only thing that may need attention in the case of a breakdown or accident. You’re going to want to have a stash of nonperishable healthy snacks (such as granola bars) and bottled water.

The last thing you’ll want to make sure you have is roadside assistance service. Chances are it’s included with your insurance policy. If not, look into AAA coverage.

Finally, the most important thing to remember about a summer road trip is that it’s meant to be fun. Set yourself up for fun by making sure your car or truck is not going to be the source of any stress. Make sure it’s in good working order and that you have all the supplies needed for emergency situations.

For further assistance with your summer road trip plans, this article on DoItYourself.com offers details on advisable preparations you should take.

For information on how to put together a quality Emergency Kit, read this article from Edmunds.com.

Once you have all that prep done, it’s time to enjoy the open road. We’ll see you when you get back!

Paintless Dent Repair – Getting Rid of the Blemishes

Let’s face it. Even the slightest dents aren’t pretty – especially when you are talking about a true luxury vehicle. You want it to look its best all the time. That’s only reasonable. And while little “dings” may seem trivial to the guy driving the car he inherited from his grandmother, for you they’re simply unacceptable.

The good news, though, is that minor dents are relatively easy to repair via paintless dent repair, or PDR for short. As the name suggests, it’s a practice that involves removing dents without requiring a new paint job.

The process is performed by high-end repair shops like Gold Coast Auto Body. The most common kinds of minor dents that can be easily remedied using PDR come in the form of hail damage, creases, and door dings. In some cases, larger dents and bodyline damage can also be fixed with PDR; even dents several inches in diameter can be candidates if the metal and paint have not been stretched.

The way our technicians perform PDR is to massage the dent from behind the panel with specialized tools. Both the metal and the paint are put back to pre-dent condition. Sometimes pushing too hard can result in high spots. Fine tuning of the repair involves tapping these high spots down to a uniform blend with the rest of the panel.

PDR is suitable for either steel or aluminum panels. As long as the original factory finish is preserved, there is no need for grinding the paint off, or filling with body filler, primers, or sealers.

There is a caveat. If your vehicle had previously been in a serious accident that required re-painting of panels, those areas may not be suitable for PDR because of an increased likeliness of cracking or chipping.

However, most high-end vehicle manufacturers now use refined automotive paint finishes that allow for PDR.

If you’re thinking this sounds like just pounding out the dents from the inside, think again. That may have been the case when the technique was first pioneered way back in 1960 by a Mercedes employee working at the International Motor Sports Show in New York, but it’s far from the reality of PDR today.

Precision is the keyword now.

The actual repair all comes down to skill. An average technician will do an average job. At shops like GCAB where technicians are highly trained and experienced, you get the precision you want.

So why is it important that quality repair shops like GCAB offer paintless dent repair? Simply put – it is a less expensive method of repair. This is because PDR is far less time consuming and there are no high-priced paint material costs that are associated with conventional repair approaches.

If those dings on your vehicle are preventing you from fully enjoying your ride, come see GCAB. We’re here to help.
In this article from the National Alliance of Paintless Dent Repair Technicians you can learn more about the paintless dent repair process.

This article from NAPA gives added insight into the history and techniques involved with PDR.

Total Loss and Diminished Value Claims: What they mean to you

Overall, auto insurance is a good value proposition for every car owner. The premise is that for an affordable monthly sum, you get peace of mind that if anything happens to your vehicle it will be repaired or replaced.

But for all the benefits they provide, insurance companies can be frustrating when it comes to getting a fair appraisal for total loss claims and diminished value claims.
Understanding these two terms is the first step to getting the most value from your insurance claim after an accident. So let’s take them one at a time.

Total Loss Claims
Insurance companies label a vehicle as a “total loss” when the estimated cost to repair the car or truck exceeds what they deem the vehicle is worth.

According to Auto Claim Specialists, a national public insurance adjustor agency with whom GCAB works on a regular basis, at least 50% of the cases determined to be total losses by insurance companies are incorrectly ruled. This is because of the way that the perceived value of the vehicle is calculated by insurance companies. Remember, they are in business to make money, so sometimes you need to take extra steps to ensure they are doing right by you in all ways possible.

In the case of an accident that insurance companies advocate as a total loss, we highly recommend getting a comprehensive auto appraisal report by an independent appraiser. Such reports provide in-depth analysis of what your specific car was worth at the time of the accident, rather than what cars like yours are generally worth.

The difference can be substantial. In fact, 25-30% of the time your vehicle may actually be deemed repairable and not a total loss. And even if it’s not repairable, you’ll know the real replacement value to ask for.

Diminished Value Claims
“Diminished value” refers to the loss in market value from a vehicle’s pre-wreck fair market value due to damage that requires cosmetic and/or mechanical repairs.

In layman’s terms, this boils down to the fact that a vehicle that has been wrecked and repaired will not sell for same price as a like-kind vehicle that has not been in an accident.

According to Robert McDorman, founder and proprietor of Auto Claims Specialists, 43% of people surveyed would not buy a car that has been in a wreck and repaired. More to the point, 45% would only buy a post-wreck car if the price were deeply discounted.

Which is why in case of an accident where your car has been damaged and the other driver has been deemed at fault, you may be entitled to the monetary difference between the value of your vehicle prior to the accident and what the diminished value of the car is after repairs.

Of course, any accident can be traumatic, whether it is your fault or not. The last thing you need is for your insurance company to add to the trauma. Remember, part of what you’ve been paying them for is peace of mind. Make sure they deliver by correctly calculating the total value of your loss, and paying the full amount you are entitled to.

This article can help you understand your options in the case of a total loss. Similarly, this article will help you understand how to get an insurance company to pay the full amount due in the case of a diminished value claim. If you still have questions, contact GCAB. We’ll be happy to help you navigate the process.

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.