Who Is Repairing My Car?
Statistics state the average driver is involved in an auto collision once every 10 years. Therefore, most people don’t know a lot about the auto body industry, they just know an auto body repair technician will be fixing their vehicle. So, I thought we should go a step further and tell our customers about our collision repair technicians and our specialty.
How Much Experience do the Technicians have?
If you’ve read about Airpark Collision Center then you know we have earned numerous manufacturer certifications and hold the highest certification in the industry I-Car Gold status. Most of our auto body repair technicians are 45+ which means they have been in the industry for over 25 years. With that kind of experience, comes knowledge, creative problem solving and a level of skill that only comes from continued practice. We know cars and auto technology change frequently which is why Airpark Collision Center is committed to continued education. Each year our technicians attend several classes to advance their skill level. Technology, safety features and collision repair methods are consistently improving and our technicians are always prepared.
How do you Dispatch the Repair Jobs?
Each auto body technician is a master technician and can do literally everything, but each one is unique and is exceptionally good at certain repairs. For example, one of our techs is very careful, precise and really takes his time. This technician often repairs the Bentley’s, Ferrari’s, Mercedes and other high-line vehicles that are more complex reassemblies. Remember at Airpark Collision Center, we disassemble, repair, paint the parts off of the vehicle and then put everything back together. This is a timely process, but it is the right way to repair.
Our other technicians, also have specialties, some are trained for hybrid vehicle repair, others like doing frame or unibody work, and some are really skilled at repairing and reassembling American made vehicles. Before a repair job is dispatched, we consider assigning the right technician to the job. We know most corporate owned auto body shops are concerned with speed, and dispatch repair jobs to which ever technician is available, but speed is not our priority, we focus on quality repairs in a timely manner.
What about the Paint Department?
Our paint department technicians, are frequently visited by our auto refinishing vendor providing us with PPG paint. PPG is the brand used at almost every manufacturing facility-from Kia to BMW to Ferrari. We use the highest grade of PPG auto paint and the vendor’s tech reps visit our shop frequently to keep us informed on the latest products and methods. Having a strong relationship with our auto paint supplier allows the Airpark Collision Center team the edge on superior auto refinishing quality.
And the Carwash?
We talked a lot about our technicians, but our car washer/lot attendant deserves some kudos too. He is 18 and washes approximately 90-100 cars by hand each month! He does and awesome job on both the interior and exterior of vehicles. He is working his way up in the field, and can usually be found leaning over a tech’s shoulder (in between car washes) observing.
Does Airpark Collision Center do Everything?
Yes and No. We are a full service collision repair shop in Scottsdale, but we hire out some specialty work. If a vehicle needs alignment, window tint, paintless dent repair or specific mechanical work we use trusted vendors. While some auto body repair shops like to keep the business in house, we would rather use the specialist in each field. Airpark Collision Center opened in 2006, and during that time we have found the very best in each automotive category. The very best paintless dent repair, pinstriping, tint, upholstery repair, etc. Most of these vendors do not have a store front or deal with the public. These professional vendors only deal with other collision repair shops. They come to us, and do the work in our facility.
Our paintless dent repair technician, can remove dents that others can’t. He will tell a customer if he thinks it cannot be done to their satisfaction and recommend traditional auto body repair. Having the PDR completed at our collision repair center, allows us to remove a panel if he is having a hard time accessing the dent. Something, a mobile PDR tech cannot do, and certainly not the guy removing dents in the Walmart parking lot-but that is another story!
The clear bra and pinstriping company also completes work at our auto body repair shop. Some of the more expensive vehicles have painted pinstripes. Watching a technician do this by hand with a brush and no pattern or guides is really amazing!
Some people are surprised when we have to send a car to the dealer, but the reality is we cannot have every computer for every auto manufacturer in house! So when a electrical issue comes up, we take it straight to the dealer because their mechanics have the exact skills and equipment needed to complete the job.
Who we are in a Nutshell:
If you have googled Airpark Collision Center and researched us a little, you know quality is our number one priority. Our focus on the end result is considered every time we choose a product or technician. Each auto body repair facility is known for “something” we choose to be known for a great customer experience and a job well done. Feel free to stop in for an estimate and see our facility for yourself!
Tina Small has been part of the Airpark Collision Center team since 2006. Working directly with customers, her goal is to share frequent customer questions, and proper methods of collision repair.