Telling a car that's actually fixed from one that just looks fixed

Hey folks! This is Mike and Tom from Pacific One Collision and Restoration.

Welcome to another Q&A session where I answer questions from you all on the internet.

Today's question is:

"Telling a car that's actually fixed from one that just looks fixed"

Summary:

Mike says that in an industry with good shops, okay shops, and mediocre shops, his experience lets him walk up to within about five feet of a car and tell whether it has been repaired before. He cites two vehicles currently in his shop that came from other shops where they were supposedly repaired but were not done correctly; loyal customers brought them in saying the work didn't look right, and once the front bumper cover came off, the underlying work was a mess. He could tell the cars had been repaired before even getting within ten feet of them. He also acknowledges seeing outstanding repairs from other shops that are very difficult to detect, which is exactly the standard Pacific One aims for: work that no one would notice was ever repaired. Any experienced body tech, owner, or estimator can read those cues quickly.

Answer:

Can I tell when a car has actually been fixed versus a car that just looks fixed? In this industry you have good shops, okay shops, and mediocre shops. I do this for a living, and I can walk up to a car within five feet and tell you if it's ever been repaired before. It's just being in this business; you see just about everything. We currently have two vehicles in our shop right now that came from other shops where they were supposedly repaired, and they were not done correctly. We have a great customer base that understands the quality of the work we do, and they bring us those cars and say, Mike, this doesn't look right. We take the front bumper cover off and, my lord, it is a mess. So I knew the car had been repaired before I even stepped within ten feet of it; I could see it. Being in this industry, when it's what you do for a living, you can usually identify things really fast. I have also seen some outstanding repairs from other shops where it is very difficult to see that the car was ever in an accident, and that's the kind of work we try to do here. We don't want you to notice that the car's been repaired. But again, if you're a body tech, an owner of a collision shop, or an estimator, you can see the cues pretty quickly, including the quality and level of the repair that was done.