About Us
Minor Wreck Express is one of central Iowa’s top auto body shops. Whether it’s fender and bumper repairs, body painting or hail and dent repair, the Minor Wreck team is the best auto body repair solution for your money! We start with an honest, detailed review of your auto body repair needs and work with you on the best solutions to make your car look like you just drove it off the dealer’s lot.
What makes Minor Wreck a better choice than the competition? Attention to the customer and their needs. With that in mind, below are a few tips that we’d like you to consider next time you’re looking for a body shop for your car.
Pay Attention to Word-of-Mouth
Any business can advertise, but you’ll do better with a shop that friends, family or acquaintances recommend. It’s a business that has proven it can satisfy customers. And it might not be the biggest or best-known shop in your area.
In many cases, you might get a recommendation for a small shop where the owner or a small group of auto body specialists works on the cars themselves. That solution provides a “personal” relationship with the body shop and often creates a better line of communication when working on price, personal needs and solutions for your car repairs.
Consider the Operation’s Location and Overhead
Large body shops with a lot of front-office workers probably have to charge higher rates to pay their staff. While service delivered by front-desk folks, managers and foremen gives some people a feeling of stability in a business, it can result in estimates that are inflated with non-essential work. When they’re charging more labor hours at a higher rate, your bill can add up quickly.
At Minor Wreck, for instance, we do things by the book — literally. Body shops and garages use reference guides that estimate the number of hours required to perform common repairs. If the company has a system of best-practices in place, these estimates can be done effectively, efficiently and economically without over charging the customers.
By contrast, larger shops might decide to charge for everything in “the gray area,” meaning those things that they might have to do to fix the problem. Never pay for “Gray area” fees.
Get Several Estimates
Taking your car to several auto body shops for repair quotes is the best way to avoid overcharges. We encourage people to get multiple estimates and bring ’em back to us. If we are comparing apples-to-apples, the savings to the customer will be immediately evident.
And while it’s important to protect against being overcharged, you shouldn’t always take the lowest quote. Minor Wreck can work with you to understand the pricing in our auto body repair estimates. And we will never charge you for items that were not previously discussed and approved.
Ask the Right Questions
It’s always smart to ask some key questions. Does the shop provide a written warranty? And if so, for how long? What does the warranty cover?
A one-year warranty is a minimum. Minor Wreck Express offers a Lifetime Warranty (as long as you own the car) for all paint and body work.
Jamie Lasher, owner of Minor Wreck Express states, “Most of the stipulations and conditions ‘Lifetime’ warranties require are more restrictive than the majority of people can adhere to, so basically, the warranty becomes useless. Ours is tried and true – as long as you own your car we will cover the paint and repairs Minor Wreck has done on it.”
Another key question is whether the shop carries fire and theft insurance. You want to be sure you’re covered if your car is destroyed, stolen or burglarized. Don’t forget to ask how long the shop has been in business. Make sure it has a business license.
You will also want to know about the materials the shop intends to use: Are new, used or aftermarket body parts going to be used? Minor Wreck works to use the original parts from the vehicle that’s damaged, but when it has to be replaced, new parts are obviously the best. If paint work is involved, ask how many coats of paint and clear coat the shop intends to use.
Follow Your Intuition
Finally, it’s important to trust your intuition about the shop you’re considering. If the place is really dirty, cluttered or disorganized, this might reflect the kind of work you could expect the shop to do with your car. Engagement, attention to detail and quality can be seen when you walk into our body shop. If you’re comfortable with your surroundings, that may be a good indication of the quality of service the body shop will provide.
Minor Wreck Express wants your auto body repair business. At the same time, you need to be happy with the service, quality and price provided from your mechanic and body shop professionals. So consider the above points when looking for a Des Moines Auto Body shop. Minor Wreck will be ready to answer any additional questions you may have.