There’s a movement happening in the collision industry… slowly, but surely. It’s the movement away from “Do as you please, and do it quickly” and toward, “Do it the right way the first time.” Unfortunately, it has been an uphill battle to get to where we are, and where we are is nowhere near where we need to be.

We recently received a vehicle that had been repaired just two days earlier by a facility that doesn’t follow the manufacturer’s specific repair procedures. This late-model Toyota was brought to our attention when the vehicle owner took delivery of their car, and saw weld burns, bad and bare welds where the repair was supposed to have been done correctly.

We proceeded to perform a thorough post-repair inspection, and this is what we found…

The repair facility had written to repair one of the door hinge pillars. They collected the money to do the repair, but the pillar was untouched. Structural components of any vehicle are critical to the overall ability of the safety system to perform correctly in the event of another accident. This oversight, accidental or otherwise, puts the occupants of the vehicle in danger, risking bodily harm and possibly death should another accident involve that component.

Another structural issue was discovered when we realized that in the process of replacing the quarter panel, the repair shop neglected to make sure that the material thickness was correct in all the right places. The integrity of the entire quarter section is compromised.

We found multiple instances of bare welds, or welds located in places that do not meet the original manufacturer’s requirements. Aside from the obvious structural integrity issues, this careless repair further compromises the vehicle’s structure by allowing rust to develop. And the resulting exposed welds were so appalling, they would have made Frankenstein’s monster look like a fashion model.

Unfortunately, repairs like this are still quite common. The repair facility’s failure to follow the manufacturer’s required procedures will end up costing much more than had they just fixed the car correctly in the first place.

Here at Auto Damage Experts, we stand ready, willing and able to serve our customer’s best interests. A post-repair inspection can not only catch problems that less attentive repairers cause, but it can save the lives of everyone who drives a compromised vehicle.