3 Important Things To Look At When Getting Truck Repair Estimates After A Collision

Having a single member of your fleet of vehicles down for repairs is difficult if you have a business that relies on big trucks. And naturally, you are going to want to find a truck repair shop as quickly as possible to get the necessary repairs done. The initial point of interaction with any collision center, even those that service big trucks, is going to be getting that initial estimate to determine how much the project will cost. When you get this estimate, there are three important bits of information that you should be looking at the closest. 

Labor Cost

Labor cost is one of the first things most people look at when they get a repair estimate on any vehicle, and it should be the same as the owner of a big truck. Labor costs can vary drastically from place to place, but higher costs are not necessarily a bad thing. Someone with more experience may charge more, for instance. Labor can also vary according to how many pros will be tackling the job, as more people may mean higher overall labor cost, but this would also mean getting your truck done faster. 

Parts Cost 

Take a good look at the detailed listing of the parts that will be necessary for the repair of the truck. The best collision repair shops will give you the name of the part and how much they are charging in the estimate for it. There can be pretty drastic differences for parts depending on the collision repair shop for a lot of reasons, including: 

  • geographic location 
  • the supplier the collision center buys parts from 
  • whether the pros use OEM or aftermarket parts

Just like there are consumers who are better at shopping around to get the best prices, there are collision centers that have the same skills as well. For example, a collision center that has enough staff members may have the time to designate to tracking down cheaper parts for repairs. 

Repair List 

The repair list can come along with a lot of descriptive tags, but regardless of the header, it is pretty much the same thing: a list of the repairs that will be necessary to restore your truck. You will want to examine this section of your estimate and compare it to others you get. Make sure the repair listing is as thorough as possible, and if there are certain things missing from one estimate that are listed on another, never be afraid to ask why. Talk to a repair shop like River's Truck Center to learn more.


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