How Auto Body Shops Identify Unseen Damage After a Collision

When you’ve been in a car accident, you’ll need to take your car to an auto body shop in Visalia, CA for assessment and repairs. Even if your car looks relatively unscathed on the outside, that doesn’t mean that all is well. Your vehicle could be hiding even more damage underneath the outer body—damage that could jeopardize your safety if you’re ever in another collision.

Here’s a guide to how auto body shops approach their inspections and repairs.

Diagnostic scan for computer systems

Technology continues to rapidly advance, and vehicles are no exception. Your car probably has a lot of driver assistance technology, which can range from backup cameras to parallel parking assistance. Some cars even have self-driving modes. The sensors are located throughout the car, including in the front and rear bumpers. It’s important to make sure they’re still functioning after an accident.

Your auto body shop will connect your car’s computer to a scanner, which performs a diagnostic test. The scanner goes through all of your vehicle’s systems to see if they’re still fully functioning and communicating with each other. If any problems are detected, the technician is alerted. This allows the shop to spot damage that’s not immediately obvious.

Other things body shops look for after collisions

Of course, there are plenty of other things that auto body shops in Visalia, CA will look for after collisions—things that might not be immediately obvious if you’re not looking underneath the car. Here are some of the other damage types your vehicle might have incurred:

• Frame damage: Frame damage is one of the most likely types to occur after a crash. The frame is designed to support most of your vehicle’s weight, including the engine and transmission. If the frame bends or cracks during a collision, it must be repaired—otherwise, you could be seriously injured in another crash.
• Rust: When you hit another car, it’s not unusual for metal to be scraped bare. That can expose your car to rust, whether you can see it or not. Rust will begin to eat away at your car if the paint and coatings aren’t properly repaired. Eventually this will destroy your car’s body.
• Mechanical damage: Your car may have also experienced mechanical damage, whether to your brake system, engine, axles, suspension, muffler, drivetrain or elsewhere. This isn’t always obvious, even if you pop the hood and look underneath your car. You need the help of an experienced auto body repair mechanic to check all of your car’s systems.

Getting help from an experienced mechanic is crucial to ensuring the safety of your car—and it doesn’t hurt when they make it look great, too. Although you might assume your vehicle is fine because it looks okay (more or less), there’s plenty of trouble that could still be lurking underneath the surface.

When you need thorough auto body repairs in Visalia, CA, Tom’s Body & Paint, Inc. can help. Call us today to learn more or schedule an appointment.

Categorised in: Collision Repair

This post was written by Writer