i97supratti

Wanted to get some thoughts on the best type of place to go for body repair. RX8 was hit for the first time today, very minor, but as it's a car I plan on keeping forever I want it fixed right. My thoughts are below, let me know what you guys think.

Dealership:
Pros
- Will use only OEM parts
- Has the most extensive knowledge (supposedly) of your Mazda

Cons
- I don't see dealerships as a 'go-to' body repair shop. They might not be as experienced as a dedicated body repair shop.
- $$$

Local:
Pros
- Dedicated body shop specialists

Cons
- Box of chocolates, they're all different and you never know how good they are unless by word of mouth
- Don't exclusively work on Mazda's like the dealership does

Franchise
From my research, you should avoid the nationwide franchise shops (i.e. Maaco)

i97supratti

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

local is my bet.
Dealerships tend to send their body repairs to outside resources. Why should you pay top $$ for finding someone else like they do?

ac3mastuh

iTrader: (1)

Go with a local shop, ask around your local community for who does really good work. It just takes time to find a good shop but when you do, you'll be satisfied with the results. Also, you can look in the regional sections of this forum and contact other members near your area for where they get their work done.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

The dealers around here are busy and have full service body shops. It's all I have used on this car.

monchie

Local shops ftw.

J_Ro

Def go with local. Their rep is on the line so they will usually do as good as possible.

Easy_E1

iTrader: (2)

Find a nice local independent body shop. One that works on specialty cars. Top end cars.

You get what you pay for.

Heeroguy

let me help you with a few of these =)

i work in a body shop as an appraiser, we work with insurance, warranty, customer pay etc, we can fix any type make model of car.

dealership (weather mazda or not)

insurance dictates the use of oem vs used vs aftermarket vs recon not the shop.
if it is customer pay then your choice also dealerships can access aftermarket and recon parts as easily as anyone else,

knowledge of body repairs for a certain type of car helps at a dealership but most dealerships work together with technical issues. i know we have sent cars to other dealerships if there was a problem we didnt have a computer or tool for

cost wise (at least for us, we operate at rough insurance rates and not service rates, ie $46 for body, 85 for service, also i know we give some discount for customer pay repairs

Local private owned shops:
are not any better or worse quality wise than a dealership (again at least from my standpoint).

also knowledge and quality depend on technicians. but dealerships are usually better trained as they also have oem certifications etc they need to be on as part of a dealership.

and again private vs dealership knowledge is varied by employee's, and the type of dealership does not matter, IE we are a Chevy / dodge here and we fix everything. land rovers, Mercedes, just fixed a lotus Elise exige S last year that took a full body and frame work, (really helped our guys had to be certified aluminum welders to get corvettes for example)

but biggest point i can see, is ask around from peoples experience there. also make sure they have a lifetime warranty.

any questions u guys have im sure i can answer.

thanks
lars
PA

WhiteDealershipRice

Lots of dealerships "sub-contract" their bodywork to local vendors anyways, so I would go with a reputable local shop instead.

Ask arround, the good places tend to have a reputation for being good, and are reccomended by the insurance companies as well.
Talk to the shop, ask to see if they keep pictures of previous work done (most good shops will be willing to show you the work they have done on other cars.)
Make sure they offer a warranty of at least a year on their repairs.
You have a choice (& can demand) to use only OEM parts on the repair regarless of who does the work.
Asking those kinds of questions will give you a good feel for who are the shops you'd want to take your car to.