While not too common, wildlife may wander into the urban outreach of cities like Factoria. Sighting the occasional deer or buck is a beautiful sight. However, an animal collision is also not that uncommon. What exactly do you do if this happens?

Does My Insurance Cover It?

Most comprehensive car insurance do cover damage from collisions with a large animal. Collision coverage, despite its name, typically doesn’t cover damages from hitting an animal. The average collision repair cost for colliding with a deer, by the way, is about $3,200.

I Hit an Animal; What Do I Do?

Don’t drive away from the scene. This is considered a hit-and-run and may incur state penalties. First, pull over and switch on the emergency lights. Make sure everyone is okay and contact local law enforcement. We highly suggest taking pictures of the damage. The documentation will come in handy when filing a claim with your insurance.

Continue Reading →

Here’s an interesting fact: modern cars contain a large number of plastic components. Parts, such as the interior bumper, door panels, and equipment housing, contain mainly plastic material. With this in mind, collision repair shops need to be knowledgeable in car body plastic repairs.

Why All the Plastic?

People unfairly demonize plastic as being cheap and inferior material. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Plastic reduces a car’s weight and improves fuel economy. Plastic is also more resistant to corrosion. Once the car is headed for the scrapyard, the plastic is easier to recycle and reuse than steel and aluminum. Continue Reading →

In modern automobiles, the computer controls safety technologies, such as lane departure warning and blind-spot detection. These features save lives on the road. However, a collision—even a small fender bender—can throw these systems out of balance. As part of collision repairs, a mechanic must also conduct electronic recalibration.

Why Electronic Recalibration Is Necessary

Collision repair isn’t just about restoring the frame and crumple zone. Today’s cars have multiple computers, sensors, and radars, all of which are ultra-sensitive. A collision can knock these components out of alignment. This may result in a safety feature’s failure to activate, such as an airbag not deploying. Similarly, an alert on your dashboard may fail to light up. This places the driver and passengers at serious risk. Even minor impacts causing only a small dent can cause decalibration. Continue Reading →

It’s unavoidable if you’re a car owner: Incidents involving runaway shopping carts or swinging car doors can lead to visible blemishes. However, is the damage a dent or ding? People often treat the terms interchangeably, though technically the terms “dings” and “dents” imply different degrees of damage.

How Dings and Dents Differ

Motorists who bring their car to our shop for dent repair freely switch between the terms. For auto body specialists, though, the differentiation matters. Here’s the difference:

Ding: A ding is a relatively minor blemish where the damaged spot is no more than half an inch in diameter. The auto paint is also completely intact. Damage from rolling shopping carts usually falls into this category.

For most car owners, a ding is an eyesore, but it doesn’t require urgent attention. In other words, no need to cry over spilled milk. Most owners still eventually decide to restore the ding. Continue Reading →

The Bellevue region isn’t exactly prone to hail, but it isn’t completely immune to it either. Hailstorms can occur even in the summer. Hail as big as golf balls can cause immense property damage. The good news, though, is that your insurance may cover the damage. We explain how to file a hail claim.

Does Insurance Cover Hail Damage?

Only your insurance provider can answer this question. Most car owners are apprehensive about filing a hail claim out of fear their premiums will skyrocket. However, most comprehensive coverage plans cover hail damage since the damage is classified as an “act of God.” This means unavoidable damage due to events outside human control. In any case, verify with your insurance agency instead of taking our word for it. Continue Reading →

Getting into a car accident is unfortunate, regardless of where and when. However, the problem may be compounded when it occurs outside your home state. What do you do in the event of an out-of-state car accident?

What to Do After the Collision

The steps to take immediately after an auto collision are more or less the same. This means:

• Contact local police to file a report
• Acquire the other driver’s insurance information and record the vehicle’s license plate number
• Take multiple photos and/or video of the scene and damage
• Acquire names and statements of witnesses

Pre-Trip Preparation

It helps to prepare if you’re driving outside of Washington. Contact your insurance provider to make sure your policy covers out-of-state collisions. Most coverage plans apply across all 48 contiguous states. Continue Reading →