Before choosing an auto body shop in Fort Myers, you should make a few key considerations to help you pick the right one. Choosing an auto body shop is a lot like choosing a doctor - you always want to attain the peace of mind that comes with knowing that you've picked the right one. You're also entering into a relationship that puts you in a vulnerable position. Unless you're a mechanic yourself, you won't necessarily know if you're getting taken advantage of. Of course, if you were a mechanic yourself, you wouldn't need an auto body shop.

Qualities to Look For

There are a number of important qualities to look for when choosing an auto body shop, including:

• A Knowledgeable and friendly staff.
• A Competitive hourly rate.
• A warranty for all work provided.

Distance

One of the most important considerations that you can make before choosing an auto body shop involves the distance between your home and the shop. Remember that gas isn't cheap, which is something that should always influence your decision. If you've heard about an inexpensive shop that's a half hour away, you're likely paying just as much in gas to get there as you would at the more expensive shop down the street. In that type of situation, you would do well to save yourself the hassle and just go to the closer shop.

Another important reason why you should consider distance is because you might need to use the shop in the event of an emergency. If your car suddenly starts overheating, for example, you might not be able to get it to a shop 20 minutes from your home or office.

Getting More Than One Estimate

If you're having a hard time narrowing down your choice of shops between a few key options, use your car as a guide. If you know that you need some front end work done on your car, take it to all of the places you're considering and get several estimates. Pay attention to the types of work that each shop says you need, teh rates that they're planning on charging you for parts and how much they're planning on charging you for labor. Doing so is a great way to save yourself a lot of money and weed out the types of auto body shops that might wish to take advantage you.

Service Warranties

One important consideration you'll want to make when choosing an auto body shop has to do with the warranty that a shop may or may not offer. Most reputable auto body shops are like any other type of service that you could employ. If they know they're doing high quality work, they're usually willing to provide a warranty for that work for an extended period of time. If your auto body shop of choice fixes your front fender and the fender falls off later in the week, you shouldn't have to pay to have it repaired a second time. In that specific situation you might not necessarily want to return to the same shop who didn't do the job properly teh first time, but the logic is still sound.

Variety of Work

Finally, you'll always want to choose an auto body shop that is capable of doing a large amount of different types of work. Some smaller shops just don't have the tools or the man power to handle larger jobs. Other auto body shops operate under the mentality of "we do it all."

When it comes to vehicle maintenance, Murphy's Law tends to apply. What can go wrong, will go wrong. You never know what will break on a car until it does. You'll always want to choose a shop, like Palm Automall, that is capable of handling any issue you might have.