A spray gun laying silver paint on a fender, with tan masking paper taped around it

Hit, dented or scraped?
Start here.

Collision repair and refinishing at 1107 State Highway 27 in Abbeville. Call, describe the damage, and bring it by.

What happens after the wreck

The hours after a collision are mostly phone calls. Here is the order things usually go in, so you know what to have ready.

Call us, then look the car over

Tell us what got hit and whether it still drives. Photos from your phone of each damaged panel help.

Bring your claim details

If insurance is involved, have your claim number and the adjuster's name. We work insurance claims and will talk the repair through with them.

Body work, then paint

Damaged metal and plastic are repaired or replaced first. Then the panels are prepped, masked and refinished to match the rest of the car.

A yellow front fender pushed back and split where it meets the headlight — A front corner hit usually takes the fender, the bumper cover and the headlight together.

A hand tool pulling a dent out of a white door panel under a striped light — Pulling a dent under a striped light.

A car under a protective cover in a body shop bay with a painted panel on a stand — Covered and waiting for its panels.

Paint is where a repair shows

Straight metal under the wrong shade still looks like a wreck. Refinishing is most of the work you will see, so it gets the most care.

A roll of masking tape and a small brush lying on tan masking paper — Masking comes first. Paper and tape keep overspray off glass, trim and the panels next door.

Hands holding a fanned deck of colour sample chips against a grey wall — Colour chips get held up to the car, not just read off a code.

A gloved hand spraying gold paint along a car body with a gravity-feed gun — Even passes, the same distance every time.

A spray gun over black trim pieces laid out on a rack in a bright paint booth — Smaller parts are often painted off the car, on a rack, so every edge gets covered.

A freshly painted red car shell standing on the grated floor of a paint booth — A booth keeps dust and bugs out of wet paint, which matters in an Alabama summer.

A painter in a white suit and respirator spraying a bumper cover — Bumper covers are plastic and need their own prep.

A bare car body in white primer on a dolly inside a paint booth — Primer, before any colour.

Matching the colour

Factory paint fades with years of sun. A new panel sprayed to the original code can look wrong beside a faded door, so the match is checked against your car.

Blending the edges

Where a repaired panel meets an original one, colour can be blended into the neighbouring panel so the eye does not find a line.

Clear coat on top

The colour layer is thin. Clear coat goes over it for gloss and to take the sun, rain and road grit.

Hands running a foam buffing pad across a glossy red door

A polisher with a red pad working across a black hood

Two hands guiding a yellow polishing pad over a dark painted panel

Then it gets polished

Fresh clear coat can carry a speck of dust or a little texture. Sanding and buffing take those out, so the panel reflects like the rest of the car.

Rainwater beading on a glossy painted hood, reflecting the sky — Water should bead and run off a healthy clear coat.

When the old finish is the problem

Chalky, peeling or cloudy paint is usually failed clear coat, not a dent. Refinishing covers that too. Bring the car by and we can look at it in daylight.