5 Reasons to Trust a Pro Auto Body Paint Shop Shop After a Car Crash

Tony Mers • April 7, 2020

Across the country, roughly six million car crashes are logged annually. Not every collision results in a totaled car, but plenty of wrecks lead to scratched-up exteriors. For that, you'll often require help from a professional auto body paint shop. If you’ve walked away from a collision, trusting a professional auto body repair paint shop if your best bet. Why? Check out these five reasons.

No Painting Over Blemishes

Let’s say you were lucky and just nicked the passenger side car door during an accident. Some lower-cost or home-based paint shop technicians might tell you to cover the nick instead of making necessary repairs first. You might not care about this quick fix right away, but it could come back to haunt you later. At a professional auto body repair paint shop, those issues will get fixed before even a drop of paint touches your car.

Full-Service Shops Work With Your Insurance

You’ll be glad you kept up with your insurance premiums if you get into a wreck. Nevertheless, your insurance isn’t likely to work with a fly-by-night paint shop. Choose a place that offers collision repair services including working with top auto insurance carriers to exchange necessary documentation.

Using Quality Products that Match Your Car

Have you ever seen a car that looked like it was literally touched up with exterior house paint? That’s not something any esteemed paint shop would do. In fact, a body shop painter who takes pride in their work will insist on using products meant for your vehicle’s specific make and model. Plus, their techs will seal your car’s surface properly before applying paint. Maybe you only need a part of your car painted after getting into a small fender-bender. A paint shop worth its salt will take time to not only match up the paint and paint color but will add an appropriate clear coat. That way, your vehicle will look consistently glossy instead of shiny in some places and not others.

Car Care Advice for the Road

After your paint job is finished, your paint shop of choice should provide you with recommendations on keeping your car in tip-top shape. For instance, you might receive a pamphlet with instructions on how to wash or wax your car with its new paint. Perhaps the tech will walk you verbally through steps to keep the paint from dulling. This kind of customer service only comes from experts, not from places interested in getting you in and out as fast as possible.

Finding a trustworthy auto repair shop after a traffic accident is essential, especially if the shop you choose will be painting a car that’s been damaged. Make sure you give your business to a location with good reviews and a terrific reputation. That way, you can look forward to sliding behind the wheel of your like-new vehicle.

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Why Ignoring Small Dents Can Lead to Bigger Problems

January 30, 2026

It is an awful feeling when you walk out to your car after a long day and see a small dent on your passenger door. While it may appear to be just a cosmetic issue, you should still get it fixed, because ignoring small dents can lead to bigger problems for your vehicle. Don’t let small dents on your car go untreated; let's talk about why you need to tackle these issues ASAP. Rust Loves Chicago Winters We all know the drill here in the Windy City. We have beautiful summers, sure, but we also pay the price with brutal winters. And what comes with winter? Salt. Tons of it. Your car’s paint job acts as a suit of armor protecting the metal body underneath. Even a minor dent often comes with microscopic cracks in the paint—sometimes too small to see with the naked eye. Once that seal is broken, moisture and road salt sneak in. They settle against the bare metal and start a chemical party you definitely don’t want to host. Oxidation begins immediately. By the time you notice bubbling paint or that tell-tale orange stain a few months later, the rust has already been eating away at your door panel from the inside out. Resale Value Takes a Nosedive For many people, maintaining their car is a valuable part of purchasing a new vehicle. When that day comes, curb appeal is everything. Used car buyers (and dealership appraisers) will judge your car by its exterior appearance. If they see a vehicle riddled with door dings, bumper scrapes, and ignored scratches, they see a car that wasn't cared for. They assume that if you didn't care enough to fix the outside, you probably didn't care about the rest of it either. It lowers the perceived value instantly. Maintaining your car’s body and its paint is an investment in your future trade-in value. Paint Damage Spreads Like a Virus When a dent or scrape compromises the integrity of the paint, the surrounding paint loses its grip. High-pressure car washes, wind, and temperature fluctuations cause the paint to flake away from the initial injury site. A scratch the size of a quarter can grow into a patch the size of a softball over a couple of seasons. It’s Easier (and Cheaper) Than You Think Here is the good news: fixing these things early is surprisingly affordable. Modern body shop technology is amazing. For many small dings where the paint isn't cracked, we can use techniques that massage the metal back into place without spraying a drop of paint. River North Collision Repair offers paintless dent repair in Chicago to fix minor dents. Regardless of what nicked your door, we can help remove the dents and maintain a seamless look for your vehicle. Don’t Wait for Problems Don't let minor dents turn into a big nightmare. Save your future self the headache (and the cash). Swing by River North Collision Repair for your quick and easy repairs. Because driving a car you’re proud of? That’s a feeling you can’t put a price on.