SHOP TALK 2

Although winter is slowly coming to an end, you can expect at least one more heavy snowfall to hit northern Michigan before the warm weather is officially here to stay. When it does hit, snow-covered cars will once again cover the roads. Although you can physically drive a snow-covered car, it’s actually illegal to do so. Driving at speeds where snow and ice are coming off the top of your car can be dangerous for other drivers on the road. Because this can be dangerous and hazardous to other drivers, Michigan enacted a law, decades ago, that requires drivers to remove snow from their windshields, windows, tail lights, rear lamps, headlamps, and license plate.

What the Law Says

Michigan Vehicle Code Section 257.677a states the following:

(1) As used in this section:

(a) “Person” shall not include the state or a political subdivision of the state or an employee of the state or a political subdivision of the state operating within the scope of his duties.

(b) “Safety vision” means an unobstructed line of sight enabling a driver to travel upon, enter, or exit a roadway in a safe manner.

(2) A person shall not remove, or cause to be removed, snow, ice, or slush onto or across a roadway or the shoulder of the roadway in a manner which obstructs the safety vision of the driver of a motor vehicle other than off-road vehicles.

(3) A person shall not deposit, or cause to be deposited, snow, ice, or slush onto or across a roadway or the shoulder of the roadway in a manner which obstructs the safety vision of the driver of a motor vehicle.

(4) A person shall not deposit, or cause to be deposited, snow, ice or slush on any roadway or highway.

Take the Time to Brush Your Vehicle Off

This law was enacted simply for the safety of drivers on the road. Failure to comply with this section of the vehicle code can result in being ticketed and fined. Take the time to brush your vehicle off before you drive. It has to warm up anyways, simply brush it off while it then. Plus, you may not realize it, but you look ridiculous driving with a foot of snow on top of your vehicle.

THE FIRST 30 DAYS
Do not use soft-touch car washes, as stiff brushes, sponges, and used cloths could mar the finish or damage the surface. Touchless or touch-free car washes are okay. Preferably, wash your vehicle by hand in cool water with a mild wash solution. Do not dry wipe the vehicle, as this could scratch the finish.

Avoid driving on gravel roads; fresh paint will chip more easily than fully cured paint.

Be aware of trees that drop sap or areas where heavy smoke may fall, as this could spot or mar the freshly painted surface.

Avoid parking near or under trees, as acidic bird droppings will damage a freshly painted surface.

Avoid spilling gasoline, oil, antifreeze, transmission fluid, or windshield solvent on the new finish. If this occurs, immediately rinse with water and do not wipe.

Do not wipe dust; never scrape ice or snow from the newly painted surface.

Do not apply decals, stickers, magnets, paint protection film, or signage to freshly painted surfaces. 

THE FIRST 90 DAYS
Do not use a hard-shell wax or ceramic coating or polish the vehicle.  A breathable wax or body shop-friendly wax is okay. This will allow the finish to cure and harden completely.

Often, people only think of an auto body shop when something has happened to their vehicle. Granted most of our work comes from wrecked cars, we do offer a number of services that don’t deal with mangled cars. Additionally, there are features and offerings that we have, that you probably didn’t know about either.

Services

One service that we offer that some other body shops in Traverse City don’t offer is boat repair. The waters of Lake Michigan can be rough throughout the year, and if your boat needs bodywork from damage that occurred in or out of the water, we are the shop for you.

We also do wheel refurbishing. Alloy wheels look great on a car when they are clean and without scrapes and gouges. We have the tools and team to make those dirty gouged alloy wheels look brand new.

Finally, we work on motorcycles too. The team here at Traverse Body and Paint Center are well seasoned in dealing with both body repair and paint for motorcycles. You can find and read about our other services here.

Other Things You Didn’t Know We Do

There are other things that our body shop does and services offered that many people don’t realize. For example, you can drop your car off at our shop anytime, day or night. Whatever is most convenient for you, is convenient for us.

We also offer loaner vehicles while yours is being worked on. We will provide you with an SUV or a sedan, so you can rest easy knowing that when you bring your vehicle in for repairs, you won’t leave without one. Speaking of bringing your car into our shop, did you know that you don’t have to take it back to the dealership if it’s in an accident? Often, your car salesmen will tell you to bring your car back to the dealership if it needs work. However, that isn’t the case. You can bring your vehicle here, and in most cases, can have it back in about week.

Traverse Body and Paint Center

As you can see we do a lot more than just pop dents out of panels and paint over scratches. Our team is knowledgeable, good at what they do, and most importantly they love what they do. Next time your car, boat, or motorcycle needs body or paintwork, call Traverse Body and Paint Center at (231) 929-0744 or fill out our contact form here.

Paintless Dent Repair with Traverse Body and Paint Center

Hail, shopping carts, or even a basketball to a door panel all can cause damage to the body of your vehicle. Although these types of dings and dents aren’t detrimental in terms of actually driving your vehicle, they are however aesthetically unappealing. Fortunately, small dents are extremely fixable with a technique called Paintless Dent Repair (PDR). PDR is a dent removal technique that removes dents from panels on cars if the paint is still intact. Traditionally, body shops use body fillers, paint, and sanders to fix small dents, but with PDR none of that is necessary.

How It’s Done

Technicians use specialized tools to push the metal back into its original shape from behind the dent. In a typical dent removal, the metal around the outside edge of the dent is slowly massaged back to original place. Slowly but surely the technician continues this process until the dent disappears. Depending on the size of the dent, this process can take as little an hour to complete, but each dent and each situation is different. It’s very important to note that we can’t perform PDR if the vehicle has had damage to its paint. Only vehicles that have had no damage to the original paint are candidates for PDR.

Advantages

There are many advantages to PDR. Perhaps most importantly, to the owner of the car, is that it is cheaper than traditional bodywork. In addition to being less expensive, PDR is a very quick fix. As mentioned, in some cases, repairs can take as little an hour or two, but usually can be started and finished in the same day. Another advantage of PDR is that there is no chance of paint overspray onto other parts of your car. With traditional bodywork, technicians paint over body filler to match up with your paint. With PDR, there is no painting involved meaning that there is no chance of overspray, and also no risk of incorrect color matching.

Traverse Body and Paint Center

The technicians at Traverse Body and Paint Center are well versed with Paintless Dent Removal. If your car has been dented or dinged up by hail, a shopping cart, or even a basketball, contact the guys at Traverse Body and Paint Center. We can fix the dent on your vehicle and get you back on the road quickly.

When you have an accident, it’s important to know how the repair and insurance claim process works. While every insurance company and repair company works a little different, there are some common threads and problems to be on the lookout for.

We always recommend calling your insurance company if your vehicle has been damaged even if it’s just for auto glass repairs. If possible to wait for business hours, it can be very helpful to call your local agent – if you have one. While national companies and call centers can also do a great job, it has been our experience that your local agent is often available for a face-to-face meeting if needed and will walk you through the process a little differently.

Local agents will often direct you to seek a repair facility like Traverse Body and Paint Center. Armed with an estimate, you and whichever insurance company can determine if a claim makes sense. Sometimes, it doesn’t.

When a Claim Doesn’t Make Sense

If you have basic liability insurance or are uninsured you will not be eligible for a claim. If you have an incident that causes damage to your vehicle covered by your comprehensive insurance or collision insurance, a claim must be filed to get money from your insurance company. It doesn’t always follow that a claim makes sense, however.

If you file an insurance claim, you pay a deductible to utilize the insurance. Even in no-fault insurance states like Michigan, if the other driver was ticketed for causing the accident it’s possible $500 towards your deductible will be covered by a process called mini tort. Increasingly, deductibles are moving towards $1000.

So, what to do when your repairs are less than your deductible? This is the perfect case when filing a claim doesn’t make sense. The only way you’ll know if you’re in this situation is if you’ve reviewed both your policy and received an estimate. We’ve had numerous customers feel the pain of having filed a claim first, just to find out that the repairs were less than their $1000 deductible.

While only your insurance company will know if filing a claim will adversely affect your policy even as an accident victim – generally speaking, more claims make you a higher insurance risk for them and justify raised rates. Sometimes, paying for repairs out of pocket just makes sense mathematically.

After the Claim

You’ve determined that it makes numerical sense to file the claim. You received both your initial estimate and a claim number, but there’s more going on behind the scenes. Damage can hide behind other damages, causing repair shops to routinely file a supplement to the claim with the insurance company. This happens seamlessly without additional involvement or cost on your part.

Supplements can be filed only if the claim is still open. If your insurance company cuts you a check directly in your name, keeping it uncashed could be to your benefit. Often, the act of cashing it will close your claim. If we discover more extensive damage (such as an auto frame repair) than was originally visible, it’s important that we can file a supplement for you.

What to Do

If you’ve got damage you’d like to get repaired, we’d love for you to choose Traverse Body and Paint Center. We work hard to earn repeat business and happy customers. One of the ways we do this is reducing wait times at every stage of the process.

Start your process by calling your insurance agent (if applicable) and getting an estimate. We’ve streamlined our estimating process to take very little of your time. You can get your vehicle towed in even after hours. You can also bring in the vehicle for a quick inspection and be back on your way during business hours, or submit photos and information using our collision repair estimator.

Rust is one of those things that is unavoidable for all cars in northern Michigan. Eventually, rust is going to appear. But just a little spot of rust is fine, right? You may think so, but time and time again a little spot of rust on the body of your car is a sign that there could be further damage underneath or inside your car. Luckily, we’re here to educate you on what exactly is behind that small rust spot.

How Do Cars Get Rust?

There are many contributing factors to why cars rust. First and foremost is the weather. The weather in northern Michigan is quite temperamental, and you can truly experience all four seasons in one day. A combination of water and humidity pose problems regarding rust on your car. Going from wet to dry humid air leads to rust. This is because the metal in your car acts as an anode and a cathode. The water acts as an electrolyte. With a combination of metal, water, and humidity, your car develops rust. If you’re interested in learning more about the science of rust click here.

Another contributing factor to rust is salt. As you know snow accumulates rapidly in the winter here in northern Michigan. Fortunately, the snow removal trucks are typically pretty good about cleaning up the snow and keeping the roads safe. With that being said though, they do use salt as an agent to melt ice. The salt hitting the under carriage of your car will over time cause rust damage.

Why a Small Spot Isn’t Just a Small Spot

Often people will see a small spot of rust on their car and don’t think much of it, but a small little rust spot is just the tip of the iceberg. Typically hiding behind that small rust spot or hole is a water-logged panel where there is a significant amount of rust. The reason for this is because of the amount of water and salt the underside is exposed to is much greater than the exterior of your car’s body. Therefore, taking a large toll on the underside of your car.

How to Fix These Rust Spots

If you look up quick little rust patches or fixes online, you’ll find a lot of results. Unfortunately, doing a quick outer fix is only like putting on a band-aid. It won’t address the real issue. The only way to properly fix the problem is to cut the panel or hood or wherever the rust spot is and replace it. In some extreme cases, a new whole panel or hood might be required. So, before you decide to just put a band-aid on your car, think about the impact and long-term significance that the temporary solution will have on your car.