Reply to Body shop near Tysons for Mazda?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]D and V autobody in Sterling does great work.

How old is the car? If you don't really care about perfect panels and just want something good enough, you can try Caliber Collision. [/quote]
The car is 3 yrs old but less than 10,000 miles (thanks covid). I’d be more interested in seeing if some dents could be repaired, etc. and not full on replacement parts.  DH is more a perfectionist about our cars. Not sure how this will go because it’s our 3rd car and for our kids to drive. We’ll see what the estimates say. 
But I don’t understand how this relates to Caliber Collision? [/quote]

PP here. There are generally three tiers of body shops in existence

Bottom Barrel: They will hammer out panels, avoid replacement, lots of body filler, and generally the repairs will come out wavy and the paint will look dull and certainly not match. We had a Nissan Sentra repaired by one of these body shops - we didn't really care what the car looked like, just not driving around with a door smashed in. If you have a beater, this is where you take the car.

Mid Grade: Shops like Caliber Collision will do a decent job, replacing panels that need to be replaced. Generally, the panels will be smooth, but the paint matching will be problematic, and the clear coat may contain minor imperfections. The detail work in the gaps, around trim areas, etc, will be questionable but you won't see it anyway. If you have a car that's a few years old and still looks nice, you may consider taking it to one of these shops. This covers *MOST* people.

Higher Grade: Shops like D&V autobody that will produce perfect panels and nearly perfect paint matching, nearly indistinguishable from the OEM paint after the repair is done - professionals will be able to distinguish it. The clear coat will also be perfect and glossy. You pay a little more for body work of this quality, but it's worth it if you have a fairly new car that was damaged and you would be bothered by cosmetic issues of a mid-grade repair.

BTW, depending on the dent size, type, and location, they may be more cheaply repaired with paintless dent removal. I would always use that as the first option. Dent Wizard in Tysons Corner is my go-to shop. I have had a variety of vehicles repaired there, from Japanese to German, to Italian. [/quote]

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