Where Do I Get A Claim Number?
Your insur­ance com­pany issues claim num­bers at the time you report your acci­dent. Just jot it down and bring it in with you when you come in to begin the repair process, and we will do the rest.
Will the Parts Be Ordered Before I Drop Off My Vehi­cle For Repair?
Absolutely. We gen­er­ally order your vehicle’s parts at the time an esti­mate is writ­ten, and we sched­ule your vehicle for drop-off a couple of days later. However, if your vehi­cle is found unsafe to drive, we would arrange for a rental vehi­cle as soon as pos­si­ble. This enables us to pro­vide quicker turnaround time.
If the Frame of My Vehi­cle Is Dam­aged Is It a Total Loss?
Not nec­es­sar­ily. A car is a ‘total loss’ only when the price of repairs exceeds the insur­ance company’s deter­mined value of your vehi­cle. Most cars are built using uni­body (frame and body as one) con­struc­tion. Most trucks and SUVs have a uni­body over frame. Our highly skilled tech­ni­cians, with the aid of our state-of the-art com­puter mea­sur­ing sys­tem, can return your vehi­cle to its orig­i­nal fac­tory spec­i­fi­ca­tions. If it is deter­mined that the frame section is bent beyond repair, that sec­tion can sim­ply be replaced.
Where do you get the Infor­ma­tion Needed to Repair My Vehi­cle?
This infor­ma­tion comes from the man­u­fac­turer of your vehi­cle. Our tech­ni­cians and staff are prop­erly trained in the lat­est state-of-the-art equip­ment to repair your vehicle.
Can You Match the Paint Color?
Our mod­ern fac­tory fin­ishes incor­po­rate mul­ti­ple lay­ers of highly-specialized paints. We have made a major invest­ment in the finest paint sys­tem avail­able, which con­stantly upgrades its tech­nol­ogy and equip­ment to ensure that each vehicle’s paint matches. We take spe­cial pride in our abil­ity to match fac­tory fin­ishes as the final step in the restora­tion process.
Can I Get Other Ser­vice Work Done On My Vehi­cle While It Is In the Body Shop?
Yes! Just let your advi­sor know what other work you would like done so that he or she can make the nec­es­sary arrangements.
How Long Will the Repairs to My Vehi­cle Take?
Your advi­sor can give you an ini­tial tar­get date of com­ple­tion. This is not a def­i­nite date. Esti­mates are writ­ten on visual inspec­tion, but vehi­cles are very intri­cate under the sur­face and require intense inspec­tion after tear down. Once tear down is com­pleted and the avail­abil­ity of parts is researched, the tar­get date will be updated.
Can I Get a Ride Home When I Drop Off My Car?
Yes, we pro­vide a pickup and deliv­ery ser­vice. We want each customer’s visit to be a pos­i­tive expe­ri­ence, and we will work dili­gently towards that goal.
How Can I Get a Rental Car?
If you need a rental car, we can help you make the nec­es­sary arrange­ments, and we even have rental cars on site. Two major rental com­pa­nies keep cars on our site for our cus­tomers. Insur­ance com­pa­nies will only pay for a rental car if you have that option on your pol­icy or if you are the claimant. Check your pol­icy and/or call your insur­ance com­pany to find out if you have rental cov­er­age and what your spe­cific lim­i­ta­tions are.
Will I Be Notified When My Car Is Ready?
You will be noti­fied when your vehi­cle is ready to be picked up. If you leave us your e-mail address, you will be noti­fied auto­mat­i­cally 4 times through­out the process. Feel free to call or e-mail your advi­sor dur­ing the repair process if you have ques­tions or con­cerns, and you may also check this webpage.
Is There a War­ranty On the Repairs To My Vehi­cle?
Yes. We pro­vide a lim­ited life­time guar­an­tee for all repairs of work­man­ship to your vehi­cle. Parts are sub­ject to the man­u­fac­tur­ers’ lim­ited war­ranties. Paint is backed by a nation­wide lim­ited life­time war­ranty by our PPG net­work of shops.
Do I Have To Pay a Deductible?
The amount of deductible that you will be respon­si­ble for is deter­mined by your insur­ance pol­icy. Insur­ance com­pa­nies deter­mine fault through your account of the acci­dent when you make the claim and the acci­dent report filed with the police depart­ment. If you aren’t sure about your deductible, call your agent and he will tell you whether your insur­ance com­pany has waived your deductible or if you will be respon­si­ble for pay­ment when you pick up your vehicle.
Who Do I Pay My Deductible To?
It will be your respon­si­bil­ity to pay Dal­ton Col­li­sion when you pick up your vehi­cle if your insur­ance com­pany has not waived your deductible.
What Forms of Pay­ment Do You Accept?
The eas­i­est and most con­ve­nient way to pay for your por­tion of the vehi­cle repairs is with a major credit card. We accept Visa, Mas­ter­Card and Dis­cover up to $500.00. Of course, cash and pre-approved checks are always welcome.
What Are Bet­ter­ment Charges?
Parts that wear out and need replace­ment with time and use (e.g., tires, bat­ter­ies, and sus­pen­sion parts) are com­monly sub­ject to bet­ter­ment charges when they are replaced dur­ing the repair process. These bet­ter­ment charges are deter­mined by your insur­ance com­pany and are pro-rated based on actual miles on your vehicle.
Can I Wash My Car After It Is Repaired?
Recommendations And Precautions In The First 30 Days:

DO
· Wash the vehi­cle by hand with cool water and a very mild car wash solu­tion using a soft cloth or sponge.
· Use clean, fresh water.
· Wash your vehi­cle in the shade.

DON’T
· Use a com­mer­cial car wash. Stiff brushes or sponges could mar the fin­ish and dam­age the sur­face.
· “Dry wipe” your vehi­cle. Dry wip­ing can scratch the fin­ish.
· Drive on gravel roads. Chip­ping the fin­ish is eas­ily done in the first 30 days.
· Park under trees and util­ity lines, which are likely to attract birds. Bird drop­pings have a high acid con­ tent and will dam­age a freshly painted sur­face. Also, tree sap can mar or spot a freshly painted sur­face.
· Spill gaso­line, oil, antifreeze, trans­mis­sion fluid or wind­shield sol­vent on the new fin­ish.
· Scrape ice or snow from the newly painted surface.

Some Things You Should Know Before Hav­ing Your Car Repaired

1.  Your car is the sec­ond largest invest­ment you’re likely to make. Pre­serve its value and your safety by hav­ing it repaired professionally.

2.  Never drive a car that could be unsafe because of damages.

3.  Some insur­ance com­pa­nies may want you to visit their drive-in claims cen­ter before hav­ing your car repaired.  You can do this, or you may leave your car at our shop, and ask that the insur­ance com­pany inspect the car here.

4.  There is no law requir­ing you to obtain more than one esti­mate of appraisal.

5.  You have the right to go to the repair shop of your choice.  Your insur­ance com­pany can­not require you to go to a par­tic­u­lar shop.

6.  Dif­fer­ences in repair esti­mates are com­mon.  A lower esti­mate may not include all nec­es­sary work.  If you are not sure why one esti­mate is dif­fer­ent from another you’ve received, please ask us.

7.  Choose a shop that has uni-body repair equip­ment and cer­ti­fied (by I-CAR or ASE, for exam­ple) technicians.

8.  Ask if the shop will be using gen­uine man­u­fac­turer (OEM) replace­ment parts.

9.  Ask if the shop offers a repair warranty.

10. Let us help you nego­ti­ate your claim with the insur­ance company.

When a col­li­sion occurs:

1.  Only iden­tify your­self to the other dri­ver, and to any police officer.

2.  Only dis­cuss respon­si­bil­ity with the police offi­cer and your insur­ance representative.