You want to do the bodywork on your vehicle, but you know without a lot of hands-on experience you’re going to be limited in what you can do. So, are you going to admit that you’re just not ready for that? Will you do it anyway and suffer any unforeseen circumstances? Seriously, what should you do?
It’s probably best to find an auto body shop near me, rather than attempt to do the work on my own. Incurring the costs of mistakes can backfire on you sooner than you think. There are reasons you should avoid do-it-yourself auto bodywork. Here are some of the most important reasons you should put auto bodywork in the hands of a professional.
Time Involvement
You think that you’re saving money by doing bodywork yourself, but did you ever take into consideration how long any do-it-yourself repairs will take? When you prep your vehicle for rust repair, sand it, paint it, and allow it to dry, you’re talking about a simple repair job turning into a week-plus endeavor.
Health Concerns
There will be residual effects that can impact your health when going the do-it-yourself route. You can breathe in the fumes of paint, dust from particulates, and fiberglass. You’ll deal with fine-grained matter floating in the air along with pieces of extraneous metal. These are just a few of the effects that come with body repair work. For your health, any auto bodywork should include using the right equipment and isolating areas of a shop to handle contaminants.
Matching Paint
Repairing smudges, gashes, cracks or chips are simple tasks that most people think they can do on their own, but touching up these areas isn’t as simple as it looks. If you’re trying to match the exact color of your vehicle, you’ll have to know the various levels of paint that were in use on your car. With new and varied paints, any touch-up work is going to mean making a perfect match and matching paint can be difficult. An exact color match isn’t always going to be the answer.
Many paint formulations require additional coats and unique mixes. This means if you’re doing paint touch-ups yourself, you could wind up with an uneven match. You also need to leave room for any mistakes that you make. A true auto body painter is skilled in the process and has the technique down to a science. With painting, you might just want to leave it to the experts.
Costly Tools
When you don’t have the right tools for auto bodywork, even the easiest of jobs become difficult and if you can’t afford to add the right tools to your arsenal, you could be out of luck with do-it-yourself auto bodywork. Also, even if you could purchase the tools, it may limit you on the room to store them in a garage or storage area. An auto body shop will have the right tools to do the job.
Rust Removal
Removing rust is another problem that many believe is easy to remedy, but eliminating rust from a vehicle is different. Rust can get into the openings and cracks of your car and become hard to remove. You’ll need the help of professionals for deep rust removal. They know how to rid your vehicle of rust that hides in the deeper regions of your car. Use that rust remover you bought for other projects in your home.
Replacing a Windshield
You may think you can save money by installing your own windshield, but you’ll either have to buy or find a used windshield and the adhesive and other parts to complete the job. Even if you install it yourself, there’s a strong possibility for leaks and loosening.
Results of Your Own Repair
Just because there are several videos out there that teach you how to remove dents and other related repairs doesn’t mean you’re going to become an overnight auto body technician. You can easily miss damage that goes unseen by the untrained eye.
Say you decide to do auto body work on surface scratches and you find out that those same scratches are simply concealing something more involved. You may be out of luck with disguising those scratches, as the problem may not be what you think it is. That’s one good reason to allow a professional to examine your vehicle for both surface and underlying damage that may have occurred, particularly when your car involves collision work.
Professional Experience
Professional experience is really important with auto bodywork. When you attempt to do your own work, you’ll probably end up needing help with small to even larger repairs, especially if you’ve tried it on your own. The job turns out to be a lot more costly than if you had gone the professional route. If you want a finished and exacting look, there’s no doubt that professional services are the way to go.
Less Costly than you Imagine
Putting it all together with the time involved with auto body repair, the equipment used, and the final showroom finish, a professional job is really more affordable. It’s much less costly to do something right the first time around rather than to do the work yourself and then have to take your vehicle to a body shop to repair your costly mistakes.
If you want to know more about auto bodywork or you just have general questions or want to schedule an appointment, contact Elmer’s Auto Body. Call us at (856) 218-0202. They’ll be happy to answer any of your questions and help you avoid the pitfalls of doing the work yourself. Our qualified auto body technicians know how to spot underlying conditions plus get your vehicle in pristine condition.
