SidCivic

Hi,

I've got a 2015 Honda Civic LX and am looking for a body shop. Came across this collision center locator on Honda's website: http://collision.honda.com/locator/search#.Wh5ADkqnE-V

It's a shop locator for "ProFirst Certified" shops. ProFirst info here: http://collision.honda.com/locator/p...y#.Wh5AREqnE-U

How important is it that I use a body shop that is ProFirst certified and listed on the Honda.com collision authorization center? I called one of the shops on Honda's list and they said they work on all makes, but have had some Honda specific training. They honestly didn't even know what ProFirst certification was which left me wondering how much weight this certification carries.

Thanks for your opinion!

ezone

Kinda depends on what you need and want.
Ask your dealership what bodyshop(s) they use and recommend.

The owner of the bodyshop we send most of our body and paint work to didn't want to pay for the Honda certification (link)...but they turn out damn good work.

There are plenty of bodyshops in my town that do half-fast work (say that fast a few times), but only a few that are consistently top notch.
If you don't already know who is or is not good in your area, the certifications are supposed to be at least SOME assurance things will be done well.



The ONE employee answering the phone didn't know.

The bodyshop owner and a few of the techs surely know, as the owner signed up for it in hopes of steering business in from the Honda dealerships, and had to send X number of employees for the training.


FWIW most of the general public have no idea what ASE certifications are for people in the on-road transportation industries either.....and that includes certifications for bodyshop people.

SidCivic

Ahhh okay got it, thanks for the link to that article. After reading it, it seems like it does carry SOME weight, and true point about that ONE employee not knowing.

I called my local dealers to ask who they refer out to for body shop work and they both referred to places owned by the same parent company. Mossy Honda Lemon Grove dealer > Mossy National City Collision Center & then Pacific Honda dealer > Sunroad Collision Center. Both collision centers had solid reviews so I am comfortable with those recommendations even though ideally they would refer out to peeps not owned by them.

Thanks for all your help!

ezone

I used to work for the local Benz/Porsche etc. dealer.
The bodyshop we used all the time was right around the corner and they turned out incredible work, and our shop did a lot of work for the bodyshop like alignments and other stuff they didn't handle there.

So when I wanted to get my my truck painted (20 years ago) plus some other little mods on the body, I dropped it off at this bodyshop, handed over the keys and just said "take your time and please treat me right". Never even asked for a price either, and didn't care because their quality was what I wanted and I was willing to pay whatever they asked.
They certainly did both...It took like 3 months because they used my truck as fill in work during their slow times but that paint was darn near show quality with clearcoat a mile thick. Price was right for me too, that mechanic buddy discount plus not wanting it in a hurry helped a lot on the price.
20 years later, most of that paint still looks great LOL

SidCivic

Oh man I bet that truck was gleaming! You know how to navigate every river of the auto world. Were you always into cars even as a kid? If I ever become rich I am going to have "a guy" for everything, and you are going to be my car guy.

ezone

That truck is in my profile under 'My Garage'.
The car culture out there where you are at is far beyond what I could ever do. Standing on a street corner out there watching traffic for 10 minutes would make me ashamed of my little truck.

Mechanical stuff, yes.

If you have money like Jay Leno and pay 7 figures before the decimal point, I'll wheel my toolboxes into a box truck and head your way on Monday LOL

SidCivic

Haha, well anyone can buy & trick-out a nice car, but you have REAL skill with mechanical stuff. That's worth more than a nice car!

If I had money like Leno I'd airlift you and your box truck by Sunday LOL