Collision Repair Timeline

What affects your collision repair timeline? Here are some factors that can make your repairs take longer OR shorten the timeline.

• The type of car you drive. Cars that are sold in higher volume (like the Orlando Toyota Corolla) tend to take less time to repair because the parts are easier to get. Luxury, foreign, or vintage cars can take longer to fix because they need specialized parts and specialist techs to work on them.
• How bad the damage is. If your car has a few dents and scratches, it’s likely the repair timeline won’t be too long. More extensive damage can take multiple days to get everything back in order on your Orlando Toyota.
• Your insurance company. If your insurance company is slow to approve your claim and our estimates, it can make the repair process take longer.
• The repair shop. If the Orlando body shop you choose is in a particularly busy season, your repairs could take a bit longer than normal to complete.

How long does collision repair take after a car accident?

How long does it take for collision repair after you’ve been in an accident or collision? Again, this timeline isn’t firm. It could take more or less time since so many variables are involved. However here’s an idea for you, broken into phases by our Orlando Toyota techs.

First Phase: Reviews

First, our Toyota of Orlando Collision Center will have to check your car to give you an initial assessment. Our expert techs will examine your ride from bumper to bumper to check for damage, take pictures, and use the necessary diagnostic tools. They’ll come up with a repair plan and consider things like:

• Which parts are damaged
• Whether the parts can be repaired, adjusted, or need to be
replaced

Once they’ve come up with a plan of action, they can better answer the question of “How long does collision repair take?” They’ll use industry standards to give you an estimated cost outline and an estimated timeline. This entire process should take less than a day.

However, it’s not all up to us at Toyota of Orlando. If you’re going through your insurance company for repairs, they’ll also need to review your case. Our auto body repair shop will send them our estimates for approval. Minor estimates don’t take long to approve, but bigger repair jobs can take anywhere from 1-5 days. This timeline depends on your insurance company and how fast they process the claim.

#6: Dent repair with filler

Second Phase: Repairs

Once your estimates have been approved by your insurance company, our Orlando Toyota techs can start work. They’ll begin ordering parts and working on repairs. Here’s a breakdown of this part of the question of “How long does collision repair take”?

• Ordering parts can take anywhere from 0-7 days. This will depend on whether the part is already in stock at the repair shop or has to be ordered and shipped in.
• A secondary inspection will take place after your car has been disassembled. Our techs will look for hidden damage or other issues that may not have been evident in their initial inspection. If more damage is found, they’ll let you know. They’ll also have to let your insurance company know and get those additional estimates approved. This can take another 1-3 days depending on the damage.

Once your parts have been ordered and received and the second inspection is done, our techs can get to work. At Toyota of Orlando, the mechanical repairs timeline depends on the extent of your damage and affects the answer to “How long does collision repair take?”. Our techs will start with structural damage first.

• Minor repairs like fixing dents, removing scratches, and replacing bumpers can take anywhere from 1 to 3 days.
• Major repairs can take longer to handle, a week or more.

However, even after repairs are done the job isn’t finished. Your car will need to be repainted and refinished. You want it to look like new again, right? This part of the repair process can take anywhere from 1 to 4 days.

Third Phase: Final Review

How long does collision repair take when all of the actual repair work is done? When your repairs are done, our Orlando Toyota techs will do a quality control check. We’ll drive your car, do a final inspection, and make sure it’s ready to hand over to you. We’ll also detail and wash it. This typically takes about a day.

When we’re finished, we’ll have you come in and inspect the car for yourself when you pick it up.