• by Montgomery Miller
•  January 5th, 2018

Why Certifications Matter More than Ever in 2018

As automotive technologies continue to evolve, our vehicles are becoming more and more sophisticated. Along with the exciting benefits that come with technological advances, the task of repairing these highly advanced vehicles is requiring higher levels of training, experience and diagnostic systems. To keep up, body shops will need to embrace rapidly advancing technologies, training and diagnostic systems.

So why is this important to know and how can you identify the shops that are keeping up? It’s very important if vehicle safety and performance are important to you because not all shops use OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts in their repairs and many lack the training necessary to complete repairs in compliance with the manufacturer’s original safety and performance standards.

To help you identify the shops that are keeping up with the latest advances in automotive collision repair technologies, the collision repair industry along with many manufacturers have implemented standards and certifications for compliance with those standards that offer consumers guidance in their search for a shop to handle their vehicle repair needs.

American Honda offers the ProFirst certification for Acura and Honda collision repairs. A ProFirst Certified collision repair facility will have a team of highly-qualified experts along with the tools, equipment, training, and experience to repair your Acura or Honda vehicle properly, restoring it to original manufacturer standards using recommended original manufacturer parts.

Perhaps the most important certifications are offered by I-CAR, a major industry organization providing a variety of educational and training recognition programs for the collision repair industry. I-CAR’s core expertise is in collision repairability and collision repair training. Only 10% of all collision repair shops nationwide are I-CAR Gold Certified.

If you find a shop that is I-CAR Gold Certified, you can trust that their technicians have the most up-to-date training available in the collision repair industry and that they are working with the latest collision repair equipment and technologies money can buy.

The bottom line is certifications do matter and show that the business has invested substantially in their technicians’ training, equipment and diagnostic systems in order to complete repairs to your vehicle in compliance with the original manufacture’s safety and performance standards.

If you care about the quality of the repair work your vehicle receives, ask any shops you are considering for a list of their certifications and ask them if those certifications are current. A quality shop will always be happy to provide you with this information.

Finally, once you’ve determined what certifications a shop has earned, you can check their reviews on Facebook, Yelp and Google+ to make sure their customer service standards are a good match for your needs. Much like doctors, body shops, both small and large, can vary substantially in the level and quality of their customer service.