There’s not a day that goes by here at Rocco’s Collision Center where we aren’t asked, “how long will my repair take?” It’s a valid question to have, especially when you’re having your car repaired. The answer is it depends on what type of repair has to be done to your car. Each repair is unique and no job is ever the same. Thankfully, the collision repair industry has done well in tracking all sorts of things when it comes to car repair. Even insurance companies have been able to measure everything from the time involved to average costs for repairs. They also track what is called “Length Of Rental,” aka LOR, to see how long the average collision repair customer is in a rental car.
What you may not realize is the LOR keeps going up. In fact, the average length of rental is 12 days. Why so long, you ask? Well, most cars on today’s roads are equipped with advanced technologies with sensors that need recalibration in the repair process. This is not a fast process, though maybe one day it would be!
Average Car Repair Duration
Let’s take a moment to break down what the average cycle time is for repairs. In case you didn’t know, “cycle time” refers to how long it takes to repair your car. Note that these are not 100% accurate, but are very close to what you can experience for when your vehicle is in the shop:
Windshield Replacement: 1 day
Bumper repair/replacement: 1 day
Minor Auto Body Work: 1-2 days
Paint Repair: 1-2 days
Replacement of internal parts: 1-2 weeks
Extensive damage to multiple parts (if not deemed a total loss): over 30 days
Length Of Rental Explained
There are quite a few reasons as to why the length of rental is an average of 12 days. As you saw above, some repairs may only take a couple of days while more significant repairs can take over a week. However, the LOR is not based on the repair time. Length of rental also includes the time required for insurance adjusters to view the vehicle and approve any repairs that need to be done to your car. This is known as “claims frequency.” We’ll explain that a bit more down below.
There are some auto body shops that could feel pressure from insurance companies to perform faster repairs in order to minimize the LOR. However, they might cut corners in the repair process to save some time. This is not at all the way auto body repair should be done, which is why we are letting you know about this.
Why Some Auto Body Shops Cut Corners
What exactly does it mean when we say a repair shop will cut corners to “save time”? The best to explain it is to imagine your insurance company has two faces. One they show you and the other they show the body shop. You see them sympathizing over your situation, letting you know they’ll do whatever they can to make sure you get your car back to you as soon as possible.
On the other hand, or the second face, they’re looking to spend as little money possible in the repair process. By doing this, it could mean technicians would repair your car using parts that would damage the overall integrity of the vehicle. Your car is a very complex machine that has repair guidelines for a reason. Using parts other than what the manufacturer instructs will not only lessen the value of your car but will bring you at a greater risk for being involved in an accident.
However, we’re not saying all repair shops perform this way. It is possible for a body shop to perform a fast repair and do the best job for your car. Though, if we’re being honest here, most body shops that feel pressured by insurance companies to perform fast repairs will cut corners.
Other Factors To Increased LOR
The two other factors that can increase the length of rental have to do with repair complexity and claims frequency. Because of the complexity of car repair nowadays, technicians need extensive training to know how to repair a car properly following OEM repair procedures. These are the repair guidelines your car’s manufacturer releases that tells a technician exactly how to repair your vehicle make and model. In addition, most modern-day vehicles are equipped with advanced driving features, known as ADAS. Some of the most popular ADAS features in your car include blind-spot detection, lane departure assist, and forward-collision warning. Repairing these is very complex and can require recalibration at the dealer, which also means a tow to and from the auto body shop. This adds time to the repair process and the length of rental.
Claims frequency is based on how often insurance adjusters have to calculate the repair estimate. Very rarely will the initial estimate be total repair bill, which why adjusters will frequently return to the shop to approve any repairs. There can be some resistance from the insurance company paying for specific repair procedures, which can delay the actual repair process. When this happens, the LOR increases more and more.
Who In Pennsylvania and New Jersey Can Repair My Car?
We at Rocco’s Collision Center know that the entire auto body repair process is an extremely stressful time. This is why we’re here to help Pennsylvania and New Jersey drivers with any of their auto repair needs. Our team of technicians have received extensive training from I-CAR and are fully aware of the importance of OEM related repairs. Our goal is to provide an exceptional product to every single customer with unparalleled hospitality and knowledge throughout the entire collision repair process.
We have 6 different locations across Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. We know you have several choices when looking for an auto body shop, but we feel quite confident we will exceed your expectations. For a list of numbers and addresses to each one of our locations,click here. Or, feel free to give us a call at anytime at (888)-9-ROCCOS. We look forward to hearing from you!
