Local Auto Body Shops Busy with Winter Business
Local Car Body Shops Are Busy Due to the Winter Weather
While many people may not favor this winter weather, it is creating a lot of business for local body shops.
“This winter we’ve definitely been having our share of crashes and vehicles slipping and sliding off the road,” said Sgt. Jesse Grabow with the Minnesota State Patrol. “I think we’ve just had a few more snow type incidents and things like that.”
Those crashes are leading more and more drivers to auto body shops.
Advanced Auto Body and Glass in West Fargo says this winter has been busy.
“We’ve had a busier year this year with the amount of ice we’ve seen,” said Neil Krueger, who is the manager of Advanced Auto Body & Glass in West Fargo. “The severity of the hits are harder hits coming in. The earlier in the season we didn’t have the snow cover yet so some of the hits are real hard and a lot of suspension damage hitting curbs and so forth.”
Krueger said the newer cars are more susceptible to damage. “The new cars that are out there now that are made and designed out of aluminum. A lot of plastics and so forth. It doesn’t take a lot to create a lot of damage when you have a frontal collision on that. To replace a headlight on some of these are 12, 13, $1,400 just for the headlight. So sometimes a small collision can be a big collision price-wise.”
Sargent Grabow says even though you may be a good driver, you have to be careful of others on the road.
“Days like today you just have to allow more time for travel,” he said. “Pay attention to the road conditions, know what’s going on around you and just constantly scanning the roadway.”
Grabow says most of the accidents have thankfully have not involved serious injuries.
“By slowing down, it can make all of the difference in the world, and of course always wearing your seatbelt,” he said. “A number of people have found themselves slipping and sliding off of the road in crashes and rollovers but right in this area we really haven’t had any serious injuries because for the most part, it seems like people are wearing their seatbelts and wearing them properly.”
