No. 101
Collision repair
The ordinary case. Something hit the car, or the car hit something, and panels, lights, and whatever is behind them have to come back to specification.
Most of what makes a collision repair good or bad is decided before anybody picks up a tool: whether the car was properly taken apart, whether what was found was written down and agreed, and whether the parts on the order are the parts on the estimate.
This page describes how that is supposed to work. It is deliberately written so that it is useful to somebody taking their car somewhere else.
Which equipment, training and manufacturer procedures any given shop works to is a question of records, and the answer for any particular shop is available on request. This site does not publish a list, because none was supplied to it.
What you should receive at the end
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- The final estimate, including every supplement, with the part-type letter visible on each parts line.
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- Parts invoices or a parts list, if you ask for them. You are paying for the parts; you may see what they were.
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- Any calibration or scan reports produced before and after the repair. These are printouts, not opinions.
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- A written statement of what was repaired versus replaced, which is what a future buyer or appraiser will want.
What happens, in order
| Stage | What is actually done | What moves the date |
|---|---|---|
| Intake | Photographs, the police or incident report number, your policy and claim number, and a note of anything that was wrong with the car before. | Nothing yet |
| Estimate | A written estimate from the outside of an assembled car. | Nothing yet |
| Teardown | Panels and trim removed so the damage can actually be seen. | Discovery of hidden damage |
| Supplement | A revised estimate with photographs, agreed with the insurer before work proceeds. | Insurer response time |
| Parts | Ordered against the agreed supplement. | Lead time — the usual culprit |
| Repair | Structure first, then panels, then alignment of gaps. | Hidden corrosion |
| Refinish | Prep, colour, blend, clear, cure. | Cure time cannot be compressed |
| Reassembly | Trim, glass seals, lamps, and sensor recalibration where required. | Calibration equipment availability |
| Delivery | The car, the final invoice, and the documents listed below. | — |
The shop is your decision
This is the ordinary case, and it is the one where the shop gets chosen in a telephone call on day one, usually by default.
For purposes of this section, a consumer has the right to select the motor vehicle repair facility of his or her choice.
Statutory passages on this page are quoted from the Wisconsin Statutes and were last checked in October 2026 against docs.legis.wisconsin.gov. Statutes are amended. This is general information about a public law, not legal advice, and it is not a statement about your particular claim. Read the section yourself, or ask a lawyer.
Questions about this work
How long will it take?
Honestly: nobody can tell you before teardown, and anybody who gives you a confident figure on day one is guessing. What can be said on day one is what the stages are and which one usually moves — parts lead time. After teardown and an agreed supplement, a date becomes a real date.
Do I have to accept the insurer’s estimate?
The insurer’s estimate is their assessment of what they will pay. A repair plan is a different document. Where they differ, the difference is negotiated between the shop and the insurer with photographs, which is ordinary and happens on a large share of repairs.
Can I get my car back part-way through?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking early rather than late. A car that has been torn down is not drivable, so the question is really about whether to delay teardown until parts are in hand. That trade-off is yours and it depends on your rental coverage.
The other sections
| No. | Section | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| 102 | Structural & frame | When the hit reached past the panels. Straight is a measurement against the manufacturer's specification, in millimetres, not a judgement made by eye. |
| 103 | Paint & refinish | Colour match, blend, clear and cure. Paint has a minimum time that cannot be compressed, which is the single most common reason a delivery date moves. |
| 104 | Sensors & calibration | The cameras and radar that run automatic braking and lane keeping sit behind the panels that get hit. A panel replaced without recalibration leaves a system aimed somewhere it is not. |
| 105 | Dents, trim & interior | The smaller end of 811121: paintless dent repair where the paint survived, bumper and trim work, and interior repair after a break-in or a deployment. |
Describe the damage on the telephone
You will get a straight answer about what this is likely to involve, what is likely to move the date, and whether it is even worth opening a claim.
Mon–Fri 7:30 AM–5:30 PM CT