Folks seeking collision repair services often worry about whether their vehicle is too damaged to be repaired. Here are four ways to assess the chance that collision damage can be fixed.

1. Location

The location of the damage often dictates how easily the repairs will be performed. If a vehicle suffered a side impact with damage to the frame, that's a major issue. That level of damage would require repairs to the frame before more basic auto bodywork would be possible. There's also a good chance you'd have to get a reconstructed title for the vehicle, meaning significant paperwork and a thorough inspection to approve putting the car back on the road.

Conversely, a ding to the bumper might be fairly easy to address. In such cases, bumper collision repair services may only entail doing a bit of work to fix cracked paint. This is because many modern bumpers use flexible plastics, and that means they often bounce back even from moderate forces.

2. Metal Damage

Generally, areas with metal tend to be less repairable. Oftentimes, dents are fixed permanently into the metal, making it hard for a technician to straighten things out. Notably, that doesn't mean a fix is impossible. There are cases where a dent can be hammed back to a smooth finish, and then the technician will repaint the outside. Even if that's not the case, the modular design of auto bodies makes it possible to remove sections, replace them, and then match the paint.

3. Size of Affected Area

Bigger dents tend to be harder to straighten out. If the hood of a car ends up with a crease going halfway through it, for example, it might be simpler to replace it than to perform repairs. Similarly, damage affecting two sections, such as a front quarter panel and a door, may be hard to even out. That might entail replacing two sections rather than one.

4. Matching the Paint

Some paint jobs are very easy to match. If your vehicle has a black paint job without any pearl, for example, the technician should have an easy time identifying and matching it. Conversely, there are paint jobs that are complex for a technician to match. This can be caused by pearlescent materials, flecks, and even flexible treatments that have to be mixed properly to match the paint. Generally, the more shimmer you see in the paint, the harder it will be to match.