Here's to Oakdale Minnesota

In this month's blog post, we wanted to share a little bit about our shop and what makes us tick! We also wanted to talk a little bit about the town we call home and why it's so awesome. 

Oakdale Collision Center has been in Oakdale, Minnesota for more than 12 years and we love being a part of the community. There are so many things to do and to be a part of. Our shop is right in the middle of a great area. Just across the parking lot is Precision Auto Repair (definitely check them out for your next oil change, brake services, or auto maintenance) and Catrina's Mexican Restaurant. which is one of our favorite places to frequent for lunch.  

Not only do we have our business here, but the owners (Michelle and Don) grew up in Oakdale and live here currently. 

Oakdale is such a great place to be! There are plenty of community events to participate in from the Oakdale Chamber of Commerce's Golf Tournament to helping pack food for Feed My Starving Children.

One of the things that we are proud of is giving back to the community we love. We are even a drop off spot for food donations for the Christian Cupboard and often take donations to help homeless pets.  

 

We love that our clients become like family because they are our number one priority. Our personable, friendly staff will always take time out of their day to make sure that you have everything you need. 

Thanks for stopping by to get to us know us a little bit! 

Dents! Who Needs Em!

Door dings, bumper scratches, and paint chips are part of life when you own a car. Whether you come out of the grocery store to find a shopping cart has dented your car door or someone “tapped” your back bumper in the parking garage at the mall, you can bet it’s going to happen at some point in your cars life.

Can it be avoided? To some degree, you can avoid dings. Can we help? You bet. Here are six common ways cars get dents and even a few ways you can try to avoid them. And remember, if avoiding them doesn’t work, we can always fix them.

1. Hail Damage: Hail is a natural and unpredictable occurrence. A sudden hail storm could leave your car with multiple dents. 
2. Sports Accidents: We’re talking recreational sports accidents here. A fly ball at a neighborhood baseball game, a rogue Frisbee or soccer ball could potentially bounce off the roof of your car. 
3. Car Wash: Ah, you thought the car wash was safe. Your car may leave nice and clean, but you could get an accidental bump or scrape while on the conveyor. 
4. Low Speed Fender Benders: Most of us have experienced a low speed fender bender. It doesn’t just have to be another car hitting your front fender. It could also be a runaway grocery cart in the parking lot that slams right into your door. Any way you slice it, a minor collision can still cause damage. 
5. Car Door Ding: You know the drill. You walk out of the gas station and someone has parked to close to your car. You inspect it for dings and scratches and sure enough, there’s a small dent from the impact of their car door. 
6. Rocks: Rocks can be tossed at your car while on the freeway or even a side street. They chip paint or cause dents. 

While all of these common ways your car can get dented, dinged or scratched, some of them can be avoided.

Here are a few steps to avoiding those needles dents:

• Park away from other cars at the grocery store, a ball game, or a restaurant. Sure it means you might have walk a little further, but imagine the all the door dings you won’t get.
• Open Your Door slowly- if you think you’re too close to the car next to you or maybe you parked too close to a railing, open that car door slowly. It will make sure everyone’s doors are safe and sound. 
• Protecting your car from hail damage if it has to be left outside can be a little trickier. You could try covering it to protect it from damage. 
• Invest in comprehensive coverage! If you don’t have it already, get it. Comprehensive coverage can take care of a lot of the items we’ve covered in this post. Check with you insurance agency to see what you your policy covers.

Welcome to the Oakdale Collision Paint Shop

Ben Nelson

Our paint department is a big part of our collision business. Once a car has been repaired, it often needs repainting. A big part of paint matching lies in the hands of the painter. The paint, with all of the precise measurements, color chips, lighting, and matching the color comes right down to having a good eye. We're lucky that our Paint Technician has over 20 years of experience. 

Ben Nelson has been with Oakdale Collision for 10 years. He started as a detailer in 1993 and was painting cars by 1995. He came to work with us in 2003 as our Paint Technician. Ben still enjoys painting each car he gets in to his booth and you better believe he brings his 21 years of experience with him to every job. 

In addition to having a technician we can trust doing a great job, it's also important to use the best materials possible. That's why we use Spies Hecker Waterborne paint. Spies Hecker is a German based paint company that was established in 1882 (yep, that's right!). Their waterborne line launched in 1994 and has transformed the way we paint cars. 

Car door getting painted

Waterborne paint is environmentally friendly. It produces less VOC's and less waste which is good for all of us (especially Ben who does the painting). The paint also has a one coat application process that dries fast!

As part of our state of the art technology, we use special color chips to help make sure the color is accurate every time. We get a complete overview of the OEM colors and their variations- all 53,000 color formulas so we can match virtually all OEM and custom paint  finishes. That makes for a perfect match every time. 

I-CAR Professional Development Program

Did you know that our auto body technicians take part in the I-CAR Professional Development Program? As an auto body repair facility, we are committed to repairing your vehicle to its pre-accident condition. We require all of our technicians to stay up-to-date in all faucets of the repair process. That includes I-Car, which is an international organization dedicated to providing the necessary information, knowledge and skills required to perform complete, safe and quality repairs. Their focus is to provide collision repair shops with access to high-quality, industry-recognized training solutions.

We want to make sure our collision repair technicians have the most up to date training and knowledge available in the industry to keep you as safe as possible. The I-Car collision repair training is designed to give all of our repair technicians the knowledge they need to perform safe, complete, and quality repairs- every time, all the time!

As new technology emerges, it’s important to stay on top of training and make sure our shop can handle whatever gets thrown our way. In addition to the initial training, we attend yearly refresher courses to make sure we are up to speed with everything out there. I-CAR training gives our staff the up-to-date knowledge and skills to maintain a competitive edge and to stay proficient in today's fast-changing collision repair techniques.

You can read more about I-Car,  by visiting their website.