Should You Really Remove That Snow

Winter driving isn’t much fun, unless you’re in an empty parking lot whipping donuts out, right? Nobody likes waking up in the morning and getting stuck on the side of the road because your commute is featuring the inch thick ice you were dreading the night before. Winter is a risky time of the year in general, but the risk only gets worse when you’re driving around with a foot of snow on the roof of your car.

Driving with snow piled on top of your car is dangerous for many reasons, the first being it could fall within your line of visibility. Snow melts as your vehicle heats up, but it also could slowly slide down the front of your vehicle, or could abruptly shift and block your sight when driving. This is an issue for obvious reasons. Windshield wipers are great, but they’re made for rain. The best practice is to eliminate the snow from your roof, windows and mirrors before you drive anywhere.

As snow melts and refreezes on the roof of your vehicle, it creates small pieces of ice, that accumulate and become larger hunks. Imagine driving down the highway and having a missile launch from the vehicle in front of you. This can cause cosmetic damage to the vehicle behind you, or could potentially cause an accident to the unsuspecting driver. Even if your ice chunk doesn’t hit another vehicle, it could cause road obstruction which is just as dangerous. We’ve all seen sheets of snow fall off of a semi as they haul their loads down the freeway, so next time you leave, think about clearing off as much as you can to save your fellow commuters.

In the state of Minnesota, it is not illegal to drive with snow piled upon your vehicle. You could, however, be pulled over for driving with an obstructed view. You may also be held liable if for any damage caused by snow falling off of your vehicle onto one behind you, as it violates the Unsecured Load Law in Minnesota. State Patrol advises drivers that if their vehicles are damaged due to ice or snow falling off of a vehicle in front of you to attempt to capture the license plate and contact the police department to seek reparations for the damages. You as a driver should be responsible and remove the snow from your vehicle prior to utilizing your vehicle after a snowfall.

When in doubt, clean that snow off! Nobody wants to be stuck in the cold taking care of this annoying task, but the reality is that you are doing your due diligence as a licensed driver by ensuring you are operating your vehicle safely. Using a soft bristle snow brush should get the job done, and allowing your vehicle to heat up will warm the ice and snow on top of your vehicle, allowing it to slough off with your brush easily. Give yourself the extra five minutes in the morning, save yourself the fine, and potentially save somebody else's life.

Fall/Winter Maintenance For Your Vehicle

 

Winter is fast approaching, and we want everyone to be ready for it. Here at Oakdale Collision, this is our busiest time of the year. As much as we love seeing our customers return, we also aim to make sure that you don’t have to. With every change of season, you should be inspecting your vehicle for required maintenance, and that list can sometimes feel endless. In order to give you a head start here’s our list of things you should be looking into before winter is officially here. 

• Check your tread. Better yet, install winter tires on your vehicle. However, if you have all-season tires, simply make sure that the tread is deep enough. Utilize the penny method; insert a penny headfirst into your tire tread. If you can see all of Lincoln’s head, you need new tires. 
• Test your heat. In Minnesota, this is extremely important. Who wants to walk out to their car the first day of negatives and find their heat is broken?! Do yourself the favor now and turn that heat to the max to make sure it’s working to its best potential.
• Check your brake systems! This is yet another important part of our fall maintenance. Make sure you get a proper idea of how your brakes are functioning, when they may need to be replaced, and that you can stop in a matter of seconds. Winter is full of slick roads and traffic so make sure that your brakes are in their best shape before you’re in a bad situation. 
• How are your headlights? Everybody always talks about rock chips in the paint, and your windshield, but your headlights can also chip. After long use, the headlight covers often get scratched and dingy, giving them a dimmer appearance. This is unsafe in the dark, and even scarier in the winter. There are kits online you can order to improve your line of sight, among many other options we can discuss with you.
• Check all your fluids. Windshield washer fluid will freeze in our temperatures, so make sure you replace the old with one that has a low freeze point. This is also a good time to check your oil and look into your fuel efficiency. Motor oil is also affected by low temperatures and can become thicker and cloggy when cold which affects performance.
• When is the last time you replaced your battery? This one will negate all other maintenance if ignored. Batteries lose power over the course of their lives, and weaker batteries are more likely not to work when the negative temps arrive. Check your connectors, and battery life now to save you the frostbite later. 

There’s a long list of maintenance you should be tending to for your vehicle year-round, but this is our mini-list to help you maintain now. The sooner you get started on your list, the sooner you will find the larger pieces of maintenance lingering. As always, if you ever have any questions about your vehicle, contact us. We are always happy to help!

 

 

In A Collision? What Are Your Rights?

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, we are not your favorite group of people to see. We get it, who likes getting in an auto accident? Nobody comes to Oakdale Collision, throws open the doors and exclaims how excited they are about getting their car repaired. This is an inconvenience to you, your family, and your wallet. We want to make sure that before, during, and after this confusing time you know your rights as a consumer. 

                You have the right to pick where your car is repaired. This one baffles some people, because your insurance sometimes seems to omit this detail. Your insurance company has direct repair facilities it prefers to work with out of ease and contractual agreements holding the shop to certain rates. Occasionally, they will make recommendations to their clients where they should take their vehicles. This by no means requires you to use said body shop, however. You still have the option to get your vehicle repaired at whichever shop you prefer, regardless of where your insurance mentions. 

                You have the right to pick what kind of parts are used on your vehicle. This one can be a bit less clear, but you have a say in what kind of parts are put on your vehicle. There are typically three types of repair parts we could use; OEM, Non-OEM, or recycled parts. An OEM part is an “Original Equipment Manufacturer” part, meaning it was made by the manufacturer. A Non-OEM part is any part considered aftermarket, or made by someone other than the manufacturer, and a recycled part is exactly what the name suggests, recycled. Some insurance companies have you waive this right when you sign their policy statements, but for the most part you have the right to choose which type of part goes on your vehicle. 

                You have the right to a safely repaired vehicle. You can ask us any time about our processes, what we are certified in, and how we fix your vehicle. After the vehicle is finished, we will present you with an itemized copy of everything we did to your car. Our goal is always return your vehicle back to pre-accident condition, and that includes it being a safe vehicle to operate. 

                Our goal at Oakdale Collision is to build a relationship with our customers based on trust, and assurance that we are the very best at what we do. We know it’s true, and hope that one day you can see it too! If you need an estimate, need a repair, or just have some questions about what you should know as a customer, call us today! We’d be happy to help. 

Cars Aren't For Transportation

The autobody world is in constant fluctuation, due to the upgrades we regularly see in new vehicles on the market. Every year we see newer, more luxurious models of the well known manufacturers. Cars are no longer centered around transportation, they’ve become a mode of entertainment, as intelligent as our smartphones. These advancements are great for the consumer, but from the standpoint of a repair facility, it creates an entire new realm of training requirements, time constraints and overhead costs.

The beauty of this industry is in the endless possibilities. In the next coming years, vehicles will become more and more advanced. Here are five new advancements that will change how we repair cars, soon:

• Augmented Reality Display. This technology is fascinating, and has a bit of a Tron feel. Imagine sitting at the wheel, and having access to the exact distance between you and the guardrail to your right, or the vehicle in front of you. Presently, BMW is working to get this technology into their vehicles, at no one's surprise. This very futuristic tech could be both a handy tool on the road, and as well as an unfortunate distraction.
• Communication Between Vehicles, or vehicle to vehicle communication (V2V for short). You read that right, cars are starting to talk to one another. Cadillac implemented V2V communication i n 2017, which has been said to be similar to inter vehicle wifi. The purpose is to share the intent of the driver with other vehicles, potentially alleviating the possibility of a collision. This technology only works with other vehicles that have the same ability, but it could cut back on quite a few accidents out there.
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• Self Healing Paint. This technology is already available on the market for various other items, but the jump could be made to vehicles on the market before we know it. Self healing paint is softer than normal paints, and can absorb scratches. You would no longer have those soft scratches in your black paint, and we would see fewer paint jobs.
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• Solar Panel Powered Vehicles. Imagine how fantastic it would be to have a solar powered vehicle. This is possibly one of the most exciting advancements that may sound too good to be true. You should be comforted to know that Toyota has been researching this technology and its development since 2010.
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•  Fingerprint Touch Start. Who has actual keys anymore? There’s no specific date when manufacturers decided that keys were no longer “in” but that does seem to be the upward trend. Tesla features a credit card, most vehicles newer than 2010 have push start. Ford received the patent on fingerprint touch start technology in 2015.

With the constant changing environment we’re in, it’s a good thing we’re constantly working to stay up to date on the advancements we may see coming through our doors. There are so many new and exciting things on the market, we can’t wait to see what’s brought our way next! Come see us with any of your vehicle needs, no matter how old school or advanced your ride may be!

Winter, All Season or Summer Tire?

There are three main categories of tires on the market for your daily driver, all season tires, winter tires, and summer tires. Each type of tire has its own pros and cons, but when compared collectively, the most important thing to consider is the climate you deal with on your day to day. You want to ensure that you’re purchasing the most effective tire for your time, efforts, and for expense! Lets face it, tires are expensive!

Winter tires are the extreme of the three tires, and the best for living in a place like Minnesota. While you will fair alright with all season tires, for a driver inexperienced in heavy snowfall, we highly suggest the purchase of a true winter tire. They feature tread rubber, heavier depth with heavier patterns, and strong edges to cut into the snow.

• Tread Rubber: in all season and summer tires, tread will stiffen in cold temperatures inhibiting the proper traction. Winter tires see tread that is designed to remain flexible regardless of temperature.
• Tread Depth and Patterns: in winter tires, you see a more unique tread pattern or deeper divets in the tread to channel snow and slush, while also expelling water. Summer tires and all season tires have shallow tread and fewer patterns as it’s not an essentially part of driving in warmer weather.
• Biting Edges: Winter tires also have higher sipe densities, which is tiny slits in the tread providing higher traction on ice. 

Typically when you purchase your vehicle and drive it off the lot, they’re outfitted with all season tires. All season tires were designed to provide year-round performance, making them an extremely popular choice. They are versatile and designed to function well on wet roads and in light winter driving. If you’re looking for tires that will allow you to drive year round without any extreme winters or storms, these are the ones you want.

All season tires are the compromise between winter and summer tires, meaning they have to compromise certain attributes. They don’t provide the same grip or handling of a summer tire, or the same ice capabilities of a true winter tire. Just like with your footwear, you’ll want the more extreme of the three based on what the conditions are outside. Nobody wants to wear flip-flops in a snowstorm or snow boots during a heat wave! The choice to purchase an all season tire should be made when you live in a moderate climate, free of extreme cold or ice, and free from extreme heat in the summer. In the event that your tires are ineffective in a storm, and you potentially ding up your vehicle, we’re here to help!

How Do We Know What To Charge

Accidents are never fun, you have to take the time out of your day to get your vehicle to the shop, and play the middle man between your insurance and the body shop. You take the time to bring your car around the city to two separate body shops, and then have to send in two estimates on the damages. So, what happens after you’ve had that additional estimate done?

What most people outside the industry don’t know is that the body shop doesn’t dictate what is done to your vehicle, your insurance does. We create an estimate based on what we believe will be required to repair the car, but that doesn’t mean that the insurance company will pay it. A body shop can give you an estimate on what they know to be damage done during an accident, but they must go off of what your insurance approves for the vehicle. In the state of Minnesota, we are fortunate to be able to approve or decline the use of aftermarket parts, but that’s the extent of control you have over repairs.

Once your vehicle is brought into the shop, the technicians will perform a teardown, and pull all the pieces off of your vehicle to see if there’s any additional hidden damage. This phase is referred to as the blueprinting of the vehicle. It allows the body shop to write a preliminary supplement for the insurance to look over and approve. The insurance has three options. They can have a representative from their company inspect the disassembled vehicle through photos or in person, they can have one of our employees do it for them, or they hire an outside company to approve these supplements. These processes can take weeks, depending on how well established the relationship between the insurance adjuster and the body shop is. 

Your insurance, or the other parties insurance, often dictates the hourly rates, the markup on parts, and the number of hours that can be charged for a certain repair. We have to make sure that we’re getting enough money to do the work, so you can imagine where the back and forth could take additional time while repairing your vehicle. Best case scenario, you find a body shop that’s direct repair with your insurance. State Farm for example has direct repair programs with many body shops across the nation, and this simply means they trust the body shop to write an estimate that meets all of State Farms compliance requirements. This keeps the repair time on the vehicle at a minimum, so you can get your car back quicker than going to a non direct repair facility. 

We are at the mercy of your insurance, and cannot work on a car if they’re not informing us of the work needed to be done. We do our best to keep our customers, employees and insurance companies happy, but we have to work with each insurance to establish a unique repair process for every vehicle that comes through our doors. Keep tabs on your repair, by working with us to get all the necessary information prior to bringing your vehicle into the shop, and remember to keep in contact with your agent to ensure you’re back in your vehicle as soon as possible!