Distracted Driving

You constantly hear about texting and driving, and how many accidents that causes, but did you know that the biggest cause of accident is purely driving while distracted? Distracted driving of any kind can lead to a devastating accident, all because you wanted a piece of gum or were reaching to change the song on your stereo. 

Even if you are at full attention while driving, on average during the day there are 660,000 drivers using their cellphones while out on their commutes. Imagine how many other drivers are out driving without their full attention at hand. That puts you and your family at risk. Taking your eyes off the road for even a moment can be the split second an irresponsible driver veers into you. 

Before each drive you should be verifying that your mirrors and stereo are preprogrammed to the way you need. The less you have to fix while on the road, the fewer distractions you have to deal with. Your turn signal is a great way to warn other drivers of your intentions, and while it's unnecessary if used miles before your turn, you still want to give ample time for a quick response if needed. Using your turn signal early can help keep other drivers informed and prevent accidents. 

Avoid driving your vehicle late at night, or during hours you're not fully awake. Thousands of car accidents a year are attributed to driving drowsy. Add that to driving at night and you're looking at your chance of being in an accident tripling, simply because your visibility is impaired. If you're on a long road trip pull over for a nap, or find a hotel close by. Make sure to pull completely off the road and give yourself ample space for passing vehicles. Your state of mind is extremely important while operating a vehicle, for your safety and for others. 

Teach your children and loved ones a valuable life lesson – make sure they know how detrimental picking up their phone or any form of distraction during a car ride can be, and make sure they're spreading the word. Being vocal with your peers and adults about their driving habits can be the difference between life and death. In the end, accidents do happen, and are often times unavoidable. We are here for you when life gets in the way. Bring your car down to Oakdale Collision for an estimate in your time of need.

City Driving Tips

Even if you don’t work in the city, chances are you may drive there from time to time. Navigating one-way streets and finding a place to park can be a nightmare, especially if you are unfamiliar with where you are going. Here are a few tips to help the next time you find yourself driving to a Vikings Game or checking out the latest Brewery that just popped up in St Paul:

1. Watch Out for People on Bicycles: You may not be used to seeing them as much in the suburbs, but a lot of people use bicycles in the city. Make sure you keep an eye out as they change lanes or you do!
2. Brush Up On Your Parallel Parking: We know you don’t have to parallel park at Hy-Vee or most places you may be use to going. Chances are if you’re downtown, you may have to parallel park. 
3. Find a Spot Your Car Fits In: If you’ve got a big SUV, make sure you find a spot that your vehicle fits in. You don’t want to anger your parking mates by trying to fit into a “compact” space.
4. ALWAYS CARRY CHANGE: Want to park on the street and save a few bucks? You may not be able to if you don’t have change. While many of the new parking meters are equipped to take credit cards, not all of them do. 
5. Map Out The One Way Streets: If you’re driving to a new area, do you know which streets are one-ways in Minneapolis? It can be important to figure out which major streets are one-ways prior to departing so you don't end up going the wrong way!

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! 

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. 

Before and After Photos

What better way to show you some of the jobs we've encountered and some of the work we've done than with before and after photos! 

From small dents in a side door to full blown fender benders, we have seen a lot! We can take your car from damaged to driving in no time at all, and make it seem like your accident never happened. 

Before

After

Before

After

During

And here are just a few that are in progress of being repaired. 

Minnesota Potholes

It's a fact that potholes are a huge part of life in Minnesota, especially in the winter and spring.  They seem to get bigger or at least more widespread every year once the snow melts and even if the road has been repaired.

Large or small, potholes can do a number on your car and on your wallet. Trust us, we’ve seen it all.  A new survey from the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America found that over half of car owners in the U.S. have reported some type of damage due to a pothole. So how do you avoid them? You can’t swerve on the freeway or you might risk bumping into the car next to you which could lead to an accident. Running over them could land you right in our shop fixing the undercarriage of your car. 

Here are few tips to help you avoid them:

• Don’t swerve! As we stated above, it won’t solve the problem. It will probably make it much worse.
• Reduce your speed. Hitting a pothole at a slower speed typically results in less damage.
• Beware of puddles! They may look shallow, but could be very deep and could cause a lot of damage to your car.
• Keep your tires properly inflated. A poor inflated tire could pop if you hit a pothole just right.

If you can’t avoid the pothole, here is a form to fill out that lets the state of Minnesota (MNDOT) know where it is. This helps to make sure the location makes it on their repair list.

Looking for more information on pesky potholes? Here are a few links we thought we should share:

Mapping Potholes

Minnesota drivers have few options for claiming pothole bills

Tips To Avoid Costly Pothole Damage

AAA GivesAdvice on How To Avoid Pothole Damage

Welcome

Welcome to the Oakdale Collision Center blog! We are so very excited to finally have a blog and share some insights with you about collision repair, insurance help, dent removal, and the latest technology on the market.

Locally owned, we have been serving the Oakdale area for more than 12 years and we are here to get your car looking like new again in no time at all. Our skilled technicians will provide you with a full service repair and detail work, and your car won’t leave our shop until you’re completely satisfied.

We are licensed, certified, registered, insured, and bonded. All our repair work is warrantied with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Want to find out more about us? Take a look at the video.

Thanks for visiting us and check back soon for more blog posts.