A visual estimate costs you nothing, here or almost anywhere
Writing an estimate is how a body shop earns the job, so the walk-around and the written sheet that follows are free almost everywhere in the GTA. At our counter beside Fairview Mall you can pull in, our estimator looks over the damage, and you leave with a printed or emailed estimate that lists every panel, operation and part. No deposit, no obligation, and no fee if you take it to another shop or decide to live with the dent.
The same is true of the photo route. Pictures sent from your phone come back as a written preliminary estimate the day you send them, which is often more convenient than driving in from Markham or Scarborough just to be told what you can already see. Details of how that works are in the photo estimate answer.
A free estimate is not a rough number scribbled on a card. The sheet you leave with is the same line-item document the adjuster would receive: each panel, the operation on it, the part type and the paint time, in the layout insurance companies use. Drivers sometimes hold off asking because they expect a ballpark first and a paid “proper” estimate later; there is no second tier. It is also not a booking. Nothing is ordered and no bay is reserved until you say go, so a driver from Agincourt or Thornhill can collect the sheet, compare it with the deductible over the following week, and only then decide whether it becomes a claim, a cash job, or a dent they live with.
A teardown estimate is the one that sometimes carries a charge
A visual estimate can only price what is visible. When the damage is on a bumper corner, under a headlight or behind a door skin, the honest number needs the cover, the light or the trim removed to see what took the hit. That is a teardown estimate, and it takes real labour: an hour or two of a technician’s time plus the clips and fasteners that do not survive removal.
Most shops, including this one, fold that time into the repair if the car stays, and many will charge it if the car leaves for another shop, because the work was done and the second shop gets to skip it. We tell you before anything comes off whether a teardown is needed and what happens to that time in either case, so there is no surprise on the way out.
On an insurance claim the question mostly goes away. The insurance company expects the teardown as part of the repair, and if hidden damage is found it is written up as a supplement and covered by the claim.
Your insurance company does not usually need several estimates
The old habit of collecting three quotes comes from a time before insurance companies had their own appraisers. Today, when you open a claim, the insurance company either sends an appraiser or reviews the estimate from the shop you chose, and one shop estimate is usually all it needs. You are free in Ontario to have the repair done wherever you like, so the estimate is really a conversation between your chosen shop and the adjuster.
Where a second estimate is worth getting is when you are paying out of pocket and the first number surprised you, or when one shop is recommending replacement and you want to know whether repair is realistic. In that case compare the line items rather than the totals, because two shops writing for different operations are not quoting the same job.
What to bring so the free estimate is accurate the first time
Bring the car clean enough that the panel edges can be seen, or send photos taken in daylight with the damage in the middle of the frame. Have your insurance information and the claim number handy if one has been opened, and tell us if the car was hit before in the same spot, because old repairs under new damage change how the panel is written.
It also helps to say what you want. A lease return that just needs to pass inspection is a different estimate than a car you plan to keep for ten years, and knowing that lets our estimator write the sheet you actually need instead of the most complete one possible.
- Photos in daylight, or the car itself, washed if that is practical
- Your insurance company, policy number and claim number if one exists
- Any earlier repair history on the same panel
- What outcome you want: a factory finish, a pass at a lease inspection, or safe and tidy
Questions people ask
Is the photo estimate as reliable as one done in person?
For visible damage it is close, and our estimator notes on the sheet where the photos cannot see. Hidden damage is priced the same way by either route: after the cover comes off.
Will you charge me if I get the estimate and then go through insurance later?
No. The estimate is free either way, and if you open a claim afterward we send the same sheet to the insurance company and adjust it to match how they write parts.
Can I get an estimate for a car that cannot be driven?
Yes. Send photos from where the car sits, or have it towed to us; in Ontario you choose where a tow goes, and we help coordinate it.
Does the estimate expire?
Parts prices and availability change, so a sheet more than a month or two old is usually refreshed before work starts. The repair plan itself rarely changes unless the car has been driven with the damage and it has spread.