Auto Shop Blog - Auto Craft Tips and Tricks

How to “Count Off” a Safe Braking Distance

Rear-end auto collisions are among the most common types of traffic accidents. They’re also one of the most avoidable, if you keep your distance from the vehicle in front of you. The “count-off” braking-distance test can be used anytime, at any speed. Simply watch for the vehicle in front of you to pass a sign…

We’ve all been stuck behind that driver in the left highway lane who is perfectly pacing a car in the right lane, as if it’s a synchronized swimming event rather than a high-speed traffic situation. Traffic bottles up behind them, creating unnecessary hazards for everyone involved. We were all taught in driver education that the…

No, it’s not the latest dance craze. The “zipper merge” is how good drivers navigate merging situations in traffic. As you might have guessed, it works like a zipper, weaving one car from the left, one from the right, one from the left, and so on, which allows traffic to merge more safely and with…

A Professional Driving Trick That Could Save Your Life

Most of us have an amateurish habit of looking only at the car directly in front of us when we drive. Our brains aren’t programmed to register danger more than a few feet away, so it’s literally a natural instinct to watch the cars closest to you. At driving speeds, however, hazards an eighth of…

Windshield Repair Versus Windshield Replacement

A common question at our collision repair shops is whether windshield repair costs less than windshield replacement. If it can be repaired, the answer is yes—assuming you get it into the shop soon, before the damage spreads and before dirt gets into it. Windshield repair can cut your costs by up to 80 percent compared…

What if that oncoming Jeep swerved into your lane? What if the driver of the bus you’re following slammed on his brakes? What if a dog ran into the road ahead? Is this pessimistic thinking? Not at all. Playing the “What-If” game is one of the most advanced defensive driving techniques you can use, keeping…

Direct Repair Program Means a Lifetime Guarantee on Body Work Yes, a Direct Repair Program (DRP) really does give you a lifetime guarantee on body work, and there are other benefits, as well. Fewer calls, less hassle, and you don’t have to go on the dreaded “wild estimate chase” to provide your insurance company with…

How to Use the Online Auto Craft Estimate Tool

Car accidents are hard, but getting a collision repair estimate is easy. Next time you bend a fender, get yourself safely to the roadside, call for the appropriate backup, then skip the visit to the body shop. Instead, use Auto Craft’s Online Estimate Tool: Click your phone over to www.autocraftinc.com and select the Green…

Keeping the Insurance Money for Your Auto Collision Repair

Sometimes collision damage doesn’t look like it hurts the structure of a vehicle. And sometimes, the vehicle looks cosmetically fine, or close enough to fine that you think about keeping the insurance money rather than having it repaired. You’re free to do that, if you own the vehicle outright, and the insurance check is made…

I Know, You’re the Special One Who Can Text and Drive

Let’s be clear: this article is not talking about you. You’re a special driver with extraordinary talents, so texting behind the wheel comes easy to you. No safety risk whatsoever when you pull out an Android at 75 miles per hour. No, sir. No, we’re talking about everyone else when we say that the steady…

A common question at our collision repair shop is whether windshield repair costs less than windshield replacement. If it can be repaired, the answer is yes—assuming you get it into the shop soon, before the damage spreads and before dirt gets into it. Windshield repair can cut your costs by up to 80 percent compared to…

“Put on Your Big, Ugly, Winter Driving Hat” My winter driving hat is one of those big, furry things that makes people want to swing a broom at my head because they think it’s an animal attacking. I don’t care. It’s not how you look that matters; it’s what you do to get ready for…

Auto Collision Repair Tip: Be Ready for UFOs

You’re tooling down a country highway one beautiful evening, doing maybe 60. Crickets sing in the field outside your open window. Not much traffic. You’re totally focused on the drive, as you should be. Then you spot it: a flying saucer careens across the sky, moving toward the highway ahead of you at impossible speed.…

Oh, Deer, It’s Mating Season: How to Keep from Hitting One—and what to do in Case of a Deer-Related Collision Late autumn/early winter is the time for romance if you’re a deer. If you’re a driver, it’s a time to be extra cautious when driving in areas populated by these lovelorn—and therefore extremely hazardous—creatures. Late…

So happy that we could give back to our community! These firemen deserve it. Here is what KWCH channel 12 had to say about it- "The vandalism happened on Sept. 11. Hutchinson Fire Capt. Gerald Wiens found his truck and two others keyed, front to back. "Kind of a strange day for something like to…

What Kind of Parts are Body Shops Using on My Car? If you’ve ever had auto body work done, you may have heard the terms “OEM” and “aftermarket” used to describe the types of parts that may be used in your repair. But not everyone knows what these terms mean or how insurance companies decide…

So, your vehicle is washed and vacuumed, but it still looks a little dingy? Here are some tips from our auto body shop professionals on how to detail it. This process takes cleaning and beautification to a whole new level and can make your car look almost new again. If you’ve watched Auto Craft Collision…

With collision repair shops in Tulsa, Wichita and Junction City, we get a lot of questions from customers about how to keep their vehicles looking new after we’ve done body work on them. So we thought we’d start with some waxing tips from our auto body professionals. Before you begin Always wax your vehicle between…

The Enchanting Realm of Car Insurance … with Dragons

If you’re ever in an auto accident, it helps to have a basic understanding of the lingo used by insurance and auto body shop professionals. But for most people, learning the basics of auto insurance as it relates to collision repair is about as fascinating as watching grass grow. So instead of car insurance, let’s…

Yes, Auto Craft Collision Repair is a body paint and repair company (with a new collision repair location in Tulsa!), but we love cars and the people who drive them, so we like to provide tips to help keep your driving experience positive and enjoyable. So your car won’t start? A number of issues can…

How to Stay Safe When You Have Car Trouble

We love cars, of course. But cars are not always our friends. When your vehicle breaks down, it's not the coolest time to be a car owner, but a few tips can keep you safe and make the situation easier to deal with. Here are some helpful hints: First, get out of traffic, if you…

Put Down the Phone, or You Will be Textalyzed

The term “distracted driving” could mean anything from texting to brushing your teeth behind the wheel. Yes, people really do that. But mostly, it’s cell phone use, and it’s a killer. Literally. The state of New York is considering the use of “textalyzer” apps in smart phones, with laws that require drivers to turn over…

How to Wax a Car and Other Tips to Protect Your Car Paint Job

Of course, the first tip I’ll offer is to shop around before you get a new car paint job. The best protection begins with quality auto paint applied by qualified technicians with state of the art equipment. It also helps everyone if the paint is environmentally sustainable. We do all these things at Auto Craft,…

Have you seen this stuff, yet? Paintless dent repair/removal (PDR) is a marriage of innovative tools and mesmerizing craftsmanship. Watch our one-minute video, if you’ve never seen a technician at work. PDR can also be a sweet alternative to traditional body repair for several practical reasons, but we’re talk about the cool parts, right now:…

Most of us probably don’t think about what a reliable car means until we have to go without one for a while. It can really drag down your life plans, and it happens to the best of us. That’s why Auto Craft Collision Repair gives away refurbished vehicles to deserving families each holiday season. Last…

Choosing the Right Collision Repair Shop in Tulsa

Auto Craft: the new collision repair shop on the block Auto Craft may be one of the newest collision repair shops in Tulsa, but we’ve been a part of the Heartland for 40 years, now with five locations in Wichita and a deep connection to that community. And now look! Cain’s Ballroom, the Tulsa Zoo,…

Overview In the collision repair business, one the weirdest explanations we have to give customers is why insurance companies sometimes declare a car a total loss, even though it’s drivable—maybe it doesn’t even look that bad. Like everything in the insurance business, it’s about numbers, but the good news is that it ain’t “rocket surgery,”…

Five Things To Do If Your Car Breaks Down

Every day in Wichita, you see someone along the side of the road experiencing some form of car trouble. For some of them it is because of a lack of maintenance, others because of accidents, and maybe even for others it is because of no fault of their own, just a freak problem. While you…

Benefits Of Getting To Know Your Mechanic

At Auto Craft Collision Repair in Wichita, we take a great sense of pride from treating all of our customers like a part of our extended family, because in a way, that is exactly what they are. We have customers for their entire lives: from when parents are buying new cars for baby seats to…

Quality Is Important When It Comes To Vehicle Repairs And Maintenance

When it comes to vehicle repair and maintenance, there is no word more important than “quality.” Your car is one of your biggest investments and so vitally important to your life – how else will you get to work, get home, go to the store, and have a social life? In Wichita, having a car…

You would think that the people running an auto collision repair center would wish people sometimes forgot the rules of the road, but that isn’t the case. We have to drive the roads of Wichita as well, and sometimes we see things that aren’t too safe. It seems like when we first drove, we knew…

How To Deal With Chipping Paint On Your Car

Most people will pay so much attention to the mechanics and inner workings of their vehicles that they tend to forget to maintain the exterior of the car as well, including the paint. One of the biggest problems we see with the exterior of cars at our auto body and paint shop is chipping, flaking,…

Preventive Maintenance: Three Things To Never Overlook In Your Car

We want our vehicles to last as long as possible – to pass down to our children as their first car, to save a bit or money, or maybe to preserve the memories made while inside. As such, you might bring your car into the body shop every year for inspection, and if something is…

Winter Is Coming: Auto Craft Collision Repair Helps You Navigate the Season

We’ve sadly reached the end of October, which means the holiday season is approaching and you will likely be travelling more to see family, attend parties, and get your holiday shopping complete. Winter is definitely a busy time for everyone, including our auto shop branches in Wichita, KS and Tulsa, OK. As we have some pretty…

Just in time for the holidays, Auto Craft combined with Farmers, LKQ, and many other vendors to give a deserving family a new car. This year, the car was a completely refurbished 2006 Toyota Corolla that was like new! We do this to help local families who have the love, the strength, and the determination to do great things, they just need a leg up to get them there.

Auto Craft, our auto collision shop at East Wichita is now more powerful and more capable to handle all of North East Wichita's collision repair needs. We’ve added new prep stations, state of the art paint booth, more repair bays, innovative parts room, more customer parking and a luxury customer service suite. With new capabilities, Auto…

HERE WE GROW AGAIN – AUTO CRAFT EAST EXPANDS

Auto Craft Collision Repair on 32nd Street North has broken ground on its plan to expand the facility from its existing 12,500 square foot plan to adding 5625 square feet by the end of May 2014. By adding a new paint booth, additional working stalls, parts receiving room, updated lobby/customer service suite and additional parking,…

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