Every once in awhile a repair will go longer than expected, either due to extra damage discovered, parts delays or the one we run into all too often, parts that just don't fit. A good body shop really despises having to make excuses to a customer about why the repair has gone longer than expected as it's generally the goal to do nothing but please every single customer that comes in. Problem is, we are quite often at the mercy of the insurance company as to what parts can be ordered. An OE (original equipment) part is a part made by the make of vehicle you're actually repairing, whereas an aftermarket part is a part made by a separate company designed to "work" on the make and model of vehicle being repaired. Generally these aftermarket parts are much less expensive thus costing the insurance company less money, which believe it or not is their main concern. However, these aftermarket parts have to be returned at an astonishing rate of 30% of the time, thus adding to repair time in the shop. Upon returning the part after trying to fit it on the vehicle we then need to inform the insurance company of such an event and then begin the process of ordering the correct part, thus adding a possible 3 days to the repair. This is just one of many reasons a repair can find delays, however a well managed shop can minimize these delays but can never fully make them go away.
