For fast and affordable auto body work, go see Jose Salgado in South Austin

On Monday morning on my way to work, I was involved in a minor car accident.  It was totally my fault, as I was distracted on the phone dealing with work-related issues, and I didn’t look both ways while I was leaving my apartment complex.  This led to an SUV hitting my driver’s side bumper, causing quite a large dent in my poor Mustang (recently nicknamed The White Stallion in our car wash article).  I later noticed that my frame had slightly shifted, making it impossible to open the hood of my car.

While I was lucky that I didn’t get T-boned and there were no injuries on either side, I needed to figure out how to get my damage fixed for the lowest cost possible.  That’s because I don’t carry collision insurance.  My reasons are sound and based on the economic principle of moral hazard:  when everyone is fully insured, there’s an incentive to take less care while driving, resulting in more accidents, which the insurance company passes off on drivers in the form of higher premiums.  My theory is that if I don’t carry collision insurance, I’ll be more careful, and my expected cost of accidents over the course of a year is lower than what I’d end up paying the insurance company.  Remember, insurance companies make a profit by charging premiums that are higher than the expected cost of insuring you.  It’s only because we live in a risk averse society that insurance companies get away with this and are able to steadily make profits.

Enough with the economics.  Here, my goal was to spend less than I would have paid if I’d carried collision insurance for the past year.  My estimate is that I would’ve spent $60 per month with a $500 deductible.  That means that collision insurance would have cost me $720, plus the first $500 of any at-fault damages.  This comes out to a total of $1,220, so I needed to spend less than that in order to make my decision to forego collision insurance a net gain.

I first tried the local Leif Johnson Ford dealership on Koenig Lane, but once I arrived at 3:30 pm,  I was informed that their body shop is stationed at their other location off of I-35 and Howard Lane.  That would’ve involved some major traffic problems at this time of the day, and the White Stallion wasn’t feeling up for the journey in his depleted condition (yes, even cars have a sense of vanity).  I’d noticed a small automotive shop on my way to the dealership, so I went over there for some advice.

This shop is called Koenig Lane Auto, located at 301 W. Koenig Ln., and the owner, George Torres, quickly estimated how much body work my car needed.  Although his business only does maintenance and inspections, he recommended Jose Salgado’s auto body shop on the southeast corner of South Congress and Woodward.  Torres explained that Salgado’s been moving his shop around a lot lately and doesn’t advertise, but he does great work for an affordable price.  Most importantly, Torres promised that I could trust Salgado.  I decided to give him a try.

Upon arriving, Salgado greeted me and explained that he could fix my car for $700.  I knew that I should get another estimate, but he assured me that any other body shop would charge at least $1500.  My friend, George Driscoll, who had also been involved in a recent accident, agreed that I wouldn’t be able to do better than $700, so I left my car there on Monday afternoon.

Less than 48 hours later, Salgado called me to let me know that my car was ready.  Shannon drove me over to the shop this morning (in Starlett, who was missing the White Stallion), and my car looked like an accident had never happened.  Plus, with me only shelling out $700, my decision to forego collision insurance has netted me $520 (remember, I would’ve paid a $500 deductible, plus a year’s worth of premiums).  Another way to look at it: I basically spent the exact amount I would have spent if I’d purchased collision insurance for a full year and not gotten in an accident.

Jose Salgado did a great job for the exact price he quoted, and he worked fast.  Considering the dubious reputation of the body shop industry, you should look no further than Salgado’s privately owned, no-frills shop on the southeast side of South Congress and Woodward. Hit him up at (512)-736-4795.

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