Oklahoma Body Shops Stacked Up After Winter Weather Wrecks

As the snow melts, there are still clues to how bad our winter weather was. Many body shops are shoveling out from under a backlog of repairs.

Jim Page, with Jim Norton Collision Center said, "Any time we have weather events like this the shop gets stacked up quick."

At Jim Norton Collision Center in South Tulsa, technicians are putting damaged cars back together.

"This is what we're seeing a lot of. A lot of front-rear hits," said Page.

Collision Centers are estimating one to two weeks turnaround, depending on the amount of damage and paint work.

Most winter weather repairs are just scratched and dented bumpers. Some bumpers have to be ordered, painted and put back on. Other bumpers just need a little repair work and they're good as new.

Independent auto-body owner Nathan Hostetler said this is an usual time of year for him to be doing so much business. He's usually busier during warm, rainy months.

"There's probably an extra 20 to 25 cars here right now. We're usually having 40 cars in process and we've got near the capacity right now," Hostetler said.

Repair techs at Accurate Autobody and Glass are getting cars that lost an entire wheel in the icy weather, or worse.

"Four-wheel drive or two-wheel drive, if you're going too fast you're not going to be able to turn and you're going to hit a curb like what this car did and destroy," Hostetler said.

These auto-body repair shops see it all. With this winter weather, drivers can never be experts on the winter roads.

Dave Burgess, with Accurate Autobody and Glass said "It takes you by surprise every time. So the thing is yeah, slow down on a turn. You just can't creep slow enough."