FAQ's With Megan Mueller From Ozzie's Body Shop

Your car gets hit, you file a claim, and suddenly you’re buried in advice that doesn’t match what you’re seeing in the real world. Julie Schwenzer sits down with Megan Mueller, co-owner and CEO of Ozzie's Body Shop, to translate the most common collision repair questions into plain English, starting with the one that trips up almost everyone: what your auto insurance policy actually covers when the damage is done.

We walk through how Ozzie’s approaches a true repair consultation by reviewing the facts of loss, whose insurance is involved, rental car coverage, and what parts may be approved. Megan also clears up the confusion around preferred shops and out-of-network repairs, including a key point many drivers never hear: warranties are typically backed by the repair shop, not the insurance company. If you’ve felt pressure to choose a specific shop, this conversation helps you understand your options and how to make an informed decision without guesswork.

Then we get practical about timing and money. You’ll learn why collision repair timelines depend on teardown, insurer approvals, and parts availability, why backorders can change everything, and why initial estimates are often nowhere near final costs, especially with hail damage written from photos. We also touch everyday ownership issues that show up after a crash, like AWD tire matching rules and the messy line between what’s claim related and what’s maintenance. 

If you want repairs done right the first time and you want to understand the insurance claim process without the spin, hit play, share this with a friend who just had an “uh-oh moment,” and then subscribe and leave a review so more drivers can find the show.

To learn more about Ozzie's Body Shop visit:
https://www.OzziesBodyShop.com
Ozzie's Body Shop 
5280 N. Garfield Ave.
Loveland, Colorado 80538
970-667-7849 

Transcript

Welcome To The Body Shop

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to Crash Course, the Aussies Body Shop Show, where bent metal, mystery noises, and uh-oh moments meet Northern Colorado's finest collision repair center. Hosted by Megan Mueller, co-owner and CEO of Ozzy's Body Shop, an OEM certified and authorized collision repair facility that's been getting families safely back on the road since 1967. From fender benders to full-on frame repairs, insurance questions to will this ever look right again? Megan's here to explain it all in plain English with a little grease, a little grace, and a lot of art. Because around here, the motto's simple. To be the best, you gotta be the best. And your car deserves nothing less. Let's pull into the shop and get started.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

New customers walk through the doors of Ozzy's Body Shop every day with great questions. And today we are answering the ones that Megan hears most often. Welcome everyone.

Breaking Down Auto Policy Coverage

SPEAKER_01 1:12

I'm Julie Schwenzer here with Megan Mueller, the co-owner and CEO of Ozzy's Body Shop. Megan, it is so good to chat with you and learn from you. So we have a question for you, and it's kind of a segue from the last episode. Is one of the top questions that you get is can you please explain what my auto policy covers? Is that one of them? Auto insurance.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

Absolutely. And I don't know that vehicle owners even know sometimes to ask that question, which is why down at our shop, we don't just do an estimate, kind of like we've talked about before. We do what we consider a repair consultation, where we are going to go through with them, you know, what the facts of loss are, what insurance company they're going through. Is it theirs? Is it somebody else's? If it's somebody else's, who do they have so that we can kind of advise them the best way? Um, you know, what kind of rental car coverage they have and what type of parts are gonna be covered in their policy. We just go into a really great depth so that people can understand that they are making an informed decision. That's ultimately the goal.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

I'm sure insurance companies should be thanking you for that, being an interpreter and agents and brokers. What about warranties? Is that a common question that you hear? Like who actually covers me?

Preferred Shops And Warranty Myths

SPEAKER_02 2:33

Yes. So it's interesting because we are considered an out-of-network insurance company. We are not contracted or in network with anybody. And a lot of people have questions about, you know, why that is or what that means. And ultimately we found, especially with all of our certifications, that we were not able to repair vehicles to the manufacturer standard and still be in those networks. Um, because ultimately those contracts are about saving the insurance company money, which is not necessarily the proper repair in any way. And so just getting all of the information to the vehicle owner. So with kind of those in networks, right? When you call your insurance and you file a claim, they're gonna say, you know, hey, these are our preferred body shops. This is where we recommend you going. Those are gonna be the ones that they've made those contracts with to do the work as inexpensively as possible. They're gonna use a lot of misleading statements, like, you know, if you go to any of our preferred shops, then your vehicle is covered under warranty. But ultimately, even when you go to those shops, it's still the shop that honors the warranty. It's not the insurance company. So you can go out of network, and it's really whether or not the shop that you go to offers a warranty. It has nothing to do with the contract versus in network or out of network.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

So it's not like how we can feel with the medical or the healthcare system where we feel like, oh, we have to go in network or it won't be covered. There is a lot more flexibility when you have a car repair. Like you can go where you want.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

Absolutely. Yep. That might mean some differences in coverage, which is where some of those like appraisal clauses and the really good things within your policy to protect you can help. But ultimately, like down at our shop, we offer a lifetime warranty on the bodywork and the parts, and then we offer an eight-year warranty on the paint, which is actually longer than like when you buy a new car from the manufacturer.

How Long Repairs Really Take

SPEAKER_01 4:33

And then another common question that I'm guessing you hear is how long will it take to repair my vehicle? And what goes into that?

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Yeah, so if you were dropping your car off today and you were like, hey, roughly how long do you think? Typically, what I tell people is I'll look at what the repair is and what parts are gonna be needed and that type of thing, and give you at least a ballpark. But I always explain that ultimately what's gonna happen is your vehicle is gonna come in, we're gonna do a complete disassembly on it, we're gonna write it all up to how the manufacturer wants your vehicle repaired. We're then gonna send that to the insurance company and wait for their approval. Depending on how that approval comes back, can kind of change some things, right? But typically that process overall is about a week. Then we're gonna go ahead and order parts. Most parts are typically gonna be about three to five business days out. Sometimes we run into backordered parts, so it's almost impossible to tell. So I always tell people like, once we've got a decent approval and we know the availability of parts, we can give you a really solid date for how long we expect it to be here. However, just based on averages, I'll typically tell people, you know, I would expect that if everything goes as it normally does, we're looking at three or four weeks. But ultimately it's really about communication, you know, especially when we find out what the part availability is and if something's on back order.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

And I have kind of a basic question for you. I'm just curious about this. What about the gas, the gasoline? Do cars really run better if you get plus instead of regular?

SPEAKER_02 6:04

Some vehicles are gonna need that, but most vehicles no. Most vehicles are not gonna need that. Um, sports cars, I mean, you're gonna want to put the right like high octane fuel in there, right? Um, but ultimately most vehicles are gonna be just fine.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

Like if we're going between, let's say, kind of a high end, but not super high end, like a Lexus versus a Honda.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

I mean, I would look and see, because there are even certain models that

Fuel Choices And Skipped Maintenance

SPEAKER_02 6:30

are going to be very specific about which octane you put in there.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

Um, I I, you know, obviously am very passionate about the fact that like I did not design the car, I did not decide how it is supposed to be repaired. And so if your manufacturer says that you should be putting a certain level in, that would always be my recommendation.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. And then what do you see happens with customers like that some basic things that you need to do for your car that maybe are abandoned, like um oil change, um, checking certain things. Like, is that something that you see that kind of um people just kind of get lazy with that?

SPEAKER_02 7:08

I do, absolutely. Um, you know, just it's so I'm kind of lazy. I don't ever pay attention to when I got my oil change, so I'm very thankful that my car pays attention to it for me.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Yeah, yes. The car is like to let us know. The car is now on his time.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

Yeah, I could easily go two years and never even think about it. So I'm grateful that vehicles do now have that. But yeah, all maintenance is going to be extremely important. And when it comes to the collision repair industry, it can be really difficult with what is claim related versus not claim related. So um, with like a lot of especially all-wheel drive vehicles here in Colorado, Subarus are everywhere. And if the collision involves one wheel and one tire, but all three of the other tires are not like it's like Subaru says that if there's this much difference between the new tire versus all of the older tires, then all four have to be replaced. But but the claim

Tires And What A Claim Pays

SPEAKER_02 8:10

is only responsible for what's claim related, which is the one. And that's kind of a battle, right? So some insurance companies, we've been able to be like, hey, you know, because you guys are responsible for the one, they had all four tires that previously were at the same tread depth. Now, because of this one claim, all four have to be covered, and we do see some companies go ahead and do that, but it's pretty rare. So just educating the vehicle owner on those types of things, like you know, unfortunately, right now might be the time to buy three other tires.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

Yeah, that that's gonna be some hard news to hear. What about misconceptions about repair estimates? Do you find that you have to correct certain details in particular the most often?

SPEAKER_02 9:00

I would say the biggest um misconception is that the initial estimate is going to be anywhere close to the cost of the repair. I would say the worst example I ever had was I had an initial estimate that was for $35 and the actual repair ended up being about $4,200. But my goodness, especially with hail, because a lot of hail is being written now by a vehicle owner taking photos and submitting them. You can't really see hail damage in a photo. So vehicle owners will get, you know, this initial check for $2,500. And some people, especially, you know, depending on their financial circumstances or whatever,

Why Estimates Often Miss The Mark

SPEAKER_02 9:45

they're like, oh, $2,500? I the hail doesn't even really bother me. I'm just gonna cash out. It's really $10,000 worth of damage, and you just settled for $2,500. So whether people are repairing or aren't repairing, I always recommend at least having a shop look at everything to let you know, is it fair, is it not fair? And I would say I haven't seen any that were fair.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Yeah, that's that's great advice. And then what I have a last question for you, and if there's anything you want to add to, you know, because this is such an interesting topic, is what about um customers that want to restore cars and maybe not so much to to drive it too much, but just to have it as a like a collector item. How do you handle the parts because they're so they might be so old? And you know, how do you address that? How long could it take?

SPEAKER_02 10:29

Yeah, a full restoration, like right now we're doing one that's like a complete frame off um restoration. And initially we were thinking that we were only going to replace both quarter panels on this FJ. And the more we started looking at it, it was going to be in his best interest to just order an entirely new tub. So it's a massive project. Um, and that one's we're looking at like probably about a year. We do a lot of Corvettes, a lot of Mustangs, and we have gotten very accustomed to which websites do offer those aftermarket restoration type parts that come in quality. And I don't fear nearly as much the use of non-OE, well, first of all, you're not gonna find OEM parts for the most part for vehicles of that age. Um, and so we've discovered like what sources actually offer quality product versus not. But the other thing that I would say is when we're sourcing those parts, you don't have to worry as much about the aftermarket stuff as with older vehicles as you do now because you don't have blind spot monitors and automatic braking systems and and all of those types of things. The simple days really.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

If you're up for it, I'd love to do an episode with you about these new cars and all the bells and whistles and how you address that because it's

Restorations And New Tech Repair Costs

SPEAKER_01 11:55

there's so much stuff going on with these cars now.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

It's you know, we've seen clean count go down a lot over the last, I would say, probably 24 months. And I think that quite a bit of that is due to the fact that these newer vehicles with all of their safety systems are stopping accidents, they are preventing collisions, which is a beautiful thing.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

The downside is that when they go to be repaired, the cost of repair with them is significantly higher. Oh, wow. Because of all the safety systems and the things that need to be done.

unknown 12:29

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Well, thank you so much. It's always fun to chat with you, and um, I feel like you know you taught us a lot. So thank you.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

Thanks, Feely. Have an awesome day.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

You too.

How To Get Repairs Done Right

SPEAKER_00 12:43

You've been listening to Crash Course, the Aussies Body Shop show with Megan Mueller, serving auto owners all across northern Colorado with certified family-owned collision care. If your vehicle's had a rough day, or you just want repairs done right the first time. For more information, visit OzzyBodyShop.com or call 970-667-7849. Ozzy's Body Shop. To be the best, you gotta be the best. On the road and in the repair bay. Until next time, drive safe. And if life dents it, you know where to send it.