The Questions Everyone
Asks After A Prang
Most people only deal with a smash repairer once every few years. Here's what they usually want to know — answered straight.
In most cases, yes — you can nominate your own repairer. Australian consumer and insurance law lets you choose your own licensed repairer in both NSW and QLD — your insurer can suggest one of their network shops, but generally can't force you to use it. In NSW the industry Code of Conduct is mandatory for insurers; in Queensland the same Code applies as a voluntary standard. Some policies restrict choice of repairer or sell it as an optional extra, so check your policy wording. If you tell your insurer you want Southern Autos Repaint & Panel, we handle the quote and the paperwork from there — you don't have to accept being steered somewhere you've never heard of.
Usually no. Most insurers only require one quote from your nominated repairer — the days of chasing three quotes are largely gone. We prepare a detailed written quote with photos and send it to your insurer for authorisation.
We help you through it. We prepare the quote and photos your insurer needs, lodge the paperwork, deal with the assessor, and tell you plainly what your insurer needs from you at each step. You make the claim; we make it painless.
Depends on the damage and your excess. For a small scrape it's sometimes cheaper to pay privately than to claim and wear the excess plus any premium increase. We quote private and insurance work the same way, so you'll have the real number in front of you before you decide.
A small private job like a bumper scrape can be turned around in a few days. An insurance repair with parts on order typically runs one to two weeks once approved. Structural repairs take longer. We give you a realistic timeframe up front — and if anything changes, you get a call, not silence.
If the lights, indicators, steering, wheels and mirrors are intact and nothing is rubbing or leaking, it may be driveable — but hidden structural damage is common, and what looks cosmetic sometimes isn't. If in doubt, don't drive it. Bring it in or have it towed, and we'll tell you straight whether it's safe.
Yes. We computer-match colour to your car as it is today — not just the factory paint code, which drifts with sun and age — then blend into the surrounding panels so the repair disappears in daylight. High-quality water-based paints, baked in our own booth.
Often, yes. Where the paint hasn't broken, paintless dent removal works the dent out from behind the panel — no filler, no respray, and your original factory finish stays put. It's usually quicker and cheaper. Where paint has broken, we repair and refinish properly rather than smearing filler over the problem.
We're at 21 Machinery Drive, Tweed Heads South NSW 2486 — minutes from the QLD border, and we look after drivers from right across the Gold Coast to the Northern Rivers. North of us: Southport, Robina, Burleigh Heads, Palm Beach, Currumbin, Tugun and Coolangatta. South of us: Tweed Heads, Banora Point, Terranora, Kingscliff, Cabarita, Pottsville, Byron Bay, Lennox Head, Ballina, Murwillumbah and Lismore. Open Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 4:30pm.
Three ways: bring the car in during business hours, ring (07) 5524 4910, or send photos and your rego through the quote form and we'll quote from those. Written quote, no obligation.
Yes — NSW motor vehicle repairer licence MVRL #49698, and we've been an established local business since 2012. The person who quotes your car is the person who stands behind the repair.
Ask Us Directly
If it's not answered here, ring us or send photos of the damage — we'll tell you what it needs, what it costs and how long it'll take.