About Us
prangFIX is a family-owned Leominster-based bodywork repairs business serving the local and surrounding area.
We aim to offer the most appropriate repair for your vehicle taking into account your budget and vehicle value, plus the amount of time the vehicle is available. We can carry out traditional panel-work repairs in the workshop/booth, or for smaller repairs it may be possible to carry out a mobile repair, or if there is an alternative to a traditional bodyshop repair we can discuss the best way forward, whether it be replacing a part or panel with another or removing dents and scrapes without the need to repaint.
We aim to organise repairs quickly and carry them out with minimal disruption to your time.
We can help with day-to-day routine bodywork repairs, lease/PCP returns, preparing a car for sale to ensure best price, improving the appearance of an auction purchase and many other things-please ask!
We work hard to please our customers and our reviews can be seen on both Google and Yell.
Environmental awareness
prangFIX carries out an ongoing assessment of the processes involved in repairing damaged vehicles and has been minimising the impact of on the environment of their repairs in various sensible and practical ways. Through efficient quoting and working practices, by reducing the amount of paints used, through the implementation of specialist repair processes and by using recycled and salvage parts instead of new where possible, a lot of wastage has been eliminated and unnecessary material use saved.
In 2011, we pioneered the idea of quoting for repairs online, through the use of a contact form requesting photographs and a damage description. This has been very successful and saves resources as every single contact does not require a vehicle journey to get their quote. Over time this has evolved through use of WhatsApp and most customers now contact us in this way which has saved a huge amount of wasted fuel. If a deeper inspection of the damage is then necessary, we plan this carefully to reduce single journeys, so if possible will call in when next in the area or ask customers to meet when you next in town, eg for shopping.
Paintwork repairs themselves harm the environment with the use of high VOC paints and solvents and associated waste. With our approach, we aim to reduce this as far as is possible through:
- Paintless dent repair.
Where appropriate, a dented panel can be professionally massaged and polished to perfection by a highly skilled technician with specialist tools rather than having to fill the dent and then respray large parts of a vehicle to blend the new paint into metallic or faded paint. This is far less environmentally damaging as it uses no fillers, primer, paints or solvents. - The use of recycled or salvage parts.
Fitting an identical colour part (eg front wing) from a salvage supplier is the gold standard of green repairs as a quality original scrapped part is re-used and not disposed of. This saves another new part being manufactured and shipped across the globe, then repainted with several layers of polluting primer, paint and lacquer. It is also a better repair than using a new but poor quality “insurance approved” copy part which can rust very quickly, requiring another wasteful replacement. We then recycle the damaged part where possible minimising the impact of the repair. - Minimising the use of parts.
For example, we can plastic-weld plastic parts, so rather than replacing an entire bumper we can often repair it. Main dealers often sell parts as a complete assembly but we can often source the exact single piece needed through specialists, or repair parts that were deemed only fit to scrap. - Minimising the repair area.
If appropriate we will reduce the size of area repaired, so instead of repainting an entire bumper for a minor corner scrape, we can repair the area and blend the paint and lacquer around the repair into the original paintwork, reducing the amount of paints used. - Finding an alternative.
Sometimes experience can save the day and also help the environment. An example of this is when a rear bumper has cracks or damage to the top edge by the tailgate and instead of repairing and repainting (or replacing) the bumper, these can be glued and hidden by a good quality bumper protector professionally fitted to the top edge, or when a key scratch or scrape can be hidden by a trim strip or decal fitted in the right place, saving a major repaint. - Appropriate repairs.
An owner may want their 12 year old, bought from new, car to be repaired following a mishap but a full-on workshop quality repair may not be the best way forward, so they can opt for a tidy up where the damage is minimised through polishing, rust protection and touch ups rather instead, saving materials and keeping the car tidy and functional for years to come. - Preserving "write-offs".
Insurance companies seem to prefer writing off cars to repairing them as it saves them time and money, meaning a really good car with minor, insignificant damage yet many years of useful life in it can get scrapped and be replaced at heavy cost to the environment. Many times we have found that clever sourcing of a few used parts and some sense can stop this nonsense for happening.
In all areas, we offer a quality repair, whilst considering our footprint and the impact of the repair on the environment.
Example Repairs
Some examples of our approach:
This Transit Custom was repaired at the customer’s property, without the need for spraying, through careful machine polishing and professional touch ups, saving hassle, hours and money.
This Corsa had a good used door fitted in the correct colour to avoid respraying a lot of the car to blend in new metallic paint. This was carried out in just a few hours once the part arrived, keeping the car on the road instead of in the workshop for several days, saving hassle, time and money. Once fitted, the repair was invisible to any expert as the paint was factory original on all panels which maintained the originality and resale value of the car.
This Golf had a dent in the bootlid which was removed through a paintless dent repair process, which was carried out at the customer’s address over a few hours. This was very convenient for the retired owners as they did not have the hassle of arranging drop off/collection and having to function without their car. It also prevented the possibility of a paint colour difference on a faded 12 year old red car if sprayed, plus the car also retained originality.
This Audi had sills with very poor appearance and was due to be sold, so a simple removal of loose paint and tidy up with stonechip type paint was carried out in a few hours at a sensible cost which would be recouped many times over when sold at a price reflecting the better condition.
This Toyota had a broken mirror and the main dealer had quoted a ridiculous price to replace it. We carried out a minor repair and fitted an aftermarket flasher and a used mirror cap and fixed it in under an hour for a sensible figure.
This Focus had faded paint and fitting a new wing would have meant a poor paint match, so an exact match used genuine Ford wing was sourced and fitted. This was done in an afternoon, minimising the time the elderly owners were without their vital transport.
This Mercedes had a scraped bumper which appeared to need repainting, however with a professional flatting and polishing and some touch ups, it was repaired to a good standard. This was done whilst the owners went for lunch in the town, minimising inconvenience and saving them money.
More repair examples can be found on our facebook page