Approved Auto Body

I’ve known the owner George for over 15 years and he has done ALL my auto body work. No run around.

Please do not conduct business with this company. They are swindlers and downright dishonest people.
The story starts with an accident. Some lady turned in front of my vehicle when I had the right of way. I had never been in a major accident before. The cops, ambulance and tow trucks showed up within minutes of the crash.
My car was not drivable. The accident happened late evening. I felt vulnerable not knowing what to do. Ultimately I fell prey to the tow truck «runner» and agreed to have my car towed to Approved Auto. They were the ones on scene and the shop was close. Never again. The tow truck guy was polite and kept saying «we’ll bill her insurance company» for all the charges but never actually gave me any amounts. I figured it would be ok since I wasn’t responsible for the accident. I was wrong.
When we got to the body shop, the guy filled out some paperwork for 10 minutes, I signed stuff, and they put me in their own rental car so I could drive home (30 minutes away).
The next day comes and I found out that the at-​fault driver was underinsured. After talks with her insurance company as well as mine, it was determined that I had to file an underinsured claim against my insurance too.
I had lengthy conversations with my insurance company and decided to get my car towed to an authorized shop closer to my house. I would get better warranty coverage and the convenience of having a shop near my home. This would also help me out for any future warranty repairs related to this accident.
Now stuff really hit the fan. Approved Auto wouldn’t release my car to anyone until the rental car was returned and the bill paid up. $ 1010 to tow my car a couple miles and have a rental car for less than a day! Breakdown: towing: $ 150, mile: $ 40, winch: $ 250, cleanup $ 100, lot security fee: $ 100, administration: $ 150, storage fee: $ 50, rental: $ 70, rental after hours admin fee: $ 100. They towed me 2.6 miles. There was no cleanup and the guy had me winched up on the truck within 5 minutes. Apparently these sleazy body shops can charge exorbitant fees because they get away with it in PA.
So the evening after the accident I went to Approved Auto to return the rental car. I wanted nothing to do with these people, and I definitely didn’t want them repairing my car. The office is a mess and there are two very large dogs lounging around in the small, dirty space. I first inspected my car and noticed that they stole money out of it. At the accident I had counted out quarters in the center console and there were several dollars worth stolen… red flag. They also stole my nice tire pressure gauge out of the trunk.
We go inside and I disputed the fees to the secretary (Peggy). She was pretty composed, probably because she knew she had me backed into a corner without leverage. Then comes in Steve. I assume Steve worked on the cars in the back. Steve was not a nice person. I never once yelled at Peggy nor called her names or anything of the sort. Steve starts threatening me saying «you better treat my secretary with respect or I’ll put you in your place» and physically intimidating me (I’m a small statured guy). I avoided talking to Steve because I was in no mood to get into some verbal/​physical altercation with an insane person.
Later in the conversation with Peggy, Steve kept threatening me and this time said that he would smash my car at night. He knew I had to leave the car until the next morning for my insurance company to tow it (which btw, added more fees). I was angered, flustered and scared. I ended up calling the cops and giving a statement to the police due to the threats to my person and my property. I wanted to get out of there so I needed to pay my $ 170 for the rental car and then have my insurance company pick up the vehicle the next day. Approved Auto ONLY accepts cash (even for high value repairs). I walked to an ATM at the gas station up the street, and the cops made sure that I got out of the body shop in one piece. Ultimately my insurance company picked up the vehicle several days later, and I hope that Approved Auto didn’t secretly do something malicious to my car that is going to cause issues down the road.
I’m unable to attest to the quality of their work, but I can’t imagine that people who act like that and rip others off for a living would have any semblance of high-​quality workmanship.
So please, if you have a choice on what towing company to use, DO NOT let these crooks tow your vehicle. If for whatever reason it is your only choice, as I originally felt in my position, make sure you get dollar figures in writing before you sign anything and definitely read the fine print. Several thousand dollars later for an accident that wasn’t my fault… lesson learned.

I had three vehicles repaired there. Two were minor and was was major.
All work was done properly, efficiently, and at at reasonable price.
Two of the cars they ordered and painted the parts to minimize my down time with the car.
Work was well done.

Approved auto body has always met my auto needs in a swift, economical, friendly manner. I have always had excellent service here. I highly recommend them