Auto Shine Panama – a MUST if (or when) you have that fender bender

Although traffic rarely reaches speeds higher than 60 km/hour on most roads in Panama City (except the corridors and “cinta costera”), it tends to be chaotic and accidents are frequent. Just drive around the city for a day and you see how a two-lane road can become 3 lanes and have cars parked on both sides of the street despite the fact there is no shoulder, that a green light sometimes means go, but red usually does, and, because of the lack of respect for signals, intersection gridlock is probable. But what is inevitable is that there will be accidents – little fender benders.

Within the first month of living here, my car had a “parking lot accident” while I was in the grocery store, and my husband had the pleasure of being hit by a 1970s style tank of a car that promptly fled the scene. Two relatively small problems that insurance wouldn’t cover. And, then, I got the bright idea to lend my car to a friend while we were away. Please, no lectures, I’ve heard them all. Who lends a car? That would be me. And, yes, you guessed it, my friend was involved in a fender-bender.

Okay, good karma has not been the norm for me here in Panama, but then, we found Auto Shine! Auto Shine is a family-owned business that has offered services to conserve and protect cars for over 30 years. They do everything from window-tinting and detailing to, you guessed it, bodywork for those dings and dents!

Service was phenomenal. I drove my car to their locale on Via Porras in front of Calle 65, and Luis, the owner’s son and office manager, brought me back to the apartment. I was told work would be completed in 2 days, and in 2 days, it was done. Not only was it done, it looked brand new! Luis also picked me up for the apartment to get my car. Gotta love the personalized service! We were so happy with the results that we took my husband’s SUV to be repaired as well. Again, impeccable results.

Results are one thing, but pricing is important, too. Before looking into Auto Shine, I went to the Toyota dealer to find out how much it would cost to make repairs. I was told that the entire bumper would have to be replaced and of course, there was the possibility they would have to order other parts, and then there was the paint job, and... you get the picture. Auto Shine was straight forward, telling us what they thought they could achieve and for how much. Go figure, no new parts necessary. I’m pretty sure we saved anywhere upwards of 30%.

Net, Auto Shine gets my vote for repairing those fender-benders. Personalized service, honesty, and punctuality. Oh, and perhaps equally as important for some, both father and son speak English!