Our Service

Established in 1995, we have grown to be the leading independent body repair business in Newbury, and now support a staff of 16 highly experienced, industry qualified, and loyal employees. We can offer the following services:

• Free estimates
• Any size job / discounted private work
• Insurance work
• 2 year guarantee
• Free courtesy cars
• Spray paint finish
• Matching your vehicle’s colour
• Company fleet business
• Non fault accidents
• Headlamp restoration
• Welded panels – modern high strength steels
• Additional services

Free estimates

We offer free estimates without an appointment whilst you wait, and will email or post the estimate to you within 2-3 working days.

For insurance repairs, with our Insurance Estimating Systems, we have the capability to produce a comprehensive, detailed Insurance Estimate which can be sent direct to your Insurance Company.

Any size job / discounted private work

We are equipped to deal with any size Body Repair, from a small scratch to Major Accident Repairs.

We can undertake the following:

• Bumper Scuffs
• Scratched panels
• Scuffed panels
• Any dented panel
• Repairs to all plastic bumpers and mirror covers
• Any Body Panel replacement eg. Wings, Bumpers, Doors, Rear Wings, Roofs, Tailgates and Bootlids
• Front, Side, or Rear Accident damage
• Minor and Major accident repairs
• Vandal scratches
• Paintless small dent removal – no need to spray the repaired area
• Headlamp Repairs – Restores discoloured Headlamp Fronts
• Alloy Wheel Refurbishment

Insurance work

• We are able to undertake work for Any Insurance Company and have immediate access to your insurance Company through our Insurance Estimating portal.
• Call Us Before Your Insurance Company -This could save you a lot of time and money.
• You have a legal right to have your car repaired by the Garage of your Choice.
• Call us for quick and easy guidance for how to progress your insurance claim.

2 year guarantee

We offer a 2 Year Guarantee on our workmanship and paintwork. (See corrosion below).

Any new parts fitted will carry their relevant manufacturer warranty – usually 12 months.

The guarantee will not cover the effects of paint scratches, chips, dents or subsequent damage to the repaired areas. It is also important to regularly wax polish your vehicle to preserve the paint finish as failure to do so could render the guarantee void. The application of any ceramic coatings or sealing paint treatments will render the guarantee void.

We are unable to offer any guarantee to any rust repairs. Rust is usually as a result of either poor construction, an inherent design problem or neglect. Once rust has become evident and despite our best efforts, it is not possible to guarantee that the rust may not return in the future.

Courtesy cars available

We operate a fleet of courtesy cars (for drivers who are over 25 years old) which can be loaned at a cost of £15 a day (with loan car insurance) whilst your vehicle is being repaired.

Spray paint finish

Vehicles are sprayed in a Spray Bake Oven, a controlled and sealed environment.

The paint is then baked onto the relevant panel which replicates the process adopted by the factory when the car is new, and ensures the paint will last as long as the original finish.

Matching your vehicle’s colour

We go to extreme lengths to ensure the correct colour match for every car that passes through our workshop.

Every vehicle has a unique identification plate attached at the factory when the car was built, which records the colour code applicable to the paint applied when the vehicle was new.

Using our fully computerised “Paint Mixing System” and the vehicle paint code, we can mix an exact match of the vehicle colour, using the new generation Water Based Paints, instead of using old technology harmful solvent paints. These paints use water technology to produce an extremely high quality product, which not only matches the paint applied at the factory but is also more environmentally friendly.

In certain cases a colour code might not be available. In these situations we are still able to achieve a paint colour match. Our paint supplier has a special piece of equipment which is able to take a comprehensive, detailed digital image of the paint colour and process a colour formulation allowing us to simply mix the paint to the formulation.

In spite of the above, we always produce a “Spray Out Card” before we spray the panels. This is a special piece of card which we spray in the spray booth immediately before we spray the car. The card is then offered up to the car to ensure the colour match is exact and correct. If we are not happy with the colour match, we can mix up a new formula until we are satisfied the match is correct. This ensures the vehicle is only sprayed once the colour has been confirmed as being correct.

These spray out cards have allowed us to build up a very comprehensive library of colours over the years. This can prove to be extremely useful when repeat car colours come through the workshop or indeed the same car comes back some months or years later.

Company fleet business

One area we excel at is looking after the body repair requirements of company car fleets.

Since 1995 we have been the approved repairer to one of the country’s largest PLC companies, which has given us a broad and wide experience of dealing with corporate clients. We go out of our way to service the needs of all our customers, and can make life a little easier for the company fleet manager.

In an effort to combat excessive reconditioning charges by leasing companies when a car is returned at the end of a lease, we offer a service which is designed to reduce the fleet owners running costs.

When a car is coming to the end of its lease, after inspecting the vehicle, we can produce a free estimate to bring the car up to the condition that will satisfy the condition terms of the lease. As well as rectifying accident damage, scuffs and dents by conventional repair methods, we are able to remove lighter blemishes, scratches and dents without the need for potentially costly re-spray work. The benefit of adopting this procedure is that you have total control of your running costs, opposed to the leasing company inflicting you with heavy penalties for inflated repair costs when the car has been returned to them.

Often cars are handed from one driver to another, and prior to the handover we are often called upon to rectify any body damage eg. Scratches, scuffs, dents etc, prior to the new driver taking ownership. We always cost this work at a reduced and favourable rate in an effort to support reduced running costs for the client.

Non fault accidents

In conjunction with our business partners, we are able to offer a complete service, including like for like replacement vehicle (including prestige vehicles, vans, plated taxis and driving school cars) if you have been involved in a non fault accident.

The emphasis here is to keep the claim away from your own insurance company for the following reasons.

Whilst the initial thought is to pursue a claim through your own insurance company, if you have been involved in an accident which was not your fault, it should be understood that by reporting and progressing a claim through your insurance company you are in effect making a claim on your own insurance policy.

In doing so, you would be responsible for paying your policy excess and would lose your no claims bonus. When your insurance company recover all the money for the claim from the third party insurance company, you would get your excess refunded together with any increase in insurance premium you may have suffered by virtue of a claim sitting on your policy.

(As it can sometimes take over a year for your insurance company to recover monies owed by a third party insurance company, you may suffer an increase in premium if the claim has not been settled when your policy is due for renewal.

It is worth noting that if you have a “protected no claims bonus” it is only protected with your current insurance company and you have no control over your renewal premium, more importantly, if you decide to shop around for cheaper cover when your policy is due for renewal you would have to record the pending claim and by virtue would not benefit from a full no claims discount.)

Using the services of a “Credit Hire Company,” a non fault accident can be dealt with away from your insurance company. You would have the use of a like for like replacement vehicle whilst your car is in for repairs or off the road if it is un roadworthy, and all costs relating to the repair, car hire, personal accident or uninsured losses would be forwarded to the third party insurance company.

As this is not being dealt with by your insurance company you would not have to pay your policy excess and it will not affect your no-claims bonus.

Headlamp restoration

We now have the ability to restore discoloured headlamps.

These days, headlamps are made of plastic. Over time, the film on the front of the headlamp deteriorates, causing the clear front to become opaque and lose the ability for all the light produced by the headlamp bulb to pass through it. As well as being extremely dangerous, this will often be an MOT failure.

Because the headlamps are all one unit, it is not possible to just replace the front, so a very costly headlamp replacement has been the usual response.

However, we have access to a new product which allows us to restore the front of headlamps so they look like a brand new unit.

The headlamp is firstly removed, and then prepared as we would a body panel prior to spraying. The special film coating is then applied, and when dry the headlamp unit is fitted back to the car. The headlamps really do look they are brand new, and the effects when driving at night are quite spectacular.

We charge £95 plus vat per headlamp.

Welded panels – modern high strength steels

With the advent of constantly changing technology for stronger, safer and more economical cars, car manufacturers are turning to ultra strength steels in vehicle construction.

These modern steels require different repair methods and techniques to those employed by conventional steel, and react differently to welding procedures.

We have invested £11,000 in a Fully Automated Inverter Spot Welder, essential in the repair of modern steel welded panels, such as rear wings and sill panels.

Conventional repair practices without this new technology would be nothing more than dangerous and unsafe. Despite this, some Body Centres have not employed this technology and continue to weld modern high strength steel without the correct equipment.

You can be confident that at Woodlands Bodyshop all spot welded panels will be replaced in accordance with the correct methods, using the correct equipment.

Additional services

We use a modern steel and aluminium panel pulling system for repairing dented panels.

We MIG weld steel, aluminium and steel brazing.

Panel fitment following manufacturer’s recommended repair methods including spot welding, MIG welding, panel bonding and riveting system.

We can offer bumper plastic welding for repairs to split or cracked bumpers.

We are using the latest paint and clear coats which require less baking time (reduced from 40 mins to 15 mins) saving on energy and power and minimising our environmental impact.

With one of our trusted business partners, we can provide wheel refurbishment for diamond cut alloy wheels. Standard wheels can be coated in silver, black, grey or any colour of your choice.

We also offer straightening of buckled and out of shape wheels and weld repair on cracked alloys.