Heppner's Auto Body

We are back in his 912. We have reported on the news recently about lengthy wait times to get your car in for a repair. If you get into an accident, you may not be able to get it fixed for quite some time. Shops all across the Twin Cities are experiencing these big delays right now. So Lorna Drago went to one of these shops for some insight. She's live at Hepner's Auto Body in St. Paul this morning. Hi Lorne. If you've been driving in Minnesota long enough, These are just things that I've done with my vehicle in the last couple of winters. But you might find yourself at a place We are at Hepner's Auto Body in Midway St. Paul. And I want to introduce you to Laura Jacobsen. Her family owns the place and Lizzie Jacobsen, who's the youngest employee here, right? And there's a couple things we should know. First of all, Laura, this is a busy time of year for Yes it is. So we've been busier than ever and actually the s You always think of a body shop being busier maybe in the winter. But our schedules have been booked for months with the hail damage that happened in the spring and into the s And now with winter here we've got six locations and they're all pretty booked for at least the next couple of months. What are people coming in for? Oh, we've got all sorts of fender benders things you described hitting snow banks couldn't stop in time. I mean still hail damages on the books for months out glass repair replacement all that. A little bit of everything. So people you want, some things you want people to know first is to make sure Well yes, check your insurance policy, make sure If you're in a big crash you might have to end up paying your deductible and then insurance will cover the rest. Check on if you have rental insurance coverage. So for a rental car when you're out of, without your car for weeks or months at a time make sure you've got rental car coverage. A lot of insurance policies you can add that to it. We use enterprise rental car so when you're out of when you are without your personal vehicle we can help set you up in a rental car from enterprise. But they're super busy now too so their inventory can be low. So just make sure you've got a plan if you're without your car for weeks or months at a time. That's what I wanted to ask you about. So you're seeing a lot of back ordered parts and are people coming in here kind of expecting a shorter wait time than it actually ends up being? Yeah, sometimes people come in and think maybe it'll be done by the end of the week but there's not really quick repairs anymore unfortunately. The back ordered parts has been an issue the last, no, over a year but it is getting better which is a good thing. Sure, that's good. Let's talk about cost too. You said the average repair order has gone up over a thousand dollars. Yeah, I mean these cars are getting more Not that we're seeing. Let'say someone is probably headed out to grandma and grandma's house this week they want to bring their car in. Is it even feasible to get something fixed right now? What should they brace themselves for? Well, I mean like I said we're booking out weeks and into the new year so if it'something you could, Really quick, tell me a little bit about Hepner's and your family. Sure. This place has been open since 1956. Yep, this midway location has been here since the 50s. Elmer Hepner started it and then my daughter's here but my dad, Bill Klatt, bought this shop in 1985 and then we've got six shops. So we've got two in St. Paul, two in Woodbury, one in Hudson, Wisconsin and one invergrohe Pikes. Wow. And in a couple decades, Lizzie, we're going to be bringing our cars into you and you're going to be telling us how much we have to pay you. To fix them. Laura, thank you so much.