Collision Repair
Collision Repair Done to the Manufacturer's Procedure, by a Shop Certified to Do It
Macarthur repairs collision damage on every make and model at 170 East Lincoln Avenue in Valley Stream, from a scraped bumper to a car with a bent frame rail and deployed airbags. The shop is certified by Honda, Acura, Nissan, Infiniti, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, and Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, and is I-CAR Gold Class. Our own trucks bring the car in, we write the estimate, and we handle the claim. Call 516-362-5350.
Certifications and reviews
The Certifications Behind Every Collision Repair, and What Drivers Say About Macarthur on Google
A collision repair is only as good as the shop's procedures, and the procedures are audited by the manufacturers whose plaques are on the wall: Honda and Acura, Nissan, Infiniti, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, and Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, plus I-CAR Gold Class training recognition and OEC certified provider status. Every plaque is photographed on this site.
I got locked out my car on a cold snowy night and Alex came and unlock my car. He was very quick and professional. I would definitely use this towing company again.
Great timing and professionalism. The tow truck driver Carlos was experienced and helpful. I would recommend this company and Carlos to anyone.
Not the usual experience with a towing company. Everyone that I spoke to was polite and respectful and they towed my car with care. Hopefully I never need my car towed again, but if I do, this is who I will be using!
- 16Certifications on the shop wall
- I-CARGold Class training recognition
- 1,800+Google reviews, 5.0 average as of Oct 2026
- LicensedDMV # 7110205 · DCA # 1389419
- 1 ShopTow fleet and body shop, Valley Stream
- 24/7Our own trucks bring the car in
The Google reviews below come from the towing side of the business, where most drivers meet Macarthur first, often on the night of the accident. The body shop is where many of those cars go next. If the shop has repaired yours, a few words on Google help the next driver deciding where to send a damaged car.
Drive one of the certified brands? Your repair follows the factory procedure.
- Collision Repair
- Body Shop
- Auto Body
- Auto Body Shop
- Collision Center
- Accident Repair
- Car Repair
- Frame Repair
- Auto Paint
- Auto Glass
- Insurance Claims
- I-CAR Gold Class
What Collision Repair at Macarthur Covers, From a Cosmetic Scrape to Structural Damage With Airbags Deployed
Collision repair covers everything that happens to a car in a crash: bumpers, panels, and paint on the outside, the frame or unibody underneath, the lamps, glass, and trim, the cameras and sensors in the body, and the airbags and seat belts inside. Macarthur plans each repair from the manufacturer's published procedure and writes it line by line so you can see what is being repaired, what is being replaced, and why.
Most people picture collision repair as bodywork and paint. On a modern car it is also structural engineering, electronics, and safety systems, and the manufacturer has a written procedure for every part of it. Here is the range of what comes through the door and what each involves.
Cosmetic. A scuffed bumper cover, a creased door, a scraped quarter panel. Repaired or replaced, refinished and blended. The bumper repair, dent repair, and auto body repair pages cover these when they are not part of a larger hit.
Moderate. A front or rear hit that broke the bumper reinforcement, pushed the radiator support, bent a fender and hood, and cracked a headlamp. These involve replacement parts, measurement to confirm the structure did not move, and often a sensor recalibration.
Structural. A hit hard enough to move a frame rail, an apron, a rocker, or a pillar. The car goes on the frame bench, is measured and pulled or sectioned to the manufacturer's procedure, and is measured again. The frame repair page goes into the bench work.
Safety systems. Deployed airbags, locked seat belt pretensioners, and the sensors and modules that fired them are replaced, not reset, per the manufacturer. The safety systems section below explains why.
Everything in between. Glass, lamps, trim, wheels and suspension bent by the hit, cooling and air conditioning components in the front end, and the paint work that ties it all back together.
Not sure how bad it is? Bring it in or have our truck bring it. The estimate says.
The First Steps After the Accident: the Tow, the Claim, the Estimate, and the Inspection at Our Shop
After an accident, call 516-362-5350 and a Macarthur truck brings the car to the shop. Report the claim to the insurer and tell them the car is at Macarthur Auto Body and Towing in Valley Stream. The shop writes an itemized estimate with photographs, the adjuster inspects the car in our lot or reviews the estimate remotely, and the repair is approved from there. The car does not move again until it is fixed.
The order of these steps matters, and getting them right in the first day or two saves weeks later.
The tow
If the car cannot be driven, our own accident recovery truck recovers it and brings it to 170 East Lincoln Avenue, at any hour. If a tow you did not call took it to another yard, call us anyway; we collect it once the yard releases it to you, and the sooner the better because that yard charges storage by the day.
The claim
Report it to your insurer, or to the other driver's insurer if they were at fault. Give the location as Macarthur Auto Body and Towing, Valley Stream. If they recommend a network shop, you can decline; under New York Insurance Law section 2610 the shop is your choice. The insurance claim repair page has the exact wording to use.
The estimate
An estimator photographs the damage and the panels around it, pulls the car's build data by VIN, and writes an itemized estimate: parts by part number and type, labor by operation, paint by panel. You get a copy. The estimate section on the body shop page explains what the first estimate can and cannot see.
The inspection
The adjuster either comes to our lot or reviews our estimate and photographs. Either way the car stays put. There is no trip to a drive-in inspection center with a car that should not be driven.
Approval and parts
Once the insurer approves, parts are ordered the same day, and you get a realistic window for the repair once the car is torn down and the parts have arrival dates. If anything is on backorder, you hear about it from us, not at pickup.
Just had an accident? Call now and we take it from the tow onward.
Teardown, Blueprinting, and the Supplement: Why the Real Estimate Is Written With the Bumper Off
Once a repair is approved, the damaged area is disassembled until every affected part can be seen and measured. The technician and estimator build the final repair plan from that, and anything found that was not visible in the first estimate is photographed and submitted to the insurer as a supplement. Covered damage is covered whether it was visible on day one or not.
A bumper cover is designed to spring back. Behind it, the reinforcement bar, the energy absorber, the radiator support, the headlamp mounts, and the sensors take the hit and stay broken. The only honest estimate is the one written after the cover is off, which is why the shop does not promise a final number from a walk-around and why a supplement on a moderate hit is normal rather than a dispute.
Blueprinting means every part that comes off is inspected, every damaged part is listed with the manufacturer's repair-or-replace decision, every procedure the manufacturer requires is added, and the parts list is checked against the car's actual trim and options so the right headlamp or the right grille with the right sensor cutouts is ordered the first time. Doing this before the first part is ordered is what keeps a repair from stalling halfway through waiting on something nobody noticed. The supplement that comes out of it goes to the adjuster with photographs, and you can see the same photographs on request. The estimate section on the body shop page describes the write-up in more detail.
Want to see what was found behind the bumper? Ask for the teardown photos.
Structural Repair: Measuring, Pulling, Sectioning, and Joining to the Manufacturer's Procedure
A car whose structure moved is set on a frame bench, measured at the manufacturer's reference points, and either pulled back to specification or sectioned at the manufacturer's cut lines and rejoined by the method it specifies: spot welds, MIG brazing, structural adhesive, or rivets. The structure is measured again afterward and the printout stays in the file.
Modern body structures use high-strength and ultra-high-strength steels in the places that protect the passenger compartment, and those steels lose strength when bent and re-bent or when heated the wrong way. That is why the manufacturer's procedure, not the technician's judgment, decides whether a rail is pulled or replaced and how the replacement is attached.
Measuring. The car is anchored on the bench and measured electronically against the factory dimensions. Anything out of specification is documented before a pull is made, which is also what the insurer needs to approve structural labor.
Pulling. Where the procedure allows it, the structure is pulled back in small, controlled increments with the measuring system live, so it is moved to specification rather than past it.
Sectioning and replacement. Where it does not, the damaged section is cut out at the manufacturer's cut line and a new section is fitted. Some structures must be replaced whole; the procedure says which.
Joining. Replacement structure is attached by the factory method for that joint: resistance spot welds, MIG brazing on certain steels, structural adhesive, or self-piercing rivets on aluminum. Using a general-purpose weld on a high-strength steel rail weakens it, which is the difference between a certified repair and a cheap one.
After. The structure is measured again, the suspension is checked for bent parts the hit may have hidden, and the car is aligned, because a straight body on a bent control arm still pulls. The frame repair page covers the bench in more detail, and the certifications page shows which manufacturers have audited the shop's equipment for exactly this work.
Doors not closing right after the hit? That is a measurement, not a guess.
Airbags, Seat Belts, Cameras, and Radar After a Collision: What Gets Replaced and What Gets Recalibrated
Deployed airbags, their modules, and seat belt pretensioners that fired are replaced with new parts per the manufacturer; they are never reset or reused. Cameras, radar units, and parking sensors disturbed by the hit or the repair are recalibrated to the manufacturer's procedure before the car goes back on the road, and the calibration report goes in your file.
The parts of the car that protect you in the next crash are the parts most people never see, and they are where a careless repair does the most harm.
Airbags and pretensioners. An airbag that deployed is gone; a seat belt pretensioner that fired has spent its charge. Both are replaced, along with the sensors and the control module when the manufacturer requires it. The dash, steering wheel, seat, or pillar trim that the airbag came through is replaced too. None of this is optional and none of it is reset with a scan tool.
Driver-assistance sensors. The forward camera behind the windshield, the radar in the grille or bumper, blind-spot modules in the rear quarters, parking sensors in the covers. After a repair that moved, removed, or replaced any of them, or replaced the windshield or the bumper they look through, they are recalibrated so lane-keeping, automatic braking, and adaptive cruise see the road exactly as they did from the factory. A sensor that is a degree off can brake for a car that is not there or miss one that is.
Scanning before and after. The car's modules are scanned when it comes in, to catch fault codes the hit caused, and again before pickup to confirm everything is clear. The reports are part of the repair file. The collision repair process section on the body shop page puts these steps in sequence with the rest of the repair.
Airbags went off? Those parts are replaced, not reset, and the estimate shows each one.
Refinish, Reassembly, and the Final Inspection Before You Get the Call
After the structure and panels are right, repaired and replacement panels are prepped, primed, sealed, painted to the factory color code with the color blended into adjacent panels, cleared, cured, and polished. The car is reassembled with its trim, lamps, glass, and sensors, scanned, test driven, and inspected against the estimate before the office calls you.
Paint is the only part of a collision repair you can see, so it is the part the shop is judged on. The painter reads the color code, mixes the formula, sprays test cards against the car's actual shade, and blends the new color into the next panel so there is no edge. Metallics, pearls, and three-stage colors take more cards and more blend. The auto painting page and the paint section on the body shop page explain matching and blending in detail.
Reassembly is where a careless shop leaves rattles, gaps, and warning lights. Every clip, fastener, and seal goes back or is replaced; lamps are aimed; glass is bonded and cured; the sensors go back in their brackets and are calibrated. Then a technician who did not do the work goes over the car against the estimate line by line, scans it, and drives it. When you come to pick it up, you walk around it with us in daylight before anything is signed; the pickup section on the body shop page describes that.
The repair is done when it is invisible. Come look at it in daylight.
Collision Repair Through Insurance: Your Shop, Your Choice, and What You Actually Pay
Under New York law you choose the collision shop. Tell the insurer the car is at Macarthur Auto Body and Towing in Valley Stream. The shop writes the estimate, hosts the inspection, handles supplements, and bills the insurer directly. If your own collision coverage pays, you pay your deductible at pickup. If the other driver's insurer pays, there is usually nothing for you to pay.
The short version of the insurance side, with the long version on the insurance claim repair page and in the insurance section of the body shop page.
You choose. Insurance Law section 2610. The insurer can recommend; it cannot require. If an adjuster says a network shop would be faster or that your repair is only guaranteed at their shop, ask them to put it in writing, and then call us.
We handle the paperwork. Estimate, photographs, inspection, supplement, direct billing. You see every line. Macarthur belongs to the MetLife and Hanover direct repair programs and works with every other carrier in New York.
What you pay. Your deductible, if your own policy is paying, due at pickup. Nothing, usually, if the at-fault driver's liability coverage is paying. If you want original parts where the policy allows aftermarket, the difference is on the estimate and you decide.
Rental. If your policy has rental coverage, your insurer arranges it and we coordinate the dates with the repair so you are not paying for days the car is not ready.
Tell the adjuster the car is at Macarthur in Valley Stream. That is the whole instruction.
Collision Repair Without a Claim: When Paying for It Yourself Makes Sense
Many drivers pay for a smaller collision repair themselves rather than file a claim. Macarthur writes the estimate the same way either way, marks which lines are safety or structural and which are cosmetic and can wait, and gives you a written price so you can compare it to your deductible and decide.
If the repair costs less than or close to your deductible, a claim gains you nothing. If it is well above, or if another driver was at fault, a claim usually makes sense. The shop does not advise you on your policy, but it gives you the number you need.
For an out-of-pocket repair the estimate is itemized exactly as it would be for an insurer, and the shop will tell you honestly which items are about safety and structure and which are about appearance. A cracked bumper reinforcement is the first kind; a scuff on the cover is the second. You can repair the first now and the second later, or everything at once, and the written price is the price unless you approve a change. The small jobs section on the body shop page covers bumpers, dents, and scrapes that are commonly paid this way.
Want the number before you decide about a claim? Stop in for the estimate.
Repairable or Total Loss: How the Decision Is Made and What You Can Do About It
An insurer declares a total loss when the repair cost, plus the car's salvage value, approaches the car's market value. The decision is theirs, but the inputs are not fixed: the repair estimate can be reviewed, the market value can be disputed with comparable listings, and in some cases you can keep the car and have it repaired. Macarthur's itemized estimate supports whichever conversation you need to have.
Total loss is the outcome nobody wants and most people do not understand, so here is how it works in plain terms.
The math. The insurer compares the cost to repair, including a supplement estimate for hidden damage, against the car's actual cash value in your area. When the repair gets close to the value, the car is totaled and the insurer pays the value, minus your deductible if your policy is paying, and takes the car.
The value. It is calculated from comparable cars for sale in your area, adjusted for mileage, condition, and options. If the number is low, you can send the adjuster listings for comparable cars at higher prices, and receipts for recent work like tires or a timing belt. That often moves it.
The repair. If the car is repairable and you want it repaired, our estimate is written to the manufacturer's procedure with nothing padded and nothing skipped. That is the number the insurer sees.
Keeping the car. In some cases you can accept the settlement minus the salvage value, keep the car, and have it repaired. The title is branded as salvage and later rebuilt, which affects resale and insurance. The shop will tell you honestly whether that makes sense for the car you have.
Told the car is a total loss and not sure? Bring the valuation and we will walk through it.
Collision Repair for Drivers Across Nassau County and the Queens Line, at One Shop in Valley Stream
The collision shop is at 170 East Lincoln Avenue in Valley Stream. Cars come to it from every town in Nassau County, the Queens neighborhoods along the county line, and the Suffolk towns just across it, driven in during shop hours or carried in on a Macarthur tow truck at any hour. Every town has its own collision repair page.
A car hit in Hempstead, Freeport, Lynbrook, Elmont, Franklin Square, Rockville Centre, Oceanside, Long Beach, or the Five Towns around Cedarhurst is a short tow to the shop, and so is one across the line in Laurelton, Rosedale, Springfield Gardens, Jamaica, or Far Rockaway.
From central and eastern Nassau, Garden City, Mineola, Westbury, East Meadow, Levittown, Hicksville, Plainview, Wantagh, and Massapequa, from the north shore towns of Great Neck, Manhasset, Glen Cove, and Syosset, and from Amityville, Melville, and Huntington on the Suffolk side, the car rides in on the flatbed and can go home the same way. The full list is on the locations page.
Find your town and its collision repair page.
More Body Shop Services From the Same Shop
Auto Body Repair
Dents, scrapes, rust, and panel replacement.
Auto Painting
Spot repair to full repaints, matched to the factory color.
Frame Repair
Frames pulled back to straight and true.
Auto Glass Replacement
Windshields, door glass, and back glass replaced.
Bumper Repair
Cracked, scraped, or pushed-in bumpers repaired or replaced.
Dent Repair
Door dings, hail, and creased panels.
One shop covers every repair on the list.
Questions Drivers Ask About Collision Repair
- Do I have to use the body shop my insurance company recommends?
- No. Under New York Insurance Law section 2610 you choose the shop. Tell the adjuster the car is at Macarthur Auto Body and Towing, 170 East Lincoln Avenue, Valley Stream.
- Can you tow my car to the shop after the accident?
- Yes, 24 hours a day. Call 516-362-5350, say it was an accident and where you are, and a Macarthur truck brings the car straight to the shop.
- What happens if the insurance estimate is lower than yours?
- The insurer's first estimate is usually written from photographs. Ours is written from the car, and the difference is documented at teardown and submitted as a supplement with photographs. Covered damage is covered.
- What is a supplement?
- Additional repair cost for damage found after the damaged parts come off. It is photographed, written up, and approved by the insurer. It is a normal part of most repairs beyond a scuffed bumper.
- Will my airbags be reset or replaced?
- Replaced, with the modules and seat belt pretensioners that fired, per the manufacturer. Deployed airbags are never reused.
- Do you recalibrate the cameras and sensors?
- Yes, on vehicles that have them, after any repair that disturbs them or replaces the windshield or bumper they look through. The calibration report goes in your file.
- How do you know the frame is straight afterward?
- The car is measured electronically against the manufacturer's dimensions before and after the repair, and the after-measurement is printed and kept with the file.
- Will the paint match?
- Yes. The painter mixes to the factory code, tests against the car's actual shade, and blends the color into the neighboring panels so there is no edge.
- Why is there a panel on the estimate that was not damaged?
- That is blend. New color is faded into the adjacent panel so the repair is invisible. It is standard practice, not padding.
- Do you use original parts?
- The estimate lists every part by type: original, aftermarket, or recycled original. Which is used depends on the manufacturer's procedure, the policy paying, and your choice. Non-original parts are disclosed in writing.
- How long will the repair take?
- It depends on the damage, the insurer's approval, parts availability, and paint work. You get a realistic window once the car is torn down and parts are ordered, and a call if it changes.
- Do I pay my deductible?
- If your own collision coverage pays, yes, at pickup. If the other driver's insurer pays, usually not.
- Can I pay for the repair myself instead of filing a claim?
- Yes. The estimate is written the same way so you can compare the price to your deductible and decide.
- What if the insurer says the car is a total loss?
- You can dispute the valuation with comparable listings and receipts, and in some cases keep the car and have it repaired. Our itemized estimate supports either conversation.
- Do you repair brands you are not certified for?
- Yes, every make and model, working from that manufacturer's published procedures. The I-CAR training covers every car in the shop.
- Where is the shop and when is it open?
- 170 East Lincoln Avenue, Valley Stream, NY 11580. Monday through Friday 8 AM to 5 PM and Saturday 9 AM to 12 PM. Towing to the shop runs around the clock.
Did not see your question? Ask the estimator.
Call Macarthur for a Collision Estimate in Valley Stream
Estimates during shop hours. Towing to the shop any hour. You choose the shop, and we handle the claim.
Call 516-362-5350