Orlando Auto Body's lifetime warranty is a workmanship warranty — it covers the quality of the labor, materials, and refinish we apply during your collision repair. If a panel we repaired and refinished develops a paint defect (peeling, blistering, color shift) that is traceable to our workmanship, we correct it at no charge. If a structural repair we performed fails because of how we executed it, we fix it. The warranty follows the vehicle — it transfers to subsequent owners for a documented period. This is the industry-standard definition of a lifetime workmanship warranty, and it is the same class of warranty offered by most reputable independent collision shops nationwide.
What the warranty covers. (1) Labor — any repair labor that fails due to workmanship error, including structural alignment, panel replacement, welding, and reassembly. (2) Refinish — paint application including base coat, clear coat, blending, and any texture or orange-peel issues caused by our application process. (3) Materials — primers, sealers, body fillers, and undercoating applied by our shop. (4) Mechanical repairs performed as part of the collision repair scope (suspension work, ADAS recalibration, mechanical component replacement) — if the failure is caused by our installation workmanship. All of these are covered for as long as you own the vehicle.
What the warranty does NOT cover. (1) Normal wear and tear — stone chips, road debris, parking-lot dings, door dings that occur after delivery. (2) Environmental damage — UV fading, acid rain etching, industrial fallout, hard-water spotting, Arizona dust storms (haboobs), and corrosion from environmental exposure that would have occurred regardless of the repair. (3) Aftermarket or used parts — when your insurance carrier specifies aftermarket (non-OEM) or recycled/used parts instead of OEM new, those parts carry the manufacturer's or supplier's warranty, not OAB's. We install them correctly; if the part itself fails, the part warranty applies. (4) Subsequent collisions — damage from any new accident, regardless of severity. (5) Neglect — failure to maintain the vehicle per OEM service schedules, or unauthorized modifications to the repaired area. Arizona's extreme UV is the single biggest factor in paint degradation — no warranty from any shop covers UV aging of a refinish over a 10+ year horizon. We use UV-resistant clear coats that extend the life of the finish well beyond industry standard, but the Arizona sun wins eventually.
How our warranty compares to chain-shop warranties. Most national chains (Caliber, Service King, Crash Champions, Gerber) offer a nationwide limited warranty — typically the same lifetime workmanship scope, honored at any of their locations. The practical difference is not the warranty language but the execution: OAB's technicians are long-tenured (average 10+ years), we use only waterborne basecoat systems (lower environmental impact, better color match), and our shop is I-CAR Gold Class certified (top ~10% of collision shops nationally). Chain shops rotate technicians between locations and use a mix of experienced and entry-level staff. On a structural repair — frame rail replacement, panel sectioning, weld-through bonding — the warranty is only as good as the technician who did the work. OAB's warranty is backed by technicians who stay, which makes the warranty more reliable in practice even if the legal language is the same. See the BBB's tips on choosing an auto body shop for warranty questions to ask any shop before you drop off your car.
How to make a warranty claim. Call any OAB location — (480) 844-4858 (Mesa), (480) 590-3135 (Scottsdale), (480) 656-9202 (Gilbert). Describe the issue and provide your original repair order number (on your customer packet). We schedule an inspection — usually same-day or next business day. If the issue falls under warranty scope, we schedule the correction at no charge. If the issue is wear, environmental, or part-related, we explain what happened and give you a written estimate for the non-warranty repair. There is no time limit on warranty claims — lifetime means lifetime, as long as you own the vehicle. We keep digital records of every repair order, so even if you've lost your paperwork, we can look up the original scope.