Visit the Shop
Visiting the shop
Demo content — Ironline Auto Body & Wrap is a fictional shop. The address, hours, warranty terms and policies on this page are invented to show how a real shop's site would carry them. Nothing here is a commitment by anybody, and no car can actually be dropped off anywhere.We are at 1420 Foundry Street, Bay 4, Northgate — the long gray building with the roll-up doors, set back behind the fence. Come in the door marked Front Counter, not the bay doors; the bays are a working floor and our insurance keeps customers out of them.
There is a six-space customer lot on the left as you come in. The three marked spaces closest to the doors are the bay aprons: cars come out of those on jacks, so please leave them clear. If the lot is full, the frontage road takes street parking and we will not tow you.
The counter is two people, one phone and a coffee machine that has been repaired more times than most of the cars. If you are dropping a car off, budget fifteen minutes. If you are collecting one, budget twenty — we walk the car with you in daylight before you sign anything.
Hours, and what actually happens when
When we are open
Front counter
Monday to Friday, 7:30 am – 5:30 pm
Saturday, 8:00 am – 12:00 pm — drop-off and pickup only
Sunday, closed
The bays
Monday to Friday, 7:00 am – 4:00 pm
Walk-in estimates
Monday to Friday, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm. No appointment. Fifteen minutes at the counter, in daylight, with the car.
Paint goes in the booth first thing in the morning, so a car that arrives after 3:00 pm generally starts the next day rather than the same one. We would rather say that than book you a start date the schedule cannot keep.
We close on the usual holidays and post the dates on the forum two weeks ahead.
Getting here, and dropping off
Parking. Six customer spaces on the left. The three by the doors are bay aprons — keep those clear. Street parking on the frontage road otherwise.
After hours. There is a key drop box to the right of the front door. Envelopes and a short form are in the holder above it: your name, a phone number, and one line about the car. Nothing else. Do not put a plate number, a claim number or a house key in the box.
Not drivable? Call before you arrange a tow. Sometimes the right answer is to leave the car where it is for a day, and we would rather tell you that than take delivery of a car we cannot start on.
Before you hand over the keys: take everything out. Garage remote, toll transponder, sunglasses, chargers, the child seat, anything in the trunk and anything in the glovebox.
Drop-off day
What the first fifteen minutes look like
We walk the car with you
Outside, in daylight, both of us looking at the same panel. We photograph every side of the car before it comes in — including the damage we are not fixing, so nobody argues later about a scratch that was already there.
We read the estimate out loud
Line by line, including the parts we expect to add at teardown. If a line does not make sense, that is the moment to say so, not the day you collect it.
You empty the car
Everything that is not bolted to it. Our insurance covers the vehicle while it is with us; it does not cover what is inside it, and no shop policy that says otherwise is worth much.
Keys and one contact number
Keys, the wheel lock key, and one number that will actually be answered. We do not take a VIN, a plate, a license, or a claim number to start work — that paperwork happens at the counter only if an insurer needs it.
You get a target date and a stage
A written date, the stage list, and the portal login so you can check where the car is any day it is here. When the date moves, we tell you which stage moved it.
The practical questions
Do you handle insurance work?
What we will not do is tell you what your insurer is going to pay. That is between you and them, and any shop that quotes you a coverage number is guessing with your money.
Where the car gets fixed is your call. Not the tow driver's, not the adjuster's, not ours. If you are being pushed toward a particular shop, that is worth a question.
Is there a loaner, or a rental?
If both are out, we will book you a rental with the agency two blocks up and they will collect you from here. That contract is between you and them — we do not mark it up and we do not pay for it. Some policies cover rental and some do not, which is a question for your insurer before you book, not after.
What is the warranty on the work?
Bodywork and refinish — a limited lifetime warranty on our workmanship for as long as you own the vehicle. That covers our paint lifting, peeling, cracking or losing its match because of how we applied it.
Vinyl wrap — two years on the installation: lifting edges, seams letting go, bubbling from a bad lay. The film itself carries the manufacturer's own warranty, which is usually five to seven years on gloss and shorter on textured and color-shift stock. We hand you that paperwork with the car.
Paint protection film — the film manufacturer's warranty, typically ten years, plus our installation for two.
Not covered, on any of it: new stone chips and new damage, rust that started somewhere we did not work, damage from an automatic wash or a pressure washer held on an edge, and neglect. Fresh work also has a care window — the care guide is the ninety-day version.
Bring anything back and we will look at it. A warranty conversation that starts with a form rather than a car is a bad sign anywhere.
How long will my car be here?
Parts move dates more than anything else, and a supplement written after teardown moves them again. You get a target date at drop-off and a stage you can check any day. When a date moves we name the stage that moved it — we do not just say the word delay.
What happens to a car left overnight?
We are not a storage facility. Our insurance covers the vehicle while it is in our care; it does not cover personal property inside it, which is why we ask you to empty the car at drop-off.
A car that is torn down is never left outside. Once panels are off, it stays indoors until it is back together.
Do I need an appointment?
For the work, yes. We book by the bay, not by the day, and a wrap or a respray blocks a booth for the better part of a week. Booking two weeks out is normal; booking further out is normal in summer.
How do you take payment?
We take a deposit only on special-order parts and custom-printed film — the things we cannot put back on a shelf if the job stops. Everything else is billed at the end. We will not ask for money up front to hold a slot.
Can I see the car while it is being worked on?
What we cannot do is have customers on the floor. There are lifts, dust extraction, wet paint and a crew moving around — it is an insurance line, not an attitude. Photos go into your portal at teardown, after panel work, after prep, and out of the booth, so most people never need the trip.
What not to leave in the key drop
The after-hours box takes keys, an envelope, and one line about the car. It does not take a VIN, a plate number, a driver's license, an insurance card, a policy or claim number, or a house key on the same ring. Those either come to the counter in person or they do not come at all. A claim number sitting next to your name is enough for somebody to impersonate you to an insurer, which is why this shop asks for neither on the website or in the box.
Before you drive over
Send photos first.
A written range in your inbox by the next business day beats a trip across town, and if the answer is that the work is not worth doing, you will hear that too. Bring the car in once you know what you are looking at.