How much do body shops typically charge?

The average collision repair cost $4,818 in 2025, according to CCC’s national estimate data, and $5,721 on cars six years old or newer. Small cosmetic work costs far less and structural damage far more. The number that matters is on a written estimate for your car, which Washington requires for any repair over $100.

How much do body shops charge per hour?

There is no published labor rate for Washington, so we do not quote one here, and rates differ by type of work. Body, paint, frame and mechanical labor are often billed at different rates. Nationally, CCC reports the average rate rose 2.9% in 2025. Your estimate shows the hours for each type of work, which matters as much as the rate.

Why do two body shops quote different prices for the same damage?

Usually because they are not quoting the same repair. One may price a new part where the other repairs the old one, or leave out a calibration the car needs. Labor rates also differ. Compare the two estimates line by line, and ask each shop why a line appears on one estimate and is missing from the other.

Why is collision repair so expensive now?

Cars carry more electronics. CCC found calibrations on 28.3% of repairable estimates in 2025, up from 21.8% a year earlier, and parts and sublet work drove most of that year’s cost increase. A car six years old or newer averaged $5,721 to repair, which CCC puts $2,039 above a car seven years or older.

Do body shops charge for an estimate?

Ours is free. A written estimate is also what Washington requires before any repair over $100 begins. Bring the car in, or call us at (425) 641-5475 to arrange a time. The estimate tells you what the repair involves before you decide anything.

Do body shops charge more for insurance claims?

Not for the work itself. What changes is documentation, not the labor rate: an insurance job carries a written estimate, a supplement when hidden damage appears, and an itemized parts list that Washington law requires on the invoice. More of the same repair is written down. Compare line items between shops, never totals.

How Much Do Body Shops Charge?

What the data says

Three numbers from CCC’s Crash Course 2026, all for repairable claims in 2025.

The average repair cost $4,818.
“Preliminary average total cost of repairs (TCOR) is $4,818 for 2025, an increase of 1.7% over 2024.” That was the smallest yearly increase since 2017.
A newer car costs more than half again as much.
“The average TCOR for vehicles 6 years old or newer is $5,721. This is $2,039 (+55.4%) more on average than vehicles 7 years or older.”
More repairs now include a calibration.
The share of repairable estimates that included one rose from 21.8% to 28.3% in a single year. A calibration re-aims the cameras and radar that driver-assistance systems depend on, and it is billed on top of the bodywork.

These are national averages. An average of thousands of repairs says where the middle sits, and a single car can land well above or below it.

How a body shop bill is built

Four parts, and the estimate lists each one separately.

Labor is hours multiplied by a rate.
Most estimates split the hours by type of work, such as body, paint, frame and mechanical, and each type can carry its own rate. CCC reports the average labor rate rose 2.9% in 2025, while the average number of labor hours per repair fell by 0.8.
Paint and materials are charged separately.
That covers primer, paint, clear coat and the supplies used to apply them. Most shops charge these by the hour of paint labor, so a repair that blends color into the panels on either side costs more than one that paints a single part.
Parts vary by where they come from.
They can be new from the carmaker, aftermarket from another manufacturer, or used and rebuilt. The choice changes the price, and Washington requires the invoice to say which kind went on your car.
Sublet is work the shop sends to a specialist.
A calibration is the usual example, and on our repairs an independent calibration specialist performs it. CCC found that parts and “miscellaneous costs, which often include sublet items, such as diagnostics” drove most of the 2025 increase.

Why a newer car costs more to fix

Most of the gap sits behind the panels. A bumper cover on a recent car can carry parking sensors, a radar unit and a camera, and a windshield can carry the camera that keeps the car in its lane. Each one has to be removed, refitted or replaced, and then aimed again. Our ADAS calibration guide explains that step, and our bumper repair guide shows how much of a bumper bill the sensors take up.

Age also raises the chance that a car is not repaired at all. CCC reports that 23.1% of claims were flagged as a total loss in 2025, and the older the car, the more likely the repair costs more than the car is worth.

What Washington law says the paperwork must show

These rules apply to every repair shop in the state, whether you pay or your insurer does.

Over $100, the estimate is in writing.
RCW 46.71.015 requires that “all estimates that exceed one hundred dollars shall be in writing.”
The bill cannot run past 110% without your approval.
Under RCW 46.71.025, “The repair facility may not charge the customer more than one hundred ten percent, exclusive of retail sales tax, of the total shown on the written price estimate.” If more damage turns up once the panels come off, the shop has to ask you before it goes further.
The invoice lists labor and parts.
RCW 46.71.015(2) requires “the total amount charged for all labor” and a price for each part.
On an insurance repair, the prices can be left off.
When the work is done “without charge to the customer, other than an applicable deductible,” the same statute says “the repair facility is not required to provide any pricing information for parts or labor.” Those numbers appear on your insurer’s estimate instead.