ABAT Member Profile: San Antonio Collision Center

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

Quality and safety are undoubtedly the most important aspects of performing a proper collision repair, but for a shop to convince customers that they will take care of their vehicle the right way, it begins by building trust. 

San Antonio Collision Center (San Antonio) assures customers of their trustworthiness by striving to exceed expectations from the beginning of the process. They understand that accidents are stressful for their clientele, so they focus on providing a courteous and honest environment where vehicle owners can rely on qualified technicians to restore each car to its pre-accident condition.

Although San Antonio Collision Center was founded in 2018, it opened its door with the boast of decades’ worth of industry experience. Co-founders Ramon Lira Sr., Ramon Lira Jr. and Jesus S. Rodriguez had all spent their careers working in auto body shops when they decided to branch out on their own.

Lira Sr. spent 35 years as an auto body expert, with 20 of those years being spent as a body shop manager. “He was hired at a dealership as a porter and then moved on to washing cars before becoming the assistant manager and continuing to progress in his career,” Lira Jr. says of his father, who passed away in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Dad built a strong foundation of high standards and was an expert in all certifications. He delivered a positive impact in the collision repair industry and was the man to call in town for information on proper collision repair.”

Due to his father’s influence, Lira Jr. joined the industry when he was just 18 years old. “My father got me into the business. I had two options: either go to work or go to school. I chose to work and got my first job at Alamo Toyota. I’ve worked hard to become a master technician and acquire the certifications necessary to do this job well.”

A master technician for a decade, co-owner Rodriguez has over 35 years in the collision industry. “I always enjoyed working on cars, so when I got out of high school, I decided to apply to a shop. I got hired, and ever since then, I’ve stuck with this career.”

Among the shop’s 22 employees, three estimators with more than three decades of combined experience write detailed repair plans to ensure every customer’s car receives everything needed to be properly repaired. Their painter, who has an established 30-year career in refinishing, is passionate about ensuring every vehicle leaves his booth with a factory finish.

San Antonio Collision Center is an independently-owned, family-oriented business, and everyone who works for them is like family – and some team members are literally family, including Rodriguez’s brother Elias (an estimator) and daughter Samantha, the shop’s parts specialist, as well as Nicole Lira, shop manager, who shares, “Our main priority is to preserve the value of all vehicles and our customers’ safety by having repairs made by our certified technicians. We care about quality over quantity, and we have built our shop’s reputation on performing quality repairs done right.”

Nicole credits the shop’s success to having “a great team of auto body professionals that are dedicated to the collision industry and our customers.”

“Customer satisfaction is our number one priority,” Lira Jr. agrees. “With my experience in the collision industry, it has taken me to the next level to ensure that vehicles are properly repaired and safe to be on the road again.”

One of the ways that San Antonio Collision Center achieves this goal is by investing in training and equipment, and their efforts have yielded huge results in certification accomplishments. In addition to being I-CAR Gold and ASE-certified, the shop has acquired OEM certifications from Honda, Acura, Nissan, Infiniti, Kia, MOPAR and Hyundai.

Of course, every shop faces its challenges, and not surprisingly, Lira Jr. reports that the biggest obstacle for his facility lies in dealing with insurance carriers. “Insurance companies take forever to respond to repair plans and supplements. Then, they want to nickel-and-dime us on the repairs or try to force us to take shortcuts. They also want to use the cheapest parts possible, even when that’s not in our customers’ best interests.”

Overcoming those issues can prove tiresome to auto body shops, but Lira Jr. and Rodriguez recognize that there is strength in numbers. Shortly after the shop was founded in 2018, San Antonio Collision Center became a member of ABAT. “We appreciate the networking opportunities that are part of belonging to an association, but more importantly, it allows us to acquire the knowledge we need to improve our business and ourselves.”

Want more? Check out the December 2024 issue of Texas Automotive!