Taking your car into the shop can feel like an emotional rollercoaster. Yet, handing the keys to an I-CAR certified technician certainly makes it easier, and there’s reason to it. Seeing the little blue and white tag on the window of an autobody shop or even next to the name of a technician getting that clean finish on a body can be a sigh of relief. It means you can trust that the guy taking a look under your hood has the specialized skills for it. But there are so many questions as to why and what it even means for a technician to have I-CAR certification. So, we’ve put together an FAQ list for why you should be looking out for that blue and white I-CAR tag: 1. What is I-CAR? I-CAR is the international leader in car technician and auto shop certification. The Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (A.K.A. I-CAR) is actually a 1979-established educational body in the motor field. With this, they’ve grown to become an industry standard for certification that’s recognized by a number of trading standards corporations such as the FTC. So, it’s something y’all definitely need to keep an eye out on. They provide shops and technicians in Texas, the US and overseas with classification to prove their ability to fix your motor to top-spec. More specifically, they offer live, online and virtual courses for technicians in the shop looking to hone their technical skills and knowledge. This means they’re always coming up with efficient solutions to complete safe and quality repairs for your vehicle. Plus, they do a yearly renewal subscription with the I-CAR Professional Development Program, so you know your I-CAR certified autobody repairman is up to date! 2. What is the Difference Between Gold-Class I-CAR and Platinum I-CAR? The difference between these two I-CAR certification types comes down to who gets awarded what. When you’re dropping your car off for some TLC at the auto shop, you want to know who has been awarded what and why. Shop technicians (in all the 8 learning paths and roles) can gain scalable certification to become a Platinum Technician. It starts at ProLevel 1, goes to ProLevel 2, ProLevel 3 and then reaches Platinum (although this can be upgraded again to Platinum Maintained with ongoing training). An auto shop can become a Gold-Class Shop when 100% of structural technicians have reached ProLevel 2 status and 50% of all other role representatives have achieved the ProLevel 2 award. Of course, this all means ongoing training is required, so you know your car is in the hands of someone with the most recent skills and knowledge from wheel trim to roof. 3. What are the 8 I-CAR learning Paths? Knowing your auto shop technician has a certification but understanding what their certification is, is what seals the deal for letting them take a peek under your hood. There are 8 learning paths a technician can take to gain I-CAR Platinum Technician certification status. They can take one course (or two, maximum) as well as refresher courses down the line when new bodies are being released by manufacturers. Here are the 8 learning paths within I-CAR certification: • Auto Physical Damage Appraiser • Electrical/Diagnostics Technician • Estimator • Mechanical Technician • Non-Structural Technician • Production Manager • Refinish Technician • Structural Technician As well as this, you can have your car seen to by someone with an I-CAR certification in the new additional courses. For example, Welding Training and CertificationTM, Vehicle and Technology Specific TrainingTM and In-Shop Knowledge AssessmentTM. So, it’s easy to see how the blue and white tag on the window of your autobody shop can help lure you into handing over the keys to your vehicle. It’s almost like seeing a quality assurance badge. But it’s important to know there are others, too. If you don’t see the iconic I-CAR badge, know that a shop presenting the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) badge or the Automotive Service Association (ASA) badge also has an FTC-approved qualification board award, too. When you want to find certified, experienced and skilled technicians working under your hood, you’re going to want to spend some gas on getting to the Dealership Autoplex Collision Center in Carrollton, TX. If you want to find out more before coming into the shop, just give us a call on (972) 242-0092 or visit our website.