In June, my wife and I traded in our used pickup for a brand new 2015 Jeep Wrangler. The Wrangler Terri picked out was a bright yellow four-door with less than 100 miles on it.

Over the last several years, Terri and I had been buying slightly used vehicles and the Wrangler was a refreshing change and a time of excitement. We also sold our used Ford Ranger so we were down to one vehicle between us until I decided on my own new car.

 

On Sept. 11, just a few weeks after we brought “Lucy” home from the dealership, I was coming home from the Becker/Zimmerman football game and — gulp — hit a deer on County Rd. 4. It was nighttime, so I couldn’t see the extent of the damage but I knew it was extensive since the fender flare was hanging off the wheel and the animal lay motionless on the side of the road.

 

Since I still had to write my story for the game and get the final page of the newspaper to press that night, I pulled the hanging fender off the vehicle, threw it in the back seat and proceeded to drive back to Becker to complete my assignment.

 

The next day, I inspected the Jeep in the daylight and saw it was smashed pretty good on the bumper, fender and fender flare — so I called my insurance agent and started talking to people about where to take it for repairs. My dealer recommended a body shop in Coon Rapids and so I called them and set up an appointment to have it looked at.

 

A friend of mine suggested another local body shop so I set up that appointment and I also looked up auto accident repairs on the web and found Becker Collision & Glass along First Street in Becker. I had never worked with Rick Schreier nor his crew so I didn’t know what to expect. I talked directly with Rick and he said to “just bring the vehicle down to his shop immediately and he’ll have it inspected.

 

So I left work that following Tuesday and brought Lucy to Rick to be diagnosed. Rick came out and asked questions, then proceeded to thoroughly inspect the vehicle and take photos. He found some things I hadn’t noticed with my own eyes including how the grill was cracked, the underside to the flare was damaged, the metal behind the bumper bent, the turn signal bulb missing and a loose headlight.

 

From there, I went to another local body shop and had them inspect it. They didn’t notice half the things Rick identified as being damaged in their initial “once-over” and in fact, I had to point out a couple things Schreier showed me that they missed.

 

The same thing happened at the Coon Rapids body shop where the damage inspector didn’t notice the cracked grill (nor the deer fur still wedged in the broken piece) and they failed to see the loose headlight and the turn signal lightbulb missing.

 

Needless to say, I was sold on Becker Collision & Glass because I felt they were honest and thorough in their inspection and assessment. So, I made arrangements with my insurance company and within a week, Rick and his crew had our Jeep back to its original condition.

 

Kudos to Rick and his operation here in Becker — I give them five stars for their comprehensive inspection, their work and professionalism.

 

It is the fall season and with more and more deer being skittish alongside our roadways, if anyone is unfortunate enough to bag a buck with their precious new (or old) car — I’d recommend Becker Collision and Glass. 

 

They gave Lucy back to us.