# Do I Need an Appointment for an Estimate? | DG > No — walk-ins are welcome Monday–Friday 8:30–5:30 and Saturday 10–1: a written estimate on the spot, zero obligation. What to bring, and how to skip the trip. - Canonical page: https://dgcollision.com/answers/do-i-need-an-appointment-for-a-body-shop-estimate/ - This file: Markdown twin of the page above (clean text for AI assistants and crawlers) - Business: DG Collision Center, 693 Metro Park Cir #20, Lewisville, TX 75057 — (972) 219-0864 (text: 817-907-2822) — since 1978 - Hours: Mon–Fri 8:30am–5:30pm, Sat 10am–1pm, closed Sunday · 24/7 towing · 4.9/5 on 500+ Google reviews - Full site index for assistants: https://dgcollision.com/llms.txt - Last generated: 2026-08-14 --- # DO I NEED AN APPOINTMENT FOR A BODY SHOP ESTIMATE? Quick Answer At DG, no — walk-ins are welcome Monday through Friday, 8:30am–5:30pm, and Saturday 10am–1pm. An estimator inspects the car and you leave with a detailed, written estimate on the spot — zero obligation, zero pressure, and nothing required beyond the car itself (your insurance card and claim number help if a claim already exists, but neither is needed to get the number). Prefer not to drive in first? Send photos through [the online estimate form](https://dgcollision.com/free-estimate/) for a preliminary read, or call (972) 219-0864 — and if the car isn’t drivable, say so when you call: the tow is free to you on covered claims (billed to your insurance), and the estimate happens when the car arrives. Get a Free Written Estimate By [Shah Jiwani](https://dgcollision.com/about/shah-jiwani/) · Owner, DG Collision Center Updated October 2, 2026 4 min read I-CAR Gold Class · PPG Certified The Longer Answer ## HOW A WALK-IN ESTIMATE ACTUALLY WORKS — AND WHAT SPEEDS IT UP The industry trained people to expect friction here — schedule two weeks out, leave the car for a day, get a number by phone eventually. The honest version is simpler: an estimate is an inspection plus paperwork, and a staffed front counter can do both while you wait. Walk in during business hours (Monday–Friday 8:30–5:30, Saturday 10–1), an estimator walks the car with you — this part is worth being present for, because you can point at every scrape and say what happened — and the estimate comes back written, itemized, and priced from the same published cost rows printed on our service pages. No appointment, no deposit, no commitment: plenty of people take the paper home, compare, and come back a week later. That’s the system working, not an imposition on it. What genuinely speeds things up: if a claim already exists, bring the claim number and your insurance card — the estimate gets written against the claim from the start, which saves a round of paperwork later. If the damage has a story (the other driver’s information, photos from the scene, a police report number), bring what you have; it shapes what the estimate documents. If your schedule is the obstacle, the photo route through [the estimate form](https://dgcollision.com/free-estimate/) gets you a preliminary number without a trip — with the honest caveat that photos price what photos show, and bumper-and-fender damage famously hides behind covers, so the written number firms up when the car is seen. One thing that never speeds anything up: waiting weeks while [a claim window or scratch-to-rust clock](https://dgcollision.com/answers/how-long-after-an-accident-can-you-file-a-claim-texas/) runs in the background. And one estimate-visit honesty note, because the question behind the question is usually “will I get sold?”: the estimate is the product. If the fix is a buff instead of a respray, the paper says so; if the smart money is paying cash instead of filing, [the arithmetic](https://dgcollision.com/guides/file-claim-or-pay-out-of-pocket/) says so; if the damage needs a teardown before an honest total exists, the estimate says that too instead of guessing. You leave with a document, not an obligation — and if you need wheels while a repair happens, say so at the counter: the free loaner fleet gets planned into the schedule from day one. Related Questions ## ASKED ALONGSIDE THIS ONE How long does the estimate itself take? + A: Long enough to walk the car properly and write it up — most straightforward damage is an on-the-spot visit, while a car that needs teardown to price honestly gets that said plainly rather than guessed around. Busy stretches (the week after a hailstorm, Saturday late morning) can add a wait; early weekday mornings are the quietest window if time is tight. Does the estimate cost anything or obligate me to repair with you? + A: No and no — the estimate is free, written, and yours to take anywhere, including to a competitor or straight to an adjuster. Texas law keeps the shop choice yours at every step (§1952.301), and an estimate that only exists to trap you into a repair isn’t an estimate, it’s a sales script. Ours is the audition; the repair decision stays entirely with you. Should I get the estimate before or after filing the claim? + A: Before, when you have the choice — a written number tells you whether the damage even clears your deductible enough to justify a claim, and if it does, the documented estimate makes the claim stronger from its first day. The exception: when another driver is at fault and their carrier is already involved, the sequence matters less than the documentation. My car isn’t drivable. How do I get an estimate at all? + A: Call first — (972) 219-0864 — and we coordinate the tow straight to the shop, where the estimate happens on arrival. The tow is free to you on covered claims (billed to your insurance carrier; no coverage, ask about discounted partner rates), and naming the shop as the destination from the start keeps the car out of a storage yard’s daily meter. Go Deeper [The online estimate form](https://dgcollision.com/free-estimate/) · [How to read the estimate](https://dgcollision.com/guides/how-to-read-a-repair-estimate/) · [Saturday hours](https://dgcollision.com/answers/are-body-shops-open-on-saturday/) · [All quick answers](https://dgcollision.com/answers/)