# Should I Get Multiple Estimates for Car Repair? | DG > On an insurance claim, no — one documented estimate plus supplements decides the number; no law requires three quotes. Paying cash? Comparing is smart. - Canonical page: https://dgcollision.com/answers/should-i-get-multiple-estimates-for-car-repair/ - 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 --- # SHOULD I GET MULTIPLE ESTIMATES FOR CAR REPAIR? Quick Answer Depends entirely on who’s paying. On an insurance claim: no — no Texas law requires multiple quotes, the carrier pays the documented cost of proper repair wherever you go, and three curb estimates of the same visible damage teach you nothing teardown wouldn’t. Pick the shop you trust (your legal right under §1952.301), and let one documented estimate plus supplements find the real number. Paying cash: comparing is smart — which is exactly why our prices are published before you walk in. By [Shah Jiwani](https://dgcollision.com/about/shah-jiwani/) · Owner, DG Collision Center Updated September 24, 2026 3 min read I-CAR Gold Class · PPG Certified The Longer Answer ## THE THREE-ESTIMATES RITUAL, AND WHAT REPLACED IT The get-three-estimates advice dates from an era when estimates were the negotiation. Today, on an insurance claim, they aren’t: the carrier owes the documented cost of proper repair, and that number comes from teardown, not from clipboards in a parking lot. Three shops eyeballing the same crumpled fender will hand you three guesses that all miss the bent bracket behind it; the real total emerges once one shop disassembles, photographs, and supplements. That’s why the modern claim runs: choose your shop, get one thorough estimate, let documentation close the gap. Driving to two more shops adds days and adds nothing — the low bid doesn’t save you money on a claim; it just predicts which shop plans to find less damage. Two pressure patterns worth recognizing. An adjuster who says “we need you to get two or three estimates” is describing a preference, not a rule — Texas law doesn’t require it, and §1952.301 puts the shop decision with you regardless of how many numbers anyone collects. And a shop that begs to match or beat another shop’s estimate on an insurance job has told you its number is negotiable, which should make you wonder what else is. The useful comparison between shops was never price — it’s warranty terms, teardown practice, documentation quality, and who answers the phone in year three. That checklist is its own guide: [how to choose a body shop](https://dgcollision.com/guides/how-to-choose-a-body-shop/). Cash repairs invert all of this. No carrier, no supplements process, your money — comparison shopping is simply sensible, and the honest version of a shop’s answer is to make comparing easy: our rates are published on the relevant pages (dents [$50–$150 each](https://dgcollision.com/services/dent-repair/), paint from [$200 spot repairs](https://dgcollision.com/services/paint-refinishing/), frame from $1,800), and the [cost estimator](https://dgcollision.com/repair-cost-estimator/) assembles a range from those same published rows before you’ve given anyone your phone number. Compare us against anyone — just compare written numbers against written numbers, not a printed estimate against a parking-lot promise. Related Questions ## ASKED ALONGSIDE THIS ONE My insurance company told me to get three estimates. Do I have to? + A: No Texas statute requires it, and payment of your claim can’t be conditioned on shopping around — §1952.301 keeps the repair decision with you. If an adjuster insists, ask them to point to the policy language requiring it; the conversation usually ends there. Doesn’t the lowest estimate save my insurer money and keep my rates down? + A: The lowest first estimate usually just defers cost into supplements or into corners quietly cut — the carrier ultimately owes the documented cost of proper repair either way. Your rates respond to claims on your record, not to which shop’s clipboard read lowest in week one. Is it rude to get an estimate and not use the shop? + A: Not at all — estimates are how shops earn work, and ours are free with no obligation either direction. What we’d ask of any comparison: hold every shop to the same standard of written, itemized numbers, because that’s the only comparison that means anything. Why do estimates for the same damage vary so much? + A: Different assumptions about what’s behind the panel, different parts strategies, different blend and calibration decisions — and sometimes different intentions. An itemized estimate shows its assumptions; a one-line total hides them. Reading the lines is a skill worth ten minutes: [the estimate decoder](https://dgcollision.com/guides/how-to-read-a-repair-estimate/). Go Deeper [Choosing a body shop](https://dgcollision.com/guides/how-to-choose-a-body-shop/) · [Reading a repair estimate](https://dgcollision.com/guides/how-to-read-a-repair-estimate/) · [The cost estimator](https://dgcollision.com/repair-cost-estimator/)