Expert Collision Center – A Legacy of Quality Repair and Customer Service

COVER STORY | By M.G. Angulo –

Two family men with years of auto industry experience between them decided a little more than five years ago it was time to create a business of their own. As fortune would have it, their business, Expert Collision Center, has become the go-to location for car repair needs.

Expert Collision opened its doors in February 2012 at its first location on 1st Street in Rosenberg by business partners Freddy Lopez of Richmond, Texas and Gary Gutierrez of Fulshear, Texas.  Before long, business was booming prompting the men to seek out a larger location, this time at 3501 BF Terry Boulevard, Suite D in Rosenberg.

“We out grew our old location and opened our second location March 2015,” Lopez said, adding their goal was to find “an ideal spot going from 3,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet with freeway visibility.”

Having grown up in Fresno, Texas where his father owns a repair shop also, Lopez said Expert Collision Center is more than a business to him; it is a continuation of a legacy. It was as a 13-year-old boy helping his father work, when Lopez began to fall in love with what he does to this very day. As Lopez visited large collision repair facilities alongside his dad, a dream was born to one day own his very own center. For Gutierrez, it is his passion for cars that motivates him to put his heart and soul into the shop’s legacy.

Expert Collision is more than a car repair shop; it is an expression of what quality work should be, how customers should be valued and the role a business plays in its community.

Exceptional Local Services

Expert Collision Center prides itself on providing unrivaled skills in returning damaged cars to pre-crash condition as quickly as possible. In fact, that is a personal satisfaction of Lopez and Gutierrez: “We love the look on our customers’ faces when they come to pick up their vehicles, and they can’t even tell it was ever in an accident,” Lopez said.

The 15 employees at the center work diligently to restore all makes and models of vehicles — no matter what year the vehicle is — while also working with all insurance companies. “And, we offer free estimates on site and provide great out-of-pocket quotes,” Lopez added.

A customer’s car is not just a problem to be fixed. Expert Collision understands their customers are people with important lives, jobs and family, which undoubtedly depends on a working vehicle in great condition, and it is that approach that garners enthusiastic reviews from Expert Collision customers.  Rosenberg resident Brian Ridge said, hands down, the work at Expert Collision Center “is the best work I have ever seen.” After being hit at 60 miles an hour, Ridge’s brand new Tundra truck sustained considerable damage, but you would never be able to tell.

“I would never go anywhere else,” Ridge said, adding that he has also taken his wife’s car in for slight damage to her bumper when she was rear-ended. “The pricing is fair, and they will work with your insurance to make sure what needs to get done, gets done.  I couldn’t even tell my truck had been in an accident.  They’re that good. What can I say? Their work is superb. If you need work on your car, you need to go see them.”

“Our customers are more to us than just another job,” said Gutierrez. “We build a relationship with each and every one of them on some level. And of course, our work speaks for itself.”

Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Two years ago, Marlene Borrero and her husband were in a car accident leaving their car in desperate need of repairs, and Borrero said she was grateful to have made her way to Expert Collision. “I live in the Houston city limits and won’t hesitate to drive to Expert Collision,” she said. “When I was in my accident, I was all nerves, as you could imagine, but they put me at ease. They truly focus on their customer service, and I can tell you it is absolutely phenomenal.”

What impressed Borrero beyond the quality work completed on her car was the simple fact that every single time she called the shop, they knew who she was. “Usually you have to give the typical spiel of who you are, which car is yours and what happened to it, but I didn’t have to do that with them,” she said. “It was like I was calling my neighbor, and that meant so much to me.”

Borrero said not too long ago she took her vehicle to them again for work, and she was stressed over the fact that she would need a ride to get to work. In her mind, she tried to figure out how to make everything work – that was until Expert Collision once again calmed her worries. “Again, they remembered exactly who I was. They told me not to panic because they were going to take care of me, and they did,” Borrero said, explaining that not only did the shop acquire a loaner car for her, a “very kind” employee brought the car to her job.

“Within two hours, the car was there,” she said. “Any time I hear about someone needing a repair, I rant and rave about them because I trust their judgement and the way they treat their customers. They far exceeded my expectations. I’ll explain it this way: Expert Collision is full circle — from the person who answers the phone to the mechanic. Sometimes you go into a shop and the front desk is wonderful, but the mechanic is not. Or the front desk is rude but the mechanic is great.  At Expert Collision, everyone is on the same level. I can’t say enough great things about them.”

An experience like Borrero’s is what Expert Collision is all about, said Lopez.  “Like we tell our customers, we are a small, privately owned business, and we are here to help the customers to the best of our ability.  Dealing with the owners one-on-one really goes a long way, like being able to remember a customer by their name if they should ever have to come back to us.”

Family Men with Family Values

Both Lopez and Gutierrez are family men. Lopez, 39, has three daughters – Zoe, Ady and Mali – with his wife, Amanda. Gutierrez, 33, has one daughter, Ava, with his wife, Natalie, so it was expected that the two would instill family values in their business.

When a potential customer walks through the doors of Expert Collision, they are listened to, and each and every circumstance is taken into consideration. Simply put, they are treated like family.

“We understand that times are hard, especially in the kind of situation that a lot of people are in when we get the chance to meet them for the first time,” Gutierrez said. “Our empathy is sincere, and that’s what makes every day so easy to relate and reassure our customers they will be taken care of.”

Those family values also include the community at large. Each year since 2015, Expert Collision has hosted a Thanksgiving bash for a family in need. “We cook dinner, and there is live music and a silent auction that everyone is welcome to attend,” Lopez said. “All funds raised, which has been from $5,000 to $14,000, goes to the chosen family.”

Expert Collision has also recently partnered with the Fort Bend Children’s Advocacy Center to assist with the organization’s stuffed animal supply, which is given to every child the center serves. They also helped St. Jude Children’s hospital with the purchase of the stuffed animal bears in their promotional sale through Kay Jewelers during the Christmas season.

“We are a privately owned business here in Fort Bend County, but we take pride in everything we do,” Lopez said. “We will always put our customer’s needs first, and customer satisfaction is our main priority.”