For more than three decades, Better Body Auto in Queens, NY, has built its reputation on accuracy, transparency, and doing right by customers. Owner Sharon Minott has always prioritized OEM-quality repairs, but navigating today’s complex parts landscape can make maintaining those standards challenging. That’s why OEC’s parts-ordering solutions, CollisionLink and TraxCollision, play such an important role in her workflow, and why she talks about them with the kind of enthusiasm most people reserve for vacation plans.
From the start, Sharon noticed how dramatically these tools improved her estimating and ordering process. CollisionLink’s upfront pricing became a breakthrough for her team, giving them visibility they never had before. As she puts it, “The discounts are amazing… now we see the upfront pricing for about 85 to 90% of the parts, which really helps a lot because before you really didn’t know what type of discount you were going to get.” Before CollisionLink, the workday involved a lot of waiting for dealer callbacks, a little bit of guesswork, and even hoping that OEM parts would be affordable. Now, her estimators can make confident decisions in seconds. No suspense, no surprises.
Interested in exploring OEC’s parts ordering solutions? Connect with us to see how tools like CollisionLink and TraxCollision can streamline your process.
TraxCollision has also evolved in ways that make Sharon’s life even easier. She still remembers the days when suspension and mechanical parts weren’t included in any program. Now, with components like subframes and knuckles covered, the savings extend far beyond cosmetics. Her estimators take full advantage of this shift. They rewrite nearly every part line, OEM or not, just to see if it qualifies for a discount. And they genuinely enjoy it. In Sharon’s words, “It’s fun for us because we love to see the discounts. It’s almost like you hold your breath to see what it’s going to come up with.” When your team is excited about pricing, you know something’s working.
When your team is excited about pricing, you know something’s working.
Sharon described opening her most recent rebate email as “feeling like Christmas,” a moment of unexpected joy in a business where margins often feel like tightrope walking. She’s quick to remind people that these rebates matter. “Every penny counts in this industry,” she says, “and I just really want to say thank you for giving the body shops an opportunity to use original parts at a discounted price.” It’s gratitude born from years of seeing small savings create stability.
Beyond financial relief, using OEM parts has a direct impact on repair quality. Sharon’s technicians used to deal with fitment issues, calibration failures, and a cascade of delays. With discounted OEM parts right at their fingertips, repairs now move more efficiently, and customers receive safer, manufacturer-approved outcomes. Sharon sees this alignment as essential to who she is as a business owner.
““TraxCollision and CollisionLink allow us to still do the right thing by the customer, and that’s huge.””
Certification also plays a major part in that promise. Better Body Auto holds OEM certifications from brands like Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, INFINITI, Mopar, and Subaru, with GM certification on the way. These aren’t just badges on the wall. To Sharon, they represent a commitment to the standards her customers expect, and a way to let people breathe a little easier after an accident.
Customers recognize that her shop is serious about doing things properly, and certification signals that their vehicle will be repaired to OEM specifications by trained, knowledgeable technicians. Using OEM parts through OEC parts ordering solutions helps her maintain the level of accuracy and consistency those programs require, without spending more than she needs to.
Ready to simplify your parts ordering like Better Body Auto? Get started with OEC parts ordering solutions:
The impact extends beyond her shop’s internal workflow, too. By shifting more volume to OEM dealers through these programs, Sharon has strengthened her supplier relationships and negotiated better discounts. Over time, she has become such a strong advocate for these tools that other shops regularly seek her advice.
She’s not shy about encouraging them. “Run to get set up with TraxCollision and CollisionLink! Run and do it. They’re absolutely amazing.” And she genuinely means it. She adds with a smile, “I’ve turned so many of my friends and colleagues onto these programs… I’m always trying to educate people on the significance of being able to use them.”
Sharon relies on CollisionLink and TraxCollision because they fit naturally into the way her shop works and support the level of repair quality she expects. They bring clarity to estimating, efficiency to repairs, strength to dealer partnerships, and financial relief where it matters most.
Most importantly, they help her uphold the values she’s built her business on: doing right by the customer, using the safest parts available, and repairing each vehicle to the standard she would want for her own family.
