Kevin House started doing collision repair out of his garage. Thirty-one years later, he runs three commercial locations in Tacoma, Washington, the most recent of which opened in early 2026 as a dedicated electric vehicle repair facility — one of the only shops in the greater Tacoma area certified to repair Rivian vehicles.
Now, Center Collision is an 18-person I-CAR Gold Class status shop with two retail production locations and a third used primarily for vehicle storage. The main location handles general collision repair. It holds eight OEM certifications and pursues programs that reflect the vehicles it sees most frequently and that remain open in its geographic area.
"They won't give them to you unless you have the tools," House said of the certification programs. "That's what really generates us going after more tools."
THE STACK
Estimating and Management
- Estimating: CCC
- Shop Management: CCC
- Parts Ordering: CCC, OPUS, CollisionLink
- Accounting: QuickBooks
Center Collision uses CCC for both estimating and shop management. House said its near-universal acceptance among insurers made it the practical choice for a shop that operates without direct repair program contracts.
Parts ordering uses CCC, OPUS, and CollisionLink. Because Center Collision holds multiple OEM certifications, it prioritizes factory parts to remain in compliance with manufacturer repair procedures. General Manager Jared Osten described the multi-platform approach as a way to find the best available price on OEM parts, reducing the gap between what insurers write and what certified repairs require.
"We utilize all the different platforms to try to get the best price on factory parts, so that we can still adhere to our manufacturer certifications," said Osten.
Communications and workflow
- Customer Communication: Body Shop Booster
- Internal Team Communication: Microsoft Teams
- Photo and Documentation: CCC
- Scheduling/Capacity Planning: CCC
Customer-facing communication runs through Body Shop Booster, with text updates sent on a weekly cadence. A dedicated customer service representative at each production location manages incoming and outgoing messages.
For vehicle check-in, Center Collision tested a tablet-based digital intake process through CCC's lobby add-on but returned to paper after repeated lockups frustrated customers who were already managing a stressful situation.
"Most people don't get wrecks very often, so it's like a super big inconvenience," Osten said. "To start off their interaction with our shop with another inconvenience — no. ... We're here to help. We have the shoulders, we want to take on the problem for them."
The shop now collects customer information by hand at intake, enters it into CCC, and stores vehicle photos in a cloud-based folder system the team built internally.
Repair and production technology
- Scanning and Diagnostics: Autel
- ADAS Calibrations: In-house (Autel), recently transitioned from sublet
- Measuring System: Car-O-Liner
- Paint Mixing and Color Matching: PPG
- Spray Booths: One at main location; three at EV location
Center Collision recently transitioned ADAS calibration work in-house at its new location after purchasing Autel equipment. Previously, the shop used a mobile vendor whose facility was roughly 20 miles away, requiring a tow truck pickup and drop-off that involved significant scheduling coordination.
“It's a lengthy process,” House said, of subletting.
Osten attributed the choice of Car-O-Liner for structural measuring to the brand's breadth of OEM certifications across its product line, specifically its spot welders, rivet guns, measuring system, and frame rack. The goal was to avoid purchasing duplicate equipment across certification programs.
"We wanted to make sure that purchase was a sound purchase," Osten said. "We wanted to get the one with the most OEM certifications, kind of to align with the path that the shop was trying to go down."
Paint mixing and color matching run on PPG. The shop adopted PPG when it hired a painter already familiar with the system and has continued with it as staff has changed. House noted that most painters who come through the shop have experience with the platform.
The main location has one spray booth. The EV facility has three, though current volume does not require all three to be in use.
What collision repair technology could you not live without?
House named internet connectivity as the shop's single most critical resource. Shop floor technicians access repair procedures on large-screen computers, with Rivian repair data accessed online. The office runs on cloud-based platforms for communication, documentation, and management.
He contrasted that with an earlier era when a compressor failure would shut production down entirely. Today, the compressor going down would affect the production floor but leave the office and estimating functions operational. Connectivity failure would do the opposite.
On the technology horizon, the shop does not have major planned purchases after a significant equipment investment over the past two years. House cited the Autel calibration setup as the most impactful recent addition: "If you asked me that question six months ago, I would say, man, it would be great if we had a calibration setup, because that would save us all this. Well, we have it now."
The shop evaluates new technology primarily through free trials and attendance at SEMA, which the team has used to scout equipment, build vendor relationships, and spot operational solutions ahead of purchasing decisions. House credited a SEMA visit with introducing the shop to multi-car stacking lifts, which it subsequently ordered to maximize storage capacity at a location with limited floor space.
House described SEMA as a tool for staying ahead of where the industry is heading, with training classes and conversations with manufacturers and other shop owners informing decisions before purchases become urgent. Osten added that the relationships built at the show have also yielded better pricing on some of the equipment the shop has acquired over the past two years.
"There's solutions for common problems," House said.
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