67 Years And Still Family-Owned: What That Actually Means When Your Car's In The Shop

A shop doesn't stay open in the same Cedar Rapids neighborhood for 67 years by accident. Andrews Collision Center opened its doors in 1958, and it's still family-owned today, run day to day by Tommy Kinney. That kind of longevity in the collision repair business usually comes down to one plain reason: the same customers, and their kids, and sometimes their kids' kids, keep coming back, and word gets around a town the size of Cedar Rapids when a shop does right by people.

Same address, same family, for six decades

Andrews Collision Center still operates from 815 3rd St SE, the kind of fixed, known address that says something on its own in a trade where shops open and close every few years. A customer who brought a car in a decade ago knows exactly where to find the shop today, and that continuity matters more in collision repair than in almost any other kind of business, because a warranty or a follow-up question only means something if the shop that made the promise is still standing at the same address to answer it. Sixty-seven years in, it still is.

BBB accreditation is a choice, not a requirement

Nobody has to be a BBB-accredited business to fix cars. It's a voluntary standard a shop opts into, built around how it handles customers and complaints, and Andrews Collision Center has held that accreditation for years. Paired with licensed, ASE-certified technicians on the floor, it's less about a plaque on the wall and more about what it signals before you ever bring a car in: this is a shop that's been checked, and that answers for its work.

What family-owned looks like from the customer's side

That reputation shows up in the way customers talk about the shop once they've actually used it more than once. Ashley Fitzpatrick, a repeat customer, put it plainly: "Andrew's collision has fixed my car up a number of times and they always do a fantastic job, and they are so nice with getting you in when need to be, and they have really nice and respectful staff!" That's not a one-time impression. That's someone who has been back enough times to know what to expect, and kept coming back anyway.

Other customers describe the same thing in their own words. Richard Ellis called the service "very fast and reliable," adding that "everyone working there are very friendly." Tom Rex, after a fender and bumper repair, said the shop had his rental car set up and him on his way in no time, and that "the work was outstanding." None of those are complicated compliments. They're the specific, practical things that actually matter when your car is out of commission: speed, honesty about the process, and work that holds up.

A lifetime warranty means we're still standing behind it years later

Andrews backs the craftsmanship on its bodywork with a lifetime warranty, which is a meaningfully different promise than a shop that's only been around a few years can credibly make. A warranty is only worth what the shop behind it is likely to still be there to honor, and a business that's already outlasted six decades in the same location is a fairly strong answer to that question. It's also consistent with how the shop already approaches the work itself: measure before quoting, match paint properly instead of close enough, and stand behind the result rather than treating a repair as finished the moment the car leaves the lot.

What to expect when you bring your car in

Practically, that reputation translates into a shop that's straightforward to deal with. Andrews accepts cash, check, Discover, MasterCard and Visa, and the same technicians who've been doing this work for years are the ones who'll walk you through what your car actually needs, not just what's fastest to bill. None of that is complicated, and it isn't meant to be. A family that's been fixing cars at the same Cedar Rapids address since 1958 has had a long time to figure out what actually matters to the person standing at the counter, and it isn't a sales pitch. If your car needs collision or body work in Cedar Rapids, that's 67 years of the same family answering for the result, not a shop that opened last year and might not be there for the warranty to matter.