State of the art collision repair center strives for excellence
The clean and tidy inside of the North Idaho Collision Repair Center features up to date equipment needed to complete repair orders with precision. It includes the state-of-the-art Blowtherm paint booth.
Photos by SHANE FLOREA
Shane Florea’s mother’s truck on the big move out of California to North Idaho to begin her new life with Shane and his four siblings circa 1965.
Photo courtesy Suzy Falck
Photo by SHANE FLOREA The state of the art Blowtherm paint booth located at North Idaho Collision Repair Center.
Photo by SHANE FLOREA Shane Florea takes pride in offering a comfortable office in which customers may enjoy superior customer service.
BONNERS FERRY — Modern and cutting edge equipment coupled with professional and courteous service is a mainstay at a local automotive collision repair shop, right here in Boundary County.
Shane Florea has made North Idaho Collision Repair Center a professional and customer friendly place to entrust with the repair of your vehicles.
“Once you come here, chances are you’re not going anywhere else, ever,” said Florea. “What we do that is different than anyone else is how we are so genuine and care so much that our clients notice the difference.”
Florea has more than 30 years of experience with collision work.
Pretty much a Boundary County native, Florea began his work experience when he left the area at 17 years old for oil field work. After that, he found himself in Colorado where he worked for 10 years at a GM dealership, and then with a high-end body shop and collision repair center that specialized in exotic vehicles where he stayed for 20 years.
According to Florea, his story can best be viewed as a “rags to riches” saga.
Florea’s father died a month prior to his birth and left his mother to care for Florea and his four siblings. In 1965, Florea’s mother left California to arrive to Boundary County, where she purchased 133 acres of land near Goodgrief.
“The community thought she was insane to buy that many acres,” said Florea.
Florea and his family contribute in many humanitarian ways to the local community. In addition to being a viable and active board member with the Chamber of Commerce and involved in the local Rotary organization, he donates and works with other charitable organizations and entities in the area.
Vehicle services are currently, and have been, available, and the shop is open during the COVID-19 related shutdown. Florea has initiated steps to help with slowing the spread of the virus.
“The front doors are locked,” said Florea. “Customers and visitors knock to come in, and we keep everything clean and sanitized.”
Florea’s collision center is one of two in the county, and his business has the only high-end, state of the art, paint booth for a thousand miles. The booth is a Blowtherm — an Italian-made and environmentally-friendly paint booth environment.
There is a difference between an auto body shop and a collision repair center. While there are a number of auto-body businesses in Boundary County, there are only two collision centers. A collision repair center focuses on returning the vehicle to manufacturers specifications and does so with equipment and tools that are top of the line, with regular continuing education of employees to keep up with industry standards and new vehicle technologies.
“We mostly do insurance stuff,” said Florea. “We also offer a written lifetime warranty on all the work we do.”
“Bottom line is, it matters who is working on your car and how well they’re trained, and if they have the right equipment to put it back together correctly,” said Florea. “If it’s not repaired correctly, it voids the warranty, if it’s not welding together correctly, somebody can get hurt.”
The shop offers additional services such as; auto glass repair and replacement, air conditioning service, and a service called Cavity Wax.
“A Cavity Wax is for vehicles that have some rust, we can slow it down with this service,” said Florea. “We take all trim and panels off and spray with the Cavity Wax, so that the rust can be stopped before it eats through the vehicle.”
At this time, North Idaho Collision Repair Center employs five people, and there are some big goals planned for the near future.
“The plans we have as far as where we want to be in 10 years, are to be able to facilitate large trucks (Tractor Trailers) and stay updated on all modern vehicles,” said Florea. “We would like to be able to handle more than what we are doing, and expand 20% per year, and possibly begin offering a rental car service.”
“We are a hidden gem,” explained Florea.
The collision center’s location is located off of Highway 95, near to the landfill. Florea is considering different locations to expand the business.
“Being back and tucked away is a little bit of a challenge,” said Florea. “We have a radio spot specifically for letting people know of our location, and there is signage on the highway, though I would love to have more exposure.”
North Idaho Collision Repair Center is located at 148 David Thompson Drive in Bonners Ferry. They can be reached by calling 208-267-9995 or online at nicrepaircenter.com.
