Toyota Certified Collision Repair?

What does being Toyota certified entail?
Anything special/preferred about using one?

 

Someone from Toyota comes in, looks around the shop, says ok looks good. Bam approved.

It doesn't mean much to be "Toyota approved repair facility."

Where it might help is if something goes wrong during the course of repairs. Maybe a bad weld or poor work/fitment. You might have a leg to stand on with Toyota since you did take it to one of their approved facilities.

They can and will still use aftermarket parts, if that's what the insurance company pays for. The shop is supposed to make the customer fully aware they are using aftermarket parts, but that's not always the case.

 

It is marketing wank to bring in customers.

 

Kind of what I suspected...
Will most shops worth a damn have access to and apply Toyota CRIBs?

 

Most big shops have access to it. You would have to get lucky to find an Estimator and Technician that gave a crap to actually follow it. I'd say there's a 50/50 chance at getting the right guys on the job. Most techs are there to flag hours. Most don't have pride in their work and follow repair guidelines set out by Toyota.

Any damage that involves frame repair or welding panels, I'd want it at the nicest shop I could find. Not the shop my insurance company recommends who is out to save them money.