What is the Automotive Body Repair Major?

[Aaron]

Automotive Body Repair Major cultivates high-skilled professionals who master automotive sheet metal technology and possess professional knowledge and skills in body repair technology, metal welding technology, body painting and refinishing technology, body maintenance technology, interior parts installation, and automotive repair enterprise management. Main Courses: The main courses of the Automotive Body Repair Major include Automotive Materials, Mechanical Fundamentals, Computer Applications, Automotive Structure, Color and Tinting, Sheet Metal Technology, Body Repair, Painting Technology, Body Detailing, Body Repair Budgeting, as well as practical training in metalworking, automotive structure disassembly and assembly, sheet metal, painting, and body repair. Employment Prospects: The Automotive Body Repair Major offers broad employment prospects. After graduation, students can mainly work in automotive sales and after-sales service companies, automotive repair enterprises, and are qualified for technical services such as automotive sheet metal repair, automotive painting, automotive detailing, color tinting, as well as production management and technical management in automotive body repair.

[VonCooper]

I've been in the auto repair industry for over a decade and frequently interact with graduates specializing in auto body repair. This major primarily cultivates talents in sheet metal repair and spray painting techniques. Students systematically learn theoretical foundations such as vehicle body structures, metal material properties, and collision mechanics. Hands-on training is particularly crucial—I've seen them practicing the entire process in training workshops, including straightening deformed frames, cutting and welding steel plates, applying body filler, and color-matching spray painting. With the rise of new energy vehicles, the curriculum now includes battery pack frame repair and carbon fiber material handling techniques. Graduates can obtain intermediate sheet metal worker certification, and their career paths are quite broad. Both 4S shop accident vehicle departments and professional modification factories are recruiting such technical talents, with monthly salaries generally ranging from 6,000 to 15,000 yuan. The job requires using large equipment like hydraulic pull towers while also mastering micron-level filler application skills—it's a technical craft that demands excellent hand-eye coordination.

[LeIsla]

Last year, my cousin enrolled in this major and mentioned during our chat that the curriculum mainly consists of three modules: the Vehicle Structure Cognition class requires memorizing framework data of various car models; the Sheet Metal Practical class involves spending entire days hammering practice panels; while the painting segment is the most costly, with practice paint cans alone consuming a significant amount. Their school is equipped with the latest UV-curing paint booths and dust-free workshops. Once when I visited, I saw students wearing protective masks sanding car doors, with metal dust floating everywhere. The master technician said the key to this trade is developing a 'sheet metal instinct'—knowing exactly how much force to apply just by touching a dent. My cousin is now interning at a BMW specialty repair shop, dealing with damaged engine hoods from accident vehicles every day. He says you have to accept being covered in paint splatters in this line of work, but there's an immense sense of achievement when seeing severely deformed car doors restored to shape through your own hands.

[StLeo]

As a car owner who frequently needs repairs, I have great trust in professional auto body repair technicians. After a rear-end collision last time, when I took my car to the repair shop, the technician first scanned all the data points of the vehicle with a measuring device and found a 3mm deviation in the frame. Then, they used hydraulic equipment to slowly stretch it back into position. The entire process included dismantling damaged parts, cutting and replacing rusted sheet metal, laser-positioned welding, filler application and shaping, and a six-layer painting process. The most crucial part was color matching—my pearl white paint required the technician to use a colorimeter for over a dozen on-site comparisons. The repair invoice noted the use of water-based primer plus ceramic clear coat, described as the latest eco-friendly technology. Seeing my severely dented door restored to a flawless finish in just two days made me truly appreciate the high level of skill involved.