A mobile business vehicle is a storefront, and every day it is in a shop is a day of lost revenue. These builds also carry equipment that an ordinary adjuster will not recognize or value, which is why documentation matters more here than on any other vehicle type.
What this covers
When a food truck is hit, the body damage is rarely the expensive part. The expensive part is the equipment, the build out, the permits, and the days of closure.
Carriers routinely value these as commercial vans, because that is what the VIN says. Getting the build valued correctly requires documenting it properly at intake.
The work in this category
Each of these is its own repair with its own failure modes, its own parts, and its own price band. Follow any one of them for the detail, or call (714) 909-1444 and describe what the vehicle is doing.
Food truck: Body, service window, and the equipment and build out behind it.
Mobile medical clinic: Clinical build outs where interior surfaces and power systems are regulated.
Mobile pet grooming van: Water, power, and grooming equipment builds.
Mobile office: Office build outs, power, and connectivity systems.
Mobile workshop: Tool storage, benches, and power systems.
Mobile coffee truck: Service window, equipment mounting, and water systems.
Mobile salon and spa: Salon build outs, water, and power.
Mobile retail truck: Retail display build outs and service openings.
Mobile command center: Command builds with communications and power systems.
Mobile photography studio: Studio build outs and power.
Mobile catering truck: Catering equipment, service systems, and body work.
Mobile tool sales truck: Display and storage build outs in a high cycle use case.
Mobile tech service van: Service build outs with equipment and power.
Why owners bring this work to us
We document the build for the claim. Photographed and itemized at intake, with equipment listed separately from the vehicle, because that is the only way a carrier pays for it.
We do the build work too. Fabrication, electrical, plumbing, and cabinetry are in house, so equipment removal and reinstallation is one accountable job.
We understand the downtime cost. We sequence to get a revenue vehicle back in service rather than treating it as a car that can sit.
What it costs and how we quote it
Our labor rates are posted publicly: $210 per hour for body and paint, $260 for mechanical and electrical, $285 for diagnostics with a one hour minimum, and $95 for detail. Paint supplies bill at $55 per paint hour and body supplies at $5 per body hour, both calculated automatically on every estimate.
Almost no shop in Orange County publishes an hourly rate. We do, because it is the fastest way to prove an estimate is honest. If you know the rate and you know the hours, you can audit every line we write. A shop that will not tell you its rate is asking you to trust a number you have no way to check.
Where your specific job lands inside a published range is decided at teardown rather than over the phone. On these vehicles the visible damage is consistently smaller than the actual damage, which is why we photograph what is behind the panel and submit it as a documented supplement before proceeding.
Working with your insurance carrier
We bill every major carrier direct, so you cover your deductible and nothing else up front. On a repair that runs into five figures that is not a convenience, it decides whether the repair happens at all.
Under California Insurance Code section 758.5 your insurer cannot require you to use a particular shop. They may recommend one, and they have to tell you the choice is yours. That protection matters more here than on a car, because the pool of shops that can physically handle this work is small and a network shop with no relevant experience will underwrite the claim on the wrong assumptions.
Serving Buena Park and the surrounding Orange County cities
We are at 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887, about 13 miles and 20 minutes from Buena Park by way of the 91 and the 5. The shop runs 35,000 square feet under one roof, which is what lets us keep collision, structural, paint, interior, and systems work in house instead of subletting pieces of your repair to three other vendors.
All work is performed in shop. We do not run route service. A written estimate is $150, credited against the repair when you authorize it.
What this work typically costs
Real ranges from our posted catalog, not a marketing number. The spread is wide because the scope is wide, and where your job falls is determined at teardown rather than guessed at over the phone.
| Work | Typical range | Shop hours |
|---|---|---|
| Collision repair and refinish, all carriers | $1,500 to $40,000 plus | 10 to 200 |
| Fleet graphics and vinyl wrap, partial or full | $1,500 to $8,500 | 10 to 40 |
| Custom build out, camper, mobile office, or mobile medical | $5,000 to $80,000 plus | 40 to 400 |
| 12V electrical, auxiliary battery, and inverter system | $750 to $7,500 | 4 to 30 |
| Fleet graphics and vinyl wrap | $1,500 to $9,500 | 10 to 45 |
Sales tax of 7.75 percent applies to parts and materials. Labor is not taxed. See the full posted rate card.
Frequently asked questions
My food truck was hit. Will insurance pay for the kitchen equipment and build out?
Only if it is documented and valued properly. Adjusters see the VIN of a commercial van and price it accordingly. We photograph and itemize the entire build at intake, list equipment separately from the vehicle, and submit it with the claim rather than discovering it at reassembly.
How fast can you turn around a mobile business vehicle?
Faster than a comparable recreational job, because we sequence revenue vehicles differently. The honest constraint is parts. If a panel or a piece of equipment has a lead time, no amount of scheduling changes that, and we tell you at authorization rather than at week three.
Can you repair the body and rebuild the interior equipment?
Yes, both are in house. Body, paint, and structural work plus fabrication, electrical, plumbing, and cabinetry. On a build out vehicle those are one repair, and splitting them between a body shop and an equipment installer is how owners end up paying for the seam between them.
Do you work directly with my insurance company?
Yes. We bill every major carrier direct, including Progressive, GEICO, State Farm, AAA SoCal, Mercury, Allstate, Wawanesa, National General, Foremost, Liberty Mutual, Good Sam, and The Hartford. We write the estimate, photograph the damage, submit supplements when hidden damage turns up, and deal with the adjuster so you do not have to.
What does an estimate cost?
A written estimate is $150 and it is credited back against the repair once you authorize the work. An in depth diagnostic is $285 for the first hour and is credited the same way. We charge for estimates because a proper one takes real shop time, and that keeps our schedule filled with actual repairs.
Do you come out to Buena Park, or does the vehicle need to come to you?
The vehicle comes to us. Everything happens in shop at 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887, about 13 miles from Buena Park on the 91 and the 5. We do not run route service. Frame work, structural repair, and refinishing need the equipment and the booth, and nobody can do that job correctly in a parking lot.
What are your posted labor rates?
Body and paint is $210 per hour, mechanical and electrical is $260 per hour, diagnostics and programming is $285 per hour with a one hour minimum, and detail is $95 per hour. Paint supplies bill at $55 per paint hour and body supplies at $5 per body hour. Sales tax of 7.75 percent applies to parts and materials. Labor is not taxed.
Last reviewed by the OCRV Center shop team.