"You can see the disappointment on their face when they meet me," Merritt said. "I sometimes have to almost talk them into letting me help them. But once I do, I prove to them I know what I'm talking about."

Merritt said she spent a summer in estimating training at Automotive Training Centres in British Columbia in 2004 but that her experience at the shop goes back much further. Her parents, Bob and Patty Merritt, have co-owned and operated the business since 1987, when Bob Merritt turned a vacant portion of his father's business, Herb's Towing, into a body shop, she said. (Herb's Towing subsequently moved a few blocks away and is operated by another family member.)

Merritt said she recalls spending weekends and summers working at the shop since before she was a teenager, cleaning the office, working with the parts manager, detailing cars, and eventually moving into the front office full-time after graduating from high school.

Now she said she is preparing estimates for drivers referred to Sureway by previous shop customers, through a few insurance direct repair programs, and by a number of the many dealerships that have located nearby since the shop opened its doors, including Harnish Lincoln-Mercury, Saturn of Puyallup, and Larson Dodge.

"Saturn of Puyallup also has an amazing parts department, and I don't say that just because we do some work for that dealership," Merritt said. "They are always friendly and knowledgeable, and if they can't figure out what clip or something I'm trying to order, they're really great about sending me a break-down right away. They're the best I've worked with."

She has similar praise for aftermarket parts supplier GP Automotive in Sumner.

"We started buying from them about two years ago, and they always go the extra mile," she said. "If they don't have a part, they make sure it's also not available (from a competitor), so I don't have to do all that work, and they have even tried to find a recycled part for us instead. They're life-savers."

The shop has 15 employees operating out of an 11,500-square-foot facility. Bob Merritt said one his best investments in the business was converting the building between the street and his main shop building into an "estimating and claims center."

"That used to be a car lot," Merritt said, pointing to the building that includes a covered drive-through area, some office space, and several repair bays. "It was kind of sad after being here for almost 15 years when people would come in here and say, 'I've driven past here every day and never seen you.' So we put in the claims center, and it was an overnight success."

In addition to more street visibility, the building gives both the shop's and insurance company personnel a covered area and office space in which to prepare estimates.

"But still, when you come in here, you don't see some million-dollar store front, and that's because my dad's always been really big on investing more in the right equipment," Shawn Merritt said.

Technicians, for example, have access to two Kansas-Jack frame racks, a Blackhawk Shark measuring system, and two paint booths (one AFC and one Binks). Bob Merritt said he spent almost a year trying different welders before recently purchasing a Saitek inverter welder. He predicted that his next purchase will be an aluminum welder.

"There's more aluminum and higher-strength steels coming into the marketplace, so we're watching that closely," he said. "We're trying to keep pace with it without getting too far ahead."

The shop switched to Sherwin-Williams paint products about a year ago, which Shawn Merritt said has been a very positive move for the company.

"I think we're able to make a much better profit on paint, and we're better able to keep track of it," she said. "They have this computerized program that can keep track of clips and retainers and things like that, and also your paint supplies. So we can see per-job how much paint we're using. So that's been great to be able to keep track of what's going on in the paint department. It's just a click away."

Merritt said her time as an estimator has taught her the importance and value of "writing estimates right the first time," in part to help reduce the cost and delays of supplements.

"And I've seen other estimators in the past who, for example, were not as good about calling to check on parts prices," she said. "If you write a customer-pay estimate, you don't want to lose customers because you were inaccurate and end up having to charge them more."

Merritt said that when she was younger, she envied her friends for their part-time jobs that seemed much easier than her work at the shop, and at one point she had wanted to pursue training and a career in nursing.

"But my dad and I talked and talked back and forth, and I eventually figured out there's no reason I shouldn't go into this industry," she said. "I know so much about it. Not many people grow up working in a body shop. So he talked me into it and made me realize it's special to be a part of a family business. And I'm glad I did it. Definitely. I get it now," she said, laughing.