For about five decades, Prouty Auto Body in Dover-Foxcraft, ME, has served the region as a full-service, locally-owned collision repair facility.
“We pride ourselves on our training and doing it once and doing it right the first time,” owner Dennis Brawn said in his office at the 26 Summer St. location with the whirring sounds of tools in the background.
Brawn said Amasa “Stubby” and Joyce Prouty Sherman started Prouty Auto Body, doing collision repairs, Tuff Kote Dinol brand undercoating, and in their spare time did some custom vans with Gary Caron from Greenville. The original building was destroyed in a fire and rebuilt in the early 1990s.
“I started for Stubby in ‘88 and we were in the building that (Bud Prouty) was renting to us,” Brawn said. The original location was across Summer Street from the current property. Brawn said he worked for Prouty Auto Body for a year and then moved to southern Maine.
“I returned to work for Stubby and Joyce in October of 1993, and I have been here ever since,” Brawn said. When the Shermans retired, he bought the business in October 1998.
“Right now we have six of us,” Brawn said about himself and the other Prouty Auto Body employees, who have a combined 104 years of experience.
“We pride ourselves on yearly training to make sure we are up to date on today’s automotive technologies,” Brawn said. “We have all the latest technology and training so we can work on your new cars,” to keep up with manufacturers’ specifications and requirements.
“We are I-CAR Gold, which means each employee has to take classes every year and depending on their role, have to pass a welding class every three years,” he said. Prouty Auto Body is the only I-CAR Gold class facility in Piscataquis County. Painters also must get recertified by the paint manufacturers every three years.
Brawn said everyone’s training overlaps when possible. “If the tech knows very little about painting then they may not do the things to make the painter’s job easier, but if they do know they can make one another’s position easier,” he said.
The business has state-of-the-art equipment such as that for 3-phase computerized spot welding, ultrasound, a 3D measuring system, a 3-ton, 3-post frame machine, computerized paint mixing system and two semi downdraft paint booths, and equipment for front end alignments.
A KECO Hot Glue Pulling System is used at Prouty Auto Body, as are all the tools and equipment to conduct aluminum repairs on new aluminum automobiles.
“Our goal is to repair your car to pre-accident condition,” Brawn said, mentioning repairs are not just cosmetic but often are needed for proper vehicle safety. “We try to do one thing and do it right once,” he added, as Prouty Auto Body focuses on repairs and not also selling vehicles and accessories.
“We can do 99% of stuff in-house and that’s another thing that we pride ourselves on,” Brawn said, with a few specific parts in need of reprogramming by the manufacturer as the exception. “I don’t want to have to run it here, run it there.”
Mentioning the tire machine, he said, “You come in and your car needs a tire because it popped in the accident, we can do it here.”
Sikkens refinishing systems are used for the paint work at Prouty Auto Body. Brawn said a camera takes pictures which are then entered into a worldwide database to find the precise match. “After a few years of wear and tear, sometimes your car might call for a certain color but another manufacturer’s color may match better.”
Paint is mixed on site to get the precise amount needed for the job. “It’s a little more expensive than others but it seems to work the best,” Brawn said about Sikkens, adding he wants to use the best products and not cut corners.
“We deal with all the insurance companies,” Brawn said, with most of this work being done electronically. Car rentals from Hertz are provided to collision repair customers.
Prouty Auto Body is located at 26 Summer St. in Dover-Foxcroft and is open Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with emergency hours available. For more information, contact 207-564-8353 or proutyautobody@proutyautobody.com or go to www.proutyautobody.com or www.facebook.com/proutyab.
