September 2018 Northeast Edition by Autobody News

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Long Island Body Shop To Pay $400,000 in Back Wages, Damages, Penalties The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has entered a consent judgment requiring Paul Dill Associates Inc. and its two owners, Paul Joseph Dill and Paul Jeremy Dill—doing business as Bi County Auto Body—to pay $185,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 49 employees, plus $30,000 in civil penalties. The judgment follows an investigation by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division that identified violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by the Smithtown, NY, auto body repair business.

Investigators from WHD’s Long Island District Office found that between July 2014 and April 2016, the employer violated the FLSA’s overtime requirements when they paid 49 employees straight time rates, in cash, for all the hours they worked beyond 40 in a workweek. The FLSA requires overtime for those hours at one and one-half times workers’ regular rates of pay. The employer also deducted one hour per day from employees’ time for a meal break even though employees were often unable to take See Shop To Pay $400,000, Page 14

Discussion at CIC Highlights Dramatic Changes Coming to the Industry by John Yoswick

Michael Simon, director of strategic accounts for Bosch Automotive, is the latest to remind the industry that the absence of any dash warning lights doesn’t mean a vehicle doesn’t need to be scanned. “And the diagnostic codes do not point to a repair, only a symptom,” Simon said at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in Atlanta in August. “If a doctor takes your blood pressure and your blood pressure is high, what does that mean? He’s got to figure out if it’s hyper-

tension, is it stress in life, or what’s going on. It’s the same thing with codes. What does that code mean? It says something isn’t working right, but it still requires you to diagnose.” In his presentation at CIC, Simon made it clear that he was speaking personally rather than as a representative of Bosch. He said the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in new vehicles today are part of the automakers’ learning mode on the road to autonomous vehicles. “This is the start of the biggest economic and social shift of the last See Discussion at CIC, Page 24

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Vol. 9 / Issue 6 / September 2018

25 Defendants Charged in $4.5 Million Classic Car Fraud Scheme in NY According to a press release from the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the assistant director-in-charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Diyora Ashirova, Elvin Baghir-Pur, Kirill Dedusev, Roman Eliozashvili, Sarkhan Imamverdiyev, Mikheil Inadze, Aziza Jalolova, Elvin Javadzade, Igor Kalinitchev, a/k/a “Irvin Kalinitchev,” Tengiz Khukhiashvili, Yelena Kudaibergenova, Mishel Levinski, Stanislav Lisitskiy, a/k/a “Giedrius Girnius,” Aleksei Livadnyi, Durra Mehdiyeva, Mikhail Morozov, Ielyzaveta NAzina, Gocha Paposhvili, Matiss Puke, Ketevan Sepiashvili, Aleksandr Stari-

kov, Igor Stasovskiy, Nikolay Tupikin, Karlis Vitols, and Melvut Yazici with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering. Eleven of the defendants were arrested on these charges July 24 in New York. These defendants were presented and arraigned that day before United States Magistrate Judge James L. Cott in Manhattan federal court. Baghir-Pur was arrested in Miami that same day and was presented there later that day. Khukiashvili is in custody on state charges in Alachua County, FL, and Puke and Vitols are in custody on state charges in Charlevoix County, MI. All three will be transferred to federal custody. Dedusev, Eliozashvili, Kudaibergenova, Lisitskiy, Livadnyi, Morozov, See Classic Car Fraud, Page 16

U.S. Sen. Doug Jones Says He’s Hoping to Halt Proposed Auto Tariffs by William Thornton, AL.com

pens, we’re going to fight to protect what our states and our workers have earned.” Jones’ comments occurred as segments of the auto industry are converging on the nation’s capital to lobby against the proposed tariffs. The push is coming at the same time the Commerce Department has two days of hearings scheduled on the tariff issue. In May, President Donald Trump directed the Commerce Department to begin an investigation into whether imported vehicles and auto parts constitute a national security threat. The administration is reportedly considering a 20 to 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles. More than 2,300 comments were collected during the investigation period. Segments of the auto industry, as well as Jones, Sen. Richard Shelby See Hearings on Tariffs, Page 6

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ACA Joins Auto Groups Opposing Tariffs in Open Letter to President Trump

CONTENTS September 2018. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

25 Defendants Charged in $4.5 Million Classic Car Fraud Scheme in NY . . . . . . . . . . 1 AASP/MA Members Meet New Executive Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 AASP/NJ Welding Seminar Attendees Earn License Renewal Certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 ARA-NY To Host 2018 Annual Convention and Trade Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 CT Body Shop Owner’s Dream Complicated by Code Crackdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Dorchester County, MD, Public Schools Join Youth Apprenticeship Program. . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Long Island Body Shop To Pay $400,000 in Back Wages, Damages, Penalties . . . . . . . 1 Moody’s Collision Center in Scarborough, ME, Gives Gift of Transportation. . . . . . . . . . 26 NY Veterans Receive Donated Vehicle at Long Island Ducks Stadium . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 RI Firefighter Charged With Attacking Body Shop Owner, Owner’s Son . . . . . . . . . . 6 Sisk - Regional Association Event Announcements: September 2018 . . . . . . . 28 Summertime, and the Driving in Rockland, NY, Is Not So Easy . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

NATIONAL ACA Joins Auto Groups Opposing Tariffs in Open Letter to President Trump. . . . . . . . . . . 3 After the Donation: Retired Marine Pays it Forward as His Mission Continues. . . . . . . . 54 Analysis: Red-Light Cameras Don’t Reduce Traffic Accidents or Improve Public Safety . . 53 Did the John Eagle Decision Change Anything? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Discussion at CIC Highlights Dramatic Changes Coming to the Industry . . . . . . . . . . 1 Ford Commits to Spending $4 Billion on Autonomous Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Ford Has To Pay Nearly $300 Million Because Of Fatal Takata Airbags . . . . . . . . . 68

Attanasio - Dylan Maki Has Real Fish Stories to Tell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Attanasio - To Facebook or Not? Answers From Experts for Body Shops . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Ledoux - 120 Years of Body-Building Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Ledoux - OE Shop Certification Programs: Porsche . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Phillips - All-Female Body Shop Encourages the Next Generation of Auto Body Techs . . . 44 Phillips - The Power of Leadership — Tips on How To Be a Great Leader . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Roistacher - Ask the Auto Body Attorney:

ported or domestically produced. These higher costs will inevitably lead to declining sales and the loss of American jobs, as well as increasing vehicle service and repair costs that may result in consumers delaying critical vehicle maintenance.” The open letter is now live at www.NoAutoTariffs.com and appeared as a print ad in the Wall Street Journal and in Washington, D.C.based publications on Wednesday, July 18 and Thursday, July 19.

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Acura of Westchester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . 60

Atlantic Hyundai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

McGovern Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram . . . . . 16

Audi Fairfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Mercedes-Benz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 38-39

Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Mercedes-Benz of Atlantic City. . . . . . . . . . . 51

AutobodyLaw.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Mercedes-Benz of Fairfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Axalta Coating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Mercedes-Benz of Fort Washington . . . . . . . 51

Bical Auto Mall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Mercedes-Benz of Paramus . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . 66-67

Mercedes-Benz of West Chester . . . . . . . . . 51

Cadillac of Mahwah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Mercedes-Benz of Wilmington . . . . . . . . . . . 59

CarcoonAmerica Airflow Systems. . . . . . . . . 32

Mercedes-Benz Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 73

Central Avenue Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram . . 24

MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Cherry Hill Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram . . . . . . 8

Mirka USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chicago Pneumatic Compressors. . . . . . . . . . 6

Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . 72

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . 42-43

Collision Equipment Consulting, Inc.. . . . . . . 22

Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale Parts Dealer . . . . . 72

Colonial Automotive Group . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 29

Northstar Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Dent Magic Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Nucar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Diamond Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Polyvance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Dominion Sure Seal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Porsche of Fairfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

ECS Automotive Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . 64

Empire Auto Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

EMS Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Priority 1 Automotive Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Equalizer Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

RBL Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Robaina Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Fred Beans Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

SATA Dan-Am Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Schultz Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

GYS Welding USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Security Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram . . . . . . . . 7

But With Human Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Honda-Acura Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 34-35

Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes . . . . . 11

WAC Meeting Energizes Members. . . . . . . . . . 71

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . 62

Spanesi Americas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Infiniti of Norwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . 71

JiffyJump.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Symach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . 69

Tasca Automotive Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Launch Tech USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . 68

Lynnes Auto Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

VIP Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Malco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . 63

Malouf Chevrolet-Cadillac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Westbury Jeep-Chrysler-Dodge-Ram-SRT . . 21

Ford Offering Dealers $1,000 for Every 2006 Ranger Fixed for Defective Takata Airbags . . 72 Good News: Your Tesla Model 3 Is Finally Ready. Bad News: It May Take Weeks To Get It Serviced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Judge Finds Lousiana Collision Shop’s Business Practices ‘Unethical’ and Violation of UTPA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Nelson Glass Tools Announces New

COLUMNISTS

The Auto Care Association joined a coalition of major auto industry groups representing nearly 10 million jobs in the United States to urge the Trump administration to avoid imposing additional tariffs on imported autos and auto parts. In an open letter to President Trump, the seven auto groups urged the president that, “Raising tariffs on autos and auto parts would be a massive tax on consumers who buy or service their vehicles—whether im-

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS

REGIONAL

Glass Bot Quartermaster Tool . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Nissan Recalls 105,000 Versas for Deadly Takata Airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Sen. Doug Jones Says He’s Hoping to Halt Proposed Auto Tariffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Trump Administration Seeks to Freeze Fuel Economy Standards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Uber Puts Self-Driving Cars Back to Work,

Walmart To Transport Shoppers in Waymo Self-Driving Cars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 What Is the Future for New, Used Car Sales Claims? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Senators Want to Sneak Safety Exemptions for Self-Driving Cars Into Law by Angie Schmitt, Streetsblog USA

A group of senators led by South Dakota Republican John Thune wants to let companies rush selfdriving cars to market before any federal safety standards related to autonomous systems have been drafted.

A coalition of 65 consumer advocacy and street safety organizations has warned against the bill known as AV START, which would preempt state and local safety regulations of self-driving cars without spelling out any federal safety rules (although it would allow U.S. DOT to draft some). In addition,

the bill would exempt AVs from many safety standards that apply to all other cars. Each manufacturer would get an allotment of 100,000 vehicles to sell for use on public streets within three years. In a letter sent to Senators July 16, the coalition—which includes the American Public Health Association, America Walks and the League of American Bicyclists— demands the addition of public safety standards before the legislation is enacted. But Thune, the Commerce Committee chair who represents one of the most rural, least-populated states in the nation, wants to include the AV START language as a rider to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, which is viewed as a must-pass. The maneuver would prevent debate and an up-or-down vote on AV START as stand-alone legislation. The rush to pass AV START See Sneak Exemptions, Page 14

‘Will Your Self-Driving Vehicle Need a License?’

Act, a pending initiative to centralize rules for testing and then deploying In an attempt to legislate the testing self-driving vehicles. “Have any of these laws changed and ultimately the impending regular use of self-driving vehicles, a lot of anything that is happening on the government entities are weighing in, ground as automakers and others perfrom Congress to individual states and fect their prototypes?” asked session moderator Eric Paul Deneven some cities. nis, a CAR analyst. It prompted attorney “Not really,” said panJennifer Dukarski to ask elist Brian Daugherty, whether the law can keep up chief technology officer for with technology. the Motor and Equipment “It usually doesn’t,” Manufacturers Association. she said, answering her own Dukarski called the pendquestion. ing federal legislation “too Dukarski was among “States and cities slow. It’s not going to get you participants at a session tiare creating tled “Will Your Self-Driving regimes that are so there.” A goal of the bill is to Vehicle Need a License?” at restrictive,” Jennifer avoid a patchwork of state and local laws on self-drithe Center for Automotive Dukarski said. ving cars. Research’s annual ManageCredit: Roger Hart Basically, the bill tells ment Briefing Seminars. In one way or another, 36 states states and cities, “You don’t have to have become involved in overseeing do this, we already have,” said fellow autonomous vehicle testing, particu- panelist Bryant Walker Smith. “States and cities are creating larly on public roads. There are federal agency guide- regimes that are so restrictive,” said lines on matters such as whether self- Dukarski of the Butzel Long law firm driving cars will still need steering in Ann Arbor, MI. She also holds an engineering degree. “In my state, the wheels. Congress is considering the so- little city of Canton is creating its called Autonomous Vehicle START own regulatory framework of how by Steven Finlay, Wards Auto

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Uber Drops Self-Driving Trucks Soon After Debut in Autonomous Car Shift by Mike Brown, Inverse

Uber is pulling the plug on its autonomous trucks just four months after it demonstrated the vehicles shipping freight across Arizona. The ride-hailing firm has shifted plans dramatically ever since one of its autonomous cars killed a pedestrian in March, and the company told Inverse it now plans to exclusively focus on passenger vehicles. Uber bought autonomous truck firm Otto in October 2016, with CEO Travis Kalanick claiming it was part of a shift into services that “serve and elevate humanity.” Uber dropped the Otto branding in May 2017, with plans to use a 64-channel spinning lidar array on Volvo trucks using Uber’s inhouse software stack. The company revealed on March 6 that its vehicles were already moving freight across Arizona, but just 12 days later, an autonomous car killed a 49-year-old woman in Tempe, AZ, leading to an immediate halt of all self-driving vehicle operations. “We’ve decided to stop development on our self-driving truck program and move forward exclusively with cars,” Eric Meyhofer,

and when autonomous vehicles can operate in town.” Overreaching government reaction to new technology is old news, said Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina. He also is an engineer and heads a task force on on-road autonomous vehicle standards. He noted that the island of Nantucket, MA, banned automobiles in their early days. “It didn’t last because people wanted their vehicles,” he said. Daugherty said, “Regulators are struggling. You have a tug-and-pull situation. You have overreach by some people who are swimming outside their lanes.” Session panelists also discussed the inevitability of automakers facing lawsuits if a self-driving car malfunctions, causing an accident. Some of those already have occurred in test situations. A pedestrian was killed in one such incident. Smith said, “It’s safer than the one that’s just failed. That’s historic. In the early days of automobiles, when the original spokes broke, they made them thicker. When steering wheels snapped and speared drivers

head of Uber Advanced Technologies Group, told Inverse. “We recently took the important step of returning to public roads in Pittsburgh, and as we look to continue that momentum, we believe having our entire team’s energy and expertise focused on this effort is the best path forward.” The company is not dropping Uber Freight, its non-autonomous initiative that matches human truckers with shippers in a similar vein to its passenger offerings. Uber Freight continues to grow, doubling its load volume every quarter and tripling the size of its team since launching in May 2017, but the company has decided that it does not need to develop autonomous trucks to remain competitive in the space. Beyond trucks, Uber is planning to gradually return to public roads. It recently started operations in Pittsburgh again in manual mode, following a large round of layoffs for 100 existing operators. As for the employees working on the trucks, Uber plans to move them to other areas of the autonomous car business or offer them relocation or separation packages. We thank Inverse for reprint permission.

in accidents, that was fixed, too. It’s something companies do.” Dukarski touted the self-regulating effectiveness of industry oversight in autonomous car development. She said, “People say, ‘Isn’t that the fox watching the henhouse?’ Maybe it’s time to let the fox do that.” Yet, she noted, work remains in preparing self-driving vehicles for the real world of transportation. She recalled a test-drive mishap in Detroit three years ago on a road that had both lane markers and tar lines. “The vehicle followed the tar lines and almost ran into another vehicle,” she said. As automakers and other companies such as Google’s Waymo continue to develop their versions of self-driving cars, “these vehicles are constantly monitored and upgraded,” Smith said. Dukarski, who had sparred with Smith on some issues during the session, responded, “I couldn’t agree more with that.” We thank Wards Auto for reprint permission.

www.autobodynews.com

autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

RI Firefighter Charged With Attacking Body Shop Owner, Owner’s Son

Dorchester County, MD, Public Schools Join Youth Apprenticeship Program

by Tom Mooney, Providence Journal

by Kelsie Cairns, WMDT

“When officers arrived, they found the son badly beaten and bleeding A Providence, RI, firefighter cur- profusely.” A witness who saw the assault rently on leave without pay faces felony assault charges after police provided officers with the license say he attacked two men when they plate of the motorcycle, along with approached him as he was “scream- a description. A felony warrant was issued ing and yelling” at a woman to get for Whiting after the victims posion his motorcycle. Police arrested Willard Whit- tively identified him as their ating, 45, of 200 Cannon St. in tacker. The business owner was Cranston, on July 24, two days after released from the hospital after being treated and his son he allegedly assaulted the is still being treated for owner of Cranston Colli“severe injuries and will sion and the shop owner’s likely require a long-term son early the morning of recovery.” July 22 outside their WalWhiting entered no nut Grove Avenue busiplea at his initial court apness. Police say the victims pearance July 24 and was had gone to the collision Willard Whiting. released on personal reyard to cover a convertible Credit: Cranston cognizance. He is schedcar that had been towed into Police uled to appear in Superior the lot earlier when they heard Whiting screaming at a woman. Court on Oct. 23. A spokeswoman for Provi“The disturbance and yelling continued, and when the owner and dence’s police and fire departments his son approached them, Whiting said Whiting was a city firefighter allegedly attacked the owner and his currently on unpaid leave. We thank Providence Journal son, causing serious bodily injury,” Cranston police said in a statement. for reprint permission.

AASP/NJ Welding Seminar Attendees Earn License Renewal Certificates by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On July 17 and July 19, AASP/NJ hosted two trainings held at the Holiday Inn in Totowa and the Clarion Hotel in Toms River, NJ, respectively. Presented by General Motors and sponsored by Flemington Car and Truck Country, the

seminars taught by GM Technician Training Instructor Christopher Pearce focused on structural collision repair, specifically steel and aluminum welding. More than 150 technicians attended this vital training and earned certificates toward their auto body license renewals. Attendees received an overview of the repair and replacement process related to structural components of GM vehicles. They were provided with information concerning the tools and resources to use, includ6

ing the free website GenuineGMParts.com, which allows them access to repair guidelines for all GM vehicles. Pearce also utilized training videos to demonstrate what welding techniques should and should not be implemented when welding aluminum and steel. Moving beyond his presentation on technical procedures, Pearce also discussed the challenges inherent in photo estimating. Referring to the renowned John Eagle Collision lawsuit of 2017, he also stressed the importance of repairing vehicles to OEM specifications. “If you aren’t following OEMrecommended procedures, you can be the one in front of the judge. It’s that simple,” he said. At the end of each seminar, AASP/NJ Executive Director Charles Bryant presented each attendee with a certificate that can be used as part of their auto body license renewal this coming September. For more information on AASP/NJ and its upcoming events, visit www.aaspnj.org.

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

“This is a huge opportunity for youth of Dorchester County,” said Kermit Hines, principal of Dorchester Career and Technology Center in Cambridge, MD. Dorchester County Public Schools are the first on the Eastern Shore to join a state program aimed at shaping students for the work world. It’s called the student apprenticeship program. The program allows students to earn school credit while getting hands-on experience. Hines said it gives students a leg up in the workforce. “It gives them that edge to have someone who has been chosen as an expert in the field to teach them in that same field,” he said. With the apprenticeship program, students can get hands-on experience in a variety of different areas, such as auto collision repair and refinishing. When school starts back this fall, students can apply to various

companies and interview just as they would for a regular job. They can earn 450 hours working in the field, on top of earning school credit, and get paid. Jesse Morris, once a student of a similar work program, said the hands-on skills he developed smoothed the way for his success in the automotive industry. “You essentially are higher qualified than those just walking in off the street [to job interviews],” Morris said. Morris has a message for teens thinking about applying for the DCTC apprenticeship program. “Try it!” he said. “You will never know if you don’t try it. You will get dirty; you may skin your knuckles; you may hurt your fingers, but it’s worthwhile.” We thank WMDT for reprint permission.

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autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Continued from Cover

NY Veterans Receive Donated Vehicle at Long Island Ducks Stadium

Two wartime veterans were recognized for their military service and gifted with vehicles donated by GEICO Insurance Company and enhanced by The Collision Centers of New York. The two veterans were honored at the Long Island Ducks Baseball Stadium during the 6:35 p.m. game on August 4 during the annual Military Appreciation Night. U.S. Navy Veteran Christopher Russel and U.S. Marine Veteran Mark Davis, both Suffolk County residents, were struggling to do their daily tasks without a vehicle. Getting to work, going to doctor’s appointments, seeing family and having the freedom they deserve was difficult without a working vehicle. Davis and Russel were each given a vehicle at the Long Island Ducks Game during the sixth inning, where fans and spectators rose and gave the two veterans a standing ovation during the presentation of the keys. Davis, who was nominated by the Veterans of Foreign War, received a 2014 Toyota Corolla. After the ceremony, he said, “I just can’t stop smiling; thank you so much.”

The Economic Opportunity Council –Suffolk nominated Russel in hopes the vehicle would help him cut down on his two-hour commute to work on his bike. He was gifted a 2009 Honda CRV.

Participants in the Recycled Rides event gather after the cars had been revealed.

The cars were donated through the National Auto Body Council’s (NABC) Recycled Rides Program, which ensures deserving citizens without safe and operational vehicles have cars or vans that meet their needs and the needs of their families. Joe Amodei, Recycled Rides cochair, NABC board member and president of The Collision Centers is proud of the organizations’ years-long work to honor and support America’s veterans and their families. “It is important for us as a community to come together and support our military members. If we can help

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

them get back on the road, their opportunities open greatly. They give up so much that this is a small thank you to them,” Amodei said. The Recycled Rides Program creates an opportunity for the collision industry to come together with like-minded organizations to raise awareness and offer support to those who need and deserve it most. Many are involved in the granting of these vehicles, including The Collision Centers, GEICO, Apple Honda, Keystone Auto Parts, Phoenix Auto Glass, Elite Towing, Kemperle Paint, Sunrise Toyota and Driving 4 Change Foundation. The program brings people together to make a positive change for others. Being without a vehicle is very difficult; even the smallest of tasks can seem challenging. As it will for the veteran recipients, Recycled Rides plays an important role in getting people back on the road, but, more importantly, it helps open doors to better opportunities, to enriched quality of life and to increased selfesteem. August 4th’s Recycled Rides event is one of many being held nationwide as a part of the NABC.

Hearings on Tariffs

and Gov. Kay Ivey, among others, have made comments opposing the tariffs. Ivey, in a letter to Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross, said Alabama’s auto segment could lose up to 4,000 jobs as a result. Jones said he [remembers] when Alabama did not produce any automobiles; yet the state is now the nation’s third-leading auto exporter. “Now let me be clear—while the United States faces any number of threats from adversaries on any number of fronts, foreign automobiles and auto parts are not a threat to our national security,” he said. “But you know what is a threat? A 25 percent tax on the price of these imported goods.” Auto industry figures say the proposed tariffs would adversely affect American automobiles because many models produced domestically use imported parts, which they say would drive up the cost for consumers. Tariffs would also inspire retaliatory tariffs in See Hearings on Tariffs, Page 25

r u t d

AASP/MA Members Meet New Executive Director

Golf Outing was a great success. The weather held off, and everyone shared AASP/MA held its Annual Golf Out- in some laughs—some at the expense ing on July 25 at the Blackstone Na- of others, with myself being one of tional Golf Club in Sutton, MA. them! It was great to catch up with In addition to a day of golfing some shop owners I [had] not seen in fun, the event provided a public a long time.” forum for the association to introduce AASP/MA’s 2018 Golf Outing its new executive director, Evangelos attracted 16 teams of attendees who participated in a round of golf and enjoyed a day of networking with industry peers. After the golf tournament, attendees indulged in a dinner reception complete with raffle prizes. Funds generated from the event will be used to support a variety of AASP/MA’s membership and legislative goals. Enterprise Rent-A-Car The first-place team at AASP/MA’s 2018 Golf Outing (pictured sponsored the tournament; left to right: Don Salvatore, John Sforza, Peter Kilkenny Guy’s Auto Body sponand Rich Cote). Picture provided courtesy of AASP/MA & sored the Hole-in-One Thomas Greco Publishing contest; EXP Consulting “Lucky” Papageorg, and Thomas sponsored the Closest-to-the-Pin conGreco Publishing, which will be pro- test; and the Longest Drive contest viding administrative services to was sponsored by FinishMaster. AASP/MA. Lunch sponsors included BASF, Papageorg stated, “This year’s Kelly Auto Group and Long Cadilby Chasidy Rae Sisk

lac-Subaru. Dinner was sponsored by Hoffman Auto Group, Collision Center Design LLC, Enterprise Rent-ACar, New England Auto and Truck Recyclers, PPG, and Spray Booth Services and Equipment Sales. This year’s Hole Sponsors included the following companies: ABSAP (Auto Body Supplies And Paint), Albert Kemperle, SherwinWilliams, Tasca Automotive Group, West Springfield Auto Parts, Lombard Equipment, Body and Paint Center/Tom Ricci, Fuller Auto Body & Collision Center, Paster, Rice & Castleman, Lexus of Watertown, Chris Bird - Advantage Parts Solutions, Auto Works Collision, Cape Auto Body, Thomas Greco Publishing, DB National, Pleasant Street Autobody & Repair and Al Brodeur's Auto Body. Papageorg said he was “especially pleased to be able to personally thank the many vendor sponsors who continue to assist AASP/MA in efforts on behalf of our growing membership. Many of the vendors volunteered their services in getting meeting notices out to their customers while stressing the importance of joining.”

Molly Brodeur, president of AASP/MA, shared, “The AASP/MA Golf Outing continues to be a great day of fellowship and fun. We appreciate all of the generous sponsors that make the day possible, and we’re looking forward to another successful outing next year!” On Sept. 13, AASP/MA will host Collision Advice’s Mike Anderson for a presentation on “Positioning Yourself in the Collision Repair Industry” at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Boston in Westborough, MA. Papageorg predicted, “I am looking forward to a strong attendance at our September event with Mike Anderson.” For more information on AASP/MA and any of the association’s upcoming events, visit aaspma.org.

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Summertime, and the Driving in Rockland, NY, Is Not So Easy by Kimberly Redmond, Rockland/Westchester Journal News

A sure sign of summer: the smell of asphalt. With schools closed and families out of town on vacations, fewer cars are on the road. Rockland County, NY, crews are taking advantage of the lull to repair the havoc winter wreaked on roadways, to the relief of commuters who’ve endured weeks of bumpy rides. The Rockland County Highway Department reported it is midway through its annual road repair initiative. Work should be wrapped up by the second week of August. All in all, the $2.8 million program will improve 16.58 miles of county routes this year, according to County Spokesman John Lyon. Of that number, about $500,000 is set aside for miscellaneous repairs, such as cracked sealant, broken catch basins, missing or damaged street signs and pothole patches, Lyon said. Roads are selected based on the last time they were resurfaced, average annual daily traffic, and complaints and observations from Highway Department crews. The repair jobs are ranked by priority and put on the schedule. Shop Talk So far, 16 streets in Rockland County have been resurfaced, but there are many more miles to go. Local auto body shops report an overall decline in pothole-flattened tires, but encounters with the craters still bring in customers. Between late winter and early spring, smaller shops can see almost a half dozen drivers a day who have to pay the price for striking a pothole. At Rockland Car Care in Nanuet, longtime clerk Catherine Lucient said they’re “still getting a lot of drivers from the Thruway and Parkway.” “We’re one of the first places when people pull off,” she said. “The highways are always bad.” Angelo Letizia, owner of South Nyack Automotive, also still gets highway travelers with flats. Located on Cedar Hill Avenue, less than a fifth of a mile from the first exit in Rockland after the Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge, Letizia gets 10

between four and six customers a week with pothole damage. Back in March, it was around 10 a week, he said. One of the worst was a few years ago, when a man driving on Route 9W in South Nyack encountered a rather large pothole. He wound up

Angelo Letiza of South Nyack Automotive gives tips on how to avoid potholes at the shop on July 13. Credit: Carucha L. Meuse, Carucha L. Meuse, The Journal News

paying $1,500 to repair a flat tire and have his front fender reattached. “You know as well as I do that these roads are tough to navigate,” said Letizia, adding that not even he is immune. After recalling a particularly nasty pothole in Manhattan that took him out, he laughed, saying, “It happens to all of us. Even doctors get sick.” Now, with summer in full swing, most customers are asking for routine maintenance, air-conditioning repairs and tune-ups before long car trips. Over at Coattis Service Station on Middletown Road, automotive technicians were busy July 12 with oil changes and brake replacements. The familiar sounds of an auto body shop could be heard through the open garage bay doors: faint music, whirring tools and workers chatting. Inside, at the front desk, a relieved looking woman hurried in carrying a fresh box of Dunkin’ Donuts. “These are for everyone here. I just really want to thank you guys for this morning,” said the woman, who is now the owner of a new battery for her car. Jose Hernandez, who has worked at Coattis for the last six years, said roads in disrepair can damage a car in a number of ways: tire punctures, bent wheels and suspension damage. “A lot of the time when people come in, they don’t tell us where they

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

hit the pothole. They are already annoyed that they’ll have to spend a few hundred dollars,” Hernandez said. This winter’s extreme weather, with the number of snow storms, heavy rains and severe freeze-thaw cycles were particularly harsh on the region’s roads. The tri-state region’s roadways are among the worst in the nation when it comes to poor road conditions, according to the Federal Highway Administration. In addition to local efforts, the state Department of Transportation is in the midst of road improvement projects around New York right now, with many either in progress or planned in Rockland County. An estimate on the cost of Rockland improvements was not immediately available from the state July 13. Dominoes, which just launched its “Paving for Pizza” initiative— which invites customers to nominate their towns for free road repairs— hasn’t fixed any potholes in Rockland, but the company’s spokeswoman, Jenny Fouracre, said they’re still accepting nominations.

Rockland Road Improvements State Routes Completed • Route 45 (NJ border to Red Schoolhouse Road) • Route 9W (Over Rockland Lake outlet in Clarkstown) State Routes in Progress • Route 45 (Pascack Brook bridge replacement) • Route 202 (In the area of Haverstraw, Stony Point) • Route 202 (In the area of Route 59 and 306 in Suffern, Montebello, Wesley Hills and Ramapo) • Route 303 (NJ border to Railtrail Bridge) County Roads Completed (as of the first week of June) • Blaisdell Road from NJ border to Orangeburg Road. • Saddle River Road from NJ border to Milrose Lane. • Convent Road from Scotland Hill Road to Grandview Avenue. • Viola Road from Spook Rock Road to Forshay Road. • College Road from Highview

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Road to Smolley Drive. • Viola Road from Mile Road to Golden Road. • Highview Road from College Road to Maple Avenue. • Spook Rock Road from Route 59 to Highview Road. • North Middletown Road from Smith Road to West Clarkstown Road. • West Clarkstown Road from Red Hill Road to Carnaby Court. • Grandview Avenue from Forshay Road to Route 306. • Lime Kiln Road from Route 202 to Wilder Road. • South Airmont Road from Route 59 to Campbell Avenue. • Strawtown Road from Waters View to Congers Road. • Old Mountain Road from South Boulevard to Route 9W. • New Route 210 from Old Route 210 to Sunrise Drive. • Call Hollow Road from Old Route 202 to Camp Hill Road. • Tweed Boulevard from Route 9W to Clausland Mountain Road. • Summit Park Road from New Hempstead Road to Sanatorium Road. • Buckberg Road from Route 9W to Mott Farm Road. County Roads Up Next (starting July 18) • Saddle River Road (NJ border to Milrose Lane – Ramapo) • Convent Road (Scotland Hill Road to Grandview Avenue – Clarkstown) • New Route 210 (Old Route 210 to Sunrise Drive – Stony Point) • Baisdell Road (NJ Border to Orangeburg Road - Orangetown) • Grandview Avenue (Forshay Road to Route 306 – Ramapo) • Spook Rock Road (Route 59 to Highview Road – Ramapo) • Viola Road (Spook Rock Road to Forshay Road – Ramapo) • Viola Road (Mile Road to Golden Road – Ramapo) • Calls Hollow Road (Old Route 202 to Camp Hill Road – Haverstraw/Ramapo) • Highview Road (College Road to Maple Avenue – Ramapo) • Lime Kiln Road (Route 202 to Wilder Road – Ramapo) • Ridge Road (Route 304 to end – Clarkstown) • Old Route 304 (S. Mountain 12

Road to town border – Clarkstown) • Tweed Boulevard (Route 9W to Clausland Mountain – Oranetown) • Buckberg Road (Route 9W to Mott Farm Road – Stony Point) • Gagan Road Extension (start to park entrance – Haverstraw) Tips From the Shop Letizia, a longtime mechanic, offers the following advice: • Use common sense. • Look ahead at the road—and not down at your cell phone—so you can anticipate bumpy roads or potholes. • If the pothole is located in the middle of the road, try to straddle the roadway. • If hitting a pothole cannot be avoided, go very slowly. • Be mindful of puddles. When it’s raining, that puddle may not be a puddle. It may be a pothole waiting to ruin your morning. • Schedule your pre-winter maintenance between September and October. That should include tire checks, suspension check, coolant check, oil change and wiper check. Use “real snow tires” if possible, instead of all season ones. Did you hit one? • Schedule an appointment as soon as you can to have the car checked out, Letizia said. • Be honest at the shop. Sometimes customers think that by holding back, mechanics won’t find just how damaged a car is and escape paying a lot for repairs, Letizia said. • Depending upon where you hit the pothole, you may be able to receive reimbursement. If it was a state-owned route or highway, you can file a small claim with the New York State Department of Transportation. Report It • Local roads: Contact the municipality. • County roads: 845-638-5060, email highway@co.rockland.ny.us , message the Rockland Gov. Facebook at www.facebook.com/rockland gov/ or send a tweet @Rocklandgov • State roads: Use the free New York State Thruway mobile app or call 1-800-POTHOLE 24/7 for craters on any state-owned highway, including the Thruway. Be sure to have the

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

location, including: name of town or county, state route number or interstate, closest reference marker number, closest exit number, direction of travel and nearest landmark or crossroad. Leave your name and address if you’d like to be notified when repairs are completed. All calls are routed to the nearest Department of Transportation or Thruway Authority maintenance facility, where a crew will be dispatched to handle the pothole. Some (W)hole Numbers • $15 billion: How much pothole damage has cost drivers in the U.S. in vehicle repairs over the last five years, according to AAA. • $306: The average cost for pothole damage repairs, according to AAA. But, depending upon what type of car you have, that number varies. Ed Olsen, of Olsen Engines and Olsen Auto Repair in Nyack, said a Subaru owner might pay $250, while a BMW driver could be set back almost $1,500 for flat tires. • 340 miles: How many miles of roads are owned by Rockland County • 182: How many potholes the

county filled last year. County spokesman John Lyon said the figure is an estimate because often “there are multiple potholes” at one location. It also doesn’t include patch-ups to ones spotted by road crews out and about, he said. • $2.8 million: How much Rockland County is spending this year on road maintenance and improvement. About $1.5 million of that will be reimbursed through NYS CHIPS (the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement program), according to Lyon. • 900: How many pothole complaints the county received in 2017. • 700: How many pothole complaints the county has received so far this year. We thank Rockland/Westchester Journal News for reprint permission.

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Continued from Cover

Shop To Pay $400,000

those breaks uninterrupted by work. Those unpaid hours resulted in additional overtime violations. Recordkeeping violations were cited when the employer willfully failed to record any hours that employees worked beyond 40 per workweek, in an attempt to conceal overtime. “The employer engaged in an unlawful practice to deny employees the overtime wages they had legally earned and to conceal their failure to pay for those hours,” said Irv Miljoner, the Wage and Hour Division’s district director in Long Island. “The resolution of this case demonstrates our commitment to those workers and to leveling the playing field for employers who play by the rules.” “This case shows that the U.S. Department of Labor will take appropriate steps to ensure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act and to rectify wage violations so employees are not denied their justly earned pay,” said Jeffrey S. Rogoff, the department’s regional solicitor of Continued from Page 4

Sneak Exemptions

before safety standards are enacted is proceeding despite the killing of Elaine Herzberg by a self-driving Uber car in Tempe, AZ, this spring. A National Transportation Safety Board report revealed that Uber had programmed the car not to brake in certain situations and that the backup driver was watching TV on her phone at the time of the crash. Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer advocacy group, said the coalition doesn’t oppose selfdriving cars but wants to ensure safety protections are in place before laws legalize sales to the public. “The promise is that these are going to be safer,” he said. “There’s no requirement that these be even as safe as what we have right now. That’s really a problem.” Even Keith Crain, the longtime publisher of Automotive News, thinks lawmakers are shirking their duty to protect the public: “Autonomous vehicles may 14

labor in New York. “Employers can avoid wage violations by reaching out to the Wage and Hour Division for assistance to ensure they are in compliance with the law.” The judgment also prohibits the business and its owners from soliciting or accepting the return of the back wages from the employees and from discriminating against any employees who exercise their rights under the FLSA. The Division’s Long Island District Office conducted the investigation. Trial Attorney Stacy Goldberg of the regional solicitor’s office in New York litigated the matter for the Department. Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the Division’s toll-free helpline at (487-9243). Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the Division. provide the opportunity to save even more lives and prevent more injuries. But they must also adhere to the same strict standards that exist today. “It is bad enough that automakers are testing these vehicles on public roads. To even think about manufacturing these vehicles for the public without meeting today’s standards is simply irresponsible.” The coalition has proposed nine changes to the AV START legislation, including a mandate that data recorded in crashes be disclosed, and a requirement that AVs pass a “vision test” showing they can process visual information about their surroundings. Human drivers must also demonstrate that they’re licensed. We thank Streetsblog USA for reprint permission.

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SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

ARA-NY To Host 2018 Annual Convention and Trade Show by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On Sept. 27–29, the Automotive Recyclers Association of New York (ARA-NY) will host its 57th Annual Convention and Trade Show at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center in Rochester, NY. This year’s theme is “Working Together, Achieving More” as the association strives to unite members across the state and encourages the attendance of automotive recycling professionals eager to gain knowledge to improve their businesses. Thursday’s networking activities include a golf outing and a wine/beer/spirit tasting during the day, followed by the evening’s welcome/kick-off party at Wilbert’s Lakeside. Friday morning will feature the 5th Annual Summit for Automotive Recycling Leaders, and lunch will include ARA-NY’s Annual Membership Meeting and the election of officers. The afternoon’s educational offerings will include “Improving Your Bottom Line with URG Technologies,” “E-Commerce,” a session with NYS DEC representatives, “PMA Updates,” “Yank That Bag” and “Get More from Your Bottom Line.” The trade show floor will be open from 3

p.m. until 7 p.m. Cocktail hour will be at 6 p.m. The evening will continue with the Annual Celebration Banquet and Auction and will conclude with an after-hours party. Saturday will begin with breakfast appointments with Yard Management Systems, followed by the morning keynote presentation, “The Ins and Outs of Managing Four Generations in the Workforce,” with Jeff Butler. The trade show will be open on Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon. Educational seminars available on Saturday morning include “HR – Hot Topics/Trends,” “Understanding How to Get the Most for Your Converters: Selling by Number and Grade v. Toll Refining/Clarifying Terms Agreements,” Sales,” “FMLA and NYS Paid Family Leave,” “Automotive Recycler Sales Panel” and a session with NYS DMV representatives. Lunch will feature entertainment from comedian Sky Sands, and the trade show will be open from 2–4 p.m. The afternoon trade show will include a raffle drawing. The winner will choose from a Polaris Razor 900S, two Polaris 570 four wheelers or $10,000 cash. For more information, visit arany.com.

autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Continued from Cover

Classic Car Fraud

Starikov, and Tupikin remain at large. The case has been assigned to United States District Judge George B. Daniels. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said, “As alleged, the defendants participated in a nationwide scheme to defraud, duping victims who responded to fake internet advertisements designed to resemble advertisements posted by legitimate merchants. Then the defendants allegedly created dozens of shell companies to receive victim payments and withdrew the funds and sent them out of the country. Thanks to the hard work of the FBI, these defendants will now face prosecution.” FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said, “Trusting that they were conducting legitimate business with automotive dealers, these victims lost over $4 million as a result of this scheme. While allegedly operating under this façade, the defendants were diligent in the theft of the funds, but showed no regard to

the financial impact on the victims. As shown by the charges brought today, the FBI will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to uncover duplicitous conspiracies, regardless of the vast intricacy of their cover-ups.” According to the allegations in the Indictment and statements made during court proceedings in this matter: From November 2016 through July 2018, the defendants carried out a wide-ranging fraudulent scheme that typically involved impersonating legitimate sellers of cars, tricking victims into providing payment for those cars, withdrawing the funds from banks around the country using efforts designed to evade scrutiny and wiring the proceeds outside the United States. The fraud most commonly operated as follows: first, co-conspirators impersonated automotive dealers and collectors and claimed to be selling classic cars on various well-known internet auction and trading websites. Victims responding to the ads were in fact corresponding with a fraud scheme participant. After the victims

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

and co-conspirators came to terms on a sale price, including down payment and shipping costs, victims were next directed to purported automotive transportation companies and were told that these companies would accept payment and transport the cars. These companies were in fact shell corporations established by the conspiracy to help perpetrate the fraud, whose corporate bank accounts were established and controlled by the defendants, awaiting wired funds from the fraud’s victims. After victims had wired payment, the defendants went to the banks to drain the victims’ funds, often starting the same day payment had been transmitted. The defendants would draw money from different bank branches in numerous withdrawals on the same day, in denominations that were varied and often kept to an amount they believed would prevent the financial institutions from recording and reporting the fraud. The co-conspirators then sent the fraud proceeds outside the United States to Eastern European countries, from where many of the conspirators originated. Victims never received the goods

they believed they had purchased, and many were unable to recover their money or were left paying loans for cars that were never truly for sale. The defendants’ scheme defrauded victims of more than $4.5 million. Each of the defendants is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, Customs and Border Protection, the New York Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. If you believe you were a victim of this crime, including a victim entitled to restitution, and you wish to provide information to law enforceSee Classic Car Fraud, Page 25

OE Shop Certification with Gary Ledoux

Gary Ledoux is an industry veteran with 48 years’ experience in the automotive and OEM collision parts industry. His column appears exclusively in Autobody News. He can be reached at YesterWreck@yahoo.com

OE Shop Certification Programs: Porsche by Gary Ledoux

In our ongoing effort to keep our readers informed on the latest industry trend, OE shop certification programs, Autobody News spoke this month with Mike Kukavica, collision training instructor for Porsche Cars North America, Inc., about its program.

program?

ABN: Does your program have a specific name? When was it started?

Porsche: The purpose of the PACC Program is to raise the quality of repairs that Porsche vehicles receive. We are focused on what the technician is doing to the vehicle. The program will ensure that the technician is working in an environment that includes the workspace, tools, equipment and technical information needed so that they can perform the repairs as specified by Porsche AG in the workshop manual.

ABN: What is the main purpose of the

Porsche: There are requirements regarding customer handling, facility (including information technology), special and general tools, equipment, refinish products and staff training. Each PACC is required to have two

Porsche: It is called the Porsche Approved Collision Center Program, or PACC Program for short. The program was launched with the first trial audits, which were done in May of 2009. Our first candidate collision center reached “Porsche Approved Collision Center” status in October 2009.

ABN: What are the program requirements (tools, equipment, training, facility, etc.)?

structural technicians, one estimator and one refinish technician who must meet certain training and certification requirements specific to their job role. These people must be separate individuals, come to the facility each day and be dressed for and seen to be performing the job each day. In other words, one person cannot take all the training and qualify for all four roles. ABN: Does the shop need to be ICAR Gold Class?

Porsche: No. When it comes to training, we focus on individuals rather than the shop as a whole. The four people who fill the training requirements must be I-CAR Platinum individuals in their job role. In the past, we specified a list of individual classes; however, over time we have learned that for shops who participate in multiple OE programs, the

Platinum requirement is less burdensome than a list of individual classes. In addition, the two structural techs must be ASE Master Techs, and the estimator and refinisher must pass their respective ASE tests. It sounds like a lot as far as training and testing go ... and it is. But we need people who know what they are doing before they get here to participate in Porsche in-house training … we don’t have the resources to train techs from zero. ABN: What are the program benefits (plaque, signage, free access to repair info, shop locator, etc.)?

Porsche: Like other programs, we provide the shop with a plaque and a unique PACC logo that no other shop can use. We give the shop a spot on the PACC locator website, which is linked from porsche.com, and the See Certification Programs, Page 22

autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

CT Body Shop Owner’s Dream Complicated by Code Crackdown by Thomas Breen, New Haven Independent

At 33, Antonio Contreras is watching his hair turn white. He blames zoning rules that have landed him and other small business and property owners in trouble in the Annex neighborhood. Contreras moved from Mexico to New Haven, CT, 18 years ago. He has run his own auto body shop and used car dealership in the Annex since 2016. He said his hair transformation stems from the stress of navigating city zoning and permitting regulations in a language, and a culture, that he still sometimes struggles to understand. Contreras was one of 10 property owners cited for a variety of code violations by the city’s Building Department and the city’s anti-blight Livable City Initiative (LCI) after the city conducted its latest interdepartmental neighborhood sweep in the Annex during the week of July 16. The city has conducted similar neigh-

Antonio Contreras’s 126 Farren Ave. garage, which the city says was illegally converted into an auto body shop

borhood sweeps in Fair Haven and Newhallville, where different department heads and city personnel fan out through a neighborhood, identify various structural and quality-of-life concerns such as debris-strewn lawns, unlicensed junkyards and illegal dwelling units, and then issue citations with the hope of improving public safety and bringing more properties and property owners up to city code. Contreras received three citations from the city’s Building Department for illegally converting a garage into an auto body shop, illegally converting a residential space into an office and failing to follow the conditions of a special exception he received for his used car dealership. Now, he said, he’s considering moving his family and his business down to Florida. “I want to spend money here,” he said about New Haven. “I don’t want 18

to go no place.” But, he said, if he, his lawyer and city officials can’t make things work for his business on Farren Avenue, then he may just have to pick up and leave. “We’re working with him right now,” City Building Official Jim Turcio said about Contreras. “He hasn’t followed though with what he was approved for. We’re working with him.”

Code Violations On July 19, City Assistant Building Inspector James Eggert visited Contreras’s auto body shop, Anthony’s Auto Sales LLC, at 136 Farren Ave. According to city land records, he found a multiplicity of city code violations at both 136 Farren and at Contreras’s adjacent properties at 126 Farren and 140 Farren. On July 23, a notice sent from the Building Department to Contreras indicates that Eggert found a garage illegally converted into an auto body facility without the required permits or approvals at 126 Farren. “Secondly,” the notice reads, “exhaust fans are venting contaminants into the surrounding neighborhood, endangering public safety and welfare. Finally, electrical work has been conducted in an unapproved manner such that electrical power for the garage has been illegally fed from the adjoining property.” The notice orders Contreras to immediately cease use of the 126 Farren facility as an auto body shop and pull the necessary permits with the Building Department. A second July 23 notice from the Building Department calls out Contreras for illegally converting a room in his 140 Farren home into a commercial office space without the required permits. A third Building Department notice, this one hand-delivered on August 3, indicates that City Zoning Officer Laurie Lopez found that Contreras was operating a used car lot, body shop, automotive storage and junkyard at 136 Farren without the appropriate approvals. The notice references a special exception that Contreras received from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) on June 14, 2017 that permitted him to run a used car deal-

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ership where a maximum of five vehicles for sale are kept on the premises at one time in a BA (Business) zone. That special exception, however, came with the following conditions: • Contreras had to limit the number of used cars for sale on premises to five at a time. • He had to reduce the number of marked parking spaces in a revised site plan. • The property could not be used for a for-hire towing service or for the storage of vehicles not being actively repaired or sold onsite. • A site plan showing site layout, drainage features, parking, landscaping, signage and lighting accompanied by floor plans had to be submitted to and approved by the City Plan Commission. The notice says that Contreras’s permission from the BZA will become null and void one year after the effective date of the decision if the granted relief is not recorded in the city land records within 120 days of the date of

publication of BZA’s special exception. It will also become null and void if Contreras does not pull the necessary construction permits and if construction is not “diligently pursued.”

Antonio Contreras in his one working auto repair bay at 136 Farren Ave.

“As of the last inspection,” the notice reads, “conditions set forth in your approvals have not been met nor have all approvals been recorded within 120 days of the date of publication of approval.” The notice also reads that the July 19 inspection revealed a number of unregistered vehicles and other auto repair equipment at 136 Farren, therefore rendering the property an unlicensed junkyard, or a property

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where “materials that are used, salvaged, scrapped, or reclaimed but are capable of being reused in some form” are stored or sold. Turcio said the building officials found 85 cars, one motorcycle and one tow truck on Contreras’s properties when they visited on July 19. “And he’s only allowed five cars for sale, his employees’ cars and whatever he’s working on,” Turcio noted. “They’re Making Me Sick” In an interview at his houseturned-office at 140 Farren, Contreras said he has been working with the city for nearly three years in trying to get the necessary permits, site plans and approvals to run his auto body repair shop and used car dealership. “Three years they give me a hard time,” he said. Pointing to a box filled with 10 rolled-up site plans, he said that every time he follows one city order, he hears back from a city official that he needs to change something else. “They’re making me sick,” he said. A native of Puebla, Mexico, Contreras said he moved to New Haven when he was 15. He has now spent more of his life in this city than in his birth country. He said he has a wife, four children, a business and five different properties in the city: the three on Farren Avenue, one on Russell Street and one on Rosette Street. He said he pays around $14,000 each year in property taxes to the city. He called his Farren Avenue business a boon for both the residents he employs and for the nearby corner store that sees an uptick in business whenever his customers drop off a car for repair or his employees clock out for a lunch break. “They raised taxes; we didn’t complain,” he said about the recent 11 percent city property tax hike. He said he wants to make money in New Haven and then invest that money back into this community. As for the code violations, he said he struggles to understand why the city scrutinizes every change he would like to make to improve his business. He said the conversion of 140 Farren into an office is only temporary, until he can move the office into one of the lower-ceilinged bays in his 20

garage at 136 Farren. But he can’t do that, he said, until he finishes building an additional two bays in the back of 136 Farren, which he hopes to equip with at least two more lifts, allowing him to store and repair cars inside the garage. He currently only has one lift in one bay of his 136 Farren garage. On July 19, 2017, then City Plan Director Karen Gilvarg signed off on Contreras’ site plan application for expanding his auto body shop at 136

Farren Ave. used-car dealer Antonio Contreras in his residence-turned-office. Credit: Thomas Breen photos

Farren by adding new car repair bays to the rear of the building. That site plan also included the construction of a new 1,100-square-foot tire and auto parts retail store at 126 Farren, which Contreras also owns. Turcio also signed off on that approved site plan application on June 21, 2017. Contreras said he hasn’t been able to move as quickly as he would have liked on the construction of the rear garage bays because of the expense of the operation and the limited money he makes from only being able to sell five used cars at a time. “Give me more cars for sale,” he said in response to what he would like the city to do. “The more cars I sell, the more money I get. The more cars I sell, the more money [for] the city.” He said his site can likely fit 40 used cars for sale, instead of just five. He said that before the city cracked down on the five-car maximum, he was selling three cars a week. Now, he said, he sells two a month. He said he used to have six people working for him. Now he only has two. “I feel discrimination,” he said, arguing that the city should be doing everything it can to ensure his business thrives. He took off his baseball hat and showed a patch of prematurely graying hairs. He said his hair has started going white with all the stress from dealing with the city. As for running electrical power

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from his garage at 136 Farren to a storage space at 126 Farren, Contreras argued, he should be able to share electricity between the two locations because he owns both properties. He said he hired an electrician from UI to come and do the work and that he got the necessary sign-off from the city’s building department to have the 136 Farren feeder connected to the 126 Farren garage back in March 2017. But now, he said, the city says the electrical work is not permitted. He said the city cut his power for two weeks and restored it on August 3. “People who eat rice and beans, people who eat steak—we [are] all the same,” he said. He said he wants to continue to live and work in New Haven and continue to contribute to the economy of Farren Avenue. But, he said, his wife has family in Florida, and he and his family may just move down there and try to start a new business if he can’t get things to work in New Haven. He said he’s hired Branford lawyer Ray Lemley to help figure out exactly what permits he needs, which city codes he is

in violation of and how he can make his Farren Avenue properties square with the city. City Economic Development Administrator Matthew Nemerson said he is assigning someone on his team to work with Contreras and other Farren Avenue business owners to ensure that they know what they need to do to be up to code and to be able to keep their operations in the city. He said the Harp administration’s stepped-up efforts to enforce city codes are part of a “broken-windows” strategy to promote clean and safe neighborhoods. Rotting Porches and Dilapidated Garages The Building Department and LCI also issued code violation notices to nine other Annex property owners for a variety of building code violations discovered during the July sweep. Many of those violations involved rotting porches and dilapidated garages. The Building Department sent a July 18 notice to Laurence V. Busillo at 117 Farren Ave. about unSee Code Crackdown, Page 22

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Continued from Page 17

Certification Programs

1(800) Porsche call center will also refer customers to our PACC shops. Access to the workshop manual is included in the program fee. In addition, PACC shops are the only shops that have access to restricted parts. ABN: What are restricted parts?

Porsche: Any aluminum part that is a permanent part of the vehicle’s structure or steel part that is joined to an aluminum part is restricted to only PACCs. The reason we do this is that repair of aluminum vehicles, although becoming more common, is still so far outside the mainstream of common collision repair that a competent generalist collision center is not able to perform a repair that maintains the safety and performance characteristics of the vehicle prior to the accident. ABN: How do you manage to restrict parts to shops? Porsche: From the shop’s point of Continued from Page 20

Code Crackdown

safe and deteriorated support members on his front porch. It sent a July 20 notice to Javier Martinez about rotting front porch headers, columns and framing at 111 Farren Ave. At Robert Miller’s property at 176 Fairmont Ave., the department found a collapsed rear accessory structure and a front porch deemed unsafe that was being repaired without the required permits. At 99 Pardee St., the department cited Mushka and Menachem Levitin for the property’s collapsed rear garage. It found two more deteriorated garages behind Frank Suraci’s property at 300 Quinnipiac Ace and behind Johana Rodriguez’s property at 192 Quinnipiac Ave. At 253 Quinnipiac Ave., LCI cited property owners Erick and Floria Angulo for illegally turning their basement into a rental unit. “The basement dwelling unit is 22

view, ordering restricted parts is the same as ordering any other part. When the dealer submits the stock order to Porsche, they must include the shop’s unique code. When the order is fulfilled, the restricted parts are shipped directly to the shop. If they are not coded as a PACC in our system, neither the shop nor the dealer will be shipped the parts.

ABN: Have you had any dealers that sponsored a shop and then broke off their relationship with that shop and refused to sponsor them?

Porsche: Dealer sponsorship is the only prerequisite, so dealer-owned and independent centers are able to apply. This also includes MSOs, although each shop is treated as an individual entity. Just because one shop qualifies doesn’t mean that they all qualify. No collision center is recognized as a Porsche Approved Collison Center until they meet the standards 100 percent. Sponsorship is important because PCNA exists to support our dealer network; thus everything has to be done in partnership with our dealers. Sponsorship means that the dealer wants us to work with a particular collision center and that they will collect the program fees on our behalf, among other things.

Porsche: If a collision center bypasses our system and acquires (or attempts to acquire) restricted parts, they will be banned from participating in the program. Also, any shop proven to have attempted to make a repair using unauthorized techniques because they aren’t able to acquire the restricted parts (pulling, welding aluminum instead of replacing the part, etc.) will not be allowed to become a PACC.

ABN: What shops are eligible?

illegal and presents a serious hazard to the health and safety of the occupants,” LCI’s July 26 notice reads. On August 3, the Building Department issued a notice to Guillermina Luna for running an illegal auto body shop at 120 Farren Ave. And at 97 Fairmont Ave., the Building Department cited Margaret Ottenbreit for rotted front porch headers and frames in front of two of the building’s three entrances. The department also cited Ottenbreit for having exposed electrical wires in front of one of those unit entrances. Ottenbreit’s property manager, who identified himself only as Chris, said the wires were not electrical, but just some metal cords that must have gotten caught in the porch’s frame as the last tenants were moving out. He pulled the cord down from the porch frame and held it in his fist to show that it wasn’t electrical. He also said that he plans on tearing down all three rotted porches at the property and then reinstalling them See Code Crackdown, Page 59

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Porsche: We have had that happen in a few cases. When it has, we have worked to find another dealer to pick up the sponsorship if possible. ABN: Are any shops specifically ineligible?

ABN: Do you have any program partners such as Axalta, VeriFacts, Summit, Assured Performance or other? If so, what role do they play?

Porsche: Our consulting partner is

Summit Consulting, Intl. They provide our CSI service and data warehousing and carry out the onsite audits of the collision centers. Initial and renewal audits are the same— everything is checked. Some shops ask why we check everything every year; they think it is a “check the box program” where if you have been checked once, you are good forever. But that is not the case with Porsche. ABN: Does Summit use their own people or sub the work out to other individuals?

Porsche: Summit uses their own people. They have the right skill set combining both technical knowledge and business acumen. We have about 130 shops now and about 30 shops pending, so Summit can easily do the job. ABN: What is the fee for the program? Does the program run on an annual basis?

Porsche: The initial fee for independent collision centers is $7,500 and $3,500 for dealer-owned collision See Certification Programs, Page 47

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Continued from Cover

Discussion at CIC

100 years,” he said. “Think about how many businesses and people will be affected by this technology change.” To offer some perspective on the transformation that is likely to occur in the coming decade, Simon reminded CIC attendees what the key new features were of the best-selling car 10 years ago: the 2008 Toyota Camry. “It had some darker wood; the backseats reclined; there was an optional stability system, and I think that was one of the first years where a hybrid version was available,” Simon said. “Now look at the 2018 Camry. The notable features include a bird’s eye view camera with perimeter scan. A pre-collision system that’s not just stopping the car, but stopping the car and trying to swerve out of the way. Lane departure alert and assist is standard. Automatic high beams. And dynamic radar cruise control.” He said the electrification of ve-

hicles has been slower than he expected, but that by 2028, there will be an estimated 120 million electric vehicles on the road. “Next year you will see a lot of [electric] cars with a 300-mile range,” he said. “And charging time is getting better …You can get 180-mile charge in about 20 minutes.” Far fewer people will own their own car, he said, when they can page a driverless vehicle to pick them up. “The car [population] will probably be significantly smaller,” Simon said. “This one study I read said the 250 million vehicles in the U.S. in 2018 will drop to 33 million by 2050.” The number of hours those vehicles will be on the road, however, will increase by 400 percent. Returning to the topic of scanning, Simon said a pre-repair scan of vehicles gives collision repairers the information needed to “design a reliable work flow.” He said a good aftermarket scan tool will “cover about 95 percent of what’s out there,” though he acknowledged that may not include a current model year vehicle when it first hits the road.

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“In cases where the tool doesn’t cover it, there are companies that offer services where you are connected to the OE tool,” he said. “You also can partner with shops that may have the OE tool.” Use of Aftermarket Tools Discussed But during the question-and-answer session that followed, trainer and consultant Mike Anderson of Collision Advice challenged Simon’s assertion that an aftermarket scan tool is adequate for collision repairers. He said in his experience, use of an OE scan tool or service is the only way to determine if a vehicle is subscribed to a telematics system like OnStar, and if so, temporarily disable the system during repairs. “If I have a vehicle that’s connected to the internet, and I do not disable that OnStar-type system, it will generate emails to that consumer [during repairs] and I will get consumer complaints,” Anderson said. Chuck Olson of AirPro Diagnostics, which offers remote scanning services, said there are manual procedures to disconnect telematics systems. And Jim Silverman of the

Automotive Training Institute said that while he respects Anderson, he is concerned about the concept of arguing for the use of only OE scan tools. “I think everybody in this room needs to think about it: If we promote using only OE scan tools, if we tell the OEs we agree with that, then the next step is using only OE shops,” Silverman said. “They’re going to say only use our shops. I don’t think any of us want that.” During the discussion, Jake Rodenroth of asTech, which also offers remote scanning services, said the industry may be so focused on the issue of scanning that fundamental repair elements are being overlooked. “In our [ADAS] calibration center in Dallas, we are seeing a high failure rate of vehicles that have been repaired in collision shops and brought in for calibration,” Rodenroth said. “In terms of radar cameras and things like that on the front of the car, we’re seeing about a 30 percent failure rate. The vehicles weren’t straight enough for calibration. And we’re also seeing about a 50 percent failure rate on blind spot calibration.

As a repair community, we need to check ourselves. We’re still an industry that fights over whether the car is going to get measured or aligned. When you have systems that are pulling reference materials based on the center line of the car, that’s a little bit of an issue.” Also at CIC In other news and discussion at CIC in Atlanta:

• Jeff Peevy, president of the Automotive Management Institute (AMI), was named the new chairman of CIC for 2019. Peevy, who spent 16 years with I-CAR prior to taking the helm at AMI in 2015, currently co-chairs the CIC’s “Education and Training Committee.” He was selected by the previous CIC chairmen to succeed Guy Bargnes, who led the conference in 2017 and 2018.

• Jon Ruttencutter of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security) discussed the issue of counterfeit automotive parts. He showed video

of tests conducted on counterfeit airbags, in which the bags failed to deploy, deployed late, broke away from the steering wheel or launched projectiles into what would be the interior of the vehicle. “We have yet to test a counterfeit airbag that works properly,” Ruttencutter said. Collision repairers can get more information or report suspected counterfeit airbags through the agency’s website (www.iprcenter.gov).

• Bill Garoutte, CEO of the National Auto Body Council (NABC) said that since 2007, NABC’s Recycled Rides program has resulted in more than 1,700 vehicles being rehabbed and donated to people in need. The program is on track in 2018 to average one car per day. Anderson of Collision Advice said the 294 shop locations that participate in 20 groups he leads for Axalta Coating Systems have committed to repairing and giving away 300 vehicles on a single day next year. Recycled Rides is one of NABC’s initiatives to “exemplify the professionalism and integrity of the collision repair industry.”

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other countries, further impacting American exports, critics contend. Among the activities slated for later this week in the capital: More than 30 vehicles built in the U.S. by international automakers will motorcade past the Capitol and to the Department of Commerce July 26. One of them will be Mercedes’ GLE, made at Mercedes’ Vance plant. Seven auto trade groups are participating in two days of events coinciding with the hearings and have paid for advertisements in publications, including The Wall Street Journal. The ad comes as an open letter to Trump, thanking him for his support of the industry but urging another strategy to protect U.S. jobs. “While we understand that you are working to achieve a level playing field for trade to create more jobs, raising tariffs is the wrong approach,” the ad states.

ment and/or receive notice of future developments in the case or additional information, please contact the Victim/Witness Unit at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, at (866) 874-8900. For additional information, go to: http://www.usdoj .gov/usao/nys/victimwitness.html. The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Jeffrey C. Coffman, Thane Rehn and Matthew J.C. Hellman are in charge of the prosecution. The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Hearings on Tariffs

We thank AL.com for reprint permission.

Classic Car Fraud

TWITTER : @autobodynews

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Moody’s Collision Center in Scarborough, ME, Gives Gift of Transportation by Duke Harrington, Scarborough Leader

A Scarborough, ME, single mom in need and her children are getting around a little easier thanks to the timely gift of a car. On August 1, Moody’s Collision Center gave a fully repaired 2008 Nissan Altima to Jessica Scott, replacing a 2006 model she had lost in an accident last fall. For Scott, 44, the donation could not have come at a better time. The mother of five still has two minors to care for, but is currently unemployed with no place to live—developments that began after her youngest son, Trevor, age 9, was diagnosed with leukemia. “This is the best thing, besides my son getting better, that could have happened to my family. I am just so grateful,” she said in a July 30 interview. “We typically do one of these gifts per year to nonprofits or individuals in need,” said Patti Damon, a community account manager at Moody’s Scarborough location. Last year, the company provided a new van to the Southern Maine Agency on Aging. To furnish the new vehicle, Moody’s partners with an area insurance company, in this case State Farm, through the Recycled Rides Program. The insurance company donates a vehicle it has acquired that is less damaged that the one lost, and Moody’s then makes repairs to make it road-worthy. In this case, Motorvation, a garage located on Pleasant Hill Road, donated materials and labor for additional mechanical work, while Enterprise Rent-A-Car provided a rental car and Moody’s repaired the donated vehicle. To go along with the new car, Scott also received one year of free full vehicle insurance. “We are huge into giving back to our communities,” Damon said. “We have 180 co-workers in 11 locations, and each of them are touched by their community every time someone comes in with their car and needs it to be fixed. So this is just a way for us to give back [by] using our skills to affect somebody’s life in a positive way.” 26

Damon said Moody’s was approached by Florence Lusk, a guidance counselor and social worker at Scarborough High School who is familiar with the Scott family and their situation. Lusk could not be reached for comment, but Damon said the social worker did not actually know about Moody’s annual Recycled Rides gift. She was just calling around trying to find willing aid. “She reached out to us because, on at least one occasion, Jessica had to take a cab to get Trevor to his treatments,” Damon said. “She just wondered if we had a vehicle on the lot we might be able to repair to help out. Of course, we were happy to help. We know first-hand the financial impact on a family when they lose a vehicle unexpectedly and know it’s a burden that not every family can absorb.” Although guarded about her privacy, Scott was willing to discuss her situation in order to pay it forward in her own way by publicizing the Recycled Rides program to others who may be in need and, like Lusk, unaware such a thing exists. “It was completely surreal. I don’t like people feeling sorry for me. I don’t really know how to ask for help, and I don’t do it very well,” Scott said. “I wasn’t really aware that anybody even knew what we were going through. For Ms. Lusk and Moody’s and everyone else to totally go out of their way for us, it was really the biggest blessing. When I found out about the car, I just broke down and cried like a big baby.” A heavy equipment operator and mechanic by trade, Scott, 44, moved to Scarborough four years ago for a job. While she did not want to discuss past relationships, the one she was in at the time ended last fall. After two weeks of living in a motel, Scott had just found a new place and moved in on a brisk Sunday last November. The new place did not yet have any heat, however, so her daughter and an adult son took the car on an errand to fetch enough K-1 to get through until a delivery could be arranged. “They were going to make a left-hand turn and somebody in the oncoming traffic waved them on, as if to say, ‘I’ll wait for you to go,’” Scott explained. “But then someone

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

came up the right lane and slammed into the side of the car. But, because they were turning, it wasn’t the other person’s fault.” Scott only had liability insurance on that car, an older 2006 Nissan Altima. With her experience, she knew the vehicle was a total loss. As an 11-year-old vehicle with more than 210,000 miles on it, it simply wasn’t worth fixing, even if Scott had had the money for repairs. Making matters worse, the accident came right on the heels of learning that Trevor has leukemia. “That was a complete shock,” Scott said, nearing tears at the memory. “When he was diagnosed, I thought he just had strep throat and went to the walk-in care. Luckily, the doctor there recognized things I couldn’t have known and sent us by ambulance to the hospital. We were all in a daze for a little while. It just didn’t seem real.” These days, Trevor is nearing the end of his treatments, and his hair is growing back. “He’s doing amazing,” Scott said. “He’s such a strong kid. He has

such a great attitude and is a fighter all the way. He’s had so many procedures and treatments, but he’s almost into the maintenance phase, although that will last for a couple more years.” But that was not the end of the family’s challenges. Scott had been given time off from work, but with Trevor and his needs being her top priority, she was not able to maintain a full-time schedule upon her return and lost her job. On top of that, the rent the family had moved into last fall was only for the winter. Without a job, she has not been able to find a new place to live. Scott said her two school-aged children are happy and doing well in the Scarborough school system, so, she wants to stay in the area. That makes crashing with her mother in Lyman a bit out of the way. Since getting the new car from Moody’s, she has resorted to using it as a place to sleep. “Yeah, every now and then, if I have to,” she admitted. “If Trevor goes to his dad’s and Alaina is somewhere else, I have slept in the car a See Gift of Transportation, Page 70

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Associations Assembling with Chasidy Rae Sisk

Chasidy Rae Sisk is a freelance technical writer from Wilmington, Delaware, who writes on a variety of fields and subjects, and grew up in a family of NASCAR fans. She can be contacted at crsisk@chasidyraesisk.com.

Regional Association Event Announcements: September 2018 Please see below for upcoming regional automotive association events taking place in September. ASA-CO To Host 2 Training Sessions ASA-CO will hold two exciting training opportunities in September. On Sept. 24 and 25, Greg Marchand will teach “Growing Your Customer Base” at Advance Auto Parts (CARQUEST) in Denver, CO from 6 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. each night. The course will explore the simple things that often get overlooked but can allow a repair facility to increase their customer base. Attendees will learn how to effectively use customer satisfaction, customer referrals, quality control and consistency to increase their customer base in a controlled and profitable manner during this interactive training seminar. On Sept. 26 and 27, Marchand will teach industry professionals about “Exceptional Customer Handling Skills” in Fort Collins, CO. For more information about either of these training seminars, visit www.asacolorado.org. ASA-CO To Host 1st Annual Golf Tournament On Sept. 16, ASA-CO will host its first annual ASA-CO Golf “Fore” ASA Green Tournament at the Homestead Golf Course in Lakewood, CO. In addition to a round of golf, the four-person scramble will feature contests, prizes and networking opportunities galore. Check-in begins at 7:30 a.m. with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Early bird registration is available for $110 per player ($440 for a team of four) until August 31. After August 31, the price is $125 per player ($500 for a team of four). Proceeds from the event benefit ASACO initiatives and its Automotive Student Scholarship Fund. For more information, visit www .asacolorado.org. ASA-Midwest To Host Leadership Summit From Sept. 7–9, ASA- Midwest will host its 2018 Leadership Sum28

mit at Lake of the Ozarks in MO. This event provides an opportunity for association members to share ideas, celebrate accomplishments and renew their commitment to industry excellence. For more information, visit www .asa-midwest.org. PPG’s Robb Power To Teach ASA-OH How To Optimize Performance Through Repair Planning From Sept.18–20, ASA-OH will host a workshop titled “How to Optimize Performance Through Repair Planning,” presented by Robb Power, senior management of business solutions for PPG Automotive Refinish. Tuesday’s workshop will be held at Ohio Auto Kolor in Columbus, OH, with Thursday’s session taking place at ESC of Cuyahoga County in Independence, OH. During the workshop, Power will explain the impact traditional estimating processes have on collision business work flows, and he will provide detailed instructions and demonstrate the benefits of the Repair Planning Process as well as provide a list of dos and don’ts for successful implementation. The workshop is intended for shop management, estimators, parts personnel and technicians. It is available to ASA-OH members at a cost of $45 for members and $90 for nonmembers. For more information, visit www .asaohio.org.

St. Louis I-CAR Committee, CREF To Co-host Job Fair The St. Louis I-CAR Committee and the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) will co-host their 2018 Job Fair for the Collision and Automotive Industry on Friday, Sept. 21 from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, IL. More than 650 automotive and collision students from local high schools and colleges plan to attend in addition to 650 local STEM students. Last year’s event attracted 1,487 students, and this year is shaping up

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

to be competitively attended. Fees collected over the cost of the career fair will be distributed back to participating technical schools that fill out the paperwork for the CREF Make-Over Grant. For more information, contact Gene Slattery (gene@automotive technology.com) or Shelly Jones (sjones@abraauto.com). CCRE To Host Educational Seminar in Atlanta The Coalition for Collision Repair Excellence (CCRE) will host an educational seminar on Sept. 28 and 29 at the Embassy Suites at the Atlanta Airport in Atlanta, GA. The weekend will focus on educational presentations, informative networking and the use and proper implementation of contracts and other documents. Industry professionals who attend can expect to gain an understanding on becoming more profitable in the current collision repair business environment and learn how to increase revenue and profits in order to pay for the high cost of equipment, training and technology. Topics will include state of the industry, contracts and documents, strategies and word tracks, implementing the CCRE process, damage analysis and job costing, time-based vs. value-based services, a roundtable discussion and much more. For more information or to register, visit www.theccre.com. MACA To Host 12th Annual Tailgate Party On Sept. 23, the Midwest Auto Care Alliance (MACA), formerly ASAMidwest as of Sept. 14, will host its 12th Annual Tailgate Party at Arrowhead Stadium. Shop owners, vendors, managers, technicians and families are invited to watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers and enjoy a day of food, drinks and fellowship. More information is available at www.mwaca.org or www.asa-midwest .org.

ARA To Host 75th Annual Convention and Expo The Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) will hold its 75th Annual Convention and Expo on Nov. 1–3 at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort in Orlando, FL. Sponsored by Hollander, the event will feature more than 30 educational sessions taught by industry leaders. For more information, visit www .araexpo.org. AWAF To Offer Speed Mentoring On Sept. 26, the Automotive Women’s Alliance Foundation (AWAF) will hold a Speed Mentoring session at Faurecia’s North American Headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI. Attendees will enjoy the opportunity to break into small groups and spend 15minute mentoring sessions with six executive level women and men discussing key industry topics in an informal setting. For more information, visit www. awafoundation.org. AAAMS 2018 Business Conference To Be Held in Hilton Head Island, SC From Sept. 20–23, the Automotive Aftermarket Association of the MidSouth, Inc. (AAAMS) will host its 2018 Business Conference at the Hilton Head Marriott Resort and Spa in Hilton Head Island, SC. This year’s theme is “Sailing into the Future.” The conference will begin on Thursday evening with dinner and a cash bar. Friday will commence with a meeting for the AAAMS Board of Directors, Past Presidents and Past Directors, followed by a Conference Committee meeting and ending with a welcome reception. Saturday morning’s agenda includes seminars on the AAAMS Annual Business Meeting and Business Insurance/HR Services Program Update (IGO Insurance Agency), Website Design and Social Media Program Review (Net Driven), Office Supplies Program Review (Kennedy Office), and Payroll Service Program Review See Event Announcements, Page 68

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Colonial Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram 24 Coolidge St. (Rte. 62), Hudson, MA 01749 Ph: 978-568-8000 / Fx: 978-562-1213 Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4 www.buymoparpartsnow.com Colonial South Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram 42 State Rd., Dartmouth, MA 02747 Ph: 508-984-1900 / Fx: 774-328-9915 Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-3 parts@buycolonialsouthcjd.com www.buymoparparts.com

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Colonial Cadillac of Woburn 201 Cambridge Rd., Woburn, MA 01801 Ph: 781-935-7009 / Fx: 781-933-7728 Hours: M, T, Th, F 7-5; W 7-8; Sat 8-4 www.buycolonialcadillac.com Colonial Chevrolet 171 Great Rd., Acton, MA 01720 Ph: 978-263-3994 / Fx: 978-263-8587 Hours: M-F 7-5; Sat 8-4 parts@colonialchevrolet.com Colonial South Chevrolet 361 State St., Dartmouth, MA 02747 Ph: 508-997-6711 / Fx: 508-979-1219 Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4 parts@colonialsouthchevrolet.com Colonial West Chevrolet 314 John Fitch Hwy., Fitchburg, MA 01420 Ph: 978-503-7480 / Fx: 978-345-1152 Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4

autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Did the John Eagle Decision Change Anything? by Gary Ledoux

The John Eagle decision of October 2017 was one of the most momentous in the history of the collision repair industry in America. Because Dallas-based John Eagle Collision Center did not follow OE repair procedures to repair some hail damage on a 2010 Honda Fit, resulting in severe physical and emotional harm to owners Matthew and Marcia Seebachan in a subsequent accident, attorney Todd Tracy represented the couple in a civil lawsuit which they won, forcing the shop to pay $31.5 million in damages. Almost a year has gone by since then. Plenty of magazine articles have been written and seminars have been provided by Tracy and auto body associations about the effects of the lawsuit and how shops can protect themselves from experiencing a similar situation. Some ad-hoc conversations with shop owners and spurious social media postings by both shop owners and techs indicate that some shops have taken the John Eagle case seriously and made some positive changes to their SOPs. Others seem to have taken the “It’ll never happen in my town” attitude. Based on the John Eagle decision and other recent industry trends, including use of OE parts, pre- and post-scanning and recalibration, Autobody News wanted to get a clearer picture of what shops are actually doing to determine if the industry is indeed changing … or not. Survey Methodology Near the end of July 2018, Autobody News sent an email survey to approximately 15,000 body shops at random. Over the following several days, 157 shops completed the survey for a response rate of about 1 percent—not an overly large response—but the results are eye-opening. Survey Questions The same questions were asked under two different circumstances: 1) What the shop’s policy was prior to the John Eagle case (before Oct. 1, 2017), and 2) What their policy was after the John Eagle decision became known (after Oct. 1, 2017). Note: The ques30

tion of pre- and post-scanning and recalibration was not the main focus of the John Eagle case. However, the question of scanning and recalibration began to get more attention about the same time and is still a topic of debate for a complete and safe repair, so it was included in this survey. Questions included: * What percent of the time did you look up and follow OE repair procedures? * What percent of the time did you use new, OE parts for repair? * What percent of the time did you perform a pre- and post-diagnostic scan? * What percent of the time did you recalibrate those devices requiring recalibration based on a post-repair scan? To get a better perspective, shops were also asked about their DRP associations and how many they had. The results were: 28% - 0 DRPs 26% - 1-3 DRPs 28% - 4-6 DRPs 8% - 7-10 DRPs 9% - 10+ DRPs To get an idea of a shop’s size, we also asked how many shop employees each respondent had. The results were: 30% - 1-7 employees 32% - 8-15 employees 18% - 16-25 employees 20% - 25+ employees

Survey Results For brevity, we are publishing overall shops (includes all responding shops), smallest and largest shops by employee count, shops with no DRP associations and those with the most DRP associations. Numbers reflect statistics prior to the John Eagle decision and after the John Eagle decision. What percent of the time did you look up and follow OE repair procedures? At the core of the John Eagle decision was whether or not the shop followed OE repair procedures. After some explanation, even a jury of laypeople understood the concept and the gravity of the situation. It seems that most of the rest of the industry did as well. On average, only 34.4 percent of shops used OE procedures 80 to 100 percent of the time prior to the John Eagle decision. After the John Eagle decision, the number roughly doubled for all categories ex-

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

cept those with zero DRP programs, who were using OE procedures more to begin with anyway. What percent of the time did you use new, OE parts for repair? Of course, the use of OE parts has been an issue since the 1990s; even more so now with the advent of OE position statements calling for their use along with proper repair procedures. Overall, those shops using OE parts 80 to 100 percent of the time took a sizeable jump from 29.7 percent to 41.1 percent. The largest jump, from 23.4 percent to 57.4 percent was in the 1–7 employees category. Typically, smaller shops have fewer or no DRP associations, so that is less of an issue for them. Plus, a smaller shop would have more to lose if it encountered a lawsuit of the scope of the John Eagle case. What percent of the time did you perform a pre- and post-diagnostic scan? Overall Shops 1-7 employees 25+ employees 0 DRP programs 7-10 DRP programs Prior JE Post JE Prior JE Post JE Prior JE Post JE. The concept of pre- and post-re-

pair scans has been around for years, but has only come to the forefront in the last couple of years due to the expanded use of ADAS systems. Overall, the process of pre- and post-scanning has doubled recently. It is unclear if the John Eagle case had anything directly to do with this, but if nothing else, it has made shops aware that they are solely responsible for correct repairs and the consequences of not doing so can be dire. It is interesting to note that the 7–10 DRP programs category, having the lowest percentage of shops conducting preand post-scans, jumped dramatically from 14.3 percent of shops to 57.1 percent of shops conducting pre- and post-scans 80 to 100 percent of the time. It is unknown if payment (or not) by the insurance company for the preand post-scan operation was a factor. What percent of the time did you recalibrate those devices requiring recalibration based on a post-repair scan? Overall, this measurement took a sizeable jump from 53.8 percent of See John Eagle Decision, Page 60

autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Tips for Busy Body Shops with Stacey Phillips

Stacey Phillips is a freelance writer and editor for the automotive industry. She has 20 years of experience writing for a variety of publications, and is co-author of “The Secrets of America’s Greatest Body Shops.” She can be reached at sphillips.autobodynews@gmail.com.

The Power of Leadership — Tips on How To Be a Great Leader An important aspect of being a great tribute ideas, ask questions and challeader is knowing when and how to lenge how things are,” said Perlman. create what Ken Perlman refers to “If they don’t feel safe, they are going to hold back.” as “psychological safety.” Many of his favorite techniques “Pioneered by Amy Edmondson at Harvard University, psycho- are based on his 30 years of business logical safety is a belief that one will experience. He often shares them in not be punished or humiliated for the course he teaches at USC related speaking up with ideas, questions, to organizational design and creating high-performing teams. He concerns or mistakes,” said said they are easy to put into Perlman, managing director practice and can achieve imat CultureSync and a promediate results. fessor at the University of Perlman began his Guild Southern California (USC). 21 discussion talking about “It’s essential to high perwhat it takes to create an formance.” environment where people During a recent Guild Ken Perlman, 21 podcast sponsored by managing director feel comfortable speaking at CultureSync up and sharing what they VeriFacts, Perlman shared tips on how to be a great leader and believe. A large part of this centers foster an environment of psycholog- on the “rules of engagement.” “Whenever you are part of a ical safety. “As a leader, it’s your job to team or in a group, there are rules of make it safe for other people to con- engagement, whether they are written

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

or discussed,” he explained. “Sometimes they are unwritten, and we call them ‘culture,’ and other times they are written, and we call them guidelines.” He suggested implementing the “Family Feud” rule. Similar to the popular game show, Perlman said the Family Feud rule is when every answer an employee shares is honored and respected. “It’s a way of creating an environment that is a lot less risky for someone to speak up,” said Perlman. He also shared information about a research study conducted by Google that was undertaken to learn about their employees and what makes them successful. The study was explained in an in-depth New York Times article written by Charles Duhigg: “What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team.” According

to the article, in 2012 Google studied hundreds of its company’s teams to find out why some were successful and others weren’t. “We had lots of data, but there was nothing showing that a mix of specific personality types or skills or backgrounds made any difference. The ‘who’ part of the equation didn’t seem to matter,” Abeer Dubey, a manager in Google’s People Analytics division, was quoted as saying in the article. “There was no direct correlation between who they put on a project and whether or not that project would be successful,” said Perlman. “What they learned was that it wasn’t ‘who’; it was ‘how.’” Summarizing the study, Perlman said Google found five key elements that separated high-performing teams from lower-performing teams. This included:

• Impact: Team members needed to feel their work really mattered and would create change. • Meaning: The work was personally important to the employees and their development. • Structure & Clarity: Employees had a clear idea of their roles and how they were connected to their coworkers to contribute to the greater good.

• Dependability: Team members could be trusted to accomplish their tasks on time and meet the company’s high standard of excellence. • Psychological Safety: Team members felt it was safe to take risks and be vulnerable in front of one another.

Perlman said teams that fostered an environment where employees could contribute openly were higher-performing. More recently, a Wall Street Journal article described research showing that “companies that scored in the top quartile on [management asking for ideas from employees and

encouraging employees to try new approaches], [experienced] on average more than five times the revenue growth of companies in the bottom quartile.” “Teams where someone made a mistake and they were punished disproportionally saw lower performance because people were holding back,” he said. “They weren’t sharing the wild idea; they weren’t disagreeing, and you saw a lot more group think and regression to the average opposed to striking out to do something bold and different.” As a result, Perlman encourages leaders to give some leeway to their teams. “You’re asking your employees to do something differently,” he said. “If it was easy and/or safe, they would have already done it. If it’s more complicated or risky, they might have some questions.” When looking at the same situation from an employee’s point of view, Perlman’s advice to those who feel they aren’t in a safe environment with their superiors is to start small. “Simply recognize the answer you want to give and the answer you

think is the right answer,” he suggested. Then he said to offer both: the safe answer and the one that might be different than the way things have been done. “That way, you’re being respectful and acknowledging that you know the answer that is going to end up being the right one, but saying, ‘I think we could do better,’” he said. When talking about exceptional leadership traits, Perlman used the example of “Pep” Guardiola, considered one of soccer’s best players and coaches and the current manager of Manchester City. Perlman shared some of the methods Guardiola used to enable him to achieve excellent results. This included being clear on the team’s goals, deconstructing complexity for them to make the goals simple to understand and enabling excellence by setting and modeling the standards. Perlman also brought up the various types of conflict that can arise and are important to be aware of: 1)

When goal incompatibility exists

2) Differentiation among team members (for example, language, experience or expertise) 3) Task interdependence when people are required to work together

4) Limited resources, which can lead to restraints.

His advice is to do something that he called Flip The Script (FTS). “For people who work together regularly, as someone starts talking we tend to think we know where they are going and we can finish their sentence,” said Perlman. “We actually stop listening and we wait for them to stop talking so we can argue, contradict or correct them.” Instead, Perlman said to stop thinking and just listen. “If you think you know what they are going to say, don’t play that tape that is in your head; listen to the words coming out,” he said. Not only will this help an individual understand what they are going to say, but it will also minimize the risk of missing what they are talking See The Power of Leadership, Page 71

autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

HONDA CONNECTICUT

Lia Honda of Enfield Enfield

800-221-3131 860-741-3401 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 8-4 jdoucette@liacars.com

Manchester Honda Manchester

800-442-6614 860-645-3115 Dept. Hours: M-F 7-5; Sat 8-4 gabe.llantin@manchesterhonda.com

Schaller Honda New Britain

800-382-4525 860-826-2080 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5; Sat 8-1 jkiniry@schallerauto.com MAINE

Berlin City Honda South Portland

800-640-6685 207-774-6685 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30 mmmparts@berlincity.com

Prime Honda Saco

207-391-7910 207-282-0900 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Th. 7:30-7; Sat 7:30-4 klavalle@driveprime.com MARYLAND

Criswell Honda Ger mantown

866-738-2886 Dept. Hours: M-Thu 7-9; Fri 7-7:30; Sat 8-6 hondaparts@criswellauto.com ACURA MARYLAND

Tischer Acura Laurel

800-288-6983 301-498-3322 Dept. Hours: M-F 7-6; Sat 8-4 wholesaleparts@tischerauto.com MASSACHUSETTS

Acura of Boston Brighton

800-254-1169 617-254-5400 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-5:30; Sat 8-5 bruce.fisher@acuraofboston.com

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Please contact these dealers for your Honda or Acura Genuine parts needs. MARYLAND

NEW JERSEY

NEW YORK

PEN N S Y LVA N I A

Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Donnell Honda

Madison Honda

Dick Ide Honda

Ellicott City

Madison

R o ch e s t e r

Wexford

410-461-5000 410-461-9654

800-648-0293 973-822-1710

800-462-0056 (N.Y.) 585-586-4919

724-940-2006

Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-5 bshortt@odonnellhonda.com

Dept. Hours: M-Thu 7-8; Fri 7-6; Sat 8-6; mschumer@madisonhonda.com

Dept. Hours: M-Thur 8-8; Fri 8-5:30; Sat 8-5 parts@dickide.com

Ourisman Honda of Laurel

Rossi Honda

Lamacchia Honda

Laurel

Vineland

S y ra c u s e

800-288-6985 301-498-6050

800-893-3030 856-692-4449

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-7; Sat 7-4 julio.cruz@ourismanautomotive.com

Dept. Hours: M-F 6:30-5; Sat 7:30-3 dave@rossihonda.com

MASSACHUSETTS

LIA Honda Northampton Northampton

800-369-7889 413-586-6043 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 8-4 dstanisewski@liacars.com NEW JERSEY

Clinton Honda Annandale

877-657-2787 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-5 chrish@clintonhonda.com

Honda of Turnersville Tur nersville

800-883-0002 856-649-1584 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-4 sbaptist@penskeautomotive.com

Hudson Honda West New Yor k

Route 22 Honda Hillside

973-705-9100 Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7:30; Sat 8-5 rt22hondaparts@route22honda.com

VIP Honda

Sussman Honda

Albany

Roslyn

800-272-6741 518-482-2598

800-682-2914 215-657-3301

Dept. Hours: M, T, W, F 7:30-5:30; Thur 7:30-8; Sat 8-5 apersaud@liacars.com

Dept. Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-1 rendrick@sussmanauto.com

Williamsville/Buffalo

Babylon Honda We s t B a by l o n

631-669-5800 Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7:30-3:30 babylonparts@aol.com

Brewster Honda B re w s t e r

845-278-4177 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4 kbennett@liacars.com

Pittsburgh

800-468-2090 412-390-2908

Lia Honda of Albany

908-753-1680 NEW YORK

Shadyside Honda

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5 shadysidehondaparts@hotmail.com

Lia Honda of Williamsville

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-3 kevinh@viphonda.com

Dept. Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4 johnryan@baierl.com

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 9-1 parts@lamacchiahonda.com

North Plainfield

866-483-6917 201-868-9500

877-659-2672 716-632-3800 Dept. Hours: M-Thu 7:30-8; Fri 7:30-5; Sat 8-5:30 liaparts@liacars.com

VER M O N T

802 Honda Berlin

802-223-9700 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5; Sat 8-Noon hondaparts@802cars.com

Ray Laks Honda We s t S e n e c a

716-824-7852 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-8; Sat 7:30-5:30 ekuznicki@raylaks.com PENNSYLVANIA

Apple Honda Yo r k

800-960-9041 717-848-2600 Dept. Hours: M-F 7-6; Sat 7-4; Sun 10-4 applehondaparts@appleauto1.com

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7:30-5; Sun 8-3 anthony.perrone@hudsonhonda.com

NEW JERSEY

315-471-7278

Baierl Honda

NEW YORK

PEN N S Y LVA N I A

Acura Turnersville

Acura of Westchester

Smithtown Acura

Tu r n e r s v i l l e

We s t chester

St. James

Emmaus

888-883-2884 856-516-6060

914-834-8887

888-832-8220 631-366-4114

877-860-3954 610-967-6500

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 8-4 parts@smithtownacura.com

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-5; Sat 8-5 mustafa@vinart.com

Dept. Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4 kristen.powell@penskeautomotive.com

Elite Acura Maple Shade

856-722-9600 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4 bmartinsen@group1auto.com

Park Ave Acura M a y wo o d

888-690-7621 201-587-0028 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-3 ron@parkaveacura.com

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-8; Sat 8-4; Sun 9-4 acura.parts@yahoo.com

Curry Acura S c a rsdale

800-725-2877 914-472-7406 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-5 parts@curryacura.com

Paragon Acura Wo o dside

718-507-3990 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-5; Sun 9-4 johnp@paragonacura.com

PENNSYLVANIA

Baierl Acura Wexford

800-246-7457 724-935-0800 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-1 johnsabella@baierl.com

Lehigh Valley Acura

Sussman Acura Jenkintown

800-826-4078 215-884-6285 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-1 rendrick@sussmanauto.com

Davis Acura Langhor ne

866-50-ACURA 215-943-7000 Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 8-4 markh@davisacura.com autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

In Reverse with Gary Ledoux

120 Years of Body-Building Changes The first auto body designers and builders represented what was already an old established craft. People had been traveling in wheeled carriages for hundreds and hundreds of years. But at the dawn of the 20th century, they would be powered not by horses or some other draft animal, but by some sort of motive power. It mattered little to early body builders if vehicles were propelled by a gasoline engine, electric power or steam. Their task was to create a conveyance that would carry people—period. The body builders contended that if the carriage designs of the late 1800s were good enough for horses, they were good enough for engines. And so it was that wood was the first automotive substrate. One of the earliest references to an automotive body comes from the story of a doctor in Youngstown, OH. In June 1895, Dr. Carlos Booth experienced a runaway situation with his wagon and team of horses. Not wanting to experience that again, he designed motor vehicle and commissioned a local shop to build it. Among its many features was a “body designed to hide the engine and the mechanisms of the vehicle.” (This is perhaps the earliest reference to an automobile body that served primarily as an aesthetic portion of the vehicle.) He is purportedly the first doctor in American to make house calls in a motor vehicle. It’s unknown if his car ever needed body work. A short time later, in 1897, a car named the Hugot hit the street with a wicker body. It was certainly lightweight. The bad news was it couldn’t take much of a hit. The first U.S.- built auto to use a steel body (in the midst of a world of wooden bodies) was the 1901 Eastman Steamer. The first to have an aluminum body was the 1902 Marmon. Both the Eastman and Marmon were built with all-wood frames to which metal panels were pinned. For the most part, cars were primarily made of wood or wood and some steel. The wooden body panels of

those early cars restricted body designers. Wood can only be steamed and bent into simple curves. When applied to wooden frames, the body panels of one make of car looked pretty much like those of any other make. When sheet steel and aluminum came along, this sameness in appearance started to change. If you think using adhesives to hold car bodies together is something new in the 21st century, think again. Body engineers used caseinbased glue to hold early wooden body members together on the Cadillac, Columbia, Locomobile and Peerless from 1898 to 1904. Casein is a chemical found in milk, which is highly water-resistant. Many people point to 1979– 1980 as the beginning of the age of the unibody car. However, in 1916 the Ruler Auto Company manufactured 3,000 unibody vehicles dubbed the Ruler Frameless. Body members were fashioned into tubular form to give metal the rigidity it needed to do without a frame. The engine and suspension members rested on a platform. In October 1919, the Detroit Auto Dealers Association held the first “Closed Car Salon” auto show featuring only closed-body vehicles. Open-body vehicles were the norm of the time, but more and more were closing them. Oddly, many people did not like closed-body vehicles and considered them too ostentatious, not unlike “riding around in a display case.” The enclosed body, largely made of wood, was a cabinet-maker’s work of art. However, building it was arduous and time-consuming. The final product was not light, silent, nor especially durable. But it gave rise to the need for body technicians. The growing use of stamped metal parts would soon speed the process of coach-building. By the 1920s, some wood and sheet metal was being replaced with a new material—Vehisote. Not unlike the use of aluminum today, Vehisote was lighter weight and more versatile for the growing size of ve-

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

hicle and light truck bodies. The Agasote Millboard Company was founded in England in 1909, producing a sort of fiberboard made from recycled paper and glue formed into 4 X 8 foot sheets under extreme heat and pressure. (This sounds a lot like today’s plywood.) The process was brought to the U.S., and in 1915 various car companies began using the large sheets to create roofs on cars made of both wood and steel. The sheets were also known as “Vehisote,” part of the “Homosote” family of products. Vehisote was a favorite material for building truck bodies in the 1920s. By the 1930s, most car companies were using the body-on-frame car-building format that would last for more than 40 years! But not everyone “got the memo.” In 1940, the Budd Company of Detroit was the first to create what is known today as a uni-

body construction vehicle. Nash Motors was the first automaker to contract with Budd for the new body format. And then there was this: Time magazine of August 25, 1941 reported, “The first plastic car was shown by Henry Ford in Dearborn last week. His plastic, consisting of 70 percent cellulose, derived from hemp, sisal and wheatstraw, with a resin binder, is made of soybeans, wheat, cotton, hides, plus a few imported, now hard-to-get ingredients including cork, rubber, tung oil. The material was supposedly lighter than steel and could withstand 10 times the impact.” It sounds like the “grandfather” of high-strength steel. In 1943, Boeing Aircraft Company designed an automobile slated for post-war production. Its design, not surprisingly, was heavily influSee 120 Years, Page 60

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Bruce Roistacher has tried in excess of 100 jury trials in federal and state courts. He is a former NYC prosecutor and has previously represented insurance companies, which can be a great advantage to his automotive clients. Bruce can be reached at Bruce@AutobodyAttorney.com or by phone at 866-Law-MANN.

Auto Body Attorney with Bruce Roistacher

Ask the Auto Body Attorney: September 2018 I want to thank all of the shop owners around the country who have favorably responded to my initial column from last month. If you have a question or concern about any legal issue that may arise in your business, don’t hesitate to contact me at 1-855-Law-Mann or contact Autobody News. Although I can’t give legal advice, I can give a general opinion about your issue and point you in the right direction. In this edition, I want to explain some very basic definitions of terms that you may see me discuss in future columns. You may experience some of the following in your day-to-day business:

1. OEM – This is simply Original Equipment Manufacturer parts and equipment that may be marketed by a manufacturer. However, these parts

are assembled and installed during the construction of a new vehicle. They are in contrast to after-market parts, which are subsequently installed, e.g.., Champion sparkplugs, Kinsler fuel injectors, BMP engine blocks. You have to be careful because many auto parts are sold through multiple brands, causing some vehicles to have non-OEM parts. This area contributes to much of the litigation that is currently taking place, i.e., the State Farm case that I discussed in my prior column. Another topic that unfortunately occurs is the situation where insurance companies short shops on payments regarding OEM vs. after-market parts. Shops should fight back! There have been successful verdicts and settlements around the country on this issue and many others. 2.

CAPPING – Watch out for com-

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

panies capping labor rates and paint materials itemized, such as PaintEx. They may have no legal basis in capping or even outright rejecting your hard-earned payments – they add up! Gamesmanship by the insurance industry is alive and well, i.e., their latest word game is called a calculator. Why, you might ask? It’s simple and means nothing. PaintEx is a presentation that falls under the gaap rule (generally accepted accounting principles). These are the same rules that every insurance company uses every day. PaintEx is only one example of many that insurance companies attempt to reject because it saves them money and at the same time takes money out of your pocket. 3. UNFAIR PRACTICES – Insurance companies will deny, delay and try to defend and use methods such as steering, totaling and negotiating un-

fairly. The insurance companies will keep getting aggressive unless shop owners push back.

4. ASSIGNMENTS – Assignments from your customer, the insured, are crucial to obtain and must be legally sufficient. They legally put you, the shop owner, in the legal position of your customer for negotiating and subsequent litigation with insurance companies, if required. Each state may have their own requirements, which must be followed precisely.

5. SHOP SAFETY – Lately, the entire topic of environmental rules and regulations has become extremely important in your day-to-day business. This is particularly common regarding respiratory protection and hazard communication. My suggestion is to issue written warnings to your employees to create what we call informed consent.

This can later be used as evidence to prove that legal and sufficient notice of any potential danger has been given to your employees. Remember, employee safety is a must and proper safety equipment and environmentally acceptable chemicals have to be used, as both Federal and State agencies may visit your shops for inspection. They have the power to commence legal action against your shop, which could lead to fines and even put your permits or license in jeopardy. 6. TOTALING – In their neverending effort to “tighten the belt,” the practice of totaling, i.e., when insurance companies declare an automobile too damaged for repair when you know that it is repairable. This process obviously saves the companies the expense of parts and labor. The result? You lose business. Insurance companies have long used the method of favoring certain shops, perhaps in your area, to obtain favorable rates. Although it is perfectly understandable that any business has an absolute right to make profits, cut

expenses and costs and deal with certain companies, they can’t do it by illegall and/or unfair means. That applies to small businesses as well as to the largest companies in the world that have faced scandal or criminal conviction, such as Archer Daniels Midland, Bankers Trust, BP, British Airways, GE, International Paper, Samsung, Sears Roebuck and Company, Tyson Foods, VW, Waste Management and many more. Let me be clear: It is my opinion that the time has come that shop owners who have suffered serious financial loss due to any unfair practice by an insurance company begin to take legal action in an attempt to recover their hard-earned gains. 7. TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE WITH BUSINESS – If not criminal, almost every state recognizes the principle of tortious interference with business relations. This concept can be known by different names such as “intentional interference with contractual relations” or a “tort of negligent interference,” depending on the state that your business is in. It happens when one entity inten-

tionally damages someone else’s contractual or business relationship with a third party, causing economic harm. It can also occur if it happens without intent but in a negligent manner. Courts have held that tortious interference of business relations can occur when false claims against the business are made, which can affect reputation that drives business away. Each state requires proof of certain factors, including proof of damages or the harm caused. If proven, there might even be punitive or a punishing award that may increase any judgment rendered. Examples are when insurance companies or appraisers intentionally or negligently comment or publish untrue statements that downgrade a particular shop for another to a potential customer. The aforementioned scenario has been the subject of litigation around the country, and there have been some large verdicts that have been returned against insurance companies.

8. DEFAMATION – Very close and part of the above concept is the area of defamation.

Reputation is a valuable asset in any business. A damaged reputation can result in significant financial hardship. As previously stated, statements made to a third party about a particular shop—if untrue and actual damages can be proven that are directly related to those false statements—can be used to prove a claim of defamation. States obviously vary. However, the usual requirements are the following: (1) your reputation must be harmed and you must be able to prove it; (2) the statement must be false and you must be able to prove it; (3) you must identify the entity or person who made the statement; (4) you must have suffered provable damages directly relating to the above. The above are only an introduction to some of the most common legal issues that have wound up in our courts, and many have involved insurance companies and/or their appraisers. If you feel that you have been the victim of any of the aforementioned actions by an insurance company and have suffered damages directly related to their actions, you should consult an experienced attorney for legal advice. See you next month!

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Shop Strategies with Stacey Phillips

All-Female Body Shop Encourages the Next Generation of Auto Body Techs When Hilary Noack was a teenager, she noticed a flier about a festival in Long Beach, CA, called Ink-N-Iron. At the time, it featured old custom cars, tattoos and music. “I thought to myself, ‘This embodies everything that I want my body shop to be someday,’” she recalled. “I’m going to name it Ink&Iron.” Fast-forward 12 years later, and Noack now operates Ink&Iron body shop in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, which focuses on restorations and minor collision repair work. One of the unique features of her business is that it is owned and operated by women. Plans are in place to expand to other locations in Canada and the United States with the first opening in Detroit, MI, in 2019. Autobody News talked to Noack about her body shop and how she encourages co-op students and apprentices to learn the trade.

Q: A:

Can you share how you started in the auto body industry?

I remember hanging around my dad when I was growing up while he was working on cars and tuning them up. I wanted to buy a car when I was 17 years old, and the only

From there, I transitioned straight into an apprenticeship program at Centennial College in their automo-

ample that women can do it. There was no reason why I couldn’t. Seeing what amazing work they did, how they had to work twice as hard for half the respect and hearing their individual stories of discrimination and how they overcame it was my motivation. I wanted to provide a safe, judgment-free work environment where we could all learn from each other as well as train the next generation of fe(l to r) Audrey Batson, Lindsay Tadros, Emily Noack, male techs. Hilary Noack, Alexandra Chiarore, Olivia DiGianfelice I opened Ink&Iron in and Kimberly Diem Hanh Cao April 2015. I now have an tive division. I began working at 427 apprentice, a licensed technician and Auto Collision, one of the largest body a co-op student who is getting high shops in North America, after com- school credit for helping at the shop. pleting the third and final level of my schooling for the apprentice program. What are your expansion plans? How did you decide to open your shop and employ only women?

I have known that I wanted to open my own shop since I started in the trade, but I knew it would need to be unique in order to stand out from the crowd. It was definitely a goal of mine. When I first started at 427 Auto Collision, I was the only female in the workplace. I was also the only female through all three levels of my schooling. By the time I left the body shop, about a decade later, there were about eight of us. I met some awesome girls and watched them go through the apprenticeship program Hilary Noack opened Ink&Iron body shop in Mississauga, there. I also taught a night Ontario, Canada, in 2015 school course in auto body one I could afford was a 1970 Oldsmo- repair at Centennial College. Later, I bile. It was pretty rusty, and I wanted taught the auto body apprenticeship to learn how to repair it. There was a full-time during one semester prior to body shop nearby where my parents opening my shop. I thought I should start a shop lived, and I asked if I could work there as a co-op student during my last year that was all-female and use it as a of high school. They said yes, and I way to encourage more women to join the trade and set a positive exthought it sounded so cool. 44

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Currently, I am operating one location, but I would like to see my business grow to include more locations in different cities. My goal is to have Ink&Iron locations all across North America! I often get told by girls that they wish there were something similar to what I own where they lived and that they would love to work in a place like this. I like being able to give co-op students and apprentices the experience to work in a shop and teach the skills they need. I think this gives them the confidence to be able to go out into this industry and feel like they belong and have a right to be here. I’m excited to open a location in the Motor City of Detroit next year. My husband, Dan Fournier, is from Detroit, and it’s a really cool city.

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What are some of the challenges of operating an all-female shop?

What is your advice to other shops who are dealing with a shortage of techs in the industry?

I definitely think you get the typical stereotypes and people crying that it’s sexist and women belong in the kitchen, or they bet there are just men who work here and the business is a front for something.

Q: A:

I absolutely agree that there is a shortage of techs. It’s the

What do you enjoy most about running your body shop?

I think it is the ability to do my own thing and plan my schedule. One of the reasons I wanted to be an entrepreneur is the freedom. It’s Monday morning and I’m excited to go to work. I’m here seven days a week, and I’m working on cars that I want to focus on. I love doing this type of work, and I have a good customer base. My job is fun. I absolutely love what I do, which is to provide a place that is a good environment to teach women and encourage the next generation. We’re friends here as well, and we’re all really close. It’s a positive workplace.

take on a co-op student or an apprentice. The apprentice programs offer many benefits. As an apprentice, you are getting paid as if you were a regular employee. There is an awesome incentive in grant money and they often offer grants to the employers too. I know it’s hard because this industry is so fastpaced; you need to get the car done quickly, but people need to take the time to train the next generation. So many people are retiring out of the trade; you have to put that investment into training people.

(l to r) Kimberly Diem Hanh Cao (apprentice), Hilary Noack, Audrey Batson (licensed tech) and Emily Bedford (co-op student)

same up here in Canada too. Everyone is dying for skilled labor, but at the same time, I know a lot of techs either who have zero industry experience or who have maybe taken a course, and no one will hire them. I think that employers need to

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

What is the benefit of using social media to promote your body shop?

In this day and age, everything is very much going digital, and I think social media is a great tool. We currently have over 6,000 followers on our Facebook page. I found you have to be consistent when using social media and try to post

something every couple of days. It’s a great way to share your work and message. It’s also very visual. People love to see pictures of what you are doing. YouTube is also a great tool to use. I’m planning to make more videos of the repair process. I would love to take a build and film it from start to finish to give people an idea about how the process works. I think this will help educate our customers.

Q: A:

What is one of your biggest challenges at Ink&Iron?

One of our challenges is getting people to realize how much it costs to either repair or paint a car. People don’t understand the investment in materials or how much it costs. Sometimes, I have people who come by with the whole side of their car totaled and they ask if they can wait while it is being fixed. I find that we often need to educate customers on the repair process and why it costs so much.

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Certification Programs

centers. There is a yearly renewal, and that is $3,500 for all PACCs. This fee includes access to the inhouse Porsche training and access to the Workshop Manual. ABN: Do all shops renew?

Porsche: With few exceptions, most shops want to renew. But a common problem is those shops that came in meeting the minimum requirements of only two qualifying structural technicians, one qualifying estimator and one qualifying refinisher. If, upon renewal, they are missing any of those people, they must be replaced with a person equally qualified. We also run into a timing problem sometimes where ASE tests are only given quarterly. The shop might have to wait until the tests are administered to requalify. And of course, we sometimes run into renewal problems where a required tool has walked out the door or been broken and not replaced. When these things happen, we will give them time to renew, but we don’t give

anyone a “pass.” Every shop has to be at 100 percent to be called certified.

ABN: Is there an optimum number of shops you want to have and if so, how close are you to reaching that number?

Porsche: We would like every Porsche dealer (about 200 in the US) to have a PACC to refer their customers to. Ideally, that means each dealer would sponsor one collision center; however, in some cases a dealer will sponsor more than one, and in some areas, more than one dealer will share a PACC. Right now, we have about 130 PACC shops. ABN: Have you had any shops drop out and if so, why?

Porsche: If a dealer drops their sponsorship of a collision center, we may lose them. However, our retention rate over the life of the program is close to 100 percent. ABN: What has been the biggest challenge in establishing the network?

Porsche: We believe that overall, our

program is the toughest in the industry. The process is lengthy, especially in terms of the training and certifications that are required. However, when a collision center reaches Porsche Approved Collision Center status, they know that they are among the best in the industry.

ABN: What is your biggest challenge in maintaining the network?

Porsche: Staff turnover has caused problems in that in addition to in-house training from Porsche, there are training and certification requirements for both I-CAR and ASE. If the collision center has only the bare minimum trained, turnover causes them problems because it can be a lengthy process to fulfill all of the training requirements. ABN: Based on the John Eagle verdict in October 2017, did you make any changes to your program?

Porsche: We foresaw this happening, and consider it vindication of our requirements that the Workshop Manual is used and adhered to for all Porsche vehicle repairs. In fact, we require our

technicians to have their own device (laptops, iPad, etc.) capable of accessing the Workshop Manual.

ABN: Because of your laser-focus on correct repairs, do you have inspectors go back to the shop to ensure OE repair methods are being used? Porsche: No, not as a matter of course. We just don’t have the resources. However, I or my partner, Frank Turner, will make ad-hoc visits to PACC shops when we visit an area. ABN: What do you see for the future of OE certification programs (yours and/or other OE programs)?

Porsche: We believe that the collision centers that participate in OE programs will get stronger and stronger in the industry. The vehicles are becoming more complicated and the collision centers just can’t keep up on their own. They need support from the OE. If vehicle construction technology continues on its current path, the future is specialization; signs that say “all makes and models accepted’ will be a thing of the past.

autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Day Job/Night Job with Ed Attanasio

Dylan Maki Has Real Fish Stories to Tell When Dylan Maki, VP at Maki Body & Glass in Grand Rapids, MN, isn’t landing big DRPs or luring in body repair work by stressing quality and top-notch customer service, he is a professional fisherman who competes in large tournaments nationwide. As Dylan, 25, continues his legacy by taking over the family shop from his father, Brian, who’s preparing to retire, he focuses on his career in collision repair, but he’s also crazy about fishing and the challenges it presents. Earlier this year, Dylan and his fishing partner, Joe Bricko, won the Minnesota State Fishing Championship on Lake Vermilion, which enabled them to compete in the 2018 AIM National Championship Shootout on June 1–2 on Chippewa

Dylan Maki, VP at Maki Body & Glass in Grand Rapids, MN, is a professional fisherman when he’s not running his family business

Flowage in Wisconsin. Only the best anglers out of three states— Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota—get to compete in the AIM Nationals, Dylan said. “They pick the top 10 in each state and by winning the state tournament, we qualified for the championship, and that’s where we wanted to be,” he said. “If you want to be a respected tournament fisherman, you have to get in this one because only 30 boats compete, but there are some of the best fishermen in the country there.” Finishing third in the AIM Nationals, Dylan and Joe caught a total 48

Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at era39@aol.com.

of 24.5 lbs. while the winning duo to be ahead of the game too because landed 32.49 lbs, which means that the competition is the best in the Dylan and Joe were only one big fish country. We prepare by getting out away from winning it all. there on the lake before the event to “First prize in this tournament is a new $50,000 fishing boat, and then it’s door prizes for the other top finishers” Dylan said. “It was good to get out there and compete, but you always want to win, obviously.” Chippewa Flowage’s third-largest lake is known as a “walleye factory”—a fish that Dylan has been pur- Dylan and his fishing partner, Joe Bricko, finished third suing relentlessly since he in the 2018 AIM National Championship Shootout on June started angling as a young 1–2 on Chippewa Flowage, WI. Here, the pair poses with Dylan’s parents, Kelly (far left) and Brian (far right) child. “Walleye fishing is challenging practice (also called ‘pre-fishing’) because they’re very versatile,” he and really study the conditions and said. “They can be found in deep where the fish hang out during cerwater and shallow water and know tain times of the day.” how to use infrastructure like trees, Collision repair done right reroots, aquatic plants—you name it. We are always looking at the walleye’s behavior to find out where it might be and learn more about the fish, but they’re unpredictable in many ways. Chippewa is also a very interesting lake that is 10 miles wide in many places with lots of tiny channels, little bays and small islands.” There’s a lot going on for Dylan when he’s not chasing walleye because Maki Body & Glass is always busy. Dylan multi-tasks and steps in when needed. “I’m head estimator and production manager, but when things get jammed, I’ll jump in and help with the production by fixing a bumper or whatever else it takes,” he said. Dylan’s grandfather, Rayno Maki, started the business in 1952, back when the average repair was roughly $350. Today, his grandson knows that to repair today’s vehicles correctly, it comes down to continual training and preparation—just like tournament fishing. “We stress training in a big way, so everyone here is I-CAR-certified because we always want to be at the forefront of this industry,” he said. “With tournament fishing, you have

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

quires an eye for detail and a passion for the art of returning a vehicle back into its pre-accident condition. Fishing requires similar skills, and that’s why Dylan loves both activities, he said. “I get satisfaction from both, and that’s why I love doing them. Doing a good job on a customer’s car is like catching a big fish!” he said. After finishing in third place at AIM National Championship Shootout, Dylan wants to compete again in 2019 and take the top prize home this time. “We are going to have to get better before then so that we can qualify again,” he said. “Right now we are ranked ninth out of 100 boats in Minnesota, but they only take the top five for the Shootout. We will need to have a few really good days to move up, but we’re pretty confident and there’s still plenty of time left.”

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Trump Administration Seeks to Freeze Fuel Economy Standards by David A. Wood, CarComplaints.com

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have released their proposed vehicle fuel economy rule called the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule for Model Years 2021–2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks. It’s the first step in setting fuel economy standards for 2021-2026 vehicles, standards much lower than those created by the Obama administration. According to the EPA, its April 2018 evaluation determined fuel economy standards should be revised for model year 2022–2025 vehicles because current standards are allegedly based on outdated information. The EPA claims it had no choice but to evaluate current standards because the Obama administration “short-circuited” the process and released its final emissions determination just days before leaving office. Now NHTSA and the EPA say they have had time to study the pros and cons of following current fuel economy standards and the available options included in the proposed rule. EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the most recent information and data were used to create a solution that will apply to all states, creating more “realistic standards” that “can save lives while continuing to improve the environment.” Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao also said the new rule creates more “realistic standards” that will bring “newer, safer, cleaner and more fuel-efficient vehicles” to the roads. NHTSA said a 2018 study shows the newest vehicles are also the safest compared to older models, with crashes in new models resulting in fewer injuries and deaths. According to the Trump administration, “correcting” current fuel economy standards will remove barriers that currently block consumers from buying new safer cars. NHTSA and the EPA claim current fuel standards are a contributing factor to the increasing cost of new cars that now average $35,000, and backers of the new plan claim keep50

ing current standards will add more than $2,300 to the price of a new car. EPA Assistant Administrator Bill Wherum said the Department of Transportation and the EPA estimate the proposed rule could lead to 12,000 fewer fatalities over the lifetime of vehicles built through 2029.

The proposal also claims other benefits of freezing fuel economy standards at 2020 levels, including a reduction of “societal costs” by $500 billion and savings of $253 billion from lower new car prices. In addition to the proposed ruling, the administration says California and states that follow it should not have the ability to set different fuel economy standards than federal rules. Current regulations allow California to set its own environmental standards and a state can choose to follow California’s laws instead of federal regulations. Wheeler said the rule will “create a 50-state solution that will enable more Americans to afford newer, safer vehicles that pollute less.” According to NHTSA and the EPA, the proposed rule will have a minimal impact on fuel consumption and the environment, but it’s estimated there will be a 2–3 percent increase in daily fuel consumption. As for the environment, the government estimates the following:  An increase from 789.11 ppm (parts per million) to 789.76 ppm in atmospheric CO2 concentration in 2100.  A 3/1,000 of a degree Celsius increase in global average temperature in 2100.

 A 8/100 of a percent increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration in 2100.

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Both agencies also claim there will be no noticeable impact to net emissions of smog-forming air pollutants. Those estimates are allegedly based on an average fuel economy rating of 37 mpg for model year 2021–2026 vehicles, compared to the 46.7 mpg for 2025 under the current standards. As can be imagined, not everyone sees the subject in the same favorable light as the Trump administration. A group of 20 attorneys general say they will sue to prevent any drop in standards. “The Trump administration just proposed rolling back limits on car pollution. If the rule is finalized, our coalition of 20 AGs will go to court to put the brakes on this reckless and illegal plan,” said New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood. Underwood said weakening the standards will harm the health of children and seniors while increasing the cost of climate change for every state. Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, said

the proposal will cost the average family hundreds of dollars a year extra for gas, all while increasing air pollution. “The Trump administration’s proposal to slam the brakes on America’s successful Clean Car Standards is a massive pileup of bad ideas,” he said. And one Vermont driver chimed in when told of Trump’s estimates of savings with “societal costs” and administration claims about the minimal environmental impact. “It’s going to save $500 billion in ‘societal costs’? Well, I’d rather pay extra for a fuel efficient car versus one that gets 18 mpg but can order an iced mocha whenever I’m within two miles of a Starbucks. Meanwhile, VT just had the hottest July on record.” NHTSA and the EPA are accepting public comments for the next 60 days to listen to alternatives and ideas from U.S. consumers. We thank CarComplaints.com for reprint permission.

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Media and Publicity for Shops with Ed Attanasio

To Facebook or Not? Answers From Experts for Body Shops People started jumping off the Facebook bandwagon after it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica was allowed to “harvest” user data without consent from Facebook users, compromising their personal data. Others are gravitating away from social media overall for many reasons and concentrating more on things such as blogs, email newsletters and other forms of original content to attract customers. But, for collision repairers, many have stayed put because Facebook is still a great way to promote their businesses. So, we recently asked Nick Schoolcraft, president at Phoenix Solutions Group, and Angel Iraola, owner of Net Business Consulting & Solutions, if body shops should still utilize Facebook and how to use it for optimum results. ABN: Should body shops still believe

in Facebook, even though it has lost momentum recently due to the data breach? Schoolcraft: The short answer is yes, and the main reason is that today’s consumer has become accustomed to living in a world of increased transparency. As unfortunate as these breaches are to our level of trust, consumers continue to interact with brands even after a breach has occurred. While trust has always been a commodity that is hard to come by, it’s important to understand the way Facebook approaches businesses vs. personal profiles. A personal profile represents you as a human being, while a business page represents your business. However, to have a business page you are required to have a personal profile to manage it. What is important to note is that Facebook cares more about the personal profile

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at era39@aol.com.

data than the data on the business’s page. Most shops don’t realize there is a difference between a profile and a page. This is why it’s critical to seek out an organization that understands the difference between the two and partner with them when diving into the digital marketing space. Iraola: We have changed our customers’ approaches on Facebook and now are relying on other forms of social media as part of a marketing mix, but Facebook is here to stay and a necessary part of any plan we devise for body shops. Some consumers quit using Facebook initially after the breach, but many of them have returned based on our research. They were skeptical about Facebook but later realized that it was still the best way to connect with their friends and associates and find businesses and services quickly and easily. In the meantime, we are adding Instagram

and LinkedIn to our marketing plans for our body shop clients, and both are working well.

ABN: Maybe the question rather should be “Is Facebook (or any other social platform) the correct platform for your shop?”

Schoolcraft: Exactly. The focus should be placed on better understanding how social platforms can reaffirm your organization’s trust with a collision repair customer. By having a full understanding of which platforms work best for you, your shop will be able to use these tools to attract new customers and deliver growth to your business. Therefore, it is vital that body shops rethink their social strategy and begin developing social media content that is rooted in customer insights [and] See To Facebook or Not?, Page 59

Analysis: Red-Light Cameras Don’t Reduce Traffic Accidents or Improve Public Safety by Staff, The Daily

Red-light cameras don’t reduce the number of traffic accidents or injuries at intersections where the devices are installed, according a new analysis by Case Western Reserve University. Touted by supporters as a way to increase public safety by ticketing drivers who continue through red lights, the cameras actually shift traffic patterns: More drivers tend to brake harder and more abruptly, increasing fender-benders and other socalled “non-angle” collisions. “Once drivers knew about the cameras, they appeared to accept a higher accident risk from slamming on their brakes at yellow lights to avoid an expensive traffic citation— thereby decreasing safety for themselves and other drivers,” said Justin Gallagher, an assistant professor of economics at Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve. Gallagher is co-author of a paper posted to Social Science Research Network, commonly known as SSRN, based on an analysis of thousands of collisions over a 12-year span reported by the Texas Department of

Transportation. Researchers focused on data while red-light cameras were operating and again after they were removed (by voter referendum) in Houston—and drew on similar data from Dallas, which still has its redlight camera program.

In Houston, the installation of the cameras led to 18 percent more nonangle accidents, with an estimated 28 percent jump in these collisions in a combined Houston-Dallas data sample, researchers found. While removing the cameras in Houston caused 26 percent more “angle” accidents—such as T-bone collisions, considered among the most dangerous—it’s likely the cameras actually led to more accidents overall, since there are more non-angle accidents, researchers concluded.

“There is no reason to believe that there is a reduction in overall accidents thanks to red-light cameras,” Gallagher said. “Our analysis does not support the case that the cameras improve public safety, which is one of the main justifications used by public officials and law enforcement.” More than 400 communities in the United States—including 36 of the largest 50 cities—have installed the devices, usually placed at busy intersections with a history of accidents. Yet some communities have removed the cameras, including Cleveland, where Case Western Reserve is located, and Houston. The process of using the cameras to issue traffic citations—mailed to a vehicle’s registered owner—has largely withstood legal challenges. But their use has also been heavily scrutinized as mere revenue generators, with most programs administered by out-of-state, for-profit contractors. Tens of millions of dollars were collected from drivers in Houston and Dallas during the years analyzed for the paper. “There is clear evidence that installing a camera reduces the number of vehicles running a red light,” Gal-

lagher said, “but the predicted relationship between the number of vehicles running red lights and the total number of accidents is ambiguous— and certainly not compelling enough to justify some claims of proponents of these devices.” Data on the types of injuries ocurring in these traffic accidents (fatalities, incapacitating and non-incapacitating, and more minor) failed to provide a case in which the cameras increased the safety of intersections where they’re installed, Gallagher said. In 2015, more than 35,000 people died and 2.4 million were injured in traffic accidents nationally, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While the U.S. Department of Transportation recommends a set yellow-light caution length of 3 to 6 seconds, there is no uniformity among intersections. The study’s co-author was Paul Fisher, a graduate student in economics at the University of Arizona and a 2017 Case Western Reserve graduate. We thank The Daily for reprint permission.

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After the Donation: Retired Marine Pays it Forward as His Mission Continues by Ed Attanasio

Iraq War veteran Josue GuerreroUribe received a completely refurbished 2017 Hyundai Elantra from Allstate and Caliber Collision in Costa Mesa, CA, late last year as part of the National Auto Body Council (NABC) Recycled Rides™ program.

Retired Marine Josue Guerrero-Uribe received a 2017 Hyundai last year from Caliber Collision and Allstate as part of NABC’s Recycled Rides program, so that he could help others

A retired member of the Marine Corps Infantry, Guerrero-Uribe was nominated by The Mission Continues, a nonprofit organization that enables veterans to continue their service in the community through a wide range of philanthropic activities. With his Elantra, Guerrero-Uribe was able to help more people and pay the gift forward, he said. “When I saw that the people at NABC, Caliber Collision and Allstate were doing such a wonderful thing for me with this car, I knew that I had to use this vehicle to help others,” he said. “It was a blessing and unexpected, so I realized right there that I could use it to further my work with The Mission Continues.” Before he received the Recycled Rides vehicle, Guerrero-Uribe said he was spending countless hours on public transportation traveling to participate in his volunteering activities. “I was taking buses and trains to different events, and then one day I was standing there in the rain and the people at The Mission Continues asked me, ‘How did you get here?’” he said. “When I told them I didn’t have a car, they recommended me to the Recycled Rides program, and then one day I got the call.” Since then, he has logged hun54

dreds of hours to help build sports fields and schools and teach financial management and English classes at various schools and libraries to some of Los Angeles County’s poorest residents with The Mission Continues. Less than 20 years ago, Guerrero-Uribe’s situation was a lot different than it is today. “I enlisted in the Marines in December 2000 at age 23, and was stationed at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, CA, and then things happened quickly after that,” he said. “I entered boot camp in January, graduated on Mother’s Day, graduated from infantry school on the 4th of July and then joined my platoon in August—all in 2001. And then 9/11 happened. Everything happened so fast; I never even got a chance to unpack my gear.” To prepare for the aftermath of 9/11, Guerrero-Uribe was sent to the Twenty-Nine Palms National Training Center for one year to get ready for the harsh conditions of Iraq. In March of 2003, he became part of the first invasion of Iraq, but prior to that he was sent to Kuwait to construct “Camp Commando” and its entire infrastructure. “We built everything there; you name it,” he said. “It was just sand when we got there. One day, I remember carrying sand bags up to a sniper’s tower, and I thought, ‘Wow, we’re an easy target right now.’ We were the laborers and also did the security 24/7 at the camp.” When the official bombing on Baghdad began, Guerrero-Uribe and his platoon, (Weapons Platoon, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines) in conjunction with the First Marine Expeditionary Force (1MEF) and Regimental Combat Team-1 (RCT1) became part of a combat team. “We were the first ones who went through the middle of Iraq and ended up in downtown Baghdad,” he said. “We took over the U.N. building in Baghdad, and it was very exciting. We were on autopilot at that point and didn’t even know what day it was, but we kept moving.” The next stop was Saddam’s palace in Tikkrit, North Iraq, Guerrero-Uribe said. “They told us that we did such a good job in Baghdad that they were

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

his shoulder, landing awkwardly and blowing out his hip. “Something in my leg popped, but I just kept going and ignored it,” he said. “When I got back to the states, I realized that something was really wrong with it.” Guerrero-Uribe got his “five seconds of fame” while deployed in Iraq when he and his platoon were featured in “21 Days to Baghdad,” a special produced by the National Geographic Channel. “I’m at the end of it, saying ‘Hi Mom,’ and celebrating Guerrero-Uribe is often interviewed as a spokesperson while carrying a mortar,” he with The Mission Continues said. “So, that’s the proof see. Here was a huge palace with wa- that I was there.” When Guerrero-Uribe’s tour in terfalls, marble flooring and goldplated toilets everywhere, and just Iraq ended and he returned to the right outside the walls there was so states, he was suffering from clinical much poverty and starvation. So depression and PTSD, among other much excess while the rest of Iraq problems. “Being in Iraq was a huge rush was suffering—it was a humbling all the time, so when I got home I experience.” One day in Iraq, Guerrero-Uribe couldn’t adjust to the 9-to-5 pace of See After the Donation, Page 68 jumped off a truck with a mortar on attached to Task Force Tripoli to take down the palace,” he said. “We were the first people there, and it was an amazing and heartbreaking thing to

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Good News: Your Tesla Model 3 Is Finally Ready. Bad News: It May Take Weeks To Get It Serviced by Russ Mitchell, The San Diego Union-Tribune

As Tesla ramps up its Fremont, CA, factory to escape what Elon Musk called “production hell” with its new Model 3 electric sedan, some customers are enduring their own state of suffering trying to get Teslas serviced.

Tesla service center in Costa Mesa, CA Credit: Allen J. Schaben, Los Angeles Times

Parts shortages, long repair delays and problems getting through on customer help lines have led to scenes of strife at Tesla’s service centers. At the entrance to the company’s Dublin, CA, center recently, an agitated Model X owner was trying to drop his SUV off for repair. A Tesla service agent said he couldn’t leave the car there because the facility was too busy. He could make an appointment to bring it in another time, maybe in a couple of weeks. “But I don’t want to drive it!” said Kaushal Bhaskar, a software engineer from nearby San Ramon who complained he sometimes couldn’t get the passenger door to open, while other times the door would open up all by itself—including once on the Interstate at highway speeds. “This is a safety concern for me!” Another service rep was assisting Mike, the owner of a red Model 3 with door-lock problems who declined to give his last name. He’d lock the car, walk away, and it would electronically unlock itself. That caused him to alter his vacation plans. “I couldn’t take it to Yosemite like that,” he said. The agent said Mike would have to leave the car there awhile: “The amount of cases I’ve got right now is unbelievable.” Service complaints are common at traditional automobile dealers, of course—even for new cars. But weeks-long waits for basic auto repair are rare, and months-long waits 56

for body parts are practically unheard of for all but the most exotic vehicles because spare parts from automakers and after-market manufacturers are stocked in inventory. Spare body parts for repair almost always are made by the original manufacturer, said Bill Hampton, editor of the industry trade publication Auto Beat Daily. But, he said, it’s not surprising that such parts aren’t a top priority right now at Tesla. “When you’re making dramatic efforts to manufacture 5,000 [Model 3s] in one week, you sure can’t say, ‘Hey, some guy in Topeka needs a new hood. Too bad,’” Hampton said. The parts shortage goes well beyond California. In Norway, the third-largest market for Tesla cars after the U.S. and China, some customers told Norwegian media they have been waiting months on body parts for their damaged Teslas. Musk addressed the Norway problem on Twitter on July 5, saying “Norwegians are right to be upset with Tesla. We are having trouble expanding our service facilities in Oslo especially. Can solve quickly with Tesla mobile service vans, but awaiting govt permission to do so.” He has not addressed problems in the U.S. or elsewhere. The Times asked Tesla to make a service executive available to talk about what the company is doing to improve customer service, but it declined. Only Tesla knows the full extent of its quality problems. J.D. Power, which ranks initial vehicle quality, measures all mass-market automakers except Tesla, which declines to provide quality data requested by the market research firm. A Tesla spokesman said in a prepared statement that the company’s own global satisfaction scores for service are above 90 percent. A new parts distribution service was opened this spring in California, the statement said, and while “call volumes have increased dramatically due to the overwhelming excitement around the Model 3, this hasn’t impacted our ability to respond to emergency roadside events.” Tesla has “plans in place” to hire

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

more staff in customer support “in the event they are unable to find their answers” at Tesla’s support site “or in their Tesla account,” the company said. And it plans to open a large new

A tent outside the Tesla factory in Fremont, CA, was pressed into service to ramp up Model 3 production Credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images

service center in Oslo later this year. Tesla cars have topped Consumer Reports’ owner satisfaction survey for the last two years, the company noted. Jeff Klein, a publishing executive in Northridge, said the hood and front quarter panel on his wife’s Model S were damaged in a March accident. Four months later, the car is still parked at a Tesla-certified repair shop, waiting for parts, while Klein makes monthly payments on

the lease. Klein didn’t need a loaner vehicle. “The general manager said it could take several months, that Tesla didn’t seem to realize that their cars might get in accidents and they had no parts inventory,” Klein said. “Their parts are made to order, just like their cars.” On Tesla online forums, customers complain about long hold times on Tesla’s customer service phone line and waits of sometimes hours to check the status on a car delivery or repair, or to ask for a refund on a car deposit. Some report Tesla doesn’t get back to them at all. Mathijs Kok of Bueren, Germany, said the company promised by phone someone would return his call to correct a windshield problem on his new Model S. No one called him back. The next time he had a problem—this one with unresponsive roadside assistance—Kok emailed the company. He never heard back,

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despite some follow-up reminders. Kok, who said he runs a customer support department at Aerosoft GmbH, a flight simulator software maker, called the email snub “nasty.” “The lack of callbacks was sloppy, almost certainly caused by too much work,” he said. “In a nutshell, it’s damned hard to get in contact and they have lacking procedures to make it possible for issues to be missed and not followed up in time.” Service problems are not new at Tesla. In August, the company’s president for sales, marketing, delivery and service, Jon McNeill, said on the Tesla Motors Club forum the company had “streamlined” customer service “to make contacting the right person at Tesla easier.” Six months later, McNeill quit Tesla to become chief operating officer at Lyft. In June, Karim Bousta, Tesla vice president of worldwide service and customer experience, left, as did David Erhart, senior director for reliability and testing. Tesla’s sales and service approach differs greatly from most automakers, which sell their cars to franchised dealers. Tesla owns and

runs retail sales and service operations on its own. The company’s 74 service centers in the U.S. are complemented by Tesla Rangers, a mobile service program that dispatches service workers to fix some cars on site. The company also has pioneered “over the air” updates, where software updates can be beamed to the car without having to bring it to the dealer. Tesla executives have said this approach lowers Tesla’s capital costs. But accelerating production— to 53,339 cars of three different models in the second quarter, up 55 percent from a year earlier and almost a five-fold increase from the same period in 2015—may be overwhelming Tesla’s service resources. Add to that the wide variety of Model 3 quality problems reported on Tesla customer forums, including broken glass, bad paint jobs, body panel gaps, dead batteries, wind noise, dents, scratches and software problems including door locks and weirdly behaving touch screens. Tesla has one of the most rabidly loyal customer bases of any automaker, of course. The same forums

are peppered with praise for the cars and with Tesla service. And auto reviewers are near unanimous in their praise for the way the Model 3 drives. Consumer Reports relies on customer surveys for its own quality assessments. Mike Quincy, an automotive specialist at the research organization, called Tesla’s quality record “mixed.” “The good news is that the Model S has a new-car predicted reliability better than average,” Quincy said, referring to the mainstay Tesla sedan. “The bad news is that the Model X has proved far worse than average. Too few surveys have been collected yet to evaluate the Model 3.” If Model 3 quality proves subpar and service issues aren’t fixed, it could mean deeper trouble for Tesla as the company tries to go mainstream, according to Karl Brauer at Kelley Blue Book. Early Tesla buyers are “so in love with the car, they’d ignore things most buyers wouldn’t put up with, like delays for repairs or batteries that fail multiple times,” Brauer said. He suggested that Musk spend more time straightening out issues at

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Tesla and less time on cave rescue operations or offering to fix water contamination problems in Flint, MI—Musk’s latest social cause. As the Model 3 broadens Tesla’s customer base, it may test the company’s “over the air” service model. At the Dublin service center, Bhaskar’s service rep said a review of his vehicle’s operational data, captured on Tesla’s cloud storage system, showed the door never opened by itself. “But I have seen it with my own eyes,” Bhaskar insisted. (The Times called the Dublin center three times to ask the service manager for comment. No calls were returned.) Bhaskar told the rep he’d take the car home and make an appointment, but wanted a written statement acknowledging the door safety problem. “We’re not putting this on paper,” he was told. “Here, that’s not the way business is done.” The issue was escalated, and after 45 minutes, Bhaskar was allowed to leave his car. He departed in a Mercedes-Benz SUV loaner. We thank The San Diego UnionTribune for reprint permission.

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Continued from Page 52

To Facebook or Not?

aligning with their needs while further accentuating the shop’s customer-first mindset. Unfortunately, shops often misuse channels like Facebook by focusing solely on driving conversions (sales), rather than what the platform was initially intended for: community engagement. Consumers have begun to blur the lines between industries, meaning they expect the simplicity and convenience they encounter in one experience to apply to every experience, regardless of the difference in industries. Because of this, it’s vital that your brand has a presence on the channels that your prospective customers use. And how you approach your activity on these channels is critical. Iraola: Some shops are perfect for Facebook, because they support it through their in-house efforts and have a lot of things to post. They perform a wide range of community-related activities and are proactive with

their philanthropy and maintain a blog that is connected to Facebook, so they’re posting new items all the time. We also suggest that they purchase Facebook advertising on a regular basis in order to get their name out in front of more people. Some shops think that all they need to do is establish a Facebook page and hope that people will find it on their own, but from our experience, it does not work that way. For a very small amount of money, they can get in front of a significant amount of their current and potential customers in a highly focused and targeted way. You can specify users in a tight geographic area based on their interests, etc., so you don’t have to take a shotgun approach, which leads to more engagement, and you pay only for those people rather than people who may not be in your market.

ABN: So, the days of businesses posting cute videos and funny photos on Facebook are over? Schoolcraft: Yes. We have learned that collision facilities should not use Facebook as a tool to showcase their

comedic talent or to share recipes, but rather as an outlet to provide information on how they can serve their community, as well as incorporating the differentiators a shop has over its competitors. The reason for this is because social media is an element of the collision customer’s purchase journey and should be used that way—as a validating resource, rather than expecting it to be a conversion tool. While a well thoughtout and purposeful social presence can help in converting customers, it should not be considered this industry’s next silver bullet. It’s simply a piece of the overall marketing puzzle. Our research is further validated, as Facebook’s mission is “to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”

Iraola: We tell our shop clients that they should still have fun with their Facebook pages, because people still expect that from Facebook to a degree. But, yes—if you post too many funny videos or other trivial content, you might lose your relevance. Keep in mind that collision repair is not an impulse buy and that most people

don’t ever wake up in the morning thinking warm and fuzzy thoughts about the experience of getting into a car accident. Your image on any social media should be similar to that of an attorney, a bank or a school where transparency, honesty and full accountability are key, so always take the high road when you post anything on Facebook. Continued from Page 22

Code Crackdown

within 30 days to meet city code. On August 6, Turcio said he hadn’t yet heard anything from the property owner or manager about their plans to tear down and reinstall the porches. He said he hopes they pull the necessary construction permits before they begin the work. We thank New Haven Independent for reprint permission.

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Continued from Page 30

John Eagle Decision

shops recalibrating 80 to 100 percent of the time to 77.7 percent. Again, one of the largest changes is the smaller shops, those with 1 to 7 employees, perhaps because they have the most to lose in a catastrophic lawsuit situation. Those shops with a large amount of DRP relations also had a large change, but only because they were recalibrating so rarely prior to October 2017. Here are some of the comments that accompanied the surveys Chris Norris of Weavers Auto Center in Shawneee, KS, said, “We need to stand up for the consumer that drives the vehicle. BTW we are the only ones!” Kime Collision of Standish, MI, wrote, “We have been doing this for years knowing that sooner or later everyone would have to. It looks like reality is finally catching up in our industry.” And then there was this anonymous word to the wise, “You have to be willing to let the vehicle leave if

the Customer or Insurer is unwilling to repair the vehicle correctly.” So… what can be said about the John Eagle decision and its effect on the industry? A year ago, many writers, consultants and pundits said it was a wake-up call for the industry. They said that shops had to pay more attention to OE procedures and proper repairs. If the above information, small sampling that it is, is to be believed, then it looks like not all, but many shops have “seen the light” and are using more OE procedures and OE parts. As for scanning and recalibrating, a recent CCC report of the first quarter of 2018 indicates a small increase in scans, less than what the above figures would indicate. However, CCC’s Susannah Gotsch is also quick to point out that just because there is no scan on the estimate, it doesn’t mean one wasn’t done. Will the swing to greater use of OE procedures be permanent? An educated guess says ‘yes.’ As long as technology continues to move forward and becomes increasingly sophisticated at a faster and faster rate, technicians will have no choice … if the car is to be properly and safely repaired.

Walmart To Transport Shoppers in Waymo SelfDriving Cars by Chuck Martin, MediaPost

Walmart is starting a pilot program using Waymo self-driving cars to transport shoppers to and from grocery pickup locations.

The trial will run out of a Walmart store in Chandler, AZ, and be limited to a group within Waymo’s 400 daily users, called “early riders,” according to a blog post by Tom Ward, vice president, digital operations, at Walmart. The cars of Waymo, which

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started as Google’s self-driving car project, have driven more than 8 million miles on roads across 25 U.S. cities. For the Arizona project, shoppers will place an online grocery pickup order on Walmart’s website. “Our personal shoppers get to work picking customers’ orders based on their pickup times,” stated Ward. “Waymo does the rest. They transport customers to and from pickup, and all the while, those customers can text, nap, work … you name it.” The goal of the pilot is to learn, with a focus on making Walmart’s online grocery pickup more convenient, according to Ward. We thank MediaPost for reprint permission.

www.autobodynews.com

UPDATED DAILY

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Continued from Page 36

120 Years

enced by aircraft design, featuring a 75HP rear engine and an all-aluminum body. It never reached production, but its development underscores the fact that aluminum for cars bodies is not a new idea. In the 1950s, Chevrolet introduced the fiberglass-bodied Corvette. Studebaker would build its Avanti with fiberglass in the 1960s. Around 2006, car makers started combining aluminum bolt-on parts, like doors, hoods or trunk lids with bodies that were otherwise made of steel. It seemed like a unique idea at the time and a great way to save weight to increase fuel mileage—but it was certainly not new. In 1963, the Dodge Polara was available in a special package with weight-saving aluminum front fenders, bumper and hood with a custom hood scoop. The aluminum saved about 150 pounds, less weight for… “the 426 engine and automatic transmission to push down the drag strip or around a NASCAR track.”

Some technicians consider use of “glue” or epoxy to keep pieces of a car together as too new and heretical and something that will never work. If a part is not bolted, riveted or welded together, how will it ever hold? Yet, in 1984 Volvo announced the use of epoxy to tack-weld body parts together, thus reducing the number of conventional spot welds from 4,000 to 500. Granted, body building, bodybuilding material and the way automobile bodies must be repaired have seen some dramatic changes in a relatively short time beginning with the Obama administration in January 2009, and the massive changes made to CAFÉ standards. But changes in the way vehicles are built and the way they need to be repaired have changed many times over the automobile’s history and will continue to evolve.

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What Is the Future for New, Used Car Sales Claims? by Susanna Gotsch, Property Casualty 360

U.S. auto sales for the first six months of 2018 were stronger than many analysts originally anticipated, but were driven in large part by growth in fleet sales while retail sales were essentially flat. Higher interest rates, some pullback by auto lenders, less consumer demand and higher gas prices were among the headwinds faced by the U.S. new vehicle market. However, it still managed to see an increase of 1.9 percent for the first six months of 2018 versus same period in 2017 (car sales fell by 11.8 percent, while light truck sales grew by 10 percent). Most new and used vehicles were financed, with average payments and loan term lengths hitting new highs, according to Experian’s “State of the Automotive Finance Market First Quarter 2018” report. Unfortunately, this means that many more people owe more money on their vehicles than they are worth, and the percent of new vehicle loans with negative equity also remains high, according to Edmund’s 2018 Automotive Industry Trends: Midyear Update. How will tariffs affect pricing? Growing issues with new vehicle affordability have been a key reason used vehicle sales have remained strong both in terms of volume and pricing. Despite significant increases in used inventory from large volumes of lease returns, wholesale and used vehicle prices have remained relatively stable, registering much smaller declines than many analysts had originally feared. The younger age and quality of vehicles coming back as lease returns have led to higher overall used vehicle transaction prices, which according to Edmunds.com, reached an average of $19.7K in Q1 2018 versus $16.7K in Q1 2013. The tariffs imposed by the U.S. on July 6 of this year and the threat of additional tariffs could drive up new vehicle prices even further, potentially slowing auto sales in the second half. The tariffs against China that went into effect in July add a 25 per62

cent border tax to Chinese-made vehicles made for U.S., and U.S.-made vehicles face a new 40 percent tariff in China. The U.S. is still working to determine whether it will impose tariffs on other countries, based on whether imports are threats to national security. About half of parts and vehicle imports come from Canada and Mexico, so any tariffs put on those countries could have severe impacts on U.S. auto sales. If prices on new cars are raised, more consumers might shift to the used market (annually only about 17M new vehicles are sold in the U.S.; in 2018 the U.S. is on track to sell 39.4M used vehicles)—where prices are already up due to more light trucks in the overall volume of lease returns into the used market. While analysts believe increases in new vehicle prices from tariffs won’t necessarily lead to an increase in used vehicle prices immediately, the tariffs would likely lead to lower depreciation rates for used vehicles, a factor that would lead to higher total loss vehicle values over time. Total loss vehicle values remain elevated so far in 2018, as the shift toward a newer, more expensive total loss vehicle population continues. Non-comprehensive total loss vehicle values are up over 3 percent for the four quarters ending Q2 2018 versus a year prior, and vehicles ages 0–6 years now account for 34 percent of total loss volume versus 29 percent in the four quarters ending Q2 2014. Total loss frequency also continues to rise, as the percent of total losses that were older than 15 years of age remains elevated at 15.4 percent, and among vehicle appraisals, total loss frequency increased across all vehicle ages.

Impact on Vehicle Repairs Vehicle repair costs also rose 3 percent in the four quarters ending Q2 2018, with the largest increases occurring among the newest vehicles. Growth in the number of labor hours per claim, the average hourly labor rate, the average number of parts replaced per claim and the average price paid per part are all contribut-

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

ing to higher repair costs overall. Volume share growth in segments like light trucks, European vehicles and newer model year vehicles where repair costs are higher are also contributing to higher cost overall. Yet while both repair costs and total loss costs continue to rise, the industry has begun to see a leveling off in claim frequency. The U.S. economy continues to be strong; unemployment numbers are at all-time lows, and the U.S. has seen registered vehicle counts grow again to nearly 1.3 vehicles per licensed driver, said Michael Wayland in his U.S. sales outlook on autonews .com. However, as growth in vehicle registrations has again surpassed overall growth in U.S. miles driven, the miles driven per vehicle (a proxy for “accident exposure”) have fallen, helping collision and property damage liability claim frequency to also taper. For example, repairable claim counts (excluding comprehensive) for 2018 through June were up only

0.4 percent from the same period in 2017. Less severe winter and spring weather in many parts of the U.S. has also meant fewer overall losses. A comparison of the share of losses with primary impact of hail or water for the first six months of the year reveal a much smaller percent in 2018 versus several prior years. Comprehensive losses’ share of overall repairable and total loss claim counts fell in both Q1 and Q2 of 2018 compared to prior years. Assuming no major economic event, such as a full-blown trade war or recession, or no major catastrophe such as a Superstorm Sandy or Hurricane Harvey, data from the first six months of the year would suggest that 2018 will see little growth, if any, in accident and claim counts. However, given rising costs and repair complexity, both the insurance industry and collision repairers will remain under pressure to have the training and tools to operate efficiently and effectively. See Sales Claims, Page 68

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Uber Puts Self-Driving Cars Back to Work, But With Human Driver by Shelby Rogers, Interesting Engineering

After being pulled for several highprofile controversies and related deaths, Uber’s autonomous cars are coming back to roadways. Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group, announced in a recent Medium piece that its self-driving cars would return just four months after a fatal accident caused Uber to stop testing. “After the tragedy in Tempe, we launched a top-to-bottom review of our self-driving program with a focus on safety. Today, we are taking a first step towards bringing our selfdriving vehicles back to public roadways in Pittsburgh,” he wrote. Uber is implementing what’s called a Mission Specialist behind the wheel at all times. However, from Uber’s description, the “Mission Specialist” position just sounds an awful lot like any other Uber driver. The only difference is that this driver is behind the wheel of a car capable of being put into an autonomous mode. Meyhofer explained, “We’re starting with cars in manual mode with a Mission Specialist sitting be-

hind the wheel and manually controlling the vehicle at all times. Mission Specialists undergo extensive training to operate self-driving vehicles on our test track and on public roads. The Mission Specialist behind

Credit: UberATG, Medium

the wheel is primarily responsible for maintaining vehicle safety, while a second Specialist in the passenger seat will document notable events.” The company assured readers that they’ve done more than ensuring a human in the car pays attention to their surroundings. They’ve also added real-time driver monitoring to all self-driving vehicles that will send an audio alert to an inattentive Mission Specialist as well as another

person monitoring the vehicle’s performance. They added new collision avoidance systems that will remain enabled even when the car is in manual drive mode. Uber’s autonomous cars will also have a front tablet for turn-by-turn navigation with a reconfigured look to make sure it doesn’t distract anyone in the vehicle while the vehicle is in motion. “Self-driving technology has the potential to change how we move, reinvent how we design cities and save lives. We recognize our responsibility to contribute to this future, and the essential role that safety plays as we move forward,” Meyhofer wrote. The restrictions placed on the self-driving program seemed to come solely from the pedestrian death in Tempe, AZ, and government restrictions placed on the company in the wake of the accident. At one point, the fate of Uber’s self-driving segment seemed bleak. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey—the man who initially championed Uber’s self-dri-

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ving technology being brought to the state—banned the company from further testing. Shortly after, Uber fired its self-driving car operators in its Pittsburg and San Francisco locations. One element of Uber’s update seems to be in direct response to the events at Tempe—the driver tracking and alert system. While investigating the Tempe death, officials determined that operator Rafaela Vasquez looked down at her phone 204 times in order to watch television during a 43-minute test drive. The drive ended when Vasquez killed Elaine Herzberg after she stepped in front of the vehicle. The police determined Vasquez had enough time to avoid Herzberg had her eyes been on the road. We thank Interesting Engineering for reprint permission.

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Ford Commits to Spending $4 Billion on Autonomous Vehicles by Jessica Miley, Interesting Engineering

Ford has signaled its dedication to the development of autonomous vehicles by announcing its plans to spend $4 billion on the sector through 2023. The carmaker has created a Limited Liability Company (LLC) called Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC, which will host the company’s self-driving systems integration, autonomous vehicle research and advanced engi-

Credit: Argo

neering, AV transportation-as-a-service network development, user experience, business strategy and business development teams. The $4 billion budget includes dedicating $1 billion to autonomous driving startup Argo AI. The new company will be based out of Ford’s

Corktown campus in Detroit, headed by Sherif Marakby. Marakby will report to a board of directors chaired by Ford’s executive vice president and president of mobility, Marcy Klevorn.

Argo AI To Help Take Ford Into the Autonomous Car Market Argo AI is the brainchild of former Google Self-Driving Engineer Bryan Salesky and former Engineering Lead at Uber Advanced Technologies Group Peter Rander. Ford’s involvement in the group has been public knowledge since February 2017. The latest announcement of additional funding and the formation of the LLC shows that Ford is ready to mean business when it comes to autonomous vehicles. Previous research into the technology was spread across departments, but this latest move to bring all the parts together shows that Ford is moving towards a vision of commercial deployment of autonomous cars. Ford Looks to the Future of Electric Autonomous Cars “Ford has made tremendous progress across the self-driving value chain—

from technology development to business model innovation to user experience,” said Ford CEO Jim Hackett. “Now is the right time to consolidate our autonomous driving platform into one team to best position the business for the opportunities ahead.”

supply chain choreography and inventory leanness that rivals any industrial model in the world.”

Ford’s electric vehicle strategy includes making the charging process for electric vehicles effortless as well as rethinking car ownership models. Ford will also follow Tesla with over-the-air software updates to enhance capability and features of its vehicles as new software is developed. “The evolution of computing power and IT have helped bring great products to customers—from cars to tablets,” Hackett said. “We can now harness this technology to unlock a new world of vehicle personalization,

vehicle businesses. Detroit’s oldest neighborhood will see a new Ford grow out of a 1.2 million-square-foot space. Corktown is expected to house 2,500 Ford employees, most of whom will work in its emerging mobility team. In addition to being a space for Ford and its partners, the site will serve as a mix of community and retail space and residential housing.

Detroit’s Long Automobile History Will Continue With a New Electric Face Ford’s Corktown campus will become a hub for its electric and autonomous

“Ford has made tremendous progress across the self-driving value chain—from technology development to business model innovation to user experience,” — Jim Hackett

We thank Interesting Engineering for reprint permission.

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Continued from Page 54

After the Donation

everyday life,” he said. “I had lost my tribe, and I was lonely and became very isolated. I was hiding my pain with pain killers and started quitting jobs or getting fired.” In 2015, he checked into the West Los Angeles V.A. Hospital and started turning his life around. “It saved my life because I didn’t want to admit that I was damaged goods,” he said. “I was headed for a dark place and without the help, I might still be there. They enabled me to reset my life and understand all of the things that I was hiding from.” Today, Guerrero-Uribe uses his vehicle to deliver other veterans to volunteer at a wide range of charitable projects through The Mission Continues. “I load the car up with vets from the Hollywood Veterans Center, and we go out to places like schools to get our hands dirty and build things,” he said. “There is something going on pretty much every weekend, and it’s a team effort and great therapy.” To continue his mission, Guerrero-Uribe recently submitted a fellow Marine’s name for a car through the NABC Recycled Rides Program. “His name is Mathew Shepherd, and he will be receiving his car this month,” he said. “He hasn’t missed any events and is working on himself, so he is a perfect candidate for a car, just like I was!”

Ford Has To Pay Nearly $300 Million Because Of Fatal Takata Airbags by Jay Traugott, CarBuzz

Although airbag supplier Takata has filed for bankruptcy, the after-effects of the fatal airbag recalls continue. According to Reuters, Ford has agreed to what’s described as a “socalled economic loss settle of $299.1 million.” This settled amount will

cover various forms of economic loss linked to the faulty airbag inflators, such as claims that vehicles were stated as being safe but really were not, and for cars that people had overpaid for despite the airbags. Many owners were forced to pay various out-of-pocket expenses. Ford isn’t the only automaker that agreed to a settlement, which has now climbed to a total value of around $1.2 billion. Other automak-

ers include Ferrari, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru and BMW. The defective Takata airbags have been connected to the deaths of at least 23 people and more than 290 injuries worldwide. The exact problem with the inflators is that they can explode, flinging metal shrapnel at passengers’ faces. A total of 21 deaths took place in Hondas, while two happened in Fords. The settlement Ford agreed to with affected owners takes into account specifics like lost wages, child care costs and vehicle repairs. Ford will also offer free rental or loaner vehicles to these owners as they wait for the necessary repairs. As of July 18, a total of 30 million vehicles in the U.S. still require repairs. The Takata airbag recall was the largest safety recall in auto industry history, affecting roughly 100 million inflators among 19 major automakers. Takata’s bankruptcy happened back in June 2017, but not before it agreed to a $1 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department. We thank CarBuzz for reprint permission.

Continued from Page 28

Event Announcements

(PrimePay). The afternoon will feature “Trends in the Aftermarket–Near Term and Long Term,” presented by Philip Atkins of Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) as well as Roundtable Discussions facilitated by Atkins. On Saturday evening, AAAMS will hold its President’s Reception, followed by a banquet, awards Ceremony and AAMS Scholarship Live Auction. The conference will conclude on Sunday morning after breakfast with an inspirational message from Pastor Brett Myers of First Baptist Church. Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, visit www.aaamsonline.com/events.aspx.

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Continued from Page 62

Sales Claims

Susanna Gotsch is director and industry analyst for CCC Information Services Inc. Contact her at sgotsch@cccis.com. The information and opinions presented are for general information only, are subject to change and are not intended to provide specific recommendations for any individual or entity. This article was originally published on PropertyCasualty360.com. Copyright (c) ALM Media Properties. All Rights Reserved. Republished here with permission.

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Continued from Page 26

Gift of Transportation

couple of times.” “It’s been a rocky road, a real conglomeration of a lot of really horrible things,” Scott said, explaining her emotions when informed of Moody’s gift. “I’d just like to say how amazing this community is and how amazing and supportive everyone has been. It’s been a big blessing in such a stressful time for us. It’s so nice to know there are good people out there. I’m just hopeful that by agreeing to talk about this, that people will learn about this program and that someone else can be helped.” Now, with Trevor getting better and with a car to get around, Scott is hoping she’ll soon find a new job and then a permanent place to live. “Like I said, I’m not someone who is really comfortable having others do things for me. I prefer to take care of myself,” she said. “I’m perfectly able to work. I’d like to get back to it as soon as possible.” We thank Scarborough Leader for reprint permission.

Sen. Doug Jones Says He’s Hoping to Halt Proposed Auto Tariffs by William Thornton, AL.com

On July 18, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones said he and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) are working to craft a “solution” to proposed tariffs on imported automobiles, which they say could negatively impact U.S. jobs. “We hope to introduce that proposal as early as next week, after consulting with our automotive manufacturers and working with our colleagues to grow bipartisan support for this legislation,” Jones said in remarks on the Senate floor in Washington. “I realize that folks affected by these proposed tariffs are looking for a silver bullet to stop them dead in their tracks. Right now, the only silver bullet in this case is for the President to change his mind and recognize how many jobs are at risk because of these proposed tariffs. Until that happens, we’re going to fight to protect what our states and our workers have earned.” Jones’ comments occurred as segments of the auto industry are converging on the nation’s capital to lobby against the proposed tariffs. The push is coming at the same time the Commerce Department has two days of hearings scheduled on the tariff issue.

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In May, President Donald Trump directed the Commerce Department to begin an investigation into whether imported vehicles and auto parts constitute a national security threat. The administration is reportedly considering a 20 to 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles. More than 2,300 comments were collected during the investigation period. Segments of the auto industry, as well as Jones, Sen. Richard Shelby and Gov. Kay Ivey, among others, have made comments opposing the tariffs. Ivey, in a letter to Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross, said Alabama’s auto segment could lose up to 4,000 jobs as a result. Jones said he [remembers] when Alabama did not produce any automobiles; yet the state is now the nation’s third-leading auto exporter. “Now let me be clear—while the United States faces any number of threats from adversaries on any number of fronts, foreign automobiles and auto parts are not a threat to our national security,” he said. “But you know what is a threat? A 25 percent tax on the price of these imported goods.” Auto industry figures say the proposed tariffs would adversely af-

fect American automobiles because many models produced domestically use imported parts, which they say would drive up the cost for consumers. Tariffs would also inspire retaliatory tariffs in other countries, further impacting American exports, critics contend. Among the activities slated for later this week in the capital: More than 30 vehicles built in the U.S. by international automakers will motorcade past the Capitol and to the Department of Commerce July 26. One of them will be Mercedes’ GLE, made at Mercedes’ Vance plant. Seven auto trade groups are participating in two days of events coinciding with the hearings and have paid for advertisements in publications, including The Wall Street Journal. The ad comes as an open letter to Trump, thanking him for his support of the industry but urging another strategy to protect U.S. jobs. “While we understand that you are working to achieve a level playing field for trade to create more jobs, raising tariffs is the wrong approach,” the ad states. We thank AL.com for reprint permission.

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WAC Meeting Energizes Members by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On July 17, Women in Automotive and Collision (WAC) hosted a meeting at Automotive Technology in Fenton, MO.

A dozen people attended WAC’s July 17 meeting to plan for the group to attend upcoming industry events. Credit: WAC

According to WAC President Shelly Jones, “The meeting was energizing! I enjoy working with this group of people on our common mission. We share ideas, we laugh, and we get things done. “A dozen people attended the July meeting, including two new

members: Amy Redfield of Redfield Collision and Avery Hodge from Original One Parts. We now have 16 members and seven corporate sponsors. WAC member Jim Earnest, Weber Chevrolet, provided a delicious dinner for the group.” The main focus of the evening was planning for upcoming events that WAC will attend. The group will have a booth at the V8TV Drive-In Cruise on August 16 at Sky View Drive-In in Belleville, IL. “WAC member Kelle Oeste, of V8 Speed & Resto Shop, suggested the event as a great opportunity for WAC to get the word out about the great career opportunities within the automotive and collision industries,” Jones said. “We will be hosting a coloring contest to engage the children and handing out information to parents. This fun family event is being

presented by V8TV. More information regarding this car cruise and movie night is available at www .v8tvshow.com.” WAC will also host a table at the Enterprise 2018 Golf Classic at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis on Sept. 10. WAC Social Media Manager and Enterprise 01 Group Manager Tricia Belz provided this opportunity. Jones pointed out, “Many of the participants have a vested interest in the industry that we serve, so we hope to reach others that will join us in our mission. This will be a fun day of networking.” WAC’s next meeting will be held on August 21. More information about the group is available at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ wacstl/ (Women in Automotive and Collision) or on Instagram at WAC STLGROUP.

Nelson Glass Tools Announces New Glass Bot Quartermaster Tool

Nelson Glass Tools, manufacturer of Glass Bot Systems, announces the newest product to their line of tools, the Glass Bot QuarterMaster. This new tool mounts to the outside of the glass part and using a

man-made filament, quickly cuts through the adhesive and datum pins. No damage to paint or moldings for successful R & I’s. The QuarterMaster is simple to use and faster than other methods, and is

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available in November 2018. Nelson Glass Tools is a northern California based tool manufacturer, specializing in auto glass removal tools. For more information visit: www.glassbot.net.

The Power of Leadership

about. If this can be accomplished, Perlman said the conversation becomes much different and usually is more effective. Wrapping up his presentation, Perlman highly encouraged everyone to connect with his or her most influential leader—let the person who had a significant influence on you personally and/or professionally know why they were influential and thank them. “If you have a chance to do it, make the phone call, shoot them an email or put up a Facebook post. Reconnect with them in some way,” said Perlman. “I’ve yet to be surprised or disappointed by their response.” For more information, email Ken Perlman: perlman@culturesync.net.

www.autobodynews.com

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Continued from Page 33

Keene (866) 832-0013 (603) 757-0013 (603) 719-0932 Fax

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Ford Offering Dealers $1,000 for Every 2006 Ranger Fixed for Defective Takata Airbags

Nissan Recalls 105,000 Versas for Deadly Takata Airbags

by Jay Traugott, CarBuzz

by David A. Wood, CarComplaints.com

Last winter, Ford issued a “do not drive” warning to owners of 2006 Ranger pickup trucks because of potentially defective (and fatal) Takata airbag inflators. A total of 36,330 of the trucks were initially issued the “do not drive order,” but this figure was later adjusted to 33,320. However, according to Automotive News and Ford spokeswoman Elizabeth Weigandt, the automaker has only repaired about 75 percent of the recalled trucks. Therefore, it has decided to take additional action in order to prevent drivers from experiencing possible serious injury. Ford is now offering its dealerships a $1,000 bonus for each Ranger they locate and fix. “We want to get to these vehicles as quickly as we can,” the spokeswoman said. “We just don’t [want] our customers driving these vehicles at all.” The Rangers affected by this recall were built from August through December 2005 at a now-closed Ford assembly facility in St. Paul, MN. At least two

deaths have occurred from the same production run of those Rangers, both of which involved a defective Takata-made airbag inflator. If you recall (honestly, how can anyone not), these defective inflators can explode in the wake of a frontal collision, sending metal shrapnel inside the vehicles’ cabin. The Takata recall was one of the largest automotive recalls in history. As one of the consequences, Takata itself filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017, but the damage was already done. Without question, Ford is doing the absolute right and responsible thing here. Instead of hoping nothing bad happens, it’s taking direct action by offering its US dealerships some cash incentives. So if you or anyone else you know happens to own any of these affected Rangers, please get in touch with your local Ford dealership, who will be more than happy to give you instructions about what to do next. We thank CarBuzz for reprint permission.

Judge Finds Lousiana Collision Shop’s Business Practices ‘Unethical’ and Violation of UTPA by Staff, WBRZ

A judge has decided that a prominent capital area body shop’s business practices and advertisements

were in violation of the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act. WBRZ first reported on a lawsuit filed back in May that alleged Owens Collision misrepresented the contract customers signed and held vehicles longer than necessary “to increase non-repair fees.” It also claimed that Owens marked up the

AUTOBODY

cost of parts and bills for unreasonable fees. Court records say Judge Todd Hernandez found the business’s refusal to allow customers to view their vehicles while in Owens’ possession “absurd, unethical, unscrupulous and has proven to be substantially injurious to its customers.” In response, the judge ordered that the business allow customers full access to their vehicles during regular business hours. He also said Owens was prohibited from misrepresenting the terms and conditions of its contracts in the future. The judge dismissed the individual claims filed against business owner Greg Owens. We thank WBRZ for reprint permission.

www.autobodynews.com

UPDATED DAILY

SEPTEMBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Nissan is recalling about 105,000 Nissan Versa cars to replace frontal passenger Takata airbag inflators at risk of exploding. The metal inflators contain the explosive propellant chemical ammonium nitrate, which degrades over time. A small fender-bender can cause the airbag inflator to blow up and send shrapnel into occupants. Nissan says various areas of the U.S. are affected by the Takata recall. Model year 2011 Nissan Versas and 2011–2012 Nissan Versa hatchbacks are being recalled if they were ever registered in the following states: Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Nissan is also recalling certain

OEM Parts You Need and Trust.

2010–2011 Nissan Versa sedans and 2010–2012 Nissan Versa hatchbacks that have ever been registered in: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Nissan dealers will replace the front passenger airbag inflators starting in July 2018, but concerned owners may call Nissan at 800-867-7669. CarComplaints.com has ownerreported complaints about Nissan Versa cars and many other Nissan models. We thank CarComplaints.com for reprint permission.

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