October 2018 Northeast Edition by Autobody News

37 YEARS

NORTHEAST EDITIO N

AUTOBODY CT / DE / ME / MD / MA / NH / NJ / NY / PA / RI / VT

Driverless Cars Have Balky Start in CT by Bill Cummings, Hearst Connecticut Media

Self-driving cars could be on the road in large numbers in CT sooner than anyone expected—possibly by 2021—even if public support for au-

A General Motors Co. Cruise autonomous test vehicle is parked at a new charging station in San Francisco, CA. Credit: David Paul Morris, Bloomberg

tonomous vehicles appears to be dropping. BOD, an international business adviser, recently published a paper predicting the technology behind driverless cars may be ready as soon as 2021, while warning that the legal and regulatory framework that allows them to operate is lagging behind. Meanwhile, a new survey by a national travel insurance provider found only 43 percent of Americans are interested in using a self-driving car, down from 53 percent last year. “Based on consumer perceptions, our survey reveals an uncerSee Driverless Cars, Page 20

ASA’s Attorney Discusses Overtime Laws by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On Wednesday, August 22, the Automotive Service Association (ASA) hosted a webinar on “Making the Overtime Law Work for You” as part of its Webinar Wednesdays initiative. The presentation featured Brian Farrington, ASA’s wage and hour attorney and expert, who addressed federal overtime laws and the costly impact they have on non-compliant shops. ASA Vice President Tony Molla opened the webinar by welcoming attendees and introducing Farrington.

Farrington began by discussing the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), which is the basic wage and hour law in the United States and establishes standards in four areas: minimum wage, overtime, child labor and recordkeeping. As of July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Farrington emphasized that when state law varies from federal law, an employer must follow whichever standard most benefits the employee. For example, if the state’s minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage, but there is no state overSee Overtime Laws, Page 40

AUTOBODYNEWS.COM

Vol. 9 / Issue 7 / October 2018

NABC Presents 5 Restored Vehicles to NJ Veterans On Wednesday, August 29, a group of New Jersey military veterans experienced a life-changing event— the presentation of a car to provide them independence and the ability to work and take care of their families—thanks to the National Auto Body Council, GEICO Insurance Company and four New Jersey collision repair facilities. The car presentation, held at Mountain View Golf Course in Ewing Township, NJ, was part of the fourth annual NABC Northeast Golf Fundraiser, which this year saluted the “Veterans Drive Fore Courage”

and provided a day of golf for local military veterans. “Today was a major milestone for the NABC Recycled Rides™ program, not just in the positive impact we are creating for these five deserving military veterans, but in the 1,800 lives we’ve changed with gifted vehicles since the program began in 2007,” said Bill Garoutte, president and CEO of NABC. “This is a great moment for the collision repair industry and the many partners over the past decade who have supported the NABC and donated See NABC NJ Veterans, Page 8

INTRODUCING A NEW COLUMN! From the Desk of Mike Anderson with Mike Anderson

See page 24 in this issue.

Like a Good Neighbor... State Farm Settles by Bruce L. Roistacher, Esq. NY, FL and DC Bar

A brief history of this very long case is in order. Back in 1999 in Avery v. State Farm, a class action lawsuit was filed claiming State Farm was using non-OEM parts. The class included more than 4 million State Farm policyholders. The jury found that the non-OEM parts were inferior to OEM and that State Farm breached its contract in failing to return the damaged vehicles to “pre-loss condition.” It also found that State Farm concealed known problems with the non-OEM parts. The jury returned a $1.2 billion judgment against State Farm. In 2001, State Farm appealed and an appellate court affirmed the decision but lowered that award to $1.05 billion. State Farm then filed an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court.

This is where it gets really interesting. In 2004, Judge Lloyd Karmeier was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court. The Avery judgment was eventually overturned. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled that there was no breach of contract by State Farm, no damages were proven and that the “class” was not legally shown based on a legal technicality. The plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and they denied hearing it. THE CASE SEEMED DEAD at this point. The plaintiffs continued to investigate and in 2012 filed a new lawsuit in federal court (Hale v. State Farm) claiming, among other issues, that they had newly discovered evidence that State Farm recruited Judge Karmeier as a judicial candidate and heavily financed his campaign that led to his election to the See State Farm Settles, Page 32

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OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

CONTENTS AAA Auto Repair Network Adds N. Amherst Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 AASP/NJ Exec. Director, President Speak Out State Farm $250 Million Settlement . . . . . . 13 AASP-PA TOOLS Event Scheduled for October. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Body Shop’s Lawsuit Against Fayette County, PA, Commissioner Dismissed . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Driverless Cars Have Balky Start in CT . . . . . . . 1 Maaco Collision Repair Hosts Event Supporting Substance Abuse Recovery in MA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 NABC Presents 5 Restored Vehicles to

Phillips - Leadership Development, Process-

At University of Buffalo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 PA Tech Center Students To Rebuild, Operate Food Truck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 State Visits PA County Career & Technical Center - Training for In-Demand Jobs . . . . . 10

Phillips - The Power of Peer Groups and Why to Join One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Sisk - I-CAR Discusses Training, Recognition, Service Enhancements During SCRS Webinar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Yoswick - ‘Who Pays for What?’ Surveys Illustrate Shops’, Insurers’ Practices for Scanning Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Yoswick - 5 Years Ago at NACE, Keynote

Anderson - Are You Upgrading Your Shop’s Customer Service Experience? Or Losing Out to Shops That Are? . . . . . . . . . . 24 Attanasio - After the Donation: Kathleen St. John Gets a Car and a Job . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Attanasio - How To Squeeze Maximum Value Out of SEMA 2018 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Attanasio - Who Should Be Your #1 Audience for Your Advertising and Marketing? . . . . . . 34 Chess - Plastic Bumper Repair Part 1: Adhesives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Ledoux - Honda Collision Parts Program Sets New Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Ledoux - Vision, Foresight Help Launch This PBE Jobber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Phillips - How the Recycled Part Procurement Process Continues to Improve . . . . . . . . . . . 44

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Publisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst

Serving New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,

General Manager: Barbara Davies

Maryland, Northern Virginia, Connecticut, Rhode Island,

Contributing Writers: John Yoswick, Janet Chaney,

Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and

Toby Chess, Ed Attanasio, Chasidy Sisk, David Luehr,

adjacent metro areas. Autobody News is a monthly publica-

Stacey Phillips, Victoria Antonelli, Gary Ledoux

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Acura of Westchester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Malco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

AMH CANADA LTD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Malouf Chevrolet-Cadillac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Atlantic Hyundai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . 66

Audi Fairfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

McGovern Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram . . . . . 30

Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Mercedes-Benz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42-43

AUTEL Automotive Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Mercedes-Benz of Atlantic City. . . . . . . . . . . 61

AutobodyLaw.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Mercedes-Benz of Fairfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Axalta Coating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 13

Mercedes-Benz of Fort Washington . . . . . . . 61

BASF Automotive Refinish Coatings . . . . . . . 35

Mercedes-Benz of Paramus . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Bical Auto Mall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Mercedes-Benz of West Chester . . . . . . . . . 61

BMW of North America, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Mercedes-Benz of Wilmington . . . . . . . . . . . 63

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . 74-75

Mercedes-Benz Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 81

Cadillac of Mahwah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Car-Part.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . 80

CarcoonAmerica Airflow Systems. . . . . . . . . 41

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . 46-47

Central Avenue Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram . . 26

Motor Guard Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Certified Automotive Parts Association . . . . . 12

Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale Parts Dealer . . . . . 80

Cherry Hill Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram . . . . . 20

Northstar Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Chicago Pneumatic Compressors. . . . . . . . . . 8

Nucar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Polyvance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Collision Equipment Consulting, Inc.. . . . . . . 34

Porsche of Fairfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Colonial Automotive Group . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 57

Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . 70

Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Dent Magic Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Priority 1 Automotive Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Fix Auto USA Appoints Dennis O’Mahoney . . . . . 8

Diamond Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Rapid Tac. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Dynabrade, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

RBL Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Eckler’s Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Reliable Automotive Equipment . . . . . . . . . . 52

ECS Automotive Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Robaina Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Empire Auto Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

SATA Dan-Am Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

EMS Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Schultz Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

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

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

Flemington Auto Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes . . . . . 11

Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Shop-Pro Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Fred Beans Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . 73

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Symach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Honda-Acura Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 38-39

Tasca Automotive Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . 78

Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . 76

Infiniti of Norwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

VIP Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

JiffyJump.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . 77

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . 79

Walcom USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Killer Tools & Equipment Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Wedge Clamp Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Launch Tech USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Westbury Jeep-Chrysler-Dodge-Ram-SRT . . 37

Speaker Said Industry Was Headed Toward Catastrophe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

NATIONAL ACA Hosts Successful Trade Mission to Chile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 ACA’s Bill Hanvey Testifies on 301 China Tariffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 ASA’s Attorney Discusses Overtime Laws . . . . . 1 Audatex 5-Year Donations of $25,000

COLUMNISTS

AUTOBODY

Business to Grow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

NJ Veterans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Operations of Autonomous Shuttle Launched

Centered Environment Enable TX Shop’s

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Don’t Miss the Weekly Industry NEWS Your Shop Needs.

to CREF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 AutoX Launches Autonomous Grocery Delivery in San Jose, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 CIF Disaster Relief for 2018 Hurricane

Gerber Collision & Glass Donates Car Through Recycled Rides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Like a Good Neighbor... State Farm Settles . . . . 1 SCRS Announces Audi of America . . . . . . . . . . 80 SEMA Show Week Member Buyer Rewards. . . 13 Tesla Autopilot, FSD Challenges Highlighted by Waymo’s Difficulties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Tesla Model 3 Almost as Expensive as Porsche 911 to Insure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 TN DOT Commissioner Talks Autonomous Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Lynnes Auto Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

AutoX Launches Autonomous Grocery Delivery in San Jose, CA AutoX is launching a grocery delivery and mobile store pilot in San Jose, CA, allowing public users to order and receive fresh produce and other goods delivered by AutoX selfdriving cars. Arriving in time for the autumn harvest produce season, the new amenity will be available to customers in geo-fenced areas throughout the city.

and is a testament to our cutting-edge AI and all its potential capabilities. We believe self-driving car technologies will fundamentally change people’s daily lives for the better.” AutoX’s featured partner on fresh produce is e-commerce company GrubMarket.com, which is one of the key partners fulfilling the grocery orders. GrubMarket sources organic and healthy food directly from

“We’re very excited to launch the first autonomous grocery delivery and mobile store service in the heart of Silicon Valley with self-driving vehicles on the road,” said AutoX Founder and CEO Jianxiong Xiao, who has a PhD from MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab and is a pioneer in the research field of 3D computer vision and robotics. “It’s the first step of our mission to democratize autonomy

producers and offers fresh food at the lowest cost to popular retail stores such as Whole Foods, Blue Apron, Hello Fresh and Chipotle. “AutoX is a true innovator in the autonomous driving industry, as evidenced by their pioneering self-driving delivery vehicle,” said GrubMarket CEO Mike Xu. “We are thrilled to combine the fresh and affordable grocery experience of GrubMarket with the ingenuity

“You can order goods from an app and get them delivered by a self-driving vehicle. Or, our self-driving car brings a shelf of goods to you, and you can select and purchase onsite in front of your house.” — Jewel Li

TN DOT Commissioner Talks Autonomous Vehicles by Matt Masters, Lebanon Democrat

Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer spoke about the coming revolution of autonomous vehicles August 23 at the Lebanon-Wilson County Chamber of Commerce’s Lunch and Learn event at Five Oaks Golf & Country Club in Lebanon. Gov. Bill Haslam appointed Schroer the 29th TDOT commissioner. Schroer is also former mayor of Franklin. He spoke to a packed room of about 70 people with a presentation on the future of transportation and more specifically, the coming revolution of autonomous vehicles that will operate almost completely free of human operators with the goal of safer, cheaper and more efficient forms of transportation. “Those cars are going to be available in the next two or three years in our country,” Schroer said. “You’re not going to be able to go buy a Ford Escort or whatever they’re selling because those cars will be for their autonomous fleet. You won’t probably buy autonomous vehicles, and the reason being is because [of] 4

the way insurance is working and the way the national government is talking about autonomous vehicles. They’re making the car producers— the manufacturers—insure that vehi-

cle, so you won’t have to have [car] insurance. They’re going to make sure they maintain them, they’re in control of them and everything is working on them because ultimately it’s the technology that’s doing the driving. “So we’re going to belong to the services, the Ford service or the

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

from the L4 autonomous driving crowd is its emphasis on inexpensive but high-resolution cameras as the primary sensor, rather than expensive LiDAR laser arrays and other costly sensors. AutoX’s high resolution camera sensing enables the AI to safely detect small objects, such as kids and pets, and see farther ahead than other autonomous driving technologies that heavily rely on LiDAR. “Highest safety and lowest cost; this is where our key technology lies,” said Jianxiong. With a diverse team of research minds from the likes of MIT, Stanford, CMU and AutoX is launching a grocery delivery and mobile store Berkeley, along with engipilot in San Jose, CA. Credit: Business Wire neering talent from Google, “We are enabling two shopping Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Ford, experiences with self-driving cars,” AutoX is determined to make a mark explained AutoX COO Jewel Li. on the autonomous driving industry. AutoX’s grocery delivery and “You can order goods from an app and get them delivered by a self-dri- mobile store pilot will roll out in two ving vehicle. Or, our self-driving car phases: The first pilot is in San Jose, brings a shelf of goods to you, and and phase two will expand the pilot you can select and purchase onsite in west to Mountain View and Palo Alto with more delivery partners joining front of your house.” What sets AutoX’s system apart soon. and delivery capabilities of AutoX. We look forward to providing our customers with even more convenient delivery options.” When the AutoX car arrives, the window rolls down with AutoX’s selections for customers to pick.

General Motors service or the Audi service, and that’s how we will go to and from work. We’ll probably own a car for a while. We’ll use it when we drive to the grocery store or go out on the weekend, but most of the time, we’ll use autonomous vehicles, and as we do that we will start saving lives, and that’s really what this is all about.” Schroer gave an example of New York City from 1900–1913, where the mode of transportation changed from horse and buggy to the automobile in a relatively short timeframe. Schroer said it’s currently in the first five years of a similar revolution that will take about the same amount of time, 13 years, to become fully integrated in society. Schroer cited several numbers and said the average cost to own a car in the United States is between $700– $800, coupled with the near 40,000 highway deaths per year, 94 percent of which are caused by human error. Schroer said the goal of TDOT is to make sure government investments are compatible with the future of autonomous vehicles. He said safety is the main concern with any efforts to which TDOT commits.

Schroer also promoted a hightechnology corridor between Murfreesboro and Nashville that will act as a pilot program to implement a variety of technologies to make travel safer and more efficient. “We’re putting every type of technology available to us in that corridor of I-24 and Murfreesboro Road, which will include [dedicated shortrange communications] units that will receive and transmit information from the cars and to the cars. We’ll have traffic-signal coordination on Murfreesboro Roads, dynamic message boards telling drivers what to do and where to go, what speed to drive in order to reduce congestion; so lots of new technology that’s going to be involved,” Schroer said. We thank Lebanon Democrat for reprint permission.

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Body Shop’s Lawsuit Against Fayette County, PA, Commissioner Dismissed by Mark Hofmann, Herald-Standard

A federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit filed by a Fayette County, PA, auto body shop against a county commissioner. In August, U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti dismissed the lawsuit filed by Joey’s Auto Repair & Body Shop and On-Par Turf, both businesses owned by Joseph Cellurale, against Fayette County Commissioner Angela Zimmerlink in its entirety. The lawsuit claimed Cellurale was mistreated by the county because of an ongoing dispute between him, Terry and Diane Kriss, and that Zimmerlink allegedly instructed county employees to cite Cellurale’s businesses for false zoning violations. The Krisses were also named as defendants in the lawsuit. “As I said when this suit was filed, these were false allegations,” Zimmerlink said. Zimmerlink’s attorney filed a motion to dismiss the original complaint, which led to the plaintiffs in the case to file an amended complaint. That amended complaint was

met with a renewed motion to dismiss the claim followed by a motion to file a second amended complaint, which was met with a motion opposing amending the complaint again. Plaintiffs also filed a motion to seek leave to file a third amended complaint. “Plaintiffs already had three bites at the apple,” Conti wrote in her order denying the request to seek leave to amend the complaint. Conti also agreed with arguments of the defendants that the plaintiffs in the case failed to state a claim under equal protection and due process because governmental action causing a decline in property value has never been held to support a substantive due process claim and that the plaintiffs in the case failed to plead any consciousshocking conduct from Zimmerlink, who, Conti pointed out, is only one vote where a majority of three votes is needed to establish policy on behalf of the county. “In sum, the amended complaint fails to allege sufficient facts to state a substantive due process claim against Defendants,” Conti wrote. “This court must decline Plaintiffs’ invitation to become a super zoning tribunal.”

Operations of Autonomous Shuttle Launched At University of Buffalo Robotic Research and its partner, Local Motors, have initiated operations of the OLLI autonomous, electric shuttle at the University of

Olli deployed in Buffalo

Buffalo in New York, the company announced Sept. 4. The University of Buffalo will leverage the OLLI shuttle for autonomous vehicle education and mapping while also testing the shuttles for campus transportation. The project is being co-managed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York State Depart6

ment of Transportation. Robotic Research, LLC, is a small, innovative minority-owned engineering and technology company that provides advanced autonomy software and robotic technology and solutions to numerous commercial and federal government customers. For example, the company currently serves as the autonomy kit provider on the U.S. Army’s Expedient Leader Follower program for autonomous convoy operations of large supply vehicles. Alberto Lacaze, president of Robotic Research, stated, “The Robotic Research team is thrilled to address the needs of the University of Buffalo in the launch of operations of the autonomous OLLI vehicle.”

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OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Conti wrote further that the plaintiffs in the case failed to state a claim under conspiracy because equal protection and due process rights were not violated and also because stating the businesses were met with an unnamed representative from the county sometime in 2007 goes far beyond the two-year statute of limitations. “Plaintiffs also allege a ‘strong friendship’ and regular socializing between Zimmerlink and the Krisses; yet, they offer no facts as to how this friendship led to a civil rights conspiracy,” she wrote, adding that further amendments would be “futile and inequitable because Plantiffs had three opportunities to plead valid claims.” Conti dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning the lawsuit cannot be brought back to court. We thank Herald-Standard for reprint permission.

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AAA Auto Repair Network Adds N. Amherst Motors North Amherst Motors recently announced it has joined the AAA Auto Repair Network as an AAA Auto Body Shop. Serving Hampshire and Franklin Counties for more than 45 years, North Amherst Motors’ state-of-the-art facility is located at 78 Sunderland Rd. in Amherst, MA, one mile north of the UMASS Amherst Campus. North Amherst Motors is an ICAR Gold Class Repair Shop, certified and recognized by Acura, Honda, Fiat, Chrysler, Hyundai, Kia and Nissan’s respective independent collision repair networks. Additionally, North Amherst Motors is a preferred repair facility for several major insurance companies in Massachusetts. “We are honored to join the AAA Repair Network. Our commitment to safety, integrity and training compliments AAA Pioneer Valley’s values and makes this partnership very logical,” said Andrew Potter, second-generation owner. Andrew leads the family-run business with his wife, Jocelyn.

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Continued from Cover

NABC NJ Veterans

vehicles, materials and time to make these donations possible. Together, our industry can make a difference in the communities where we live and do business.” The presentation of the NABC Recycled Rides™ to five deserving military veterans provides them much-needed reliable transportation to allow them to work and care for their families. The veterans were selected by Community Hope - Hope for Veterans and the New Jersey Veterans Network. Recipients included: Tyler Caplan, of Lyons, NJ, received a 2016 Hyundai Sonata that was donated by GEICO and restored by ABRA Auto & Glass- Pennington. Caplan served in the U.S. Army. He was selected by Community Hope - Hope for Veterans because a vehicle would help him regain his independence and get a better job, which would allow him to re-establish his relationship with his family and young daughter after a period of financial and domestic challenges.

Christopher Fowler, of Toms River, NJ, was presented a 2014 Honda Accord that was donated by GEICO and restored by Benner’s Auto Body in Cranford, NJ. The New Jersey Veterans’ Network selected the U.S. Army veteran to help him meet his family needs and work his way out of financial hardships. With a wife, a young son and a baby on the way, having a vehicle that he didn’t have to worry about paying for would allow Fowler to get his family to appointments and provide them some much-needed stability. Michael Perise, of Bergen County, NJ, unveiled a 2016 Honda CR-V that was donated by GEICO and also restored by Benner’s Auto Body. Perise, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was selected by the New Jersey Veterans’ Network. As a single father of four, Perise has worked hard to take his family from homelessness to a more secure life. Reliable transportation will allow him to travel to work and continue to improve his family’s situation. Patrick Chandler, of Flemington, NJ, was gifted a 2014 Ford Edge that was donated by GEICO and re-

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

stored by Son’s Prestige Collision in Garwood, NJ. Chandler, who served in the U.S. Army, was selected by the New Jersey Veterans’ Network because a car would allow him to continue working, return to therapy for a spinal injury and PTSD and re-establish his independence after a series of job and health setbacks. Callious Dennis, of Lyons, NJ, received a 2012 Chevy Cruze that was donated by GEICO and restored by Caliber Collision-May’s Landing. Community Hope - Hope for Veterans chose Dennis, a veteran currently residing at a transitional program for homeless veterans. The gift of transportation will help him acquire employment and allow him to visit his daughter. Dennis gave her his vehicle so she could get to her part-time job and have transportation at college. The new vehicle will also allow him to attend church and his wellness groups. The generous donation of five restored vehicles through the NABC Recycled Rides™ program was made possible by NABC partners, including: GEICO Insurance Company, which donated the vehicles;

ABRA Auto & Glass- Pennington; Benner’s Auto Body; Son’s Prestige Collision; Caliber Collision-May’s Landing. Since the inception of the Recycled Rides™ program in 2007, members of the National Auto Body Council have donated 1,800 vehicles valued at more than $24 million.

Fix Auto USA Appoints Dennis O’Mahoney

Fix Auto USA recently announced the appointment of Dennis O’Mahoney as vice president of business development with responsibility for all revenue-generating activities and will report to Fix Auto USA’s CEO, effective immediately. As a member of the Fix Auto USA executive management team, O’Mahoney’s principle focus will be to develop relationships with insurance carriers while nurturing existing MSO relationships, ensure Fix Auto USA is well positioned to take advantage of OEM certification programs and continue expanding the franchise network.

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autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

State Visits PA County Career & Technical Center - Training for In-Demand Jobs by Mike Crowley, The Meadville Tribune

The Crawford County Career & Technical Center in Meadville, PA, took center stage Sept. 11 as a group of state and local officials toured the facility, stopping to see nearly all of the school’s 17 programs and to talk with teachers and students along the way. In one room, about 15 students sat behind dual-screen computer workstations, examining residential floor-layout plans. In the next, instrumental music played as another 15 students at oversized Macs made room for large sketch boards so they could draw the human figures displayed on the screens. Down a flight of stairs and another hallway, the computers gave way to heavy equipment and the music was replaced by the sound of shops. In one garage, a classic black Corvette awaited work in the corner while next door, students in safety goggles devoted their attention to a line of SUVs and pickup trucks on lifts. In another, a student patiently buffed the damaged side of a Chevy Suburban. In yet another, an enormous 15-liter Cummins QSX engine drew the attention of visiting dignitaries. The classrooms took many forms but exhibited a common theme: students working with their hands at skills directly related to careers they might be pursuing within the next few years. Led by Eileen Cipriani, deputy secretary of the state Department of Labor & Industry, the group also included state Sen. Michele Brooks; state Rep. Brad Roae, a member of state Rep. Parke Wentling’s office; leaders of the technical center; local superintendents and education officials; and a representative of Cummins Inc., the diesel engine manufacturer that supports the center’s diesel technology program. “Not everyone wants to go to a four-year college, but every worker needs real-world skills for in-de-

AUTOBODY

mand, 21st century jobs,” Cipriani said. “It is our goal that by 2025, 60 percent of Pennsylvanians will have some form of postsecondary education and training.”

Wolf’s PAsmart Initiative is designed to address some investment needs. Wolf recently signed an executive order to cut red tape and improve coordination between several state agencies to more effectively deliver workforce development services to Pennsylvanians. Under the executive order, the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Board, the governor’s private sector policy advisor, will provide recommendations on the distribution of the $30 million in PAsmart funding, which will be driven out through competiDepartment of Labor & Industry Deputy Secretary Eileen tive grants. Cipriani (from left) and Crawford County Career & Technical Center Director Kevin Sprong listen to auto collision repair Perhaps even more imtechnology instructor John Fuller talk about what his portant than more money, program has to offer during a tour on Sept. 11. Credit: showing up and showing inShannon Roae, Meadville Tribune terest in the work going on at The visit to the technical center the Crawford County Career & Techwas designed to raise awareness nical Center and others like it across about the PAsmart Initiative, a $30 the state seemed to impress everyone million investment in science, tech- present Sept. 11. nology, engineering and math—or The positive impressions went STEM—education launched by Gov. in both directions. Tom Wolf. It also gave the officials involved a chance to, if not get their hands dirty, at least get up close and personal with the teaching of realworld skills for in-demand jobs. And at each stop along the way, they had questions: Do the students have the chance to work in cooperative programs with local employers, Cipriani wanted to know. What is the school doing to recruit girls into programs traditionally populated by boys, Roae asked. Do the diesel tech students work on farm equipment as well as vehicles---and has the school reached out to local fire departments about having students work on their equipment, Brooks asked. And perhaps the most important question of all: What do you need from state officials to train students more effectively? The easy answer to that question was jokingly offered by one instructor: more money. While the comment drew laughs,

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OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

“That graphic arts program was probably the most superior I’ve seen,” Cipriani said as the group made its way to the school’s garages. Equally impressive was the record of student achievement touted by teachers and Kevin Sprong, the school’s executive director. The students who graduate from the school’s programs go onto a variety of training and college programs as well as the military and straight into industry—often in northwestern Pennsylvania. “If you drive around after you leave here today,” Sprong said, “you’ll see shop after shop with help wanted signs—they need people.” The message about what the school needs most was equally evident in auto collision instructor John Fuller’s story of a former student who has made good in recent years. She now oversees the body shop at a local auto dealer and calls Fuller periodically, saying, “I need kids!” “So do I!” Fuller responds. We thank The Meadville Tribune for reprint permission.

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

PA Tech Center Students To Rebuild, Operate Food Truck by Amy Marchiano, Republican-Herald

Students at both Schuylkill Technology Centers are working to outfit a former Tastykake delivery truck into a food truck to take to local venues. While the 2001 Grumman Olson delivery truck has seen better days, it has a bright future. James Gurcsik, culinary arts instructor at the Schuylkill Technology Center-South Campus in Marlin, PA, bought the vehicle, which has 104,000 miles on it, off Craigslist for $6,000 in Williamsport earlier this summer. “This will be the first truck done by students in the nation,” Gurcsik said Sept. 18. He said he decided on this idea because “food trucks are a hot topic right now,” and he was looking for a project to bring the students together. The project is meant to involve all departments at the schools. Gurcsik’s idea is that plumbing and heating, welding, residential industrial electrical, precision machining and carpentry students will work on installing the internal systems utilized to operate restaurant equipment. Collision repair and automotive technology students will work

on vehicle components. Business students will develop marketing and fundraising plans, while criminal justice students research operating permits and licenses. Computer information system students will design and help install computer equipment.

and LED lighting. A digital menu board and WiFi hotspot will need to be set up. They will also need to fix the truck’s frame and sand it. “My goal is to have it back on the frame by Thanksgiving,” said Jesse Krasnitsky, collision repair instructor at STC-South.

Once operational, the food truck will be run by culinary students at local festivals and fairs. Gurcsik said the food truck could be out in the community at events “hopefully by the end of the year.” The plan is to livestream the food students are preparing on Facebook and other social media outlets. Six to eight students could staff the truck. But first, work needs to be done. The engine, frame and body were removed from the vehicle so work could start. Equipment needs to be added such as propane tanks, water tanks, sinks, water lines, a generator

The estimated cost for the work is $100,000, according to Gurcsik. Tax-deductible contributions are being accepted through the Schuylkill Technology Center Fund managed by the Schuylkill Area Community Foundation. “We have a long road ahead of us,” Gurcsik said. “We are very excited to show off the food truck,” Shannon Brennan, said STC director of career and vocational education. State Rep. Mike Tobash, R125, Pottsville; Frank Zukas, president of the Schuylkill Economic Development Corp.; Brian Hans-

“This will be the first truck done by students in the nation,” — James Gurcsik

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

bury, vice president of SEDCO; Robert S.Carl Jr., president and CEO of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce; and U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-5, and co-chair of the Career and Technical Education Caucus, attended STC-South to learn about the project Sept. 18. Before they did, they were treated to a lunch at The Grille at STC-South, prepared by culinary students, for a taste of what was to come. “You try to win people over by their stomachs,” Tobash said. “Tremendous presentation. Attractive to look at and attractive to eat,” Carl said. “It was excellent. It was outstanding,” Thompson said. He had the “Kraznasty” special cheesesteak. Sushi, fried mozzarella, brownies and salad were among the food served. Thompson said the food truck concept sounds good. “The whole concept of the food truck—that’s pretty cool. That’s like putting a program on wheels,” he said. We thank Republican-Herald for reprint permission.

SEMA Show Week Member Buyer Rewards

SEMA members attending the 2018 SEMA Show as buyers have access to the Member Buyer Rewards (MBR) program perks. Just by wearing their MBR cards and lanyards during the SEMA Show, they will be recognized as MBR members, giving them access to the following:

AASP/NJ Exec. Director, President Speak Out - State Farm $250 Million Settlement by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On Sept. 4, the collision repair industry was astonished to learn that State Farm was granted preliminary approval of a $250 million settlement in lieu of facing trial in a federal class action lawsuit (Hale et. al. v. State Farm et. al.) in which the na-

● VIP Taxi Line: Enjoy shorter lines available Tuesday–Friday during select hours.

● Members-Only Lounge: Book meeting rooms, charge your devices, network with other SEMA members, purchase food options and more. ● MBR Lounge: Located inside the Members Lounge–North, this lounge offers MBR members exclusive access to a space to relax and enjoy complimentary refreshments during the SEMA Show.

● MBR cards will be mailed in late October. Be sure to stop by the MBR lounge early to pick up your gift; they will go fast!

tion’s largest insurance company was accused of rigging the Illinois justice system to overturn the 1999 Avery et. al v. State Farm aftermarket parts case, which held a verdict of over $1 billion. AASP/NJ Executive Director Charles Bryant believes the settlement is a “travesty of justice.” Bryant continued, “When I heard about the settlement, I first thought that maybe I was dreaming. I could have swallowed heavy and

lived with a $250 million settlement to bring this to an end. To hear that State Farm gets to deny liability and consider the claims without merit after 20 years of litigation that started because an insurer attempted to shortchange its own insureds, ultimately going so far as to be accused and sued for basically buying a judge to get its way while claiming to be ‘your good neighbor’ ... That will never sit right with me. Anyone who conducts themselves in such a manner is not someone I would consider a good neighbor.” In Hale et. al v. State Farm et. al, State Farm was accused of concealing millions in campaign donations to Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier before the Avery verdict was reversed in 2005. The lawsuit sought close to $10 billion in damages. The settlement was announced on the same day the trial was scheduled to begin in East St. Louis, IL. According to State Farm, the company settled in order to end litigation and prevent a lengthy legal process. AASP/NJ President Jerry McNee is not surprised by the in-

surer’s desire to settle before the case gained too much public attention. “It’s just how big business works—or insurance companies, in this case. They realize they are in a jam and are willing to throw money at something to protect themselves in the long run, which makes it tough for the smaller businesses like the body shops to compete with the big giants in the industry,” McNee stated. “It’s believed that they paid to have this judge put in place; for repayment, he ruled in their favor, and that’s something that body shops just don’t have any privilege to [do]. It’s hard for the body shops to have any traction when they are up against the bullies because they are making all the laws, rules and regulations. Even when they are wrong, they have someone willing to side with them.” A final fairness hearing has been scheduled for December 2018. For more information about AASP/NJ, visit aaspnj.org.

www.autobodynews.com

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Industry Insight with John Yoswick

—John Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988. He is the editor of the weekly CRASH Network (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com). Contact him by email at jyoswick@SpiritOne.com.

‘Who Pays for What?’ Surveys Illustrate Shops’, Insurers’ Practices for Scanning Vehicles Two recent “Who Pays for What?” surveys offer a glimpse into shops’ and insurers’ practices related to vehicle scanning. The most recent of the quarterly surveys found that of more than 500 shops that responded from across the country, 78 percent said they are paid “always” or “most of the time” to conduct post-repair “health scans” of vehicles by the country’s eighth-largest auto insurers. That’s up significantly from the 64 percent in the same survey a year earlier.

There was an even bigger jump in the percentage of shops reporting they are being paid regularly for prerepair vehicle scans. Though the percentage being paid regularly is a bit lower (71 percent) than those reporting being paid for post-repair scans, it is still up 20 percentage points over a year earlier.

supplies, is open throughout October. Shops can go to https://www.crash network.com/collisionadvice to take the current survey before Nov. 1. Last spring’s survey found that more than half of shops say they conduct scanning in-house, using their own equipment. Of those, about 1 in 4 charge a flat fee, and just over 40 percent charge one labor hour (or less) at a mechanical labor rate. The remaining 35 percent of shops conducting scanning in-house were all over the map—some charging up to two hours at a body labor rate, some charging more than one hour at mechanical labor rate, a few not charging at all and some saying the charges vary by vehicle. That particular “Who Pays” survey focused on “not-included” body repair operations. It found, for example, that compared to the same survey in 2016, more shops are seeking (and receiving) payment for the notincluded process of duplicating the OEM texture of seam-sealer. “Although the labor to apply seam sealer on a welded-on or bolted-

Most shops conduct vehicle scanning in-house, using their own equipment, according to a “Who Pays for What?” survey earlier this year; almost 30 percent use a remote scanning service, but less than 3 percent said they do not scan vehicles at all

A “Who Pays for What?” survey earlier this past spring found that fewer than 3 percent of shops said they are not scanning vehicles at all. There are four “Who Pays for What?” surveys per year, each focusing on different aspects of the collision repair process. The surveys are conducted by CRASH Network and Mike Anderson of Collision Advice. The current survey, which asks shops about their billing practices—and insurer payment practices—related to aluminum repair and various shop 14

on part may be included (depending on which estimating system you use), the additional labor required to match the OEM appearance is not included and can be very time-consuming for the technician,” Anderson said. Two years ago, more than 50 percent of shops surveyed said they had never charged any of the eight largest national insurers for the additional labor time to match the OEM texture of seam-sealer. The same survey this year showed that number has dropped to about 43–46 percent,

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

meaning more shops are charging for this procedure. Similarly, only 34 percent of shops two years ago said that when they did charge for the procedure, they were paid “always” or “most of the time,” but today, even with more shops billing for it, a higher percent-

ing,” Anderson said. Some of the other procedures asked about in the survey were:

• Replace vapor barrier. Anderson said it’s important for shop estimators or repair planners to check OEM procedures to determine whether the vapor

About 60 percent of shops report being paid “always” or “most of the time” for “replace vapor barrier,” yet the “Who Pays for What?” survey also found that nearly one-third of shops say they’ve never billed for that procedure when it was necessary and completed

age (40 percent) say they are paid “always” or “most of the time.” “Educating collision repair professionals is a big part of what these surveys are about, and findings like this indicate to me that that’s happen-

barrier is designated as a one-time use part and must therefore be replaced. “This is common if there are airbag pressure sensors in the door,” he said. In either case, labor to R&I or replace vapor barriers is a not-in-

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

cluded operation that 3 in 5 shops say they are regularly paid for when it is necessary. About one-third of shops, however, haven’t sought to be paid for this labor.

said they are paid always or most of the time for this procedure when it is necessary, yet more than half of shops have not sought payment for it. Four out of five shops that participated in the “Who Pays for What?”

are required as part of the repair. About half of participating shops (46 percent) also said they have shared the survey results with insurance representatives, and more than 1 in 10 have occasionally shown the re-

• Labor to gain collision access. “It is very surprising to me that, in most regions of the country, 25 percent of shops have not sought to be paid for this,” Anderson said. “It has been my experience that it is not uncommon for a collision technician to need to cut an access hole to remove components from a damaged door, for example, or to get the latch open when the hood is damaged.” Anderson believes more shops would seek to be compensated for this labor when it is necessary and Of the eight insurers asked about in each “Who Pays for What?” survey, six are more likely to pay performed if they knew, as the survey their DRP shops for the “replace vapor barrier” procedure, but Progressive and GEICO tend to more in April found, that 54 percent of regularly pay shops outside their DRP for it shops that bill for this are paid for the survey series reported that they have sults to vehicle owners. Others have procedure always or most of the time. been able to use the surveys and the even shared the results with state regresults to improve their business. Most ulators. • Clean up old urethane. When glass (about 75 percent) said they use the The surveys, now in their fourth is removed, there’s often labor re- surveys as a regular reminder of pro- year, have consistently indicated that quired to remove or level the old ure- cedures that are “not-included” in the whether or not a shop gets paid for thane left behind. The “Who Pays” estimating systems and to train their various procedures depends largely survey found that more than one-third staff about “not-included” procedures on whether the shop includes the (37 percent) of shops who bill for it they could be charging for when they item on estimates or invoices. One

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

independent shop owner from New York confirmed this. “I was an insurance company staff adjuster for over 20 years, and as a staff adjuster you were instructed not to give if the shop doesn’t ask for it,” he commented with his survey responses. Shops can take the current “Who Pays for What?” survey (or sign up to be notified about future surveys) at www.crashnetwork.com /collisionadvice. The four different surveys, conducted at one per quarter, each take about 15–25 minutes, and Anderson said they should be completed by the shop owner, manager or estimator who is most familiar with the shop’s billing practices and the payment practices of the largest national insurers. Individual responses are not released in any way; only cumulative data is released. On the website, shops also can download the results of previous surveys, reports that break the findings down by region, by insurer and by DRP vs. non-DRP. The reports also include analyses and resources to help shops better understand and use the information presented.

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

MAACO Collision Repair Hosts Event Supporting Substance Abuse Recovery in MA by Marc Larocque, The Enterprise

Instead of turning to drugs and alcohol, organizers of an event on August 25 allowed participants to break out the spray cans.

Lee Soares paints during the RV Recovery GraffitiFest at MAACO in Brockton, MA, Saturday, August 25. Credit: Marc Vasconcellos, The Enterprise

GraffitiFest was hosted by the MAACO collision repair and auto painting facility on Westgate Drive in Brockton, MA. The event started in the parking lot there late Saturday afternoon and stretched into the evening, giving participants the chance to spray paint “positive” art onto the side of a donated Winnebago motor home, according to organizers. Large rectangular canvasses were also set up around the parking lot to accommodate more graffiti art.

“This is for recovering alcoholics and their families to get together and have some fun,” said Susie Lordi, event organizer and publisher of 24HrPower.com, a website supporting people in recovery from substance abuse. “We’ve got to have some fun in sobriety. That’s how it goes. It’s not all work and no play.” This is the second GraffitiFest organized by Lordi, who held a similar event in her native Rockland on June 16 to mark her 25th year of sobriety. Lordi said she wants to hold events like this to give families affected by substance abuse and recovery the chance to have a positive night out together and meet likeminded people. “What’s nice about this is you get families together—families who weren’t necessarily always together,” Lordi said. In addition to the spray paint art, there were also tables set up by local organizations that support people in recovery from substance abuse, including the Brockton-based Stairway to Recovery, SouthBay Community Services, Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery and

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Friends of Emmett/Mercy Street. The Brockton Fire Department also came with a fire engine, showing it off to the children there.

The RV Recovery GraffitiFest at MAACO in Brockton, MA, Saturday, August 25. Credit: Marc Vasconcellos/The Enterprise

“This is one of many events that help send a positive message in the fight against addiction,” said Joe Lowry, who was there with the Sober Warriors boxing group, which is based in Brockton. “Instead of resorting to using drugs, this time they can tag an RV. It’s just a good outlet. It’s just another outlet to do something to express yourself instead of using.” We thank The Enterprise for reprint permission.

Audatex 5-Year Donations of $25,000 to CREF

In addition to its $3,370,740 software donation last year through a partnership with the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF), Audatex, a Solera Company, has committed to donating $25,000 to the Foundation annually for the next five years. “We see a long-term commitment to CREF as a commitment to the health and growth of the automotive repair industry,” said Don Mikrut, vice president, Solera Global SMR Service Sales. Audatex also collaborates with CREF on the Audatex Educational Institutions Program, which provides eligible collision schools in North America with access to Audatex Estimating software, online courses and training, a custom curriculum that includes CEUs and ICAR points, and technical support. For more information, contact Collision Repair Education Foundation Director of Development Brandon Eckenrode at Brandon .Eckenrode@ed-foundation.org or 847-463-5244.

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Continued from Cover

Driverless Cars

tain future for self-driving cars,” said Dan Durazo, director of communications for Allianz Global Assistance. Connecticut is offering a pilot program in four communities— Stamford has applied for one of the slots—to test mapping and installation of the GPS infrastructure needed to make a driverless car’s artificial intelligence function. A state task force is planning for a future in which driverless vehicles become common on Connecticut’s streets and highways. The task force, staffed with state department heads, lawyers, UConn researchers and lawmakers, is charged with offering recommendations on a variety of issues, including safety regulations, liability and insurance questions. “There are so many benefits,” said state Sen. Toni Boucher, RWilton, and co-chairwoman of the legislature’s transportation committee. “People were skeptical about the debit card we now use every day. I

think [driverless cars] are in the same stage now. People are just thinking about the problems.” Possible uses for self-driving vehicles include driverless buses, cars in which commuters work on laptops while being driven to work and autonomous shuttles transporting elderly and disabled residents to appointments. Differing Results BDO, also known as Binder Dijker Otte, said interviews with ride hailing services and driverless car suppliers revealed the technology may be ready for wide scale use by 2021. The Brussels-based business adviser noted car manufacturers and ride-hailing companies have been spending billions on the emerging industry. But BDO stressed that the regulatory framework to accommodate driverless cars is still in its infancy. “While driverless technology may be ready to roar out of the starting blocks, rules and regulations are still lagging somewhat behind,” BDO noted in a release outlining its findings. “Nor do they look like they

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

will necessarily be ready any time soon.” BDO said challenges facing the driverless industry include insurance liability, how much the cars will cost to operate, how companies can use them on behalf of employees, taxation, bookkeeping and auditing. Still, the rapid advancement of driverless car technology—a computer uses GPS signals to navigate and drive the car—may be outpacing the public’s acceptance of the technology. Allianz, which sells various types of insurance to travelers, found that only 43 percent of Americans are interested in utilizing self-driving cars, down from 53 percent in a similar survey conducted last year. The survey also found that 71 percent of those polled were worried about safety, compared to 65 percent last year. Other reasons for concern include the cost of the cars, a lack of familiarity and bad publicity. A recent Pew Research Center survey also showed soft support for self-driving cars. That survey found that 39 percent of those questioned were not

sure whether the vehicles would make roads safer or more dangerous, and 87 percent favored requiring that a human always be behind the wheel to take control if needed. Allianz said two fatal accidents in March involving self-driving Uber cars could have “dampened confidence and excitement” over auto-piloted vehicles. “Many Americans are far from being convinced that self-driving cars can be operated safely on our streets,” Durazo said. “As our Future of Travel survey last year indicated, more travelers would feel safer on a rocket to space than being a passenger in a self-driving vehicle.” Still, Allianz also said companies continue to invest billions of dollars into autonomous vehicle technology. Moving Forward C. Zak Hyde, a senior policy adviser for the state Office of Policy and Management, agreed with BOD’s findings. “I can’t say when it will be ready,” Hyde said of the technology. “But this is very interesting. The technology has made vast advancements.”

Hyde said a regulatory format must be resolved and enacted to accommodate driverless cars, including establishing insurance and liability standards. The state pilot program has so far drawn two applications, from Stamford and Windsor Locks, and several letters of interest, Hyde said. Stamford has asked to test how shuttles would work around the city’s transportation center. “We have not approved anything yet,” said Hyde, whose office is coordinating the pilot. “We are still reviewing.” Boucher said the possibilities for driverless cars are immense, including dedicated highway lanes, shuttles and allowing elderly drivers to stay active and mobile. “The technology will be here before the regulatory process,” Boucher said. We thank Hearst Connecticut Media for reprint permission.

www.autobodynews.com

AASP-PA TOOLS Event Scheduled for October by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On Oct. 5–7, AASP-PA will host its Technicians and Owners on Learning Strategies (TOOLS) event at the Kalahari Resort in the Poconos Mountains, PA. The event will offer a plethora of training seminars, networking opportunities and family fun. TOOLS 2018 will begin on Friday night with a Poolside Cabana Welcome Reception, followed by the evening’s Hospitality Suite. Following breakfast on Saturday, the morning will feature five educational seminars for attendees to choose from Amy Mattinat of Auto Craftsmen, LTD will present “Increase Your Sales Profitability by Winning with the Decision Makers: Women,” and Todd Tracy will deliver his now-infamous “Anatomy of a Lawsuit: The Crucial Details for the $42 Million Verdict” presentation. Additional options will include “2018 Mobile A/C Update Clinic” with Tim Iezzi of MACS, “How to Use FREE Online Tools to Attract New Customers Into Your Shop” by Shop Doctor’s Dave Striegel and “Turbocharger Operation and Diagnos-

tics,” presented by John Thornton of Autotrain, Inc. During lunch, keynote speaker Danny Sanchez of Autoshop Solutions will discuss how the overall customer experience has changed across multiple channels and how it’s crucial to a shop’s success in “Your Customer is Evolving, Is Your Business Evolving with Them?” Educational opportunities on Saturday afternoon from 1–4 p.m. include John Thornton’s “VW/Audi Driveability Case Studies,” Amy Mattinat’s “10 Cost-Efficient Ways to Gain Customers and Grow Business,” “Engine Technology: Modern Engine Condition Testing,” presented by CTI’s Brandon Steckler, Management Success’s “Controlling the Front,” and “Succeed and Conquer with KPIs” by Rick White of 180BIZ. From 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, TOOLS attendees will enjoy dinner and the association’s awards ceremony, and dessert will be served in conjunction with the event’s Trade Show, during which participants can win prizes and network with industry vendors. The evening will conclude with a Hospitality Suite.

Sunday morning’s training sessions will run from 9 a.m. until noon. Brandon Steckler will discuss “Gasoline Direct Injection: Analytic Test Drive”; Rick White will present “Can’t We All Just Get Along”; and Management Success will deliver “Sales Training for Estimators.” Also, Danny Sanchez will teach “Fire Up Your Marketing Engine,” while “G” Jerry Truglia of ATTS covers “Critical Thinking – Diagnostic Strategies” After lunch, training will resume from 1–4 p.m. with the following four options: Danny Sanchez’s “The Phone Rings – What’s Next,” “Unlocking the Potential of Your Scan Tool” presented by “G” Jerry Truglia, “Learning Strategies for Wheel Alignment and Advanced Driver Assist Systems” presented by Tom Kelley of Hunter Engineering, and a panel discussion on “The Future of the Industry – What TOOLS Will You Need?” moderated by Jeff Walter. Registration for the TOOLS event, including the Trade Show, costs $295 for a single attendee, or association members can purchase a three-attendee package for $785. For more information or to register, visit aasp-pa.org.

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

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.

Shop Strategies with Stacey Phillips

Leadership Development, Process-Centered Environment Enable TX Shop’s Business to Grow Courteous, professional and highquality—these are some of the words Leila Bates said customers have used to describe the work provided at Bates Collision Centers. This year, the business received the Baytown Sun Readers’ Choice Award for best body shop for the eighth year in a row. Leila said they were honored to receive the award

ing floors. His ultimate goal was to own a shop of his own. Meanwhile, I was going to college and working part-time when we got married in 1989. A year later, we decided to open our first location in Baytown. We experienced some good growth our first year, so we relocated to a larger facility in 1991, which we currently operate today. We also opened a second location in the neighboring community of Channelview, TX, in 2003.

ters?

Bates Collision Centers established the Community Give Back Program eight years ago

and will continue to work hard to fulfill their mission to be the collision center of choice for customers in the Bay area of Texas. Autobody News recently talked to Leila about Bates Collision Centers and learned about some of the unique ways the company gives back to the community. She also shared how they use a process-centered environment and leadership training to facilitate the business’s growth, retain employees and offer customers exceptional service. What prompted you and your husband, Lee, to open Bates Collision Centers 28 years ago?

Lee had a lot of wrecks while he was in high school; he was in double-digit accidents before he graduated. At some point, his dad told him that if he continued getting into accidents and wrecking his cars, he was going to have to fix them. He went off to college and was doing well, but decided he wanted to focus on something else. He always had an interest in cars and his dad encouraged him to get involved in the automotive industry. Lee ended up working at a dealership in his college town, San Marcos, TX, sweep-

What is your main role and focus at Bates Collision Cen-

My official title is vice president, although as in most small companies, you wear a lot of hats and have to address the different phases of your business. I also handle CFO responsibilities for Bates Collision Centers, and both my husband and I are very involved in marketing efforts and community involvement.

Q: A:

What type of marketing have you found to be beneficial?

When we opened our business, we were operating on a shoestring budget and had to find ways to create awareness about the services we offered. Although we have a pretty good Facebook presence now, we spent a lot of time over the years getting out into the community. I’m on the board of directors with the Baytown Chamber of Commerce, we’re both active in the Chambers of Commerce in the areas where we have our locations, Lee is a Rotarian and we’re big supporters of the Relay for Life. About 15,000 people attend that event every year to raise money for The American Cancer Society. Creating top-of-mind awareness with the local insurance agents has also been a longtime focus of ours, and we’ve done this with creative contests like an annual pumpkin carving contest, offering continuing education classes quarterly at our shops and other fun contests and visits to their offices.

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

What are some of the unique ways you have given back to the community?

Baytown is where my husband and I grew up and went to school. All of our friends and family live here. After opening our business, we received sponsorship requests all the time. Eight years ago, we decided to put together a more structured program called the Community Give Back Program. Organizations can now contact us to give to their program year-round, and Bates Collision Centers donates 3 percent of a customer’s repair total to the local nonprofit organization of their choice. Whether the money goes to a school, church, the wetlands center or an upcoming event, the donation is made in the customer’s name. Since launching the program,

we’ve found that it has allowed us to get involved in the community and show our support in a more organized fashion rather than be reactive to every donation request we receive. We are dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of others by supporting our community and the people who live here. We also give out a responsible parenting award as part of a benevolence program we set up in 1998. Bates Collision Centers presents “new” used vehicles to deserving families every holiday season. Our employees volunteer their time to refurbish a vehicle from each of our centers and fill it with gifts such as toys, gas cards, car seats and food for the family. The vehicles are then presented during a special awards ceremony and holiday reception held in their honor to recognize and reward See Leadership Development, Page 66

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

From the Desk of Mike Anderson with Mike Anderson

Mike Anderson is the president and owner of Collision Advice, a consulting company for the auto body/collision repair industry. For nearly 25 years, he was the owner of Wagonwork Collision Center, an OEM-certified, full-service auto body repair facility in Alexandria, VA.

Are You Upgrading Your Shop’s Customer Service Experience? Or Losing Out to Shops That Are? First, just a quick note to say I appreciate Autobody News offering me an opportunity to share some of my thoughts, opinions and ideas with you here. I know many of you may have only an occasional chance to attend one of my presentations or classes, so this is a way for me to try to offer you some information every month. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a term I first heard from Mark Fincher at CCC Information Services: “liquid expectations.” What it means, in a nutshell, is that your customers and potential customers aren’t comparing their experience interacting with your shop based solely (or even at all) on their experience with another body shop. They’re actually comparing it with their experience with other types of companies. Think about it: You can book a hotel room or airline ticket any time

of day or night. Order almost anything from Amazon (24/7) and it likely can be delivered in the next day or two—often with free shipping. You can use OpenTable to make a restaurant reservation in the middle or the night, and the large movie theater chains enable you to buy tickets in advance online. Have you picked up a rental car from an airport recently? You likely could walk straight from the plane right to a designated parking space where your car was waiting with the keys in it – with no stop at a rental counter. Are you offering any type of conveniences like this? I’ve been told as many as one-third of consumers want (or even expect) to be able to do business with you outside of business hours. Are you making that possible? Or are you at risk of losing those potential customers to shops that understand the customer experience they

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

want? Can your customers go online in the evening or on weekends and book an appointment for an estimate or to drop off their car? CCC’s “CarWise” is just one of the ways you can enable this. Customers can punch in their zip code to see a listing (and possibly reviews) of shops in their area. But go to the site and you’ll see only some shops have it set up to also allow a customer to click a “Schedule Appointment” button to see what appointment days and times are available and book online. A potential customer might not think to go to the CarWise site if they already know your business. So some of the shops I work with have the CarWise appointment scheduling system embedded right into their own shop website. Do your customers have to be at the shop to sign a paper document to

authorize repairs? Or do you offer them the option of providing an electronic signature remotely? As you walk around a vehicle to check for prior damage, are you still using pens to mark the damage on the car, or are you capturing that information electronically? I know there’s lots of controversy about photo estimating, and I absolutely agree that you can’t write an accurate complete estimate from photos. I also know estimating by photo is not legal in some states. But with those limitations in mind, does providing photo estimating offer you a way to start the process with a potential customer who doesn’t find it convenient to come in for that initial step? Another client of mine has a two-minute video on their shop’s website that walks the customer through the process of shooting See Service Experience, Page 63

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Tips for Busy Body Shops with Stacey Phillips

The Power of Peer Groups and Why to Join One To address this challenge, espeManaging a collision repair facility today requires an owner to wear many cially for a growing body shop, Keller different hats and have a great deal of recommends that employees get inknowledge, according to Jim Keller, volved in organizations to build relaCEO/president of 1Collision Network tionships and become the best they based in Milwaukee, WI. can be to help steer the business forThose roles might include CEO, ward. The industry veteran has held a COO, CFO, VP of marketing, VP of human resources, estimator, parts variety of industry jobs over the past manager, repair planner and customer 40 years, including paint technician, dealer manager, entrepreneur, franservice representative. “Regardless of the size of the chisee, consolidator and most recently, founder of 1Collision Netbody shop, it’s very difficult work. Established in 2012, for one owner to be an ex1Collision Network is a netpert in each one of these work of independent and fields,” said Keller during dealer collision repair busihis recent presentation for nesses that work with insurDave Luehr’s Elite Body ers and OEs to properly Shop Academy. “We either have to rely on people to fill Jim Keller, founder repair collision damaged vethose positions or we have to and CEO/president hicles. During Keller’s presenknow all of this information of 1Collision Network ourselves, which I think is a very tation “The Power of Peer Groups,” he shared personal stories that were daunting and difficult task.”

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

“game-changers” for him and helped him operate his business more professionally and come up with strategies to address any challenges that he faced. Keller said it all starts by joining a peer group(s).

Q: A:

What is a peer group and why is it important to join one?

Wikipedia defines a peer group as both a social group and a primary group of people who have similar interests (homophily) in age, background or social status. The members of the group are likely to influence the person’s beliefs and behavior. Peer groups also contain hierarchies and distinct patterns of behavior. According to an article in the New York Times, the average person knows 600 people. If only 50 of those individuals each influence 50 of their

friends, that number grows to be 2,500 people with whom you can potentially connect. If 50 of those people influence 50 of their friends, that number increases to 5,000. With technology, the Internet and social media, we can now connect to people throughout the world without having to go anywhere. The more people you know and positively influence, the more successful you are likely to be.

Q: A:

What is your personal experience with peer groups?

The first individual who helped me understand the peer group concept was Bob Goff of Goff’s Collision Repair Centers in Wisconsin. He is a real innovator. His body shop wasn’t far from mine, and one day he walked into my business and invited me to a body

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

shop association meeting. I didn’t really understand the concept of a body shop association at that time. I thought I was on my own and was going to run my business all by myself and make my own decisions. I thought it was really strange that this guy came in and approached me, but I went anyway. To me, it was a little intimidating to go into a room full of my competitors without even knowing them. I remember going that Tuesday night and being in a room full of body shop owners from around Wisconsin. They were great guys and were friendly toward me and made me feel at home. We saw a great presentation by Blackhawk and learned what the future held for the unibody car. It was very much like our industry is today with all of the technology we are facing. It was a revolutionary time in the industry. From that point on, I didn’t miss a meeting. It was one of the most powerful things that had happened in my professional life. I went from a guy who thought he was going to fix wrecks to a guy who saw there was a much bigger world with a much bigger opportunity than there was within my four walls. Bob got me out of my shop and into seeing what is happening in the world. Over the years, I’ve been involved in many peer groups such as the Dale Carnegie Leadership Training, ARMS management workshop, the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) Total Loss Committee, Coyote Vision Group and CARA Collision Group, to name a few. The peer groups I joined met regularly, and we learned from one another. We visited one another’s shops and were able to reach the next level by sharing strategic information, data tricks and secrets.

Q: A:

What is the advantage of being part of an association?

I can’t imagine any professional in any industry not being a member of a trade association. I think it’s critically important. We don’t always think of an association as a peer group, but it actually is. I think everyone who is in the industry should belong to a national and a local association. The Alliance of Automotive 28

Service Providers (AASP), The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) and the Automotive Service Association (ASA) are three of the primary national ones I recommend because they have the most events, education and publications available. Look at all three and determine the best fit with your culture. If you don’t have a strong local association in your area, then get involved in your state association or form one of your own. In the mid1980s I formed one in Milwaukee— the Milwaukee Collision Repair Association—because there wasn’t one where I lived. Talking to your peers locally can be really powerful. Now more than ever, I think associations need our support. With autonomous cars coming out, there are issues we are likely going to deal with, such as the legal challenges that will be the result of car accidents. We need to support those associations and organizations that support us. I understand that it can be challenging to make time to do that while running your business, but if you take the time to connect with people, you’ll learn from one another. Every time you go to a meeting outside of your shop, you’re probably going to meet more people in the industry, whether it’s two people or 500. It can be extremely eye-opening and informative.

Q: A:

What is a master mind group?

I think Napoleon Hill explained it best in his book “Think and Grow Rich.” He said a master mind is when one or two people come together in a spirit of harmony. It is believed that when they come together they will engage a third, greater mind that will allow ideas to come to them. Today, a master mind translates to a meeting or conference between two people, such as the way boards of directors and senior staff get together to do business. The third mind represents the creative energy between two or more people who get together to improve something. A master mind could be two people coming together or a group of 20 trying to figure out the next steps for the group. The bigger the group, the more ideas and opinions you’ll

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

have and the more sharing you’ll do. You’ll find things move faster, decisions get made more accurately and effectively and everyone feels involved in the process. Whether there are two people or 20, if they feel like part of the team, it creates a great synergy for success. The key is understanding that two heads are better than one and can be a really powerful collaboration.

Can you share the human relations principles you learned from attending the Dale Carnegie program you attended?

If you are attending a peer group meeting, whether that’s with one person or more, it’s virtually guaranteed that you will learn more from that person or persons, they will like you more and you will probably capitalize on opportunities from that relationship(s) more so than any other way by following these principles.

1) Don’t criticize, condemn or complain. 2) Give honest sincere appreciation.

3) Arouse in the other person an eager want. 4) Become genuinely interested in other people. 5) Smile. 6) Remember that a person’s name is the sweetest sound to them, in any language. 7) Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. 8) Talk in terms of the other person’s interest. 9) M ake the other person feel important and do it sincerely. 10) The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it. 11) Show respect for the other person’s opinion. Never say, “You are wrong.” 12) If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically. 13) Begin in a friendly manner. 14) Get the other person to say, “Yes, yes.” How can a performance group be beneficial?

Q: A:

A good performance group will demonstrate how to achieve a higher level of success than See Peer Groups, Page 78

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

SEMA Show Goes On

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

with Ed Attanasio

How To Squeeze Maximum Value Out of SEMA 2018 connections, see the latest trends and new products and learn new skills to Autobody News recently discussed help their businesses. It’s where the $43 billion spethe 2018 SEMA Show with SEMA Vice President, Communications and cialty aftermarket industry gathers every year to conduct business. There Events Peter MacGillivray. is no other trade show like His department organit. izes and produces the annual Over the last few years, SEMA Show in Las Vegas our attendance among the and several regional trade automotive repair category shows, international shows has increased significantly. and special events throughWe’ve learned that attenout the year. dees from this category are Peter MacGillivray finding unique value in the Why should a body shop owner/manager or even show via the widespread product a tech /estimator/painter, etc. attend offerings within their “home” category of collision repair, but also SEMA? among the nine other sections of As the world’s leading auto- the show. motive trade event, the SEMA What are some new and excitShow is the best place for automotive ing things that will be taking professionals to connect face-to-face with business partners, make new place at 2018 SEMA? by Ed Attanasio

Q: A:

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

As the industry changes, so, too, does the SEMA Show. In a lot of ways, a trade show like the SEMA Show is a reflection of the industry it serves. Our collision section includes more manufacturers than ever. This year, we have over 200 exhibitors in the collision repair section alone and more than 250 in related sections like tools and equipment. Overall, we expect more than 2,400 exhibitors at the 2018 SEMA Show. Among the new features at this year’s SEMA Show are features from Hoonigan, Polaris, Kia and Mahindra. We’re also expanding the Monday Vehicle Reveal, which debuted last year, to give media a sneak peek at some of the vehicles from the SEMA Show and an opportunity to hear from the builders. Additionally, the annual SEMA Awards, given to the top trending ve-

hicle models in five categories, will be presented during the SEMA Reveal on Monday. In addition to awards to the top car, truck, 4x4/SUV and sport compact, an award will be presented for the first time to recognize the Powersport Vehicle of the Year. Another big change for this year is the location of the after-party, known as SEMA Ignited, and the SEMA Cruise route. On Friday, after the show closes, all the vehicles from the SEMA Show exit the convention and make their way to SEMA Ignited. Because of construction at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the cruise will have a new route and the after-party will take place at what is known as the Platinum Lot, which is on the east side of the convention center on Swenson Street, between Desert Inn road and Sierra Vista Drive.

Q: A:

How can attendees get maximum value out of the show?

Don’t just show up; plan in advance. Reading this article is a good start, since it means you’re thinking about what you need to do and how to get around the show. We recommend that attendees attend all four days of the SEMA Show. One badge allows access to each day of the event, so it’s actually the most economical. Aside from not having to rush through the show floor, attending every day ensures that you won’t miss a single thing. Every day features new events, conferences and networking opportunities. The show provides attendees an overall experience that includes more than 100 educational sessions, most of which are free of charge. The complete list of events is on www.semashow.com. Also, visiting the No. 1 destination at the SEMA Show, the New Products Showcase, is essential because it is where an attendee can see the hottest products hitting the aftermarket. In addition, we have worldclass education (visit www.sema show.com/education) and network-

ing events that attendees can benefit from.

What are some tips on how to cover as much territory at the show as possible?

The online floorplan (www .semashow.com/floorplan) is a great tool that an attendee can use to identify where exhibitors and features are located in order create a plan to navigate the show. The official SEMA Show Mobile App enables you to create a schedule, gives you access to the floorplan and helps you locate exhibitors and browse educations session, networking events and conferences before and during the show. Attendees can also stay up to date with the latest SEMA Show happenings by reading SEMA eNews each week and by following the official SEMA Show social media accounts.

Q: A:

What are some tips for surviving the show?

With more than 1 million net square feet of booth space at

the SEMA Show, a comfortable pair of shoes is essential, as is having liquids with you at all times to remain hydrated. Items like business cards, hand sanitizer, mints and a bag to carry them in will make networking a comfortable experience. We have sectionalized the show into 10 business categories. Work the section where you have the most interest first, and then move on to other areas. Also extremely essential is being familiar with the location of amenities such as food, restrooms and pickup locations for transportation services. Given the Gold Lot’s unavailability due to construction, parking at the 2018 SEMA Show will be even more scarce, so knowing where taxi drop-off spots are located will be valuable. Using the Las Vegas Monorail is another great option to travel to and from the show. The monorail is fast and makes multiple stops, many of which are within walking distance to most hotels.

How can attendees follow up once they get back from the show and get even more value from

the event?

One easy way to follow up with manufacturers of the hottest products to hit the market is to use the scanners at the New Products Showcase to create a list of all the products you’re interested in. The list, which will be provided to you when you return your scanner, will contain key information to contact those companies. Also, have exhibitors scan your badge when you visit their booth. This will generate a list of companies visited that will be sent via email to the attendee after the SEMA Show. The list will provide access to their personal list of exhibiting companies and their contact information. Our technology keeps track of your visits and reminds you to follow up. Be sure to also visit the SEMA Association Center in the Grand Lobby to learn more about how you can connect with others in the industry. Face-to-face time is more valuable today than ever before. The SEMA Show is the time to connect with others in the industry quickly

See SEMA 2018, Page 78

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Continued from Cover

State Farm Settles

Illinois Supreme Court. (A record $9 million was spent on the election that Judge Karmeier ultimately won.) Further, it was alleged that a State Farm attorney actually was the individual who recruited Karmeier and had discussions about the case with his campaign manager. This new evidence persuaded the federal judge to agree with the plaintiffs, and despite State Farm’s objection, the federal case was allowed to continue to a jury trial. The federal case included civil racketeering claims and claims of fraud. Essentially, plaintiffs alleged that State Farm recruited and funded Justice Karmeier’s 2004 campaign to be elected to the Illinois Supreme Court without revealing it. Further, the plaintiffs alleged that this was done for the purpose of getting a favorable ruling in favor of State Farm in the appeal of Avery. On August 5, 2013, the plaintiffs in Hale v. State Farm told the

federal judge that their “stated intention” was to ask Justice Karmeier to address the allegations in a deposition. The plaintiffs contended that State Farm violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, by using the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Republican Party and other entities or conduits to conceal its role in funding and operating the Justice’s campaign. RICO allows plaintiffs to sue persons or entities involved in a conspiracy to engage in improper activities such as bribery, fraud or violent crimes. State Farm’s motion to dismiss the above claims was denied and the federal court ruled that discovery and the case may continue. In 2016, the federal court certified the class, denied all motions to dismiss by State Farm and ultimately set a trial date for Sept. 4, 2018. State Farm denied the allegations and Judge Karmeier maintained that he didn’t know who or how much was given to his campaign. Indeed, prior recusal motions were all denied by Justice Karmeier. Moments before the case in fed-

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

eral court was to begin, State Farm agreed to pay $250 million to settle the federal lawsuit (which now charged them with Civil RICO violations). The settlement will provide benefits to more than 4 million current and former State Farm policyholders who were members of the class in Avery. Obviously, the settlement saves State Farm from any further transparency and humiliation that would result from the case going to trial. Most importantly, it prevents further monetary damage being inflicted upon them. The Avery case demonstrates that insurance companies can and should be challenged if they engage in unfair, unethical or illegal conduct. A low and unfair estimate can be challenged in small claims, civil court or a higher court. Tortious interference with your business is an actionable tort under the law that can be the basis of a lawsuit. Defamation is also a serious allegation that can affect your livelihood and reputation within your community, and that, too, is action-

able in court. Remember that insurance companies are for-profit businesses, and like any business, they want to lower costs and make as much money as they can. When they intrude in any significant way on your livelihood, it’s time to act! In the very near future, I will be holding seminars in which you can address any unfair or potentially illegal issues that you have had with insurance companies. They may include: steering, low or unfair appraisals, unfair or no negotiations, declaring vehicles totaled when they are fixable, defamation against you, your shop or reputation, tortious interference with your business, denial of PainTex accounting or any other issue that has damaged your business that you can prove.

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Media and Publicity for Shops with Ed Attanasio

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

Who Should Be Your #1 Audience for Your Advertising and Marketing? Depending on what part of the country you’re in, most body shops are highly dependent on their insurance partnerships (DRPs). Every once in a while, a shop owner or manager will ask me, “Why do we market to the consumer, when in the end we get most of our work through our DRPs?” It’s a logical question, so what is the answer? Should shops’ advertising and marketing efforts focus more on insurers than customers? Many of them must agree because some large shops are cutting back their marketing budgets and moving away from consumer advertising, such as broadcast, print, collateral, direct mail or various forms of online marketing. Is it a wise move or will it come back to hurt them down the road? Jim Keller, president of 1Collision Network, has heard the same question time and time again. His 45 locations nationwide are always aggressively marketing themselves to their DRPs under his organization’s direction. “We do a significant amount of marketing for our locations in addition to all of our many other programs and have seen positive results by developing unique programs catering to DRPs and agents,” he said. “Through marketing efforts that are specifically designed for both insurers and insurance agents, our shops are more likely to land a new DRP(s) when the opportunity presents itself, which can help drive revenue and the bottom line. Our performance system also enhances shop operations to gain more work from existing DRPs.” Pursuing and attaining OE certifications is another way to attract DRPs because it indicates to the insurer that a shop is committed to repairing vehicles properly and using OE procedures and recommended equipment. Keller said, “This is a huge opportunity for shops to get onboard because now we have four parties involved in the claim procedure: the shop, the customer, the insurance company and the OE car manufacturers. The certifications are becoming

recognized by the insurers, including those that have DRP programs. We make certain to promote our location’s OE certifications and I-CAR Gold Class status on their websites, social media, collateral advertising and other forms of marketing. A body shop with multiple certifications creates an added level of legitimacy and integrity, making that shop more at-

and bringing them donuts is not effective anymore,” Keller said. “We continue to have a strategy with the agents and make sure that we get enough touches per year with them because they’re the front line when it comes to the customers. We focus more on conveying a strong, relevant message through our marketing, and the results have been very positive. We stress

tractive to insurers, DRPs, agents and the consumer. We also believe certifications will aid in recruiting the better technicians to our shops because it ‘raises the bar’ within the industry.” An effective strategy for marketing to insurance agents is beneficial because in the end, a percentage of agencies will make referrals and often are connected to their clients. “At 1Collision Network, we have programs that we use to get in front of the agents and build relationships with them,” Keller said. “The biggest concern for any insurance agent is retaining their customers because they rely on those renewals, along with new customers, each year to grow their business. We believe marketing to agents is a necessary component to a solid marketing [strategy].” In the end, shops must address all parties involved—the consumer, the repairer, the insurer and the OE—when it comes to their marketing, public relations and advertising, Keller explained. “Yes, the OEs are becoming more important now, but the insurance companies aren’t going away. To be successful, we must cater to all parties involved, and to leave any of them out of the loop is short-sighted. Good companies adapt and change as the market changes and continually seek new methods and techniques to increase their visibility,” he said. Interacting with insurance agents remains an effective way to connect with them and harvest referrals, but that approach has changed as well. “Meeting with insurance agents

things like driving safety education, CE classes and the dangers of distracted driving programs, rather than social media messages about how to make the best cookies or what breed of dog is the best to buy. 1Collision has also developed a simple and effective policy retention program for agents that involves making the customer feel special, on behalf of the

“Meeting with insurance agents and bringing them donuts is not effective anymore,” — Jim Keller

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

agent, upon completion of the repairs at the point of delivery at the collision center. This has proved to increase agent loyalty and in turn, referrals.” When it comes to any effective form of marketing, Keller said that it all comes down to conveying your shop integrity and creating brand and name recognition. “When someone gets into an accident and contacts their insurance company, they will often ask about a shop that they’ve seen through the media or various forms of advertising,” he said. “If a shop has a positive, meaningful presence and continually leverages it, customers will inquire about that shop over others for obvious reasons. Having a strategic mixture of marketing and advertising will lend itself to strengthening the relationships with the DRPs. Being on their list is important, but that’s only the first step.”

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autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Vision, Foresight Help Launch This PBE Jobber by Gary Ledoux

It was the mid-1940s. GIs were home from the war, the U.S. economy was booming and shiny new cars were filling America’s highways—cars that needed gasoline and service work. Only a few blocks from the downtown area in a primarily residential part of Nashua, NH, Vic Chaput opened Vic’s Garage, a Gulf station that also performed service, repairs and provided machine shop service. In typical fashion, the one work stall featured a drive-on pit to facilitate oil changes and other chassis work. Business was good. But in 1951, Vic had a vision that the parts business was the future, and so, being located on Pine Street, Pine Motor Parts was born. For his new business, Vic needed more enclosed business space and less open lot. That meant erecting a new addition to his building. But a customer and friend had a better idea. A local manufacturing company was diversifying and didn’t need all of

their building space, which was located only a few blocks away. Parts of that company’s building were physically moved down Pine Street— bricks, mortar, large wooden beams and all—and became the new Pine Motor Parts building. At the time there were only three, and a few years

later, four other auto parts jobbers in the entire city—all of them fairly small, family-run operations. All had their customer base, and all co-existed in relative harmony. It was also in 1951 that Vic’s son, Roger Chaput, joined the business and began working the front counter and helping out in the very busy machine shop. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the parts business was good … as was the machine shop business.

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OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

But by the end of the ‘60s, Roger could sense change in the air. Inevitably, cars would be built better and not consume so many parts at the blistering rate seen in the earlier ‘60s. There was talk in the industry of large, vertically integrated auto parts jobber chains taking over. Large companies were remanufacturing carburetors, starters and alternators faster and cheaper than could be done in their machine shop. Engines were better-built, so engine rebuilding and valve jobs would soon be a thing of the past. Roger looked around the industry, saw how well a local competitor was doing with paint and body supplies, saw a steady increase in the number of body shops in and around town and decided that was the direction his company should take. There was just one problem. Roger’s father, Vic Chaput, saw no reason to get into the PBE business. He had made his money in the mechanical field, parts business and machine shop business, and he was determined that his son would carry on that tradition. In time, Vic retired,

Roger bought his share of the business, and in 1976 Pine Motor Parts got into the PBE business with the Acme line of paint. Traditionally, auto parts jobbers had been selling paint and related products since the 1930s. By the 1970s, PBE jobbers would start to emerge. In fact, for the first time, in 1972 the Automotive Service Industry Association (ASIA) recognized PBE jobbers as a valid entity for the industry. Roger knew he was headed in the right direction. Also in 1976, Roger’s son, Dan Chaput, was fresh out of high school and had taken an interest in the paint side of the business. In fact, he had been hanging around a local body shop where the shop owner was also involved in auto racing. Young Dan was in his element there, fast cars and the smell of paint thinner. The shop owner showed Dan how to lay on a fresh, shiny coat of paint. There was a certain satisfaction that came with a well-painted car, and Dan wanted to learn all he could about body work. Soon, Roger and Dan had “the See PBE Jobber, Page 62

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 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

OCTOBER 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

Lehigh Valley Acura

Sussman Acura

PENNSYLVANIA

Baierl Acura Wexford

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

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 / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Continued from Cover

Overtime Laws

time law, an employee in that state will receive the state’s minimum wage while being paid overtime under federal provisions. Farrington stressed, “Employers must be familiar with the state laws in every jurisdiction where they operate.” Although overtime is often viewed as a reward for an employee who works a long week, Farrington explained, “It is actually a penalty on the employer for working an employee over 40 hours. Overtime is paid out at one and a half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. The primary purpose of overtime is to spread employment because the government wants you to work more people for fewer hours. It is meant to be punitive, cost you money and be difficult to comply with.” Clarifying that a fundamental principle of overtime is that “each workweek stands alone,” Farrington defined a workweek as a “fixed and

recurring period” of seven consecutive 24-hour days that may not be altered unless it is being changed permanently. However, daily overtime is not required under FLSA, which means an employer can schedule employees within the workweek as they see fit, moving hours around to minimize overtime. Averaging workweeks is forbidden, even if the employer pays bi-weekly. For example, an employee who works 48 hours one week and 32 hours the next is still entitled to eight hours of overtime for that first week. Paid time off does not count toward overtime. If an employee utilizes eight hours of vacation, sick or holiday pay, they will be paid for 48 hours, but since only 40 hours were actually worked, there is no overtime due. “Overtime is based on time worked. Only hours that are actually worked beyond 40 hours count toward overtime,” Farrington said. Overtime must also be paid at an employee’s regular rate, which is the employee’s total remuneration for employment within the workweek divided by the total number of

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

hours worked. This means that overtime must be paid on the employee’s base rate and all compensation, including bonuses and commissions. Farrington explained how to calculate overtime on bonuses and commissions on a monthly or quarterly basis. Hours worked is defined as all time the employee is required to be on the employer’s premises, all time the employee is required to be at a prescribed work site and all time the employee spends in activities that benefit the employer. Because management has the total power to control, schedule and require the hours worked, it is therefore completely management’s responsibility to record and pay for hours worked, meaning an employer must pay for overtime even if it is unauthorized or unknown. “Make sure it’s a proactive management responsibility to see that employees record and are paid for hours worked,” Farrington stressed. Meals are not required by FLSA, but if they are given, they do not need to be paid as long as these three conditions are met: the break is long enough for the employee to consume

a meal or use the time for their own purposes (typically 30 minutes), the break is uninterrupted and the employee is relieved from their duties during the break. It is important to note that many states have requirements pertaining to lunch breaks. While short 15-minute breaks are not required by FLSA, they must be treated as paid work time when given. Noting that there is an overtime exemption for most employees paid on flat rate hours, Farrington explained that overtime is not required for “salesmen, parts men and mechanics” employed by a “dealership,” which is defined as an establishment that derives over 50 percent of its gross revenue from the sales of automobiles, trucks or farm implements. Farrington continued to describe another applicable exemption for establishments that do not derive 50 percent of its revenue from selling vehicles. Employees are exempt from overtime if the following three conditions are met: They work for a retail establishment, their regular rate is more than 1.5 times the federal minimum wage, and they are paid primarily (more than 50 percent of their

earnings) by commission. A retail establishment is considered such under FLSA if 75 percent of its income is derived from retail sales and sales made to the general public. In a collision shop, this means individual customers, even when the insurance company is paying. The three common types of nonretail income are income from work on heavy trucks (16,001 pounds or more) or specialized equipment; income from fleet work, where work is done for a fleet customer pursuant to a contract or agreement and where the customer gets a fleet discount; and income from sales for resale, in which a dealer engages a shop to refurbish a used car that the dealership then sells, or a dealership farms out its body work to a body shop. In each case, income to the shop is non-retail. If these types of income constitute more than 25 percent of the business’s income, it is not eligible for the exemption. Farrington provided several examples of how these requirements can be analyzed. He also explained the benefits of drawing against commission. He warned, “The danger is if the

draw is so high that the employee never gets commission. Then, the courts will determine that is a salary, not a commission. For example, techs paid on commission of 40 percent of labor draw $700 per week. Commissions are settled at the end of the quarter. At the end of the first quarter, employees generated $25,000 in labor charges and have therefore earned $10,000 in commissions at 40 percent. The employee has drawn $9,100 ($700 x 13 weeks), so at the end of Quarter 1, the employees get another $900 in excess commissions above the draw. “Employers should ensure that regular payments to employees are not considered salary payments. The best way to do this is to carry forward any deficits (amounts by which draws exceed commission), and charge them against future commissions,” Farrington suggested. “For instance, say the commissions had been $9,000 for the quarter. There is a $100 deficit, so it gets carried forward to the next quarter and subtracted from Quarter 2’s commission. “Under this system, a fixed number of hours are attributed to a partic-

ular job, regardless of how long it actually takes to do the job. The customer pays for the number of hours to the shop at the labor rate, and the technician receives money so what they receive is a function of what the customer pays, and that’s a commission. A painter or mechanic may work for seven, eight or nine hours in a day and still receive credit for 10, 11 or 12 flat rate hours, depending on how much work is done and regardless of the actual time it takes to complete a certain job.” As his presentation came to a close, Farrington emphasized the importance of engaging legal counsel that is familiar with your specific state’s legal requirements. Molla stated, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Seek competent legal advice when in doubt.” For more information on ASA, visit asashop.org.

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ACA Hosts Successful Trade Mission to Chile

The Auto Care Association hosted a trade mission to Chile on August 21—22 as part of the Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) award from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Trade missions are business development opportunities to gain first-hand market information and participate in one-on-one meetings with potential clients and partners. “I feel that the meetings were all done professionally, with people I am looking to do business with,” said Albert Montaner, regional manager at The Parts House and Auto Care Association member. “I personally think I will be doing business with everybody that I met, without a doubt. The trade mission was priced right. For what we got, it was a pure benefit—a good ‘bang for the buck.’” For more information about the Auto Care Association’s international initiatives and activities, please visit autocare.org/ international.

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Product and Process with Stacey Phillips

How the Recycled Part Procurement Process Continues to Improve When a typical collision repair facility orders an OE recycled part for a repair, Jim McKinney said there are three important concerns they likely have: price, timing and quality. “For true customer satisfaction, you must have all three,” said McKinney, owner of EZ-Management Solutions, during a recent CIECAst webinar. “Especially in the body shop business, cycle time is very, very important and has become a focal point. As a result, it’s critical from a recycler’s point of view that we meet all of a shop’s expectations.” Realizing that two out of three of these expectations were not being addressed in the industry, McKinney said his company set out to make a change. EZ-Management Solutions currently offers two cloud-based software products specifically developed

for the automotive recycling process and is in the process of developing a third. EZ-Route plans and tracks deliveries of recycled parts, for example from a salvage yard to a body shop. EZ-Runner manages group trading from salvage yard to salvage yard, and EZ-QC is currently being built and brings all facets together. With more than 25 years of experience in the automotive recycling industry, McKinney shared information during the CIECAst webinar about the current challenges in the recycled part procurement process and how they are being addressed. In his presentation “How to Improve the Parts Procurement Process,” he also discussed the expansions of recycler groups to provide quality parts in a timely fashion and how software can play a critical role in the process. CIECAst webinars highlight top-

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

ical industry issues and are held regularly by CIECA (Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association). The association develops collision industry electronic standards, codes and standard messages and provides implementation guides for the collision repair industry.

Jim, can you tell us about some of the challenges today in the recycled parts procurement process?

There have been a lot of problems over the years where a body shop orders a part from us and it isn’t correct for some reason. It might be damaged, late or the wrong part in general. Although we have the ability to broker a part (if the insurer allows for brokered parts), the way it currently stands, in many cases we may not know if there is an issue until a

part arrives. As a result, we find that 20 to 25 percent of our sales end up being returned, and I believe that’s an industry standard. It’s a very ineffective process. There are other issues in the current process that we have found to be inefficient. We may source parts from multiple yards with multiple yard management systems, and the communication back and forth is usually by phone or email. Many times, the salespeople will send a part without consulting the customer about discrepancies. There is no consistent method for communication, especially across platforms. There is also no real-time information available and photos are commonly taken by the auction company. Overall, the quality of the part cannot be truly assessed until the selling yard, or in some cases the shop, receives it.

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

How is EZ-Management Solutions’ software helping with this process?

Our software is unique to the industry because it can track a part from the beginning to end. This gives shops the ability to visualize parts live and determine if something different is needed. We can tell you exactly when the part should arrive, exactly where it is in the process, and you can see photos and data about the part. It also measures performance. We believe our software can solve inaccuracy issues and help with timing even before it leaves the salvage yard. In one word, it’s transparency. As a recycler, we want to be transparent and provide the best product we can in a timely fashion.

ware?

What are some of the features included with the current soft-

EZ-Route software was developed in 2011 and integrates with a yard management system. After gathering information about all of the deliveries for the day, it sug-

gests the most efficient way to run the route. It can then track the drivers’ progress with real-time GPS tracking, so you know if they are running ahead or behind schedule. It also provides metrics for deliveries to help businesses with repair planning and make better-informed decisions. EZ-Runner is the group trading software that manages shipments among salvage yards and integrates with Pinnacle, Hollander and Checkmate. It was originally built for Midwest Trucking, and we soon realized that other recycling groups might be interested in using the software as well. EZ-Runner plans the shortest route through a series of hubs and allows for the quick movement of parcels. It generates a barcode label that provides information about the part, which is scanned throughout the delivery process. The software offers part grading, so recyclers can benchmark and compare themselves to each other. It also includes return applications to approve and track returns, which are a big part of our business. Another feature is hub manager. If somebody is running a hub with 10–20 trucks, the

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OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

shipments can be easily managed.

What can we expect to see with EZ-QC software, and when is the expected release?

EZ-QC is being developed to provide transparent information for everyone involved in the process, including the salvage yard and body shop. It provides a conduit for communication and informationsharing across multiple platforms and all of the data is in one place. Parts can be tracked, a complete history of the part is visible, and shops can request a return or have a part picked up. This means that not only does the body shop have the ability to see where the part is, but it can also determine if the part is on time and as described. This will ultimately help a collision repairer with cycle time. In the past, it would take an average of two to four days to receive a part. In one example, we sold a front end to a collision shop and the part was incorrect. Using the old way to ship the part, it cost $337 vs. the $128 it would have cost with EZ-QC software. There

were 25 steps involved in the process vs. 14; the part was handled 22 times vs. two, and it took 12 days to deliver the correct part vs. six. Using EZ-QC will ensure delivery of the proper product and that it is good quality even before it leaves the salvage yard. We expect to release the software in the beginning of 2019.

How has the expansion of recycler groups benefited the industry?

As an industry, we realized we needed better access to inventory in a timely fashion. As a result, over the last 20 years, recycler groups have been set up by independent salvage yards. Some were formed to compete with LKQ Corporation and others wanted a stronger pool of inventory to pull from, so independent recyclers would never have to say no to a sale. They are banding together, not through ownership, but through transportation and standardization. The days of waiting for a freight truck to send something are over. In order to fulfill marketplace demands,

See Continues to Improve, Page 63

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Historical Snapshot with John Yoswick

5 Years Ago at NACE, Keynote Speaker Said Industry Was Headed Toward Catastrophe 20 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (October 1998) Jack Gillis of CAPA perhaps best summed up a demonstration of nonOEM parts at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in October when he said, “Not one of our better days.” The demonstration, arranged by the CIC Parts and Airbags Committee, involved installing several nonOEM parts, including a hood and fender that bore the CAPA-certified sticker, on an undamaged 1994 Toyota Camry. Fit and other problems with the parts were obvious, and after the demonstration, Gillis said neither of the parts would be listed as certified in the next Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) directory. The fender, he said, had been decertified earlier in the week because of more than 20 complaints, including one the week of the CIC

demonstration that was the second complaint after the manufacturer had supposedly fixed earlier problems with the part.

In 2003, Chuck Sulkala of the National Auto Body Council said a study of shop fraud by California regulators was skewed because of its methodology

- Test fits of parts continued at CIC meetings over the next two years; OEM parts generally were found to score higher in attendees’ evaluations of fit and finish, but occasionally non-OEM parts were rated as

equal to—and in one case, better than—the OEM. Gillis retired from CAPA earlier this year.

15 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (October 2003) In a special two-year study of the auto body repair industry, the California Department of Consumers Affairs’ Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) documented that in nearly half the transactions it studied, consumers were charged for parts and labor they didn’t receive. The BAR inspected 1,315 vehicles that qualified as part of a pilot program mandated by legislation. Of those, 551, or 42 percent, had parts or labor listed on the invoice that were not actually supplied or performed. The average dollar amount of overbilling was $811.93. “We’re disturbed by the pattern of problems we found in some shops,”

said BAR Chief Patrick Dorais.

– As reported in Autobody News. While the “42 percent” statistic received a lot of attention, the National Auto Body Council (NABC) noted (in the article) that the vehicles inspected were not randomly selected among all those repaired in California, but rather were vehicles brought to the BAR by owners concerned about possible fraud. “Considering the way the sample was skewed by the BAR’s methodology, it is more surprising that 57 percent of the repaired vehicles showed no problems at all,” Chuck Sulkala of the NABC said at the time. 10 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (October 2008) The estimating system providers are being very responsive to questions posted on the Database Enhancement

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Gateway (DEG), according to Aaron Schulenburg, the administrator of the system. The website (degweb.org) is designed to provide a single, simplified way to question labor times or missing or incorrect information in any of the major estimating systems. The DEG, which was created and is jointly operated by SCRS, ASA and AASP, posts and tracks the inquiries and responses. “The information providers are doing a great job of providing strong responses that are useful and informative,” Schulenburg said. “And they are doing it very quickly.” One example: Inquiry No. 713, a concern about the Audatex labor time for a right front side rail reinforcement on a 2007 Mercedes Benz SL 550. Two days after the DEG submitted the inquiry to Audatex, the labor time was increased by more than six hours. Schulenburg said 2–4-day responses by the system providers are not uncommon. But some in the industry have questioned whether such prompt responses will continue if competition

among the estimating system providers is reduced by the proposed merger of CCC Information Services and Mitchell International (CRASH 6/9/08). That’s an issue more than one source told CRASH Network they raised with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) when the regulator spoke with them during its continuing review of the proposed CCC-Mitchell merger.

In 2013, Mike Anderson offered a keynote address at NACE, warning that efforts to reduce cycle time and severity could push the industry toward a “catastrophe like the Space Shuttle Challenger.”

– As reported in CRASH Network (www.CrashNetwork.com), October 20, 2008. Schulenburg left the DEG just two months later to become executive director of SCRS. The DEG has now processed more than 12,000

inquiries. CCC and Mitchell called off their merger plans in March of 2009 after a federal district court judge granted a FTC request for a preliminary injunction to halt the merger pending a FTC’s administrative trial that was slated for later that month. 5 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (October 2013) NACE organizers on Friday said it would be about a week before final attendance figures would be announced, and though the number would be down from 16,000 last year, it would meet their projections for this year’s event. The trade show, held in Las Vegas just three weeks before SEMA, included 170 exhibitors, down 28 percent from last year and the fewest since 1985. But the MSO Symposium continued to prove popular, attracting nearly 300 MSO representatives, and exhibitors said they appreciated that the welcome party and a dozen free informational sessions were held on the show floor. Also widely praised was the opening keynote address by industry

trainer and consultant Mike Anderson. Among his messages: A study following the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster found that a culture at NASA of “relaxing safety standards to meet financial and time constraints” set the stage for that failure. “If we continue to let certain things dictate our industry, we’re going to have a catastrophe like the Space Shuttle Challenger,” Anderson said. In some ways, he said, insurer pressures to cut cycle time have forced the industry to improve. “But if we keep focusing on cycle time and … severity because we’re afraid about the costs being too high, if we start focusing on the wrong things, we’re going to have a catastrophic event just like NASA did,” Anderson said. – As reported in CRASH Network (www.CrashNetwork.com), October 21, 2013. Since 2014, the trade show has been renamed NACE Automechanika and has been held in Detroit, Chicago, Anaheim and Atlanta. It is slated to return to Atlanta in 2019.

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Honda Collision Parts Program Sets New Standard by Gary Ledoux

In the earliest days of the collision repair industry, when shop employees needed a replacement part they picked up the phone and called a supplier, quite often an OE dealer. Simple? Yes. Quick? Maybe. Efficient? Not necessarily if the shop needed multiple parts, some possibly hard to find, and had to keep calling until they were found. Starting in the early 1980s and still true today, the fax machine saved time and effort for both shops and parts suppliers. By around 2006, OEConnection was able to do something no one had done before—electronically connect OE dealers with body shops, allowing the two to communicate, the shop to order parts and the OE manufacturers to run a conquest or price-matching programs utilizing the OEC software. This was a win for everyone, including the shop, the dealer, the customer, the OE and the insurance company. Utilizing OEConnection’s CollisionLink® software, American Honda launched its Collision Select con-

quest program on July 1, 2009. The program ran very well for several years. The program reached its peak around 2016 when the number of transacting body shops reached a plateau and growth had ceased. So, in true Honda fashion, the Collision Marketing Group went “to the spot” to interview dealers and body shops all over the country to see what was going on. Here is what they heard:

• Shops and dealers said, “It is taking way too much time to conquest parts.” In other words, after the estimate had been written using either aftermarket or salvage parts, it then became incumbent upon the OE dealer, using the OEC software, to contact the shop to negotiate the price of certain key OE parts to see if the dealer could change the shop’s mind about what parts to use. Ultimately, this resulted in more parts sales for American Honda and those OEs who followed this model, but it was more work on the part of the dealer and the shop. Plus, dealers were not always consistent using the

program, and the number of shops using CollisionLink® was somewhat limited compared to the size of the body shop network.

• Shop owners said, “Give me your best price up front and let me make the decision. If I am in the middle of writing an estimate, I will use the OE part if I can. If you have a conquest price, why should I have to wait for a dealer to get back to me when I am ultimately making the decision anyway?” Now, 10 years later, technology has brought parts procurement to the next level. American Honda is again on the cutting edge as the first OE to use CCC One to promote parts ordering at the time the estimate is written, rather than after the fact, and offers an MSRP or promotional price that is consistent across all participating Honda or Acura dealers. They have also made the program’s execution easier, quicker and seamless. It is already changing the culture of many shops that use it.

Here’s how it works: Shops using CCC One with the proper software engaged will be provided a list of parts suppliers for each part needed on an estimate. Depending on which parts suppliers have enrolled in the program and are using the software, the shop may see, for example, an aftermarket bumper cover, salvage bumper cover or an OE bumper cover from multiple OE dealers. In each case, the parts will have a price and availability listed. In the case of the OE part from Honda/Acura, each part number will show the MSRP price and a “Promotional Price” that will be the same no matter what Honda or Acura dealer is listed. Assuming the shop wants the OE part, it is then up to the shop to decide from which dealer to buy the part, depending on availability, the shop’s relationship with the dealer and the final price the shop will pay the dealer for that particular part. The program does not pit one Honda or Acura dealer against the other. The “Promotional Price” is what See New Standard, Page 60

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After the Donation: Kathleen St. John Gets a Car and a Job by Ed Attanasio

In some cases, cars donated by body shops come with vehicle insurance, gas cards or gifts from local retailers. But in Kathleen St. John’s case, it also came with a job. When Dino Di Giulio, the owner of Body Best Collision Center in Sonoma, CA, presented St. John with a completely refurbished 2003 Buick LeSabre in 2012, it changed her life in more ways than she could have ever imagined. For the last six years, St. John has been working at Body Best, a career path that began when she received her donated vehicle and her life started to improve. Di Giulio founded his car donation program in 2011 after looking for a way to help the community and pay it forward via the gift of transportation, he said. “I called my friend Jody Gatchell with A & J Collision to ask for help doing a car giveaway,” he said. “Jody had done a few, so I thought I would call the expert for tips and advice. He gave me lots of ideas, and I went to work on organizing my first car giveaway. But I was having trouble coming up with a name for my event—in fact, you could say I hit a wall.” A couple weeks later, Gatchell called Di Giulio on his way home from work and helped him to find the program’s name. “He said, I’ve thought of a great name for the giveaway–Wheels to Prosper!” Di Giulio said. “It was the perfect name, and believe me, I was grateful for Jody’s help. The name also seemed like it could be something bigger than one car giveaway at my shop, so I thought, what if Wheels to Prosper could become an entire movement? The word ‘prosper’ means to thrive, and that is what we wanted people to do after they received the car—thrive and grow as people.” Things took off from there, and today Wheels to Prosper is a nationwide program with 60 participating shops. “We get 3–4 new shops joining every year, and it’s become a wonderful experience. All of the shops do their car presentations on the same day, the last Saturday in July,” Di Giulio said. “We wrote the program’s map, and now many shops have made it a big part of their community out54

reach. We have helped single moms, teachers, military veterans and other people. Our goal is to find individuals who can use their vehicle to help others, and that is why we call it a handup as opposed to a handout.” St. John was in a bad way 11 years ago, she said, prior to when Wheels to Prosper changed her life.

In 2012, Kathleen St. John received a completely refurbished 2003 Buick LeSabre as part of the Wheels to Prosper program. The program was established in 2011 by Dino Di Giulio, owner of Body Best Collision Center in Sonoma, CA

“I injured my neck one day in 2007 as I was walking the dogs in a vineyard,” she said. “Being who I am, I waited to see a doctor who eventually had to fuse four discs together in 2010 and shortly after that, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I was in pain and aching all the time like I had a real bad case of the flu and an odd assortment of painful symptoms that didn’t go away. As a result, I had to stop my massage business after going strong for almost a decade, which really broke my heart.” In 2011, St. John’s Toyota was tboned and towed to Body Best Collision Center, where it was deemed to be a complete total. For almost a full year, she struggled with her health and did not have a car to get to doctor’s appointments. One year later, a friend and neighbor asked her if she had any hopes for a car, which she didn’t. He told her he was writing to his friend Dino Di Giulio and offering her as a possible recipient for Wheels to Prosper. She was asked to write up a page listing all of her volunteer experiences and give it to him so he could send it to Di Giulio. After several other people wrote to Di Giulio about St. John explaining her situation and outlining her years of volunteer work, it all came to fruition in July of 2012 when Body Best gave away three vehi-

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

cles—one of which went to St. John. “When they handed me the keys to that vehicle, it was a complete surprise, and my first thought was, ‘How can I ever pay these people back for this incredible act of generosity?’” she said. “So I told Dino that if his secretary ever gets sick, I’ll work for you for one week for free as my way of showing gratitude. I didn’t know if he would ever call me back, but it made me feel good to offer it and I knew that this was the right thing to do.” One month later, Di Giulio called St. John and offered her a parttime permanent job, and she said yes without hesitation. “I was praying for this and so happy when Dino called,” she said. “I am an outside sales person and I love it. I go out into the community and basically meet people. We get fresh cookies from a nonprofit called the Teen Center in Sonoma. I give them to insurance agents and local companies, and they love them. The organization keeps teenagers off the streets and teaches them a trade, so Dino is helping them as well.”

After receiving the car, St. John had to deal with colon cancer and then earlier this year, she lost her donated car when she was t-boned again on Lombard Street in San Francisco. But it didn’t dissuade or deter her from her journey, she said. “It’s been six years now, and I love every aspect of the job,” she said. “Everyone is so supportive and it helps me to reach out and touch so many wonderful people while representing a great company like Body Best. I’ve been blessed in so many ways in my 60-plus years on the planet, and this job is one of them.” Recently, Di Giulio found another vehicle for St. John, and after some mechanical work, she will be driving it as she continues meeting with people from Glen Ellen to Schellville on behalf of Body Best, she said. “Wheels to Prosper has enabled me to give back to Dino while giving me a purpose and a mission, and that’s why I love it,” she said. “The goal of the program is to give people cars so that they can pay it forward, and in my case, it’s done exactly that!”

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National Associations

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.

with Chasidy Rae Sisk

I-CAR Discusses Training, Recognition, Service Enhancements During SCRS Webinar On Wednesday, August 22, the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) hosted I-CAR’s Nick Notte for a webinar titled “The ‘Even Better’ I-CAR.” After thanking SCRS and its executive director, Aaron Schulenberg, for the platform and assistance in arranging the webinar, Notte explained that I-CAR’s “true north” is complete, safe and quality repairs, and the reason for the upcoming enhancements is related to the current technical tsunami in the industry. “Complexity of vehicles and the skills bar are rising, but 65 percent of shops are not training. I-CAR’s vision is for EVERY person in the collision repair industry to have the information, knowledge and skills required to perform complete, safe and quality repairs for the ultimate benefit of the consumer,” Notte said. These goals have driven the ex-

pansion of I-CAR’s products and services over the years, enhancing the technical curriculum offered. Notte expressed gratitude to the industry segment advisory councils who have contributed to I-CAR’s goal to continuously improve and be more relevant.

“Independent industry feedback has provided direction to I-CAR’s strategy and program enhancements, and we’ve enjoyed very active industry engagement over the past four years and continuing,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of people weigh in on this, especially collision repair folks.”

He emphasized that I-CAR’s innovations have been driven by industry feedback. “We’ve engaged industry leaders and other people who really understand the industry,” he said. “We’ve also partnered with OEMs to look at the benchmarking they use in their programs, such as how long they certify, the benefits of certification, how many certified technicians they require … The OEMs were very forthcoming. We also talked a lot about how people like to learn and what works. After nearly five years of collecting data, we took that data to our subject matter experts at I-CAR to turn it into something the industry could use that would be meaningful as a standard for collision repair training.” Some of the most common complaints that this research yielded were compiled and addressed in Notte’s

presentation. Complaints on core training included the relevancy of content, redundancy, virtual/online courses being too long and a desire for more hands-on/skills training. Industry professionals also expressed a desire for I-CAR to recognize knowledge and then train to close the gaps instead of defaulting to training. Additional complaints included that the level of training was too low and one person should not hold all the roles. Participants saw a need to simplify the training alliance, include shop equipment training, reduce the complexity of the subscription model and support the overall vision. Looking at I-CAR’s industry knowledge and skills protocol, Notte explained that their program lists the foundational knowledge and skills for every role in the shop for them to be able to do their jobs. “We put a document together that

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lists all the industry training available for those knowledge and skills, including I-CAR courses as well as OEM, supplier and other courses. This is not an I-CAR document but an industry document, and it’s available on our website,” he said. Notte brought it all together by explaining that a shop wanting to reach Gold Class status begins by recognizing any training that has already been taken (I-CAR, OEM, supplier through alliance). An in-shop knowledge assessment is performed through ProLevel 1, and then training is applied to close the gaps in knowledge. I-CAR will also be doing hands-on skills classes, mostly in the shops, but these can be taken through I-CAR or through a qualified training alliance supplier. Next, an I-CAR assessor will visit the shop annually to conduct an in-shop assessment. The first year, all of the shop’s technicians will be assessed, and in subsequent years, new hires will receive assessments. This annual assessment allows a shop to maintain its Gold Class status. In 2019, I-CAR will launch skills verification, knowledge and

skills protocol and recognition requirements, as well as offer classes in Spanish. Notte shared, “We are raising the bar on training. Platinum Class goes from ProLevel 1 to ProLevel 3, while Gold Class will go from ProLevel 1 to ProLevel 2. To achieve ProLevel 2, 100 percent of structural technicians must be ProLevel 2 as well as 50 percent of the remaining roles, and one person can only hold up to two roles. The renewal dates will kick off with in-shop assessments, and there will be a new shop level requirement for electrical/diagnostics and mechanical courses. The turnover rules will be eliminated, and annual training will be required.” For I-CAR welding training and certification, renewal will be required every three years and can be assessed at the shop to count towards the renewal certification. An aluminum (structural) recognition option will be available for Gold Class. The Road to Gold will end when 2018 concludes. According to Notte, “It wasn’t a destination—t was a means to get to I-CAR Gold Class, and although it

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

was designed as a 12-month journey, some shops were taking years. That’s unfair to the shops that are committed to training. Those on the Road to Gold only have until the end of this year to finish and achieve Gold Class status.” Notte’s presentation continued with an exploration of how Gold Class status looks now compared to how it will look in 2019 and a discussion of the amount of training needed. “A lot more classes will need to be taken to get to Gold Class in the future, but they will be shorter in duration,” he said. Explaining how I-CAR’s subscription will work, Notte noted that the subscription includes the annual in-shop assessment and unlimited training, as well as turnover protection. However, the turnover protection could be voided if all of the shop’s technicians turned over in one year. The subscription is available for a monthly shop fee of $229 plus $35 per month per technician. Aluminum designation is also available for a small annual fee. Fees are based on each location, meaning multiple shop operators would pay per shop.

According to Notte, “Gold Class shops will be grandfathered in, but you need to keep training and close gaps to meet the new protocol. Gold Class shops will have 12 months after their in-shop assessment to get to ProLevel 2 in shop. If you aren’t already Gold Class, you need to get to ProLevel 1 to get the Gold Class designation, effective January 2019. Shops in progress should keep training; if you reach Gold Class by the end of 2018, you won’t lose the designation. Notte also shared that I-CAR has more in the works to make things easier for shops, including a new LMS that promises user ease and a better training experience and a sustaining partner program to encourage better engagement of OEMs, insurers and suppliers in recognition of the value they derive from I-CAR’s work. He thanked the many industry supporters that have provided positive feedback on I-CAR’s initiatives, and he encouraged shops interested in becoming Gold Class to call the customer care line to set up an in-shop assessment. Notte’s presentation concluded with a question-and-answer session.

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Continued from Page 56

New Standard

was referred to in past American Honda programs as the “conquest price,” or the price the shop would charge the insurance company to compete with aftermarket or salvage parts. For example, assume a bumper cover is $400 MSRP and carries a “Promotional Price” of $325. Under Honda’s former conquest program, the dealer would negotiate the price with the shop, which could have been between $400 and $325. This led to inconsistencies, even within a single dealership, depending on the parts sales person dealing with the shop. With American Honda’s new “Collision Parts Promote” program, pricing will be consistent and require less work for all involved. Plus, “Promotional” parts, in most cases, are seen as an alt-OEM part. This helps shops trying to meet a parts-type objective as a DRP. And this business model eliminates the negotiation process, thereby saving both the shop and the dealer time and work. Once the shop has selected the parts they want from their vendor of choice, the order can be placed using a “shopping basket” similar to Amazon .com or other online services. For Honda and Acura dealers, a connection exists between CCC One and the dealer’s Dealer Management System (DMS), so the order is placed with the dealer electronically. There is no rekeying. The dealer only needs to bill the parts, pull them and ship them— a real time-saver for all. On the backside, each dealer knows what they will pay American Honda for the parts and what their rebate amount

will be from Honda for all parts sold in this manner. American Honda’s new “Collision Parts Promote” program was officially launched at the last SEMA show in November 2017. In a July 2018 phone interview, Kirk Adams, assistant national manager for American Honda’s Collision Group, noted, “We ran a pilot program for almost a year before we launched nationally last November, so we proved the concept and knew it would work well. In the intervening nine months, we have enrolled 900 Honda and Acura dealers for this program. That’s about 70 percent of our dealers. About 800 have ‘gone live’ and are currently active with the program. On the shop side, CCC One is in about 24,000 shops, and most of those shops are connected to at least one Honda or Acura dealer. About 12,000 shops are currently transacting using this program. If a shop does not have CCC One, we have a manual process to help that particular shop participate.” When asked how this will work with Honda’s ProFirst program, Adams noted, “We currently have 1,350 ProFirst shops around the country. Only 41 of them do not use CCC One. That’s a 96 percent penetration rate. It doesn’t get much better than that.” The Tonkin Parts Center, part of the Ron Tonkin dealer group in Portland, OR, handles wholesale parts operations for the 15+ lines of cars sold by the Tonkin group, including Honda and Acura. The center consists of 125,000 square feet carrying $13 million to $15 million in inventory. American Honda chose the Tonkin Parts Center as one of three pilot dealers for the program.

Keith Burtram, senior manager for the center, said, “Honda is one of our fastest-growing lines, and we always take advantage of American Honda’s programs. The Collision Select program from 2009 was alright but not very efficient, so we used it very little. Plus, to make the program work, we had to ask our shops to check the competitors first, then come back to us. The entire transaction was done after the estimate was written and many decisions had been made. Using CCC One and Honda’s new “Collision Parts Promote” program, everything is more efficient for us and the shop. There is no re-keying on our side or the shop side. That saves a shop hours and money. The best part is the shops are using a tool (CCC One) that they are already familiar with, so the learning curve is real short. We have already seen an increase in Honda and Acura parts sales with this program and CCC One.” Jim Kinsherf, vice president of OEM Business Development for CCC, said, “This parts acquisition model started as ‘True Parts’ around 2014 and has morphed into the CCC Parts Network. We are happy to help

enable Honda’s Collision Parts Promote and other OEM programs on our platform.” When asked about the future of the CCC Parts Network and programs such as Honda’s, Kinsherf said, “This technology is very robust and presents many possibilities. A program using a promotional price like Honda’s could be applied geographically, by state for example. Or it could be applied by model year, based on a vehicle’s VIN number. For example, let’s say the same part number bumper cover fits four model years. Ordering that bumper cover for the latest model car may receive a promotional price that is different than a four-year-old vehicle. There are a wide range of possibilities.” Leigh Guarnieri, manager for American Honda’s Collision Group, said, “Due to the complexity of running two programs, we will be sunsetting the Collision Select program, started in July 2009, at the end of 2018. This will leave only the ‘Collision Parts Promote’ program … which is a win-win for everyone. It sets a new standard for the industry.”

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Gerber Collision & Glass Donates Car Through Recycled Rides Gerber Collision & Glass, a member of the National Auto Body Council (NABC), has restored a vehicle as part of Recycled Rides. Recycled Rides is a community awareness project in which members of NABC repair and donate recycled vehicles for people in need. Gerber Collision & Glass partnered with Allstate Insurance to donate a refurbished 2011 Honda Civic. “We are proud to contribute to 60

this initiative and will continue to refurbish and donate cars to families in need and charitable organizations,” said Joe Hoffman, regional vice president of Gerber Collision & Glass. Gerber worked with Erin’s House for Grieving Children, a charity operating out of Fort Wayne, IN, whose mission is to provide support for children, teens and their families who have suffered the death of a loved one.

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Continued from Page 36

PBE Jobber

talk” that many dads and sons have when the dad owns a business. Roger asked Dan if he would get more involved in the business if they went deeper into the PBE business. It seemed like a match made in heaven. In the winter of 1977, Dan (better known as “Mud” because of his propensity to race motorcycles through unpaved fields) took a larger role in his father’s business. They took on the RM paint line, found sources for other related products, abrasives, hand tools and the like, and Pine Motor Parts began a 30-year metamorphosis into a PBE jobber. In a telephone interview, Dan remembered those early days. “At first we were small—not able to buy products direct,” he said. “So, several times a week, I would leave my house early in the morning and drive to the AMREP warehouse in the Boston area, about a 120-mile round trip. I would get back just in time to open the store at 8 a.m. It made for some very long days.”

When asked about the difference between the parts business and PBE business, Dan replied, “In many ways, the PBE business has way more potential because we can stretch our business area much wider. In the parts business, shops are calling for parts that need to be installed in a customer’s car within hours. Most repair customers want to pick up their car at the end of the day. So the geographic space you can cover is limited. However, many PBE products will be purchased today, delivered tomorrow or the next day and consumed maybe days after that. In the parts business, we had to stay in maybe a 10-mile radius of our store. Now we can go south into Massachusetts, east as far as the Atlantic coast of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, north into New Hampshire’s Lakes region and west into New Hampshire’s Monadnock region. We have gone from about a 10-mile radius to about 100 miles. That’s a lot more customers and a lot more business.” As Roger had predicted in the mid-1970s, the auto parts business landscape changed dramatically. Many of Pine’s long-time customers

eventually went out of business due to retirements, family issues, etc. The sources for a small mom-and-pop parts store to acquire parts inventory was drying up, and the “big boys” of the industry—Auto Zone, Pep Boys and O’ Reilly’s—were taking over. In July 2017, Pine Motor Parts sent out a letter to all its existing wholesale parts accounts announcing that, after 61 years, Pine Motor Parts would cease the auto parts business and be a full-blown PBE jobber. “It was a no-brainer,” said Dan’s brother, Dave Chaput. “Our accountant showed us how much money we were making on parts and how much on paint products, and there was no question in my mind where to go.” Dan and Dave exacted something their grandfather never wanted to do—turn his Gulf station into a paint store. One of the auto parts products that consumed a lot of space and had a rapidly dwindling sales volume was exhaust pipes and mufflers. Once the exhaust inventory was gone, there was enough space to reconfigure the store, add another line of paint products and create a showroom. Dave assumed the task of man-

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aging the store on a day-to-day basis while Dan made the rounds calling on body shops. Pine still maintains a fleet of five delivery trucks running routes on a weekly basis. When asked about his present competition now that they have made the commitment to the PBE business, Dan said, “There is really nobody else in Nashua that goes after the business like we do. There are some jobber salesmen that come into NH from MA, but since our major local competitor sold their store a couple of years ago, we have been doing pretty well.” When asked if Finish Master, one of the largest PBE chains in the country, was a competitor, Dan replied, “They don’t have a brick and mortar store in NH …yet … but we can feel their presence.” Given the current state of the collision industry with so much consolidation and with smaller shops going out of business, Dan was asked how he saw the future for his business. He replied, “We don’t see the large MSOs coming to New England and gobbling up smaller shops. We

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don’t see smaller shops going out of business around here. We don’t see small shops trying to act like big shops using new business practices or repair methods. In fact, we really don’t see a lot of change at all. I think for that [the] next five years or so, things will remain pretty much the same. My only worry is where new technicians will come from to carry the industry. One of our local voctech schools had to cancel their collision repair curriculum last semester for lack of students. That’s sad.” Today, more than 70 years after Vic’s Garage first hung out its shingle on Nashua’s Pine Street, thanks to the vision and foresight of the Chaputs, the family business has morphed several times—each time bringing success with a new business model. Today, it is known as Pine Motor Parts / PBE Specialists. The drive-on pit that once ran down the center of Vic’s work bay is still there, filled in with dirt and covered with a concrete floor holding displays of primer, paint guns and sandpaper. Hopefully, Vic Chaput is looking down on the success of his grandsons with a smile.

Continued from Page 48

Continues to Improve

you must have access to inventory and affordable transportation. Working together as a group, we have the ability to source parts quicker and we’re doing it through other likeminded recyclers. There are currently five popular recycler groups in the country: Midwest Automotive Trucking, Team PRP, Fenix Parts, Recyclers Cross Dock and iPart (Independent Parts & Auto Recyclers Team). Midwest was set up in 2001 with a half a dozen yards and has grown to nearly 80 yards today, spanning from Illinois to North Carolina. With the formation of these recycling groups, parts arrive quicker. It usually only Continued from Page 24

Service Experience

and submitting photos for an estimate using a cell phone app that they can download there at the shop’s website.

takes one day; occasionally, it’s two. The system also allows what is called “co-mingling of freight” among the groups. The goal of co-mingling is to cut down on costs. For example, if we can haul Midwest and PRP freight on the same lines and use the same hubs, the cost is split among the groups and it makes it incredibly affordable. What’s happening with these groups is that they have all been growing tremendously over the last three years. We provide software for all but one of them and trucking for some of them. The groups are elevating each other’s quality, and the quality of recycled parts is increasing to the highest level it has ever been.

What is your vision for the automotive recycling industry?

Other shops offer a concierge service that sends an estimator to the customer’s home or work to prepare an estimate, perhaps even outside of traditional work hours. I know shops that use independent appraisers to provide this service on behalf of their

I think it’s about transparency and innovation. Expectations are greater today because of companies such as Amazon. The new expectation is that I should know where my order is, when I’m receiving it, know if there is a problem right away, it should be hassle-free, and I should be very aware of what I’m buying. The future of the auto recycling industry will be high-tech, and the early adopters will reap the rewards. I believe the industry will continue to adopt new software—not just ours— and processes to become more customer-focused in order to meet the increasing demands of the auto repair industry.

www.autobodynews.com shop. The bottom line: We have to provide a much more modern customer service experience, particularly if we don’t want to risk losing the estimated 1-in-3 customers looking to interact with us outside of typical shop hours.

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Tesla Autopilot, FSD Challenges Highlighted by Waymo’s Difficulties by Simon Alvarez, Teslarati

Tesla is expected to release the first features of its full self-driving suite with the rollout of Software Version 9. The company teased some of these capabilities in the Q2 2018 earnings call, when Elon Musk and Stuart Bowers, a member of the Tesla Autopilot development team, discussed some of the features that would likely be included in the upcoming update. Among these are highway on-ramp to off-ramp capabilities, automatic lane changes and integrated navigation, to name a few. It took a long time before Tesla was confident enough to announce that it would be introducing full selfdriving features to its fleet. Over the years, Tesla had been gathering data from its fleet of vehicles, and in a July report, MIT’s Lex Fridman estimated that Tesla had acquired around 1.2 billion real-world miles on autopilot and approximately 7.8 billion miles in autopilot “shadow mode.” This translates to an im-

mense amount of data that Tesla has been using to train its neural network. With enough training, Tesla’s neural network would be able to, in Tesla AI Director Andrej Karpa-

thy’s words, gain an “understanding of what is around us and around the vehicle.” Tesla might not be a prominent player in the self-driving market today, but the real-world data that it has gathered over the years will likely be a difference-maker once it starts introducing full self-driving features to its fleet. Nidhi Kalra, a senior information scientist for the RAND Corporation, previously noted that there is just no replacement for real-world miles like the

ones that Tesla’s fleet is gathering every day because simulations like those utilized by Waymo to train its autonomous cars are a “simplification” of the real world. The information scientist’s words appear to be ringing true. A report from The Information recently noted that Waymo’s self-driving car program is currently facing some difficulties in Chandler, AZ. Waymo is a leader in the self-driving car race, considering that its autonomous vehicles have driven a total of 5 million realworld miles and 5 billion simulated miles as of May this year. Despite this, reports from residents in Chandler, where Waymo’s autonomous cars are currently testing, show that even Google’s self-driving unit is having issues training its cars to interact with real drivers on the road. For one, Waymo’s self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans reportedly run into problems when crossing a prominent T-intersection close

to the company’s headquarters. Since the vehicles are programmed to follow all driving rules strictly, the autonomous cars are finding it difficult to deal with human drivers on the road, most of whom do not follow driving rules. In the particular T-intersection, for example, Waymo’s vans have a tendency to stop as the vehicle analyzes what it needs to do, making them a nuisance to some drivers in the area. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Waymo’s vans are also reportedly running into some problems with several unprotected left turns onto fast roads and with merging into heavy traffic. The autonomous cars are reportedly having difficulties in highways when there are a lot of vehicles on the road as well. Waymo appears to have been a bit too optimistic about its expectations for its self-driving car program. Last fall, the company announced that it would start rolling out vehicles that do not have safety drivers. As it turns out, this is only true in relaSee Waymo’s Dificulties, Page 80

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autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Continued from Page 22

Leadership Development

parents for “responsible parenting.” We feel this program focuses on a parent’s tireless efforts to parent “responsibly” while coping with the daily challenges and hardship of running a household without reliable transportation. The Bates team has refurbished and presented more than 30 vehicles since we first launched the program, and we have seen a real impact in the lives of these families through our gifts of transportation.

ment?

Why are these types of programs so important to imple-

First, we truly feel it’s the right thing to do in a community that has supported us for so many years. Second, it’s part of being a good business citizen in the community and doing your part. Third, there is no doubt that it has impacted Bates Collision Centers in a huge way by helping us grow our business and letting the community know that we’re not just a business looking out for ourselves, but one that gets involved and cares. We’ve also found that it has afforded our staff a unique way for them to put the skills they use every day into putting a family back on the road—not just a car back on the road.

What procedures have you initiated at Bates Collision Centers to help run the business more efficiently?

We’re a direct repair center for a large number of insurance companies. Since we first launched Bates Collision Centers, our goal was to standardize our processes in a way that would allow us to perform well in those DRP programs while meeting the needs of our customers. We’ve spent a lot of time setting up standard operating procedures (SOPs) and developing processes to help organize our business and ensure success. Lee’s dad worked for Exxon and shared a lot of information from a corporate mindset. We began to see that we could put processes in place to help avoid some of the pitfalls in repairs.

In the last 10 years, we’ve found that a lot of the things we were doing when we first started out are now buzzwords in the industry: lean thinking, the Toyota way, and adopting a process-centered environment (PCE).

This is the eighth year in a row that Bates Collision Centers has received the Baytown Sun Readers’ Choice Award for best body shop

We were utilizing a lot of those concepts not really knowing what the technical terms were, but we were doing it out of necessity. We’ve also always measured cycle time. We realized early on how it would help us improve customer service, deliver what we say and do it on time. As a grassroots business, we needed every customer who left us to feel like it was what we call “a legendary service experience.” We want our customers to tell family, friends, co-workers and others about our exceptional service and recognize that it’s the only way we will continue to grow our business. We’ve also participated in performance groups over the years through our paint provider, AkzoNobel, as well as a PCE group through the company. Both have been very beneficial.

How has setting up and utilizing these processes been helpful to your business overall?

We had to develop ways to help our staff with the guidelines, policies and procedures in the industry. There’s a lot to remember and it’s easy to forget some of the steps, especially when insurance companies have different processes. We now use checklists as a guide for our team to help keep them on track and hold them accountable for their work. We also use cartoon signage around the shop reminding the staff that their initials on each checklist item is their “promise” that their work has met the Bates standard. Can you tell us about your company’s new focus on employee development?

We have a lot of great policies and procedures in place and maintain a rigorous standard of training for employees, but over the last several years we realized we also needed to work on the people side of the business. If employees don’t buy in and believe in our culture and who we are as a company, we’re not going to succeed. We haven’t abandoned the con-

cept of a process-centered environment, but we realize it won’t work on its own. Our new direction over the past five to six years has been to focus more time on leadership and employee development—what I like to call the “inside-out approach.” As a result, we’ve seen a lot greater success.

How do you stay up-to-date with new concepts at your locations?

We’ve worked with a company for the last several years now called LeadersWay, and that’s what has guided our path through this employee-centered focus and leadership development. We’ve adopted a lot of their timelines and strategies. We have monthly webinars with the owner, Kevin Wolfe, as well as live workshops and training with him and his staff. It has been really helpful! No doubt it takes extra time for staff members to do these things. At first, we didn’t know what the reaction would be from our staff, but they

See Leadership Development, Page 78

The Right Parts. A Perfect Fit.

If you are a DRP shop performing well on your KPIs and have a good relationship with the insurance companies, that is critical to your long-term success. However, many of the KPIs that are required are a win-win overall regarding cycle time, customer satisfaction and a low supplement rate. All of those have such a positive impact on the customer experience and therefore, a positive impact on the business. We recognized early on that we have humans working for us in a very complex environment in terms of the procedures and guidelines to meet the billing requirements of the insurance companies.

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

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Hey Toby! with Toby Chess

Toby Chess is an I-CAR program instructor, Training specialist, and former salvage yard operator. Toby is universally known in the collision industry for his work with first responders and advocacy for body shops and consumers. He can be reached at tcspeedster@gmail.com

Plastic Bumper Repair Part 1: Adhesives Check out this ‘57 Chevy Impala. Look at all that chrome. The bumper had to weight over 200 pounds. The hood weighed another 150 pounds, and who knows what the rest of all of that steel weighed.

Let’s move forward to the 2018 Chevy Impala, which is composed of plastic headlamps, a plastic bumper, plastic grills and an aluminum hood. I would venture to say that all these parts would weigh less than the bumper on the ‘57 Chevy. A couple of months ago, I was at a welding at an MSO in Southern

California. A large bumper recycler had delivered six recon bumpers.

The parts manager inspected each recon bumper and rejected three. He took his pictures, ordered three new covers and had the estimator reflect the change in the estimate. I asked when he thought the new covers would be delivered, and he stated that it would be between one and three days. Sounded familiar. At another collision center welding, I saw this Audi Q5 rear bumper on a cart with damage to the left cor-

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

ner about the size of a basketball. I inquired why they didn’t repair the bumper. They said that it couldn’t be repaired and that they made more money on the new bumper. I asked them when they expected the new bumper. They didn’t know (the new bumper had been ordered six days earlier). The rear bumper was slightly under $400, and with their discount they would gross about $100. I told them they could have repaired the bumper and charged the carrier for five hours ($275 total sale and gross profit of $185), which would have translated to an additional gross profit of $125. Furthermore, the vehicle would have been in and out in two to three days instead of waiting for the new bumper. Granted, not every bumper can be repaired. I have a real hard time with the insurance appraisers, who attend a one-hour bumper class put

on by the equipment manufacturers, telling the shop how they can repair the cover. Let the shop professionals make the decision to replace or repair and compensate the shop fairly and not some arbitrary number they (insurance appraisers) pulled out of the air or even worse, a flat number of hours the insurance company will only pay. Let’s take a look at what a shop should do: repair or replace a bumper cover.

Here is a list you may want to look at prior to writing the estimate: • Repair cost vs. OEM new • Will repair allow from life time warranty? • Can the repairs be seen? • Will the repairs stand up to stress? • What does the OEM state about

INSIST ON GENUINE GM PARTS ONLY ORIGINAL PARTS PROTECT THE VEHICLE’S VALUE.

Call Call Any Any of of These These Wholesale Wholesale Parts Parts Dealers Dealers Below Below Maryland

Massachusetts

New Jersey

New York

Criswell Chevrolet

Mastria Buick Cadillac GMC

Malouf Chevrolet Cadillac

Potamkin GM

888-572-1045

800-769-6256

212-708-3127 Fax

GAITHERSBURG

866-922-1636

301-590-1457 Local 301-670-0936 Fax

M-F 7 - 7:30; Sat 7 - 6 partssales@criswellauto.com

Jerry’s Chevrolet

RAYNHAM

508-822-4074 Fax

M-Th 7:30 - 7:30; F 7:30 - 6 Sat 7:30 - 5 wholesale@mastria.com

BALTIMORE

New Jersey

443-219-3339

Barlow Chevrolet

844-817-9405 M-F 8 - 6; Sat 8 - 4 ChevyParts@JerrysChevrolet.com

Massachusetts

Balise Chevrolet Buick GMC Business Elite SPRINGFIELD

413-233-2185 413-733-8617 Fax

M-F 8 - 5 lvazquez@baliseauto.com

Long Cadillac SOUTHBOROUGH

508-820-9322 800-982-2258 508-879-1212 Fax

M-F 7:30 - 5 tschube@longauto.com

M-F 8 - 5 kdiperi@malouf.com

Open Road Cadillac FLORHAM PARK

973-845-3014 973-538-6978 Fax

M-F 8 - 4:30 jmorena@potamkincadillac.com

West Herr Chevrolet ORCHARD PARK

716-662-7707 716-688-5519 Fax

M-F 7:30 - 5; Sat 8 - 4 sgraham@westherr.com

Open Road Chevrolet

DePaula Chevrolet

M-F 7 - 6; Sat 8 - 4 pseay@barlowautogroup.com

800-981-9451

800-727-8357

Cadillac of Mahwah

M-F 8 - 5; Sat 8 - 4 david.connell@openroad.com

M-F 7:30 - 5 parts@depaula.com

New York

Pennsylvania

BICAL Automall

Tom Hesser Chevrolet

718-484-6903

800-435-9586

DELRAN

800-220-1452 856-461-8417 856-764-1498 Fax

MAHWAH

201-579-6497 201-579-6506 Fax

M-F 7 - 5 mbuksch@cadillacofmahwah.com

Flemington Buick GMC Cadillac

UNION

908-686-2727 908-687-4267 Fax

BROOKLYN

718-484-6624 Fax

ALBANY

518-489-0184 Fax

SCRANTON

FLEMINGTON

M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4

570-558-3677 570-342-8645 Fax

908-782-1795 Fax

East Syracuse Chevy

M-F 8 - 5; Sat 8 - 2 mhanson@tomhesser.com

877- 657-2787 M-F 7 - 5; Sat 7 - 3 www.njparts.com

Malouf Buick GMC

800-870-7573

800-669-6256

M-F 7:30 - 5:30; Sat 8 - 4 brucem@martysbuickgmc.com

M-F 8 - 4:30; Sat 8 - 1 aaiello@malouf.com

781-585-7570 781-585-2966 Fax

732-821-1517 Fax

NEW YORK CITY

212-708-3080

M-F 7 - 5 martin.kolbusch@openroad.com

Marty’s Buick GMC KINGSTON

NORTH BRUNSWICK

EAST SYRACUSE

315-437-5464 315-437-0878 Fax

M-F 7:30 - 5; Sat 8 - 3 partsdept@esyrchevy.com

732-821-5410 732-821-7549 Fax

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

repairing its bumpers? • What is the availability of another bumper? • Warpage or memory • Age of the vehicle • Damage in area of parking sensor • Bumper has been repaired before and/or repainted

We made the decision to repair the bumper. What is next? There are two ways to proceed. First, you can use adhesives for the repair, or second, you can use a plastic welder or even better, a Nitrogen welder. In this article, I will use adhesives, and in my next article, I will use a Nitrogen welder. When finish, I will provide you with the pro and

cons of each and look at a number of Nitrogen welders on the market. Pictured above are three different companies that supply bumper adhesive products that I am very familiar with. There are also a number of other fine adhesive manufacturers, but I will use one company’s products to demonstrate the repair process. I will add one major warning: Do not mix other companies’ products with

the one you are using because it may cause a chemical reaction that will lead to a failure. So let’s get started. First and foremost, you need to check manufacturers’ SDS for personal protection equipment or PPE. Section 8 of the SDS from Kent Automotive states, “If the exposure limits are exceeded, an NIOSH-approved respirator is recommended.” Since I was just filming, it was not necessary to use a respirator, but I would highly recommend that a respirator be worn when working with any chemicals in a body shop environment. Gloves are recommended for prolonged or repeated skin contact. Again, I did not have the tech put on gloves for the photos due to limited exposure. One final note: Kent Automotive does not use isocynates in its plastic chemistry.

and two-sided repair. You should use a grease-cutting soap such as Dawn, not car wash soap.

1. Wash the front and back with soap and water for both single-sided

3. Remove stressed plastic with heat. I would recommend the Revo

I am going to outline a number of steps that need to be done on any type of bumper repair. They are as follows:

Confidence through the corners, because we never cut them. Porsche Genuine Parts and Service, only at your local authorized Porsche dealer. Porsche Bethesda North Bethesda, MD 855-272-3952 301-945-5795 Fax

Porsche Norwell Norwell, MA 781-261-5230 781-261-5274 Fax

Porsche Princeton Lawrenceville, NJ 609-945-1500 609-945-0501 Fax

Porsche of Southampton Southampton, NY 631-204-2565 631-204-2559 Fax

Porsche Silver Spring Silver Spring, MD 800-288-6982 301-890-3748 Fax

Flemington Porsche Flemington, NJ 800-216-5124 908-782-9397 Fax

Porsche of South Shore Freeport, NY 516-546-1700 516-977-3166 Fax

Porsche of The Main Line Newtown Square, PA 610-886-1010 610-886-1020 Fax

ashley.fertitta@ porschebethesda.com

wholesales@mileone.com

porschenorwell.com

rmuir@flemington.com

princetonporsche.com

porscheofsouthshore.com

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

gspano@porscheofsouthampton.com

parts@potml.com

2. De-grease the bumper repair area with Acrysol WB or any waterbased de-greaser (do not use a solvent-based de-greaser).

Audi dealers strive to make you an Audi Genuine Parts fan.

• Audi Part Professionals are experts on collision parts, replacement components and mechanical items. • Regardless of the age of your customer’s Audi, Audi dealers have access to over 200,000 part numbers and are supported by a nationwide network of distribution centers to help ensure non stocked parts are delivered the next day.

Helping you do business is our business. Order Audi Genuine Parts from these select dealers. Maryland

New Jersey

New York

Audi Bethesda

Audi Meadowlands North Bergen 201.408.2085 201.223.7842 Fax M-F 7am-6pm Sat 8am-2pm

Jack Daniels Audi of Upper Saddle River

Audi Albany

Bethesda 240.762.5636 301.718.1847 Fax M-F 7:30am-6pm Sat 8am - 2pm rgreen@euromotorcars.com

Audi Silver Spring Silver Spring 301.890.3015 800.288.6982 301.890.3748 Fax M-F 7:30am-5pm wholesaless@mileone.com www.audisilverspring.com

Audi Hunt Valley Cockeysville 410.630.3174 410.628.6030 Fax M-F 8am-6pm Sat 8am - 3pm umbergers@autonation.com www.audihuntvalley.com

jpooler@bbmcc.com

DCH Millburn Audi Maplewood 800.553.9250 973.762.2381 Fax M-F 7:30am-6pm Sat 7:30am - 4pm ddipalma@dchusa.com www.dchmillburnaudi.com

Flemington Audi Flemington 877.657-2787 908.782-1795 Fax M-F 7:30am - 5pm Sat 8am - 12pm www.njparts.com

Upper Saddle River 201.252.1500 x1511 M-Th 7:30am-8pm F 9am-6pm; Sat 8am-5pm

Paul Miller Audi Parsippany 800.356.4553 973.575.7793 973.575.5911 Fax M-F 8am-6pm Sat 8am-5pm www.paulmilleraudi.com Audiparts@paulmiller.com

Latham 518.783.5554 518.213.8182 M - Sat 7:30am - 6pm audiparts@audialbany.com

Audi Brooklyn of Bram Wholesale Parts Network 866.770.5999 718.392.6570 Fax M-F 7:30am-5:30pm parts@lexusofqueens.com

Audi Southampton Southampton 631.204.2565 Tue - Sat 8am - 5pm parts@audisouthampton.com www.audisouthampton.com

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Hand-Held Short Wave IRT.

Note the slight low spot on the bumper. It can be filled with epoxy filler. 6. Clean again with wax and grease remover to remove mold release agent that has been exposed.

5. Remove paint on the outside of the bumper 80 grit DA at low speeds (high speeds will melt the plastic).

4. Push out the dent with a dolly and cool with water (sets the plastic).

PARTS BUILT FOR THE ROAD AHEAD MARYLA N D

Packer Norris Parts BALTIMORE

855-767-7278 410-574-8305 410-574-8389 Fax

Hours: M-F 7-5:30; Sat 8-3 www.packernorrisparts.com

MASSACHU S E T T S

Colonial Ford of Plymouth PLYMOUTH

888-754-3380 508-830-1650 508-830-1658 Fax

Hours: M-F 7:30-5; Sat 7:30-4 www.buycolonialford.com

7. Some manufacturers require a surface modifier (aka adhesion promoter) prior to applying the adhesive. Kent Automotive uses an epoxy adhesive with a surface modifier in its chemistry (step #7 is not needed with Kent Products).

8. Equalize the twin tubes for epoxy adhesive. Run a bead about 4 inches

before applying the adhesive to the bumper to make sure the repair is getting totally mixed material. 9. Apply adhesive to the bumper and

Trust Genuine Ford Parts from these Select Dealers N E W JERSEY

PENNSYLVANIA

FLEMINGTON

800-367-3232 717-354-9633 Fax

Ditschman/Flemington Ford 877-657-2787 908-782-1795 Fax

Hours: M-F 7:30-5; Sat 8-3 www.njparts.com

Malouf Ford Lincoln Mercury NORTH BRUNSWICK

800-959-6256 732-951-1429 Fax

Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-1 fordparts@malouf.com www.maloufparts.com

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

New Holland Ford NEW HOLLAND

Hours: M-F 7-5:30

plastic before moving on with the repair.

spread the material over the repaired area. 10. Allow the adhesive to dry (15– 25 minutes depending on the temperature). Sand with 220 grit DA sander.

11. Apply Kent High build primer (has flex added to it), apply a guide coat and fill any low spots.

Next, I will show a two-sided adhesive repair. Follow steps 1–6 for a two-sided repair.

7A. Sand the front and backside of the damaged bumper with an 80 grit DA sander at low speeds. High speeds will melt the plastic (small, shiny black beads), and adhesives do not like to adhere to burnt plastic. It will be necessary to remove the burnt

Think Genuine Subaru Parts.

9A. A surface modifier would be applied at this time. Remember, Kent products have adhesion promoter in their chemistry; therefore, this step is eliminated.

8A. Clean the front and back side again with a water-based wax and grease remover.

See Plastic Bumper Repair, Page 76

MASSACHUSETTS

NEW JERSEY

Framingham (800) 982-2298 (508) 879-1212 Fax

Flemington Subaru

Long Automotive Group Mon.-Fri. 7:30-5 tschube@longauto.com

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Belknap Subaru Tilton (800) 358-4029 (603) 729-1300 (603) 729-1301 Fax

Mon., Wed., Fri. 7:30-5 Tue., Thu. 7:30-7; Sat. 9-3 awright@belknapsubaru.com

Subaru of Keene

We’re focused on getting you the Genuine Subaru Parts you need — fast and competitively priced. Put us to the test on your next Subaru repair or service job.

10A. Apply aluminum tape to the front side of the bumper using a spreader.

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

Mon.-Fri. 7:30-5:30; Sat 7:30-5 ztheodorou@fentonautosales.com

Flemington (877) 657-2787 (908) 782-1795 Fax

Mon.-Fri. 7:30-5 bseymour@flemington.com www.njparts.com

Liberty Subaru Emerson (888) 782-9493 (201) 261-3261 Fax

Mon.-Fri. 7:30-6 parts@libertysubaru.com www.libertysubaru.com

Miller Subaru

Lumberton (609) 261-7844 (609) 261-7843 Fax

Mon.-Fri. 7:30-5 dseward@millertransgroup.com

The following dealerships are eager to serve your needs. Call your local Subaru collision parts specialist today! autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Original Thought #78

YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE AT THE FIRST REPAIR.

CONNECTICUT

BMW of Watertown Watertown 844-895-6839 860-274-5471 860-274-0617 Fax M-F 7:30am-5:30pm Sat 7:30am-4pm

John.musco@hoffmanauto.com

BMW of Darien Darien 203-328-1325 203-978-0043 Fax M-F 8am-5pm

wholesale@bmwdarien.com

MARYLAND

BMW of Catonsville Catonsville 855-996-2906 410-818-2600 Fax M-F 8am-5pm

www.bmwofcatonsville.com

BMW of Silver Spring Silver Spring 301-890-3015 800-288-6982 301-890-3748 Fax M-F 7:30am-5pm wholesaless@mileone.com www.bmwofsilverspring.com

MASSACHUSETTS BMW of Sudbury Sudbury 800-338-3198 508-881-7578 Fax M-F 7am-5pm

wholesaleparts@herbchambers.com www.bmwofsudbury.com

NEW HAMPSHIRE BMW of Stratham Stratham 800-989-5200 603-772-9436 Fax

jmaxwell@group1auto.com www.bmwofstratham.com

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

NEW JERSEY

BMW of Bloomfield Bloomfield 888-596-7024 973-748-8373 M-F 8am-6pm psantos@dchusa.com

BMW of Flemington Flemington (877) 657-2787 (908) 782-1795 Fax M-F 7:30am to 6pm Sat 8am to 2pm www.njparts.com

BMW of Morristown Morristown 973-796-3145 973-796-3146 Fax M-F 8am-6pm

BMW of Tenafly Tenafly 877-634-7207 201-567-2712 Fax M-F 8am-5pm Sat 8am-4pm

BMW of Newton Newton 973-579-6020 973-579-6702 Fax M-F 8am-5:30pm

Circle BMW Eatontown 732-440-1238 732-440-1239 Fax M-F 7:30am-6pm Sat 8am-3pm

wholesaleparts.bmw@openroad.com www.bmwofmorristown.com

www.bmwnewton.com

wwwbmwoftenafly.com

Wholesale@circlebmw.com www.circlebmw.com

• ORIGINAL BMW PARTS & ACCESSORIES. Park Ave. BMW South Hackensack 888-349-5168 201-291-2376 Fax M-F 8am-5pm Sat 8am-4pm al@parkavebmw.com www.parkavebmw.com

NEW YORK

BMW of Bayside Bayside 516-304-3733 516-570-4268 Fax M-Sat 8am-5pm

bmwparts@bmwbayside.com www.bmwbayside.com

BMW of South Albany Glenmont 518-465-1724 518-463-2422 Fax M-Th 7:30am-5:30pm Fri 7:30am-5pm Sat 8am-4pm

bmwparts@bmwofsouthalbany.com www.bmwofsouthalbany.com

Competition BMW St James 631-724-3322 631-265-0501 Fax M-F 8am-5pm Sat 8am-4pm

asolla@competitionbmw.com www.competitionbmw.com

Habberstad BMW Huntington Station 631-271-7488 631-271-7931 Fax M-F 7:30am-5:30pm Sat 8am-4pm

parts@habberstadbmw.com www.habberstadbmw.com

Keeler BMW Latham 877-553-3909 518-785-4197 518-785-4710 Fax M-F 7:30am-6pm Sat 8am-4pm bmwparts@keeler.com www.keelerbmw.com

PENNSYLVANIA

Apple BMW York 717-849-6597 717-843-2948 Fax M-F 7am-5pm Sat 8am-4pm

applebmwparts@appleauto1.com www.applebmwofyork.com

RHODE ISLAND

BMW of Newport Middletown 401-847-9600 401-841-0680 Fax M-F 7:30am-5:30pm

gromani@metromotorgroup.com wwwbmwofnewport.com

When you repair a BMW, use the parts that are identical to those used in Series production and just as reliable. Choose Original BMW Parts and Accessories. Because you can’t repair your reputation. autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Continued from Page 73

Plastic Bumper Repair

15A. Apply a thin layer of epoxy finishing adhesive. Sand.

11A. After equalizing the twin tubes of epoxy adhesive, apply material to the hole (covered by the aluminum tape). Make sure that pressure is applied when spreading the adhesive. You want the adhesive to be higher than the surrounding plastic, which will allow you to sand it down flush with the surrounding plastic (thus eliminating the need for additional adhesive).

14A. Sand the front side of the repair with 220 grit DA and clean again with water-based wax and grease remover.

16A. Apply High Build Kent Primer. You can use the Revo light to cure the primer at this time. It takes about two minutes to fully cure the primer and be ready for final sanding. The bumper is now ready for the paint department. It should be noted that this whole repair, including the High Build Primer, was done in the body technician’s stall. Let’s look at the pros and cons of

12A Cover the hole with reinforcing tape. I add an additional strip of reinforcing tape at a 45 degree angle to the first strip. This method gives the repair additional strength. Apply adhesive to the repaired area and spread out the material.

using adhesives. Pros: • Much easier to learn compared to Nitrogen welding • More than one tech can use materials at one time • No retraining if tech leaves • Faster than nitrogen welding • Start-up cost is considerably less than purchasing a Nitrogen Welder system • Materials are readily available • Faster cycle time • Charge out for materials Cons: • A greater chance of failure due to lack of training and not following manufacturers’ recommended procedures • Different material than the plastic • Repairs are very visible on the backside • Cannot repair small side brackets (hold bumper edge to fender and quarter panel • There are some limits to what can be repaired • Cannot charge out for materials Next time, I will show you how to use a plastic welder, hot stapler and a Nitrogen plastic welder.

Choose Original MINI Parts. THESE DEALERS are GENUINE WHOLESALE PARTS SPECIALISTS.

New York

pennsylvania

Keeler MINI

MINI of Allentown

Latham 877-553-3909 518-785-4197 Parts (518) 785-4710 Fax M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-4 miniparts@keeler.com www.keelerMINI.com

Allentown 610-820-2985 (610) 336-8125 Fax M-F 7:30-5:30 parts@danielsbmw.com

Maine

Downeast Toyota / Scion 800-432-0220 BREWER

207-989-4610 Fax 13A. Remove the aluminum tape from the front side after the adhesive has cured (20–30 minutes) 76

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

M-F 7am-5pm; Sat 7am-4pm partsdepartment@downeasttoyota.com www.downeasttoyota.com

CONNECTICUT Curran Volkswagen Stratford

Ourisman VW of Rockville Rockville

Open Road Volkswagen of Bridgewater Bridgewater

855-417-4511

908-685-1068

Fax: 240-499-2488 M-F 8am-5:30pm Sat 8am-5pm

parts@curranvw.net www.curranvw.net

rockvilleparts@ourismanautomotive.com www.rockvillevolkswagen.com

Fax: 908-685-1547 M-F 7:30am-5pm Sat 8am-3pm

MARYLAND

MASSACHUSETTS

NEW YORK

Volkswagen of North Attleboro North Attleboro

Hudson Valley Volkswagen Wappingers Falls

203-378-6516 Fax: 203-380-3732 M-Th 8am-6pm; F 8am-5pm Sat 8am-2pm

King Volkswagen Gaithersburg

240-403-2300 Fax: 240-403-2398 M-F 7am-6pm Sat 8am-4pm

dprunner@vwking.com www.vwking.com

Ourisman VW of Laurel Laurel

301-498-6050 Fax: 301-498-0157 M-F 7:30am-7pm Sat 7am-4pm

julio.cruz@ourismanautomotive.com

508-695-7131 Fax: 508-695-0321 M-F 8am-5pm Sat 8am-2pm

kenr@driveavw.com www.driveavw.com

NEW JERSEY Flemington Volkswagen Flemington

877-NJPARTS 877-657-2787

vwb.parts@openroad.com www.openroadvwparts.com

Volkswagen of Kingston Kingston

845-336-6600

x 319

Fax: 845-336-7436 M-F 8am-5:30pm Sat 8am-1pm

kvangorder@vwofkingston.net

845-298-2365 Fax: 845-224-3686 M-F 7:30-5:00 Sat 8:00-5:00

billsantoro@thepremiercollection.com Platinum Volkswagen Hicksville

516-822-4800

Fax: 516-822-4831 M-F 7:30-5:30

parts@platinumvw.com www.platinumvw.com

Fax: 908-782-1795 M-F 7:30am-5pm

www.njparts.com

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Continued from Page 66

Leadership Development

quickly started seeing positive results. One of the concepts we’re currently working on is that your customer’s satisfaction can never be higher than your employee’s satisfaction. As a result, we’re looking at ways to engage all of our employees and help them understand their role and how their job impacts other people as well as making sure they feel valued. A couple of books that have helped us recently include “Whale Done” and “The Ideal Team Player.” They are short reads and I recommend both. New chapters have brought different seasons and challenges, but we’ve been very blessed for sure. People ask me all the time how Lee and I work together so well. We don’t know anything different because we started out that way in the early years of our marriage and made it work. We’re a very good team. Continued from Page 29

Peer Groups

you could most likely do by yourself. These types of groups often provide training and coaching and help develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for your shop. Many performance groups will track data on each shop, whether it’s financial, performance or both. Sometimes they even track marketing as well. You can then learn from analyzing the numbers in the group. Data can be really powerful for business growth, especially when you are sharing the information. Performance groups also offer 20 group-type meetings, purchasing programs and assist with insurance questions, I-CAR training and OEM certifications.

Q: A:

Are there other groups you recommend taking part in?

There are also non-industry networking groups/organizations such as your local church, the 78

Continued from Page 31

SEMA 2018

and easily. SEMA can help, whether it’s through council events or an association activity.

Why is SEMA more valuable than other collision repair-related shows?

The SEMA Show is where the entire automotive aftermarket industry comes together to conduct business, so you’ll learn about crossmarketing opportunities and connect with more people than you will at any other trade show. The SEMA Show also partners with the Society of Collisions Repair Specialists, the leading organization for the collision industry. SCRS holds meetings at the SEMA Show, and they organize collision-specific seminars and workshops. Their partnership really brings a lot of value for the collision industry. Most important, we don’t try to mimic any other collision repair show; we offer a unique value proposition for

Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, Kiwanis and Business Network International (BNI). Even the school PTA and athletic booster clubs can be good for networking. Overall, I’ve found that the business community can help grow your business after you get integrated in these types of organizations. They are very valuable resources. For more information about 1Collision Network, email info@1collision .net or visit http://1collision.com/ body-shop-partners/.

For more information about Dave Luehr’s Elite Body Shop Academy, email info@elitebodyshopsolutions .com or visit: elitebodyshopsolutions .com/academy.

AUTOBODY

FREE

4x Monthly E-Newsletter.

Subscribe Today!

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OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

all our attendees.

If you wait until late October to make reservations to SEMA, what are some tips to get good hotel rooms, etc.?

If you wait until late October to make reservations to SEMA, what are some tips to get good hotel rooms, etc.? It’s never too late to register and attend the SEMA Show, but you obviously want to do so early so that your travel and lodging options are vast. Through our partner onPeak, we’ve negotiated travel discounts and secured reduced-rate hotel rooms to make the trip to Las Vegas affordable. A list of available hotels and other travel services for SEMA’s official travel partner is available at www.sema show.com/travel-and-lodging.

INSTAGRAM :

@autobodynews

ACA’s Bill Hanvey Testifies on 301 China Tariffs

Auto Care Association President and CEO Bill Hanvey testified August 23 before the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in Washington, D.C. on the latest proposed tariff list on imports from China. Hanvey warned the administration that the cost of an additional tariff would cause severe economic harm to the U.S. automotive industry and U.S. consumers. The tariffs are part of USTR’s Section 301 investigation to address unfair acts, policies and practices by China that are related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation. “The greatest impact from this action will be on U.S. consumers who will experience higher repair costs, likely leading to the delay of critical vehicle maintenance procedures that may result in serious highway safety concerns,” Hanvey said in his testimony.

www.autobodynews.com

The RIGHT

COLLISION PARTS

For Your Collision Job. Visit these Genuine Hyundai Parts Dealers:

Massachusetts

New York

ROUTE 2 HYUNDAI

ATLANTIC HYUNDAI

888-240-3495

631-587-1628

Leominster 743 North Main St.

978-534-9933 Fax

Mon-Thu 7:30am - 7:30pm Fri-Sat 7:30am - 6pm parts@rte2hyundai.com www.rte2hyundai.com

West Islip 193 Sunrise Hwy.

631-893-8491 Fax

Mon-Fri 8am - 5pm Sat 8am - 4pm www.AtlanticHyundai.com

Kia.com

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Northstar Kia Long Island City

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Kia of West Chester West Chester

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autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Tesla Model 3 Almost as Expensive as Porsche 911 to Insure by Mark Kane, InsideEVs

The most affordable Tesla so far— Model 3—is seemingly affected by high insurance costs, which on average are comparable to the Porsche 911.

According to Gabi Personal Insurance Agency, the average cost of insuring the Model 3 across 150 zip codes is $2,814 (from $1,958 to $3,644) per year. A Porsche 911 is more expensive by just $35. The main reason for that is explained by the higher costs of parts for Tesla and Tesla’s body shop policy: “According to Gabi CEO Hanno Fichtner, the high cost of

SCRS Announces Audi of America

Audi of America (Audi) represents the newest automobile manufacturer to support the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) through Corporate Membership. The addition of Audi of America to the roster of automotive manufacturers that choose to participate as a member of SCRS represents further growth in the relationship and ongoing commitment to be connected with the top-level collision repair facilities that compose the SCRS base. “It’s important to us at Audi to be able to reach a wide audience with a shared point of view with the many different factions,” shared Mark Allen, manager of collision & equipment for Audi of America. “SCRS has a long history of working closely with Audi and other OEMs to help our audience gain access to the information they need,” added SCRS Chairman Kye Yeung.

www.autobodynews.com 80

replacement parts and Tesla-specific body shops are major contributors to the high insurance costs. Collision insurance accounted for 49 percent of the insurance quotes collected in the Gabi analysis, and in some cases as much as 59 percent. Collision insurance accounts for only 40 percent of the cost of Gabi’s Porsche insurance quotes, on average.” Insurance Costs Tesla Model 3 buyers need to realize that over the course of several years of owning a car, they will spend considerably more on insurance than in the case of most other comparable conventional cars (in terms of size, class or price). Here are a couple more examples of average insurance costs cited in the Automotive News article: • Chevrolet Volt Premier – $2,102 • Honda Civic LX – $2,068

• Tesla Model S 75D – $3,410 Continued from Page 64

Waymo’s Difficulties

tively small residential areas in Chandler, AZ, where there is little traffic. For areas that are more congested, Waymo still utilizes safety drivers. It’s not just Waymo, either. According to the publication, even GM Cruise’s self-driving Chevy Bolts are regularly taken over by safety drivers in their operations. For now, Waymo is continuing its attempt at making its self-driving cars even better, highlighting its focus on safety and its experience on the road in a statement to The Information. “As the only company with a fleet of fully self-driving cars on public roads today, safety continues to be our highest priority. The vehicles are continually learning, and we’ve developed robust testing and validation processes that will allow us to safely expand our vehicles’ driverless capabilities over time,” a Waymo spokesperson said. We thank Teslarati for reprint permission.

OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

• Audi R8 – $3,519

In 2017, AAA announced an increase in insurance prices for Tesla cars and it seems that not much has changed since then, despite Tesla launching its InsureMyTesla program. “Tesla subsequently partnered with Liberty Mutual to create a product called InsureMyTesla, which Jon McNeill, then president of sales and service for Tesla, said ‘takes into account not only the Autopilot safety features but also the maintenance cost of the car.’ “Tesla owners have posted on a number of forum threads that InsureMyTesla’s costs are consistently higher than the competition. This summer, Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to a tweet about the high cost of the product, saying, ‘Looking into this. Will fix if so.’” Even though insurance costs may be on the high side, one should take into account other savings associated with the Model 3, like gas costs (lack thereof, actually) and lower maintenance costs. We thank InsideEVs for reprint permission.

OEM Parts You Need and Trust.

CIF Disaster Relief for 2018 Hurricane Season

On Sept. 12, the Collision Industry Foundation (CIF) announced its Disaster Relief Task Force is continually poised to render assistance to industry members who may be impacted by natural disasters. As Hurricane Florence barrels toward the East Coast and the 2018 hurricane season goes in full swing, the CIF wants to bring awareness of its mission and seek support for this cause. “It’s comforting to know the Collision Industry Foundation exists to assist our fellow brothers and sisters impacted by natural disasters,” stated Dale Matsumoto of Auto Body Hawaii and board member of ABPAH. “If you or others you know are impacted by any storms or other natural disasters, please go to the CIF website and request aid,” said Michael Quinn, CIF Disaster Relief Task Force chairman.

www.autobodynews.com Shift into Genuine Nissan and Infiniti OEM Parts

Genuine Mitsubishi Replacement Crash Parts are close at hand from the following quality dealerships:

Genuine Nissan and Infiniti OEM Wholesale Parts are superbly crafted to strict quality standards. The following dealer proudly stocks genuine parts for your Nissan or Infiniti repairs. MASSACHUSETTS

MARYLAND

Courtesy Mitsubishi

HERB GORDON NISSAN

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SOUTH ATTLEBORO

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Mercedes-Benz of Atlantic City Egg Harbor Township

Mercedes-Benz of Fort Washington Fort Washington

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MARYLAND

Mercedes-Benz of Annapolis Annapolis

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MASSACHUSETTS

Mercedes-Benz of Burlington Burlington 844-200-MBOB (6262)

914-232-8146 914-232-5733 Fax M-F 8am - 5:30pm Sat 8am - 2pm dkorkatzis@mercedesbenzgb.com

Mercedes-Benz of New Rochelle New Rochelle

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Mercedes-Benz of Smithtown St. James

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781-229-1600 617-275-2185 Fax M-F 7am-7pm Sat 8am-5pm parts@mbob.com www.mbob.com

autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

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OCTOBER 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com