Collide Showcase: Part 2

by Stacey Phillips

Total losses, the Database Enhancement Gateway, computer vision and sustainability were some of the topics discussed during the IDEAS Collide Showcase held during the 2021 SEMA Show.

First introduced in 2018 by the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) as part of its Repairer Driven Education (RDE) series, IDEAS Collide gives thought leaders from across the collision repair industry the opportunity to share innovative ideas.

This year, eight speakers talked about creative ways to help the industry evolve. This is part two of a twopart series. Part one was printed in the January 2022 issue of Autobody News.

Sandy Blalock, executive director of the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA).

Sandy Blalock, executive director of the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), talked about the shared challenge the industry is facing with an increase in total losses. She hopes the different segments can generate thought-provoking ideas on how to make meaningful changes.

“No matter what side of the issue we are, there is a consumer who has suffered a loss and it’s our collective job to find a way to make them whole again,” said Blalock. “Jeff Peevy [previous CIC chairman] will always remind us never to forget that empty chair; we all serve the consumer.”

Blalock said total loss frequency has been rising over the last several years in the U.S. According to CCC Intelligent Solutions’ 2021 Crash Course report, 20.5% of vehicles were deemed total losses in 2020.

“This means that shops missed out on the chance to repair one in every five vehicles,” said Blalock.

This is up from 15% in 2010. The average totaled vehicle in 2020 had an actual cash value of $10,444; the average repairable vehicle was worth $16,657.

In addition, repair costs have also risen.

As insurance adjusters determine whether a vehicle is repairable or declared a total loss, Blalock said a number of factors weigh into the decision, including supplements and parts availability.

With more electric vehicles and cars with ADAS coming into collision repair facilities, Blalock said scanning and calibration will be required, adding additional costs to the repair and determining whether the car is a total loss. Repair vs. replace and salvage values will also play a role.

She shared some of the downsides to total loss, including the consumer owing more on the vehicle than it’s worth and fewer vehicles being fixed by the professional repair industry and auto recyclers.

“Total loss does not mean endof-life for a vehicle,” she said. “Repaired vehicles will be repaired by someone.”

From her research, Blalock has found as many as one out of 325 vehicles on U.S. roads today may be operating with a fraudulent title that has been “washed” to disguise the vehicle’s actual damage, flaws or identity. Research shows one in five vehicles sold outside of licensed dealer networks are not legal private property car sales, but are illegal sales of curbstoned vehicles.

“Curbstoning is essentially a flipping of vehicles often posing as a private seller,” she explained. “Many of these vehicles have been purchased at salvage auctions by unlicensed entities, repaired and usually not to any industry standard, then sold to some unsuspecting consumer looking for a good deal.”

Blalock advises the industry to be aware of these issues and work together to come up with ways to address them.

As the administrator for the Database Enhancement Gateway (DEG), Danny Gredinberg shared information about the free industry resource.

The DEG was developed to help improve the quality and accuracy of collision repair estimates through proactive feedback from the collision repair industry and other “end users” to the Information Providers (IPs) that supply the databases for the various estimating products. It is created, equally funded and maintained by the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers (AASP) and SCRS.

Danny Gredinberg, administrator for the Database Enhancement Gateway (DEG).

With today’s estimating databases being large and complex, the task of building complete and accurate labor times and labor notes for vehicles can be challenging. All three information providers use a variety of methodologies to develop labor values. Gredinberg said this can often result in information that does not reflect real-world labor requirements of a repair operation. As a result, it can hinder the ability of an estimator to produce accurate repair estimates or blueprints that match the repair process.

The DEG is designed to offer estimating system users a more standardized and streamlined process for generating Database Inquiries (DI).

“It can help anyone to improve an estimate whether it’s a repairer, technician or even a bill payer,” said Gredinberg. “If they find an error in omission or accuracy in any of three estimating systems, we can help address those concerns and get accuracy.”

As the DEG administer, Gredinberg receives a lot of inquiries. One of the biggest challenges he sees is when a repairer writes an estimate in one database program and receives

See Collide Showcase: Part 2, Page 47

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