Autobody News March 2012 Southeast Edition by Autobody News

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Online Car Insurance Verification in Mississippi Mississippi lawmakers are trying once again to get an online car insurance verification system set up in their state after Gov. Haley Barbour vetoed a similar proposal last session, Online Auto Insurance News reports. It might be a while before we see whether Gov. Barbour finds the tweaks made by the bill’s authors to be satisfactory. But if the legislation does get signed into law this time around, it may have some uninsured motorists scrambling to find a cheap down payment auto insurance policy. Having a verification system set up in the state would make it much easier for police and Department of Revenue employees to find out the

coverage status of particular drivers. That means uninsured motorists would be that much more likely to get caught and slapped with fines and other penalties. The verification system would work by aggregating policy information from insurers on all the cars registered in the state. If a registered auto shows up as having no matching insurance policy, state officials would be able to suspend the license or registration and hit the driver with a $300-$500 fine. Police would also be able to access the database. If an officer were to pull a driver over for a separate in-

The Promoting Automotive Repair, Trade and Sales (PARTS) Act, a new bill introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives, proposes to reduce the patent period car companies have on their collision repair parts from 14 years to 2.5 years (30 months). H.R. 3889 was introduced on Feb. 2 by Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) to the House Judiciary Committee. A similar bill is currently being prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill would amend title 35 of current U.S. design patent law whereby automotive manufacturers may enforce their design patents on

collision repair parts against alternative suppliers. Both members serve on the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet. Lofgren introduced auto parts patent legislation in the last Congress. The new subsection reads as follows: “It shall not be an act of infringement of such design patent to make or offer to sell within the United States, or import into the United States, any article of manufacture that is similar or the same in appearance to the component part that is claimed in

See Mississippi Verifies, Page 4

U.S. House Judiciary Members Introduce Auto Parts Bill, Aims to Limit Parts Patent Protection

See PARTS bill, Page 24

VOL. 3 ISSUE 1 MARCH 2012

State Farm’s Testing of Parts Ordering System Among News, Discussion at CIC Meeting by John Yoswick

Speaking at the January Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in Palm Springs, State Farm’s George Avery said that PartsTrader, the electronic parts ordering system the insurer expects it will eventually require its Select Service shops to use, is currently being tested at one repair facility and soon will be at another location. He declined to identify the shops, saying that it is too early in the testing “to put those folks under the microscope and ask, ‘What do you think of the new system?’” The announcement was just one of the parts-related issues discussed at CIC. The CIC “Parts and Materials Committee” shared the results of a preliminary survey of 11 of the com-

panies offering electronic parts locating and procurement systems to the industry. Committee member Mary Lou Lubrano of Car-Part.com reported, for example, that about the same number of those companies Ron Reichen, said insurers pay Oregon Shop for use of their Owner, said systems as those carriers’ reported that said they are return rates don’t appear to match up funded by parts with those reported vendors; two of by vendors the companies said shops pay for the systems. “I would argue that shops pay for all of them, because having nine disSee CIC Report, Page 8

State Farm Pays Attorney’s Fees and Costs for Two Cases Brought by Ray Gunder After agreeing to pay in full for procedures and materials previously denied, State Farm has now also agreed to pay for all attorney fees and costs on two claims brought by Ray Gunder on behalf of his customers. Upon State Farm’s October 10th, 2011 written denial to provide consideration for a plethora of recommended and necessary repair procedures and materials, Gunder, owner of the 44 year old Gunder’s Auto Center in Lakeland, FL, instructed his legal counsel, Attorney Brent Geohagan, to prepare the necessary steps to file a lawsuit against the nationwide insurer at the request of and authorization by his customer. The lawsuit was prepared and filed on October 25th along with a Civil Remedy Notice (CRN) which was accepted by the courts on December 16th, 2011. State Farm’s

legal counsel responded in a letter to Gunder’s Attorney dated January 19th, 2012 stating, in part, “at all times State Farm acted in good faith and fairly and honestly toward its insured, with due regard for its insured’s interest.” Furthermore the correspondence states, in part, “State Farm has decided to exercise its rights under Florida law to avoid unnecessary litigation. Accordingly, enclosed is a check made payable to you and Raymond Gunder in the amount of $1090.70—which is the amount demanded in the CRN, plus statutory interest. This amount is paid to ensure that any alleged violations are cured in accordance with the statute of Florida law and to preclude unnecessary litigation. Again, State Farm’s payment should not be construed as an admission of any See Gunder, Page 6

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2 MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Contents

NATIONAL “Evangelist Jerry Bratt” Scam, Tow-for-Pay Revived . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 California Attorney Wins $10,000 Claim v. Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 California Law Demands More Low Emission Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 CARSTAR Holds Results and Goals Teleconferenced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Chevy Volt Sees Stalled Momentum, Also Optimism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Chrysler Recalls Police Cars. . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Chrysler Reports First Full Year Profit Since Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Consumer Reports Says Brand Perception Narrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

12 ne of 20 Ju d n a y a April, M l issues Coming in focus 3 specia

s will aga Autobody New paint technology this year. on paint and

s w il l e u s s i e Th : focus onSES • PAINT PROCESOLOGIES • PAINT TECHN RODUCTION PAINTERS • CUSTOM & P

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst General Manager: Barbara Davies Assistant Editor: Erica Schroeder Contributing Writers: Tom Franklin, Stefan Gesterkamp, John Yoswick, Lee Amaradio, Toby Chess, Mike Causey, Dan Espersen, Tom McGee, Jeff Webster, Rich Evans, Ed Attanasio, Chasidy Sisk Advertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman (800) 699-8251 Sales Assistant: Kristy Navarro Art Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Southeast

COLUMNISTS Attanasio, Garmat - Global Collision Uses Garmat USA Paint Spray Booths in All 8 Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Evans - Barrett-Jackson DIY Event Draws Fans and Future Body Techs. . . . . . . . . 34 Franklin - Spotting a Newsworthy Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Insurance Insider - Getting a Guess-timate From the Real Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Nigro - A Shop Owner’s Suggestions to Control Steering and Worse to Come . . 30 Schroeder - FCC Collision Continues Expansion in the Greater San Francisco Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Sisk - Checker Auto Body: A Small-Town Shop Offering Big-Time Repairs . . . . . . 16 Weaver - Code Talkers: It Takes More Than Reading Codes to Be a Good Automotive Technician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Williams - Jerry Ulm Dodge Chrysler Jeep, a Truly Distinctive Florida Dealer. . . . . . 10

CREF Sees Record $4.1 M in Industry Donations for 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 DuPont Paint Unit Bidding . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Federal Trial of Baltimore Police Kickbacks Involves Local Body Shop, About 60 Officers and Insurance Fraud . . . . . . . . 37 Feds Escalate Jeep Airbag Investigation . . 26 Flag Football Tournament/Trade Show Highlights Van Tuyl Charity Super Bowl Weekend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 GM is Back on Top As the World Number One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Honda’s Ridgeline Recall . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 KBB Gets New President . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 MOPAR Celebrates 75th Anniversay, 4 New Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 NABC Plans At Least One Vehicle Gift in Each State This Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 NHTSA Investigating Chevy and Toyota Models for Power Windows . . . . . . . . . 22 NHTSA Opened Ford and GM Van Investigations in January . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Nissan Recalls 2012 Versa . . . . . . . . . . . 28 NJ Shop Questions State Farm’s Denial of Cost Accounting Based Paint Allowances. 36 NSF Certifies PartsChannel Under Automotive Collision Parts Distributor Certification Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 NY Senate Passes SB 578 . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Phoenix Auctions Show Collector Cars’ Comeback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 SAAB Dealers Still Looking at Options, Six Parties Still Contend . . . . . . . . . . . 19 SCRS Offers Repairers Digital Member Services E-catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Second Toyota Driver’s Door Fire Probe Launched . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Several Crash Parts Bills Introduced to State Legislatures Countrywide, Notably in OK and HI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 State Farm’s Testing of Parts Ordering System Among News, Discussion at CIC Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Study: 96% of All Repair Shops Recycle Scrap Metal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Subaru Recalling 2012 Outback and Legacy Models for Air Bags . . . . . . . . . 22 Supreme Court Allows Lawsuits on Lack of Safety Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . 7 U.S. Auto Industry Bullish on 2012, Sales up 11% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 U.S. House Judiciary Members Introduce Auto Parts Bill, Aims to Limit Parts Patent Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Val-Test Distributor Show Announces New Product Winners . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Indexof Advertisers

REGIONAL Auto Supply Company Tenneco to Expand GA Plant, Workforce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Georgia Northwestern Technical College Considers Campus in Ringgold, GA . . . . 7 German Auto Parts Stamping Plant to Come to Dublin, GA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 LA Police Crack Staged Crash Ring . . . . . . 4 Manheim Honors Automotive Woman of Year, North Carolina-Based VP and CMO. 4 Online Car Insurance Verification in Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 State Farm Pays Attorney’s Fees and Costs for Two Cases Brought by Ray Gunder . . 1 Toyota to Build Compressor Parts Plant in Pendergrass, GA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and adjacent metro areas, Autobody News is a monthly publication for the auto body industry. Permission to reproduce in any form the material published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher. ©2011 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody News

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Arrigo Dodge-Jeep-Chrysler. . . . . . 28 BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 28 Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 CSS USA, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Delray Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Don Reid Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers FL, GA, AL, MS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Galloway Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Gus Machado Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Honda-Acura Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-21 Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 38 Jerry Ulm Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge. 12-13 Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 27 Malco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Mazda Wholesale Parts . . . . . . . . . 36 Mercedes-Benz Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers. 24

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 18 Nalley BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Nissan Genuine Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Nissan Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 38 Palmers Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 PCL Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers . 37 Safety Regulation Strategies . . . . . 30 SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . 11 SCA Appraisal Company . . . . . . . . 26 Serra Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Serra Automotive Group . . . . . . . . . . 5 Solution Finish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 South Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Southtowne Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Star-A-Liner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Subaru of Gwinnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 32 Tameron Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 36 Van Tuyl Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

Continued from Front Page

Mississippi Verifies

fraction and find that there was no matching policy in the database for the car, the motorist could be cited. A third point at which uninsured motorists could be caught is when they go to register their cars. If the bill’s signed into law, car owners would need to have a valid policy already in place before registering the vehicle. In each of these scenarios, the information contained in the database would supersede the information on any proof of insurance cards furnished by the driver. Last session, Barbour vetoed the legislation because of a lack of cost

projections and a concern that the Department of Public Safety should not have to worry about catching the owners of uninsured vehicles. The new bill splits the responsibilities between the Public Safety and Revenue departments, but there does not appear to be much change on the cost side. Mississippi state law requires that all drivers have liability insurance and keep their insurance card in their vehicles at all times to prove that they are covered. In Mississippi, the minimum liability requirements are $25,000 per person for a single accident, $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $25,000 per accident for property damage. You may also see this referred to as 25/50/25.

Auto Supply Company Tenneco to Expand GA Plant, Workforce

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal announced February 8 that Tenneco, a global vehicle supplier, is expanding its production lines, adding new equipment and increasing its workforce by 350 additional employees at its existing facilities in Hartwell. “Tenneco is an important player in the automotive industry, and we are pleased they have expanded their presence in Georgia,” Deal said. “Georgia’s comprehensive logistics system and skilled workforce are two of our many key selling assets because they give companies like Tenneco easy, efficient access to their markets as well as a world-class workforce.” Tenneco is one of the world’s leading designers, manufacturers and distributors of emission and ride control products and systems for the automotive original equipment market and aftermarket. The company is expanding existing lines and installing additional production lines at its Hartwell manufacturing facility, where automotive shock absorbers and struts are produced. Hart County has been a Georgia Certified Work Ready Community since 2009, indicating that the county has a ready pool of labor specifically trained for a range of positions, including those in the manufacturing industry. Tenneco has called Hart County home since the 1960s, and already employs a mix of more than 750 full and part-time workers at its Hartwell facility. “Tenneco is committed to the Hartwell community and we appreciated the support from the city, county and state as we moved more production to our Hartwell facility,” said Lorenzo Muhammad, Hartwell plant manager. “Through the Georgia Work Ready program, we have grown

our skilled workforce significantly in the last six months to support our growing business.” “We continue to appreciate the commitment Tenneco has made to our community. They have furnished employment opportunities to a significant number of Hart County households for more than 50 years,” said Douglas Cleveland, chairman of Hart County Industrial Building Authority. “This growth further strengthens that commitment and will add even more families to Tenneco’s workforce. Tenneco has been, and will continue to be, a very important member of our business community.” “The Hart County Board of Commissioners would like to thank Tenneco for its commitment to Hart County and our citizens. Tenneco has a positive impact on our community as well as Northeast Georgia,” said R.C. Oglesby, chairman of the Hart County Board of Commissioners. The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) partnered with Hart County, the Industrial Building Authority and City of Hartwell to support the Tenneco expansion project. “Tenneco is a great example of one of Georgia’s longstanding business leaders continually demonstrating its loyalty to our state,” said Chris Cummiskey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “Georgia’s existing industry base is one of our key economic drivers, so we work hard to understand the unique needs of this business sector to be sure companies like Tenneco have the resources and support necessary to be successful in Georgia and in markets where they do business.” Hartwell is a small town of about 5,000 residents northeast of Atlanta.

4 MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Manheim Honors Automotive Woman of Year, North Carolina-Based VP and CMO

Richards also reaches out to her community through a number of avenues. Among other volunteering efforts, NADA officials noted that she is a Girl Scout leader and supports Habitat for Humanity. “I am truly honored to receive this very prestigious award and be recognized for my accomplishments in our field. Upon entering the automotive industry, after my graduation from college, I would never have dreamed that my contributions and body of work would be recognized and honored in this way,” Richards said.

Manheim Auto Auctions announced the winner of its eighth annual Barbara Cox Anthony Automotive Woman of the Year Award on February 5. This year’s award went to Rachel Richards, Sonic Automotive’s vice president of retail strategy and chief marketing officer. According to Auto Remarketing Rachel Richards News, Richards was awarded at Northwood University’s annual breakfast during the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) convention in Las Vegas which was held February 3 through 6, 2012. The award recognizes Richards for the contributions she has made to both the automotive industry and her Charlotte, N.C. community. Richards has been with Sonic, a Charlotte-based automotive retailer since 2006. Before her time with the dealer group, Richards served in field, regional management and corporate positions at Ford and Ford Credit.

LA Police Crack Staged Crash Ring

Louisiana state police arrested four people on January 24 for allegedly staging traffic accidents in Ouachita Parish, LA, according to Claims Journal. Detectives told the Monroe NewsStar that they investigated six of 20 crashes where individuals filed false bodily injury claims.State troopers said the insurance companies in two of the six crashes paid out more than $18,000 to the suspects. State troopers also said they are still looking for three suspects.

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Continued from Front Page

Gunder

wrongdoing or liability on the part of State Farm who denies any liability, as well as the standing of Mr. Gunder to pursue any claims, but exercise of its right under Florida law to avoid protracted, vexatious litigation.” On receiving the news from his attorney, Ray Gunder said, “I am elated that State Farm has chosen to step up and pay what was due our customer and that State Farm elected to settle rather than proceed with a long drawn-out and costly litigation. The word “vexation” means harassing; and/or annoying as if the settlement was settled merely as a nuisance claim. I’ve never once found where an insurer has ever overpaid a claim and they didn’t in this matter either. They knew what they owed and why and that they would lose if it went in front of jury. They also knew, they would surely incur additional and significant legal costs and interest just as they have in the past. I don’t care what they say

their motivation was as long as they pay us so we can pay our team-members for every drop of sweat they drop in the repair of our customer’s vehicles.” Gunder has a slew of ongoing cases on behalf of his customers at Gunder’s Auto Center against the insurance company. In these particular cases, State Farm agreed to pay a total of $1,493.00 and $2,757.50 for cases filed on behalf of Mickey Brewington and James Locascio, respectively. This brought the total paid for legal fees and court costs to $4,250.50. State Farm also paid in full the parts of the repair estimates in this case that were previously denied. Payment was remitted to Gunder’s legal representation on February 2. “It will be interesting to see how the other three active lawsuits we have filed against State Farm on behalf of our customers turn out,” continued Gunder. “There are an additional 25 more in line behind those which are ripe to be filed for similar issues. We’ll just keep pounding that rock!”

6 MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

German Auto Parts Stamping Plant to Come to Dublin, GA

Erdrich Umformtechnik GmbH, a German company that produces metal automotive parts, has chosen to build a metal stamping factory in Dublin, GA, the company announced on January 24. According to GlobalAtlanta, the company plans to invest $39 million in building this location. Erdrich is a midsized, familyowned company that has been in business for over 50 years. It currently has two plants in Germany, one in the Czech Republic and one in China. The company mainly supplies automakers from BMW AG to Mercedes-Benz. “The company looked at several Georgia communities,” Jim Blair, the department’s director of Foreign Direct Investment, told GlobalAtlanta. “Laurens County is very strategically located from a logistics perspective, right on I-16 close to the Savannah ports and the transportation hub of metro Atlanta.” The company plans to create 178 jobs and invest $39 million to build the 130,000-square-foot metal stamping facility. The business plans to begin construction of the plant in either May or June.

Toyota to Build Compressor Parts Plant in Pendergrass, GA

Toyota Industries Corp. announced plans to open a $350 million automotive parts plant in Jackson County in northeast Georgia, creating 320 jobs, in early February. The plant will create automotive compressor parts and will be built near a related assembly plant off I-85 in Pendergrass, GA. The automaker expects the plant to be completed in late 2013, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “In opening this new Georgia manufacturing facility, Toyota Industries Corporation sends a very clear message about its confidence in our state’s ability to help them remain competitive in global markets,” Gov. Nathan Deal said in a news release. “Projects such as this underscore Georgia’s record of success in attracting international investment to our state,” Chris Cummiskey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Courtney Bernardi, director of economic development for the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce, expected the plant bolsters the area’s manufacturing base and to pay higher than the county’s average.

Georgia Northwestern Technical College Considers Campus in Ringgold, GA Georgia Northwestern Technical College, a two-year technical college located in Rome, GA, is considering building another campus in Ringgold. Ringgold, near the Georgia-Tennessee border, is a small town of about 2,500 people. According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, college and county officials are considering building the campus on 50 acres owned by Catoosa County across from Rollins Industrial Park in the southwest area of town. According to the Associated Press, College President Craig McDaniel estimated it would take only a year to 14 months to complete construction once land is available. The technical college's focus is on careers in the automotive, aviation and other commercial industries. City officials speculated that the Ringgold campus would be centered around its automated manufacturing lab, which would train students to work with robotics used in automotive factories. This campus would be the eighth location for the technical college, with seven locations already in Rome, Calhoun, Rockmart, Rock Spring and Dalton. For more information please visit www.gntc.edu.

Supreme Court Allows Lawsuits on Lack of Safety Equipment The Supreme Court has reversed course and ruled that the nation’s automakers can be sued for failing to install the most-effective safety equipment in their vehicles. The unanimous decision on Feb.23 clears the way for a California man to sue Mazda Motor Corp. because his family’s 1993 minivan did not have a lap and shoulder belt in a middle rear seat. Judges in California had thrown out his lawsuit, citing a Supreme Court ruling in 2000 that shielded automakers from lawsuits for their failure to install air bags immediately in all their vehicles. In a surprise outcome, the high court reversed the California courts and cleared the way for Williamson’s lawsuit to proceed. Its opinion also backed away from its earlier view that the federal motor-vehicle safety law blocks most safety-related lawsuits against automakers. Justice Stephen G. Breyer described the federal safety regulations as setting forth only “minimum standards,” not the “maximum standards” required by law. Lawsuits from injured motorists can play a “continued meaningful role,” he

added, by requiring automakers to go further in seeking safety. Breyer explained that air bags had posed a different issue because, at the time, federal safety regulators did not want mandatory installation of air bags because of early doubts about their effectiveness. By contrast, he said, federal regulators had no objection to automakers installing lap and shoulder belts for all seats. It is not clear whether the decision in Williamson vs. Mazda will open a door to many more successful suits against automakers. Much depends on the specifics of the federal motor-vehicle safety regulations. But the outcome is a surprise nonetheless. In recent years, the high court led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has regularly sided with corporations and blocked many lawsuits. In this case, however, the justices took the view that lawsuits filed by injured people can lead to safer products. Moreover, these suits are not blocked simply because the federal government regulates the product at issue, they said.

“Evangelist Jerry Bratt” Scam, Tow-for-Pay Revived

There is a new tow for pay scam going around and several shops have contacted ABN to alert us. The scenario described by fax and possibly email is that their car needs to be towed from another state to be fixed at your shop. But they need you to pay the tow bill before the car can be delivered. One shop received two faxes (in two different fonts) from someone calling himself “Evangelist Jerry Bratt” saying his wife had an accident in a 2007 Cadillac Escalade on her way to Kansas. And of course it asks that you only email him. And he’ll be paying cash. And of course you need to pay the bill. The fax asks for the address of your shop. The last time this went around shops were expected to pay a tow bill over a $1000 and they tell you the “wrecker” will only accept a money gram. Maybe also a request for a credit card. Don’t fall prey but alert us if you receive this fax. The sending fax number is/was 202-204-0669, a number traced to Washington, D.C. We don’t know if there is a real Jerry Bratt, or whether or not he is an Evangelist.

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CIC Report

parate parts systems, some of which may be mandated by their insurance partners, may require shops to train their people on potentially nine different methodologies to order parts,” consultant Matt Ohrnstein of Symphony Advisors responded during the committee’s question-and-answer period. Ohrnstein suggested the committee could help communicate to industry constituents that, just as the banking industry settled on a standard way to transfer funds worldwide, this industry would be better served by standardized parts-related electronic commerce systems. CIC Parts and Materials Committee member Aaron Lofrano also reported in Palm Springs on his admittedly informal survey of more than 120 people in the industry asking how use of different types of parts benefit or hinder their business opAaron Lofrano eration on a daily basis in terms of job performance and profitability. Lofrano shared some representative comments from the various constituencies included in his survey. He said non-OEM parts vendors, for example, expressed concerns about the number of parts returned, and questions about whether those parts really did not fit as the shops returning the parts might indicate (often without providing any specific information about the problem with the parts). Such returns occur, Lofrano said he was told, even though other shops in the same markets return few if any parts. The parts vendors also expressed frustration with parts being returned without boxes or packaging. Following Lofrano’s presentation, Oregon shop owner Ron Reichen said he’d like to have more detailed information about the vendors’ reported parts returns rates. “We are repeatedly told by the carriers that it’s about 2 percent,” Reichen said, saying that doesn’t seem to match up with Lofrano’s assessment of what he heard from parts vendors.

Info Providers Discuss Data Sharing The “Big Three” estimating system providers offered some response at the

recent Collision Industry Conference (CIC) to a joint statement by three repairer groups earlier this year voicing concern about collection and use of shop data. In that statement, the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers (AASP), the Automotive Service Association, and the Society of Collision Repair Specialists, said shops wishing to use any of the estimating systems have no choice but to agree to allow their data to be aggregated and sold or reported to third-parties, potentially “in ways that may ultimately be detrimental to the (shop) who generated the data.” The estimating system providers pointed out the benefits to the industry of having aggregated data from which all shop-identifying information has been removed. Greg Horn of Mitchell International noted that the associations are among those who have at times requested such aggregated data, and that it can help shops understand how they performing relative to their market. Jack Rozint of CCC Information Services said his company takes every effort to ensure it isn’t releasing information that “could be used to the detriment of our customer.” He said, for example, that CCC would never share shops’ profitability data - such as gross margins on profit or labor - that it has access to through clients using its shop management system, even if a shop gave its permission to do so. “Because we recognized that ‘permission’ in this industry is not always ‘permission’ (because) it’s sometimes (given) when someone has a program being held over them (and) if they don’t do it they aren’t going to get any more cars,” Rozint said. “So we walled off that data and said it’s not going anywhere from our system.” But Rozint said even if the system providers gave shops a way to opt-out of having their estimate data aggregated, little would change. “Most of the work in this industry is paid for by insurance companies,” he pointed out. “If the insurance companies want that data aggregated, they have access to it because they paid the claim, so it will be aggregated. The only data you could exclude as a shop if that permission existed would be customer-pay data.” EMS vs. BMS debate continues The discussion came during a CIC Data Privacy Committee panel discussion related to when the industry

8 MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

will shift to a newer technology standard for the transfer of a shop’s estimate data to third-parties. The associations have been among those calling for a shift by the information providers away from using the older “EMS” standard for transferring estimate data to using the newer “BMS” standard, in large part because BMS gives the shop more control over what aspects of the estimate data are shared. If a shop, for example, orders parts electronically, the parts Jack Rozint vendor receiving the parts list via the EMS file gets not only what parts are needed but information about the customer and his or her insurance. A rental car company also might be getting all this information even if all it really needs is information on when a customer’s car will be repaired and the rental returned. CCC’s Rozint and Rick Tuuri of Audatex said more fully implementing BMS will require significant development resources for the information providers. And Tuuri said even if a

shop could export data using the BMS standard right now, it would be a little bit like being the only one with a phone or fax machine in that you couldn’t use it unless the other party was prepared to communicate that way as well. “If there’s no one prepared to receive BMS and understand it, there’s not much impetus to develop it,” Tuuri said. But Fred Iantorno of the Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) said EMS is built on technology introduced in the 1980s; most programmers working today, he said, aren’t even familiar with it. He said there’s been no resources spent on the EMS standard since its last release a decade ago. “So yes, you will have to spend money to move to BMS because you’re not spending any money today,” Iantorno told the information providers. John Yoswick, a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, who has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988, is also the editor of the weekly CRASH Network (for a free 4week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com). He can be contacted by email at jyoswick@SpiritOne.com.

www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 9

Parts Profiles

Larry Williams is an innovative parts manager with national awards and over 30 years of experience in creating and managing profitable departments. He can be reached for consultation at ljoew2@gmail.com. To read all his columns go to http://www.autobodynews.com/columnists/williams-larry.html

Jerry Ulm Dodge Chrysler Jeep, a Truly Distinctive Florida Dealer with Larry Williams

When I think of a manufacturer who has had hard times over and over, and has still survived, the first name on my list is Chrysler. Of course we know

that Chrysler is back from the brink. I would expect these dealers to be hardened, efficient and frugal, but I wasn’t expecting to be surprised. However, I was very pleasantly surprised to encounter Jerry Ulm Dodge Chrysler Jeep of Tampa, Florida. This dealer is not only a survivor; they are the largest auto parts wholesaler I have ever interviewed. This is a long term family operation, with roots deep in the community. Jerry Ulm is the son of the

original owner, and knows parts and service as well as sales. Rob Brenneke, the fixed operations manager, has been there for fifteen years. Their dealership philosophy is total service to their customers, and the service department will work on any vehicles their customers own. This dealer has earned the Chrysler Dealer of the Year award twice; and probably will again. This parts department services its customers to the tune of about a hundred thousand dollars in business every day! This is a major operation, requiring forty-five employees in two

10 MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

buildings, and two managers. Their level of volume requires eighteen drivers, six days a week. But that’s not all; they also use an outside delivery service to take parts to their customers— not just in Florida, but also in Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina. I talked to Joe Galbraith, one of the two managers at Jerry Ulm. He told me that the secret to their success was in a word: service. This dealer provides a level of service to their customer that is amazing! They will provide parts not just for Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, but for any vehicle, from any manufacturer. They want their customers to have one-stop shopping, and will pick up and deliver any required part, no matter what it is or where it is. Countermen use email and ALLDATA systems to order parts. Their drivers will stop at other dealers on their way back after deliveries, and pick up orders to be dispatched on the

next run. I have heard of dealers providing this type of service before, but never on this large of a scale. Fiat’s ownership of Chrysler has helped this dealer, too. The new line

of Magneti Marelli parts services all manufacturers and all vehicles. This enables Joe to use his overnight ordering service and provide almost any part on a next day basis. But no matter how good the support might be, the strength of a dealership is the people on the front line, and the leadership of its managers. The dedication to provide service; and to retain customers is key to their success.

This parts department staff has over 150 years of combined experience! The wholesale manager is Robert Springer, his countermen are Joe Lanzetti, Brian Garry, George Mowry, Jay Springer, Aaron Springer, and Eddie Chiovetti. The manager on the retail side is Joe Galbraith, and his countermen are John Piparo, Scott Brenneke, Adam Brenneke, Joe Scholtz, and Bill Usewick.

Joe talked to me about his countermen, their loyalty to their long term customers, and the value of their relationships. He describes them as multitalented, and well-rounded. They always want to do better, and do more. They know how important it is to be honest and up front, in order to maintain the trust of their customers. Obviously this dealer is not a secret in the Tampa area, anyone with this kind of volume would be well known. This kind of success in the parts aftermarket business, however, is not common. It is the result of long-term dedication and hard work; and takes years in the making. I would like to point out to those of you in the parts business the value of the wholesale market. To those of you who have the desire, and the determination to be successful; and to grow your wholesale market, there is no limit to the success you can achieve. Jerry Ulm is an inspiration to all dealers. All you need is a desire to provide the best service available, and everything else will follow. Jerry Ulm Dodge Chrysler Jeep is truly a Distinctive Dealer, and an example of what hard work and dedication to service can achieve.

Study: 96% of All Repair Shops Recycle Scrap Metal

Auto repair shops are playing a key role in protecting the environment with 96 percent reporting they recycle the scrap metal from automotive components, according to a study done by the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA). Shops are recycling the scrap metal from many auto parts, including alternators, brakes, engines and transmissions. The volume of material recycled annually in the United States includes 74 million metric tons of iron and steel, 4.7 million metric tons of aluminum and 1.8 million metric tons of copper, according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI). “Scrap metal recycling has an extremely positive impact on our environment,” said Rich White, senior vice president, AAIA. “It conserves natural resources, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, saves energy and minimizes the amount of waste sent to landfills.” According to ISRI, recycling one ton of steel conserves 2,500 lbs. of iron ore, 1,400 lbs. of coal and 120 lbs. of limestone, and the energy saved using recycled materials versus virgin materials is up to 58 percent for iron and steel, 92 percent for aluminum

and 90 percent for copper. If the ferrous scrap that is recycled in the United States were put into rail cars, the train would stretch 11,349 miles, nearly halfway around the world. In addition to recycling scrap metal, automotive aftermarket companies, including auto repair shops, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and jobbers, routinely recycle tires, batteries, used oil and oil filters, parts cleaning solvents, plastics, cardboard and paper, a/c refrigerant, dunnage and wood pallets. The study is part of AAIA’s initiative to illustrate the automotive aftermarket industry’s widespread efforts on behalf of the environment. The information is presented in AAIA’s “Driving Toward a Cleaner Environment: The Automotive Aftermarket’s Green Story,” in the short video, AAIA Green, and in a Green Snapshot. For more information, visit www.aftermarket.org/green. AAIA is a Bethesda, Md.-based association whose more than 23,000 member and affiliates manufacture, distribute and sell motor vehicle parts, accessories, service, tool, equipment, materials and supplies. AAIA represents more than 100,000 repair shops.

www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 11

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www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 13

Flag Football Tournament/Trade Show Highlights Van Tuyl Charity Super Bowl Weekend by Ed Attanasio

There are three sacred things dear to the hearts of Texans: 1) Football 2) NASCAR and 3) Bass fishing. And although there wasn’t any car racing or angling during the recent Super Bowl weekend, there was a lot of football and all of it was done Texas-style.

Van Tuyl Team #1 took the crown, while Van Tuyl Team #2 finished third. Sherwin-Williams (in white jerseys at the far right) battled V.T. Team #1 in the final, but ended up losing by a score of 5-3

On Saturday, February 4, one day before the New England Patriots met the New York Giants in the actual Super Bowl, 20 flag football teams competed in the Van Tuyl Group’s Super Bowl of Flag Football tournament followed by a trade show and two days of company meetings. The Irving-based company that operates more than 70 car dealerships’ collision centers nationwide hosted an activitypacked four-day schedule, bringing Van Tuyl management and employees, as well as collision vendors and local collision professionals together to eat BBQ, network and play some high-spirited flag football. The entire weekend was the brainchild of Van Tuyl Group’s National Collision Director Darren Huggins, who comfortably wore several hats in creating, overseeing and implementing all of the weekend’s events. Sponsored by Van Tuyl, PPG Refinish and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the full-day flag football double-elimination tournament took place at the Stampede Sports Arena, a state-of-theart facility in Southlake, Texas that features three artificial turf fields. Autobody News and Collision Hub were also on hand to cover the event and all the fanfare surrounding it. Teams entered in the tournament read like a who’s who of leaders in the automotive collision field, including rental car companies (Enterprise entered three teams, representing three regions in Texas and Hertz was also on-hand); Paint companies and paint jobbers (English Color and Single Source, PPG and Sherwin-Williams); Body shop chains

(Caliber Collision had two teams) and several local Dallas-area car dealerships (Sewell Lexus, Town East Ford and Reliable Chevrolet). Huggins was happy to see that his weekend’s plans came off without a hitch, he said. “This weekend surpassed all of our dreams,” Huggins explained. “This is the first year we’ve done this and we’re already talking about making it an annual event. By bringing the industry together for a couple of days, it was exceptional. We achieved everything we expected and even more. The competition was unbelievable and some of the games were really close. And by helping a charity on top of it, that made it even more special. I’d also like to thank my co-director of the tournament, Russell Hamilton of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, who did all of the scoring and played an integral part of its overall success.” All four teams entered on behalf of the Van Tuyl Group were called “America’s Team” and coached by Darren Huggins himself. Led by V.T. Team #1, this championship squad consisted of standouts such as Captain Zachary “Huggy” Huggins, Darren’s son; MVP QB/DB Jared “Squid” Mosqueda and WR Matt Saoit, who “pretty much caught everything thrown his way,” according to Darren Huggins. Other stars for the superior team included WR/DB Heath “Chief” Baker; Johan “The Belgian Waffle” Huewart and WR Gregg “G-Unit” Strandberg. On defense, Bobby “El Natural” Ghanbari led the attack, intercepting multiple passes and taking them to the end zone more than once.

Van Tuyl Team #1 went undefeated throughout the tournament and beat Sherwin-Williams in an exciting final game. (At far right, National Collision Director Darren Huggins and at center flashing number #1 sign is Team Captain Zachary “Huggy” Huggins, Darren’s son.)

V.T. Team #1 went undefeated throughout the entire tournament, running the table and beating a strong team sponsored by Sherwin-Williams in the final game. One of Van Tuyl’s other teams (V.T. Team #2) finished in third place, led by Eric Payne, Taylor

14 MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Hoover and Eli Naylor, among others. Robert Shushi was the captain of the second place Sherwin-Williams’ team and proud of his squad, but perplexed by the dominance featured by V.T.’s Team #1. “We gave it our best and we played well, but in the end they were a little faster and a lot more organized. They had signals and plays and they practiced, something we didn’t really do that much of. In the end, they were a better team, so hats off to them. All of the Van Tuyl teams were really good and the fact that Darren coached them all didn’t hurt, I’m sure.” V.T. Team #4 was by far the oldest team in the tournament, totaling 449 years of age amongst the group, consisting of nine seasoned veterans who gave a very impressive and spirited performance.

A Trade Show took place at Van Tuyl’s headquarters on Super Sunday, featuring 44 exhibitors and attracting more than 400 people from the West Dallas area

If you’re not familiar with this full-speed, non-contact version of football, here’s a brief description of the rules, offered by Huggins. “You get five players on offense and four on defense. The quarterback cannot run past the line of scrimmage, so it’s primarily a passing game. The game consists of two 7.5 minute halves and the clock runs continually until the last two minutes of each contest. The fields are 30 yards long and each team gets four downs to score. You can’t get a first down and there are not any field goals or punts, so it’s all-or-nothing when you have the ball. The defense can’t rush the QB, but he only has four seconds to throw. And unless they collide while going for a pass, there is no contact permitted in this game.” By playing a safer, non-contact incarnation of football, you would think no one would get injured, but a few bumps and bruises did occur during the tournament, Huggins said. “Nothing serious, but we did see a few pulled groins, quad sprains, broken fingers and one bruised heel. Otherwise, everyone walked (or limped) away a little sore. Pretty much, with so many people play-

ing (in excess of 150) you would expect more injuries, so we were fairly lucky.” Huggins came up with the idea for flag football as a team building exercise, when he devised such a tournament while holding a series of company meetings last year, he said. “We were in Orlando when I came up with this idea. I’ve been a Dallas Cowboys fan my whole life and I’ve coached and played football for many years. Football reinforces a team approach and teaches people how to work well together for a common cause. When I saw how excited and competitive my guys were, I thought—wow, this can be used to build rapport and leadership on a larger stage. And that’s how it started!” Van Tuyl’s Super Bowl weekend raised more than $22,000 for Trinity River Mission (TRM), a West Dallas volunteer-based community learning center that sets up children (3-12 grades) for success. Standing for Tutor, Read, Mentor, TRM graduates 98% of its students, by creating a wide range of educational and support programs. By instituting programs to provide nutrition for its students through a Kid’s Café that provides hot meals and snacks four days weekly and conducting a Tutor Power Hour with 68 trained tutors on- site, TRM is successfully fighting illiteracy and combating low test grades in Texas.

The Van Tuyl Group raised in excess of $22,000 for the Trinity River Mission, represented at the flag football tournament by (from left) Elizabeth Franco (Outreach Manager), Alexandra Lopez (8th grader who has been with TRM since kindergarten) and Delores Sosa Green (Executive Director)

TRM’s Executive Director Delores Sosa Green, M. Ed., set up a booth at the Van Tuyl Super Bowl of Flag Football and met with spectators and players all day long. “We provide mentoring for at-risk kids to put them in a position to learn and grow as young people. We have children in our program who want to be engineers, teachers, architects— but the public system is failing them. Low graduation rates prove it.”

THE VAN TUYL GROUP WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR SPONSORS AND OLLOWING DEALER TEAMS FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE THE FOLLOWING

CHARITY SUPER BOWL.

Proceeds and sponsorships benefit Trinity River Mission.

Grand Prairie Ford

Miles Chevrolet

Camelback Toyota

Grapevine Ford

Reliable Chevrolet (MO)

Cerritos Nissan

Gwinnett Place Ford

Reliable Chevrolet (NM)

Collision Center of Peoria

Joe Meyers Ford

Reliable Chevrolet (TX)

David Maus Toyota

Mall of Georgia Ford

Stonebriar Chevrolet

Grapevine Collision on

Town East Ford

Van Chevrolet

Kenny Kent Toyotaa

Westway Ford

Van Chevrolet (MO)

Reliable Toyota

Crest South/Plano Collision

Van Chevrolet (TX)

Toyota of Dallas

Crest/Plano Collision

Vandergriff Chevrolet - N

Toyota of Richardson

Husker GM

Vandergriff Chevrolet - S

Trophy Nissan

McKinney Buick GMC

ABC Nissan

South County Lexus Collision

Midway Chevrolet

Bell Honda

Grand Prairie, TX Grapevine, TX Duluth, GA

Houston, TX Buford, GA

Mesquite, TX Irving, TX

Plano, TX Plano, TX

Lincoln, NE McKinney, TX Phoenix, AZ

Decatur, IL

Springfield, MO

Albuquerque, NM Richardson, TX Frisco, TX

Scottsdale, AZ Kansas City, MO Carrollton, TX Arlington, TX Arlington, TX Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Cerritos, CA Peoria, AZ

Sanford, FL

Grapevine, TX Evansville, IN

Springfield, MO O Dallas, TX

Richardson, TX Mesquite, TX Viejo, CA

Phoenix, AZ

I would like to add special thanks for the following vendors for their charity contributions:

Enterprise Holdings-Dallas, Garmat USA, Dent Concepts, English Color, Gene Lopez, Kaesar Compressors, Car O Liner, All Data, Velox-Bed Liners, Reliable Chevrolet, Mo., Mitchell International, Becca, Summit Software Solutions, Auto House Technologies, Matrix Measuring, Auto Body Color and Autobody News.

www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 15

Shop Showcase

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.

Checker Auto Body: A Small-Town Shop Offering Big-Time Repairs with Chasidy Rae Sisk

Checker Auto Body in Huntsville, AL is a small, neighborhood shop with a big reputation for quality and customer service. They like to know their customers by first name, and they offer pick-up and delivery services,

Additionally, the website details the specifics of how they determine what repairs are necessary and what they offer with their collision repairs, frame repairs, automotive painting, auto rebuilding, doors/windows and fleet body repair services. “Performing repairs to the highest possible standards, with absolute integrity, while meeting demanding timelines are the founding principles of the Checker Auto Body Repair business”, according to their website. Checker Auto Body is involved with repairs for the City of Huntsville’s Handiride and bus depots, Huntsville utilities and the Huntsville city garage. MeanAlan Andriakos of Checker Auto Body, a Huntsville, AL, while, Steve Locascio often shop that specializes in motorhome repair teaches evening computer especially for their older customers, classes at the local community coldemonstrating their dedication to lege, while Bill Goebel frequently volhelping members of the community. unteers as a chaperone and driver for Their website offers a shop “dedicated the local Catholic elementary school. to providing the Huntsville, Alabama The shop is also dedicated to preservcommunity quality body repair with ing the environment, recycling all mathe emphasis on integrity, honesty and terials that are used in their shop. value.” In discussing current trends in the The shop was founded in 2007 by collision repair industry, manager Bill Steve Locascio, Bill Goebel and Goebel notes that a positive trend has Alan Andriakos when they purbeen the improvement in the quality chased a long-running body shop after the owners decided to retire. Checker Auto Body has since built a reputation for quality repairs, superior customer service and dedication to the community. Their website is filled with information to assist the consumer needing a body repair. For starters, it informs customers that they are able to choose the body shop where they want to have their vehicle repaired and do not Co-Owner Bill Goebel need to allow the insurance company of aftermarket parts and the fact that to choose for them. parts delivery has become more Checkerautobody.com offers instreamlined. He is disappointed that formation about how auto body shops the industry has not been keeping up work, what to do at the scene of an acwith material inflation. cident and how to ensure great cus“It seems that all the price intomer service from an auto body shop. creases seen in materials over the last They also offer free estimates and ad- five years have been left to the shop vice to consumers who have been in owner to absorb; however, on the flip an accident. side, DRP involvement has also been

16 MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

more streamlined and less obtrusive. I think computer knowledge and improved communication has helped that aspect of our industry,” Goebel said.

tified, and they are also current with their EPA certification. They participate in direct repair programs with Alfa and State Farm Insurance companies. Their equipment includes a Kansas Jack Magna III frame machine, Uni-cured infrared paint booth, rotary lifts, Eagle II dent repair, Robinair Cool-tech A/C machine and Lincoln 140 mig welders. Bill also notes that smart phones have become a huge advantage during the past five years, providing help in regards to communicating with customers and allowing the shop to send photos and text information quickly and efficiently. The shop uses BASF Diamont paint. They get a large mixture of vehicles, new and older models and var-

Additionally, customer expectations are quite high, even for lowcost repairs, while vehicles have become increasingly complex. Another problem is that many manufacturers are producing vehicles with proprietary SRS and ABS systems, leading to an increased cost for the consumer. Bill also notes that few young people are interested in the auto body repair industry. Noting that it is extremely rare to see a body technician under the age of forty, he believes shop owners must actively pursue the younger generation coming out of school or there will be a huge lack of qualified repair technicians in the future of the Tech Josey Corum inside the shop’s paint booth auto body repair industry. “Skilled labor is going to be very ious manufacturers. Bill Goebel much in demand with no bodies to claims “paint match will always be a fill it.” challenge in this industry. The conChecker Auto Body employs sumer does not understand that paint seven people, including office staff, has a definite ‘life’ to it. Today’s vehiwho specialize in fiberglass, metal cles can expect about ten years of fabrication, custom paint and the repaint life if the vehicle is left outside. pair of buses and motorhomes. The We always let the owner know that shop is 5000 square feet. In addition there is going to be a difference in to thirty to forty body repairs monthly, brand new paint and five, six or even the shop supplements their revenue ten-year-old paint. Once they know through their tow truck, storage facil- this up front, it is usually not an ity and paintless dent repair. As well, issue.” they offer a rebuilding service for totaled vehicles, and they possess a Checker Auto Body Repair, Inc. dealer license for wholesaling vehi- 6235 Mastin Lake Road NW cles. Huntsville, AL 35810 Huntsville, AL’s Checker Auto 256-489-0962 Body is ASE-Certified and I-Car Cerwww.checkerautobody.com

South Motors HONDA

BMW

INFINITI

MAZDA

SUZUKI

VOLKSWAGEN

www.southmotors.com Original BMW Parts

bmwusa.com

South Motors Honda 16165 South Dixie Hwy., Miami, FL 33157

Parts: 888.418.3513 Hours: M-F 8:30am - 7:00pm Sat 9:00am - 3:00pm

South Motors BMW 16215 S. Dixie Hwy. Miami, FL 33157

Phone: (305) 256-2360 Hours: M-F 7:30am - 7:00pm Sat 8:00am - 3:00pm

INFINITI

South Motors Infiniti

South Motors Mazda

16915 South Dixie Hwy., Miami, FL 33157

18010 South Dixie Hwy., Miami, FL 33157

Parts: 305.256.2070

Parts: 888.628.1548

Hours: M-F 7:30am - 7:00pm Sat 8:00am - 3:00pm

South Motors VW

South Motors Suzuki

17920 South Dixie Hwy., Miami, FL 33157

Parts: 305.256.2370

Hours: M-F 7:30am - 7:00pm Sat 8:00am - 3:00pm

www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 17

On Creative Marketing

Tom Franklin has been a sales and marketing consultant for fifty years. He has written numerous books and provides marketing solutions and services for many businesses. He can be reached at (323) 871-6862 or at tbfranklin@aol.com. See Tom’s columns at www.autobodynews.com under Columnists > Franklin

Spotting a Newsworthy Opportunity with Thomas Franklin

This has been a year of extreme weather. Recently, fierce winds blew down hundreds of trees in one area I’m familiar with. Many of those trees damaged vehicles parked on the street or in driveways and those damaged vehicles wound up in a local collision center to be repaired. Those local shop owners obviously were pleased to get the business, but only one that I know of took the time to get some photos and get the story to a local newspaper to get the name of their shop in print. Perhaps if they had acted a bit faster, they could also have gotten their shop featured along with some of the TV news coverage of the wind damage, but any coverage is better than none. To take full advantage of a situation like this requires a real nose for news. Most shop owners are too busy taking care of business to constantly ask, “Is something happening that might get

us free publicity and our name and picture in the news?” The amazing thing is every shop owner, manager or estimator is presented with potential news stories most every day. Many vehicle owners who bring a crashed vehicle in for repair have a story to tell. And many of those stories are bizarre and often funny. If the customer is willing to have the story told— and better yet if he or she has some photos—there could be some great material to pass along to the evening news or the morning paper. People are especially interested in circumstances affecting pet animals or small children. For example, more than a million dogs are killed in car crashes every year. Many of these animals have been greatly loved by the driver or a family member. This could be a newsworthy story — especially if it was the pet of a small child. The im-

18 MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

portant thing for a representative of the shop to keep in mind is to not give the impression that this is an attempt to exploit a sad situation. Unless the story is funny and the vehicle owner is laughing about it too, a sad story has to have a positive appeal. If a pet is injured or killed, a story could appeal to viewers or readers to take greater pains to have a proper pet restraint in the vehicle. The same appeal could be made if a child is injured or killed and the seat belt or restraint was not being properly used. The story then has a public service message, but it can also reveal the name and concern of the shop and its owner. A similar message could have value if the driver fell asleep at the wheel. Drowsy driving accounts for about 4 percent of all fatal crashes in the United States, or roughly 1,500 deaths each year. Researchers at the U.C., San Diego School of Medicine

say that each year, potentially 980 lives could be saved and $11.1 billion in automobile-accident costs could be avoided if drivers who suffer from a disorder called obstructive sleep apnea were successfully treated. Half of the nation’s adults (51%) admit to driving while drowsy, reports the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Among 18 to 29 year olds, nearly onequarter report actually falling asleep at the wheel at some point during the past year, compared with 15% of those aged 30-64, and 6% of people 65 and older. There are about 5,000 fatal accidents a year involving big trucks, but there is no good way to know how many are due to truck-driver fatigue. “Driving while drowsy is no different than driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” says Richard Gelula, NSF’s Executive Director. “When you’re sleepy, your brain starts

to shut down,” “But even before you actually nod off, performance slips.” Trying harder to stay awake may not help. Your thinking slows, you miss signals and risk-taking behavior increases. At 60 mph, if you close your eyes for only one second, you’ve traveled 88 feet. Will a driver who crashed as a result of falling asleep be willing to reveal that? And if so, would he or she be willing to have that story publicized, even to provide a positive public service message? Possibly not, but it can never hurt to ask, and if the driver is willing, this could be a great story featuring the shop in a positive light. While these public service message stories may have the greatest value, the ones that are bizarre and often funny will be easier to get an agreement to publish. The driver who swerved and crashed to avoid hitting an armadillo that escaped from the zoo, or the homeowner who dropped a bucket of paint on his car while painting his house may be most willing to share in the laugh. The astute shop owner who thinks to pass these stories along to the press could enjoy an excellent bit of free publicity.

SAAB Dealers Still Looking at Options, Six Parties Still Contend

Six parties are still reportedly considering buying Saab Automobile, but Saab’s dealer base also has options. Saab’s demise is not necessarily certain, a Bloomberg report suggests. While 200 Saab dealers worldwide have chosen to close up shop during the last two years, but the remaining are turning to competing automakers to land franchises as Saab’s fate becomes less promising, the report said. In fact, Saab National Dealer Council leader Kurt Schirm said each of Saab’s 188 U.S. dealers is considering other brands. Connecticut dealer Guildford Saab’s general manager Tom Backes is reported to have courted both Maserati and Mitsubishi. “I’ve reached out to quite a few brands,” Backes was quoted as saying. “Some have said, ‘We’re not expanding,’ and others have said, ‘We’ll take a look at it.’ It’s a slow process.” Garel Rhys, head of the automotive industry research center at the University of Cardiff, said: “These dealerships have a loyal clientele who might switch brands. They’re often in very good locations and well-established. So I’m quite optimistic about the prospects of Saab dealerships”

Val-Test Distributor Show Announces New Product Winners

The annual Val-Test Distributor Show and Meeting was held January 20–23, 2012 at The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club in Naples, Florida. Celebrating their 50th Anniversary, Val-Test is one of the nation’s leading buying and marketing group for distributors of hardware, sundries, and marine products.

(l to r): Heather Mingo, Shawn Orr accept the award for Sundry winner on behalf of Preval’s vFan Airbrush, while Matt Heiny (r) accepts for Shop-vac’s Toolmate

Vendors in attendance had the opportunity to spotlight their newest and most innovative products. The New Products were separated into two categories, hardware and sundries, and were on display for review and ballot vote by Val-Test members during the three-day extravaganza. This year’s Sundry winner is Preval for vFan Airbrush, the only device on the market that converts to an air gun and achieves both 3-inch fan and 1/16-inch

A Smart Solution

hairline spray patterns for detail. Amazingly portable, vFan can be used in all environments when powered by 150 feet of energy, Preval’s innovative, eco-friendly aerosol compressor unit containing 7 ounces of VOC-exempt propellant that powers more than 150 feet of linear paint coverage and up to 40 square feet of paint coverage per unit. The vFan Airbrush is also compatible with most workshop compressors. This product was represented by Sales Representatives Shawn Orr and Heather Mingo (877.753.0021). Visit their Web site for more information: www.preval.com. The winner for the Hardware, Plumbing, and Electrical Division went to ShopVac for Toolmate, a full size toolbox with detachable 2.5 gallon, 2.5 Peak HP wet/dry vac. The tool box includes removable tray with storage dividers, heavy duty aluminum handle and buckles. All vac accessories conveniently store inside the toolbox lid, including the supplied filter. This product was represented by Matt Heiney, Senior National Accounts Manager (570.321.7204). For more information: www.shopvac.com.

THE CARCOON WORKSTATION

• Simple drive in access providing a completely unique and fully enclosed working environment. • Patented technology uses a massive 179 square ft. filter area including Triple Layer Paint Arrest filters. • High Volume Low Pressure airflow technology including airlock access. • Meets the emission requirements of 98% capture efficiency. (EPA- RULE 6H)

CSS USA, Inc. Phone: (904) 567-3825 (866) 910-0889 www.carcoonusa.com info@carcoonusa.com www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 19

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www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 21

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NSF Certifies PartsChannel Under Automotive Collision Parts Distributor Certification Program Autobody News

March 2012

FLORIDA • GEORGIA • ALABAMA • MISSISSIPPI

NSF International has certified PartsChannel Inc. under the NSF Automotive Collision Parts Distributor Certification Program, a program that certifies distributors who sell automotive collision parts. The NSF Automotive Collision Parts Distributor Certification Program requires that distributors have quality management systems in place that address parts traceability, service and quality. The program helps close the gap in the supply chain between parts manufacturers and body shops and was developed in response to the needs of collision repair shops, insurers and ultimately consumers.

PartsChannel Inc., a distributor serving the collision repair industry since 1985, is one of the first companies to earn this automotive parts distributor certification from NSF International. To earn certification, PartsChannel Inc. demonstrated that it has effective records systems and inventory tracking systems to track orders and parts through the supply chain. PartsChannel Inc. also met the following criteria as required by the NSF automotive distributor program: ● an ISO 9001-certified quality management system, ● a parts traceability and inventory tracking system,

According to Consumer Reports, Subaru of America is recalling a small number of its 2012 Subaru Legacy sedans and 2012 Subaru Outback wagons due to an airbags issue. According to NHTSA, the cars have side air bags that might not deploy during a collision and increase the risk of injury to drivers and passengers. NHTSA says around 381 Subaru Outback and Legacy vehicles were manufactured last December with side air bag components that contain the incorrect propellant mixtures. The improper mixture in the

side curtain air bag initiators may prevent the safety devices from deploying during a collision. Subaru plans on notifying owners of these vehicles in early April. Owners will be instructed to bring in their vehicles to a local Subaru dealership where mechanics will replace one or both side curtain air bag initiators, free of charge. For more information, consumers can call Subaru’s toll-free customer support line (800-782-2783) and reference Subaru recall number WVZ-36 or visit NHTSA’s safety website: www.SaferCar.gov.

Subaru Recalling 2012 Outback and Legacy Models for Air Bags

● a defective parts procedure including a customer part complaint process, ● the ability to administer a manufacturer’s recall, and ● when necessary, a formal corrective action to complaints and an immediate recall plan. “Launched in July as an extension of NSF International’s Automotive Collision Replacement Parts Certification Program, the NSF automotive distributor certification program certifies the ability of distributors, including PartsChannel Inc., to meet rigid performance standards including having an effective system to track orders and parts,”

said Bob Frayer, Director of NSF International’s Automotive Parts Certification Programs. “We are honored to be among the first in what we see as the most beneficial industry-wide program to help increase the professional standing of distributors,” said PartsChannel Inc. Chief Executive Officer John M. Palumbo. “We feel NSF International’s unique program, which continually monitors the stringent quality assurance processes within any parts distribution operation, will greatly benefit our customers.” For more information visit nsfautomotive.com.

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NHTSA Investigating Chevy and Toyota Models for Power Windows

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into 2006 and 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazers SUVs as well as 2007 Toyota RAV4 SUVs and Toyota Camry sedans for consumer complaints of the power windows switches on the driver’s door melting or burning. According to NHTSA, there have been 12 consumer complaints and other reports from General Motors of the master window switch on the Chevy Trailblazer melting. Several of the consumer complaints re-

port the master power window switches have led to fires in the driver’s door. The door fires occurred while the SUVs were running as well when vehicles were left unintended and “key off,” according to the NHTSA. Engineers with the ODI and GM will investigate the issue further and determine if an official recall for 2006 and 2007 model year Chevrolet Trailblazer SUVs is warranted. Consumers can file a vehicle safety complaint with the NHTSA’s website, www.SaferCar.gov.

22 MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

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Gonzo’s Toolbox with Gonzo Weaver

This is a new story by Scott “Gonzo” Weaver as posted on his website, www.gonzostoolbox.com. Gonzo has been serving the Tulsa area at Superior Auto Electric for over 27 years. See his book “Hey Look! I Found The Loose Nut”, which provides a Good Laugh for Mechanics of Any Age. The book is available at amazon.com. Contact Gonzo at Gonzosae@aol.com.

Code Talkers: It Takes More Than Reading Codes to Be a Good Automotive Technician

During World War II the US used a secret type of language to send and receive messages, so the enemy couldn’t find out what they were talking about. They enlisted the help of Navajo and Comanche Native Americans as radio operators. These guys used a combination of their language and relative terms as a way to disguise the real message over unsecured radio waves during World War II. Most of the coding was done by using a native word for each letter of the message. Such as, if you were going to say the word “ARMY” they would pick one of the native words that represented a word in English with the first letter “A” and the same for each letter after that. In other words the letter “B” would be sent over the radio waves as, “Toish-Jeh” which means, “barrel” in English. So the word “ARMY” would have been transmitted something like

this: “Wol-la-chee” (Ant) – “Gah” (rabbit) – “Tsin-tliti” (Match) – “Tsah-as-zih” (Yucca) Thus the word Army would have been spelled out and easily translated at the other end. A lot of times an entire phrase could be stated with one word, or a word that was often used had a selected native word that was used as a substitute. Then on other occasions an English word was thrown in just to confuse the whole thing even more. It was quite ingenious, and believe it or not, the code was never—ever—broken. To quote General Howard Connor (while at Iwo Jima), “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would have never taken Iwo Jima.” Trying to sound out those four Native American words (correctly) and translate it into the actual word was easy for these guys. They understood it, it’s their language and they

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could send/translate and relay an answer faster than any machine available back in the day. They truly were code talkers. So you might ask where am I going with all of this? Well, think about it, doesn’t this sound something like the codes we have with today’s cars? It does to me. I read a code, translate it into working data, and solve a problem, all with a language that isn’t understood by everyone out there. I guess you could call me a modern day code talker. The big difference is you’ve got people with hand held scanners they bought at a local store or from the internet, and have the ability to “read” a code. Or some of them have been to a repair shop that has bought a scanner and read the codes for them. But, they can’t break the code. They can’t determine what to do with the information they have in front of them. Think about it… it’s World War II, and you’ve just copied down a message from your secret hiding spot on the side of the hill. You are about to relay the message to your superior officers. But, you still haven’t a clue what that gibberish means. It’s like reading a code on a car these days, and not having a clue what all that information means. That’s where a qualified automotive technician, (aka code talker) is needed. I have lost count of how many times a car has come into my shop with a customer standing at the counter. They have already been somewhere else, and the other shop has given them an invoice with the codes and the definition written down on it, and more than likely a big “goose egg” in the charge column of the invoice. And they still haven’t had their problem resolved. “Oh I see they didn’t charge you to read the codes… how nice of them (said a little sarcastically I might add). So, you need me to find out what it all means right?” I’ll ask. “Yes, but I won’t need it diagnosed; that’s already done,” the customer will tell me. Of course it’s already diagnosed, and you know what is going to hap-

pen next. I’m going to tell them there is a charge to trace out the actual problem and determine the reason for the fault code. Any tests that are needed or extra equipment needed to diagnose the problem is all incorporated into the diagnostic fee, which of course ends up with a customer just about to grab all their paper work and head out the door. Because, oh you know what’s coming next, “It shouldn’t cost anything to find out what’s wrong with my car, because I already had that done.” This is when I break into my “code talker” story and inform the customer of what the process takes to actually find out what that particular code means. “There’s everything from a compression check to TSB’s that need to be considered when it comes to diagnosing a problem,” I’ll tell them. Let’s face it, an oscilloscope ain’t cheap, and as far as I know they aren’t giving away these scanners, not to mention the hand tools, meters, and specialty equipment you’ll need to perform some of these tests. I realize that the code information to them sounds more like “Comanche” or “Navajo” lingo than it does plain English, but then, I’m a modern day code talker. I can read it, I can interpret it, and I can translate it into English. That’s what I’m here for. The next thing to do is make the customer aware of the level of sophistication that is needed to decipher these coded messages from the car. It still amazes me that there are still a lot of people out there who assume replacing a part will always solve the problem, and that intensive research isn’t necessary. I don’t know about you, but there are times when I have a car in the shop that looks like it is on life support with the amount of gadgets I’ve got hanging out of the hood or from under the dash, and it all started off with a simple code. (This is one of those times a cell phone or a camera comes in handy and sending a shot of the owner’s car to them so they can see what you’ve had to do to See Code Talkers, Page 39

www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 23

Continued from Front Page

PARTS Bill

such design patent if the purpose of such article of manufacture is for the repair of a motor vehicle so as to restore such vehicle to its appearance as originally manufactured; and after the expiration of a period of 30 months beginning on the first day on which any such component part is first offered to the public for sale as part of a motor vehicle in any country, it shall not be an act of infringement of such design patent to use or sell within the United States any article of manufacture that is similar or the same in appearance to the component part that is claimed in such design patent if the purpose of such article of manufacture is for the repair of a motor vehicle so as to restore such vehicle to its appearance as originally manufactured.” “Competition is the hallmark of our free market system,” Issa said. “Consumers have dozens of choices in electronics, food, service, clothing and other products – this same array of choices, across all price points, should also extend to automotive repair parts.”

Major aftermarket distributors and the Quality Parts Coalition have a vested interest in being able to manufacture and import aftermarket parts, however collision repairers in general should be leary of increasing the controversy over the quality of replacement parts specified on insurance estimates. Proponents of the bill note that car manufacturers currently control 72 percent of the repair parts market and have been steadily increasing the use of design patents. Competition is reduced and consumers end up paying more than necessary for parts they say. Because of these elevated costs, insurers will sometimes consider vehicles totals instead of paying for repairs. The result is that consumers are forced to replace a repairable vehicle with a different car, an expense the QPC argues can be avoided if the PARTS Act becomes law. The bill has also received the support of the American Insurance Association a property-casualty insurance trade organization that represents nearly 300 insurers. Noted Melissa Shelk, AIA vice president for federal affairs, “Consumers deserve access to high-quality alternative replacement

Parts Parts you you Need. Need. People People you you Trust. Trust. Genuine Genu Ge Genu nuin ine Mitsubishi Miits Mi tsub ts ubis bis ishi shi hi replacerep epla lace cement Crash Parts meent nt Craashh Par arts ts are are re close close lose lo s at at hand handd through thr hrou ough ou gh the the he following follo olllo lowi wing ingg quality q al qu a it ityy dealerships. ddeeal aler e sh er ship ipps. s. They The heyy offer offerr off exceptional customer eexxce cept cept ptio i nal naal cuust stomer omer service, om serrvi vice ice ce, e, wide w de wi de selection seelleeccti tion o of of in-stock i -ssto in tockk parts ppaarrtts and and the an tthhe experience expe ex perriieennce ce necessary nnece ne ceessa ssssary aarry to to ensure ensur nsur ns ure your yyoour ur repairs reepair pair pa irs proceed irs proc pr roc o eeed smoothly. smoo sm oothly oo thly th ly.

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parts. Increased competition means decreased prices and greater choice for consumers.” The AIA says that “quality” replacement parts for such collision parts including bumpers, fenders and hoods can cost consumers approximately 26 to 50 percent less. Insurance savings can be realized when consumers choose these alternative parts, but only if such parts are available. Shelk says that consumers pay an extra $1.5 billion annually because of the current patent restrictions on replacement collision parts. Not surprisingly, OEMs oppose this limitation on their design patents. In the past, groups opposing similar legislation have said that “copycat” parts are harmful to OEMs and consumers alike. At a March 16, 2010 hearing in front of the House Judiciary committee, Damian Porcari, attorney and director, Enforcement and Licensing, Ford Global Technologies, said, “The copyists want to eliminate design patent protection because that’s what they make. As soon as their business model includes engines, brakes and air bags, we will likely hear the call for

the elimination of patent protection on all types of replacement parts. And it won’t stop with cars. The denial of intellectual property rights will always reduce copiers’ costs.” See Autobodynews.com for full text of Porciari’s 2010 testimony.

SCRS Offers Repairers Digital Member Services E-catalog

The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) is offering collision repairers its 2012 First Quarter Digital E-Catalog. It includes information regarding SCRS member benefits and information about some of the services repairers can access at a discount as a member of SCRS. “It is our hope that you will find this material to be valuable and relevant by providing you with information on products and services available to SCRS members,” said Aaron Schulenburg, SCRS executive director. “If you are a repair facility, we encourage you to share this with your friends and colleagues; if you are with an association, please pass it along to your membership.” Repairers can access the directory at http://www.zmags.com.

Global Collision Uses Garmat USA Paint Spray Booths in All 8 Locations by Ed Attanasio

When you’re painting a substantial number of luxury cars every month in eight locations and many of them are top-name brands such as Bentley, Jaguar, Porsche, BMW, MercedesBenz and Aston Martin, you need to use the finest equipment and products available. By working with the best companies, hiring the best people and committing to best practices, Global Collision in Colorado is very happy with Garmat USA, a leading manufacturer of ecologically responsible, competitively priced, and code compliant paint booths, paint mixing rooms and vehicle prep areas. Global Collision’s Chief Financial Officer Tim Bator respects the Garmat booths for their reliability, versatility and easy maintainability, he told Autobody News. “We’ve established a great relationship with Garmat over the years. We have their downdraft booths and their regular paint spray booths in all of our locations. In the past eight years, we’ve purchased a total of 16, so we’re obviously committed to Garmat and appreciate their quality, service and support.” The 3000 Series spray booths that Global Collision uses are Garmat’s top-of-the-line downdraft spray booths. “We wanted superior airflow and the best lighting we could find. With ten foot-wide doors and a 27 foot cabin, it’s easy to get even large cars in and out of the booth.” Being proactive about maintaining and regularly servicing his Garmat equipment is a big endeavor with so many locations, but Bator knows the importance of doing it right. “You’ve got to take care of your paint booths, just like you do with your car. We perform our scheduled maintenance on all our paint spray booths on a monthly basis, to ensure the longevity of the equipment. We expect 20-25 years of service out of these Garmat paint spray booths, so it’s a big investment and we want to protect it.” Bator appreciates the fact that when he has issues or questions with his Garmat paint spray booths, he can call directly on the manufacturer located in Englewood, Colorado to attain easy fast answers. “They’ve been with us from the beginning and they’ve been very supportive in getting the paint spray booths up and running and working properly. When we ask them for something, they step up and get it done for us. You can’t really ask anything more from a vendor.” Early in 2008 Global Collision made the decision to convert to waterborne paint after much thought and

SHOP & PRODUCT SHOWCASE Global Collision

8 locations in Colorado

Telephone: 303-442-2047 www.globalcollision.com

Operations Manager Tim Bator. “When we ask (Garmat) for something, they step up and get it done for us. You can’t really ask anything more from a vendor.”

consideration, George Lilley said. “This decision was not made lightly nor with great haste. The major concern to the environment is from the VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) which include the kind of solvents that are used in conventional paints. These solvents escape into the air thus contributing to air pollution.” The switchover to waterborne has been a big hit among Global’s painters. Bator explained, “We used the solvent for so many years because it was the industry standard. We switched for the environment and two months later we asked our painters what they thought. ‘We’re not ever going back to solvent—we love the waterborne!’ they told us. They were quickly up and running with the waterborne and the Garmat paint spray booths have worked perfectly since.” Global Collision prides itself on using an internationally accepted waterborne paint system that adheres to the strict environmental guidelines of the European Union and officially approved by numerous automotive manufacturers. All eight shops are fully adept at precisely mixing approximately 23,000 solid, metallic, and pearlescent colors while accurately matching all major current and classic vehicle colors. Established more than 10 years ago, Global Collision has grown rapidly since George Lilley started the company in 2003. With an extensive career in the collision repair industry, he founded Lilley Group-UK, and worked with the Haggie Group in Scotland, and the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria to Australia, to establish multiple shops. One of Lilley’s signature creations is his Flow Line production system,

which he used with great success in the United Kingdom and central Europe before bringing it to Colorado. “The efficiency of the shop is maximized with the Flow Line system, because all of the space in the shop is utilized completely,” Bator said. “This way we don’t need a 40,000 square-foot body shop to produce what we’re currently doing. With the paint booths in the middle of the shop, it allows us to push more cars through the system, which gives us better cycle times and makes us more attractive to our insurance partners.” “When I first came to America, I performed market research on the local repair industry and identified a considerable difference between the level of customer care; types of equipment, training and technology being used here compared to Europe,” Lilley said. “My goal was to gain a greater understanding of the American procedures and mentality and combine the knowledge with European standards. I am pleased to say that I have experienced a magnificent response from my American colleagues, and together we work successfully as a team to provide the very best the collision repair industry has to offer from around the world.” Above all, Bator explained, the key factor to the system’s success is the seamless, limited movement of each vehicle. “Strict quality control procedures are in place to ensure that each stage of the repair process is documented and accounted for. As a result of the Flow Line concept, vehicles are repaired more rapidly than the industry’s average downtime, providing customers with a more efficient, timely repair without compromising quality.”

Jake Shaw, Body Shop Manager (right) with painter Anthony Romero in front of Garmat USA 3000 Paint Spray Booth. Anthony says “He really likes painting in Garmat Paint Booths.”

Operations Manager Tim Bator (left) and Painter Dave Behlow of Global Collision. “In the past eight years we have purchased a total of 16 Garmat Spray Booths, so we’re obviously committed to Garmat and appreciate their quality, service and support.”

Garmat USA Phone: (800) 442-7628 email: sales@garmat.com website: www.garmat.com

www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 25

U.S. Auto Industry Bullish on 2012, Sales up 11%

2012 is off to a good start for the U.S. auto industry as reported sales for January outpaced the best industry forecasts. Sales overall were up 11% at an annualized rate of 14.2 million units, the best since August 2009. Chrysler Group was up 44% and Ford Motor up 7.3%. GM sold the most units but sales declined 6%. VW Group was up 40%. The disasters in Japan seem to be digested with Mazda up 68%, Toyota up 7.5%, Honda up 9.3% and Nissan up 10%. Hyundai-Kia is up 20%.

California Law Demands More Low Emission Vehicles

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) called for a steep ramping up of zero- or very low-emission vehicles sold in state from 2018 onward. The goal is for them to comprise 15.4 percent of all vehicles sold by 2025, up from less than 1 percent today. The ruling called for a slashing of tailpipe emissions from the rest of the passenger vehicle population beginning sooner in 2015 and extending through 2025. At least one of every seven vehicles sold will be a plug-in hybrid, extended-range electric vehicle or pure battery-electric vehicle, or BEV.

Chevy Volt Sees Stalled Momentum, Also Optimism

The Chevy Volt hasn’t quite caught on as expected by many. Although GM has plans and could produce as many as 60,000 Volts in 2012, GM will adjust production at the Hamtramck plant in Detroit to meet demand. Of the planned 60,000, about 75% or 45,000 are for the U.S. and the rest for Europe, built as the Opel Ampera, and China. GM has said they still don’t have a clear sense of how much demand there is for battery-electric vehicles. the government closed its investigation of post-crash fires in Chevrolet Volt batteries after further testing proved the changes General Motors has implemented better protect the batteries. GM announced in early January that it would retrofit 14,735 Volts already built and make permanent changes on the Volt assembly line at the DetroitHamtramck plant. In January GM boss, Dan Ackerson, faced Congress to defend the car and calm safety concerns. He also firmly stated that the car was engineered with plenty of technology and safety but was “not engineered to be a political punching bag.” GM is running full page newspaper ads and TV spots in a reputationrebuilding effort for the Chevy Volt.

MOPAR Celebrates 75th Anniversay, 4 New Models

Feds Escalate Jeep Airbag Investigation

Honda’s Ridgeline Recall

Second Toyota Driver’s Door Fire Probe Launched

MOPAR, Chrysler’s parts division, celebrated it’s 75th anniversary at their Performance and Accessory Lab in Center Line, MI with famous drag racer, “Big Daddy” Don Garlits blowing out the candles on the cake. MOPAR’s first branding was on antifreeze in 1937. Inspiring a great deal of loyalty, there are more than 400 MOPAR clubs worldwide. Four new special edition Mopar vehicles were unveiled, including the Chrysler 300, Fiat 500, Jeep Compass and even the 2013 Dodge Dart, not in showrooms yet.

Honda is recalling certain 2011–2012 Ridgeline vehicles for a discrepancy between the spare tire and the information on the vehicle’s tire information label. Honda Ridgeline trucks sold in the United States are fitted with a compact spare tire and, in some cases, placards may incorrectly indicate that the Ridgeline came with a full-sized spare tire. Honda will either provide Ridgeline owners with a spare that will match the information provided on the vehicle’s placard or it will install a new placard that reflects the spare tire installed by the factory. Tire pressure may not be correct.

The Jeep Liberty SUV is getting greater scrutiny from Federal safety regulators after 50 people reported they were hurt when the air bags inflated without involvement in a crash. The NHTSA started investigating Liberty SUVs from the 2002 and 2003 model years in September. There have now been 87 complaints, with 50 of them resulting in injury. Chrysler hasn't been able to nail down a single cause of, or even a single protocol for the problem; the airbags have deployed on startup and when the car is running.

Federal safety regulators are investigating fires in the driver’s side doors of Chevy TrailBlazers, the second such probe within a week. The latest inquiry involves more than 309,000 TrailBlazer SUVs from the 2006 and 2007 model years. The fires began in the power window switch or related electrical parts, the NHTSA said. U.S. safety regulators had opened aninvestigation into consumer complaints of driver’s side door fires in 2007 model year Toyota Camry sedans and RAV4 crossover SUVs.

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GM is Back on Top As the World Number One

General Motors said it is once again the world’s largest automaker with global sales of 9.03 million vehicles for a record $7.6 billion in 2011. That’s 11% higher than Volkswagen. In 2011, Volkswagen took second place with record global sales of 8.16 million, up 14 percent from the year before. But, it seems GM included sales by affiliates and VW did not. Toyota finished fourth in 2011 with 7.9 million vehicles sold. Toyota said in December that it plans to sell 8.48 million vehicles in 2012.

Chrysler Recalls Police Cars

Chrysler Group LLC recalled nearly 10,000 Dodge Charger police vehicles built last year due to overheating issues that may lead to headlamp and brake failure. The recall affects 9,688 Chargers for the 2011 and 2012 model years. The problems could lead to a loss of visibility or braking ability, increasing the risk of a crash, according to a NHTSA posting. In some police cars, the low beam headlights may fail because of an overheated bulb harness connector. In other vehicles, the antilock brake and electronic stability system may stop working due to an overheated power distribution center.

Chrysler Reports First Full Year Profit Since Crisis

Phoenix Auctions Show Collector Cars’ Comeback

Consumer Reports Says Brand Perception Narrows

Nissan Recalls 2012 Versa

KBB Gets New President

DuPont Paint Unit Bidding

Chrysler Group LLC reported a net profit of $183 million for 2011, swinging back into the black from a loss of $652 million in 2010. Higher sales of Jeeps and other new vehicles propelled Chrysler to its first annual net income since 1997, capping a pivotal turnaround that many thought would never happen. Chrysler’s U.S. sales increase of 44 percent last month surpassed eight analysts’ average estimate for a 32 percent sales gain. The company’s free cash flow was $1.9 billion last year, and has forecast a $1 billion free cash flow for 2012.

RM Auctions were among six major classic and collector car auctions in Arizona in January. Like the rest of the car industry, collector cars are coming back. RM Auctions held its 2012 sale January 19-20 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix, resulting in $25.6 million in sales and a 90% sell-through rate. Their top seller was a 1957 Ferrari 410 Superamerica Scaglietti Coupe at over $1.8 million. Also a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spyder for $990,000, and a 1959 BMW 507 Roadster for $990,000.

Kelley Blue Book announced Feb. 14 NHTSA says 36,608 2012 Nissan Verthat president Paul Johnson has resigned sas failed to comply with the requirefrom his position effective immediately. ments of federal motor vehicle safety Original BMW BMW on the role as president for KBB Taking standard No.Parts114 titled “Theft Protec- North County will be AutoTrader.com vice president tion.” NHTSA discovered that due to inJared Rowe. Rowe is currently vice presterference between the shifter rod and ident of product management for Autothe bmwusa.com shift knob, the vehicles may be www.ncountybmw.com (800) 564-8222 Trader.com in Atlanta, Ga. Rowe’s new shifted out of the park position without role is effective immediately. Kelley depressing the brake pedal. The agency BMW Parts BMW Book was acquired by AutoBlue fearsOriginal the operator can inadvertently shift North County Trader.com in October 2010. Rowe also the vehicle into gear without the brake held positions at Autobytel in business pedal being depressed, increasing the development and at Central Atlantic risk bmwusa.com of a crash or injury to a nearby www.ncountybmw.com (800) 564-8222 Toyota Distributors as a service and parts pedestrian. Nissan told NHTSA it plans manager. to begin notifying owners. Original BMW Parts

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For years, Toyota, Ford, and Honda have been the top names in Consumer Reports’ annual Car-Brand Perception Survey. They are still at the top, but they have seen double-digit drops in their scores. That has narrowed the gap between the top names and other brands. Only two points behind Honda this year was Chevrolet, followed by MercedesBenz, BMW, Volvo, Cadillac, Lexus and newcomer Tesla. “Dramatic events in the automotive industry seem to be affecting how consumers view auto brands,” said deputy editor Jeff Bartlett. DuPont has launched the process to sell its automotive paint unit, according to the Reuters news agency. DuPont is accepting bids for its automotive paint division. The report listed several private equity firms as being interested. It also claimed that Credit Suisse Group, serving as advisers, distributed information material among possible suitors. The business unit could garner more than $4 billion. It was reported in October that DuPont had thought about such a sale, but the latest is that the company has started taking bids. DuPont said it does not comment on rumors or speculation.

Shop Showcase with Erica Schroeder

Erica Schroeder is assistant editor at Autobody News in Carlsbad, CA. She loves to talk with owners about their shops and goings on in their areas. Contact her at eschroeder@autobodynews.com, or 800-699-8251

FCC Collision Continues Expansion in the Greater San Francisco Area FCC Collision Centers, a multi-shop operation with three locations in Mountain View, Milpitas and Sunnyvale, CA,

2008 and 2009 the Pipers had to ride the slow economic wave just like the rest of the industry. with John Yoswick Although, according to Jason, one thing set their businesses apart from the rest during this time, “We push hard during the slow times to reinvent our business.” During the recession the group reinvented their marketing strategy, improved their operations and with Ed Attanasioupped their training to get ready for the economic rebound. It paid off—the businesses have seen a 15 to 20 percent growth in the past few years and FCC Collision Centers’ owners Matt, Adam have gained several new DRPs. and Jason Piper Then 4 months ago the Pipers destarted in 1975 when Adam Piper decided to buy a third location in Sunnycided to start his own business. A revale. They are currently working to get with Attanasio pairman at the time, he Ed purchased the more DRPs as well as improving the locations in Milpitas and Mountain building and image of that location. View and ran those until 1996. The Pipers hope to grow FCC to 4 or 5 Then he decided to sell both of locations within the next few years and those locations to a business called see continued growth of locations as M2 Collision Care Center, while the best way to stay competitive. maintaining ownership of the buildAccording to Jason, there is a lot ings the businesses were in. of industry consolidation going on currently and FCC intends to stay competitive in the industry with their continued growth. “The market is fertile for consolidation right now,” said Jason. The Pipers are currently looking for a fourth location, but it’s got to be the right location, says Jason. Ultimately the Pipers want their locations to complement each other, The crew at the FCC Milpitas location since the current three locaThen in 2005 M2 went bankrupt tions service adjacent communities. and since his two sons, Matt and “One thing you can’t be in this Jason, were working at other collision industry is stagnant,” said Jason. repair centers in the area, Adam asked Across all locations FCC curthem if they’d go into partnership with rently has 40 employees, sees about him on the two stores. Now Matt cur250 cars per month and grosses nearly rently manages the Mountain View lo$7 million annually. Mountain View is cation and Jason manages the Milpitas the largest location with 22,000 location; they both manage the new square-feet, then Milpitas with 16,000 Sunnyvale location. and Sunnyvale with 8,000. “We worked really hard the first The family trio works together well couple of years to build the businesses and has common goals when it comes back up,” said Jason. M2 had burned to the businesses. Matt handles much of some bridges in the industry before the training, production flow, estimate going out of business and the buildaccuracy functions and daily manageings also needed some repair, so the ment; Jason handles the accounting, trio worked hard for the first few years HR, IT and daily management; and to get the business to where it is now. Adam handles the business developDuring the economic recession in ment, marketing, industry relations and

Industry Insight

Shop Showcase

Social Media for Shops

“old guy” stuff, according to Jason. All three shops are equipped with state-of-the-art auto body repair equipment including Chief EZ-Liner Frame Machines and “Velocity”Computerized Measuring Systems.

structural repairs to ensure strict adherence to OEM standards. This ‘tool’ allows us to provide the best, safest repair for our customers,” said Matt Piper. All three locations are also I-CAR GOLD certified. Management requires that all personnel enroll in any workshops or classes offered by original auto manufacturers or auto paint companies. The businesses are also currently in a direct repair partnership with several large insurers. They also do paintless dent removal, wheel alignment, glass replacement, detailing and glass tinting, towing and rental cars. Adam Piper has also been very FCC’s newest location in Sunnyvale, CA active throughout the industry in his Each shop is also equipped with modcareer; including sitting on the Board ern downdraft SprayBake spray of Directors of the Santa Clara Chapbooths, and uses only Dupont paint. ter of the California Auto Body AssoAll three shops are currently in ciation since 1983, being Santa Clara contract with VeriFacts, an independChapter President five times and servent service company that analyzes, ing as Committee Co-Chair of the evaluates, trains and reviews ongoing newly formed Definitions Committee work on a monthly basis. VeriFacts as- for the Collision Industry Conference sures that technicians maintain the in 1994-97. FCC maintains memberhighest quality work through verificaship in the California Auto Body Astion and authentication of repairs acsociation, the Society of Collision cording to industry standards and Repair Specialists, the National Fedoriginal manufacturers’ guidelines. All eration of Independent Businesses and the Better Business Bureau. “We aspire to always provide our customers with a service and ownership experience that consistently satisfies their needs and exceeds their expectations,” said Adam Piper. FCC’s first location opened in 1975 in Mountain View, CA The company’s logo is three owners feel that their contract “Quality, Service and Dependability.” with VeriFacts helps them to maintain For more information please visit integrity in their repairs. www.fcc-collision.com. “Using VeriFacts is a big part of who we are; we’re always raising the FCC Mountain View bar on quality by obtaining the most 177 East Evelyn Ave. recent OEM standards,” said Jason. Mountain View, CA 94040 FCC has archived the highest (650) 965-1440 level within the Verifacts program, called Medallion status. This status is FCC Milpitas attained after a history of verified cer1416 S Main St. tification, training, equipment, quality Milpitas, CA 95035 and adherence to OEM standards has (408) 263-9999 been established. FCC is one of only a handful of shops that have attained FCC Sunnyvale this status across the US. 904 E. Arques Ave. “FCC utilizes AllData and reSunnyvale, CA 94085 searches OEM specifications on all (408) 400-2440

www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 29

The Community-Focused Body Shop

Domenico Nigro is the president of Nigro’s Auto Body, a very progressive shop for their community in Philadelphia. In addition to many productivity innovations, Nigro’s installs equipment for disabled drivers, has developed several phone Applications, and represents products which directly support charities such as United Way and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Contact him at: nigroautobody@comcast.net.

A Shop Owner’s Suggestions to Control Steering and Worse to Come with Domenico Nigro

Modern vehicles are complex and increasingly easily totaled; advances like anti-lock brakes and traction control have increased driver control, and increased consumer awareness has improved safe driving practices. This all translates into fewer repair jobs and collision shops must follow best practices to remain profitable. But what about business declines due to steering? Steering has existed since the beginning of the auto insurance industry and, while illegal, it may be here to stay unless something is done to change the awareness, standards within the industry and the laws that govern their behavior. Steering hurts both the shops and the customer, and if there is going to be progression in this industry, a solution must be found and regulations must be enforced. Good body shops are being forced out of business. Car owners are receiving sub par parts and service. A solution would benefit the

entire industry and its customers. The shops trying their hardest to get work based on their reputation and work aren’t the only ones being affected. The customer is also affected by steering and it can be dangerous to more than the bottom line. Insurance companies can have agreements with shops and vendors where the car owner will get cheaper aftermarket or unexamined used parts, which can have hairline fractures or other structural issues that may be unsafe. Almost everyone agrees that this practice hurts the industry, but for decades no progress has been made to change it. Obviously a steered vehicle usually ends up at a DRP shop, rather than an independent one, and whether you see steering as good or bad depends on which type of shop you have. One reason there’s not enough opposition to steering is that the shops losing jobs are balanced by the DRP shops

that benefit from it. Solutions must be evaluated and once one is agreed upon, implementation and enforcement must be carried out and monitored. So, what are the possible solutions?

Unity Within the Community The auto body industry should come together, DRPs and non-DRPs, as a community, to set a standard for repairs and claims. Standards for what procedures are covered must be made so that fair and accurate prices are charges industry wide. This level of communication and standard setting doesn’t currently exist and causes greater separation within the body shop community and resentment from non-DRPs who may not be able to match DRP prices because the influx of jobs coming to DRPs allows them to offer unnaturally low prices. Change Method of Reporting a Claim

Currently, the vast majority of claims are made over the phone. These phone calls often include a recommendation from the insurance company for a preferred DRP shop. Instead of phoning in a claim, improve the Internet claim submission process, so that the first steps of the claim can be done online and don’t require human interaction. This will eliminate the possibility that the car owner is manipulated into using a particular shop recommended solely by the insurance company. Another option is making the claim in person from the body shop of their choice. Instead of first calling the insurance agency, have the car owner call the insurance company after they choose a shop, and if possible, have them call from the shop. Awareness We must let the car owners know that they do have a choice when it comes to

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who is repairing their car. The aggressive “recommendation” practices won’t intimidate or influence the car owner if they are aware that the practice is illegal, and by allowing the insurance company to influence their decision, they are partaking in illegal practices that can ultimately hurt the car owner.

Curtail DRPs, Stop Preferred Providers DRPs are the greatest source of friction between shops and insurers but worse could be on the horizon. “Preferred provider options” are proposed by the insurance industry to control costs by offering policyholders discounts in exchange for limiting their choices when it comes to collision repair. Those limits include the use of specific repair shops and the use of aftermarket or non-OEM parts and sheet metal. If we eliminate DRPs we can start to re-establish free enterprise, allowing the best shops offering the most fair pricing and doing best quality work to get the job, which will restore a more natural flow within the industry. Policy Changes and Regulation On a larger scale, the issue of steering can be addressed through legislation.

Insurance agencies need to stop strongarming their customers to take their car to a preferred shop which is an obvious conflict of interest. Steering is detrimental to free enterprise and doesn’t allow for the industry to react naturally to the laws of supply and demand. Just as the government created laws that regulate monopolies that impede free enterprise, they can mandate changes to the auto insurance industry. Steering creates a whole set of problems that are in the consumers’ best interest to correct. Once a fair solution for all parties is reached, it must be followed up with enforcement. Insurance companies should be required to show full transparency when their customers report an accident. Monitoring will follow to ensure no shop is receiving unfair advantages and deals that exclude other shops or discourage free enterprise and will eventually be looked back upon as archaic, unjust and unhealthy. You can contact your local Representatives to let them know you care about this cause and ask what they are doing to fix the problem. Action must start from within, awareness needs to spread, and solutions need to be discussed.

Several Crash Parts Bills Introduced to State Legislatures Countrywide, Notably in OK and HI Several crash parts bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the U.S. Crash parts bills have been introduced in Oklahoma, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, North Carolina and Washington. The ASA says two state bills are of particular importance for independent repairers. Oklahoma Senate Bill 1458 calls for consumer notice and consent language, and adds new policy provisions including “emissions part” and “safety part.” “Emissions part,” the ASA notes, requires the replacement of parts or systems related to the control, monitoring and release of waste gases and particles created as a byproduct of combustion. Those parts include oxygen sensors, catalytic converters, exhaust pipes, exhaust manifold, fuel distributor, electronic emissions control unit, onboard emissions diagnostic device (OBD), and related parts and components. “Safety part” requires the replacement of parts or systems essential to vehicle operation. Those parts

include suspension, electronic control units (ECU), brake parts, safety systems and supplemental restraint system (SRS) components, according to the ASA. In addition, Hawaii Senate Bill 2326 amends the state’s current law by removing provisions requiring claimants to pay additional costs for the use of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts. It also requires insurers to make available the use of certain used or aftermarket parts instead of “like kind and quality” parts in motor vehicle body repairs. The legislation reads as follows: “Original equipment manufacturers and like kind and quality parts; used or aftermarket parts: (a) An insurer shall make available a choice to the insured of authorizing a repair provider to utilize a like kind and quality used or aftermarket part of an equal or better quality than the original equipment manufacturer part if such part is available or an original equipment manufacturer part for motor veSee Crash Parts Bills, Page 33

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Inside Insurance

The Insider is a corporate-level executive with a Top 10 auto insurer in the U.S.. Got a comment or question you’d like to see him address in a future column? Email him at Auto.Insurance.Insider@gmail.com

Getting a Guess-timate From the Real Experts with The Insurance Insider

Before you can begin repairing a vehicle, you need an estimate. It’s the easiest part of this whole deal, right? You have a computerized estimating system with Chasidy Rae Sisk that allows you to accurately document everything that is needed to fix the car. Some say it’s so easy that you can do it remotely by merely looking at a picture. Now that does sound easy! Almost as easy as goingChasidy fishing with with Rae Sisk the “Pocket Fisherman.” Ah, the memories. For those not old enough to remember, every man in the world wanted one of those little babies nestled in their glove box. Why do I reference the inspirational and ageless Ron Popeil and his company, Ronco? It has nothing to do with getting a sales commission. I mention him because he made the iminvented “Ronco Goggles.” (Sorry for possible seem possible. The trivial and another pathetic Popeil reference. If difficult became simplified and logical. you can’t tell, I’m a big fan and proud I believe that repairers and insurowner of an original Pocket Fisherers view estimating through the neverman and Mr. Microphone.)

Northeast News Shop Showcase

If estimating is so easy why is it the most misguided, challenged and subjective part of the process? There is an easy answer: It’s not really that easy. Repairers and insurers argue all

the time about the estimating process. I’ve heard repairers say, “The cost to repair the car is the cost to repair the car. Insurance companies are just trying to write a low-dollar estimate. Let the experts write the estimates and repair the vehicle.” Does that sound familiar to anyone? It should. Estimating is best defined by the actual root of the word: estimate. No matter what any expert tells me, estimating isn’t an exact science. In fact, if it was an exact science it would be called a repair bill, not an “estimate.” Look at the cartoon with this article and tell me which one of the estimators is right. If you said, “All of them,” or “None of them,” you would be today’s lucky winner of a Popeil Pasta Maker. (Note to self: Add Pasta Maker to this year’s Christmas wish list.) I hope this doesn’t insult anyone who makes their living writing esti-

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mates. My intent is to illustrate that any one of them could be right. The monkey was willing to do it for three bananas; does that make him wrong? To nobody’s surprise and to the delight of stockholders everywhere, the insurance company wrote the lowest estimate. If I were put on the stand, I could defend this estimate. It is a visual damage estimate without any tear-down. Does it make the insurance company wrong if there is additional damage behind some of those parts? That’s why it’s called an “estimate,” complete with a disclaimer at the bottom. I know that this article will result in some hate mail, but the fact is that it’s not an exact science and it’s wrong to say “the damage is the damage.” If that was the case, why does it cost more to have vehicles fixed at one shop compared to another one that’s a block away with the same labor rate? It is subject to opinion, experience, tear-down and a hundred other factors including whether or not it was raining out or 20 degrees below zero at the time of the estimate. By the way, those “other factors” apply to both repairers and insurers.

I’m sure estimate accuracy at 4:45 p.m. on a Friday compared to 11 a.m. on Tuesday is worthy of another article on Insurance Company Estimating 101. Here’s a good recipe to produce an accurate, consistent estimate. It should include a visual inspection, a lift, tear-down, a thorough washing of the exterior of the vehicle, ample time, 3-dimensional measuring equipment, a preliminary pull if needed, updated estimating software, a live competitive parts database, an experienced flexible estimator, use of best-case repair scenarios, 75 degree sunny weather with no clouds, and of course 20/20 vision. If you were to have all of those things, you are guaranteed to get an estimate that gets you closer than the guess-estimate. So please stop using the term, “The damage is the damage.” If that was the case, don’t you think that Ron Popeil would have already simplified our estimating lives? The Insider is a corporate-level executive with a Top 10 auto insurer in the U.S. Got a comment or question you’d like to see him address in a future column? Email him at Auto.Insurance.Insider@gmail.com.

Continued from Page 31

Crash Parts Bills

hicle body repair work. If the insured or claimant chooses the use of an original equipment manufacturer part, the insured or claimant shall pay the additional cost of the original equipment manufacturer part that is in excess of the equivalent like kind and quality used or aftermarket part, unless the vehicle is currently under the manufacturer’s warranty or original equipment parts are required by the vehicle manufacturer’s warranty.” (b) A [like kind and quality] used or aftermarket part under subsection (a), of an equal or better quality than the original equipment manufacturer part, shall carry a guarantee in writing for the quality of the [like kind and quality] used or aftermarket part for not less than [ninety days or for] the same guarantee period as the original equipment manufacturer part, [whichever is longer]. The guarantee shall be provided by the insurer. (c) [Like kind and quality] Used or aftermarket parts, certified or approved by governmental or industry

organizations, shall be utilized if available. At its fall board meeting, ASA approved a new crash parts policy to reflect the collision marketplace changes occurring in the past few years. ASA’s new crash parts policy states: “ASA supports requiring insurers and auto collision facilities to provide disclosure of part type, description and warranty information to the consumer for all part types including, but not limited to, original equipment manufacturer, aftermarket, recycled, remanufactured, reconditioned and rebuilt crash parts. ASA supports quality parts, certified and verified in which the quality is determined based on empirical and measurable evidence equal to the standards of OEM parts. ASA recommends quality verification and testing related to metallurgy, fit, functionality and responsiveness. ASA believes a competitive parts marketplace, of tested and verified quality parts, is in the best interest of the motoring public. ASA continues to oppose parts policies that focus solely on efficiency without regard to certification, verifiable quality and safety.”

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www.serramazda.com www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 33

Custom Corner

Rich Evans is the owner of Huntington Beach Bodyworks and an award winning painter and fabricator. He offers workshops in repair and customization at his facility to share his unique talents. For contacts and design samples visit www.huntingtonbeachbodyworks.com

Barrett-Jackson DIY Event Draws Fans and Future Body Techs with Rich Evans

I was out at Barrett-Jackson He told me “we’ve got a in Phoenix last month with 12,000 square-foot DIY a good buddy of mine, Alan pavilion” inside a tent and Taylor, from Entertainment we’re going to have a Radio. I wrote about Alan project car there. It doesin last month’s column (aun’t matter to me what car tobodynews.com/columI’m working on because nists/rich-evans.html in regardless I’m going to try Thomas Franklin case you missedwith it) but that to do something cool with was about SEMA 2011. In it. When I found out it was Poster Phoenix at the Barrett-Jackan 1972 El Camino I sugson auctions Alan put together somegested a toned-down concept. Something clean, more modern. You know, thing called A World of DIY (as in ‘Do it Yourself’). simplify the car and give it that old Alan reached out to me and asked school look, a couple of rally stripes me to come there and show off some and choose a great color, add some tools and demonstrate building a car. I rims, and we’ve got a car that brings said ‘yes’ without hesitation, “I’ll pack back that 70s feel and some muscle. up some tools and drive out there and I put a concept together, sent it see what you guys have put together.” off to Alan, and he’s got feedback

On Creative Marketing

Opinions Count with Dick Strom

Action Counts with Lee Amaradio Jr.

Your Turn with Sheila Loftus

Shop Showcase with Janet Chaney

34 MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

right away. “Dude, can you put this blue color on?”, including a paint photo. We collaborated on a concept and a design. I like working this way because when I get there everybody’s not going to ask me what I’m building (because they’ll already have seen the concept.) I don’t like having to sound like a broken record answering the same question over and over and over. So for the week out there at Barrett-Jackson we’ve got participation from Craftsman, Chevrolet in the tent with us, we’ve got E-bay Motors with the modJOBS 2012 Mustang we did last month and I’ve got my Solution Finish. So this is a good chance for me to get out there, build a car, show off some new tools, some new products and connect with the public

and the garage builders. I didn’t know what to expect for a tool supply for DIY builders so I brought as much as I could cram in my truck and decide to figure it out from there. When we get

there and see the El Camino I’m thinking in my head, you know I’ve built cars on TV in 72 hours in front of millions of people, that’s already been done (Car Warriors). This event will be live, which is cool but I tell Alan “I want to shoot from the hip and see if I

can connect a little bit more with the end user and the garage builders by having the public work on the car.” 3M gave us some products which is great because here’s a chance to put product in people’s hands who haven’t used it before. Craftsman’s also got their tools and equipment there. I’m thinking “what’s better?: someone watching me use their tools or putting their tools in a potential consumer’s hands?” It just makes it that much more real. A lot of people will never know they can or can’t do it if they don’t try. So I’m going to bring some process out here and guide people through taking the car apart, stripping the car down, modifying it, pulling dents, even welding for beginners. I’ve got 8-year-old girls and boys that came up, got their hands on a welder for the first time. Of course I gave them safety equipment— which is also a great learning opportunity for them—and helped them do the job. So they walked in the tent not knowing they were going to weld or pull a dent and they walk out knowing something about how to weld and pull a dent. The look on their faces was ‘how cool is that’? It really took me back to when I was young and somebody introduced something new to me. Exposure to new processes is so important in our business. There are all kinds of ways to build a car and hundreds of different processes, but to learn from experienced builders the process of grinding and feathering and stripping the car down manually is invaluable for someone who’s new to everything. Not just newbies but also connecting with the garage builders. The message to them: If you don’t have it, use what you have because you don’t have to have all that expensive equipment to build a car. Back to the event: The news coverage was over 45 minutes broadcast, with 10 minutes on Channel 3 live, and then they did a 6 minute piece at night and then we did Channel 12, 5, CNN. If you search ‘Barrett-Jackson DIY Rich Evans’ on Youtube, you can watch a 2-minute piece that they put together. If you go to DIYlive.tv, we’ve got many segments on there. If you click through that site you can see all the people that participated. Craftsman, GM, 3M, Solution Finish, we had new types of nail guns available, we had a panel bonding product out there from 3M, different types of sandpaper, Bondo™, the dynamic mixing system, all sorts of products.

We had a group of Wyotech guys out there. WyoTech provides students with repair training in automotive technology, autobody, diesel, HVAC, chassis fabrication and high performance engines, street rod and custom builds. John and his crew—there were about five people from Wyotech there—were all heavily involved with the project.

The Crew from Wyotech

Equipment was a factor. We only had one air hose and one welder so we could only go so fast, which was actually good. We could control and

make sure everybody’s getting taught and stay safe. The whole concept of DIY at the show was a hit. I heard Barrett-Jackson’s head count through the door was 27% more than any other year. So they set records. The news coverage and the big hype about ‘hey come on out, get your hands dirty, help build this car.’ The car really was being built by the public and everybody there was invited to get involved. Everybody who came by touched or fixed a dent or welded a hole, or pulled a part off or sanded on it. They’re part of this build. It was great to see them all building the car, not just me. These photos tell the story too but to best appreciate this whole idea that Alan made happen, you have to go visit DIYlive.tv to see video of everyone that was involved with this build. It was so successful we’re going to be doing more of these. I’ll let you guys know more about it, or just follow us on DIYlive.tv. You can also go to richevansdesigns.com or huntingtonbeachbodyworks.com. Also, go to solutionfinish.com or watch our video on Youtube by searching ‘Solution Finish Rich Evans.’ The types of projects I’m doing this year are really connecting with the end-users and trying to bring my world to their world. It’s just so rewarding to see an 85-year-old woman

pulling dents, or an older dentist jumping in and working on the car. Also, they’re able to go home and take the techniques and steps that I taught them and actually be able to work on their own car. So with all that said, another great project, you’re going to hear more about it, we’re going to continue to tour this car to the next two or three Barrett-Jackson shows. I don’t have details on those yet but we’ll definitely be in Orange County and Las Vegas. So if you guys get a chance stop into the DIY Pavilion Craftsman Experience and check us out on the road. We’re going to be taking this car—stripping it down, cutting the roof off of it, painting it, cutting rust off of it, dropping an LS9 motor in it that Chevy has donated (the LS9 crate motor costs about the same as a base 2010 Ford Mustang) and Steel Rubber donated the rubbers for the car. 3M donated the product for the car. Craftsman provided the tools for the vehicle. We’ve got Woodward Fabrication teaming up with us along with a whole other list of sponsors and equipment so it’s going to allow us to really travel around and let people get involved and connect with more garage builders. So I’m really pumped up about this. I’m working on a new TV show so stay tuned. Go to Rich Evans Designs’ Facebook page, and like it, that way you can keep up with everything I’m doing. I went to the Grand National Roadsters Show, I did the NHRA, and I’m heading up to the Autorama in Sacramento, which I haven’t been to since I was 6 years old. I had some time in Sacramento and last year when I did CarWarriors I connected with a shop called Gearhead Garage. They actually beat us Allstars on the Corvette builds and I’m going to go up and visit them. They’ll have the Corvettes we did on the show there. That’s my old stomping grounds and I’m going to have a blast. 2012 is going to be a great year. I’m going to be traveling, building cars on the road, doing all kinds of cool stuff. I never know what’s around the corner for me. I’ll keep you guys posted on the DIY experience. Go to DIYlive.tv to learn more about it. Also search ‘Barrett-Jackson DIY Rich Evans’ on Youtube and watch that two minute clip. I think you guys will be stoked to see that. You can also see all the news coverage on DIYlive.tv. Keep wrenching. Keep building. I’ll see you guys next month.

www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 35

NJ Shop Questions State Farm’s Denial of Cost Accounting Based Paint Allowances In a letter to State Farm CEO Edward Rust Jr., Don Harvey, of International Collision Service in Englewood, NJ, questions why State Farm does not acknowledge cost accounting programs and practices in setting paint allowance rates. Harvey has previously contacted senior State Farm management to no avail. His letter follows: Feb 15, 2012

State Farm Insurance Co. Mr. Edward B. Rust Jr. One State Farm Plaza Bloomington, IL 61710 Dear Mr. Rust,

Please take a moment to look at an issue regarding customer satisfaction and a “Good Neighbor” responsible commitment to proper repairs. Paint material has been an issue often questioned and not properly acknowledged. Several years ago the Department [of Banking and] Insurance

Commissioner Steven M. Goldman issued a Bulletin #07-20 (copy enclosed for your review) encouraging insurers to utilize paint cost accounting software programs and manuals. Just after the issuance of this bulletin, State Farm (Northern NJ) changed their paint calculation from a multiplier of $23.00 per paint hour to $28.00 per paint hour. That was November 2007. Since that time, as we all know, all oil-derived product prices have dramatically increased, however State Farm has not acknowledged (NJ office: Mr. Charlie Holmes) any legitimate paint cost programs or software, holding [instead] to their antiquated $28.00 per hour calculation with no deviation. Automotive paints used on today’s advanced vehicles require many different tints to achieve the look and appearance duplicating the original finish. Therefore all pricing cannot be properly and FAIRLY determined by one multiplier, this is why the paint cost accounting software programs are so important: FAIRLY compensating the repairer

for materials used on the specific vehicle (color) being repaired. Mr. Holmes has repeatedly stated that State Farm holds true to their survey studies. What is interesting about that is twofold: 1) State Farm (northern NJ) hasn’t sent anyone out to survey the shops in many, many years, leaving it to the shops to call State Farm and get an authorization # before being able to even get to the survey. 2) I find it interesting that if State Farm only uses their survey to change rates and materials, why after a short time and no apparent survey, did the multiplier change in late 2007 after the Bulletin issued by the State of New Jersey, from $23.00 per hour to the current rate of $28.00 per hour? Most insurance companies are acknowledging the cost accounting software programs plus a mark-up as the programs use an average COST to the repair from the suppliers. In closing I hope that you will review this letter and change the way State Farm, NJ, is conducting business and [have] The Good Neighbor

do the right thing, properly and fairly returning vehicles to pre-accident condition. Respectfully,

Don W. Harvey International Collision Service Englewood, NJ, 07631

(Copy of Mitchell Refinishing Calculator Notes enclosed for your review.) To see additional attachments: NJ DOI Bullentin #07-20 and the Mitchell Refinishing Calculator Notes, search the article title at autobodynews.com. If you have any relevant information submit it to Don Harvey at dwharvey@1ics-usa.com, or write: Don W. Harvey international collision service 328 South Van Brunt St. Englewood, NJ 07631 Phone: 201.567.2124 Fax: 201.567.6644

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Federal Trial of Baltimore Police Kickbacks Involves Local Body Shop, About 60 Officers and Insurance Fraud

Writing in the Baltimore Sun, Justin Fenton has reported on the federal police kickback trial in which testimony implicates a shop owner and about 60 Baltimore police officers. Body shop owner Alex Moreno, of Majestic Auto Repair, has already plead guilty to his role, said he was approached in 2008 by a Baltimore police officer with an idea to help boost sales at his fledgling Rosedale business. The officer said, in exchange for a cut, he and fellow officers would funnel cars to the shop. According to police and federal prosecutors, the officers were circumventing the city’s system of authorized towing companies by referring cars to Moreno in exchange for payment. Majestic would often increase damage to the vehicles by smashing side panels with poles and breaking off mirrors to increase payouts from insurance companies, Moreno testified. Soon Majestic Auto Repair was getting customers almost exclusively from city police. Moreno testified Feb. 14 in federal court that more than 60 officers would ultimately get in on the scheme, receiving $300 for each referral. Business grew so fast that he

had to expand to new lots to store all the cars. In fact, growth was so fast that Majestic struggled to stay profitable, Moreno said. They often paid officers to bring their own cars in for repairs, did not require other customers to pay deductibles, and paid for rental cars. Moreno said the idea to pay police for referrals was hatched in 2008 by Officer Jhonn Corona, his neighbor and shop customer. Corona spread word of the plan through the department, Moreno testified, and officers called when they encountered accidents. Corona pleaded guilty to conspiracy and extortion last fall. Moreno also testified that a city officer named Osvaldo Valentine falsely reported that his personal vehicle had been stolen. Moreno said the vehicle was at his shop and that Valentine had reported it stolen because he couldn’t make the payments. Valentine pleaded guilty to conspiracy and extortion last fall. Moreno testified that at one point, his tow truck drivers joined another company and some of the officers started working with them instead. Those drivers have not been charged.

Finish it like a Masterpiece

CREF Sees Record $4.1 M in Industry Donations for 2011

The collision industry came to the aid of its future workforce in 2011 by providing a record $4.1 million in donations to secondary and post-secondary collision school programs and their students through the Collision Repair Education Foundation. Through monetary and in-kind product donations, the 2011 Collision Repair Education Foundation donors helped to provide student scholarships, student tool grants, school equipment and supply grants, the 3rd annual Ultimate Collision Education Makeover school grant, and much more. Since 2008, when the Collision Repair Education Foundation became a purely philanthropic organization, the organization has provided $7 million in school and student support through industry donors. “The fact that the Collision Repair Education Foundation provided more support to collision schools and students in 2011 compared to the combined totals of 2008 through 2010 displays that the collision industry is one that cares for its future professionals,” said Scott Kruger, Collision Repair Education Foundation Executive Director. “This announcement of support

was made possible exclusively through our industry supporters and donors. On behalf of our staff, Board of Trustees, and the collision students we support, we would like to thank our continued supporters and donors.” “The Collision Repair Education Foundation has come a long way since becoming a purely philanthropic organization in 2008. The donation results of 2011 display that many industry members believe in the Education Foundation’s efforts to support collision schools and students,” said Doug Webb, Chairman of the Collision Repair Education Foundation Board of Trustees. “I want to thank the Staff for all of their efforts during 2011, all of the Board of Trustees, and of course, all the donors for their support during the year.” For a complete listing of the Collision Repair Education Foundation’s industry supporters, visit www.CollisionEducationFoundation.org. Inter-industry organizations and individuals who are interested in supporting CREF in 2012 should contact CREF Associate Director of Development Brandon Eckenrode at Brandon.Eckenrode@edfoundation.org or at 847-463-5244.

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www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 37

CARSTAR Holds Results and Goals Teleconference

CARSTAR held their annual outlook teleconference on February 9; CEO of CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts, David Byers, detailed the 2011 results for the MSO as well as their goals for 2012. According to Byers, 2011 was a “very solid” year for the MSO; sales totaled over $600 million and exceeded the group’s objectives for the year. 2011 was also a big year for continued growth and acquisition of new locations, which will also continue to be an objective for 2012. “We have acquired 17 new locations in the last few months,” said Byers. CARSTAR plans on focusing on growth in California especially for 2012. Byers also said that the new stores that were acquired in 2011 were very successful—seeing 50 percent higher revenues than stores acquired in 2010. Byers also said that changes coming for 2012 will “set the stage for growth.” In 2012 CARSTAR plans to grow existing store revenues and profits, add new stores especially in California, add new MSO insurance relationships, and fully deploy

CARSTAR solution, the group’s new management system in partnership with Mitchell. The MSO aims to add 50 new US stores in 2012. CARSTAR did have a presence in California in the early 90s, but it did not last. Byers said that he thinks this current expansion into California will be more successful because CARSTAR now has an insurance department and a purchasing department which make the company more stable. Byers said the way CARSTAR is now is “a dramatic difference over where we were in the early 90s.” Byers discussed the affect this mild winter has had on locations that normally see an increase in repairs due to winter weather. He said although the mild winter has clearly affected business across the US, CARSTAR depends on KPIs and DRPs to continue driving its business. “The industry...has seen a softening in the third quarter of 2011 into this year” due to the absence of inclement winter weather, according to Byers. For more information about CARSTAR visit: www.carstar.com.

NABC Plans At Least One Vehicle Gift in Each State This Year

The National Auto Body Council’s (NABC) Recycled Rides® program, now in its sixth year, set a goal to gift at least one vehicle in every state in the country in 2012. NABC member collision repair facilities nationwide have provided hundreds of families and service organizations with the gift of reliable transportation. “So many of us take our transportation for granted,” noted NABC Executive Director Chuck Sulkala, “but the fact of the matter is, reliable transportation is more important than ever in these tough economic times. A dependable vehicle literally can provide a family a new lease on life.” In an effort to build upon Recycled Rides’ growth, the NABC is slightly refining its marketing approach. “This year, along with working directly through shops, we are reaching out to individual charities to help them meet their missions,” said incoming Recycled Rides Chair Jim Ocampo of DuPont Performance Coatings. “You could say that we’re working the program in reverse.” Indicative of this new approach is the fact that Donna Miller has joined the NABC’s Recycled Rides commit-

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tee as the liaison between NABC and Family Promise, a charitable organization with 172 affiliates across the U.S. that is committed to help homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence. The year began auspiciously on January 11, 2012 during the National Auto Body Council’s fundraising golf tournament held in Palm Springs, Calif. Thanks to Pacific Collision and Hertz Rent-A-Car, and working through Variety Children’s Charity, Recycled Rides donated a 1999 Ford Freestyle crossover wagon repaired at the end of 2011. “Participating in the Recycled Rides program this year was a great experience for our entire team,” said Steve Vetel, owner of Pacific Collision Centers. “Having the ability to help a family in need gave everyone in our organization a great sense of pride and accomplishment. We look forward to participating in future gifting events.” The first Recycled Rides vehicle repaired in 2012 has been donated by GEICO Insurance and has landed at Caliber Collision Centers in Round Rock, Texas. It is being refurbished for the Temple, Texas Family Promise affiliate.

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Continued from Page 23

Code Talkers

locate the cause of that simple code number.) I’m a modern day mechanic; I’m no grease monkey, nor am I the guy with a scanner who’ll read your codes and give you the definition. I’m the guy who will read the code, define it, and translate it into a solution. The cars of today are not the car of yesterday— nor are they the cars of the future. I’ve got to take care of what is here now, and that requires some understanding of the fundamentals of todays’ cars. But in order to find out what that little service light means on your dash keep in mind…you don’t need a code reader, you need a code talker.

NY Senate Passes SB 578

The New York State Senate passed SB 578 addressing the use of fake documents to register cars so that owners can operate them without paying for auto insurance. SB 578 makes it a class D felony (of forgery in the second degree) to forge a certificate of insurance, auto insurance card or other papers required to legally operate a motor vehicle. The bill also makes selling 10 or more false insurance cards or documents forgery in the first degree (a class C felony), and it stiffens the penalties for those who commit auto insurance fraud. A companion bill is being looked at in the New York Assembly and is currently before the Assembly Codes Committee.

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NHTSA Opened Ford and GM Van Investigations in January

California Attorney Wins $10,000 Claim v. Honda

A non-practicing California attorney The NHTSA opened investigations into won nearly $10,000 for herself in her vans made by GM and Ford in January. small claims suit against Honda GM is recalling some 2012 Express and claiming the company knowingly GMC Savana vehicles made from June misrepresented the mileage she would 2, 2011, through October 17, 2011. The get with her Civic Hybrid. The Small second stage of the dual-stage air bag will Claims Court lawsuit is unusual in not inflate in a severe frontal impact. The that some legal experts believe it air bags fail to conform to the requirecould change strategies for both Small ments of federal motor vehicle safety no. Claims Court and class-action litigation. A Los Angeles County court 208, “occupant crash protection.” commissioner ruled that American Another GM investigation involves Honda Motor Co. negligently misled about 17,000 2003 Chevrolet Express Civic owner Heather Peters when it vans with a door behind the driver’s side. claimed the hybrid’s gas mileage On these vans, the fuel-filler pipe is could be as much as 50 miles per galrouted differently, going through the rear lon. Honda had offered a couple hunwheel well, which the agency said apdred dollars and a $1,000 voucher parently exposed it to road debris and toward the purchase of another Honda spray. The normal configuration for these vehicle to complaining customers vans is with side door behind the front who participated in a class action lawsuit. Honda says they will appeal but passenger. many more owners of the 2006 Civic The Ford investigation involves Hybrid may be going Edition? the small claims Want2004 to Contribute to this Southwest about 63,000 Ford Freestar and route. Mercury Monterey minivans. The Some say Peters is suing the agency said it had seven complaints from wrong party, since EPA oversees the owners who said the rear-wheel wells mpg ratings and Federal law requires rusted so badly that inpublisher@autobodynews.com several cases the them to be used. Five states’ Attoranchor mounts for the third-row seat neys General have asked for more belts “completely detached from the vetime to consider the settlement with hicle.” 200,000 owners.

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