April 2018 Southeastern Edition by Autobody News

36 YEARS

S OU THEASTE DI TIO N

AUTOBODY AL / FL / GA / MS / NC / SC / TN / VA / WV

PA Shop Owner Files $713,000 Lawsuit Against Progressive for Underpayment of Legitimate Costs by Stacey Phillips

Across the country, “insurers aren’t fully reimbursing consumers so they can have proper and safe repairs done,” according to Ron Perretta, owner of Professionals Auto Body in Pennsylvania. “It’s impossible for the shops to fix these cars properly [while] being paid what they are being paid,” said Perretta. “Their hourly rates are being suppressed and the repair operations that are needed to fix these cars properly have been suppressed.” He said insurers continue to

“bully” shops into lowering their rates and not performing operations required to bring the vehicles back to their pre-loss condition. After experiencing this firsthand for many years at his two Pennsylvania locations in Altoona and Duncansville, Perretta filed a lawsuit against Progressive in 2017. According to court documents, “Progressive had a contractual duty to the insureds and third-party claimants to compensate Professionals for the reasonable and necessary costs to return the covered vehicles to See PA Lawsuit, Page 12

Ebby’s Auto Painting & Collision Shooter Pleads Guilty to 7 Felonies in VA by Sarah Fearing, Williamsburg Yorktown Daily

A man who shot a painter at Ebby’s Auto Painting & Collision Repair in Williamsburg, VA, last July has pleaded guilty to seven felony

The suspect being escorted out of Ebby’s after being taken into custody. Credit: Andrew Harris, WYDaily

charges—but attempted first-degree murder is not one of them. Michael Sean Taylor, 41, of Hampton, entered a plea agreement March 1 in the York-Poquoson Circuit Court. As part of the agreement, Taylor pleaded guilty to three counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, shooting into an occupied building or dwelling, two counts of abduction and aggravated malicious wounding. In turn, prosecutors dropped an attempted murder charge and a fourth See VA Shop Shooting, Page 10

AUTOBODYNEWS.COM

Vol. 9 / Issue 2 / April 2018

Non-OEM Parts Legal Battle, Begun in 1997, Set for Trial in May 2018

District Judge David Herndon said in rejecting State Farm’s calls for A federal judge in February declined dismissal of the suit that whether or to dismiss a $9 billion class action not the Avery judgment should have racketeering lawsuit against State been overturned, the vehicle owners Farm over the insurer’s alleged role involved deserve to know in the election of an Illinois they lost fairly. Supreme Court judge—set“Plaintiffs seek to vinditing the stage for the latest cate their right to be judged trial in a decade-long battle by a tribunal that is uncontinvolving the insurer’s use aminated by politics,” Judge of non-OEM parts. Herndon wrote. The lawsuit claims The suit is seeking triple Lloyd Karmeier State Farm helped secure the damages of the Avery the 2004 election of Justice suit plus more than a dozen years of Lloyd Karmeier, and that Karmeier interest—a total of about $9 billion— improperly participated in the rever- for the 4.7 million vehicle owners repsal of a $1 billion judgment against resented in the original Avery suit. the insurer in 1999 in the Avery vs. Trial is set to begin May 7. State Farm class action lawsuit. Without passing judgment on How did we get here? the merits of the current case, U.S. See Legal Battle, Page 42 by John Yoswick

Uber Halts Autonomous Car Testing After Pedestrian is Killed in AZ

ter: “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family. We are fully cooperating with A woman has died after being struck local authorities in their investigation by a self-driving Uber vehicle in of this incident.” It is believed that Elaine Tempe, Phoenix, AZ. The Volvo XC90 was operating Herzberg, 49, is the first pedestrian in autonomous mode when it hit the to be killed by an autonomous car. The incident occurred between Mill Avenue and Curry Road on the night of March 18. Police said the victim was crossing the road outside of a crosswalk at the time of the collision. The woman was taken to The autonomous Volvo XC90 struck a pedestrian as she the hospital, where she died crossed the road. Credit: ABC15 from her injuries. The National Transportation woman as she crossed the road, police said. A vehicle operator sat be- Safety Board said in a tweet that it is hind the wheel at the time of the “sending a team to investigate” the incident, but the car was carrying no incident. Uber had been testing its auother passengers. Uber said in a statement on TwitSee Uber Halts Car Testing, Page 47 by Alistair Charlton, GearBrain

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APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Design and Format Changes at Autobody News

CONTENTS REGIONAL

Is Embracing Training, More Stepping

A Tale of Two Paints: A Visit to Axalta’s

Up Needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

AAAS Prepares for 2018 Conference and Trade Show in FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Clemson University-iCAR Is Driving

With Bosch for 2nd Webinar in Series . . . . . 44

Smart City Tech in Greenville, SC. . . . . . . . . 39 Ebby’s Auto Painting & Collision Shooter Pleads Guilty to 7 Felonies in VA . . . . . . . . . . 1 FL Senate Should Vote to Fix Auto Insurance Laws Says Uber Policy Manager . . . . . . . . . . 6 Gordon Automotive Is 6th Car Lot to Report Crime This Year in Thomasville, GA . . . . . . . 20 IGONC Triangle Chapter Meeting Features Modernizing Automotive Education . . . . . . . . 6 Ledoux - Collision Safety Consultants -

NATIONAL 4 Tips to Setting Labor Rates in the New Year . . 4 AMi Begins Continuing Education Requirement . 20 AMi Hires Director of Collision Industry Outreach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

ASA Promises Magic Connections at Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

SC Auto Repair Shop Owner Says Faith,

Consumer Watchdog Calls for National

She Succeeds in a Man’s World: Sales to Body Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Staged Car Crashes a Growing Menace in South Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 TN Fire-Rescue Unit Receives Donated, Restored New Response Vehicle . . . . . . . . . 14 VA Body Shop Worker Named Runner-Up in ARCA Racing Series. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 World of Customs Auto Show Inspires Collision Repair Students in MS. . . . . . . . . . . 9 YANG's 1st Raleigh, NC, Meet-Up Focuses on Career Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Moratorium on Robot Car Testing After Self-Driving Uber Kills Arizona Woman . . . . . 4 Design and Format Changes at Autobody News . 3 Diamond Standard 40 MPH IIHS Moderate Overlap Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 How Do the U.S., Canada Differ in Their Fight Against Insurance Fraud? . . . . . . . . . . 60 Maaco Ranked 228 on Entrepreneur Magazine Franchise 500 List . . . . . . . . . . . 15 PA Shop Owner Files $713,000 Lawsuit Against Progressive for Underpayment of Legitimate Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Service Excellence, Effective Leadership Sessions at ASA’s Annual Meeting . . . . . . . . . 9 Sessions To Be Offered at ASA Meeting on Decision-Making Skills, Embracing

COLUMNISTS Attanasio - Do OE Certifications Really Provide Accountability, Transparency? . . . . . 38 Attanasio - Teresa Aquila Just Won’t Quit... Ever! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Attanasio - When Was the Last Time You Updated Your Website? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Ledoux - OE Shop Certification Programs: Assured Performance Network . . . . . . . . . . 30 Ledoux - The 1930s – New Products and an Insurance Company’s Realization . . . . . . 48 Phillips - I-CAR CEO, President Says Industry

www.autobodynews.com

Insurance, Mitchell Uses Image Recognition

AT&T 4G LTE to Power Ford SYNC Connect . . . 14

Further Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

time. We’re no exception at Autobody News. Regular readers will likely have already noticed some look and feel changes to our print news magazine this month. The masthead on top of the cover page has been updated to be less dense and more ‘eye-inviting.’

to Confirm Repairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Poised for a Great Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Family Guide Him . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

REGIONAL & NATIONAL COLLISION REPAIR NEWS YOUR SHOP NEEDS!

a bit of relief for tired eyes. There is more whitespace around the text colums making a slightly bigger margin on the page. We’ll be making some logo and format changes in our online, social media, and newsletter formats as well. Stay tuned and please let us know what you think.

Artificial Intelligence Coming to Auto Glass—and

NC Skills USA State Finals for Collision Repair. 51

SCACAR’s Launch Event Sets Pace to

AUTOBODYNEWS.COM

Yoswick - OEM Info Websites Have Existed for 15 Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

We’ve also made the type a bit larger for both our national and regional stories. We hope this provides

AUTOBODYNEWS

Sisk - In-House Money Makers: ASA Partners

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS

Training Center in Concord, NC . . . . . . . . . . 24

No magazine can go 36 years in print without some updates and changes to freshen its appeal from time to

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst General Manager: Barbara Davies Contributing Writers: John Yoswick, Janet Chaney, Toby Chess, Ed Attanasio, Chasidy Sisk, David Luehr, Stacey Phillips, Victoria Antonelli, Gary Ledoux Advertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman, Bill Doyle, Norman Morano (800) 699-8251 Office Manager: Louise Tedesco Digital Marketing Manager: Bill Pierce Art Director: Rodolfo Garcia Graphic Designer: Michelle Lucas Online and Web Content Editor: Rochelle Beckel Accounting Manager: Heather Priddy Editorial/Sales Assistant: Randi Scholtes

UPDATED DAILY Serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and adjacent metro areas. Autobody News is a monthly publication for the autobody industry. Permission to reproduce in any form the material published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher. ©2018 Adamantine Media LLC. Autobody News Box 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018; (800) 699-8251 760) 603-3229 Fax www.autobodynews.com news@autobodynews.com

Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . 36-37

Launch Tech USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

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

Lexus Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . 60

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Matrix Automotive Finishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Car-Part.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Mercedes-Benz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32-33

CarcoonAmerica Airflow Systems. . . . . . . . . . 24

Mercedes-Benz Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 57

ChemSpec USA, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . 41

Coggin Deland Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Original One Parts™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Dent Magic Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Polyvance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

ECS Automotive Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . 56

EMS Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Equalizer Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Radley Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Naples . . . . . . . . . . . 40

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Rick Hendrick MOPAR Southeast

Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Gus Machado Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Wholesalers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-17

State Farm, I-CAR Insurance Gold Class Status . 6

GYS Welding USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Riverside Ford-Lincoln . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Uber Halts Autonomous Car Testing After Pedestrian is Killed in AZ, First Known Fatality by Self Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Welcoming the Next Generation of Collision Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Hendrick Automotive Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Robaina Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Hendrick Automotive Group of Charleston . . . 64

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

Hendrick BMW/MINI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Serra Chevrolet-Buick-GMC of

Hendrick Kia Cary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Nashville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Hendrick Kia Concord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Smith Kia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Honda-Acura Wholesale Parts

Southside Kia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 28-29

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

WIN Announce Recipients of the 2018

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . 61

Stateline Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram . . . . . . . . 8

Most Influential Women in Collision

Insta Finish Car Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . 47

Jim Cogdill Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram . . . . . 12

Symach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Jon Hiester Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Tameron Hyundai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Kernersville Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram . . . . . 21

Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . 54

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . 49

West Broad Hyundai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Repair Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Yoswick - Non-OEM Parts Legal Battle, Begun in 1997, Set for Trial in May 2018. . . . 1

autobodynews.com / APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Consumer Watchdog Calls for National Moratorium on Robot Car Testing After Self-Driving Uber Kills Arizona Woman

by Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog has called for a national moratorium on robot car testing on pubic highways, after an Arizona woman was killed by a self-driving robotic Uber in Tempe, Arizona. See story on cover this issue. ‘There should be a national moratorium on all robot car testing on public roads until the complete details of this tragedy are made public and are analyzed by outside experts so we understand what went so terribly wrong,’ said John M. Simpson, the nonpartisan, nonprofit group’s Privacy and Technology Project Director. ‘Arizona has been the wild west of robot car testing with virtually no regulations in place. That’s why Uber and Waymo test there. When there’s no sheriff in town, people get killed.’ According to the Tempe police, the deadly incident happened Sunday night at approximately 10:00 pm, when the car hit a pedestrian. The vic-

tim later at the hospital. The robot car was in autonomous self-driving mode at the time of the collision and had a human supposedly ready to take control of the wheel in the car, the police said. Consumer Watchdog said the tragedy underscores the difficulty robot cars have in interacting with pedestrians and cyclists, as well as human driven vehicles. Such shortcomings in the robot technology were made clear in the so called ‘disengagement reports’ that companies are required to file when they are permitted to test in California. The reports, which document when a test driver had to intervene, are filed annually with the Department of Motor Vehicles’ website. No such disclosures are required in Arizona. Although this is the first known death caused by a robot car on public roads, this tragedy is unsurprising given the information revealed in the disengagement reports about the ‘au-

tonomous’ capabilities of these vehicles, said Consumer Watchdog. Earlier this year twenty companies released ‘disengagement reports’ showing robot cars cannot go more than 5,596 miles in the best-case scenario without a human test driver taking over the wheel. In most cases, the vehicles cannot travel more than a few hundred miles without needing human intervention, Consumer Watchdog noted. Despite the information revealed in these reports, the California DMV gave robot cars the green light to hit the road without a human driver ready to take control next month. ‘If robot cars are already killing people even with the presence of a human driver in the car, how lethal are these technologies going to be next month when they will roam public roads without a human onboard ready to take control?’ asked Sahiba Sindhu, a consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog.

Consumer Watchdog said all data from the Arizona fatal crash should be made public so it can be analyzed by outside experts. The group said Uber has demonstrated a concern about rushing robot vehicles on to the road, not a concern about safety. An email exchange between former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and then lead robot car developer Anthony Levendowsk, revealed in the recent Waymo-Uber lawsuit, makes clear the corporation’s lack of concern for public safety. ‘I just see this as a race and we need to win, second place is first loser’ read one text from Levandowski in March, 2016. ‘We do need to think through the strategy to take all the shortcuts we can find,’ said another from the engineer on the same day. ‘Uber simply cannot be trusted to use public roads as private laboratories without meaningful safety standards and regulations,’ said Simpson. Visit them at www.consumerwatchdog.org

Artificial Intelligence Coming to Auto Glass—and Insurance, Mitchell Uses Image Recognition to Confirm Repairs by Tara Taffera, glassBYTEs.com

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming to the auto glass and insurance industries. Case in point, Mitchell International is exploring a computer vision application that uses image recognition to confirm repair vs. replace decisions. This is according to the company’s 2017 Third Quarter Industry Trends Report. Computer vision researchers at Carnegie Mellon demonstrated the ability to detect and understand small movements. Mitchell said in its report, ‘Instead of an automotive repairer just getting guidance on the next step in a given repair procedure, they could get real-time evaluation of ancillary

problems detected by computer vision.’ In fact, in February 2018, glassBYTEs reported that Autoglass, a vehicle glass repair and replacement company based in the UK and owned by Belron, tested the latest AI technology to assess the severity of vehicle glass damage. The company said this can be used to determine whether customers require a repair or a full replacement. An article written by Olivier Baudoux, vice president, Global Product Management, auto physical damage solutions, authored an article in the Mitchell Report, saying that AI will be used in the future of auto glass claims workflow. First, the concept has to gain traction.

4 Tips to Setting Labor Rates in the New Year

by Sam Valenzuela, National AutoBody Research

It’s the New Year, and many body shops use this time to consider changes to their labor rates. But for collision repairers, 2018 is distinctively different from prior years. A new reality of advanced, high technology vehicles has arrived and dramatically changed the collision repair landscape forever. More than ever, proper labor rate pricing is crucial for body shops to sustain long-term profitability, growth, 4

and prosperity. At NABR, we’ve been actively surveying, studying, and analyzing labor rates for quite some time now, enhanced through our Variable Rate System (VRS) software. After communicating with thousands of body shops and seeing first hand how they make decisions about pricing their labor, we have some basic steps to share for anyone who wants to take action on their labor rates for 2018. First, let me provide some context. About 4,650 individual body

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

‘With rapidly changing conditions that put more drivers and more complex cars on the road, it’s no surprise that auto claim value and loss costs have increased substantially in recent years,’ said Ryan Mandell, director of performance Consulting for Mitchell Auto Physical Damage Solutions. He added that AI is ready to tackle these increased workloads with specific solutions. Baudoux’s article went on to say that ‘once the meaningful data is identified, AI can help to elevate the right information in a way that assists and expedites workflow processes. By leveraging AI and visual computing to analyze photos for example, AI-enabled workflow solutions can use machine learning technology to

shops nationwide have submitted labor rate surveys to us. From that survey data, posted rates for body labor range from $57 (national average) to $88 (+2 standard deviations). New surveys submitted within the last twelve months range from $63 to $98 (avg to +2 std dev). Doing a comprehensive labor rate analysis for your shop can be complex and quite involved, so instead, we offer here 4 simple steps to help get you on the road to finding the right price for your individ-

minimize estimate errors and maximize review efficiency.’ In that vein, Mitchell launched the Mitchell Assistance Review Project 18 months ago to accomplish this goal. ‘By utilizing millions of damaged vehicle photos, computers are ‘trained’ to recognize vehicle damage and use computer vision to double check repair versus replace decisions. This will help carriers achieve better estimate consistency, maintain estimate quality and be more selective about sending appraisers into the field, all while improving cycle times and productivity.’

We thank Tara Taffera and glassBYTEs .com for reprint permission.

ual shop.

1) Consider your market’s overall cost of living. This can serve as a simple sanity check to help ensure your labor pricing is within a reasonable range for the area you operate in. While there is no official US government cost of living index that compares the cost to live in different cities, there are some online resources that do. One is AreaVibes.com, which can give you a See Your Labor Rates, Page 56

autobodynews.com / APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

‘FL Senate Should Vote to Fix Auto Insurance Laws’ Says Uber Policy Manager

by Stephanie Smith, FloridaPolitics.com

Floridians are blessed with a low cost of living. When comparing the cost of housing, utilities, transportation, health or the overall cost of living, Florida is lower than the U.S. average. Why, then, is Florida ranked among the five most expensive states for car insurance? The answer is, in part, because of a broken statutory system that does not require the purchase of third-party bodily injury coverage (BI), but does require the purchase of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage laden with high costs and pervasive fraud. Florida is the only state that does not require drivers to purchase BI coverage when they buy auto insurance to satisfy financial responsibility requirements. The point of financial responsibility is to guarantee that all drivers on the public roadways have a minimum amount of security to pay damages that they cause to others. Florida has set that minimum financial responsibility at $10,000 per person and $20,000 per accident for bodily injury. The statutes permit the sale of auto in-

surance policies that do not satisfy this requirement, which results in a staggering number of drivers on the road without adequate insurance as compared to other states. In 2015, Florida ranked first in percentage of uninsured motorists at 27 percent—more than double our neighbor, Georgia, which is near the average at 12 percent. PIP is a vestige of the 1970s insurance reform movement that has failed to accomplish what the academics who dreamed it up believed it would. The goal of PIP was to eliminate lawsuits over minor injuries and lower overall auto insurance rates. The reality is that PIP continues to be a cottage industry devoted to extracting money from insurers, even when there is no merit to the claims. After an initial wave of PIP laws in the 1970s, no state has enacted a no-fault system like PIP again, and several states have wisely abandoned PIP due to the cost and the fraud inherent in the system. Lawmakers in those states came to understand that an auto insurance system is healthier when it relies on common law tort principles rather than the derogation of common law rights in favor of a

IGONC Triangle Chapter Meeting Features Modernizing Automotive Education by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On Feb. 6, the Triangle Chapter of the Independent Garage Owners of North Carolina (IGONC) hosted its monthly meeting at the research building of sponsor Advance/Carquest in Raleigh, NC. Attendees enjoyed a nice evening of learning and friendship as well as a BBQ dinner. Chris Chesney of Advance/Carquest discussed “Modernizing Automotive Education.” IGONC Executive Director Bob Pulverenti shared, “Chris let us all know about programs designed to work on getting and keeping the younger generation interested in the aftermarket automotive industry. Our members are always interested in

making sure the industry attracts new talent. “The event is a monthly gathering of garage owners to discuss changes in regulations, new technology and products available to them to help their business run to the best of its ability. Running a business requires a constant effort to stay on top of your industry, and we help our members do that.” The Triangle Chapter of IGONC will hold its next meeting on March 6 with a presentation by Scott Thorley on Protractor, Automotive Management’s new software/management system. For more information on the association and its scheduled meetings, visit www .igonc.com.

Advertise in our CLASSIFIED SECTION for $50 per column inch! 800-699-8251 6

ltedesco@autobodynews.com

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

no-fault scheme. Uber supports a public policy that lowers the number of uninsured and underinsured motorists on the road. Through statute and through our business practices, we guarantee that the over 100,000 drivers partnering with Uber in Florida are insured while using our app. Those hard-working drivers deserve to see their personal auto insurance costs go down and to see more of their fellow Floridians properly insured. The Florida House has already passed HB 19 by Rep. Erin Grall. This bill repeals PIP and requires the purchase of BI coverage at a limit commensurate with average amounts across the country. If enacted, this bill would make our public roadways safer and would lower premiums for the average Floridian statewide by more than 8 percent for mandatory coverage. We applaud Rep. Grall and the Florida House for their good work, and we urge the Florida Senate to act on this issue. Stephanie Smith is Uber Florida’s Senior Public Policy Manager. We thank FloridaPolitics.com for reprint permission.

State Farm, I-CAR Insurance Gold Class Status

I-CAR® has awarded Insurance Gold Class® business recognition at the corporate level to State Farm®, an achievement reserved for insurance carriers that are committed to improving the performance and quality of auto collision repairs. State Farm’s appraiser staff has completed the Platinum Auto Physical Damage Appraiser (APDA) training requirements in I-CAR’s Professional Development Program (PDP), therefore achieving corporate Insurance Gold Class. State Farm’s Select Service® Program also recognizes I-CAR’s Welding Training & Certification™ as part of its network education, equipping each of its network technicians with the necessary information, knowledge and skills to perform quality welds. “State Farm’s enthusiasm and encouragement for its appraiser staff to adopt APDA training and as a result, become a corporate Gold Class organization, confirms a dedicated commitment to training throughout the organization,” said Brad Gutcher, I-CAR manager, segment development - insurance.

autobodynews.com / APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

SCACAR’s Launch Event Sets Pace to Further Industry

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On Thursday, March 8, the South Carolina Association of Collision and Autobody Repair (SCACAR) hosted its first official meeting at the Dave & Busters in Colombia, SC.

Aritha Richardson from Enterprise Rent-ACar provided an update on the industry Length of Rental and ARMs usage

Sarah Myers-Daniels, President of SCACAR, shared, “The launch event for SCACAR was a huge success, with 75+ people in attendance for our first event. We had some great speakers, and the event exceeded my expectations for a launch event in South Carolina. It’s important to create awareness of the need for an as-

sociation in South Carolina and to invite shops to get involved so we can help to further the industry as a whole.” After Aritha Richardson from Enterprise Rent-A-Car provided an update on the industry Length of Rental and ARMs usage, asTech’s Jake Rodenroth delivered a presentation on scanning and the future of technology in vehicles. According to SCACAR Board Member John Reeves, “The information Jake provided really helped shed some light on why we must be diligent in education and training as this technical tsunami continues to hit the collision repair industry. Now, more than ever, information and training are critical to our success as shops and to the safety of our consumers.” Josh Kent, Director of Membership for SCACAR, added, “Jake’s presentation skills are fantastic, and the piece that he shows is invaluable to the industry. His presentation should be mandatory for all to see within the industry. Scanning is one of the biggest topics in the industry— South Carolina is far behind the curve. We have to change this, as scanning is a part of the repair process and must

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

be done for the safe and complete repair of these vehicles.” The event attracted several college and high school collision repair instructors, which lent to the group’s goals of working with the schools in the future in regards to job fairs, trade shows and scholarship programs.

SCACAR’s first official meeting attracted a large crowd of more than 75 collision repair industry professionals

SCACAR Treasurer Mitch Dean noted, “Overall, I feel everyone enjoyed the event. There were a lot of faces in the room that have known each other for years or even decades, and it provided a forum for them to network with one another, in addition to learning invaluable industry information.” The new association has nearly filled its board seats already and attracted 21 members with only one of-

ficial meeting. Regarding the formation of the group, Kent explained, “I felt a sense of desperation from South Carolina over the past year on wanting and needing a state association with regards to education and a voice for this industry, more so than in North Carolina. That’s why I wanted to put this together, and finding Sarah was a prize, as she is very passionate about this industry.” “As an industry, we must share best practices to ensure a safe and effective repair for consumers. Without exposure to best practices from other companies, shops will continue to silo themselves and not know what is going on around them in their market and in the industry at-large,” MyersDaniels observed. “We are all working to provide the best quality repair for our consumers’ safety. With the rapid advances in technology and ADAS systems, we have to work together to increase the knowledge of the industry.” For more information about SCACAR, visit www.scacar.com or contact Josh Kent at josh.kent@elite-sales group.com or 704-998-8553.

World of Customs Auto Show Inspires Collision Repair Students in MS by Allie Martin, WCBI

A field trip to the World of Customs Auto Show helped students from Tishomingo County’s Career and Technical Center in Mississippi see what can be done with the right education and training. Blake Thomas teaches collision repair at the career and tech center. He brought 12 students to the indoor auto show at the Tupelo Furniture Market for what he hopes is a motivational trip. “The sky’s the limit for what they can do. They can open up their own body shop, work for somebody— Sky’s the limit for them as far as they want to take it,” Thomas said. This is the first time the World of Customs Auto Show has been in Northeast Mississippi. The first hours were for high school and junior college students. Harry Smith brought his ‘93 Ford Ranger named Max to the show, which drew a constant crowd of young auto enthusiasts. “We disassembled it and got the engine and all out of an F 40, su-

percharged, trimmed it to six speed put in it, built our own frame, customized complete front end,” Smith said. Another big attraction for students at the World of Customs Auto Show was Von Hot Rod. He’s from California and started his career as a pinstriper working with automobiles, but now his artwork is on a variety of items. “The crazy thing is I took the concept of striping what you see on the hood of a car side, and transferred it over to Kitchen Aid, highheeled shoes, laptop computers, cell phones—kind of went mainstream with it, so I’m a little bit different,” Von Hot Rod said. Most of the vehicles on exhibit were also different or unique. There was an “Optimus Prime Replica” from Transformers, a mock-up of an LAPD Mobile Command Center used in several movies and replicas of the famous vehicles from “Smokey and the Bandit.” Some of the cars were even for sale. We thank WCBI for reprint permission.

Service Excellence, Effective Leadership Sessions at ASA’s Annual Meeting

The Automotive Service Association (ASA) has announced its lineup of instructors for the Friday, May 4 training sessions at the 2018 Annual Business Meeting. Scheduled for May 2–4 at the luxurious Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort Hotel in Orlando, the Business Meeting will feature half-day sessions taking place simultaneously from 1–4 p.m. that day. The classes are approved by the Automotive Management Institute (AMi), and students can earn six credits per class. Instructors announced for the Friday sessions include: Bob Greenwood: Elevating Service Excellence with Productivity Mathematics. Attendees will learn why “site-efficiency measurement”—measuring the entire shop as a team, rather than as individuals—can help direct management to failing processes and lead to solutions for how to make them successful. Bill Haas: Takeaway Strategies for Implementing Effective Leadership. An in-depth course that

teaches shop owners how to improve opportunities for team members to excel by creating a culture of empowerment that provides a positive influence and aligns individual and team objectives and values. The advanced registration fee for members, by April 2, is $99. Since this is a members-only event, nonmembers are welcome to attend but must first join ASA. To join, visit ASAshop.org or call (817) 514-2900, ext. 2. The registration fee includes: Thursday continental breakfast, open board of directors meeting, ASA luncheon, all AMi-approved training, Welcome Cocktail Reception, Celebration of Excellence and AMi graduation and the Epcot Center Dessert Reception & IllumiNations Fireworks display. Registered attendees can also purchase a guest pass for $50. Housing and transportation arrangements are the responsibility of those who attend.

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VA Shop Shooting

use of a firearm in the commission of a felony charge. Judge Richard Rizk accepted Taylor’s plea, convicting him on all seven charges. Taylor is scheduled for sentencing June 28 at 1 p.m. He faces up to life plus 39 years in prison. According to York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office investigators, Taylor shot Joey St. Clair, an auto painter at Ebby’s, on July 25. Investigators said the shooting was related to a domestic situation. St. Clair survived the incident, but still struggles with injuries sustained during the shooting, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Krystyn Reid said March 1. A criminal complaint filed in the York-Poquoson General District Court says Taylor approached an employee outside Ebby’s and demanded to see “Joey the painter.” Taylor then shot a handgun down into a pillar at the front entrance of the business.

The 41-year-old forced the man and a second employee to take him to the back of the garage where St. Clair was working. While being led to the back of the auto body shop, Taylor fired another shot into a vehicle. When the three men went into another bay where St. Clair was working, Taylor fired a round into St. Clair’s abdomen, causing him to fall to the floor. Taylor shot St. Clair several more times when he was on the ground, documents state. Taylor barricaded himself inside the building for several hours following the shooting, sheriff’s office officials said. The complaint states Taylor admitted to shooting St. Clair after he was apprehended. “The accused admitted to getting up the morning of 7/25/2017, retrieving two of his handguns and a shotgun, and going to Ebby’s with the intention of shooting Joseph St. Clair,” the complaint states. “During the interview, the accused stated that he ‘…hopes that mother f—r dies.’” We thank Williamsburg Yorktown Daily for reprint permission.

Sessions To Be Offered at ASA Meeting on DecisionMaking Skills, Embracing Change

The Automotive Service Association (ASA) has announced its lineup of instructors for the Thursday, May 3, training sessions at the 2018 Annual Business Meeting. Scheduled for May 2–4, at the luxurious Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort Hotel in Orlando, the Business Meeting will feature two half-day sessions on Thursday, taking place simultaneously from 2–5 p.m. The classes are approved by the Automotive Management Institute (AMi), and students can earn six credits per class. The Thursday sessions include: • “New for 2018: 6 Tips for Making Better Decisions,” by Maylan Newton, CEO of ESI, which is designed to teach shop owners and their staff the techniques of developing better decision-making skills. • “Embracing Change: Take the Fear Out of Change and Establish a Mindset of Improvement,” by Richard Flint, chairman and CEO of Flint Inc., which will explore the fourphase timetable a shop goes through toward self-destruction—if it is not willing to implement change. The course also will offer specific steps 10

shop owners must take to open their mind to improvement. Registration is now open for ASA’s 2018 Annual Business Meeting. To register or learn about additional activities planned for the meeting, go to www.asashop.org/annualmeeting. The advanced registration fee for members, by April 2, is $99. Since this is a members-only event, nonmembers are welcome to attend but must first join ASA. To join, visit ASAshop.org or call (817) 514-2900, ext. 2. The registration fee includes: Thursday continental breakfast, open board of directors meeting, ASA luncheon, all AMi-approved training, Welcome Cocktail Reception, Celebration of Excellence and AMi graduation and the Epcot Center Dessert Reception & IllumiNations Fireworks display. Registered attendees can also purchase a guest pass for $50. Housing and transportation arrangements are the responsibility of attendees. To register or learn more about the activities planned for the meeting, go to www.asashop.org/annual meeting.

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

WIN Announce Recipients of the 2018 Most Influential Women in Collision Repair Award

The Women’s Industry Network (WIN®) is extremely pleased to announce this year’s honorees for the prestigious Most Influential Women (MIW) of the collision repair industry for 2018. After reviewing nominations and interviewing a number of talented women, four industry leaders were selected to receive MIW honors: • Shelly Bickett: Director, CoFounder of Fix Auto USA and Owner of nine Fix Auto Collision Repair Shops in California • Mary Mahoney: Vice President - Insurance Replacement Division, Enterprise Holdings, Inc. •

Marie Peevy: Owner, Auto-

motive Training Coordinators, LLC

•

Petra Schroeder: Collisionista

The Most Influential Women award was established in 1999 to recognize the achievements of women in the collision repair industry. Since then, more than 80 women have been recognized for their contributions to the industry. “This year’s recipients exemplify the meaning of ‘Most Influential.’ All four women have been a positive force in the collision repair industry and their local communities,” said Cheryl Boswell, Chief Financial Officer at DCR Systems, LLC, a 2015 MIW Honoree and Co-Chair of the 2018 MIW Committee.

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VA Body Shop Worker Named Runner-Up in ARCA Racing Series

by Steven B. Wilson, Speedway Digest

Fredericksburg, VA, body shop worker Willie Mullins recently scored a stunning runner-up finish in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards opener at Daytona International Speedway. The runner-up finish in the Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire came with a lot of media obligations. He had to go to the Daytona International Speedway Media Center to answer questions and take part in several interviews via phone in the days that followed. Mullins, 37, is still trying to wrap his head around it all. “It was a lot to take in,” Mullins recalled. “When they looked at us and said I had to go to the Media Center, I was like, ‘What?’ I’ve never had to do that before. We had a friend of ours there who whisked us away so we could get over there. Thankfully we were able to sit down and take a couple minute-break while we were waiting on (third-place) Sheldon Creed to get to the Media Center. “It was pretty neat to sit down and talk to everybody and get ourContinued from Cover

PA Lawsuit

their pre-loss condition. But rather than agree to reimburse Professionals for the cost of making reasonable and necessary repairs, Progressive directed Professionals to ‘utilize inferior parts and/or to perform inferior service.’” When Autobody News asked Perretta if Professionals was asked to use inferior parts, the body shop owner replied, “Yes, as they always do… as they do all shops. We refuse to use inferior parts. The years of tracking the return of those parts have led us to not use them anymore.” Perretta said he has also found that these parts are not crash-tested or safe. Therefore, when working on customers’ cars, Professionals “perform[ed] all reasonable and necessary repairs to place the vehicles in their pre-loss condition[s],” according to court documents. When the body shop asked to be reimbursed from Progressive, Perretta said the insurance company paid a fraction of the 12

selves published in USA Today and the Washington Post and be on the AP Wire. It was definitely more than I ever thought it could be. It was just an unbelievable feeling.

Credit: Mullins Racing

“Honestly, it’s still hard to believe it. It’s hard to believe we finished second at Daytona.” However, the minute the race ended Mullins had to shift his attention back to reality. Daytona was effectively a vacation for Mullins and his volunteer crew, most of who traveled to the race from Virginia. “The whole time we were in the

cost of the repairs. The $712,972.90 Professionals is seeking in damages represents “unpaid balances, ‘delay time costs,’ and administrative costs.” Insureds and third-party claimants signed what is called an “Assignment of Proceeds” that authorized the body shop “…to recover any unpaid balances for Professionals’ services and repairs,” court documents stated. “The body shop has a contract with the consumer and the consumer has a contract with the insurance company,” explained Perretta. “The Assignment of Proceeds allows the body shop to ‘step into the consumers’ shoes to secure a fair and reasonable reimbursement.” As a result, Professionals is allowed to seek damages from Progressive under the insurance company’s contractual obligations to the insureds and third-party claimants. “Progressive had a duty to compensate the consumer for a reasonable repair,” he added. The case was originally filed on August 23, 2017 in the Court of Common Pleas of Blair See PA Lawsuit, Page 54

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Media Center, I was thinking about getting out to help the guys tear the car down in inspection after the race,” Mullins said. “We’ve got a small volunteer crew and I wanted to make sure I was out there helping them.” The day after the race, Mullins was heading home, driving the Mullins Racing hauler the 13 hours back to Fredericksburg, VA, so he could return to his day job at Bugsy’s Auto Body & Repair the next day. “After that, we had to get the car loaded up and first thing the next morning, we started the 13-hour drive back to Virginia. I drove the hauler the entire way back so we could get home and get back to work,” Mullins continued. “Now we’re back in the swing of things here at the shop trying to fix trash trucks and customer vehicles. We’re back to making money so we can try and go to Talladega. “We work hard at Bugsy’s Auto because that is how we pay for racing. We have a few corporate sponsors like Crow Wing Recycling and CW

Metals. That, combined with all the work here at the shop we get from the folks over at County Waste, allows us to go racing. County Waste isn’t a traditional sponsor, but we wouldn’t be able to race without them. “We work hard every day here at the shop and we’re able to put together a great car with great people. I believe with my life that nobody can out-work us. They can out-money us, but they can never out-work us. I think our work and our work ethic shows in our results at Daytona.” Mullins Racing is currently seeking sponsorship in order to compete in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards General Tire 200 at Talladega (AL) Superspeedway on April 27. Interested parties may contact Dinah Mullins at dinahmarie thompson@gmail.com We thank Speedway Digest for reprint permission.

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AT&T 4G LTE to Power Ford SYNC Connect

Ford and AT&T are bringing highspeed connectivity to customers this year—with plans to connect more than 10 million customers to Ford SYNC® Connect within the next five years. With Ford SYNC Connect, Ford vehicle owners can: • Remotely lock and unlock doors from anywhere • Use the built-in GPS system to locate their parked vehicle on a map • Remotely start the vehicle or schedule a start time • View vehicle information, including fuel and battery level and tire pressure readings SYNC Connect debuts this spring on the new Ford Escape. After the initial rollout in North America, SYNC Connect is launching in global markets, adding another 10 million connected vehicles by 2020. “Connected car services are an important feature to consumers,” said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, Internet of Things, AT&T Mobility. “We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with Ford to deliver an enhanced connected experience to more Ford drivers.”

TN Fire-Rescue Unit Receives Donated, Restored New Response Vehicle

The Rutherford County, TN, FireRescue Department, together with its Fire/Arson Investigation unit, received keys to a much-needed response vehicle March 2 as part of a donation on behalf of State Farm and Service King Collision Repair Centers.

to fully restore the 2011 Chevy Impala. The vehicle was donated for the event by State Farm and will be used by Rutherford County’s Fire/Arson unit as well as the State of Tennessee’s canine investigation team. “The Rutherford County FireRescue Department is excited about

The giveaway was made possible through the National Auto Body Council’s Recycled Rides Program, which brings together insurers, collision repair companies and local organizations to restore and donate vehicles to individuals and organizations in need. As part of the giveaway, Service King’s local collision repair technicians volunteered time and expertise

the opportunity this vehicle affords our organization to enhance the services provided by our Fire & Arson Investigation Unit,” said Joshua Sanders, Lead Investigator and Unit Supervisor of the Rutherford County Fire-Rescue Department. “As our county continues to grow at a rapid pace, so do the demands on our department. This addition to our fleet will prove to be a valuable asset.

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Arson is one of the most costly crimes to affect our community as it indirectly contributes to increased insurance premiums, higher medical costs, lost jobs, lost income and the increased cost of fire services. We would like to thank State Farm, 1800-Charity Cars and Service King of Murfreesboro for their partnership in the fulfillment of this mission.” Service King and State Farm are both actively involved in the National Auto Body Council’s Recycled Rides program and the Nashville community. Currently, Service King operates 19 locations in the greater Nashville area, and in 2016 its Service King Cares initiative contributed more than $750,000 to nonprofit organizations across the U.S. “The entire Service King family is thrilled to take part in this special donation,” said Matt Billington, Service King Area Director. “We are immensely grateful for the selfless service and sacrifice our first-responders display and hope this small token of our appreciation makes a significant impact on their mission.”

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Maaco Ranked 228 on Entrepreneur Magazine Franchise 500 List

Maaco Auto Painting and Collision Repair, part of the Driven Brands Inc. family of automotive aftermarket franchise brands, has been ranked in Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500. “It’s an honor to be recognized among the top companies in the world,” said Jason Ryan, president, Maaco Auto Painting and Collision Repair. “Through the past year, we have strengthened our operational and financial performance and focused on strategic growth for our network. This is a tremendous sign that we are on the right path for success.” The key factors that go into Entrepreneur’s evaluation include costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength and financial strength and stability. All franchises are given a cumulative score based on more than 150 data points, and the 500 franchises with the highest cumulative scores become the Franchise 500 in ranking order.

ASA Promises Magic Connections at Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

The Automotive Service Association (ASA) will hold its 2018 Annual Meeting and Conference at the Walt Disney Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando, FL, on May 2–4, 2018. According to ASA Executive Director and President Dan Risley, “We want to re-establish our Annual Meeting as the pinnacle event for our members to network with the industry’s leadership and fellow members. More importantly, we want it to become a family event. We want our board, staff, affiliates and members to bring their families. ASA was built on family businesses and a family atmosphere. We want our Annual Meeting to embody that.” “[I anticipate] a combination of business, pleasure and team building. Team ASA is composed of staff, board members, strategic business partners and our families. Building that environment during our Annual Meeting shouldn’t be difficult, as that already exemplifies a culture we have within the association. As the saying goes, ‘birds of a feather flock together.’ The benefit of attending the Annual Meeting is to network, learn and share your

knowledge with your peers and the leadership in the automotive service and collision repair industries. You will come to Florida with your luggage and ideas. You will leave with lifetime friendships, tools to help you improve your business, and a better understanding of what ASA does to support the industry and our membership.” Wednesday’s schedule includes separate meetings for ASA’s Board of Directors and the ASA Affiliate Executive Directors, as well as a Board of Directors dinner. Following breakfast and a Board meeting on Thursday morning, ASA will host a luncheon and a swearingin of officers before offering two seminars from 2–5 p.m. Attendees will choose from educational presentations delivered by well-known industry speakers Bill Haas or Richard Flint. The evening will conclude with a Welcome Cocktail Reception, sponsored by Federated Insurance. Friday morning’s agenda includes meetings for the Mechanical Operations Committee, the Collision Operations Committee and the AMi Board, whose meeting will continue into the afternoon. ASA will offer the

option of AMi-accredited training with Bob Greenwood or Maylan Newton from 1–4 p.m. On Friday evening, ASA will host its Celebration of Excellence and AMi graduation, followed by a reception sponsored by Advance Auto Parts and Illumination fireworks at Epcot Center with a dessert reception sponsored by Autozone. Risley is excited about the evening’s festivities. “It’s our one time out of the year to formerly recognize those that give tirelessly back to ASA and the industry,” he said. “We’ll host a reception after the graduation and a dessert reception at Epcot with a private viewing area for fireworks. “Any time the industry comes together, great things happen. We learn from each other and support each other. As we become better business owners, managers and technicians, the industry and the consumer benefits.” Sponsorship opportunities for ASA’s Annual Meeting are still available by contacting Risley at danr@ ASAShop.org. For more information about the meeting or the association in general, visit www.ASAShop.org.

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SC Auto Repair Shop Owner Says Faith, Family Guide Him by Greg K. Deal, Index-Journal

Capers McGrier III started his car care business with one five-gallon bucket of water. Thirty-five years later, he has a thriving business on South Main Street in Greenwood, SC, where he works with his sons, Marcus and Romond.

Marcus McGrier works under a car at McGrier’s Auto Care in Greenwood, SC. Credit: Greg K. Deal, Index-Journal

“I put my hand on everything that needs to be done around here,” Capers said. “They’ll tell you that I’m not the easiest person to work for because I like for it to be right. I treat everybody’s car like it’s my car, and I’m very particular about my car.” Capers’ father, Capers McGrier Jr., owned an auto body shop in Ware Shoals when the younger Capers was growing up. He said he learned a lot more from his father than how to detail cars and perform body work and paint jobs. “I learned to be honest with your customers, give them a fair price [and] and do quality work,” Capers said. He said his father was very strict. “I guess that’s what made me the man I am today,” he said. His sons have their own specialties. Marcus is the “brains” behind the operation, Capers said. He has a motorsports engineering background and works on engines and other mechanical parts of the car, in addition to doing detail and body work. Romond has a mobile washing and detailing business and travels all over the region to work on cars, houses and boats. “We do everything we do here on the road,” said Romond, who was preparing to head to Hilton Head to clean a couple of boats. Capers walked from automobile to automobile explaining the fine details of the work being done. Marcus was multi-tasking. He was cleaning the interior of a car and also changing the power steering pump on another 18

vehicle. Marcus, who calls himself a “car fanatic,” also races cars at Ware Shoals and Carolina dragways. His race car is a 2012 Mustang with a Coyote 5-liter engine. In addition to car washing, detailing, body work and mechanical work, McGrier’s Auto Care also buys and sells cars at auctions. A white van in Capers’ lot was purchased for a customer who said he didn’t have a lot to spend on a vehicle. The McGriers were detailing the car and getting it ready to sell to the customer. Capers has been in the same location for 32 years. He and his wife worked for FL Aerospace in Greenwood before Capers started his own business. Capers painted headlights for Boeing Aircraft. “I don’t like to work on the inside,” Capers said. “I’m an outside person. Being inside, confined to a big building—That wasn’t me.”

Romond McGrier buffs a car at McGrier’s Auto Care in Greenwood, SC. Credit: Greg K. Deal, Index-Journal

So, Capers took a chance on faith. His current building was for rent three decades ago, and he said he had a vision from God that starting his own business was the right direction. “I love the Lord and I serve the Lord, and that’s how my business operates,” Capers said. “My doors come open with the help of the good Lord every day. When I started this business, I told him to give me a chance to be successful, and I would never get a big head. If I got a big head, he could take it from me. He didn’t take it from me. He gave me an increase.” Capers said if he falls forward, he is sure the Lord will catch him. If he falls backwards, he said his wife will be there because she told him she always has his back. Capers never advertised. Instead, he went around to local car dealerships and offered to detail one of their cars for free. It was by word-of-mouth that he started drawing in business.

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Customer Johnny Hanna stopped by the business on a Thursday morning. He said you only have to look at how full McGriers’ car lot is to know that Capers is successful. “He’s cleaned up a few cars for me,” Hanna said. “He’s very good. He’ll tell you what he can do, and he does a good job. He’s the best in town, I think.” Before starting his business, Capers washed cars in the backyard of his Greenwood home while working at FL Aerospace. When he first started McGrier’s, Capers and a friend, Lester Conner, were the only employees. Capers would come into the car care business and work during the morning, then he would go and work from 4 p.m.–midnight at FL Aerospace. After several years of renting his location, he purchased the building. “I learned that being a young man, you can make good money,” Capers said. “But it’s a lot of hard work. I stuck to it, and now I have my two sons in it.” If he ever experiences low times in life, he just reaches under his desk

and pulls out a Christian devotional book. He keeps his first business card in the book to remind him of God’s blessings. He said he starts his day at 5 each morning and spends an hour either reading the Bible or talking to God before coming to work.

Capers McGrier, owner of McGrier’s Auto Care in Greenwood, SC, keeps a Christian devotional book under his desk to refer to when he feels he needs to. Credit: Greg K. Deal, Index-Journal

“I always have to put God first because he gave me the vision,” Capers said. He said he likes “seeing the facial expressions of people coming back to get their car and they don’t think it’s the same car.” He said a lot of car detailers use See Owner Credits Faith, Page 50

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AMi Begins Continuing Education Requirement

The Automotive Management Institute (AMi) announced new continuing education requirements to maintain its professional designations. AMi will give designation graduates holding one of its many professional designations until Dec. 31, 2018 to complete six credit hours of AMi-approved training to maintain a “current designation status.” After 2018, anyone holding an AMi professional designation must complete a minimum of six credit hours of approved training within the 12-month calendar year. Graduates not meeting the continuing education requirement will lose permission to claim designation status. “Ongoing advancements in customer service, marketing, leadership and management compel AMi to require continuing education requirements to maintain the relevance of its professional credentials,” said AMi Chairman Sheri Hamilton. Individuals not meeting the annual C.E. requirements will no longer be listed on the organization’s verification of credential holders website and will be required to stop using AMi designations as a current credential.

Gordon Automotive Is 6th Car Lot to Report Crime This Year in Thomasville, GA

by Noelani Mathews, WCTV Eyewitness News

The Thomasville, GA, Police Department is investigating after property was stolen from another local car lot. They say it’s the sixth location to be hit this year. Other businesses include Cars R Us and JJ Auto Sales. The latest business to be targeted was Gordon Automotive on North Madison Street. The morning of March 5, a surveillance system caught the thief getting away. “What got my attention was the sound of a door slam, and my first reaction was to go after him,” said Augustus Wilson, an employee at Gordon Automotive. The suspect in the video is seen running away from Wilson, who discovered him going through cars in the lot. Wilson said he immediately called police. “I have to admit, I was kind of frightened. But at the same time, I was just trying to do my job and protect the property,” Wilson said. Wilson has worked at the car lot for more than four years. He said the man in the video

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

ended up getting away with a radio he stole out of one of the cars. “It’s upsetting because it devalues the vehicle,” said Wilson. The business said it’s still in disbelief knowing it’s the sixth local car lot to report stolen property this year. Police said most of the other cases are not like this one. They said that in several cases, thieves used whatever means necessary to break into the car. However, with Gordon Automotive, it was as easy as opening an unlocked car door. “It seems one would think it would just be easier to hit a random car on the street, but a lot of times these suspects know they leave these businesses unsecured,” said Capt. Maurice Holmes with Thomasville Police Department. “A lot of times these businesses are isolated and, of course, they pick the times they are closed.” He said the incident happened around 3 a.m. “This happened before, maybe two or three years ago, but I guess if I wouldn’t have called and come out, it might’ve been more than just

that one radio,” said Wilson. Both police and Wilson said they’re keeping a watchful eye on the business and the community. TPD is still searching for the suspect from Gordon Automotive. They said they’ve already made several arrests on previous crimes at other car lot locations. In several of the cases, they said keys had been stolen from inside the businesses to steal cars at a later date. TPD’s advice is to keep a welllit business, report any suspicious activity and use a good surveillance system.

We thank WCTV Eyewitness News for reprint permission.

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AAAS Prepares for 2018 Conference and Trade Show in FL

Young Auto Care Network Group (YANG). The Automotive Aftermarket Asso“We look forward to having ciation Southeast (AAAS) is busy YANG professionals join us on Frigearing up for its 2018 Conference day evening,” West said. “Members and Trade Show, to be held June 7– of both groups have great experiences 10 at the Sandestin Village of Bay- and perspectives to share. I hope towne Wharf in Miramar Beach, FL. YANG members will take advantage “Join AAAS members of our offer of free conferas we celebrate the associaence registration for YANG tion’s 80th year of service to members and join us for the those in the aftermarket inentire conference.” dustry,” AAAS Chairman AAAS will hold a TableKeith West said. “The top Trade Show during schedule of events has a breakfast on Saturday before perfect balance of networkWest delivers his Welcome ing opportunities and fun and State of the Association Auto Care activities for members and Reports. Association President their families.” According to AAAS Presand CEO Bill West will kick off the ident Randal Ward, “The Hanvey will share conference on Thursday Saturday morning business his perspective on evening with the Chairman’s program is composed of two the industry with Welcome Reception. Friday very impressive guest speakattendees during morning will feature AAAS’ ers who will deliver timely AAAS’ 2018 annual fishing expedition and informative presentaConference aboard the Relentless, spontions on the most important sored by Federated Insurance. On Fri- topics facing the aftermarket industry.” day afternoon, the group will hold First, Auto Care Association board meetings to attend to association President and CEO Bill Hanvey will business. share his perspective on the industry Friday evening’s reception will with attendees. Then, Tom Shay of be hosted in collaboration with the Profits Plus will present “Improving by Chasidy Rae Sisk

Sales and Strategies to Win,” spon- bers and friends of the association, we sored by Highline Aftermarket. have awarded more than $54,000 in “Tom Shay is an industry fa- scholarships since 2006. Our goal is vorite motivational speaker and au- to continue to support our members, thor with valuable insight to their employees and famishare with attendees,” Ward lies as they pursue their edsaid. “Members and guests ucational goals.” will have the opportunity to Conference registration talk with experts and hear information is available at the latest information availwww.aaas.us and includes a able regarding important variety of attendance opand trending industry toptions. This year’s sponsors ics.” include Federated InsurIndustry favorite AAAS will hold its ance, Merrill Lynch, HighTom Shay will share Annual Golf Tournament on inspirational insights line Aftermarket, BlueCross Saturday afternoon at Bay- on Saturday, June 9 BlueShield of Alabama, towne Course. The Golf CARQUEST, LKQ CorpoTournament is sponsored by Feder- ration, York Risk Services Group, ated Insurance and benefits the AAAS Meadowbrook Insurance Group, N.A. Educational Foundation Scholarship Williams, Superior Financial SysFund. tems, and Aldridge, Borden and AAAS’ 2018 Conference and Company Certified Public AccountTrade Show will conclude with Satur- ants, NetDriven, PrimePay, Carlisle day evening’s festivities, which will Medical, BBandT, Trustmark, The include a dinner banquet and silent Beam Financial Group and Webb & auction benefitting the AAAS EF. Eley, P.C. “We are excited to continue to grow the Educational Foundation,” said Michael Morgan, Chairman of the AAAS EF Board of Trustees. FREE “Because of the tireless work of many 4x Monthly E-Newsletter. volunteers and donations from mem-

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She Succeeds in a Man’s World: Sales to Body Shops by John Prince, Villages-News.com

People working in auto body shops don’t mess with Gail Santoro. She can sand, polish and paint with the best of them. In her early 30s, as a single parent with two young sons, she made an odd choice of employment. She signed on with a private distributor to sell supplies to auto body shops in Florida—typically a career pursued by a man—and ended up making a career of it across the country.

Gail Santoro receives a sales award trophy. The original trophy had a man on the top. Her supervisor rushed out and had it replaced with a woman

“Knowing nothing about the automotive business, I needed to learn, and the only way I could learn was by talking to the body man. Men in a body shop just look at you as a pretty face. They’re happy to talk, but they don’t give you any sales orders. They don’t take you seriously,” Santoro remembers. But not getting orders meant she had plenty of time to ask questions and learn the business. “They gave me the knowledge I needed to be successful when I eventually joined 3M,” she said. Santoro was born in Brantford, Ontario, and in her early teens, her parents divorced. She ended up in Ohio where her mother, a fierce entrepreneur, opened a beauty parlor and cosmetology school. “So, all of my summers were spent going to beauty school and learning how to be a cosmetologist,” Santoro said. “By age 16, I had more hours than were required by the state to take the state licensing exams. I passed them, became a managing cosmetologist and started teaching cosmetology.” The students in her first class ranged from a 15-year-old to 64-yearold twins. 22

Several years later, while starting her career in auto body shop sales, Santoro heard that 3M, the giant research, manufacturing and sales firm, was actively seeking women in their sales force. She applied, was interviewed, hired and went through the company training. Her first posting, in 1976, was to Green Bay, WI. “I’d been living for years in Hollywood, Florida. Going to Green Bay was a bit of a shock,” she said. Santoro sent out cards to the body shops announcing that she was their new 3M representative, signing with her initials and last name, and started making calls. One typical call went like this: “I introduce myself to the owner. He shrugs his shoulders. His hands fall to his sides and his eyes roll up in his head. He says, ‘Oh my gosh, first they send me a black man and now a woman!’ And he turns around and walked away. He wouldn’t even talk to me.” She persevered. “My mother had taught me a lot of things about business and how to win people over,” she said. “She could’ve taught business at Harvard—she was so good at it. She gave me the confidence to be able to do just about anything I set my mind to. I set my mind to do this and be successful at it.” She increased sales in her territory by 250 percent during her first year. The body shop that had originally dismissed her later became a good customer. She successfully argued that her territory be enlarged. She developed special promotions that increased sales. For the next 20 years she continued her sales successes in a succession of territories, often winning sales awards and prizes. Her photo albums are filled with pictures of 3M sales groups in Hawaii and other exotic locations—Santoro the only woman among dozens of men. But being an attractive woman in a male-dominated business required some smart counter measures. She was regularly propositioned by her customers and co-workers. “I knew I needed to help my customers to save face. I didn’t want to make them feel bad. I bought myself

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

an engagement ring and invented a fiancé. That was my excuse for turning down drinks or dinner. It allowed them to save face and at the same time avoided a lot of complications for me,” she said.

Gail Santoro and son Bryan in Hawaii at a 3M sales convention

Her professional attitude, deep knowledge of the business and ability to demonstrate products to skeptical body shop owners and workers gained her respect and increased sales. “I can actually cut down Bondo filler or polish a car,” she said. She also credits the quality of 3M products for her success.

“3M is an absolutely wonderful corporation because they build their products on research and development and they’re always the most innovative company, ahead of everybody else,” she said. Santoro’s career with 3M ended suddenly in an eight-car pileup. “I heard the crash behind me, turned around see what was happening and was hit. Because of a shoulder injury from the accident, I couldn’t lift my 70-pound sample cases any longer,” she said. She had several choices for life after 3M, and chose real estate in Midland, MI, where her soon-to-behusband, Neil, had taken a new position. A few years later, they moved to Jacksonville, FL, where Santoro’s son and three granddaughters lived at the time. After a long illness, Neil died and Santoro needed to reinvent her life again. “I was planning a trip to south Florida and got a call from a friend,” Santoro said. “She said, ‘Why don’t you visit me. I’m living in The VilSee Way to Succeed, Page 25

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A Tale of Two Paints: A Visit to Axalta’s Training Center in Concord, NC by Barbara Davies, Autobody News

On Feb. 22, I arrived at the Axalta media event on behalf of Autobody News expecting a tour of Axalta’s training center in Concord, NC. Little did the other media participants and I know, we would also be getting a chance to spray two of Axalta’s premier basecoats: Cromax EZ and Spies Hecker Hi-TEC. Before the hands-on spraying took place, Harry Christman, Axalta’s North America Cromax Brand Manager, gave an overview of Axalta’s history, the collision repair market and the target audiences for both the Cromax EZ and Spies Hecker HiTEC waterborne basecoats.

Christman outlined the top three market trends: 1. The insurance market continues to consolidate and the top 10 insurers, led by State Farm and GEICO, continue to push direct repair programs to lower costs and improve CSI. 2.

Top insurers will continue to

drive DRPs and reward MSOs with more work, fueling MSO segment growth. As of 2014, over 30 percent of DRP workflow is allocated to MSOs.

“Big insurers, State Farm, etc., are becoming more influential,” Christman said. “The big are getting bigger and

nel with insurers. “The MSOs are all about growth, repeatable processes and strategic relationships. These are large-scale operations, many with hundreds of locations across the country. They want to grow and standardize every process and KPI, and narrow down the variables. Their culture is standardized in order to meet company growth goals. They are all about productivity.”

3. Despite all the consolidation fueled by the “Big 4” MSOs’ growth, the nonMSO (e.g. independent shop) market size is still sizable at $23.3 billion or 72.1 percent of the total market (Romans Axalta media event participants spray two of Axalta’s premier Report 2015)

basecoats, Cromax EZ and Spies Hecker Hi-TEC, at Axalta’s training center in Concord, NC, on Feb. 22

they have extensive DRP programs. The insurers are partnering with MSOs for efficiencies and are laserfocused on productivity and CSI. MSOs streamline their processes and productivity to ensure their DRP chan-

Hence, the Tale of Two Paints: Spies Hecker Hi-TEC and Cromax EZ.

Axalta launched Spies Hecker Permahyde Hi-TEC waterborne basecoat about 10 years ago. It was designed to

provide a faster process to help improve cycle time and CSI. Hi-TEC’s streamlined process was a great fit for the MSOs in that it only required 1.5 coats wet on wet application with no flash required between coats. Fewer coats provided increased productivity and capacity with higher spray booth throughput. “Spies Hi-TEC requires about seven minutes of application time vs. 30+ minutes for a traditional paint process,” Christman said. “It gives shops the capability of pushing through more cars for greater profitability—something the MSOs are keenly focused on.” “When Axalta came out with Spies Hecker Hi-TEC, they thought that all shops would move away from the traditionally applied basecoats since Spies Hi-TEC required fewer base coats and less drying time in between coats. “We were wrong! Many of the independent shops liked using the traditional basecoats that they had great expertise with, and didn’t want to switch to Spies Hi-TEC. These

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shops may have some DRPs, but they are not driven solely by insurance companies and DRPs. They have more latitude to select the processes, and paint, that they want to use. “An analogy I like to use is getting a notification that a piece of software you use constantly (for example, software version 1.0) has a new version, 2.0, that the software company wants you to upgrade to. You know how to use version 1.0, and even though you know the new version 2.0 is probably better, you resist upgrading. “This is what Axalta experienced when they launched Spies Hi-TEC. Some painters have been using a particular paint process for 20+years. They understood that Hi-TEC might be better, but it required a different spraying technique and they didn’t want to give up their current painting process.” To continue the analogy, many painters who loved version 1.0 (Cromax) didn’t want to go to version 2.0 (Spies Hi-TEC). “Axalta realized after 7+ years of trying to get all painters to switch to Spies Hi-TEC, some painters just

didn’t want to give up the way they had been painting for years,” Christman said. “Axalta listened to these painters and came up with a new Cromax, Cromax EZ, in late 2017.”

Axalta media event participants speak with Steffen Apollo (r), Brand Manager, Spies Hecker, Standox at the Axalta training center

As Christman explained, Cromax EZ is “waterborne made easy.” It was designed to be simple and incorporated the same spray and blending techniques that independent shops have been using for years.

Cromax EZ’s new basecoat is all about simplicity: • Easy to mix: No agitation toners, eliminates need for traditional

mix machine. • Easy to match: Intuitive Fan Deck with 5,500 color chips sorted chromatically as well as digital Acquire Quantum EFX and Colornet Web 2.0. • Easy to apply: Coat-flash technology. Familiar wet on dry application process, similar to solvent borne. No wait time before applying clearcoat.

Continued from Page 22

My takeaway: Two paints are better than one.

We thank Villages-News for reprint permission.

To experience these paints first hand, all Media Day attendees were suited up and invited into the booth to spray each brand and experience each paint process first-hand. After spraying both paints, I certainly appreciated the speed and efficiency of spraying Spies Hecker Hi-TEC paint, but there was something compelling about the artistry of spraying the Cromax EZ, even though the process did take longer.

To learn more about Axalta’s Cromax EZ and Spies Hecker Hi-TEC, go to axaltacs.com.

Way to Succeed

lages.’ She takes me all around—rec centers, to play bridge, music and line dancing at Sumter Landing. After two days I fell in love with this place.” She moved into her home in the Village of Polo Ridge in June 2017. She finds the location to be a good jumping-off point for visits to her two sons and grandchildren in places like Newark, NJ, Boise, ID, various locations in Michigan and nearby Jacksonville. One of Santoro’s main projects now is writing a young adult fantasy book, which she calls The Book of Fairie. “Think of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings. And, actually,” she said with a smile, “it’s not about fairies. It’s about elves.”

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Historical Snapshot with John Yoswick

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

OEM Info Websites Have Existed for 15 Years 20 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (April 1998) Roger Wright of Integon Insurance agreed that the existence of nonOEM parts may have resulted in higher prices for some OEM parts for which there is no non-OEM version. “That’s why moldings are $200,” Wright said. “It’s interesting: When you look at the gross parts dollars combined [for OEM, non-OEM and salvage], it’s still about the same part of the estimate as it was before nonOEM and salvage parts were used extensively. But what if we say, ‘Okay, let’s not use non-OEM; let’s just use OEM.’ What’s going to happen to parts pricing then? We’re just scared of that as an industry.”

In 1998, Roger Wright said insurers recognize that non-OEM parts help hold prices of some OEM parts in check while resulting in higher prices for parts without a non-OEM alternative

He said insurers do have some other leverage regarding parts pricing by informing vehicle manufacturers how the choices they make affect insurance premiums for a particular vehicle. He said insurers contacted one manufacturer about higher claims cost for vehicles that didn’t have break-away mirrors. “We said if you want to continue to have this as an insurable vehicle, you have to put the break-away mirrors on, and they did,” Wright said. “Can we do the same thing if they start raising the price of parts? Can we make the car uninsurable from a customer stand-point? Yes. So there is a little leverage there.” – As reported in The Golden Eagle. Wright was speaking during a panel discussion regarding nonOEM parts during an Automotive 26

Service Association annual meeting. Wright later worked for other insurers (including AIG) and collision repair chains (CARSTAR and Sterling Auto Body) before forming Vector Squared, an independent consulting firm, in 2014.

15 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (April 2003) Accessibility to OEM repair information continued to be a topic of discussion within the industry and at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in Phoenix in April. In a presentation for the CIC “OEM Committee” on how Ford Motor Company takes collision repairs into account when designing vehicles, Steve Nantau, collision repair supervisor for the automaker, said his company now has repair manuals available for many of its models and expects to have manuals for all models by the end of this year. Bill Haas of the Automotive Service Association pointed out that 22 automakers currently have service and repair information available to shops via website. Subscriptions for access average about $20 a day and offer shops immediate access to the specific information they need. He cited an example of a shop that had replaced a door on a 2002 Nissan Altima but couldn’t get the power window to open or close completely. “There’s a relearn procedure that’s necessary for the power window,” Haas said. “That procedure is available on the Nissan website. So the technician was able to access that service information immediately, go back to the vehicle, perform the relearn procedure and make that car deliverable.” – As reported in Autobody News. Nantau retired from Ford, and Haas is now an independent consultant and trainer. Links to OEM information websites for more than three dozen automakers can be accessed via www.OEM1stop.com. 10 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (April 2008)

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Mitchell International and CCC Information Systems say they will continue to operate independently for the next 2–6 months until the merger the two companies have announced is approved by regulators and final-

In 2003, Steve Nantau said Ford Motor Company was expanding the amount of collision repair manuals it was making available to the industry

ized later this year. At that time, CCC’s CEO Githesh Ramamurthy will become CEO of the new “CCCMitchell, Inc.,” and current Mitchell

CEO Alex Sun will become president of the new company. Termed a merger-of-equals, its new board will have equal representation from each of the two private equity firms that currently back CCC and Mitchell. Longer-range plans reportedly being discussed within the companies include creation of a new common electronic estimating platform that will use Mitchell’s database. One side note to the CCCMitchell announcement: Sources say that just such a merger was something Tony Aquila unsuccessfully worked to make happen while chief operating officer at Mitchell in 2003– 04. After leaving Mitchell, Aquila founded Solera, now the parent company of Audatex, which now must compete against the merged CCCMitchell. See OEM Info Websites, Page 47

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OE Shop Certification with Gary Ledoux

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

OE Shop Certification Programs: Assured Performance Network This month, we’re looking at the Assured Performance Certification Network, representing Ford, Nissan, FCA, Infiniti, Hyundai and Kia (Ford was handled in a previous profile.) For this interview we caught up with Scott Biggs, industry icon and CEO of Assured Performance.

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

The Assured Performance Certification Network was formed starting in 2003, and has since grown to include joint-effort collaboration with several OEMs. Now, Assured Performance Certified Repair Providers have the option of multiple OEM Certifications and Recognitions through one centralized and managed

program, saving redundancy and extraneous costs. The joint effort program includes the following OEMs:

1. “FCA Certification Collision Care” Program launched in 2012. 2. “Ford National Body Shop Network” Program launched in 2014.

3. “Nissan-Recognized Collision Care” Program launched 2012. In 2014, Assured Performance took over administration of the program.

4. “Infiniti-Recognized Collision Care” Program launched in 2012. In 2014, Assured Performance took over administration of the program.

5. “GT-R Certified Collision Repair Network” Program. Assured Performance took over administration of the program in 2017.

6. “Hyundai-Recognized Collision Care” Program launched in 2015

7. “Kia-Recognized Collision Care” 30

Program (most recent partnership) launched in October 2017.

Q: A:

What is the main purpose of the program?

To identify and officially certify and/or officially recognize collision repair providers that possess the proper tools, equipment, training and facilities required to properly repair automobiles to manufacturers’ specifications—ensuring the fit, finish, durability, value and safety of the vehicle and to assist consumers and insurers with locating and connecting with those Certified Repair Providers.

What are the program requirements?

There are 36 major requirements that shops must meet, and an additional eight if they wish to be aluminum-certified for the Ford program. Edited for brevity, here are some of the main requirements:

General Business Requirements: • Be in business for at least five years • Provide proof of Garage Keepers liability insurance • Provide a limited lifetime warranty on all work performed Customer Service Requirements: • Measure customer satisfaction through a third-party provider • Have a professional and wellmaintained customer reception, waiting and restroom area • Utilize a preferred rental car provider General Technical Repair Capability: • Meet I-CAR Gold Class or equivalent with proof of ongoing training • Subscribe to current OEM repair procedures and have the ability to provide documented proof of compliance • Utilize a frame rack or dedicated/universal fixture bench with ap-

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

propriate vehicle anchoring and pulling capabilities • Utilize an electronic, three-dimensional vehicle measuring system Advanced Materials Repair Capabilities: • Must have a 220 volt, 3-phase Inverter STRW welder • Must have a 220 volt MIG/MAG welder • Must have a dent removal/pulling system for steel panels Aluminum requirements include but are not limited to: • Isolated aluminum work area • Tools designated for aluminum work only include all special tools, as specified by Ford Motor Company • 220 Pulse MIG welder specifically for use with aluminum • Utilize a special SPR rivet gun, as specified by Ford.

Q: A:

What are the program benefits?

The Assured Performance Network of dealer-owned and independent Certified Repair Providers benefits includes the following:

• Official certification and recognition by more than 63 percent of the OEMs under one program, including Ford, Nissan, Fiat, Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Lincoln, Infiniti, Hyundai, GT-R and Kia.

• Leverage the OEM brands: Use of the official OEM-certified signage, OEM logos and badges to promote and market the shop through use in marketing, advertising, social media, online and recruitment. • Listing on online shop locators and smart apps with appointment set-

ting. Certified shops are listed on multiple online shop locators with the exclusive ability to set appointments directly with a certified shop. These sites include the following:

♦ Consumer-Facing Certified Shop Locator ♦ autobodylocator.com ♦ Insurer-Facing Advanced Repair Capable Certified Shop Locator ♦ advancedrepaircapable.com ♦ OEM Branded Certified Shop Locators ♦ nissancertifiedshop.com ♦ fcacertifiedshop.com ♦ fordcertifiedshop.com ♦ hyundairecognizedshop.com ♦ infiniticertifiedshop.com ♦ crashrepairinfo.com ♦ mopar.com/collision

• Marketing and collateral materials provided by all of the OEMs to promote their official status with the OEMs.

• Multi-media in-shop system (eLOBBY) for consumer awareness and shop promotion, including lobby area electronic signage and

full-length videos as well as revolving OEM messaging. • ShopOps operational process management system that includes a full library of processes, procedures, checklists and job descriptions, a turnkey HR management system, KPI reporting, business development and planning tools, data management and safeguarding, customer relations management, training management and tracking.

• Electronic Quality Assurance Program (OE-QC) that enables the shop to efficiently document using OEM repair procedures and the adherence to a quality control checklist electronically, including the use of smart devices at the technician level. • On-demand, data-driven marketing for various OEMs, based upon the shops own historical customer base.

• Collision Care Marketing Tools: Access to a suite of Collision Care marketing materials to differentiate Certified Collision Repair Businesses

from local competition; includes press releases, eLOBBY, eLISTINGS and On Demand Marketing.

• OE Owner Referrals: OEM Direct Consumer Marketing, as OEMs send millions of consumers direct emails and letters throughout the years to their vehicle owners promoting the Certified-Recognized Collision Repair Programs

Q: A:

What shops are eligible?

Any dealer-owned, independently owned body shop or MSO that meets the certification’s combined requirements as published. Some OEMs have additional requirements, e.g. Ford Certification requires additional aluminum-specific [requirements].

• Manufacturer Collision Consumer Education: consumer education marketing and multi-media videos and commercials that highlight the importance of using OEM parts and a FordCertified Collision Repair location.

Must an independent shop be sponsored by a dealer? If so, has that caused any problems?

• OEM Repair Procedures: Various OEMs subsidize the cost of the subscription to their OEM repair procedures for the Certified Collision Repair Centers.

Q: A:

• Business Improvement: Turnkey system to assess and chart improvements and performance throughout the business. The system is supported by independent consultants to assist as desired, optionally.

There are requirements to have a dealer sponsor the shop for some of the OEMs, but dealers are NOT limited to how many and which of their body shop customers they can sponsor, eliminating the opportunity for unethical practices in pay-to-play and extorting for access.

Which OEs do you represent? Assured Performance is the partner and administrator for

See Assured Performance, Page 34

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Continued from Page 31

Assured Performance

Nissan, FCA, Hyundai, Infiniti, Ford and Kia.

What is the fee for the program? Does the program run on an annual basis?

$2,950 per year is the base certification fee for independent shops, plus various optional marketing and signage fees specifically for each OE certification-recognition the collision repairer elects to enroll in. All programs combined are approximately $6,300 annually total, but there is no cost for the ShopOps or Quality Assurance systems. This total cost represents less than 40 percent of the full overall costs of all of the programs. The shop’s annual fees are subsidized by the participating OEM by as much as 60 percent. Yes, the program runs on an annual basis.

tions?

Do you inspect every shop and if so, who does the inspec-

Yes, every collision repairer is inspected and audited onsite on an annual basis. The results are documented, electronically published and posted online for additional internal auditors to review and approve. Assured Performance maintains a national network of onsite inspectors/ auditors that use smart apps with GPS location tracking to ensure integrity.

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

Yes, our overall objective is to maintain 100 percent demographic and geographic coverage of all urban, rural and suburban market areas and have adequate coverage to meet the repair needs for all units in operations for all of the brands represented. This requires approximately 3,000–3,600 certified repair providers across North America.

Q: 34

Have you had any shops drop out and if so, why?

So far, only about 2/3 of all of the shops that apply are able to eventually become certified and remain in the program. The annual renewal rate is nearly 90 percent because most of the collision repairers have continued in the program, unless they sell out to a consolidator or go out of business.

What has been the biggest challenge in establishing the network?

Our initial challenge was getting the industry to understand its value and importance. However, once we established a national footprint of well over 1,000 shops, the momentum changed. Getting to 3,000 is now a matter of shops re-investing to improve their business. While approximately 10–15 percent of the industry is well on its way to becoming OEM- certified (3,500 to 5,000 shops), the rest remain fixed on the past. Many collision repairers claim they have a great reputation in their market and generate plenty of work without the cost of compliance and certification credentials. There are also many shops that elect to operate outside of the mainstream and don’t feel they’re part of the equation. A massive percentage of the market focuses on cosmetic repairs and/or low-cost, consumer-paid repairs and wrongly assume they don’t have to have the OEM-required tools, equipment and training to still be able to repair the next generation of vehicles.

Q: A:

their repairs. This is far superior to the spot check approach. NOTE: We are the only organization or certification program from any OEM with this tool, and it is offered at no charge to our Certified Repair Providers as an integral part of their certification.

more value to the program to ensure that the shops see and gain value. Our overall objective is to ensure our network is filled with best-inclass businesses performing at their peak potential. To achieve that, we have to invest several million into the IT and innovation with new tools for quality assurance, business improvement, consumer awareness, marketing, human resource management, customer service and data integrity. Certified Collision Care Providers are extraordinary and not the same as body shops. They need to look and operate differently by using the tools that are available to them to improve their business model.

What do you see for the future of OE certification programs?

The future of the OEM certification programs will be stronger, and more than ever, the backbone to ensuring vehicles are properly repaired to protect the consumers. With vehicles becoming more advanced in material and technology, coupled with the introduction of telematics, the OEM is going to be playing a bigger role in the collision business. Eventually, consumers will demand that their new generation vehicle only be repaired by a shop that is certified to repair their specific vehicle.

Based on the recent John Eagle decision, will you make any changes to your program?

We have already made the changes by introducing an OE-QC Quality Assurance program to enable shops to properly and adequately electronically document their use of OEM repair procedures and help manage their technicians’ compliance to quality for 100 percent of

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What is you biggest challenge in maintaining the network?

The biggest challenge in maintaining the network is keeping all of the moving parts focused on the big picture and overall vision of a “proper and safe repair while consumers receive an exceptional treatment.” There are always people popping up with a new idea and metoo program that look shiny and exciting that can distract the market. With any program, there is always the challenge of keeping the shop engaged and using certification correctly to differentiate them and have them stand out from the non-certified shops in their market. We have continuously added more OEMs and

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YANG’s 1st Raleigh, NC, Meet-Up Focuses on Career Planning

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On Feb. 8, the Young Auto Care Network Group (YANG) held a Regional Meet-Up at Taverna Agora in Raleigh, NC.

Nicole Jefferies, Chief Transformation Officer at Advance Auto Parts, presented the "Four R's of Career Planning: Reputation, Relationships, Risk, Resilience.”

The event was sponsored by Advance Auto Parts and N.A. Williams, and co-hosted by Leslie Bennett, Senior Manager of Professional Sales Effectiveness at Advance Auto Parts, and Danielle Sonnefeld of N.A. Williams. Bennett shared, “The inaugural YANG meet-up in the Triangle area exceeded our expectations. Our industry is fortunate to have young professionals who are eager to connect and grow their leadership skills. We had attendees who drove several hours to attend, including someone who drove from a different state. Their desire and

commitment to connect with other young professionals validated the need to bring this event to the Raleigh area. Creating local events allows for a larger scope of people to participate and grow their knowledge of the industry as a whole.” Sonnefeld added, “Advance Auto Parts and N.A. Williams were excited to co-host the first Raleigh YANG Regional Meet-Up event. The event was a success with almost 40 auto care professionals attending for a night of networking, leadership development and the launch of a new local program: Raleigh Peer Mentoring group (RPM), which will provide a channel for the meet-up’s attendees to stay connected and build stronger relationships than a two-hour networking event may typically enable.” The meet-up also featured an informative presentation on the “Four R’s of Career Planning: Reputation, Relationships, Risk, Resilience,” delivered by Nicole Jefferies, Chief Transformation Officer at Advance Auto Parts. The event was held as a means for young professionals to network with industry peers, enhance their knowledge and improve their leadership ca-

pabilities. Bennett noted, “Beyond this one event, we offered for attendees to join the RPM program, which was created to continue to build connections and mentoring relationships with this local

Young industry professionals gathered at the Taverna Agora in Raleigh, NC, on Feb. 8

group of industry professionals. Interested attendees will be paired up into mentoring groups and encouraged to meet on a regular basis.” “The feedback from the event was very positive,” Sonnefeld said. “We had professionals attend from all aspects of the auto care industry: manufacturing, retail, manufacturer rep agencies, as well as local repair shops. The diversity of roles within their organizations also added to the pool of talent represented. This was an opportunity to connect with people outside of their normal business channels.”

AMi Hires Director of Collision Industry Outreach

The Automotive Management Institute (AMi) recently announced that Michael Cassata has joined the organization in the newly created role of Director of Collision Industry Outreach. Cassata recently retired from Amica Insurance, where he held positions as National Repair Assistance Program Manager (DRP), National CAT Manager and Salvage/Recovery Manager. Since his retirement, Mike has offered consulting services through his company, Hammer Insights. He was the founding member of the I-CAR Rochester Committee and continues to serve on numerous industry advisory committees. “I have been supportive of AMi's new, relevant programs and now look forward to playing a role in the organization's future growth and service to the industry. I believe we must continue to grow, evolve and learn in every aspect of our lives. This is a perfect fit for the AMi message, and I am so happy to be working with Jeff and his staff to promote this to our industry,” Cassata said. He may be contacted at mcassata@amionline.org.

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National News

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

with Ed Attanasio

Do OE Certifications Really Provide Accountability, Transparency? If you mention the John Eagle case to anyone in any body shop, anywhere in the country, they will likely know exactly what you’re referring to. It’s a landmark case that has caused ripples throughout the entire industry and elicited conversations about how to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Curtis Nixon is the president, CEO and co-founder of UpdatePromise in Chino Hills, CA. As a former second-generation body shop owner, he has been creating technology to help collision repairers and dealership service departments improve their customer experience since 2009, when he sold his family’s shop and co-founded UpdatePromise. The company has grown at a tremendous rate within the last nine years, and today UpdatePromise and its ancillary companies communicate with millions of consumers and services throughout North America. In a recent conversation, Nixon posed this question: Who should assume the lion’s share of responsibility for making sure that repairs are performed based on OE guidelines? How do we know that an OE-certified shop is actually performing OE repairs? Nixon sees definite value in third-party certification companies and isn’t critical of the role they perform in the collision repair industry. But he also strongly believes that the time is right to open a conversation about expanding these roles for the betterment of the industry, he said. “John Eagle was a ProFirst Honda shop when they glued that roof on that Honda Fit, so obviously they weren’t adhering to OE procedures in that case. So, my question is: Does there need to be another level of accountability required for shops with manufacturer certifications? If you’re a shop with one or more third-party certifications and there’s no ongoing accountability, how can the consumer or the insurance company be certain that you’re performing OE repairs?” Nixon questioned whether certification companies are doing their due diligence.

“Most third-party certification companies do onsite random inspections, but many of them will admit that they only inspect less than 1 percent of all repairs,” he said. “Some others inspect facilities, but never check out a tech’s work for quality or to make sure that they’re adhering to OE procedures. If a shop has a technician who has been identified for having low CSI scores, is there any type of accountability while that tech is still working on car after car?” Nixon believes that the data is already there, and that all we need to do is collect it and use it to monitor repairs. “When we collect data, it often deals with the customer experience, but we also ask about the quality of the repair and if the car came back for whatever reason,” Nixon said. “If we can see that those scores are consistently low, there is a problem at that shop and something needs to happen to rectify it. If we can use the data that is already available to us, combined with inspections and then aligned with accountability, it’s the next level. If the data is there or can be gathered easily and it helps the industry as a whole, why not at least take a close look at it?” If a tech is consistently producing sub-standard work, he needs to come off the line to protect the shop and ultimately, the consumer, Nixon said. “There’s no direct certification of that tech that really comes with any ramifications. If you go to a surgeon and he does a bad surgery, his license is in jeopardy and he is accountable for his shoddy work,” he said. By using technology, the job of vetting every tech is easier than you might think, Nixon said. “In today’s age, we should be able to use things like predictive modeling, artificial intelligence and machine learning in conjunction with all of the data that we’re already extracting to find those shops that need frequent monitoring and more than just a few random inspections every year,” he said. Once the data tells them what to

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

do, they need to inspect the work of a particular painter or tech and determine if they should still be fixing cars, he said. “Just because a shop has the right equipment and training, how do we really know if a tech knows how to use it?” he said. “We don’t have an accountability program in this industry right now, but we need one. If we can provide a new level of transparency and show the consumers that the person fixing their car is truly skilled and experienced to do the job, that’s the goal. Could we have predicted that John Eagle Collision would have encountered the problems that they did, which eventually led to their demise? Who knows, but if we can develop a program where an under-trained or inept tech isn’t allowed to work on vehicles until they’re back up to speed, that could prevent a lot of these mistakes before people get hurt and

everyone ends up in court again.” Industry veteran and former OEcertified shop program administrator Gary Ledoux also has some definite ideas about the topic. “The car manufacturers, especially those that make non-luxury, mainstream brands have spent a lot of time and effort to get their networks built and have done a great job doing that,” Ledoux said. “And if the collision repair landscape was the same today as it was when they started building their networks, they might be able to ride that business model a while longer. But things changed dramatically on October 2, 2017 in the wake of the John Eagle decision. The stakes are higher today for everyone. It’s time to kick things up a notch, and hold certified shops accountable. “Most shops joined OE-certified programs for the right reason,” Ledoux said. “Their hearts are in it,

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and they want to do a proper and safe repair for their sake, the sake of the OE and most importantly, for the sake of the customer. Others joined only because they thought an OE certification was just another DRP, but with a different flavor. They may have taken the training and bought the requisite welder, but it did not change the improper way they repair cars. These shops need to be identified and removed from the certified rosters, and there are several ways to do that. It’s just a matter of finding the right way.” Michael Anderson from Collision Advice believes that the OEs are going to step up and assume more of the responsibility and accountability after the John Eagle case and tap into a lot of new technology to help them

achieve their goals. “I can tell you that through my interactions with the OEMs, I have learned that their two main concerns are first safe repairs, and [second] protecting their brand,” Anderson said. “They recognize a need for oversight and absolutely feel as though there needs to be some meat on their programs, including an auditing process. So, they’re all cognizant of that and some OEs will lead the way, but they all know that it’s a necessary progression to make this industry better as a whole.” Anderson believes that you will see a time in the very near future where if a shop is certified, the manufacturers will start to monitor how often the shop researches their repair procedures.

“For example, if you’re repairing Hugos, they are going to monitor how often you pulled the OE procedures on a Hugo—What did you pull, what did you review and how long [did] you review,” Anderson said. “I also believe that the OEs will demand that all of their certified shops be required to show proof that [they] scanned the vehicle with an OE scan tool so that [they] can verify that all of the car’s safety and comfort features were working before that vehicle gets released back to the consumer.” New technology and pertinent data will help this evolution as well, Anderson explained. “In addition, I think that when a shop is writing an estimate, certain lines will trigger certain types of doc-

umentation that you will have to provide as a collision repairer,” he said. “For example, if a shop writes an estimate listing a setup and measure, it will trigger a response stating that the shop will have to take a photo to show how that vehicle was anchored to a frame machine. Also, the OEs will start carefully monitoring the CSI data about a shop to make sure they’re doing things right. So, if a shop has a lot of comebacks or surveys showing that the vehicles were not fixed properly, the OEs will audit that shop or technician’s work. If a shop does not make the standard (for example, if you work on 100 cars but only access repair procedures for 20 of them), then that will be grounds for dismissal from the certification program.”

Clemson University-iCAR Is Driving Smart City Tech in Greenville, SC by Logan C. Ritchie, Atlanta Jewish Times

Stuck on the Downtown Connector during rush hour? You may have reached for Smart City technology to scoot around the traffic jam. Mayors and city planners are

clamoring for Smart City technology like traffic navigator app Waze, an Israeli product. The Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-iCAR) and Greenville, SC, business leaders identified Israel as a

source of innovation in Smart City development. CU-iCAR works with Israeli startups focused on disruptive technologies related to one Smart City pillar: mobility. CU-iCAR excels in automotive research, innovation and global educa-

tional enterprise while serving more than 200 students pursuing graduate degrees in automotive engineering. Conexx recognized CU-iCAR as its Academic Innovative Partner of the Year at the Conexx Gala on March 22 See Smart City Tech, Page 60

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Tips for Busy Body Shops with Stacey Phillips

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

Emotional Intelligence Is a Key Element for a Successfully Run Body Shop

Whether a body shop is looking to success is emotional intelligence.” In 2016, entrepreneur.com stated ence in life,” she said. increase productivity, enhance team Marino explained that this is reIn a worldwide study of what that people with a high EQ make more performance or foster better leaders, ferred to as a person’s “EQ.” companies look for in hiring employ- money—on average $29,000 more Adrianna Marino said emotional Throughout her decade of expe- ees, Marino said 67 percent of the per year than those with a low EQ. intelligence can help achieve such rience studying emotional intelli- most desired attributes were found to “The link between EQ and earnbusiness goals and be a key factor in gence, which includes a certificate in be EQ competencies. ings is so direct that every point inrunning a successful company. crease in emotional intelligence adds The North American sales train$1,300 to an annual salary,” said “The link between EQ and earnings is so ing leader at AkzoNobel spoke to a Marino. “These findings hold true direct that every point increase in emotional group of body shop owners and manacross all industries, in all levels, in intelligence adds $1,300 to an annual salary,” agers about the benefits of emotional every region of the world.” intelligence during an AkzoNobel Marino outlined the four areas — Adrianna Marino Acoat Selected performance group of emotional intelligence: self-recogmeeting in San Diego, CA. EQ, Marino said she has found that a By being aware of emotional in- nition, self-management, social man“Emotional intelligence is a way better understanding of a person’s telligence, Marino said employees agement and social recognition. She of recognizing, understanding and emotional intelligence has numerous will increase the likelihood of improv- then shared tips on how to incorpochoosing how we think, feel and act,” benefits for the workplace. These in- ing their communication and problem- rate these competencies into a persaid Marino. “It shapes our under- clude enhanced employer/employee solving skills, decision-making skills, son’s personal and professional life. standing of ourselves and interactions relations, an improvement in company leadership, sales skills, teamwork and with others.” culture and a decrease in employee team performance. Self-Recognition: Someone who has low emotional turnover, burnout and absenteeism. “Productivity improves, as well Self-recognition involves self-awareintelligence may feel misunderstood Marino has found that most peo- as relationship satisfaction, customer ness and understanding, personal acand unappreciated, blame others for ple aren’t comfortable talking about service, conflict management and ceptance and an overall understanding See Emotional Intelligence, Page 43 their problems and is subject to emo- their feelings. overall effectiveness,” she said. tional outbursts and moodi“All human beings, reness. In contrast, Marino gardless of gender, have said those with high emofeelings and emotions they tional intelligence learn and bring to the workplace,” she adapt to audiences and situsaid. “We don’t work with ations, assume responsibility robots and machines every and take control of their perday. We work with human formance and productivity. beings. Whether we like it Adrianna Marino, North American During her presentaor not, we have to talk about tion, “Applying Emotional sales training leader feelings and emotions.” at AkzoNobel • Delivery to 100 Mile Radius of Naples Intelligence for Personal She said the key word is and Professional Success,” Marino “choosing.” PARTS HOURS: PARTS DIRECT LINE: explained to attendees how emo“We get to choose our thoughts, M-F 7am to 6pm tional intelligence can shape interac- behaviors and feelings every day,” she 239-734-3215 2 39 734 39 734 3215 21 Sat 8am to 5pm Fax: 239-591-3051 tions with others, define how people added. “We’ve all heard the adage: learn, help set priorities and deter- “Leave your stuff at the door when you 5665 N. Airport Pulling Rd. / Naples, FL 34109 mine the majority of a person’s daily walk in. Well, it’s not possible. The At Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Naples, actions. good news is you can learn how to maweee’re ’re re yyou yoour onee-sto stop op shop op for forr She shared information from Dr. neuver that. That's what emotional inMichael Rock, a specialist in this telligence is going to teach you.” area, who designed and taught “EQ Numerous studies have shown and the New Workplace.” that managing emotions is something “People typically attribute the that can be learned and directly influlion’s share of their success person- ences a person’s professional and perally and professionally to their men- sonal success. tal intelligence or IQ,” said Rock. Marino cited a study from UC “Research in psychology and human Berkley PhDs that showed EQ was performance over the last 20 years in- four times more powerful than IQ in dicates that mental intelligence does predicting who achieved success in contribute to success, but the far their field. more significant intelligence that ac“It may be responsible for up to counts for personal and professional 80 percent of the success we experi-

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APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

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Continued from Cover

Legal Battle

So how does a non-OEM parts lawsuit started back in the 1990s still remain embroiled in the judicial system? Back in 1999, a jury in the original Avery lawsuit found that the non-OEM parts installed on the drivers’ vehicles as part of their State Farm claim were inferior to OEM, and thus the insurer breached its contract to return those cars to “pre-loss condition.” It also found that State Farm had defrauded consumers by concealing known problems with the parts. The $1.2 billion judgment against State Farm was, at the time, one of the largest judgments ever levied against an insurer. The ruling changed the way many insurance companies dealt with non-OEM parts for years, and even today is seen as the basis for State Farm’s limited use of such parts. In 2001, in response to an appeal by State Farm, an appellate court affirmed the decision but lowered the damage award to $1.05 billion. State Farm then filed an appeal with the Illinois Supreme Court. In 2004, Judge Karmeier was elected to his first 10-year term on the Illinois Supreme Court. At that time, lawyers for the plaintiffs in the Avery case sought to have Karmeier recuse himself from participating in the Avery decision because they claimed his election campaign had received significant campaign contributions from State Farm. But Karmeier did not recuse himself. The next year, four of the six Justices on the Court—including Karmeier—voted to overturn the Avery ruling. The court ruled that the case should not have been approved as a national class action because State Farm uses different policy language in different states, and even within the same state. The Court found no breach of contract under any of the three different policy wordings related to the use of parts. It ruled that

the plaintiffs in the case failed to demonstrate damages. Additionally, the court pointed out that the plaintiffs did not contend that non-OEM parts are defective—only that they are not all as good as OEM parts. The decision emboldened insurers, some of which had curtailed calling for the use of non-OEM parts for some years after the 1999 Avery judgment, to return to pushing shops to use the parts. New findings, new lawsuit However, in 2011, lawyers for the plaintiffs in the Avery case filed a lawsuit claiming they had new evidence of State Farm’s involvement in the recruitment of Karmeier as a candidate and in financing the campaign that led to his election to the Illinois Supreme Court. That campaign shattered state and national spending records for a judicial seat, with the two candidates spending more than $9 million combined. The current lawsuit argues that State Farm “delivered ‘tremendous’ financial support (at least $2.5 million and as much as $4 million) to Justice Karmeier’s campaign.” The plaintiffs’ attorneys argue, for example, that State Farm attorney and lobbyist William Shepherd was on the executive committee of the Illinois Civil Justice League (ICJL), which recruited and endorsed Karmeier as a candidate for the seat on the court, and was involved with weekly conference calls with Karmeier’s campaign manager (the head of the ICJL). The money trail described in the court filings is a bit convoluted, indicating that the contributions largely came through intermediary organizations being influenced by State Farm. The ICJL, for example, through its political action committee made $1.1 million in direct and in-kind contributions to Karmeier’s campaign. Also at the time, the lawsuit argues, State Farm CEO Ed Rust was part of the U.S. Chamber’s leadership team that selected which judicial campaigns to target, and Illinois was identified as a “Tier 1” state to target. State Farm donated $1 million to the

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U.S. Chamber’s judicial election efforts, the U.S. Chamber donated more than $2 million to the Illinois Republican Party, and that organization in turn bought $1.94 million in advertising for the Karmeier campaign. Attorneys say the new evidence should lead the court to reinstate the judgment against State Farm, or alternatively reconsider the case without Karmeier’s involvement. (Justice Karmeier in 2014 was narrowly reelected by Illinois voters to a second 10-year term on the state’s highest court, and in 2016, he was unanimously elected by his fellow justices to serve as the chief justice on the court.) State Farm has argued that overturning the Avery ruling would be “disruptive in the extreme” to the Illinois legal system because the ruling has been cited in more than 200 subsequent court opinions. The insurer argues the contributions to Karmeier’s campaign from State Farm employees and others connected with the insurer were “quite modest,” by their estimate about $350,000. And it says the notion of “State Farm-influenced contributions” relies on an unsubstantiated ar-

gument that the insurer controls such organizations as the U.S. Chamber and the ICJL. State Farm had asked Judge Herndon for summary judgment in the suit, essentially dismissing it based on a lack of basis for it to move forward. But Herndon in February declined State Farm’s request. Herndon wrote that State Farm couldn’t demonstrate that any issues in the current suit were identical to the issues decided by final judgment in the Avery lawsuit. “As the parties are well aware, Avery was about State Farm’s failure to equip its insureds’ vehicles with proper replacement parts, and this case is about State Farm’s alleged conduct in secretly recruiting Judge Karmeier, covertly funneling millions of dollars to support Judge Karmeier’s campaign and concealing and misrepresenting the degree and nature of its support of Justice Karmeier,” Herndon wrote. “Simply, [State Farm’s] actions in the two cases are entirely different and do not seek redress from the same wrong.” The legal battle that began over non-OEM parts back in 1997 has still not seen its final chapter.

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Emotional Intelligence

of personal psychology. Marino said it is foundational to social awareness and self-management. Some of the measures include learning styles, strengths and weaknesses, self-esteem and temperament. 5 ways to build self-recognition: 1. Accept emotions without judgment. 2. Self-monitor; take time to reflect and review. 3. Accept advice without becoming defensive. 4. Analyze strengths and weaknesses fairly with an eye toward growth. 5. Create realistic personal expectations. Social Recognition: Social recognition reflects awareness and consideration of the feelings and responses of others. Marino explained that it’s the ability to empathize and maintain sensitivity to the moods and emotions of others, which allows for superior intuition and connection.

These include factors such as empathy/understanding, service, listening, rapport and adding value. 5 ways to build social recognition: 1. Actively look for opportunities to help others. 2. Actively listen; pay attention. 3. Take in feedback and critiques from others. 4. Follow through on promises and commitments. 5. Be positive and open when responding to new people and ideas. Self-Management: Self-management measures self-evaluation coupled with self-regulation. The awareness and discipline needed to control and harness feelings directly impact the ability to achieve personal objectives and develop an inner resolution, according to Marino. Satisfaction, happiness and contentment are results of self-management. Some of the factors might be restraint, discipline, flexibility and stress management. 5 ways to build self-management: 1. Set and monitor a specific course

and path for each day. 2. Act with focus and intensity. 3. Take time to evaluate and critique personal performance. 4. Avoid fatigue and burnout. 5. Remain accountable for your actions. Social Management: Social management includes interpersonal skills and focuses intelligence on generating results. Marino said that social intelligence fosters collaboration and connection. Some of the measures include encouragement, collaboration, conflict management and negotiation. 5 ways to build social management: 1. Take an active interest in others and their agendas. 2. Develop persuasion and rapport. 3. Be assertive, engaged, enthusiastic and involved with others. 4. Maintain poise and calmness. 5. Look for positive, constructive answers that help everyone improve.

When adopting emotional intelligence skills in a person’s day-to-day routine, Marino said a good reminder

is the computer command “ControlAlt-Delete.” “Control yourself, look for alternate solutions and delete situations that give you tension and negative energy,” she said. “We can’t get rid of everyone in life who gives us anxiety, but if there is a toxic relationship, try to maneuver around that or remove that person.” She also recommended that employees note their triggers and then focus on small changes to strengthen EQ. “Emotional intelligence takes practice; it’s a journey,” she said. “Take it one day at a time. Identify at least one area where you want to make a change and stick with it. You will see changes, though they may be gradual.” For more information about AkzoNobel Acoat Selected, visit http:// www.acoatna.com/.

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National Associations with Chasidy Rae Sisk

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

In-House Money Makers: ASA Partners With Bosch for 2nd Webinar in Series On Wednesday, Feb. 21, the Automotive Service Association (ASA) partnered with Bosch to present “In-House Money Makers,” the second webinar in its series about pre- and post-repair scans, at 1 p.m. EST. ASA Vice President Tony Molla welcomed attendees by mentioning the industry’s interest in pre- and postscans with modern vehicles. He introduced the presenters, Bosch Technical Trainer Duane “Doc” Watson and Bosch Technical Instructor Steve Zach, who addressed pre- and postrepair scanning in-house over the following hour. Expressing his hope that these webinars were useful, Watson encouraged participants to provide feedback before noting that the industry needs a powerful tool because the dash lights do not tell the complete story. “More systems are coming every year, and newer vehicles have up to 100 modules that need to communicate with each other to work properly. The pre- and post-scan procedures covered will help get a damaged vehicle back to its safe, pre-accident condition,” he said. Watson pointed out that many OEMs require, or at least recommend, pre- and post-repair scans. When answering when a scan tool is required, he admitted that it’s not a simple answer because it’s based on the age of the vehicle, options available and both the type and extent of damage. For example, Fiat listed conditions that could trigger DTCs prior to or during repairs, leading to improper vehicle performance. While there is not yet an industry standard for receiving payment for scans, shops get paid for approximately 70 percent of scans. However, Watson noted that having a printed scan report is vital to getting paid, negotiations may be necessary with some insurers and rates can vary. It’s important to know what OEMs recommend. The equipment and training required include a quality scan tool, a battery maintainer or high-end battery jump box and copies of OEM position statements. Bosch

supports scanning to identify DTCs in alignment with OEM position statements, and the company offers two scan tools: the Encore and the Evolve. Watson stressed, “It’s more than just buying a scan tool. There’s test prep to follow for the best results. The battery must have 12.6 volts, or you can get an inaccurate test. Use a fully charged battery booster or maintainer,

but don’t use a battery charge because this can cause erroneous codes and is a poor choice when diagnosing.” Providing a demonstration of the Encore, Watson explained that it begins by connecting the cable to the Vehicle Data Link connector and turning the key to the start position without starting the car. Then, users would set up their scan report by scrolling to the bottom of report options where they can alter settings, such as removing uncommunicative systems, prompting for extra fields, and include shop information. When it comes to vehicle entry, auto ID works with most 2006 and newer vehicles, or users can choose Manual Entry to select a vehicle by answering a series of questions, such as year, make and model, in order to show all modules on the vehicles that are available for diagnostics. Watson instructed attendees to touch ECM/PCM and choose “All system DTCs” to check all modules. All DTCs found on each module will be listed, and touching “code assist” under the DTCs will provide suggested repair information, also allowing users to access Direct Hit, Google, Mitchell or AllData for additional information based on the program with which they have an account. The DTC scan can also be emailed or printed through the share option—Both actions require set-up when used for the first time. The scan can also be saved to the scan tool itself, using the save function.

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

In order to clear DTCs, users can touch “clear codes.” Watson recommends choosing “clear and reread,” which involves cycling the key off and on in order for the Encore to rerun the DTC test, but he warned that it may be necessary to manually clear specific modules. After hooking the tool to the battery and selecting “test,” users can “select vehicle” in the lower lefthand corner of the screen, start Auto ID, and follow the prompts to allow the scan tool to communicate with all of the vehicle’s modules. The time it takes to pre- or post-scan depends on the number of modules and the scan tool processor speed. Watson reiterated, “After selecting the green arrow on the right for a complete report, users can save the report or select ‘Share’ to email or print it. It’s also possible to link to additional resources for information about

codes and how to correct issues.” Back on the list of modules, choose the correct module and data stream, and select “All data items” to test. Users can review saved reports by scrolling to the left on the next page and choosing “View saved scans,” which allows them to select a report from a list. The saved reports also indicate if it was a pre- or post-scan, the time and date, the repair order number, the VIN and the mileage. As the webinar concluded, Watson and Zach fielded questions from attendees and announced that they will demonstrate the Evolve scan tool in their next webinar. The third webinar in this series is titled “The Right Scan, the Right Way: Key Scan Tool Procedures for Collision and Mechanical Repair” and will be presented on Wednesday, March 21. For more information on ASA, visit www.ASAShop.org.

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Social Media for Shops

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

with Ed Attanasio

When Was the Last Time You Updated Your Website? You maintain your vehicle on a regular basis to keep it running right and on the road. I’m sure we all have those friends who are constantly remodeling their houses and looking for that next project to work on, whether it’s building a deck or re-doing their kitchen. Changing and updating things is a part of life, so why haven’t you touched your shop’s website since 2008? A website with new content lives and grows on the Internet. Every up-

rithmic factors determined by the search engine company itself. Their rules change all the time, so that’s why you need a web wizard to navigate through what Google is doing today. For instance, there are several reasons why a site could be indexed, including incoming links, the number and type of subject keywords used and how frequently a site is updated. Every time you make a significant update to your website, the search engine notices it and rearranges your

date you make to your site enables your existing and potential customers, insurance partners and vendors to find you online more easily. On the other hand, a static website without updates is considered dead by every search engine out there, which means that it will eventually drop down the rankings and end up being buried behind your competitors’ sites over time. Search engines love fresh content and sources of new information for their search requests, so if you can create relevant high-quality content, you will be on page one before you can say “Google.” Because in the end, one of the main reasons why any shop should have an online presence is so that customers can find them easily via any web search. The more you consistently update your website with articles, downloads and new web pages, the more regularly a search engine will drop in to visit your website. When search engines look at your site recurrently, you have the opportunity to attain higher rankings based on the content you’ve provided. Search engines use web crawlers, also known as “Googlebots,” that are basically high-tech programs that scan the Internet at lightning-speed for websites. The web crawler will index a site based on a wide range of algo-

site’s ranking accordingly. So, if you want to increase the chances of your website moving up the ranks, updating your content often so that a search engine will reassess your position on its index is the best way to go. But please keep in mind, a gaggle of new content is not the solution here—quality is. So, yes, it is a smart idea to update often, but make certain to keep your content standards high. Too many shops blast their websites with an avalanche of lowquality articles stuffed with too many keywords. When the web crawlers notice it, they penalize your website and in many cases, knock you down a few spots as a result. By far, the most frequently used search engine is Google. As the king of all search engines, Google has tremendous influence on webmasters and how websites are constructed. Google expresses its love for websites that are updated frequently, so you should add fresh content to your website as often as you can. But also avoid making unnecessary changes to your site, because Google is a little smarter than that. Shops that have a strong online presence are usually updated at least two to three times a week, normally through a blog. The Googlebots that crawl the web are always watching and searching for

“The reasons for changing or updating a website are numerous, but the main one is that the site must have an overall look and feel that is contemporary,” — David Moore

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

web pages that are new or updated, and then add this fresh content to their Google index. If you update your content often with consistent and valuable information, you will have a better chance of Google ranking your site higher after each new update. It’s really not that difficult to add an article or a photo to your site to get noticed. The easiest and best way to stay fresh is to add a blog on your site and continue to add articles that will get noticed by your viewers. If they comment on those articles, it also counts as an update on your site. So, write something that will elicit some feedback from your customers and friends in order to gain some attention that will lead to frequent updates. David Moore, the CEO of Collision Websites, normally recommends completely updating a website

every 3–5 years depending on the initial quality of the site. “The reasons for changing or updating a website are numerous, but the main one is that the site must have an overall look and feel that is contemporary,” Moore said. “If it’s not mobile-ready, you’re running behind, so you need to change that immediately and if your site is using technology that isn’t supported by all browsers (e.g. Flash), you should update it right away as well. “If your site doesn’t have a clear call-to-action, it should be updated. Make sure that the ‘above the fold’ section is uncluttered and contains a clear and simple headline with your phone number [and] address in large bold letters. You have three seconds to capture people’s attention, so don’t confuse them and make sure that your navigation is simple and that everything is easy to find.”

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Uber Halts Car Testing

tonomous vehicles on public roads across Arizona, giving rides to a small number of customers. A safety operator sits in the driver’s seat of all of these vehicles. Uber said it has suspended its autonomous car operations in Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto. Company chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said on Twitter: “Some incredibly sad news out of Arizona. We’re thinking of the victim’s family as we work with local law enforcement to understand what happened.” The company began testing its autonomous vehicles on public roads in California in 2016. However, within hours of the trial commencing, the vehicles were caught running red lights. California then revoked Uber’s license to operate self-driving cars in the state, claiming it had not paid for the correct permit to test its vehicles. Uber moved its testing to Arizona, but soon after that, in March

2017, one of its autonomous Volvos was knocked onto its side at an intersection. Although the car was driving itself at the time of the collision, it was ruled that a human-driven vehicle had failed to give way at a traffic signal, thus causing the crash. Tempe Police Department said: “On March 18, 2018 at approximately 10 p.m., Tempe PD responded to a traffic collision on Curry Road and Mill Avenue in Tempe, Arizona. The vehicle involved is one of Uber’s self-driving vehicles. It was in autonomous mode at the time of the collision, with a vehicle operator behind the wheel. The vehicle was traveling northbound just south of Curry Road when a female walking outside of the crosswalk crossed the road from west to east when she was struck by the Uber vehicle. The female was identified as 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. Herzberg was transported to a local area hospital where she passed away from her injuries. Uber is assisting and this is still an active investigation.” We thank GearBrain for reprint permission.

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OEM Info Websites

– As reported in CRASH Network (www.CrashNetwork.com), April 14, 2008. A year later, the two companies cancelled the planned merger after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) moved to block it; the FTC said it had an “impressive body of evidence…demonstrating that the combination of these two competitors would substantially lessen competition, ultimately leading to higher prices and less innovation for consumers.” Ramamurthy, Sun and Aquila remain in their positions at CCC, Mitchell and Solera Holdings, respectively. 5 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (April 2013) Because Arizona shop owner Dan Hunsaker had spoken negatively at several industry meetings about his experience with PartsTrader, he was asked why he stays on the State Farm program. “At this juncture, I don’t see the benefit of being a sacrificial

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lamb, and then having them six months from now say, ‘You know, this isn’t working; we’re not going to continue with it,’” Hunsaker said. “I’m taking a wait-and-see attitude. If this thing goes national, then I’ll sit down and pencil it out, and I will make a very informed business decision.” Perhaps of more interest to shops often afraid to speak out negatively about an insurer’s mandate, Hunsaker was asked if his company had experienced any blow-back from State Farm because of his outspokenness about PartsTrader. “State Farm is entitled to their opinions, and the collision industry is, too,” Hunsaker said. “No, I’ve haven’t had any repercussions yet. Would I be surprised if it happened? After 40 years in this industry, no, I wouldn’t be surprised. So far I’m saying what I think and I share all this with State Farm, too. I’m very clear with them about how I feel.” – As reported in CRASH Network (www.CrashNetwork.com), April 1, 2013. Five years later, Hunsaker’s shop remains on the State Farm “Select Service” program.

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autobodynews.com / APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

In Reverse with Gary Ledoux

The 1930s – New Products and an Insurance Company’s Realization The 1930s ushered in the biggest financial calamity of all time: the Great Depression. The Depression resulted in widespread unemployment and poverty in the U.S. and around the world. At the beginning of the 1930s, more than 15 million people, or roughly 25 percent of America’s workforce, were idle. President Hoover did little to alleviate the pain and despair and thus lost the 1932 election to Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal. Between 1930 and 1932, more than 9,000 banks failed, taking with them more than $2 billion in assets. In the days before the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, many people were left with only the clothes on their backs. In the auto industry, new vehicle production was cut in half—from 5.3 million units in 1929 to just under 2.4 million in 1930. By the end of 1931, this number was cut in half again. Cadillac took such a beating that General Motors considered dropping the line. Soon, about 80 percent of the car-building capacity was idle and 25 percent to 30 percent of auto dealers went out of business. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler held 90 percent of the automotive market in the U.S. The remaining 10 percent was shared between Hudson, Nash, Packard, Studebaker and Willy-Overland. No one had yet heard of names like Toyota, Honda or even Volkswagen. But things weren’t all bad. Despite the sharp decrease in new car production, advances were still made in vehicle technology and safety features including safety glass, windshield washers and sealed beam headlamps. All were meant to either help mitigate auto accidents or protect vehicle occupants in the event of a crash. In 1934, curved windshields were introduced in limited numbers. But curved windshields and back glass would not be widely used until the mid-1950s. By this time, most car manufacturers utilized body-over-frame auto construction, a convention that would dominate the industry for almost 50

years when unibody construction became the norm. In the early 1930s, collision shops, as an industry, started to coalesce. Finally, there began a differentiation between mechanical repair shops and body and paint shops. Paint had been spray-able since 1926, and shop owners came to the realization that you could not get a decent paint job in a shop filled with dust and dirt. One of the earliest collision trade magazines, Auto Body Trimmer and Painter magazine, emerged. By 1939, the Auto Body Rebuilders Association of New Jersey, one of the earliest associations of its kind, was founded. Auto body associations would grow for the next 40 years, when finally, they started having a more profound effect on the industry. Auto paint manufacturers began paint distribution through what traditionally had been auto parts jobbers. Eventually, the business grew to a point where carrying only paint and body shop supplies became a financially viable business. By the early 1940s, Paint Body and Equipment (PBE) jobbers began to emerge. Paint application technology was also advancing. It was during this period that DeVilbiss introduced the model MBC spray gun featuring an entire spray head assembly that can be removed from the gun body with one bolt. The high-volume, lowpressure spray gun was also invented—but it would be 60 years before it would come into general use in the automotive refinish industry. The paint that was going into those guns was also changing. The 1930s saw the introduction of alkyd enamel, best known as DuPont’s Dulux and an acrylic lacquer, DuPont’s Lucite. Sikkens introduced AutoFlex paint and Rubbol A-Z, a synthetic lacquer. The earliest paint booths began to show up in the mid-1930s, consisting of three pre-fabricated walls, an open front and a fan on the back to eject fumes and overspray. In front of the fan was a crude filter made of burlap or some other fabric.

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

This was the best painters had to date, but the system had a couple of problems; the burlap material clogged very quickly, so filters had to be changed several times a day and the filters were not fire-retardant. To make matters worse, the paint booth was usually a wooden structure. A build-up of paint and solvent on the cloth, coupled with a wooden booth led to several fires in which the paint booth and the shop burned to the ground. A better solution had to be found. The 1930s wore on and despite a deepening recession, State Farm Insurance continued to grow, but certainly not at the rate it once had. The company had gone from selling 40,000 new policies per year to an average of a little more than 17,000. This bothered State Farm founder George Mecherle, but not as much as something else—rising loss costs. Since the inception of the company, Mecherle and his financial people had concentrated on sales dollars and the number of policies sold. Now, in the economic downturn and the overall lack of profits, they looked, for the first time, at loss costs. In his address to the State Farm employees at the State Farm annual meeting, Mecherle pointed out that cars were changing—They were being built for higher speeds, causing more accidents with a higher severity. He noted that new and different construction made repairs more expensive. The price of parts was increasing, along with labor costs. Company executives met to decide what to do about the situation. Their answer was to do a state-by-state analysis of each of their policy holders, noting premiums paid versus claims made and losses paid. What they discovered was certain geographical areas had an inordinate amount of losses. It was decided that State Farm would no longer sell insurance in those areas. They also found a few agents selling insurance to people who were known to be bad risks. These agents were eliminated and insurance policies for high-risk policy holders were can-

celled. Hereafter, company executives kept a close watch on losses. At the State Farm annual meeting held Feb. 21, 1939, Mecherle announced an ambitious plan called A Million Or More in ’44, meaning he intended to have 1 million auto insurance policies in force by 1944—a five-year plan. At the time, the auto policy count stood at 450,000—and it had taken 17 years to get there! It would take a lot of work and perseverance to meet the lofty goal. The home office began advertising like never before. Agents were supplied with printed materials, film strips and movies with projectors to tell the State Farm story. Field agents carried boatloads of promotional giveaways. Mecherle considered it only an acceleration of what the agents were already doing—but now they were in overdrive! At the same time, a “conservation department” was established, designed to reclaim policy holders who had cancelled their policy, or allowed it to lapse. This was the first time this was done by State Farm, and it was highly successful. State Farm also worked with lending institutions that were writing car loans. Innovative at the time, State Farm wrote a policy to coincide with the terms of the loan and made the lending institution the first payee in the event of loss. By 1942, more than 2,000 banks were cooperating with State Farm. To make the policy a little “sweeter,” State Farm started offering a medical rider, paying a maximum of $500 for medical, surgical or hospital expenses. Mecherle was determined to meet his goal, so he kept on pushing. In 1941, he had so much business that the home office had to add a night staff just to keep up. The growing collision repair business and Mecherle’s dreams all changed on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941.

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Old School Know How with Ed Attanasio

Teresa Aquila Just Won’t Quit... Ever! To say that Teresa Aquila takes life by the reins is the understatement of the century, because ever since she can remember, she’s been doing it all without slowing down.

chanic, shot as a reserve cop and marginalized by men in the automotive industry at every turn, but she keeps coming back with more fervor and determination than ever before. As a renowned mechanic, columnist, teacher and the producer of a popular auto repair radio show for women, not to mention a policewoman, Aquila isn’t afraid to take chances and follow her dreams. Her mechanical career has spanned more than four decades, working on everything from Porsches to heavy equipment, including her personal fleet of classic Teresa Aquila owns a fleet of 13 classic vehicles, all of vehicles—all of which she which she completely restored herself restored herself. Aquila’s weekly radio show, At age 63, Aquila doesn’t have a pause button—only forward, and “Teresa’s Garage Radio Show,” is that’s the way she prefers it. She has broadcast on 1180 AM KCKQ every been injured on the job as a me- Tuesday at 2 p.m. PST. Her show’s

Continued from Page 18

Owner Credits Faith

chemicals from local dollar stores, but Capers orders his chemicals directly from professional vendors. He pulled out a 1-ounce bottle of Crystal Serum paint coating that cost him $150. He applies it to cars—at a customer’s request—to provide up to five years of paint protection from gunk sticking to the vehicle. He gets down low to look at vehicles to make sure the detail work is thorough. As far as painting, he said he will go beyond what is expected. If one door needs painting, he often paints the entire side so the car has a seamless look. He just charges for the door, though. He has a special relationship with his sons each day. “I tell my boys that at 8:00 in the morning when I put that key in the door, I’m not your daddy. You’re an employee,” he said. “At 5:30, I’m their daddy.” Marcus and Romond use social media to share before and after work 50

on cars, particularly when it comes to detail work. Both swiped through their smartphone image collections to show how extremely soiled interiors were cleaned to the point of looking new. “A lot of people say they know how to detail a car, but they just know how to wash a car and put a coat of wax on it,” Capers said. “Before I put wax on a car, I’m going to polish it first.” He or his employees also will remove the seats from the cars to clean both them and the carpet with an extractor. “When you talk about detailing, I go kind of deep,” Capers said. “I like to keep everybody up on the latest products out there.” He goes to seminars and belongs to the National Car Wash Association. Vendors also visit his shop every couple of weeks. “I don’t spare any expense when doing my cars because my name is on that car when it leaves,” Capers said. “That means more to me than anything. Everyone that comes in here is a part of my family.” We thank Index-Journal for reprint permission.

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

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

tagline is “Empowering Women One Wheel at a Time,” dedicated to women who dare to be different and desire to become more knowledgeable of car care.

“We’ve presented topics like how to find a good body shop, the differences between aftermarket and OE parts, the telltale signs of a bad body shop, and recently we interviewed Rocco Avellini, the founder of Wreck Check Centers about how to avoid shoddy collision repairs,” she said. “The show’s overall theme is to educate women about cars and how to repair them, in order to protect them as consumers.” Aquila’s career in mechanical repair started right after high school graduaAquila recently celebrated her 41st year as a Washoe tion, she explained. County reserve sheriff “I got a job working on Aquila’s show deals primarily a fleet of ice cream trucks, and I with mechanical repair, but occa- learned a lot by observing their mesionally includes various topics that chanic,” she said. “He taught me are related to the collision repair in- about brakes, engines and carburetors, and later how to prep and paint dustry.

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a car. It gave me a good start in the industry, but after that it was a battle, because no one wanted to work with a woman.” Today, there is the “Me Too” movement, but back when Aquila was working in the automotive repair industry, there seemed to be an “Anybody But You” movement. Her career as a mechanic taught her a lot of valuable lessons, and the main one was “Never quit...ever!” “I worked for 10 years at a place where I was the only female mechanic and the guys never accepted me,” Aquila said. “They sabotaged my work or gave me ridiculous jobs to do that were demeaning. When they saw that I wasn’t going to quit, they threw all of my tools on the roof and told me that I was taking money out of a man’s pocket.” Now celebrating her 41st year as a Washoe County reserve sheriff, Aquila serves and protects the community without collecting a paycheck. It’s an arrangement she is happy with, because it allows her to dictate her schedule and participate in a lot of programs that are dear to her heart.

report came over the radio that told me that a high-speed chase was coming my way,” she said. “Here comes a vehicle at 120 mph coming right at me. It swerved and missed me by 20 feet, and I can still see the driver with his window cracked and a gun in his right hand. He smiled at me like he was saying ‘You’re dead,’ and then I heard a loud crack. I thought I had blown a tire, but then there was blood everywhere.” Still in pursuit, Aquila became faint and had to pull over after traveling about “Teresa’s Garage Radio Show” is broadcast on 1180 AM eight miles. The chase evenKCKQ every Tuesday at 2 p.m. PST tually ended when the pertraining and was promoted to lieu- petrator committed suicide, and later tenant 10 years ago. I’m involved in it was discovered that he was wanted neighborhood watch efforts, coordi- on murder and drug charges. “I was lucky, because when he nate high-profile events, do public speaking and meet with the commu- shot at me, the bullet went through nity to hear their concerns. It’s a both of our car doors before going through my leg. Six months later, I great job and I love it!” One particular day definitely was back on the job. People thought I tested Aquila’s passion for law en- was going to quit, but I’m in it for the forcement—The day she almost lost long run,” she said. When she isn’t chasing bad guys her life. “I was at another call, when a or producing her radio show, Aquila

“When I first started, I got the graveyard shift and realized I could not do this,” she said. “So I retained my reserve status and work 30–40 hours weekly now. I receive the same

is writing a book about her life and maintaining her fleet of 13 classic vehicles. “I love all of my cars, but I do have a special place in my heart for my 1954 Chevy Bel-Air, because I did all of the bodywork on that one myself. Every one of my vehicles is drivable and I still have [my] very first car—a 1963 Chevy Impala that I bought when I was 18,” she said. Even though her career as a mechanic hit its share of speed bumps along the way, Aquila still believes that women belong in the automotive repair industry. “I tell young women all the time that it’s still a male-dominated business, but if you stay focused and put your best foot forward in anything you do, you will be successful,” she said. “Don’t ever let anyone dissuade you on your journey, because we’re all on the same road—even though we’re in different cars.”

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The Skills USA North Carolina State Championships for collision repair will be held April 19th, 2018 from 7:30 am till 1:30 pm at the Greensboro Coliseum. This year’s event will also serve as host to the Collision Repair Education Foundations Career Fair. The Collision Repair Education Foundation is hosting transportation careers fairs at our SkillsUSA North Carolina State Conference, with employers from across the transportation sector. The foundation is inviting high-school and Postsecondary collision, automotive and diesel programs to come and meet industry to see the array of opportunities that exist for them. Students who attend receive access to an S/P2 online resumé writing course and a professional technician shirt. Students who are participating in SkillsUSA transportation competitive events will get special access to employers during the SkillsUSA only access time. To get involved, go to: www.collisioneducationfoundation.org/transportation-career-fairs/. Last year’s SkillsUSA North Carolina conference was the largest showcase of Career and Technical Education in North Carolina with more

than 2,700 outstanding career and technical education students competing in 120 hands-on trade, technical and leadership contests. These contests span more than 130 trade areas from construction, automotive, and welding to drafting, public safety, cosmetology, and more! During the state competition, students work against the clock and each other, proving their expertise in their chosen occupations. All contests are run with the help of industry, trade associations, and technical experts and test competencies that are set by industry. In addition, leadership contestants demonstrated their skills, which included extemporaneous speaking and conducting meetings with parliamentary procedure. Over 100 industry partners help support the competitive events. The SkillsUSA North Carolina Championships are for middle school, high school and college students who are members of SkillsUSA. First place winners earn the right to compete in the National SkillsUSA Championships in Louisville, KY alongside more than 6,500 other competitors from across the country in more than 100 contests.

autobodynews.com / APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Industry Training with Stacey Phillips

I-CAR CEO, President Says Industry Is Embracing Training, More Stepping Up Needed More than half of all the collision repair professionals in the industry are likely not participating in training, according to John Van Alstyne, CEO and president of I-CAR. At the end of 2017, there were an estimated 33,500 total body shops in the United States.

“About 14,000 of those shops are doing some level of training, which we equate to 42 percent of the industry,” said Van Alystne. “The remaining 58 percent are likely not training at all.” He said the good news is that the numbers are getting better. There were 2,000 more shops training with I-CAR in 2017, which was up 25 percent from the previous year. There was also a 27 percent increase in Gold Class shops, bringing that number to 5,570 nationwide. The Gold Class recognition is the highest rolerelevant training achievement recognized by the industry. “As an industry, we’re stepping up,” said Van Alstyne during a presentation he gave highlighting ICAR’s initiatives during the January CIC conference in Palm Springs, CA. “But more stepping up is required.” In response, the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair, commonly known as I-CAR, is dedicated to providing the information, knowledge and skills required to perform complete, safe and quality repairs for the ultimate benefit of the consumer. “We take that seriously and it shapes our work,” said Van Alstyne. “One industry—one goal. That statement sums up what I-CAR is all about and it’s really about performing complete, safe, quality repairs. That’s the sole focus of what we do.” Established in 1979, the international not-for-profit organization represents the six segments of the 52

collision repair industry it serves: collision repair; insurers; original equipment manufacturers (OEMs); education, training and research; tools, equipment and supply; and other related industry services. In addition to providing training in the United States, I-CAR training is licensed for distribution in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Looking back about six years ago, there were three key phases of I-CAR’s strategy. First, the organization set out to improve everything it does regarding its products, services and operations. The second phase was a focus on growth by serving the industry and the third was being relevant and responding to the needs of the industry.

those that are vehicle/technical-specific are all currently being offered. Nine new courses were launched in 2017, including “Using Vehicle Maker Repair Procedures.” “That course should be taken by everybody in the industry because it explains how to utilize best practices on OEM procedures,” said Van Alstyne. Fourteen new courses in electrical/diagnostics were introduced as well as two new hands-on courses in skills training: plastic repair and squeeze-type resistance spot welding. Van Alstyne shared information about I-CAR’s focus for 2018, which was determined with the assistance of I-CAR’s Industry Segment Advisory Councils (ISAC). The first ISAC for education was set up in 2011 to facilitate independent industry feedback and help provide direction to the organization’s strategy and future program enhancements. Van Alstyne said the initiatives are indicative of some of the benefits I-CAR delivers to the industry. This includes making sure I-CAR’s leadership team (l to r) Nick Notte, senior vice vehicles are repaired proppresident – sales and marketing; Ann Gonzalez, vice president – strategic development; John Van Alstyne, erly, reducing liability and CEO and president; and Elise Quadrozzi, vice president increasing brand loyalty. – education and technical services “I think it also contributes “Back at that time, we weren’t to talent attraction and retention,” he talking about technology,” explained said. “Shops that invest in their emVan Alstyne. ployees attract and retain talent.” Now, he said the industry is experiencing a “Technical Tsunami™” I-CAR’s 2018 Initiatives: where vehicle technology is changing rapidly, and shops are seeing an In-Shop Knowledge Assessments™ increasing number of cars coming in Launched in 2017, I-CAR’s In-Shop that are complex and costly to repair. Knowledge Assessments™ entail Over the last several years, I- going into body shops and conductCAR has focused on three key pro- ing face-to-face interviews with techgrams to help meet these issues: core nicians to assess whether or not their foundational training programs, weld- knowledge meets ProLevel® 1 staning programs and contract training, dards. If successful, they qualify for which encompasses custom training credit. If they don’t possess that solutions. knowledge, Van Alstyne said they are “We’ve listened to the needs of going to learn what gaps they have. the industry and responded with what “This is a major innovation for they asked us to do,” said Van Al- I-CAR and highly valuable for the styne. Classes such as industry basics, industry,” he said. hands-on skills development and Not only does this procedure

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

eliminate redundant training, but it also helps shops with time efficiency. I-CAR has found that, on average, the shops that participate in these assessments achieve Gold Class status in approximately one-quarter of the time.

Update to Entire Core Curriculum During the last two years, I-CAR has worked on updating its core curriculum. It is expected to be complete by 2019. Van Alstyne explained that courses, which are referred to as “Purpose-Built,” are no longer three hours long. Instead, the type of courses now offered dictate their format, whether that’s live, online or virtual. “In general, courses are going to be shorter,” he said. “We want them to be succinct and deliver value.” In addition, all core foundation courses will be offered in Spanish by 2019. Official Live Training Sites There are currently more than 260 training locations across the country, which include career and technical schools and other industry partner locations. Van Alstyne said these neutral fixed locations ensure consistency and effective course delivery as well as provide a better learning environment. New class scheduling is also being planned, similar to college scheduling where students will be able to view a listing of classes months in advance. “We want the industry to have visibility on class schedules, so they can plan their training rather than being reactive,” he said. Sustaining Partner Program I-CAR launched its Sustaining Partner program in January. The program provides the organization’s partners with access to information, course content and marketing opportunities. “Our sustaining partners contribute to funding and in exchange, they get access to our portfolio of products and services,” said Van Alstyne. “This allows us to simplify and streamline our relationships with our partners.” See Embracing Training, Page 61

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Continued from Page 12

PA Lawsuit

County, PA. Twenty-five insurance companies were named as defendants. A month later, the Court of Common Pleas removed Progressive from the larger case and the insurance company moved the case to the United States District Court for the Western District of PA. On December 4, 2017, the body shop filed an amended complaint and brought four counts against Progressive: breach of contract; bad faith; intentional interference with business relations; and quantum meruit. Progressive attempted to dismiss the amended complaint. According to court documents in February 2018, the court denied Progressive’s motion to dismiss Professionals’ claims of breach of contract, bad faith and unjust enrichment claims. However, the court granted the insurance company’s motion to dismiss the bad faith claim in regard to third-party claimants and the causes of action that accrued before August 23, 2015 due to the statute of limitations. The court also granted Progressive’s motion to dismiss Professionals’ tortious interference with business relations claim. “This all really just comes down to one thing—-the insurance company has a contract with their customer to bring their vehicle back to its pre-loss condition and they are breaching that contract,” said Perretta. “Because of that, that’s where this judge [Judge Kim R. Gibson] looked at this and said ‘Yes, these counts are true. They are accurate.’ We’ve proven that.” He said the other pertinent issue is that insurers want to pay one rate in the market. “It has been proven over and over again that a rate is not one number. The rate is a range of numbers,” said Perretta. “In a market, the range could go from $50 an hour to $120 an hour.” He said that shops that aren’t trained and don’t have the proper equipment or facilities to repair cars are paid the same rate by the insurance company as the shops that have the proper facilities, training and equipment. “That makes no sense,” said Perretta. “Any judge who looks at this 54

whole situation is going to apply the law based on the contract… as this judge mentioned in his opinion.”

Breach of Contract According to the court documents, Progressive argued that Professionals did not state a plausible breach of contract claim because it didn’t plead the existence of a contract, the terms of the contract and damages. The insurance company also stated that the body shop did not have standing “… to pursue a breach of contract claim on behalf of third-party claimants who, by definition, are not parties to any agreement with Progressive.” Professionals alleged that the insurance company had contracts with the insureds and liable third-parties, which required Progressive to pay for “reasonable and necessary expenses.” In addition, the body shop said its customers assigned their claims against the insurance company. The court affirmed that Professionals pleaded a breach of contract claim and stated, “Professionals sufficiently alleged each element of breach of contract under Pennsylvania law.” The court also concluded that Professionals has standing to purse breach of contract claims on behalf of third-party claimants.

Bad Faith Claim Progressive asked the Court to dismiss Professionals’ bad faith claim for three reasons, according to court documents. First, it said that the body shop lacked standing to bring a badfaith claim on behalf of third-party claimants. Second, Progressive stated that Professionals failed to plead a bad faith claim on behalf of insureds because it did not show that the insurance company violated the Motor Vehicle Physical Damage Appraiser Act; the insurance company paid part of the claims due; and the body shop did not establish that Progressive acted unreasonably. Third, Progressive said that the body shop’s bad faith claims that were based on repairs prior to August 23, 2015 are barred by the statute of limitations. Professionals, in response, conceded in court documents that “Pennsylvania law does not recognize bad faith claims asserted by ‘third-party of intended beneficiaries of insurance contracts.’” It also argued that Pennsylvania law doesn’t require a com-

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

plete denial of a claim to state a claim for bad faith. In response to the statute of limitations argument, Professionals “concedes that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court determined that a two-year statute of limitations applies to statutory bad faith claims.” The Court dismissed the body shop’s bad faith regarding third-party claimants and stated in court documents that “Under Pennsylvania law, the third-party claimant cannot have a cause of action for bad faith.” It also ruled that Professionals pleaded a bad faith claim in regard to the insureds. “Professionals alleges that Progressive failed to reimburse it for the full amount of the reasonable and necessary repairs without a valid justification,” according to court documents. “Furthermore, Progressive knew of or recklessly disregarded this lack of a reasonable basis because it failed to fully reimburse Professionals despite Professionals informing Progressive on several occasions that it had failed to pay the full cost of all reasonable necessary repairs on each of the vehicles that Professionals serviced… “The fact that Progressive has a long history of failing to fully reimburse Professionals supports Professionals’ argument that Progressive acted in bad faith.” Accordingly, the court denied the insurance company’s motion to dismiss the bad faith claim in regard to the insureds. Regarding the statute of limitations, the Court granted Progressive’s motion to discuss the bad faith claim for those that occurred before August 23, 2015.

Intentional Interference With Business Relations Progressive also tried to dismiss the intentional interference claim by Professionals and said the body shop “… fails to allege that any of its contracts with its customers were breached or not fully performed because of Progressive’s alleged breach, emphasizing that Professionals admitted that it ‘completed the terms of its contract with each vehicle owner.’” Professionals responded that it suffered actual losses due to the conduct from Progressive. The Court ruled that Professionals did not plead a plausible tortious

interference claim, which requires “purposeful action on the part of the defendant, specifically intended to harm the existing relation,” according to court documents. As a result, it granted the insurance company’s motion to dismiss the intentional interference claim. In the Court’s opinion, “The facts alleged in the Amended Complaint do not give rise to a reasonable inference that Progressive specifically intended to interfere with Professionals’ contracts with its customers; rather, they give rise to a reasonable inference that Progressive sought to underpay Professionals for the repairs that Professionals performed on covered vehicles.”

Unjust Enrichment Claim Progressive attempted to dismiss this claim for three reasons. First, it said the body shop did not confer any benefit on the insurance company. Second, the body shop didn’t accept any benefit allegedly conferred and third, Progressive said that express contracts govern the repairs that are at issue. See PA Lawsuit, Page 61

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Welcoming the Next Generation of Collision Repair by Mike Lanza, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes Business Consulting Manager

strategies today center on creatively developing talent and motivating individuals for results. As employers, we have a valuable advantage for right-sizing our cultures for millennials: Thanks to numerous studies and a large volume of research, we know a great deal about what millennials want and expect out of the workplace.

Over my 30 years in the automotive industry, I’ve seen a number of generations enter the workforce. Each wave arrives with its own expectations and work habits. Our industry today is the result of adaptation made with each new generation. Sure, it’s the responsibility of any newcomer Here are a few insights based on reto learn and support the longstanding porting from Millennial Mindset: values of a new environment. But it’s also important to embrace the new Shop Culture ideas and fresh perspectives that Though flexible work schedules are come with new talent. most important to millennials, most With college debt at record levels indicate they prefer working in an ofand tuition growing higher fice environment, as opeach year, many young peoposed to from home. ple are choosing to explore An overwhelming majorblue-collar career options. ity, 98 percent, say a comBlue-collar fields often pay pany’s vision and values are better and are less saturated important to consider when than the roles typically marchoosing an employer. They keted to high school stuneed to feel like what they Mike Lanza dents. do and who they work for Compensation has grown as a matter beyond a paycheck. concept over the years. No longer is Job titles matter to millennials, it just about pay—Compensation but in a different way than typically

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understood. A lot has been made of the millennial tendency to change jobs. Certainly, evidence indicates millennials don’t see themselves as long-term in any role. Increasing an employee’s ability to move —upward or laterally—is reason to consider introducing intermediate titles to an operation, and backing them up with added responsibility. Keeping employees feeling valued and engaged transcends generational differences. Studies have widely shown that millennials are constantly on the lookout for their next job. This should be motivation for employers to ensure they are offering competitive pay, experience and opportunity. As any collision repair shop owner knows, finding and retaining employees who perform with excellence, are reliable and trainable, and bring a high-level skill set is a difficult challenge. That’s why capitalizing on millennials entering the workforce is such a strong opportunity for a shop willing to make the right cultural adjustments. Considering Compensation Compensation has grown as a concept over the years. No longer is it just about pay; it’s about creatively developing talent and motivating individuals for results. To create and implement innovative and balanced benefit and compensation design— with an eye toward retaining talent and maximizing productivity—takes a carefully considered strategy. Ideally, each element of the incentive plan drives business goals of customer satisfaction, revenue and profitability. For a compensation strategy to work, four elements must be in place:

• Fit the financial reality of the business • Encourage and reward the right individual behaviors

•

Inspire and reward teamwork

• Provide a clear picture for individual opportunity

Instead of making the common mistake of overpaying employees and hoping they stay, developing a career path that rewards employees for their contributions while protecting the margin is the key to sustainable results. Transparent, easily understandable and simple goals are critical for employee productivity and retention. This has been true for every generation. I’ve seen the SMART matrix work for countless organizations. Employees need to know what they are being measured on, what the measuring instrument looks like and how it is used, agree that their goals are attainable and—most importantly for millennials—understand how it serves the organization’s strategy. Naturally, many millennials entering collision repair will be on the front lines, engaging directly with customers. Therefore, it’s critical that they not only are given the tools they need to provide outstanding customer experience, but are also rewarded for doing so. Importantly, rewarding employees does not have to be about cash. Millennials show a strong value for spending time with friends and family. This down time is equally—if not more—important than cash. It ultimately comes down to understanding what motivates the employee, and right-sizing bonus plans and incentives accordingly. By 2025, 75 percent of the workforce will be millennials. As millennials enter—and many more consider entering—the collision repair industry, we need to be doing what we can to ensure our industry is a rewarding career path for the best talent. That begins with understanding the employee.

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Continued from Page 4

Your Labor Rates

pretty good idea. For this index, the national average is listed as 100. The index number for your market represents the cost to live there as a percentage of that national average. For example: the cost of living index for Honolulu, Hawaii is 181, meaning that it costs 181% of the national average to live in Honolulu. Based on the cost of living index alone, we might expect to see body labor rates in Honolulu in the $103 to $159 range (that is, $57 times 181%, and $88 times 181%). Yet the survey data for posted body labor rates in Honolulu is in the $55 to $75 range, below the national average, and far below the cost-of-living-adjusted rates. As you can see, labor rates there appear misaligned with that geography’s cost of living.

2) Consider general consumer price inflation. This is simply the overall increase in prices of typical household expenditures. Inflation also erodes the purchasing power of money, as your dollars don’t go as far as they used to. In the US, inflation is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and is often used for cost of living adjustments (COLA), such as social security benefits. Last year in 2017, the CPI rose 2.1%, driven largely by energy costs, especially fuel oil and gasoline. To help maintain purchasing power and keep up with the overall increase in cost of goods, a shop could consider making an inflation adjustment to its labor rates. For example: if a shop currently charges $57 per hour, adjusting the labor rate for last year’s approximate inflation would yield a price of $58.20 (that is, $57 times 102.1%). Overall, our observation is that most body shops’ labor rates do not keep up with inflation over time, which puts those shops farther and farther behind every year, eroding their profits and purchasing power and risking their sustainability. Instead, we see body shops’ costs increasing at faster rates than inflation; paint costs alone could increase 3% to 8% per year, sometimes multiple times per year. We suggest shops think of keeping up with inflation as a mini56

mum requirement, not a real solution to choosing their proper labor rate.

3) Consider what makes your shop different, especially training, equipment, facilities, and OEM certifications. Shops are not alike, and those that have made more investment in these items likely have greater repair capabilities than shops that haven’t. And they likely require a higher labor rate to pay back and earn a return on those investments. Use the VRS to find apples-to-apples comparisons for your shop and what price ranges are for shops similar to yours around the country. For example: our national survey data shows I-CAR Gold Class shops have body labor rates in the $56 to $84 range; Assured Performance shops are in the $58 to $84 range; while Audi OEM authorized collision repair facilities range from $65 to $104 and Mercedes certified collision centers are in the $64 to $100 range. (All ranges quoted here are from that group’s average to plus 2 standard deviations. There is some overlap in these groups, and some shops are priced higher or lower.)

4) Consider what investments you need to make this year. How much money do you need to invest to improve your repair capabilities (especially for high technology vehicles), such as training, equipment, or earning OEM certifications? In general, your current labor rate only covers your current business. You likely need a new labor rate to cover new investments because your current rate was never priced to pay for them. Most body shop investments such as tools, equipment, and training are intended to make repair labor more skilled and effective. Equipment can’t repair a car by itself; it needs labor to put the equipment to use. The same goes for tools, facilities improvements, and certifications. Therefore, labor activity has the burden to pay off those investments plus earn a return. Let’s look at an example shop and investment: A shop needs to make a $5,000 training investment for a technician. The shop currently charges $57/hour for labor, has a 50% gross profit margin on labor, and wants to earn a 15% return on investment in one year for this train-

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

ing investment. The technician bills 2,000 hours per year and operates at 100% efficiency. The 15% return on investment is $750 (that is, $5,000 times 15%). So the shop needs to earn back $5,750 (the $5,000 investment plus the $750 return) in one year. The shop decides to spread that cost evenly over the tech’s 2,000 billable hours, which calculates to $2.88 per hour. This is the additional amount per hour the shop needs to earn to pay back the investment in one year. Because the shop earns a 50% gross profit margin on labor, we divide the $2.88 by 50% to get $5.75. This is the additional amount that needs to be billed for each hour (via the labor rate) so that the shop earns the $2.88/hour profit it needs to pay off the investment and earn the return. Therefore, the shop’s current $57/hour labor rate plus the additional $5.75 equals $62.75, which is the new labor rate the shop needs to collect to pay for this $5,000 training investment and earn a 15% return. A similar analysis is needed for all the other investments in equipment, facilities, certifications, and ongoing training. It can add up quickly. But shops that don’t adjust their rates to fund these investments quickly eat into their profits. Given the rapid increase in technology in this industry, we can expect a large and continual investment required to keep up with the training and equipment necessary to repair these hightech vehicles properly and safely. Mathematically, the industry’s current labor rates will only take a shop so far down that road before they are simply unable to afford the necessary investments. This leads to three major risks to shops: 1) lacking the knowledge to repair new high-tech vehicles, 2) putting consumer safety in jeopardy, and 3) putting themselves at legal risk by performing improper or unsafe repairs. None of these four tips are intended to be the only thing you do to compute labor rates. Think through all of these, look at the results, and then decide what price to choose. You can also go deeper with a more thorough cost of doing business analysis, examining competitive wage levels in your market, and determining your profit goals then backing into the labor rate needed to

hit that goal. These require having a good handle on your financial statements and a good spreadsheet or calculator to help with the calculations. Also keep in mind that as unemployment in the US continues to drop, wage levels will increase, and it could become more expensive to acquire new employees and retain good ones. Shops need a labor rate that can support paying competitive wages. If you find yourself choosing between two rates, we suggest erring on the high side to help stay ahead of the increasing wage curve. Remember, there is no rule that says you can only set your labor rates once per year. Prices can change at any time for any reason, and because markets and businesses are dynamic, labor rates can and do change continually throughout the year. We advise shops to consider their labor prices several times per year as their business evolves, cost structure changes, and investments are made. They can change rates as often as they need to. And very importantly, shops can freely report their new rates to the independent See Your Labor Rates, Page 60

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Staged Car Crashes a Growing Menace in South Carolina by Prentiss Findlay, The Post and Courier

Most people try to avoid a car wreck, but for some criminals, a deliberate crash is seen as a ticket to quick riches. In South Carolina, a rising number of suspected insurance scammers have been flagged for submitting claims related to collisions that turned out to be no accident. The state ranks No. 7 nationally for staged vehicle accidents, officials said. “This is a dangerous problem that not only puts innocent drivers at risk, but also requires emergency crews to respond to these staged crime scenes, which wastes taxpayers’ dollars,” said Alan Wilson, state attorney general, in the Insurance Fraud Division’s most recent annual report released in 2016. Faked crashes were part of a scam that resulted in charges filed in November against 10 Pee Dee area residents for insurance fraud involving nearly $300,000 in altered medical bills, authorities said. “It started out as staged acci-

dents, both parties knowing each other, and evolved into single vehicle accidents where the driver reported he had been run off the road,” said Martin Brown, an investigator in South Carolina for the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Sometimes, the criminals go to extremes. Perpetrators of fake car accidents in Dillon and Florence counties struck each other with boards and threw each other into trees to

emergency room, according to news reports.

create injuries they said happened in wrecks that authorities determined were staged. Two men in Allendale County parked their car on railroad tracks so a train would hit it, and then returned to the scene feigning injuries. Scammers in Anderson County underestimated the impact of crashing their vehicles into each other and unexpectedly wound up in the

were recorded in the first six months of the year, according to the NICB. The state ranks in the Top 10 for suspected fraud per a 100,000 population for all types of insurance. The attorney general received 1,915 insurance fraud complaints in 2016, which was more than triple the number of complaints in 2010. In the past two years, investigators have seen a troubling rise in organized crime rings involved in insurance scams, including staged accidents, arson and forged prescriptions for medications sold on the black market. “Of particular concern, despite being in the Top 10 nationally for insurance fraud, our state ranks near the bottom in funding to fight this problem,” said David Fernandez, the assistant attorney general who directs insurance fraud prosecutions. Last year, four full-time State Law Enforcement Division agents were assigned to investigate insurance fraud, which was double the number from the previous year. But the South Carolina insurance fraud unit budget of $354,000 pales in comparison to North Carolina and Virginia with budgets of $2.8 million and $5.3 million, respectively. The Tar Heel State has 20 insurance fraud investigators, according to the 2016 SC Insurance Fraud Division report. “Like water, fraud and crime travel the path of least resistance,” Wilson said in the report. “South Carolina can no longer be a place where these criminals are able to thrive.” Insurance fraud is responsible for about 10 percent of the cost of premi-

“Of particular concern, despite being in the Top 10 nationally for insurance fraud, our state ranks near the bottom in funding to fight this problem” — David Fernandez

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ums, said Ray Farmer, state director of the SC Department of Insurance. “It’s a tremendous concern of ours,” he said. Premiums have also been rising because South Carolina drivers are getting in more wrecks, the damage is getting more expensive to repair and the state’s auto insurers have been passing along the bill. The state’s 10 largest auto insurers increased premiums an average of 8.9 percent in 2016, according to the Insurance Department—more than double the rate of change it recorded in 2015. As part of the fight against costly insurance scams, the NICB and law enforcement review hundreds of questionable claims annually in South Carolina. From 1995 to 2016, insurance fraud investigations resulted in 1,498 criminal convictions. A Crisis The situation is a crisis here and nationwide, Brown said, noting that insurance fraud is second only to tax evasion for white-collar crime. Staged accidents tend to result in insurance claims in the $2,000 to $10,000 range to reduce the chance of being flagged as possible fraud, said Frank Scafidi, NICB spokesman. “Many small hits rather than a huge one draw less attention,” he said. “The goal is a quick settlement from an insurance company.” Sometimes staged accidents can involve innocent motorists. A rogue driver may suddenly swoop in front of a car, slam on the brakes and cause a collision. Or a perpetrator may wave a driver to go ahead and merge, and then the fraudster hits the motorist and denies signaling the victim to pull in front of him, officials said. “The cars may only suffer a small dent, but the crooks still make large and illegal claims for fake injuries and car damage against your auto insurance company, or their own,” according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. “Often these accidents are staged by organized crime rings that bilk dozens of unsuspecting drivers.” The coalition recently published its annual “Insurance Hall of Shame” that listed the worst perpetrators of fraud in 2017. It includes a stagedSee Staged Crashes, Page 59

autobodynews.com / APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

OE Shop Certification with Gary Ledoux

Collision Safety Consultants Opens Eight Locations – Poised for a Great Future Recently, Collision Safety Consultants (CSC), based in Belmont, NC announced the opening of eight new locations. Most businesses struggle to open one or two new locations simultaneously, but eight seems extreme. Autobody News contacted CSC President Billy Walkowiak to see just how this was accomplished.

Q: A:

We noticed one of your locations is in Australia. That seems an unlikely place for expansion. How did that happen?

Social media is a wonderful thing! Our agent down there, Graham Judge, is a friend of a collision colleague friend I have on Facebook. Because of that he saw some of my many posts about bad repairs. He contacted me and we started talking. He had been conducting post repair inspections down there but nothing was codified. He had no business plan and no inspection protocols. What he did have was plenty of bad repairs. So many in fact, he had to open a completely separate business, aside from his existing body shop, just to handle inspections. In Australia, repairers are licensed by the Motor Transport Authority (MTA), also known as the Roads and Traffic Authority, similar to each state’s Department of Motor Vehicles here in the U.S., but operated on a federal level. Each repairer much be duly licensed through the MTA and thus capable of making proper repairs. The only problem is, the MTA will not or cannot enforce their own repair rules. Subsequently, so many cars are poorly repaired. 58

For one thing, a bad collision repair in Australia is called a “dodgy” repair. (Maybe because they are trying to dodge the repair author-

How did you happen to open so many locations at once?

We actually opened these locations over the course of the last five months. Four locations happened at once, and the others followed soon after. But we knew they were all coming right along so rather than announce them one at a time, we waited until all eight were on board.

So Australia has a lot of bad repairs. How else are they different?

proof of concept. There are so many bad repairs out there, and everyone in the industry knows it, and some entity has to call them on it. And two, we have no problem finding people for our new locations. I think there is a certain number of shop owners and managers that are just tired of dealing with the daily grind of running a shop and want to do something else.

Ours is an associate licensing and consulting agreement. For a fee, our licensees get our expertise and national recognition.

Who are the people/businesses running these new locations? Are they existing body shops, former shop owners, other?

With these eight new locations, how many total locations does this give you? Did you have an ideal number in mind?

This gives us 14 up-and-running locations. Numbers 15 and 16 are close behind and three others are in the talking stages. This includes one in Canada and one in Scotland. Ideally, we would like to have one to two locations in every state in the U.S.

Q: A:

It seems your growth has been relatively quick.

We started inspecting cars in 2009 and registered the CSC name in 2010. Our growth has been steady but I must admit, the John Eagle decision has certainly helped. I would attribute growth to two things. One, I believe we have

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Looking at the underside of a car is indeed important. But some of our locations operate out of a home office where they would not have a lift. If that is the case, they work with a local body shop or repair facility to use their lift and pay them for the time

What happens if a customer is too far away from yourself or one of your 14 locations? What do you do then?

We have a number of different collision industry people operating our locations. Some are current or former shop owners or managers. We have a couple of former insurance adjusters. But all are very knowledgeable and go through the same CSC training.

You did not mention a lift. Is that necessary?

What is your business model? Is CSC a franchise?

Q: ities.) And, they do not subscribe to the concept of diminished value… yet. Here in the U.S., a consumer can bring their car anywhere they like for collision repair. In Australia, a consumer must go where their insurance company tells them to go – unless the consumer wants to pay more for their policy. Then they can go wherever they please.

Q: A:

In that case, either I, or my location manager will subcontract with a shop that is close to the customer. The shop will do the inspection, take the necessary pictures, and send them back to myself or the location manager. We then take care

What requirements does one have to meet in terms of knowledge, experience, equipment, etc. does a new location have to meet?

First, they must have a sincere desire to help the consumer —to keep their family safe. They must have the sincere desire to ensure that proper repair methods are followed. What is in their heart, is equally as important as what is in their tool box. But to be more specific, they must have a set of inspection mirrors, a bore scope, an electronic thickness gauge and have easy access to a source of OE repair data.

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of the paperwork and whatever else is necessary. Do you provide any training for your new locations? How is accomplished?

Yes. Each new location manager spends 40 hours here in North Carolina with us for training.

With all of your locations, how many inspections do you foresee conducting per month on average?

The newer locations might do one or two a month until they get rolling and start getting some referrals – although they may have a

Who hires CSC? Do you deal mostly with retail customers or industry people? How do they find you?

The answer is yes and yes. We deal with a great variety of people including retail customers, other body shops, insurance companies (for diminished value claims), lawyers, state departments of insurance and attorneys general. About 90% of my business comes from referrals. Almost every call I get starts with, “I was talking with Bob at Bob’s Auto Body and he said I should give you a call. I have a problem…” The other 10% of my customers find me on-line. I do zero paid advertising. I don’t have to!

OK with additional repair, and how many should be totaled?

Most of my customers come to me for a diminished value claim. But many times, after I inspect the car, I uncover some major issues. A very small percentage of cars that come to me are structurally sound. Maybe 20% would be OK if they were sent back and properly repaired. But about 75% of the cars I look at should be totaled and removed from the road.

Based on your social media posts, you have been quite successful in securing substantial diminished value judgments for your clients. On a percentage basis, how often are you successful with diminished value claims?

good month with four to five inspections. Here at my location, given my level of referrals, I average two to three a week.

CSC customers are probably going to enlist your company’s services only if they suspect a problem. That said, on a percentage basis, how many cars do you look at are OK as-is, how many would be

95% of the time I get some money for my client. In other words, very rarely does an insurance company dig their heels in and say they just aren’t going to budge. Most of the time I get more money for the diminished value than the client originally anticipated – which makes them smile.

Conversely, you must have to tell some people that their car is no longer roadworthy and should be totaled. Some people must get pretty upset.

They do get upset – and immediately want to sue everyone. They want to sue for a subsequent accident that hasn’t happened yet. But you just can’t sue for something that hasn’t happened.

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Has the John Eagle decision back in October affected your

Continued from Page 57

Staged Crashes

crash ring in Sacramento County, CA, that involved at least 100 vehicles and 65 fraudsters who soaked auto insurers for $500,000 in bogus claims. Family and friends masqueraded as injured drivers and passengers. The gang even made claims for

business or had any bearing on your company’s expansion?

Yes – it has woken up a lot of people and made my job easier – totals are easier, buy-backs are easier and working an appraisal clause is easier. For example, I know of a case several months ago where a customer was trying to get their heavily damaged Corvette totaled and the insurance company would not budge. They wanted to repair it. The customer had been going back and forth with the insurance company for months. After the John Eagle decision, the owner contacted me. I worked with Texas attorney Todd Tracey and the car was totaled two weeks later. The customer was happy, and another unsafe car was pulled from the road.

Since the John Eagle decision, the stakes have gotten higher for body shops in general and especially for certified shops and the OE’s that certify them. Do you foresee the OE’s enlisting your services in the near future?

I certainly hope so. I have uncovered some bad repairs from OE certified shops and I-CAR Gold Class shops. Even though they are certified or fully I-CAR trained, there still should be a check system. As you say, the stakes have gotten higher.

Post repair inspectors have been around since the early 1990’s – mostly standing in the shadows and working behind the scenes. They were certainly needed then, but are needed now more than ever. It seems the time, and landscape is right, and Collision Safety Consultants, and perhaps others like them, are poised for a great future. people whose identities were stolen. Fake passengers are given scripts coaching them how to act injured when talking to police and insurers, said James Quiggle, coalition spokesman. “It’s all about fake whiplash— the golden gateway to insurance payouts,” he said. We thank The Post and Courier for reprint permission.

autobodynews.com / APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Fraudsters will always find a way to cheat the system. All lines of business are vulnerable to the crime, including insurance, and organizations worldwide face the sometimes cumbersome task of continuously fortifying their operations to keep the tricksters at bay. Some countries are more active in their response to insurance fraud than others, according to Dan Gumpright, product manager, Global Insurance Solutions, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence. The issue is “significant” across North America, but the response mechanisms differ between Canada and the U.S. “While Canada suffers similarly to the U.S., there are considerably more central initiatives to combat fraud, such as the data sharing model adopted by CANATICS, an antifraud consortium in Ontario, which is pooling data in a single system and detecting organized fraud across multiple insurance companies. The majority of insurance companies in the province have signed up for the service and are actively using it,” Continued from Page 39

Smart City Tech

for its collaboration with Israeli companies. Accepting the award was Jennifer Bianchi, CU-iCAR’s senior economic development officer. Bianchi said CU-iCAR’s partners include Conexx, Securing America’s Future Energy, the Global Alliance for South Carolina and the Carolinas Alliance 4 Innovation. Conexx traveled with CU-iCAR faculty to Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva in June 2016. Didier Jean-Laurent Rousseliere, Clemson’s director of global partnerships and initiatives, was part of that group, which met with tech transfer offices, universities, incubators and accelerators, and venture capitalists. Continued from Page 56

Your Labor Rates

VRS Labor Rate Survey at LaborRateSurvey.com. Pricing transparency is essential for free markets to function efficiently, so your sur60

Gumpright told Insurance Business. “British Columbian government-run auto insurer ICBC insures all vehicle owners in the province and has adopted the same technology to com-

iStock Photo

bat fraud. A recent PWC report indicated success in early detection of opportunistic fraud, which will lead to prevention over time in the case of ICBC, as consumers become aware of the detection models in place and the risk associated to defrauding their insurer.” U.S. insurance fraud solutions also differ dramatically from the models working in the UK, Gumpright added. While the concept of P&C insurance remains the same in both countries, the insurance models are significantly different, there-

“The purpose was to understand the Israeli innovation ecosystem with hopes of identifying possibilities for collaboration under the South Carolina-Israeli Trade Agreement, which focuses on six sectors, mobility being one of them,” Bianchi said. “Clemson’s goal was to discover ways in which we could collaborate with Israel to grow the university’s research and education programs.” Conexx President Guy Tessler said the 2016 trip encouraged collaboration between Israeli engineers and the United States’ only graduate department of automotive engineering. With 26 percent of its graduates working in the Southeast, CU-iCAR is vital to the Southeast’s quest for excellence and developing the Smart City of the future. Smart City pillars are mobility, public safety, environment, city

vey participation is critical. In conclusion, pricing your labor can often be more complex and more involved than this, especially considering all the investment needed to repair high-tech vehicles, but these simple four steps can help get you in the right range and closer

APRIL 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

fore prompting different types of fraud. “The UK purchasing model of car and home insurance in recent years has massively increased through aggregators or price comparison websites rather than direct, with fewer policies than ever before being written directly,” Gumpright explained. “In the U.S., however, much of business is still direct, with a large number of consumers still purchasing through the traditional broker model. While internal policy and claims management systems have advanced in the US, the route in for the customer is very different.” Some UK insurance lines, such as car insurance, are slightly more simplistic than the comparable offerings in the U.S., where coverage understanding is sometimes limited. Add to that significant differences on a state-by-state basis in the U.S., and the chances for fraudsters to slip through the cracks continue to grow. “The state of collaboration is another significant difference,” Gumpright added. “The UK’s data sharing model is significantly more advanced than most places in the world. For example, the UK market

operations efficiency, and public and business engagement. For a close look at Atlanta’s Smart City plan, take a walk on the BeltLine. “There’s a mobility revolution happening,” Bianchi said. “As business models related to transportation and mobility in general change, it’s important to look for sources of innovation. Israel’s work in this area is impressive. Greenville’s local leaders will continue to look for ways to work with Israeli startups to promote their Smart Cities plan. And as part of Clemson University’s larger global engagement strategy, CU-iCAR looks forward to continuing to support collaboration opportunities with Israel to grow our research and education programs.” We thank Atlanta Jewish Times for reprint permission.

to the right price for your individual shop. For a deeper analysis of your labor rates, greater access to more independent labor rate data, or help with any of these topics, contact National AutoBody Research for more information. www.nationalautobody research.com

has the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), Insurance Fraud Register (IFR) and a dedicated insurance police task force, with almost all insurance companies collaborating to detect insurance fraud hitting the industry at large. “Collaboration is more complex in the U.S., often due to how states operate and their various rules. Datasharing capabilities exist, but they are significantly less advanced than that of the UK at this point in time. Indeed, some states in the U.S. don’t even count insurance fraud as a specific criminal offense yet.” We thank Insurance Business America for reprint permission.

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up the testing to IIHS Protocol. Diamond Standard Reinforcement Bar installed by a local ICAR Technician at MGA’s Request. Test was witnessed in person by a current ICAR Board Member. MGA tested 20 different reinforcement/absorber components of OEM and Diamond Standard in Quasi Static and multiple speed Dynamic Sled tests prior to the IIHS protocol test for Diamond Standard. “Here causality was isolated in a true scientific test protocol. Component testing for Diamond Standard was designed by the late Jim Hackney, Former NHTSA Director of Crashworthiness and Father of the 5 Star Crash Rating System still in use worldwide to this day” said Michael O’Neal, President of Diamond Standard.

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Professionals alleged that it conferred a benefit on the insurance in which Progressive accepted, which was to repair the vehicles covered under the insurance policies without being fully paid for the work. In court documents, the body shop also said it “properly pleaded unjust enrichment in the alternative to its breach of contract claims.” The judge ruled that Professionals stated a plausible unjust enrichment claim and denied Progressive’s motion to dismiss this claim. “Professionals conferred a benefit on Progressive by discharging Progressive’s obligations to pay for repairs under its policies. Progressive accepted and retained the benefit because it failed to fully compensate Professionals. Furthermore, it would be unjust for Progressive to retain this benefit,” court documents stated. Progressive also argued that “… the doctrine of res judicata bars Professionals’ claims for intentional in-

Embracing Training

Over time, Sustaining Partner program funding is expected to help reduce increasing education cost demands on the collision repair and education segments. I-CAR’s first Sustaining Partners include Chief Automotive Technologies, Car-OLiner and CCC, which have been ICAR Industry Training Alliance partners for years. New Learning Management System Another project that I-CAR has been working on is an overhaul of its learning management system. It will be piloted this year and is expected to be launched in 2019. Not only is it being designed to improve ICAR’s course delivery system, but Van Alstyne said it also will simplify training management, tracking and reporting and allow for an easier user experience. For more information about I-CAR and its programs, visit https://www .i-car.com/.

terference with business relations and unjust enrichment because Professionals asserted identical claims against Progressive in previous litigation in the Middle District of Florida.” In response, Professionals asserted that the individuals it is representing in this case are not included in the MDL. The court agreed and ruled that Progressive did not establish res judicata. The legal information included in this article is based on court documents. Autobody News reached out to Progressive for comments, but none were provided.

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