Southeast June 2010 Autobody News

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House Passes Financial Stability Act, Includes Office of National Insurance The U.S. Senate passed the “Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010” May 20. S. 3217, authored by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, aims to promote financial stability by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end “too big to fail,” to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts, and to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices.

S. 3217, which has been amended since originally passing the Senate Banking Committee, establishes an Office of National Insurance within the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The office will be headed by a director who is to be ap-

pointed by the secretary of the treasury.

The office’s main functions will be: • to monitor all aspects of the insurance industry, including identifying issues or gaps in the regulation of insurers that could contribute to a systemic crisis in the insurance industry or the U.S. financial system; • to recommend to the Financial Stability Oversight Council that it designate an insurer, including the affiliates of such insurer, as an entity subject to regulation as a nonbank financial company supervised by the Board of Governors pursuant to Title I of the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010; • to assist the secretary in administering the Terrorism Insurance Program esSee House Passes Act, Page 12

ABPA Conference Airs Aftermarket Parts Certification Issues Again

by John Yoswick Special to Autobody News

The fallout in recent months from concerns raised about non-OEM bumper and structural parts raised by industry trainer Toby Chess was clearly on the minds of the parts manufacturers and distributors gathered in Indianapolis, Ind., this spring for the Automotive Body Parts Association’s 30th annual meeting.

At the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) this past November and January, Chess demonstrated key differences between some non-OEM structural parts and the OEM parts they are being sold to re-

place. The demonstrations have led at least four insurers to pull back from asking shops to use certain non-OEM parts, and has led to new testing and certification efforts related to such parts. Chess’ Eileen Sottille of QPC latest presentation on such parts at CIC in April was halted at the last minute after he said he was threatened with a lawsuit by LKQ Corporation, parent company of Keystone Automotive.

See ABPA Conference, Page 18

VOL. 1 ISSUE 4 JUNE 2010

Gunder’s Case Not Over—Court Mediation Ordered On May 18, the Federal Court of Appeals in Atlanta, GA, ordered State Farm Insurance to undergo mediation with Gunder’s in an effort to bring a satisfactory resolution to Gunder’s claim against State Farm for Tortious Interference and Slander.

(Tortious interference of business occurs when false claims and accusations are made against a business or an individual’s reputation in order to drive business away.) The Appelant court order was in response to Gunder’s Auto Center’s request for appeal of a Florida courts recent summary judgment.

“If you read recent articles by some industry writers, they’ve made it sound as if we lost our case against State Farm and the matter was over and done with” says Ray Gunder, founder of the 42-year old family owned and operated Gunder’s Auto Center in Lakeland, Florida.

“It would appear that some writer’s intent is to vindicate Sate Farm’s actions and to discourage other repairers from stepping up and defending their good names and their businesses. Our case is far from over!

We got knocked back a bit, but not knocked down or out.

“The slander case (which was summarily discharged by the lower court) alRay Gunder lowed us a great deal of discovery and through many hours of depositions and review of acquired documentation we uncovered extensive evidence to support our claims.

Says Gunder, “No, this is far from over; we just need our day in court to allow See Gunder’s Case, Page 12

Gulf Coast Oil Spill Causes Far More Than Just Ecological Headaches

On April 20th, an explosion on the DeepThe oil reached the Louisiana water Horizon while drilling in an oil well shoreline May 14, posing a serious off the Gulf Coast of Louisiana left 17 threat to fishermen’s livelihoods, marine workers injured and 11 missing and pre- habitats, beaches, wildlife and human sumed dead. Since that day, oil has been health. spilling from a BP offshore drilling well in the Gulf of Mexico.

The leak is currently discharging 200,000 gallons of crude oil a day, according to the official estimate, and efforts to manage the spill with controlled burning, dispersal and plugging the leak were unsuccessful. It is estimated that more than 6 million gallons of crude oil have spewed into the Gulf so far.

A worker shovels oil off Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, This oil spill is on track to beLouisiana, on May 24 come the worst oil spill in history, surpassing the damage done by The slick has forced the shutdown of the Exxon Valdez tanker that spilled the gulf’s rich fishing grounds and could 11 million gallons of oil into the eco- also spread to the busy shipping lanes at logically sensitive Prince William the mouth of the Mississippi River, tying Sound in 1989. Unlike the Exxon up the cargo vessels that move millions of Valdez tragedy, in which a tanker held tons of fruit, rubber, grain, steel and other a finite capacity of oil, BP’s rig is commodities and raw materials in and out tapped into an underwater oil well of the nation’s interior. and could pump more oil into the There’s no denying the impact this ocean indefinitely until the leak is spill will have on the seafood and fishing See Oil Spill, Page 12 plugged.

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Contents

16 Florida Worker’s Comp Insurers to Return $9.4M . . . . 35 2009 Historic Loss in Vehicle Population . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ABPA Conference Airs Aftermarket Parts Certification Issues Again. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 AkzoNobel Honors Most Influential Women . . . . . . . . . 10 AkzoNobel Honors Top Independent Distributors. . . . . . . 6 AL Governor Announces Plan To Help Auto Suppliers Go Green, Be More Efficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 AL Trucking Company in Fatal KY Accident: Poor Record 11 Amaradio - Beating a Dead Horse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 ASA Offers Year-round and Nationwide Education. . . . . 21 Auto Supplier Plasman Wants Fort Payne, AL, Plant . . . . 5 AWRS and Ride-On Form Strategic Alliance . . . . . . . . . . 19 BMW Expands Factory Tour at New Price . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Building a Custom Trophy for ‘School of the Year’- Evans 24 California Shop Credits Mitchell’s Ultramate and RepairCenter for Managing Growth- Attanasio . . . . . 15 CARQUEST Returns to CARS 2010 as Exhibitor . . . . . . 21 Chrysler Gets More Arbitration Wins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Chrysler Unveils 2011 Grand Cherokee . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Congresswoman Jackie Speier Wields Reciprocating Saw on Rebar Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Equipment and Tool Institute Presents Founder’s Award 21 Evans Partners With Ohio Technical School To Create Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Experts: Gulf Coast Oil Spill Won't Affect Gas prices . . . . 5 Ford Fiesta Now in the 40 mpg Category . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Ford Promotes Favorable Repair and Insurance Cost Data and Leads in Perceived Quality Gain . . . . . . . . . . 9 Gesterkamp - Open Clearcoat Blends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Giant Toyota Teams with Tiny Tesla to Build Next Generation Cars at Fremont, CA, Plant . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Governor Barbour Rejects ‘Wind Pool’ Subsidy . . . . . . 35 Gulf Coast Oil Spill Causes Far More Than Just Ecological Headaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Gunder’s Case Not Over—Court Mediation Ordered . . . . 1 High Schoolers Compete to be Top Auto Technician . . . . 5 Honda Asks Repairers to Aid in Recall Checks . . . . . . . . . 34 House Passes Financial Stability Act, Includes Office of National Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Hurricanes and Oil Spills are a Bad Combination, or Not?. 11

Insure.com Figures Least Expensive to Insure . . . . . . . . 8 Jackson, MS, Loses Fourth Police Chase Case . . . . . . 11 Kniesel’s Collision Centers Hosts Extrication Class . . . . 36 Lo Jack Device Credited with $45K Recovery in LA . . . 33 Longtime Wrecker’s License Gone in Flowery Branch, GA 5 Matrix System Teams with Miller Electric . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Mercury Insurance Faces Accusations of Discrimination . . 34 Mercury Insurance: Military Must Not Be ‘Responsible’ Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Missippi Supreme Court to Hear Katrina Insurer Appeal . . 35 Mitchell International and CCC Crash Course Highlight 2010 Industry Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Mr. Gorillalilla- Weaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Negligence Language in AL bill Kills Anti-Texting Legislation11 LA Collision Association Offers Estimating Courses.. . . 37 Parts for Profit 3—Increasing Sales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 PBE Jobber: Friend or Ally?- Arnold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 PPG Says 10,000 Techs Converted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Randy A. Harris, Wins Flying Tiger Design Contest . . . . 25 Rouse Named ABRA President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Save Marketing Money By ‘Piggybacking’- Franklin . . . 16 Schroeder - Silsbee, TX Gets New Fasulo’s Shop . . . . . 30 SCRS Giving Away Hotel Suite for 2010 SEMA . . . . . . . . 39 Senate Exempts Auto Dealers in Regulations . . . . . . . . . 7 LA’s Caddo School Named ‘2010 School of the Year’ . . . . 14 So. Cal Shop Goes to DuPont™ Cromax® Pro- Attanasio 26 Speaker Pelosi’s Statement Echos the President’s . . . . 39 Spray Gun Repair Inc. Helps Get Full Value from Guns . . . . 13 Sterling Autobody Earns BBB A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Storms Across N. TX and Oklahoma Leave Floods, Power Outages and Millions in Damages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Students Apply For Grant From I-CAR in Record Numbers 7 The Autoholics: A New TV Show Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 The CA Autobody Association: 43 Years of Representation 32 Toyota Makes $2.2B Annual Profit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Traffic Paint Shortage Threatens Roadwork in Texas . . . 37 Tucson Student Wins Hyundai at Project Graduation . . . . 4 TV News Station Investigates Insurance Consultant . . . 29 U.S. House Committee Passes Auto-Safety Bill . . . . . . 38 Was this Noise Caused by the Repair?- Espersen . . . . . 22 Worker’s Comp Rates to Decrease in Florida . . . . . . . . 35

Southeast

Indexof Advertisers

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst General Manager: Barbara Davies Contributing Writers: Tom Franklin, Stefan Gesterkamp, John Yoswick, Lee Amaradio, Toby Chess, Mike Causey, Dan Espersen, Tom McGee, Jeff Webster, Rich Evans Advertising Sales: Joe Momber, Christina Shubert (800) 699-8251 Advertising Sales Assistant: Stephanie Bowling Art Director: Rodolfo Garcia Serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and adjacent metro areas, Autobody News is a monthly publication for the auto body industry. Permission to reproduce in any form the material published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher. ©2010 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody News

P.O. Box 1400, Oceanside, CA 92051-1400 (800) 699-8251 (760) 721-0253 Fax www.autobodynews.com Email: news@autobodynews.com

Aegis Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Mazda Wholesale Parts . . . . . . . . . . 38

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . 12

Mercedes-Benz of Naples . . . . . . . . . 7

Autoland Scientech . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Mercedes-Benz Wholesale Parts

Crown Automobile Company. . . . . . . 8

Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . 37

Edwards Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers

FL, GA, AL, MS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . 10

Greenway Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep . . . . 3

Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Mobile Lift Jack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Nalley BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Nissan Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 30

Reliant Finishing Systems . . . . . . . . . 7

Shoot Suits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Greenway Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Soft-Sanders from Style-Line, Corp . 25

Honda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 35

Stivers Ford-Lincoln-Mercury . . . . . . 11

Gus Machado Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 32 I-CAR Education Foundation . . . . . . 40

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers 29

Lindsay Johnson, a 2010 graduate of Ironwood Ridge High School, capped off her high school career by riding off into the sunrise in the early y morning after her grad night in a bright red Hyundai freshly refurbished by 911 Collision Centers, a sponsor of Project Graduation.

and its success “has everything to do with the grand prize car giveaway, which would not have been possible without 911 Collision’s generous contributions.”

“It is very rewarding to again be part of this important program to keep our kids safe,” said Michael Quinn, co-founder of

Lindsay Johnson, recent 2010 Ironwood High graduate, receives keys to newly refurbished car from Mike Quinn of 911 Collision Centers, which has sponsored Project Graduation since its inception in 2004.

A beaming Lindsay Johnson in the driver’s seat of her first ever car which she won at Ironwood High’s Project Graduation, an all-night drug/alcohol free event aimed at keeping teens off the road and safe on graduation night.

Mercedes-Benz of Gainesville . . . . . . 6

Chassis Liner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Tucson Student Wins Hyundai at Project Graduation

Spray Gun Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Tameron Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Taylor BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

4 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Johnson was the lucky grand prize winner in a drawing that highlighted Project Graduation, a drug/alcohol free, allnight evening of fun and safety on graduation night. The national program’s goal is aimed at keeping graduating seniors off the roads on one of the most dangerous nights of the year.

According to Sue Conto, chair of Project Graduation, 95% of the senior class participated in the event this year

911 Collision Centers, who has sponsored Project Graduation since its inception in 2004. “We want to thank all of our team members and DuPont Performance Coatings who poured countless hours and expertise into refurbishing this vehicle.

“Most of all,” Quinn continued, “we thank the parent volunteers and the Oro Valley community for their tireless efforts and support to make Project Graduation such a big success.”

Experts: Gulf Coast Oil Spill Won't Affect Gas prices

While the jury’s still out on what the ultimate damage to the Gulf economy will be, experts say the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will not affect gas prices.

At a rate of 200,000 gallons a day, the spill would take more than 208 years to deplete our nation’s oil supply. In the days after the April 22 oil rig explosion and spill, Tampa Bay saw a slight increase in gas prices.

“That’s been a big misperception,” said Jessica Brady of AAA Auto Club South. “When the oil spill occurred, oil prices were increasing but the increase had nothing to do with the oil spill.”

In fact, Brady says while the spill is significant, it’s nowhere near large enough to affect oil supply in the U.S. Currently, U.S. oil reserves exceed 362 million barrels. Each barrel contains approximately 42 gallons of oil.

That puts U.S. oil reserves at 76,000 times the amount that’s estimated to be spilling into the Gulf each day.

“Oil refineries in the U.S. are also only running at 88 percent capacity right now, so supply is not a problem,” Brady said.

Auto Supplier Plasman Wants Fort Payne, AL, Plant

A Canadian auto supplier has selected Fort Payne as the site of its first U.S. manufacturing facility and plans to bring hundreds of jobs to an area of northeast Alabama that has suffered heavy losses in its hosiery-mill operations.

Plasman Corp, part of A.P. Plasman Corp. of Windsor, Canada, expects to invest $14 million to $16 million in the plant, which initially will employ 200 people and could ramp up to more than 350 in a few years.

The facility will do plastic-injection molding, painting and assembly of automotive exterior parts and tool repair. Production is slated to begin next year.

Plasman, a Tier 1 supplier that works directly with automakers including Nissan, Toyota, Honda and General Motors, said the Fort Payne site puts it closer to customers in the southern United States.

The jobs are desperately needed because the area’s once-prosperous sock-making industry has lost 6,000 to 8,000 jobs in the past five years as the work moved offshore. In March, DeKalb County’s unemployment rate was 13.9 percent.

Longtime Wrecker’s License Gone in Flowery Branch, GA

Terry’s Auto Towing Service, a longtime fixture off Atlanta Highway, is no more—at least for now, due to ‘city hall’ and licensing requirements.

Flowery Branch yanked Terry’s business license on April 7, after city officials expressed concerns that Terry’s operated on several properties but only had a business license for one. Operating without a business license carries a fine of up to $1,000 per day and one year imprisonment. The matter has now entered the legal realm.

Terry said he doesn’t feel his business has been given a fair shake, especially as he has been at the same location for 18 years. He said he went through proper steps in setting up his business, meeting both city and county requirements at that time.

Terry’s is now operating off West Ridge Road in Gainesville and also operates a wrecker service in Winder, Terry said.

He added that he is having trouble with the site plan required by the city, including a requirement that he block off a shared driveway with a neighboring gas station.

His hope is to eventually return to Flowery Branch, but he’s uncertain how or when that might occur.

High Schoolers Compete to be Top Auto Technician

High school teams from across the state were in Jackson, MS to face off in an automotive challenge to become America’s next top auto technician.

Twenty juniors and seniors representing 10 schools competed in the Ford Triple A Student Auto Skills Competition at the trade mart. The Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills is a nationwide automotive technology competition for high school juniors and seniors interested in pursuing careers as automotive service technicians. Each two-member team raced against the clock to correctly identify and fix intentionally installed bugs on identical Ford vehicles.

The cars are “bugged” with 10 identical defects. The competition tests the youngster’s abilities to follow a procedure to solve the problems, fixing all ten defects without causing more and without fixing something that wasn’t broken.

Teams also had to pass a written and hands-on test before qualifying for the finals in Dearborn, MI. After diagnosing and repairing the problem, teammates drove across the finish line. Stacy Williams and Christopher Cornelius from Clinton High School took first place. They will represent Mississippi at the national finals in Dearborn, MI, June 13–15.

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Paint Management

Open Clearcoat Blends with Stefan Gesterkamp

Although I know better than being surprised about issues that never seem to go away, it still puzzles me how we can hold on to some for as long as we do.

Open clearcoat blends have been attempted and discussed for many years and not once since the departure of lacquer type technology has anybody with technical knowledge decided that they are a really good idea. Granted, from a non-technical, purely financial point of view, they appear worth exploring. Fewer products applied should theoretically lower the cost of the repair, but the reality is quiet the opposite.

Let’s pretend, for the sake of conversation, that an open clearcoat blend within a panel would actually be durable enough to last. Prepping the panel for a successful spot repair is far more involved and labor intensive than a complete refinish of the surface. As a result, it eats up more expenses in labor cost than the additional clearcoat would ever be worth.

Let’s take a closer look into the prep requirement to make this repair happen.

After you thoroughly clean the surface and remove any wax or grease, the body tech must repair the damage very carefully. It’s critical to not unnecessarily disturb any paint film surrounding the repair. I know that it is frequently underestimated, but keeping a repair small requires a better trained technician and a higher skill level.

It also takes more time to keep it small.

The next step is key for this type of repair to stand a chance of success. It requires the shop to pre-polish the paint surface that you are going to blend your clear over with a heavy duty compound. This is followed of course by another round of surface cleaning.

At this point the paint department would prep and prime the repaired area and, again, spend extra time in the process of keeping it small. After the primer is cured, the surface is being prepped for the paint and blending process. This process requires the painter to step the sanding grid down in size as you get further out into the surrounding surface. The surface preparation also requires the technician to know exactly where his final blend is going to be.

The clearcoat blend has to be over a sanded surface to give it a remote chance of durability, but it must be fine enough to be able to be buffed easily, without burning the edge. A successful paint application for this type of repair also requires a higher skill level on the painter’s part and actually more time to get it done right. The color match has to be closer; there is not much room to really effectively blend out a questionable color. Keeping the surface clean during paint application is also more critical and time consuming. The very thin, solvent-blended clearcoat edge is not giving you much product to work with when it comes to buffing out any particles.

Now, after you have successfully overcome all these hurdles, it is back to polishing the panel for the second time. In all honesty, clients everywhere have expressed to me that it is sometimes hard to get properly paid for color-sand and buff the way it is, what are your chances to get paid twice? If you really take a close look into what it takes to perform an open clear blend within a panel, common sense would dictate that you simply abandon this type of procedure.

The second part of the equation is that most major paint manufacturers will not

Stefan Gesterkamp is a Master Craftsman and BASF representative who has been in the automotive paint industry for 27 years. He started his career in a custom shop before turning to collision repair. Stefan graduated from the University of Coatings and Colorants in Germany and is the author of “How to Paint Your Show Car.”

warranty an open clearcoat blend. The failure rate on this is too high. The more sun exposure a blend edge will get, the faster the deterioration of the edge.

We have all seen the clearcoat blends on sail panels breaking down. Car manufacturers like Toyota and others clearly express their opinions on this subject and require full-panel clear coating on all of their vehicles.

If you start thinking about it, it makes good sense to avoid open blends for more then one reason. Besides the obvious culprits, UV-ray-exposure and chemical fallout, that continuously deteriorate the paint’s surface, do you even know what type of clear is on a vehicle you are trying to repair?

If you are not sure if the clear coated surface of the car is either a pre-flexed, anti scratch, self healing, powder coated or nano technology type clear, then how can you determine the proper technique or product choice?

Different clearcoat technologies have different properties and they may require

customized solutions. Let’s just take a look at one of those properties that is unique and directly related to the specific paint technology on the vehicle. It is the expansion and contraction ratio of the paint film itself.

This ratio can greatly impact the blends durability.

If the OEM clearcoat expansion and contraction ratio differs during weather related heat-up and cool-down from that of the refinish product, the super thin transition between both coatings will not stand a chance to overcome the ongoing physical stress.

By the way, these differences are not a problem for surfaces that are going to be completely clear coated! And even if you would know the exact expansion and contraction ratios, making this type of repair consistently work for you will be challenging.

Insurers and shops alike say that they want the best possible repair and pre-accident conditions for their clients’ vehicles.

If this is the case, then why are we still playing with the idea of sub-standard repairs?

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AkzoNobel Honors Top Independent Distributors

Accolades for the top 2009 AkzoNobel distributors were given during the closing ceremonies at the 2010 AkzoNobel Independent Wholesalers Conference. The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana was the location for the two day program which focused on market trends and business growth opportunities. Awards were given in the following three key categories:

Outstanding in Winning New Customers: Color and Equipment – Pelham, AL, PF3 Paint Supply – Wixom, MI, Hyman’s Specialty Paint – Chicago, IL, Automotive Color Inc. - Jackson, MS, Metro Automotive Paint – Miami, FL, Grinstead Group, Inc. – Louisville, KY Outstanding CSI Achievement: Tri-State Coatings – Shreveport, LA, Ohio

Automotive Supply – Findlay, OH, C & D Supply – Bridgeview, IL

Outstanding Overall Sales Growth: PF3 Paint Supply – Wixom, MI, Professional Automotive Paint – Atascadero, CA, Cajun Color Supply – Broussard, LA, TriState Coatings – Shreveport, LA, Automotive Color Inc. – Jackson, MS

“2009 marked one of the most challenging years in the history of our industry,” noted Doug Holmberg, Director of Sales for AkzoNobel Car Refinishes North America.

“Each of the businesses recognized excelled due to a high level of knowledge, integrity and professionalism that are mainstays of their businesses.”

6 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

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BMW Expands Factory Tour at New Price

BMW has been welcoming visitors and tourists into its Spartanburg, SC, assembly plant since the 1990s. But it now plans to offer a more upscale factory visit for $99 a head.

“The Ultimate BMW Experience,” a reservation-only, three-day-a-week factory tour package will include a behind-the-scenes guided walk through the plant, a tour of the plant’s on-site Zentrum museum and theater, and a two-hour driving experience at its Performance Center driving school across the street.

The luxury-class visitors will have access to rare-vehicle demonstrations and what the factory is calling “unique culinary events.” Spartanburg already charges $7 per person to take a tour into limited areas of the plant, which builds the X5 and X6 models. Drop-ins can tour the Zentrum free of charge. The plant hosts about 30,000 visitors a year, according to plant spokeswoman Bunny Richardson.

The new tours will provide a concierge who takes guests into previously restricted areas, like the paint shop and the door line. Richardson says the staff will tailor a tour for premium visitors; plan the event around speakers, receptions and catered meals

GENUINE PARTS

Senate Exempts Auto Dealers in Regulations

As the two houses of Congress prepare to merge their financial overhaul bills, the Senate voted 60 to 30 to recommend that the nation’s auto dealers be exempted from assisting on customer loans on May 25. Auto dealers have lobbied fervently to escape new regulations, arguing that existing regulators already have power to crack down on abusive practices and that the Senate bill would still cover firms that issue auto loans.

The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) President Phil Brady said in a statement, “Dealers across the country are pleased that both the Senate and House are now on record supporting language which... preserves dealer-assisted financing as an affordable, convenient and competitive source of credit. Senators clearly understand that dealers are not lenders—they do not underwrite, fund or service auto loans.”

The vote came as Senate leaders prepared to appoint conferees to meet with counterparts from the House to hammer out differences between new financial rules approved by each chamber. The effort will be chaired by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who has said he hopes to deliver a final bill to President Obama by July 4.

Students Apply For Craftsman Tool Grant From I-CAR in Record Numbers Nearly 100 students applied for a Craftsman tool grant through the I-CAR Education Foundation this spring, a record number of applicants for a foundation grant and/or scholarship.

Sophanara Khoeun.

Out of the student applicants, 17 were selected to receive a set of Craftsman tools valued at $575 each. The donated tool kits included a 268 piece Mechanic Tool Set with Lift-Top Lid Case plus Microtork Torque Wrench, a Craftsman 20 piece Super-Duty Punch and Chisel Set, and a Craftsman seven-piece Fiberglass Handle Body and Fender Repair Tool Set. The student winners of the spring Craftsman tool grant include: Bryce Collins, Daniel Garbee, Christian Garfio, Guy Groth, Tyler Henshaw, Ryan Kelley, Sophanara Khoeun, Michael Laue, Amanda Middlebrook, Brock Miner,

Nicholas Perez, Theodore Schuck, John C. St. Denny, Marissa Stegriy, Cara Ashlyn Stevens, Steven James Tarnowski and Eric Vazquez.

“We are thrilled to partner with I-CAR Education Foundation to arm these students with Craftsman tools and in turn help them on their journey to becoming professionals in their trade,” said Laura Sardegna, brand director for Craftsman.

I-CAR Education Foundation Executive Director Scott Kruger commented.

“We thank Craftsman for their generous tool donation to the Education Foundation and joining us in helping to equip these future professionals of the Amanda Middlebrook. industry with the proper tools and equipment. This was the first time the Foundation offered a ‘tool scholarship’and we were overwhelmed with applications from deserving students from around country. This incredible response helps show students' need for tools for their eventual career within the industry.”

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Toyota Makes $2.2B Annual Profit

Rouse Named ABRA President

Sterling Autobody Earns BBB A+

PPG Says 10,000 Techs Converted

In a fiscal year marred with recalls and lawsuits, Toyota still managed to report a substantial profit these last 12 months and expects to earn even more in the coming fiscal year.

Toyota reported a $2.2 billion annual profit, up from a $4.4 billion loss the previous year. This $6.6 billion swing happened despite the recall of nearly 10 million cars and a 7.7% dip in global sales.

Toyota is still the world’s most profitable car company and expects its net profit to increase by 48% to $3.3 billion in the fiscal year that ends in March 2011.

Sterling Autobody Centers has earned the highest possible rating of A+ for its network of 62 stores repairing over 79,000 cars a year from BBB. Businesses are rated on 17 elements including the length of time in operation, overall complaint history with the BBB, and whether consumer complaints have been resolved in a timely manner and in good faith. Said Nick Notte, Sterling Autobody President, “It is a great honor and privilege to lead a team of over 1200 employees who keep customer service and operational excellence at the forefront of all they do.”

ABRA Auto Body & Glass announced March 17 the appointment of Duane Rouse, currently Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, to the position of President & Chief Financial Officer.

Rouse joined ABRA in 1996 as Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer. In 1998 he was promoted to Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer. Rouse is a Certified Public Accountant with a degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse. He was employed

by Price Waterhouse and held senior management positions in several companies prior to joining ABRA.

More than 10,000 technicians across the United States and Canada have attended the PPG “Convert with Confidence” training program to help their transition to waterborne basecoat. PPG began the Convert with Confidence program in 2007 to provide shop owners, managers, and technicians with training and support before, during and after the conversions. Low VOC basecoats will also be mandated for twelve northeastern states and the District of Columbia as early as 2012. It is only a matter of time until waterborne systems will be recommended or required throughout the country.

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well. It's followed by a one-two punch from Chrysler with the Chrysler Town & Country LX and Dodge Grand Caravan SE in second and third respectively.

Like the Car category, the winner of the Truck category didn't land in the top five overall, or even the top 10. But while the Dodge Caliber didn't even make the top 20, the Truck category winner just sneaked in at number 20 and it's the GMC Canyon Work Truck. When configured as a regular cab model with the four-cylinder engine and RWD only, it'll run you just $1152.39 per year on average in insurance costs. Coming in second and third are the two-door, RWD Toyota Tacoma and the four-door, RWD Chevrolet Colorado Work Truck.

Insure.com hired pollster Quadrant Information Services to calculate the average insurance premiums for a single, 40-year-old male driver who commutes 12 miles to work. This fictional driver has good credit, a clean record, a $500 deductible on collision and comprehensive coverage and carries a typical coverage plan consisting of uninsured motorist coverage, $100,000 of injury liability coverage for one person, $300,000 of coverage for all injuries and $50,000 of coverage for property damage. Averages were drawn from rates offered by six major insurance companies for 10 zip codes in each of the 50 states.

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Back in March, Insure.com released a study that revealed the top 20 most- and least-expensive vehicles to insure in America. Now, more research has determined the top 10 least-expensive vehicles to insure by class, and Insure.com is naming the least-expensive vehicles to insure in America today by class.

The Mazda Tribute I SUV is the least-expensive vehicle to insure in the U.S. today when configured with a fourcylinder engine a FWD only. All told, it will cost you an average of $1070.25 to insure annually, just $25.01 than the runner-up Honda Odyssey LX. Splurging on AWD won't hurt you much, as the fourcylinder Tribute I with AWD is just $1103.29 per year on average and ranks third. Interestingly enough, the top 20 least-expensive vehicles to insure are all vans and SUVs. Naturally, the Tribute also earns the distinction of being the least-expensive SUV to insure as well as the least-expensive vehicle to insure overall. In the Car category, the boxy Dodge Caliber takes the win, costing just $1196.27 per year on average. The Buick LaCrosse CX and Toyota Yaris hatch trail closely behind in second and third place respectively.

As noted above, the Honda Odyssey LX came in second overall, costing just $1095.26 per year on average. That ensures it a victory in the Van category as

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Ford Promotes Favorable Repair and Insurance Cost Data and Leads in Perceived Quality Gain

Ford Motor Company is promoting that its vehicles cost less to repair, after a collision on average, than all other vehicles in their segments, according to a new U.S. government report based on insurance claims database. Auto insurance companies often factor in model-specific claims data in setting premium costs. Approximately 78 percent of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models rated at or better than the industry average, says Ford.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 2010 Relative Collision Insurance Cost Information Booklet shows more Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles lead their segments for the lowest collision insurance cost than any other automaker. The report will be available in all dealerships this spring to help consumers anticipate repair costs that insurers rely on for setting insurance rates.

Ford has 10 segments leaders, including Taurus, Focus and F-Series trucks, from the 2007–2009 model years.

The NHTSA ratings based on claim costs data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

According to NHTSA, Ford’s 10 segment-leading 2009 model year vehicles include: Ford Focus – Small Cars (four-door),

Ford Taurus – Large Cars (four-door), Ford F-150 – Large Pickups (two-door), Ford F150 Super Cab 4WD – Large Pickups (twodoor-plus), Ford F-250 4WD – Very Large Pickups (two-door), Ford F-250 Super Cab – Very Large Pickups (two-door-plus), Ford E-350 Econoline wagon – Cargo/Passenger Vans (tied with Chevrolet Express 3500), Mercury Grand Marquis – Very Large Cars (four-door), Mercury Mariner 4WD – Small SUV and Lincoln Town Car – Very Large Luxury Cars.

In 2009, Ford opened a Paint and Body Technology Center to leverage the combined expertise of Ford’s repair and safety experts, auto repair technicians and insurance companies to identify design solutions and repair procedures that will lower repair costs.

“If your vehicle costs less to repair, it generally costs less to insure,” said Gerry Bonanni, Ford damageability collision repair senior engineer.

In another key area of vehicle affordability, Ford’s resale values outpaced the industry by rising 23 percent according to the latest National Automobile Dealers Association auction data. The gains resulted from stronger demand for Ford’s new vehicles and improved quality and durability ratings.

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Ford Leads Industry in Perceived Quality Gains Ford Motor Company achieved the largest gain of any automaker in Automotive Lease Guide’s latest Perceived Quality Score, bringing customer perceptions more in line with Ford’s improved vehicle quality.

Ford this month was ranked as the most improved brand in the ALG study, showing a 7.6 percent improvement since fall 2009, building on gains over the past two years. Improving perceptions of Ford’s quality has been a key driver behind Ford’s recent market share gains and improving resale value.

“We have made huge strides in vehicle quality in recent years but customer perceptions don’t change overnight – so it is gratifying to see our real-world improvements begin to fully register with consumers,” said Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president, Global Marketing.

“The benefits of improved perception of quality are huge – from market share to residual values and purchase considerations.”

ALG noted that Ford residuals have seen a “huge upswing.” Ford’s average residual gained $2,420 (January-June

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2010 residual guides) compared to the year-ago period; the average brand change was about $615.

“Ford’s goals have been supported by an entire portfolio of all-new or redesigned products that have been well-received both in the marketplace and among automotive critics,” said Matt Traylen, chief economist for ALG. ALG said Ford’s improvement in perceived quality likely can be traced to several factors: * Ford has improved its vehicle quality and launched well-received new products * Ford avoided bankruptcy and a taxpayer bailout unlike its domestic competitors * Ford limited brand-damaging incentive spending and daily rental fleet sales ALG noted in particular that the new Ford Taurus and Fiesta have been well received by the press and public.

“Customers want to see that you can be reliable in your quality month after month, year after year,” Farley said.

“Demonstrating steady improvements in initial and long-term durability over time is helping us close the gap between perception and reality.”

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www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 9

AkzoNobel Honors Most Influential Women in Collision Repair Industry at Eleventh Annual Celebration

Six industry leaders were honored at the eleventh annual Most Influential Women in the Collision Repair Industry awards program held at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta on Wednesday, April 14, 2010.

Janet Chaney, Stevensville, Montana; Erica Eversman, Bath Ohio; Kimberly Hicks, Highland Park, Michigan; Beth Ann Meckel, Glen Burnie, Maryland; Linda Sommerhauser, Kansas City, Missouri; and Marcy Tieger, Irvine, California, were honored as the 2010 Most Influential Women in the Collision Repair Industry.

The awards ceremony marked the eleventh anniversary of the Most Influential Women in Collision Repair. “In the spirit of sustainability, AkzoNobel is proud to honor an exceptional group of leaders who are working for the betterment of our industry and our global communities and to provide opportunities for future leaders through the I-CAR Education Scholarship Fund,” said AkzoNobel Car Refinishes Americas Director of Marketing, Tim Loden.

“As the Most Influential Women program begins its second decade, we continue to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of women in a traditionally maledominated industry,” Loden notes. “The program has helped to establish collision repair as an industry that respects diversity and recognizes contributions despite gender.”

a company that provides information on diminished value of automobiles to insurance companies, financial institutions, government agencies, and consumers.

Eversman is a nationally recognized industry advocate and an expert on the legal rights and responsibilities of the collision Left to right in the photo are: Marcy Tieger, Irvine, CA; Kimberly Hicks, Highland repair professional.

Park, MI; Janet Chaney, Stevensville, MT; Linda Sommerhauser, Kansas City, ● As president MO; Erica Eversman, Bath, OH; and Beth Meckel, Glen Burnie, MD. of Micro Rim, KimThe Most Influential Women in Collision berly Hicks manages the only U.S. owned Repair 2010 represent the leadership and in- manufacturer of automotive replacement fluence of women throughout the industry, bumpers, and she oversees more than 100 including collision repair shops, industry as- employees at two plants. Active in promotsociations, manufacturers, distributors, and ing quality aftermarket parts, she serves as public affairs. The winners are as follows: a board member of the Automotive Body ● Janet Chaney, owner of Cave Creek Parts Association and Overseas Automotive Business Development, brings a variety of ex- Council, and other industry groups. periences in the collision repair industry to her ● Beth Meckel, body shop manager for work with collision repair shops, state associ- Mile One Collision Center in Glen Burnie, ations, and a group of auto recyclers. Chaney Maryland, has helped to increase the shop’s is secretary of the National Auto Body Coun- business with her professional knowledge cil and co-chair of the PRIDE award. and outstanding management skills.As a craft ● Erica Eversman is founder and chief advisor at area vocational/technical schools counsel of Vehicle Information Services, Inc., and segment leader and judge for Maryland’s

Nearly two decades ago, Jeep invented the premium sport-utility vehicle segment with the introduction of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Now Jeep delivers an all-new Grand Cherokee for 2011 and Chrysler Group has released images of the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, as a flagship symbol of the new Chrysler.

Capability highlights include a choice of three 4x4 systems, new Jeep Quadra-Lift™ Air Suspension and Selec-Terrain™ systems and towing capability of 7,400 lbs.

There’s a new independent front and rear suspension systems and a new body structure that dramatically increases torsional stiffness. The 2011 Grand Cherokee features Chrysler’s all-new 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 engine with an 11 percent improvement in fuel economy and delivers up to 23 mpg and more than 500 miles on one tank of gas.

The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is built at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant (JNAP) in Detroit. The nearly 3-million-square-foot assembly plant has been the site of Grand Cherokee production since its introduction in 1992. JNAP went through a complete transformation as part of World Class Manufacturing (WCM), an extensive and thorough process to restore all Chrysler Group facilities. JNAP employees have planned and executed hundreds of projects aimed at improving the work environment, maximizing quality, minimizing waste and preparing for the new product. JNAP is producing the new Grand Cherokee in an allnew flexible body shop that will deliver the most precise body dimensions ever built.

Chrysler Group invested $686 million on the Grand Cherokee program. Chrysler is the only automotive manufacturer still producing vehicles in the city of Detroit.

Chrysler Unveils 2011 Grand Cherokee

The Jeep Grand Cherokee is available in Laredo, Limited and Overland models and arrive in Jeep showrooms in the USA next month.

“The production launch of the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee signals the rebirth of the Chrysler Group,” said Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler Group LLC CEO. “The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a signature vehicle for Chrysler. It represents the best of this Company, the direction we’re moving toward producing high quality, technologically advanced vehicles. We are confident the Grand Cherokee will receive the proper recognition for what it stands for when it hits the road in June.”

Production began on May 21, 2010.

10 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Skills USA competition, she is committed to training and mentoring young students to prepare them for successful careers. ● Linda Sommerhauser, owner of Autobody Color Company, Inc., manages a successful auto paint business with four locations. Her influence is felt nationwide as a founding member of Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) and the first woman to serve on the board of Automotive Service Industry Association. A member of the Women’s Industry Network, she is personally involved in bringing young women into the industry. ● Marcy Tieger, managing director of Symphony Advisors, LLC, consults with collision repair shops, suppliers, and insurance claims organizations. A former attorney, Tieger frequently lectures and contributes articles to industry publications.

She is a founding member and board member of the Women’s Industry Network (WIN), a trustee and officer of the Collision Industry Foundation, and a member of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC), Industry Relations Committee.

Akzo Nobel continued its awarding of a scholarship of $25,000 in the name of the Most Influential Women to the I-CAR Education Foundation. The funds will be used for prospective female students pursuing a career in the collision repair industry.

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Jackson, MS, Loses Fourth Police Chase Case in past year

For the fourth time in the last year, a Hinds County, Mississippi circuit judge has ruled against the city of Jackson in cases involving a police chase. The latest ruling comes from a lawsuit filed by a former Richland police officer over injuries he suffered in 2004 when a car being chased by Jackson police struck his personal vehicle.

Senior Judge Swan Yerger, in an opinion filed May 7, awarded $375,000 to Basil Thornton, 44, who said he was forced to resign from the Richland Police Department, where he had been a patrol sergeant, because of the resulting injuries. The injuries included a fractured vertebra, a broken foot, ankle trauma, a concussion, lacerated facial muscles and other cuts that left extensive scarring on his face.

But the city's delegal department is asking the judge to split the damages among two other parties involved in the crash.

“The court finds, from a preponderance of the evidence, that the proximate cause of the subject accident and the plaintiff's injuries, resulted from the aforesaid reckless conduct of the Jackson officers,”Yerger wrote, including “deliberate disregard of the unreasonable risk involved.”

AL Trucking Company in Fatal KY Accident: Poor Safety Record

Negligence Language in AL bill Kills Anti-Texting Legislation

A horrific crash that killed 11 people in Central Kentucky last March 25 was caused by a tractor trailer owned by Hester Inc. and driven by Kenneth Laymon, of Jasper, AL. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration gave Hester Inc. a “deficient’’ rating in February based on the company’s 30 drivers during the past 30 months repeatedly failing roadside inspections. The Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s “SafeStat’’ program rates the driver violations history of every trucking line. The agency’s Web site said the SafeStat scores are used to identify which drivers and trucks should be inspected, based on the safety history of the carrier.

The tractor-trailer Laymon was driving had been cited for problems with its lights, brakes and emergency equipment during six roadside inspections since 2008, according to the records. The truck had no citations in 2009 or 2010, including a clean roadside stop about a month before the fatal wreck, records show. Scott Hester, the owner of the Fayette, AL., trucking company, declined comment, but Hester hadn’t had a fatal accident since 2007, federal records showed. During that time, the company had three wrecks, just one involving injuries.

For all the productive work by the Alabama Legislature in the just-ended 2010 session, a bill outlawing texting while driving didn't make it to the floor for a final vote.

State Sen. Roger Bedford blamed the conservative Alfa Alabama Farmers Federation insurance group, which supported the original bill. Bedford and others had added a provision saying if someone is texting and collides with another car, the texting driver is presumed to be negligent. Alfa officials said the negligence language had never been in any Alabama traffic law and the company was concerned about the legal impact. Officials with State Farm said the insurance company would have preferred to omit the language but was OK with it for the "greater good" of passing the bill.

The trial lawyer organization, Alabama Association for Justice, supported the negligence language but was willing to remove the provision if it would help the bill pass. The House sponsor, Rep. Jim McClendon said Bedford wouldn't budge. McClendon sponsored a simple bill that levied only a $25 fine on first offense. An amendment to allow a search of the car after a stop for texting while driving was defeated.

Hurricanes and Oil Spills are a Bad Combination, or Not?

The Gulf continues to brace for what could be the world's biggest ever oil spill the week of May 23. Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana are buffered by a string of barrier islands that provide the first line of defense against Gulf storms but heavy tar is washing up on Alabama's Dauphin Island while Mississippi and Louisiana coastal areas are beginning to see more oil coming ashore. It’s natural to fear the upcoming hurricane season, usually June through November. Heavy barriers that ride below the surface are being installed but a tropical storm could negate the anchored oil booms on the floor of Mobile Bay, allowing a storm surge to penetrate to the coast.

However, some experts believe the oil could actually help slow the likelihood of a hurricane forming by putting a barrier between the atmosphere and the ocean.

“The oil would have the effect of suppressing evaporation of ocean water into the air,” said Dennis Feltgen, meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center. Tropical storms need warm ocean water to fuel their development.

But Feltgen emphasized the effect would be only in the formation of a storm below 40-mph winds

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www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 11

Continued from Page 1

House Passes Act

tablished in the Department of the Treasury under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002; • to coordinate federal efforts and develop federal policy on prudential aspects of international insurance matters, including representing the United States, as appropriate, in the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (or a successor entity) and assisting the secretary in negotiating International Insurance Agreements on Prudential Measures; • to determine whether state insurance measures are preempted by International Insurance Agreements on Prudential Measures; • to consult with the states (including state insurance regulators) regarding insurance matters of national importance and prudential insurance matters of international importance; and • to perform such other related duties and authorities as may be assigned to the office by the secretary.

The Office of National Insurance is also required to conduct a study within 18 months of enactment and report to the Congress on how to modernize and improve insurance regulation: • In General - Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this section, the director shall conduct a study and submit a report to Congress on how to modernize and improve the system of insurance regulation in the United States.

• Considerations - The study and report shall be based on and guided by the following considerations: • Systemic risk regulation with respect to insurance.

• Capital standards and the relationship between capital allocation and liabilities, including standards relating to liquidity and duration risk.

• Consumer protection for insurance products and practices, including gaps in state regulation.

• The degree of national uniformity of state insurance regulation.

• The regulation of insurance companies and affiliates on a consolidated basis.

• International coordination of insurance regulation.

• Additional Factors - The study and report required under paragraph (1) shall Continued from Page 1

Gunder’s Case

a ‘jury of our peers’ to decide who did what to whom and why. I believe this recent ruling by the Appellate court is telling State Farm that our case has merit and you’d better make this go away or else.” They (the court) could have merely declined to address

also examine the following factors: • The costs and benefits of potential federal regulation of insurance across various lines of insurance (except health insurance).

• The feasibility of regulating only certain lines of insurance at the federal level, while leaving other lines of insurance to be regulated at the state level.

• The ability of any potential federal regulation or federal regulators to eliminate or minimize regulatory arbitrage.

• The impact that developments in the regulation of insurance in foreign jurisdictions might have on the potential federal regulation of insurance.

• The ability of any potential federal regulation or federal regulator to provide robust consumer protection for policyholders.

• The potential consequences of subjecting insurance companies to a federal resolution authority, including the effects of any federal resolution authority - on the operation of state insurance guaranty fund systems, including the loss of guaranty fund coverage if an insurance company is subject to a federal resolution authority; - on policyholder protection, including the loss of the priority status of policyholder claims over other unsecured general creditor claims; - in the case of life insurance companies, the loss of the special status of separate account assets and separate account liabilities; and - on the international competitiveness of insurance companies.

- such other factors as the director determines necessary or appropriate, consistent with the principles set forth in paragraph (2).

• Required Recommendations - The study and report required under paragraph (1) shall also contain any legislative, administrative, or regulatory recommendations, as the director determines appropriate, to carry out or effectuate the findings set forth in such report.

• Consultation - With respect to the study and report required under paragraph (1), the director shall consult with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, consumer organizations, representatives of the insurance industry and policyholders, and other organizations and experts, as appropriate.

To view a complete summary of the legislation, along with the full text, visit ASA’s legislative website at www.TakingTheHill.com.

it and they didn’t. We have a great deal of time and resources invested and I’m not giving up until we have exhausted every avenue of the legal system to reconcile the damages and harm State Farm has caused our family, my business, my employees and our customers.”

The mediation is currently scheduled for June 10th in Florida.

12 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Continued from Page 1

Oil Spill

industries, mainstays of the south Louisiana economy, but other industries

A map by infographic shows the extent of the oil spill in the Gulf Coast

may bgin feeling the affects as time goes on. Undoubtedly the tourism industry of hot spot summer vacation states will begin

Oil is seen on an island near the Mississippi River on the coast of Louisiana on May 21

to feel the impact of this spill.

Though a total shutdown of the shipping lanes is unlikely, there could be long delays if vessels are forced to wait to have their oil-coated hulls power-washed to avoid contaminating the Mississippi. Some cargo ships might choose to unload somewhere else in the U.S., possibly driving up costs.

Workers construct a dam to prevent more oil from entering wetlands on Elmer's Island in Louisiana, on May 20

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Spray Gun Repair Inc. Helps Customers Get Full Value from their Guns Paul Masters, the owner of Spray Gun Repair Inc. of 344 Chase Rd in Thompson, Connecticut, has been rebuilding and cleaning Spray Guns since 1976.

At that time, he was working at his family-owned business, Masters Auto Body Supplies, where he learned to rebuild and properly clean spray guns to meet customer needs and to extend the useful life of their automotive paint spray guns.

Masters has heard the same stories from spray gun users in applications as different as furniture and cabinet refinishers to auto painters. He knows the prevailing attitude is “When my spray gun stops working properly, I toss it under my bench and buy a new one.”

This he knows to be a senseless waste of time and money. He’s identified four basic levels of spray gun maintainance: daily lubrication, periodic maintainance (best performed at the end of the work week), thorough cleaning (if the periodic maintainance doesn’t prevent the problem), and eventually rebuilding the spray gun (replacing all the gaskets, seals, and packings).

Masters views his business as both lean and green, in the same way a shop would view any more efficient, cost effective process. But he sees even greater demands now given the new EPA regulations

for efficient transfer, whether a shop is spraying waterborne or solvent, or both.

Replacing a good gun that only needs correct service is both expensive and wasteful. You can recondition a gun for a fraction of the cost of replacing it.

cility, Paul Masters of Spray Gun Repair Inc. is known throughout the industry as the place to send your guns to be repaired.

Evolution of The Company Spray Gun Repair Inc. has been in business since February 1995, and the company has literally exploded in size. Starting with only a few customers, Spray Gun Re-

State of The Art Service With the requirements of the customer increasing, and speedy service a big part of those requirements, the company has adapted to the demands of its customers.

With the introduction of computers and state-of-the-art software, Spray Gun Repair Inc. can handle any sort of request

pair now has well over 2200 customers that request Paul Masters’ services on a regular basis. The great majority of those customers are jobbers and warehouses that need a good and reliable high quality cleaning facility that Spray Gun Repair Inc. provides.

With his numerous skilled employees and state of the art cleaning and repair fa-

with the professionalism and respect the customer is looking for. The advanced computer and diagnostic network systems employed at Spray Gun Repair Inc. can help the customer realize full value from his or her investment in the equipment.

Not unlike a comfortable pair of shoes which fit better in the latter half of their life than when they’re being broken

in, a good and familiar spray gun performs better and more consistently than an unfamiliar one, regardless of the new ones’ quality.

With multiple workstations and start of the art shipping software, the company can record when the spray gun was repaired, shipped to, received by whom and what parts were utilized. This gives the customer a tremendous amount of information and the assurance that his or her company will receive the spray gun on time and in good condition. If future repairs need to be made, this data is helpful in diagnosing and forestalling any new repairs.

Over the years, Paul Masters has shared his knowledge of spray guns in many ways. He has been featured in a video called How to Master your Spray Gun which is an informative demonstration of how to rebuild various Models/ Brands of spray guns. Produced by Spray Gun Solutions Inc. of Arvada, CO, and available at his website: www.spraygunrepair.com.

Below is Masters’ recommended procedure for periodic maintainance. To read a more complete version of “The ABCs of Spray Gun Maintainance” contact Paul Masters at his website, or call toll free: 888-452-1095.

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Step-1. Start by brushing the outside of the air cap using the GP brush.

Step-2. Locate the needle in your seven piece needle set that fits the air holes in the face of the air cap and make sure they are open.

Step-3. Locate the appropriate brush in the five-piece mini brush kit and clean the center hole of the air cap (fluid passage).

Step-4. Using the same kit, clean the air horns of the cap (front and back).

Step-5. Use the 3/16-in. end brush to clean the inside of the fluid tip.

Step-6. Using the five-piece mini brush kit, clean the needle seat (center hole) of the fluid tip.

Step-7. The same kit is used for cleaning all the air holes in the fluid tip.

Step-8 and 9. A brush in the same kit is also used to clean all the air holes in the baffle (front and back). Wipe your needle and lubricate. Be sure to lubricate the needle packing, air valve and trigger stud. The best time for this procedure is a Friday afternoon so your equipment is ready for use at the start of the next week.

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www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 13

Shreveport, Louisiana’s Caddo School Named ‘2010 School of the Year’

14 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Caddo Career & Technology Center, a vocational high school in Shreveport, LA, was named the Tomorrow’s Technician/Chicago Pneumatic 2010 School of the Year.

Students’ training begins outside the classroom, where instructor Mike Falkner and other instructors greet them at the door with a firm handshake and a good morning. Shirts must be tucked in, name tags must be visible and they’re reminded to look people in the eye when they speak.

“They really want this program to work, and it has gotten better every year,” said Bobby Frugé, assistant service manager at Chevyland on Youree Drive.

The dealership recruits and hires interns from the program every year, said Frugé, who meets quarterly with nearly local 20 service managers to discuss ways to improve the training program.

Students interview with local dealerships and are selected for summer internships that often lead to full-time jobs. Strong

“We run our class just as though they were going to work,” said Gary Weese, who with Falkner teaches students about everything under a car from bumper to bumper.

On hand to present the award and tools to the school were representatives from Tomorrow’s Technician, program sponsors Chicago Pneumatic and WIX Filters and custom hot-rod designer, builder and painter Rich Evans of Huntington Beach Bodyworks.

More than 300 applications from secondary and community colleges were submitted for the contest, which recognizes the top automotive technical schools and instructors throughout the country. This was the first time a high school has won the award.

Stevens said the selection committee received a four-inch binder full of heartfelt recommendations from students, teachers, parents and community members about the school’s program. Studentteacher ratio, graduation rates and awards and recognitions also were considered.

“It’s impossible to get a job at a dealership without this (program),” said senior Jacob Miller. His internship at Mansfield Auto World will transition into a full-time job next month as an automotive technician.

About 80 students are in the automotive technology program and, yes, there are a few girls.

relationships with the business community has led to more than $400,000 worth of equipment and cars being donated to the school.

The program was the first in the state to receive the National Automotive Technician Education Foundation certification, and students have competed and placed in various tournaments, including the Ford AAA in Alexandria and the National Automotive Technology Competition in New York.

Besides the bragging rights of being named the nation’s best automotive school, CC&TC will also receive: $10,000 in Chicago Pneumatic Tools; $5,000 in WIX Filters; one-day WIX Filtration Learning Experience at the school; a trip for 4 to Charlotte, NC; one-day WIX Institute of Filtration Technology and WIX Factory Tour; Joe Gibbs Racing Tour and Chicago Pneumatic tool demonstration; and Chicago Pneumatic and WIX Filters gear.

See also Rich Evans’ column this issue.

www.autobodynews.com CHECK IT OUT!

Shop and Product Showcase

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

with Ed Attanasio

California Shop Credits Mitchell’s Ultramate and RepairCenter for Managing Growth

Precision Body Shop & Detail, with two locations in Colma and San Rafael, CA, has grown rapidly, with more and more cars coming through every month. Having lots of work can be a blessing or a curse, because organizational and production bottlenecks can arise in minutes within a busy work environment.

Precision has not only survived, but thrived during a recession. They give a lot of credit to Mitchell International Inc. and the decision to adopt their market-leading business management systems.

Precision Body Shop & Detail was started 10 years ago with just three employees detailing cars primarily for new car dealerships throughout the Bay Area.

In 2004, Precision’s dealerships started inquiring about doing minor body work on their fleets and the company jumped at the opportunity.

“We started out doing primarily paint, panel and hanging bumpers to go with our detailing for dealerships,” Caprini said. “Then, we realized we should do it all. So, starting in ’06, we began pursuing all forms of collision repair and it’s been a great business model for us.”

Caprini and his partner Lou Hanhan have tapped into their complementary skills to create a company that makes a profit and is poised for expansion.

jacent 6,000-sq.-ft of space within the year.

Precision’s relationship with Mitchell has been highly beneficial for controlling and monitoring the company’s production flow.

wanted to incorporate, it proved to be a wise decision. Caprini feels that the RepairCenter is indispensible to his operation.

“It’s been a huge part of everything we’re doing here,” Caprini said. “I look at

Precision’s Body Prep Techs (from left) Robert Lucero, Manuel Lucero and Alejandro Perez.

“You can’t store 120 cars every month in your head. You’re going to lose track of where each vehicle is in the repair process, if you can’t accurately keep this information in one location that you can access and alter easily. That’s what the Mitchell’s RepairCenter brought to our business and it’s proven to be invaluable,” Caprini said.

Precision initially purchased the Ultramate Estimate program then added RepairCenter last year, and the shop has already seen some significant improvement on several fronts.

“We’ve used their RepairCenter now for about seven months and it’s been a great experience. They help us manage the entire day-to-day repair process and give us real-time control and analysis of everything we do. It’s quickly become a big part of our lives around here and it’s provided us with a shop’s single integrated access point. That’s maybe the most important thing. Every tech, painter and estimator accesses identical updated information, so we’re Precision Body Shop & Detail Co-owners Anthony Caprini (left) and his partner Lou Hanhan attribute improved proall on the same page all the time,” he duction to adopting Mitchell’s RepairCenter system. said.

According to Mitchell, “The “I’m more of a numbers person and a RepairCenter is the collision repair inproduction process guy and Lou is very dustry’s first single shop workspace to connected to the car dealerships in this manage the repair, the customer and the area, so we make a very effective team. On business—and just about everything in top of that, we have an excellent crew. between. RepairCenter’s repair and opThey’ve definitely played a major role in portunity management capabilities help our success,” Caprini said. shops to capture more business, identify Today, Precision does nearly $4 mil- workflow bottlenecks and improve funclion in sales annually and employs 59 tionality.” people working out of two locations toWhen Precision added Mitchell Retaling 22,000-sq.-ft. The Colma location pairCenter in order to access all of the prowill be expanding with an additional ad- gram’s additional features the shop

it a minimum of 6–10 times every day. It’s our lifeline and we love it because it’s always on. The most important things it does for us are by acting as a virtual realtime whiteboard; the parts management

to help us and that’s so important.”

A series of how-to videos produced

by Mitchell also provided Precision with valuable ongoing education.

“Their videos are excellent. You can get a grasp of what they’re doing quickly and easily. We refer them to them all the time and our estimator and office manager don’t have to deal with that whiteboard ever again, because everything is right there on the RepairCenter. Their lives are easier now thanks to Mitchell,” he said.

Three months ago, Precision also added Mitchell’s Shop Clock, adding further track ability to its shop.

“Now we’re able to see how long it takes take to do each job. If a repair takes 10 hours, for example, I can see where we’re at right there on the computer screen. If we’re ahead or behind on any repair, we can make changes on the fly, because the Shop Clock feature keeps us current and allows us to anticipate what we need to do to get it done within the allotted hours.”

The detailing crew at Precision processes approximately 300 vehicles per month.

and vendor management aspects are also very important, because it helps us to effectively order, receive and track parts. By making our daily lives easier, Mitchell has allowed us to concentrate on other things—like acquiring new business and cutting our cycle times.”

One of the main benefits Caprini appreciates about Mitchell includes the training his shop received when they converted to RepairCenter.

“Mitchell’s trainer came here for three full days and made an extremely professional presentation. He was easy to work with as he trained our entire front office staff. He answered all our questions while he was here on-site, and was available for follow-up questions for several weeks afterward. We can call them anytime and they’re quick to get back to us. If we ever have an issue, they’re right there

“Our cycle times are much improved and we’re able to better manage our shop overall. We’re doing 25% more work, yet we haven’t had to hire anyone new. Our efficiency is up and our productivity is the best it’s been. So, we’re feeling more confident about pursuing more business, because we know we can do it and do it well. Instead of spending all our time dealing with problems, we’re producing great work and Mitchell has played a significant role in our success.”

Precision Body Shop & Detail 245 Collins Avenue Colma, California 94014 2nd location: 623 Irwin Street San Rafael, California 94901 (650) 992-9775

www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 15

On Creative Marketing with Thomas Franklin

Tom Franklin has been a sales and marketing consultant for forty years. He has written numerous books and provides marketing solutions and services for many businesses. He can be reached at (323) 871-6862 or at tbfranklin@aol.com.

See Tom’s columns at www.autobodynews.com under Columnists > Franklin

Save Marketing Money By ‘Piggybacking’ A local collision shop recently set up a table at a Volvo dealer’s Customer Car Care Clinic on a Saturday. While not the exclusive authorized repair facility for the Volvo dealer, the shop does a fair amount of repair work for the dealership’s customers. The cost for the body shop for piggybacking on the Volvo dealer’s event was very little. Two people attended to pass out T-shirts, pens, and other specialty items.

They also prompted questions from attendees on the condition of their vehicle’s autobody, and offered a free diagnosis for paint wear, structural problems and more.

Several potential jobs came out of these discussions.

With business volume and profits down these days, shops need to look for ways to cut costs and this includes marketing. Generally when business is slow the last expense a shop should cut is marketing, but piggybacking is a great way to stretch those marketing dollars. This same shop took advantage of another opportunity to share in an inexpensive event at a local high school. The school held a driver awareness day sponsored by the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Auto Club and a local TV station. A personal connection enabled the shop to set up an information table during the event.

Since schools in this state no longer offer

driver training programs, there is a good opportunity for collision shops to promote opportunities for events like this in local high schools. An insurance partner is likely to participate, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to recruit a local driving school and possibly even a towing company to join in.

Another shop has capitalized on a strong relationship with the owner’s church congregation. The church has a high school and the shop provided free repairs on a school bus as a contribution that resulted in an invitation to share in a church’s community event and to be listed in the church bulletin. Other local community events like parades and family fair days can provide a shop with an opportunity to have an information booth and to be listed in any event literature.

Most of the costs of attracting attendees to these events have been covered by the hosting organization, and these are the biggest costs in putting on any event. I know of one dealership where about $10,000 was spent on a one-day open house. The cost of catering was far less that the promotional costs. The shop piggybacking on such events incurs practically no costs by comparison.

Another way to do an inexpensive event is to put on a co-op event with an-

Chrysler Gets More Arbitration Wins, Only Two Have Won More favorable news for Chrysler Group on the dealer arbitration front rolled in last week, with the automaker announcing it won three cases and three others were dismissed.

Chrysler revealed late last week that the arbitrator ruled in Chrysler's favor in cases involving Hinckley Dodge in Utah, Tenafly Chrysler Jeep in New Jersey and Midway Motors in Massachusetts.

The cases involving Ganley Chrysler, Ganley Dodge and Ganly East in Ohio were dismissed.

Thus far in the process, only two dealerships—Deland Dodge in Florida and Crain Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Arkansas— have won their arbitration

cases, Chrysler spokesperson Mike Palese told Auto Remarketing.

"Chrysler Group is pleased the arbitrators agreed with the difficult dealer decisions made during the bankruptcy proceedings," officials said in a statement. "Chrysler presented evidence during the arbitration hearings that demonstrated the Company employed sound business judgment in restructuring its dealer network.

They added: "Chrysler is confident the difficult decisions made during bankruptcy will continue to position the company for sustainable success and, ultimately, will enable the company to repay the U.S. taxpayer in a timely manner."

other vendor with a similar customer base. This might be a tire dealer, a glass vendor or an accessory shop, or it might include three or four vendors. The costsaving advantages are many but most valuable of all is the breadth of the combined databases for promoting the event.

A typical tire shop probably has a database of several thousand prior customers and the body shop easily has as many if not more. As long as the vendors are not in competition with one another, a single mailing piece can include every business participating. Bulk mail can keep mailing costs down and if the businesses have been collecting e-mail addresses, promoting the event can be much cheaper.

While piggybacking and co-op events are by far the least expensive way to approach marketing events, a shop shouldn’t overlook the advantages to putting on its own event. At the Volvo Customer Car Care Clinic many of the problems customers asked Volvo techs to address were issues easily addressed at a collision center. Headlight alignment,

windshield wiper fixes, tire adjustments and other problems with the car’s body rather than the motor or mechanical parts were most frequently requested. A body shop putting on a Customer Car Care Clinic could actually expand to include protective coatings, upholstery fixes, dash repairs and other elements generally addressed during autobody repair and refinishing.

As the number of collisions diminishes and other elements reduce the volume of straight repair and refinish work coming to many shops, a shop owner might be wise to begin to create an image of the shop as more than just a place for autobody paint and repair. Automotive shops press customers to come in for an annual mechanical checkup. A forward looking autobody shop owner could make a good case for customers coming in for an annual vehicle interior and exterior finish evaluation, and with a little creative sales effort turn those evaluations into some added annual revenue.

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Jobber Journal with Richard Arnold

PBE Jobber: Friend or Ally?

This month we begin a new column in Autobody News which we’re calling Jobber Journal. Our first columnist/contributor is Richard Arnold. In future months we’ll bring you additional opinions and invite contributions from readers.

In my many years of working with a major PBE Jobber in the Southeast, I have observed that many of their shop customers undervalue them. Granted, a small minority of their customers totally understood the value jobbers brought to their shop.

Over time I watched how this small minority of shops communicated with the Jobber sales reps and tech reps and used their knowledge and experience to grow their businesses. All the while the large majority of customers just kept on doing the same bad things over and over and getting the same poor results. Albert Einstein called insanity the act of “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I’m no Einstein, but I have to agree on his definition.

I believe a good PBE Jobber is a

Richard Arnold is owner of Key Concept Services, a marketing firm based in Millerville, AL. He has provided marketing services to the collision industry since 1994 and served as the Marketing Director for Auto Color, Inc., now Finishmaster, in Atlanta, GA. He may be reached at keycon@centurytel.net or 256.276.9389.

friend and ally. A PBE Jobber can be a shop’s best friend or vendor partner. I don’t mean “friend” because they give you the biggest discount on paint and materials. I mean “friend” in the true sense of the word. A true friend wants to see you succeed, prosper and be happy. The best PBE Jobbers want to see all of their customers succeed, prosper and be happy. When their shop customers do well, they do well.

Make your Jobber your ally and partner.

The collision repair industry is changing at a faster pace now than ever before.

New metals, waterborne coatings, lean production process, and multi-media marketing, just to name a few changes. A good relationship with your Jobber can pay big dividends. Consider them a member of your board of business advisors. Ask them for their thoughts and advice. Their answers may surprise and benefit you.

What if your shop could get one more repair job out per week or even increase the output by just one more RO per month? More work should equate to more profit. A good PBE Jobber team can help

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you increase your business. So instead of beating him up for more discounts, listen to what he is telling you about how to increase your business and productivity.

A good PBE Jobber has many valueadded programs to help their shop customers succeed. Many programs are in coordination with the paint manufacturer(s) they represent and some are straight from their own minds and experience.

Most Jobbers are staffed by experienced and knowledgeable personnel who have worked in and around the collision repair industry for years. The one I worked for had a total combined work experience of over 1000 years. Why not tap that resource to your advantage? Just about any question you have related to your shop operation can usually be answered by your Jobber. If they don’t know the answer right away, a good Jobber will get the answer back to you.

They know how a shop operates and want to help you cut operating expenses and increase productivity. You just have to let them help you. Ask questions. My dad always told me: the dumbest question is the one not asked. And yes, ask for your discount on paint and materials, but don’t make this the main issue. If you utilize your Jobber properly, the discount will be the last thing on your mind when you see the improved bottom line numbers.

According to the latest 2009 industry data, collision shops (including both DRP & non-DRP) spend on average $2500 per month just on paint. The average ticket (RO) is right at $2300. The average shop writes 19 estimates per week, converts 67% of them to actual jobs and performs 12 jobs per week.

What if a Jobber can show you how to go from 12 to 13 jobs per week? Or help you increase the closing percentage from 67% to 70% or higher? And what about upselling? How much could you increase your sales and profits if someone showed you the many different ways to increase each RO just by asking the customer the right questions? A good PBE Jobber can do all of this and more.

As the marketing guy for the Jobber I worked with, I often went on sales calls when a shop showed interest in improving their marketing efforts. As we all know, marketing for the majority of collision shops consists of an ad in the Yellow Pages. We also know the world is moving faster than a big, thick paper book is now.

According to the latest data, shops report that 77% of their business comes from word-of-mouth advertising and only 45%

from their DRP. OK, I already admitted I’m no Einstein, nor brain surgeon, nor rocket scientist, but this statistic tells me a lot. When it comes to advertising, there is nothing better than a word-of-mouth recommendation from a satisfied customer.

And you know something else? A good PBE Jobber can provide you with access to seminars and training that will show you how to improve your overall marketing strategy to increase word-of-mouth advertising which will in turn increase your sales and profits.

The average busy shop will see his Jobber sales representative about once a week and if you’re a really busy shop, probably more often. These visits from your Jobber are your (and your staff’s) opportunity to ask questions and tap this valuable resource. Anything you want to know about new products, new and better procedures, technical questions and more.

And the Jobber sales rep can help in the front office, too. From improving your sales and marketing efforts to increasing your closing ratio and improving insurance relations; your Jobber can help your shop be the best at what it does.

We’re into baseball season now and I love my Atlanta Braves. Just as a major league baseball team tries to put together the best talent in spring training to hit the field in April to win it all, you’re always trying to make sure you have the best team possible at your shop to win, too. And when the owners/managers of a baseball team see they have a deficiency, they go out seeking additional talent to shore up where they are weak.

Think of your Jobber as a free agent talent just waiting to be called upon to help your team. Whether your shop is weak in production, painting, front-end office, sales, marketing or other areas, your Jobber has the experience and knowledge to help improve your team. Just like any great free agent in baseball, that talent does not come at a big discount. But, just like a big slugger or dominant closer will draw more fans to the ballpark and increase revenues for the baseball team, your Jobber is compensated by your increased purchases because your shop is growing and improving its bottom line profits.

So the next time your Jobber sales rep visits your shop, look at him like the ace hurler you picked up to be your closing pitcher. Make him feel welcomed in your clubhouse because you know he’s going to help you win. Utilize his talent and experience to the fullest. The Jobber is your friend and he can help make your shop a winner.

www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 17

Autobody News to Walk the Walk

Autobody News has been reporting for years on what shops are doing, plan to do and need to do to be both “Lean and Green.” Can a modern shop really be one without the other?

We are about to walk the walk, not just the talk, in our upcoming issues.

Starting next month, Autobody News will be doing special country-wide coverage on the “lean and green” issues that shops are implementing both now and in the future. Our summer theme is “what does it mean to be lean and green?” and we will explore the business consequences of what we see as the new norm in collision repair and in business in general.

Future cars will be more sensitive to repair procedures both in efficiency, safety, and performance aspects. Safety will involve both the owner-customer and the shop employees.

More attention will be required on how to make your shop operate at peak efficiency. To keep up and make a profitable business operate, will be a challenge and an opportunity for shop owners and managers.

As Green as we can be To reinforce our shared commitment with the industry we’re going to do the newpaper equivalent of going waterborne for our next two issues, July and August. All 21,000 shops and related businesses will be getting an ultragreen copy of our papers in the mail. We’re going to change our newsprint to the highest practical recycled content and make corresponding changes in the printing inks we use.

No penguins, seals, or additional trees will be harmed in the process.

That’s the green phase, not the lean, and it’s not permanent because we have a better long term solution.

Lean and Green In September 2010 (our 29th anniversary) we will be making a more permanent change to Autobody News’ print editions which may make us look like more of a newsmagazine than a newspaper. We’re not reducing the regional coverage we offer—quite the opposite, we want more regional emphasis.

We’re just changing the way it is printed. At the same time we will adjust our design to take advantage of a newer, higher tech printing process.

We’re going to a slightly smaller format with a glossier paper stock to make the paper lighter and brighter.

Come September Autobody News will be a bit smaller in its page area (trim size). It’s still going to be environmentally friendly but we want to take advantage of new technology to make photos and advertising graphics crisper and higher resolution. Because the paper stock will be lighter in weight we will be able to offer more pages, and more news items to our readers.

Truth be told, we’re also responding to our own regulators—in our case the U.S. Post Office—which is making “required recommendations” (a phrase only a government agency could coin) to the kinds of publications that go through the main mail channels.

Mailing our current editions’ format is eventually not going to be in compliance with the Post Office’s guidelines so we are facing our expected future now.

We are making our changes in a coordinated way so that readers, advertisers, mail carriers and—yes, business owners—can coexist profitably. We want you, our readers, to share in the benefits of a brighter publication.

AUTOBODY NEWS SPECIAL ISSUES What does it and

to be ?

(July (J J l &A August) ugust) Promote how your products and services are helping body shops do business and prosper in this new Green environment.

NACE & SEMA issues (September, October, November & December) Exhibiting at NACE NACE, SEMA SEMA, CARS or AAPEX? They are in our backyard!

Make sure body shops know where to find you. Advertise in the leading regional collision repair publication, and be seen in the show issues — Free copies distributed at each show.

rent board members winning reelection.

“I don’t care if you like LKQ “... none of us can look at these parts Like Wagman, ABPA Treasurer Jim or not, but what they did in quietand make an informed decision about Smith, a consultant in the non-OEM parts ing Toby Chess was absolutely whether or not they will perform the industry who was reelected at the meeting necessary for our industry,” Smith In an unsuccessful bid for a seat on to his position on the association’s board, said. “While you may want to same as car company brand parts” the ABPA board, Rob Wagman, of LKQ told those at the ABPA meeting that the kick them in the butt when they’re —Jack Gillis of CAPA Corporation, told attendees if elected he non-OEM parts industry is under attack doing things in your market that would push ABPA to be more proactive on like at no time since the State Farm parts make you scratch your head, you need to uing attacks against the aftermarket parts lawsuit a decade ago. pat them on the back when they spend the industry?” such issues.

Gillis said CAPA began testing nonSmith pointed to the Automo- money to do the things that make your “of all the things that could happen to our OEM bumpers over a year ago and pretive Service Association’s meet- business survive,” Smith said. sented to its board “data showing significant ing this spring with senior industry, being regulated by the governinconsistency between car company brand officials from the National CAPA’s Gillis addresses distributors ment has to be right there at the bottom” Highway Traffic Safety Admin- Also speaking at the meeting, Jack Gillis parts and aftermarket bumper parts.” He said —Jim Smith of ABPA istration (NHTSA) at which of the Certified Automotive Parts Associ“the majority of parts we reviewed did not ASA reiterated its request that ation (CAPA) said he titled his remarks, compare favorably to “I reached out to the association in the agency regulate non-OEM crash parts. “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda.” He said the the car company “Of all the things that can happen to current controversy over non-OEM strucNovember after the first CIC demonstrabrand parts,” even tion, and quite frankly, I didn’t think ABPA our industry, being regulated by the gov- tural parts could have been avoided if dissome non-OEM parts did enough to get out in front of this thing,” ernment has to be right there at the bottom,” tributors had refused to accept anything that appeared visually Wagman told the 150 people attending the Smith said. “It’s a shame that ASA would but quality parts. to match the OEM. “Imagine the position you would be ABPA event. “I think on the board I would try to take our industry in that direction.”

“The bottom Smith also said the non-OEM parts in right now if 10 or 15 years ago, you simpush to get the association out there, deline is that none of us ply said to your vendors that fending its membership and really getting Jack Gillis of CAPA “what they did in quieting Toby Chess was can look at these you wanted only CAPA-certiin front of these guys who are coming after absolutely necessary for our industry” fied parts,” Gillis said. He said parts and make an informed decision about the industry. If we don’t act soon, I think we’re in a lot of trouble as an industry. If I —Jim Smith of ABPA complaints by manufacturers whether or not they will perform the same that getting a part certified by as car company brand parts,” he said. was on the board, I’d want to make sure...

Gillis said that as CAPA finalizes its that everyone knows we’re a quality in- industry—even those that sometimes re- CAPA is too time-consuming and expennew certification standard for non-OEM dustry that’s trying to help the [rest of the] sent LKQ/Keystone for its dominant posi- sive are unfounded. tion in the market—owes the company “What has it cost you that you haven’t bumper parts, it is working with the Insurindustry and not bring it down.”

Wagman and another potential new thanks for its actions in preventing Chess’ insisted on CAPA certification?” Gillis ance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) ABPA board member were defeated in the planned demonstration at CIC about prob- asked distributors in his address. “What is to perform low- and high-speed crash tests See ABPA Conference, Page 28 the expense to this industry of the continelection for three open board seats by cur- lems with non-OEM hood latches.

Continued from Page 1

ABPA Conference

18 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Service, Service, Diagnostic Diiagnostic D gnostic and an d Mechanical M e cchanical h aniccal al NEWS nd Mec echanical Mech ech ec hanical ca

www.autobodynews.com

2009 Historic Loss in Vehicle Population Autobody News

Three forces combined to reduce the number or cars and light trucks in the U.S. last year.

First, new vehicle 2008 and 2009 volume dropped more than 25% from 2007.

Second, Cash-for-Clunkers mandated the crushing of over 700,000 vehicles and eliminated hundreds of thousands of cars and trucks that would have remained in operation for many years. Finally, the light vehicle scrappage rate is near record-high levels.

As a result, U.S. vehicles suffered their first peace-time decline during 2009, and prospects are strong for a further drop this year.

The dramatic 3.4% drop in 2008 mileage was recorded despite a 0.5% gain in cars and light trucks on U.S. roads.

Last year, as the light vehicle population suffered its first decline in more than 65 years, mileage by all types of vehicles increased a razor-thin 0.2%.

Prospects for mileage growth are not strong for 2010, given stubbornly-high unemployment rates, low consumer confidence, and the likelihood that cars and light trucks in operation will recede further during the year. Through March 2010, year-to-date mileage by all types of vehicles sank 0.7%.

Vehicle Mileage Struggles Even with rising numbers of cars and light trucks on U.S. roads, annual mileage struggled for growth over the past three years.

Notwithstanding the 1.6% increase in car and light truck population during 2007, mileage by all types of vehicles in the U.S. inched-up only 0.5%.

Age Growth Fueled by New Vehicle Drop The average age of cars and light trucks in the U.S. is soaring.

Light vehicles of all types reached record-high age levels at the beginning of 2010. Domestic car age is skyrocketing, driven by new domestic car sales plunging almost 40% during 2008 and 2009.

Ford Fiesta Now in the 40 mpg Category

AWRS and Ride-On Form Strategic Alliance

The 2011 Ford Fiesta, with its the sixspeed automatic transmission, has been certified by the EPA at 40 mpg highway and 29 mpg city. The five-speed manual transmission model is rated 23 city and 37 highway. Ford is projecting a price of $13,995 when Fiesta hits showrooms this summer.

At 40 mpg, Ford says Fiesta is five miles a gallon better than Honda Fit and four miles a gallon better than Toyota Yaris.

“The new Fiesta is yet another car in Ford’s lineup that delivers class-leading fuel economy,” said Barb Samardzich, Ford’s vice president of global powertrain engineering. The Mexican-built Fiesta has a 1.6-liter Duratec engine with with variable camshaft timing, good for 120 horsepower and that impressive mpg.

Others in the 40-mpg club are Audi A3 diesel, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Honda Civic, Honda Insight, Mercury Milan Hybrid, Smart ForTwo, Toyota Prius, Volkswagen Golf diesel and Volkswagen Golf diesel. All get at least 40 mpg on the highway.

Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists, Inc. (AWRS), the world’s largest mobile wheel repair company, and Inovex Industries, Inc, the manufacturer of the only proven high-speed tire sealant, Ride-On Tire Protection System, announced their strategic alliance giving AWRS the exclusive rights to introduce Ride-On into the automotive dealership market place. The company will also distribute to the retail tire, quick lube, and mass merchandiser market segments. “The automotive retail market place represents an enormous opportunity for sales growth,” says Mark Farkhan, CEO of Inovex, “and due to the vast nature of this marketplace and the resources required to penetrate it, we decided that it was in the best interest of our company to form a strategic alliance with another company that already has sales, marketing, and distribution channels established.

We are extremely excited that we were able to form a partnership with a company as committed to providing quality service and cutting edge technology as AWRS to help expand Ride-On’s reach into this $2.4 billion dollar market segment.”

June 2010

At the beginning of 2010, average age of domestic cars in the U.S. topped 12 years, up one-fifth since 2000.

Rapid growth of vehicles 12 years and older is generating high rates of vehicle scrappage, which is exerting downward pressure on the light vehicle population.

Foreign and Domestic Vehicle Mix As the average age of cars and light trucks in the U.S. increases, the age gap between foreign and domestic models continues to grow, reflecting the expanding foreign vehicle share (imports and transplants) of new car and light truck sales.

While domestic vehicles (not including transplants) currently comprise only 45% of 2010 new vehicle sales through April, domestic cars and light trucks represent over 75% of vehicles in the highest age groups.

Just as vehicle-crushing mandated by Cash-for-Clunkers claimed a much higher percentage of domestic than foreign models, a disproportionate share of vehicles

currently being scrapped are domestic cars and light trucks.

More Miles on Older Vehicles While the possibility of fewer vehicles on U.S. roads during 2010 will create challenges for car and light truck aftermarket product growth, more miles accumulating on older vehicles will help boost light vehicle 2010 product volume.

'From Aftermarket Insight™ by Jim Lang, President of Lang Marketing Resources, Inc., www.langmarketing.com.'

To advertise call Advertising Sales at:

800-699-8251 e-mail:

advertising@autobodynews.com

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Matrix System Teams with Miller Electric to Sponsor Jet Dragster Matrix System Automotive Finishes announced its shared sponsorship of the jet dragster with Miller Electric and Larsen Motorsports. The vehicle was unveiled on May 10, 2010 and is expected to draw the attention of the racing community for its vibrant colors and intricate details. Elaine Larsen, the highly regarded jet car driver, has been a part of the drag racing community for over a decade. She began racing jet dragsters in 2004 and hasn’t looked back since. She is one of only a few women in the world who currently drive jet dragsters for a living. Regarded as one of the nation’s leaders in turbine-powered race vehicles, Elaine and Larsen Motorsports are among the most requested exhibition jet dragster teams in North America.

The Miller Jet Dragster features a General Electric Model J-85 engine that generates 2,500 horsepower and a Larsen Motor Sports custom designed afterburner that adds another 2,500 horsepower.

The biofuel-powered jet dragster will make its debut May 15 – 18, 2010 at the Cavalcade of Stars located in Norwalk, OH. This Miller Electric dragster was custom designed by Larsen Motor

Sports, fabricated by Worthy Motorsports, and custom painted by Matrix System Automotive Finishes. Overall, the dragster will appear in 11 Regional Race Events and 4 National Events.

According to the Matrix System Technical Department, they could not wait to start spraying its waterborne basecoat, Aqualution, on the Miller dragster. As Chris Butler, Technical Advisor stated, “If Matrix System products can be put to the test to withstand 5,000 horsepower along with speeds over 300MPH in less than 5 seconds our products can handle anything.” This experience has been one that we will all remember for a long time.

About Matrix System Matrix System Automotive Finishes, headquartered in Walled Lake, MI, has grown to become one of the industry’s most successful aftermarket manufacturers of high quality clear coats, primers, hardeners, and reducers. With an excellent product line, Matrix System has been able to convince body shops once loyal to a particular brand to convert and experience huge cost savings.

www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 19

Gonzo’s Toolbox

Mr. Gorillalilla

with Gonzo Weaver

Excerpted from Scott “Gonzo” Weaver's Book, “Hey Look! I Found The Loose Nut”, which provides a Good Laugh for Mechanics of Any Age. The book is available at amazon.com. Contact Scott Weaver at Gonzosae@aol.com and see his website at www.gonzostoolbox.com.

With all the talk about the cars with push button starting systems and the runaway acceleration problems it made me think of what everyone has been talking about as the best method to safely stop a vehicle in these instances.

Most everyone will agree that turning off the ignition is NOT the best solution, however, not everyone can agree on whether or not a driver in a panic situation will remember to put the car in neutral instead of reaching for key, or that they shouldn’t turn the key back to the “steering” lock position.

And for those vehicles with push-tostart, would an operator remember that you have to hold the “start” button down for several seconds before the car will shut off unless it’s in park position.

So a lot of these conversations I’m involved in cycle back to the steering lock mechanism, which, in a panic situation is the deadly “lose control” factor. Let’s not forget that during this so-called emergency situation you might be traveling at close to 100 miles per hour, which could be scary enough without having to worry about shutting the car off.

The conversations I get involved in usually end up with whether or not the “general public” will remember and follow the procedures each and every time they are in an emergency situation.

This made me think of a situation I had with a customer a few years ago. Let’s call him “Mr. Gorillalilla.” Gorillalilla is a nice

guy and all, but he was a huge muscular dude and as strong as an ox. His mid-80’s Jeep CJ was equipped with a key and lock setup that allowed you to turn the key off without it going all the way to the steering lock position. There was a lever that had to be pushed down in order to rotate the key back to the off position. You could then remove the key from the ignition lock.

Mr. Gorillalilla had brought his CJ in because he couldn’t get the key out of the ignition lock. Examining the problem led to the linkage arms inside the steering column that had been bent, which allowed the key and tumbler to rotate around the lock-out mechanism. No parts were really needed; I just had to take it apart and straighten the bent section of the mechanism, then reinstall everything. He was relieved that the problem was nothing major and was soon off on his way.

The very next day he was back, but this time he wasn’t a very happy rock crawler like he was the first time.

“It’s doing the same thing,” he angrily yelled back to me.

“Hmm, I wonder how that could be,” I said, curious as to how it left in perfect working order but now it’s back they way it was.

“Let me get it into the shop and check it out.”

Once I had pulled the steering column back down to where I was the day before I noticed the same parts were bent in the same manner as they were when I first seen

them. Now how can that be? Not knowing the whole story I went ahead and put everything back to working order again.

“Here ya go, I haven’t a clue how in the world that happened sir, sorry about that,” I said.

Mr. Gorillalilla thanked me for my time and proceeded to leave. Before he left the parking lot he tried it several times to make sure it was working. It wasn’t long before he was back through the door yelling at me again.

“What do I have to do to get you guys to fix this right?” he shouted at me.

I was totally taken by surprise. I went out to the parking lot and looked at his problem again. This time he followed me out to his car. Just a few minutes ago I had personally seen the switch move just like it was supposed to and I tried it myself several times.

This time, I’m not moving the car. I went back into the shop and grabbed my tools. Right there in the parking lot I pulled it down as he watched me perform the operation on his steering column. I tried it several times myself before I let him try it. As soon as Gorillalilla got behind the wheel and grabbed the key, I knew right away what the problem was. He wasn’t using the lever to release the key mechanism!…

Somehow, someway his vice grip hands were strong enough to rotate the key over the lever mechanism and that was what was causing all the problems.

The astonishing thing was he couldn’t see that he was the cause of the problem and

insisted that it was a defect in the column.

After all the debating I told him that I could remove the “safety” and then he could turn the key off without using the lever anymore.

That was fine with him. I tore into the column for a fourth time and removed the latching arm that was attached to the outside release lever. Now I want to complain, but complaining about it doesn’t do any good. This big brute had such strong hands he could pull the tumbler back across the stops. The whole thing could have been avoided if the vehicle operator was even slightly aware of how to operate his vehicle correctly. It seems no matter how many times I run across a problem like this I’m the one that ends up putting the labor hours in even though the whole time the problem wasn’t my workmanship but this Gorilla’s brute strength.

My point about this whole affair?

This was a personal experience of a safety system that failed because the owner didn’t follow the procedures, and didn’t seem to notice that the key might feel a tad hard to turn. This wasn’t even a panic situation. I’m glad I’m not the engineer because I don’t know how I would solve these issues we are having with these latest designs and technologies (drive by wire). But, when it comes to adding or changing the systems in the cars to alleviate problems from the driver’s seat, I hope they go all the way and make the designs and procedures “Gorilla” proof.

Mitchell International and CCC Crash Course both produced industry updates in May and both comment on the impact of the declining economy on the insurance industry, among other issues.

In Mitchell International’s second quarter 2010 edition of its Industry Trends Report (ITR), Mitchell's Vice President of Industry Relations, Greg Horn, delves into insurance deductible data from 2003 through 2009 for collision and comprehensive (excluding glassonly) losses.

“Let’s face it, many of us reason with ourselves that we really don’t think we’ll file a claim to justify increasing our deductibles because of the concrete benefit we can see in a lower insurance premium,” said Horn.

Mitchell’s analysis shows that the trend to light-comprehensive deductibles is rising at a 160 percent faster rate than collision deductibles.

In CCC Crash Course’s report more general economic terms over the last decade are drawn upon for analysis.

During the first eight years of the last decade, the average repair cost for collision losses had always increased at a higher rate than that for liability according to CCC Crash Course. That changed in 2008 and 2009, when liability repair costs increased at a higher rate than collision in 2008, and declined less in 2009 than collision. These differences may imply that during a recession, a consumer whose vehicle was damaged during an accident where another driver was at fault may opt to handle his/her claim through the other insurer versus their own.

How consumers are marketed to by insurers, shop for auto insurance, purchase it, and experience the claims process have changed over the last decade as insurers compete for market share.

The last decade has also posed significant challenges for the collision repair in-

dustry. Declining accident frequency, more total losses and lower dollar repair orders have meant fewer dollars coming in. The introduction of new materials, technologies and regulation has required significant investment in new equipment and training.

The recession has further impacted miles driven, and more consumers are opting to own and/or insure fewer vehicles.

Despite the potential for rising employment numbers to increase miles driven, claim frequency declined early in the last decade while miles driven were still increasing, suggests the industry will not see much if any increase in claim frequency in the coming decade.

Automakers introduced numerous new technologies in areas such as telematics, crash avoidance, materials, fuel economy and ‘green’ technologies recently.

Most of these technologies have been positive contributions to the driving experience, although some are being blamed for

driver distraction and increasing the cost of vehicle repair.

As for vehicle sales during the recent economic recession, a total of 10.4 million new vehicles were sold in the U.S. in 2009. The $3 billion government sponsored program ‘Cash for Clunkers’ gave a much needed boost to new vehicle sales in August, with consumers exhausting the funds in a matter of weeks. Auto analysts believe the program led to 346,000 additional sales that otherwise would not have happened in 2009. Also, last year was the first in which more vehicles were scrapped than sold. Assuming new vehicle sales in 2010 will reach 12 million analysts predict, and if the scrappage rate stays steady or drops slightly, we may see scrapped vehicle counts exceed sales for a second year.

The latest Industry Trends Report may be downloaded for free by visiting www.mitchell.com or www.ccc.cccis.com.

Mitchell International and CCC Crash Course Highlight 2010 Industry Changes

20 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

CARQUEST Returns to CARS 2010 as Exhibitor CARQUEST returns as a CARS 2010 exhibitor, having not exhibited since 2007. In keeping with the CARQUEST philosophy of being committed to helping professional technicians stay on top of the latest trends, components, techniques, skills and tools—CARS provides the perfect platform. Along with 400 square feet of exhibit space, CARQUEST will be presenting two technical training sessions within the CARS Conference Program. These courses will focus on Domestic Vehicle Security System Diagnosis and Electronically Controlled Transmission Diagnosis.

“We are excited to once again support our customers by providing a quality learning experience at CARS,” said Chris Chesney, Director, CARQUEST Technical Institute. “Events such as CARS give the industry the chance to experience the value that CARQUEST Technical Institute delivers on behalf of our CARQUEST Auto Parts Stores. We will also be showcasing our TECH-NET Professional and CARQUEST eServices programs as well as CARQUEST Virtual Vehicle.”

Bill Haas, ASA vice president, education and training, added, “It is always a pleasure to work with Chris Chesney at CARQUEST Technical Institute. Chris and his team have a reputation for developing technical training designed to solve problems technicians are confronted with in the service bay. CTI instructors some-

how always manage to make complex systems simple enough for everyone to understand. The addition of CTI technical classes to the ASRW conference will be a great value for the attendees.”

The ASRW 2010 events will take place Oct. 10–13 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas (no longer during AAIW). ASRW is a stand-alone event specifically created for all automotive service and repair professionals, enabling even more industry segments to join under the umbrella. The high-quality educational program is scheduled Oct. 10–13, a Sunday through Wednesday day pattern; and the comprehensive exhibits will be open from Oct. 11–13, Monday through Wednesday. ASRW currently features the International Autobody Congress & Exposition (NACE), sponsored by the Automotive Service Association (ASA), the only event of its kind designed for the collision repair professional, and the Congress of Automotive Repair & Service (CARS), also sponsored by ASA, the premier event for automotive service professionals.

Many new show features and industry forums are currently in development for ASRW 2010. Online registration is scheduled to open in May and will offer various package options starting at $210 and Expo registration available for just $15 until the August 17 early cut-off. Online housing will open in early-May for low hotel rates.

ASA Offers Year-round and Nationwide Education

Education opportunities provided by the Automotive Service Association (ASA) are delivered to repair professionals at the national, regional and local level.

With its affiliate and chapter groups, ASA is the leading provider of education among associations of its kind. To help members and nonmembers alike stay informed about ASA-hosted education offerings in their area or nationwide, ASA has enhanced the education section at www.ASAshop.org /smart. Student information, a directory of ASA educational members, shop owner/technician information, a calendar of educational events and a list of ASA sponsored benefit providers who provide education and training products and services to ASA members are just a few of the enhancements made to the education section of the ASA website. The May issue of AutoInc., the official publication of ASA, contains a sneak-peek of the many education sessions scheduled to be offered at the association’s annual trade shows—NACE and CARS—which will be held during Automotive Service and Repair Week (ASRW) Oct. 10–13, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. Additional information about ASRW events will be available soon. “ASA delivers more education and training to automotive service and repair

Equipment and Tool Institute Presents Founder’s Award

Greg Potter, of Dearborn Group Technology, has been awarded ETI’s 16th Founder’s Award at this year’s ToolTech 2010 in Napa Valley, California. The ETI Founder’s Award was established to honor those individuals who have made numerous contributions to the Institute. As with most trade associations ETI thrives on volunteerism from its members as well as its business partners. Greg Potter has demonstrated unselfish dedication to the principles that drive ETI since he began his involvement with ETI over 16 years ago. Potter is currently on ETI’s Board of Director’s and Chairs ETI’s Scan Tool Vertical Group. He has also served as President of ETI’s Board of Directors.

professionals than any other organization in the industry,” said Ron Pyle, ASA president. “We understand that it can often be taken for granted, but as vehicles become increasingly more complex and the business model becomes more challenging, the need for training and education resources will continue to grow.” The ASA Web site also includes consumer tips, shop locator, and the new ASA Marketplace, the association’s member benefits portfolio. Visit www.ASAshop.org or (800) 272-7467, ext. 295.

www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 21

ALL OEM Information

Was this Noise Caused by the Repair? with Dan Espersen

Almost everyone in the collision industry has experienced this scenario: You repair a vehicle – in this case, a Chevrolet® Suburban® – to the highest standard possible.

The owner takes delivery and drives off smiling. A few days later, he brings it back with a noise that he insists was not present before the repair. He describes a buzzing noise from the right-hand fender.

What do you do? If you have OE information, including technical service bulletins (TSBs) available to you, you do a little research. Technical service bulletins are published by automobile manufacturers primarily to identify factory defects, safety related problems and recognized issues for which the manufacturer has published a solution.

As it turns out, the General Motors® had already issued a TSB describing the exact situation I just described.

Body - Buzz/Rattle From R/H Front Fender on Acceleration Subject Loud Buzz or Rattle Noise from Right Front Fender Area on Moderate to Hard Acceleration and/or Braking Torquing Around 1800-2000 RPMs or Before 1-2 or 2-3 Shift (Install Closed Cell Foam to Right Front Fender) Models: 2007-2008 Cadillac® Escalade®, Escalade ESV®, Escalade EXT® 2007-2008 Chevrolet® Avalanche®, Silverado®, Suburban®, Tahoe® 2007-2008 GMC® Sierra®, Yukon®, Yukon Denali® Condition Some customers may comment on a buzz or rattle noise from the right front fender area on moderate to hard acceleration and/or brake torquing around 1800-2000 RPMs or just before the 1-2 or 2-3 shift.

Cause The radiator surge tank and/or the inner wheelhouse liner may be contacting the right fender.

Correction Always refer to ALLDATA® Collision for safety procedures, identification of material types, recommended refinish materials, and removal and installation procedures. Always refer to the vehicle manufacturer for questions relating to applicable or non-applicable warranty repair information.

Install closed cell foam to the right front fender using the steps below: Verify the condition.

Open the hood.

Remove the air cleaner assembly.

Remove the four bolts from the air cleaner adapter bracket.

Dan Espersen is ALLDATA® CollisionSM Program Manager. Dan is a Gold Pin Member of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) and holds an AA Degree in Automotive Technology. He has 17 years of experience in the collision industry and 17 years of experience in the automotive industry.

move the nut and bolt from the radiator surge tank.

Do Not disconnect any hoses or drain the coolant.

Remove the radiator surge tank from the fender retaining slot by pulling upward.

Reposition the radiator surge tank away from the fender.

Cut three pieces of closed cell foam, P/N P4615, to 50 mm (2 in) lengths.

Clean the area above the marks on the right front fender with glass cleaner.

Remove the air cleaner adapter bracket.

Remove the plastic retainer (1) from the right front center inner wheelhouse liner (Figure 1). Cut a piece of closed cell foam, P/N P46510, to 32 mm (1-1/4 in) length.

Make a hole in the center of the foam with a 6 mm (1/4 in) drill bit by hand.

Install the piece of foam between the wheelhouse liner and the fender from inside the engine compartment at the removed retainer location.

Tip: Line up the hole in the foam with the hole in the fender and wheelhouse liner.

Install the plastic retainer into the right front wheelhouse liner, foam (1) and the fender (Figure 2).

PA R T S I N F O R M AT I O N

Start by installing the center piece of foam vertically at the hole (1) in the fender 20 mm (3/4 in) above the right fender retaining slot (Figure 4).

When attaching the foam, try to keep the foam uniform and even across the top for appearance purposes.

Mark the two locations on the right fender where the radiator surge tank mounting tabs contact the fender, (Figure 3). Re-

22 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

the radiator surge tank (Figure 6). Install the radiator surge tank plastic tab into the matching retaining slot inside the right inner fender.

Install the air cleaner adapter bracket while aligning and centering the front mounting hole for the radiator surge tank. Install the four bolts for the air cleaner adapter bracket and tighten.

Tighten the bolts to 10 N.m (89 lb in).

Install the nut and bolt securing the radiator surge tank.

Tighten the nut and bolt.

Tighten the nut and bolt to 10 N.m (89 lb in).

Install the air cleaner assembly.

Close the hood.

Verify that the condition has been corrected.

Attach the other two pieces of foam vertically with no gaps to the left side and right side of the center piece of foam as shown above (Figure 5).

Tip: Use a plastic putty scraper to help prevent the rolling of the foam when installing

Part Number P46515 P46510

Description

Adhesive Back Shim Stock (25 mm x 30 ft roll) [15 mm (9/16 in) thickness] Adhesive Back Shim Stock (25 mm x 30 ft roll) [8 mm (5/16 in) thickness]

Written by Dan Espersen, ALLDATA Collision Program Manager. Dan is a Gold Pin Member of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) and holds an AA Degree in Automotive Technology. He has 17 years of experience in the collision industry and 17 years of experience in the automotive industry. ©2010 ALLDATA LLC. All rights reserved. All technical information, images and specifications are from ALLDATA Collision. ALLDATA is a registered trademark and ALLDATA Collision is a mark of ALLDATA LLC. All other marks are the property of their respective holders.

General Motors, Cadillac, Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet, Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra, Yukon and Yukon Denali are registered trademark names and model designations of General Motors. All trademark names and model designations are being used solely for reference and application purposes.

The Autoholics: A New TV Show Concept that might be Addictive

by Ed Attanasio Special to Autobody News

Get ready for the craziest, most outrageous highly addictive automotive show on television. That’s if and when the pilot for The Autoholics hits the air in the near future.

Crash Element Entertainment, in Los Angeles, the producers of the new show, is touting The Autoholics as a combination of the “Best Damn Sports Show” meets “Martha Stewart,” and is preparing to pitch it to the major TV networks, Creator, CoProducer, and Co-Host Diggity Dave told Autobody News.

“We think this show would fit very nicely on Saturday right after the automotive racing. We think it’s worthy to be on one of the major networks where it can hit its prime audience every week. We feel this would be a perfect time of the weekend for automotive fans to watch The Autoholics.”

Each week, The Autoholics will feature a panel consisting of some top names in the automotive and entertainment field, including Diggity Dave (credits include Pimp My Ride, Battleground Earth); Rich Evans (Chop Cut Rebuild, Monster Garage); Comic Billy Gardell (King of Queens, My Name is Earl); Bo Butner (NHRA world champion driver), and “Flames” (Host of Ford Motors Mustang Alley/Gilpin Auto Sports).

This assemblage of automotive expertise will hold court every week on their new and amazing set at Huntington Beach Bodyworks, Rich Evans’ shop, that’s been transformed into a rock ‘n roll romper room.

Co-producer Joe Burk has co-created a show designed to entertain, inform, and instruct its viewers.

“Passion for anything automotive can become addictive and this show will provide an array of subjects—from new cars on the market, to celebrity car junkies, aftermarket gadgets, to bargain hunting for cars and car parts and accessories—and all the way to focusing on the best dealerships in the country. We want to offer information that car enthusiasts can use and bring value to their car building projects,” Burk said.

Crash Element Entertainment believes this show is both different and groundbreaking.

“As a production company, we try to approach things from a fresh perspective and coming from Pimp My Ride, I’ve always been looking out there for something that hasn’t been done yet. Joe and I are major car guys and we’ve always been trying to find a way to explore the idea of a show that hasn’t been there before. Plus, we both agree that the moment is right for a show like this. The car industry is grow-

ment, Dumpster the end result is amazing. My goal with Driving with this show is to use the small screen to help Diggity Dave, people with their projects and that’s what Diggity digs we’ve achieved with this show,” Evans deeply into the said. subject of highThe process producing the pilot has quality car parts been a three-month journey, but both Burk found cheaply. and Diggity Dave are very happy with the S p o k e s p e r- nearly-finished product. son/model “We’re just coming to the finish Daniela Pane line right now. This is the biggest thing will also host a Crash Element Entertainment has ever segment called done as a company. But we wanted to House of Pane, create a show that’s filled with useful where she’ll information, so that people can watch present a unique The Autoholics and learn something that female perspec- they didn’t know before. Implementing The Autoholics discussion panel includes (from left) Flames, Rich Evans, Diggity tive on the auto- those two worlds—educational and enDave, comedian Billy Gardell and NHRA world champion driver Bo Butner motive world. tertaining at the same time—that’s a lit“We know tle tricky. We strived to make a show ing despite the recession and there will al- that a lot of women out there are into cars, containing aspects that are balanced and ways be an interest in cars, in the after- so we want to help them and educate them will appeal to a wide range demomarket and in tricking out cars. So we whenever we can. Imagine being a soccer graphic.” planted a seed and now it’s grown into this mom and learning how to show.” do your own basic oil The format of the show opens with a change? We’ll teach them spirited roundtable discussion called “Rat- on this show. The ladies tle Off.” represent a significant part “We kick around topical news bits of our market and we recand talk about how we feel about things ognize their role in the inlike the Toyota recall, for example,” Dig- dustry,” Diggity Dave gity Dave said. “Everyone has their own observed. opinion on the issues of the day, and we’ll The show will enterbe tackling the automotive news in a big tain, but teaching its viewway that’s also fun.” ers how to do vehicle After the opening back-and-forth, the customizations and revealshow will bring out its VIP guest star to ing the tricks of the trade is A 1964 Lincoln Convertible was built during the pilot of The Autoholics discuss his or her automotive career or his- a main theme of the show. tory as a car aficionado.

“We’ll also build a different car on every episode. It will be the A big complement to the show will be ultimate do-it-yourself project each and a robust Autoholics web site. every week. We’ll be teaching our viewers “Viewers will be flocking to the site, on how to do every aspect of body work because all of the behind-the-scenes and upholstery. This show will cover it videos will be there, along with the proceall,” Diggity said. dures for building these cars. It will be Crash Element Entertainment was complementary aspect of the show, so thrilled to get Rich Evans involved in The we’re going to be using all of the technology available to us, with a Web site that Autoholics.

“Rich Evans is the hottest thing out will attract car fans from all over the there right now. He’s like a new Chip world,” Burk said.

Foose and we’re really happy to be workStay tuned for The Autoholics. It ing with Rich. Doing the show at his shop should be appearing very soon on a staprovides a setting that’s ideal for what we tion near you, according to some of the want and working with Rich is a no- most engaging names in the automotive brainer,” said Burk. industry. If Autoholics need a different Evans is understandably enthused kind of program to get into, and a netabout the concept of the show. work distributor steps up, this show “Autoholics will be a success, I be- might be exactly what the public is lieve, because it has a great storyline and revved up for. offers a ton of useful information that the During each episode of The Autoholics, a car will audience can implement right away,” said be built from start to finish Evans.

Other segments featured in The Auto“We built a 1964 Lincoln Convertible holics will include Billy Knows Bling, in while filming the pilot over eight days. A which the show’s guest star interacts with lot of people told me that they couldn’t do www.autobodynews.com Billy Gardell to explore the coolest car it, because it’s a very involved and exCHECK IT OUT! gadgets out on the market and another seg- tremely difficult build, but we did it and www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 23

Custom Corner

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

Building a Custom Trophy for ‘The School of the Year’ with Rich Evans

This month we’re going to cover a little different category than repair steps and procedures or building hot rods or repairing vehicles We’re going to talk about getting creative and using your mind to build with car parts. I wrote a column in Autobody News (Sept. 09) about building a trophy for a Long Beach car show which was a big charity event last year. Ed Sunkin, an editor from Tomorrow’s Technician (a Babcox company), contacted me saying “I read that article on that trophy you built.

We’ve got this school of the year award coming up and we wanted to know if you want to build a trophy?”

I said “You know what, I’m into it. I dig stepping away from everyday routine and trying out something different. I actually had fun when I built the trophy for the Long Beach Car show.”

Rich gets a grip on Caddo Career and Tech Center’s School of the Year award

I started wrapping my head around it and with help from Chicago Pneumatics and Tomorrow Technician, also WIX had joined us for this, our third year into this event and contest. This year there were more than 300 applications nominating more than 163 schools, the four finalists were Arapahoe Community College, Littleton, CO; Caddo Career and Technical Center, Shreveport, LA; Spokane Community College, Spokane, WA; and Carroll County Career & Technology Center, Westminster, MD. We wanted to build something cool as a trophy so instead of something made out of plastic, we used car parts; parts that are junk and ready to throw away. I just looked around the shop, found a couple pistons laying around, found a brake shoe, found some cut coils, scavenged up some sparkplugs, and then had a traditional Rich Evans logo, or Huntington Beach Bodyworks shield, cut out of metal that hypertherm had cut out at a previous SEMA show. I found an old generator that was stripped out, has the pulley on it and the pulley is made out of cast so I had to think

‘how am I going to weld that?’ Then I scrounged up a few drill bits and headed over to a local metal material shop and bought a metal ball and some design metal stamp feather-looking leaves that would look good in a trophy. Then hunted in my garage to see what kind of toy cars that I had laying around, had a ‘51 Merck. I also had a Chicago Pneumatics 7740 impact wrench and I called John from Ray Ward and asked him to get a hold of a WIX filter.

I wanted to incorporate that into the trophy as well as the traditional logo for Tomorrow’s Technician School of the Year/Chicago Pneumatics and so I got a copy of the artwork and a piece of stainless steel. I blew up the photo of the artwork and got it symmetrically proportioned for the size of the trophy I was going to build and cut a half-inch piece of stainless steel to weld it to the trophy. Obviously I would need to weld it to the trophy before I could paint on the face of it so that’s the last step of the project. So accumulating all these parts, I’ve got to figure out what my base is going to be, and when I did the other build for the Long Beach car show I used the pistons. I didn’t want to make the same trophy, but I liked the platform and I incorporated the two pistons for the back part of the trophy so it would be the base, and also incorporated the pulley with the generator/alternator hardware—so that it would spin. I had a few obstacles to figure out. I knew I wanted the trophy to spin at the top, right above the leaf spring but I had nothing to weld onto the pulleys so what I did is I drilled some holes in the pulley, found some bolts that I could weld to and found the positions where I needed to weld to stabilize everything. I took the logos, welded them to the bolts so it was the facing of the of the trophy and then I was able to take two half-inch drill bits and weld them to the other two bolts that I drilled through the pulley and use that to stabilize the base to the pistons. Then I used a brake shoe to wrap around the back to stabilize the two pistons, so it kind of anchored them together. Then I welded the coil spring to the additional pulley that I had on top, and brought a half of a circle which I covered the top of the coil spring with. I took four spark plugs; I thought it was cool to incorporate those on the inside of the coil spring, welded those in, and from that top I took a piece of fence decorative metal and use that to gain a little bit more height. I placed the ball on top of that, welded it, secured it, saw another place for the other spark plug which would be a single one that would go between that decorated piece of metal.

24 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Then I made a stand for the ‘51 Merc and placed that using two mounting points.

I took a piece of stainless steel, mounted it to the car and then took a piece of stainless steel round tubing tacked it, then took the plate back off the car, re-welded it. The

The finished trophy ready to ship

Phone: (360) 687-3451

model car is plastic on the bottom so if you weld it, it’s going to heat it up and cause your mounting bolts to melt. Then you won’t have a secure base to mount to. So after going back and forth with tha,t I took these feathers, which only come one way so I twisted them to complement the car and centered them in front of the car after mounting the car on the top of the trophy.

One’s a little lower than the other, but they’re both centered, if you look at it sideby-side. They kind of complemented the car and made it look more trophy-ish.

Then I searched and found a lug nut from a semi-truck where the washer turns, so I thought I wanna see the WIX filter be able to be manually turned and so I welded the base of the head of the lug nut to half of the metal ball and welded the washer portion to the filter first so that it would have a pivot so you could move it. I took the Chicago Pneumatics 7740 and welded that to the ball so it displayed. What this trophy represents is Chicago Pneumatics, and WIX. I welded my stainless steel plate to the front of the trophy. I painted the face

of that logo black. I used my plotter to cut out the art and basically I just had to use white and I used a little bit of red for the CP logo.

I shot two coats of clear over that and added my name and logo for Rich Evans Designs. Then I did a little bit of work with the CP engraver and engraved “Building for Life” on the front of the trophy and signed it. At this point I had a three-and-ahalf-foot trophy.

Looking back on it, it doesn’t take a lot of time but it’s the creativity you put behind it. It tells a story without words.

I’d like to see some of you guys get out there and gather up some scraps, some old car parts and create your own trophy and submit them to me. Email photos to R.Evans@huntingtonbchBodyworks.com.

The first two people that send me photos of a trophy they attempted will receive a traditional billet Huntington Beach Bodyworks logo, which you can place as a grill or pretty much anywhere. I’m sure you’ve seen it on the front of my vehicles, It’s worth over 100 dollars.

I will present this to you as a contest of creativity of you putting your efforts in and taking the time to build something cool. I just want you guys try it and just to set aside all work and just have fun with it.

I’m interested in seeing you guys get creative and also having fun doing it. I had

a blast, you know I’ve put maybe three hours into this trophy, counting an extra hour for the art, but you don’t have to go to that extent. Just gather up some old parts, tools, whatever and create something. I want to see you guys get creative.

I’d like to write about it in one of my upcoming columns. It’s a good way to get a little recognition for yourself and a good way to have fun at doing something besides just fixing cars or building hot rods and just kind of think outside the box.

I’m looking forward to seeing couple guys step up. Hopefully I get more than a few, and I’ll be more than glad to display any trophies that that have been built by any individual out there on my website and also in one of my future columns.

The best part is that this was shipped out to the school of the year winner, Caddo Career and Technology Center in Shreveport, Louisiana. Caddo Career and Technology Center took home $10,000 worth of Chicago Pneumatic Tools as the winner of the 2010 School of the Year competition.

Caddo is a high school and this is the first time a high school has won the award. When I went out there I was very, very impressed with the setup that they had and their instructors. I told these guys that they’re definitely one step ahead of the next high school I’m aware of and

that’s due to having a well-organized facility. Gary Weese and Mike Falkner are the instructors and they founded the program at the Caddo center. They built the foundation of their award-winning program on real-life experience which is which is phenomenal and that is what everybody needs.

So hats off to you guys. They’re not a college. They’re a high school and I’m very impressed with everything they’ve going over there. The kids there are definitely very fortunate to be one step ahead

of going to college and getting all this reallife experience.

I had to build a crate to ship it off to the school. I flew back there on the 27th of April for a one-day visit and enjoyed myself.

Any schools or colleges that are not familiar with the school of the year go to Chicagopneumatics.com and then look for the school year or get yourself Tomorrow’s Technician magazine and that will give you all the details about it. I’d like to see more students sign up for that. It’s a very good program. You get to get out and see all the different schools and colleges and what they’re doing and be involved with the colleges as well.

Next week we will be back to steps and procedures of repairing or hot-rod. I think we’ll get back on the Thunderbird. I should finalize that project so you guys can see the final repair, completed project.

I’d like to thank my sponsors, Chicago Pneumatics, MicroFlex, all the guys who give me the tools I need to do and create safely. 3M is a big part of my daily routine. Everybody picks up a 3M product almost every day so I’m thanking the companies out there for putting better products in our hands and saving us time. Time is money.

Take Care.

Randy A. Harris, Collision Student at Ohio Tech College Wins Flying Tiger Design Contest Writes Randy: “I was born in Cleveland Ohio, and grew up in a small city called Wickliffe where four siblings, a nephew and I were raised by my single mother.

Since I can remember I’ve had a pencil in my hand, drawing. I couldn’t get enough of it and had a passion for cars.

Nothing can beat old American Muscle cars: Camaros, Cudas, Mustangs, etc.

While looking for a way to implement both of my passions into one for a career, I found OTC. Here is where I developed these passions through the collision and repair and custom paint courses.

One day my class was told about a contest to design a picture for a tiger statue for the 2010 Year of The Tiger Celebration. The Year of The Tiger public art project celebrates Cleveland’s Asian Town community. St. Clair Superior’s blossoming arts district and its thriving business community. The project is in

commemoration of the Chinese Year of the Tiger which began with the new moon February 14, 2010.

I knew I wanted to do something noble, strong. A protector. The tiger statue was given to me where the first thing I started ground off the main under the jaw.

The second thing was laying out my design. Third, start sculpting the armor out of a material called magic sculpt. This product gets rock hard and needs to be sanded. The wings have a metal frame that is welded together and actually sit over the tiger’s shoulders like a saddle and then I put magic sculpt over the frame. And fourth, I painted and cleared it and the finished product is what you see here.

Rich congratulates the winner, Randy A. Harris

www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 25

Shop and Product Showcase with Ed Attanasio

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

So. Cal Shop Goes to DuPont™ Cromax® Pro for One-Coat Coverage

Doug Albin, owner of Body Works Collision Center in Murietta, California, knows paint. He’s been painting cars since he was in high school and has owned a body shop for nearly a decade, so he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to paint and painting systems.

Body Works Collision Center operates out of a 5,000-square-foot shop, generates $250,000 per month in sales, and performs 65–70 repairs monthly. The company employs 12–15 people depending on workload and seasonal spikes in business.

Body Works specializes in repairing Toyotas, Hondas, Acuras and Mazdas, but they’ll work on any non-exotic vehicle on the road.

Albin, 41, has been in the body shop business for his entire life, as a master tech and a painter. He’s a second-generation shop owner who worked every summer with his father’s body shop while in high school and also completed training to be a master painter shortly thereafter.

that’s undoubtedly been a big part of our success.”

After working with the same paint vendor for nine years, Albin made a change to DuPont™ Cromax Pro® when he ran into problems with his long-standing paint vendor during his switchover to waterborne last year. DuPont stepped in to deliver a system featuring their Cromax Pro® waterborne product. And the results are exemplary, Albin said. He’s saving money, matching every color, reducing waste, and producing more vehicles in less time than ever before. Albin was almost instantly enamored with Cromax Pro’s exceptional coverage ability.

“When our conversion to waterborne began, there was an issue with our original paint company, so we inquired about other vendors and DuPont stood out in a big way. They came to the shop and sprayed a car and we were instantly impressed. Our original vendor’s paint was requiring 3–4 coats per vehicle and it was taking us way too long. With Cro-

Body Works Collision Center is a second-generation shop that stresses quality and customer service

“My dad’s shop was called Albin’s Classic Cars in Newport Beach, and he worked restoring high-end expensive cars,” Albin said. “It was a great education, because I was allowed to step in and work on different types of vehicles. Some people are born to follow their parents’ career path and I gravitated toward the body business from day one.”

By doing rather than simply delegating every aspect of collision repair over the years, Albin has a unique and invaluable perspective of how to run a body shop from top-to-bottom and front-toback.

“I know how to hang a bumper and paint a car, so I know what’s expected.

Natural progression in this industry doesn’t really exist anymore. Many body shop operators don’t have those abilities. As a result, there’s a growing separation between the front office and the back shop in a lot of shop environments. I’ve learned every aspect of this business hands-on and

max Pro, we can paint a car in a maximum of two coats without a flash and in many cases we’re doing the job with just one coat. Their wet-on-wet procedure makes our lives so much easier,” said Albin.

“With DuPont’s waterborne product, we quickly discovered that every color has one-coat coverage capability and that’s never happened before ever in this industry, I believe. They told us it would happen and we were a bit skeptical. Then they showed us they were right and we were very impressed. I went from painting three cars daily to 12 vehicles with the change to Cromax Pro®.”

Albin says he has saved a significant amount of money and time since he signed on with DuPont, but the overall quality of the finished product is what he values over everything else.

“We’re producing more finished cars more quickly now since we switched to DuPont. The products, their system and

26 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

the support people who helped us so much—they offered us the complete package and we’re happy we made the move.

It’s costing us less now, but it’s not all about the money. The performance of the paint system is more critical and the quality of the finished product is the top priority.”

Increased productivity is one of the major reasons why Albin’s so enthused about DuPont’s Cromax Pro®.

“Time is money in any business and anything that will save time is invaluable

means that the vehicle is returned back to the manufacturers’ standards and nothing less,” he said.

“We don’t cut corners; we never take short cuts and we avoid comebacks as a result.”

DuPont’s New Accounts Specialist Kevin Harrington was pleased when Albin adopted Cromax Pro®, after been working with another vendor for several years.

“Doug is what I call a raving fan for Cromax Pro® . He went from doing 3–4

Body Works Collision Center operates out of a 5,000-square-foot shop, generates $250,000 per month in sales and performs 65–70 repairs monthly

to my operation. I have one painter who works with four helpers and they get all of the cars done fast and efficiently, with a perfect uniform paint color and optimum coverage every time without fail.”

Another one of the benefits Albin cited about Cromax Pro® is the accuracy of the computerized color-matching system.

“It’s incredible. Color matching was always an issue with our former system. It didn’t provide matching for

coats per car to approximately 1.5–2 coats, without a flash when he switched. He saw a spike in his productivity right away and he was using less paint, so the savings were immediately evident.”

Harrington has converted hundreds of body shops to the DuPont Cromax Pro® system throughout Southern California during the rush to change to waterborne last year, and he normally witnesses a rapid learning curve when shops are first exposed to his products and his system.

Body Works is now painting more vehicles in less time since adopting DuPont’s Cromax Pro and its matching system (right)

certain types of vehicles, but DuPont climbed to the top of our list when we got a chance to use it. It’s extremely user-friendly and my crew adapted to it right away.”

Albin’s customer service approach is fairly simple.

“Our main customer service goal is to do the repair right the first time, which

“It’s a relatively simple process and most painters can adapt quickly,” Harrington said.

“We didn’t have to re-educate Doug very much, because he’s a painter and his staff was onboard all the way. Embracing the new system with waterborne wasn’t easy with every shop I worked with, but

See Body Works Collision, Page 39

Parts for Profit 3—Increasing Sales

by Larry Williams

This is Part 3 of a series of articles for parts managers directly managing employees handling both mechanical and collision parts. The Larry Williams same principles apply to parts management in a body shop. To read Parts 1 and 2, see Autobody News, April and May 2010 editions or go online: www.autobodynews.com, Menu: Content > Distinctive Dealerships > Special Interest Articles.

By now, you should have accomplished nearly everything I suggested in order to create the most efficient parts department possible. Your bins are spaced and numbered for fast access; and the bins closest to your front and back counters hold your fastest moving parts. You have no obsolete or unnecessary inventory; since you have cleared out the “trash.” You have a neat shipping/receiving area, and a holding area for cores and returns. All “hot” incoming parts for service and wholesale accounts have their own locations. Inventory counts have verified the location and quantities for all of your parts on hand.

Your people are working in the locations and jobs that are best suited for them.

All of your employees are knowledgeable in all aspects of paper flow and controls.

Your training schedule assures full certification. Every work station is fully equipped, and set up to cover every need.

You have created a parts department that will return profits of 50% or more, and with proper leadership, it will be a happy workplace. This should be the goal of every parts manager. These guidelines apply to all automotive dealerships.

Your next area of focus should be to increase your sales.

You have four areas in which to do this: Retail sales, internal sales, the service department, and wholesale customers.

Retail sales are made directly to the owners of your automotive brand. Very few owners work on their own cars anymore.

New car technology has gone far beyond the mechanical expertise of your average vehicle owner. Therefore, you must concentrate on selling your accessories. Your front counter is your display area, or “showroom.” Take the time to walk in the front door. Does what you see have eye appeal? You must be proud of what you see.

Pride of ownership is what you are selling.

Your customers want to let others know about their cars. Everything needs to have your logo on it. You will be amazed at what people will buy if it has a logo. Stay away from the ordinary. You don’t want to look

like every other parts house; you want to look your best, because you offer the best!

Use a retention or bonus plan to reward customers for returning to buy from you.

(Possibly a “permanent customer discount card,” can be given to them when they buy a new or used car, with their name and VIN for easy identification). Use your customers for referrals, and give them “Friend of Mine” cards good for bird-dog rewards.

Use all good ideas from any source, and read Carl Sewell’s “Customers for Life,” for tried-and-true examples. Remember, the more positive contacts a customer has, the less likely any negative experiences or de-

tive product. Whatever you say must imply however, were the best, and always gave that their situation is unique and unantici- their customers quality service. Sales per pated, and that you will obtain whatever is customer will be greatest with body shops; needed for them as quickly as possible. and an average of $5,000 per customer per These three areas are common to all month can be easily obtained. I would want automotive dealerships, and if you work a minimum market of $100K available to hard for a short while, and lay the proper me before making the investment required groundwork, you will find profitability and of any good wholesale operation. a happy workplace is the natural result. For Second, you should check out your a few dealerships, however, there is an- competition. There are some manufacturers other opportunity to increase your profits: who support large dealers with volume disWholesale marketing. counts. Trying to compete with these large In my opinion, the parts department has ad- warehouse operations will be very difficult. vantages over every other department.

They have a pricing advantage that you canYour parts department is the only not overcome. A high volume operation will sales area that does be impossible. You will be successful here Take a look at your available market. You must not require customers only if you have customers who value servhave a minimum of twenty customers within a ten to actually come to ice above price. You will be giving unthe dealership; and matched service, and that will be your edge. mile radius of your dealership, and most of your repeat sales can be Third, you must expand your invencustomers need to be body shops made with greater tory. This is where the dealer principle must lays will affect his relationship with you. frequency than any other department. make an investment and temporarily accept Internal sales are often neglected. The These two facts make yours the only reduced profits. You must be able to supassumption here is that you have no con- department which can increase sales signif- ply your customers with same day service trol of this area. I have increased sales in icantly; in a relatively short period of time. on some body parts. These parts will not this area by convincing sales managers Not every automotive dealership can meet your normal stocking criteria, but you that accessories will increase their own successfully sustain a major wholesale op- must have them available. I use a “12-inch” profits. Make up some promotional pack- eration. Yes, every dealer can sell parts at a rule for these parts. Any part inside the first ages. Dress up one vehicle and display it discount. This results in sales, but seldom and last foot of the body of the car needs to on the showroom floor. The eye-candy will any profits that will exceed your expenses. A be available on your shelf. These parts will appeal to the ego-motivated buyer. It is dif- profitable wholesale venture requires an ef- be used for “quick repairs,” that take only ferent. It’s special! This also allows the fort that goes above Next, check out your competition. Trying to comsales department to discount from the new and beyond the norm. car total without affecting their original Wholesale marketing pete with manufacturer’s discounts for very large profit margin. Include your sales depart- requires a financial dealers is difficult. They have a pricing advantage. ment in all of your promotions, and give commitment from the small gifts to all new car customers when dealer principle, and patience from the en- one day. Damage beyond one foot will rethey are brought into your department. tire management team. The parts department quire more than one day to repair, allowing Service sales are the backbone of is essential to the operation of service and you to order those parts and still meet your every parts department. You must give your sales. A shift of effort into wholesale mar- customer’s needs. service department and body shop priority keting will occasionally require other deYour survey is complete. Everything in all of your decisions. Your most impor- partments to wait, while outside customers looks good. You have enough customers, tant job is to provide service technicians are served. If properly presented, this idea there is little competition, and you have a with the parts they need in the quickest and should not cause any resentment within your basic inventory. Now you need motivation. most cost efficient manner possible. Every organization. Your dealer principle is reThe best tool for motivating your peoeffort should be made for same day service sponsible for keeping the peace between all ple is their pay plan. for all needed parts. However, it is nearly of the departments. Everyone should realize A pay plan is not just a means of comimpossible to anticipate every need. that in order to survive, they must be able to pensating your employees. A pay plan will A suggestion for a busy service de- adapt to changing situations. With everyone influence attitudes and help you accompartment, when your customers do not working together, every department con- plish your goals. Remember, it is human leave their vehicles, would be to schedule tributes its share to the overall profit margin. nature for your staff to use any pay plan to all service customers for one week from Reliable information is a must for their own advantage. I have found that my the original date of the order. You might successful planning. There are procedures personnel work more effectively when suppose that if the customer is in your to follow in order to create a successful they have all been told about our departshop on a Tuesday, then the following ment goals, and are reTo compete you need to expand your inventory.

Tuesday might also be convenient for him. warded for their Alert your service department only to any performance in keeping Dealer principle must make an investment and parts backordered. With fill rates of 90%, those goals. In order to temporarily accept reduced profits this system reduces your necessary cuskeep your employees tomer calls nine fold, allowing you to wholesale operation. working as a team, devise your pay plans spend more of your time with any dissatFirst, take a look at your available so that everyone shares in the profits. A isfied or unhappy customers, and process market. You must have a minimum of plan that rewards individuals only in one the bulk of your customers with your reg- twenty customers within a ten mile radius area of sales will isolate your employees ular business. Instruct the service advisors of your dealership, and most of your cus- and keep them from helping one another. to never, ever, tell any customer that their tomers need to be body shops. I have found Keep your pay plan focused on what parts are “out of stock.” This phrase im- only a few independent mechanical shops your employees can control. You should be plies a poor level of service, and a defec- that use only factory parts. These shops, paid on your department’s net profit, but www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 27

your staff should be paid on gross profits.

When you pay your counter help on gross profits, their pay is based on sales from the areas where they have the most control.

Use bonus plans to reward performance in defined areas. For wholesale profits above a certain amount, reward with increased percentages on further sales. Use an increasing percentage plan which is based on increased profits.

Example: $1–$10,000 = 10%, $10,001–$20,000 = 15%, $20,001– $30,000 = 20%, etc. Notice that this rewards all increases, without encouraging reduced efforts.

Warning: Do not use exact figures for specified goals. For example; a bonus of $1,000 for sales of $20,000, results in employees working to attain that particular goal, and then “taking it easy,” because any further effort has no future reward. Also, do not pay your employees on sales if you want to make any real profits, since salesbased pay plans encourage deep discounts, placing volume ahead of profit.

Your next area of focus should be your attitude, and it needs to be serious. To function efficiently, any group of employees must have faith in their leader.

Business is war!

War may be Hell… but it’s good in business. When you decide to expand into the wholesale market, you must realize that you are declaring war on all of your fellow dealers. You must prepare as if it were a war; a war with no quarter given, no prisoners taken, and only complete victory your goal.

Every one of your troops must be trained and equipped to the best of your ability. Only then, with your victory assured, do you go into battle. If you follow this philosophy, you cannot fail. You will gain the hearts and minds of not only your employees, but those of your customers as well.

Ninety percent of any business transaction is selling yourself. You only have one chance to get that special customer. If you fail, he will not give you another opportunity to gain his trust. The only way to achieve this goal is with service. Your service should not just be head and shoulders, but miles above everyone else!

First impressions, being the longest lasting, are of the utmost importance. Your Continued from Page 18

ABPA Conference

on non-OEM bumper parts. The testing, he said, will include angle-barrier tests to determine whether such parts “impact on keeping the two frame rails together.”

Gillis said the involvement of the IIHS is an indication of insurer’s interest in the issue. “The bottom line is: If these bumpers do not protect occupants or

key to this success is to exceed any expectations on the very first call. You must not just be better than your competition, you must destroy them. After your customer’s first experience with you, he should never consider your opponents again. You need not only impress him; you must change his perception and alter his world. Every one of your troops, and every contact with your customers, must rise above the level of your enemies. Your aim is to win every battle, and be the obvious victor in the war for your customer’s consideration.

When your customers think of your brand name, they must think of you.

You have prepared yourself. You have adhered to your plan. Your inventory is or-

perience will get those customers, and keep them calling back. Your service is more than just the initial phone calls, however. Your inventory and your delivery must back up your sales. Everything needs to work in harmony, to give your customers an experience that is unmatched, anywhere else.

Build on your existing customer base.

Research shows that keeping your old customers happy is the best way to increase overall sales. A major reason for my success was keeping down customer “churn”. In a year-and-a-half, I only lost one customer; and that individual valued his cost over my service. Service should your selling point, not price, since no matter how low your price might be they can always find it somewhere else cheaper. GivNinety percent of any business transaction is ing away your product is selling yourself. You only have one chance to not the way to increase profits. get that special customer... The only way to Stay in touch with all of acheive this goal is with service. your customers. Use a ganized, and your personnel are well customer contact plan that suits your custrained. You and your staff are motivated, tomer’s needs. Remember, your typical inand eager to generate more business. Sales dependent garage or body shop is busiest can now be made to those extra customers; in the morning and late afternoon; at the bethe ones who never see you. These are your ginning and end of each day’s work. Time wholesale garage and body shop accounts. your calls so that you don’t interrupt your Here is my secret for increasing those sales: customer’s day. Call every customer you Ask for their business! have not heard from in over two weeks.

Tell him you are calling to make sure he’s You can increase this area of your completely satisfied. He will appreciate business just by asking for it! Almost any your consideration and your concern. program of phone calls, post cards, or dropIt’s useless to try to plan for the unexby visits will be successful, if you just keep pected, so well-trained and motivated emat it. Unless a shop is completely satisfied ployees are essential! Reliable information with their current supplier, they will give is a must. Given the opportunity, your base you a chance. In my experience, very few of loyal customers will expand beyond shops were completely happy with all of your wildest imagination. I know this for a their suppliers. The reason for this is that fact, since that was how I became the nummost automotive dealers do not have a very ber one wholesaler in the nation, for one good wholesale attitude. Your competition manufacturer. will be, by comparison; lazy, untrained, and basically unappreciative of most of their How we did it… customers. Most of these shops will be I want to tell you the story of Don Valdez; willing to give you a chance. But remem- possibly the best salesman I have ever had ber, you cannot disappoint new customers the pleasure of working with. When I first and expect them to come back to you for discovered Don, he was attempting (as best any repeat business. You must be ready for as he could), to fill in for a dealership that had their business before you ask for it. lost its parts manager. Don absolutely hated In most cases your only contact with organization, and was the best example of a these customers is over the phone. Your “free spirit” that I have ever seen. He was “best” counterman must be the one who an- positively ecstatic when I came along; and swers their calls. A smile in his voice, freed him of the burden of administrative duknowledge of his inventory, and years of ex- ties and paperwork. In the beginning, I had

no idea what the results would be when I put him in charge of our retail and wholesale sales. However, it did not take long for me to realize that Don was a “natural.” He just loved to sell, and enjoyed talking to all of his customers. Free of time-consuming housekeeping tasks, he devoted all of his energy to producing more sales. I soon installed a direct telephone line, (just for his use), and only months later, a second line. We started with one part-time driver, and soon added more drivers, and more trucks; as our volume of deliveries grew.

Eighteen months later I learned that we were our manufacturer’s leading wholesaler, in the nation! This happened as the result of Don’s inner drive, and because of his joy in selling. It didn’t come without a price, however. Don’s aversion to organization controlled his workspace.

An unbelievable pile of mismatched paper and notes filled every available surface, nook and cranny. He was also uncompromising with his delivery men; driving them to be fast, faster, fastest! I hired two additional men; in order to help him, and told them ahead of time that Don was the only employee I allowed to work in such a mess. In fact, I asked them to help me clean up after him. He never ceased to amaze, however, when asked about a particular order, to be able to reach into that haphazard “nest” of his, and pull out the correct note. His drivers were warned ahead of time of the pressure he would place on them, and that they could always come to me when things got to be just too much. Eventually, all of my staff came to realize that Don never drove anyone harder than he drove himself. I never had to light a fire under him, because he had his own fire, within. And I knew we would never have experienced the results we were able to achieve, without him.

I hope you have as much good fortune as I have had, and the pleasure of creating and managing a profitable parts department. I hope you too will find those people who will make your job easier, and reward all of your efforts with success.

(allow) more damage to vehicles, it’s insurers that are going to pick up the cost of either the personal injury associated with the problems, or the additional damage associated with poor-performing bumpers in low-speed collisions,” Gillis said.

of the QPC, told distributors at the ABPA annual meeting that as of late April only 14 businesses had contributed to the fund.

The QPC, he said, now is asking more distributors for a $50 donation for every shipping container they import into the United States.

“I hope everyone realizes this is a life or death issue for the aftermarket,” Morrissey said at the meeting, “If the OEMs are successful in patenting parts, it could be the end of our industry.”

Fighting OEM patent protection Also speaking at the meeting was Eileen Sottile of the Quality Parts Coalition (QPC). She said that organization has amassed $713,000 to use in its effort to

28 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

enact federal legislation (HR 3059) that would nullify design patent protections on automotive and other repair parts.

The coalition, made up primarily of insurers and non-OEM parts manufacturers and distributors, says automakers are increasingly seeking design patents on crash parts to prevent non-OEM versions of the parts from being produced and sold.

Dan Morrissey, a consultant in the non-OEM parts industry and co-chairman

Larry Williams is a former parts manager and consultant with national awards and over 40 years of experience in creating profitable departments. He can be reached for consultation at ljoew2@gmail.com.

TV News Station Investigates Insurance Consultant Channel 2 Action News investigates an insurance consultant accused of “lowballing” crash victims on their wrecked cars. Consumer Investigator Jim Strickland learned the company called CCC Information Services was involved in settling 66,000 Georgia crashes last year.

Paulding County businessman Don Anderson owns a glass repair franchise. A crash in Chattanooga totaled one of his service vans. Anderson said his insurer offered him $5,924.34, which is what CCC advised. He said he could not find a replacement part for anything near that price.

“They offered me about two-thirds of

the fair market value of the van,” he said.

John Velez's 2003 Jaguar crashed the next day. He said CCC offered him less than $7,000 with the deductible included. “I was really upset. I just really couldn't believe it.”

Independent appraiser Antoine Rached came up with his own number on the Jaguar. He said the difference is more than $2,000. “They should compensate you for the full value of your car,” he said.

Strickland found records that show, in 2005, CCC and the 15 insurers it works for, settled a class action lawsuit. They admitted no wrongdoing, but paid $92 mil-

lion to crash victims from 16 years worth of wrecks.

Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine summoned the company's CEO to Atlanta. Oxendine said it was to address a new crop of complaints. “I wouldn't be telling the CEO to come to Atlanta unless I had a suspicion and I was concerned.”

CCC did not respond to Strickland's request for an interview, so he went to Commissioner Oxdendine's office too.

Strickland asked CEO Githtesh Ramamurthy if his company gave low-ball figures on totaled vehicles. Ramamurthy said

CCC believes in transparency and uses price information from multiple sources.

He also said the company does not have final say on what insurance companies pay.

“CCC is not an insurance adjuster. We do not adjust claims,” Ramamurthy said.

“That's what our customers do, and we supply information.”

Oxendine said he's investigating whether CCC has too much influence over what insurance companies pay on claims.

Anderson's insurance company called in a different valuation consultant who came up with $8,678.60 on his totaled van.

That's 40% more than CCC's value.

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www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 29

Erica Schroeder is a writer and editorial assistant for Autobody News in Oceanside, CA. She can be reached at eschroeder@autobodynews.com.

Shop Showcase

Silsbee Texas Gets New Fasulo’s Paint and Body Shop with Erica Schroeder

Fasulo’s Paint and Body Shop unveiled their second Texas location in Silsbee, TX, 20 miles north of their flagship shop in Beaumont, this April and was able to receive over $70,000 in repair jobs during just their first month.

David Fenner, the owner of both locations, couldn’t be happier with the productivity of both shops during this challenging economic period. The Fasulo family originally approached Fenner about buying Fasulo’s Paint and Estimator Chris SwanBody a few years son at Fasulo’s Beauago; Fenner has been mont location renovating and growing the business ever since he purchased it in 2005.

“We’ve actually been growing in Beaumont as well as in the Silsbee location,” said Fenner.

Fenner and his wife, Lisa, have managed to preserve the family-run shop feel while still growing the business and even opening a second location.

companies he works with expressed to him a need for a good repair shop to service clients in the Silsbee area.

Body Technician Matt McGlothin at the Beaumont location

The Beaumont location boasts a 22,000 square-foot facility, employing 18 people and pulling in about $2 million in revenue per year. The Silsbee location operates out of a 7,500 square-foot air-conditioned facility and employs 6 people; Fenner hopes this location will be able to draw in about $1 million annually once it gets going.

needs. The Beaumont location employs 2 estimators while the Silsbee location employs 1 to better service incoming customers.

“We care, we do good work, and we treat the customer right,” said Fenner.

Betty Jo Fertitta at the Silsbee front desk

Fasulo’s has a lot of great female employees, which is somewhat out of character for a local body shop. Including Fenner’s wife, Lisa, who has been working with both shops’ finances since Fenner bought the company, Fasulo’s also employs two female customer service secre-

tarial employees, Pamela Cooper in Beaumont, who has been with the company for 3 years and Betty Jo Fertitta in Silsbee who has been with them for 3 months; Johnna Lea, who has been a parts orderer with Fasulo’s for two-and-a-

Owner David Fenner and estimator Bill Slocum at the Silsbee location.

half years; and Jimmie O’Brien, an autobody painter who’s been with them for three years. Jimmie and her husband Russell, who also works at Fasulo’s as a body man, are a husband and wife team and often work together on repair jobs.

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Parts Orderer Johnna Lea

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“Usually if I’m in one shop, she’s in the other so one of us is always at each location,” said Fenner.

Both Fasulo’s locations are all about making the customer’s experience easy and enjoyable; including their use of insurance Direct Repair Program (DRP) referrals and trying to keep a neat, clean, organized facility at all

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Body Technician Damon Smith at the Beaumont location

The decision to start up another location during a declining economy came easy to Fenner, who said several insurance

Pamela Cooper at the Beaumont front desk

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Action Counts

Beating a Dead Horse with Lee Amaradio Jr.

I try to write articles to help others out; articles that try to motivate shop owners and managers to do a better job. I have come under attack many times from some in our industry for voicing my opinion and being the person that is willing to speak up and say the hard truth.

Our industry wants “Change” but no one can agree what that change should be or what direction we need to go to get there. I have shop owners that hate me because I have DRPs and stand up for those insurers that I think are doing a good job.

Some shop owners think we need to hate all of the insurers and saying anything less than that makes me a hypocrite.

Some think DRPs are the problem while others think they are fine. Some think the insurance company is our customer while others think the vehicle owner is the customer. Some like aftermarket parts while others stand against them. Some think the insurers are responsible for the repair process while others think it’s the shops liability for the repair. We cannot even agree on some of the simplest things.

The truth is that nothing has changed and it never will because we can’t even decide what change we want. If I were a commanding officer heading to battle and I ordered the troops to go in one direction and they just chose to go their own way and started fighting each other we would certainly lose any battle we were to fight.

To win any battle the troops need to all be on the same page and they all need to support one another and have each other’s back, not stab each other in the back. This is why things will never change; we are not in agreement on anything as an industry.

Here’s what I believe: I believe that DRPs are nothing more than a way to process claims and DRPs are the most efficient way to expedite the repairs.

I believe the repair shop is the repair expert and is responsible for the repair process (not the insurer).

I believe the repairer carries the entire liability for the repair of the customer’s vehicle.

I believe the vehicle owner is my customer and the repair contract is between

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Lee Amaradio, Jr. is the president and owner of “Faith” Quality Auto Body Inc. in Murrieta, California. Lee is president of the CRA as well as an advocate for many other industry groups. He can be contacted at lee@faithqualityautobody.com

the shop and the customer.

I believe the insurance company is a third party payer and their contract is with the policyholder to perform to the terms of the policy.

I believe that due to the fact that we have a term called “industry standards” those standards need to be defined as “OEM collision repair requirements.”

I believe that cost should never be the primary driver dictating the repair process.

I believe aftermarket parts defraud the consumer and should never be considered in the cost of settling a claim.

I believe that the vehicle should be repaired exactly as the final bill states and there should be no cost shifting.

I believe that each shop should charge whatever they think is necessary to make a fair profit.

I believe that if a shop wants to give concessions it is their business and others are under no obligation to offer the same discounts.

I believe DRP’s can be good or bad depending on the insurer and or the concessions involved.

I believe it is up to each shop owner to negotiate the rates that they expect to get paid.

I believe that a lot of shops would be paid a higher rate if they only negotiated for the higher rate and proved why it is necessary.

I believe I am the only one responsible for making a profit. It’s my business.

Now that I have made some things

clear about what I think you will find that a few will agree with me and many will disagree with me. This is exactly my point and this is the reason that nothing will change.

If you want to change the industry I suggest that you change the way you do business and let the industry take care of itself.

One would think that if enough shops united that they would be able to gather enough support for a major change to follow, not true!

We are in an industry that continues to pass the buck and pass the blame on to others whether it be some shops or the insurers. The sad thing is that because we have always been able to blame someone else we fail to take the necessary actions to make anything different.

It’s just easier to blame someone else and say “its not my fault”, this thinking dominates our entire industry. Everyone is very quick to complain and very slow to get involved.

Take care of your own backyard and watch your own bottom line if you do this you will see the change you have been looking for.

If you work with profit as your primary goal you will make a profit.

If you work to produce quality you will produce quality.

If you negotiate for a higher labor rate you will get a higher labor rate.

If you change things will change.

If you keep beating a dead horse you will get the status quo, a beaten horse that is no less dead.

Continued from Page 30

the switch to teaching high school paint and body courses. He also worked as an insurance claim adjuster shortly before moving in to the shop side of the industry.

Fenner’s diverse background has helped him to become very knowledgeable in the industry.

Fasulo’s

Fasulo’s has been working with waterborne paints as of late; they decided to make the switch from solvent-based to waterborne paint when the new Silsbee location opened to coincide more with factory paint standards. Fenner said that since factories are now using waterborne paints when they manufacture cars he wanted to work with it as a repair shop.

“It’s just the newest David Fenner in front of his new Silsbee shop. thing, they’re putting it on all the new cars,” said Fenner.

In addition to starting up a new webDavid Fenner has had a diverse auto site for the business in the coming months, background; he graduated from Texas Fenner also said he is planning to shoot a State Technical College and started out commercial to promote Fasulo’s and the working as a technician. Fenner then made new Silsbee shop. www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 31

The California Autobody Association: 43 Years of Representation

by David M. Brown Special to Autobody News

The largest state collision association in the U.S., the California Autobody Association (CAA), formed in 1967 by merging two organizations in Glendale and Long Beach, making it the first group to represent the industry throughout all of California. Now, at age 43 and based in Sacramento, the CAA represents 1,000 members in 18 chapters from San Diego to Eureka.

“Some of our members do have mechanical facilities, and we have dealership body shops as members, but primarily, most members are independent collision repair shops,” explains David McClune, executive director and chief operating officer for the association.

Six state board members represent the CAA executive committee. The 2010 president is Gigi Walker, owner of Walker’s Auto Body in Concord. She notes: “An association is a place for knowledge, camaraderie and keeping up to date with legal issues facing an industry—and the CAA is fulfilling all of those roles admirably.”

McClune explains that the organization has been consistently involved in the issues facing the country’s most populous state—for cars and people.

In the ‘70s, the CAA was involved when the Bureau of Automotive Repairswas started in 1972. BAR oversees automotive repair operations in the state.

Six years later, the CAA wrote the California Motorists Bill of Rights — providing a template for other states, and, when I-CAR was formed in 1979, Gorden Holcomb, a long-time CAA member, represented the association.

The CAA started an industry trade show in 1980—the largest collision expo in the country before NACE began four years later.

The Collision Industry Conference also started in 1984; former CAA state president, Al Estorga, helped with the CIC formation.

In 1991, CAA formed CARPAC, a political action committee supporting candidates supporting the industry. Five years later, the BAR created a committee to create autobody repair standards. This group comprised CAAmembers, insurance representatives and BAR officials.

Later, in 1999, CAA helped reverse a State Board of Equalization position regarding a sales tax on “new part paint labor”—a sav-

ings of thousands of dollars for every shop in California, McClune says. He adds: “The CAAhas sponsored numerous legislative bills over the years that have improved the collision repair industry and consumers’ rights.”

The organization provides a variety of benefits, says Ted Stein, service director/manager at Drew Ford in San Diego, where he is a member of the city’s CAA chapter.

“CAA offers everything from member benefits to the best lobbyist in Sacramento [Jack Molodanof], who keeps a watchful eye on the bills that affect our industry,” says Stein, who has served on the state board for CAA. “I am very proud to be a current member.” He believes that the personal friendships generated from volunteering with CAA are one of many membership perks. “I have made great, really great, friendships that will last a lifetime, up and down the state that would have never happened if not for the CAA,” he says.

Stein adds: “These are people that I can call at any time for advice or just to bounce something off of them. I have referred customers to other members when they have relocated out of the area, and the same has happened for us. It’s the best ‘fraternity’ that you could be in.”

Gigi Walker, CAA’s current president, believes that the services the CAA chapters offer the community is another benefit of membership. A participant in the collision repair industry for 30 years, she started as an auto painter and has owned Walker’s Auto Body in Concord since 1988.

From 1998 to 1999, she was the past president of the East Bay Autobody Association, which joined the CAA as a chapter in 2001. “The EBAA felt the need to join because of some legislation issues in Sacramento regarding steering and labor-rate

One of the larger CAA-sponsored events, Gigi notes, is the East Bay Chapter Toys for Tots Model Truck Customizing Competition, held at the prestigious Black Hawk Auto Museum in Danville, CA.

CAA Truck competition.

Some CAA chapters have scheduled events supporting new technologies such as introductions to waterborne paints, legal issues that affect the collision repair industry and proper handing of hazardous materials.

“Ongoing education is a large part of what the CAA is about,” she notes. Even though we have a legislative arm, we pride ourselves in being diversified in many ways as a true trade association should be.”

The CAA is both sword and shield at the capitol. “It puts itself between its members and the issues, so that no one member can be

singled out for retribution on unpopular issue and gives a voice to all— from the smallest of repair facilities to the largest,” says Don Feeley, owner of City Body & Frame in Riverside and twice CAA president, 2000 and 2009. A member of the Inland Empire Chapter, he also helped develop the CAAWeb site in ‘94 as well as SCRS-CIC. Feeley adds that CAA also helps to facilitate better pricing for its members on many business items such as insurance products, credit card processing—even sandpaper.

“This association has been fighting for its members for more than 40 years on all fronts,” he notes. “Wherever there is an issue in the collision repair industry, you will find a member of the California Autobody Association.”

As a result, Feeley isn’t just lukewarm about his 20-year CAA association: “I am damn proud,” he says, “to be part of an organization with such a rich history.”

For more information search: www.autobodynews.com and www.calautobody.com.

To contact CAA: 555 UniversityAve, Ste 236, Sacramento, CA 95825 State Office: (800) 454-3368 Fax: (916) 646-8113 www.calautobody.com

Think About It

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setting,” she recalls.

The EBAA also saw the benefits the CAA offered such as pooled workers compensation and garage keepers liability insurance. What’s more, the EBBA board liked the quality of guest speakers the CAA regularly brought into its chapters.

The CAA sponsors scholarships for young people to enter collision repair programs as well as supports Regional Occupational Programs—tuition-free job training—at the high school level. Another outstanding CAA-supported program which promotes the industry to young men and women is Careers with Cars, held annually in various locations statewide.

32 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

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Custom Car Builder Rich Evans Partners With Ohio Technical School To Create Rich Evans Academy; Classes to Begin in Fall 2010 Leading automotive trade school Ohio Technical College is excited to announce The Rich Evans Academy; a three-month advanced collision repair and customizing program where students will learn fabrication, welding, water-borne painting and fiberglass molding, among other advanced skills.

Rich Evans, is an Autobody News columnist and owner of Huntington Beach Bodyworks in California, is a custom car builder, painter and TV personality who has appeared on such shows as “Monster Garage” and “Pimp My Ride.”

As part of the new partnership, he will work with OTC to develop a realworld curriculum based on decades of experience designing and building oneof-a-kind vehicles. Evans will also assist OTC in outfitting the Rich Evans Academy shop with the tools, training aids and equipment needed to facilitate the program.

“The new Rich Evans Academy is an advanced, concentrated course designed to give students employable skills that many of their peers will not have after graduation. We are excited to partner with Rich, who shares his years of experience with our students as well as our instructors,”

said Tom King, director of Enrollment, OTC. Evans will periodically visit the school to interact with students and conduct personal instruction. He will also teach a one-day training program at OTC’s Summer Seminar, an event that attracts hundreds of high school instructors from across the country. Last year, the school’s enrollment grew 22%, and more than 1,000 students are currently enrolled in courses like automotive, diesel, classic car restoration, alternative fuel vehicles and high performance and racing.

The first Rich Evans Academy class will begin in Fall 2010. As with all its programs, OTC will provide career placement assistance for students upon completion of the three-month course.

Ohio Technical College (OTC) is an accredited private, proprietary technical school dedicated to providing premier technical training in the world of modern mechanics by pursuing industry alliances, providing outstanding training equipment and focusing on the needs of individual students. An Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT) college, OTC and its PowerSport Institute branch

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campus encompass nearly 800,000 sq. feet of classroom and workshop space.

Drawing students from all over the United States, OTC offers technician training programs in Automotive, Diesel, Auto-Diesel, Collision Repair, Classic Car Restoration, High Performance and Racing, Welding and PowerSport Technology as well as specialization in BMW, Alternative Fuel Vehicles, Custom Paint and Graphics, CDL Truck Driver Training, and Power Generator Systems. Motorcycle technician training is provided through the PowerSport Institute, a branch campus of OTC in North Randall, Ohio. For more information, write to Ohio Technical College at 1374 E. 51st St. Cleveland, Ohio, 44103; call 800.322.7000 ext. 163; or visit ohiotechnicalcollege.com and psi-now.com.

Lo Jack Device Credited with $45K Recovery in Louisiana

Louisiana State reported that information from Lo Jack Inc. related to a stolen 2006 Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle in the LaPlace area aided in the recovery of $45,000 worth of stolen property.

The Suzuki was reported stolen from Shreveport, La. By using the Lo Jack tracking device, Troopers located a Ford F-150 and a Haulmark motorcycle trailer parked in the Home Depot parking lot in LaPlace.

Troopers obtained a search warrant for the F-150 and trailer. Inside the trailer, Troopers found the stolen Suzuki and two other motorcycles (2006 Kawasaki Ninja and 2004 Yamaha R1) that were also reported stolen from Shreveport on April 29. The F-150 was stolen from Lafayette, La., on April 10 and the Haulmark trailer was stolen from Pass Christian, Miss., on Feb. 15, 2010.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is on-going.

CA Congresswoman Jackie Speier Wields Her Own Reciprocating Saw on Rebar Parts

Earlier this month Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) launched her own exploration of the structural differences between certain vehicle safety parts by sawing through an aftermarket reinforcement bar in her San Mateo district office. The reciprocating saw she used reportedly didn’t dent the bar from the vehicle manufacturer.

Speier, author of California’s original anti-steering law, stated, “I’m concerned that vehicle owners who’ve been in an accident are unaware that replacing a reinforcement bar with one not designed by the manufacturer may compromise the safety of vehicle occupants in a subsequent collision. Airbag deployment can be thrown off by a reinforcement bar that doesn’t absorb shock in the way intended by the vehicle manufacturer.”

Speier conducted the test with the help of two well known collision industry experts: Lee Amaradio, president of the Collision Repair Association of California (steadying the saw) and Allen Wood, the association’s executive director (holding the rebar).

Amaradio stated, “Congresswoman Speier has always taken time to hear our industry’s concerns. The issue of aftermarket safety parts is of national importance. Hundreds of thousands of vehicle owners are driving around in repaired cars that won’t withstand a collision the way the manufacturer intended.”

Speier said that the use of vehicle safety aftermarket parts have been pushed by certain insurers that apparently want to save money without regard for passenger safety. “I am opposed to reengineering a vehicle through the claims process,” she said.

“Parts such as reinforcement bars that affect

the vehicle safety restraint system should not be replaced by parts of inferior quality.”

She said she would be contacting the appropriate regulators to determine what is being done to inform consumers about

the installation of aftermarket safety parts.

She said she was also concerned about reports that many inferior aftermarket parts are made overseas and shipped to the United States without adequate manufacturer information stamped on the parts, as required by California law.

“My first step will be to assess how well California and federal laws covering vehicle repair, including insurance benefits for collision work, are being enforced,” stated Speier. “Additionally, I want to determine the extent to which unsafe parts made overseas are finding their way into shops in this country.”

Speier invited interested parties to contact her district director, Richard Steffen, at 650-342-0300 or Richard.steffen@mail.house.gov if they have information they wish to share with her on the prevalence of unsafe vehicle parts in the collision repair business.

www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 33

Mercury Insurance Faces Accusations of Discrimination

The campaign against Prop 17 released documents May 20 revealing that Mercury Insurance, the initiative's sole sponsor, required its agents to withhold auto insurance policies from military personnel, diabetics, women married to younger men, and drivers thought to be of Middle Eastern descent even if they had good driving records.

The declarations from three former insurance agents, obtained by Consumer Watchdog, corroborate key findings regarding discriminatory practices at Mercury from a series of California Department of Insurance (CDI) investigations released earlier this year.

"Every week there's a new revelation about how Mercury illegally discriminates against its customers and targets Californians with higher car insurance rates. Now Mercury wants voters to pass Prop 17 and give insurance companies new power to raise rates," said Doug Heller with the Stop Prop 17 campaign.

Two of the agents were employed

by Auto Insurance Specialists (AIS), which was one of the largest Mercury agencies at the time and is now owned

by Mercury. A third was employed by another Mercury agency. The insurance agents' declarations were made in the

late 1990s at about the same time the California Department of Insurance (CDI) was investigating wide-ranging discrimination by Mercury.

Last month the CDI filed an administrative lawsuit against Mercury for approximately 35 illegal practices as well as for failing to correct the unfair rating practices over the past 15 years despite prior agreements to do so.

According to one of the agents, Michael Feldman: [Mercury Insurance underwriting managers] Ms. Norris and Ms. Harris directed [AIS Agency branch manager] Mr. Heywood to instruct me that I could not write "poor caliber risks" such as diabetics, salvaged cars or middle easterners for any Mercury insurance policies, including Proposition 103 good driver policies... with regard to middle easterners, they stated that if I could not pronounce a name, I should not write that person.

California law prohibits auto insurance companies from considering the national origin or medical condition of good drivers when deciding whether or not to sell an insurance policy. Under the 1988 insurance reform measure Proposition 103 insurance companies are required to offer their best-priced policy to any customer who qualifies as a good driver.

American Honda is urging all collision shops, independent repair shops, used car dealers, or any non-Honda or non-Acura auto repair facility to check for any applicable safety recalls each time a Honda, or Acura vehicle is serviced, repaired, or inventoried at their facility.

To that end, the company has issued a position statement in which it states.

“Although American Honda notifies the current registered owner (as identified through state vehicle registration data) each time it conducts a safety recall, not all owners receive such notices (due to change of address or ownership or lack of current registration) and even when notices are received not all owners respond to such notices. If all sales and service facilities were to check for applicable safety recalls for all vehicles that come into their facilities together we can ensure that necessary safety repairs are made to all vehicles owned by our joint customers.”

Honda suggest that customers will view this effort on the part of other body shops as a value-added service and says that finding if there

is an applicable recall is easily done by visiting www.recalls.honda.com and entering the vehicle VIN number.

Any recall for that VIN will be noted, including the status of the repair, open or fixed.

In the event that a recall operation is required, Honda asks that the shop not attempt to service the vehicle but refer the owner to a local authorized Honda or Acura dealer where the service will be performed free of charge.

Honda is concerned about safety.

That's why Honda Owner Link provides up-to-date recall information about your Honda car, SUV, or minivan. Because Owner Link recall listings are based on your Honda's Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), when you look for recalls on Honda’s website they are specific to your vehicle.

Customers with additional questions may be referred to Honda Customer Service at 1-800-999-1009, select option 4, or Acura Client Services at 1-800-382-2238, select option 4; or customers may visit www.recalls.honda.com for more information.

Honda Asks Repairers to Aid in Recall Checks

34 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Mercury Insurance: Military Must Not Be ‘Responsible’ Drivers

Mercury Insurance, the sponsor of Prop 17 is peppering the state’s voters with new mailers that tell military servicemen and women that they are not responsible drivers if they serve their country stateside without a car. Consumer advocates fighting Prop 17 said the flier, which promises “Lower rates for responsible drivers,” denigrates our nation’s military, only because they don’t bring their car to base while on duty.

“The insurance company backers of Prop 17 are saying that people like servicemen and women who don’t drive while on base are irresponsible if they drop car insurance during their service,” said Brian Van Riper, Iraqi war veteran and retired Lance Corporal, US Marines.

“What’s irresponsible is this insurance company initiative to punish good drivers who have done nothing wrong.”

Prop 17 would create an insurance surcharge on drivers, including soldiers, who have had a lapse in car insurance coverage for virtually any reason during the past five years, or whose policy was cancelled after missing a single payment.

Under the measure, people who stopped driving and didn’t need insurance for a time would be required to pay up to a thousand dollars more for car insurance when they sought to restart coverage. Currently, insurance companies are prohibited from imposing such a surcharge in California.

Prop 17 is opposed by military, consumer and citizen groups including VoteVets.org, USAA, Consumers Union, Consumer Watchdog, Consumer Federation of California, and California Alliance of Retired Americans.

The San Diego Union-Tribune in its rejection of Prop 17 wrote: ...there are two reasons to have sharp doubts about Proposition 17.

The first is that Proposition 17 is a perfect example of the deplorable way the state initiative process is used by private companies for their own benefit.

The second has to do with the fact that a member of the U.S. military would not be protected from losing his or her “continuous coverage” discount if transferred within the United States. The protection extends only to those transferred abroad. This is why the United Services Automobile Association, an insurer which specializes in military families, strongly opposes Proposition 17.

Especially in a time of war – and especially as the newspaper of a community with such a rich history and relationship with the U.S. armed forces – we find this very difficult to accept. For this reason, we recommend a “no” vote.

The campaign in favor of Prop 17 is 99% funded by insurance companies, with Mercury Insurance having spent over $10.3 million to date.

16 Florida Worker’s Comp Insurers to Return $9.4M

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has ordered 16 workers compensation insurance companies to return more than $9.4 million in excessive profits to their policyholders. Under state law, workers compensation insurers are required to return excess profits.

The law says “an excessive profit has been realized if underwriting gain is greater than the anticipated underwriting profit plus 5 percent of earned premiums for the 3 most recent calendar years.” According to the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), a recent audit determined that 16 different workers compensation companies or groups realized excess profit as defined by statute for the 2005, 2006 and 2007 calendar/accident years.

The companies have 60 days from the date of the order to return the premiums or provide policy renewal credits to policyholders.

“These results confirm the importance of the workers compensation insurance reforms enacted by the Florida Legislature in 2003, which continue to yield positive results,” said McCarty.

“These premium refunds contribute to lowering costs for Florida businesses and in contributing to our state's future economic growth.”

Worker’s Comp Rates to Decrease in Florida

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty announced the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), the ratemaking organization that files workers' compensation rates for all carriers in Florida, made a filing with the Office of Insurance Regulation on May 7, 2010, which included a proposed 4.2 % decrease in rates. This is the eighth decrease in workers' compensation rates since 2003. The cumulative overall statewide average decrease in workers' compensation rates will be 64.7 percent since the 2003 reforms. NCCI made the rate filing due to a change in the Special Disability Trust Fund assessment, a change that ultimately reduces the insurance company's overhead expenses. The assessment rate has been reduced from 4.52 percent to 1.46 percent. This lower rate will be evident on new and renewal policies, effective July 1, 2010.

“This reduction in rate will provide rate relief for Florida's business owners,” said Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty. “The rate reduction follows a consistent trend of declining workers' compensation rates in Florida that began following the legislative reforms in 2003.”

Missippi Supreme Court to Hear Katrina Insurer Appeal

A dispute between an insurance company and a retired Navy admiral over coverage of damages from Hurricane Katrina has made its way to the Mississippi Supreme Court. The case is among dozens the Supreme Court will hear during its MayJune term.

The lawsuit involving Admiral James W. Lisanby and his wife, Gladys, and United Services Automobile Association was the first Katrina-related case to go to trial in Jackson County.

In 2008, a Jackson County jury returned a $900,000 verdict for the Pascagoula couple.

Lisanby had sued USAA, of San Antonio, Texas, for damage to their Pascagoula beach front home, as well as their rental cottage, garage and other losses. They also asked the jury to award an unspecified amount for emotional distress. Circuit Judge Billy G. Bridges declined to allow the jury to consider punitive damages. USAA has appealed the jury award. USAA lawyers argued company did not owe more than the approx. $45,000 it had already paid because the Lisanbys' insurance policy did not cover water, even wind driven water. The Lisanbys' attorney said USAA failed to properly and fully investigate the claim before denying coverage.

Governor Barbour Rejects ‘Wind Pool’ Subsidy

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on May 14 rejected a proposal to put a $20 million subsidy into a wind pool insurance fund. Barbour vetoed part of the state Department of Insurance budget.

He said the $20 million is part of a Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund that might have to be tapped to repay $400 million in federal hazard mitigation expenses.

The Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association, often called the wind pool, is the insurer of last resort for homeowners and commercial property in high-risk areas.

After Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, rates by many private insurance companies increased sharply.

Some property owners have relied on the wind pool because they've been unable to find affordable private insurance, but some officials want to nudge people back into the private insurance market.

Democratic state Rep. Brandon Jones of Pascagoula said Friday that Barbour's veto of the subsidy could cause coastal insurance rates to jump by 2012.

State Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, a Republican, said he expects wind pool rates to remain steady this year and possibly next.

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www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 35

Giant Toyota Teams with Tiny Tesla to Build Next Generation Cars at Fremont, CA, Plant

A $50 million investment will create a partnership between Toyota Motor Corporation and Tesla Motors to produce electric vehicles and bring jobs back to the former plant owned by GM-Toyota called the New United Motor Manufacturing (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, CA, said the smiling CEOs on May 21.

CEOs Elon Musk of Tesla and Akio Toyoda of Toyota were joined for the announcement by Governor Arnold

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (r) listens to Elon Musk announce the partnership

Schwarzenegger, who also spoke, saying the deal was aided by tax incentives.

“What we are witnessing today is an historic example of California’s transition to a cleaner, greener, more prosperous future,” Schwarzenegger said.

According to the deal, both giant Toyota and tiny Tesla will be working together to

manufacture Tesla model S sedan, which is a high performance electric sedan, competing with cars like the BMW 5-series.

Initially, the automakers are expected to produce 20,000 vehicles. The partnership could create 1,000 jobs initially and eventually as many as 10,000 worldwide.

Half of the jobs are expected to be at NUMMI and the other half would be with suppliers, Musk said. Less than a day after the announcement, United Auto Workers (UAW) was urging Toyota to hire workers that were laid off at the old GM-Toyota plant.

UAW president, Ron Gettelfinger, said in a statement, “Our union’s hope is that this venture will give first hiring preference to former NUMMI employees who are already trained and highly skilled.”

Toyota President Akio Toyoda got misty-eyed about his first drive in a Tesla Roadster in Southern California six weeks ago. He enthused, “Not only was I impressed by Tesla’s technology, but I also felt their energy, seeing that they made the vehicle in an extremely short time. “I felt the wind—the wind of the future,” Toyoda said.

“Through this partnership, by working together with a venture business such as Tesla, Toyota would like to learn from Tesla’s challenging spirit, quick decision-

Kniesel’s Collision Centers Hosts Extrication Class

Toby Chess staged a free advanced extrication class for 44 Sacramento, CA, Fire Fighters and First Responders May 12, 2010. It was hosted by Kniesel’s Colllision Centers, at 4680 Pacific St. in Rocklin, CA, run by Robert and Tom Kniesel.

Progressive Insurance furnished two vehicle that were 2007 Forty-four Sacramento fire fighters took the extrication class. and later and Kniesel’s furnished the other three cars.

8:30 am and lasted to 3:30 pm. If anyone Kent Automotive supplied lunch for would like to host this class this summer and everyone and Captain Jason Martin of the fall, call Toby Chess at 310-995-7909.

CFD taught the hands on extricaton part of the class (assisted by Mr. Chess).

About Kniesel’s: Holmatro Rescue Equipment furnished Kniesel’s has three locations in the greater the latest extrication tools. Class started at Sacramento area. The original Kniesels were a family of small business owners who lost nearly everything during World War II. From a refugee camp in their native Austria, the Kniesel family headed for America. Within five years of emigrating, they had started a mechanical and auto body repair business. In 1968, Richard Kniesel opened what is now Kniesel's Collision Centers. His wife Lilo and each of his five children joined him at the shop daily. In 2003, Kniesel’s opened their second shop in Rocklin. A third A well-simulated collision realistically depicts the crash shop was opened in Natomas in 2008. scene.

36 JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

making and flexibility. That is a big part of the reason we decided to partner with Tesla.

Musk (l) and Toyoda (r)

Musk said Tesla is purchasing the NUMMI plant for an undisclosed sum.

Toyota and GM closed the plant in early April and terminated 4,700 workers, but thousands of others who worked for parts suppliers—as many as 25,000 by some accounts—were also affected.

Tesla will begin production of its Model S electric sedan in 2012. A 300mile range, seven-seat SUV will also be manufactured at NUMMI, he said. Once it reaches full production, Tesla expects to produce 20,000 vehicles a year at the NUMMI plant.

Initially only a small corner of the 5.4-million-square-foot plant will be used, but Musk said he expects the entire facility will eventually be utilized.

No mention, yet, of an IPO for Tesla, but some in the industry have speculated that this announcement could speed that process, perhaps enabling it even before GM’s likely offering early next year, and Chrysler’s—expected to follow GM’s.

Chrysler Group LLC said it is considering a public stock offering sometime in 2011, Sergio Marchionne said on May 20.

Marchionne said there is enough demand in the marketplace to support initial public offerings for Chrysler and GM, both of which were restructured in governmentfunded bankruptcy protection cases last year. He said he never wants to see the company lose money again.

“I expect 2010 will be a much better year than we originally forecast,” he said, predicting that U.S. vehicle sales to top 11 million this year and 12 million in 2011.

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Northwestern Louisiana Collision Repair Association Offers Estimating Courses

The Northwestern Louisiana Collision Repair Association (NWLCRA) held several estimating courses May 11, 12 and 13 at the Louisiana Technical School Collision in Shreveport, LA.

Two Best Practices beginners’ courses were taught for free as well as an Advanced Estimating course which carried a $25 fee.

Bill Burnside, NWLCRA past pres-

The computers at the school are in the class so shop owners who use Mitchell Estimating tools can help Doug, displaying a common goal that you seldom see anywhere: (L to R) Kevin Adams, Krystal Auto Collision, Butch Naar, Moffitt VW; Chris Fielder, Fielder Paint & Body; Doug England, Doug’s Paint & Body Shop, Doug Revit, Shouse Collision (photo credit: Debbie Hooge)

(L to R): Bill Burnside of Tri-State Coatings (past president of association and coordinator of the event; Chris Fielder of Fielder Paint & Body, current President of association; Chris Shepherd, Louisiana Technical College which hosted the event and immediate past president of association; Dave Gauthier, who has 50 years in the industry (photo credit: Debbie Hooge)

Mitchell International sponsored the courses which were taught by Dave Gauthier and provided basic as well as advanced techniques in the collision repair estimation field.

ident and coordinator of this event, said, “It went fairly well, we had a good turnout.” He also said that the association would not object to holding the courses again in the future if interest was ex-

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pressed from industry people in the area.

The Northwestern Louisiana Collision Repair Association helps to promote the automotive collision industry as a whole as well as educating the public and people in the industry about proper repairs.

The association also tackles industry issues and news during their meetings to inform members. The NWLCRA meets monthly to talk about news events

and learn from industry speakers. More information can be found on their website at www.nwlcra.org.

Traffic Paint Shortage Threatens Roadwork in Texas A shortage of traffic striping paint has left road crews and transportation departments without the paint they need to do their spring roadwork.

Spring is when roads lose that layer of winter snow and a mass of repairs and repainting needs to be done to maintain roadway safety. In an industry whose favored medium is acrylic on pavement, the paint shortage is gumming up the works.

The Associated General Contractors of America, a major industry trade group, warned state and federal transportation officials last week that the shortage has had “very significant ramifications for completion of highway projects this summer,” and asked them not to penalize contractors and suppliers if they are unable to finish projects on time because of a paint shortage that is beyond their control.

The scarcity stems in large part from the shortage of an obscure chemical compound called methyl methacrylate, one of the key ingredients in roadworthy paint, which must be sturdy, long-lasting and reflective. A major producer of the compound, Dow Construction Chemicals, had produc-

tion problems this year at a plant in Deer Park, Tex. Other companies scaled back production during the economic downturn, said Phil Phillips, the managing director of the Chemark Consulting Group, which analyzes the coatings industry.

The want of the chemical has started a chain reaction. Aexcel, a company outside Cleveland that makes traffic paint, just used up its supply and may be unable to make additional traffic paint until it gets more in mid-June.

“I think we emptied our tank yesterday,” John Milgram, Aexcel’s president, said Friday. He said he had been scouring the country to replenish his stock.

In Texas, officials say the shortage could delay plans to recoat the surface of some roads if there is not enough paint around to safely mark the lanes once the work is done. In some cases, officials said, the state may experiment with using raised reflective buttons to mark lanes if there is not enough paint.

In others, workers may decide to paint the center dividing lanes on two-lane roads, but not the lines on the shoulders of roads.

www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 37

U.S. House Committee Passes Auto-Safety Bill To Install Brake-Override Systems In Vehicles A U.S. House committee May 26 passed a sweeping auto-safety bill with a number of changes in the original legislation that had been sought by the auto industry and Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich.

The new House Energy and Commerce Committee bill, which now goes to the floor of the House, would require installation of brake-override systems and event-data recorders, or black boxes, in the wake of Toyota's unintended acceleration problems.

Regulators also would have to consider standards for foot-pedal placement, electronic systems, push-button ignition systems and transmission configuration.

The bill leaves it to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to decide on the timetable for industry to carry out many of the requirements.

The original legislation outlined a time frame that automakers said was burdensome.

The committee also dropped a requirement that black boxes record crash data for 75 seconds, leaving it to NHTSA to decide on the technology provisions.

In addition, the legislation would increase maximum fines on automakers for safety defects from $16.4 million to $200

million, amending an earlier version of the bill that would have eliminated a cap on penalties.

More transparency NHTSA also would receive increases in funding and an expansion of its authority, and auto-safety information would become more transparent to consumers.

“The committee addressed a lot of our concerns,” said Michael Stanton, president of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers.

The panel divided strictly along party lines in a 31-21 vote.

Stanton predicted that Congress would pass a bill by the fall and send it to President Barack Obama, who has endorsed the thrust of the legislation.

The congressional push follows Toyota's worldwide recalls of 10.6 million vehicles since the fall for sudden acceleration. U.S. regulators are investigating reports of 89 deaths in the United States.

Toyota already has paid a record fine of $16.4 million.

A similar Senate bill has been introduced with at least one notable difference from the House measure: It would eliminate the cap on automaker fines. No dates have been set either for a vote by the Sen-

Alabama Governor Announces Plan To Help Auto Suppliers Go Green, Be More Efficient Gov. Bob Riley, seen here on April 22, announces a pilot program to help Alabama’s auto suppliers operate more efficiently.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, on May www.autobodynews.com 26, announced the launch of a pilot proCHECK IT OUT! gram intended to help the state’s automotive industry suppliers reduce pollution, adopt “green” manufacturing technology and gain ecoTo advertise nomic call Advertising Salesadvanat: tages.

800-699-8251 Gov. Bob Riley Speaking at the Mercedes-Benz assembly plant in e-mail: advertising@autobodynews.com Vance, Riley said the program, called Alabama E3, will coordinate technical www.autobodynews.com assistance programs offered by federal, state and local agencies.

ate Commerce Committee or by the full House.

Doubling funding The House measure would beef up NHTSA funding by phasing in fees on automakers of $9 a vehicle and by doubling federal funding to $280 million over three years.

“This bill will dramatically improve the safety of motor vehicles,” said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the energy and commerce panel.

The Transportation Department also would have the authority to order recalls if it determines that there is an “imminent hazard” of public danger. But the agency would have to give notice to the manufacturer and offer the automaker the right to appeal.

This appeal right, which was not in the original bill introduced by Waxman, had been sought by Dingell.

“The bill is going to be a hard one for the industry to accept, but I believe it's in the public interest and is good overall,” Dingell said.

Although Waxman bowed to Dingell on a number of provisions, he got the committee to add a revolving-door restriction. It would impose a one-year pro-

hibition on lobbying of NHTSA by former NHTSA officials who join the industry.

The bill also contains a new requirement for an alert sound on electric or hybrid vehicles that allows detection by blind pedestrians.

Although the auto lobby got many of the changes it sought, the new bill still left many Republicans dissatisfied.

“I think this is a very bad, bad bill,” said Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the senior Republican on the committee. “It's certainly not good for the automotive industry in America.”

Honda takes action In a related development, Honda Motor Co. today formally announced plans to install brake-override technology in Honda and Acura models.

“We are committed to applying brake priority logic on 100 percent of Honda and Acura passenger vehicles produced for the North American market by the end of calendar year 2011, with our first application coming to market in late August 2010,” Honda said in a statement.

A spokesman had outlined the initiative earlier this month.

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“In this challenging economy, we must useGive innovation, collaboration and on us your opinion to t all available tools to help our manufacturers gain a competitive advantage,” Riley said in a prepared statement.

The initiative is supported by five fedpublisher@auto eral agencies, several state publisher@autobodynews.com agencies, Alabama Power Co., the Alabama Gas Corp., the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association and the Business Promote your business Council of Alabama, according to a statement. In addition, the cities of an exclusive article feat Huntsville, Montgomery and your products or servi Tuscaloosa have signed on as partners.

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SCRS Giving Away Hotel Suite for 2010 SEMA The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) introduced a new program as an enticement to register early for the events taking place in conjunction with the SEMA Show in Las Vegas in November.

Everyone who registers for the association’s Repairer Driven Education (RDE) series prior to August 31st will be entered into a drawing to win a complimentary hotel suite for the week of the SEMA show at the Las Vegas Hilton, SCRS’ headquarters hotel. The winner of the lodging giveaway will be contacted in September, and an announcement will be made to the industry.

The SCRS educational series will feature over 21 seminar offerings, many of which are uniquely designed and being offered for the first time at the 2010 SEMA Show. The series will be of-

fered as a package, and registrants will have the option to attend six seminars which will be delivered between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday of the show.

“This drawing is only one of many reasons to attend this year’s show,” added SCRS Chairman Barry Dorn.

“The excitement stemming from SCRS’ involvement at the SEMA Show seems to be compounding, and is reconfirmed by the tremendous amount of positive response we are seeing and hearing from our membership.”

To register for the SEMA Show and SCRS’ RDE Series prior to August 31st, 2010 and be entered into the drawing for the hotel suite giveaway, or to get more information about the events, please visit www.semashow.com/scrs or contact SCRS at info@scrs.com.

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Storms Across N. Texas and Oklahoma Leave Floods, Power Outages and Millions in Damages

The auto repair business is still reeling Storms across Texas and Oklahoma wreaked havoc on the states with tornadoes from the slew of hail storms that continue to and large hail; damages are still being cal- hit the state. culated.

Fierce winds and heavy rain caused thousands of power outages across the Texas Metroplex area Friday May 14. While the May 10 tornadoes in Oklahoma produced insured losses in the tens of millions of dollars, the May 16 hail storms caused monumental damage to windshields and struc- A car’s back windhsield was completely broken out by hail in Oklahoma tures across the state.

“Tornadoes are kind of hit and miss,” said Jerry Johns, president Body Works Inc., a mobile auto glass of the Southwest Insurance Information repairer in Oklahoma City, told customers Service in Austin, Texas. “With a hail- to wrap damaged car windows in plastic bestorm, it’s a very concentrated weather cause it could be a couple weeks before event that affects block after block after they'd get to them. block.”

“We’re not scheduling at this point, we Phones at the weather service office in just have a waiting list and are calling peoFort Worth were “ringing off the hook” Fri- ple from that,” said Chris Donnelly. day afternoon with reports of storm damage, A second hail storm rained down golf said Dan Shoemaker, meteorologist. ball to baseball-sized hail on Sunday May 16, Shoemaker reported that roads had to causing further delays in windshield repairs. be barricaded in the Wise County commu“It just peppered everything in sight,” nity of Chico and in Mineral Wells. Shingles said Chris Donnelly, “it is absolutely blowwere blown from a roof in Saginaw, he said. ing us up.”

The weather service posted a flash flood watch through Saturday morning because thunderstorms and possible runoff remained in the forecast.

Preliminary claims figures from the May 10 tornadoes in Oklahoma project losses in the millions, said Marc Young, Oklahoma assistant insurance commis- Hail caused baseball-sized dent in the roof of this vehicle sioner. Johns believes the initial storm will produce losses in the “tens Body Works is seeing a lot of complete of millions of dollars.” windshield replacements and paint less dent Johns said the two storms likely will repairs, but about 50% of cars coming in are be the second- most expensive in the 25 being totaled. years he has been in the insurance business At Eskridge Lexus, tents made to within Oklahoma. Johns, who tracks the insur- stand hail stones protected some of the ance industry in Oklahoma and Texas, said newest cars on the lot. But about 200 other the storms probably will be topped only by vehicles had cracked windshields and dents. the destruction of Hurricane Ike, which “Our plans are to repair everything and ripped through Galveston and Houston in then disclose that to customers,” said gen2008. eral sales manager Doug Berryhill.

Speaker Pelosi’s Statement on Auto Emission Standard Echos the President’s Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on the Obama Administration’s announcement on new auto emission standards for our nation’s fleet of cars and trucks: “The announcement by the Obama Administration builds on the work of Congress to reduce our dependence on oil and increase

our energy security. Every year, we send billions of dollars overseas to countries that are hostile to U.S. interests in order to feed our addiction to oil.

“Increasing the fuel efficiency of all vehicles on the road, including trucks and buses, enhances our national security, re-

duces global warming pollution, and saves families and small businesses money. It will also encourage American entrepreneurship, as innovators race to create the next generation of energy-efficient vehicles. And it will enable consumers to buy technology made in America.

“The Administration’s efforts will also build upon the American Clean Energy and Security Act, passed by the House last June, which will create clean energy jobs here in America, protect consumers, reduce our dependence on dirty and foreign fuels, and help ensure our national security.

www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 39

Foundation Releases 2010 Makeover School Grant Application The Education Foundation is once again offering “The Ultimate Collision Education Makeover” grant in 2010, which will award one school with a $50,000 grant to overhaul their school’s collision repair program. The winning collision repair program will be able to utilize this $50,000 grant to purchase equipment, curriculum, instructor training, and supplies. The I-CAR Education Foundation will also work together with industry partners who will provide in-kind product donations to the winning and non-winning schools. The applications of the non-winning schools provided information on their specific needs and through the generosity of industry partners, the Foundation has arranged for over $130,000 in donations for these schools. This grant is open to collision repair schools across North America. Applications are currently available at www.ed-foundation.org.

Mac Tools Donates $10K in Tools to KC school Mac Tools has come to the aid of the Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Technical Education Center by donating $10,000 in new tools and equipment through the I-CAR Education Foundation. Mac Tools provided the school’s collision program the opportunity to select tools they needed and the school selected over 60 pieces of tools, equipment and supplies from Mac Tools that are on the NATEF required tool list. Kansas City Kansas Community College Technical Education Center Instructor Ron Bales said, “On behalf the school and students I would like to thank the Mac Tool company for the grant to my class. The quality tools that Mac is providing my students will greatly enhance their lab work and will save time because they won’t be required to share tools quite as much.”

Basf Donates Waterborne Equipment To Toledo School Owens State Community College in Toledo, Ohio received a waterborne technology equipment upgrade through the generosity of BASF. The donation was made through the I-CAR Education Foundation and included paint and related equipment to convert to waterborne refinish technology. This material combined with the existing primers, clear coats, etc., will enable the school to keep pace with the collision industry by offering training in the latest repair paint technology.

Repair Facilities Renew And Join As Foundation Industry Leadership Circle Members Several repair facilities displayed their com-

mitment to supporting the Foundation’s efforts in assisting school’s automotive collision programs and their students at the Foundation’s Industry Leadership Circle donor designation level: Seidner Collision Centers renewed their 2009 support at an Industry Leadership Circle member for the Foundation with their recent donation. Jerry’s Body Shop also renewed their Industry Leadership Circle donor designation with their 2010 donation. Erie LaSalle Body Shop & Car Care Center is a newly added Industry Leadership Circle donor. The Education Foundation would like to thank these repair facilities

award winning Eaglewood Golf Resort in Itasca, IL followed by a relaxing evening, post-tournament reception at TopGolf in Wood Dale, IL, one of only three facilities in the country. An anticipated sold-out crowd of 150 automotive professionals from North America and the local Chicago-land area is expected. “The industry showed its strong support for the fundraiser in 2009, which was the highest grossing Foundation golf tournament to date,” stated I-CAR Education Foundation Executive Director Scott Kruger. “With the 2010 tournament taking place in our backyard, we will be doing all that we can to

SkillsUSA Championships Coming in June The 2010 SkillsUSA Championships will take place in Kansas City, Missouri this year; the event expects over 5,000 contestants for the 96 contest competition.

The SkillsUSA Championships is the national-level competition for public high school and college/postsecondary technical students enrolled in career and technical education programs. Each SkillsUSA Championships contestant is a state-level gold medalist.

Begun in 1967, the SkillsUSA Championships has grown from 54 competitors in three contests to more than 5,400 competitors in 96 contests this year. SkillsUSA affiliated instructional programs represent 130 different occupational areas and are growing every year. Contests are broken down in to; skilled and technical sciences, occupationally-related, leadership development and demonstration categories.

for supporting the Foundation at an Industry Leadership Circle level!

Annual Foundation Golf Fundraiser In Chicago This July The ninth annual I-CAR Education Foundation golf tournament fundraiser will take place July 22nd in the Chicago-land area during the Collision Industry Conference (CIC)/industry meetings week. Golfers will enjoy an afternoon at the AAA Four Diamond

942 medals will be awarded and 163 recognition awards will be given during the competition; all prizes will support students’ employment or further education.

In the interest of maintaining a workforce with the skills needed to repair homes and vehicles, State Farm continues to support SkillsUSA. In addition to financial contributions, the company is providing hundreds of hours in time donated by employee volunteers. State Farm believes these bright, young people are our future workforce that will repair the vehicles and homes of our customers. So it is in our interest and our policyholders’ interest to help bring new talent, creativity and innovative minds to the skilled trades that support our industry.

The competition will begin on Wednesday, June 23, and continue on to Thursday, June 24. Some contests run two days, while all contests run Thursday.

match and surpass last year’s results.” This event is open to all industry professionals and is not limited to those attending the CIC and other industry meetings that week in Chicago. Registration forms for the event are available through the Foundation’s web site at www.ed-foundation.org. Questions about the tournament and sponsorship opportunities can contact the I-CAR Education Foundation at 888-722.3787, Ext. 282 or Melissa.

Marscin@ed-foundation.org.

Education Foundation Announces 2010 Board of Trustees The Education Foundation announced the slate of Trustees and Executive Committee for 2010. The Education Foundation honors the following representatives on the Executive Committee: Chairman - Doug Webb; Vice Chairman - Bill Daly; Secretary - Terry Fortner; Treasurer - Chris Northup; Member-At-Large Geralynn Kottsch-ade; Member-At-Large Tim O’Day; Member-At-Large Joseph Allen; Immediate Past Chairman Chris Evans; In addition to the Executive Committee, the Foundation Board of Trustees are: Mark Algie, Terry Angell, Guy Bargnes, Stacy Bartnik, Domenic Brusco, Mary Knapp, Nick Notte, John Saia, Rick Tuuri and John Ward. Trustee Emeriti are: J. Laurence Costin, Lirel G. Holt, Frank D. McGiboney, Chuck S. Sulkala and the late Russell Verona. Chairmen Emeriti consist of: Clark Plucinski. Foundation recognizes Industry Leadership Circle donors The Education Foundation would like to thank and recognize the 2009-2010 Industry Leadership Circle members for their support: 3M, ABRA Auto Body & Glass, ABRN, AkzoNobel, Allstate Insurance Company, Audatex, Bar’s Products, BASF Corporation, CCC Information Services Inc., Chicago Pneumatic, CollisionWeek, Craftsman, Erie-LaSalle Body Shop & Car Care Center, FenderBender magazine, FinishMaster, Inc., GEICO, Hi-Tech Collision & Glass Centers, Jerry’s Body Shop, Mac Tools, Mercedes-Benz USA, Inc., Minutillo, Michael, PPG Industries, Inc., Seidner’s Collision Centers, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Sterling Autobody, Taylor, Roy and The USAA Foundation.