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Honda ProFirst Certification Reaches 700 Shops by Ed Attanasio
When body shop number 700 recently became a member of American Honda’s ProFirst certification program, assistant national manager of Collision Parts and Service Marketing Gary Ledoux took a deep breath, knowing full well that there is still much work to do. To Ledoux, the ultimate goal of getting 1,200 shops in the program within the next 18 months seems very reachable. “When we first launched this program in April of 2015,
Gary Ledoux is pleased to see that 700 body shops are now members of American Honda’s ProFirst certification program, but he also knows that there is still much work to do to reach the goal of 1,200 shops
we heard from roughly 100 shops right away, asking ‘How can we join, and what do we need to do?’ We got a lot of the top shops in the country onboard quickly because they were already doing all of the things required by the program.” A lot of collision repairers were skeptical about the value of OE certifications in general, but pretty soon they changed their minds, Ledoux said. “Initially, not everyone thought that certifications were going to be around very
See Honda Certifies 700 Shops, Page 21
California Regulator’s Stand On ‘Alt-OE’ Parts May Lead to Pressure To Clarify The Terminology
sion told attendees at NACE in Anaheim, CA, in August. Discussion within the indusRamos and other representatry of “alt-OE” or “opt-OE” tives of the BAR said that it’s parts seemingly has raised clear from discussion with more questions than answers shops that a wide variety of this past year, but one state types of parts are being regulatory agency has a clear lumped together under the stand on the topic—one that “alt-OE” or “opt-OE” catemay drive changes nationgory names in some markets. Jaime Ramos wide. Some of those parts ap“The term by itself, ‘alt-OE’ or pear to be new, OEM parts but are ‘opt-OE,’ is not recognized by the Bubeing sold and delivered by non-OEM reau,” Jaime Ramos of the California or salvage parts suppliers, shops say. Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) Others appear to be slightly-damaged See Alt-OE Parts, Page 16 field operations and enforcement diviby John Yoswick
VOL. 7 ISSUE 8 OCTOBER 2016
Flooded Cars Likely to End up in NC, AG Cooper Warns Consumers Watch out for vehicles damaged by devastating floods in Louisiana to show up for sale on new and used car lots in North Carolina, Attorney General Roy Cooper cautioned consumers in August. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people suffering in Louisiana, and we hope the flood waters will soon start to recede,” said Cooper. “But even as storm victims begin to pick up the pieces, flooded cars will be on their way to North Carolina and other states to trick unsuspecting car buyers. Learn the warning signs to avoid flood cars.” After major storms, both new and used cars that were flooded will be offered for sale. These vehicles are frequently put through extensive cleaning
that can make it difficult for prospective buyers to detect even serious damage. Under North Carolina law, flood damage to a car must be disclosed in writing before the car is sold. Vehicles that have been partially or totally submerged in water resulting in damage to the body, engine or transmission are classified as flood vehicles, but title paperwork is sometimes unlawfully altered to remove any mention of flood damage. Failure to disclose damage to a vehicle is a class 2 misdemeanor prosecutable by local District Attorneys, and violators of the law can face civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. “This flooding has already caused terrible damage, and we don’t want to See AG Warns Consumers, Page 14
Truck Carrying Takata Air Bags Explodes, Burns Houses, Kills Texas Woman
a nearby home, killing 69-year-old Lucida Robles. It also burned 10 A truck carrying Takata air bag infla- other houses and injured a driver and tors and propellants exploded in South passenger in a passing vehicle. Texas last week, killing one person, News 4 San Antonio said the the company said on August 29. explosion was not caused by a collision with another vehicle, suggesting it was caused by a problem in the truck, its trailer or the cargo. Takata has a warehouse in Eagle Pass that stocks inflators manufactured across the border at a plant in Monclava. Takata said it sent personnel to the site to help investigate the incident. File photo of a Takata airbag that exploded in a vehicle The Takata recall is the in South Carolina largest in the history of the The inflators and propellants auto industry. Prolonged exposure of are at the center of a global recall in- the inflators to hot conditions can volving exploding airbags. The de- cause airbags to explode, spraying fective bags have killed at least 14 shrapnel into the passenger compartpeople in the U.S. ment. The truck in last week’s inciMore than 100 million vehicles dent, operated by a subcontractor, worldwide with Takata inflators are was bound for a Takata warehouse being recalled. in Eagle Pass when the accident occurred. We thank the Dallas Morning The ensuing explosion destroyed News for reprint permission. by Terry Box, Dallas Morning News
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