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Industry Responds to CNN Segment Exposing “Steering” & Use of “Sub-par” Parts by Stacey Phillips, Assistant Editor
The recent CNN news report about the collision repair industry gave viewers an inside look at the challenges body shops face in order to repair cars safely for consumers. It aired on the Anderson Cooper 360 show Feb. 11. The 11-minute segment, entitled “Auto Insurers Accused of Pushing Cheap and Sometimes Dangerous Repairs,” explained the widespread use of “salvaged” or aftermarket parts as well as the practice of insurance companies “steering” work away from
certain shops that aren’t part of their select service programs. In addition, the program discussed the lawsuits filed by more than 500 body shops in 36 states against the top insurance companies in the country to address their concerns. “This was just another validation of, as CNN put it the ‘scheme’ that’s going on within the insurance industry and anyone associated with them. It also validates what shops all around the country have been seeing and dealing with for years,” said Ron Perretta, owner of Professionals Auto
2015 Ford F-150 Long-Term Road Test
The following article was written by Travis Langness, Associate Editor at Edmunds.com. It was published on Jan. 26 and has generated a lot of commentary online. Since many readers heard only about the reaction to the story we reprint the article here with permission of Edmunds.com.
VOL. 33 ISSUE 3 MARCH 2015
Aluminum Body Repairs Part 1 I hit our brand-new long-term 2015 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew with a sledgehammer. On purpose. Twice. We bought the $52,000 F-150 from Galpin Ford in Van Nuys, California. The day after the truck was delivered to our Edmunds office in Santa Monica, I went to work with the BFH, See 2015 Ford F-150, Page 18
See CNN Segment, Page 22
Auto Body Association of Texas Gains Momentum After Inaugural Year
Automotive Finishes, PPG Automotive Finishes and Single Source, Inc. Automotive Paint Distributors. The second meeting took place the following day at 2:00 PM at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Longview Texas where an estimated 35 attended the presentation. Cheri and Darrell Smith, owners of McDaniel’s Quality Body Shop in Longview, TX, sponsored the meeting. The meetings began in the usual fashion with the association’s founder and President, Burl Richards of Burl’s Collision of Henderson, TX, opened with the Pledge of Allegiance, Prayer See ABAT Meetings, Page 9
Change Service Requested
P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
On Tuesday, January 20th, and Wednesday, January 21st, 2015 the Auto Body Association of Texas (ABAT) held back-to-back monthly meetings. The first meeting was held at the Classic Chevrolet Fleet Service Department in Grapevine, Texas, in the Dallas Forth Worth area. Attendance at the 5 PM meeting was estimated at 65 attendees. The meeting was partially sponTim Ronak sored and supported file photo by Sherwin-Williams
Travis Langness, Associate editor at edmunds.com, takes a sledgehammer to a brand new aluminum Ford F-150 to test the collision repair process. Photo credit: Edmunds.com
LaCIA Seeks New Members While Gearing Up for 2015 by Chasidy Rae Sisk
As 2015 gets underway, the Louisiana Collision Industry Association (LaCIA) is busy gearing up for another great year. Of course, this means a search for new blood and fresh ideas. Executive Director Alysia Hanks encourages collision repair professionals in LA to apply for a membership now so they can get involved as soon as possible. “Our association is gearing up for 2015 with our current members, but we are also looking for new Alysia Hanks sponsor/associate file photo members and, of course, general shop members. Right
now, I’m processing all the new general memberships so we can reelect our board for the 2015 year.” General membership costs $365 per rooftop annually, while associate members pay $1000 per year which includes advertising their logo on the association’s promotional materials. According to their mission statement, “LaCIA is committed to serving in the best interests of the collision repair industry through education, support, leadership, and business connections in our trade. We hope to achieve the open sharing and exchanging of ideas which will help make this field better for everyone who serves it and to promote consumer awareness. From the porter to office assistants to shop owners, we See LaCIA Seeks New Members, Page 16
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID San Bernardino, CA Permit #2244
2 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
REGIONAL
Auto Body Association of Texas Gains
Momentum After Inaugural Year . . . . . . . 1
Attanasio - Strong and Getting Stronger:
The State of I-CAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Franklin - New Century Marketing Basics . . 38
Automotive Distribution Network Has Sold
Luehr - Cycle Time Success Using
Bowden Ford in Alice, TX, Celebrates
Luehr - Make More Money Using
Out its Upcoming National Convention . . 26 25 Years in Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Culberson-Stowers Body Shop in Pampa,
Little’s Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Theory of Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
TX, Still Open During Construction . . . . . 9
NATIONAL
Body Shop After Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3M Awards Tool Grants to Veterans Through
Fort Worth, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
AASP/NJ Hosts NORTHEAST 2015
Curious Customers Return to TX Four-Alarm Fire at Body Shop in
GEICO Generates Underpayment
Complaints from Texas Shops . . . . . . . . 4
Henry Primeaux Sells Kia Dealership in Tulsa,
OK, Retires from Business Ownership . . 6
Industry Experts Speak at Business-Building
2015 Ford F-150 Long-Term Road Test . . . 1 CREF and Hire Our Heroes Program . . . 45 Automotive Services Show
March 20-22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Attempt by Edmunds.com to Investigate Aluminum Repair Rates Runs into
Controversy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Events in TX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
AudaExplore Donated $3M in Subscriptions
Suspect’s Laptop in Back Seat. . . . . . . . 4
AudaExplore Technology Driving Performance
Gearing Up for 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Bobby Alloway's PPG-Painted Car Wins
Auto Body Shop Owner . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Car Purchases Expected to Soar in 2015 . 40
LaCIA Seeks New Members While Lifesaving App Developed by LA
to Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
in Collision Repair Shops . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2015 AMBR Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Man Accused of Trying to Steal from
Car-O-Liner’s Peter Richardson: Director
Man Who Shot Victim Multiple Times at
Chicago Foundation Looks to Help Women
Mexican Military Raids Body Shop,
Diamond Standard Parts’ New Web-Based
NWLCRA Holds Meeting, Focus on Local
Forget the Bandwagon, DePetro Drives the
OK Body Shop Hit with Car . . . . . . . . . . 8 Body Shop in LA Surrenders . . . . . . . . . 4 Finds TX Vehicles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 SKILLS USA, Mentor Recognition
of National Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
and Children Across the Country . . . . . 32
Program “UNSUB” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Denver Broncos Classic Pickup Truck . 36
Ceremony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
I-CAR® Hybrid and Electric Vehicle
TX Begins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Industry Responds to CNN Segment
Overdue Trial Involving Collision in
Paint, Body and Equipment Specialists
Conference in TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
TX Attorneys Help Elderly Driver Get
Large Settlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
TX Bills Target ‘Named Driver’ Automobile
Disable Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Exposing "Steering" & Use of
"Sub-par" Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Large Portion of Antitrust Multidistrict Litigation in FL Dismissed, Refiled
by Plaintiffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Policies; Disclosure Rules Adopted . . . 14
Night-Time Automotive Paint Additive Has
Airbag Explosions; No Recall Advice for
Sherwin-Williams Second Quarter
TX Man and FL Woman Dead in Independent
Used Car Buyers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 COLUMNISTS
Attanasio - 2015 NADA Expo Brings
23,000 to San Francisco . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Attanasio - Instagram and Twitter Grow Up . 42
Vehicles Glowing and Owners Crowing . 52
Training Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Testing Shows Dramatic Differences in
Isocyanate-Blocking by Spraysuits. . . . 12
Three-C Body Shops in OH and State Farm Reach Agreement to Settle Multiple
Lawsuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
trade, technical and leadership fields. Chris Shepherd, Collision Instructor for Louisiana Technical College said he has 12 students entered. This will be a great opportunity to help judge and preview potential collision technicians graduating in the area. Mark Monroe, Collision Instructor for Bossier Parish Technical School presented a slideshow for the new Bossier Parish School of Technology and Innovative Learning. It was obvious by the photos, that the new building will be great for Bossier Parish students. This new facility is scheduled to be completed by May 25, 2015. Gary Weese, Automotive Instructor with Caddo Career & Technology Center talked about the annual Mentor/Business Recognition ceremony that held February 12, at 6:30 PM. It was held at the Automotive Technology Building, 5950 Union Avenue, Shreveport, LA. Dinner, refreshments, prizes, and recognition were be awarded. The guest speaker was Matt Parker. He discussed current issues with Louisiana Insurance, his views, and his ideas to correct the issues the citizens of Louisiana face.
Publisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst General Manager: Barbara Davies Assistant Editor: Stacey Phillips Online Editor: Victoria Antonelli Contributing Writers: Tom Franklin, John Yoswick, Janet Chaney, Toby Chess, David Brown, Rich Evans, Ed Attanasio, Chasidy Sisk, David Luehr Advertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman, Bill Doyle, Norman Morano (800) 699-8251 Sales Assistant: Louise Tedesco Art Director: Rodolfo Garcia
Indexof Advertisers
LA Body Shop Locates Stolen Vehicle,
The Northwest Louisiana Collision Repair Association met on Feb. 3 to discuss the upcoming SKILLS USA Competition, the Bossier Parish School of Technology, the annual Mentor/Business Recognition ceremony. Bill Burnside, Treasurer of the NWLCRA opened the meeting with the reading of the Anti-Trust law. Dick McDaniel of Car-O-Liner gave the prayer, and Randi Shepherd led the Pledge of Allegiance. Bill talked about the upcoming High School Competition SKILLS USA and the need for judges before April 16, 2015 in Houma, Louisiana. The post-secondary or college SKILLS USA Collision Industry competition will be held on March 17, 2015 in Shreveport, Louisiana. SkillsUSA heads to Louisville, KY, June 22–26, 2015, for the 51st annual National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC). More than 15,000 people—including students, teachers and business partners—are expected to participate in the weeklong event. More than 6,000 outstanding career and technical education students—all state contest winners— will compete hands-on in 99 different
Assured Performance . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Automotive Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Axalta Coating Systems . . . . . . . . . 55 BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 39 Bob Howard PDC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Car-Part.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA). . . . . . . . . . . 37 Chevyland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 21 Classic BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Dallas Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Diamond Standard Parts, Inc . . . . . . 5 Don Carlton Auto Group . . . . . . . . . 38 Equalizer Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . 17 Finnegan Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . 2 Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers TX, OK, LA, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Fowler Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Freedom Dodge-Chrysler-JeepRam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Gillman Acura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 48 Herkules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Honda-Acura Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-29 Huffines Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge Lewisville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Serving Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and adjacent metro areas. Autobody News is a monthly publication for the autobody industry. Permission to reproduce in any form the material published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher. ©2015 Adamantine Media LLC.
Autobody News
Southwest
Contents
NWLCRA Holds Meeting, Focus on Local SKILLS USA, Mentor Recognition Ceremony
Box 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018; (800) 699-8251 (760) 603-3229 Fax www.autobodynews.com Email: news@autobodynews.com
Huffines Hyundai Plano . . . . . . . . . 20 Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 44 Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 43 LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Mac Haik Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Malco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 53 Mike Calvert Toyota. . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Mirka Abrasives, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . 49 MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 35 North Freeway Hyundai . . . . . . . . . 34 PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Prime Supply, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Ray Huffines Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . 23 Reliable Chevrolet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . 31 Scoggin-Dickey Buick . . . . . . . . . . 33 South Pointe Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge. 27 Toyota of Fort Worth . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Toyota of Laredo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 45 Urethane Supply Company . . . . . . 16 Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 52 Young Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 3
GEICO Generates Underpayment Complaints from Texas Shops
Several collision repair shops in the Houston, TX, area are voicing claims that GEICO insurance has been refusing to pay certain rates for towing bills, administrative fees, and storage on total loss vehicles. Autobody News recently spoke to two of these shops to find out more. We are currently awaiting response from GEICO. Please check the Autobody News website for more details, as well as the April issue of the print publication.
Mexican Military Raids Body Shop, Finds TX Vehicles
Mexican authorities say they found a body shop dedicated to equipping vehicles belonging to the cartel, reported krgv.com. Out of the 13 vehicles found by soldiers in the shop, a handful had Texas license plates. Eight had been fitted with armored plating. Soldiers also found weapons at the shop. One man has been arrested.
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Curious Customers Return to TX Body Shop After Fire
San Antonio Fire Department investigators have yet to determine how a fire started inside an East Side body shop on the night of February 3 in Texas, causing about $150,000 in damage, reported ksat.com. Customers have been left with unanswered questions about the whereabouts of their vehicle that was at Express Body & Paint Shop #2 at the time of the blaze. The shop is located in the 2700 block of Rigsby Avenue. When firefighters arrived at the business around 7:30 pm Feb. 3, they noticed flames coming from one of its metal buildings, reported ksat.com. Upon arrival on the scene, officials heard what sounded like gunfire behind locked gates. It was confirmed by SAFD spokesman Christian Bove on the morning of Feb. 4 that the gunshot sound was actually ammunition exploding in the fire. At the shop on the morning of February 4, it was clear that the fire also had damaged at least one vehicle,a red Chevrolet pickup blackened by flames was in plain sight. A man who appeared to be the owner said he had no interest in talking to ksat.com reporters, and proceeded to ignore any questions directed at him.
LA Body Shop Locates Stolen Vehicle, Suspect’s Laptop in Back Seat C
A 27-year-old Lake Charles man left his personal laptop in the backseat of a vehicle he stole and later crashed, authorities told Michael Cooper, kplctv.com.
reference to a theft of a motor vehicle. The automobile had been stolen from a rental car agency. The complainant told deputies the rental agency had contacted him to inform him the vehicle had been involved in an accident and was towed by a local wrecker company, reported Cooper. Detectives discovered that Sittig was the one who broke into the body shop and stole the vehicle, after finding his personal laptop in the backseat. The car was abandoned by Sittig after he had gotten into a single-car accident on South Park Road and East GauTwenty-seven-year-old Justin Sittig of Lake thier Road. Charles was arrested on charges of simple Sittig was arrested on charges burglary, motor vehicle theft, simple criminal of simple burglary, motor vehicle damage to property over $500 and simple theft, simple criminal damage to criminal damage to property under $500. property over $500 and simple Photo credit: www.kplctv.com criminal damage to property under Justin Sittig was arrested on $500, reported Cooper. Myers told January 15 in connection with a vehi- Cooper that Sittig had active warrants cle stolen on November 17, Calcasieu for theft over $500, simple burglary Parish Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman and theft of a motor vehicle. Kim Myers said. His bond for all charges came Myers stated in a news release to a grand total of $73,000. that deputies were dispatched to a local body shop in Lake Charles in
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4 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Man Who Shot Victim Multiple Times at Body Shop in Louisiana Surrenders to NOLA Police
A 29-year-old man was gunned down Feb. 5 outside an eastern New Orleans body shop in the 7500 block of Chef Menteur Highway, New Orleans police told Jonathan Bullington, NOLA.com. The body was found behind a chain-link fence in front of the shop around 12:30 pm. A silver four-door car was parked next to the victim, who suffered multiple gun shot wounds. Family and friends of Joshua Jackson gathered around the crime scene and had to be contained by police. Woodrow Johnson, Later that 38, was booked day, just hours Thursday, Feb. 5, after pulling the with second-degree trigger, a 38murder in connection year-old-man with the shooting came forward as death of 29-year-old the gunman. Joshua Jackson in Woodrow eastern New Orleans. Johnson was (Orleans Parish arrested and Sheriff’s Office) charged with second-degree murder in the shooting
A grieving man runs past an officer to get to the scene as New Orleans Police investigate the shooting death of a man in front of an auto repair shop in the 7500 block of Chef Menteur Highway on Thursday, February 5, 2015. (Michael DeMocker, Nola.com / The Times-Picayune)
death of Jackson, reported Bullington. Those who knew Jackson said he was a business owner who purchased cars from auctions and repaired them to resell, reported Bullington.
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www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 5
TX Man and FL Woman Dead in Independent Airbag Explosions; No Recall Advice for Used Car Buyers Unadvertised safety defects can make buying a used car in America a dangerous decision. Carlos Solis died in January 2015 after the airbag in a used car he bought last year from a Texas dealer exploded, sending a piece of metal into his neck, reported Hiroko Tabuchi, nytimes.com. Solis, 35, was not aware when he bought the vehicle that its airbags could be defective and had been recalled, according to a lawsuit filed by his family on January 26. A New York Times review of other vehicles listed online by the dealer, All Stars Auto Sales in Cypress, TX, shows that close to half of those cars have also been recalled for safety defects, but have not been repaired. Federal laws do not require used car dealers to repair vehicles with safety defects before putting the cars back into public use, and dealers do not have to disclose to customers that a vehicle is the subject of a recall, reported Tabuchi. Congress has been presented with legislation to change this, but no progress has been made. Consumers are left on their own to check whether a used vehicle has been recalled for a safety defect by either purchasing a vehicle history report from a vendor like Carfax or running their ve-
hicle identification numbers through an automobile website or federal safety database. After a year of record recalls over faulty General Motors ignitions and Takata airbags, used cars with recalls continue to be sold to unknowing buyers. Hien Tran, 51, is yet another suspected victim of an airbag rupture in Florida. She did not know that the used 2001 Honda Accord she bought from a dealer a year earlier had open recalls, her family told Tabuchi. She died after her Takata-made airbag ruptured in an accident in September, sending metal shards into her face and neck, Tabuchi reported after speaking with local authorities. Solis’s death on Jan. 18, caused by the Takata airbag in his 2002 Honda Accord, was the sixth fatal accident worldwide linked to the faulty airbags. His passenger, an 11-year-old girl, was not injured. Despite the death, All Stars Auto Sales continues to sell cars with defects, according to the article. Of the 33 used cars listed on the dealership’s online inventory, 15 have open recalls, reported Tabuchi. Two of those—a 2005 Honda Accord and a 2006 Ram pickup—are under recall over Takata’s
Henry Primeaux Sells Kia Dealership in Tulsa, OK, Retires from Business Ownership
Longtime family-run dealership owner Henry Primeaux sold his remaining auto dealership, Primeaux Kia, located in Tulsa, OK. While Henry served as president, his wife Jane served as customer relations director, and daughter Lisa Primeaux Lotz was the general sales manager. His other daughter Joann Primeaux Longa and son Henry Joseph Primeaux have served in different capacities at the dealerships as well, reported Casey Smith of tulsaworld.com The independent partnership, headed by Mike Sullivan, was made official on January 30. University of Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer, Oklahoma City-area businessman Bob May, and lawyer Armando Rosell are also partners. The Kia dealership, located at 4747 S. Yale Ave., will operate under the new name Midtown Kia, reported Smith. Sullivan was initially uninterested in purchasing the dealership when approached by Primeaux two years ago. However, after the $2.8 million renovation and expansion of the
sales and service facility was completed in early 2014, Primeaux told Smith that it was time for him to sell the dealership and take a “half step” back from commitments. He and Jane will remain in Tulsa, and serve the community by sitting on the OSU Tulsa board of trustees and the foundation board for Tulsa Community College. Primeaux is also a partner in the sign company, GoVision, headquartered just outside of DallasFort Worth, reported Smith. The former Maupin Kia dealership was purchased by Primeaux in 2006, who changed the name. Six years later in 2013, Primeaux Kia underwent a $2.8 million expansion and renovation that raised the bar for the service facility. Previously, Primeaux had established himself in Tulsa as the owner of Crown Auto World from 1991 to 2000, selling the Chrysler, Jeep, Buick and BMW brands.
6 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
airbag defect but have not been fixed, according to a search of the cars’ vehicle information numbers in a federal database. At least five more cars in the dealer’s inventory, including a 2006 Chevy Cobalt and a 2005 Pontiac Grand Am, are under recall for defective ignition switches but have not been fixed, according to the database. A sixth car with a faulty ignition switch, a 2006 Chevy Impala, is marked on the dealer’s website as sold. Other defects in cars listed in the inventory include problems with the crankshaft and brake lights. A dealer representative who declined to identify herself told Tabuchi she could not talk about individual sales, but p did confirm that the online inventory was up to date. Her manager could not be reached for comment. The Accord that All Stars Auto Sales sold Solis had two previous owners, both registered in Texas, according to a vehicle history compiled by Carfax. The original owner sold the vehicle in 2011, according to the Carfax report, the same year Honda first recalled that model over defective airbags. A Honda spokesman, Chris Martin, told Tabuchi the automaker had sent multiple recall notices to previous
owners, starting in 2011. Though the car was later included in a new recall, in June of last year, Honda had not yet mailed a recall notice to Solis, Martin added. In Congress, lawmakers have introduced bills that would require usedcar dealers and rental companies to fix recalled cars before they are put back into public use. But those measures, which auto dealers oppose, have stalled. Most major rental companies, though, now say that they voluntarily fix recalled vehicles. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokesperson told Tabuchi it will again push for Congress to prohibit used-car dealerships from selling vehicles with an open recall and the rental of vehicles with an open recall.
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www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 7
Man Accused of Trying to Steal from OK Body Shop Hit with Car
Paint, Body and Equipment Specialists Conference in TX
Tulsa, OK police arrested a man after they said he tried to steal cars from a body shop on the corner of North Lewis and Independence, reported fox23.com. The owner of a nearby shop confronted the man who was trying to break in around 11 pm on January 28. He then fled the scene and was hit by an oncoming car while crossing the road. The driver of the car is not in any trouble because police say it’s the suspect’s fault. The man was not seriously hurt, according to police, but he did go to the hospital. Afterwards, officials took the suspect to jail.
The Paint, Body, and Equipment Specialists (PBES) Conference will be held from Wednesday, May 13 to Friday, May 15 at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio at 123 Losoya Street in San Antonio, TX. It is a two-and-a-half day educational event, put on by the Auto Care Association, geared toward the distributors and jobbers of the paint, body and equipment industry. PBES members and non-members are welcome to attend. For information, visit the PBES page. Those interested will be able to register for the conference in the coming weeks.
Car-O-Liner’s Peter Richardson: Director of National Accounts
Bowden Ford in Alice, TX Celebrates 25 Years in Business
Car-O-Liner announced the promotion of Peter Richardson to Director of National Accounts. Richardson acted as the company’s Key Accounts Manager since 2013, working with OEM and MSO partners across North America to discuss. “Through Peter’s collaboration, we have solidified our connection with valued key accounts,” said Jeff Kern, Car-O-Liner President of the Americas. “Building our partnership with the OEM and MSO accounts is crucial to ensure our total solutions for OEM approved repairs contribute to a safe repair process.”
The Bowden family celebrated their family-owned Ford dealership’s 25th year of business on January 28. They were surrounded by employees, family, friends and chamber members and ambassadors, reported Ofelia Garcia Hunter, alicetx.com. There was also a ribbon cutting event that marked the opening of the new Bowden Ford dealership on East Main Street in Alice. After the ceremony, service awards were presented to employees with a combined experience of 240 years, reported Hunter.
8 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Overdue Trial Involving Collision in TX Begins
Jury selection began Feb. 9 in a civil trial over an automobile collision that took place on Highway 69 in southeast Texas more than two years ago. Alleging that reckless driving caused the collision, Lisa Chapman and Amanda Breeden, as ‘next of friend’ of several minors, filed suit against Alex and Maura Tony, Susan and Robert Saurage, and Dana Baker Jr. on Feb. 28, 2013, in Jefferson County District Court. According to the plaintiff’s second amended petition, on Nov. 15, 2012, the defendants were traveling north on Highway 69 near the Fannett Road exit in Beaumont when they allegedly failed to control their speed and struck, or caused other vehicles to strike, the rear of Chapman’s vehicle. Chapman was driving. The plaintiffs, who were passengers in the vehicle, allege they sustained bodily injuries due to the defendants negligently failing to yield the right of way, maintain a proper lookout and control their speed. They are seeking less than $100,000 in damages. Chapman is not limiting her recovery to $100,000, the suit states.
Four-Alarm Fire at Body Shop in Fort Worth, TX
Firefighters battled a four-alarm fire on February 4 at an automotive repair shop in The Colony in Fort Worth, TX.
Crews battle a four-alarm fire at Quality Car Care Auto Repair Center in Fort Worth, TX. Photo credit: www.nbcdfw.com
Crews told Holley Ford of nbcfw.com that flames broke out at Quality Car Care Auto Repair Center in the 5200 block of South Colony Boulevard. There were injuries reported. Lewisville and Carrollton fire departments assisted The Colony fire department to extinguish the fire, reported Ford.
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ABAT Meetings
and Anti-Trust Disclaimer. At both meetings, Tim Ronak of AkzoNobel Automotive Coatings was the guest speaker on the topic, “How to Improve Your Business Processes and Help Your Bottom Line Profits.” Discussions centered around shrinking labor gross profit percentages due to additional costs of investment in equipment, facilities and training.
Other areas of discussion included: 1) What does the current collision industry labor profitability look like currently and over the last several years? 2) Why do we need to invest in additional facility, equipment and training? 3) How do I calculate my ROI (Return On Investment) required, and what is the reasonable rate of return one can anticipate? 4) What time frame should one consider for a return on such investments? 5) How do I equate the additional capital expense for facility, equipment and training into a reasonable and
competitive labor rate and/or charge? The ABAT Board also announced the election of 6 new board members from ABAT’s DFW area Chapter. Burl Richard’s, ABAT’s current president stated, “Were extremely excited as to the potential impact this will have on the association’s continued growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and beyond. We have many other repairers across our great state who want to get involved in developing new ABAT chapters in their areas.” The National Auto Body Research (NABR) ‘Variable Rate System’ was also covered, stressing the importance for repairer’s to go on line and complete the free survey due to the many distinct benefits it can offer. The short survey can be found at http://www.nationalautobody research.com by clicking on “Surveys” and selecting the Texas flag. The meetings concluded with a review and summary of ABAT’s first year and its many accomplishments. Texas repairers, manufacturersuppliers or mere supporters who would like to learn more about ABAT are encouraged to contact Burl Richards at Phone: 903.657.8082 Fax: 903.655.1270 or E-Mail: brich08@aol.com.
Culberson-Stowers Body Shop in Pampa, TX, Still Open During Construction in their Parking Lot
Culberson-Stowers Body Shop in Pampa, TX, is still doing business despite the construction site in their parking lot, reported John Lee, at thepampanews.com. The shop, which has been in the same location since 1965, is still open
on any make and model. All seven technicians are BASF and I-CAR certified, but Hull told Lee that repair time can still be a challenge. Hull has been working at the body shop since August of 2006, but he has been in the industry since the late 1980s, reported Lee. He has seen the progression in vehicle technology, and how it has created hurtles in the collision repair industry. However, Hull told Lee that the plus side of these changes is that cars are now welded together with smaller pieces that are designed to The men of Culbersons-Stowers Body Shop: from left, collapse during a collision. George Albear, Merkie Martinez, Curtis Newton, Instead of replacing the entire Terry Hull, Lupe Galaviz, Jessie Santacruz and, not front end, the technician only pictured, Trace Leftwich. Photo credit: John Lee has to replace the smaller during their normal business hours pieces affected. Hull told Lee his favorite vehiwith full operation. Culberson Stowers handles col- cle to repair is the front-end of a GM lision repair, paint work, frame repair Pickup because it’s the fastest-flowand all other typical duties, according ing repair. Culberson-Stowers Body Shop is to body shop manager, Terry Hull. They also offer not-so-typical serv- open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday ices, such as pin-striping and outside through Friday. They can be reached detailing like buffing and polishing at 806-663-1615.
www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 9
‘Lifesaving App’ Developed by Lousiana Body Shop Owner by Stacey Phillips, Assistant Editor
After hearing about multiple accidents involving teens due to texting and driving, a Louisiana body shop owner decided he wanted to make a difference. Mike Watson, owner of Jim’s Body Shop in La Place, created an app called Text Guardian that prevents teens from using their phone while driving.
The anti-driving-and-texting app, Text Guardian, became available for Andriod users to download in February 2015, with an iOS version soon to follow
Text Guardian was designed for parents to download on their child’s phone. “The app literally locks your whole phone except for the ability to call 911 or three contacts that mom and dad agree to in case of an emergency,” said Watson. “What inspired me were too many news reports, and customers coming in and telling me that ‘I was texting and driving,’ ” said Watson, who began working at his father’s body shop on weekends and summer vacations at age 12, switching to fulltime at 17. Watson’s father opened Jim’s Body Shop in 1985. When he retired in 2006, Watson began running the business. He found that a lot of teens were coming into his shop with broken wrists, damage to their legs or back or even facial bruises. “For some reason, teens feel necessary to confess what happened to us. They’ll tell us what they did,” said Watson. With two children and three grandchildren of his own, Watson said the accidents he heard about as a result of texting and driving bothered him a lot. He began doing research on the texting apps that were available and found that they didn’t have some of the features he felt were important, such as accountability or reporting to parents.
After talking to some of his tech friends about the possibly of creating an app, he contacted the company Zapporoo for assistance in July 2014. The app has been tested over the last several months and the Android version will be launched the end of February. An iOS version will be released depending on the demand. “What’s in your heart can be brought forth with a lot of effort,” he said. Watson said the name Text Guardian came about after his secretary Linda Teate mentioned that the app was like a Guardian Angel. Once parents download the app and set up an administrative page, they can choose certain parameters such as the speed they would like the app to be activated. Once set, the teen is not able to make any adjustments. Another key feature sends an immediate text that reads “Text Guardian is in use at this time. Will text you back when it is safe to do so.” to anyone who tries to call or text the child while he/she is driving. “We see a lot of low-speed crashes,” said Watson. “They’ll be driving through a neighborhood at 20 miles an hour and that’s when they think it’s the safest to text. Watson said it’s actually one of the most dangerous times. Parents who download the app to their own phones have the same options except the app does not need to be password protected. If their teen figures out a way to override it, the parent receives an immediate text that the app has been deactivated or attempted to be deactivated. Watson encourages parents to also download Ignore No More, created by app developer, Sharon Standifird. If a teen is ignoring a parent’s calls or texts, the app causes the phone to lock automatically. “If they do manage to disable that app [Text Guardian] and they are still on the road, and mom and dad are aggravated, they can go to the Ignore No More app and lock their son or daughter’s phone.” All of the other apps on the phone will be blocked, except for Google Maps. “We feel navigation is very necessary,” said Watson. He said he was offered a large sum of money to sell the app but decided against it once he found out that
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the intent was to destroy it. “I was ready to take the money until they divulged what they wanted to do with it,” said Watson. “I told them how would I be able to sit at night with the news coming on and another report of a teen being killed in a texting and driving accident. I might have a pocket full of money but I would have a destroyed heart.” He is currently working on a paid version of the app, which will offer an option to turn off blocked calls or texts. Future plans include partnering with trucking companies that want to ensure their drivers do not text and drive. Another goal is to form a relationship with insurance companies. The idea is to create a history calendar that tracks if the teen attempts to disable the app. The information will then be sent automatically to the insurance carrier. Watson said the goal is for the insurance company to offer discounts to those who use the app. “How could any insurance company refuse to offer this app?” said Watson. “When Text Guardian is in
use, phone distraction is not an issue. Text Guardian could save insurance companies hundreds of thousands in claims each year, not to mention the lives that will be saved.” According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2,524 teens died in motor vehicle crashes in 2013. Watson and his wife Ann have realized the Text Guardian app could be a big part of saving lives. “It will absolutely save lives and that’s my dream,” said Watson. “The goal is to watch the stats go down.” “The greatest reward of all is going to be when I start seeing stats run down and then kids get so used to this app it becomes simply like a seatbelt,” he said. “We know that it could actually hurt business but that’s not the issue. Lives are the issue.”
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www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 11
Industry Insight with John Yoswick
—John Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, who has a body shop in the family and has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988. He is the editor of the weekly CRASH Network (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com). Contact him by email at jyoswick@SpiritOne.com.
Testing Shows Dramatic Differences in Isocyanate-Blocking by Spraysuits New testing announced at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) earlier this year indicates that not all spraysuits are created equal in terms of preventing penetration of isocyanates. Brandon Thomas of GMG Envirosafe shared the results of testing his company had done on six spraysuits with brand names including DeVilbiss, DuPont, Sata and Shoot Suit. Without disclosing which test results were for each specific suit (because of liability concerns), Thomas showed that only one of the six appeared to fully prevent isocyanate exposure. Four others showed varying levels of exposure, and one appeared to offer no more protection than not wearing a suit at all. “This is not a finger-pointing exercise,” Thomas said. “It’s an exercise to see if we can do better due diligence in terms of what we’re equipping our employees with. Do all spraysuits perform the same? No. We have a full
gamut here. Our objectives here were to determine if there is a viable way to test a suit for isocyanate exposure, and if so, do we see any variability when comparing suits. We absolutely can test the spraysuits, and absolutely can look at the variability within these suits and the type of protections they actually provide the painters.” Thomas said he conducted the testing because of the conflicting or unclear responses (if any) he received last fall from the manufacturers of spraysuits when he asked if their suits provide refinish technicians with protection from isocyanates; some of the manufacturers told him no such testing was possible and that only manufacturers with “deep pockets who can afford lawsuits” make any claims about the protection their spraysuits offer. In his presentation at CIC, held in January in Palm Springs, CA, Thomas emphasized that the testing
Insurer recognized for emphasis on safety and pollution-prevention
Geico has received the “2015 Excellence in Safety and Pollution Prevention Award” from S/P2, an organization created to help the automotive service and repair industry meet OSHA and EPA guidelines. Bob Medved of S/P2 presented the award to Geico’s Joe Lacy at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) held in Palm Springs, CA. Medved said Geico “excels at safety and pollution prevention,” providing S/P2 training for its entire claims staff, and requiring at least one person at each of its direct repair shops complete the training and testing. In accepting the award, Lacy acknowledged that in the past he “wasn’t a very safe person,” and that he was “no stranger to emergency rooms.” But having a doctor with a scalpel inches away when he had metal in his eye convinced him to become more focused on safety. “I don’t ever want to do that again,” Lacy said. Each year, S/P2 provides training and testing of more than 100,000 students, instructors, shops and claims staff nationwide through industry-specific online safety and pollution prevention training. For more information, visit www.sp2.org. 12 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
was not designed to indicate the level of health risks to which painters wearing the various spraysuits may be exposed. Thomas’s testing was not examining how much isocyanate exposure painters face while spraying in the booth. In fact, his testing began by having a painter wear one of the testing sensors on his wrist outside of the spraysuit. After spraying clearcoat on two fenders and a hood for about 10 to 12 minutes, the sensor showed no isocyanate exposure. (Thomas postulates that this may be because more exposure time is necessary, or that the sensors may have showed more exposure if placed lower in the booth on the painter’s lower legs.) So Thomas’s testing was done by placing the sensors on a spraycard placed inside the same area in each of the suits, then spraying that area directly for about five seconds with a pass from right-to-left and back again. (A similar test to simulate a spill ex-
posure had similar findings although one suit that fared fairly well in the spray test did less well in the spill test.) The sensors turn bright orange with initial isocyanate exposure and a more dull, brownish orange with more saturated exposure. Based on this testing, only one of the six suits tested prohibited isocyanate exposure. “But this is not a working environment of standing and spraying in a booth for hours,” Thomas said. “What we wanted to confirm is we can test these suits, and we have that ability. So some of the manufacturers’ claims that there is no test is false. And we want to invite and engage the manufacturers to take some ownership of this.” He said his next step is to present the findings to the manufacturers “to give them the opportunity to recreate it or maybe test all their suits, and then share those results with the [CIC] body.” See Isocyanates, Page 17
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TX Bills Target ‘Named Driver’ Automobile Policies; Disclosure Rules Adopted
A pair of bills filed in the Texas Legislature would prohibit automobile insurers from issuing “named driver” policies in the state, but one would allow named driver exclusion under certain circumstances, stated insurancejournal.com. HB 318 by Rep. Mark Keogh, who represents part of Montgomery County, and HB 335 by Rep. Ed Thompson, representing part of Brazoria County, would add Subchapter H to Chapter 1952 of the Insurance Code to address “named driver” policies. The bills define a named driver policy as one that provides “coverage only for drivers specifically named on the policy and not for individuals residing in a named insured’s household. The term includes an automobile insurance policy that has been endorsed to provide coverage only for drivers specifically named on the policy.” While both measures would prohibit the issuance of named driver policies, HB 335 would permit a “named driver exclusion” on a policy “if the exclusion specifically names each excluded driver and does not exclude a class of drivers.” If passed, the bills would apply to all automobile insurance companies in Texas and would affect policies written or renewed on or after Jan. 1, 2016. The effective date for both HB 318 and HB 335 is Sept. 1, 2015. A similar bill, HB 1773, was introduced but did not pass in the 2013 regular session of the Legislature.
Disclosure Rules While the Legislature in 2013 allowed the use of named driver policies, it passed legislation requiring that consumers be informed of the limitations inherent in such policies. Senate Bill 1567, passed in the 2013 Legislature, Regular Session created §1952.0545 of the insurance code, which requires insurers and agents to provide consumers with “written and oral disclosures, and contemporaneous written confirmation of the oral disclosure, for named driver policies,” according to the Texas Department of Insurance. In May 2014, Insurance Commissioner Julie Rathgeber adopted amendments that require the named driver disclosure to be included on
auto ID cards. More recently, the commissioner adopted rules that add §5.208, which seeks to clarify the disclosure responsibilities of insurers and agents regarding the issuance of named driver policies, both new and renewals. The disclosure section of the newly adopted rules is as follows:
§5.208. (c) Disclosures. (1) Disclosure requirements. An agent or insurer may not accept a premium or fee for a new or renewal named driver policy until the agent or insurer has:
(A) made the oral disclosure under paragraph (3) of this subsection; (B) received a contemporaneous written confirmation of the oral disclosure under paragraph (4) of this subsection; (C) made the written disclosures under paragraph (5) of this subsection; and (D) received a signed copy of the written disclosure under paragraph (5)(B) of this subsection.
(2) Content. Oral and written disclosures for named driver policies must include the following, “WARNING: A NAMED DRIVER POLICY DOES NOT PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR INDIVIDUALS RESIDING IN THE INSURED’S HOUSEHOLD THAT ARE NOT NAMED ON THE POLICY.” (3) Oral disclosure. An agent or insurer may comply with the oral disclosure requirement by delivering the disclosure live or using a recording:
(A) in the presence of the applicant or insured; (B) over the telephone; or (C) over the Internet (for example, by Internet video call).
(4) Signed confirmation of oral disclosure. An agent or insurer must require an applicant or insured to sign a written confirmation that the agent or insurer has provided the oral disclosure. The applicant or insured must sign the written confirmation contemporaneously with receiving the oral disclosure. (5) Written disclosures must be conspicuous, as that term is defined in
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Business and Commerce Code §1.201(B)(10). An agent or insurer must:
(A) include the disclosure in the policy and on any proof of insurance document issued to the insured, including an auto ID card issued under §5.204 of this title; and (B) require an applicant or insured to sign a copy of the disclosure.
(6) Signatures. All signatures required by this section must be original or electronic signatures executed specifically for each new and renewal policy.
(A) Electronic signatures must comply with Business and Commerce Code Chapter 322 (Uniform Electronic Transactions Act), Insurance Code Chapter 35 (Electronic Transactions), and any applicable rules. (B) Signatures must not be: (i) made before the agent or insurer makes the disclosure; (ii) reproduced, transferred, referenced to, or otherwise replicated from a signature on file with the agent or in-
surer; or (iii) merely presumed to exist. (C) An agent or insurer may not state, require, agree or assume that a signature requirement is met based on payment received from the applicant or insured.
(7) Language. Agents and insurers must provide the disclosures in English and, in addition, may provide them in other languages.
(d) Installment payments. After complying with the disclosure requirements for each new and renewal policy, an agent or an insurer is not required to comply with subsection (c) of this section each time the agent or insurer accepts an installment payment during that policy’s term. (e) Failure to comply. An agent or insurer may not use noncompliance with Insurance Code §1952.0545 or this section as a reason to avoid liability under the policy. Noncompliance with Insurance Code §1952.0545 or this section is not grounds for cancellation under Insurance Code §551.10, stated insurancejournal.com.
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Three-C Body Shops in OH and State Farm Reach Agreement to Settle Multiple Lawsuits After two and a half years of legal jousting, involving over 140 separate claims seeking damages in excess of $300,000, Bob Juniper of Three-C Body Shops and State Farm Insurance have reached a settlement. Juniper, second generation owner and CEO of Three-C Body Shops, Inc. filed a lawsuit against State Farm on behalf of 146 of his customers. The issue stemmed from Three-C’s billings associated with the handling of total loss vehicles of which the insurer declined to provide ample compensation to their customers. The issues included, but were not restricted to processes such as hazardous waste, labor related to dismantling, mechanical, diagnostic time, access, rough pulls, accessing codes, relocation of disabled vehicle, fluid/debris clean-up, collision wrap, clean-up of broken glass, administrative time performing research for factory repair methods and numerous other processes incurred. “The time and efforts involved in vehicles once considered repairable and then deemed total losses are often considered by insurers to be a ‘cost of doing business;’ however, when a vehicle becomes a total loss, such labor and admin-
istrative activities become burdensome and take considerable time away from our efforts to serve our repair customers. Such activities, time and procedures are all too often unappreciated and ignored and we sought to receive due compensation for our efforts” stated Juniper. “The costs involved in processing total losses are often higher than the amounts State Farm had been willing to provide for and our ongoing efforts to amicably resolve the issues on behalf of our customers were unsuccessful. The only recourse left was to seek a court’s ruling on the matter; and as such, I took an Assignment of Proceeds (AOP) from our customers and sought recovery on their behalf.” Juniper went on to state: “We are pleased to have settled this group of cases and I presume State Farm is as well. It is never a good situation for the customer when an insurer and repairer clash over such issues, especially when litigation results. I’m confident the settlement will enable our two companies to better serve the needs of our customers and our respective businesses regardless if a vehicle is repairable or should be deemed to be a total loss.”
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LaCIA Seeks Members
are here to provide everyone a voice and hope for the future of our livelihood. LaCIA is an organization that was started so that the collision repair industry of Louisiana has a chance to exchange ideas and provide a voice and support for the collision repair professionals in our state to provide the best experience possible for our customers.” Hanks has also been preparing the association’s 2015 agenda which will include several closed meetings, working with the Southern Automotive Repair Conference in April, and holding fundraisers. Those interested in improving the future of LA’s collision repair industry can apply for an association membership on LaCIA’s website: www.la-cia.com.
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Industry Experts Speak at Business-Building Events
A business-building event was held on January 28 in San Antonio, TX, for local body shop owners. They had an opportunity to learn about critical business issues and trends impacting their businesses. Upcoming Collision Industry Events are being held around the country by a group of the industry’s top experts. The speakers included: ● Mobile Estimating Technology by Mitchell ● Car Rental Technology by Hertz ● Repair Planning by BASF ● Aluminum Repair: Some Facts and Myths by 3M ● OSHA/EPA Compliance Training for Collision Repair by AAMS ● Collision Industry Overview by English Color ● Insurance Industry Trends by CARSTAR “When you’re an independent body shop owner, it’s hard to take the time to step away from your business to look at longer-range changes and developments in the industry,” said Mark Algie, Business Development Manager for 3M Automotive Aftermarket. “This Collision Industry program provides a great way to understand how the changing marketplace will impact your business, and plan now for those changes!”
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Isocyanates
“There are a lot of options out there, and unfortunately, shops are liable for choosing the correct suit, not the manufacturers and not the jobbers or distributors,” Thomas said. This was the fourth consecutive CIC meeting that included discussion of isocyanates, a family of chemical compounds, found in several products used in collision repair (most notably, clearcoats), that can pose serious and permanent health risks if not handled properly. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), workers improperly exposed to isocyanates can suffer permanent respiratory complications, and even death, from a single episode of overexposure or intermittent exposures at low concentrations. They are a leading cause of occupational asthma. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has stepped up inspections of body shops nationwide as part of a three-year emphasis (until mid-2016) on protecting workers from isocyanate exposure.
Collision repair is one of about 10 industries targeted by OSHA under the program. The OSHA shop inspections under this program are not brief; they may be conducted over three or four days, possibly spread out over several weeks. Inspectors are checking a shop’s chemical inventory, safety data sheets, hazard assessment training and personal protection equipment (PPE). They are checking the shop’s OSHA 300 logs for five years, and reviewing workers' medical records. They are interviewing employees to ask about PPE usage, asthma diagnosis, or symptoms (such as watery eyes, shortness of breath, chest tightness) that occur at work but dissipate away from work. And they are conducting air sampling and wipe sampling on skin and PPE—and even in areas such as drinking fountains or employee break rooms where other employees could be exposed to isocyanates if a painter, for example, sits down or touches items while still wearing a shootsuit or gloves. How long do isocyanates on such surfaces pose an exposure risk for others? Speaking at CIC last fall, Catherine Sayles of Bayer Material Science,
a raw material supplier of isocyanates to paint manufacturers, said it varies. “If it’s still wet, I would definitely say you have that potential,” she said. “Once it’s dry, it depends on how much of it is there, how thick it is, how much isocyanate is actually in the product.” She said shops can check for surface or skin contamination from isocyanates—after clean-up of a spill, for example—by using Swype test kits for aliphatic isocyanates. Sayles also said her company recommends the use of nitrile gloves (not latex) when working around isocyanates, but cautioned that shops can no longer presume that “blue gloves” are nitrile as opposed to just latex. “In the past, the latex manufacturers always made their gloves white and the nitrile gloves were blue,” she said. “Now the manufacturers of latex gloves are also making them in different colors, including blue. So there’s confusion sometimes as to whether a blue glove is latex or nitrile. You want to make sure you’re paying attention to the box and what kind of glove you’re using, because latex gloves are not adequate for isocyanate protection.”
TX Attorneys Help Elderly Driver Get Large Settlement
The Carlson Law Firm’s Personal Injury Attorneys, Steve Dummitt and Michael Erskine, helped a car crash victim resolve a case prior to trial for a confidential, but substantial settlement. The client was involved in a collision with a driver operating a company vehicle. The victim is an older gentleman who underwent spinal surgery due to the severity of his injuries. According to court documents, the defendant disputed both the liability, claiming that the collision was unavoidable and that the injuries were not caused by the crash. The defense specifically focused the plaintiff’s advanced age and “inconsistent” medical treatment as the primary factors in his injuries. “Most Texas law firms would not have taken our client’s case because he did not seek medical attention for more than two weeks after the crash. Through his and others’ testimony, we were able to navigate past this issue to our client’s benefit,” said Dummitt. Despite the resources of the defendant’s company, The Carlson Law Firm attorneys were able to build the case. “Over the past five or six years, there has been a significant increase in company vehicles on Texas roads,” said Erskine. “Unfortunately, our client’s life is changed from this crash.”
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2015 Ford F-150
intentionally denting the Ford's right quarter panel. Crazy? Maybe. But we wanted to find out if repairing the aluminumbodied Ford is more expensive and time-intensive than repairing traditional steel-bodied trucks. Remember, the F-150 is the first pickup truck with a lightweight aluminum body and bed. After much thought we chose to smash the bed side because it would need to be repaired, as opposed to a dented door, fender or hood, which could simply be replaced. So in the name of consumer awareness we dented our truck with two big blows from a sledgehammer (the impact also cracked the taillight) and drove it straight from the Edmunds garage to our local Ford dealer, Santa Monica Ford, and asked for an estimate. Take the jump to check out the sledgehammer video (on Edmunds.com). Hiding the fact that we’re Edmunds.com was important so our experience truly represented the real world. No special treatment. I also didn’t want to admit that I had hit the truck with a hammer, so I lied and told the service advisor that the damage happened while I was parked. I told him I had no idea what happened. I also told him that to avoid raising my insurance rates, I’d be paying out of pocket for this repair. He grimaced and sympathized with me, then got out his clipboard and pointed out the areas that needed repair. Various sections of the panel had deformed and would need to be pounded out. Near both the top and the bottom of the panel, there were creases and folds in the aluminum that would need to be fixed before they could be painted. According to the advisor, the aluminum would be much harder to fix than steel. His shop was trained to fix the aluminum but it required special tools and would take extra time. A job like this on an F-150 with steel panels “would take half the time.” After about 10 minutes, the advisor came out with an estimate. I approved the work and asked if I could come back in a few days and photograph the repair in progress. He agreed. Stay tuned for Part 2.
Aluminum Body Repairs Part 2 After bouncing an 8-pound sledgeham-
mer off the side of our new long-term 2015 Ford F-150, twice, I went undercover and drove it to our local Ford dealer, Santa Monica Ford, for repair. As explained in Part 1 of our adventure, the idea was to test the hypothesis that when the aluminum body of our 2015 F-150 is damaged, it takes longer and is more expensive to repair than a more traditional steel-body pickup truck. Ford claims the 2015 Ford F-150 is up to 700 pounds lighter thanks to its aluminum panels, which increases overall fuel economy and payload.
portable or central installed system ● Work area separation / isolation system Work separation can be an aluminum separation (Curtain) system or a separate room. Aluminum vehicles undergoing repairs must be able to be separated from vehicles undergoing steel repairs ● Specialized aluminum SPR rivet gun Approved by the Ford Paint & Body Technical Center.
fect. It would take “seven to ten business days” to finish the job and they welcomed me back to take photos of the process. Less than a day after I handed over the keys, though, I got a call from the body shop. The service advisor had misquoted the price of a part and they needed my approval to move forward. Ruh-roh. The second time I hit the truck, the taillight cracked, and even though it still functioned properly we wanted to fix it. Ideally, we’d replace just the broken piece, the lens. Unfortunately, it’s permanently mated to the housing and Ford only sells this part as a single unit. What’s more, we got our F-150 in the Lariat trim level. That means it’s equipped with (amongst other things) a blind-spot monitoring system. The sensors for that system are housed in the taillight and as you might expect, this all led to a higher price for the taillight assembly than previously expected. Much higher. The price jumped from $106.28 to $887.25. For a taillight. Without much of a choice, I approved the price increase and thanked the shop for double-checking with me. Two days later, I checked in on the
This might seem like a complicated list, but many body shops have had this stuff for years. Aluminum body panels on cars aren’t really new. They’re just new in the pickup truck segment, so there are dozens of independent shops and Ford dealers near our Santa Monica office that can handle this repair. Finding a certified independent shop, however, or a properly equipped dealer Detail of hammer damage. Photo credit: Edmunds.com might be more difficult in But what happens when Thor decides other parts of the country. to use your truck for target practice? When I dropped the truck off at According to Ford, “the majority Santa Monica Ford, the manager told of collision repairs can be completed by me they would definitely be repairmost body shops today (e.g. bumpers, ing the panel, not replacing it. Pergrilles, mirrors, dings, dents) [but] major collision repairs should be performed by aluminum-capable Ford body shops or National Body Shop Network members.” Along with training from the “Ford F-150 Collision Repair Program” Ford body shops or independent body shops would need some specific equipment to repair the damage on our truck. Here’s a list of the equipment Ford recommends "to be aluminum repair capable”: ● Dedicated aluminum MIG welding system PDedicated Wholesale Staff Welder must be 200v and equipped PCompetitive Wholesale Prices with Pulse MIG Technology ● Dedicated aluminum hand & power PExceptional Customer Service tools PPrompt & Dependable Delivery A small hand tool kit that contains all needed tools has been developed and ph. 800.288.9180 is required to be purchased through 281.209.4214 Rotunda ● Dedicated aluminum dent extraction fax:281.209.4222 system Dent extraction system must contain an Gillman Acura aluminum stud welder, heat gun, py18002 North Freeway rometer, aluminum hammers and dent Houston, TX 77073 extraction system jcastellow@gillmanauto.com ● Dedicated aluminum Wet Mix air www.gillmanacura.com/parts filtration system Dust extraction system must be a Wet Mon-Fri 8am-6pm · Sat 8am-5pm Mix technology system and can be a
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www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 19
F-150 to see what progress had been made. The body shop had removed the “Sport 4x4” sticker and the taillight and started dent repair, pulling out the damaged areas. Four days after dropping off the truck (two days after my first checkup) I dropped by the shop again. This time they were in full sanding mode, prepping the truck for paint. If I looked closely, I could see where the sledgehammer had made contact, but the damage was starting to disappear. During the second visit, the service advisor let me know the truck would be finished on schedule, just a few days later. Sure enough, seven days after we dropped off the truck, it was ready to go. Check out Part 3 as we welcome the 2015 Ford F-150 back into our fleet with full details on the cost to repair it.
Aluminum Body Repairs Part 3 “The normal aluminum labor rate is $120 an hour, but since you’re paying out of pocket I’m going to cut you a deal,” the service advisor said, holding back the computer print-out. “I'm only going to charge you our normal rate of $60 an hour but it’s over 20 hours of labor.” When I dropped off our long-term 2015 Ford F-150 a week ago, I couldn’t tell if the advisor was trying to soften the blow of a costly repair or if he was really taking pity on me. There was no “Aluminum Body Rate” on their posted list of prices in the waiting room, just the “Body Rate per Hour” of $60. Whether this was an exaggeration or not, it was a nice sentiment. I lied to the service advisor, so in his mind, I was the victim of a hit-and-run accident and I deserved a bit of leeway. The damage was actually a result of two blows from a sledgehammer. We were testing the theory that aluminum is more expensive to repair than steel and I had lied about the damage to get the most realistic customer experience possible. So far, it seemed to be working. The repair would take “twice as long as steel” but I’d be paying half the standard rate. It was time to break out the calculator and do some funky math. He handed over the sheet and explained each item. After straightening the panel as best they could, they’d apply a specialized aluminum paint filler, then primer, paint, color sand and buff the panel, replace the taillight and put on a new “Sport 4x4” sticker. For “seven to 10 business days”
worth of work, the price of labor and parts totaled $2,082.73. My eyes went wide, but I signed the estimate, declined a rental car and handed over the keys. As I mentioned in Part 2 of the story, the price went up quickly when the taillight turned out to be more expensive than previously thought. Instead of the $106.28 for a standard taillight, our Lariat’s LED light with the blind-spot sensor cost $887.25. With the subsequent increase in sales tax, the repair bill totaled $2,938.44. Ouch. True to their word, the body shop finished the work a week after I dropped the truck off. And to my eye, they did an almost-perfect job. The panel is straight, it retains all the original character lines and the paint is matched perfectly. The only real flaw is the placement of that “Sport 4x4” sticker. It’s about two inches too far to the left of where it should be. Dan Edmunds came with me to check on the repairs and neither of us noticed at first, but it certainly stands out now that our more eagle-eyed co-workers have pointed it out. Side note: We’ve contacted the dealer and they’ve ordered a new sticker. An outside vendor does the sticker placement and they’ll come to us to fix it, free of charge. I should note that repairing aluminum differs from repairing steel in several ways. It requires special tools (re-read Part 2 if you missed those details) and it stretches in different ways than steel. As a result it can require a more experienced hand. It seems like the staff at Santa Monica Ford has that part covered. But what about replacing body panels all together? If we had been in a more serious accident, with another vehicle involved for instance, and we needed a panel replaced, could it take a shop longer to get that panel in stock? According to Ford, the body panels aren’t any more expensive now that they’re made out of aluminum. The price for a replacement right rearquarter panel on a steel-bodied 2014 F-150 is $967.48. And for the same panel on an aluminum-bodied 2015 F150? $967.48. That's nice to hear, but what would it have cost to fix a steel panel rather than replace it? As you’ll notice in the above photo of the estimate, there are 24.4 hours of billed labor. Of that, 20 hours are listed for the repair of the aluminum body panel. The other 4.4 hours are things like removing the molding, taking off the bumper and uninstalling the tailgate.
20 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Clearly, that labor wouldn’t take any more or less time regardless of what the parts are made of. If we go with the theory that our service advisor presented though, and assume fixing a steel panel would take half the time, it works out to just 14.4 hours of labor. Work that in to the above estimate and you’ll get a total of $2,338.44. That’s $600 less. Let’s take that a step further, though. Assuming that the labor rate for aluminum was the $120 an hour the service advisor told us, and going with our quoted time of 20 hours or body labor to pound that panel out, we’re looking at $4,138.44. That’s a difference of $1,800, a price increase of nearly 77 percent versus the cost of repairing a steel panel for 10 hours at $60 per hour. To be sure we called our regular body shop, Golden Hammer in Santa Monica. The shop has fixed dozens of dented, dinged and damaged Edmunds long-term test vehicles. That shop charges $50 an hour to fix a steel panel and $105 an hour for aluminum. Take it a little further down the rabbit hole and there’s insurance to think about. If we had gone through insurance to pay
for this repair, my out-of-pocket cost for the repair might not have changed so much, but that’s probably not where it would end. Imagine you’ve got a $500 or even $1,000 deductible on your insurance policy. You hit a tree, tell the body shop guy you have no idea what happened, but insurance is paying to fix it. Your insurance premiums may go up, but the remainder of the cost is passed along to your insurance company. In this scenario, the associated insurance cost for owning an aluminum-bodied vehicle likely goes up too. Maybe it already has. There’s plenty to speculate about when it comes to the new 2015 Ford F150, and we’ve got a year to keep testing out our theories, but there are a few things we know for sure. One: It takes more time, unique tools and specialized training to fix aluminum body panels. Two: Those repairs, whether through higher labor rates or longer service times, cost more money than repairing steel. And three: It’s really fun to smash things with a sledgehammer.
We thank Edmunds.com for giving Autobody News permission to reprint their article.
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Continued from Cover
CNN Segment
Body in Pennsylvania. “This segment [CNN] strengthens our position with the nationwide suits,” said Perretta. “These types of tactics are tragic and offensive, deliberate and most of all hurting family’s of consumers financially through diminishing the values of the second largest investment people are making all across the country and their safety.” During the show, Drew Griffin, CNN Special Investigation Unit Correspondent, looked into the allegations. He interviewed Bill Burn, a national auto repair expert, as well as Matt Parker, owner of Parker Auto Body in Monroe, LA. Both addressed the issue of “bad repairs” conducted by some body shops allegedly due to pressure from the insurance companies to use sub-par parts. John Eaves Jr., of Eaves Law firm in Jackson, Mississippi, also spoke during the segment. “Every state in the union is experiencing the same sort of struggle here between the body shops trying to do the work the right way, and the insurance compa-
nies trying to cut corners and force them to use unsafe parts and unsafe methods on their cars,” said Eaves, the lead attorney for the antitrust Multi District Lawsuit filed in Florida. Buddy Caldwell, Louisiana’s Attorney General, and Jim Hood, Attorney General of Mississippi, were also featured. Both discussed their concern about safety issues using these kinds of parts. Caldwell filed a lawsuit against State Farm Insurance, and Hood is in the process of filing one as well. Hood explained the problem of insurance companies steering business away from body shops that don’t follow their rules. “They’re going to say, we’ll blackball you. We won’t put you on our select service list, and we’re going to make you send us estimates [supplements] to us five different times just to aggravate you. That’s what they do,” said Hood. “They use their economic power to grind down working people.” CNN included the following statement from State Farm: “Our customers choose where their vehicles are going to be repaired. We provide information about our Select Service Program while at the same time making it clear they can select which shop will do the work.”
Dick Luedke, spokesperson for State Farm Insurance, said that only a small portion of the information they provided to CNN was used in their report. “We are disappointed that CNN did not choose to report what Auto-
Matt Parker, Owner of Parker Auto Body in Monroe, LA showed CNN’s Drew Griffin a re-manufactured headlight that State Farm asked him to use in a Toyota Tacoma. Photo courtesy: Anderson Cooper 360
body News has already reported, that all of the counts in the multi-district litigation in Florida that are specific to the state of Florida have been dismissed twice, although the court has permitted the Florida plaintiffs a third
PARTS PHONE: E!FAX: OF GEORGETOWN
chance to re-plead,” said Luedke. “Moreover, a magistrate judge has recently recommended to the district judge that the Mississippi complaint also be dismissed. We did make CNN aware of those rulings.”
Neil Allredge from the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies was also interviewed by Griffin. “In many cases, these parts are no different,” said Allredge. “They’re made in the same factories. One just comes
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out with an auto manufacturer’s name on it and others don’t.” When Griffin told Allredge “That’s not true,” Allredge disagreed. After Griffin showed him a replacement hood for a Honda that was made in Taiwan and coming apart, Allredge went on to say that he didn’t know the circumstances of the parts Griffin mentioned and didn’t provide further comment. During the show U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, said, “Salvaged parts, inferior or even counterfeit parts certainly raise safety concerns. And often, those kind of parts involved in this practice of steering,” said Blumenthal. “And that’s why I have been concerned for years about it and why I think the Department of Justice should be investigating. One of the cars featured on-air was videotaped at Clinton Body Shop in Clinton, Mississippi. John Mosley, owner of the shop and the President of the Mississippi Collision Repair Association, said CNN contacted him when they were in the area interviewing the attorney generals. He said the Executive Producer of the show, Scott Bronstein, asked if Mosley had a car that had been taken
to a direct repair shop and suffered from a poor repair due to the parts used or actual labor operations performed. He replied that he had a vehicle brought in recently from Eugenia Randle. Randle brought her car into Mosley’s shop after it had been repaired twice at a “preferred” insurance company shop and was still not working properly. In the CNN report, Randle said, “Well, cosmetically to me, it looked fine. But once I got in and got down the street, it just started driving really crazy. And I immediately took it back,” she said. When she brought it to Clinton Body Shop, Mosley said one of his employees took it out for a drive and found it to be unsafe. “So we put it up on the rack, we found the bent wheels, the frame damaged and other issues with it,” said Mosley, who also owns a shop in Richland. After CNN’s Griffin took it out for a test drive himself, he said, “Not only the tail section ripped and unrepaired, three of four tire rims [wheels] were damaged. And as I drove, the steering wheel was shaking so violently, I had to grip down from veering to the right. The front left tire was just wobbling,”
said Griffin. Griffin was referring to a damaged left rear frame rail. “I carefully drove this shaking car right back to the insurance company’s preferred auto body shop, where the general manager promptly told us to leave.” In response to the CNN report, Jack Gillis, Executive Director of Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA), said, “The bad news: we all know that substandard parts exist in the market. The good news: CAPA’s independent, fully transparent non-profit rigorous quality certification program enables shops, insurers and part distributors to identify high-quality, safe and good fitting alternative parts. Because neither shops nor insurers can identify quality alternative parts by looking at them or depending on seller’s claims, CAPA provides the market with the ability to make an informed and quality-based choice. Shops and consumers want repairable vehicles without compromising quality. CAPA provides that option.” He added, “As to the broad brush disparagement of collision repair shops, clearly there are thousands of other American collision shops that do qual-
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ity work and use CAPA quality parts— it’s just too bad that they weren’t part of the story.” In a recent letter to its members, the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) stated, “The CNN special program highlighted the practices of identifying the cheapest parts in their claims settlement practices, and it is similarly common that their indemnification practices reflect prices that are substantiated by the lowest common denominators in the market as well; not necessarily what consumers would support in a well-functioning marketplace. “It is important to recognize that there are both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ market representatives in every trade and profession. It would also be inaccurate to make the assertion that simply because a collision repair business works with an insurance company, that they must be performing sub-par work.” SCRS further stated, “What the newscast helped to highlight was that the system is broken, allowing those with the financial responsibility to indemnify for loss to interject themselves into influencing price and thereby the process and/or quality of services provided.”
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www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 23
AASP/NJ Hosts NORTHEAST™ 2015 Automotive Services Show March 20–22 by Chasidy Rae Sisk
March 20 is right around the corner, bringing with it AASP/NJ’s 38th Annual NORTHEAST™ Automotive Services Show. The increasingly popular event will be held March 20th through 22nd at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, located at 355 Plaza Drive, Secaucus, NJ, 07094. The association has planned an informative schedule of seminars, demos and other industry eventsto ensure that attendees receive as much value as possible from the weekend. Charles Bryant, Executive Director of AASP/NJ, explains, “We host the Northeast Tradeshow to allow everyone in the industry to come together and see all of the new and exciting things that are being introduced into the industry, and allow Charles Bryant National Leaders of the industry to speak at the Leaders Meeting about what is going on in other locations around the Country.” Bryant is very excited about this year’s NORTHEAST™ event. “Members of the industry will have an opportunity to attend training meetings and seminars while attending the show to see what new technology is being introduced in the industry all in one convenient place as well as having the opportunity to purchase items right at the show for discounted prices not available at any other time. Like in recent years, the AASP/NJ NORTHEAST™ Tradeshow continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Based on the preregistrations and participation already taking place, this year will be no exception. This year will be one of the best shows, if not the best show, in many years.” Although NORTHEAST™ 2015 does not officially begin until Friday, March 20th, the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) will be holding their Spring 2015 Board of Directors and General Meetings on Thursday, March 19 at the Meadowlands, in conjunction with the tradeshow. Thursday will begin with a closed Board meeting from 8 AM until noon, followed by NASTF’s General Spring Meeting from 1–4:30 PM. The meeting will begin with the Validation of Collision Repair Workmanship, where a panel of
industry professionals will debate whether self-appraisal is sufficient or if OEMs should require the use of third party validation. The panel will include
est issues impacting the collision repair industry. Topics include training, insurer-mandated parts procurement, autonomous cars, labor rates, paint
an OEM, collision repair shop owners and third party validation contractors. While pre-registration is not required, it is encouraged and can be accomplished through the tradeshow website. On Friday morning from 8–10 AM, AASP National will hold their Spring Board meeting with affiliate chapters from around the country to review the association’s ongoing business operations and consider new member benefit offerings. Board members will also receive updates on the activities, initiatives and programs occurring at the affiliate level. From 1–5 PM on Friday, AASP/NJ and SCRS will co-host the 2015 East Coast Resolution Forum and Leadership Meeting. Historically, this forum has provided industry leaders and influential representatives with the opportunity to network and to share the problems encountered in order to pose possible solutions. AASP/NJ anticipates “this year’s forum to provide the same stimulating dialogue and insight that we have come to expect from the event with the objective to have others shares their successes or challenges that help the group learn in response to specific questions posed by each attendee.” Although attending this event is free, pre-registration is required. For an engaging Friday evening, attendees will want to check out “East Meets West: Montanez and Clark Tackle the Issues” from 6:30–8:30 PM. Two of the industry’s most influential and popular speakers, Larry Montanez of Lange Technical Services and P&L Consulting, and Aaron Clark of Assured Performance Network, will discuss and debate the lat-
and materials reimbursement, lawsuits, cycle times, aluminum, post-repair inspections, and consolidation. The debate will conclude with an open mic forum, giving attendees an opportunity to ask questions. Pre-registration is required to attend. Saturday, March 21 offers a variety of educational seminars and demonstrations throughout the day. AASP/NJ
24 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
has scheduled two I-CAR courses for the event, both taught by Peter Fryzel and Mike Bonsanto. The morning course, “Aluminum Panel Repair and Replacement (APR01),” will focus on what considerations should be taken into account when deciding whether to repair or replace aluminum panels. Instructors will also discuss how making the right decision can help to improve certain KPIs, such as cycle time and CSI. The afternoon I-CAR course, “Vehicle Technology and Trends 2015 (NEW15),” provides an update on new and changed technologies. Additionally, the course will include an “auto show view” of vehicles that will be commonly seen in shops in the near future, and instructors will share information that collision repair professionals need to be aware of in order to perform complete, safe and quality repairs. Both I-CAR courses are feebased and require pre-registration. Besides the I-CAR courses, NORTHEAST 2015 will feature several more informative seminars. Saturday morning starts off strong with two one-hour seminars beginning at
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10AM. In “Damage Analysis and Blueprinting,” Lee Rush, Manager of Business Consulting Services for Sherwin-Williams, will explore the importance of a complete and accurate repair order as well as its role in a lean collision repair facility. Simultaneously, Derek Naidoo, President and CEO of NitroHeat Worldwide, will present “Lean Processing in the Paint Shop: Painting with Nitrogen.” Sponsored by FutureCare, this seminar will focus on techniques used to maximize efficiency and cost savings. The final two seminars this year are geared toward shop owners and managers. From 11:30 AM until 12:30 PM, Lee Rush will present “Administration Performance Management,” outlining specific steps to a successful performance management strategy and detailing its role within a lean collision facility. “Stop Leaving Money on the Table,” presented by John Niechwiadowicz of Performance Consulting Services, will debut from noon until 2 PM with an encore presentation from 3–5 PM. For $25, attendees can learn how accurate quality estimates impact a collision repair facility’s financial health and many other critical aspects of the process.
Throughout the weekend, several demonstrations will also be held. Ford Motor Company’s Damageability Product Concern Engineer, Larry Coan, and the OEM’s Senior Engineer for Paint and Body Repair, Gerry Bonnani, will present “2015 Ford F-150 Repair Information” three times over the course of the weekend at the fol-
AASP/NJ 2015 NORTHEAST Trade Show will be held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center
lowing times: Friday at 7–8 PM, Saturday at 11 AM–12 PM, and Sunday from 11 AM–12 PM. During this demo, Ford’s representatives will provide examples of the new 2015 F-150’s improved repair elements. They will also discuss Ford’s enhanced service information, available training courses, and the tools and equipment recommended for repairing the 2015 Ford F-150.
Automotive Distribution Network Has Sold Out its Upcoming National Convention in New Orleans
The Automotive Distribution Network’s 13th national convention has sold out, with a record-breaking crowd expected for the gathering taking place Feb. 26 through March 1 at the New Orleans Hyatt Regency. The ADN is the umbrella organization for three of the premier groups in the automotive aftermarket: Parts Plus, Independent Auto Parts of America, and Auto Pride. The combined strength and stability of these top groups in a Network of over 300 WD locations that service 1,500+ affiliated auto stores and over 2,000 affiliated service centers. In addition, these members support Network Products Warehouse, a member-owned warehouse distribution company located in Somerville, Tennessee. This facility is strategically placed to provide unique products and services exclusively for the members of the Automotive Distribution Network. “I salute the Network’s members for generating enthusiasm among their customer base for what should be our largest gathering yet,” said Mike Lambert, president of
the Network. “The strong support from the Network’s manufacturer partners will be evident in our 50,000-square-foot expo area, enabling our members and their customers to have some face time with our vendors while checking out their latest products and services.” Six-time world champion driver Clay Millican will make an appearance with the Parts Plus/Great Clips Top Fuel dragster, in addition to other motorsports stars appearing at the expo in New Orleans. In anticipation of the sellout crowd, the Network signed several renowned seminar speakers to appear at the event to provide realworld training on topics ranging from vehicle diagnostics to social media to relationship-building with female customers.
At 8:30 AM on Saturday, Larry Montanez will cover “Estimating and Diagnosis of Structural Damage on Aluminum-Intensive Vehicles and Joining Methods.” Pre-registration is required for this Metropolitan Car-OLiner facilitated course on the differences between how aluminum and steel vehicles absorb and manage collision impact forces and energy. Montanez will also discuss attachment methods and welding differences. The final demo, “Structural Collision Repair, 2015 GM Vehicles,” presented by GM Service Instructor Jim Mickle and facilitated by NuCar, will take place from 10–11 AM on Saturday. Mickle will cover the three important areas to repairing and replacing a vehicle’s structural components: measuring, cutting and welding. The seminar will also discuss the 2014/2015 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and aluminum repair procedures for front and rear rails. The tradeshow floor, which will feature a variety of industry vendors and exhibitors, will be open on Friday from 5–10 PM, on Saturday from 10 AM–5 PM, and on Sunday from 10 AM– 3 PM. Featured exhibitors include custom painter Javier Soto who will create a custom design over the week-
end, as well as a guest appearance at BASF’s booth by West Coast Customs’ Ryan Friedlinghaus from 10 AM–2 PM on Saturday. Also that day, Ron Ananian, AKA the Car Doctor, will be broadcasting his nationally syndicated radio talk show live from the tradeshow floor. On Friday from 10PM until midnight, AASP/NJ’s Board of Directors will host their annual Exhibitor Appreciation After-Party with a special performance by comedian Gary DeLena. On Sunday from noon until 2 PM, NORTHEAST 2015 will offer their 7th annual Family Day, featuring a variety of indoor carnival games and sugary treats for the kids. Bryant welcomes all in the industry to make the trip to Secaucus next month for a great event, saying “The AASP/NJ is constantly preaching that the industry needs to be united in our efforts to address the many issues that the industry is faced with. You couldn’t find a better place for collision industry members to network than right here at the Northeast Tradeshow, thus bringing the concept of unity closer to reality.” To register for AASP/NJ’s NORTHEAST 2015, visit www.aaspnjnortheast.com.
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Lean Operations
David Luehr is the owner of Elite Body Shop Solutions, LLC, a collision business consulting firm based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a 30 year veteran of the collision repair industry. David is an expert in Body Shop Operations and specializes in Lean, and Theory of Constraints methods. Email him at dluehr@msn.com
Make More Money Using Theory of Constraints with David Luehr
Most of you readers have heard about Lean thinking, Lean manufacturing, or simply Lean. But have you heard about the Theory of Constraints (TOC)? I know some of you have, but as with Lean, the concept may still be a little unclear to you. Although there are both commonalities and differences between Lean and TOC, I believe collision re-
pairers can benefit from understanding and applying both ways of thinking to their repair businesses.
Lean The word Lean was originally used in James Womack’s 1990 book entitled “The Machine that Changed the World.” His book described the dominance of Toyota and the effectiveness of a production system that banishes waste from the value stream. This lean thinking has revolutionized many industries and still does today. Unfortunately, many collision repairers have made attempts to implement such thinking and systems in their shops with limited results at best. While I believe that there are many benefits to creating a lean culture and adopting lean methods and using its tools, few shops that I am aware of have figured out how to fully realize their profit potential unless they have also become familiar with the Theory of Constraints.
Theory of Constraints The Theory of Constraints was first introduced to us by an Israeli physicist name Eliyahu M. Goldratt in his 1984 book “The Goal.” This book has had a profound effect on my life since first reading it in the early nineties. I would highly encourage all of you to read this book too. Although there is a little more to it, it is basically bottleneck management and adopting an understanding that there is always at least one resource (department, machine, person) in your business that is a limiting factor to your throughput ability (making money).
Local efficiency vs. global efficiency The problem with many collision repair businesses is that silos are created in each department, each attempting to perform their portion of the work to whatever feels most efficient to them. On the surface this “local efficiency” may look like a good idea because everyone is motivated to perform their best; however, the problem with this is it can create dramatic peaks and valleys in the flow of the work from one department to the next. For example, if it is more efficient for a paint shop to primer the whole day’s work at one time or wait until all the bumpers are prepped and ready before loading into one giant booth batch, guess who usually suffers? That’s right, the guy that has been waiting all day to build his cars and now the paint shop unloads all of them at once! This poor technician can only build one car at a time so cycle time and global efficiency suffers. Both Lean and TOC teaches us that sometimes we actually need to reduce batch size in order to improve throughput. Focus on global efficiency instead of local efficiency.
The 5 Steps to busting bottlenecks Theory of Constraints uses a systematic approach to busting bottlenecks and increasing your shop’s ability to make money.
Step 1: Identify the constraint. This step is usually pretty easy to identify because it is usually the resource that has the most inventory (cars) stacked in front of it waiting to be worked on. In many shops I find the constraint to be the paint booth (or poor use of the booth), but in many advanced shops that are performing thorough disassembly and blueprinting, the hold-ups are commonly there. Also it is not uncommon for the biggest constraint to be the front office itself.
Step 2: Exploit the constraint. Exploiting the constraint involves making sure we are using the resource as effectively as possible. If the paint booth is the constraint, are you effectively using it during all the work hours in the day, or does it sit empty until 10 am? Also con-
30 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
sider the hours the booth is in operation. There are more than eight hours in a day; you get to choose how to use them.
Step 3: Subordinate to the constraint. When you subordinate to the constraint you are effectively making sure it does not get interrupted or delayed in any way. Again, if your booth is a constraint, you would want to make sure that the quality of the prep work was sufficient and your colors were tinted so no additional delays would occur while the vehicle was in the booth. You should also make sure the booth is well maintained to avoid mechanical failures. Blueprint/Damage analysis departments are often a constraint yet I am amazed at how often the people performing these operations are routinely interrupted to deal with other issues. You need to “protect” your constraint at all costs! Subordinating also means making sure that everyone in the shop clearly understands that nothing comes
before the constraint, especially their own agendas of silo efficiency.
Step 4: Elevate the constraint. This step simply means to make the department, or resource bigger. It could mean you need to add a tech, buy a frame rack, or perhaps apply some Lean tools and techniques to increase the constraint’s capacity. Again, the size of your constraint dictates the size of your potential throughput.
Step 5: Repeat steps 1-4. Much like Lean, TOC is a continuous improvement process. Once one constraint is identified and resolved, begin at Step 1 again.
Drum, Buffer, Rope Another one of the elements of TOC involves Drum, Buffer, Rope. (DBR) You can learn a lot about this by reading Goldratt’s “The Goal.” There is also a lot of information about it on the internet. EsSee Make More Money, Page 39
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Chicago Foundation Looks to Help Women and Children Across the Country With Car Donations by Victoria Antonelli, Online Editor
Twenty-five years ago, Molly CantrellKraig experienced firsthand what it’s like to be a single mother raising a fourmonth old without a means of transportation. “I hitched a ride with a friend who was a welder at a local factory,” said Cantrell-Kraig. “He Molly Cantrellwould drop me off Kraig, founder of two hours early for Women With Drive [college] classes, Foundation. Photo credit: @Linda where I would do Horton Photography my homework at a Chicago restaurant across the street from the main campus before school.” Cantrell-Kraig graduated and began working, and was then able to buy a reliable car and provide for her family. She credits her success to a trustworthy mechanic, Steve Curry of Curry’s Auto, Inc. in Muscatine, Iowa. “He helped me to not only learn about how to take care of my car, but
also how to budget maintenance costs,” said Cantrell-Kraig. “To this day, I would trust him with a blank check.” Cantrell-Kraig now dedicates her life to helping women in the same predicament she was once in, through the Women with Drive Foundation (WWDF). She started WWDF threeand-a-half years ago, a dream she had wanted to make a reality since 1997. “I have a media background, not a nonprofit administrative background,” said Cantrell-Kraig. “One of my friends, financial analyst Carol Roth told me, ‘Expect it to take three times as long as you think it will and for it to cost three times as much.’ She was right.” For the first three years, CantrellKraig funded the operation with her personal savings. She spent sixt to nine months researching where similar organizations had failed, to be sure her project would be worth the investment. “The momentum we’re building is significant and every day we forge one more meaningful relationship designed to provide a solution to systemic, generational poverty,” said Cantrell-Kraig.
The foundation, which started in Iowa and recently relocated to Chicago, IL, donates refurbished vehicles to female candidates who are in a crunch. So, what categorizes a Women With Drive?
Delana, WWDF car donation recipient, steps into her refurbished white Saturn sedan
“The number one quality we look for in a candidate is self-determination. She must want a new life for herself. We do not approach the equation with the idea of ‘saving people,’” said Cantrell-Kraig. “We partner with women in transition, women with drive. These are women who know that they want something different; they just lack access, transportation and systems to teach her how to be-
come herself. Technically, the qualifications are listed on our website: must be drug free, employed or engaged in a program designed to help her become independent.” Local nonprofits, including Jane Addams Resources Corporation, the Department of Human Services, and various churches, lend a hand in the selection process. “These capacity-building organizations help provide the support for the two years our participant is in the programs,” said Cantrell-Kraig. An application and interview with the WWDF board is also required for consideration, she added. “I remember the first time I opened a letter from a woman who applied for a car,” said Cantrell-Kraig. “I had to sit down and cry for a second, gathering myself. It hit me like a ton of bricks: someone was putting her trust in me and our organization to help her and her children. It was humbling and reminded me of the quote from Jim Rohn, ‘Success is something you attract by the person you become.’” Before the car giveaway process can start, a functional vehicle must be
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Cantrell-Kraig added. Once a vehicle is donated, it is taken to an Authorized Service Vendor who appraises it, and arranges for WWDF to take title of the car. If it isn’t salvageable or it’s worth “too much” for a participant to maintain and insure, the vehicle or vehicle parts are sold and 100 percent of the proceeds benefit WWDF. If it is worth refurbishing, a mechanic will perform repairs and tune-ups to ensure the recipient has a safe, functional vehicle. “The women [then] buys the car outright, in order to satisfy insurance liability issues. For example, Marcie’s Marci (center) poses in front of her own form of transportation 1999 Honda Accord had a thanks to the Women With Drive Foundation Kelly Blue Book value of Kraig said she initially approached car $4,900, but she purchased it for the dealerships, but they wanted the founcost of tax and title transfer, which dation to buy the cars, which would’ve came to around $200,” explained been out of their budget. However, she Cantrell-Kraig. “This gives the particsaid they are still open to form a partipant a ‘stretch goal’ or a stake in her nership with either a dealership or car own future and absolves us from absorbing risk. Participants are required rental company, such as Hertz, Enterto carry mandated state insurance on prise or Carfax. “It’s one of the reasons we the car for the entire time she is in our moved to a larger metropolitan area,” program. She also pays for her own obtained. As of now, cars are donated through churches or privately by individuals. According to Cantrell-Kraig, usually it’s a scenario where the children have gone off to college or an elderly relative can no longer drive, leaving the vehicle unused. Cantrell-
fuel. Once she purchases the car, it is hers.” Cantrell-Kraig said the WWDF has not partnered with other car giveaway programs, such as Recycled Rides, but hopes the recent move to Chicago will open more doors for the foundation. She also said she is looking to form partnerships with rideshare companies or on-demand transportation services like Zipcar, Enterprise, Lyft and Uber. When asked about the reach of her program, Cantrell-Kraig responded, “We are not national yet, but our boards, local and national advisory, are exploring the method and means to scale to meet a national need. Our Articles of Incorporation are in Iowa, but…we are currently transferring our legal apparatus to operate [in Chicago]. That said, our existing legal structure enables us to award vehicles in every state.” Cantrell-Kraig stresses the importance of working together to improve the lives of women and children in the United States. “Each of us has been in a place where the kindness and confidence of another has helped alter our outcomes,” she said.
I-CAR® Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Disable Search
I-CAR® announced in Jan. the launch of the Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Disable Search on the I-CAR Repairability Technical Support (RTS) Portal. In the Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Disable Search, repair professionals will find information on how to identify where parts of the hybrid or electric system are located, how to disable the system before beginning a repair, welding best practices and refinish precautions. “The RTS team has worked diligently to bring all of this information into a singular location because of the importance for all repair professionals to understand how to properly disable hybrid and electric vehicles to ensure their own safety,” said Jason Bartanen, Director of Industry Technical Relations for I-CAR. “In addition to technician safety, if the vehicles are not properly disabled they can cause damage to the vehicle.” For more information on how to safely approach hybrid and electric vehicles after a collision, and how to understand the risks and risk-avoidance of working around alternative fuel vehicles, technicians can choose from Live and Online training from the I-CAR Professional Development Program™.
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Lean Operations
Cycle Time Success Using Little’s Law with David Luehr
“Get The Keys!” is the usual mantra at most collision repair shops these days. That is completely understandable given that the only way we can profit from that vehicle’s damage is if we get the keys first. If you are a fortunate enough collision center to have plenty of work coming in, that thinking could be a problem. That problem is Little’s Law and it plays a huge role in your performance. Big MSOs understand this law very well and have taken many steps to ensure they maintain an optimum car count or “WIP” through the use of scheduling or load leveling. By understanding the correct number of units to have at your repair facility at any given time will give you the opportunity to maximize both profits and cycle time. I will boldly go forth and say that the number one biggest influence on most shops' cycle time performance is simply based on the amount of work they bring in each day. There is nothing magical about bringing all the repairs in on a Monday unless you can start on all of them on Monday! Little’s Law was named after MIT Professor, John Little and is a mathematical formula that is used to calculate cycle time. In the case of collision repairers, we usually measure cycle time from the point a customer drops off their vehicle until it is finished and picked up. (Keys to keys) Check it out… Cycle Time Performance = Workin-Process Units (Number of Cars) divided by/daily throughput (Average number of units produced per day)
Cycle Time Performance =
David Luehr is the owner of Elite Body Shop Solutions, LLC, a collision business consulting firm based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a 30 year veteran of the collision repair industry. David is an expert in Body Shop Operations and specializes in Lean, and Theory of Constraints methods. Email him at dluehr@msn.com
below, it represents a repair shop that averages two vehicle deliveries a day. This shop has 10 cars in it. 10 divided by 2 = 5 days average cycle time.
Let’s take a look at the same shop again, only now they have been grabbing a lot more keys! What would the average cycle time be now? You do the math. In order to reduce cycle time, you often must reduce your WIP. The trick
to keys days) ► Multiply repairs produced daily X goal cycle time days = Optimum WIP Units Example: XYZ Body Shop produces four cars a day on average and wishes to reduce its cycle time to an average of seven days per RO. 4 X 7 = 28 XYZ Body Shop must maintain a work in process (WIP) count of 28 cars to achieve its cycle time goal of seven days. However, if XYZ Body Shop does not have the systems and resources available to effectively process the reduced number of ROs quickly, they run the chance of damaging revenue. I recommend that you set your goals to reduce WIP incrementally as your system improvements allow. You can see the important role that work-in-process plays in cycle time performance. The path to Optimum
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is to not lower the WIP to the point that people are standing around and your revenue begins to suffer. Conversely, if you have too much WIP and feel your cycle time may suffer, you may need to consider a temporary increase on production hours in order to return to Optimum WIP levels. To choose an Optimum WIP Unit number for your shop – reverse the math: ► Find your average number of repairs
# of cars in process (keys in hand, authorization to repair) Average # of cars delivered per day
(You can also measure using Dollars or Labor Hours instead of units) So if you look at the funnel graphic
Performance must involve Optimum WIP and it all begins with good scheduling skills and habits. These habits do not need to involve over-rated fancy computerized scheduling solutions, it can be done using a simple spreadsheet and a little common sense so don’t over-think it. Feel free to email me if you would like to see an example of this, but you may be disappointed by its simplicity. dluehr@msn.com There are many things that affect your cycle time performance, but understanding Little’s Law and simply paying attention to your Optimum WIP could have a huge impact immediately!
produced daily (Total vehicles delivered divided by days in the month) ► Choose your goal cycle time (keys
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Forget the Bandwagon, DePetro Drives the Denver Broncos Classic Pickup Truck by Bobby Fernandez, The Greeley Tribune
Hank DePetro stood alongside his 1949 classic Ford pickup Thursday afternoon, Jan. 8 at his home in Greeley. DePetro had an auto body class at Aims Community College paint the classic pickup with a Denver Broncos theme.
Hank DePetro stands alongside his 1949 classic Ford pickup at his home in Greeley. DePetro had an auto body class at Aims Community College paint the classic pickup with a Denver Broncos theme. Photos Credit: Joshua Polson/jpolson@ greeleytribune.com | The Greeley Tribune
When Hank “Doc” DePetro’s Ford pickup truck was originally manufactured, a paint job in Denver Broncos colors wasn’t an option. It’s not that the auto body advancements at the time didn’t allow a simple orange-and-blue color scheme. Rather, the Broncos didn’t exist when DePetro’s truck was manufactured. Yet, 55 years after the 1949 Ford was built, and 35 years after the 72year-old DePetro bought the vehicle, the truck was splashed in Broncos blue—with a little bit of orange sprinkled in—just as the Broncos prepared for the most critical stretch of their season. Although DePetro surely was planted right in front of a television set at 2:40 pm Jan. 11 when the Broncos played host to the Indianapolis Colts in an AFC Divisional Playoff Game, odds werethat no one showed more spirit in the days before and after the game than DePetro, who proudly
Hank DePetro holds up a photo of what the classic Ford pickup looked like originally. The truck will have more work done as students finish the interior
strolled through the streets of Greeley in his unique classic truck. With the aid of Aims Community College auto body classes and the District 6 special education students DePetro has taught throughout the years, DePetro painted and decorated his vehicle with a Broncos theme for the past seven years. DePetro — who spent 30 years as a school psychologist and educator for District 6 and the University of Northern Colorado — said when he hits the streets in his truck, “I get high-fives and (people saying) ‘Go Broncos, go Broncos.’ ” DePetro didn’t hesitate when asked to recall his favorite memory of driving his Broncos-mobile around town. “There was a lady with two grandkids, and she said she was from Seattle,” DePetro said. “She said, ‘my
and just in a two-liner classified, it said ‘ old 1949 Ford truck. $200.’ ” DePetro bought the truck from a farmer who lived near Kersey.
A Broncos helmet sits next to the Ford logo on Hank DePetro’s classic 1949 pickup truck last week at DePetro’s home in Greeley
DePetro said the Ford wasn’t in the greatest shape—to say the least. “It was really pretty bad—rust, holes, dents,” said DePetro, who is originally from Pueblo. “Apparently the guy used it on a farm to pull a plow. The seat was clear down to the springs. Apparently mice and so on got in there. The rims were total rust. The tires that were on it were just rotted out. “And I looked at it and I thought, ‘Do you really want to do this?’ ” Just as John Elway has rebuilt
the Broncos into a legitimate Super Bowl contender, DePetro spent years breathing new life into the old pickup truck. And now, like the Broncos’ grizzled veteran quarterback Peyton Manning, DePetro’s truck may be old, but it’s far from a clunker. DePetro has made a habit of starting his truck every day during this recent cold snap. All he needs to do is pull out the choke valve, ease down on the gas pedal, and the engine starts right up. When he first purchased the truck, DePetro—on the school district’s dime—was attending classes at Aims. One of his classes was an auto body class that gave DePetro the means and materials to fix up the truck. “It started there, and it began to be transformed from this old, rusty truck to what started to look like it was for real,” DePetro said. “And the more we did, the more real it became.” We thank The Greeley Tribune for permission to reprint their article.
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daughter and all the family are Bronco fans. I’m just wondering if my grandkids could get up in your truck so I can take a picture?’ ” DePetro happily obliged. He drapes his house—built in 1938—in Broncos memorabilia. He also never shies away from decking himself out in orange-and-blue gear. But, it is his blue-coated pickup that really captures peoples’ attention. The vehicle has become a close companion of DePetro since he stumbled upon the truck nearly four decades ago. “I was looking for something to rebuild, because I sold a 1937 Chevy, and I was (wondering) ‘Why did I do that?’ ” DePetro said. “So, I’m looking in the classifieds of The Tribune
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On Creative Marketing
New Century Marketing Basics with Thomas Franklin
Global changes are reshaping the nature of marketing today. In the earlier part of the 20th century, efforts to reach a prospective customer were referred to as “advertising.” Promotion, product packaging and publicity were all considered parts of advertising. Gradually these became four separate specialties. Now these functions have been coming together again, to become a more complicated tool we could simply call “marketing.” For example, most invoices you receive in the mail these days will also have offers to purchase other products or services. Your website may well have links to other businesses. If you do work for a dealership, your advertising will probably be at that dealership and their advertising will be at your shop. Even your phone message may refer to insurance companies and other businesses. These and other aspects of marketing are probably well integrated into your shop’s communications with the outside world. Or are they? If not, you
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may be missing out on many simple (and possibly free) ways to market your business. For simplicity sake, let’s start with “free.” Today it’s nearly impossible to buy a product that doesn’t have reasons printed on it why the product you just purchased is the best choice, the most cost effective and perhaps the healthiest. Many stores attach a multitude of coupons and offers to every sales receipt. The package, sales slip or labeling had to be printed anyway, so whatever message is placed there is essentially free. Do most shops give customers printed invoices? Maybe not, but they could. Before we get into what messages could be added to customer invoices, receipts or warnings and warranties, let’s take a look at cooperative marketing. Your local grocery store may attach, in addition to food items, offers for car washes, auto insurance, medical insurance and even legal services. These
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Tom Franklin has been a sales and marketing consultant for fifty years. He has written numerous books and provides marketing solutions and services for many businesses. He can be reached at (323) 871-6862 or at tbfranklin@aol.com. See Tom’s columns at www.autobodynews.com under Columnists > Franklin
are blatant exchange deals. Anyone redeeming one of these deals will generate a commission or finder’s fee for the store. While a shop could offer detailing, pinstriping, accessories and more, the revenue from referred business is found money. Collision repair shops have natural connections with upholstery shops, glass shops, entertainment system shops and more, all of which would welcome additional business. Most businesses rely on a few simple marketing and sales basics to build new business and keep customers coming back. Collision repair centers may not rely on the same basics, but are there ways they could? The six more general marketing and sales objectives include: (1) Simply increasing the number of customers, (2) increasing the number of customers coming back, (3) increasing the number of products each customer buys, (4) increasing how often customers buy their products, (5) increasing the total dollar value of customer
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purchases, and (6) increasing the effectivenss of advertising and marketing to bring in both new and prior customers. Some shops do well at getting new customers and keeping many coming back. Others keep improving the effectiveness of their advertising and marketing to attract new customers and keep old ones coming back. But most shops seem to neglect 3, 4 and 5. These basics don’t easily apply to the collision repair business, but if a shop can find a way to implement these basic strategies, it should enjoy a nice increase in both volume and profitability. Dealerships make better use of these basics. If a dealership has a collision repair shop and also the usual mechanical maintenance, accessories store, and repair shop, they have an opportunity to increase frequency of visit. They may also be able to increase the dollar volume of sales during those visits. But do they use this advantage to increase 3, 4, and 5 for their collision repair shop? I found many
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dealership body shops that failed to take full advantage of their relationship with their mechanical maintenance and repair shop. Marketing today means seizing an opportunity to attract new customers from every possible connection, or to make a profit by helping other businesses get new customers. Possibly the most neglected dimension of marketing in collision repair shops is public relations. This is broadly defined as using publicity and the media to say nice things about the shop without it being a paid advertisement, but even that has changed today. Except for an occasion article in a collision industry publication, it’s rare to see a story about a body shop in any newspaper. Today the Internet serves as the common press medium. Comments on Yelp and other rating sites are nearly all the publicity shops receive, but it doesn’t have to be that way. People still love to read about pets being saved and heartfelt stories about babies and children. The right photo and story can go viral on YouTube, but it takes a very talented public relaitions person to capture it. Marketing basics haven’t changed that much this century but the forms they now take call for a keen eye to see how to apply them.
Continued from Page 30
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sentially, DBR suggests that your company has a drum beat that everyone follows. The beat follows the speed of your constraint resource. An example of this is that all body shop departments work
to keep in pace with the constraint resource. The buffer (a small buildup of work) ensures that the constraint never runs out of work. The rope is tied to your scheduling of work coming in. In other words, you schedule your repair jobs in as your constraint can begin working on it. As with lean thinking, scheduling too many repair jobs in leads to excess inventory (waste).
Summary During my training at the AGI Goldratt Institute, I was told by a very wise
TOC Instructor that the smart practitioners eventually decide where they want the constraint to be and then they build their business around it. This keeps you from spending all your time chasing bottlenecks around your shop. I want to drive home a most important point. Whether you subscribe to Theory of Constraints or not, it is a universal law that your business throughput ability will always be dictated by your system’s constraint. On occasion, this constraint can be the market you serve. If you don’t have enough work to feed your shop you can still use TOC thinking to help solve your problem using the 5 steps. You may have to Identify, Exploit, Subordinate, and Elevate your company’s attention to marketing or other forms of attracting additional work. I am going to leave you with an eye-opening figure. Every dollar lost in a constraint resource due to mechanical breakdown, quality defect, or any other reason is a dollar lost forever! If you run a shop producing $100,000 a month and your constraint shuts down, it costs you roughly $600 an hour! You may want to protect your constraint!
Sherwin-Williams Second Quarter Training Schedule
Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes announced on February 2 its latest second quarter 2015 collision repair industry courses and training sites that will be available from April 1 through June 30, 2015. Participants will learn through a combination of classroom, digital, and hands-on settings at various metropolitan Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes training centers, according to Rod Habel, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes Director of Training Operations. “Our hands-on and digital classroom training is available to all shop owners, managers, painters, and technicians, who can choose to advance their business-building, production-excellence and/or paint application techniques, as needed.” He noted that the following hands-on, paint and processes application-based courses will be offered during the first quarter: AWX Performance Plus™ Waterborne Refinish System; Color Adjustment and Blending; Fleet CFR; and Painter Certification. For information about the training visit http://www.sherwin-automotive .com/collision-repair/training-support/ or call 1-800-SWULTRA (1-800-7985872).
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National Associations
2015 NADA Expo Brings 23,000 to San Francisco with Ed Attanasio
The aisles at the Moscone Center were jam-packed with 23,000 dealers and suppliers from across the globe at the
dustry Event of the Year,” the NADA convention includes dealer-manufacturer franchise meetings, hundreds of educational workshops for dealers and their managers, several hundred exhibitors on the expo floor and numerous networking events, including lavish, over-the-top parties featuring bands such as Cheap Trick, Joan Jett and Huey and the News.
Global Finishing Systems was in the house at the NADA Convention & Expo in San Francisco. From left, Business Development Manager Troy Volbrecht, VP of Refinish Brandon Lowder and Collin Armstrong, Business Development Manager in front of their booth
2015 National Automobile Dealer Association (NADA) Convention & Expo in San Francisco, CA, Jan. 22-25. Considered the “Automotive In-
Representing Dent Wizard at NADA were (left) Regional Business Development Manager for the Northeast and Canada Tom Duffy and National Director of F&I Sales Aaron Cooper
dealer network. “The automotive franchise system is the best and most efficient method of bringing new vehicles
ers—of change. This is the industry that changed everything. The reality is that dealers are catalysts for change.” Other notable keynote speakers at the NADA Convention & Expo included Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida, Comedian and avid car collector Jay Leno and on Sunday, an inspirational message was presented by Dr. Beck Weathers, a survivor of the 1996 Mt. Everest tragedy.
From left, Chuck McKee, Art Ewing and Adolph Cosio represented Pro Spot at this year’s NADA Convention & Expo in San Francisco
Axalta was exultant about the turnout for this year’s NADA Show. From left, Thomas McGarry, North American Manager for IT Tech Services; Deirdre Mayhood, ProfitNet Territory Manager; Gary Scott, Business Segment Manager, OEM Aftermarket and Brian Mahoney, National Acct. Manager, OEM Aftermarket made the trek to the City by the Bay to wave their flag
Car dealers and their suppliers were excited and in a good mood, because their industry is thriving. This was supported during the first day of the Expo, when Steven Szakaly, the NADA’s Chief Economist, said that he expects to see a steady growth in vehicle purchases in 2015, with sales of new cars and light trucks expected to reach 16.94 million. In his first keynote address as chairman of NADA, Bill Fox delivered a message to critics of the franchised
Car Purchases Expected to Soar in 2015
Huntington Bank’s Third Annual Midwest Economic Index states 16 percent of consumers will purchase a car in 2015. The response represents a 10 percent increase over definite intent for car purchases in 2014 for consumers interviewed in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. “It’s still a great time to buy,” said Huntington Auto Finance Director Rich Porrello. “Consumers are benefitting from low interest rates, high trade-in values and a wide range of
Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at era39@aol.com.
manufacturer incentives. Add to that enthusiasm for an outstanding 2015 model year, falling gas prices and the ongoing economic recovery, and we’ll continue to see strong buyer demand throughout the year.” In comparison to consumers with definite plans to purchase a car in 2014, the Midwest Economic Index revealed increases of 13 percent in West Virginia, 12 percent in Western Pennsylvania, 11 percent in Indianapolis, 9 percent in Michigan and 8 percent in
40 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
to the driving public,” Fox said. “The franchise system breeds competition that benefits consumers, manufacturers and local communities alike.” The auto industry has survived because it is rooted in dealer innovation and value, Fox said. “It was dealers who survived wars, recessions, a depression, oil embargoes and manufac-
Roberto Hornedo from Pacific Collision Equipment Company and Bob Zelano the Director of Car-O-Liner Operations at the Car-O-Liner booth at the NADA Convention & Expo
turer bankruptcies. We survived all that because we are leaders—not follow-
Ohio. The automotive industry has now experienced five consecutive years of growth in the number of autos sold and is poised for a sixth in light of increased consumer optimism about the U.S. economy. However, studies by IHS Automotive on Polk Co. registration data found that the average vehicle on American roads runs more than 11 years old. In line with this growth, Huntington experienced its fifth consecutive
Garmat’s General Manager Johan Huwaert and the company’s Marketing Manager Debbie Teter had a booth in their booth—a paint booth that attracted collision center managers all of the three days at the 2015 NADA Convention & Expo
There was a lot of walking, networking and of course, partying. One of the most talked about events at NADA 2015 was the Dealertrack party at ATT&T Park, home to the World Series San Francisco Giants. The music was provided by the legendary Allman Brothers and the event quickly sold out. To bring a little San Francisco flavor to the trade show floor, the people at NADA surprised exhibitors and attendees with fun performances by Dragon Walkers from Chinatown and dancing hippies from Haight-Ashbury, who were played by local theater students.
year of record loan production in 2014. With loans totaling $5.2 billion, Huntington financed more cars than any other time in its 60-year history serving the automotive industry. During the year, Huntington added hundreds of dealers to its network, which now totals more than 3,700 dealers in 17 states. Additionally, Huntington held to super-prime lending, serving dealers locally and delivering 70 percent of indirect loan decisions within three seconds or less.
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Social Media for Shops Instagram and Twitter Grow Up
Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at era39@aol.com.
with Ed Attanasio
I am not afraid to admit it when I’m wrong. I never thought eBay would work and that’s exactly what I said to the company’s Founder Pierre Omidyar one day back in 1995 in San Jose, CA. He’s now a billionaire and I live in a van down by the river. And I had a chance to be one of the first employees at Netflix many years ago, but I opted out—because I could not believe that people would mail the discs back to the company. Bad move. So, last year when I said that Instagram and Twitter were going to trend down and that they weren’t ideal for the collision industry, well-that too was a mistake. Now I’m willing to do my mea culpa…once again. Instagram: The millennials call it “The Gram” and sure, Justin Bieber and the Kardashians post every day, but now small businesses such as body shops are doing the same. If you’re not familiar with Instagram, it’s an online photo-sharing and social networking service that lets users take pictures, apply filters to them and share those pictures in several ways, including through social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Instagram is available as an application for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. Instagram was the 7th largest US mobile app in 2013 with 33 million unique users, a 66% increase from 2012 according to Nielsen. About 40 million U.S. users accessed Instagram on a monthly basis in 2014 according to eMarketer. Instagram users represent 16.1% of all Internet users. It is roughly one eighth the size of Facebook, yet has 15 times the engagement and twice the engaged user base of its parent company. Almost 25% of U.S. smart phone users interact with Instagram at least once per month. Roughly 67% of U.S. Instagram users are between 18 and 44, namely millennials and GenX. Body shops that are using Insta-
gram are praising it for bringing them business and gaining more traction with their younger customers. Roger Henson, the owner of Advertising Business Consulting Associates in Silicon Valley has been doing marketing for automotive companies since 1979 and he’s excited about photo app for several reasons. “Almost every week, one of my automotive customers asks me about one form of social media or another and most of the time I tell them no,” Henson explained. “If you’re using a form of social media that does not bring you business, what’s the point? Companies see their competition using Pinterest, for instance, so they want to do the same. But in the end, it’s a waste of time and the worst thing you can do is leave it dormant. Time is money and just because Joe’s Auto Body is using it does not mean it will work for you. We do an in-depth analysis of every form of social media that’s out there and right now Instagram is hot, hot hot! So, for shop owners or marketing people at MSOs who are against Instagram, I feel like they’re living in the dark.” So, exactly why is Instagram so hot currently? “My clients use Instagram to educate their prospects by posting photos, videos, and hosting contests. We have one body shop that is giving away soccer tickets as a promotion and we know for a fact that they received at least a dozen jobs from it. The whole idea is use social media to stay in the public mind’s eye and then when they need you, they’re already familiar with your name. Visual social media is what Instagram is all about and I now recommend it to most of my automotive clients.” Twitter: I swore I would never Tweet, but I also said I would never use Grecian Formula. You get older and hopefully you get wiser. Although Twitter isn’t exactly my cup of tea, I
Give us your opinion on matters affecting the industry.
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42 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
can clearly see it is strong and getting stronger. With 250 million users, 80% of them using it via mobile devices, Twitter is here to stay. As an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets", registered users can read and post tweets, but unregistered users can only read them. H&V Collision Centers, with five locations in upstate New York has been using Twitter successfully for more than two years and Instagram for almost a year, according to the company’s Marketing Manager Rhianna Herring. “We want to connect with our entire demographic and we know that Twitter and Instagram are helping us to reach all of our potential customers, not just the ones in their 20s,” Herring explained. “We have tracked the results and we know that we’re getting new jobs from Instagram and Twitter.
Our success with both of them is based on the fact that we provide a lot of content and we try to keep it interesting. With five shops, there’s a lot going on and we try to distribute all of our content amongst all of the locations. Variety is key, because how many pictures of satisfied customers with their vehicles can we run? By constantly changing our message and keeping it fun, we’re able to keep our audience engaged on both platforms. We never spam our followers and we never try to hard sell them, and I think our audience appreciates that.” So, if part of your New Year’s resolutions involves working harder and smarter at your marketing, maybe it’s time to add a few tools to your social media mix with Instagram and Twitter. If you get one new customer every month, why not at least give it a try and then re-examine them after say, six months? You might be pleasantly surprised with the results.
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AudaExplore Technology Driving Performance in Collision Repair Shops by Stacey Phillips, Assistant Editor
With more collision repair shops adopting technology and becoming digitized, the result has been increased efficiency, higher productivity and greater customer satisfaction. Brian Greenley, a Maaco franchise owner in Littleton, CO has found his business has become more streamlined since implementing software and a customized application called One Maaco from the company AudaExplore. He said this has increased his shop’s cycle time and improved the way they measure performance. “Managers now have more control over day-to-day operations, allowing our technicians to work on more repairs per day, which increases the overall profitability of our shop,” said Greenley, who runs the most successful Maaco franchise in the chain. Growing from $400,000 in revenue in 1991 to over $5 million in 2014, he projects his franchise will break the $6 million mark this year. For more than 40 years, AudaExplore, a U.S. business unit of Solera Holdings, has offered a variety of technology options to auto repair facilities for the various stages of the repair process. The company offers five different technology platforms for the collision repair industry: Estimating, Parts Management, Repair Management, Driver Experience and Decision Sciences. “Our goal in developing these platforms is to provide the tools that help repair shops and insurers run profitable and productive businesses as they move toward a more digitized environment, while providing top-notch customer service every step of the way,” said Gordon Henderson, Vice President of Collision Repair Solutions at AudaExplore.
Estimating & Parts Management Henderson said most collision repair shops are probably familiar with Audatex Estimating. This estimating solution provides repairers and insurers the ability to quickly access and visualize data in order to write a more accurate repair plan for a damaged vehicle. “We collect information on thousands of parts that go into a car along with the associated labor time that it takes to remove, repair and re-install those parts and put it in one place, allowing for a quick calculation of what the cost of repair to be for that vehicle,” said Henderson. Used since the
1980s, he said that a recent enhancement to their estimating solution is the integration of APU, which allows shops to check for inventory on alternative parts. (Read more about APU and other parts ordering platforms in the next issue of Autobody News.) In September 2014, the company launched a new version of estimate
check, which includes an advanced analytics model to provide enhanced decision support. Henderson said this allows shops to conduct a more robust check of the estimate to ensure compliance with insurance guidelines and identify any missed operations. With more sophisticated data and analytics, the technology provides analysis for guidance regarding repair or replacement of parts such as bumper covers, door panels, trunk lids and hoods. “We’ve also done things a little different in terms of how our estimating software works,” said Henderson. “We approach it not just as a computerized estimating tool but as a truly automated, intelligent tool that understands how a vehicle needs to be repaired and helps to ensure that the estimator and repairer make the best decisions possible while minimizing the need for manual intervention.” When a part is selected for replacement, Henderson said the shop is able to view a 3D model that is linked to the database itself. “We understand that in order to replace any given part, there are other parts that may have to be removed or replaced and that additional labor operations may be required to ensure a proper repair,” he said. “AudaExplore automatically includes required operations so the estimator doesn’t waste time digging through PPages in order to find out what they have to manually add to the estimate. This eliminates errors and increases speed, accuracy and consistency.” Henderson said this unique approach allows shops to spend less time researching the related operations and improves cycle time. “Fewer supplements means that you are more efficient and saves time,” he said.
Repair Management The company’s repair management platform includes the Autofocus manage-
44 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
ment software installed at body shops. In the case of Maaco, AudaExplore undertook some fairly extensive customization. Maaco had been using its own software program Polaris, which became outdated. Greenley said they sat down with AudaExplore to develop a management system that would help measure profitability through their performance. “A successful business owner should measure every component of his business,” said Greenley, who was one of the first franchises to implement the software in January 2014. “This tool gives us the capability to measure performance within the business.” Approximately 100 Maaco franchises are now using the software and the plan is for the entire chain to adopt it over the next two years. The Autofocus management software is also integrated with AudaExplore’s estimating so customers are able to receive an immediate quote for all of the work they want completed. “A customer’s attention span is short,” said Henderson. “You basically want to get the information to them quickly, help them make a decision and ulti-
mately try to get the keys to the vehicle on the spot.” He said by streamlining the process and making it more consistent across the franchise, it allows Maaco to increase its ability to capture the keys to the vehicle. “Obviously the more jobs captured means more revenue and more profit at the end of the day.” Because Maaco has a very unique workflow, Henderson said, “…as a franchise model you want to have things work homogenously across the entire network. We’ve customized our solution to help support that goal.” Greenley said this has lead to gains in efficiency and more consistency from location to location. Driver Experience In regards to AudaExplore’s driver experience technology platform, the company offers collision repair shops the Go Time Driver application. Go Time Driver allows a vehicle owner to download an app capable of giving them a 3D representation of their vehicle and the ability to communicate with their auto body shop. “They can request a specific day and
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time, select the shop and request an appointment,” said Henderson. “We’ve had tremendous success with this.” Maaco adopted the Go Time Driver application and customized it for their franchises to better communicate with customers and make it easier for them to understand an estimate. “That’s not done easily through a standard estimate in the industry,” said Greenley. Known as One Maaco, there have been nearly 12,000 downloads of the app since it was first launched during the summer of 2014. Another component of Go Time Driver is the AutoWatch solution that allows a vehicle owner to view the progress of their vehicle and receive updated repair status information through an interactive website. “What we’ve found is that it creates a level of transparency that consumers don’t always associate with repair shops,” said Henderson. “The key to that part of the platform is that by keeping consumers informed, they’re directly tied to a higher overall satisfaction on a claim.”
Decision Sciences The company’s Decision Sciences platform aims to improve a com-
pany’s performance by using visualization tools that make it easier to spot trends. Henderson said the company’s Visual Insight brings analytics to the claims process and allows insurers and repairers to visually represent the data collected to make more informed decisions. “Our decision sciences is really all about creating a set of decision tools that allow the estimator or shop owner, and the insurance client, to make better business decisions moving forward,” said Henderson.
A Consultant Approach Henderson said that AudaExplore approaches each body shop in terms of their unique needs to determine the technology that will be most beneficial to their business. In December 2014, AudaExplore announced it signed an agreement to extend its services to all ABRA Auto Body & Glass locations in the U.S. for two more years. Working with the company since 2010, AudaExplore provides its Estimating, Central Review and Consolidator Dispatch solutions. “Our mission is to repair damaged vehicles right the first time, on time,”
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AudaExplore Donated $3M in Subscriptions to Schools
AudaExplore, a Solera Company, gave over $3 million in software donations in 2014 through the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) to various schools across the country. The AudaExplore Educational Institutions Program began in 2010 and to date, more than 230 collision repair school programs in 40 states across the U.S. have benefited from in-kind donations of the company’s estimating software through the program’s partnership with the Foundation. Under the AudaExplore Educational Institutions Program, the company provides a comprehensive software and training package — free of charge — to vocational and technical schools throughout the U.S. To qualify, schools must complete an online survey conducted by the CREF. Thousands of students nationwide participate in the free online training that is available as part of the Educational Institutions Programs. “Without the generosity of AudaExplore, many of these schools would not be able to afford such a great learning tool,” said Clark Plucinski, Executive Director of CREF. “Budgets are so small and schools can barely afford tape and sandpaper let alone this type of training program.”
3M Awards Tool Grants to Veterans Through CREF and Hire Our Heroes Program
Through the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) and the 3M “Hire Our Heroes” program, four winners have been selected for a tool grant. The recipients, all military veterans, began their collision education at various colleges around the country starting in the summer/fall of 2014. Each winning student had the opportunity to select $2,500 worth of tools to help them during their education and for employment after graduation.
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said Tim Adelmann, ABRA’s Executive Vice President of Business Development. “As we grow, AudaExplore’s state-of-the-art technology will continue to help us provide superior service seamlessly to each of our clients through our extensive network of auto body repair shops across the nation.” “Our goal is to make the complicated process of handling a claim much simpler for all parties involved,” said Henderson. “By providing a system that’s highly accurate and connected, we can greatly reduce waste in claims processing activities and help increase overall profitability for our customers such as ABRA.” Henderson said big and small shops, MSOs, insurance companies and independent appraisers are currently utilizing AudaExplore’s various technology solutions. “I think this industry is realizing that consumers are having higher and higher expectations,” said Henderson. “Study after study shows that better communication is directly tied to overall consumer satisfaction, which is directly tied to whether or not an insurance company retains a policy holder or a shop gets repeat referral business.”
The winners are: ● Jerry Rawson (Bridgerland Applied Technology College, Logan, UT)
● Glenn Valdez (Kennedy King College, Chicago, IL)
● Courtney Washington (Fayetteville Technical Community College, Fayetteville, NC)
● Anthony Wrinkler (UTI, Sacramento, CA)
Clark Plucinski, Executive Director of the Collision Repair Education Foundation said, “The Collision Re-
pair Education Foundation is proud to continue to partner with 3M and the Hire Our Heroes program to offer these grant awards. There are an incredible amount of opportunities in the collision industry and thanks to 3M, these winning students will have the tools that will make them successful in their education and beyond. It is an honor to show our support of military veterans through this program.” “This is our third year of providing this type of support to our military veterans and their family member,” said Dale Ross, 3M U.S. Marketing Operations Manager Automotive Aftermarket Division. “We hope to continue to attract veterans to our industry, and help those that choose this career path get the tools and training they need to be successful.” Additional scholarship opportunities are currently available for students studying at collision repair schools, including veterans, at the website, www.CollisionEducation Foundation.org under “Students.” For more information, please email Scholarships@ed-foundation.org or call 888.722.3787, Ext. 283.
www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 45
Attempt by Edmunds.com to Investigate Aluminum Repair Rates Runs into Controversy by Stacey Phillips, Assistant Editor
A recent video and transcript released by Edmunds.com has caused controversy in the industry. During the twominute video, Travis Langness, the Assistant Editor at Edmunds.com, hit a brand new 2015 Ford F-150 with a sledgehammer. Twice! Ouch, said several industry players, but it wasn’t just about the damage to the truck. His intent? To find out if it takes longer to repair the aluminum-bodied truck than a steel-bodied one and, perhaps, belatedly, to compare the costs involved. Langness drove the F-150 to the body shop at Santa Monica Ford in greater Los Angeles to put it to the test. After going through the repair process, and admitting in his article that he had misrepresented the nature of the damage, he concluded that it took more time to fix the aluminum body panels and cost more money than repairing steel. The original version is reprinted with permission from Edmunds.com on the cover. Autobody News asked Edmunds.com for further comment. “As with any vehicle in Edmunds’ LongTerm testing fleet, our F-150 experiment was designed to simulate a service experience of any regular truck owner,” said Scott Oldham, Editor in Chief at Edmunds.com. “Like many of these owners, we took our vehicle to the nearest Ford dealership for the repairs. The service advisor said that his facility could handle the repairs, and we trusted him to get the work done. While we were surprised to learn from the advisor that the repairs typically cost twice as much and typically take twice as long on the new aluminumbodied truck as the steel-bodied truck, we were able to confirm those facts with a trusted local independent body shop. In the end, the work was performed within the time and the cost that was quoted to us, and we were satisfied with the quality of the repairs.” However, Edmunds.com did not test a steel-bodied truck with damage from a similar impact. Autobody News contacted Ron Davis, owner of Santa Monica Ford, and learned that he had no idea that Langness was pretending to be an ordinary collision customer. “I think it’s silly to try and extrapolate an industry trend from a $2,500 repair,” Davis said. “It seems like they came in with an agenda.”
Davis said the dealership made a quality repair and charged a fair price. “Edmunds is making a mountain out of a molehill,” he said. “To draw conclusions on an industry trend from an isolated case on a small repair like this is a faulty conclusion on the part of Edmunds.” A typical repair of course is not going to be the result of a sledgehammer dent. This was a unique situation and may not represent standard repairs statistically. However, the question remains, ‘Is this going to be the general case for aluminum repairs?’
be at all meaningful.” Autobody News spoke to Michael Levine, Truck Communications Manager at Ford Motor Company, regarding the video posted by Edmunds.com. “In our experience, the cost to repair cosmetic damage to aluminum is comparable to steel,” said Levine. “For cosmetic repairs, aluminum isn’t really any more difficult to repair than steel is based on historical data collected from repairs of other Ford vehicles with aluminum body panels; it just requires different training and it might require different tools.” He said
Travis Langness, Associate Editor of Edmunds.com, before taking sledgehammer to Ford F-150. Photo courtesy: Edmunds.com
“We really won’t know the impact for awhile because we use a make and model rating system, which is basically based on our claims data,” said Dick Luedke, spokesperson for State Farm Insurance. He said the insurance company typically tracks the cost of insuring every vehicle by make and model. “When those costs change because of a change in the structure of the vehicle, as is the case is here for the Ford F-150, we will be able to see what impact that has, whether it increases the cost or decreases the cost and we adjust our premiums accordingly.” There has been much speculation among auto body shops that aluminum repair will be more expensive because raw aluminum costs more than raw steel. “We don’t make that supposition,” said Luedke. “We let our data tell us whether that is actually true before we actually change our prices. Generally speaking you need about a year’s worth of data for it to
46 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
it should have taken less than 10 hours to repair the truck. Ford has used an aluminum hood on the Ford F-150 since 1997. Levine said that by using high-strength aluminum alloy that’s more dent- and ding-resistant than the steel body of the outgoing truck, the company is able to significantly reduce the weight of the Ford truck by up to 700 pounds. “When we do that, the weight saved comes back to the customer in terms of better performance. The truck accelerates faster, it brakes sooner, it can tow more, it can haul more and it helps get better fuel efficiency,” said Levine. “…In the event of a major collision we’re actually going to save time over the previous steel truck because we’ve designed the truck in a modular fashion so some structural repairs can be completed with less labor,” he said. The 2015 Ford F-150 went on sale this past November and is now available nationwide. In the case of Langness’s truck, he paid cash for the F-150 repair so an in-
surance company was not involved. He also made it clear that the truck would not be resold any time soon. Levine said each Ford dealer and independent body shop sets it own hourly repair rates, based on the local market. Todd Hesford, the owner of Mission Viego Auto Collision in Orange County, CA, is in agreement that ultimately it will be up to the individual body shop in regards to price. “From our personal standpoint, I have zero ideas of raising the prices specifically for aluminum repair.” He said as a business if you want to stay relevant and in the game, you need to invest in the tooling and education to fix today’s cars. “To think that we’re going to have two types of costs just because one is made out of a different material, I think that’s foolish because aluminum has been around for a long time and we haven’t had two sets of prices,” said. Hesford's family has owned Mission Viego Auto Collision since 1979 and been based in the same location since 1983. Hesford, however, did say he finds aluminum repair to be more challenging than similar repairs to steel. “If you speak to anybody, the OEMs, the insurance companies, the collision centers, they are all going to agree and tell you that repairing aluminum is more difficult and it does take longer.” After watching the video, Hesford said, “I don’t think the test was very fair. You say you want to do a test and a comparison, where is the same hit on the same truck with the same amount of pressure in the same spot with a steel-bodied car?” He did find it impressive that the aluminum held up. “Hat’s off to Ford because that thing took a hit,” he said. “The one thing I learned is that truck is tough!” Oldham from Edmunds.com said this experiment underscores the importance of buying and testing vehicles to give their audience a true scope of the ownership experience. “We'll continue to put our Ford F150 through the paces over the next year and report on all of the good and bad and everything in between,” he added.
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National Associations
Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at era39@aol.com.
Strong and Getting Stronger: The State of I-CAR® with Ed Attanasio
We sat down with Jeff Peevy, the Senior Director of Field Operations and Segment Development at I-CAR® to talk about some recent events and a few misconceptions about the organization. Most repairers know that ICAR is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the training, knowledge and skills required to perform quality repairs that are needed by all participants in the repair process, but not many know the scope of the organization. Peevy leads a team of over 2,000 volunteers, instructors and field managers who team up to conduct over 15,000 instructor-led classes and certification in the U.S. each year. He also oversees the strategic development of I-CAR support and services for the “Repairer” market segment. During his 32 years in the automotive industry, Peevy has worked as a technician, shop manager, instructor, National PBE manager for a large U.S. supplier, and director of Technical Training and Application Research for an automotive paint manufacturer. He holds a business administration degree and a position on the board of directors for the National Auto Body Council. He is also a member of the Society of Organizational Learning, which grew out of an MIT program designed to foster collaboration among corporations committed to fundamental organizational change. Peevy has a passion for promoting the critical role that knowledge plays within repair operations. Over the past five years he has been leading a team studying the impact that knowledge and skills have on operational performance. The research findings directly correlate knowledge acquired through training with gains in business Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and improved competitive advantage. A “learning culture” is a necessary element to the future success of collision repairers. One Major Misconception about I-CAR: “A lot of people don’t realize that I-CAR is a not-for-profit organization and that means that we are a very vision and mission focused organization ever since our founding in 1979. We have approximately 2,000 volunteers who are from different seg-
ments of the industry and 315 volunteer committees in the United States. They believe in the organization and the value of training to the extent that they give up their personal time Jeff Peevy is the to really help the Senior Director of organization in a Field Operations variety of ways, inand Segment Development cluding helping us at I-CAR® find classrooms to use and assisting with promoting and scheduling classes. Without these highly driven and very dedicated volunteers we could not be where we are today. We also have approximately 480 part-time instructors; most of them have other full-time jobs. They are paid employees of I-CAR, but they go above and beyond the regular call of duty. Most of them started out as volunteers like I did and they got bit by the bug. There are definitely some benefits to being an instructor. Besides the pay, there’s the access to the updated technical information, and the networking is a big plus as well. Most of these people get bit by the training and it’s pretty addictive.” The Re-ignition of I-CAR: “Today, I-CAR is spearheaded by our CEO and President John Van Alstyne. He joined the organization in 2010, bringing with him 20 years in the OEM and vehicle technology sector of the automotive industry. His is a truly a strategic leader and visionary who is dedicated to preparing the industry to repair the vehicles of tomorrow. Before he joined, though, it was a real challenging time for the organization from 2006 to 2008. We were limping along and struggling to develop forces. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and just started looking at ways to be better. There was a core group of us and it was kind of do-or-die at that point. And there were two things that needed to happen--one was to organize and capture the feedback in meaningful ways and the second was to build the mechanisms from which that feedback could be disseminated into a place that would lead to action. So, we started implementing a formal project management system, and then we de-
48 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
veloped a program we call ISAC and that stands for Industry Segment Advisory Council. We went out into the shops and asked questions. A lot of these people had been very critical of us in the past, and we wanted their feedback. We asked them to sit down with us and we picked their brains. We asked them if we could meet with them regularly and they agreed. It’s been wildly successful for us and the industry has been extremely kind. Many of those people who really had lost faith in I-CAR had come to the table and helped us develop a direction. And that was how we developed part of the same professional development program that we use now. Between these actions and John’s leadership, we have definitely turned the organization around and are on the right path.” Role Relevant Training: “We had hundreds of collision repairers, insurance people, tech schools, suppliers and automotive manufacturers working with us. By using the information they
shared with us, we developed the roles that we now have in our role relevant training. The goal was to develop a standard of knowledge and we simply facilitated that process as staff. We did not manipulate it or make it something that was pre-conceived; rather, we listened closely to the industry and then acted on it. We launched it in July of 2010 and it has been a success. In the old system, the classes weren’t based around roles, so people just took the classes for the points. People needed the points for the recognition program so it didn’t matter what class they took and that was one of the main criticisms. Now, we analyze every class to make sure it’s relevant and we drill down into those knowledge areas. From a legacy standpoint we wanted to make sure that anyone who had taken classes in the past would receive credit for that. It was a mixture of current courses and new courses and that model is still implemented today. It’s a very dynamic
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system and there is a process of continually updating courses and building new courses and making sure each one is relevant to what’s going on. Our CEO & President points out every chance he gets about the ‘technical tsunami’ of new vehicles, new technologies and new materials— each year, roughly 65 vehicles are debuted or redesigned, many of them manufactured with unfamiliar materials and systems. This requires a pretty robust process, and we’ve had to expand our organization to keep up with it.” I-CAR Today: “People say that ICAR is in the best position it’s ever been in and I would say that’s true—and not just financially. Our leadership team is outstanding, we get things done. We are in the best position we’ve ever been in with OEM relationships, and turning these OEM relationships into courses. Our overall ability to develop relevant courses and the talent we have at the ICAR Tech Center has grown dramatically. We’ve redesigned and invested in our processes to develop and update courses. We implemented a state-of–the art Learning Content Management System to help us develop new classes better and faster. To better support the industry, we’ve greatly expanded our
customer service support and marketing programs. We are now much more responsive to the industry, doing the things that we desperately needed to do. And all of this is greatly helping the collision repair Inter-Industry as a whole, including front-line technicians, shop owners, estimators, insurance specialists and field educators.”
knowledge and skills that contribute to proper repairs, improved business performance and risk reduction. It took about two years for the shops to get aligned in that transition and we have a little over 3,000 or so shops that have gone through the three levels of training for the Platinum designation, each referred to as an I-CAR ProLevel®. Each
The Professional Development Program transition: “It took about two years to transition to the I-CAR Professional Development Program™ (PDP), which trains collision repair professionals in essential role-relevant knowledge and skills. The PDP had tentacles into the I-CAR Platinum Individual® recognition program, which is for collision repair professionals who achieve and maintain high levels of role-relevant training that contributes to complete, safe and quality repairs. For businesses, the I-CAR PDP provides collision repair and insurance businesses with a reliable training framework for acquiring Gold Class® and maintaining the up-to-date
ProLevel progressively builds upon prior learning to continually advance each professional’s knowledge and skills. We’ve seen a growth in training since the development of PDP and especially with the ‘technical tsunami’ of new and redesigned vehicles.” Reparability Technical Support: “Following months of extensive development, I-CAR officially launched the Reparability Technical Support (RTS) portal this past July. The portal was designed to improve accessibility of critical repair information for the entire collision repair industry. I-CAR collaborated with OEMs and others in the industry to improve accessibility of
“People say that I-CAR is in the best position it’s ever been in and I would say that’s true—and not just financially.” —Jeff Peevy
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critical repair information. The portal houses thousands of pages of OEM repair information specific to vehicle models in a user-friendly format that can be accessed by smartphone, desktop computer and everything in between. A key element of the portal is the ‘Ask I-CAR™’ features, where technicians can submit a question online or call I-CAR technical experts for advice on their toughest repair questions. In addition to the portal, the RTS initiative is working to bridge the gap between OEMs and the collision repair industry by acting as a linking pin between the two, and hosting summits and Industry Segment Advisory Councils.” The Learning Culture: “To be effective, training programs should not be positioned as a requirement or simply a box to be checked. Rather, a learning culture should be established within each organization in the collision repair ecosystem. Training should be encouraged, accomplishments should be rewarded, and those trained should be viewed as achievers and role models. After years of studying the connection between training and improved performance, I-CAR has identified that ‘Learning Culture’ is the secret sauce to becoming a top performing shop.”
Large Portion of Antitrust Multidistrict Litigation in FL Dismissed, Refiled by Plaintiffs by Stacey Phillips, Assistant Editor
Judge Gregory Presnell in Florida has dismissed a large portion of a lawsuit in multidistrict litigation court accusing State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. and 40 other insurers of conspiring to suppress reimbursement rates for vehicle damage repair costs. However, the plaintiffs have already refiled claims that were dismissed without prejudice. John Eaves of Eaves Law Firm in Mississippi, the lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, said this was not a surprise. “We anticipated [the dismissal],” said Eaves. “This is what was done the first time we filed a complaint in Florida.” “My interpretation is that [Judge Presnell] wanted a lot more of the actual facts and details in the complaint… instead of something so general,” Eaves told Autobody News. However, the ruling may be a setback for hundreds of other auto repair shops alleging similar claims against insurers in the multidistrict litigation in the
District Court. Shops across the country have provided Eaves with an abundance of information that he has now incorporate into the revised complaint. He said it is a longer document, much more detailed and comprehensive. As of the date of the ruling, 22 other cases initially filed in numerous states, including Indiana, Kentucky and Virginia, are currently before Judge Presnell for coordinated pretrial proceedings. In re Auto Body Shop Antitrust Litig., MDL No. 2557, complaints filed (M.D. Fla.). According to the plaintiffs in the Florida action, the defendants exercise control over labor and repair costs by entering into DRPs with body shops. In exchange for providing certain concessions of price, priority and other matters, the defendants list the shops as “preferred providers.” However, the defendants, led by State Farm, allegedly have conspired to use the DRPs as a way to set maximum price limits on the shops’ products and services, according to the suit. If the labor rates are deemed unSee Multidistrict Litigation, Page 53
www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 49
Bobby Alloway’s PPG-Painted Car Wins 2015 AMBR Award
A Bobby Alloway-built car won the cars for almost 10 years and has a rephis illustrious career, building remark2015 America’s Most Beautiful Roadable cars that have received significant utation for its outstanding paint jobs. ster (AMBR) award at the Grand NaDave Kindig scored with a 1934 awards. In addition to his two AMBRs, tional Roadster Show (GNRS) held Jan. 23-25 at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, CA. The striking 1933 roadster, owned by Larry Olson of Sioux Falls, S.D., was finished by Alloway and drew approval from the show judges and the crowd alike. The AMBR, an eight-foot tall trophy, is awarded annually and is regarded as the ultimate recognition of a roadsterstyle hot rod. It was Alloway’s second time winning the prestigious award; his first was in 2003. Alloway also won Best Rod of the GNRS this year with the ‘37 Chevrolet coupe that was in the top 10 in the Builder’s Challenge at SEMA this past November. The GNRS started in 1950 and is the longest running indoor car show in the world. This year, 18 competitors vied for the AMBR. AlCar owner Larry Wilson (left), builder Bobby Alloway and the AMBR trophy in front of the loway’s award-winning entry feaawardwinning roadster tured his signature black finish embellished with contrasting blaz- his cars have won the Goodguys’ Dodge and a 1950 Phantom Fleetside. ing orange flames running nearly the Street Rod and Street Machine of the The Dodge took home First in Class, entire length of the roadster’s body. Outstanding Paint, Outstanding InteYear, the highly-prized Ridler trophy Alloway uses PPG products exclu- and others. He has also been welrior and Outstanding Display awards. sively, and this showpiece was no comed into the National Rod & Cusexception. He achieved the car’s tom Car Hall of Fame and honored as outstanding look with PPG’s DEL- Detroit Autorama Builder of the Year. TRON ® DBU 9700 Basecoat and Other first-class builders that DCU 2002 CONCEPT® Clearcoat. were big winners at the show included Alloway, renowned as “the masRandy Borchering of Painthouse in ter of black” because his distinctive Cypress, Texas, and Dave Kindig of cars are almost always painted black, Kindig-It Design, Salt Lake City, Utah. has been building ageless street rods Borchering’s two-toned 1947 Hudson since 1978. His shop, Alloway’s Hot painted in his custom Bad, Bad Leroy Rod Shop, in Louisville, TN, opened Brown and Green Acres Pearl took in 1991 and has consistently turned First in Class, Outstanding Paint, and out a stream of award-winning vehiOutstanding Display accolades. “Wincles. He is well known for cars that ning these awards was awesome,” said feature a commanding, aggressive Borchering. “This is the Olympics of look obtained through a combination car shows, and you’re up against top of color, proportion, stance and pure competition. Winning here is expower. tremely gratifying.” Along with winning the AMBR Borchering used Deltron DP90LV and Best Rod honors, Alloway was inEpoxy Primer, VIBRANCE COLOKLAHOMA ducted into the GNRS Roadster Hall LECTION® VP2100 Polyester Primer, Cable Volkswagen of Fame during the show.Register The Hall ofYourDeltron EmailBasecoat for Ourand GLOBAL REOklahoma City FINISH SYSTEM™ D8152 Clearcoat Fame was established in1960 to elect to reap the honors. Borchering has “outstanding pioneers in the creative 800-522-6793 been using PPG products for 25 years. car building sport.” Alloway’s entry Be Seen Our Readers! Fax: by 405-789-3317 Painthouse has been building custom into the respected body was based on CALL Advertising Sales at:
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Night-time Automotive Paint Additive has Vehicles Glowing and Owners Crowing “The idea came up back in 2002. I developed, manufactured and sold Toxic Toad is, ironically, a non-toxic, different forms of concrete sealer and environmentally-friendly additive that was looking for something new and can make any vehicle glow in the dark. different,” said Howe. “It wasn't until When asked about why he chose 2013 when a friend in the auto body the name, owner and creator Chad business gave me the idea to see how Howe replied, “I wanted something compatible it would be with auto body paints. With the help of my friend Terry Karn from Advanced Auto Body, with 30 years in auto body work, we tried our first project.” After only one try, the duo noticed that the additive made the guinea pig vehicle glow nicely, but left the paint gritty and rough. “So after a few more trials and errors, we came up with a great product and process,” A vehicle with the clear Toxic Toad additive during the said Howe. “With the right radaytime tios and application, we now that would stick out, and after weeks can spray over any base color without of trying to come up with a fun name, altering it, while maintaining a great it hit me that toxic toads’ colors are day look as well as a glow at night. brighter the more toxic they are. So the When applied right, nobody could name just seemed to fit with the glow.” ever tell that the finished product The product, which can be mixed would glow in the dark.” into any auto paint clear product beToxic Toad is not UV activated; fore spraying, was launched in Febru- any light will charge up the paint job ary 2013 at the Lennox, South Dakota for hours at a time. The additive comes headquarters. in four glow colors that go on clear by Victoria Antonelli, Online Editor
and dry clear, as well as two different green base glow colors. “We do get a lot of requests for new colors, but we are staying with the maximum glows,” said Howe. “Al-
At night, the Toxic Toad additive causes the automotive paint to glow in the dark, while remaining unnoticeable during the daytime
though the options are out there for additional glow colors, they just don't glow as bright or as long.” Although the product can be sprayed on any color car, Howe says the lighter the base color, the longer
Diamond Standard Parts’ New Web-Based Program “UNSUB”
Diamond Standard Parts announced its new “UNSUB” web-based program: www.unsubparts.com. The program gives access to all Diamond Standard Part’s offerings including both photo and descriptive information using either the OEM reference number, the Partslink + DS, DSN, or DSC number, or by selecting the vehicle, Make/Model/Year. The Make/Model/Year function shows all parts and part photos for the model made by the company. Michael O’Neal, President of Diamond Standard Parts, said “Taking delivery of what you order, specify and pay for in structural parts solutions is critical and should be a basic obligation of the supplier.” The parts are available through their distributor programs in the USA and Canada including the AQRP program at Keystone, an LKQ Company. “Substitution of structural safety parts goes against everything the quality driven aftermarket manufacturers and their supporters have continued to strive for in choosing safe and tested certified parts,” said O’Neal. “The low end supply chain continues to choke the system with misinformation, serious product quality downgrades, and lack of attention to detail.” O’Neal said after taking a survey with members of the largest body shop associations, comments included
cycle time issues, interruption of work flow processes, extended rental car days, repair backlogs, dead space in paint bays, thicker repair files and dissatisfied customers for shops and insurers. “Diamond Standard’s unique, trademarked part number system using the Partslink number + DS, DSN (NSF), or DSC (CAPA) ex: FO1006251DSN listed in the databases is easy to find, easier to identify, and eliminates substitution,” said O’Neal. “Diamond Standard is the only One quality manufacturer of structural safety parts in the aftermarket.” One Quality Manufacturing means Diamond Standard only makes one quality of structural parts for the North American market. Unlike other manufacturers, O’Neal said the Bartlett, TN-based company does not sell in other countries in the world that are low price/low quality driven. He said the DS parts numbering system is important because some suppliers using their unique part number use the same number for all levels from every manufacturer, certified, non-certified, or junk. He said this can cause confusion for the buyer and eliminate lost sales. Visit diamondstandardparts.com, unsubparts.com or email mike@diamond standardparts.com
52 MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
and brighter the glow. “Toxic Toad has a lot of repeat customers who are amazed at the results,” said Howe. “The response has been great.”
The unique product can be ordered online, and is often shipped to destinations outside the United States. “With just the internet and word of mouth our sales have gone global,” said Howe.
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Continued from Cover
Multidistrict Litigation
acceptable, the defendants demand a lower rate, arguing the higher rate does not conform to the market rate and therefore violates the DRP, the plaintiffs argued. Further, failure to comply with the defendants’ demands results in removal from the preferred-provider program or improper “steering” of customers away from the “noncompliant” auto body shop’s business, the plaintiffs say. But Judge Presnell ruled that the plaintiffs offered no details about how or when the insurers entered into the alleged price-fixing agreement. The fact that a number of defendants have indicated an unwillingness to pay more than State Farm has to pay for parts or labor also does not, itself, violate the Sherman Act, he said. “It is not illegal for a party to decide it is unwilling to pay a higher hourly rate than its competitors have to pay, and the fact that a number of the defendants made statements to that effect does not tip the scales toward illegality,” Judge Presnell wrote. The plaintiffs also failed to es-
tablish that the defendants may have engaged in boycotting activity by allegedly steering customers away from noncompliant shops, according to the ruling. “There is no allegation that any defendants refused to allow any of its insureds to obtain a repair from such a shop or refused to pay for repairs performed at such a shop,” the judge said. The plaintiffs also cannot move forward with their claim for tortious interference with business relations, he said, because the defendants had an existing financial interest in the relationship between their insureds and the plaintiffs and were therefore “privileged to interfere in that relationship.” “For tortious interference to be unjustified, the interfering defendant must be a third party, a stranger to the business relationship,” he said. Judge Presnell did, however, permit the plaintiffs to continue with their claim for conversion, which alleges the defendants failed to make full payment for certain labor and material costs. Other defendants in the action include 21st Century Centennial Insurance Co., Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance Co., Geico General Insurance Co. and Hartford Accident & In-
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demnity Co. The claims brought by the plaintiffs included: quantum meruit, unjust enrichment, quasi-estoppel, tortious interference with business relations, conversion, and violations of the Sherman Act in regards to price-fixing. All but one count, quasi-estoppel, was dismissed without prejudice, meaning that plaintiffs will be able to file an amended pleading reasserting the counts by Feb. 10. The quasi-estoppel (count III) was dismissed with prejudice, meaning that it will not be allowed to be refiled. The term is described by Florida courts as “… a legal doctrine, applicable in certain limited circumstances, which provides that ‘[a] party cannot, either in the course of litigation or in dealings, occupy inconsistent positions.’” Another way to think about quasiestoppel is: Someone (#1) thinks something (A) is true and takes action based on that belief, someone else (#2) says “A is not true (even though #2 previously said it was)” and that causes #1 to do something that results in harm (i.e. business loss). If it turns out that A was true to begin with, #2 is guilty of quasi-estoppel. The plaintiffs sought to have quasi-estoppel applied in regard to repair estimating databases. According to court documents, “The Plaintiffs allege that the Defendants ‘have relied upon and asserted the validity/authority of the databases... when it has been to their respective advantage’ but that, in other instances, the Defendants ‘have refused to compensate and/or fully compensate Plaintiffs for materials expended and work performed, including labor and labor rates, upon reliance of these very same guides, claiming that they are unnecessary to complete the work at hand.’” Court documents stated that the Plaintiffs sought to have the Defendants stopped from denying the applicability and reasonableness of the repair databases; however, the Florida court did not find this to be a cause for action. “The Court’s order is a significant victory for Farmers and the other defendants,” wrote the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, representing Farmers’ affiliates, in an article posted on Weil’s website. “Though the Court dismissed all but one claim—for quasiestoppel—without prejudice, it strongly suggested that plaintiffs would have difficulty remedying their remaining claims in an amended complaint. Additionally, this decision dismissed claims based on allegations similar to those contained in approximately 20 other
cases in a consolidated multi-district litigation pending in Florida, entitled In re Auto Body Shop Antitrust Litigation.” The Weil team represents Farmers’ affiliates 21st Century Centennial Insurance Company, 21st Century Indemnity Insurance Company, Foremost Insurance Company Grand Rapids, Michigan, Bristol West Insurance Company, and Security National Insurance Company. James Burns, co-leader of the antitrust practice at Dickinson Wright PLLC, told Autobody News that the Court’s most recent ruling is a significant victory for the defendants, and one that could potentially lead to a quick end to the proceeding. “While the Court has granted plaintiffs leave to amend several of their claims, if the proceeding is going to continue they will need to demonstrate that the infirmities identified by the Court in the recent ruling have been remedied in an amended complaint,” said Burns, who is not involved in the MDL proceeding. “Whether that will be possible remains to be seen. In any event, any amended complaint will likely be met by a renewed motion to dismiss by the defendants, setting up another significant ruling by the Court this Spring or Summer.” Eaves said the next monthly hearing is scheduled on Friday, Feb. 6 with Magistrate Judge Smith. When Autobody News spoke to Eaves on Jan. 22, he was in Washington D.C. to meet with members of the House and Senate regarding the introduction of a bill to enforce the 1963 Consent Decree. This was a follow up to his earlier trip in September 2014 when Eaves and more than 65 body shop owners visited the Capital to begin these discussions. “My goal here [in Washington D.C.] is to understand what the best way is to present this in the new congress and decide who is going to take the lead on it and articulate the message,” said Eaves. He said the objective of the lawsuit and the bill is the same. “At the end of the day it’s to protect consumers by protecting the shops that are loyal to the consumers that want to do the repair the right way and the best way and not let the insurance companies cut corners that tie their hands.” *Part V. Conclusion in the court documents incorrectly states that Count IV of the Amended Complaint is dismissed with prejudice. It should have read Count III, Quasi-Estoppel, is dismissed with prejudice. (Please see page 10-12 in court documents for details.)
www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS 53
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