(DEG), said of about 19,000 inquiries the DEG has received over 15 years regarding missing or potentially inaccurate information in the industry’s estimating guides, more than half—52%—have resulted in a change by the information providers.
Danny Gredinberg said more than half of the inquiries the DEG has received have resulted in a change by one of the estimating system providers
“That’s a pretty alarming number,” Gredinberg said, but also pointed to the value the DEG offers as a free resource to the industry. Although the estimating system providers have long provided a way for anyone in the industry to submit such inquiries directly to
them, the DEG (www.DEGweb.org) was created—and continues to be funded—by a number of shop trade associations, including SCRS, as a centralized and easier way to submit and monitor what happens to such inquiries. Gredinberg said one strength of the DEG is that it is used, and considered credible, by both collision repairers and insurers. “I got an email from a DEG user, contesting a labor time on a replacement rear body panel part,” Gredinberg cited as one example. “He shared with me the email he got back from the actual adjuster. It started out with: ‘Alright, Robert, sorry for the delay, but just got word from on high [that] we’re good to go. They cleared the separate time on the end plate; that DEG form was worth its weight in gold.’” Gredinberg said DEG inquiries recently have helped lead Mitchell International to add wording to its estimating guide about destructive weld testing, and the time and costs of researching OEM repair information being not-included. Similarly, CCC Intelligent Solu-
tions and MOTOR recently updated their estimating guide to add a labor procedure related to front bumper camera and sensor aiming, and what is not-included in the refinish time for a “minor panel” when it is being refinished independently of a major panel. “Recently, I-CAR did a ‘Repairers’ Realm’ with Honda talking about laser brazed roof replacement,” Gredinberg said. “The week after that video got released, a repairer watched it, had a Honda in his shop, and noticed there was no way he could do that roof replacement for the time given. With that video, we were able to show the information provider, and within a couple days, they updated the time, and added some additional footnotes about one-time use parts and additional brackets and bolts that needed to be replaced as well.”
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Repairify Completes Record Scans Repairify, Inc., unveiled key insights from its record 2021 yearend, including that its family of brands completed more than 12.4 million automotive diagnostic scans and delivered more than 4.9 million diagnostic reports across the collision, mechanical, dealership, auction and reconditioning repair markets. The record-setting year marked a watershed moment for Repairify. The company completed five acquisitions and expanded its capabilities beyond collision repair technology into diagnostics for mechanical repairs, data insights for ADAS calibrations and vehicle reconditioning workflow and inspections. Beyond the delivery of a record-setting year, Repairify’s 2021 performance was capped by several strategic investments, multiple industry partnerships and a new exclusive global patent licensing and supply agreement with LAUNCH Tech. Source: Repairify, Inc.
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