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‘Fax-Only’ Parts Ordering Option will End by September For Shops Using PartsTrader 2.2 PartsTrader held a webinar on Aug. 1 to discuss several changes to the parts ordering application, including the end of the “fax-only” ordering option.

In the new 2.2 release, which went live on August 1, PartsTrader has made several changes that will affect users of the electronic parts marketplace developed for State Farm’s Select Service DRP. Lucy Smith, Product Manager at PartsTrader, said that—with this release—the option to place orders through PartsTrader by fax will no longer be available in the Tucson, AZ, market effective immediately. The

change was made in preparation for the full state rollout of PartsTrader in Arizona beginning on August 12, according to her statement.

The fax option will remain in the other pilot cities of Grand Rapids, Chicago, Birmingham, and Charlotte until the end of August or September 1, Smith said.

The fax-only option was originally added to the PartsTrader system so that Select Service facilities could still place orders with their preferred vendors, even if those vendors refused to participate in the PartsTrader program. If a See Fax-Only Ending, Page 9

A Matrix of Parts Procurement Features Won’t Help Shops If They Have No Choice on Usage

See No Choice on Usage, Page 18

P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018

The Collision Industry Conference (CIC) Parts & Materials Committee came to the CIC meeting in Boston in July looking for input from the assemblage for a survey it plans to conduct about electronic parts procurement systems. What it heard was an impassioned request to look at another aspect of the issue.

The committee is working to produce a matrix that would help shops or other users of the systems understand the capabilities and features each system offers. At the Boston meeting, the committee shared the

questions about the systems that it plans to ask the providers, and asked CIC participants at the meeting whether the questions would Randy Stabler provide information about the systems that would be helpful.

But as the committee was completing its presentation, California shop owner Randy Stabler drew applause when he told the committee that understanding the differences be-

Change Service Requested

by John Yoswick

VOL. 31 ISSUE 9 SEPTEMBER 2013

State Farm & PartsTrader Meet with Industry As Program Rolls Out in the Southwest

by John Yoswick

Shop and vendor concern and unhappiness about State Farm’s mandated use of PartsTrader was evident at a packed Automotive Service Association (ASA) of Arizona meeting in Phoenix in August, the same week the program was being rolled David Priest out in that market.

We feel you’re using your size and intruding into our business through the shops with PartsTrader,” David Priest, parts director for Brown & Brown Chevrolet in Mesa, AZ, told State Farm’s George Avery at the meeting. “You’re asking me to pay a

fee for a program that will probably decrease OEM part usage. How do you perceive that PartsTrader for an OEM dealer is an effective tool?”

Dale Sailer of PartsTrader, who also spoke at the meeting, pointed out that dealers can now see and quote prices for an entire parts list for each job, whereas currently they Dale Sailer may not know about parts that a shop contacts only a recycler or non-OEM parts vendor about. Avery agreed that PartsTrader gives dealers a chance to see other potential business and shop customers.

“The performance of those who See PartsTrader Rollout, Page 60

See Correction to July 2013 Article on Felder’s Collision Parts v General Motors et al. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 3

California Supreme Court Pierces Insurance Shield Against Unfair Competition Claims In a landmark and long-anticipated ruling, the California Supreme Court held Aug. 1 that policyholders can accuse insurance companies of false advertising and other violations of the state’s extensive unfair competition law. The ruling finds insurers are not immune from unfair competition claims over this kind of conduct, resolving a split between courts on the question.

The case resolves a significant issue for insurers doing business in California in that they are potentially subject to a private action under the California Unfair Competition law, UCL (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §17200) for conduct that violates California’s Unfair Insurance Practices Act (UIPA) (Cal. Ins. Code §790 et seq.).

The UCL is a consumer protection statute that broadly proscribes

“any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice.” California’s Unfair Competition Law requires that a plaintiff must show he or she “has suffered injury in fact and has lost money or property as a result of... unfair competition.”

The Supreme Court thereby affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision and concluded that “UCL claims may be based on claims handling practices, as long as they do not rest exclusively on UIPA violations.” The UIPA does not immunize insurers from UCL liability for conduct that violates other laws in addition to the UIPA. Although relatively narrow, the ruling appears to pierce the shield that insurers have previously enjoyed from unfair competition, potentially inviting more class actions and creating a See Unfair Competition, Page 12

Presorted Standard US Postage PAID San Bernardino, CA Permit #2244

2 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Contents

NATIONAL ‘Fax-Only’ Parts Ordering Option will End by September For Shops Using PartsTrader 2.2 . . 1 1-800-Radiator Gets Financing . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 3M’s New Body Protection System Cuts Time Needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 A Matrix of Parts Procurement Features Won’t Help Shops If They Have No Choice on Usage . 1 AAPEX to Address Warehouse Distributor Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 AASP/NJ Reacts to PartsTrader’s Ending of Fax-Only Option, Criticizes CIC Leadership . 24 American Honda Launches Body Repair News . 25 ASRW Creates Free App for Event Information . 6 AUTODATA has a New Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Avery v State Farm is Back in the News, as a RICO Case making the Judge the Issue . . 14 BMW Considering Mexico- based Assembly Plant . 36 BMW i8 Series will be first to use Corning’s Gorilla Glass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 BMW to Recall 1,500 09-10 X5s for Fuel Filter Heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Body Shop Improvements May Earn Image Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 CARSTAR Becomes First Corporate Member of ASA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Charging System Maker Says it May File Bankruptcy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Chief Expands its 3rd Qtr Training Schedule . . 31 Chrysler and Ford to Exhibit at 2013 ASRW Rotunda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 CIC Committee Deletes Reference to

Dismiss and allowed the suit to proceed. The rest of the story is correct.

The error was brought to our attention by the law firm for the Plaintiff: Sher, Garner, Cahill, Richter, Klein and Herbert LLC of New Orleans, who pointed out the error and wrote: We thank you for reporting on the lawsuit and the important issues involved in the lawsuit. We remain steadfast in our confidence in the merits of this case and look forward in continuing to assist our client in the pursuit of remedies for its damages incurred at the hands of the Defendants.

Autobody News will continue to monitor developments in the case and report in future issues.

CIC Committee Deletes Reference to “Class A” Shop

Since CIC first compiled its definition of a “Class A” collision repair facility in the 1980s, the Definitions Committee has periodically updated the document, adding to or changing the list of equipment, training, compliance issues and other elements that CIC participants believed distinguished the nation’s top shops.

But at CIC in Boston, the com-

mittee presented its final draft of the revised document, with the term “Class A” no longer in the title. The line items in the definition are largely unchanged from the 2005 version, but it now defines simply the, “recommended equipment and capabilities for a collision repair facility.”

Several CIC participants in

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst General Manager: Barbara Davies Contributing Writers: Tom Franklin, David Brown, John Yoswick, Rich Evans, Janet Chaney, Toby Chess, Ed Attanasio, Chasidy Sisk Advertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman, Bill Doyle (800) 699-8251 Sales Assistant: Louise Tedesco Art Director: Rodolfo Garcia

AAPEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .46 Automotive ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 AutoNation Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge of North Phoenix . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Axalta Coating Systems . . . . . . . . . . .5 BASF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2, 13 Bill Luke Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . .48 Bill Luke Fiat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . .53 Bob Smith BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Bob Smith MINI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Car-Part Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 CCC Information Services . . . . . . . .17 Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) . . . . . . . . . . .21 Chief Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Completes Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Downtown Motors of LA (Audi, VW, Porsche) . . . . . . . . . . .55 Drew Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 East Bay BMW-MINI . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Elk Grove Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Enterprise Rent-A-Car . . . . . . . . . . .12 Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Extractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers AZ, CA, & NV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 Forklift Wrecker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Galpin Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26, 39 Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Glenn E. Thomas Chrysler-JeepDodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . .65 Herkules Equipment Corporation . .18 Honda-Acura Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34-35 Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . .44 I-CAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Innovative Tools & Technology, Inc .24 KBS Coatings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Kearny Mesa Subaru-Hyundai . . . . .28

See Class A Shops, Page 32

Serving California, Nevada and Arizona, 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. ©2013 Adamantine Media LLC. Autobody News P.O. Box 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018 (800) 699-8251 (760) 721-0253 Fax www.autobodynews.com Email: news@autobodynews.com

Western

COLUMNS Attanasio - Autobody-Review.com—Where Yelp Meets Reputation Defender . . . . . . . . . 26 Company Connections - Valspar Partners with Gas Monkey Garage, Improves Color Matching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Franklin - Don’t Mess With My Marketing!. . . . . 6 Insurance Insider - Responding to Reader Feedback on Insider’s Parts and Materials Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Sisk - Education Foundation Draws On the Industry’s Generosity to Support Next Repairer Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Yoswick - September Retrospective on the Collision Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

“Class A” Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 CIECA Announces New Standards for Mobile/Cloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 CIECA Launches CIECA-TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Connecticut Body Shop Fined a Total of $54,300 for Repeat Violations by OSHA Did Not Contest Citations . . . . . . . . . 15 Dealerships Continued to Lose Body Shops in 2012. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Garmat’s Sharp Shooter Contest is Back, Winners Get a Free Trip to SEMA and a SATAjet 4000B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 GM Adds Production Week on Cruze, Yr on Yr up 70% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 GM Wants to Improve Volt Electric Range by 20% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Herkules Wins IAMG 2012 Vendor of the Year Award. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Honda Aces Crash Test, Kia and Nissan Less So . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Honda to Invest $180M more in Anna, OH, Engine Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Hyundai Recalling Santa Fes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Hyundai to Recall 239K of its 05-10 Sonatas in ‘Rust Belt’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 July Article on Felder’s Collision Parts v General Motors et al. was Wrong About the Lawsuit Being Dismissed . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Kevin Flynn, Nine Year LKQ Board Member, Passes Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Kinnetech Lawsuit Dropped by Plaintiff Williams & Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 LKQ Buys U.K. Paint Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Mercedes-Benz to Offer Head-up Windshield Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Mitchell Brings 5 New Add-Ons to Repaircenter Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 NABC Award of Distinction Nominations Still Open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 NACE MSO Symposium Open to Some Single Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 NACE Panels to Review Parts Procurement, Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 New Ford Workshop Manuals Feature More Collision Repair Sections and 3D Graphics . 64 New Test Fails Half the Small Cars Tested . . . . 52 NHTSA to Require OEMs to Provide Online VIN Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Nissan Sees Triple Last Year Leaf Sales, Boosts Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 OSHA Focused on Preventing Summer Heat Illness, Isocyanates Ongoing Concern . . . . 48 OSHA Withdraws Proposed Rule Amending on On-site Consultation Program Citing Concern About Employer Participation . . . . . . . . . . . 39 PPG MVP Conference Registration is Now Open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Reaction to CIC in Boston Shows Conflicting Goals and Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 SAAR Increases to 15.8 Million . . . . . . . . . . . 64 SEMA Show Expands to Three New Exhibitor Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 State Farm & PartsTrader Meet with Industry As Program Rolls Out in the Southwest. . . . . 1 Tesla Model S Gets 5 Stars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 The PARTS ACT—The Pros and the Cons from ABPA’s Salamy and ASA’s Amberson . . . . . 56 TopTech Finder Expands Job Board for All Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Toyota Expects to Sell 2.25M Vehicles in U.S. in 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Toyota Recalls 342K Pickups . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 U.S. Auto Parts Network Has Loss Over 2nd Quarter 2012. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 UniCure Spraybooths Joins CREF Leadership Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 VISA and Mastercard Owe About $7.25 Billion to Merchants Who Have Taken Cards Since 2004, Fairness Hearing on Sept. 12 Could Change Amount Owed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Autobody News regrets an error in our article (Federal Anticompetition Lawsuit Against GM Program Dismissed Again but Amended Complaint is Allowed) published in the July 2013 Issue which stated that: “A federal judge in Louisiana has again dismissed an aftermarket parts retailer’s lawsuit challenging GM’s ‘Bump the Competition’ program designed to boost sales of original-equipment parts at dealerships, but he gave the plaintiff, Felder’s Collision Parts Inc., permission to amend its complaint.”

The statement that the suit was dismissed is wrong. Rather the judge denied the Defendants’ Motion to

Indexof Advertisers

REGIONAL Calif.’s AB 964 Would Add Vehicle Sale Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 California Specialty Plates Need More Orders to Fulfill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 California Supreme Court Pierces Insurance Shield Against Unfair Competition Claims . . . 1 East Bay CAA Golfers Raise Money for Local Trade Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Gilbert ‘Bibo’ Tavera Sr., Body Shop Owner in Watsonville, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Kadel’s Acquires Steelhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Kustom Koachworks in AZ is Now Mopar Certified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 LA Pays $4.2M Settlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Las Vegas Body Shop Surveilance Camera Captures ‘Stop and Look’ Hit-and-Run, Suspect Arrested and Charged . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Las Vegas Theft Ring Busted for Catalytic Converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Mercury Insurance Names 10 Cheapest in Auto Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Mitchell Opens New Technical Research Center in San Diego to Focus on 3D and Interactive Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Oregon Collision Repair Specialists Hold ‘Reinvention’ Meeting Aug. 15 . . . . . . . . . . 61 Plaintiffs Join Class Action on BMW Sunroof Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Pride Auto Body Says it’s Fully uParts Integrated. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

July Article on Felder’s Collision Parts v General Motors et al. was Wrong About the Lawsuit Being Dismissed

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers .63 LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Los Gatos Luxury Cars . . . . . . . . . . .8 Maita Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Malco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .64 Mercedes-Benz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .52 Mitchell International . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers .46 Momentum Auto Group . . . . . . . . . .41 MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . .51 Moss Brothers Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge .11 NACE Trade Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 Nick Alexander BMW . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Nick Alexander MINI . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Nicolosi Imports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 North County Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 PreFab Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Pro-Spray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Renick Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Replica Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 Riverside Metro VW-Honda-HyundaiNissan-Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 SEMA Trade Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Shingle Springs Nissan-Subaru . . .54 Sierra Chevrolet-Honda-MazdaSubaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Sonnen BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Starlite Coatings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .61 Timmons VW-Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . .50 Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .64 Tsunami Compressed Air Solutions .10 Urethane Supply Company . . . . . . .25 VIM Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers .58 Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . .62 Walcom USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Weatherford BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

Las Vegas Body Shop Surveilance Camera Captures ‘Stop and Look’ Hit-and-Run, Suspect Arrested and Charged

A surveillance camera at Eugene's Auto Body and Repair at 1870 Losee Rd, N Las Vegas, captured a car plowing in to a crowd of people about 11 p.m. the night of Aug. 8 on Losee Road. Eight churchgoers were injured after being struck by a hit and run driver. North Las Vegas Police received a report of a hit and run collision, in which multiple pedestrians were injured and the driver reportedly left the scene. The investigation indicated eight pedestrians, ranging in age from 15 to 57, including a pregnant female, were among a group of people in front of Iglesia De Cristo (Church of Christ).

They all reportedly just left the church and were going to their vehicles.

A white 2000 Mitsubishi Galant, with Utah plates, traveled southbound on Losee and struck the victims in the road. After striking the victims, the driver stopped, got out and looked, then got back in the vehicle and continued south to the dirt lot at the end of Losee. There she made a sweeping left turn in the dirt, striking her vehicle's right side against the rear of a parked grader.

One victim followed the vehi-

California Specialty Plates Need More Orders to Fulfill

A new law was enacted in 2012 to establish the California Legacy License Plate Program. The plates have been available for pre-order, and cost $50 for non-personalized or personalized plates.

Consumers may choose from one of three classic designs from the ’50s– ’60s. However, the law only allows until January 1, 2015, to reach the required minimum 7,500 pre-orders for any one of the plate styles. Currently, none of the plates have reached the required number of applications.

Black lettering on yellow background: 1,213 applications received Yellow lettering on black background: 4,224 applications received Yellow lettering on blue background: 901 applications received If 7,500 applications are not received by January 1, 2015, any fees paid for the California Legacy plates will be refunded to the applicant.

For more details, contact Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.

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cle on foot and saw the suspect exit the vehicle and flee east toward I-15.

The suspect was located during a search of the area. The victim and a witness positively identified the driver, who has been identified as 18-year-old Nyakueth D. Tear of Utah. She was transported to UMC where she was treated for minor injuries and later booked into the Las Vegas jail. Tear displayed signs of impairment and consented to a blood draw. Possible DUI charges are pending the blood test results.

Tear was booked on eight counts of felony hit and run, eight counts of failing to render aid and numerous misdemeanors including obstructing a police officer. Tear was being held at the Las Vegas city jail on nearly $360,000 bail pending a court appearance on felony hit-and-run charges and misdemeanor failure to render aid, false information, driving without a license and insurance and vehicle registration counts.

The surveilance video can be viewed at: www.mynews3.com/ mostpopular/story/Surveillancecamera-catches-NLV-hit-and-runcrash/jA7yhdoAOkmV82PW_pNY dQ.cspx

Calif.’s AB 964 Would Add Vehicle Sale Requirements

A bill currently in the California Assembly would modify how a certified pre-owned vehicle can be sold. The bill would include manufacturer’s safety recalls on the list of prohibited conditions for certified vehicles. The measure, AB 964, would also add a required pre-sale disclosure for all used vehicles (including non-certified units) regarding manufacturer’s recalls and the other safety and warranty issues. The bill’s author, Assemblyman Rob Bonta who represents Oakland, said these disclosures parallel the safety and warranty conditions applicable to certified used vehicles.

California law already states used vehicles may be advertised and sold only if certain criteria apply regarding the condition of the vehicle. Examples of those criteria include that the odometer has not been altered or replaced to show fewer miles and that the vehicle has not been salvaged or have other specified safety problems.

Opponents including the California New Car Dealers Association and the Independent Automobile Dealers Association of California, contend that the bill is unnecessary, burdensome and difficult “if not impossible” for dealers to remain compliant.

4 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Kadel’s Acquires Steelhead

Kadel’s Auto Body, a multi-shop operator based in the Pacific Northwest, has acquired Steelhead Collision Center located in Meridian, Idaho.

The acquisition brings the total number of locations to 18. “We are very excited with this most recent addition to Kadel’s Auto Body to provide additional service to Treasure Valley,” said Don Braden, president and CEO of Kadel’s.

“Steelhead Collision Center enjoys a very good reputation and will be a great addition to the Kadel’s family,” said Braden.

LA Pays $4.2M Settlement

The Los Angeles City Council has agreed to pay $4.2 million to two women whose truck was shot up by police during the manhunt for copturned-killer Christopher Dorner.

The council voted 10-nothing to approve the settlement with 47-yearold Margie Carranza and her 71-year-old mother, Emma Hernandez. They earlier were granted $40,000 to replace their truck. The women were injured in February when Los Angeles police riddled their pickup with bullets as they delivered newspapers in Torrance.

Las Vegas Theft Ring Busted for Catalytic Converters

Las Vegas Metro arrested seven people Aug. 19 in connection to a catalytic converter theft ring. Metro Officer Bill Cassell said warrants were served at a private residence and a business in the 2800 block of Westwood Drive, near Highland Drive.

The group is accused of taking the converters from vehicles and selling the parts for scrap metal. The SWAT team served search warrants in two places where they found pieces of cars here and they suspect may have been stolen.

Police said they found transmissions and batteries inside the buildings but have their eyes on the catalytic converters. The long metal tubing found under the car used to reduce pollution that are made up of valuable metals. Thieves can cut off to damage a car in under one minute. It is an ongoing investigation and more arrests are possible, according to Cassell. He added that there are many victims, possibly a hundred. A total of seven individuals were arrested, and hundreds of vehicle parts believed to be stolen were recovered. Catalytic converters are usually stolen because of the value of their metallic components, such as platinum, palladium and iridium.

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www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 5

On Creative Marketing Don’t Mess With My Marketing! with Thomas Franklin

My first glimpse of malicious competitors was seeing a runner for one body shop remove a competitor’s business cards in an insurance agent’s office, and replace them with his own.

In a highly competitive market, some shops may be striving to steal other shop’s business when the number of jobs in the area is declining. In addition to the straightforward attempts to push a shop out of a dealership deal in order to gain the authorized repair center designation, I’ve seen some shops stoop to discrediting a competitor in every way possible. Sometimes signs are defaced, taggers sent to put an ugly image on a shop’s fences and exterior, and more. If you spot someone taking photos of your shop or vehicles parked in your lot or in the vicinity of your shop, get that person’s name and file a police report at once.

These days a common malicious practice is placing phony complaints against a shop on Yelp and local referral websites. One shop suspected a competitor of having a vehicle brought into his shop and deliberately sabotaged to create an insurance company and Board of Auto Repair complaint and a vicious story to be sent to the press and put on-line. The shop owner suspected he was under attack when an anonymous tip also sent OSHA inspectors into his shop for supposed code violations. Anonymous complaints are most difficult to defend against, but even a complaint by someone giving his or her name could still be someone connected to a competing shop. One shop that was bro-

ken into resulting in the loss of numerous radios, GPS systems and more, suspected a competitor of either arranging the theft or at least providing information on how to get into the shop at night.

How far will a malicious competitor go to undermine a shop he wants out of the way? In the famous fictional industrial espionage tale, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” author Roald Dahl has the evil Slugworth trying to steal Wonka’s secret recipes by bribing young visitors to get them from the Oompa Loompa sweets maker. Do body shop owners have trade secrets? Could a competitor squash a shop’s marketing strategy efforts if he knew them in advance?

Hacking into a company’s computer system may be the most modern way to steal trade secrets, but experts say most thefts still occur the old fashioned way, by sneaking into a company’s offices and making off with classified information.

Ira Winkler, a top corporate security analyst, in his book “Spies Among Us: How to Stop the Spies, Terrorists, Hackers, and Criminals You Don’t Even Know You Encounter Every Day,” Winkler estimates American companies lose as much as $300 billion a year to pirating, counterfeiting and other corporate theft. He says inside jobs are another tried-and-true method. We just saw an example of that when several people were busted as they attempted to sell Coca-Cola secrets to rival cola giant, Pepsi.

Could a competitor pay off an em-

ASRW Creates Free App for Event Information

Automotive Service and Repair Week (ASRW) has created a free mobile application allowing participants to quickly access event information. The app is available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry users and can be downloaded by searching ASRW2013 in your device’s app store.

The app will allow ASRW participants to search the exhibitor list and access the floor plan in addition to searching all educational sessions and events. It is integrated with registration, includes a calendar, shows

alerts, and has social integration with Twitter and Facebook.

Additionally, users can access their hotel reservations and information on local restaurants and attractions in Las Vegas.

“Based on feedback from last year, we’ve upgraded the technology used in our app to provide a better user experience for our attendees,” said Shelby Hausler, ASRW associate show manager. “There’s no better way to access all the critical information from the show website while you’re on the go or on site.”

6 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

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

ployee in his target body shop to report on planned marketing activities?

How could a shop owner defend against a devious attack of this nature?

One news article reports that experts say the best defense against corporate theft is to thoroughly vet employees who have access to sensitive information. Then make sure that that information is secure. If a breach occurs, report it to law enforcement as soon as possible. Corporations often hire a security analyst to perform simulated espionage to test the company’s security system. While few shops have the kind of sensitive information that a competitor might try to steal, there are many more basic ways to mess with a shop’s marketing and to try to discredit their image.

Where it is still common for accident victims to try to get three estimates, I’ve heard of a shop owner deliberately sending a prospective repair customer to the worst two other

shops he could think of, where he could be sure the customer would get a high or faulty estimate. Some have mastered the fine art of tactfully badmouthing the competition to instill enough doubt about their integrity and reliability to eliminate them from the running.

One shop owner I know was stunned when he lost a couple of dealership deals he had for many years. He simply wasn’t prepared for the aggressive attacks on his quality that were made. Just running a shop is a full-time job and that doesn’t leave a lot of time to be policing business relationships and marketing maneuvers.

But in a highly competitive business environment, it’s naive to assume all competitive moves will be honest and above board. Thomas Jefferson said “Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom,” but, in a body shop, constant vigilance may well be the price of survival.

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www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 7

East Bay CAA Golfers Raise Money for Local Trade Schools Creek in Concord, CA,on July 20, a few errant balls did end up in water A recent study by a golf magazine hazards, assorted sand traps, numersaid 80% of all golfers admit to cheat- ous bushes and just about anywhere ing, and that the other 20% are lying, else you might imagine. but there was no doubting the honest About 100 golfers played 18 intentions of the CAA East Bay Chap- holes on a sunny day in the East Bay, ter in supporting their local trade while raising money for local automotive tech schools and networking with schools. body shop personnel, vendors, friends and ringers.

Using a scramble format, the day featured an eclectic mix of duffers, former stars, emerging standouts and a bunch of people yelling “Fore!”

CAA-EBC President (from left) Richard Chen from Hertz Concord captured a covTiffany Silva saw some eted first place with Kashka Clay, Concord BMW; CAA-EBC new faces and was pleased President Tiffany Silva, Jonah “The Kid” Ryan, TGIF Auto to see some old ones on Body in Fremont, and Marcos Cortez, National Auto Parts at the CAA-EBC 27th annual golf tournament at Diablo Creek the golf course, she said. golf course, in Concord, CA. “We saw quite a few new Former U.S. President Gerald body shop people, and that’s always Ford said “I know I’m getting better encouraging. We always expect venat golf because I’m hitting fewer spec- dors to attend, but when we see more tators.” Most of the spectators were body shops coming to this event, that fairly safe at the East Bay California makes us happy. LKQ brought a lot of Autobody Association’s (CAA-EBC) their techs from the different yards 27th annual golf tournament at Diablo and some of them had never played

by Ed Attanasio

golf before, so that was excellent. We Gigi Walker, a CAA officer and a had a wonderful dinner after the tourboard member for many years was ecnament and the whole thing turned out well. We’re always looking to improve this tournament and we already have plans to make it even better in 2014.”

The winning foursome consisting of Richard Chen (Hertz Concord), Kashka Clay (Concord BMW), Jonah “The Kid” Ryan (TGIF Auto Although they did not win, this colorful foursome provided Body in Fremont) and Mar- comic relief all day. From left, Peter Lock, Contra Costa cos Cortez (National Auto College; Harry Weil, Regal Collision; Jim Boyle, owner of Parts) claimed that their score Regal Collision and David Lock was 100% true and no one seemed to static about the great turnout and the dispute it. positive vibes created by the event.

“This tournament is all about shops and vendors coming together to promote education for future collision repairers,” Walker said. “By raising much-needed funds for local auto body educational programs, this year’s group of golfers and volunteers came together not to just have fun, but also to support a great cause. We had a great time; the weather was excepThe parents of CAA-EBC’s President Tiffany tional and new friendships were built.

Silva, Ed and Kathy Cichon were at the I can’t thank our sponsors enough for tournament to cheer on the field of 100 golfers

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seeing the future of collision repair as a part of their commitment to our industry.”

About $4,000 was raised for four local collision tech programs, including the College of Alameda, Contra

Ben Govette, the son of Mike Govette at FinishMaster, once again won the long putting contest

Costa College, Eden Valley ROP and Mission Valley ROP. Golfers won raffle prizes and special thanks go out to all of the tournament’s sponsors, including Dublin Chevrolet that sponsored the tournament’s dinner and PPG that sponsored the day’s lunch.

www.autobodynews.com CHECK IT OUT!

NHTSA to Require OEMs to Provide Online VIN Search

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced Aug. 14 its plans to require automakers and motorcycle manufacturers to provide consumers with a free online tool that will enable them to search recall information by vehicle identification number (VIN) starting next year. Updated weekly, the information will allow consumers to instantly determine whether action is required for uncompleted safety recall for their personal vehicles. While several automakers already offer this feature, those who do not will have until Sept. 14, 2014 to do so.

Available through safercar.gov, the new system of searching by VIN numbers will allow consumers to tell what work has been done on a specific vehicle. Currently, consumers are limited to general searches by vehicle make and model year on the NHTSA website.

“Safety is our highest priority, and an informed consumer is one of our strongest allies in that effort,” said U.S. transportation secretary Anthony Foxx. “Owners and potential buyers alike will soon be able to identify whether a safety recall for their specific vehicle is incomplete, using our free online search.”

Continued from Cover

Fax-Only Ending

parts vendor chose not to sign-up for the online quoting system, PartsTrader would generate a fax order and forward it to that vendor on the shop’s behalf.

With that feature no longer available, Select Service shops in Arizona using the fax option have just two choices: encourage their preferred suppliers to sign up for, and use, the PartsTrader application, or find a new parts supplier for State Farm repairs.

According to an industry source, an email sent to repairers in Arizona, PartsTrader Support said that after July 31, suppliers which have not yet begun to use the PartsTrader application as “a fully active participating supplier,” will no longer appear on the system as an available vendor, and therefore will no longer be able to receive orders placed in PartsTrader.

During the webinar, Smith said, “The users in our pilot markets felt that [the fax option] disrupted their process and took some of the efficiencies out because they still had to call those suppliers to see if they were actually going to get the part. When they

submitted an order, we would [fax] the order to the supplier, but then the repair shop would still have to call to verify prices, update the prices in their estimating system [and] we found that they were running duplicate processes.

Other changes in the PartsTrader system presented by Smith included new functionality for users, including a vendor star rating system, a VIN decoder, the ability to save draft parts orders, and a new welcome page with access to training videos.

The VIN decoder, available for vendors, was developed in conjunction with CompNine.

The star rating system, announced in April by PartsTrader, is now beginning to be rolled-out. “We’ve been collecting this information for three months and now we have enough feedback to start displaying ratings,” Smith said.

With this release, each shop and vendor will be able to see the star rating for their own business only, and in a later release the star ratings will eventually be visible to all users.

Users of the system are rated on items such as quoting accuracy, party quality, communication, business practices, and, for shops, how fast they pay their bills.

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 9

Inside Insurance with The Insurance Insider

The Insider is a corporate-level executive with a Top 10 auto insurer in the U.S.. Got a comment or question you’d like to see him address in a future column? Email him at Auto.Insurance.Insider@gmail.com

Responding to Reader Feedback on Insider’s Parts and Materials Column

I received a fair amount of feedback from devout readers about a previous column on parts and materials. For those who didn’t read (or don’t recall) that column, I addressed shops’ profit centers. I said shops need to quit whining about State Farm and PartsTrader and instead focus on the profit centers they do have control over. (See http://www.autobodynews.com/columnists/insurance-insider/item/7264stop-obsessing-about-parts-profits-wh en-you’re-not-managing-the-profitcenters-you-have.html) Because I’m not solely focused on pointing out the obvious, I also added a few tips as to how shops can improve their profitability on paint and materials. One suggestion, for example, was to reduce the amount of theft in the shop.

Apparently, my tips for success were not welcomed by all readers. In fact, a few readers took me to task in e-mail responses to the column. Although they were upset with my comments, they also were astute enough to ask for help. I appreciate them taking the time to write, and I offer the following suggestions in response to some of their questions.

Here’s an excerpt from “Laura,” who wrote from a shop in a Mid-Atlantic state. “Our rates for paint materials and labor that insurance companies pay us haven’t increased in 10 years or more,” Laura wrote. “As you know, paint and material prices have increased tremendously over that period of time.

What are your thoughts on this? What are our rights against insurance companies so that we may protect our bottom line?”

Your situation is one that is very familiar to shops around the country, Laura. There are a number of markets across the United States that haven’t seen a labor rate or paint and material increase in years. These areas are usually in states with regulatory issues that create barriers to increased shop unity. Unfortunately, if your shop is one of only a few in these areas requesting an increase, you will NOT get one. If you are in a market populated with unknowledgeable shops that are still operating as if it’s 1980, your shop will suffer.

There a few solutions to your problem. You can choose to remove yourself from any direct repair programs and charge whatever rate you believe is fair. Since that can be a risky endeavor, you can take a different approach. I would recommend requesting rate increases in a professional manner. Request a meeting at your shop. Explain why the increase is necessary. Show the insurer the investments you’ve made in your shop and employees. Last but not least, show them the “product” and service your customers receive that they can’t get down the street for the same price.

“Tom,” from a dealership in the Northeast, also wrote to me after my paint and materials column.

“How do insurance companies determine when the paint and materials reimbursements need to be raised on the estimates they provide” Tom asked. “Every time 3M or DuPont or PPG sends a notice that they are raising their prices, I ask them (by email or, if I can reach someone, by phone) to make sure they let the insurance

TopTech Finder Expands Job Board for All Workers TopTech Finder has expanded its job board to help repairers find all types of collision repair workers. “At NACE in New Orleans, shops said that they wanted help finding all kinds of employees, not just PDR techs. We are expanding to better meet the needs of the industry,” said Jeff Herman, CEO of TopTech Finder. Free for job seekers, TopTech Finder is also free for employers for a limited time in 2013. “Employers have a hard time finding qualified

technicians on general job boards.

They aren’t designed for the collision repair industry and don’t draw many technicians,” said Herman. “In contrast, TopTech Finder allows candidates to list industry-specific qualifications like I-CAR Platinum and ASE certifications, making the job board a natural place for techs to find jobs.” Herman said all jobs, from estimators to collision technicians, entry-level to experienced, can now be posted on the website.

10 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

companies know that they are raising their pricing.”

Insurers, Tom said, will in turn only honor a shop’s higher rate “after much complaining,” and many shops complaining. Then the insurers make it appear they are doing the shops a favor by raising the rate at a later date, all the while ‘complaining’ that THEY are losing profits. Is this how it works, in your professional opinion? It seems that the real theft here takes place from the time of the (supplier) increases to the time the insurance companies raise rates. They seem to be the thieves, not our employees, as you seem to think the problem is.”

Well, Tom, insurance companies determine the paint and material reimbursement rate by using an algorithm developed by an engineer in mathematical computations. Not! Of course I am joking. Sadly, most if not all insurance companies only raise their rates when shops “complain,” as you

state above. That isn’t a joke. We aren’t in the business to give money away.

Unless you ask, you aren’t getting.

We don’t receive any documentation from the paint companies. I’m sure they would provide it upon request but we really don’t care. Years ago when gas and paint and materials prices were rising like the tide after a tsunami, we watched from afar as those near the beach were swept away.

Unfair yes, but it’s not our problem.

We see those increases only when they are reflected in the rates shops say they need to charge us. Unless a large number of shops in a geographic market submit for an increase, we aren’t increasing our reimbursement rate.

I concur, Tom, with your assessment that we revert to pointing to employee theft or waste as the reason you aren’t profitable. Old habits die hard, but there also is a lot of truth to that statement.

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 11

Continued from Cover

Unfair Competition

new avenue for plaintiffs to score injunctions, refunds of premiums and attorneys’ fees. The ruling applies only to first party claims (those brought by the insured against the insurer.)

The court decided two cases involving the Unfair Competition Law, holding, in one (Zhang v. California Insurance Co.), that an action may be stated under the act where the conduct violates the Unfair Insurance Practices Act, if it also violates some other statute or common law. In the other case (Rose v. Bank of America), it announced that a UCL action may sometimes be maintained based on a violation of a federal statute, even though that statute does not authorize private relief.

In the insurance case (Zhang v.

Superior Court), Justice Carol Corrigan wrote for the majority in clarifying the effect of the court’s 1988 decision in Moradi-Shalal v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Companies, 46 Cal 3d 287, which barred private actions for conduct proscribed by Insurance Code section 790.03(h).

Justice Corrigan said: “When the Legislature enacted the UIPA, it contemplated only administrative enforcement by the Insurance Commissioner….Private UIPA actions are absolutely barred; a litigant may not rely on the proscriptions of section 790.03 as the basis for a UCL claim…. However, when insurers engage in conduct that violates both the UIPA and obligations imposed by other statutes or the common law... the Legislature did not intend the UIPA to operate as a shield against any civil liability.”

The decision reinstates an action

by Yanting Zhang against California Capital Insurance Company which she accuses of false advertising and bad faith. Zhang, the plaintiff, sued her insurer, California Capital Insurance, over a dispute arising from a fire at her business, contending that the insurer’s handling of her claim was inadequate. Among the various claims asserted by Zhang in her complaint, she maintained that by promising to make timely and proper payment on claimed losses, her insurer had engaged in “false and misleading advertising” in violation of the California Unfair Competition

12 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Law. Zhang alleged that she personally suffered actual harm as a result of the insurer’s alleged wrongful actions and thereby broadened the scope of potential claims available to insured under the UCL. Causes of action included breach of contract, bad faith, and violation of the UCL due to alleged false advertising by promising to provide timely coverage when the insurer had no intention of paying the true value of covered claims. The trial court sustained the insurer’s demurrer to the UCL claim based on Moradi-Shalal’s bar of private actions under Ins. Code § 790.03. The Court of Appeal reversed and held that the false advertising claim was a sufficient basis for the UCL claim.

The Zhang v. Superior Court case settled the split in authority as to the interpretation of Moradi-Shalal v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Companies, which held that when the Legislature enacted the Unfair Insurance Practices Act (the “UIPA”) it did not intend to create a private cause of action for the commission of the unfair practices listed in Insurance Code section 790.03(h). In Zhang, the Court held that Moradi-

Shalal did not preclude first party UCL actions based on grounds that are independent from section 790.03, even when the insurer’s conduct also happens to violate section 790.03.

The insurer sought to have the UCL claim dismissed, arguing that the California Supreme Court’s 1988 decision in Moradi-Shalel v. Fireman’s Fund bars a private cause of action for any conduct that is covered under the California Unfair Insurance Practices Act, which itself provides no private right of action to insureds. In rejecting the insurer’s argument, the California Fourth District Court of Appeals held that while the California Supreme Court’s Morahi-Shalel decision bars private rights of action arising from claims handling conduct covered under the Unfair Insurance Practice Act, it does not bar a claim that is otherwise actionable under some other legal theory. Accordingly the court held that because false advertising is independently actionable under the UCL law, and because “the Legislature has clearly stated that the remedies and penalties under the UCL are cumulative to other remedies and See Unfair Competition, Page 45

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 13

Avery v State Farm is Back in the News, as a RICO Case making the Judge the Issue A sitting Illinois Supreme Court justice, Lloyd A. Karmeier, may have been compelled to testify under oath about allegations that he voted in 2005 to overturn a $1 billion verdict against State Farm because the company secretly funded a multi-million dollar campaign to help him get elected to the state supreme court. The 2004 Illinois Supreme Court race was the most expensive campaign for a single judicial office in U.S. history.

Lawyers whose plan to depose Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier became public now say they will do it later or maybe not at all. On Aug. 14, they told U.S. District Judge David Herndon that they would not rush into it if he lifts a temporary stay on discovery in their fraud and racketeering suit against State Farm.

In 1998 in the Avery v. State Farm case, the original plaintiffs won the largest verdict ever against State Farm for requiring the use of “imitation” crash parts in its auto repairs. After years of appeals, the verdict was reversed.

On May 29, 2012, three plaintiffs from Avery v. State Farm filed a new class action lawsuit, claiming that the

insurance company acted as the hub of an enterprise designed to defraud millions of policyholders out of a $1 billion judgment.

Mark Hale, Todd Shadle and Carly Vickers Morse, all of whom live out-ofstate and were class members to the unsuccessful 1997 class action suit against State Farm, brought their complaint in May in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

The trio’s lawsuit named State Farm; William Shepherd, an attorney at the insurance company; Ed Murnane, president of the Illinois Civil Justice League; and Justice Lloyd Karmeier’s campaign committee, Citizens for Karmeier, as defendants, however the judge, David Herndon since dismissed Citizens as a defendant.

Tennessee attorney W. Gordon Ball, who serves on the plaintiffs’ legal team, said his clients’ RICO suit is very simple: “Shepherd, State Farm and Murnane used the Illinois Civil Justice League as an enterprise to basically buy an Illinois Supreme Court justice.”

On August 5, 2013, the plaintiffs in Hale v. State Farm told the judge hearing the case that their “stated in-

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tention” was to ask Justice Karmeier to address the allegations in a deposition. The plaintiffs contend that State Farm violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) by using the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Republican Party, and other entities as conduits to conceal its role in funding and operating the justice’s campaign. RICO allows plaintiffs to sue persons or entities involved in a conspiracy to engage in improper activities such as bribery, fraud, or violent crimes. In May of this year, a federal judge denied State Farm’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit and ruled that the plaintiffs can continue with discovery. The trial could unearth more details about the extent of State Farm’s involvement in Justice Karmeier’s 2004 campaign.

The events that form the basis of Hale v. State Farm arose in 1997, when more than 4 million aggrieved policyholders filed a class-action lawsuit in an Illinois state court against State Farm. The 1997 lawsuit—Avery v. State Farm—concerned a clause in State Farm’s automobile insurance contract that stipulated that the com-

pany would pay for replacement parts of “like kind and quality” to restore a vehicle to its pre-loss condition after an accident. State Farm was accused of breaching this promise by installing inferior replacement parts. A jury in Williamson County, Illinois, agreed with the plaintiffs in Avery v. State Farm and awarded them $1.18 billion.

The verdict amounted to around $300 for each of the 4 million plaintiffs.

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Garmat’s Sharp Shooter Contest is Back, Winners Get a Free Trip to SEMA and a SATAjet 4000B

Back for the third year, GARMAT USA has announced the return of the immensely popular Garmat Sharp Shooter contest for shop owners and paint techs. This contest which began in 2011, was designed to recognize quality paint techs and shop owners that use Garmat equipment. Grand Prize includes a trip for 2 to the 2014 SEMA Show in Las Vegas and a SATAjet 4000B Camouflage Limited Edition Paint Gun. “We are amazed at the response we have gotten with our Sharp Shooter contest in the past two years and the feedback from the techs that use our equipment is invaluable,” says Johan Huwaert, Garmat USA’s general manager. “The shop owners appreciate the contest too, as it provides the added benefit of validating their commitment to quality by showcasing their choice of equipment and capabilities of their technicians.”

The Garmat Sharp Shooter Contest will run from July 25 -September 30, 2013. Paint techs and their managers will have the opportunity to tell their Garmat Story in either video tes-

timonial or written statements. Judging is based on the shop owner and paint tech’s dedication to providing quality paint jobs, superior customer service, attention to safety and overall equipment knowledge. Bonus questions include an inquiry on how Garmat can improve their Garmat experience with product improvements.

In addition to the Grand Prize of a free trip to the SEMA SHOW in Las Vegas, SATA has generously provided 2 SATA Camo Paint Guns to be presented to the top two entries. Five finalists will each be awarded two Samsung Galaxy Wifi tablets, (one for the contestant and one for the owner/manager), and the first 100 entrants will receive a custom Garmat Sharp Shooter Cap. Contest rules and regulations can be found at www.garmat.com.

The 2012 Garmat Sharp Shooter Winners can be found on www.facebook.com/GarmatUSA.

Connecticut Body Shop Fined a Total of $54,300 for Repeat Violations by OSHA Did Not Contest Citations Hoffman Auto Body Shop was cited in March 2013, by the U.S. Department of Labor’s OSHA Division for nine alleged violations of workplace safety standards at its Connecticut Avenue facility in East Hartford. OSHA proposed fines totaling $54,300, mostly because of repeat citations, the agency said. OSHA’s Hartford office had seen problems in an inspection in 2011, and a December 2012 inspection did not find the problems had been corrected, the agency said.

The agency also said the body shop had an improperly located electrical outlet, which could cause a shock hazard to workers, and a fire-suppression system switch was blocked by a cabinet. The electrical outlet problem was remedied during the inspection in December, documents show. The three serious violations resulted in $14,300 in proposed fines. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Equipment and materials, some of it flammable, were stored near paint spray booths and electric panels. The stored materials limited access to extinguish potential fires, presented fire

and shock hazards and impeded cleaning around the booths, which allows potentially combustible materials to accumulate. These conditions resulted in the issuance of two repeat citations with $40,000 in proposed fines. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

“The bulk of these fines stem from recurring hazards identified during this latest inspection,” said Warren Simpson, OSHA’s area director in Hartford. “Workers at the facility remained exposed to potential hazards. This employer needs to take effective action to correct these safety issues and prevent their recurrence.”

The company did not contest the citations. “The Hoffman family considers the safety of our employees a top priority and all issues identified

by OSHA regulators in December of 2012 were rectified immediately and completely,” said a statement released by the company in March. “We will make whatever changes are appropriate to continue to ensure a safe workplace for our employees.”

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 15

VISA and Mastercard Owe About $7.25 Billion to Merchants Who Have Taken Cards Since 2004, Fairness Hearing on Sept. 12 Could Change Amount Owed If you’ve accepted MasterCard and Visa payments from consumers within the past nine years, you may have some money coming your way. Notice of a settlement was recently filed in the amount of $7.25 billion with merchants who have accepted MasterCard and Visa payments since 2004.

According to David Cherney, vice president of Digital Financial Group (DFG), a merchant service group in Carson City, NV, the suit was filed in 2006 and has had more than 50 million pages of documents and 400 witnesses to date.

“Basically [MasterCard/Visa was] violating anti-trust laws, which you would call price fixing,” says Cherney.

“I have made my living in the merchant service industry so indirectly Visa and MasterCard put my kids through college… but I have no problem in being candid about what they’re being accused of. I’ve seen it. They wouldn’t be agreeing to a $7 billion settlement if there wasn’t [cause].”

The class action settlement authorized by the U.S. District Court for

the Eastern District of New York, represents two separate classes in the settlement. Members qualifying in the first class, “which includes all persons, businesses, and other entities that accepted any Visa or MasterCard cards in the U.S. at any time from January 1, 2004, to November 28, 2012,” according to a notice, will see $6.05 billion given in cash refunds.

The second class, according to the notice, “which includes all persons, businesses, and entities that as of November 28, 2012, or in the future accept any Visa or MasterCard cards in the U.S.,” will see a ten basis-point reduction in interchange rates for 8 months which is equivalent to a $10 savings for every $10,000 processed.

Cherney says, “An article from the April 22 Green Sheet says industry experts may receive from the first fund anywhere from $400 to $600 for every $100,000 spent” in Visa/MasterCard purchases.

Merchants can determine a rough estimate of the settlement amount they may receive by multiplying the aver-

16 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

age monthly Visa/MasterCard volume by 12 (the number of months in a year), then multiplying that figure by nine (the number of years eligible in the settlement). Divide that figure by $100,000 then multiply by $400 to see a conservative estimate of the potential amount your company could receive.

A fairness hearing has been scheduled for 10 a.m. September 12, 2013, at the courthouse for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

“After the hearing, a claim form will be submitted to the court for approval and a claim deadline will then be set … Big box stores are currently contesting the $7.25 billion figure; the final amount, which could increase or decrease, will be finalized at the September hearing,” says Cherney.

“Until this hearing, when the final [amount] is decided, unless you’re going to opt out of the settlement there is nothing you need to do at this point,” he adds. “After the hearing, claim forms will be available.”

Interested merchants can receive more information on the settlement and potential claims by visiting https://www.paymentcardsettlement. com/en. This is the official website for this settlement. Please do not rely upon other sites that may provide different and unauthorized information.

If the Court grants final approval of the Class Settlement, Claim Forms will be sent to all known Class members. Claim Forms will also be available at the website or by calling the Class Administrator at the toll-free number shown below.

Preregistration is optional and does not affect your rights under the settlement.

Merchants with multiple locations and/or franchise locations as well as single location merchants are encouraged to Preregister. The information you provide will be used to assist the Class Administrator in the preparation of your Claim Form.

In case of questions, call 1-800625-6440 or send an email to: info@PaymentCardSettlement.com.

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 17

Continued from Cover

No Choice on Usage

tween the various electronic parts procurement systems won’t matter if shops are being required to use a particular system.

“Everybody in the room, I believe, thinks that free market forces create the best value for consumers,” Stabler said. “I hear insurers talk

about that a lot. They want to have competition and free market forces to drive the best value for them. I think for the purposes of parts procurement, the difficult question is how do we allow free market forces to create a tool that is most efficient for the industry and allow body shops and insurers to choose the tool that allows them to reduce their operating costs and create internal efficiencies? We don’t have free market choices with

the direction that parts procurement is going.”

Stabler called electronic parts procurement systems “a necessary tool,” but said efficiency and features— rather than “external forces”—should be driving which systems are used.

“Let the people who want to make a parts procurement engine build the best tool, and let the marketplace decide which one is the best, rather than being forced,” Stabler said.

Automaker Rep Says Parts Procurement Systems Should Benefit All

Paul Massey of Ford Motor Company said shops and insurers choosing an electronic parts procurement system should think about the party on the other end of the exchange. Saying he was speaking on behalf of dealerships and maybe other parts suppliers, Massey told those at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in Boston in July that if the system Paul Massey takes away from the parts supplier’s efficiency, that will cost purchasers in some other way.

“There’s no free ride here,” Massey said, saying deal-

ers are now having to hire people to administer multiple parts ordering tools. “They’re either going to have to take it out of the services they provide, or they’re going to have to add cost to the prices they offer.”

As they have in the past, parts suppliers can provide all the parts that are needed, Massey said.

“So this either has to make it more efficient or more streamlined for them or help them reduce costs, or otherwise there’s no benefit to them,” Massey said.

“Of all the systems I’ve seen presented, the funding model is always to get a little more out of the supply base. So they’re the ones who are being asked to bear the burden and cost of someone else’s efficiency.”

18 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Aaron Schulenburg, executive director of Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS), agreed.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the survey or the questions, but I don’t think this touches on what we need to talk about,” Schulenburg told the committee. “For more than a year now, this committee has been asked, at least by individuals of this body, for a very serious disChuck Sulkala cussion about the entry-to-market (of the systems),” he said. “It keeps being avoided, frankly.

I think we really need to have that before we just ask how they work.”

Massachusetts shop owner Chuck Sulkala also urged the committee to examine that aspect of the topic.

“I understand you’re trying to put a matrix together. But the fact is, if you don’t have the free enterprise opportunity to use the matrix to determine what you’re going to use, what good is the matrix,” Sulkala asked. “If I’m told, ‘Here’s what you have to use, it doesn’t matter what you’re telling me in the matrix.”

Who Attends CIC?

An electronic audience response system (clickers) being used this year for the first time at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) meetings is offering a new way to gauge who attends CIC. Each of the last two meetings have had well over 200 attendees. At the meeting in Phoenix this past spring, about 30 percent indicated they were repairers, 10 percent were information providers and about 4 percent were insurers. But that survey lacked enough other categories, so the majority of attendees (55 percent) got lumped together as “other.”

The survey at the Boston meeting in July was a bit more refined. Again, about 29 percent of those responding clicked in as repairers. Likely because the meeting was held in conjunction with I-CAR’s annual conference, insurers made up a larger percentage (7 percent) than at the Phoenix meeting.

Consultants accounted for 9 percent of attendees, automakers 6 percent, and suppliers 29 percent. The category of “other” was still selected by about one of every five attendees.

CIC Chairman George Avery said the committee should continue its work on the matrix, but acknowledged that “it seems like we jumped ahead,” and that “it’s prudent that we facilitate the discussion that I think is being asked for.”

He said he would work with the past chairs of CIC to develop a panel discussion on the topic for the next CIC meeting, being held in Las Vegas No-

vember 6-7, during the SEMA show.

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

Herkules Wins IAMG 2012 Vendor of the Year Award

Herkules Equipment Corporation was awarded “Vendor of the Year” by the International Autobody Marketing Group (IAMG) at the annual IAMG Vendor/Warehouse Distributor meeting banquet.

“Herkules Equipment Corporation is a top-notch proactive partner to the Group and we honor them for their outstanding service, support and professionalism.” says Lloyd Fields, President of IAMG (International Autobody Marketing Group). “They offer exceptional Herkules IAMG products, continAward ued marketing efforts, and excellent value to our industry with a dedicated commitment to their customers. We are pleased to award them with our 2012 vendor of the Year Award!”

Kevin Prost, Vice President of Herkules, accepted the award from Lloyd Fields. “We are deeply honored to be presented with this award and we are proud to be part of a very special industry. This award recognizes the efforts of Russ Terry, our National Sales

Manager, Kris Fairbrother, our Director of Marketing, our sales reps, and our production staff that build high quality products here in the USA.” The IAMG is a leading, full-service corporation that delivers strategic solutions and high-quality products to the automotive aftermarket since 1992.

As a leader in Paint, Body & Equipment distribution, IAMG constitutes 14 individual warehouse Members across the United States and Canada, 47 distribution centers, and over 350 salespeople, according to their website, www.iamgaz.com.

Herkules Equipment Corporation, established in 1984, is a leading manufacturer for the Automotive Paint & Body Repair industry, having designed, manufactured, and patented the first Paint Gun Washer.

The company has been manufacturing quality vehicle lifts and scissor lift tables for close to 30 years, providing many different industries ergonomic solutions for countless applications. Herkules also supplies Air Jacks, Handling Equipment, and Crushing Equipment.

For more product information, please contact Herkules at 800-4444351, or at info@herkules.us or visit their website at www.herkules.us.

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 19

UniCure Spraybooths Joins CREF Leadership Circle

UniCure Spraybooths has joined the Collision Repair Education Foundation’s donor Industry Leadership Circle by donating more than $10,000 worth of equipment and uniforms for collision students. Wiregrass Georgia Technical College in Valdosta and Tennessee Technology Center in Shelbyville both received donated equipment that included intake and exhaust filters, JetAir waterborne fans, and additional miscellaneous items. UniCure will also sponsor 100 sets of Cintas work shirts and pants uniforms for collision students. “It is a privilege to work with these schools. I am glad that we are able to provide them with products and support that will enhance their paint departments. It is always rewarding when you get to give back,” said Allen Jenkins, president of UniCure Spraybooths/Interstate Marketing Corporation.

AUTODATA has a New Manual

AUTODATA has released 2013 Maintenance Reminder Reset Procedures. The new manual guides technicians through the specific steps required to reset vehicle maintenance reminder alerts, which must be reset after any maintenance work.

U.S. Auto Parts Network Has Loss Over 2nd Quarter 2012

U.S. Auto Parts Network has reported net sales for the second quarter ended June 29, 2013 of $67.9 million, compared with net sales of $80.7 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012, a decrease of 15.9 percent. Second quarter 2013 net loss was $9.6 million, compared with second quarter 2012 net loss of $1.7 million. “We believe in the strategies that we have implemented to return to profitable growth and increase customer traffic, and expect these strategies to overcome the challenges of the past year,” said CEO Shane Evangelist.

CIECA Launches CIECA-TV

The Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) introduces of CIECA-TV. CIECA will publish videos monthly, covering a range of topics from news and events to actual implementation case studies from collision industry leaders.

The first production video is available on CIECA’s YouTube channel and provides an overview of CIECA. More information can be found on the CIECA website or by emailing CIECA executive director Fred Iantorno at fred@cieca.com.

PPG MVP Conference Registration is Now Open

PPG has announced that registration is now open for the Fall MVP Business Solutions Conference at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort Sept. 810 in Amelia Island, FL. Expert speakers from both outside and inside the collision repair industry will discuss a mix of topics, and there will be numerous networking opportunities with other collision repair professionals.

“The pace of dynamic change in the collision repair industry is increasing at a light-speed rate, and we know that our customers’ needs and requirements are growing at a similar pace,” says Jim Berkey, director of MVP Business Solutions for PPG. “The business acumen, the vehicle technology, production processes and leadership knowledge all are playing an elevated role in performance, which makes it imperative that we develop and deliver the educational elements that assist our customers drive to out-perform competition and be best-in-class in their marketplace.”

The conference schedule is highlighted by prominent keynote speakers Scott Deming, David Horsager and Michael Hoffman.

In his keynote address titled “Perceptual Reality,” Deming, a customer service and emotional brand building guru, will challenge the audience to know what their customers or clients are

thinking: how they perceive your company and your service and using their perception as reality, not yours. He will also discuss the impact of using outside vendors or suppliers to serve your customers and how to keep them tightly within your brand strategy, brand integrity and service commitment.

Horsager is an author, entrepreneur, professor, and award-winning keynote speaker who researches and speaks on the bottom-line impact of trust. His presentation discusses why trust has the ability to accelerate or destroy any business, organization or relationship. With greater trust comes greater innovation, stronger brands, increased retention of good people, higher morale, multiplied productivity, better results and a bigger bottom line when you gain the “Trust Edge.”

“Igniting Performance in the Tornado of Business” is the closing keynote headline, and Hoffman’s real-world approach will deliver concepts and topics such as “Sales Secrets of the One Percenters,” “Anything You Do Is Everything You Do” and “Coaching within the Tornado: Ignition for Leadership.”

The conference is open to owners and managers of collision centers using PPG Refinish products. MVP conferences are biannual events by invitation only.

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SEMA Show Expands to Three New Exhibitor Areas In addition to 11 designated floor sections, the 2013 SEMA Show will include three different areas where First-Time and Featured Exhibitors can be found.

“In order for us to accommodate the more than 2,400 companies exhibiting at the 2013 SEMA Show, we’ve expanded our footprint,” said Peter MacGillivray, SEMA vice president of communications and events.

“Collectively, the First-Time and Featured Exhibitor areas include hundreds of new and innovative manufacturers that represent all markets in the industry. These are must-see areas for everyone in the industry.”

While the SEMA Show has included a First-Time and Featured Exhibitors area in previous years, 2013 marks the first time that the Show will include three such areas: Upper South Hall, east end near the New Products Showcase: This is the same area where First-Time and Featured Exhibitors were located in 2012.

Bridge, between Central and South Halls: Many Showgoers will

know this area because of the Media Center, the Center for International Commerce and the Show Office. For 2013, the Media Center will move to N109 (Meeting Rooms to the east of the Grand Lobby), and the Center for International Commerce will be located in N255 (second floor above the Grand Lobby).

LVH South Pavilion area, near Central Hall: The LVH is located across the street, but adjacent to the north side of North Hall. Several exhibitors will be located in the Pavilion area of the LVH, along with General Registration.

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22 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

NACE Panels to Review Parts Procurement, Certification Automotive Service & Repair Week (ASRW) is pleased to announce two 90-minute panel discussions will take place during ASRW|NACE|CARS addressing electronic parts procurement and certification programs.

ASRW will take place Thursday and Friday, Oct. 17–18, with education beginning Wednesday, Oct. 16, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Understanding Today’s e-Commerce Parts Solutions (session WE10) takes place Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 10:30 a.m. “With the constantly changing e-commerce parts procurement and search engine environment, it is critical that collision repairers understand the impact to their business,” stated Roger Wright, vice president of operations for Sterling Autobody Centers, and moderator of the WE10 session.

Certification Programs: Are They For You? (session TH17) takes place Thursday, Oct. 17, at 3 p.m.

“Certification is a term that is grossly overused, and more importantly,

under-defined. This session should help attendees learn about the variety of certifications available so they can make the decision as to what works best for their businesses,” said Lou DiLisio, Automotive Industry Consulting, and moderator of the TH17 session.

Registration for ASRW is available online at http://www.asrwevents.com. Both sessions are included in the purchase of a Super Pass registration, which includes one ticket per timeslot to the ASRW Conference Program, an Expo Pass to walk the show floor, one ticket to the Opening General Session/Industry Forum, one ticket to the Welcome Party, and a 2013 commemorative pin. Sessions may also be purchased individually for $70 each.

Additionally, all ASRW exhibitors are offering a discount of $50 off any conference purchase, and attendees are encouraged to contact any exhibitor directly to redeem.

The 2013 ASRW Conference Program is sponsored by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

NACE MSO Symposium Open to Some Single Shops NACE has announced that the 3rd annual MSO Symposium will take place Wednesday, October 16 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. Attendance to this highly sought after event will again be limited to qualified collision repair multiple-location operators (MSOs) with two or more locations. However, new this year, the symposium will open 75 seats on a first-come, first-served basis to single collision repair owners interested in expanding their business.

Registration is open and the fee to attend is $200 or $250 after August 22.

Group-rate registrations are also available for repair organizations with multiple executives who wish to attend.

NACE’s MSO Symposium now open to expansion minded shop owners.

“The MSO Symposium is designed to provide a unique array of content specifically for the collision repair multiple location operator segment,” said Vincent Romans, The Romans Group, producer of the MSO Symposium. “Based on ongoing feedback and input, we are busy finalizing an agenda that we believe will be of interest to MSOs,” added Romans.

Content highlights for this year’s symposium will include topics related to leadership, business continuity and

succession planning, private equity, MSO panel presentations and discussions on their business, market, financial and strategic focus, and development and insight about international MSOs. Additional details regarding the content will be released in the coming weeks.

Also new this year, a portion of the symposium will be open to the press. Members of the press will also be invited to attend the evening networking reception at the conclusion of the symposium.

The 2013 MSO Symposium is produced by ASA, The Romans Group and NACE. Sponsors of the symposium to date include Axalta Coating Systems, AudaExplore, BASF, BB&T, CCC Information Services, Enterprise Rent-aCar, Mitchell International, The Romans Group and UniCure Spraybooths.

Details regarding the agenda and speakers for the symposium are forthcoming. Visit e.hanleywood.com/ e/15182/ee-Home-KeyEventsMSOSymposium/57ps8/281231005 for the latest details surrounding the symposium.

The 2013 MSO Symposium is produced in memory of Matthew Ohrnstein, who produced the event in 2011 and 2012.

AAPEX to Address Warehouse Distributor Management Well-known professional experts on distribution and management will be presenting topics of particular interest to warehouse distributors (WD) in Learning Forum sessions during the 2013 Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX). AAPEX is set for Tuesday, Nov. 5 through Thursday, Nov. 7, at the Sands Expo Center, Las Vegas, NV. The Learning Forum WD Management sessions cover: how to achieve profitability and success; future forces in B2B markets; sales and marketing optimization; building tomorrow’s workforce; and trends affecting distribution businesses.

Featured speakers leading the WD Management sessions include: ● Garrison Wynn, Wynn Solutions — “The Real Truth About Success: What the Top 1 Percent Do Differently and Why They Won’t Tell You” and “Being the Best vs. Being Consistently Chosen” ● Steve Diest, Indian River Consulting Group — “Channel Evolution: Lessons from Other Industries” and “Future Forces in B2B Markets” ● Barry Lawrence, Texas A & M Distribution Program — “Optimizing Distributor Profitability: Best Practices for Improving Return on Investment” and “Sales and Marketing Optimization:

Driving Growth and Market Share” ● Gene Marks, The Marks Group — “Economic, Political and Tech Trends: 10 Things Happening Today That Will Affect Your Business Tomorrow” ● Dan Schawbel, Millennial Branding — “Building the Workforce of Tomorrow: How to Recruit, Retain and Grow Your Young Talent” This year’s Learning Forum will feature nearly 40 free sessions, the highest number ever offered at AAPEX. Sessions will start on Monday, Nov. 4, the day before the official start of AAPEX, and continue throughout the event. Attendees are encouraged to make their travel plans accordingly. All sessions are accredited by the University of the Aftermarket toward the Automotive Aftermarket Professional (AAP) and Master Automotive Aftermarket Professional (MAAP) designations. Sessions will be held at the Venetian Hotel, on the Venetian/ Palazzo Congress Center Level 1, Marco Polo Rooms 701–707. Since the sessions are free-of-charge, seating is first come, first served. For a list of topics, speakers, session descriptions and a schedule, visit the AAPEX Learning Forum. See www.aapexshow.com or e-mail: info@aapexshow.com.

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 23

AASP/NJ Reacts to PartsTrader’s Ending of Fax-Only Option, Criticizes CIC Leadership The following article comes directly from a post on AASP/NJ’s website

As PartsTrader and State Farm continue to roll out their parts procurement program across the country, the announcement of the removal of the shops’ option to order from any vendor they choose comes as no surprise to the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey (AASP/NJ).

From day one, AASP/NJ has been one of the country’s biggest opponents of the program.

“Are we surprised by this?”

AASP/NJ President Jeff McDowell asks. “Hell, no. We have been expecting these kinds of changes from the start. This program is all about control and money and taking both of those things away from the shop owner. What we are surprised about is how quiet the industry has gotten since this was first implemented.

Back then, there was widespread outrage, but State Farm waited it out like we knew they would. Now, with what seems like little resistance from our industry, they are steamrolling through states and changing the rules

in their favor as they go. It’s only going to get worse.”

According to Collisionweek.com [subscription only], the fax option was originally added to the PartsTrader system so that Select Service facilities could still place orders with their preferred vendors, even if those vendors refused to participate in the PartsTrader program. If a parts vendor chose not to sign up for the online quoting system, PartsTrader would generate a fax order and forward it to that vendor on the shop’s behalf. With that feature no longer available, Select Service shops using the fax option have just two choices: Encourage their preferred suppliers to sign up for (and use) the PartsTrader application, or find a new parts supplier for State Farm repairs. In an email to repairers in Arizona, PartsTrader Support said that after July 31, suppliers that have not yet begun to use the PartsTrader application as “a fully active participating supplier” will no longer appear on the system as an available vendor, and therefore will no longer be able to receive orders placed in PartsTrader.

24 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

While a disturbing number of industry professionals seem to be taking a “wait and see” approach to PartsTrader’s expansion, several trade associations (such as SCRS) haven’t given up the fight. AASP/NJ Executive Director Charles Bryant has been one of the loudest voices in the shrinking PartsTrader resistance.

“Last year, in a State Farm B2B video, State Farm’s George Avery, who also happens to be the chairman of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC), said that ‘… repairers are in control of who provides your parts, regardless of the part type. We have worked with PartsTrader on a process that [enables] you to maintain your relationships and negotiated deals with your vendors. We understand that relationships with your suppliers are important in managing your business, much in the same way we value our relationship with you.’

I guess I am supposed to act shocked? OK, I’ll try. Here goes…

WOW, I can’t believe that the person that CIC chose as their leader would have made such a blatantly untrue statement in an effort to get the indus-

try to buy into the PartsTrader concept.

“Once again, CIC needs to get their priorities straight and select a leader from the collision industry to lead the CIC, not a leader from the insurance industry to lead the collision industry to slaughter. That one untrue statement alone from the State Farm consultant, George Avery, should be enough of a wake-up call for CIC to immediately remove Mr. Avery from the position of chairman, before it’s too late.

“Look, a lot of people thought we were like the boy who cried wolf when we first raised our concerns about this program,” Bryant adds.

“But every month, PartsTrader gets deeper and deeper into our pockets. If we don’t fight back NOW, pretty soon there will be no pockets; pretty soon it will be too late. We’ve won these kinds of battles before, and we can win this one. But we have to stay together and stay strong. It looks like Arizona is the first to fall. We, as an industry, cannot let it go any further.”

For more information on AASP/ NJ, please visit www.aaspnj.org.

American Honda Launches Body Repair News American Honda has announced that the first two editions of Body Repair News, a new collision industry communication covering new Honda and Acura model body repair information is now available.

The inaugural issues cover the 2014 Acura MDX and 2013 Honda Accord. Copies can also be accessed by independent shops at American Honda’s Service Express website at techinfo.honda.com or techinfo. acura.com. Click on “Industry Position Statements & Body Repair News,” and then scroll down.

Body Repair News, free to independent collision repair shops, are part of a series of American Honda publications that will be created to support new models that are constructed with significant amounts of high strength steel, and various other new technologies.

Body Repair News publications are also planned for the following new models that have already gone on sale: ● 2014 Acura RLX ● 2014 Honda Odyssey.

An edition of Body Repair News will be issued for every future new model. Any minor model

change where significant body design changes are made will also have a body repair publication issued.

This publication is being issued as part of American Honda’s current initiative to enhance the ability of body shops to make safe and complete collision repairs on Honda & Acura vehicles through easier access to an increasing amount of collision repair information.

The company notes that Body Repair News summarizes new body and vehicle technology that may affect collision and other body repairs.

It is not intended to replace the detailed information contained in the body repair and service manuals.

Rather, it simply helps collision repair industry personnel understand why using the factory service information is so important to make safe and complete repairs.

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Social Media for Shops

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

Autobody-Review.com—Where Yelp Meets Reputation Defender with Ed Attanasio

Every time I talk to body shop owners about social media issues, they invariably bring up three things: Yelp, Facebook and how to defend their reputations online, in that order. They either smile or frown when they mention Yelp, look perplexed when they discuss Facebook and then get plain mad when they talk about how they’ve been wronged online, normally by their competition or a former disgruntled employee.

Recently, the marketing manager of a large MSO told me about Autobody-Review.com, a consumer web site designed specifically for reviewing body shops and described it as ‘Yelp meets Reputation Defender with enhanced SEO.’ I polled some other shops about the service and the feedback was substantial. So, I contacted the company’s President/CEO Chuck Nixon to learn more about Autobody-Review.com and why it’s created a buzz.

ABN: Shops are very concerned with Yelp, because they claim that many of their reviews are not written by real customers. Tell us why your product is different from Yelp?

CN: Autobody-Review.com is unique in that we connect to repair facilities’ customer databases. We gather reviews through two verified processes. Upon completion of the repair performed on the customer’s vehicle a delivery status message is delivered to the client allowing them to enter a review on their positive and negative experience with that company. The ease of using it is the key. The customer completes a paragraph or more conveying their true sentiment of the experience and then it’s scored by our proprietary sentiment engine giving the comment a Google approved Star Rating. Many of our clients are gaining insight into their customers’ experience and ultimately measuring the final performance

26 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

which did not align with what was being reported to non-verified review sites such as Yelp. This created request for us to create a truly verified customer review site. It all comes down to verifiability and accountability, two things lacking with Yelp.

ABN: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a huge concern for body shops, because they hate seeing their competition ranked higher than them on Google or Bing. Tell us about how your system maximizes SEO for your subscribers?

CN: Not only does our system gather and preview verified reviews about a facility but we also provide social media interface allowing a facility to push reviews directly to their Facebook business page, Twitter and soon Google+. These plug-ins are designed to push reviews to the shops’ page when consumers are most active on

social media sites. This increases the facilities engagement score as well as social media SEO ranking. We also back link the facilities business website to their Autobody-Review business landing page. This two-way back linking, along with our current daily traffic and other blog back linking, helps to drive the facilities’ own back linking initiative. Lastly we provide a website widget allowing the facility to post their rotating reviews directly on their own business website. This widget is designed in a manner that is providing web crawlers to find new content on their page. All of these connections and back linking help to drive not only the shop Autobody-Review landing page SEO ranking but also their own sites SEO ranking.

ABN: Big-name MSOs are signing up for Autobody-Review.com in large numbers, but can independent shops reap the same benefits from your site?

CN: Many MSO’s through our system have identified that larger isn’t better with SEO ranking. Since the release of Google’s most recent update (they’re calling it Penguin) local search ranking is vital. The same applies to Bing and Yahoo. So we advise both MSO’s and independent facilities to focus on local initiatives.

We advise large brands to create individual Social pages as the Search Engines are designed to respond best to local traffic. We recommend that each facility create and connect to local listing pages such as Google+, Yahoo and more. As the search engines continue to change, they still tend to support local listings and activity. This means that the larger brands no longer have an advantage.

Independent shops through verified review sites such as Autobody-Review.com now have the ability to compete with the big boys.

Now large MSO’s are joining at a high rate, because they see that Autobody-Review.com is driving local traffic in a manner that their corporate strategies in the past have overlooked.

Our consultants provide new insight that is valuable to both independents and the larger chains.

ABN: Another aspect of your system allows users to verify shops’ certifications and awards. Some shops list certifications on their sites and in many cases they’re not current or valid. How are you going to be able to verify these certifications from groups like I-CAR, ASE and all of the car manufacturers, for example?

CN: We’re 100% committed to providing only verified reviews, and that also includes verified industry certifications. We’re connected with companies such as Verifacts and I-CAR and they’ve given us a direct feed to their verified list of approved facilities. This allows us to add and remove certifications and ensure that consumers are accurately informed of the hard work and investment an organization has made into their training.

ABN: How do you aggregate all of the “true” customer reviews for your subscribers?

CN: All reviews are scored through our natural language sentiment engine and then displayed directly on our site.

Both good and bad reviews are displayed. This transparency provides a

verified and reliable source to help them make a better educated decision when selecting a body shop. We not only collect reviews but we also provide an integrated proactive alerting system helping the facility to improve their future results and reviews.

ABN: Tell me briefly the history of your company and what you have planned for the immediate future?

CN: Our company started in the business of providing proactive communication through an opt in text messaging solution. We created a unique two-way message system that supported a lean process indicative for many service businesses. Through the insight we gained front the two-way communication we quickly realized we were gaining and providing insight to body shops about their consumer experience throughout the process that had never been available in the past. This quickly gained the attention of many leaders in not only the collision industry but insurance carriers nationally. Our customers’ customer satisfaction scores were skyrocketing. We then formed a relationship with CCC and Mitchell International which provide us the

ability to interface directly with facilities Management systems. About a year later CCC approached us to exclusively license our status software and integrate it directly into their workflow and estimating platform. We then created an integrated electronic CSI solution deliverable through both email and text messaging. This led us to create our proactive sentiment engine which mines and provides early insight into the customer experience.

Our proprietary sentiment alerting and scoring system allowed us to discover that our customer where provide valuable insight and eventually true reviews directly from actual customers.

This is what led us to develop Autobody-Review.com.

Autobody-Review.com also features articles designed to improve your shop performance. See, for example, Five tips to prevent a bad online review for your auto Body shop.

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Northeast News with Chasidy Rae Sisk

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

Education Foundation Draws On the Industry’s Generosity to Support Next Repairer Generation Over the past six years, the age of the average collision repairer has increased to 38.7 years old, which means many repairers will be retiring in the near future. In turn, this creates a dire need for entry-level repairers, and in anticipation of this crisis, the Collision Repair Education Foundation has taken the proactive step of supporting training programs for future repairers.

Brandon Eckenrode, Director of Development, believes this is imperative because “the more actively engaged the industry can be with the high school and college collision programs, instructors and students, the brighter the industry’s future will be.”

Established in 1991 to develop, promote and distribute a curriculum program to ensure entry-level employees received training on needed skills, the Education Foundation continued to sell curriculum and provide educational support through various programs, such as CRIN and the Training

Alliance, until 2008 when curriculum sales and support moved to I-CAR, allowing the Foundation to focus exclusively on acquiring and distributing donations to schools and students in the form of scholarships and grants. Now, the Foundation is a purely philan-

thropic organization with the sole purpose of raising money to support and educate future collision repairers.

Though I-CAR still plays a key role in allowing the Foundation to operate as a four-person organization, they changed

who they are and who they support, in addition to getting more industry members involved in order to raise the level of support they provide. Eckenrode hopes that they will help place entry-level students in a more organized way in the future, in addition to providing a higher level of financial support. They’ve already begun to educate guidance counselors on the industry, teaching them about the great career opportunities students can find in the collision repair industry. According to Eckenrode, “through an increase in support, specifically with monetary donations, we can fill in the gaps within these instructors’ collision budgets and ensure that they have all of the proper tools, equipment and supplies needed to teach the students.”

Eckenrode is the sole full-time fundraiser for the Education Foundation, focusing his efforts on locating supporters within the industry as well as working in communications to in-

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their name in 2010 to distinguish their organization from I-CAR as a way of clarifying that I-CAR training tuition fees do not support the Education Foundation.

Their mission is “to secure donations that support philanthropic and collision repair education activities that promote and enhance career opportunities in the industry.” According to Eckenrode, “it’s a full circle from support to staff- the collision industry provides monetary and in-kind donations to the Foundation, which are then distributed to high school/college collision programs, and these donations help assist in providing the best technical education possible for the students, and then these students are ideally hired into the industry.”

The Education Foundation’s current goal is to educate the industry on

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form the industry of the Foundation’s efforts. When asked if his work is rewarding, Eckenrode notes, “Rewarding doesn’t fully describe the work for me. I believe we are ‘facilitators of this industry’s generosity,’ and when you hear instructors get choked up because you were able to send them a box of safety glasses for his/her students or get to inform a student that they are the recipient of a $5000 scholarship, it makes you proud of our industry for making that possible.”

Eckenrode fondly recalls their Cintas technician shirt project when they provided promotional shirts to students attending NACE several years ago. The project led to the distribution of nearly 10,000 shirts, and he has been amazed to hear how this “uniform” has transformed students’ attitudes, giving them a sense of professionalism and pride. As such, he hopes to expand the program even further.

Melissa Marscin serves as the Foundation’s Director of Grant Programs, distributing the donations received, whether those donations are in-kind product donations, school grants or scholarships. Distribution plays a vital role in their mission as they strive to ensure that received support is dis-

tributed where it is most needed; their application process is critical in providing information on where support is needed and what exactly the need is.

Marscin says, “I have the best job in the world because I am able to give out scholarships and grant funds to deserving schools and students. And the best part is that I am able to directly see that my work is helping to im-

speak to the instructors or students in person, and then hear how the Foundation has changed their life.”

When Marscin was asked for an example of a rewarding experience, she said, “my favorite story is one about a recent $3 million donation to the schools which included basic things like sandpaper. The donation came late in the school year, and one of the instructors who received the items said he literally had no budget left for supplies this year, and he was worrying about how he would finish out the school year. Then, this box of materials showed up, and he said he felt like he won our $50,000 grant! It’s amazing what a difference a small item like sandpaper means to schools, especially with their (l to r) Brandon Eckenrode, Mark Dellinger & Melissa budget challenges. The EduMarscin cation Foundation has been prove the collision programs which, in called Santa more than once, and it is turn, help to produce better entry-level always a great feeling to see that we are technicians for the industry. It is ex- making a difference.” tremely rewarding to have a student or The Collision Repair Education instructor call me and say ‘thank Foundation receives donations from you’… you really never realize how industry supporters nationwide, and much of a difference you are making both products and monetary donations until you receive those notes and are then distributed to high schools,

30 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

technical schools and college collision programs, instructors and students in all 50 states. All segments of the collision repair industry, and any outside entity as well, are invited to donate products and scholarship money to the Foundation. Eckenrode encourages such donations; “donated tools, equipment, supplies, and other materials greatly assist collision school instructors who are working with very minimal budgets. In 2012, we raised a record $4.9 million, and we are tracking slightly above (3%) that amount half way through 2013 so far.”

In 2013, 126 schools applied for the Foundation’s “Ultimate Collision Education Makeover” grant, a huge increase from the 72 applications submitted last year. Marscin believes this grant is very important because “as school budgets continue to decrease, schools need a way to supplement their budgets, and the Makeover is a perfect solution to this. The winning schools get $50,000 worth of tools, supplies, and equipment for their collision program, and we have hundreds of smaller prizes to help schools get supplies to better teach their students. Every school that applies does get some donations out of See Education Foundation, Page 32

Chief Expands its 3rd Qtr Training Schedule Chief University, the training arm of collision repair industry leader Chief Automotive Technologies, has added 14 classes to its remaining third quarter schedule, including one new session of its flagship Design Based Repair course. A total of 26 classes will be taught in August and September at a variety of locations across the United States. Courses combine classroom learning with hands-on training using recently damaged vehicles.

Class offerings are updated frequently. A partial schedule of available classes is below. For the most up-todate schedule, course descriptions and to register, visit www.chiefautomotive.com/training/chiefuniversity.asp.

Technician/Estimator/Appraiser Design Based Repair Sept. 10-11 Orem, UT

Technician, Computerized Measuring Aug. 13-14 Charlottesville, VA Aug. 20-21 Kansas City, MO Aug. 27-28 Altoona, PA Sept. 10-11 Norwalk, CA Sept. 17-18 Denver, CO

Full Frame Analysis & Repair Planning Aug. 19-20 Collegeville, PA Aug. 22-23 Kansas City, MO

Unitized Body Analysis & Planning

Aug. 6-7 Troy, NY Sept. 19-20 Kansas City, MO

Estimator/Appraiser, Structural Damage Analysis Aug. 21-23 Portland, OR Sept. 10-12 Windsor, CT Sept. 24-26 Collegeville, PA Advanced Frame Analysis Aug. 6-7 Houston, TX Aug. 8-9 Walla Walla, WA Aug. 15-16 Charlottesville, VA Aug. 27-28 St. Louis, MO Sept. 17-18 Windsor, CT Sept. 24-25 Lakewood, CO

Advanced Steering/Suspension Analysis Aug. 6-7 Walla Walla, WA Aug. 8-9 Houston, TX Aug. 29-30 St. Louis, MO Sept. 12-13 Norwalk, CA Sept. 12-13 Orem, UT Sept. 19-20 Windsor, CT Sept. 26-27 Lakewood, CO

Most Chief University classes cost $655.

Structural Damage Analysis is a three-day course that costs $985. To register for a class or find more information, visit www.chiefautomotive. com or call (800) 445-9262. See twitter.com/ChiefAutomotive, www.facebook.com/ChiefAutomotive, www.youtube.com/ChiefAutomotive.

GET THE TRAINING ING THA THAT ATT HAS EQUIPPED TABL ABLLY REPAIR RE 50,000+ TECHSS TO PROFIT PROFITABLY TODA AY’S VEHICLES. TODAY’S Learn complex structure repair with comprehensive, hands-on training from Chief University. Chief instructors teach the latest design-based repair procedures on today’s vehicles. Fully cer tified and associated with the I-Car Training Alliance, there’s no better training system for accurate – and profitable – collision repair.

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www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 31

Continued from Page 30

Education Foundation

this program, so it is beneficial for every collision school to apply!”

Any school offering a collision repair program is eligible for grants by filling out an annual survey that

helps the Education Foundation collect important data on trends and statistics within the industry.

According to Eckenrode, “the Collision Repair Education Foundation plays a vital role within the industry as we are supporting its future professionals. The more actively engaged the industry can be with the high school and college collision school programs, instructors and students, the brighter the industry’s future will be… Supporting the schools, instructors and stu-

dents is vital, but we also need to collectively do a better job in showcasing this industry as a great career choice to students/parents at an early stage in their education.”

It’s easy to make a monetary, taxdeductible donation or in-kind product donation. Simply visit the Foundation’s website, or email Eckenrode who invites “any and all industry members to reach out to us to help them find a collision school program in their area and get involved. The industry taking an active role with their local schools assists in these students being able to graduate as efficient, productive entry-level workers.”

Why would a collision repair facility want to support the Collision Repair Education Foundation? Eckenrode’s answer is simple; “to donate to the Foundation is a re-investment in the industry’s future.”

Collision Repair Education Foundation http://CollisionEducationFoundation.org 5125 Trillium Boulevard Hoffman Estates, IL 60192 888-722-3787 Brandon.Eckenrode@ed-foundation.org

Continued from Page 3

Class A Shops

Boston questioned that change.

“What we tried to do over the years was distinguish those who step up to a higher level,” CIC Administrator Jeff Hendler told the committee.

“Now just to be in the collision business I’ve got to meet all this? But what do we do about those who don’t? What do you call those guys?”

As he did at CIC earlier this year when the committee presented a draft of the document, Aaron Schulenburg of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) noted that the definition includes things like a shop management system and ongoing CSI documentation that top-tier shops may need but that aren’t required by every shop.

But Definitions Committee chairman Chris Evans of State Farm said the committee had input from all segments of the industry as it did its work on the definition. He also pointed to a vote at CIC in January which he said showed support for the change in the document’s name. At that meeting, about 45 percent of CIC participants voted to rename it as the “minimum requirements” for a shop, but over half were split among the other alternatives

offered, including keeping the definition unchanged from the 2005 version, revising it but maintaining it as the definition of a “Class A shop,” or deleting it altogether from the CIC website.

As a “conference” rather than a formal organization, CIC has no bylaws nor formal voting requirements.

But traditionally before any committee’s work product is considered finalized and published on the CIC website, a floor vote is taken.

Although no vote to approve the 3-page document was taken in Boston, CIC Chairman George Avery said he felt the committee had completed its work (which began last year), and the finalized definition could be turned over to the CIC Standards Committee.

“Let’s see where it fits in the work they are doing,” Avery said, although later in the meeting he said that the topic could be reviewed then or next year. “And now let’s move it into what’s happening with this process with the Standards Committee.”

As with all its work, CIC has no ability to implement the definitions or recommendations it develops. But the “Class A” shop definition has been among the CIC documents most widely used in a variety of ways over the years by insurers, associations, government agencies and other organizations.

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AUTOMAKER, AU A UTO OM MA M AK AK ER OEM OEM AUTOMAKER KE R,, OEM, M,, AND AND RECALL RE R E C AL CA ALL LL EC Autobody News

Toyota Recalls 342K Pickups

CALIFORNIA • NEVADA • ARIZONA

Tesla Model S Gets 5 Stars

Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 342,000 Tacoma pickup trucks to fix defective seat belts. The models involved are Tacoma Access Cabs equipped with rear-hinged rear doors, built from 2004 to 2011. Toyota said a screw could come loose in the front seat belts on some of those trucks, causing the belts to malfunction. If the screws loosen completely, Toyota said the seat belt pre-tensioner and the retractor spring cover could detach from the seat belt retractor, which can affect retractor and pre-tensioner performance.

The Tesla Model S got a rave review from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s crash test.

NHTSA gave the Model S its top fivestar rating for each safety category: front-end crash, side crash and rollover crash. NHTSA had not previously tested the Model S or Tesla’s other model, the Tesla Roadster. While triple 5-star ratings are not rare, there are plenty of models that do not get that top score, an accomplishment for a new automaker that has not had years of vehicle designs and safety measures to fall back on.

GM Wants to Improve Volt Electric Range by 20%

Chrysler and Ford to Exhibit at 2013 ASRW Rotunda

General Motors, working on the next generation of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, is aiming to improve the electric-only range of the car by at least 20 percent, said CEO Dan Akerson. The first-generation Volt, which was introduced in 2010, can travel an estimated 38 miles on battery power before a gasoline engine engages. Akerson wants more, as he told Automotive News.

“We hope to extend that significantly,” Akerson said during an interview on Bloomberg Radio to be broadcast in September. “For something to be significant to me, I've got to get at least a 20 percent improvement in performance. If we can get it up to 50, 60 miles or more, we will, but that's going to be another three to four years out.”

BMW Considering Mexicobased Assembly Plant

BMW is studying expanding its North American manufacturing footprint with an assembly plant in Mexico.

Ludwig Willisch, CEO of BMW of North America, said that the automaker has been in preliminary discussions with “local governments” in Mexico about the possibility of building a factory in their districts. He declined to specify which areas of Mexico that BMW is studying or which vehicles the automaker would build there.

Chrysler will exhibit at 2013 ASRW in the all-new OEM Rotunda area on the show floor.

“We are so pleased to welcome Chrysler and Mopar back to ASRW, and are grateful for their support of this year’s show,” said Dan Risley, ASA executive director. “We are focused on making changes to ASRW to provide exactly what our attendees want, engaging with the OEMs on the show floor. Their presence is critically important to the success of the show.”

Darrell Amberson, AAM, ASA chairman, said, “Our industry starts and stops with the car manufacturers.

Their support of the show is a clear indication of their commitment to support those who repair their vehicles.”

Ford will also return to ASRW this year. Chrysler and Ford will be joining I-CAR in the OEM Rotunda.

The OEM Rotunda is one of the newest additions to the ASRW show floor.

“We value the opportunity to meet face-to-face with the automotive service/repair community and discuss Chrysler and Mopar’s role in service information, parts procurement and new vehicle technologies,” said Patrick Dougherty, vice president, Mopar Sales and Field Operations.

For more information, please visit asrwevents.com.

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36 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Honda to Invest $180M more in Anna, OH, Engine Plant Honda North America intends to invest another $180 million in its Anna, Ohio, engine plant to boost aluminum die-casting and engine parts production. Honda said at the 2013 CAR Management Briefing Seminars that the investment will support “engine parts production related to the new Honda Earth Dreams Technology engines and transmissions.”

Earth Dreams is Honda’s umbrella classification for a new generation of more fuel-efficient high-output engines that range in size from 1.3 liters to 3.5 liters. The Earth Dreams concept was unveiled in late 2011. It includes gas and diesel engines, a hybrid engine system, a battery-powered electric drive system and a continuously variable transmission.

The investment follows other moves to bring parts of the Earth Dreams initiative to Honda’s Ohio plants, including a new direct-injection engine and the pulley components that are at the heart of the new CVT transmission.

Honda also said it will invest $35 million to build a 160,000square-foot office and technical training center in Marysville, Ohio. The new building will open in fall 2014.

Toyota Expects to Sell 2.25M Vehicles in U.S. in 2013 Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. has again increased its 2013 sales target.

At Toyota’s recent national dealer meeting in Atlanta, Bob Carter, senior vice president, told dealers he expects Toyota and Scion divisions to sell more than 2 million units this year. Including Lexus, the tally should exceed 2.25 million.

Toyota has increased its industry forecast to 15.5 million units for the year. At the beginning of 2013, Toyota predicted the industry would finish around 14.7 million sales. In April, Toyota bumped its 2013 industry estimate to 15.3 million.

www.autobodynews.com

September 2013

BMW i8 Series will be first to use Corning’s Gorilla Glass

The i8 will be the world’s first volumeproduced vehicles to be equipped with chemically hardened glass or Gorilla Glass as it’s called in the smartphone world. It will be used to separate the passenger compartment and trunk of the i8 and is comprised of two layers, each 0.7 millimeters thick with acoustic sheeting between.

Gorilla Glass is the registered trademark for an alkali-aluminosilicate sheet toughened glass manufactured by American glassmaker Corning, Inc. Engineered for a combination of thinness, lightness, and damageresistance, it is used primarily as the cover glass for portable electronic devices including mobile phones, portable media players, laptop computer displays, and some television screens. It is manufactured using ion exchange to produce compressive residual stress at the surface to prevent cracks from propagating.

Mercedes-Benz to Offer Head-up Windshield Display

Mercedes-Benz has done a 180 on head-up display and now plans to offer the feature on its redesigned S class and C class. The redesigned Sclass flagship arrives in showrooms in September. Head-up display is expected to be added as an option to both the S class and C class in the fall of 2014. Mercedes’ system will project speed, navigation data and certain warning lights onto the windshield.

The system likely will include a warning function if a pedestrian is detected by the vehicle’s night vision system.

Today head-up display systems are offered by several carmakers and the technology comes in various degrees of sophistication. BMW launched head-up display in 2003. Audi offers it on the A6 and the A7. Mercedes is somewhat late to the game. Daimler engineers have previously thought headup display to be a potential driver distraction, but this assessment has been reversed.

Nissan Sees Triple Last Year Leaf Sales, Boosts Output

Nissan plans to begin building more all-electric Leafs as dealers ask for more of the once slow-selling car.

Retailers have been selling about 2,000 Leafs a month which is triple its volume of a year ago, before the car was moved into U.S. production.

Through July, Nissan sold 11,703 Leafs in the United States—a 230 percent increase over the 3,543 units sold during the seven months last year. The company sold 1,864 of the cars in July, compared with 395 during July 2012.

Nissan is already taking measures to increase its output of electric motors from its engine factory in Decherd, TN, Bill Krueger, Nissan Americas vice chairman.

Battery prices worldwide have decreased Nissan’s outlay for the Leaf, allowing it to check costs. Nissan is the only North American automaker that produces an all-electric car, its battery module and the electric motor that powers it.

Competitor GM Volt has announced a $4K rebate on the 2013 Volt and $5K on the 2012, of which it has 6000 in inventory and says it will carry over to the 2014 Volts.

Lease prices have also been reduced.

GM Adds Production Week on Cruze, Yr on Yr up 70%

General Motors has added a week of production at its Chevrolet Cruze factory in Lordstown, Ohio, to meet growing U.S. demand for the compact car. The Lordstown Assembly plant was originally scheduled to be closed the week of Aug. 26, UAW Local 1112 said on its Web site. Now, workers will continue to assemble the cars “as normal” that week, the union local said.

“Sales have been brisk,” said GM spokesman Annalisa Bluhm.

“We didn't want to lose momentum so we decided to abstain from taking the week off.” In July, U.S. sales of the Cruze shot up 70 percent to 25,447 vehicles over July 2012, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

Hyundai Recalling Santa Fes

Hyundai is recalling certain model year 2013 Santa Fe Sport vehicles manufactured July 13, 2012, through March 12, 2013; and equipped with 2.4 liter engines, due to a manufacturing issue, the right front axle shaft may fracture, resulting in a loss of power to the wheels. Without the parking brake applied, it may roll away.

Hyundai to Recall 239K of its 05-10 Sonatas in ‘Rust Belt’

Hyundai is recalling certain model year 2006-2010 Sonata vehicles manufactured March 1, 2005, through January 21, 2010; and model year 2006-2011 Azera vehicles manufactured September 27, 2005, through November 22, 2010 originally sold in, or currently registered in, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. Road salt and water can enter portions of the rear crossmember, leading to corrosion of the crossmember steel.

This may lead to detachment of one of the rear control arms.

Control arm separation may suddenly change the rear wheel alignment, affecting the handling of the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.

Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will repair or replace the crossmember assembly. The recall is expected to begin by the end of September 2013. Hyundai’s recall number is 113.

BMW to Recall 1,500 09-10 X5s for Fuel Filter Heaters

BMW is recalling certain model year 2009-2010 X5 xDrive35d vehicles equipped with a diesel engine and manufactured from June 13, 2009, through November 9, 2009.

The fuel filter heater, which is used for warming up the diesel fuel during vehicle operation at low outside temperatures, could experience an electrical overload condition and become permanently activated.

The fuel filter heater could remain activated even when the ignition is off and lead to a dead battery.

The unit could also overheat, possibly resulting in a vehicle fire.

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel filter heater, free of charge. The safety recall is expected to begin in August 2013.

Owners may contact BMW customer relations at 1-800-525-7417.

This recall is an expansion of safety recall 11V-441. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-3274236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

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www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 37

Historical Snapshot

—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.

September Retrospective on the Collision Industry with John Yoswick

20 years ago in the collision repair industry (September 1993) In a unanimous vote, the Automotive Service Association (ASA) Collision Division Operations Committee rejected a proposal by CCC Information Services to have ASA endorse the new CCC Collision Center Connection program.

The CCC marketing program requires a shop to pay $499 verification fee to sign up for the program. The business is then charged a $30 to $50 referral fee for each insurance claim directed by CCC to the shop.

“Quite simply, the costs for adjusting a claim are the responsibility of the insurer, and this attempt to shift this burden to the repair facility is clearly not in the best interests of our members, the consumer or the repair industry,” said Bob Anderson, chairman of the ASA committee.

“ASA has been involved in extensive industry research that con-

cludes that the claims handling system utilized today by most insurers is archaic and inefficient,” Anderson said. “This (CCC) referral program in its current form does little to alter the status quo.

Since this thirdBob Anderson, 1993 party intervention does nothing to streamline the claims handling process, it is likely that even more friction (costs) will occur.” — from Automotive Dateline

15 years ago in the collision repair industry (September 1998) A court ruling in West Virginia gives that state one of the strictest laws in the country regarding parts used in collision repair. Judge Charlie King wrote in a court opinion that insurance companies must pay for new OEM parts to fix body damage on newer vehicles.

King ruled that repairs on vehicles still covered by a manufacturer’s warranty and less than three years old need to be made with new factory parts.

“I think it’s a real good decision for consumers in West Virginia,” Assistant Attorney General Doug Davis said. “If you get into a wreck in a car, insurance companies can’t force you to accept junkyard parts.”

The ruling apparently settles a heated dispute among insurance companies, automotive recyclers and the state Attorney General’s office. The case was brought to the court by a consortium of insurance companies that wanted a judicial interpretation of s state law. That law requires the use of “genuine crash parts,” and the insurance companies contended that this included new parts and OEM parts taken from wrecked vehicles. The state Attorney General’s office challenged that interpretation. ► A judge in West Virginia last

year issued a injunction against Liberty Mutual to force the insurer to stop using remanufactured, reconditioned and used parts in violation of this state law; the judge also ordered the insurer to release the names of vehicle owners who had their vehicles repaired with salvage parts.

10 years ago in the collision repair industry (September 2003) Allstate Insurance Company and Sterling Collision Centers have filed a lawsuit challenging the new Texas law prohibiting insurers from purchasing further interest in collision repair shops.

In the pleading, Allstate claims that HB 1141 “stops dead in its tracks a promising, market-based mechanism for improving customer satisfaction, providing efficient, cost-effective auto collision repair services, and eliminating incentives for waste and fraud in auto repair estimates and ac-

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tual repair work.”

Allstate asserts that forbidding insurers from acquiring, expanding, supporting or promoting its interstate network of Sterling collision repair shops is a violation of the corporation’s protected free commercial speech.

The real purpose of HB 1131, according to the lawsuit, is “to turn the American business model—where competition brings out the best—on its head by protecting and insulating local Texas autobody shops from having to compete with Allstate’s (or any other insurance company’s) own collision repair operations.” ► As reported in Autobody

News. The legal battle over the Texas law lasted until 2008 when the Texas Supreme Court rejected Allstate’s request to consider the insurer’s challenge to the law. ASA’s Bob Redding predicted that other states, which had previously considered legislation similar to that of the Texas bill, would pass such restrictions on insurerowned shops after the Texas law was upheld, but none have. Unlike other larger MSOs, Sterling has added relatively few new shops since 2008.

5 years ago in the collision repair industry (September 2008) Following a similar decision by State Farm back in June, Allstate an-

nounced this month it would no longer specify full-body sectioning (or “clips”) on its estimates.

“Furthermore, only when a collision repair facility is confident that a full-body section is the appropriate repair, has the proper training and equipment to facilitate a quality repair, and has the approval of the customer or claimant for such repair, will the adjuster authorize it,” the Allstate policy states.

Allstate’s Tech-Cor research center developed full-body sectioning procedures in the 1980s, but the insurer now says “changing vehicle construction techniques” and “the varying metallic composition of some modern

business employers who are working to improve their workplaces,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “We remain committed to encouraging participation in this program.”

The On-site Consultation Program offers free and confidential safety and health advice to small- and mediumsized businesses across the country, with priority given to high-hazard work-

sites. Employers who successfully complete a comprehensive on-site consultation visit, correct all hazards identified during the visit and implement an ongoing safety and health program to identify and correct workplace hazards may achieve status in OSHA’s Safety and Health Recognition Program (SHARP). Exemplary employers who receive SHARP status receive an exemption from OSHA’s programmed inspection schedule during a specified

vehicles may prevent collision repairers from facilitating a quality repair” using such procedures.

As with State Farm, Allstate had been pushed on the issue of clips by Pam Pierson of Princeton Auto Body in Princeton, Ill. Just days before Allstate’s announcement, the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Illinois said that based on Pierson’s efforts, it had appealed to Illinois State Representative JoAnn Osmond to ask the state Attorney General to provide a legal written opinion on the use of full-body sectioning. ► from CRASH Network (www.CRASHnetwork.com), September 22, 2008

OSHA Withdraws Proposed Rule Amending on On-site Consultation Program Citing Concern About Employer Participation

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced its decision not to amend its regulations for the federally-funded On-site Consultation Program citing concerns that proposed changes, though relatively minor, would discourage employers from participating in the program.

“The On-site Consultation Program, including recognition through the Safety and Health Recognition Program, is a valuable way to assist small-

period. The proposed amendments would have provided clarification of the length of the exemption period provided to “recognized” sites and the initiation of certain unprogrammed inspections at both sites that have achieved recognition and sites undergoing a consultation visit.

For more about the OSHA OnSite Consultation Program at: www.osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness/ consult.html.

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 39

Mitchell Opens New Technical Research Center in San Diego to Focus on 3D and Interactive Data Mitchell has opened its new Technical Research Center (TRC) located in San Diego, CA. The TRC was built to improve and develop Mitchell’s ability to collect data and vehicle dimension

lision repair industry that collects its own data. This ensures the flexibility and responsiveness demanded by customers who want more than yes-or-no answers to queries on specific repair

information and to focus on the next generation of accurate, interactive vehicle data.

Mitchell collects automotive frame measurements and chassis diagram data to provide to various industry constituents, including repair shops, collision and body shop centers. Mitchell says it is the only company in the col-

procedures or parts. The new center, equipped with 3D scanning technology from FARO, will provide Mitchell customers with the broadest set of dynamic data, rather than only static vehicle dimension data, the company says.

“Today’s vehicles incorporate the newest technologies and require

highly accurate information in order to repair them back to pre-accident condition. Repair shops recognize the importance of quality to insure a proper repair, and Mitchell’s accurate, up-to-date databases enable them to do this,” said John Bachman, manager, auto physical damage, at Mitchell. “Our new center now includes 3D scanners, which allows us to start building databases for the future.

We’re the only company in the industry to leverage this next-gen technology and we’re excited about the potential it brings to the claims and repair process and beyond.”

Mitchell sees a lot of potential beyond collision repair for this kind of 3D data such as consumer car buying sites that might project a 3D image of a car, auction companies with the ability to validate whether a report on the status of the car is accurate or not, or accident reconstruction where the ability to scan parts or wreckage pieces can help law en-

forcement identify the make and model of a car.

“We rely on Mitchell’s robust information in its TechAdvisor solution to ensure we accurately repair any car that comes into our shop,” Corky Deenik, collision repair manager at BMW of Escondido told a reporter.

“More than almost any other industry, customer service and reputation are

the lifeblood of a shop’s growth and we need a partner who focuses on these values to ensure we’re able to keep our credibility high. We see the next-gen technology provided by the TRC as being the future of the industry. This data will enable us to repair cars and trucks to original condition,

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due to the accuracy provided to us by Mitchell.”

How the 3D Scanners Work The infrared laser scans the entire vehicle and generates a 3D point cloud of everything in it. By moving the scanner around the vehicle, the laser can take several scans, each collecting 84 pictures as well as millions of points, each one 2 mm apart. The scanner has a range from half a meter (1.5 ft) up to 120 m (over 300 ft). The complete 3D point cloud has the ability to measure virtually anywhere on the vehicle. Mitchell is the only company in the industry to leverage this technology, and is excited about the potential it brings to the claims and repair process. Some high potential areas have been identified and include: ● Deformation-Based Estimating ● Fraud Detection ● Consumer Self-Service

Deformation-Based Estimating It is sometimes difficult to detect damage that you cannot see during an initial inspection, especially when there may be only millimeters of deformation. With 3D scanning technology, an estimator could take an image of a

damaged vehicle and then view a color map that would highlight the extent of the impact. In effect, a damaged vehicle could be compared to a “clean” undamaged vehicle that is in the database in order to identify impacted areas.

Since the system is able to detect even

of technology could be used to prevent incidences of fraud or overpayment.

Similar to a crime scene investigator that is able to identify exactly how a transgression occurred, a 3D scan of the vehicle could identify if the vectors of damage match the facts of loss re-

the smallest dent, an appraiser would be able to identify hidden damage before writing the estimate—potentially preventing the need for a supplement or reinspection.

ported to the insurer. If the damage does not match, an alert could be sent to the desk reviewer with a notification of the potential for fraud on the claim.

Fraud Detection In addition to helping ensure that estimates are right from the start, this type

Consumer Self-Service Another potential area for this technology is in the use of photo-based estimating. A consumer could take a

picture of his vehicle and upload it to his insurer via a smartphone. From there, the insurer could com - pare the uploaded image to the 3D scan of the vehicle available in the Mitchell database to see how much damage occurred. If the damage is under $1500, the insurer could opt to place the claim on a fast-track settlement path with an automated value or photo-based estimate in order to reduce loss adjustment expense.

In addition to providing 2-D and 3-D data to the repair industry, Mitchell’s proprietary database can be used for the following use cases: ● Consumer-facing car buying sites—projects a 3-D image of a car so an individual can look at a vehicle from all angles ● Auction companies—provides the ability to validate whether a report on the status of the car is accurate or not ● Accident reconstruction—gives the ability to scan parts or wreckage pieces to help law enforcement identify the make and model of a car ● Infrastructure improvements—assists in improving the safety of roads by quickly giving highway patrol the average heights of cars in order to properly update guardrail heights.

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Reaction to CIC in Boston Shows Conflicting Goals and Priorities

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

When I attended the CIC meeting in Boston at the end of July, I was struck by the lack of unity amongst attendees. Each topic that was introduced resulted in a wide range of opinions, raising the question of how valuable these meetings really are in finding any kind of consensus in the industry. While it’s not really surprising to find such a wide range of reactions from a meeting that included so many facets of the industry, I sought out several of the more visible attendees to find out what they experienced. Several industry leaders were willing to contribute their viewpoints.

George Avery, Chairman of CIC and P&C Claims Consultant for State Farm, said he felt the meeting went well, including each of the presentations. “I was particularly impressed with the Standards Committee presentation which provided a great overview of the work that has already been done. I really look forward to the information that will be provided in November.”

Avery also mentioned that CIC introduced the “Open Microphone Flip Chart” at the Boston meeting, which he sees as another useful way for participants to get important issues in front of the CIC body. Avery expresses his gratitude to attendees for their participation; “All in all, I appreciate the professionalism and passion of the CIC participants which allows me to run a well-organized meeting.”

In contrast, Tony Ferraiolo, President of Auto Body Association of Connecticut, was not pleased by the meeting; “this was my first and maybe last. I think it was a waste of my time.” He objects to the lack of repairers in attendance, noting “I would like to see more repairers, rather than insurance companies, suppliers and others.. Repairers should be the only one in the room. We are the ones that should run this conference, free of insurer involvement.”

Ferraiolo said he was disappointed in what got accomplished and the priorities established for the meeting. He would prefer to see more insight into repairer issues, such as procedures not accepted by insurers

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and the ongoing issue of insurers’ involvement in the repair process.

According to Ferraiolo, the most valuable portion of the meeting was the Repairers’ Roundtable, hosted by AASP-MA. “As far as I’m concerned, the roundtable was the only productive part of the conference.”

He was particularly interested in the conversations about Public Service Announcements and standardized association advertising on anti-steering as he feels it is imperative to educate consumers on the concept of “your car, your choice.”

Overall, Ferraiolo insists he didn’t get much benefit from the conference.

He doesn’t “like the future of this industry as forecasted by the conference.

The whole industry seems to be buying into the DRP model. The shops are getting larger and need more market share to survive. This is exactly what the insurance industry wants: for them to be dependent on large volumes of work. In the meantime, the independent shops cannot compete with the training, equipment and expense on this level. This will be the downfall of the smaller independent shop.”

Tony Lombardozzi, President of theCCRE, was generally in agreement with Ferraiolo. He attended CIC’s meeting because he wanted to see what’s going on and if it interferes with the proper way for the industry to operate. He believes “CIC is supposed to be an open forum to discuss issues, but if a conversation gets heated, the topic is swept under the rug to be taken up at a future meeting.”

Lombardozzi also felt that his time was best spent at the Repairers’ Roundtable since it provides an opportunity to get things done, unlike the general CIC meeting where “nothing gets accomplished; we’ve been discussing the same issues for 20 years!

It’s counter-productive at times.”

Furthermore, Lombardozzi notes that the average repairers cannot afford to take time away from their businesses to attend CIC, so the focus should be on bringing the issues to the people. This also results in a lack of collision repairers at the conference, other than DRP and MSO shops which are heavily influenced by insurer involvement.

Instead, Lombardozzi notes, “stakeholders (ie. insurers and suppliers) are very involved, but we’re meeting with the people who are our adversaries. This allows them to find ways to counteract the issues because they see what’s coming – it’s like playing football and allowing the opposing team in your huddle as you call plays… You can’t accomplish anything with them in your huddle because they’re prepared for your next move. Working together is part of the problem!”

According to Lombardozzi, CIC used to be productive, but now they need people who want to get the real message out to the people, not to police that message. This mentality teaches repairers to “believe this is how things have to be done, but it’s not true.

You’re the business owner, not the insurance company.”

Executive Director of ASA, Dan Risley, took a more neutral stance on the event, stating “CIC provides a venue to openly discuss issues in the industry with industry leaders and many of the stakeholders in attendance. Often times, gaining clarity of those issues allows individuals and companies to take action and resolve them independently or collectively.”

Regarding the topics discussed, Risley was most interested in the presentation by the Definitions Committee. “There seemed to be a change in the direction of the Minimum Requirements for a Class A Shop. It’s a document that is used and has been used by state regulatory agencies and insurance companies for many years.

Several in the audience expressed concern with what they believed was a change in the committee’s direction to update and use this document. This document should be updated, and the Committee should also look to create a Class A document for insurance companies, parts suppliers, technology companies etc… Creating a Minimum Requirements Document for those stakeholders will assist in better identifying those that are leading the industry from those that are creating barriers.”

For the most part, Risley sees CIC as a forum where the entire industry can flush out many of the industry’s most challenging issues as leadership from the various segments of the industry are present; however, he did find one thing lacking. “There were specific issues that required more dialogue from dissenting parties that wanted to

articulate their position and thoughts.

Due to time constraints, some of those issues were tabled for the next CIC.” A more recent addition to CIC’s meetings is the inclusion of the Audience Response System—wireless keypad “clickers” used to poll attendees.

Avery has “received a lot of feedback about how the keypads improve the quality of the Committee presentations, provide everyone with an opportunity to participate, and keep the group engaged.” The other three respondents agree that the keypads are useful, though Ferraiolo and Lombardozzi add a condition to that praise; they are useful IF they are used accurately and truthfully.

Ferraiolo noted that the meeting was run efficiently regarding Avery’s focus on keeping the meeting on task and on time, and Lombardozzi agrees, though “the agenda is something repetitious and boring.” Risley adds, “George does a great job moving the meeting along, but there were a few instances where he should have allowed the discussion to continue.”

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Unfair Competition

penalties,” Zhang’s claim was not barred by Moradi-Shalel.

This ruling permits Zhang to include the UCL cause of action in her complaint. Whether or not she can actually prove the false advertising claims at trial is yet to be seen.

Also, the Court pointed out the limited scope of remedies under the UCL: 1) a plaintiff in a UCL action cannot recover monetary damages or punitive damages; and 2) the remedies are limited to injunctive relief and in proper cases, restitution. Thus, the inclusion of this cause of action does not substantially increase the insurer’s exposure to monetary damages, but insurers will likely now be exposed to a wide variety of potential new private actions arising from claims handling disputes—claims that previously had been presumed to be subject only to regulatory oversight.

Read the full text of the ruling at: http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/do cuments/S178542.PDF

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CARSTAR Becomes First Corporate Member of ASA

The Automotive Service Association (ASA) and CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts jointly announced their new relationship.

ASA’s new corporate membership provides industry-leading companies an opportunity to strengthen their ties between ASA and the leadership in the collision and mechanical service repair industry.

The program is said to be a key piece of ASA’s overall strategic growth initiative, forging relationships that allow ASA to better represent and serve its members and their franchisees.

“ASA is proud to have CARSTAR as its first corporate member. CARSTAR has embodied the model of professionalism and leadership throughout its history. As such, it’s our privilege to welcome CARSTAR and their leadership team,” said Dan Risley, ASA executive director.

Said David Byers, CEO of CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts. “By partnering with ASA as its inaugural corporate member, we can ensure our company and our franchisees continue to lead the industry in collision repair.”

Kinnetech Lawsuit Dropped

by Plaintiff Williams & Lake

Automotive aftermarket safety product developer Kinetech announced the patent infringement lawsuit filed against the company by Williams & Lake, LLC was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff. The complaint, which was initially filed months ago in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, was never served.

“While we never for a moment lost confidence in the strength of our intellectual property, this news definitely validates our position in the marketplace.”

“Kinetech and its team remain dedicated to providing our highly-rated safety products to our customers,” said Mark Olson, president of Kinetech.

“While we never for a moment lost confidence in the strength of our intellectual property, this news validates our position in the marketplace.”

Kinetech’s product is an awardwinning, active automotive safety device that improves the reaction time of drivers, especially distracted drivers, by creating an attention-getting alert when cars are slowing down or stopping. The product is designed and manufactured in the U.S. and sold and installed by new car dealerships across the nation.

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Plaintiffs Join Class Action on BMW Sunroof Case

Two BMW owners have voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit against the automaker without prejudice in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, after BMW gave notice of a second, similar case filed in California. The original lawsuit alleged the sunroof in several BMW models are defectively designed, which allows water to come in and cause damage.

Attorneys for Walter Chang and Annie Stubbs filed the dismissal after BMW gave notice of a similar putative class action that has been filed against the company in the U.S. Central California District Court. The related case is Monita Sharma and Eric Anderson versus BMW North America.

Attorneys for Chang and Stubbs alleged that the defective sunroofs were a safety hazard due to potential flooding. They claimed the cost to repair the sunroofs is “exorbitant.” They had demanded a jury trial and sought reimbursement as well as compensatory, exemplary and statutory damages, including interest. They also sought class action status for owners in Florida and California.

CIECA Announces New Standards for Mobile/Cloud

The Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) announced Aug. 15 that it will begin the development of new standards for mobile and cloud computing.

The new standard, BMSmc, is the third generation of CIECA standards, messages and codes, and will be available in late 2014.

CIECA is initially focusing on repair status, first notice of loss (FNOL) and scheduling during development in Java Script Object Notation (JSON). This will allow CIECA members to develop standards, messages and codes for server-to-server applications and mobile-to-mobile device and server applications.

Three teams have already been chartered to develop the new BMSmc messages.

“This is an exciting time for CIECA. Implementations have been increasing and CIECA is extending its business message suite to include mobile and cloud standards, messages and codes,” said Fred Iantorno, executive director of CIECA. More information can be found at www.cieca.com.

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www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 47

OSHA Focused on Preventing Summer Heat Illness, Isocyanates Ongoing Concern

Heat Illness OSHA has made heat stress and its impacts on workers a priority problem this summer. Since 2008, there have been several heat related fatalities throughout the country, including some in southern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois. As a result, OSHA has implemented a nationwide Heat Illness Prevention Campaign.

Heat stress results when the body cannot naturally cool itself. As a consequence, a variety of heat illnesses can occur, ranging from minor heat rash to serious—and sometimes fatal—heat stroke. Some people are more susceptible to heat illness than others. Persons who work outside and/or perform strenuous work activities in heavy clothing are most at risk for developing a heat-related illness.

The protection of these more susceptible workers is a priority for OSHA. OSHA’s heat awareness program is summarized by “Water, Rest, Shade.”

Specifically, if workers are in an environment that could produce heat stress, OSHA recommends that they: ● Drink water every 15 minutes, even if not thirsty; ● Rest in shade to cool down; ● Wear a hat and light colored clothing;

● Learn the signs of heat illness and what to do in a heat-related emergency; ● Keep an eye on fellow workers (in stressful conditions a buddy system is recommended); and; ● Acclimate to conditions slowly. ● Use sunscreen protection with a sun protection filter (SPF) of 30 or more.

Isocyanates Isocyanates are chemical compounds containing the isocyanate group (–NCO). Isocyanates in the form of raw materials are incorporated into numerous polyurethane products, such as foams, paints, spandex fibers, insulation materials, car seats, mattresses, under carpet padding, packaging materials, polyurethane rubber, adhesives and fiberglass.

Many industries in addition to collision repairers use polyurethane products (and isocyanates), including automotive interiors, medical care, printing, plastics, mining, textiles, paints, food, building construction and electronics. Thus, isocyanates are widely used and are found in many of the products we use.

The health effects of isocyanates include irritation of skin and mucous membranes, difficulty breathing and

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chest tightness. OSHA and similar regulators have developed occupational exposure limits for eight isocyanate components. One isocyanate, 2,4-toluene diisocyanate, has been classified as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.

OSHA and its counterpart agencies also have prepared several reference documents addressing isocyanates.

On June 20, 2013, OSHA released a new Instruction for the Field Operations Manual (Instruction Manual) regarding isocyanates. The Instruction Manual describes policies and procedures for implementing a National Emphasis Program on Occupational Exposure to Isocyanates to identify and reduce/eliminate the incidences of adverse health effects associated with occupational exposure to isocyanates. OSHAʼs Instruction Manual sets forth a system that targets multiple industries and focuses on evaluating inhalation, dermal and other routes of occupational exposure to isocyanates.

If you have employees who work with polyurethane (and isocyanates), you should consult the Instruction Manual.

See https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/Directive_pdf/CPL_03-00-017.pdf

Dealerships Continued to Lose Body Shops in 2012

According to the Mitchell International Third Quarter 2013 Industry Trends Report, the number of dealership body shops continues to drop.

Citing research from the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), Mitchell estimated that 34 percent of dealerships featured onsite body shops in 2012, a decline from the 36 percent estimated to have had shops in 2011.

NADA reported approximately 6,314 dealers operating on-site body shops in 2011. By those numbers, Mitchell estimates there were 5,996 operating in 2012. This is a sharp decline from the 8,692 shops NADA estimated to be in operation back in 2006.

Based on a preliminary estimate of independent repair facilities in the U.S., Mitchell pegged the total collision repair facility population at 40,448 facilities in 2012 with approximately 14.8 percent being onsite dealer facilities.

Despite the decreasing number of shops, the total amount of bodywork performed by all new-vehicle dealerships was up slightly from $6.78 billion in 2011 to $6.9 billion in 2012.

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 49

Charging System Maker Says it May File Bankruptcy

Mitchell Brings 5 New AddOns to Repaircenter Tools

Ecotality, Inc. said Aug. 12 that it may need to file for bankruptcy, citing adverse developments that may impact its ability to meet ongoing obligations and also fund anticipated operating losses. The company’s shares are down more than 74 percent in the regular trading session. The San Francisco-based maker of electric vehicle charging and energy storage systems said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that while it is exploring options for a restructuring or sale of its entire businesses or assets, it may file for bankruptcy as part of any such process in the very near future. The company said that recent adverse developments include, among others, failure to attain sales volumes of its commercial electric vehicle service equipment or EVSE that were needed to support the company’s operations in the second half of 2013. In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy informed Ecotality that it was suspending payments to the company in connection with the EV Project. The company noted that the suspension has had a significant impact on receivables that were anticipated to be collected from the DOE.

Mitchell has announced the release of five new add-ons to the RepairCenter ToolStore. The company says these add-ons bring extensive functionality from third-party partners into Mitchell’s RepairCenter platform. They will be joining a wide selection of other add-ons in the ToolStore catalog, where all the addons can be browsed and added instantly.

“Shops will now have even more expanded and powerful capabilities at their fingertips with Mitchell’s RepairCenter through their ToolStore add-ons,” said Brian Elmi, senior product manager, auto physical damage solutions.

“The third-party services that shops use on a day-to-day basis will now be available to them all in one place, through easy-to-use add-ons in their RepairCenter. With these new add-ons, shops will be able to do everything from shipping and ordering parts, to managing their parts inventory with third-party services in their RepairCenter.”

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NABC Award of Distinction Nominations Still Open

Body Shop Improvements May Earn Image Award

The National Auto Body Council is The National Auto Body Council is still accepting nominations for the still accepting Body Shop Image 2013 year. Do you know someone who Award nominations for the 2013 deserves this great award? Someone year! The competition, which runs who has gone out of their way to prothrough early-September, applies to mote the image of the Auto Body inany body shop remodeling project dustry. They could be a vehicle completed during the calendar year manufacturer, supplier/vendor, educa2013 and also 2012! One winner tor, insurer, independent appraiser or and three runners-up will be recogtrade association. Send all nominanized. Each will receive visual tions in before September 15, 2013! recognition on the NABC website.

The Award of Distinction has been The name of every facility entering given for bravery, philanthropy, charthe competition will be listed on the ity, and selfless acts of kindness. It website, as well. In addition, the transcends the rigors of daily business winner will receive a trip for two in to uncover those helping the world the continental US, 2 nights stay, around them without a thought of and some spending money, with the recognition for themselves. Any indiwhole trip package capped at vidual, business organization, or group $1,500. Those wishing to submit a employed in a collision industry-reshop for consideration should sublated segment such as collision repair mit a nomination form to the facility, manufacturer, supplier/vendor, NABC with three exterior images educator, insurer, independent apand one interior image of the facilpraiser or trade association is eligible. ity (before and after pictures, so The winner will receive a trip for two eight total images should be subin the continental US, 2 nights stay, and mitted). A form and a complete desome spending money, with the whole scription of the nominating process tripGive package at $1,500. on For matters is available at http://www.autous capped your opinion affecting the industry. more information contact: Kent bodycouncil.org/files/NABC_nomSeavey, NABC Award Chairman, inate_imageaward.pdf Phone: (201-448-5158) or e-mail: KBseavey@gmail.com.

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www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 51

Honda Aces Crash Test, Kia and Nissan Less So

The Honda Civic earned top scores in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s new “small overlap” crash test, but similarly sized cars from Kia and Nissan fared poorly.

The Institute put 12 new compact cars through the test, including two- and four-door versions of the Civic and two Kia models. The Kia Soul and Forte, as well as the Nissan Sentra, earned the worst possible rating of “Poor” in the test.

Kia and Nissan both pointed out that their cars have performed very well in other Insurance Institute and government crash tests. Kia also noted that the “small overlap” crash test “goes well beyond federal requirements.”

Both automakers said they would review the test results as they seek to make further safety improvements in their cars. This was the first time compact cars were subjected to this new type of front crash test. In it, the cars are propelled at 40 miles an hour and strike a crash barrier with just one quarter of the front bumper on the driver’s side. That concentrates impact forces into a small area that often falls outside crash protection structures built into the cars. The impact also spins the car violently. The test mimics a type of impact that ac-

counts for nearly a quarter of all front crashes with serious or fatal injury to front seat occupants.

“In the worst cases safety cages collapsed, driver airbags moved sideways with unstable steering columns and the dummy’s head hit the instrument panel,” David Zuby, the Institute’s chief research officer, said of the test results in a written statement.

Also, side curtain airbags sometimes didn’t deploy or they didn’t provide coverage far enough forward in the car to be of any help, he said.

In the case of the two Kia models, the cars’ seatbelts spooled out too much, allowing the crash test dummy to move too far forward. At the same time, the side curtain airbags didn’t provide protection that far forward in the car, allowing the dummy’s head to hit the windshield pillar and instrument panel. The Kias’ steel structure also provided insufficient crash protection in the tests, according to the Institute.

When the IIHS put a group of luxury cars through the same test in August, the first time results for the new test were released, only two cars out of 11 got top marks. The Institute has also put mid-sized cars and small SUVs through the new test.

New Test Fails Half the Small Cars Tested

Six of the cars tested in the new IIHS test, most of which were 2013 models, were rated “poor” or “marginal.” GM’s Chevrolet Sonic and Cruze each received marginal scores, while Kia Motors Corp’s Soul and 2014 Forte were rated “poor” in the results released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Nissan Motor Co’s Sentra also was rated “poor,” while Volkswagen AG’s Beetle was ranked “marginal.”

The IIHS increased the rigor of its tests last year to include crashes that involve only a front corner of a vehicle. The insurance group said nearly one-fourth of U.S. front-of-vehicle crashes that result in serious injury or death involve only a single corner that strikes another vehicle or an object like a tree or utility pole. The IIHS continues to score vehicles on side, rear, rollover and front-end crashes that impact more than just a corner.

“This is a challenging new crash test and it’s not surprising that some vehicles are earning marginal and poor ratings,” IIHS spokesman Russ Radar said of the small overlap front crash test.

“This crash scenario doesn’t lend itself to a Band-Aid fix so for most manufacturers the countermeasure will have to be built in when there’s a

full redesign,” he added.

Vehicle manufacturers in the U.S. market often design and engineer their models to score well on IIHS safety tests and use the results in their marketing.

“It matters because in today’s world cars are so competitive that all you need is a small flaw and your competition can exploit it,” Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Karl Brauer said.

Most of the 12 small cars tested were already in production before the IIHS increased the rigor of its front crash test last year. However, Radar said IIHS alerted the companies to the work the group was doing on small overlap research in 2009.

The specifications of the test were not finalized until the last year, which is late in a car’s development process, Brauer said. All automakers will eventually redesign their cars to meet the standards to pass the new crash test, he said.

In the tests, IIHS crashes a vehicle at 40 mph into a 5-foot-high barrier on the driver’s side that overlaps one-quarter of the vehicle’s width.

The small car segment was the fourth group of cars rated using this new test, and most of the groups have fared equally badly.

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www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 53

Company Connections

Valspar Partners with Gas Monkey Garage, Improves Color Matching Valspar Automotive announced that Discovery Channel series “Fast ‘N Loud” shop, Gas Monkey Garage, is exclusively using Valspar Automotive’s De Beer Refinish line of paint and refinishing products on the popular car restoration show.

on Monday evenings at 9:00 p.m. EST. on the Discovery Channel.

Rawlings, the owner of Gas Monkey Garage and visionary behind the “Fast ‘N Loud” creations, is revved up about incorporating De Beer products into the show’s work this season.

“Valspar Automotive’s De Beer Refinish products help bring our creative visions to life—no matter how crazy or wild those visions might be,” said Rawlings. “I’d personally pick these products to restore a car of my own, so I’m really excited to incorporate De Beer into Gas Monkey Garage and ‘Fast ‘N Loud.’”

Rawlings, Mathieu and the crew at Gas Monkey Garage are using the De Beer BeroBase 500 high-quality basecoat system. This complete system allows all solid, metallic and pearl/mica car color formulations, and it can be applied with both conventional and high efficiency techniques.

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“There’s no better way to show off the high-impact quality of the De Beer 500 Series than by using this product

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The PARTS ACT—The Pros and the Cons from ABPA’s Salamy and ASA’s Amberson US design patent terms for car components are set to shrink dramatically if a new package of laws goes into force. This proposal has drawn international attention to US patent law and its impact on the rest of the industry.

Jo Russell, an English Radio Commentator, interviewed two representatives from both sides of the argument to get to the pros and cons from two major industry groups. Here is her interview.

Measures have been reintroduced to US Congress that will amend current design patent law in the motor [vehicle] sector. The Promoting Automotive Repair, Trade, and Sales (PARTS) Act is sponsored by Orrin Hatch—the prominent Senator who, in the 1980s, set the ball rolling for the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act. While that piece of legislation provided branded pharmaceutical products with shortterm patent extensions, PARTS takes an altogether different road—aiming to cut the length of time for which manufacturers of collision repair parts can enforce the designs of their prod-

ucts against alternative suppliers.

It would be quite a dramatic cut, too—pulling terms of protection back from 14 years to just two-and-a-half.

Unsurprisingly, the Act has proven controversial, and has polarised opinion. Those in favour believe that it will open up a more dynamic marketplace with greater scope for competition, and encourage more regular car repairs among motorists. Others however, argue that it would weaken any incentive for innovation, reduce quality, and jeopardise safety. New Legal Review explores the arguments further, with help from two leading stakeholder groups.

The Automotive Body Parts Association (ABPA) comprises 140 member firms that are responsible for distributing around 75% of aftermarket parts sold in the US. It takes the view that reducing design-patent protection on replacement parts would enhance competition in the field and benefit consumer choice. Meanwhile, the Automotive Service Association (ASA) has spent the past six decades representing the interests of America’s collision-repair experts and car work-

shop owners. It believes that those interests are best served by ensuring that workshops use replacement parts with patent protection, which it says offers an assurance of quality and safety.

Why I support the Act ABPA executive director Edward T. Salamy

The PARTS Act is needed to protect US consumers and businesses in the automotive parts field. For more than 60 years, the automotive aftermarket has provided American car owners with access to more affordable options when faced with costly collision repairs. Neighbourhood distributors and collision-repair shops—economic drivers in their own right—are able to offer quality, lower-cost alternative exterior repair parts, ranging from bumpers and hoods to fenders.

However, a number of major automotive companies with significant presence in the US have been taking action to increase their near-monopoly of the auto-parts industry. Even though they already control more than 72% of the market, they are now try-

ing to increase their market share even more by seeking and enforcing design patents—at the expense of consumers and businesses.

After one company secured enforcement of its design patents through the International Trade Commission (ITC), competition was effectively eliminated for seven parts of a pick-up truck for a significant period of time.

Soon after, that same company filed a second case with the ITC for another popular vehicle.

If this practice continues, it will curb competition in the marketplace, reduce availability of parts, and drive up prices, ultimately forcing customers to delay—or even forgo—repairs, and leading to fewer cars for collision repair shops to repair.

Roughly 13% of car owners pay collision-repair costs out of their pockets—with older or lower-income Americans disproportionately affected. With increased parts prices, insurance companies would be forced to declare more damaged vehicles as ‘total wrecks’. As troubling as those trends are, they are even more worrisome in a down economy, when every sale matters, every

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dollar counts and every day can make or break small businesses and the people they employ.

These alternative parts not only present consumers with a wide range of repair options, but the competition would also keep prices in check: on average they cost 25-50% less than parts sold by the car companies. According to financial think tank Microeconomic Consulting & Research Associates, that’s about $1.5 billion in savings every year.

If the PARTS Act is defeated, those options and savings may disappear. That’s why passage of this legislation is so important.

Why I oppose the Act ASA chairman Darrell Amberson

The PARTS Act raises some significant concerns—not least in the area of quality and product safety. In the US, we have a certification system that attempts to provide an assurance of quality, equivalent to an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) patent-protected part. This certification system reviews only a small fraction of the aftermarket parts in the marketplace.

In addition, some aftermarket vendors use confusing verbiage such as ‘validated’ to imply that goods are certified when they are not. I have seen videos of cars being crash tested, in which aftermarket components behave differently—for example, different timings on the deployment of airbags—which is concerning. Unfortunately, while federal regulators monitor OEM parts, there is no process in place for similar reviews of aftermarket crash parts—even though the regulators have the authority to establish that process. We need to look more closely at the quality of aftermarket crash parts—and reducing the assurance of quality that patent protection provides is a step in the wrong direction.

The current provision of patent protection for 14 years may seem a little outdated, given that the average age of a car in the US is 10 years. But manufacturers of original car parts have incurred costs attributable to original design, research and development (R&D) and product-safety testing. It is therefore right that they have the ability to sell those parts themselves during a time period that reflects their endeavour. Reducing the

patent protection period to 30 months is not sufficient compensation, or encouragement for further innovation.

I am not unsympathetic to concerns raised over the affordability of parts. I have been in the industry long enough to remember a time before aftermarket parts, when repairs to a car could be prohibitively expensive. I believe it is healthy that we have a competitive aftermarket parts industry. Yet the repair community needs assurance that the parts available are of good quality—and safe to use.

The most important element in this is predictability. Repairers can rely on the quality and durability of an OEM part with patent protection, and can pass on those assurances to their customers. In the aftermarket world, consistency is not always the case.

With quality-assured goods, repairers are as good as the service they offer to their customers, and can be judged on that. Without the assurance that OEM patent protected products provide, repairers are only as good as the parts they are supplying—which becomes more of an unknown entity.

At best, that is unsatisfactory. At worst, it is a danger for both supplier and customer.

3M’s New Body Protection System Cuts Time Needed

3M has announced the release of the new 3M Body Protection System designed to make it easier for automotive professionals to match textures on rocker panels. The technology includes a pressurized spray gun (3M Accuspray HGP spray gun) and a rocker protector pouch available in 3-ounce and 5.5ounce sizes.

According to 3M, the new system cuts application time in half with the ability to adjust pressure and spray pattern to better match OEM textures. The new pressurized 3M Accuspray spray gun can be sprayed at any angle and the pouch sizes allow estimators and repair techs to improve estimates.

The 3M Body Protection System helps painters spray low viscosity textured finishes with fine, medium, coarse and splattered patterns.

“As the use of these textured finishes continues to expand for sound deadening on thinner substrates, the need for the 3M Body Protection System will increase,” said Steve Widen, U.S marketing supervisor, 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division.

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Continued from Cover

PartsTrader Rollout

provide parts has an impact on repairers, and repairers have an impact on our shared customer,” Avery told Priest and other parts vendors at the meeting. “So you’re in the game. If you’re not on PartsTrader, it’s your decision. But you need to decide if those repairers that are working with

me are repairers you want to deal with. Because I’m asking them to use PartsTrader.”

Priest noted that dealers could just as easily lose business through PartsTrader as gain new business, and that any number of different insurers could require different electronic parts procurement systems.

“How many fees am I going to pay? How many hoops am I going to

jump through,” Priest asked. “We have the slimmest margin of anyone in the room, yet we have to pay for the program. State Farm should pay for the program. It’s going to benefit them.”

New Information on Fees About 130 people, including two Arizona state legislators, attended the meeting, which also offered some new information about PartsTrader. Sailer said 1,400 shops and 2,300 suppliers are now using PartsTrader following its roll-out in early August in major markets in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. He said major markets in California, Nevada and Utah will follow on September 9, with markets in Michigan and Ohio following in October.

Sailer said 56 percent of shops using the program are using it for at least some non-State Farm work; this is up from the 30 percent Sailer reported at a meeting in May. Use of the system for jobs other than State Farm work is something PartsTrader is counting on given its planned fee structure. PartsTrader is

currently free to shops and Sailer said the company doesn’t “expect to ever charge a shop to use the system.”

Sometime next year, however, suppliers will be given 60-days’ notice ahead of the start of a monthly fee for their participation; Sailer would say only that the fee would be “modest” and “less than you’re used to paying today for comparable products.”

The supplier also will pay a yetto-be-determined fee per transaction, Sailer said, but there will be no transaction fee charged on State Farm jobs.

“Our success is dependent on shops finding value in using PartsTrader beyond State Farm,” Sailer said. “That is an absolute must for us.”

State Farm Defends Mandate Avery was asked several times about the elimination of the “fax-only” option in PartsTrader, which had allowed a shop to use the system to buy from a vendor even if that vendor didn’t participate in PartsTrader. If State Farm went back on its assurance that shops could buy from any vendors they want, Avery was asked, might the insurer also step back from its assurance that shops aren’t re-

quired to buy the cheapest part the system locates?

Avery responded that the “faxonly” option was available only during the pilot testing of the program in five markets, and insisted that shops still can use the vendors of their choice provided they are on the system – something that can only happen if a shop “nominates” those vendors to participate.

In terms of other changes to the system or requirements down the road, Avery enGeorge Avery couraged shops to remember that State Farm doesn’t require the use of non-OEM parts, doesn’t require discounts unless they are given to another insurer, doesn’t have paint caps, and “has a pretty good book of business.”

“You’re going to have to decide for yourself as to what sort of partner State Farm is,” Avery said. “There’s nothing else I can say. I will tell you: There is no value in pushing you to take the cheapest part. It doesn’t make sense. If (your Select Service score) is See PartsTrader Rollout, Page 62

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Oregon Collision Repair Specialists Hold ‘Reinvention’ Meeting Aug. 15 The Oregon Collision Repair Specialists (OCRS) held a ‘Body Shop KickOff’ meeting August 15 in Portland, Oregon as the association attempts to reinvent itself.

“We had to reinvent ourselves as an association, just like our shops have had to do in order to face the future,” explains OCRS Board Member, Ron Reichen of Precision Body and Paint, Beaverton, OR. A strong group of repairers

formed an OCRS Advisory Council and agreed to reinvent this association, recognizing that a united industry will represent more opportunity Ron Reichen for a sustainable future. The OCRS Advisory Council represents a cross section of the industry and brings a new dedicated ap-

proach to meeting the association’s goals and objectives. OCRS Advisory Council members are: Kelly Whitlock, A Master Touch, Portland; Jerry Geiszler, Corvette Image, Gresham; Vince McDonnell, Kadel’s, Tigard; David Smith, Auto Damage Experts, Beaverton; Bob Byman, Bud Clary Chevrolet-Subaru, Longview, Washington; Camille Eber, Fix Auto Portland East, Portland; Ron Reichen, Precision Body and Paint, Beaverton; Chad

Ramberg, Thrivent Financial, Beaverton; Brent Cech, Kuni Collision Center, Beaverton and Charles Dillard, Precision Body and Paint, Bend, Oregon. SCRS Executive Director, Aaron Schulenburg was the guest speaker at the event. Advisory Council member David Smith said, “The timing is paramount to the industry. Start from somewhere, no matter where you are.”

For more, visit www.oregoncollisionrepairspecialists.org.

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www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 61

Continued from Page 60

PartsTrader Rollout

balanced between quality, efficiency and competitive price, and I put pressure on you for the price, it’s going to hurt what? Your efficiency. It’s going to slow you down if you get bad parts.

So that decision about what parts to choose is in your hands.”

Other Concerns Raised Bob Schubert of Impact Auto Body in Mesa, AZ, was among the Select Service shop owners who spoke at the meeting. He challenged Sailer’s introductory comments in which Sailer compared PartsTrader to travel websites like Expedia or Orbitz, which allow users to see all the available options and make a choice based on the factors they see as most important.

“Plane tickets and collision parts are nothing alike,” Schubert said. “I’m sorry, but it’s a terrible analogy. Anybody, a 10-year-old, can get online and figure out how to buy a plane ticket. Not so with collision parts. Not so with the people who fill the orders.”

He said he found it “kind of insulting” that State Farm felt the industry “wasn’t smart enough to order parts efficiently, get them there on time and have single-digit return ratios.” He noted that no one has addressed how Select Service shops with automaker certifications will reconcile the conflicting requirement some of those programs have for using a particular parts sourcing system. And he criticized PartsTrader Bob Schubert for not providing parts suppliers with more than vague explanations of what fees they will eventually have to pay.

“Once these dealers are signed on, they’re signed on, they’re hooked,” Schubert said. “They’re not going to get off of it. They won’t be able to. They have a right to know what their costs are going to be, or at least a range, before they sign on to it.”

Schubert conceded that, as was pointed out earlier in the meeting, no one is forcing a shop or vendor to use the system. But he said just as parts

manager Priest said State Farm jobs account for at least 20 percent of his collision parts sales, Select Service is a significant part of his repair shop’s business.

“This is just one in a long line of control we have lost in our shops,” Schubert said. “We’re a Select Service shop in defense as much as anything else. You can act like we’re stupid for doing it, and by gosh, I might agree with you. But sometimes the alternative is even uglier.”

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

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Gilbert ‘Bibo’ Tavera Sr., Body Shop Owner in Watsonville, CA

Gilbert Arthur Tavera Sr., “Bibo”, passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early afternoon of Wednesday, July 17th, 2013. He was only 59 years old but lived a full life.

Born to Juan and Mary Tavera in Texas, he was a resident of Watsonville, CA, for 52 years.

As an automobile enthusiast, he dedicated the majority of his life to repairing cars. As the owner of Quality Auto Body and Repair, he worked on countless cars and created many lifelong relationships within the community. Gilbert was a devout former member of Saint Patrick’s Church, former president of San Pablo de Colores, and active member of Victory Outreach.

His 22 year marriage to Lola MartinAtilano provided him with his beloved family. Children: Alfonso Eredia, Sasha (Ben) Yinguez, Gilbert (Yvette) Tavera Jr., Aimee (Gary) Bragado, and honorary son Benjamin Martin. Grandchildren: Matthew Eredia, Stephen Eredia, Alethea Tavera, Alyssa Molina (Bragado), Ben Yinguez II, Evan Tavera, Felix Molina (Bragado), Vianca Tavera, and Ava Yinguez. Gilbert was adored by many siblings, relatives, friends, and countless brothers and sisters in Christ. A public viewing was held at Mehl’s Colonial Chapel on Sunday, July 21st, 2013. Burial services were held at Valley Public Cemetery, on Monday, July 22, 2013.

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Trust your order to the collision parts specialists at these fine Dealers 62 SEPTEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

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New Ford Workshop Manuals Feature More Collision Repair Sections and 3D Graphics Ford Motor Company has begun rolling out new-and-improved workshop manuals, including more sections for collision repair procedures, new 3D graphics and the addition of a feature that allows repairers to view two procedures at the same time. The enhanced treatment of collision repair procedures means the old body repair section (501-35) has been expanded to seven sections covering the following specific areas: body repairs (general and vehicle-specific information); front-end sheet metal repairs; roof sheet metal repairs; side-panel sheet metal repairs; rear-end sheet metal repairs; and paint (general information). Along with the new collision sections, the standard graphic lineart has been replaced with advanced 3D renderings, giving repairers a far superior look at important vehicle details. A new “window-within-a-window” feature has been added as well, letting re-

1-800-Radiator Gets Financing

Independent commercial finance company NXT Capital has provided $20 million in senior secured financing to recapitalize 1-800-Radiator & A/C. 1-800-Radiator & A/C is a leading North American distributor of aftermarket automotive heating and cooling parts.

pairers view two separate but related procedures simultaneously. This also allows for direct links to the applicable wiring diagram cell or connector location when performing pinpoint tests.

Gerry Bonanni, Ford’s senior damageability engineer, has long advocated the need to research the repair procedure before any work is done, and believes the revamped manuals can help that process. “As more and more advanced materials and metals are used in vehicle construction, researching the repair will only grow in importance, and we think these improvements will allow repairers to do a more thorough job,” says Bonanni. Additional enhancements include a new service information section with safety warnings, a symbols glossary, diagnostic methods and explanations of the various colors used in the graphics and illustrations throughout the manuals, and better indexing than previous

LKQ Buys U.K. Paint Shops

LKQ Corporation has acquired five paint distributors with a total of 26 locations throughout the United Kingdom. The acquired distributors include Bee Bee Refinishing Supplies Halstead, JCA Coatings, Milton Keynes Paint & Equipment, Premier Paints and Sinemaster Motor Factors.

versions. The redesigned format is being used on manuals worldwide as part of an effort to globalize Fordís official repair procedures and information.

So far, the new manuals have been released for the following vehicles: • 2013 Fiesta • 2013 C-MAX / C-MAX Energi Plugin Hybrid • 2013 Fusion / Fusion Hybrid • 2013 Focus / Focus Electric • 2013 Lincoln MKZ / MKZ Hybrid Manuals for the upcoming 2014 Escape, Transit and Transit Connect will also employ the new format and features, while those for all other vehicles will be updated as the vehicles undergo significant revisions. Direct questions on any Ford Motor Company body-repair procedure can go to Gerry Bonanni at (313) 317-9000 or gbonanni@ford.com) or the Ford Collision Parts Hotline at cphelp@ford.com.

SAAR Increases to 15.8 Million

The annual revision to the seasonal factors used in calculating the industry's seasonally adjusted, annualized selling rate, or SAAR, increased July’s rate to 15.8 million. The new data reduced June’s rate from 15.98 million to 15.91 million. The lower figure still represents the highest SAAR since the end of 2007.

Kustom Koachworks in AZ is Now Mopar Certified

Kustom Koachworks, Inc is now officially a Mopar Certified Collision Repair Facility. The certification recognizes Kustom Koachworks, Inc. shops as official repair facilities for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, and Ram vehicles. Assured Performance Network, the certification’s developer, completed online evaluations and physical on-site inspections of both Kustom Koachworks auto body shop Mesa and Tempe locations.

“We received very helpful, critical feedback from Assured Performance Network,” says Eric Muilenberg, president of Kustom Koachworks, Inc.

Kevin Flynn, Nine Year LKQ Board Member, Passes Away

Kevin F. Flynn, a nine-year member of the LKQ Board of Directors, passed away on August 12, 2013. He was key to LKQ’s formation and facilitated a number of acquisitions and financings. “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the sudden death of our colleague,” said Robert Wagman, President and Chief Executive Officer of LKQ.

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Mercury Insurance Names 10 Cheapest in Auto Insurance

Mercury Insurance has been providing auto insurance to California drivers since 1962, covering everything from Acuras to Volkswagens. Mercury is the state’s leading independent agency writer of automobile insurance. Mercury’s research and development team recently examined the top 100 make/model combinations in California for 2009– 2013.

Based on the price for full coverage, here are the least expensive vehicles (listed in order) for Mercury to insure.

1. Honda Odyssey – minivan 2. Scion XB – compact car 3. Nissan Sentra – compact car 4. Honda Fit – subcompact car 5. Toyota RAV4 – crossover SUV 6. Toyota Sienna – minivan 7. Mini Cooper Clubman – premium

compact car 8. Toyota Corolla – compact car 9. Toyota Highlander – midsize SUV 10. Honda Pilot – crossover SUV “There are two main reasons these vehicles are less expensive to insure: they are involved in fewer accidents; and if they are in an accident, the average cost to repair them is lower*,” said Mercury Group Product Manager Jeff Schroeder.

“The vehicles on our list, led by the Honda Odyssey, are more than 10 percent cheaper to insure than the average cars and trucks insured by Mercury.” *Other factors, such as a driver’s experience and accident history, can push the rate up or down, but were not included in the rate calculations.

Pride Auto Body and its six locations in Southern California has been integrated with uParts’ cloud-based electronic parts procurement solutions.

“We are excited to deploy uParts to all of our repair facilities. Our customers, insurance partners, team members and even our suppliers benefit from this powerful platform,” said Randy Stabler, President of Pride Auto Body.

“Streamlining inefficient parts procurement processes saves time and money for all,” stated Steve Morris, Operations Manager. “Our staff isn’t calling suppliers following up on parts orders. All order updates appear in the uParts Production Dashboard in realtime. We are pleased with the performance, efficiencies and capabilities that the uParts platform has afforded our team,” Morris concluded.

Pride Auto Body Says it’s Fully uParts Integrated

Continued from Page 54

Valspar & Gas Monkey

Valspar Automotive paint to accurately depict the applied finish.

“These new tools were developed with extensive input from body shop professionals and address the critical need of depicting how a particular automotive finish will look,” said Peter Willman, General Manager of Valspar Automotive.

“Valspar Automotive prides itself on providing the best in color-matching technology, support and service.”

The Valspar Spectrophotometer The Valspar Automotive Spectrophotometer offers a precise color match with the click of a button, even colors that prove difficult to match. It is a versatile alternative when compared to other color matching tools in the market, offering a Smart Formulation Option that ensures a color match can be made in a variety of lighting conditions. The user-friendly interface ensures anyone in the body shop can use the Spectrophotometer to make an accurate color match. This means body shops can benefit from making the

best color match possible with less rework and optimized profitability.

“Body shops must adhere to a high standard when it comes to detail, and this resource empowers those shops to easily make an exact match for the color they need,” said Willman. “We’re pleased to offer this tool to our customers.”

Valspar Color Information Maps Valspar Automotive Color Information Maps are available in three different color books to represent solid colors, single stage colors and base coat effect colors. Professionals can search for colors by family, or match colors without a code. Additionally, the maps can be used to provide customers with a wide variety of color options when selecting a finish.

“Our new Color Information Maps are a great addition to our lineup of body shop tools,” said Willman. “These maps are a straightforward way for professionals in the field to find the right finish.”

More information about De Beer Refinish can be found at www.debeer.com. For additional information about Valspar Automotive visit: www.valsparauto.com.

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