New Jersey Automotive March 2021

AASP/NJ’s Health Insurance Plan is open for enrollment! See pg. 11 for details!

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE ALLIANCE OF AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE PROVIDERS/NEW JERSEY (www.AASPNJ.org) AND THE AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY (www.ARANJ.org)

March 2021 $5.95

GAME OVER ?

Insurers Face the Music PLUS: • ADAS: The Future Is NOW • No More Deals!

• COVID-19 Vaccine Resources

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P.O. Box 734 Neptune, NJ 07753 EXECUTIVE DI­REC­TOR Charles Bryant 732-922-8909 / setlit4u@msn.com

VOLUME 51 NUMBER 3 | March 2021

2019 - 2021 OFFICERS PRESIDENT Jerry McNee, Ultimate Collision Repair, Inc. 732-494-1900 / ultimatecollision@att.net

CONTENTS

COLLISION CHAIRMAN Dennis Cataldo, Jr., D&M Auto Body 732-251-4313 / jr@dnmautobody.com

10 OUT OF BODY (AND MECHANICAL) EXPERIENCES

MECHANICAL CHAIRMAN Keith Krehel, Krehel Automotive Repair, Inc. 973-546-2828 / krehelauto@aol.com

14 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

TREASURER Tom Elder, Compact Kars, Inc. 609-259-6373 / compactkars@aol.com

LOCAL NEWS

SECRETARY Thomas Greco, Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc. 973-667-6922 / thomas@grecopublishing.com BOARD Brad Crawford, Livingston Collision, Inc. 973-992-5274 / livingston.collision@gmail.com Gary Gardella, Jr., County Line Auto Body 732-363-5904 / countylineautobody@gmail.com Dave Laganella, Peters Body and Fender 201-337-1200 / petersbandf@gmail.com Sam Mikhail, Prestige Auto Body 908-294-1985 /prestige@goldcar.us Ted Rainer, Ocean Bay Auto Body 732-899-7900 / ted@oceanbayautobody.com Anthony Trama, Bloomfield Auto Body 973-748-2608 / anthony@bloomfieldautobody.com BOARD ALLIED Joe Amato, The Amato Agency 732-530-6740 / joesr@amatoagency.com Mike Kaufmann, Advantage Dealer Services 973-332-7014 / mkaufmann@advantageds.com PAST PRESIDENT ATTENDING Jeff McDowell, Leslie’s Auto Body 732-738-1948 / chacki@aol.com

16 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE 20 COLLISION CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE 50 NJA ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

24 AASP/NJ Virtual Meeting Details the Future of ADAS

by Alana Bonillo 28 AASP/NJ Reacts to 2021 Insurer Report Card

NATIONAL NEWS

31 NABR Announces Major BillableGenie Upgrades

GUEST EDITORIAL

34 Are We Doing Enough to Move Forward?

by Edward Day

COVER STORY

38 Game Over? Insurers Face the Music

by Joel Gausten

WHAT SAY YOU?

42 COVID-19, One Year Later: What Have You Missed

Most During the Pandemic?

PUBLISHER Thomas Greco / thomas@grecopublishing.com SALES DIRECTOR Alicia Figurelli / alicia@grecopublishing.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Joel Gausten / joel@grecopublishing.com EDITORIAL/CREATIVE COORDINATOR Alana Bonillo / alana@grecopublishing.com OFFICE MANAGER Donna Greco / donna@grecopublishing.com PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Joe Greco / joe@grecopublishing.com

LEGAL PERSPECTIVE 44 A Case of Diminished Value

by Mitchell H. Portnoi, Esq. and Kyle S. Reed, Esq.

AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY 48 Wharton Insurance Briefs by Mario DeFilippis

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Charles Bryant • Mario DeFilippis •

Jeff McDowell • Mitch Portnoi • Ron Ananian • Keith Krehel • Jerry McNee • Bob Dirkes • Jacquelyn Bauman

Published by: Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc. 244 Chestnut Street, Suite 202, Nutley, NJ 07110 Corporate: (973) 667-6922 / FAX: (973) 235-1963

www.grecopublishing.com NEW JERSEY AUTOMOTIVE is published monthly and is sent to AASP/NJ and ARANJ members free of charge. Subscriptions are $24 per year. NEW JERSEY AUTOMOTIVE is published by Thomas Greco Publishing Inc., 244 Chestnut St., Nutley, NJ 07110. The editorial contents of NEW JERSEY AUTOMOTIVE are copyright © 2021 by Thomas Greco Publishing Inc. and may not be reproduced in any manner, either in whole or in part, without written permission from the publisher and/or editor. Articles in this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Thomas Greco Publishing Inc. Stock Images courtesy of www.istockphoto.com.

Joe Amato, Sr. Ron Ananian Jim Bowers Charles Bryant Don Chard Guy Citro Pete Cook Ed Day Dave Demarest Phil Dolcemascolo Tom Elder Bob Everett

Thomas Greco Dan Hawtin Rich Johnson Wes Kearney Nick Kostakis Jim Kowalak Keith Krehel Joe Lubrano Michael Lovullo Jeff McDowell Sam Mikhail Ron Mucklow

George Petrask Russ Robson Jerry Russomano George Threlfall Cynthia Tursi Lee Vetland Paul Vigilant Rich Weber Brian Vesley Glenn Villacari Stan Wilson

New Jersey Automotive | March 2021 | 7

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OUT OF BODY (AND MECHANICAL) EXPERIENCES

A Year in Hell

by THOMAS GRECO, PUBLISHER

At this time last year, I was writing a column about my obsession with Tony Orlando. All of us were preparing and getting excited for the upcoming NORTHEAST® 2020.

Everything seemed to be normal.

Just a few short weeks later, the world changed.

Everything became abnormal. Once COVID-19 hit, no one knew what was going to happen. No one could have imagined the toll it would take on everyone.

We have lost family members. Friends. Businesses.

COVID-19 truly is a demon from Hell.

But we’re still here. If you’re reading this, YOU’RE still here. Hurt, wounded, sad but still here. I made a promise to my readers that I would try to inspire them and make

them laugh throughout this mess; hopefully, I did that for some of you. I purposely refrained from writing anything depressing during the last year, and I will continue to do so until this fucked-up virus is gone.

Trust me, it has been difficult. Incredibly, less than a week after the lockdown, all of our accounts got hacked.

Bank accounts, phone accounts, credit cards, you name it. Luckily, during a Saturday game night on Zoom, I received an alert from my bank telling me something was wrong. Unluckily, it was a Saturday night, so there was no way to know if I had lost everything or not until the banks opened on Monday morning. Thankfully, we were in time; the damage done was minor. But honestly, if not for the

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Mazda of Lodi 130 Route 46 East Lodi, NJ 07644 Phone: 866-716-0511 Fax: 973-594-4933 www.mazdaoflodi.com

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alert, you probably wouldn’t be reading this right now.

That was just the beginning.

With everything shut down, who knew if business would survive? Thank God for our loyal advertisers, who stuck with us.

They trusted us to take care of them, and we did the same. We are forever grateful. Without them, you probably wouldn’t be reading this right now, so PLEASE support them.

About a month after the hack, my good friend and doctor for the last 40 years, Michael Giuliano, died from COVID-19. Mike took care of me so many times over the years. Whether I needed a prescription, bloodwork or just some encouragement that I wasn’t dying of another heart attack, he was always just a phone call

continued on pg. 46

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

A Plea

by JERRY MCNEE Do you ever feel like you’re not in control of your own destiny? I suppose we all do at times, but many of us have really felt powerless over the past 12 months. At this point in the pandemic, I have a feeling that most of us would do anything to have just a regular bad day at our businesses.

Right now, I’m sitting at my desk looking at an email from my health insurance provider informing me of a new 5.5 percent “COVID-19 Recovery Surcharge” that I now have to pay on every monthly invoice. That’s about $5,500 a year – gone from my budget just like that. Do you think that charge will ever go away once the threat of COVID-19 has been eradicated or at least contained? And don’t get me started on all the remote estimates I’m seeing these days that come nowhere near what it actually takes to properly repair a vehicle – to the point where it should be considered fraud.

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This has been an incredibly tough time for our industry (not that it’s ever been a walk in the park), and what we’re dealing with now due to this pandemic is another example of why we can’t afford to keep giving in to insurance companies. Many of us are facing struggles we could never have imagined 12 months ago, but insurers aren’t budging one bit on the rates they dictate to us while they ignore repair procedures every step of the way.

While we’re all distracted by our daily battles with them (as well as just working to keep our customers and staff safe through all of this), there are larger issues playing out nationally that we need to pay very close attention to. (Reading this month’s cover story on what’s been transpiring in Washington is a good place to start.)

This is my plea to the members of AASP/NJ – and continued on pg. 46

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

No More Deals!

by CHARLES BRYANT

Sometimes, I feel like I am talking to the wall when I try to explain why the old way of working out the cost of repairs between auto insurance appraisers and auto body appraisers is not only obsolete but must STOP immediately! The collision industry has been brainwashed by insurers to believe that carriers have certain powers and authority, which they do not. Insurance appraisers constantly appear at collision shops and say, ”We don’t pay for that.” When discussing Labor Rates, they might say, “We only pay X per hour.” More recently, insurers have even gone so far as to attempt to dictate where collision shops must buy their parts. In some cases, these companies limit the amount they will pay to what it would have cost the shop to buy the parts from the insurers’ preferred vendors. What’s sad is that some shops are actually going along with this because they still think that the insurers somehow have this almighty power to dictate

rather than negotiate.

This brainwashing has been going on for so long that many in the collision industry have just surrendered and now allow insurers to dictate how vehicles will be repaired rather than insist that the insurer pay to have them fixed safely and properly. At some point back when certain shops attempted to fight back, the well-known practice of Let’s Make a Deal came about. It worked well at holding down Labor Rates and allowing insurers to get away with refusing to pay for many necessary repair procedures (even when some were recommended by vehicle manufacturers), and the practice is still in place today.

Here’s how Let’s Make a Deal works: An appraiser shows up at a collision shop and starts to go over an estimate written by that facility. When they get to a line item such as “repair the pinch welds,” the appraiser says, “We don’t pay for that.” When the shop puts up an

New Jersey Shop Owners: Do YOU KNOW what YOU are MISSING?

This past year, throughout the pandemic, AASP/NJ has hosted the following events: •

ADAS: The Future is NOW - John Anello (Auto Tech on Wheels) and Nick Dominato (adasThink)

•

Right to Repair/Legislative Discussion - Tommy Hickey (Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition) and Lucky Papageorg (AASP/MA Executive Director)

•

An Overview on the New Jersey Insurance Fair Conduct Act - Jay Feinman (Rutgers Law Professor; author of Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It)

•

Truck Bedside Replacement: OE Procedure and Estimating Considerations (NJ Body Shop License Certification Class) - Larry Montanez (P&L Consultants)

•

Virtual Town Hall - Charles Bryant, AASP/NJ Executive Director

•

Get Back to Work Safely - Jack Spottiswood and Bob Plett (American Compliance)

•

COVID-19 Economic and Employment Legal Updates - Joshua Bauchner and Rahool Patel (Ansell, Grimm & Aaron, PC)

16 | New Jersey Automotive | March 2021

As a member of AASP/NJ, you get these FREE year-round educational sessions and training.

Your participation is crucial to our long-term vision. Get involved.

JOIN TODAY! Call AASP/NJ Executive Director Charlie Bryant, 732-922-8909

argument, the appraiser often says, not be the case, and this may cause should reflect exactly what work is to “Don’t worry about it; I’ll give you an unexpected direction change be performed – and at a Labor Rate some extra time on the frame to make where the vehicle equipped with that will allow a collision shop to do up for it.” That way, the shop gets ADAS takes over and corrects itself. the repairs correctly and realize a fair what they want, which is to be paid If this was to occur at just the right and reasonable profit without having for an operation that has to be done. time, it could result in the vehicle to play the game. The bottom line is The insurer gets what it wants by not steering directly into oncoming that Let’s Make a Deal no longer has having the operation ever show up traffic, which would surely result in a place in the collision industry. It as something that it has paid for in serious injury or possible death of must stop immediately, or people are the past. Another Let’s Make a Deal the vehicle’s occupants. This is why going SUBARU GROUP AD_NJA0520.qxp_Layout 1 4/27/20 1:46 PM Page to 1 die. Stay tuned for more on practice is when an appraiser throws the insurance and collision industries this subject, as we will be watching in a few extra operations, which both must immediately stop playing Let’s and reporting as changes occur. the shop owner and the appraiser Make a Deal. Insurance estimates NJA know will not be performed, to make up for ridiculously low Labor Rates and other things. Once again, the shop gets enough money to make a profit, and the insurer gets to hold down the Labor Rates. Although no one from either side of the industry ever talks openly about these Let’s Make a Deal practices, this is how the so-called negotiations have taken place for many, many years. As a result, it is not uncommon to hear a shop owner say, “I don’t care how you write the estimate as long as you reach my bottom line.”

Now, I am well aware that some people are going to comment, “Here we go again…talking about insurance industry practices that we have no power over.” Well, I have said it before, and I will say it again: The difference is that when the manufacturer-required procedures are ignored, people are going to die as a result sooner or later. If vehicles with ADAS are not scanned and recalibrations are not performed after a collision, they will not act as designed.

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The consequences of not resetting the steering angle sensor after an alignment means that the car may not know the driver’s intended steering direction. What it thought was straight ahead may actually New Jersey Automotive | March 2021 | 17

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COLLISION CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

It’s Worth a Shot

by DENNIS CATALDO, JR.

It has been a year of a “two-week shutdown,” but it looks as though it may be coming to an end. With vaccine programs starting to roll out and new COVID-19 cases trending downward, hopefully we will be out of this mess soon. I recently received the first of two shots; so far, I have not had any ill effects. Although the sign-up was a hassle, I urge everyone to get vaccinated so we can hopefully move on to brighter and better things. Currently, you can sign up a bunch of ways in New Jersey, but the tips I’m including in this message have helped my wife sign up over 30 people with vaccine appointments.

Sitting home with a newborn, she has scoured the internet for the following information.

First, always set your internet browsers to incognito or privacy mode; it helps with webpage load times and may reserve you a spot quicker when competing against other computers.

The state site, covid19.nj.gov, has much of the main information you need, including where to get tested and where and how to get vaccinated. That site

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will link you to covidvaccine.nj.gov, which is the staterun pre-registration site for the vaccine. Once you have pre-registered, I recommend you look at twitter.com/ C19VaxxUpdates. Listed there is a ton of information updated daily on how to sign up in New Jersey, links to a master list of vaccination sites and a section that gives tips based on what county you live in. If you subscribe to the alerts, you will receive a message when a vaccine registration becomes live.

When this happens, you need to jump on it!

The Atlantic City megasite, vaccination. atlanticare.org/default. aspx, has appointments Tuesdays at 3pm, Thursdays at 6pm and Saturdays at 9am.

Setting your internet browser to incognito mode or private mode helps with your position on this site.

The Bergen County megasite, bergencovidvaccine. com, is Bergen County’s vaccine site and usually posts the next day’s allotment around 4:43pm. I recommend following twitter.com/BCNJ_VaccineBot, which will post continued on pg. 47

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New Jersey Automotive | March 2021 | 23

LOCAL NEWS

by ALANA BONILLO

AASP/NJ Virtual Meeting Details the Future of ADAS ADAS is not just the future. It’s here now. It’s here to stay. And the reality is that most collision repairers are likely unaware of what ADAS fully entails.

To educate members on the importance of proper ADAS repair, AASP/NJ recently welcomed John Anello (Auto Tech on Wheels) and Nick Dominato (adasThink) for “ADAS: The Future Is NOW,” a two-hour Zoom seminar that provided insight into this technology, its requirements and how it will affect the industry moving forward.

As Anello explained, ADAS did not come along overnight. Electric steering came about in the ’90s, and Lane Keeping Assist has been around since 2004.

However, over the past few years, ADAS has grown non-stop at an overwhelming rate. He reminded collision repairers that if they do not keep up with technology, it can pass them by.

“You have to embrace the technology as it comes to your front door. If you don’t, customers will go to dealerships, and you will start losing your customer base.”

To demonstrate what is involved in some ADAS procedures, he walked repairers through the removal of a bumper that has advanced sensors.

“When you are working on these cars, you have to put [sensors] back the way you found them.”

Putting a sensor back in the wrong spot will immediately result in a communication error, and each 24 | New Jersey Automotive | March 2021

sensor has to be calibrated. In the case of parking sensors, the angle has to be checked on each one.

Additionally, post-repair scans won’t show underlying issues. Anello explained a situation where lights came on while test driving a repaired vehicle. Upon noticing a substantially misaligned radar, he took off the cover to discover it pointing down to the ground.

“It wasn’t looking for cars anymore; it must have been looking for squirrels.”

The space required to calibrate these radar sensors is another important factor. The perfect shop should have an area that is 40 feet wide by 30 feet deep to do this properly. With more advancements such as automatic emergency braking coming down the pike, knowing how to correctly address these sensors is critically important.

Many repairers may be unaware of how many calibrations are needed on ADAS-equipped vehicles.

Dominato explained each manufacturer is different, with some having broader requirements than others.

“We are at about 40-50 percent of most makes having at least one calibration on there.”

Although there are resources that assist repairers, not all are 100 percent reliable. Dominato reminded all that a clear scan report is not a “get out of jail free card.”

“You can do a calibration with a scan tool, but it’s not the ‘all clear.’”

With autonomous driving on the horizon, he cautioned that calibration requirements will only continue.

“ADAS isn’t something up and coming that is going to hit us in two years; it’s been here. We are at 40 percent of things in need of calibration, and it’s being missed 80 percent of the time. That is where we are right now as an industry.”

Of course, performing accurate work in regard to ADAS will protect repair facilities as much as consumers.

“The cars today are outpacing us all, and we have to be able to stay up with it. Liability will fall back into your lap,” commented AASP/NJ President Jerry McNee. “If this work is not done on these cars, someone is going to die,” echoed AASP/NJ Executive Director Charles Bryant.

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

NJA

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New Jersey Automotive | February 2021 | 27

LOCAL NEWS

AASP/NJ Reacts to 2021 Insurer Report Card The 2021 Insurer Report Card was recently published

by CRASH Network. The report was developed through the participation of more than 1,100 collision repair shops around the country that were asked to grade as many as 30 different insurers in their respective states on one question: “How well does this company’s claim-handling policies, attitude and payment practices ensure quality repairs and customer service for motorists?”

In all, the 2021 Insurer Report Card includes grades for 75 insurance companies.

As shown in the report, none of the nation’s 10 largest auto insurers received an overall grade higher than a C+ from repair facilities. According to CRASH Network’s John Yoswick, comments shared by shops about these insurers included “cares more about cost than quality of

The 2021 Insurer Report Card reveals grades for 75 insurance companies.

28 | New Jersey Automotive | March 2021

Comments shared by shops about these insurers included “cares more about cost than quality of the repair,” “pressures us to use cheap, low-quality parts,” “slow claims process” and ‘inexperienced adjusters.” the repair,” “pressures us to use cheap, low-quality parts,” “slow claims process” and ‘inexperienced adjusters.” The report also reveals that smaller auto insurers Chubb, Erie Insurance, Michigan Farm Bureau and North Carolina Farm Bureau earned an overall grade of A- or higher.

“After reviewing this report, it’s amazing to me that some of the larger insurers can have ratings that low and still be successful,” AASP/NJ President Jerry McNee comments. “Can you imagine if body shops were rated that low by consumers or insurers? There’s no doubt that our businesses would be struggling. That said, I honestly think the ratings could be a lot lower for some of these insurers. These results show that there are major issues between shops and insurers that aren’t being properly addressed. I hope these carriers take the time to review this report and realize they need to make some major improvements in how they work and communicate with the collision repair industry.”

“I must commend the producers of the report for the tremendous effort that obviously goes into creating such an in-depth report,” AASP/NJ Executive Director Charles Bryant adds. “At the same time, I would encourage more collision shops to take the time to participate in the survey, which would naturally provide a more accurate picture of who is fair and reasonable and who is constantly saying things like, ‘We don’t pay for that,’ or, ‘We only pay X per hour.’ These types of questions might even be a good addition to the survey.”

The 2021 Insurer Report Card is available for free download at crashnetwork.com/irc. More information on AASP/NJ is available at aaspnj.org.

NJA

Co-celebrating decades of creating chemistry between two industry leaders

Here’s to 235 years of combined service excellence This year, as Albert Kemperle Inc. celebrates its 80th anniversary, BASF also celebrates its 155th anniversary. We are proud of our decades of partnership with BASF and years of serving the auto paint and body industry together. Kemperle’s founders would be proud of this relationship and the growth their company has experienced because of it.

Today, as we look forward to many more decades of service to our customers, we find ourselves filled with gratitude. The creativity, hard work, and sense of responsibility of the people working for our two companies have made us what we are today.

Thank you for your many years of loyalty.

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NJA

30 | New Jersey Automotive | March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS

NABR Announces Major BillableGenie Upgrades “We don’t pay for that.”

Body shops in New Jersey and beyond hear that statement from insurers every single day, but there is a way for collision repair professionals to accurately prove these words wrong.

Developed by National AutoBody Research (NABR; nationalautobodyresearch.com), BillableGenie is a powerful program that features a searchable database of what repairers across the country report in regard to the procedures they are being paid for by insurers. The information is compiled through estimates and other documentation submitted by body shop end-users. As of February 17, BillableGenie contained data for 8,086 paid estimates nationally, including 968 customer-pay repairs.

Nearly 500 of these estimates were from the Garden State alone.

Last month, NABR performed substantial upgrades to the BillableGenie system to enable increased search functionality efficiency. These advancements include the addition of parenthetical information showing the number of records the system has for specific insurers, states, cities, procedures, vehicle makes, Labor Rates and shop certifications.

“The updates were made to accelerate the use of our system to the benefit of the body shops and simplify the process,” NABR President Sam Valenzuela comments.

“It’s a faster and more precise way for shops to get to the data they’re looking for.”

For example, if an end-user wants to find out if a particular insurer has been paying for COVID-19 cleanup in Newark, BillableGenie’s improved search engine can track down and display the exact number of records per category in parentheses. From there, that user can view the average labor hours and material costs documented for this procedure. This data will help them determine their charges based on their in-house posted body Labor Rates. Information of this nature can also be used to demonstrate that an insurer does in fact have a documented history of paying for certain procedures and Labor Rates in various markets.

“Insurers can’t argue with this data, because it’s primarily what they themselves approved and paid for,”

NABR CEO Richard Valenzuela says.

The number of end-user estimates and other documents received by BillableGenie directly impacts the strength and reach of the data collected. Richard notes that New Jersey has seen considerable growth in industry participation in recent months.

“We have a large stockpile of documents waiting in the queue to be uploaded on a daily basis. The body shops have come to understand the value of data now more than ever.”

As for the future, NABR is exploring ways (via resources including P-Pages and the Society of Collision Repair Specialists’ Guide to Complete Repair Planning) to better streamline and represent procedural descriptions that are submitted to the system under various names.

“Insurance adjusters and body shops write procedures quite differently around the country with different vocabulary words,” Sam observes. “Our procedure list captures all of those. There may be 20 different ways to say ‘pre-repair scan.’ Without the parenthetical numbers now featured as a result of our upgrade, it was more difficult for a shop to see which term would give them the most data. So, we decided to add the counts to enable someone to pinpoint what they’re looking for much faster than before.”

Richard recommends that end-users go with the procedure name that yields the highest parenthetical number, as regular use of this terminology will help the industry at-large determine the best wording to use on estimates and better ensure more consistent and realistic payments.

“If one option is better because of the higher parenthetical number included, then body shops can more easily determine which description is being paid most frequently.”

For more information on NABR’s BillableGenie, please visit billablegenie.com.

NJA

New Jersey Automotive | March 2021 | 31

32 | New Jersey Automotive | March 2021

New Jersey Automotive | March 2021 | 33

GUEST EDITORIAL

by EDWARD DAY

Are We Doing Enough to Move Forward?

Many years ago, when my shop started photo inspections, the company we were working with provided us with a Sony Mavica camera. It had a one-inch floppy disk (remember those?), which served as its memory card and allowed our shop to take digital photos that we could then print out. It was cutting-edge technology for its time.

I bought a printer for the sole purpose of printing pictures off this camera. I couldn’t wait to show it off to someone who’d really appreciate it...or so I thought.

I took the camera to Broadway Photo, a local camera shop at the time that sold 35mm cameras and film and developed photos. I walked into the huge (probably 6,000square-foot) building and approached the owner – a miserable man who smoked three packs a day and had skin the color of Pine-Sol – and said, “Watch this.” I took a picture of his crew, hooked the camera up to the AV cord I had brought with me and plugged it into the back of the old TV they had in the store.

The TV immediately displayed the picture I had just taken.

The crew saw that and went, “WHOA!” It was the mid-’80s; they had never seen anything like it before. Mr. Pine-Sol walked over, reeking like an ashtray. He looked at the camera, looked at the TV, looked back at the camera, then at me. He rolled his eyes and sneered, “This’ll never make it.” And he walked away.

These days, the cameras out there run laps around that little Mavica, and Broadway Photo is long gone. I have no doubt Mr. Pine-Sol’s dismissal of evolving technology – technology that, as a business owner, he should have known about and embraced long before I walked into his shop – likely contributed to the downfall of the business.

And I’m sure his awful attitude didn’t help. (The way he talked to me that day was the way he talked to his staff, customers, vendors and anyone who walked in the shop.)

Whenever I think about old Pine-Sol, I think about our 34 | New Jersey Automotive | March 2021

industry, too. Are we doing enough to move ourselves forward? Are we making investments in the computers, scanners, diagnostic tools and equipment that we need?

Have we looked into OEM certifications? Are we on top of what’s coming so we can be prepared? Or are we rolling our eyes at something that we think won’t last and walking away?

Are we training? And are we keeping on top of it? I’m talking continuous training. Are we doing enough? I ask this as someone who’s probably not doing enough. It’s hard. I get it; I’m right there with you. But if we want to stay alive in this business, we’ve got to push ourselves to always be better.

And let’s not forget the other elephant in the room: Relationships. How are our attitudes toward the people and companies we deal with?

If the relationship is always adversarial, it’s not going to work. That applies to the people within your walls and whoever comes onto your property, from your very favorite customer to your most hated adjuster. If you don’t maintain your business relationships with balance, reason and respect, pretty soon you won’t have any.

This is not to say that you shouldn’t defend yourself, however. If the insurance company is being completely unreasonable, or is asking you to do anything that stands to put the vehicle owner at risk, you should absolutely stand by your convictions. Advocating for your customer’s safety is a top priority.

(And while we’re on the subject, if you’re yelling at the adjuster and telling them every day that you’re broke, maybe take down the framed pictures of your boat, your shore house and your racecar off the wall.)

These times we’re all going through offer plenty of time for reflection, but I see it as a valuable opportunity for improvement. We’ve all got a long way to go – myself

LYNNES

AUTO GROUP

included, for sure – and there’s no time like the present. Business is finally starting to come back; let’s make sure we aren’t doing anything to push it away.

COVID-19 will be a reset for our entire industry. Let’s face it; everything is going to be virtual. We have a taxi service with no taxi company (Uber). We have a large department store without the store (Amazon). When’s the last time you walked into a bank? Is a brick-andmortar bank even going to be there in five years? Can we find opportunity in the middle of all this adversity?

My father, who spent three years in combat in WWII, would always say, “Always wait ’til the smoke clears.” While I think he’s 100 percent correct as far as our businesses are concerned at this point in history, I think that there’s no time like the present to start making some positive changes.

AASP/NJ Hall of Famer Edward Day is the owner of Collision Restoration in Fairfield and a former president of AASP/NJ. NJA

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COVER STORY

GAME OVER ?

INSURERS FACE tHE MUSIC

“According to their own representatives during last year’s legislative session, insurance companies are not vehicle repair experts. Vehicle manufacturers are the repair experts. The vehicle manufacturer spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year developing, designing, engineering and testing their vehicles to be crashworthy in the event of an accident. Vehicle insurance companies like GEICO and State Farm […] sell insurance; they’re not in the business of designing vehicles or repairing vehicles. Furthermore […] insurance companies cannot be sued for how they dictate the repair should happen. And yes – insurance companies can, will and do dictate repair decisions by deciding to not pay for the procedures and passing those costs on to the consumer or shops.”

Although the above words sound like something New Jersey Automotive would hear during a typical call with a New Jersey shop owner, they come as a shock when you consider who actually spoke them. The above statement comes from testimony given by Joshua Green before the Washington House Consumer Protection and Business Committee on February 8. What makes Green’s observations so important? Well, he’s the guy who finally broke through the wall of silence and offered a longoverdue public confirmation of what many in the collision industry already knew about the insurance industry’s agenda during the repair process.

Testifying in support of the current version of House Bill 1428 (auto insurance reform legislation sponsored by Representative Steve Kirby, who also serves as Committee chair), Green shared some of his experiences from his past seven-year stint as a GEICO adjuster “on the field negotiating claims” and his subsequent eight years 38 | New Jersey Automotive | March 2021

“work[ing] for and manag[ing] certified collision repair centers.” His commentary painted a vivid picture of the disturbing philosophical differences between those who perform professional auto body repairs and those who supposedly exist to indemnify consumers.

“The GEICO auto damage training I received was not adequate enough for me to do my job properly. I couldn’t tell you what a proper repair was when I was an insurance agent. It wasn’t until I started taking manufacturers’ training and worked with repair technicians on a daily basis [that I knew] what a proper repair was.”

“My advancement opportunities within GEICO relied on writing the lowest possible repair, controlling rental costs and CSI scores,” he added. “We were not rated on safety of repairs. I had control over every single one of those metrics, including CSI, by deciding who did and did not get a CSI survey.”

Green’s statements were followed by equally damning observations by Jackson Clemmons, who testified that his career has included stints with four major insurance companies and four body shops in the state. Discussing his most recent work as a senior auto damage adjuster for American Family, he shone a penetrating light on some of the pressures put upon insurance estimators to keep repair costs down no matter what.

“During my time with American Family, I didn’t feel comfortable with a lot of the things they did in terms of the claim handling. Myself and my co-workers basically received no hands-on training at body shops, I-CAR class training or in-house training with body shop technicians during my tenure there. Instead, we were mainly trained on how to negotiate down claim settlements as low as possible. During my day-to-day operations at American Family, my directive was to never match a body shop’s

by JOEL GAUSTEN

“...[T]his testimony – which I highly recommend every shop owner takes the time to watch – clearly shows who the big bad wolf really is in these situations.”

- AASP/NJ President Jerry McNee estimate, and I was directed by management as well as my supervisor to negotiate down the cost of the claims whenever possible. My supervisor’s exact words to me were, ‘You are a claims adjuster, and your job is to adjust down the repair estimates’ […] Consumers were left with short-paid claims, but […] American Family did save money.”

These revelations were preceded by riveting testimony by consumer Brian Mather, who chronicled a frustrating ordeal with his unnamed insurer after an accident. As is increasingly common in the age of COVID-19, Mather sent photos via an app to his carrier, who came up with a $1,200 repair estimate. Despite being informed by his insurer of the option to have the repairs performed by one of its “preferred” facilities, Mather elected to have the work done at a non-program shop of his choice. After inspecting the vehicle, this facility wrote a quote for nearly $8,000. According to Mather, this was when his insurer began drawing a line in the sand.

“After several months of corresponding with the insurance company to get them to reconsider their $1,200 repair quote – and them demonstrating that they were committed to their quote or me taking the vehicle to their shop – I proceeded to have my vehicle fixed at the shop I chose. [My insurer] ultimately paid more to fix the vehicle, but it took the body shop sending pictures of every damaged part and then waiting for approval of every step of the process. So, instead of taking a week to fix my vehicle, it took almost three weeks due to the constant lags in the process on the insurance company’s part […] Each individual plastic clip that was removed to get parts off the vehicle had to be photographed and sent before it was approved for reimbursement. Ultimately, my vehicle was fixed, but the insurance company still hasn’t reimbursed me for the complete cost of my repairs. I’ve spent the past five months trying to get them to reimburse me for the roughly $2,000 I paid the body shop to complete the repairs above what they paid.”

Although Mather’s debacle is indeed concerning, it

pales in comparison to what could happen to a consumer when an insurer or shop decides to move forward with lowballed work. Appearing on behalf of the Washington Independent Collision Repairers Association (WICRA), Seattle-based shop owner Jeff Butler (Haury’s Lake City Collision) used the landmark 2017 case against John Eagle Collision Center in Dallas, TX by Matthew and Marcia Seebachan – who both sustained permanent injuries and were nearly killed when their improperly repaired Honda Fit was involved in a subsequent collision – to illustrate why insurers need to get on board with paying for OEM-recommended/required procedures.

“John Eagle Collision Center shortcut the repairs because State Farm short-paid the repair shop $3,500, but a jury held John Eagle Collision accountable for $31 million. Auto body shops are responsible and liable for the repairs that they perform. The Federal Government now mandates safe cars to be built; however, there are no laws that require modern, safe vehicles to be repaired the way the engineers designed.

“It’s a get-what-you-pay-for world,” he continued. “If you undercut someone’s wages, they’ll figure out a way to make it work, but that doesn’t mean they’ll do the right thing.”

Doing the right thing by customers was also of paramount concern to licensed public adjuster Mike Harber, who appeared on behalf of the Professional Automotive Repair Alliance. In addition to urging Representative Kirby to revise the bill to include language in regard to the licensure of appraisers, he called for the adoption of provisions similar to a current law in Oregon that makes insurers financially responsible to cover the costs of an Appraisal Clause procedure if an insured elects to invoke it under their policy and wins the dispute.

He framed his argument around the fact that he had successfully represented a staggering 87 insureds in their claim disputes with carriers in the past year alone.

According to Harber, the underpayments ranged from $1,200 to more than $65,000.

continued on pg. 40

New Jersey Automotive | March 2021 | 39

COVER STORY

continued from pg. 39

“These consumers had to pay me to recover a fair settlement on their behalf. Unfortunately, I can’t take every case that’s brought to me because, in many claims, the average consumer cannot afford the cost of invoking the Appraisal Clause in their insurance policy. Additionally, I hear from potential clients that they were told by their insurer, ‘It may not be a wise decision to use the appraisal provision, because it will cost you a lot of money, and you may not even recover enough to cover the cost to do so.’””

Harber stressed the value of using Oregon’s law as a consumer-protection model for how the Appraisal Clause should be addressed in Representative Kirby’s bill.

“All of us here […] have purchased car insurance. We all pay a premium, and we believe we have a guarantee to recover fully for a covered loss, less a deductible. If we or an insurer disagree on a loss, we have a provision in the policy called ‘appraisal.’ It states in part: ‘If you or we disagree over the amount of a loss, either party may invoke appraisal. Each party will choose a competent appraiser, the two appraisers will pick a third umpire and whatever two of the three agree upon is binding. Each will pay their appointed appraiser and share equally in the cost of the umpire and any other costs.’ We’ve all paid premiums […] Currently, the policy requires us to pay again to prove what was rightfully ours to start with […] In Oregon, if it’s proven through this appraisal process that an additional payment [for] the claim is more than the last amount offered by the insurer, all the costs and fees are to be paid by the insurer.”

(Although the Appraisal Clause has gained considerable support by consumer-protection advocates in recent years, not all attempts to utilize it have been successful. As detailed in a February 17 report by Repairer Driven News [RDN], a New Jersey insured’s attempt to invoke the Appraisal Clause to address a repair amount dispute with State Farm – a company notorious for successfully skirting Appraisal Clause proceedings in many states – failed after the insurer insisted that it was only subject to the clause in total loss cases.)

At the start of the February 8 “work session” (which he called the discussion as opposed to framing it as a formal public hearing), Representative Kirby shared his intention to make considerable changes to the current version of House Bill 1428, adding that he would take the various testimony heard into account before doing so. He demonstrated the need for a consumer-focused bill of this nature by quoting the following passage in the current Washington Administrative Code: 40 | New Jersey Automotive | March 2021

If the claimant chooses to take the loss vehicle to a repair facility where the overall cost to restore the loss vehicle to its condition prior to the loss exceeds the insurer’s estimate, the claimant must be advised that he or she may be responsible for any additional amount above the insurer’s estimate.

“To me, that says – and, in practice, it has in fact been used to mean – that’s just the way it’s going to be,” he said. “If the insurance company doesn’t like it, they’re not going to pay it – and there’s not anything you can do about it. Ultimately, that’s how it keeps ending up.”

Kirby added that the presence of “armies of lawyers” in the insurance industry often dissuades consumers from pursuing litigation against carriers when disputes arise.

While the future of Representative Kirby’s legislation remains to be seen, AASP/NJ President Jerry McNee is pleased that the February 8 event brought so many issues – and undeniable truths about the insurance industry – out in the open.

“This discussion was an absolute eye-opener for our industry. In particular, the testimony given by the former GEICO and American Family appraisers gave us an inside look into some of the tactics used by insurers to force repairers to work for the lowest price possible.

Right as I was watching the video of this testimony, my shop was dealing with an Audi repair that had a $10,000 discrepancy between what we determined had to be done to bring the vehicle back to pre-accident condition as per the OEM guidelines versus what the insurer wrote for the job. I’ll say that again - $10,000! What the two former insurance company employees testified to is not rare by any means. I’ve had customers tell me that their insurers have branded me a ‘problem shop’ for standing up for proper payment to perform the correct procedures, but this testimony – which I highly recommend every shop owner takes the time to watch – clearly shows who the big bad wolf really is in these situations.”

The current text of House Bill 1428 can be read at bit.ly/HB_1428. Video of the complete “work session” on the bill – including a historical overview of the legislation [specifically the status of its alternative parts provisions] and stated opposition from the Automotive Recyclers Association, LKQ Corp., the Auto Care Association and others – is available at bit.ly/HCP_BC. NJA

New Jersey Automotive | March 2021 | 41

WHAT SAY YOU?

COVID-19, One Year Later: What Have You Missed Most During the Pandemic?

“I miss getting parts, as the pandemic has brought on parts delays. I also really miss interacting with customers. So much has changed in the way we have to interact and handle things – even how we get in and out of the vehicles.”

“In my business life, I miss more customers.

On a personal level, just the freedom to go to the movies and my favorite restaurants.”

SUCCASUNNA

SECAUCUS

“NORTHEAST® and

FORDS

all the classes I used to take. I miss public

“Normalcy.”

gatherings where I’d HOWELL

“Having more time to focus on the business.

Insurance companies are taking advantage of COVID-19, and it is slowing down the process. You have to write and take their photos, and they put Ray Charles on the other end. There is a lot more administrative work now than there ever was. I also miss my employees; thanks to the stimulus, no one wants to come back.

Oh, and I miss having a smaller pant size!”

42 | New Jersey Automotive | March 2021

MEDFORD

get to have personal

contact with others.”

BAYVILLE

“Believe it or not, I miss insurance appraisers being on the road and looking at the cars.

Photo estimates are taking us backwards.”

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LEGAL PERSPECTIVE

by MITCHELL H. PORTNOI, ESQ. AND KYLE S. REED, ESQ.

A Case of Diminished Value Even as New Jersey courts remain largely closed, the Law Office of Mitchell H. Portnoi, P.C. has just resolved another diminished value (DV) case.

In this case, our client was driving an Aston Martin DBS Coupe when they were rear-ended by another driver.

As a result of this collision, the vehicle, which had no prior accident history, lost over $25,000 worth of value and required substantial repairs. With our experience and expertise in handling these types of cases, we were able to recoup a significant portion of this lost value for our client by way of a settlement with the at-fault driver.

The damages stemming from a diminished value claim are measured by the difference between the vehicle’s pre-harm and post-harm value given that, among many factors, a defendant’s negligence has handed the vehicle an accident history. In some states, diminished value is paid by making a first-party claim through your own insurance carrier. In New Jersey, however, insurance carriers continue to make the aggrieved party seek damages from the negligent party through a third-party

44 | New Jersey Automotive | March 2021

claim. In fact, many motor vehicle insurance policies written in New Jersey expressly disclaim having to pay for such damages on a first-party basis.

Despite New Jersey courts continually recognizing that diminished value damages can be sought from the at-fault driver, many drivers are unaware of their entitlement to such damages. In many instances, insurance companies will deny these claims as if the relevant case law did not exist.

Though these claims are recognized in New Jersey, it is not always easy to have a court award these types of damages. The extent of the damages is an important consideration when choosing which court to file in, as this decision will affect how quickly a case may be reached for trial. The right testimony from an appraiser or dealer is necessary at such a trial, and the right legal assistance is imperative to avoid the pitfalls that can arise in these cases. We handle diminished value cases of all sizes.

If you or a client have incurred a significant loss, we encourage you to contact our office.

NJA

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At your local MINI dealer, we believe that using Original MINI collision replacement parts will speed your repairs and increase your profitability.

Original MINI parts assure an absolute perfect fit and function.

For Original MINI parts, contact any of these authorized MINI dealers.

• Competitive prices • Fast, accurate deliveries • Genuine Subaru Parts that drive your business

Paul Miller Subaru 3469 Route 46 Parsippany, NJ 07054 Phone: 973-658-5714 Fax: 973-402-9591 mdaltilio@paulmiller.com www.paulmillersubaru.com/parts

MINI of Mt. Laurel 1311 Rt. 73 Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054 856-778-3000 Fax: 856-813-4622 MINIOFMTLAUREL.COM FACEBOOK.COM/MINIOFMTLAUREL

MINI of Manhattan 793 11th Avenue at 55th Street New York, NY 10019 212-246-7375 Fax: 212-315-9560 MININYC.COM FACEBOOK.COM/MINIOFMANHATTAN

© 2020 MINI USA, a division of BMW of North America, LLC. The MINI name, model names and logo are registered trademarks.

New Jersey Automotive | March 2021 | 45

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

OUT OF BODY (AND MECHANICAL) EXPERIENCES continued from pg. 10

away. Unsurprisingly, he was treating numerous COVID-19 patients when he got sick. He was helping others until he couldn’t.

We ALL have had stories like these over the last year, but we are coming back. The vaccines are here.

The second round of PPPs are here.

(If you haven’t applied for one, do

46 | New Jersey Automotive | March 2021

it!) NORTHEAST® will take place in September, and I can’t wait to see ALL of you there!

This nightmare will end soon. Just hang on a little bit longer, and we will get through it together.

Stay safe.

NJA

continued from pg. 14

the industry at-large – to find a way to get more involved in turning things around. If you’re reading this message, then there’s a good chance you read the rest of New Jersey Automotive every month.

That’s a critical way to get news and information you need, but we need you to do more than that.

We need you to attend AASP/NJ meetings and events. We need you to ask questions and tell us what’s going on at your shop and in your market. We need you to share your successes and failures. We need you to read and learn the P-Pages, as they are your best defense. We need you to take part in industry groups, educate your employees – and yourselves – and listen to those who are successfully gaining ground.

We need you to follow what’s going on in regard to legislation – and not just here in New Jersey. We need you to support our Legal Fund.

Simply put, we need you more than ever, because AASP/NJ can’t help this industry without you. Help us help you.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I’m going to keep turning up the volume on it until everybody listens. Even with COVID-19 still affecting our daily lives, we have a chance to band together, stay informed and fight back against insurer abuse. Yes, you’ve read all this before, but these aren’t just words on a page – this is me, a shop owner in Edison who’s in the same trenches you are, asking my peers to step up, work together and take this industry back.

NJA

COLLISION CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

continued from pg. 20

an alert when spots are open in Bergen County.

There are other megasites in the state; however, these two were the easiest to use to sign up family members so far.

CVS and Rite Aid are not getting nearly the same amount of vaccines as the state-run facilities, so it is really just luck of the draw there.

Finally, if you are willing to wait around until the end of the day since the vaccines expire if not used, daily waiting lists are set up if there are no-shows for scheduled appointments. I know of a few people who waited until the end of the day and received a vaccine that was intended for someone else who did not show up.

It seems perplexing right now, but as more and more people become vaccinated, more spots will become available.

NJA

EMPIRE AUTO PARTS

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1.800.292.RIMS (7467) New Jersey Automotive | March 2021 | 47

ARANJ Board of Directors David Yeager - EL & M Auto (800) 624-2266 / elandmauto@aol.com Ed Silipena - American II Autos (609) 965-0987 / esilipena@yahoo.com Norm Vachon - Port Murray Auto (908) 689-3152 / portmurrayauto@yahoo.com Dillon Rinkens - East Brunswick Auto (732) 254-6501 / ebautonj@comcast.net

ARANJ Officers

President - Rodney Krawczyk Ace Auto Wreckers (732) 254-9816 / aceautonj@comcast.net 1st Vice President - Daryl Carman Lentini Auto Salvage (908) 782-4440 / darryl@las-parts.coms 2nd Vice President - Mike Ronayne Tilghmans Auto Parts (609) 723-7469 / tilghmans@snip.net Past President - Bob Dirkes Dirkes Used Auto Parts (609) 625-1718 / dirkesauto@gmail.com

ARANJ The Automotive Recyclers Association of New Jersey

Wharton Insurance Briefs Workers’ compensation can be an open checkbook if you are not diligent about managing it.

One major way to help control costs is to develop a positive employee attitude toward safety.

We suggest you do this by: • setting a good example by practicing good safe work habits; • allowing employees to report unsafe work practices without fear of reprisal; • being accessible to employees; • setting up and attending regular safety meetings; • making sure good housekeeping rules are followed at all time; and • enforcing safety rules.

As always, please feel free to contact us to discuss this or any other insurance concern.

Mario DeFilippis, AAI Vice President (732) 686-7020 (office) (908) 513-8588 (cell) mdefilippis@whartoninsurance.com

CONTACT US TODAY FOR A COMPETITIVE QUOTE ON YOUR NEXT COLLISION REPAIR ESTIMATE. CENTRAL AVENUE CHRYSLER JEEP 1839 Central Park Avenue Yonkers, NY 10710 Order Hot Line: (800) 967-5298 Fax: (914) 361-1508 www.centralave.com COLLISION LINK, REPAIR LINK AND PARTS TRADER

EASTCHESTER CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE 4007 Boston Road Bronx, NY 10466 Order Hot Line: (914) 597-7018 Fax: (718) 881-3014

FIT AND FINISH IS NO PLACE TO GET CREATIVE. 48 | New Jersey Automotive | March 2021 NJA_Half_2020.indd 1

WE COMPETE WITH AFTERMARKET PRICES! FREE DELIVERY!

Check out MoparRepairConnection.com for resources, promotions and technical information. ©2020 FCA US LLC. All Rights Reserved. Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Mopar and SRT are registered trademarks of FCA US LLC.

10/22/20 9:52 AM

Genuine Volkswagen Collision Parts Are a Call or a Click Away.

The best repairs start with the best shop-supplier relationship. Contact the following Authorized Volkswagen dealers by phone, fax or email to get the parts you need, when you need them.

Flemington Volkswagen 213 Route 202/31 Flemington, NJ 08822 TOLL FREE: 877-657-2787 FAX: 908-782-1795 rmuir@flemington.com www.NJPARTS.com

Paul Miller VW of Bernardsville 118 Morristown ROAd Bernardsville, NJ 07924 Toll Free: 877-318-6557 Local: 908-766-1600 Fax: 908-766-6171

Douglas Motors 491 MORRIS AVE. SUMMIT, NJ 07901 PHONE: 908-277-1100 FAX: 908-273-6196 TOLL FREE: 800-672-1172 www.douglasvw.com email: douglasparts@douglasautonet.com

Trend Motors 221 Route 46 West Rockaway, NJ 07866 888-267-2821 fax: 973-625-4985 www.trendmotors.com email:dreinacher@trendmotors.com

Crestmont Volkswagen 730 ROUTE 23 NORTH POMPTON PLAINS, NJ 07444 TOLL FREE: 800-839-6444 fax: 973-839-8146 www.crestmontvw.com email:vwparts@crestmont23.com

“Volkswagen“ and the Volkswagen logo are registered trademarks of Volkswagen AG. ©2021 Volkswagen of America, Inc.

New Jersey Automotive | March 2021 | 49

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX 1-800-NEW-PARTS.................................12-13 Acme Nissan...........................................5 Accudraft.................................................IBC Albert Kemperle.......................................29 Amato Agency.........................................33 Audi Group..............................................18 BMW Group.............................................30 BMW of Springfield..................................19 Bolt On Technology..................................15 Clinton Honda..........................................20 Collision Supplies of New England............43 Empire Auto Parts....................................47 Fenix Parts...............................................46 Flemington Audi.......................................6 GM Group................................................11 Hyundai Group.........................................43 Innovative Solutions & Technology.........IFC Jaguar Princeton......................................20 Klean Frame............................................50 Kollective Auto Group...............................8-9 Land Rover Princeton...............................20 Lynnes Nissan East..................................35 Maxon Buick-GMC...................................35 Maxon Hyundai........................................37 Maxon Mazda..........................................37 Mazda Group...........................................10 MGM Auto Body Supplies.........................45 Mike Kaufmann Dealer Group..................14 Mini Group...............................................45 Mopar Group...........................................48 NUCAR....................................................22-23 Paul Miller Subaru....................................45 Porsche Group.........................................36 PPG.........................................................3 Pro Spot...................................................32 Reliable Automotive Equipment................26-27 Sherwin-Williams.....................................OBC Spanesi...................................................4 Subaru Group..........................................17 Town Motors............................................21 USI of North America................................25 Valtek......................................................50 VW Group................................................49 Wheel Collision Center.............................47

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