New Jersey Automotive July 2021

Fi r s t L ook at t he In-Pe rs o n

®

- pg . 38 TM

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)

The Caliber Dilemma:

July 2021 $5.95

NJ SHOPS SHOOT BACK

PHOTO ESTIMATES: Where Do We Draw the Line?

Remembering

ROBERT VILLACARI

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New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 5

CALL: 1-800-221-1256

800-221-1256

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

VOLUME 51 NUMBER 7 | July 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 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

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 CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Charles Bryant • Mario DeFilippis • Dennis Cataldo • Mitch Portnoi • Ron Ananian • Keith Krehel • Jerry McNee • 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.

16 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE 18 MECHANICAL CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE 46 NJA ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

LOCAL NEWS

20 AASP/NJ Virtual Meeting Presents Industry Solutions toward a “Better Way”

by Alana Bonillo

IN MEMORIAM

22 Remembering Robert “Bobby V” Villacari

JUST FOR FUN

26 What’s the Most Unusual Job You’ve Worked On?

by Alana Bonillo

GUEST EDITORIAL 30 A Level Playing Field?

by William Penn

COVER STORY

32 The Caliber Dilemma: NJ Shops Shoot Back

by Joel Gausten

AASP/NJ FEATURE

38 Back to LIVE: A First Look at the In-Person NORTHEAST® 2021

by Joel Gausten

AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY 43 Wharton Insurance Briefs

by Mario DeFilippis

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 | July 2021 | 7

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OUT OF BODY (AND MECHANICAL) EXPERIENCES

Divorce, Italian-Style: Take Two It’s been a while since I wrote my piece “Divorce, Italian-Style” (in the August 2015 issue of New Jersey Automotive, to be exact). That said, I honestly can’t tell you how traumatic the last six years have been.

To recap briefly, I had been hooking up with a local pizzeria in Nutley since 1962. It got serious as I grew into puberty, and it became a marriage not too long after. For over 50 years, I was madly in love with her. Her sauce, her cheese (sigh). I lived for it every Sunday. But after a rough few years and one final incident (all documented in the August 2015 article), I could not take it anymore and just had to say goodbye forever.

Now, let me be honest. Although she was BY FAR the best I had ever had and I was monogamous for at least the first 20 or so years, I did stray here and there. I mean, I lived in North Jersey all my life. How can any person be expected to be loyal to only one pizzeria forever in this area of the world? Still, I was discreet. And I always went back on Sundays.

10 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

by THOMAS GRECO, PUBLISHER

But since I left, it’s been one one-night stand after another. I went back to some of those old mistresses to see if there was any chance of taking the next step. I dated Star Tavern in Orange. She’s one hell of a slice, but she isn’t you-know-who. There was Pizza Town USA in Elmwood Park more than a few times. She has a hell of a body and texture, but she’s boardwalk pizza. I was used to a higher class.

After her, I hit on some of the social media darlings.

Santillo’s Brick Oven Pizza in Elizabeth, the Kardashian of pizza, was amazing. But like a Kardashian, she couldn’t live up to the hype. I made my way north to the immortal Pizza Land, the place we all know from the beginning of The Sopranos. She was very good, but I like curves. Pizza Land was a little too thin for my taste. Bruno’s in Clifton was a damn good companion. The Sicilian was as unique as Sophia Loren, but I wasn’t interested in a long-distance romance. (In other words, the pizza would be cold by the time I got home.)

Then there’s the new beauty on the scene who everyone is raving about. Pizza Terminal in Verona – the latest centerfold of the moment, it seems. So, I took her out.

Sure, it was a little tacky on my part, being in the car and all – but if she was worth it there, well, then she would easily make the jump to Sundays. Unfortunately, we didn’t even get past first base. Undercooked and bland. It was not a match made in oven.

Nutley is not that big of a town. And unfortunately, I have to drive past my former love almost every day. I pray I don’t get the red light in front of her door. But sometimes, I do. As I sit there and her scent filters through my vents, I start to sweat and get the shakes. Sometimes, I just run the light, tears pouring from my taste buds.

It’s been six years. And my kids have sided with her in the divorce. They have no problem bringing her home and torturing me with that look, that smell and tempting me with, “Dad, it’s sooo good” or, “Dad, grow the f#@k up and have some,” etc.

Endless hours were spent searching on Match.com (actually Yelp) for “that special one nearby” to no avail.

Depression was setting in. Would I ever find happiness again? continued on pg. 44

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New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 11

12 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

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Town Motors Audi 400 South Dean Street Englewood, NJ 07631 201.227.6506/6536 Fax: 201.541.0314 www.townmotors.com

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New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 13

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Getting Back to Our Real Jobs

by JERRY MCNEE There was a time when I thought my job was to repair vehicles, but those days are over.

No, I’m not retiring from my business; I’m saying that surviving the industry takes a lot more than just fixing the cars that show up at our door. These days, we need to be experts in everything – from understanding what’s in our customers’ insurance policies to knowing the liability we could face if we let someone else dictate how we should do our jobs.

Let’s talk about insurance policies first. Realistically, most customers aren’t aware of the quality of coverage they purchase, because they base their decisions on price. This can put us in a bad position where we’re chasing our tails defending a customer who has a policy that doesn’t allow them to be reimbursed for what’s required to properly restore their vehicle. This is why accessing and documenting necessary operations and OEM repair procedures is so critical. Without that, we have nothing to stand on and no hope in illustrating why our procedures and charges are reasonable.

Even consumers with the “best” policies out there

14 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

get the runaround. How many times have you had to fight with an insurer over a necessary procedure when all that company wanted to say was, “No, we don’t pay for that”?

How many times have you been pushed to install a used or reconditioned part that clearly shouldn’t be used on that vehicle? I don’t think it’ll be too long before the collision repair industry becomes very similar to what goes on at hospitals: A customer will come in with their vehicle and hand us the deductible and their insurance check, and we’ll hand them a bill for anything their insurer doesn’t cover. At the end of the day, it’s our customer’s policy – not ours.

As far as liability goes, how many times have you handed an insurer a waiver to sign indicating that it would assume the liability for the procedures and parts they insisted that you use? Did they actually sign it? I already know the answer to both questions. Insurers are not repair experts; it’s your job to do the job correctly. There isn’t a court in this country that would accept your position that you repaired a vehicle based on what the insurer wanted. continued on pg. 44

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New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 15 5/27/21 5:03 PM

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Where Do We Draw the Line?

by CHARLES BRYANT It’s no secret that the collision repair and insurance industries have differed on the issue of what it should cost to repair vehicles for longer than any of us have been around.

Over the years, the insurance industry has come up with more ways to save money and control the cost of repairs than one could imagine. From aftermarket parts all the way to the issue of inferior Labor Rates, the two sides simply do not see eye to eye for the most part. Ethical shops strive to repair vehicles in a way that instills consumer confidence. The problem is that the collision industry has an insurance company standing between them and that customer in an attempt to control every aspect of the repair from start to finish. Unfortunately, the insurance company is the one that ultimately writes the check for this work.

This is nothing new. This battle has been going on since time began. However, what is new is the level of vehicle technology on the roads today.

For example, automobiles equipped with ADAS must be scanned and recalibrated when involved in an accident; otherwise, those vehicles will not perform as designed by the manufacturer. With this change in the industry, there have been more and more disputes between the two industries than ever before.

Now, to make matters worse, along comes COVID-19.

First of all, the insurance industry had been trying to get the concept of preparing estimates based on photos rather than personal inspection for some time. However, when the pandemic came along, the insurance industry used this as an excuse to say that they can’t come out and inspect the cars and that the shops must participate in the photo estimating process – like it or not. Things went downhill from there. Photo estimates were supposed to expedite claims. However, this process has actually delayed claim settlements drastically.

Claims that normally would result in the car being repaired in a week or two are now taking up to five weeks. The reason for this is that the shops write an estimate, go along with the insurance company, send photos along with the estimate for thousands of dollars and wind up getting an estimate back for only a few hundred. From there, insurers would ask the shops to send more photos or take them in better lighting. However, even when the shops send in better photos, the insurer once again writes a small estimate for only a few hundred dollars more. This goes on for weeks and weeks until it finally gets 16 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

to the bottom line of the repair cost and the vehicle is often declared a total loss. One would think that things would get better over time. However, it has become obvious that the insurance industry is still taking full advantage of the COVID-19 situation rather than trying to help people get through these hard times and treat them fairly when they’re involved in a collision.

A prime example is what recently happened when a customer’s vehicle was declared a total loss and the insurer evaluated it based on photos rather than perform an inspection to make a realistic determination of its value.

Based on the photos submitted, the insurance company utilized the CCC program to determine the value of the car to be just slightly over $500.

Obviously, the vehicle owner freaked out and demanded that the insurance company physically inspect the car’s condition and have an expert determine the actual cash value. That inspection resulted in the actual cash value of the car changing from just over $500 to over $11,000. In other words, a real live inspection resulted in the actual value being more than 20 times higher than what the insurance company attempted to settle the claim for based on photos.

Another recent situation based on photo estimating resulted in the insurance company refusing to pay for a steering rack even though the shop produced a manufacturer’s position statement making it clear that this needed to be done. Once again, photos simply do not tell the story, and that would’ve been revealed had the insurer actually seen the damage that called for the rack to be replaced. After a lengthy time fighting with the insurer, the shop was ultimately able to convince them that the procedure needed to be performed. Had the shop not replaced it, there is no doubt that serious injury or death could have occured to the occupants of the vehicle or anyone who got in its path.

The process of insurance companies attempting to evaluate damage to vehicles and place value on them without ever physically seeing them is simply not working. Where do we draw the line? When an insurance company attempts to settle a claim for 20 times less than its actual value or refuses to pay for a safety-related item that could prevent fatal consequences, something has to be done. A line must continued on pg. 44

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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MECHANICAL CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

Unemployment 2021: A Man-Made Debacle Let’s look at the present situation.

COVID-19 is finally getting under control, and life is beginning to return to normal. However, many people are choosing to stay on unemployment rather than return to work. Personally, I knew this situation would develop a long time ago when the Federal Government got involved and added to the state unemployment benefit.

Many employers are struggling to hire new employees as many people choose to stay on unemployment.

Employers are truly competing with unemployment for workers. I am presently running ads with several sources to no avail.

Some suggestions to correct this situation and prevent it from recurring: 1. Unemployment should be capped, and total benefits should be significantly less than being employed. Sixty percent or so seems reasonable; otherwise, many people will stay out of work. In short, a job should always be more rewarding than staying at home, and it is not right to run up a tab for someone else to pay later when there are jobs available now.

2. The length of time someone can collect should be shortened. People should take jobs that are available at the time and continue their search for their “perfect job” while employed, like I did. I recall a friend’s brother who came to me for a job (at his brother’s repeated insistence) after being unemployed for over nine months (despite living a mere couple miles away from my shop).

3. Employee contribution rates should be higher for the habitually or seasonally unemployed. I was told years ago that I should consider myself lucky that I had never collected unemployment, but I still maintain luck had about as much to do with that as my grades in college. Despite working steadily for 48 years, my contribution rate is the same as someone who collects every winter when laid off. Not fair.

Companies that frequently lay off workers are assigned a higher contribution rate than those companies with infrequent layoffs, and so should employees. The rate an employee would be assigned to pay could be asked of prospective employers and would be another reason to get and keep a job. Also, those of us 18 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

by KEITH KREHEL

who work for decades without collecting should pay a significantly lower rate than the frequent collectors, much like car insurance. Many of us know drivers who pay higher rates for insurance simply because they are a poor risk based on their driving history.

4. Those collecting should be available to work (at least part time) at various rudimentary jobs as needed and be looking “in state” for work while collecting. It’s hard to believe one is searching for employment while out of the country in the Cayman Islands. By the way, working for a state labor force to receive unemployment benefits has been tested and has been dramatically successful in reducing claims in those states that have tried it.

5. Benefit rates should be based on past employment history, and those frequently unemployed should collect less because they have contributed less.

Common sense, anyone?

From what I have read via multiple sources within the US (as well as data from other countries), people are amazingly “lucky” finding a job within a short period after their benefits run out.

After graduating high school in 1975, I spent a month driving across the country in my ’68 Firebird, camping and sleeping in a tent (I was broke) to see the country.

I remember chatting with a married couple in a nice RV (which was high-end compared to sleeping on the ground). They were also touring the country, but they were staying two to four years in an area until they “pulled up stakes” and moved on to see another one. His trade was auto mechanic. He said he never had trouble finding a job wherever he went. He did not mention luck either, but he did mention that he had a skill that was sought after and allowed him to live his dream lifestyle. This chance meeting had a lot to do with me choosing the auto repair trade to work my way through school and later become my whole career.

In closing, I remember my father telling me years ago (more than once) that government rarely does things well and usually “screws things up.” Private enterprise works better. I think my dad was right.

NJA

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LOCAL NEWS

by ALANA BONILLO

AASP/NJ Virtual Meeting Presents Industry Solutions toward a “Better Way” To help bring forth practical solutions to help collision repairers overcome some of the industry’s most common obstacles, AASP/NJ welcomed business coach Barrett R. Smith (Auto Damage Experts, Inc.) to lead a special discussion, “Are You at the End of Your Rope? Thinking There Has to be a Better Way?” during its most recent virtual membership meeting.

An industry veteran who has served as both a body shop owner and an insurance adjuster (among other roles), Smith began by sharing that he has seen shop/ insurer relations worsen over the years.

“The insurance companies are out of control. It’s not getting any better; it’ll get consistently worse. It’s what I call ‘boiling the frog.’ Many of you probably heard the old adage where the frog will swim around in some cold water. You turn up the heat gradually, and the frog fries without knowing what happened to it. That’s kind of what is happening to this industry.”

Smith noted that as insurers gain more power, shops are losing the ability to manage their businesses. As a result, they “are being put into a position of significant liability by not stepping up and doing the right thing for the right reasons and the right way.”

To combat this trend, he showed attendees ways to regain their power by putting customers first and working to empower them. He detailed what he called “the seven Es,” a philosophy to “expose, edify, enrage, empathize, empower, equip and encourage your customers to do the things they need to do to make sure that their safety and economic welfare are protected.” This means that when an insurer fights a claim for necessary OEM repairs, the shop must let the customer know this is happening. The customer can then either contact their insurer directly

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to push for payment or pay for this work out of their own pocket. Because a shop is responsible for the liability of a repair for the life of the automobile, the shop can tell the customer it will turn the job away or ask that consumer to sign a hold harmless agreement should they refuse the necessary repairs. Attendees who have used these tactics claimed it has successfully resulted in the customer choosing to have the repairs done right rather than put their safety at risk.

“It’s about standing up for the customer,” AASP/NJ President Jerry McNee commented. “You know what your cost of business is. Insurance companies have trained us to accept things like cost shifting. If we allow this to continue, it will lead us down a path to destruction.”

With insurers not paying for storage proving to be another hardship facing shops these days, Smith suggested there should be no reason why a facility would not charge for this if the insurer or customer is delaying the repair. This would lead insurers to quit delaying things and speed up the process, which will benefit all parties involved – the shop, the customer and even the insurance company itself.

AASP/NJ also welcomed Rick Palmer of PMCLogic, who described and demonstrated a tool that works with all estimating systems in giving collision repairers an accurate paint and materials estimate.

“One thing people don’t have in shops is time,” Palmer said. “We strive to do everything we can to take people out of this process. We’ve made it 100 percent automated so you can get accuracy with your invoice.”

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

NJA

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New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 21

IN MEMORIAM

Remembering Robert “Bobby V” Villacari On May 14, the old shop, always see a lot of cars outside, take notice the New Jersey of how clean everything was and say to us, ‘Anybody who automotive community keeps a body shop as clean as you do and has that many said goodbye to one cars has to care and do a good job.’ If we weren’t working of its most beloved on something, we had a broom in our hands. That’s the members with the way it was; he always emphasized that.” passing of Robert Away from the industry, Bobby V was a former “Bobby V” Villacari. president of the Nutley Kiwanis Club and enjoyed golfing, The father of former playing cards, bocce ball and spending his winters in Fort AASP/NJ President Pierce, FL. He is survived by his beloved wife, Mary Ann; Glenn Villacari his son Glenn and his wife, Donna; his daughter, Lisa; and (Parkway Auto Body; his grandchildren Anthony Villacari and Adriana LaRocca Nutley), he passed and her husband, Dan. He was predeceased by his son away at home in Robert and his sister, Jean Gaudenzi.

Woodland Park at the AASP/NJ and New Jersey offer Bobby V’s Glenn and Robert Villacari NJA0420_CSNE.qxp_Layout 1 3/30/20 10:50 AMAutomotive Page 1 age of 85. family and friends our deepest condolences.

After a short stint in the gas station business, Bobby V NJA opened Parkway Auto Body’s original location in Lyndhurst in 1957 – the same year he married his wife, Mary Ann. He later moved to a new location in town and helmed that business until his retirement in 1996. Glenn, who started working full time at the business in 1979, took over the shop from his father and eventually moved it to Nutley in 2004. is a distributor of high quality collision supplies Looking back at his formative years at the shop, sold at cost effective pricing.

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New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 23

24 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

NJA

New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 25

JUST FOR FUN - WHAT’S THE MOST UNUSUAL JOB YOU’VE WORKED ON? by ALANA BONILLO

Collision repairers are always wearing many hats – and sometimes those hats can be pretty odd and memorable!

Ted Rainer (Ocean Bay Auto Body; Point Pleasant) has repaired and painted his fair share of interesting vehicles over the years. But perhaps the most unusual piece of machinery on wheels to roll through his shop was SICO, the robot featured in the film Rocky IV! Rainer had a friend who worked for a robotics company who asked him if he’d have any interest in painting a real robot that could move around and even carry a conversation!

“They brought him here, and he was rolling around,” Rainer recalls. “You could even talk to SICO. If you asked him, ‘What makes you work?’ he’d turn around and ask you, ‘What makes you work?’

In the film, SICO is a robotic maid that serves a birthday cake to Rocky’s brotherin-law, Paulie, and proclaims, “Please make a wish.” (A clip is available at bit.ly/ paulierobot.)

SICO’s presence at Rainer’s shop drew lots of attention! He remembers local police officers coming by to check out the robot, and many are still talking about it today. One of the town’s officers was in high school at the time and recalls his father (also a police officer) taking him out of school to come down to Ocean Bay Auto Body to meet the mechanical film star. Outside-the-box jobs are definitely fun, but Rainer believes this line of work is interesting in general.

“Every day, we meet the neatest people. It’s almost like a journey, like reading a novel.”

Over at Secaucus Auto Body, owner Rick Symons once worked on a refrigerator that he imagines dated back to the 1970s.

It must have had sentimental value to the owner, as Symons says it still ran but needed to be repainted. He has also worked with the town of Secaucus, having painted various signs around town notifying passersby of where resources like the library are located.

Shortly before the pandemic set in, Symons’ shop was asked to paint a series of metal brackets of different sizes to support the WiFi system at MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Giants.

Brian Vesley’s facility – Valtek, Inc., The Truck Body Shop in Paterson – has also taken on plenty of surprising work. One of the first things that comes to his mind is a customized firetruck the shop had to turn into a caisson, or casket.

“We had to cut out the hose bed to make room for the casket and for people to stand at attention as it was paraded through the crowds. It required reconfiguring the body of the firetruck, and we used a lot of high-quality paint and finish.”

Vesley also has painted many homes – homes on wheels, that is. For the past 15 years, Valtek has become a go-to source for RV paint work.

“RVs are people’s homes that move. So, most people are particular about how they appear and don’t know where to go to get body work done. It takes an extralarge shop with a large paint booth facility where you can paint an RV inside. They also require a lot of work with fiberglass and aluminum and lots of multi-color paint jobs with fancy stripes.”

Clearly, these unique jobs are proof that there really isn’t anything body shop technicians can’t do!

NJA

Photo credits: cbr.com facebook.com/MetLifeStadium

26 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

Have an interesting tale to share with New Jersey Automotive?

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New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 29

GUEST EDITORIAL

by WILLIAM PENN

A Level Playing Field?

When I was young, I was raised in a household with three kids and no father. World War II took a toll on my father, so it was hard to settle into normalcy after two years of combat. Times got tough in our house. My mother was a 1940s bobby soxer with a high school education. She was an amazing woman, but she did not have much of a skillset to leave the house, have a career and support three children. We were not a latchkey family. It was a different time. Mom was gonna be home no matter what.

Money got tight. That wasn’t the same situation for all my friends. Most of them had two-parent households.

Dad worked and Mom stayed home. (I realize things have changed – I don’t know if for the better.)

The places my friends’ families shopped for clothes, Christmas gifts, basic needs, etc., were different from where my mother had to shop. They would go to a store called Plaza Bootery, and that was the big time. They had the best of everything: Jack Purcell, Converse and Keds (pre-Nike and Adidas era). In the ”less desirable” part of town, we had a place called John’s Bargain Store. As a family, we knew John’s Bargain Store was NOT Plaza Bootery. We knew the difference. All the sneakers were in a huge metal basket, tied together, no boxes. Probably from Japan at the time. In four to six weeks, the sneakers would provide you with their own musical content. The yellow rubber gum soles usually let loose after the fifth or sixth stickball game.

There would be a vroomp – that was the sole trying to catch you as you rounded second base, which was usually a bag or a cardboard box in the street. John’s was never sold to us as a premier store. It was basically the dollar store equivalent of today. We knew what it was.

30 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

Right now, we have large MSOs coming at us, and that leads me to ask a simple question: Are they the John’s Bargain Store of the body shop industry? Are we REALLY on a level playing field? I have all of the “good stuff” in my shop that makes me Plaza Bootery, but I’m somehow competing with a steel basket full of sneakers. Will the gum soles fall off at John’s Bargain Store? This is not a pair of sneakers we’re talking about. These are the second largest investments in every household.

They’re trying to sell themselves as Plaza Bootery, but they’re not. Am I competing with John’s Bargain Store?

These MSOs are large organizations. They can absorb any hit, expensive re-dos sent to other businesses, etc., because it’s all about margins. Maybe they’ll just play the odds.

Twenty years ago, I watched a 60 Minutes program with Mike Wallace. They interviewed the engineers from General Motors. For some reason, people were being ejected from vehicles when they were broadsided or t-boned. The families swore that their father or mother or child never got in a vehicle without a seatbelt, so the question was, how could they be ejected? It turned out that the seatbelts were faulty. The engineer, who was now retired, sobbed on live TV that he was told to put a screw through the seat belt buckle, knowing they were faulty.

It would seem that when the person hit the seatbelt, the seatbelt would open up and the driver would be ejected from the vehicle. The reason they continued that abhorrent behavior was because there were millions of premanufactured seatbelts. And they played the odds.

Is John’s Bargain Store playing the odds? Is the industry playing Russian Roulette?

NJA

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Wholesale Parts New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 31

COVER STORY

NJ Shops S With more than 1,100 locations across the US, Caliber Collision is a business on the move. Although its chief competitors in the consolidator market – Gerber and Service King – have yet to make their presence known in the Garden State, there were 26 Caliber locations in New Jersey as of June 2021. (New York had 27 locations, while there were still no signs of the company in either Massachusetts or Connecticut.)

Although Caliber’s presence in the Northeast is still small when compared to its more established markets (including 250-plus facilities in California, for example), the fact that the company is even here to begin with warrants attention – and perhaps some trepidation – from DRP shops and independent facilities alike.

Throughout its history, Caliber has been clear about its interest in growing relationships with insurance companies.

Back in the late ’90s, it brought in Bill Lawrence – who made his name building DRPs for Allstate – as its senior vice president/ chief operating officer. The company has carried on this tradition under the leadership of its current executive chairman, Steve Grimshaw.

“Insurance companies are pushing more and more volume to large operations like Caliber, because they can offer betterquality service overall,” Tim Patterson, a member of Caliber’s Board of Directors, said in a 2017 story in D Magazine. “They have the IT infrastructure and can provide faster turnaround times for repairs. That’s a big deal, because of the rental-car expense [to the insurance carrier]. Large operations also have higher customer satisfaction ratings, making for a win-win-win all around.”

With the dust finally settling on COVID-19 and more drivers 32 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

hitting the roads, New Jersey shops that include DRPs in their business model are beginning to feel the effects of having a Caliber location nearby. One AASP/NJ member shop owner tells New Jersey Automotive that he lost a good 30 percent of his combined DRP work to Caliber in May and June alone.

“It really feels like they’re out to squeeze the shops in a market that are doing well,” he says. “Insurance companies don’t think like body shops; they think like one big calculator.”

Faced with such a deep decline in volume, he is looking to his various high-end OEM certifications as a way to push back against the trend and maintain his standing in his market.

“How are you going to compete? You need to make yourself special. When we got a sense that Caliber was really coming into this area, we buckled down and put ourselves through extensive training, building modifications and a complete upgrade in equipment to get certified. I would imagine it helps my Direct Repair relationships because I’m certified for numerous vehicles.”

Fortunately, this AASP/NJ member has been able to weather the 30 percent reduction in work thanks to “trimming the fat” and downsizing his crew at the height of the pandemic.

“I did a lot of things based on the numbers I saw during COVID-19, and I haven’t reinstated the previous size of my staff.

I realized it wasn’t necessary. Half of what I expect to lose this year with the loss of DRP work had previously been given away in overtime anyway. I like the small backlog I have now. It was too deep before; I was letting people down. We were having problems with our cycle time because we weren’t getting the cars out fast enough. Anybody who gets inundated with work gets in trouble eventually; you can’t keep up the pace.”

by JOEL GAUSTEN

hoot Back Naturally, the local growth of an insurer-friendly organization as huge as Caliber means that carriers have a fancy new toy to play with at the consumers’ expense. One industry insider is quick to voice concerns that insurers’ steering practices will only increase as the consolidator continues to move through the state.

“Shops don’t seem to know how to fight it, but they need to stand up to insurers and say, ‘Listen, the customer’s already chosen to have the work done here. They’ve signed a contract with me, and these are our rates and what we charge for. You are obligated to make all efforts to reach an agreed price.’”

With Caliber now very much a part of the state’s auto body industry, the strong possibility exists that more facilities will be tempted to get out of the business and sell to the big kid on the block. At least in regard to the shops who spoke to us for this article, nobody’s ready to budge just yet.

“They called me a few months ago, and I wasn’t interested,” one AASP/NJ member admits. “Would I entertain it at some point? Of course, but they’d have to walk in here with a lot of money and keep the people I have here in place.

I still love my business; I built it organically. People come to me because they’re familiar with us, and we stand behind our work.”

Of course, standing behind your work may not be enough.

With an industry giant now competing for work in one of the most congested markets in the country, it may be time for many shops to consider diversifying their services. One member tells us he’s been considering adding a mechanical service area to his business for some time now, while another is giving serious thought to branching out into refurbishing and selling cars.

No matter how the AASP/NJ community responds to Caliber’s growing grip on the market, many within it are not about to give up their work volume without a fight.

“Anybody who uses Caliber as an excuse for why they’re not busy and are hurting is lying,” one AASP/NJ member says.

“There’s something they’re not doing in their business that’s causing that problem. I don’t believe the stories that Caliber is going to be so outrageously better than other shops. We’re in charge of our own quality and the services we provide, so I’m not threatened by them at all. Their name isn’t as big as Walmart, Amazon or big-box stores. They’re a big-box body shop, but people in New Jersey aren’t that familiar with them.”

“Caliber is Home Depot. See any local hardware stores around?” one south Jersey shop owner says. “Caliber is iTunes.

See any record stores around? Like everything else, you get what you pay for – only this time, you may pay for it with your life. All because the insurance companies want to save a buck. God forbid they pay us what we’re worth. And when we complain, their lobbyists go running to the legislators and cry that we’re trying to make them raise their rates. Ironically, Caliber is just another, much larger bullet in the insurance company arsenal.”

“I don’t predict any Calibers going out of business,” another member adds. “They’re a very well-oiled machine when it comes to positioning. They have a better mousetrap, but I’m not frustrated or resentful at all. Are they going to hurt me?

Possibly, but it’s up to me to do what I can to make myself better. I’m not going to be anybody’s victim.”

NJA NJA

New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 33

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New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 37

AASP/NJ FEATURE

by JOEL GAUSTEN

Back to LIVE:

A First Look at the In-Person

The time to get back to normal is right around the corner.

After more than a year of lockdowns, social distancing and the “Zoom Gloom” of virtual meetings and events, the collision repair and mechanical service communities are clamoring to get back to the way this industry is meant to be experienced: In person. For repairers, technicians and vendors in New Jersey and beyond, all roads will lead to AASP/NJ’s 2021 NORTHEAST Automotive Services Show this September 10-12 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus.

“I don’t think there’s anyone who isn’t ready to get out of their shops or homes and meet up in person again, and we’re really excited that NORTHEAST will be the first major event in our industry to provide that opportunity,” AASP/NJ President Jerry McNee says. “Our exhibitors are thrilled to be involved, and our education and training schedule will be stronger than ever. We’re looking forward to giving everyone who attends the best experience they’ve had since the pandemic began – right here in New Jersey.”

AASP/NJ Executive Director Charles Bryant shares McNee’s excitement.

“Our industry has always been resilient, and the return of the in-person NORTHEAST will be a way to celebrate everything we’ve overcome over the past year and a half. I can’t wait to see everyone again, and our training courses and marketing opportunities will help anyone who attends get a better understanding of where we are as an industry 38 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

today and where we need to go in the future. Best of all, NORTHEAST will show all of us how strong we are as a community and how well we did in beating the odds. This will be the great time we’ve all been waiting for.”

NORTHEAST’s return to a live format has inspired excitement from new and returning exhibitors that have already signed on to support the show and showcase their products and services to thousands of attendees. Not surprisingly, NORTHEAST Gold Sponsor Ford was one of the first to pledge its support.

“Ford first attended the show during the launch of the new 2015 F-150,” shares Gerry Bonanni, Ford’s senior engineer for paint and body repair. “We really like the interaction with all of the body shop personnel attending, especially visiting with those who actually perform the work in our great industry.

After months of quarantine, we look forward to the opportunity to meet and engage in person with our friends in the industry who will be attending the show.”

Nick Mattera, co-owner of NORTHEAST Lanyard Sponsor Innovative Solutions & Technology, is another longtime participant who can’t wait to hit the show floor once again.

“We keep going back because it provides a perfect platform for us to show our equipment to our customers. It’s a show that allows us to really have live demonstrations; I think that’s key for our potential customers to see. This year, we’re particularly excited; it’s been such a long time that we’ve had a show that can be live like this. We’re all looking forward to seeing our friends we’ve met over the years and having a great show.”

Brock Birky, director of business development at KECO Body Repair Products, will be traveling all the way from Oklahoma City to have his company represented live at NORTHEAST for a third year.

“We really enjoy the representation we get on the East Coast there. We also like how the show is really targeted toward the collision repair industry specifically.

Some of the other shows have a huge collision repair focus in halls or areas, but the whole show trumps the industry. So, we enjoy the specificity and focused nature of NORTHEAST. “We’re really looking forward to interacting with our customers again and seeing their reactions face to face,” he adds. “We love the show, and we love to give our customers or potential ones a hands-on experience. There’s nothing that really replaces that.”

With COVID-19 finally subsiding, many industry members find themselves taking a close look at their finances and goals as they plan for the future. With the rising costs of day-to-day business always a major concern, NORTHEAST will provide plenty of avenues for attendees to explore to improve their bottom lines. With this in mind, the Amato Insurance Agency (a division of World Insurance Associates LLC) will be on hand to provide information on the AASP/NJ Health Plan to association members and guide them toward better savings at a time when every dollar counts. In addition to once again meeting up with his industry friends face to face, Amato Insurance Agency Principal/AASP/NJ Allied Board member Joe Amato, Sr. is thrilled to simply have a chance to see the joy that the industry’s first major event of the year will bring.

“Even more than seeing people in person, I’m looking forward to seeing them smile again without their masks on!”

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

42 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

• 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

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

It is that time of year again where many of you will be renewing your workers’ compensation insurance and obtaining an audit for the prior year’s policy. We have had this conversation at many of our ARA meetings. In order to prevent any problems on workers’ compensation audits regarding the classification of employees, make sure you are prepared for your audit.

You should assign each employee into the proper classification to avoid these problems. There are several classifications that are typical to recycling operations.

There is auto dismantling; iron and steel scrap dealer; store auto retail; auto garage or repair; outside salesperson; and clerical. You must have a clear physical separation of duties in order to use any or all of these classifications. For example, you must have a separate office for clerical and a separate area for store auto retail (counter area), and the auto dismantling operations must be separated by a fence or barrier from the iron and steel scrap operations. There also cannot be any intermingling of employee duties. If done correctly, there can be a major difference in premium.

When an auditor contacts you to perform your audit, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding the proper classification of your employees.

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

NJA

New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 43

OUT OF BODY (AND MECHANICAL) EXPERIENCES

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

continued from pg. 11

continued from pg. 14

Then I saw her. I had remembered her from my college days. It was across the bridge in Lyndhurst. I remembered going there once or twice and liking her. So, what the hell, I went on Tinder (actually Slice. Try this app. You can have the pizza EXACTLY the way you want it) and put in my profile (order).

At first, she was a flirt. Not exactly what I wanted, but I was patient. By the third date, she was more than I could have hoped for. Now, a year or so later, I’m thinking of taking the next step. It may be time to commit.

Jo Jo’s Pizza and Pasta Kitchen, I’m yours.

It’s good to be in love again.

NJA

You own that liability for the life of that automobile. It’s not worth throwing away everything you’ve worked for to unjustly enrich an insurer.

So, how do we fight back against these things and get back to focusing on repairing vehicles – the thing we’re all in business to do in the first place? It all comes down to getting consumers involved. I can tell you that I’ve seen my customers become more knowledgeable over the past few years in regard to their policies, what they expect their insurers to do and the level of quality repairs they should expect every time they file a claim. They are beginning to understand that the insurance industry has turned the claim center into a profit center at their expense. They’re seeing through the smokescreen clearly.

If we’re going to add one more job to our plates, let it be to serve as consumer advocates and educate vehicle owners that they have the power to change the insurance industry. Once that finally happens, we can go back to just fixing cars.

Imagine that. It’s not a dream.

NJA

E.D. MESSAGE continued from pg. 16

be drawn, or a rule must be created, to prevent this type of improper activity by the insurance industry.

The two examples I used were reported to the AASP/NJ Hot Line, which ultimately assisted the members in coming to a resolution.

The problem is this type of activity is going on across New Jersey at shops that are not members or at member facilities that are unaware that the AASP/NJ Hot Line exists. Therefore, I would encourage more shops to join AASP/NJ. For those who are already members, utilize the AASP/NJ Hot Line to resolve improper activity before it becomes a way of doing business. It can be reached at (732) 922-8909.

NJA

44 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

AASP/NJ FEATURE

continued from pg. 39

Association (WMABA) is hard at work developing this year’s NORTHEAST education and training schedule via its popular Collision Professional Repairer Education Program (Collision P.R.E.P.).

“WMABA is proud to return to NORTHEAST with a live Collision P.R.E.P. series for the third time,” WMABA Executive Director Jordan Hendler comments. “Although we’ve all been able to conduct business and offer training via virtual events since last year, nothing compares to doing these things in a one-on-one format. Repairers are hungry to get out of their four walls, and these events will give them the chance to experience the familiar while also getting a handle on new trends.

Ideas and practices that will help them build a more productive and profitable future. Collision P.R.E.P. will be one of only a few live educational opportunities even offered to the industry in 2021.

With much of the normal options being virtual, there are only a couple of groups even meeting in person before the year ends. WMABA and AASP/NJ are making every stride they can to bring the education and show forward.”

One of the Collision P.R.E.P. courses confirmed at press time, “Collision Repair 2035: Trends and Technologies That Will Force the Collision Industry to Reinvent Itself by 2035!” will feature Frank Terlep of Auto Techcelerators, LLC, who will walk participants through what the automotive and insurance fields could look like in 14 short years. Having already delivered a similar overview during an intriguing presentation at the most recent Collision Industry Conference (CIC), Terlep was a clear choice for WMABA as the industry professional to do a deep dive into what the industry will very likely face in the future.

This year’s Collision P.R.E.P. will also feature a panel discussion on the Right to Appraisal, otherwise known as the Appraisal Clause. The discussion will feature industry experts and leading repairers who will detail their experiences and processes surrounding what was once considered the taboo part of an insurance policy but has now become a powerful consumer-protection tool. Updates

and additional information on Collision P.R.E.P. will be featured in next month’s New Jersey Automotive.

AASP/NJ thanks these generous sponsors for their support of NORTHEAST 2021: Platinum Sponsor: BASF; Gold Sponsor: Ford; Silver Sponsors: PPG, NJ Parts of Flemington; Lanyard Sponsors: Innovative Solutions and Technology, Spanesi; Attendee Prize Sponsor: Axalta Coating Systems; and General

Sponsors: Harbortouch and SherwinWilliams Automotive Finishes.

Pre-registered NORTHEAST 2020 attendees will not need to re-register for the 2021 show, as badge data will be carried over to these new dates of September 10-12.

For updates and information on NORTHEAST (including available lodging), please continue to visit the official event website at aaspnjnortheast.com.

NJA

New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 45

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX Acme Nissan.................................................... 5 Accudraft......................................................... IBC Albert Kemperle................................................ 17 Amato Agency.................................................. 23 Audi Group....................................................... 13 BMW Group..................................................... 12 BMW of Springfield........................................... 21 Clinton Honda................................................... 20 Collision Supplies of New England..................... 22 Dover Dodge/Nielsen........................................ 14-15 Empire Auto Parts............................................. 39 Fenix Parts....................................................... 44 Flemington Volkswagen.................................... 6 GM Group........................................................ 11 Hyundai Group.................................................. 43 Innovative Solutions & Technology................. 2 Jaguar Princeton.............................................. 20 Klean Frame..................................................... 39 Kollective Auto Group........................................ 8-9 Land Rover Princeton........................................ 20 Lynnes Nissan East........................................... 11

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Maxon Buick-GMC........................................... 35 Maxon Hyundai................................................. 37 Maxon Mazda................................................... 37 Mazda Group.................................................... 10 MGM Auto Body Supplies................................. 35 Mike Kaufmann Dealer Group........................... 42 MINI Group....................................................... 42

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46 | New Jersey Automotive | July 2021

NORTHEAST®................................................. 40

Porsche Group................................................. 36 PPG................................................................. 3 Pro Spot........................................................... 27 Reliable Automotive Equipment......................... 24-25 Sherwin-Williams.............................................. OBC Spanesi............................................................ 19 Subaru Group................................................... 45 Town Motors.................................................... 34 USI of North America........................................ 4 Valtek............................................................... 46 VW Group......................................................... 31 Wheel Collision Center...................................... 46

New Jersey Automotive | July 2021 | 47

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