Texas Automotive April 2020

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A NEW AGE OF INDUSTRY CONNECTION:

ABAT's "Virtual" Meeting Makes History

PLUS U How BIG Is TEXAS? U Total Loss Gone Wrong www.grecopublishing.com

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Contents

April 2020

on the

cover A NEW AGE OF INDUSTRY CONNECTION:

Official publication of the Auto Body Association of Texas

ABAT BOARD OF DIRECTORS Vice President Eric McKenzie

18 President Burl Richards Burl's Collision Center burl@burlscollision.com (903) 657-8082

ABAT’S “Virtual” Meeting Makes History

Chairman of the Board Corey Pigg S&W Expert Collision Repair coreyp@swcollision.com (936) 634-8361

Park Place Dealerships emckenzie@parkplace.com (214) 443-8250

Treasurer David Osburn South West Collision Center dosburn@southwestautogroup.com (855) 395-2720 Executive Director Jill Tuggle jill@abat.us (817) 899-0554

ABAT BOARD MEMBERS

DEPARTMENTS

6 8 8 12 14 16 20

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE By Burl Richards There’s No Such Thing as Too Little EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE By Jill Tuggle How Big Is Texas?

2020 TEXAS AUTO BODY TRADE SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT

Larry Cernosek Deer Park Paint & Body lcwrecker@comcast.net (281) 930-1539

Robert McDorman Auto Claim Specialists rmcdorman@autoclaimspecialists.com (817) 756-5482

Chad Kiffe Berli's Body & Fine Finishes chadk@berlisbody.com (512) 251-6136

Logan Payne Payne & Sons Paint & Body logan@payneandsons.net (214) 321-4362

Kevin Ellison Westway Ford kellison@vtaig.com (972) 584-9033

John Kopriva Kopriva Body Works jtkopriva@gmail.com (713) 923-4412

Greg Luther Helfman Collision gluther@helfman.com (713) 574-5060

Chad Neal Innovative Collision Equipment Chadwneal@yahoo.com (817) 527-2143

Manuel Rubio Miracle Body & Paint manuelr@miraclebp.com (210) 843-9564

Darrell Smith McDaniel’s Quality Body Works Inc darrell-mcdaniels@sbcglobal.net (903) 753-5391

DEAN GRIFFIN MEMORIAL SKEET SHOOT FLYER PUBLISHER Thomas Greco / thomas@grecopublishing.com

ABAT HOUSTON’S MEMBER & SPONSOR APPRECIATION EVENT NOTICE

SALES DIRECTOR Alicia Figurelli / alicia@grecopublishing.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Lisa M. Cuthbert / lisa@grecopublishing.com

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT AkzoNobel

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Joel Gausten / joel@grecopublishing.com

ASK THE EXPERT By Robert L. McDorman “What Changes Should be Made to the Current Titling of Vehicles Deemed a Total Loss by the Insurance Carrier?”

EDITORIAL/CREATIVE COORDINATOR Alana Bonillo / alana@grecopublishing.com OFFICE MANAGER Donna Greco / donna@grecopublishing.com Published by: Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc. 244 Chestnut Street, Suite 202, Nutley, NJ 07110 Corporate: (973) 667-6922 / FAX: (973) 235-1963

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX 300 Advantage ....................................................17 AkzoNobel ............................................................3 BASF........................................................................13 Beacon Equipment Resources ........................10 CAR-O-LINER Southwest ..................................7 Charles Maund......................................................18 Complete Collision Equipment ........................22 Dallas Parts Distribution Center ......................OBC Ecotech ..................................................................IBC FindPigtails.com ..................................................10

Finish Master ........................................................19 Innovative Collision Equipment........................IFC J&J Painting ..........................................................11 Park Place ..............................................................9 Reliable Automotive Equipment ......................4 Sherwin-Williams/Matrix ....................................15 Tasco Auto Color..................................................21 Wheel Technologies............................................6 ZB Negotiations....................................................17

5 April 2020 Texas Automotive

www.grecopublishing.com TEXAS AUTOMOTIVE is published monthly and is sent to ABAT members free of charge. Subscriptions are $24 per year. TEXAS AUTOMOTIVE is published by Thomas Greco Publishing Inc., 244 Chestnut St., Nutley, NJ 07110. The editorial contents of TEXAS AUTOMOTIVE are copyright © 2020 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.

President’s Message

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS TOO LITTLE

A

As you’ll read in this month’s cover story and Executive Director’s Message, ABAT recently held its first-ever “virtual” meeting. This undertaking allowed association members from throughout the state to participate in the event regardless of where their market was located. I’m pleased to say the meeting was a massive success, and I’m excited to see where this concept will take us down the road as we continue to unify ABAT and the Texas collision repair industry.

With ABAT stronger than ever, I encourage our members to help us continue our work to improve conditions in our state by contributing to our Texas Auto Body Political Action Committee. This is one of the

most critical resources we have, as it enables us to have a greater and more successful presence in Austin. We need support for the Political Action Committee from every level – shop owners, technicians, helpers, administrative staff, etc. As we’ve seen during this current election season, people realize that making even the smallest donation matters if enough people do it. I hope everyone reading this considers doing the same for ABAT’s efforts at the Capitol.

We’re all in this industry together, and the only way we’re going to make any significant change is by joining up and working as a collective force. As much as we might complain about our problems at our shops, the fact remains

that this line of work has been very good to all of us. It’s what allows us to put food on the table.

That said, we Burl Richards all know that ABAT President things could be a lot better. Please help ABAT so we can support the legislators who are going to support us by pushing for bills that will make a difference to our businesses and customers. TXA

burl@burlscollision.com

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Executive Director’s Message

how big is texas?

T

e ABAT Board of Directors met in December to set ABAT’s calendar for 2020. e first event of the year was to be a round of regional meetings in February. e big question was how?

In the beginning of 2019, we had three major ABAT regions. By the beginning of 2020, we had identified three more regions with major participation. We now had representation in Abilene, Austin, Dallas, East Texas, Houston and San Antonio. With six major areas to serve and several budding regions, how would we take the “show on the road” like we had before? If you live in Texas, you know it’s BIG. How big? Oh, just 801 miles from the tip of the panhandle to Brownsville.

To put that in perspective…

El Paso is closer to San Diego than it is to Houston.

A one-way road trip from Houston to New York City is about the same as a round

trip between Houston and El Paso.

To drive across the width of Texas from the Louisiana to New Mexico border is 11 hours and about the same north to south. e distance across Texas is the same as driving from Pennsylvania to Florida. e Lone Star State is larger than the entire country of France and roughly twice as big as Germany or Japan.

ABAT prides itself on delivering some of the nation’s best educators to its members. ere was no way we could ask them to fly around Texas and caravan around like Barnum and Bailey. Although I like to think that several hours in the car with me is just purely delightful, it was not feasible. So, we decided to go virtual. Actually, not totally virtual; it was more like a “hybrid” meeting. (Be sure to read the cover story on page 18 for more on that.)

With our exponential growth last year, we wanted to stay true to our core values of

2020

education and communication.

We wanted shops to be together in the same room and getting the same message. So, we rented six different meeting rooms, arranged for catering in Jill Tuggle those six cities and invited hundreds of ABAT Executive Director shops to join us on the same date at the same time. e response was amazing. Leading up to the event, shops were just as excited as they were after. One shop in the southern part of the state sent me a text saying, “I heard all the meetings are going to be [on simulcast together]. Is that true?” After I confirmed, he Continued on page 17

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VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

AkzoNobel AkzoNobel is widely known throughout the collision repair world for its trusted brands and products.

Here in Texas, the renowned company offers that and even more. e global paint and refinish distributor values the market in the Lone Star State and is active in ABAT events, including its annual Texas Auto Body Trade Show. In addition, the company’s sales representatives work closely with Texas body shops to make sure they are equipped with the right tools and products to help them succeed.

“Working with ABAT has been very rewarding with regard to all of the information exchanged and gaining a better perspective about the things impacting the collision industry today and what AkzoNobel can do to support the association’s members,” states Richard Dragulski, sales representative

for AkzoNobel Texas markets. “In February, Greg Griffith, one of our many service consultants, did a live webcast event that was held in six different locations around Texas to help shops with repair planning to streamline estimating mishaps and help with cycle times.

“At ABAT’s Trade Show last year,’ he continues, “we brought in people from our Color Lab in Troy, MI to set up a virtual paint spraying unit that highlighted attendees’ painting skills and gave those who have never painted a hands-on opportunity to see how the process works. It was a real hit.”

AkzoNobel has multiple distributors with distribution points across Texas that support all aspects of the refinish industry, including manufacturing, commercial, sign finishes, powder coatings, wood finishes, aerospace coatings and protective coatings.

“AkzoNobel and our distributors in the

The AkzoNobel virtual painting and training tool in action during the 2019 ABAT Texas Auto Body Trade Show.

16 April 2020 Texas Automotive

automotive coatings business work closely with our customers to help them with the ever-changing industry requirements and specialty colors on today’s automobiles.”

Dragulski adds this is done thanks to tools like the Automatchic Vision (AMV) – which helps customers achieve the right color faster with more accuracy than traditional color documentation swatches – and the introduction of UV primers that dry in three minutes.

AkzoNobel has many tools to help collision centers be more productive and profitable. For example, the Acoat Selected program allows members to gather, discuss industry trends and share information and experiences related to the daily business of body shops.

“Our Texas group meets in spring and fall sessions. ey benchmark key performance indicators [KIPs] that affect body shop profitability and productivity.

Members look for opportunities at their shops and then set goals to optimize areas that could use improvement and discuss the outcome in an open forum to gain valuable feedback from other team members at the next session.”

Another new tool AkzoNobel has introduced to the Texas market is Carbeat, a patented visual production tool that helps body shop efficiency by letting the shop know exactly what stage in the repair process the vehicle is in. Cycle times, average ROs, insurance partners, parts shortages and delivery dates are tracked in real time, while areas in the shop that have a bottleneck holding up production are identified so the issue can be quickly addressed.

Fort Worth is home to one of AkzoNobel’s many regional Automotive Training Centers (ATCs). is facility holds a variety of classes each week that focus on paint products and how to apply them.

Students paint actual car body shells with products specific to the class they are attending, do re-repairs and learn application skills and blending techniques. Classes range in skill from basic-level training to advanced courses that focus on application of threestage finishes, color theory and tinting.

Specialty classes requested by customers and distributors are also provided. e Training Center also hosts AkzoNobel employee training classes and special projects.

AkzoNobel customers can benefit directly from participation with the Sustaining Partner Program it has with I-CAR. Any

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technician who takes an I-CAR-qualified AkzoNobel Industry Training Alliance Course can receive credit towards I-CAR’s Professional Development Program (PDP) at no charge to that technician or the shop they are representing.

With continuous offerings for the Texas market and the company’s close interaction with ABAT, AkzoNobel is clearly committed to the collision repair world for the long haul. TXA

Executive Director’s Message Continued from page 8

said, “at’s awesome! I was excited to hear about that. I’m hopeful for what these future meetings might bring. Keep up the great work.” It’s texts like this, from a shop manager I met because of ABAT and whose facility is 253 miles away from me, that let me know that what we’re doing is helping.

We had 280 attendees at our February regional meetings. at’s a record for ABAT. It means there are 280 more people out there trying to fix cars right and save lives, providing job

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COVER STORY

Scenes from the recent ABAT “virtual” meetings in (left to right) San Antonio and Dallas

A New Age of Industry Connection: ABAT’s “Virtual” Meeting Makes History Texas is a massive state, and ABAT has massive plans for it. e last few years have seen the association grow from a small network of dedicated, like-minded industry professionals to a statewide consumer/auto body advocacy group with national ties and widespread exposure. As the group continues its important work on behalf of collision repairers and consumers, the need for it to deliver consistent information as a united front throughout the Lone Star State is critical. In late February, ABAT entered an exciting new era of communication by hosting its first-ever “virtual” meeting.

Conducted with the aid of GoToMeeting software, this event was streamed live from Dallas to ABAT member gatherings held simultaneously in Abilene, Austin, Henderson, Houston and San Antonio. Each meeting was hosted by an ABAT Board member, while AkzoNobel National Trainer Greg Griffith served as the evening’s main speaker. Rather than simply stream the festivities from Dallas and encourage members to view them from their homes or shops, ABAT set up locations at various Holiday Inn meeting rooms (plus Café Alamo in San Antonio) and encouraged people to gather and network as they would at a more traditional industry event. e response was phenomenal, with a total of 280 ABAT community members joining together in the six locations. e Dallas market was particularly responsive, with the meeting space reaching full capacity in no time.

According to ABAT President Burl Richards, the “virtual” meeting was an opportunity for participants to reduce their travel time and take better advantage of current technologies. “e association continues to grow, and we have these multiple chapters now. Sometimes, I try to go to different places where these chapters are holding events. For example, if Dallas had a speaker come in, I’d go there. e next day, I’d go to a meeting in East Texas and maybe try to go to a meeting in Austin. It wasn’t

just me who was traveling; we had Jill and other Board members going to multiple meetings. I thought that with today’s technology – for example, some of the things Mike Anderson [Collision Advice] has done with webinars that have been successful – we could do something different.”

Richards adds that the biggest goal of the undertaking was to bring consistency to the issues and topics being discussed throughout all six spots.

“My vision is that whatever we’re talking about as an industry in East Texas is also being communicated in all the other markets. e idea is to get the same message out to everyone so that everybody is on the same page.” e meetings featured opening presentations by Richards (Henderson), Vice President Eric McKenzie (Dallas-Fort Worth) and Board members David “Ozzy” Osburn (Abilene), Chad Kiffe (Austin), Manuel Rubio (San Antonio) and Greg Luther and John Kopriva (Houston). Prior to Griffith’s appearance, ABAT Lobbyist Jacob Smith provided an update on the association’s efforts on the legislative front. e Abilene meeting also included a presentation

by Pat Fleishman of 3M. During his guest presentation, “Implementing Repair Planning,” Griffith helped attendees better understand the process of repair planning and how it positively impacts cycle time.

Discussion points included reducing supplements and ensuring that technicians always have the correct parts they need. e indepth talk provided valuable information for both industry veterans and those new to the intricacies of blueprinting. “e great thing about Greg’s presentation was that every single person in each of those rooms could take something away from it,” comments ABAT Executive Director Jill Tuggle. “We had shops there that were curious about how to implement repair planning; it wasn’t something they had done at their businesses. We

18 April 2020 Texas Automotive

By Joel Gausten

also had shops there that had been repair planning for years. ere was something for everyone.”

In the days following the meeting, ABAT received considerable feedback from members indicating excitement over the convenience of participating in events of this format. With the concept of a “virtual” meeting proving very successful, ABAT intends to move forward with the idea in the months to come. e next event of this nature is scheduled for June 16 in the same six markets as before. Presenter details were still being finalized at press time; more details will be available in next month’s Texas Automotive. Additionally, ABAT is in discussions with other associations across the country to encourage their “virtual” attendance in the future.

With nearly 300 industry members turning out for this inaugural “virtual” event, ABAT is proud to provide this new form of meeting structure and looks forward to the greater sense of community it will provide to a very large state industry whose participants share many of the same struggles, successes, desires and goals.

As Richards says, “We’re all here to learn from each other.”

For information on upcoming ABAT events, please visit abat.us or contact Executive Director Jill Tuggle at (817) 8990554 or jill@abat.us. TXA

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Ask the Expert “What Changes Should Be Made to the Current Titling of Vehicles Deemed a Total Loss by the Insurance Carrier?”

Dear Mr. McDorman: I manage a collision facility in Wichita Falls. In May 2019, we took in a 2017 Chevrolet Suburban that had been hit in the right rear. The damage on the surface appeared minimal.

Upon initial disassembly to perform our OEM repair plan, we discovered that the Suburban had been in a previous accident and had unrepaired frame damage. Under further inspection, it was discovered the vehicle was unsafely repaired and should not have been on the highway.

After complete disassembly, our findings showed the Suburban could not have been safely returned to its OEM pre-loss condition from the prior accident and should have been deemed unrepairable. I contacted the client to inquire about our findings.

Our client was as surprised as I was and had no idea the vehicle had been in a previous accident. I was told he purchased the vehicle in June 2018 from a reputable new car dealership, was provided a CarFax showing no accident damage at the time of sale and was told the vehicle had no prior accidents. It has now been almost a year, and the Suburban is still at our shop. What could be changed to the titling process in Texas for vehicles being deemed a total loss by the carriers to make sure a similar situation does not happen to future consumers? This important matter – which few are aware of – is placing all citizens in harm’s way.

ank you very much for your question.

My heart goes out to your client, who was unknowingly sold an unrepairable and unsafe vehicle. We routinely receive calls from consumers who are faced with the same situation of purchasing a vehicle that should have been deemed a total loss and the title transferred by the carrier into a salvage title but was instead unsafely repaired and sold with a clean or blue title. It is in the best economic interest of the carrier to promote, market and sell as many vehicles as possible that they have deemed a total loss with a clean, blue or nonsalvage title.

Under the current titling system in place in Texas, insurance carriers overseeing losses are deeming vehicles as total losses for the sake of administering the claim loss. From time to time, they use Texas Transportation Code 501 to pick and choose when to transfer the title as a salvage title. is subjectivity allows for nonrepairable vehicles to fall into the hands of less-than- desirable rebuilders to perform unsafe, non-OEM repair procedures. Upon completion of these unsafe repair procedures, total loss vehicles are being marketed and sold as clean title vehicles with no title history that they were in fact previously deemed total losses by a carrier. Who knows how many of these vehicles theren are that should have been titled as salvage or non-repairable vehicles like the Suburban you currently have at your shop?

When the vehicle is deemed a total loss by the carrier and that carrier elects to instruct its titling procurement handler to not transfer the title into its name as a salvage title, the total loss vehicle clean or blue title will be preserved to the next buyer, which is almost always a licensed motor vehicle dealer. Once this vehicle falls into the hands of the licensed dealer, the title will be assigned to this dealer and the next retail registered buyer will not be identified until the vehicle is sold and

registered. erefore, in these situations, there is much time between the date the vehicle is deemed a total loss, sent to the salvage sale, sold, repaired, marketed and sold to the next registered owner – making it easier to conceal unsafe repairs.

Last May, a reader asked, “What happens to a total loss vehicle when it leaves our facility?” e question led us to perform a study of the total loss claims we have handled for Texas clients. We randomly selected 200 total loss claims over the past year and researched the title history for each. Our findings of the random 200 total loss claims showed 118 (59 percent) were titled with salvage titles, 60 (30 percent) were still in the insured or claimant’s name (blue title) and 22 (11 percent) had subsequently been transferred to another business or individual with a clean or blue title.

I found it alarming that over 40 percent of the 200 total loss claims we randomly picked and researched either had been since sold and/or titled with a clean or blue title or still had an open (untransferred) blue title.

We went back this month after your question and researched the title history on the 60 vehicles that were still titled in the claimant’s name with a blue title as of the May 2019 editorial. Our findings revealed five (eight percent) of the 60 have been subsequently either sold and the title transferred to a new owner or transferred into the carrier’s name with a non-salvage clean or blue title. Twelve (20 percent) have been transferred out of the insured or claimant’s name into the carrier’s name as a salvage title, while a staggering 43 (72 percent) were still in the insured or claimant’s name with a clean or blue title.

Now, almost a year later, 35 percent of the 200 total loss claims we randomly picked and researched either have been since sold or

Interior and exterior shots of the 2015 BMW X5 reviewed by Auto Claim Specialists 20 April 2020 Texas Automotive

By Robert L. McDorman either transferred into the carrier’s name and titled with a clean or blue title or still have an open (untransferred) clean or blue title. is is strong statistical evidence of a scheme of massive proportion and a safety issue for all citizens. ere is no question that a large percent of the remaining 43 vehicles that are still in the claimant’s name with a clean or blue title will be transferred into the next owner’s name with a clean or blue title once resold. ere is little doubt that most of the consumers who fall prey to buying one of these possibly unsafely repaired total loss vehicles will not know of the vehicle’s damage history. e buyers of these vehicles will subsequently fall into the same unfortunate situation as your client with the Suburban.

One of the five vehicles where the carrier has transferred the title into their name with a clean/blue or non-salvage title is a 2015 BMW X5. We represented the insured owner of this total loss vehicle. ere is ABSOULUTELY NO QUESTION the carrier should have been required to transfer ownership of the vehicle as a salvage titled vehicle after deeming it a total loss. However, the carrier did not; thus, it can now promote this vehicle for sale for considerably more money as a repairable vehicle with a clean/blue non-salvage title. As we see, it is in the best economic interest of

the carrier to promote, market and sell as many vehicles they have deemed as a total loss with a clean blue or non-salvage title as possible regardless of the safety issue to citizens. We have included interior and exterior pictures of the BMW in support of our adamant position on this scheme.

A chronology of the history of the BMW shows it was sold new on February 13, 2015 from a dealership and had six miles on it. e date of loss was February 16, 2019. e carrier originally valued the BMW at $30,009. rough the appraisal process, an agreement was reached on March 13, 2019 for $33,022. e carrier that deemed the BMW a total loss transferred the title into its name on May 1, 2019 with a clean or blue non-salvage title. e last reported location of the BMW was Insurance Auto Auction (IAA). It was being marketed with a reported estimated repair cost of $20,927 and an estimated retail value of $30,009 (same as the original settlement offer) waiting on a prospective rebuilder to purchase, perform some type of repair and then market to the public as a clean /blue non-salvage title. e carrier has weaponized the unscrupulous rebuilder to turn this BMW into an unsafe vehicle capable of potentially harming or bringing death to unknowing consumers and their families.

21 April 2020 Texas Automotive

Until the State of Texas requires each insurance carrier that deems a vehicle a total loss to transfer the title into their name as a salvage title, this scheme that places consumers in harm’s way will continue. It is my professional opinion if the vehicle is deemed a total loss by the carrier, then the next step of the claim closure and titling process should be the title always being transferred to the carrier as a salvage title with any such subsequent sale or transfers reflecting this status. is process would curtail the purchasing, marketing and selling of total loss vehicles that have been unsafely rebuilt and made available to the unsuspecting public with clean or blue title.

Please call me should you have any questions or comments relating to this vehicle titling scheme or policy or covered loss issues.

We have most insurance policies in our library.

Always keep in mind a safe repair is a quality repair, and quality equates to value. I thank you for your questions and look forward to any follow-up questions that may arise.

Sincerely, Robert L. McDorman TXA

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