Industry Advice: Ask Mike
Why aren’t people pulling oem procedures? This month, we “ASK MIKE” to share his thoughts on the industry’s lack of adherence to OEM repair procedures. We at Texas Automotive hope you find this following exchange useful, and we encourage you to reach out to us if you have a question for Mike on this or any industryrelated matter that he can answer in a subsequent issue. Texas Automotive: Obviously, vehicle technology is not going to stop advancing. As a result, repairers need to stay on top of what’s going on with these cars, and pulling the OEM repair procedures is the main part of that. I’ve heard feedback from some shops that are still not enforcing this; they tell me, ‘Our technicians know what to do.’ I’d imagine you’ve been encountering similar statements. How do you respond to that mindset?
for an ‘easy’ button. You can’t just say, ‘I’ve fixed 20 of these cars; I know them inside and out and don’t have to pull the procedures.’ Things change. I’ve seen sectioning procedures change, and I’ve seen something was a one-time-use part one day but wasn’t the next day. We just can’t assume that because we fixed 20 cars last week that we don’t have to research them today. TXA: Of course, we have a huge elephant in the room. I’ve had readers tell me that if they don’t get paid for something, they won’t do it.
MA: That’s insane! How would you like it if a doctor, a surgeon or someone who works on an airplane said, ‘I don’t get paid for it, so I’m not going to do it’? Don’t forget that the consumer signs an authorization for us to fix their car. If we take that car in under a Mike Anderson: You’re right – most people are not pulling OEM premise that there’s a signed authorization, we’re saying, ‘You can repair procedures, and I’m very concerned about that. trust me to do a safe and proper repair.’ You’re liable for that vehicle Let me start by sharing a short story. My friend’s son went into even if it changes ownership. You’d like to believe that the John the Marines several years ago. He got off the bus at Parris Island, Eagle case was a wake-up call, but obviously it wasn’t. People just and the drill instructor ran up and started delivering shock and think they’re too smart for their own good. awe. He yelled, ‘Single file! Single file!’ Then, he said, ‘Pick up your I teach factory training for OEMs, and I still research every suitcase! Put it down! Pick it up! Put it down!’ All of a sudden, my single vehicle that I write an estimate on. If you’re saying you don’t friend’s son laughed. That is the worst thing you can do on your first have the time, then you need to have a conversation with your boss. day of boot camp with a Marine drill instructor! The drill inspector If you’re saying you don’t know how to use the websites – gosh, grabbed my son’s friend by the ear and pulled him in front of a man, we have free webinars and videos on my website that teach mirror. He made him point at the mirror and say, ‘I’m not stupid!’ people how to do it. If you’re a Nissan/Infiniti-certified shop, you Then, the drill instructor made him point the finger back at his own actually have free access – free access – to Nissan/Infiniti’s TechInfo. chest in front the mirror and say, ‘You’re stupid.’ I’m not saying Toyota offers free access to its OEM procedures to its certified that collision repairers are stupid, but this isn’t a joke – it all starts shops. There are resources available; people just need to want to use with us. We all have to take personal responsibility. them. The two percent who are actually doing it right get pushback When somebody doesn’t pull the OEM procedures, it’s usually from third-party payers who say, ‘You’re the only one.’ Well, they due to a few things. One, they don’t have access to them. In that are the only one! case, shame on the shop owner or manager. Number two, they think they’re smarter than an engineer. Number three, they say they TXA: What do you think it’s going to take to get that number up don’t have the time because the company they work for chooses to a respectable amount? We’ve already had the John Eagle case, to be a DRP and says they have to upload an estimate within two and there have already been multiple conversations on this topic. hours. That’s just ludicrous. It’s being stressed at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) I do training for several OEMs as well as training through and elsewhere. What else needs to be done here? Collision Advice. We show people photos of a vehicle that needs a quarter panel replaced and say, ‘We want you to write an estimate MA: Education, number one. We need to educate people on how to on this.’ I understand it’s a photo, but it’s done as an exercise to see navigate the OEM websites, because they’re all different. Number how well they can identify the OEM repair procedures as well as two, people need to have the time to do it. The days of expecting not-included operations. When we do that, we have 385 lines on an estimator to handle x amount of sales volume every month are our estimate, but the top 10 percent of trainees might have 190 to over. The expectations need to be lowered. There’s no way they can 200 lines on their estimate. The average shop has fewer than 100 achieve that and be thorough in what they’re doing. Body shop lines. I can tell you that just for that one estimate – just replacing owners and managers need to give their employees the right amount a quarter panel on a Toyota – we had 133 pages of information to of time to do it. Also, insurance companies need to recognize that research, pull, review and read. It’s very, very time-consuming. This they’re part of the problem, especially when they want an estimate wasn’t a 30-minute process – it was a five-hour process. I realize uploaded in two hours. That’s not realistic. Technicians need time, there are some challenges, but to not do it is unacceptable. training and the access to resources. The other thing that troubles me is that everybody is looking Somebody asked me, ‘Why don’t all the OEMs standardize 20 JUNE 2021 Texas Automotive
