july 2012 northeast edition

CCC’s Director, IndustryAnalyst, Susanna E.Gotsch addresses Disruption as the New Normal—Macro Trends in the Industry

Special to Autobody News

see p. 38

by Melanie Anderson

Anger over the proposed State FarmPartsTrader program revived a sleep-ing giant in Mississippi, revi-talizing the previouslydormant Mississippi Colli-sion Repair Association,which met on May 23 for thefirst time in many years.

“Due to many factors,our association as been inac-tive for almost eight years,”said Chad Smith, treasurerof the Mississippi CollisionRepair Association and co-owner of Smith Bros. Colli-sion Center with twolocations in Brookhaven and Mc-Comb. “But the new State Farm pro-

gram has re-ignited our association’sfire!”

The years may have gone by incomfort and complacency, but the

controversy and negativity surround-

by Melanie Anderson

Several Birmingham, AL auto bodyshops have dropped State Farm ratherthan be forced to use its new Part-sTrader procurement software withinits Select Service Program. Auto bodyshops in Birmingham are located inone of four test markets where thepilot PartsTrader program, an onlineparts ordering/bidding software sys-tem developed by a New Zealandfirm, is being tested.

Usage of the PartsTrader softwarehas been required by State Farm in fourtest markets nationwide: Tucson, AZ,Birmingham, AL, Grand Rapids, Mich.and Charlotte, NC. Approximately 10percent of State Farm Select Serviceshops are participating in the pilot.

According to a report released bythe Automotive Services Association(ASA), 17 Select Service shops inBirmingham, AL, removed them-selves from the program prior to anyregistration or use of the application.

“We are in a pilot—a pilot is stilla process where you are learning,”said George Avery, a Property & Ca-sualty Claims Auto Consultant whohas been with State Farm for 33 years.

“We had an unfortunate incidentin Birmingham because some repairfacilities decided to leave the SelectService program before we even gotthere. They made that decision beforethe pilot was even over or withouteven trying the tool, but that was a de-cision they felt they needed to make,

Birmingham, AL, Shop Owners Drop StateFarm’s Select Service Due to PartsTrader

See Mississippi Reacts, Page 46See Birmingham Reacts, 2

State Farm PartsTrader Issue ResuscitatesMississippi Collision Repair Association

The Mississippi Collision Repair Association met on May23 for the first time in 8 years, with special guest Attor-ney General Jim Hood in attendance.

Insurance companies are pushing forRhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee toveto a bill passed by the General As-sembly which is currently on the gov-ernor’s desk. The bill would allow autobody shops to directly sue insurers forreasonable reimbursement. Insurers areurging a veto to prevent a flood of law-

suits.The legislation was originally

sponsored by the Auto Body Associa-tion of Rhode Island (ABARI) andsought by body shop owners, includingthe father and sister of state Rep. PeterPetrarca. It cleared its final legislativehurdle at 3:00 am on the final day of

the legislative session.Representatives from auto body

shops say the bill is about equity. Theyclaim they don’t have a chance to settheir own rates because insurance com-panies refuse to negotiate.

“It shouldn’t cost the consumeranything that’s not what it’s about. The

issue is more about getting the insur-ance companies to actually negotiate asopposed to taking a take it or leave itstance, which some of them currentlydo,” said Randy Bottella, president ofthe Auto Body Association of RhodeIsland.

Rhode Island’s Auto Body Legislation Called “Great Consumer Bill” but Decried by Insurers

See Great Consumer Bill, Page 32

We asked BMW North America:What Does it Take to Become a BMWCertified Collision Repair Center?Why there are only 69 in the US... see p. 48

Columnist David M. Brown starts a newseries of articles on Nationwide TechnicianTraining for Collision Repair Students.Special to Autobody News. see p. 52

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Amato Agency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . 46BMW Audi of Turnersville . . . . . . . . 6BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 45CCC Information Services. . . . . . . . 5Central Avenue Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Champion Pneumatic . . . . . . . . . . . 9Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55DCH Family of BMW Stores . . . . . 13Empire Auto Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Equalizer Industries. . . . . . . . . . . . 10Filtersforbooths.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . 47Fred Beans Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Garmat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Glanzmann Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . 39GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 54Haydell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-29

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers. 40Jaguar Wholesale Parts Dealers. . 36Kia Motors Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Koeppel VW-Mazda. . . . . . . . . . . . 20Lazare Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Lexus of Massapequa . . . . . . . . . . 16

Lexus Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 52Maxon Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Maxon Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 43Metric Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Millennium Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . 17MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . 25Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Nucar Mazda. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Plaza Auto Mall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers. 44PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Safety Regulations Strategies. . . . . 4SCA Appraisal Company . . . . . . . 31Scion Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 53Security Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep . . . . 8Solution Finish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Subaru Wholesale Parts DealersDE, South NJ, PA . . . . . . . . . 14-15

Subaru Wholesale Parts DealersNorth NJ, NY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Thompson Organization . . . . . . . . 33Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 48Volkswagen Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 49

Inde

xofAdvertisers

REGIONAL

$200k EPA Grant Helps Clean-up for

Parking Lot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Advocates Want Tougher Laws for Staged

Accidents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Allstate Recruits 200 Owners . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Auto Body Repairman Derek Schafer Dies

at Age 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Body Shop Does Paint Job on Paint Blob . . . . 4

Canadian Shop Comments on RI Body Shop

Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Collision Tech Students Restore Sheriff's

Humvee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Dead Bear Found Near NJ Shop . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Drug Ring Involving Body Shops Busted . . . . . 9

Epidemic of Scrap Metal Thefts Prompts

New Restrictive Bill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Grand Sport Auto Body Opens 8 New Locations. 7

Insurers Take out Radio Ads Slamming

Auto Body Bill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Jury Indicts Former NJ Shop Owners for

Trafficking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Leaders Auto Body Founder Duke Lanzilotti

Dies at 93 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Maaco Donates $110,000 to Children’s Miracle

Network at Annual Golf Tournament . . . . . 22

Mahwah Council Suspends NJ Shop’s

Tow Truck Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Marshmallows for Solar-Powered Devices? . 20

Matters of the Heart—Body Shop Owner

Saves Adjuster’s Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Michael Vick Visit Causes Backlash

at Dealership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

NC State NAACP Wants Body Shop

Vandalism Probe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Nissan EVs Tested in New York Amid

Standard Debate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Officials Arrest 32 Suspects in Meth Ring Sting . 8

Orso Settles Esurance Claim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Piscataway Vo-Tech Students Prepared

Crushed Car. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Rich Weber, Shop Owner, Dies Waiting

for Transplant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Storm Chaser Chases Hail-Damaged Cars

for Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Student Restores Comet for Senior Project . . 17

Students Flex Artistic Muscle Working

on Crush Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Tow Truck Driver’s Murder Gets Buffalo

to Review 1974 Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Trio in Philly Body Shop Robbery Ring

Convicted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Unique Lego Car Sold for $1,626 for Charity. . 8

Used Tires Make a Fashion Statement. . . . . . 10

Women Auto Know Partners With Queens

Intern Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

COLUMNISTS

Evans - Building a Junior Motor Sport Vehicle

for 11-Year-Old Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Franklin - Maximizing Referrals to Your Shop. 54

Hey Toby! - Matrix Wand is a Game Changer . 41

Nigro - Are You Getting Paid for Your

Refinishing Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Sisk - Al Brodeur’s Auto Body Offers Honesty,

Inspires Loyalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Weaver - Take it to the Dealer! . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Yoswick - SCRS Meeting Discusses Insurance

Regulation, State Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

NATIONAL

‘Back 2 Back’ Joins Calif. Jobber . . . . . . . . . . 4

Arizona and California Schools Preparing

for Collision Repair’s Future . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Birmingham, AL, Shop Owners Drop

State Farm’s Select Service Due to

PartsTrader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chef’s Stolen Lamborghini Found a Year Later . 4

Disruption Became the New Normal in 2011. 38

DuPont Unveils New No. 24 Chevrolet Paint

Scheme for 20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Ford Ships New Escapes, Some Have Hail

Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Geico Settles Lawsuit with Gunder’s. . . . . . . . 3

Honda to Add Acura MDX to Alabama Plant

for Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Information Shops Can Use Presented at

East Bay CAA Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Iowa Dealership Refuses to Participate

in PartsTrader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Louisiana State Penitentiary Lifer Makes

ASE Triple Master Rank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Massachusetts New Car Dealers and R2R

Coalition Agree on Compromise Bill . . . . . 43

Mississippi Nissan Plant Starts New

Altima Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

PARTS Patent Bill Gets Three Additional

Sponsors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

PartsTrader Issues Open Letter . . . . . . . . . . . 22

PCI Claims ABARI Legislation Has Increased

Repair Costs Twice National Avg. . . . . . . . 32

Rhode Island’s Auto Body Legislation

Called “Great Consumer Bill” but

Decried by Insurers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Service, Diagnostic and Mechanical News . . 30

State Farm PartsTrader Issue Resuscitates

Mississippi Collision Repair Association . . . 1

What it Takes for a BMW Dealership to

Become a BMW CCRC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Contents

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy HayhurstGeneral Manager: Barbara DaviesAssistant Editor: Melanie AndersonContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, David Brown, JohnYoswick, Lee Amaradio, Rich Evans, Janet Chaney, TobyChess, Mike Causey, Tom McGee, Ed Attanasio,Chasidy SiskAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman, JayLukes (800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Kristy NavarroArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Serving New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delawareand adjacent metro areas, Autobody News is a monthlypublication for the autobody industry. Permission to re-produce in any form the material published in AutobodyNews must be obtained in writing from the publisher.©2012 Adamantine Media LLC.Autobody NewsP.O. Box 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018(800) 699-8251 (760) 721-0253 Faxwww.autobodynews.comEmail: [email protected] N

ortheast

www.autobodynews.com | JULY 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

Geico Settles Lawsuit with Gunder’sGunder’s Auto Center announced thatGEICO has elected to settle a lawsuitGunder’s filed on behalf of their cus-tomer rather than concede to deposi-tion of their claims representatives.

Upon deeming the customer’s ve-hicle a total loss and disputing Gunder’sbilling for incurred charges (including aparts return fee), GEICO elected to postwhat is referred to as a “bond” throughthe county courts in the amount of Gun-der’s billing ($972), which allowedGEICO to then take possession of thecustomer’s vehicle. As required, GEICOprovided full payment of the disputedamount to the Clerk of Courts and wasissued a “bond,” which legally requiredGunder’s Auto Center to relinquish thevehicle along with their possessory lienon that vehicle.

Gunder’s, according to stipula-tions in the bond statutes, was thenconfronted with having to file a law-suit against the vehicle owner as theonly means to exercise their right ofrecovery. If Gunder’s failed to file alawsuit within 60 days, they wouldhave then forfeited their right of col-lection, and the monies would havebeen refunded to GEICO, with Gun-der’s receiving nothing.

Ray Gunder, owner of Gun-der’s, proceeded to file the lawsuit

against his customer, who he says un-derstood the issues and did not disputeany portion of their billing. Gunderalso claims that the customer was notaware of the bonding of his vehicle,claiming he would testify that he hadnot even been aware of GEICO tak-ing possession of his vehicle until ithad been removed.

In the process of arranging thedepositions of GEICO’s claims man-ager and the field claims rep whobonded the vehicle, GEICO elected toavoid the depositions by paying Gun-der’s their full billing as well as alllegal fees and costs of $2,621.09 for atotal amount of $3,593.09.

“I surely hope this sets prece-dence that handling returned parts,with all the administrative efforts,costs and assumed liabilities involved,is not merely a ‘cost of doing busi-ness,’” said Ray Gunder. “As I havelearned from my good friend andbusiness consultant Barrett Smith ofAuto Damage Experts, performingsuch activities for free could very wellbe ‘the cost of going out of business.’After setting this legal precedence, Ihope to resume a respectful relation-ship with GEICO for the benefit ofour mutual customers and our respec-tive companies.”


Allstate Recruits 200 OwnersIn May, Allstate announced a majorpush to recruit nearly 200 newagency owners in the Mid-Atlanticand Northeastern regions. Nationally,Allstate had about 10,000 Allstate-exclusive agencies last year, downfrom about 11,500 in 2010.

Body Shop Does Paint Job on Paint BlobOn Broad Street in Philadelphia, nextto the Pennsylvania Academy of theFine Arts, a giant orange paint glob sitson the sidewalk underneath the painttorch. The dollop is positioned to ap-pear as if it was dropped from the top ofthe brush of Claes Oldenburg’s “PaintTorch,” which towers several stories

above. Few haveprobably noticed,though, that theblob is now back-wards.

When the sculp-ture was originallyinstalled, the paint-drop’s peak was onthe brush side.Now it rises to-ward Broad Street.

Skateboardershave made a habit of detouring fromthe sidewalk to skip off the glob,scratching and marking its surface,said Harry Philbrick, museum direc-tor at the Pennsylvania Academy ofthe Fine Arts.

So the damaged drop got shippedvia tow truck to an Edgemont auto-body shop, Keenan Auto Body West.

“The whole thing was coveredwith marks,” shop manager MaxSorensen said of the glob. “We pol-ished the whole entire piece with a

buffer and rubbing compound.”Gouges in the fiberglass had to

be filled with clear resin, because thetip glows at night, thanks to a light in-side. The brush atop “The PaintTorch” also shines nocturnally. Aftersanding, the piece was sprayed with aclear sealer, then orange base coat,followed by a new, stronger ceramicclear coat. “It’s basically like the paintthat’s on a Mercedez-Benz,” Sorensensaid. As for cost, he’d only say, imag-ine a car getting a first-class paint job.

On May 30, the piece was rein-stalled on Broad Street, surrounded bya moat of uneven paving stones, akind of rumble strip for skateboards.

It was also turned 180 degrees.On purpose. Matching, it turns out,the sculptor’s original design. Thehope was that, with the most uprightside toward the sidewalk, skateboard-ers would be less tempted.

A few days later, though, the dol-lop already had a few new scuff marks.

The piece is tougher to scratch,so chances are good the marks can beharmlessly removed with rubbingcompound, Sorensen said.

Under a new City Council pro-posal, those skateboarding, bicyclingor roller-blading on public art or mon-uments could be jailed for 90 days andfined $2,000.

A seemingly innocuous visit fromPhiladelphia Eagles quarterbackMichael Vick caused such a back-lash for a Toyota dealership in Hen-derson, NV, that it was forced to shutdown the promotional page on itswebsite.

Vick, who was convicted ofdogfighting charges in 2007, was intown for a youth football camp andstopped by the dealership to sign au-tographs and meet with fans, the LasVegas Sun reported.

But after the dealership postedpictures of Vick’s appearance onits website, angry commentsstarted flying in. One commenterdescribed Vick as a “dog killer,”while another threatened to beathim up. Others said they wouldboycott the dealership for sponsor-ing Vick for promotional and char-ity events.

The dealership was initially justdeleting comments but eventuallyhad to shut down the page.

“We’re just trying to do some-thing right for the kids and peoplejust forget about that,” saidStephanie Bernas, marketing man-ager and social media director for thedealership.

Michael Vick Visit CausesBacklash at Dealership

Chef’s Stolen Lamborghini Found a Year LaterA Lamborghini stolen from celebritychef Guy Fieri was found a year afterit went missing. The Lambo was taken

by a thief who literally rappelled off theroof of a building in order to get accessto Fieri’s prize possession.

It seems the perpetrator had athing for stealthy operations—the ve-

hicle turned up during an investigationthat began after a motorcyclist wearingall black fired a gun into a parked car.

The gunman was a 17-year-old boy. Fieri’s car was lo-cated in a storage containerin Point Richmond, CA,along with the boy’s motor-cycle and apparent evi-dence linking him to theshooting.

Fieri, for his part, ishappy to have his Lam-borghini back:

“I would like to thankthe Marin County Sheriff’s

Office and the Mill Valley Police De-partment for their hard work and effortin the recovery of my car. I’m glad wecan put this behind us, and feel betterknowing that justice is being served.”

‘Back 2 Back’ Joins Calif. JobberSt. Louis-based Back 2 Basics Mar-keting LLC has partnered with Cali-fornia Color Source Inc., a supplierfor the collision repair industry in theSan Francisco Bay area, to be the of-ficial marketing agency for that Cali-fornia company’s clients.

Pennsylvaniaacademy ofthe fine arts

Rich Weber, the former owner ofWeber Auto Body died June 15 whileawaiting a potentially life-savingtransplant in University Hospital inNewark, NJ. He was 60. Rich ownedand operated Weber Auto Body inKearny and North Arlington andWeber Marine in Bricktown.

Weber was a former board mem-ber of the Alliance of AutomotiveService Providers of New Jersey. Hewas Past President of The Lyons Cluband was an elected member of theKearny Board of Education for 12years and also sat on the Board of TheAuto Body Association and The Ar-lington Players club. He is survivedby his wife Debbie (nee Fiduccia), hischildren and their spouses Amy andNoel Heberling and Matthew andAmy Weber. Brother of David and thelate Leonard Weber, he is also sur-vived by his mother-in-law HenriettaMawhinney and his grandchildrenMaeve and Jake.

Rich was a candidate for a life-saving transplant that sadly didn’thappen. His family believes stronglyin the gift of life. In lieu of other of-fers, please consider making a dona-tion to The Sharing Network/DonateLife (DONATE).

Rich Weber, Shop Owner,Dies Waiting for Transplant


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Nissan EVs Tested in New York Amid Standard DebateNissan is supplying New York Citywith fuel-efficient cabs, including sixelectric cars for testing, but acknowl-edged uncertainties about an ongoing“debate” over charging standards forelectric vehicles.

The battle in fast-charging sta-tions, the equivalent of gasolinestands for electric vehicles, is threat-ening to turn into a futuristic replay ofother major platform wars like VHSof Panasonic vs. Sony’s Beta in video.

Nissan Executive Vice PresidentAndy Palmer said the debate was stillgoing on, and it was unknown whethernations will adopt the CHAdeMo usedby Nissan, or the competing one calledCombo backed by General Motors Co.and European automakers. The stan-dards use different plugs and aren’tcompatible.

Palmer said Nissan as a leader inelectric vehicles must persuade othersthat its standard is the best.

“The disadvantage is that we aresetting the standard,” he said, addingthat Nissan was “engaged in that de-bate” over charging standards.

CHAdeMo, which comes fromthe words “charge” and “move,” andsounds like Japanese for “Care forsome tea?” is also backed by Mit-subishi Motors.

Nissan said its gas-engine NV200

vehicle, painted yellow, is set to startrunning as New York taxis in October2013, and six Leaf electric vehicleswill be part of a pilot program thisyear. But it is still unclear whetherNew York will opt for CHAdeMo.

Electric vehicles’ limited cruiserange means they can be used only forshort trips, or towns must invest inbuilding charging stations.

“If we can get the combinationright, the EV is very viable,” said Palmer.

At least one electric-car com-petitor has proposed using replace-ment batteries for electric vehicles sothey can keep running, rather thanusing charging stations, Palmer said.Although charging stations would notbe needed, service stations wouldhave to pick up the used batteries.Electric vehicles can also berecharged from regular home sockets,but that takes longer.

Growing concerns over globalwarming and pollution are major boostsfor the zero-emission electric car.

Angelo “Duke” Lanzilotti, 93, ofNew Milford, died May 24. Born inHoboken, he was a resident of NewMilford for the last 50 years.

While serving his country in theArmy from 1944–1946 in WorldWar II, he was the recipient of a Pur-ple Heart. Mr. Lanzilotti went on tobecome co-owner of Leaders AutoBody in Union City. Then, in 1963,he founded Garden State Auto Bodyin Bergenfield, a business currentlyoperated by his son, Anthony.

He was an active member of theChurch of the Ascension, New Mil-ford as an alter server, and a memberof the Disabled American Veteransin Bergenfield.

He is survived by Frances (neeSicardi), his wife of 62 years; sons,Anthony and his wife Nancy, Garyand his wife Eve, and Dennis andhis wife Susan; and a brother, An-thony and his wife Maureen. He waspreceded in death by a sister, Con-nie Lanzilotti. He was also thegrandfather of David and his wifeMarian, Jason and his wife Tracy,Christopher, Peter, Christina, Tracyand Marcus; and great-grandfatherof Anthony, Giana, Michael andMarco.

State NAACP leaders are asking local,state and federal law enforcementagencies to conduct a full investiga-tion into vandalism of a black-ownedbusiness in Caswell County near Rei-dsville, NC.

Caswell investigators hesitate tocall it a hate crime because there areno suspects, but NAACP officialswho visited the business owner sayotherwise.

Ernie Pinnix awoke early tofind the exterior of his auto body shopspray-painted with the words “Monu-ment is coming back.” All six of thetires on his tow truck were slashed,and the message “F--- Obama” waspainted on the garage and scratchedinto the body of his truck.

Pinnix is an outspoken opponentof returning a Confederate soldiermonument to downtown Reidsville.The statue was knocked off its baselast year by a Greensboro driver. Pin-nix and his wife also recently hosted acampaign fundraiser for PresidentBarack Obama.

Al McSurely of the North Car-olina State Conference of the NAACPsaid it was clear the Pinnexes weretargeted for their activism and it was ahate crime.

NC State NAACP Wants BodyShop Vandalism Probe

Leaders Auto Body FounderDuke Lanzilotti Dies at 93

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Mike Orso of Nick Orso’s Body Shopin Syracuse, N.Y., said last week hehas settled assignment of proceedscases with Esurance over “short-payclaims” totaling more than $6,000.Orso, who said he filed more than $1million in new assignment of pro-ceeds cases in April alone, said theamount owed by Esurance involvedcharges for OEM versus non-OEMparts, omissions of P-page proce-dures, labor rate differences and“caps” on paint materials. “Manycompanies, at least the smarter ones,now negotiate and settle thoseclaims,” Orso said.

Orso Settles Esurance Claim

Grand Sport Auto Body & Glass hasexpanded with 8 new locations start-ing in West Chester, PA, and nowcovering a wide area throughoutChester and Montgomery Counties.

Grand Sport Auto has been pro-viding auto collision repair servicesfor over 25 years as the first bodyshop to open in West Chester, PA. in1982. This is where the business gotstarted with the philosophy of takingit one customer at a time. Fred Gun-ther, the founder and president ofGrand Sport Auto, takes great pridein servicing his customers with thehighest quality workmanship and ex-ceptional experience.

The primary goal is to handlecustomers’ requirements and meettheir individual needs. If repairs arepaid out of pocket, the staff at GrandSport will work to develop a plan thatmeets not only the budget but the ex-pectations of the clients as well. If aninsurance company pays for the re-pairs, Grand Sport will assist in han-dling any claims directly, making theentire process hassle-free for ourclients. By upgrading to the latest ad-vancements in automotive technolo-gies, they can provide customerswith the latest techniques.

Women Auto Know has formallylaunched its internship program incooperation with Queens College inNY. Involved with the program arethe Business and Liberal Arts pro-gram as well as the Career Develop-ment & Internship office, whichhave provided Women Auto Knowwith ambitious and bright young stu-dents anxious to gain experience inthe auto industry, as well as businessas a whole.

Audra Fordin, fourth genera-tion owner and president of GreatBear Auto Repair and Body Shop,is the founder of Women AutoKnow.

Women Auto Know has a longstanding relationship with QueensCollege and naturally turned tothem when starting the internshipprogram. The Women Auto Knowinternship program consists of as-sistants in administration, account-ing, communications, workshopsupport and graphics. Depending onthe students’ schedule, interns willbe working between 6–18 hours aweek with a maximum of 150hours. The interns will be earningcredit and or a stipend, plus travelexpenses.

The Monroe County, NY, Sheriff’sOffice recently unveiled its newestvehicle and it didn’t cost the tax-payers anything. A surplus humveewas donated by the United Statesmilitary to the Sheriff’s office freeof charge. Students in the auto bodycollision and repair tech class atBOCES 2 in Spencerport did thenecessary body work and repaintedthe vehicle for the Sheriff’s OfficeFleet.

“It was a good experience and itwas hard to work on because of thepaint that was on there. It seemed likeforever getting it off, but when it wasdone, it looked good and it paid off.We help them out and they help usout,” said Kevin Christie, Greece Ar-cadia student.

“I appreciate what they do forus and how they put their lives atrisk for us every day. I just feel thisis something that we can pay back tothem for all they hard work thatthey’ve done for us,” said HalleGriffin, Brockport High School stu-dent.

The vehicle will be used bydeputies for operational issues withinthe Sheriff’s Office Tactical Unit andin emergency situations.

Collision Tech Students Restore Sheriff’s Humvee

Women Auto Know PartnersWith Queens Intern Program

Grand Sport Auto BodyOpens 8 New Locations

Dead Bear Found Near NJ ShopWorkers at a Patterson auto body shopwere surprised to find a dead bear cublast month. The employees of Stan’sAuto Body on Route 22 first noticedthe cub, which appeared to weighabout 100 lbs., near where a car strucka utility pole in front of the business at3130 Route 22, said parts managerKyle Mishk, 23. They suspect the cubmay have been hit by a passing vehi-cle. Workers initially saw the cub car-cass on the side of the road, but afterthe long Memorial Day weekend, thecarcass had been dragged about 10feet into the business parking lot.


Unique Lego Car Sold for $1,626 for CharityPaul Boratko of Johnstown, PAraised more than he expected with theonline auction of a special Lego car –the Vampire GT – he designed andbuilt.

The 38-year-old Johnstown manworks in auto body repair during theday, but at night he builds Lego cars.

Boratko’s creations are not ex-actly “toys,” however. His cars arehighly technical – built with the helpof a friend in California who is anaeronautical engineer.

The auto body repairman com-pleted the sale on eBay for $1,626 –$626 more than his goal – and has do-nated the money to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“Paypal took $65.98 in fees, butI am going to add that amount out ofmy own personal account to stay trueto my word that every cent of the finalbid will go to Make-A-Wish,” Bo-ratko said.

The talented Lego builder de-cided to hold the fundraiser aftermeeting a young fan who had seriousphysical difficulties.

The eBay auction was won byDerek Ward of the United Kingdom.

Boratko, whose work has beenfeatured in AutoTrends Magazine, en-tered the car’s design on a Lego web-site. The public is invited to vote on

the entries at no cost. Those receiving10,000 votes are considered by thecompany to be made into kits and soldto the public.

Boratko would love to see thathappen with the Vampire GT.

“It would be cool to walkthrough Toys R Us and you see yourname on the (box),” Boratko said. “Itcould become a reality.”

In the world of Lego enthusiasts,Boratko is a celebrity of sorts. A web-site dedicated to his creations has fol-lowers around the world.

It was an encounter at a Legotrade show that convinced Boratko todo something for charity when he meta young boy with his father. Boratkofound out the boy was celebrating his21st birthday.

“I thought he was about 12. Itwas very, very humbling.”

Boratko returned home and toldhis wife that he wanted to do some-thing for charity.

Amanda Boratko, who often ac-companies her husband to trade shows,said she is extremely proud of his talents.

“I love watching him createsomething from nothing,” she said.“The way he figures out how to put somany functions in the car, like a work-ing engine and transmission, stillblows my mind.”

Officials Arrest 32 Suspects in Meth Ring StingMontgomery and Philadelphia Countyauthorities have reported the arrest of32 suspects for their roles in a metham-phetamine trafficking organization inthose counties.

In 2011, detectives from theMontgomery County District Attor-ney’s Narcotics Enforcement Team(NET) began receiving informationabout the drug trafficking activities ofHatfield residents: FrancescoMessina, Jeffrey Penna, and DavidPenna. Further investigation led de-tectives to the drug trafficking activityof Troy Dudas of Limerick Township.

The Montgomery County DistrictAttorney applied to the Superior Courtof Pennsylvania for the use of wiretapsand electronic surveillance on cellphones utilized by Francesco Messinaand Troy Dudas. District AttorneyRisa Vetri Ferman received permis-sion from the Pennsylvania SuperiorCourt to intercept the cell phones ofboth Messina and Dudas.

The wiretap interceptions beganon Feb. 8, 2012 and concluded onFeb. 29, 2012 when 14 search war-rants were executed throughout Mont-gomery and Philadelphia counties.

One of those locations wasCosmo Motors, a large auto-bodyshop at 101 E. Blaine St. in Lansdale.At these locations quantities of

methamphetamine, drug parapherna-lia, and firearms were recovered andseized.

Detectives discovered the struc-ture of the organization consisting ofmeth distributers, users, and pushers.This methamphetamine trafficking or-ganization was exposed as a “familyaffair.”

The main targets were the Penabrothers who allegedly used and dis-tributed methamphetamine from Jef-frey Penna’s Hatfield Townshipresidence.

The Penna brothers were al-legedly joined by Messina in this dis-tribution network.

Messina allegedly used anddistributed methamphetamine toseveral people including his sister-in-law, Lisa Messina. Conversa-tions between Frank and LisaMessina were intercepted by lawenforcement detailing their methodof operation in the distribution anduse of this powerful drug. This in-vestigation also revealed links to aPhiladelphia methamphetamine dis-tribution ring headed by brothersJuan and Antonio Encarnacion.These networks continued to oper-ate until they were shut down byMontgomery County law enforce-ment.


Drug Ring Involving Body Shops BustedThe Philadelphia District Attorney hasannounced that a major interstate co-caine trafficking ring, with connec-tions to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico,has been broken up.

The DAs office began the inves-tigation in February following a tipfrom an informant that severalgarages and auto body shops through-out the city were equipping vehicleswith compartments to hide and trans-port drugs.

The vehicles would go to NewYork, pick up shipments of cocaine,and return to Philadelphia.

The three month investigation,which included the use of wiretaps,culminated in the arrest of 17 peo-ple, including a husband and wifeteam from Puerto Rico. Investigatorssay they also seized 28 kilos of co-caine with a street value close to $3million, $300,000 in cash, 16 vehi-cles, 11 properties and five guns.Authorities are crediting the Dan-gerous Drug Offenders Unit, DEAmembers in Philadelphia and NewYork, and members of the Philadel-phia, Bensalem, Cheltenham, Bris-tol, Middletown and Abington police

departments with helping to shutdown the operation.

This bust is a direct result of theSeptember, 2011 arrests of membersof the Sinaloa Cartel. The SinaloaCartel operates from Sinaloa andJuarez, Mexico. It’s known as one ofthe largest and most powerful drugcartels in the world. Officials sayone of the suspects arrested in thatoperation became an informant inthe latest case and initially led in-vestigators to one of the garagesequipping the transport vehicles. Theinformation from that garage re-sulted in the identification of othergarages and body shops involved inthe drug ring.

“Back in September, we an-nounced that we had effectively cutoff the head of a dangerous anddeadly monster before it ever had achance of poisoning our streets,” saysDistrict Attorney Seth Williams.“Now thanks to those arrests not onlydid we stop the Sinaloa Cartel frombecoming a viable operation inPhiladelphia, we have also shut downanother drug ring that was trying todestroy our city.”

Piscataway Vo-Tech Students Prepared Crushed CarGetting cars back on the road usuallyis the goal of students of auto collisionrepair technology at the Piscatawaycampus of the Middlesex County Vo-cational and Technical Schools inNew Jersey.

They had never before prepareda car for destruction. But that is ex-actly what the students did to a DodgeStratus of indeterminate age as theygot the vehicle ready to be crushedduring the Advance Auto Parts Mon-ster Jam “Path of Destruction” event,which was held June 16 at MetLifeStadium in East Rutherford.

About two dozen MCVTS stu-dents participated in the project underthe direction of collision repair tech-nology teacher Henry Meklune.

As part of their preparation forcareers in collision repair, the studentsoften work on police cars for area lawenforcement agencies. As some stu-dents were working on the crush carrecently, other classmates were in thespray booth putting the finishingtouches on the paint job of an under-cover car for the Edison Police De-partment.

It was hot as students appliedfiller on some serious dents and otherssanded the body smooth on the crushcar.

“They’re working under actualshop conditions,” Meklune said. “It ishot and getting hotter.”

The producers of Monster Jamsupplied the car, which was “in bad

shape,” according to Dr. Todd Bon-sall, MCVTS director of career andtechnical education.

“They had to chain the engine upjust so they could move it,” Bonsallsaid.

“We took the door panels off andpulled some dents out,” said sopho-more Frank Rapetti of Hopelawn,who said he would be sad to see thecar crushed after having worked on it.

Senior Jahshaun Freeman ofCarteret, on the other hand, said hewas “anxious to see it get crushed.”

Meklune said the car would bepainted pink in honor of female Mon-ster Jam driver Madusa. The studentsalso will apply the Monster Jam logoand their school’s name.

Piscataway Vo-Tech also re-ceived a visit from three Monster Jamdrivers, George Balhan, who drives“Mohawk Warrior,” Bari Musawwir,driver of “Spider-Man,” and LupeSoza, driver of “Advance Auto PartsGrinder.”


Students Flex Artistic Muscle Working on Crush CarStudents in the auto body class at Mor-ris County School of Technology(MCST) in Denville, NJ diligentlyworked to transform a car into a workof art, just for it to be destroyed.

This may sound like madness, butit was actually an opportunity for thestudents to flex their artistic muscle.The crush car was on display at a pitparty before being crushed on June 16during Monster Jam Path of Destruc-tion at MetLife Stadium. MCST waone of only three vocational schools inNew Jersey to participate.

The people behind Monster Jam,Feld Motor Sports, Inc., provided an-other treat for the students, a chance tomeet drivers from Mohawk Warrior,Spider-Man, and the People’s Truck,Advance Auto Parts Grinder: GeorgeBalhan, Bari Musawwir, and LupeSoza.

Cassandra Lorenzo of Mine Hillwas one of the dozen MCST studentswho adorned the car with artwork thatcelebrated both the event and theschool. Cassandra noted that MCST’sdevil mascot had to be represented ascute and funny, not violent. This wasjust one of the challenges she and herpartner faced. They, like the other stu-dents, had to submit their designs totheir teacher, members of the Board ofEducation, and representatives of Feld.

The students were literally sent back tothe drawing board many times.

Cassandra, who is in her junioryear, said this was a departure from herusual art style which is to draw what-ever comes to mind. For this project,she had to be more mindful about it andkeep to “what was needed and be partof a team.”

Most of the students involved areboys, but for Cassandra, being a girl in-terested in cars is nothing out of the or-dinary. In fact, one could say it is in herblood. Her uncle owns an auto bodyshop and she has often worked on carswith her father. Cassandra’s area of in-terest is not tinkering in the engine, butquite apt for this project, fixing up cars’exteriors. She likes “painting them andmaking things better.”

For Anthony Xochipa, the proj-ect opened his eyes to another careerpossibility. The sophomore learned thatit is not enough to be satisfied with thedrawing on the paper, but with it on thecar, as well. At that moment, his feel-ings were mixed. He was pleased withhis devil, but was experiencing someissues with the paint.

Cassandra and Anthony’s teacher,Louis Rosso said, “It is a great oppor-tunity for the kids to showcase theirartistry, drawing capability and how totransfer artwork on to a car.

Used Tires Make a Fashion StatementWomen Auto Know, a not for profitthat promotes education, environmen-tal responsibility and employment op-portunities for veterans and those withdisabilities, announced its alignmentwith Maryhaven Center of Hope inYaphank, Long Island and the North-port Veterans Association.

The two organizations will be re-sponsible for the manufacturing andfulfillment of products made byWomen Auto Know from recycledtires. Audra Fordin, Founder and Ex-ecutive Director of Women AutoKnow, developed the program as aconscious statement to address theproblems the environment faces withdiscarded tires. According to the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency’s mostrecent data, an estimated 27 millionscrap tires are put in landfills annually.

Prompted to make a change,Fordin realized she could take the dis-carded tires and turn them into practi-cal accessories while simultaneouslyhelping the environment and helpingthose not easily employed. Fordin, arecognized Girl Scout Great, first tookthe idea to the Girl Scouts as part ofher mission to introduce girls to theauto industry. Women make up 1.2%of the auto industry and it is Fordin’sgoal to bring more women into thefield.

As a fourth generation owner/op-erator of one of America’s most suc-cessful auto franchises, Great Bear,Fordin used her Flushing location tonot only become a leader in the in-dustry but a mentor for all women. Byteaching the girl scouts to make fash-ionable belts as well as pet leashes outof tires, Fordin was able to expose thegirls to tires in a user friendly way.

“If you can wear a tire, you canfix or change a tire” explained Fordin.The environmental impact alone iswell worth the commitment to thisproject. Tire piles in landfills are breed-ing grounds for mosquitoes and dis-ease carrying rodents as well as a highrisk for fires. Tire fires can burn for ex-tended periods of time and emit a thickblack smoke and an oily residue whichpollutes the air, the soil and groundwater. Fordin hopes that making afashion statement will also male an en-vironmental one. Fordin believes that“If we can stop putting tires in landfillswe can truly make a difference.”

Honda is adding the Acura MDXsport utility to the production lineupin Alabama next year, and the movewill open up a new export market forthe Lincoln plant’s products.

Some of the MDX vehiclesmade at the plant will be shipped toChina, said Tom Shoupe, head ofHonda’s Alabama operations.

A small percentage of theplant’s vehicles, now Odysseyminivans, Pilot SUVs and Ridge-line pickups, are exported each yearto markets including the MiddleEast, South America and CentralAmerica. Pilots are also shipped toRussia.

The MDX, now produced at aHonda plant in Canada, has been ex-ported to China for several years insmall numbers, so that will continueafter the production switch. Lastyear, 485 MDX vehicles wereshipped to China, Honda spokesmanEd Miller said.

The SUV is sold in the UnitedStates. The MDX move will giveHonda more room in Canada tobuild the popular CR-V SUV. Acurais Honda’s luxury vehicle division,and the MDX will be the first Acuraproduct built in Alabama.

Honda to Add Acura MDX toAlabama Plant for Sales

The Canton Nissan plant in Missis-sipi began making the Altima backin 2004, and now its employees willwork on the new, fifth-generationmodel, as the 2013 model year carhas begun rolling off the line.

The Canton plant, which alsobuilds body-on-frame trucks, has putfull priority on the 2013 Altima,building it in three shifts.

The new 2013 model year mid-size sedan is actually based on theold model’s platform, but it has beenheavily restyled and modified.

The base 2013 Altima comeswith a 2.5-liter 182hp inline-four,starting at $21,500 and the top-of-theline model gets a 3.5-liter V6, in SLtrim, it will grab just over $30,000.

“Today’s successful start ofproduction of the Nissan Altima,our top-selling vehicle, only canhappen because of the support ofour dedicated workforce in Can-ton,” said Bill Krueger, vice chair-man, Nissan Americas. “TheCanton team builds among thehighest-quality vehicles in the in-dustry, and we are looking forwardto bringing their production expert-ise to the next generation of thisaward-winning car.”

Mississippi Nissan PlantStarts New Altima Model

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so we certainly have to respect that.We were disappointed they left theprogram, they were obviously highperformers. We continue doing thetest, we had more than (those 17shops) in the market area,” Avery said.

Tim Crawford, who has ownedand operated Hwy 280 Paint and Bodyat 19360 Hwy 280 in Birmingham, for40 years, was one of those shops. Herecently dropped State Farm after along and beneficial relationship, opt-ing to remove his shop from StateFarm’s Select Service program than beforced to use the PartsTrader software.

“I have been on the State FarmSelect Service program since the verybeginning, a long time. We’ve had avery good relationship with StateFarm,” said Crawford. “But throughthe years, we have realized that theyhave started controlling different partsof my business, from labor rates andlabor times ... to this new PartsTraderprogram, which has really taken thelast aspect of my business out of mycontrol. At that point, State Farm hastotal control over my business, andthat’s not what I went into business for.When they start dictating things to thepoint that it takes all of my profit away,I’m gonna have to take a stand andtake my business back.”

Crawford’s three main objectionsto the PartsTrader program are 1)being forced to use only the vendorswho sign up with PartsTrader, 2) los-ing parts profits and 3) waiting onparts through the bidding processwhich could delay jobs getting startingand causing a “clerical nightmare.”

According to the ASA fact-find-ing report released in early June, thetime frame for “parts pricing” is set attwo hours as a default and can be ad-justed to one hour by the repairer, orthe repairer can set a custom close timegreater than one hour. Pricing remainsopen for the allotted time, and duringthis process, shops are unable to exe-cute on the estimate.

In addition, “the PartsTrader pro-gram would take me from the vendorsI normally use, which was going totake my business out of the Birming-ham area, and make me use vendors Ihave no relationship with,” Crawfordsaid, adding that none of the Birming-ham vendors he uses opted to sign upwith PartsTrader.

The ASA report notes that partic-

ipation in the Select Service programis a collision shop decision, but thatparticipation in the PartsTrader pro-gram is a supplier decision.

“Their agreement with us has aprovision that they (repair shops) arerequired to use the tool, and that hasbeen in our agreement for a long time,”said Avery. “We have a tool that we be-lieve meets the need of the customer.Our goal is to have a win-win foreverybody, but there could be a repairerwho doesn’t feels that way and choosesto leave the Select Service program be-cause they don’t feel it is in their bestinterest and that is something they needto decide. But our goal is to get infor-mation from all the stakeholders, whichwould include the repairers and thesuppliers, to have a win for everybody.The goal is to improve across the boardfor our shared customer.”

Three weeks after dropping StateFarm, Crawford says business is boom-ing.

“I am encouraged by the amountof work I have not having State Farm.They were probably 50% of my busi-ness, but I have not found any reduc-tion in my business by leaving them,”Crawford said. “Of course, my cus-tomers came to me for what we do forthem, not because I was a State Farmshop. They come because of the typeof work we do, our customer service,and the quality of our work. I am notreally worried about State Farm send-ing me work or not.” He added, “I feelthat State Farm does not have enoughgood shops left in Birmingham to han-dle their business. In the Birminghamarea, they lost close to approximately40% of their quality shops that didclose to 70% of their work.”

Don Meadows has been the bodyshop manager for 23 years with JimBurke Automotive, a new car dealer-ship that sells seven lines and has beenin business since 1945. They are lo-cated at 517 14th St. North in Birm-ingham. The high volume dealershipdoes $450,000 a month in business.They aren’t sure yet how much busi-ness they’ve lost after being droppedby Select Service due to their refusalto try PartsTrader.

According to Meadows, the deal-ership didn’t want to try the Part-sTrader software because they didn’tlike the idea of having all parts pur-chases going through a third-party ven-dor. “We were told if we did not usePartsTrader, we would be taken off Se-lect Service, and we were the day thePartsTrader program started,” Mead-

ows said, adding that their customersare being affected by having to waitone to three days for State Farm to in-spect their vehicles for estimates andsupplements. “I have called severalshops that are using PartsTrader andnone have had anything good to sayabout the program,” Meadows said. Hefeels State Farm is implementing Part-sTrader because “they want completecontrol of the repair process.”

John Fagan, owner of FaganCollision Repair in Moody, AL., hasbeen in business for 15 years and alsoopted out of Select Service rather thanget on board with PartsTrader. Hedoesn’t like the idea of having to usethe lowest price bid on parts or the factthat State Farm “threw the LKQ (likeand kind quality) parts and aftermar-ket parts into the same mix. It if wasjust a parts locater for used parts, itmight have been OK.” But, mainly, hesaid, he is concerned about “the un-certainty of the LKQ parts they wantyou to buy.” He reported he hadn’t lostany business in the first few weeksafter dropping State Farm.

Donnie Burgett, owner of Don-nie’s Paint & Body, which has been inbusiness for 22 years in Trussville, AL.,also opted to drop out of State Farm’sSelect Service rather than use Part-sTrader. He feels that if he had gone onthe PartsTrader program, he’d be work-ing more than the 10-11 hours a day hewas already working handling StateFarm clients and claims. The Part-sTrader program would bring addi-tional administrative work, less moneyand a reduction in profits, he said.

“I decided to bail out of the pro-gram after several years because I did-n’t see any benefit for my company ormyself in any way whatsoever,” Burgettsaid. “PartsTrader was going to creatediscounts and maybe even ill feelingswith my vendors because they weregoing to have to bid on parts and I feltlike parts would be coming in fromevery direction on one job, instead offrom one direction. It’s all about dis-counts for State Farm, and I don’t havea problem with discounts, except whenit is going to cost me money. Being onthe program would cause me extrawork, an extra two hours per claim onmy part, to save State Farm money andcost me money and reduce my profits.”He said ‘no thanks.’ Additionally, hesaid he doesn’t know of any suppliersparticipating in the program.

According to the ASA fact-find-ing study, the report stated, “Currentlyin the pilot, shops are experiencing ini-

tial increased administrative costs at anestimate of 30 minutes daily. This isbeing evaluated within the pilot. Part-sTrader states that this is true with anynew system, but that over time, it willbe more efficient and save time. Part-sTrader intends to contract an inde-pendent study to validate this.”

Burgett feels some satisfactionabout dropping State Farm’s SelectService. Today, he works a normaleight-hour day instead of 10 or 11 hoursa day. Three weeks off Select Service,he sees no effect on his business.

“If there is going to be any effect,it has not hit yet,” he said. “It is like itwas 15 years ago. They send an ap-praiser out and we negotiate repairs ona claim and they do all the administra-tive work and we just do the bodywork again like it used to be.”

Like other body show owners inhis area, Burgett reports that he does-n’t know anyone who is happy with thePartsTrader program. “Most of mycompetitors who are doing the programare doing it in desperation, for fear theymight lose State Farm business ... theyare afraid... but they aren’t happy.”

Now that he is no longer tied toState Farm, Burgett feels he did the rightthing. “I felt like this was something Ineeded to do a couple years ago, but likemy competitors, I felt like I needed them(State Farm) ... until it came to this andit made my final decision to bail out ofthe program. It’s all about their profits.They will realize more savings, whichwill make them realize more profits, atthe expense of the body shops and partsvendors. I am surprised this programhasn’t gone away yet.”

According to ASA’s findings todate, the majority of repairers makingcomments are not in favor of the newState Farm application. “While themajority of sentiments are comingfrom non-participating shops (whichmake up approximately 75 percent ofthe facility market), the actions ofsome of the Select Service shops (re-moving themselves from the program)also demonstrate lack of support forthe application,” the report said.

In response to the controversy sur-rounding the PartsTrader issue, StateFarm in early June sent an open letterto all of its 10,300 Select Service shopsand repair facilities throughout theUnited States and Canada. Avery notedthat the letter explained State Farm’sgeneral intent, the status of the pro-gram, the overall process, as well as ac-knowledging the negative comments

Continued from Cover

Birmingham Reacts

See Birmingham Reacts, Page 51


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A federal jury convicted EmmanuelDuran, 28, Raheem Brown, 24, andJohn Bowie, 23, of the armed rob-beries of pharmacies in Philadelphiaand convicted Duran and Brown ofrobbing the A&G Auto Body inPhiladelphia. All of the defendantswere convicted of conspiracy tocommit robbery, distribute the nar-cotics they sold, and related weaponsoffenses. Duran and Brown were alsoconvicted in the gunpoint robbery ofan auto body shop. Prosecutors saidDuran shot a customer in the leg witha .40-caliber, semiautomatic handgunwhen he didn’t hand over $1,000 fastenough. While Brown pointed ahandgun at the customer, prosecutorssaid Duran took $250 from theshop’s owner.

Bowie and Duran were previ-ously convicted of home invasionrobberies and other offenses. As a re-sult, Bowie and Duran face a manda-tory prison term of 207 years just forthe weapon offenses, which wouldrun consecutive to any prison termfor the robbery counts. Brown faces amandatory 107-year prison term forthe weapon counts, which would runconsecutive to any prison term forthe robbery counts.

Trio in Philly Body ShopRobbery Ring Convicted

A state grand jury indicted twoformer owners of two city autobody and repair shops on chargesof trafficking in stolen automobileparts.

Fermin Ortiz, a 52-year-oldlast known to be living in PuertoRico, and his ex-wife, Judy Perez, a52-year-old Trenton woman, know-ingly received or purchased stolenvehicles and parts when they wereowners of Capital City Collision andArena Auto Sales on Reservoir Streetin Trenton, NJ according to the in-dictment.

The two each face charges ofoperating a facility for the sale ofstolen automobiles or parts, a sec-ond-degree charge, and receivingstolen property, a third-degreecharge. They each also face a chargeof knowingly initiating, organizingthe financing of or supervising thetrafficking in stolen property with avalue over $500.

Ortiz and Perez are chargedwith using the two facilities be-tween July 29, 2007, and Oct. 2,2008, for the remodeling, repaint-ing or separating of automobileparts for the resale of stolen auto-mobiles.

Elected officials, AAA and insur-ance industry advocates recentlyurged the State Assembly to pass alaw that would toughen penaltiesagainst those who stage car acci-dents.

The bill stipulates that anyonewho causes a collision to commit in-surance fraud would be charged witha class D felony and face up to sevenyears in prison.

Alice’s Law is named for AliceRoss, a 71-year-old Queens grand-mother who was killed when otherstried to stage a fake accident.

“We’re paying hundreds andhundreds of extra dollars in insur-ance premiums on our car insurancebecause of these type of frauds,” saidAssemblyman David Werpin ofQueens.

“Legislation like this is longoverdue because we slowly haveseen a crime turn into an epidemic,”said David Schwartz of NYersStand Against Insurance Fraud.“That’s what we’ve seen with theamount of no-fault cases filed everyyear that have an element of fraud inthem.”

The bill passed the Senate inMarch by a vote of 58-1.

The Environmental ProtectionAgency has awarded Middletown a$200,000 hazardous substances grantto clean up the former Midstate Auto-body property at 1 Kings Avenue.

The auto repair and auto bodyshop operated from 1924-2009. Theauto body shop left behind solvents,motor and hydraulic oils on thegrounds and chemical testing has re-vealed inorganic contaminants andmetals in the building.

The city will build a parking lotonce the brownfield has been remedi-ated. “While new buildings and busi-nesses are critical, equally critical isparking and a clean environment,” ac-cording to a statement by Mayor DanDrew.

“Parking is essential and wehave to carefully plan for it in theback of buildings to that lots don’ttake up Main Street frontage. We needto enclose the street with beautifulbuildings not parking lots.”

The EPA Brownfield Programallows communities to assess, safelyclean up and sustainably reuse brown-fields, property where the redevelop-ment or reuse may be complicated bythe presence of hazardous substances,pollutants or contamination.”

$200k EPA Grant HelpsClean-up for Parking Lot

Advocates Want TougherLaws for Staged Accidents

Jury Indicts Former NJ ShopOwners for Trafficking


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Student Restores Comet for Senior ProjectThe day before he was to show it off tohis classmates, Tyler Post of NorthStonington, CT put the finishingtouches on his senior project.

He washed the windows andmeticulously worked on the body of the1962 Mercury Comet he had restoredover the last five months.

The next day, Post, 18, would tellhis classmates during a 15-minute pres-entation about the hundreds of hours heput into the car, from engine work tocutting, grinding and welding the bodybefore sanding and painting the carsatin black with a stripe of carnival redpearl.

“All these months for 15 min-utes,” Post said.

What Post didn’t have time to tellhis classmates was how he had to planthis project for more than two years sohe could save up for, find and buy theperfect car. Or how he spent the nextsummer saving more money workingat Cross Sound Ferry in New Londonso he could buy parts, materials andsupplies. Or how he felt an over-whelming sense of relief once he fin-ished a project that he said excited himmore than graduation itself.

“My senior year wasn’t a lot offun, it was a commitment to this car,”Post told his peers as they examined the50-year-old Comet outside the school

following his presentation. “It’s proba-bly the greatest thing I accomplished inmy high school career.”

It’s the latest accomplishment forPost, a unique student who has decidedto forgo college and has plans to gowork for Electric Boat instead.

At Wheeler High School, Postplayed lacrosse and basketball all fouryears and soccer his freshman andsophomore years. He’s also an ac-complished artist, having had an artpiece, a pencil sketch titled “BirdFlew” entered in the Slater MemorialMuseum’s Connecticut Artists JuriedExhibition.

Post shares a knack for art withhis brother, John, 20, who attendsgraphic design school in New YorkCity. His art skills also come into playin car restoration. Post and his father,Todd, refer to the car as a “canvas.”

“You’ve got to get your canvasperfectly primed and sanded, otherwisethe imperfections will show throughwhen you paint it,” Post said.

The car was a labor of love, Postsaid, one passed on for generations.Todd Post said his great-grandfatherowned an auto business in New Jerseyduring the turn of the 20th century, andTodd Post’s white 1960 Chevrolet BelAir is a testament to the family’s carobsession.

Storm Chaser Chases Hail-Damaged Cars for ShopsSteve Shapiro is the kind of stormchaser who goes after the damages,not the spectacle. For 21 years he’straveled the world offering his serv-ices as a specialist in auto body dam-age caused by hail.

“This is a severe storm,” Shapirosaid as he worked on a damagedHonda at Bodies By Jay in Moreau,NY. Shapiro is in good company lo-cally, as local body repair shops relyon tradesmen with skills likeShapiro’s to help motorists recoverfrom severe weather.

Shapiro works for North Ameri-can Paintless Dent Repair. While helives near Boston, he figures he’ll bein the Glens Falls, NY, area until theflood of hail-damaged vehicles sub-sides. The paintless dent repair tech-niques allow him to remove mediumand small hail dents without the needfor conventional body work and paint-ing.

“I just came in to deal with themajor part of it,” Shapiro said, addingthere are a lot of cars in the area thatsustained damage requiring more dras-tic repairs.

Jay Cardinale, who owns Bod-ies by Jay, said he’s seen his businessdouble since the recent storm, whichdropped golf-ball-sized hail in parts ofLake George and Bolton. The recent

storm resulted in the first widespreadautomobile hail damage Cardinale’sseen in four years, though the 2008storm wasn’t as bad as this one, hesaid. Cardinale said damage bills forvehicles he’s fixed have been as highas $10,000.

Rich Tanchyk, vice presidentof H&V Collision Center on QuakerRoad in Queensbury, NY, has turnedhis business into a storm recoverycenter of sorts. He said his business,which also has locations in SaratogaSprings, Troy and Colonie, hasabout a dozen paintless dent repairspecialists helping out with repairs.

“We also have our own teamsthat move where the damage is,” saidTanchyk. He estimated his businesshad handled claims on hundreds ofcars so far. He has also gathered in-surance claims representatives athis Quaker Road location to helpmotorists file the paperwork neededto claim the damage on their vehi-cles.



by Ed Attanasio

Fixing cars is rarely a life-and-deathsituation. But, on a hot summer daylast year, a body shop owner had to actquickly to save the life of an insuranceadjuster who was experiencing a seri-ous heart attack at his facility. If BobMcSherry, owner of North HavenAuto Body in North Haven, Connecti-cut had not acted quickly and defini-tively when Mike Vitale, an adjusterfor GEICO, experienced a seriousheart attack in his rear parking lot,there is a very good chance he wouldno longer be alive.

It started out as a typical hot,humid summer morning, but quicklybecame a life-changing experience forat least two people. “It was one ofthose days in Connecticut whereyou’re sweating heavily by 11 a.m.,”McSherry explained. “Mike had along day ahead of him, and he used tobe kind of high-strung back then any-way. Now, since the heart attack, hehas slowed down quite a bit. But, hewas a little wound up that morning be-cause he was behind schedule.”

Vitale’s itinerary then changedradically, McSherry continued. “So,Mike was out there in our back park-ing lot writing up a vehicle when sud-denly he collapsed between two cars.A couple of my techs saw him godown, which was lucky. One of themran into the office and said, ‘The guyfrom GEICO is down and we don’tknow what happened to him!’”

Vitale was fortunate to be atNorth Haven Auto Body because Mc-Sherry is an EMT and a volunteerfireman. “I got out there pretty quickand Mike was not breathing at all,”McSherry said. “After establishingthat he had no pulse, I started doingCPR on him, and, luckily, the fire de-partment was here within three orfour minutes. The firehouse is abouta mile from here and they wereJohnny-on-the-spot. They gave him ashock here and then another one onthe way to the hospital, and by thetime he got there he had a heartbeatand was breathing.”

Unfortunately, Vitale wasn’tquite out of the woods yet, McSherrysaid. “They put him in a medically-in-duced coma for next three days be-cause they were obviously concernedabout brain damage. The people at thehospital told Mike’s family that theywere lucky because we acted quickly,

but they weren’t sure what his condi-tion was. When they took him out ofthe coma three days later, he was100%, talking and being Mike again.”

As a volunteer fireman for almost30 years, McSherry was well-pre-pared and trained to act without hesi-tation. “Most people hear about CPR,but they rarely see it done in person.It’s a mind-blower and not for thefaint-of-heart, that’s for sure. AfterMike went down in the parking lot,more than a few of my employeescame to me and asked about learningCPR. We agreed Mike was very luckythat day, but I asked my guys, ‘Ifsomeone had a heart attack at yourhouse, for example, wouldn’t youwant to help them?’ My employeessaid we should do some training and Iagreed.”

McSherry set up a CPR trainingday for his staff and paid for the ex-pense. “This way, the entire shop willbe ready if anything like that happensagain. We hired a local fireman whodoes CPR training and it took abouteight hours to do it, but after youcomplete it, you’re pretty much anexpert on how to administer it. We didthe training right here at the shop, andwe’re also in the process of installinga defibrillator, which some peoplecall ‘the paddles.’ It costs roughly$2,700, but in the end it’s worth everypenny. I hope one day they don’t haveto use it on me,” he laughed. “They’reeasy to use, and with all of the illus-trations on the device, anyone can doit.”

Vitale is happy to be lucky, in theright place and most importantly, aliveand well. “I went to the shop to look ata car, and the next thing, I was wak-ing up at the hospital. There were nowarnings. My diet is usually prettygood and my weight is ideal, so itcame as quite a surprise.”

A series of fortunate events led toVitale’s life being saved, he explained.“Thank God there was a guy workingon the asphalt in the parking lot. I col-

lapsed between twocars, so if that guyhadn’t been there, Idoubt that anyonewould have foundme until it was waytoo late. He notifieda tech and he raninto the office totell everyone I wasd o w n . A n o t h e rlucky thing was thefact that I had theattack at Bob Mc-Sherry’s shop and

the fire station was so close by. It wasa combination of things and withoutthem, I would probably not be here totalk to you right now.”

Vitale, 61, is now seeing life froma different perspective after the near-death experience, he said. “I have somuch more to accomplish and now Ican. I have a granddaughter and I quitsmoking, so life is good now. Some ofthe things that I used to be so con-

cerned with aren’t as important any-more. Now when I become 65, I willseriously be thinking about retire-ment.”

Vitale thanked everyone whohelped save his life, including the guyfixing the asphalt, Bob McSherry andthe local fire department. “Gratitudeis the word I can use. The first chanceI had, I went around to let everyoneinvolved know that I am truly appre-ciative and indebted forever. Bob Mc-Sherry and I have always had a goodrelationship, but now I can say with-out hesitation that he is my very bestfriend.”

Another valuable piece of ad-vice from Vitale is visit the doctorregularly, whether you need to ornot. “I talked to the doctor after theincident and they told me that theyprobably would have seen some pre-cursors of the heart attack, especiallythe high blood pressure I wasn’taware of. I used to be one of thosepeople that would never go to thedoctor, even when I was sick. But,now for obvious reasons, I havechanged my mind about going to thedoctor.”


Matters of the Heart—Body Shop Owner Saves Adjuster’s Life

Body shop owner Bob McSherry (left) acted quickly to save a lifewhen Mike Vitale, a GEICO adjuster, had a heart attack in the autobody shop parking lot last summer


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Marshmallows for Solar-Powered Devices?The students from Madison-OneidaBOCES of Verona, NY are heating upmarshmallows. But this is not for a fu-ture camping trip or afternoon snack.They designed and created a numberof solar-powered devices.

“It’s called a frenel lens solarcooker. This lens came out of a projectTV,” said student Ryan Thorna.

The students in Engineering Sci-ence, Carpentry and Auto Body Re-pair programs spent most of theschool year coming up with designsfor solar-powered generators andcookers.

They partnered with the organi-zation E4P, which helps needyAfrican villages. They developedways to help the people in one Ugan-dan village who have very little toperform daily tasks like cook andhave clean water. They used some re-cycled materials like wood,tin andaluminum.

Kaliegh Larmer said, “Basi-cally, the sun hits the smooth surfaceand underneath is grooved and it fo-cuses the heat into one focal point andit very quickly, if it’s sunny, can heatthe water or whatever else is in frontof it.”

This solar generator can provideelectricity to schools that rely on nat-

ural light.“In their school, they need light

bulbs. So, they can study and this canrun a 60-watt incandescent light bulbfor nine hours and that would trans-late to more like three or four fluores-cent lights,” said Tracy O’Hern.

Now that their senior projects arecomplete, E4P will take some of theprototypes with them to Uganda thismonth show the people there howthey work so they can replicate them.

E4P Executive Director andFounder Pamela Mandsager said,“Something like this, they’re using re-sources that they have easily availablethat they can purchase very cheaplyand they can use their own manpowerto create and mass produce for thecommunity, which means it’ll beused.”

They figured out how to designsomething and make it work, but theirinstructor says it’s a lesson not just inengineering, but in humanity.

Professional engineer and Madi-son-Oneida BOCES Engineering in-structor David Hale, said, “Studentsfrom our community come togetherfrom different backgrounds, work to-gether for not just for helping eachother, for helping people they nevermet halfway around the globe.”

The Providence Journal reported onJune 19 that the insurance industryhas taken its campaign against the re-cently passed auto body bill in RhodeIsland to the shops to the radio air-waves.

According to the Journal, the adsays: “House Bill 7782 A will forceyour car to be repaired even when itshould be a total loss and will allowbody shops to use the threat of a law-suit to drive up repair costs. Stop theauto body repair rip-off before it's toolate.” Insurance industry trade associ-ations are actively seeking supportand trying to encourage GovernorChafee to veto the bill which achievedfinal passage in the legislature onJune 13 and transmitted to the Gover-nor on June 19, according to theRhode Island General Assembly web-site. See cover story this issue.

Rep. Stephen Ucci, who intro-duced the bill, doesn't believe the billwill affect insurance premiums. Hesaid in an interview with Online AutoInsurance News that insurers "willsay that any change to the way theycurrently run business leads to higherrates." Gov. Chafee, who has not an-nounced a position on the measure,has 10 days to veto the measure, signit, or allow it to pass with no action.

Insurers Take out Radio AdsSlamming Auto Body Bill

Derek J. Schafer, 23, of James Street,died June 10, at his home. Born Feb.25, 1989, in Watertown, a son ofJohn N. “Jack” Schafer Jr. and LauraJ. Paro Schafer, he attended Thou-sand Islands Central schools.

A marriage to Heather Dennerended in separation.

He had been a route driver forGold Cup Farms and was an autobody repairman for Phinn’s Fender &Body Shop, both in Clayton.

He was a member of RiverCommunity Church. Derek enjoyedhunting, fishing, boating, four-wheel-ing, and was an avid outdoorsman.

He was always willing to lend ahand to those in need.

Besides his parents, both ofClayton, he is survived by his pater-nal grandmother, Jean E. Schafer,Clayton; his son, John N. Schafer,Plessis; a brother, Jacob R. Burns; asister, Alicia M. Schafer, both ofClayton; and several aunts, uncles,and cousins.

His paternal grandfather, JohnN. “Jack” Schafer, Sr., died June 9,2002, his maternal grandmother, Jan-ice M. Card, died in 1984, and hiscousin, Jeffery P. Schafer, died May9, 2004.

Auto Body Repairman DerekSchafer Dies at Age 23

Every day when he enters his BristolTownship auto body shop, CraigBowen doesn’t know what he’ll findmissing.

Eight times in the last five years,scrap metal thieves have hit his repairshop and a nearby small strip shop-ping center he owns.

One day he arrived at work to find14 cars stripped of their catalytic con-verters, which control gas emissionsand contain valuable metals.

Then, two weeks after Bowen in-stalled surveillance cameras at theshop, he reviewed footage and sawthieves steal the copper out of hisnewly replaced rooftop air-condition-ing unit.

“It takes the wind right out ofyou,” he said.

Bowen is hardly alone. Since Jan-uary, at least 60 scrap metal theftshave been reported to police through-out Lower Bucks County.

The epidemic of such thefts hasprompted Bucks County lawmakerRep. Tina Davis, D-141, to introducea bill that would place new restrictionson scrap metal sales, require betterrecord-keeping practices involving

transactions and provide police withanother tool to track down thieves.

“My bill would require that everyscrap metal transaction be recordedand that the seller provides a photoID,” Davis said at a news conferenceannouncing the bill in Bristol Town-ship.

The township was a fitting placefor Davis to announce the bill since 28scrap metal thefts reported in thelower end of the county this year tookplace there.

In March, nine Bristol Townshipbusinesses along Veterans Highwayhad rooftop air-conditioner unitsstolen during a three-hour spree; theestimated loss was $27,000.

An FBI report indicates the priceof copper has risen 500 percent in thelast 10 years as a result of a greater de-mand in developing nations such asChina and India. The InternationalTrade Commission said the UnitedStates exported 6 million tons of scrapmetal to developing nations in 2000,and more than 18 million tons in 2007.

The federal law enforcementagency has called scrap metal theft arisk to U.S. infrastructure since typi-

cal targets include electrical substa-tions, cell towers, telephone lines, rail-roads and wells.

Davis’ bill would amend the cur-rent Scrap Material Theft PreventionAct and require scrap metal dealersand recycling processors to record alltransactions of any value including re-quiring sellers to provide photo iden-tification and a license plate number.

Current law requires only thattransactions of $100 or more berecorded. But what often happens,Davis said, is that prolific thieves willbreak up pieces and sell them at nu-merous scrap metal dealers, avoidingthe $100 reporting threshold.

Davis’ bill would also put an endto the practice of cash payments tosellers, requiring check-only pay-ments, which again would help policetrack sellers.

Two local Republicans havesigned on as co-sponsors of HB 2358,local Rep. Bernie O’Neill, R-29, andRobert Godshall, R-53. The bill,which was introduced last month, wasreferred to the House committee onconsumer affairs.

Bensalem and Bristol Township

police who attended the press confer-ence said tighter record-keeping re-quirements and ending cash paymentswould help curb sales of stolen metal,as well as help police better trackthieves.

A favorite target among illegalscrappers are large air-conditioningand heating units that businesses typ-ically use, which can cost $5,000 ormore, and yield about $400 worth ofcopper, according to police.

At the Middletown office com-plex where his ophthalmology prac-tice is located, Dr. David Pao said hehad to replace his ground-level air-conditioner units at least six times inrecent years after copper thieves dam-aged them. At least 25 units through-out the complex have succumbed tothievery, he added.

After one theft, Pao paid for 24-hour security details. Other businessesin the complex have installed cagesaround the units to discourage thieves.Pao had an alarm system installed onhis units so it sounds if someonetampers with them.

“It’s just frustrating. It disruptseverything,” he said.

Epidemic of Scrap Metal Thefts Prompts New Restrictive Bill


At Maaco’s third annual golf outingand charity auction held at the SpringFord Country Club in Royersford, PA

on June 13 at 6 p.m., Maaco PresidentDavid Lapps presented a symboliccheck for $110,000 to the Children’sMiracle Network (CMN) to support theChildren’s Hospital of Philadelphia(CHOP).

The donation will assist CHOP inproviding the necessary care to chil-dren whose insurance may not coverthe procedures required to beat their ill-nesses.

According to Robin Valentino,director of CMN at CHOP, “Maaco’sgenerosity helps the Children’s MiracleNetwork support the Children’s Hospi-

tal of Philadelphia and its auxiliary cen-ters, which treat and support one mil-lion patients a year.” CMN raises

money for 117 children’s hos-pitals nationally.

The children who will ben-efit from the donation wererepresented by Mia Garito,who survived a diagnosis ofacute myeloid leukemia, andher family. At the event, hermother, Sarah, shared her ex-periences with the doctors atCHOPs cancer center whosaved Mia’s life.

Throughout the year, Maacoemployees raised moneythrough car washes, bake salesand other events. Corporatesponsors include

DuPont, PPG and Sherwin-Williams. Combined with thegenerosity of franchisees, cor-porate executives, employeesand supplies, the donatedamount exceeded the expected$100,000 milestone. Maacohoped to raise $100,000 inorder to double last year’scontribution which was twicethe amount raised at their firstannual golf tournament.

“We set out to double lastyear’s record donation and,through the generosity and sup-

port of everyone involved, shot well pastour goal. We asked for a great deal of sup-

port from our ven-dor partners, andthey really steppedup to the plate,”Maaco PresidentDavid Lapps said.“Thank you to ourvendors, our fran-chisees and our cor-porate sponsors fornot only your sup-

port, but your vision to see how far wecould take this. We’re going to set the bareven higher next year.”

Maaco’s donation of $110,000 thisyear is the largest amount raised by ei-ther franchise to date.


Maaco Donates $110,000 to Children's Miracle Network at Annual Golf Tournament

(l to r) Henry Chedraoui of Maaco National Accounts; PerthAmboy, NJ, Maaco franchisee Mohammad Ehtesham;John Wolford of the CEI Group; and Bob Sheppard ofPPG Industries

Mia Garito

Maaco President David Lapps (center) and Driven BrandsChairman Ken Walker present a check to CMN at Children’sHospital of Philadelphia Director Robin Valentino and youngMia Garito, who has fought a rare form of childhood cancerwith the help of CHOP doctors

PartsTrader’s letter, from CEO RobCooper can be read in full at autobo-dynews.com. Search “PartsTrader.” Itreads in part: There has been a greatdeal of public commentary on thisinitiative, and much of it has beennegative. Unfortunately, much of thecommentary has been based on inac-curate information. We are workingto rectify this through ongoing indus-try communications and product edu-cation to all constituent groups. Thisis one of the reasons we have recentlylaunched our new web site atwww.partstrader.us.com.website.

PartsTrader Issues Open Letter

John Keen of Downtown Auto Col-lision Centre in Toronto says that“We could definitely use similar leg-islation here in Canada. This is ex-actly what we need,” says Keen.“There is no practical remedy in thisprovince to resolve a claim fairlyand in a timely fashion. Some insur-ers have created an environment offraudulent activity that has turnedthe body shop/claims industry intothe ghetto of the car business.” Keenbelieves that insurance industry ma-nipulation has led to a lot of unsafevehicles on the road.

Canadian Shop Comments on RIBody Shop Legislation

Iowa Dealership Refuses to Participate in PartsTraderDiana Gauthier, Parts Manager forStew Hansen Dodge Ram ChryslerJeep in Urbandale, Iowa, wrote anopen letter intended for all collisionrepairers in the state of Iowa.

All who may be questioning our in-tent can rest at ease. Stew HansenDodge Ram Chrysler Jeep will notparticipate in PartsTrader.

I’ve been involved in the colli-sion industry since the mid-'70s, andwhat I’ve witnessed is the systematictakeover in the industry by insurancecompanies. We all know insurancecompanies are not insurance com-panies. They are, in fact, investmentcompanies that use insurance as atool to fund their investments, right?Chrysler’s answer to the insurancecompanies’ demands on the body in-dustry was to step up with price-matching the aftermarket parts. Buttheir response is limited to a few ofthe body items that are most consis-tently replaced, and not really astand that can be taken with the in-surance companies insisting on lessquality, non-fitting aftermarketparts.

We at this dealership have takena stand. We will not participate inthis blatantly biased program andreduce the collision centers’ profit

even further with parts bidding. Tothose collision centers that will beforced by State Farm to take part inthe bid process for their parts, youhave our support should you re-fuse—we will continue to conductour parts business as we have donehistorically. If our refusal to partic-ipate in PartsTrader means you can-not buy parts from our store, we willsurely miss talking with you andservicing your business—but we willnot have a hand in the further de-mise of the independence of collisioncenters across the state of Iowa.

I make a statement on most ofour mailings and Mopar Magazinethat the success of your business isour business. We can’t succeed with-out all of you; we have a vested in-terest in making your store assuccessful as possible.

The insurance companies likeState Farm are on their own—I re-fuse to help them take control ofyour businesses and the industry ingeneral. For what it’s worth, that’sthe line we’ve drawn in the sand tohelp support your stand against thisprogram.”

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Al Brodeur’s Auto Body, Inc. in Marl-borough, MA, offers their customerspeace of mind in knowing that everystep of their repair is being handled ina professional manner. The shop facil-itates the claim from start to finish asthey strive to make the repair processas fluid as possible. According toMolly Brodeur, Chief Operating Of-ficer and daughter of owner AlBrodeur, “Al has always operated anhonest shop, and as a result, our cus-tomer base is large and very loyal.”

Since Al Brodeur opened his shopin 1970 in a small rented space downthe street from his current operation,

he has been very involved with thelocal auto body associations. Heserved as Treasurer and Director ofthe Central Massachusetts Auto Re-builders Association, which has nowmerged with AASP-MA, for over 25years. Molly is currently the Treas-urer for AASP-MA as well as thePresident of the Midstate Chapter ofAASP-MA. Molly notes, “Being soinvolved at the association level hasput us in a unique position to alwaysbe at the front line and directly impactlegislation and regulations that affectour industry every day. In late March2012, AASP-MA was successful inkilling a DRP bill and an anti-fraudbill that were positioned to move outof Committee. Both would have beenextremely detrimental to our industryhere in Massachusetts.”

Beyond their involvement withthe collision industry, Al Brodeur’sAuto Body is a member of both theMarlborough Chamber of Commerceand the Rotary Club of Marlboroughfor over 20 years. They have alsosponsored multiple youth sports pro-grams and participated in variouscommunity fundraising events. Re-

garding environmental concerns, themotto at Al Brodeur’s Auto Body isborrowed from a Native Americanproverb: “We do not inherit the Earthfrom our Ancestors, we borrow itfrom our Children.” Everyone at AlBrodeur’s Auto Body understands theimpact that the collision industry hason the environment, so they strive toreduce that impact as much as possi-ble.

Al Brodeur’s Auto Body ensuresthat their painters are certifiedsprayers of DuPont advanced water-borne paint repair systems. They alsouse SATA high volume-low pressurespray gun technology, and their DeV-ilbiss spray booth is equipped with su-perior filtration systems rated at 99%efficiency, exceeding ASHRAE andEPA requirements. Additionally, theycomply with all EPA regulations re-garding how to properly handle haz-ardous waste by participating inhazardous waste recycling programs,and their recycling efforts extend toinclude the recycling of used parts,sheet metal and cardboard.

The shop uses Spies Heckerpaints, and while their customers owna mixture of older and newer modelvehicles, they have recently noticed anincrease in older model vehicles, 2007model and older. Due to this, theyhave also seen more total losses in thepast year due to the vehicles’ age andmileage. Luckily, Al Brodeur’s AutoBody rarely has issues with matchingpaint, even on older vehicles, due totheir experience refinish techniciansand the sophisticated paint matchingsystems that they use.

Al Brodeur’s Auto Body ishoused in a 6,800-square-foot shopwith 14 employees. They complete re-pairs on approximately 90 to 100 carsmonthly. In addition to standard lifts,welders, the shop utilizes Car-O-Linerframe equipment and a DeVilbissDowndraft Spray Booth. In addition,they upgraded their management soft-ware in 2010, and it has completelychanged the way they operate by en-hancing every facet of their business.

All of the technicians employedby Al Brodeur’s Auto Body are I-CARcertified platinum, and their refinishtechnicians are DuPont certified in

waterborne paint applications. Thoughdirect repair programs are illegal inMassachusetts, Al Brodeur’s AutoBody negotiates repairs with all insur-

ers operating in the state in order tobest serve their customers. They sub-let towing, storage, paintless dent re-pair and rentals to other local vendors.

In discussing current trends in thecollision repair industry, MollyBrodeur notes that it is inspiring to seenews about shops who have success-fully filed lawsuits against insurers for

short pays by utilizing the Assignmentof Rights form. “It’s encouraging tosee shops taking advantage of themechanisms available to be properlyreimbursed for repairs.” She alsonotes that steering continues to be anissue in the Massachusetts market asdoes the labor rate compensation frominsurers as Massachusetts has the low-est reimbursement rate in the country.

In regards to the future of this in-dustry, Molly says. “Our industry willcontinue to strive to meet whateverchallenges lie ahead. We are a resilientbunch and will always work hard torise above any roadblocks. Relation-ships with customers, insurers andemployees will always remain ourfocus.”

Al Brodeur’s Auto Body, Inc.87 Mill Street CentralMarlborough, MA 01752508-485-1082www.albrodeur.com


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with Chasidy Rae SiskShop Showcase

Chasidy Rae Sisk is a freelance technical writer from Wilmington, Delaware, whowrites on a variety of fields and subjects, and grew up in a family of NASCAR fans.She can be contacted at [email protected].

COO Molly Brodeur with Owner Al Brodeur

Al Brodeur’s Auto Body in Marlborough, MA


The Buffalo, NY, Police Departmentofficials said the city is reviewing anearly 40-year-old ordinance whichregulates how tow truck drivers oper-ate in the Queen City.

The review comes after a tow truckdriver was shot to death in the city’sEast Side in early May. CorddarylHenley, 25, of Buffalo, was gunneddown shortly before 1:40 p.m. atWalden Avenue and Latour Street, afterdropping off a vehicle at Latour Auto,police said. Henley worked for the Pa-triarch Towing Company.

Henley was sitting inside histruck when a silver or gray vehiclepulled up and a gunman fired multipleshots at him. Henley was then able topull away and drive southbound downLatour, where it is believed his vehiclestruck a parked car, fire hydrant andanother vehicle before crashing intothe front porch of a home on Walden.He was pronounced dead at the scene.Henley was a father of six.

Police did not quickly speculateon a motive, but other tow truck driv-ers believe heated competition be-tween tow companies may havesomething to do with Henley’s death.They believe Henley was targeted fol-lowing an altercation with another towtruck driver.

Currently, tow truck drivers oper-ate on a first-come, first-serve basis.Several drivers will respond to auto-mobile accidents to compete for a tow.In Buffalo, those in the industry sayaltercations between tow truck driversare common, because the first driverto the scene often gets the business.

Occasionally, the response of mul-tiple drivers can lead to heated argu-ments and even violence over business,said Buffalo Police CommissionerDaniel Derenda. But Derenda calledthe extent of the problem “debatable”when he expressed hesitancy in enact-ing a “zone system” for tow truck op-erators, as he has the authority to undercity law.

Henley’s death has sparked a re-newed call from some tow truck driv-ers for the city to enhance rulesgoverning their business, to bring aboutorder and quell what some of themrefer to as “turf wars” that sometimesturn bloody. In most other municipali-ties, police enforce zones or rotationsto pick which driver responds to whichwreck. That helps avoid the “turf war.”

Derenda said the city will explore a1974 ordinance which assigns private

tow truck companies to zones. Compa-nies would rotate responses. The 40-year-old city law gives the PoliceDepartment the power to “establish towzones (where) only that tower assignedto that zone will be allowed to tow ve-hicles within that zone.” The code fur-ther states that “towers will bedispatched from a list designated forthat zone on a rotational basis.” The towzones would end disputes and improvetowing coverage, dispatch efficiency,response time and driver convenience.

However, Derenda said, “no po-lice commissioner has opted to en-force” that law because of what hecalled its legal complexities, whichcould easily be challenged in court bycompanies claiming the zones denythem due process.

While the code empowers thecommissioner to set up such a system,it does not require him to, and Derendanoted that no other police commis-sioner in the nearly 40 years since thecode was enacted has felt the need todo so either.

“Well, I can tell you in the 40years that it’s been on the books, Idon’t believe one police commissionerhas put a policy in place,” Derendasaid, adding that it would be difficultto enforce the decades-old rule.

“You have a lot of companies outthere,” he said. “To divide the cityup—it’s something that we’re going tolook at.”

Robert Heidenrich, operationsmanager for Chase Towing in Buffalo,wants the city to enforce more regula-tion. He says when there’s a wreck onthe road, Buffalo can become like the“the wild west,” amid the scrambleamong competing tow trucks to get tothe scene and claim the job on a first-come basis. He says the battle to“claim the hook” has been known toget down and dirty.

“We’ve had drivers that havebeen tazed, stabbed, hit with a base-ball bat... fist fights have erupted, Ipersonally been threatened at an acci-dent by a driver from another com-pany,” Heidenreich said.

The competition is so intense,said Robert Corsi of Chase Towing,that Henley told him that he wasthreatened with a gun by another tow-truck operator the night before thekilling. Corsi said he has been threat-ened with a knife at a crash scene.

“We just want a safe environmentso my drivers can go out there and

make a living for their families likeeveryone else in every other profes-sion around town,” Heidenrich said.

Two of Heidenrich’s workershave turned in their keys, saying theshooting put them over the limit.

Heidenrich said, over the past twoyears, he has contacted the mayor’soffice and the council to push for moreregulation and enforcement.

“Six kids are gonna grow up with-out a father now because we don’thave regulated towing,” Heidenrichsaid. “I mean, it’s a shame.”

Heidenreich explained that feesassociated with a collision can extendwell beyond the charge for towing, asinsurance companies will also paydaily rates for cars stored on the lotsof tow truck operators until a claimsadjuster arrives. If the collision in-volves repair work and the towingcompany is associated with a bodyshop, such as his, then the potential forwork amounting to thousands of dol-lars is also at stake.

Heidenreich claims to have sentproposals for a zone system to bothmembers of the Common Council andthe Mayor’s office, to which he’s heardno response. “It really needs to seri-ously change. I always said somebodywould get hurt,” Heidenreich said.

“It’s something we will look at,and look at best practices nationwide,”promised Derenda, who won’t be theonly one looking into the issue.

North District Common CouncilMember Joseph Golombek Jr., whoalso chairs the Common Council’s Po-lice Oversight Committee, said,“Once the budget process is over, Iwill meet with the tow truck operatorsand the police department, to bring theprofessionals together, sit down withthem, and find out what’s really goingon. I haven’t gotten a lot of calls onthis issue, but there have been enoughto raise one’s curiosity.”

According Golombek, there is al-ready a law on the books, from May2001, that requires tow-truck opera-tors to be licensed and, therefore, onlylicensed operators can be called to thescene. But the law hasn’t been ap-plied, Golombek said, because towingfrom crash scenes in the city is not alucrative business.

A city spokesperson says the citydoes have contracts with a few desig-nated tow truck operators, but thatthey are only called out in special cir-cumstances, such as when a vehicle

needs to be impounded as part of a po-lice investigation and only when acity-owned tow truck in unavailable.

The owner of one of those firms,Jim Mazzariello of Jim Mazz Towing,cautioned against making a connec-tion between Henley’s death and hisoccupation.

“It would only be logical to as-sume this incident is a matter of somepersonal motivation, separate from hisactual occupation, as towing itself inour city has never once been associ-ated with violence of that magnitude.In almost three decades of experiencewe have never witnessed any reasonthat our industry could escalate tosuch a level without some underlyingcircumstance as an explanation,”Mazzariello said.

“It would be misleading to thepublic to criminalize our industrybased on a singular and isolated inci-dent considering our impeccablelegacy as not only recovery special-ists; but first responders and commu-nity servants,” said Mazzariello.

The competition between towtruck drivers in Buffalo was docu-mented in a reality television showpilot called Tow Truck Cowboys,which is available on YouTube.

Tow Truck Driver’s Murder Gets Buffalo to Review 1974 Rules

The Mahwah, NJ, Township Councilsuspended a Ramsey Auto Body towtruck operator from working in thetownship for a period of 30 tower ro-tation days.

While off duty, the employeehad responded to the scene of a three-car motor vehicle accident. He re-portedly knew one of the peopleinvolved in that accident.

According to a subsequent com-plaint lodged in mid-April by policeofficers on duty at the time and occu-pants from two of the three vehiclesinvolved, the employee allegedly in-sulted police officers by calling themnames and confronted the other driv-ers.

Mayor Bill Laforet and busi-ness administrator Brian Campionrecommended that the driver bebarred from operating in the town-ship for that 30-day period as a result,but some council members said theyfelt the punishment was not harshenough. Councilman SamuelAlderisio said that three other com-plaints had been lodged against thedriver over the past two to threeyears. Ramsey Auto Body, however,is excluded from the towing ban.

Mahwah Council SuspendsNJ Shop’s Tow Truck Driver


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The National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration has widened its inves-tigation of engine fires in the Chevro-let Cruze to include the 2012 modelyear.

In April, the agency announced itwas probing about 177,000 2011Cruzes after reports of two fires thatengulfed and destroyed two vehicles.In documents posted on its Web sitethis week, NHTSA said it’s now alsoinvestigating the 2012 model.

GM spokesman Alan Adler said370,000 vehicles are now included inthe investigation. In an April 4 letter toGM, NHTSA requested data from theautomaker by May 11. Adler said GMresponded to 10 of NHTSA’s 12 ques-tions, and got an extension on theother two. No documentation of GM’sresponse was available on NHTSA’swebsite. Though the Cruze hasn’t beenrecalled, these types of NHTSA inves-tigations can lead to vehicle recalls.

There have been no reported in-juries or accidents resulting from thefires being investigated, and Adlersaid GM is also investigating severalfires, but wouldn’t comment on thenumber being investigated.

On April 29, according to a com-plaint to NHTSA, a driver reported

that flames burst through the front ofa 2012 Cruze while traveling at about45 miles per hour.

GM sold 18,205 Cruzes in April,down 28 percent from the samemonth last year. It sold 75,288 of thevehicles through the first four monthsof 2012, down slightly from sales of75,365 during the same period lastyear.

Malibu Eco recallSeparately, GM said it is recall-

ing 4,304 Chevrolet Malibu Eco carssold in the United States to reprograma module that controls airbag deploy-ments. GM said in what it describedas rare cases under extremely aggres-sive turning, the roof rail airbags insome 2013 model year Malibu Ecosmight inflate. It also said in anotherscenario it described as rarer that theairbags and safety belt pretensionersmight not deploy. GM said no crashesor injuries have been reported relatedto this issue. GM said it discoveredthe problem during a development testin which one of the cars was perform-ing extreme maneuvers. It said letterswill be mailed to car owners on June1 with instructions to have the repro-gramming done at no cost at a dealer.

2012 Chevy Cruze Added to NHTSA Probe Malibu Ecos, More Acura TLs Face RecallGM has said it is recalling 4,304 ofthe 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Ecos to re-program a part that controls the de-ployment of air bags. Honda MotorCo. said it is recalling 52,615 of the2007-08 Acura TL vehicles becauseof fire risks from leaking power steer-ing hoses.

GM said no crashes or injurieshave been reported due to the problemwith the Malibu Eco, but it authorizedthe recall after it found the problemduring a development test in whichthe vehicle was performing “extrememaneuvers,” according to a GM state-ment.

After hard braking, a modulemay reset. If that happens during ag-gressive turning and the vehiclesenses a potential rollover, the roofrail air bag may unintentionally de-ploy, according to the National High-way Traffic Safety Administration.

Also, the air bags or seat belt pre-tensioners may not deploy during acrash, increasing risk of injury.

The Malibus were manufacturedfrom Oct. 24, 2011, through March31.

The recall follows a customersatisfaction program GM launchedabout a month ago on about 10,000

Malibu Ecos that had the moduleissue, GM spokesman Alan Adlersaid. In that program, affected cus-tomers were sent letters advising themto have their module reprogrammedby a certain date to qualify for a freerepair. Dealers also fixed the softwareissue on many cars before they weresold to the public, Adler said.

The 4,304 Malibu Ecos under re-call are the remaining vehicles thathaven’t had the module repro-grammed, Adler said.

Customers will receive lettersafter June 1 with instructions on howto contact their dealer to have theissue fixed for free.

In the Acura TL recall, Hondasaid the power steering hose may fail,causing fluid to leak onto the hot cat-alytic converter, the Japanese au-tomaker told NHTSA.

In total, Honda has now recalledmore than 370,000 vehicles to addressthe problem in three separate recalls.

In November 2007, Honda re-called 43,200 2005-08 Acura RL ve-hicles to address the same problem. InFebruary 2008, Honda recalled273,000 2004-08 Acura TLs. The newrecall adds the 2008 TL base modeland 2007-08 Type-S.

Toyota, Honda and General Motorshave confirmed they plan to inte-grate Siri, Apple Inc.’s voice controltechnology used on the iPhone, intoconnectivity systems of upcomingvehicles.

Spokespersons from the threecompanies confirmed the plans to Au-tomotive News after announcementsmade by Apple at its Worldwide De-velopers Conference in San Fran-cisco.

In essence, vehicles compatiblewith the Siri service will allow driv-ers to make calls, dictate text mes-sages, look up directions and use

other Siri functions by plugging theiriPhone into a USB cable in the car.Pressing a button on the steeringwheel will activate Siri, and driverscan speak commands to their phonehands-free.

A new Siri feature, called “EyesFree,” will help drivers use theiriPhones while keeping their eyes onthe road by allowing iPhone ownersto control more of the device’s func-tions with Siri with the screen off tomitigate distracted driving. The EyesFree feature will be released as part ofApple’s latest version of its mobileoperating software due out this fall.

Toyota, Honda and GM Will Use Siri Voice TechnologyChrysler has expanded a recall re-garding corrosion on Jeep LibertySUVs to include the 2006 and 2007model years after recalling the 2004and 2005 model years in March, U.S.safety regulators and Chrysler saidtoday.

The action brings the total num-ber of Jeep Liberty vehicles recalledin the four model years to about410,000. Most of those vehicles,about 347,000, are in the UnitedStates.

The two additional years add137,176 U.S. vehicles to the recall.

The recall affects vehicles in

cold-weather areas that can sus-tain a rear suspension lower con-trol arm fracture due to excessiveconditions because of salt onroads in winter, according to afiling with the U.S. NationalHighway Transportation SafetyAdministration.

Such a break could lead to loss ofvehicle control and a crash, NHTSAsaid.

Chrysler said it was not aware ofany injuries or accidents related to theissue. Chrysler will pay to replace rearlower control arms in the affected ve-hicles.

Chrysler Expands Recall

The Lexus GX SUV, first introducedin 2003, has always been marketed asa luxury SUV but is based on therugged body-on-frame platform un-

derpinning more serious off-roaderslike the Toyota 4Runner and FJCruiser.

Despite this, the vehicle has en-

joyed a reasonable level of sales and in2010 spawned a second-generationmodel.

For the third-generation of its

GX, Lexus is considering adopting acar-like unibody platform, whichwould make the GX more a crossoverthan a true SUV.

3rd Generation Lexus GX Could Lose its SUV Look


Everyone has a reason why they use adealer repair shop vs. an independentshop… These are a few of those rea-sons I’ve run into over my decades ofindependent service work.

Customers come in a wide rangeof styles. There are my regular cus-tomers, occasional customers, priceshoppers, referrals, and friends of thefamily. Some don’t bother to tell mehow they happened to be at the shop;maybe they’ve read an advertisement,saw a billboard somewhere, orthey’ve checked out one of thosewebsites that evaluate businesses byway of customer responses. Perhapsthey’ve heard of the shop through thegrapevine, or they might have justdriven by to check it out. But I’venever heard of anyone refer to them-selves as a “dealer customer.”

It could be there are some differ-ences between what people think ofthe various different types of repairshops, or what they are used to deal-

ing with. Whatever the case may be,once they are at your front counteryou want to try and make them a cus-tomer of your own.

Then again, do you really wantto take on every job that comes in thedoor? I certainly don’t. There’s timessomeone will bring in something thatI’m not qualified to work on, or it’ssomething that is so far gone it can’tbe taken care of without an exorbitantamount of cash to repair it. Then thereare those proverbial “basket cases,”oh yeah...actual “basket cases”dragged in to the service bays. (AndYES, they do come in baskets, crates,and/or boxes. All the nuts, bolts, elec-trical parts, and components scatteredin haphazard piles of the owner’sgreatest intentions gone wrong.)

Of course, there are the strangeor unusual customer responses thatkeep you on your toes. I sometimesstand behind the counter wonderingwhat in the world these people are

thinking... how am I going to getthrough the usual monologue in thefront office and still have enough san-ity left to repair the car? Some ofthese requests and explanations arejust too bizarre to be real.

“Hi, I’m here because of mybrother-in-law who sent me,” (I’mthinking to myself... alright! this is agood start), “He said you could fix mycar,” the new arrival to the shop tellsme.

“What seems to be the prob-lem?” I’ll ask.

“He changed the “autovalve” andhe said you would know what to doabout it.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what an“autovalve” is. (So much for a goodstart...) Could you describe what’swrong with the car, and then maybe Ican sort out what part you’re actuallytalking about.”

“Apparently you’re not as goodas my brother-in-law said you were.You should know what one is. Obvi-ously you don’t know how to fix mycar then... I’m taking it to the dealer,”the now aggravated customer tellsme, “Oh, and don’t worry I’ll tell mybrother-in-law about this.”

You know, there are times I don’twant to even ask another question, orwant to take the time to get to the bot-tom of some of these wacky explana-tions. I’d rather see this kind ofproblem just vanish with the goofyowner and their explanations. If theythink they need something done totheir autovalve, I’m more than happyto let the dealer take care of it. Offyou go to the dealer little lady...they’ll love to talk to you, and I’msure they have plenty of autovalvesover there.

At times, I pity the poor servicewriters at the dealerships. Because asit seems to be in these cases, the deal-ership is primarily the last stop in thislong line of relatives with wrenches,repair facilities, and parts store ge-niuses trying to help out the customer.The service writer really doesn’t havemuch choice but to deal with them.Let’s face it...... they are the “deal-er-ship.”

The phone rings again, the callertells me, “Well, I don’t know if you

can do this kind of work or not. Iprobably ought to just take it to thedealership.”

“What seems to be the problem,sir?”

“It’s my electric window, I thinkit’s the switch because my window isstuck halfway down. Probably bent abracket, you know.” (Self-inflicted-diagnostics … I can tell...)

“Sir, any decent independentshop can handle anything the dealer-ships can do. A window problem is nobig deal. I take it you were referredhere?”

“Yes, a couple of my friends toldme about you.”

(Apparently, his friends neg-lected to tell him that we actuallymake the repairs too. I suppose hethinks his neighbors just come by theshop and chat about car repair.)

I find it rather confusing when acustomer calls and tells me their caris at the dealership. They’ll tell methat the problem has already been di-agnosed, and then tell me that all theirfriends recommended that they taketheir car to my shop for repair... but,instead they are sitting in a servicebay at the dealership. After the usualphone introductions, they’ll soon getto the real reason for their phone call:

“They want $947.53 to fix mycar... do you think that’s too high?”

I guess at this point, I’m sup-posed to justify the cost or give themsome outrageously lower price. I re-ally don’t know how I can do that,when I haven’t even seen the car yet,or even what problems they’re havingwith it!

“You’re there already ma’am. Ifthey have done their job correctly, anddiagnosed the car properly, then theprice is their price.”

“They want a diagnostic chargeif I take it out of their shop right now.”

“Ma’am, you’ll pay another di-agnostic charge at the next shop, so Iwould advise you, since you’re there,let them take care of the problem asthey see fit. Unless you feel uncom-fortable with their results or diagno-sis, I would suggest you let them takecare of it.”

“I didn’t know where else to take

Take it to the Dealer!

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“This bill doesn’t benefit con-sumers, it benefits the auto body shops.It provides them with more money forthe work that they’re doing,” saidFrancis O’Brien of the Insurers Asso-ciation of America.

In a letter to policy holders,Robert A. DiMuccio, chairman andCEO of Amica Mutual Insurance, saidthe legislation that just passed “allowsshops to set inflated prices for laborand repairs and [use] the threat of law-suits to charge these exorbitant repaircosts.”

Until now, if a shop felt that it hadbeen unfairly reimbursed, it could takethe insurer to court, but only using anassignment of proceeds case where theshop would legally seek reimburse-ment representing the consumer.

“This is a great consumer bill,”said Jina Petrarca-Karampetsos,who testified in support of the measureprior to the Senate vote. “This is a greatbill. It’s a fair bill. This doesn’t requireinsurers to set a rate for every shop.This just says to every shop, ‘Hey, ifyou feel you are not getting a fair rate,then go ahead and prove your positionin court.’”

PCI New England Vice Presidentand Regional Manager FrankO’Brien was actively posting mes-sages on Twitter as the Senate Judici-ary Committee debated the bill on June12. O’Brien said the bill was bad forconsumers and called the measure “theworst auto body bill ever.” He said in-surers described the bill as “unprece-dented” and the “most one-sidedthey’ve ever seen.”

“This bill doesn’t benefit con-

sumers, it benefits the auto body shops.It provides them with more money forthe work that they’re doing,” said Fran-cis O’Brien of the Insurers Associationof America.

AIA believes H.B. 7782A allowsfor nationally unprecedented privaterights of action for auto body shops di-rectly against insurers and is "poorpublic policy."

“No other state in the nation al-lows auto body shops to set non-nego-tiable rates and attempt to force themon third-party payers under threat of lit-igation,” said Gary Henning, AIANortheast region vice president. “Thislegislation represents poor public pol-icy which could lead to an explosion oflitigation. It should be vetoed when itreaches the governor’s desk.”

AIA says that Rhode Island is oneof the most expensive states in the na-tion for auto body repairs. Currently,drivers pay the sixth highest collisioninsurance premiums in the nation duein large part to higher-than-averageclaim costs, including labor costswhich exceed the national average by26.7 percent.

The bill also includes specific lan-guage stating that an insured may stillassign the rights of their claim to abody shop if they so wish.

The bill passed the Senate 24-11and is now on the Governor’s desk,provides access to small claims courtfor shops who feel they must sue to befairly reimbursed. Current law wouldrequire a shop to take these types of is-sues before a Superior or DistrictCourt, with proper legal representation.“If this bill passes, a shop can representthemselves in small claims court for afiling fee of $80,” said Petrarca-Karampetsos, speaking on behalf of theAuto Body Association of Rhode Is-

land (ABARI).The measure, originally sponsored

by ABARI, also includes specific lan-guage stating that an insured may stillassign the rights of their claim to abody shop if they so wish.

The insurers testifying against thebill argued that the bill forces them toaccept whatever a shop demands underthe threat of being sued, but that is notso, according to Petrarca-Karampetsos.“This isn’t a name your price bill, thisis a bill that requires a shop to provebefore a court that their price is a fairone, that their charges are reasonable.”

“The bill doesn’t say that insurershave to reach an agreement. It just saysthat they have to negotiate in goodfaith, and if you can’t reach an agree-ment, the insurer may pay whatever itdetermines. If the shop doesn’t feelthat’s fair, the burden is on them toprove it in court.”

“This actually removes a lot of thehassle and delay for consumers,” Pe-trarca-Karampetsos said. “If the shopand insurer don’t agree, this bill says tothe insurer, ‘Just pay the claim on yournumber, whatever number you think isfair, write the check, leave it with theshop, and let them worry about it.’ Thiseliminates all the delays of the past. Butperhaps more importantly, the cus-tomer is not involved. It leaves themout of it.”

“This law is a simple, fair solu-tion. It doesn’t require regulation. Itgives insurers a chance to challengeeverything we say, and it does so with-out a sweeping mandate,” says Pe-trarca-Karampetsos.

But that isn’t the only new law thisbill would create.

The measure also makes changesto how total losses are handled inRhode Island. Unless Governor Lin-

coln Chafee vetoes the bill, insurerswill no longer be permitted to declare avehicle a total loss if the cost to restorethe vehicle to pre-accident condition isbelow 75 percent of the fair marketvalue of the car.

“This part of the bill is a real winfor consumers,” said Petrarca-Karam-petsos. “Today, it doesn’t matter howmuch a customer might beg and pleadwith their insurer to fix their car, if theydon’t want it totaled. If their insurer gota high bid on the salvage, and can savemoney even by totaling their car at 50percent or less, they total the car, nomatter what their customer wants.”

In addition, the bill sets forth anew definition of fair market value inthe case of total losses.

According to the bill, “Fair mar-ket value” means the retail value of amotor vehicle as set forth in a currentedition of a nationally recognized com-pilation of retail values commonly usedby the automotive industry to establishvalues of motor vehicles.

The new definition, according toPetrarca-Karampetsos, would precludethe use of products developed exclu-sively for the insurance industry, suchas the Audatex, CCC, and Mitchell sys-tems, and require the use of guides likethe NADA book used by car dealers.The Property Casualty Insurers Asso-ciation of America (PCI) and the Amer-ican Insurance Association (AIA) areboth opposed to the bill.

AIA, in a press release on June 13,described the bill as “reckless” andcalled on Governor Chafee to veto themeasure. The association said the lawwould unleash a flood of lawsuitsagainst insurance companies. The billwould take effect upon passage. Down-load the text of the legislation at auto-bodynews.com.


Great Consumer Bill

PCI Claims ABARI Legislation Has Increased Repair Costs Twice National Avg.According the Property Casualty In-surers Association of America (PCI),auto body repair costs in Rhode Islandhave skyrocketed since 2003 and iflegislation (HB 7782A) passed by thestate Legislature is signed into law byGovernor Lincoln Chafee, consumersmay face the prospects of even highercosts,

Based on an analysis of the pro-visions in HB 7782A, had it passed in2008 the result would have been a26.5 percent increase in the vehicledamage insurance premium in 2009.Instead of Rhode Island drivers pay-ing $618 per car for vehicle damagecoverage in 2009, they would have

paid $782 per car. If following yearsalso saw a similar 26.5 percent in-crease in costs, drivers would havehad to pay even higher average vehi-cle damage premiums of $989 and$1,252 per car in 2010 and 2011, re-spectively.

“Residents in Rhode Island al-ready pay among the highest auto re-pair bills in the nation and unlesssomething is done, the rapid growth islikely to continue,” said FrankO’Brien, PCI vice president. “We areurging Gov. Chafee to take the firststep in addressing these out of controlcosts by vetoing HB 7782 A. Withouthim taking action this cost trend could

become even worse.”House Bill 7782 A, which passed

in the final hours of the 2012 legisla-tive session, could make it more ex-pensive for vehicles to be repairedfollowing an accident by forcing morecars with severe damage to be re-paired instead of totaled. In addition itwould allow body shops to charge aninflated amount for repairs and forceinsurance companies to pay theseprices or face the possibility of a law-suit.

“In the midst of a strugglingeconomy and not satisfied with hav-ing some of the fastest increasingcosts in the country, the Auto Body

Association of Rhode Island (ABARI)continues to push a legislative agendathat drives up the costs of auto bodyrepair,” said O’Brien. “Since 2003ABARI sponsored legislation hascaused the average repair cost to ac-celerate at a rate more than twice thenational average.”

In 2011, Rhode Island had the 4thhighest overall labor costs in the na-tion with the average total labor costin this state being 26.7 percent higherthan the countrywide average. Addi-tionally, the high cost of auto body re-pairs is one of the main reasons RhodeIslanders pay among the highest ratesin the nation for auto insurance.


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Four-time NASCAR Cup Serieschampion Jeff Gordon helpedDuPont unveil a new 20th Anniver-sary paint scheme on his No. 24DuPont Chevrolet at the headquartersof DuPont Performance Coatings dur-ing the 2012 DuPont NASCAR Day

celebration. Gordon, a NASCAR leg-end, will drive the new Hot Hues™Cosmic Dust Silver Metallic No. 24DuPont Chevrolet in the season finaleat the Homestead-Miami Speedway inFlorida this November, marking hisfamous long-standing partnershipwith DuPont.

Gordon’s historic NASCAR Cup

Series career started 20 years ago atAtlanta Motor Speedway as theyoung driver burst onto the raciangscene in the rainbow-colored Hen-drick Motorsports No. 24 DuPontChevrolet. The following season,Gordon started to take the motor-sports world by storm. Now, 20 yearslater with four championships and 85career victories under his belt, Gor-don will race the commemorative No.24 DuPont Chevrolet only one time atthe last race of the 2012 season. Gor-don, Hendrick Motorsports andDuPont are celebrating their 20th fullseason together - the longest currentrunning driver/owner/sponsor part-nership in NASCAR.

“I’m very fortunate to have an in-credible sponsor like DuPont that hasinvested so much in me and this No.24 Hendrick Motorsports team. Tostick with one driver and one team andto still be here with us today celebrat-ing our 20th full season, is really in-credible,” said Gordon.

DuPont Performance Coatingsproducts have been a constant duringthe storied career of Gordon and Hen-drick Motorsports. The new paint

scheme uses the popular DuPont™ChromaPremier® Pro high perform-ance paint finishes and was designedby NASCAR’s first officially licensedartist Sam Bass.

“We are proud to have ourDuPont™ ChromaPremier® Pro painton the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet withone of NASCAR’s all-time greats,”

said John McCool, president ofDuPont Performance Coatings.“Twenty years is a unique relationshipin NASCAR and it shows that the busi-ness of racing has been good businessfor DuPont and our customers.”

DuPont, a global Fortune 500company best known for brands such

as DuPont™, Kevlar®, Nomex®,Teflon® and Tyvek®, took a chance ona young, unproven rookie driver toshowcase its automotive finishes inbrilliant fashion. Over 20 years ofsponsorship, Gordon has been recog-nized by DuPont as a valuable corpo-rate asset and spokesman.

“Jeff Gordon has been the idealambassador for the DuPontbrand for nearly two decades,”said Scott Coleman, chiefmarketing and sales officer forDuPont. “He is a consummateprofessional and a true cham-pion both on and off the track.”

Gordon has his sights set onone thing when racing the 20thAnniversary paint scheme onthe No. 24 Chevrolet later thisyear – winning.

“I’m looking forward tohopefully taking this special DuPont20 Years paint scheme to Victory Lanein November to thank all of the amaz-ing DuPont employees and customerswho I’ve come to know like familyand who have supported me loyallyover the past two decades,” continuedGordon.


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Jeff Gordon addresses the event

A Louisiana State Penitentiary in-mate serving a life sentence formurder is making a name for him-self for his self-taught achievementin the field of automotive mechan-ics.

Shelby J. Arabie, 49, was oneof 12 people this year to qualifythrough the Institute of AutomotiveService Excellence as a Triple Masterin auto, truck and collision repair,with advanced certifications in gaso-line and diesel engines. About adozen people each year qualify asTriple Masters, said Tony Molla,ASE vice president for communica-tions. The institute sets certificationstandards for automotive servicetechnicians.

Arabie also is among 16 peopleworldwide who hold all 51 certifica-tions the institute offers, Molla said.

Molla said Arabie qualified forworld class technician status thisyear, and he will be honored in 2013by ASE and the Automotive After-market Industry Association. As partof that honor, his name will be listedin a book housed at the AutomotiveHall of Fame.

“Shelby is a member of a verysmall and elite group of technicianswhose achievement is impressive, tosay the least,” Molla said.

“That man is worth a fortune tothis prison,” Angola Warden BurlCain said. “The dollars he’s saved usand will save us in the future will bein the millions.”

In June 2010, Arabie assistedprison officials in designing Angola’sre-entry program, which offers pre-release training to short-term prison-ers sentenced in Orleans Parish. Theprogram aims to offer prisoners jobskills in auto repair, auto paint andbody work and welding.

Carefully selected inmates serv-ing longer sentences, including lifeterms, teach the courses.

Arabie got a machine shop upand running at Angola with the helpof 20th Judicial District Court JudgeHal Ware. Also, Arabie and twoother ASE master technicians, DanaParker and Freddie Wilbert, arescheduled to start a school for indus-trial generator repair.

“He’s kind of like the school su-perintendent. He goes around to all

the schools checking on things,” Cainsaid.

Arabie killed Bennie Posey, 29,of Meridian, Miss., in 1984, afterArabie and a friend agreed to sellPosey and another man 10 pounds ofmarijuana.

Posey and his friends, however,pulled a fake holdup and took themarijuana, leaving Arabie and hisfriend tied up on the side of the road.

Arabie and his partner got looseand chased Posey and his accom-plices to Baton Rouge, where Arabieshot Posey when the victim’s vanstalled and he jumped out of it.

After a rocky start in the prisonsystem, including an escape from theState Police Barracks, Arabie beganusing his skills to better himself.

In the aftermath of HurricaneKatrina, he was transferred to NewOrleans to help law enforcement of-ficers maintain a local jail, and torepair generators, air conditioningand electrical systems and help Am-trak officials get a locomotive run-ning.

In 2008, he helped restore elec-trical power to Angola and Avoyelles

Correctional Center after HurricaneGustav.

Last year, the state Pardon Boardunanimously recommended commut-ing Arabie’s life sentence to 45 years,which would make him eligible forparole. The recommendation awaitsaction by Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Posey’s daughter, Ashley Posey,appeared at the hearing to speak infavor of Arabie’s application forclemency.

“That was pretty generous of her,”Arabie said. “I always felt bad about it.When I killed her father, I didn’t realizeit back then, I was young myself, 21years old, she was put in foster care andbasically raised by the state of Missis-sippi. I don’t suspect she had a lot ofreal favorable experiences growing up,but she got through it anyway.

“When you think about it, some-body doing something like that, com-ing to testify on my behalf, after I didthat to her father…” Arabie said, hisvoice trailing off.

Arabie said he now hopes thegovernor will consider his accom-plishments when he acts on the Par-don Board’s recommendation.

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by Ed Attanasio

If we’re only as good as the informa-tion we possess, people like Richard

Forness are an in-valuable asset toany collision re-pairer anywhere.As a highly-re-spected industryexpert, national ac-count manager forAudatex (a Soleracompany), Fornessis a popular speakerwho talks to bodyshops throughoutthe country about

the current state of the industry andwhere it’s headed. On May 22, this 25-year veteran who ran a series of highlysuccessful body shops in the GreaterMinnesota-St. Paul area, shared hisviews and offered useful statistics withthe 60-plus East Bay CAA members inattendance.

By closely observing the collisionrepair industry while traveling through-out the Western U.S. for hisjob with Audatex, Forness hasbeen able to keep body shopowners and collision-relatedvendors on the cutting-edge ofnew developments that canimpact their businesses. It’s in-formation that is available toany body shop owner who canfind it, but compiling and pre-senting it in a logical way pro-vides a complete picture of the worldof collision repair, Forness explained.

“We need to know, because we’reheld at a higher level by the public andour customers,” he said. “Knowledgeis power and by having the facts, youcan be a better owner and operator.We need to understand these new ve-hicles, so that we can educate our cus-tomers in the right things. It’s vitalbecause we can’t risk peoples’ liveswith partial knowledge, especially inthis volatile marketplace .”

First, auto accidents are on the de-cline, which is good for the humanrace, but not profitable for the collisionindustry. Previously, the average driverin the United States was in an accidentonce every eight years. Now, it's aboutevery nine years, according to Forness.But, don’t fret about the number of ac-cidents, Forness explained, becausethe news is still positive overall.

“In 2011, there were 22 million

accidents in the U.S. and more peoplewith insurance were filing moreclaims than in 2010,” Forness said.“People are driving less, but there aremore people out there driving, so they

tend to offset each other. These num-bers have gone up for the first timesince 2008, so that means there’s morework out there right now.”

Another obvious factor affectingthe collision industry is bad weather,Forness said. And although it isn’t asimportant in northern California(where we get rainstorms and earth-quakes that are way too infrequent tocount on), bad weather helped the restof the country’s body shops in 2011.

“There were almost 3,000 severeweather events last year, with 1,894tornadoes and a wide range of inci-dents involving hailstorms, hurricanesand high winds. As a result, there weremore claims in 2011, and we can citebad weather as one of the main rea-sons,” Forness said.

Another interesting trend in thecollision repair industry involves thecontinuing spread of aftermarket andrecycled parts, Forness said. “The useof OEM parts in repairs is still drop-ping, and in 2011, there was anotherdrop in their sales overall. America’scars and trucks have reached a recordage of 10.8 years, and despite all of theprice-matching programs offered bythe carmakers, body shops and insur-ance companies are incorporating moreand more aftermarket and recycledparts in their repairs. The proliferationof computer alternative part search en-gines is also making it easier for body

shops to locate these non-OEM parts.”The parts climate is also changing

as new vehicles embrace technologicalchanges while attempting to meet in-creasing CAFÉ standards. “Too many

cars now are being designedlike aircraft,” Forness ex-plained. “As they try to designcars that weigh less whilemaintaining structural integrity,we’re seeing more complicatedparts mixes, consisting of moreparts made of plastic compos-ites, carbon fibers, magnesium,high-strength steel and morealuminum. Also, the drive to-

ward making parts using more eco-friendly materials includes things suchas coconut fibers, soy foam for seatcushions, mushroom roots for use inbumper covers, kenaf (a tropical plant),and Ford Motor Company is research-ing the use of cooked chicken feathersfor use in some of its cars.

One alarming statistic is that moredrivers are uninsured, Forness said. “In2007, 86% of the drivers out there wereinsured, but now it’s down to 82%. It’scaused by the recession, which is stilllingering, and high unemployment.

When the economy further rebounds,the insured rate will increase, but until it

does, that’s a scarynumber.”

One answer thatall body shops wantto know is: will I bein business nextyear? Forness pro-vided statistics tooffer a glimpse intothe future of bodyshops in this coun-try. “There are ap-proximately 34,000collision shops outthere in the UnitedStates, and 500-1,000 of those are

closing every year. But, for those whocan survive, there is good news. As theoverall number of shops decreases, theaverage revenues per shop will growaround 2% every year.”

After the presentation by Forness,East Bay CAA Chapter PresidentTiffany Chichon-Silva announced thatthe chapter’s annual golf tournament,originally to be held on June 2, will bere-scheduled for sometime in August.


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Information Shops Can Use Presented at East Bay CAA Meeting

LKQ Industry Relations Representatives Albert Rendon (left)and Lacy Towner attended to East Bay CAA chapter’s Maymeeting in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Owen-Dunn, the CAA’s preferred insurance service provider,was represented by (from left) CWCA Tim Dickson, PatriciaRomero-Kaleel and CSFS/CWCA Marty O’Hara

East Bay CAAChapter PresidentTiffany Cichon-Silva(Accurate AutoBody) brought themembership up tospeed on current

issues andupcoming events attheir May meeting

Industry expertRichard Fornessgave a highlyinformative

presentation atthe May East BayCAA meeting


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by Susanna E. Gotsch,Director, Industry AnalystCCC Information Services Inc.

The breathtaking speed of advance-ment in consumer electronics has be-come the new baseline forcompanies in terms of speed to mar-ket, price, and desirability of prod-uct. The most recent recession stilldrags the global economy, and con-tinues to make consumers acutelyaware of their finances, and the dan-ger of living with too much debt.Consumers have become increas-ingly sensitive not only to price, butalso to each individual product orservice’s share of wallet.

Technology such as smartphones, tablets, and social media hasgiven individuals the ability to havetheir voice heard loud and clear. Thechannels for reaching and interactingwith consumers have changed. It be-comes increasingly difficult for busi-nesses to remain relevant, to get theirmessage heard, and to get the con-sumer to pay them any attention.Companies must also embrace thenew disruptive paradigm where com-

petition will emerge from outsidetheir historic range of competitors.Take for example, Amazon’s emer-gence as one of the largest providers

of cloud comput-ing, and the dis-ruption Apple’siPhone created inthe mobile phonemarket. Compa-nies should betaking queue

from recognized leaders in the con-sumer products and services area,but also be aware of where start-upsare focusing their efforts.

Significant shifts in the demo-graphic makeup of today’s consumerare also a factor driving the disrup-tive shift in consumer demands. TheU.S., like most industrialized coun-tries, has seen its population growolder. The oldest Baby Boomersturned 65 on January 1, 2011. An es-timated ten thousand more per daywill turn 65 over the next 19 years,taking the share of 65-year-old-plusindividuals to 18% of the U.S. popu-lation, versus just 13% today. Anaging population has historically led

to lower accident frequency as peo-ple have historically retired and re-duced driving during peak traffictimes. The recession however has ledmany to postpone retirement, so wemay see the traditional reduction infrequency push out several years.

Generation Y or “Millennials,”individuals born between 1997 and1990, accounted for 77.4 million in-dividuals in the U.S. according to theU.S. Census, just slightly above the76.2 million Baby Boomers. Thisgeneration is more ethnically diversethan older adults, and a greater shareof them had at least one immigrantparent—11%, versus 7% for Gen Xand 5% for Baby Boomers. A 2010Pew Research Center study looked atthe values, attitudes and behaviors ofMillennials versus older generations.Among the findings of this studywas the Millennials’ greater use oftechnology. Millennials feel that thisis a defining feature of their genera-tion. Millenials were also the firstgeneration to fully embrace the useof technology in their role of a con-sumer as well.

Owning an automobile has his-

torically represented a rite of passageinto adulthood and freedom for BabyBoomers (born between 1946 and1964), a category still accounting forapproximately 45 percent of new-carpurchases. But there is a growingsentiment that the automobile hasbeen replaced by the Internet andsmart phones for those in the Gener-ation Y age group (born between1978 and 1984); changing the worldthe same way the automobile did atthe turn of the 20th century.

One of the areas with perhapsthe most potential to directly impactautomotive claim severity and fre-quency is the shift in the populationtowards urban areas. Results fromthe 2010 U.S. Census report that 54percent of the U.S. population re-sides in its 10 most populated states,with just over 83 percent living inone of the nation’s 366 metro areas(core urban area population of50,000 or more). During the lastdecade, the metropolitan areas, how-ever, saw the largest increase, signif-icantly higher than micropolitanareas or areas outside a core basedstatistical area. Personal mobility


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Disruption Became the New Normal in 2011

will reach beyond individual vehicleownership to an integrated mobilityapproach, incorporating car sharing,public transportation and greater useof technologies such as telematics,smart metering and navigation.

These major demographic shiftsmay ultimately lead to a disruptionin the historical trend of vehicle ac-cident frequency and severity. Agreater share of the population willfall into the youngest and oldest agegroups, where driving patterns mayresult in diverging patterns of fre-quency and severity. As the popula-tion shifts further to urban areas,increased congestion could lead tohigher frequency, although increasesin use of public transportation woulddo the direct opposite. Accidentseverity tends to be lower in trafficaccidents occurring in congestedurban areas, and the advent of crashavoidance technologies like theVolvo City Safety system have beenshown to reduce both the frequencyand severity of low-speed accidents.Economic conditions and the tech-nology in vehicles have been shownto lead to decreases in vehicle acci-dent frequency and severity, and willcontinue to do so in the future.

Because each generation’s out-look is shaped by different culturalexpectations and experiences, com-panies must understand these, andincorporate them into the way thatthey interact with potential and ex-isting customers. The ability to cus-tomize communication andmarketing into generational and de-mographic categories will help com-panies portray the appropriate imageand message and better grow theirbusiness. Insurers and repairers thatwill be successful in this disruptivedemographic environment are thosethat have plans in place to marketand serve the different age groups,and have looked at whether theircurrent geographies are positionedto shrink or grow, and have adjustedtheir growth plans accordingly.While factors such as atmosphericconditions may be difficult to proj-ect, understanding employmenttrends (i.e. time of day people arecommuting to work), vehicles pur-chased in your market (vehicle bodytype, accident avoidance technologyand airbag availability and deploy-ment), and driver age patterns willbe critical to assessing marketgrowth opportunity in the future.

The Accident is The Ultimate Disrup-torThe average consumer today has anauto accident once every seven to 10years, well behind the average vehi-cle trade-in cycle of every five years.Due to the nature of the productbeing sold, auto insurers and colli-sion repairers subsequently havevery limited interaction with con-sumers. Insurers certainly interactwith their customer at policy issue,at bill time, and sometimes throughother services such as banking orgames in apps. However, the realmoment of truth for the auto insurerand the repairer is at the time of anaccident.

For the automotive insuranceand collision repair industries, thechallenge is to take the infrequentand unexpected negative experi-ence of an auto accident and turn itinto an experience where the cus-tomer is delighted. No one wants tohave their vehicle damaged, andfew consumers know what to ex-pect in the auto claim and vehiclerepair process. However, theycome to this experience the sameway they come to any other experi-ence—with expectations that you

know who they are, that you willfulfill your commitments to them,and that you will create a positiveexperience. For insurers, the claimis one of the most significant op-portunities to retain or lose a cus-tomer. For repairers, a positivevehicle repair experience can createa customer that will share their ex-perience with friends and family,and help your business grow. Ef-fective use of technology not onlyenables companies to meet the min-imum set of expectations of theircustomers, but can also facilitatethe delivery of a personalized expe-rience that delights your customer.

By combining innovative tech-nologies that improve businessprocesses, with the ability to fine-tune the messages delivered to cus-tomers at the right time, on the rightdevice, businesses can place them-selves in a position to meet the ex-pectations of today’s consumer in away that can provides them value.Effective use of technology not onlyenables companies to meet the mini-mum set of expectations of their cus-tomers, but can also streamline theoverall claim and repair processes.For example, companies that have


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the technology in place to let con-sumers report the claim via a mobiledevice can capture a wealth of infor-mation on the facts of the loss, in-cluding photos. Incorporating thisdata into predictive analytics toolscan help the insurer assign the claimto the best resource equipped to re-turn the customer to pre-accidentcondition as quickly as possible. Theability for a repair technician to sendmessages to the claims adjuster elec-tronically, versus calling and tradingvoicemails, can ensure speedier res-olution to questions or issues thatmight otherwise hold up the repair.With customer satisfaction closelytied to the overall time it takes to re-turn their vehicle to pre-accidentcondition, mobility can play a keyrole in reducing inefficiencies in theoverall process.

The recession led to a drop-offin driving, reduction in claim and fa-tality frequency, and a larger numberof consumers opting to cash-out ver-sus actually repair their car. As con-sumers begin to ramp up new vehiclepurchases, and see moderate upticksin employment, the industry willgradually return to an environmentthat more closely resembles the mar-

ket pre-recession. Over time, thiswill lead to moderate increases incustomers opting to actually repairtheir vehicles versus living with thedamage (i.e. moderate increases involume of vehicles actually re-paired), but the gradual infusion ofcrash avoidance technologies in newvehicles will likely flatten-out anyinflections in accident/claim fre-quency. With the exception of stormor catastrophe-driven claims activity,it is unlikely the market will see anydramatic change in the current pat-terns of claim frequency over thenext 18 to 24 months.

Outside of the increases incomprehensive losses tied to erraticweather patterns and catastrophes,loss costs for liability and collisionare returning to their pre-recessionpattern of year-over-year increasesbetween one and three percent. In-flation in replacement parts andlabor have accelerated slightly asthe U.S. emerges from the reces-sion, but still point to overall in-creases in repair costs of one tothree percent. As new vehicle salesgrow and ultimately show up inclaims, repair costs will see someinherent lift. The juxtaposition of

greater vehicle complexity in termsof electronics and materials withgreater prevalence of crash avoid-ance systems may ultimately resultin fewer but more expensive repairsin the future.

The average consumer todayhas an auto accident once everyseven to ten years. Auto insurers andcollision repairers subsequently havevery limited interaction with con-sumers and few opportunities toshow the value of their products andservices. The real moment of truthfor the auto insurer and the repaireris at the time of an accident.

To be successful in today’s en-vironment, companies must tap intothe notion of disruption – wherecompanies develop innovative tech-nologies that improve businessprocesses, and fine-tune the mes-sages to customers so they are deliv-ered at the right time, on the rightdevice, with the most customizedcontent, and place themselves in aposition to meet the expectations oftoday’s consumer in a way that de-livers value.

Susanna E. Gotsch is Director,Industry Analyst, at CCC Informa-

tion Services Inc. She has been withCCC since July of 1992. Susannabrings twenty-plus years of experi-ence within the automotive claimsindustry as Director, Industry Ana-lyst. She has authored The CrashCourse, CCC’s annual publicationon trends impacting collision repairand total loss costs since 1995. Thispublication has become a key re-source for the industry in under-standing how broader trends withinthe economy, new and used vehiclemarket places, and collision industryare impacting auto claim frequencyand costs. She is also responsible forthe generation of all trend analysesof the insurance and automotive in-dustries published by CCC since1995.

In 2011, Ms. Gotsch was se-lected as one of five Most InfluentialWomen in the Collision Repair In-dustry through the annual industryhonorarium established by AkzoNo-bel Automotive & Aerospace Coat-ings America (A&AC).

Coypright 2012 CCC InformationServices Inc.All Rights Reserved. Confidential &Proprietary


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Question: How would you like to beable to measure body structure, vehi-cle sub-frame movement, damagedsuspension components and usedBOF frame for damage or damagedparts in 20 minutes with a printoutand the time of tear down?

OK, how about the added advan-tage of doing it anywhere in the shop?We’re not using any frame-measuringequipment, by the way. Let’s throw inanother parameter and do all of thesetasks and more with a camera. Yousay impossible? Up until recentlyyou’d be right but it’s not only possi-ble, it’s here. It’s called the MatrixWand and it’s a game changer.

I was invited to a presentation atthe April CIC meeting in OklahomaCity by Jan Srack on the MatrixWand. It was an interesting presenta-tion, but being the skeptical personthat I am, I really questioned this tech-nology. Gary Wano, Jr., owner ofGW & Son Collision in Oklahoma

City, arranged for a hands on demo.He had a 2009 BMW 3 Series BMWthat took a high hit. Both grilles, head-lamps, upper portion of the frontbumper and hood were damaged. Thevehicle nose-dived under a bumper atless than 10 miles per hour. We in-spected the bumper absorber and rein-forcement for damage and therewasn’t any. We all concluded that thedamage was isolated to the upperstructure and there was no lowerstructural damage. Rob Bailey (fromMatrix) took a picture and imported itinto his computer and 10 minutes laterhis results showed that the left lowerrail had a sway out 5 mm and sagdown of 6 mm. Yeah, that’s what thepicture stated, but did the rail move?Gary placed the vehicle on a CeletteBench the next day, and sure enoughthe rail had moved. Pretty impressive,but I still was not convinced, so Iasked if they were doing any otherpresentations and I was invited to their

office in Kansas.I spent two days with Rob Bai-

ley, Tom Srack and Ron Chiles (na-tional sales manager) measuring anumber of cars. One of the vehicleswas a 2010 Ford Escape. We foundthat the core support was asymmet-rical. In other words, the driver’sside of the upper tie bar is 10 mmforward of the passenger’s side.Mitchell data says that length of theupper tie bar is the same. Who wasright? I check with Chief and theirmeasurement data also had 10 mmdifference on the upper tie bar. Ithink that Mitchell better re-measurethe vehicle and change their date. Itold Jan that I would write an articleon the equipment, but I would haveto use it by myself to validate theirclaims of ease and accuracy. Sheloaned me a unit and I took it toHawaii last month (I conducted awelding workshop and spoke to theHawaiian Autobody Association) tocheck it out. What follows is whathappened.

Monday, the first vehicle I meas-ured was a 2011 Honda Accord withdamage to the left rail and left upperreinforcement area. The vehicle wason Global Bench System with the jigsin place.

The left rail was 8 mm back (circle).

The left rail had a sway over 25 mmand sag of 6 mm.

More damage noted by the meas-uring system. I took a picture with thematrix system and this is what I found(see next page).

I am going to use points 5/6, 9/10,and 13/14 on the distance table. Point6-13 is 1237 mm and point 5-14 is1212 mm. Point 5-10 is 1076 mm andPoint 6-9 is 1080 mm. You can go toMitchell data and verify any point-to-


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See Matrix Wand, Page 44

State Farm’s PartsTrader program, theuse of shops’ estimating and other data,and how one state regulator overseesauto insurers, were among the topics ata recent board meeting of the Societyof Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS).

A number of participants at themeeting held on April 24 in OklahomaCity, OK, wore large buttons oppos-ing “data mining” by the “Big Three”information providers, indicating theywanted the ability to “opt out” of hav-ing their shop estimating data aggre-gated and used or sold. The buttonswere part of the follow-up to a jointstatement that SCRS and two othertrade associations sent in January toCCC Information Services, Mitchelland Audatex, voicing concern aboutcollection and use of shop data.

SCRS Executive Director AaronSchulenburg said that as of late April,only CCC had provided a formal re-sponse to the associations’ request.

“The response addressed that theyhave a mutual concern in protection ofdata, but didn’t really address thequestions that we’d asked relative toan opt-out policy or discontinuation ofcollecting the data,” Schulenburg said.

He said it is his understandingMitchell and Audatex are working ontheir responses, which he said the as-sociations intend to share with the in-dustry.

One aspect of data privacy con-cerns that Schulenburg said the asso-ciation has looked into were reports ofvehicle accident histories showing upon CARFAX reports—instances inwhich the vehicle owner presumed theinformation could only have been ob-tained through the collision repairshop that prepared an estimate on (orrepaired) the vehicle.

In two of the three cases of this typeof situation that SCRS looked into,Schulenburg said, the CARFAX data ac-tually had been sourced though local po-lice accident reports. In a third instance,a woman seeking to trade-in a vehiclewas upset that a CARFAX report indi-cated that her vehicle had had structuraldamage repair, when she knew this was-n’t the case. She contacted the shopshown on the CARFAX report as hav-ing done the repairs. SCRS worked withCARFAX and determined the report was

in error, incorrectly linking collisiondamage on one vehicle to the VIN of an-other. CARFAX was able to correct theerror, Schulenburg reported.

He also said that SCRS held ameeting in late April with I-CAR andrepresentatives of many of the top au-tomakers to discuss increasing theamount and availability of publishedOEM repair procedures. The meetingwas the result of another joint statementby SCRS and other trade associationslast November recognizing publishedautomaker repair procedures as the “of-ficial industry-recognized repair stan-dards for collision repair.” Theassociations also asked I-CAR to createan industry council “to identify gaps inexisting OEM procedures and developprocesses to close (those) gaps.”

The need for training and stan-dards was illustrated in a presentationby SCRS board member Paul Val,who brought to the Oklahoma Citymeeting a quarter panel his Arizonashop had removed from a poorly-re-paired vehicle brought into his shopbecause of a water leak in the trunk.Val said the MIG welds used to “at-tach” the quarter panel didn’t pene-trate, and no weld-through primer orcorrosion protection had been applied.

“You could literally just pull thequarter off,” Val said.

He said his shop had to do $3,000in re-repairs to the vehicle. He said theshop that had done the original workunder an insurer direct repair programpaid his shop for the rework with acredit card – and remains on the directrepair program.

“Someone is going to get killed inone of these cars,” Val said.

Also at the meeting, a presentationby representatives of the OklahomaDepartment of Insurance was probablyboth heartening and disheartening attimes for collision repairers.

On the upside, Michael Copelandof the Department’s anti-fraud unitconfirmed the regulator is now fo-cused more on fraud against con-sumers by insurers, rather thanconsumer insurance fraud, which hadbeen its priority under some previousInsurance Commissioners. Copelandalso said he’d like to partner morewith the Oklahoma Auto Body Asso-

ciation to address issues of concern.On the other hand, Jason Johnston,

a senior claims processor and reviewerfor the Department, seemed to acknowl-edge the state’s anti-steering law is beinginterpreted loosely. The law prohibits in-surers from making shop referrals unlessrequested by the vehicle owner.

“But we’ve determined the insur-ance company can say, ‘Do you havea place in mind, or we can offer a re-pair place,’” Johnston said. “We give(insurers) that option.”

He said he’s probably had only ahalf dozen complaints related to steer-ing, and they are difficult to addressbecause it’s usually a shop’s wordagainst the insurer’s. He said an audiorecording or affidavits - enough toshow a pattern - could help.

But he was also asked how a shopcan combat some of the subtle but per-ceived as unfair “steering” techniquesused, such as an insurer telling a cus-tomer the process could be slower at

the non-DRP shop and thus could re-sult in the customer having to paysome of their own rental car costs(even if the customer has 30 days ofrental coverage on their policy). John-ston’s only suggestion: Perhaps thenon-DRP shop can offer something tobetter compete for that customer’sbusiness, such as a free rental car.

State Farm’s PartsTrader programhad been the focus of a closed sessionof SCRS’ board meeting, but duringthe open session, Schulenburg askedState Farm’s George Avery if the in-surer would move forward with Part-sTrader if shops, dealers and otherparts vendors are resistant to it.

“At this point, we are moving for-ward,” Avery said. “We are movingthrough our test. We’re obviously gath-ering information, making adjustmentsalong the way. But I can tell you thatState Farm is moving forward with this.We think it is in the best interest of ourcustomer. I know we don’t have agree-


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Shop and Product Showcase

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John Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, who has a body shop in thefamily and has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988. He is the editor of theweekly CRASH Network (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com).Contact him by email at [email protected].

ment, and that is fine, and I carry thatinformation back. (And) somethingcould happen that I can’t predict. But Ican tell you that, right now, that we aremoving forward with the process withour Select Service providers.”

Schulenburg said SCRS also hadworked with State Farm on an issuerelated to shops in several marketsbeing asked by the insurer to attemptrepairs before replacing a part, but ifreplacement eventually proved nec-essary, local State Farm claims staffwere telling the shop they could onlypay for one or the other, but not both.Schulenburg said State Farm was ableto communicate to their staff that “ifit’s legitimate to have attempted re-pair and then it’s necessary to replace,that certainly there is no (company)policy prohibiting (paying for) that.”

Avery said advance communica-tion between the shop and the insureris the key.

“We had cases where it reallyboiled down to there being no agree-ment up front,” Avery said. “So that’swhat we communicated. Please havecommunication with the repairer upfront and say ‘Look, if we decide topull this and it doesn’t work, what arewe talking about?’”


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RX-8 2012

Massachusetts New Car Dealers and R2R Coalition Agree on Compromise BillOn June 20 the Massachusetts State Au-tomobile Dealers Association (MSADA)and the Massachusetts Right to RepairCoalition announced an agreement oncompromise “right to repair” legislationthat, if passed, would avoid the Novem-ber ballot question fight.

“Our members not only are fran-chise vehicle dealers for the manufac-turers but also act as independentrepairers when working on vehicles out-side their franchise line makes. There-fore, a consumer’s ability to have his orher car repaired by whomever he or shewants is important to us. As part of thelegislative process we have been work-ing with legislators, the MassachusettsRight to Repair Coalition, vehicle man-ufacturers, and all other interested par-ties to achieve a consensus on a bill thatwould ultimately avoid the Novemberballot question while fixing the prob-lems in the petition that directly impactour member dealers, their almost 25,000employees, and their sales and repaircustomers,” said Robert O’Koniewski,Executive Vice President of the Massa-chusetts State Automobile Dealers As-sociation. “Should the ballot questionpass, and all polls indicate that it wouldoverwhelmingly, there is a great possi-bility that our dealers will not have ve-hicles to sell to our customers beginningin the spring of 2014 as the manufac-

turers cannot, or will not, comply withthe law. That is a prospect with whichwe cannot gamble our dealers’ busi-nesses and their customers’ satisfac-tion.”

“We are especially pleased that theMassachusetts State Automobile Deal-ers Association has joined us in pushingfor a legislative solution to the Right toRepair issue,” said Art Kinsman,spokesman for the Massachusetts Rightto Repair Coalition. “At the heart of it,Right to Repair has always been aboutfairness in creating a level playing fieldbetween the car and truck manufactur-ers, franchise new car dealers and theirindependent counterparts in the after-market.”

The Massachusetts Right to RepairCoalition, representing 40 consumerand aftermarket organizations, morethan 2,000 independent repair shops and32,000 jobs across Massachusetts, andthe Massachusetts State AutomobileDealers Association, which representsthe 410 franchise new car and trucksdealers in the Commonwealth employ-ing almost 25,000 men and women, senta joint letter to Massachusetts lawmak-ers asking them to act on the Right toRepair legislative proposal in advanceof the final July 3 deadline for certifiedsignatures on the Right to Repair ballotinitiative to be submitted to the Massa-

chusetts Secretary of State. BothMSADA and the Massachusetts Rightto Repair Coalition would prefer a leg-islative solution to the Right to Repairissue as long as it contains strong con-sumer protections and remedies as pro-posed in the ballot initiative.

“Our fight has always been withbig out-of-state car manufacturers onthis issue. Now legislators can be as-sured that the Right to Repair legislationbefore them will be a great benefit forall their constituents who make a livingin the local automotive repair business.Of course, the greatest beneficiary is thecar owner, who will have a true, unfet-tered choice of where they get their carsfixed. Today’s accord proves that bothnew car dealers and independent repair-ers together have their customers’ bestinterests at heart,” said Kinsman.

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point measurements and compare withthe vehicle being photographed. WhenI went into the XYZ comparison, Ifound that the length was 8mm short,height was 5 mm down and width hadmoved 25mm and this was done with apicture. Dale Matsumoto, the owner ofAutobody Hawaii, timed me and it took

me 20 minutes from the time I took thepicture until I gave him a print out.

The vehicle was pulled and hereare the pictures:

As you can see, the vehicle hasbeen returned to its correct width,length and height. I proceeded to takeanother ‘after picture’ and measure.

I am going to use points 13-14, 5-6 and 7-8. Points 13-8 is 1225 mm andpoints 14-7 is 1224 mm. Point 13-6 is1077 and points 14-5 are 1076 mm. Toverify that these measurements are ac-curate, I measured points 13-14 with

a tram gauge and found the distanceto be 1026 mm. I went into Mitchelland their measurement was 1026 mm.Looking at the distance table in thepicture, it read 1026 mm. All I can sayis it’s pretty remarkable.

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Continued from Page 41

Matrix Wand

it, but when I talked to my neighbors,they told me about your shop,” thecaller said.

How about asking around first?You might even learn a little some-thing about your neighbors; heythey’re probably quite friendly;maybe you’ll actually learn all of theirkid’s names, too.

So what’s the problem betweenthe independent and dealer repairshops? It could be from previousdealings in the past, and the cus-tomer didn’t like the results. It couldbe size of the shop or the location.The real reasons are hard to pindown. I’m not knocking the quality

of work performed at a dealer repairshop, no, quite the opposite. I wouldsay I’ve also seen an increase in thequality of the independent shops inmy area as well. There’s fewerwrench-slinging grease monkeys outthere than in years past. It reallytakes a different type of “mechanic”than it did even 10 or 20 years ago,and that’s not just for the independ-ent shops... that goes for the dealertechnicians as well.

Locate a shop you like, find atechnician who you feel comfortablewith. If your search ends up with thatindividual at an independent shop,that’s fantastic! If you can’t find theservice you’re happy with anywhereexcept at the dealership, well then,there’s only one thing to do… take itto the dealer.


Take it to the Dealer

For some reason, refinishing is onefacet of our business that we accept los-ing partial revenue on, or are contentwith our ignorance of how to properlybe compensated. Unless you’re addingpriming as a separate line item, you’redonating the time and materials to theinsurance company. You need to makesome very basic but critical changes toyour estimating and billing proceduresso you can start being paid properly forall the pieces of the refinishing process.

Have you heard the following fromadjusters? “I’ll make up for it some-where else in the estimate.” Or, “I’llmake it up to you on the next job.” Theydon’t want to be reprimanded by theirbosses for paying out for proceduresthat they’ve been getting for free for solong. As an industry, we deserve to bepaid for our work, all of it, and the sup-plies that go into it. This isn’t a cost likepaying rent or your electric bill, andshouldn’t be considered overhead or acost of doing business today. This is

time and materials that are directly usedin the refinishing process and should bebilled properly.

P-Pages and other estimating sys-tems have several loopholes that allowyou to lose valuable revenue on your re-finishing work. The point and click na-ture of these systems have allowed usto forget about or let the computers han-dle the logic that goes into each esti-mate. We put too much faith in theaccuracy of this logic and it’s been hurt-ing shop owners for decades. Even ifyou are aware of how to properly ac-count for all the costs associated withrepairing a wrecked vehicle, often timesthe insurance adjusters can bully youout of recouping these costs and pro-hibiting us from charging what we aretruly owed. If this is happening to you,and you’re aware of it, you may be cost-shifting to compensate, or you mayconsider these losses as insignificant.

In a previous column, I wrote about“feather, sand and fill” and it’s recog-

nized as a procedure that should nowreceive industry-wide acceptance andpayment, but there are other primer is-sues not receiving that same regard andnot being paid for by the adjusters. I’lltalk about some of the main ones anddiscuss how to change this behavior tostart getting paid properly.

Here’s a good example: We did aquarter panel and the adjuster manuallycut the refinish time in half, citing aprocess he (and several other insuranceadjusters) call “blend within the panel.”

There was less than five inches ofundamaged panel on the repair, so whatexactly are we blending to? This “blendto panel” isn’t even listed in the data-bases. As far as we can tell, it’s just aname they made up to intimidate orconfuse the shops. So remember, ifprimer ever touches the panel, a full re-finish time should be covered.

Did you know that 2.5 hours max-imum on clears only covers labor andnot materials? If you do the calculations

on the total clear hours needed, subtractthe 2.5 hours and then multiply thatnumber by your paint multiplier, you’llhave the extra clear needed for the job.(I have a separate line item that I calladditional clearcoat materials neededabove 2.5 max). Coating bare metalparts so they are restored to a “newpanel equivalent” is another example ofwhere you may be losing revenue. An-other example is doing solvent and tapetesting for the stability of primers onplastic parts. What about blendingwithin a panel? Two of the major data-bases don’t account for color mixing.

As far as tint is concerned, are youputting it in with paint labor or bodylabor? The adjuster will probably tellyou it goes in the body column becauseyou’re not using any new material,which again just is not the case. Yourpainter knows that upwards of a dozenvariances are added to achieve a desiredtint. These are more materials that


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See Getting Paid, Page 51

ing the State Farm Proposed PartsProcurement Program within its Se-lect Service Program changed all that.More than 100 MCRA members, aswell as Mississippi Attorney GeneralJim Hood and John Wells of the Mis-sissippi Department of Insurance,came together in Pearl, Miss. to hearwhat body shop owners from Birm-ingham, AL had to say about the Part-sTrader program. Birmingham is oneof the four national test markets wherethe PartsTrader program is beingtested.

Usage of the PartsTrader soft-ware has been required by State Farmin four test markets: Tucson, AZ,Birmingham, AL, Grand Rapids,Mich. and Charlotte, NC. Approxi-mately 10 percent of State Farm Se-lect Service shops are participating inthe pilot.

The Mississippi Collision RepairAssociation invited auto body and re-pair shop owners from Birmingham tocome to their meeting to discuss theirexperiences with PartsTrader.

“We wanted to know what theprogram is and what it will do to ourindustry, and the Birmingham grouphad nothing positive to say about thePartsTrader program,” said JohnMosley, who owns and operates Clin-ton Body Shop Inc. and Clinton BodyShop of Richland in Central Missis-sippi. Mosley is a past president andone of the founding members of theassociation.

“No one from State Farm hascalled, visited or made any attempt toexplain anything about the Part-sTrader program to our shops or to ourlocal industry,” Mosley said. “Theonly knowledge we have of this pro-gram is what we read in the trade pub-lications and the short video producedby State Farm. My personal interpre-tation of the video leaves me knowingthe program is real and they plan toroll it out nationwide. The shops willhave no choice but to participate inPartsTrader if they remain on the DRPand our choice of parts suppliers willbe limited and the profit on parts willdefinitely go down.”

Even though he hasn’t tried it,Mosley declared he isn’t interested inthe electronic parts ordering applica-tion program and his answer to StateFarm will be a resounding “NO!” ifPartsTrader is a requirement to con-

tinue with the Select Service program.Mosley wants to stay with the SelectService program because it helpsshops by saving time waiting on ap-praisers and allows the shop to deter-mine what type of part and whichsupplier would serve to properly re-pair the vehicle in the least amount oftime. However, he is willing to give

up Select Service if it becomes tied toPartsTrader.

Mosley is one of several Missis-sippi auto body shop owners whoopposes the PartsTrader program be-cause, he says, it forces shops to waitfor the software program to gatherbids on parts. Supplements or a bigrepair job could create an adminis-trative nightmare, Mosley said,adding that body shops would needto hire an additional employee to sitat the computer all day monitoringthe bid process.

Bill Fowler, who owns BillFowler’s Bodyworks in Southaven,Miss., couldn’t agree more. “The con-cept that adding additional steps andwait times will increase efficiency andcost effectiveness flies in the face oflogic,” he said. “The fact that neitherState Farm nor PartsTrader executivescan offer any tangible evidence that itdoes expedite the process, but insteadanswer direct questions with half-truths, evasiveness and outright mis-representations gives great cause forconcern and raises the suspicion thatthere are underlying ulterior motivesto reduce profitability for collision re-pair shops. It is insulting for StateFarm to suggest that shop owners/op-erators don’t have the good sense toprocure parts in an expeditious man-ner and they have a better way that in-volves foisting considerably moreadministrative time onto parts suppli-ers and shop owners, with no cost orconsequence to themselves. Regard-ing State Farm’s real motivation in de-

manding that this program be imple-mented—I believe insurance compa-nies view shop profits as money theyleft on the table. They won’t be satis-fied until they have it all,” Fowlersaid.

Fowler said he won’t participatein the program either.

“I think this PartsTrader debaclehas caused many a shopowner to drag out the SelectService agreement theysigned and revisit just exactlyall the things they agreed to,”said Fowler. “They are com-ing to a collective realizationthat all the language, termsand conditions contained inthat agreement aren’t justwords to fill space. Each andevery one of those conditionswill eventually come tofruition and many are recon-sidering if it is worth it. As faras me giving the program a

try, I have been quoted as saying, ‘Ifyou put a s#!t sandwich in front of me,I don’t have to take a bite to tell you Idon’t like it.’ So, no, there is no chanceI will participate in the program, eithervoluntarily or involuntarily.”

Mosley also takes issue with the

State Farm video released in May. “The State Farm video states this

program will increase efficiency in therepair process. My belief is it will de-crease efficiency while enabling StateFarm to keep more money out of therepair by taking a share of the partsprofits. This is a very deceitful act toperform under the cloak of fairnessand efficiency. The only real informa-tion we have learned in our area camefrom shop owners, suppliers and a for-mer State Farm employee from theBirmingham area.”

The Birmingham shop owners at-tending the MCRA meeting who haveactually tried the program “withdrewthemselves from the Select Serviceprogram,” said Mosley. “They statedthe program was a nightmare. Theysaid it held up the repair process bygathering bids on parts. According tothese shop owners, one by one, theytold us we will have to hire more ad-ministrative personnel to keep up withthe program demands. They echoedwhat we firmly believe: this programwill slow down the repair process, in-convenience the consumer, and costthe shops money in an effort to giveState Farm more control of the partsand their costs.”


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Mississippi Reacts

John Mosley addressing the Mississippi Collision RepairAssociation

George Avery, a Property & Ca-sualty Claims Auto Consultant whohas been with State Farm for 33 years,said about the Birmingham shops:“They made a business decision. Ithink a lot of them left before theyeven used the tool, which we felt wasunfortunate, but that was a businessdecision they needed to make. I justdon’t like to see a situation wheresomeone makes a decision based oninaccurate or incomplete information.Info gets passed and sometimes it’s in-accurate and assumptions are made.”

In a letter to George Avery,Mosley writes: “This program is nowserving as a catalyst to both ignite andunite this industry in a manner I havenever experienced in my 58 years....After lengthy discussions with shopowners and parts suppliers in Ala-bama, I see no way this program is abenefit to the repair shop or the con-sumer. The underlying purpose of thisprogram is for State Farm to make ahigher profit at the expense of the col-lision repair industry and the parts in-dustry... You present this program as atool of efficiency serving to expediterepairs... How can any program thatadds to the administrative process bygathering bids, waiting for those bids

before we can begin repairs, only tobe waiting again when we have a sup-plement, add to efficiency? There isno way.”

Avery said State Farm respondeddirectly to Mr. Mosley in a personalletter.

Two of Mosley’s biggest worrieswith the PartsTrader program are los-ing his relationships with parts suppli-ers—he said he doesn’t want arelationship with a piece of soft-ware—and how the parts biddingprocess will affect repairs.

“In order for a vendor to win abid, they have to be the lowest price.Being the lowest price doesn’t meanit will be good. It means a lot more tome to do a proper repair than findingthe cheapest part to do the repair,”Mosley said. “We have a duty to ourcustomers to fix vehicles with partsthat will do that and I know who to getparts from.”

According to an AutomotiveServices Association (ASA) fact-find-ing study: “State Farm can currentlysee the discounted MSRP prices pro-vided by dealerships. ASA’s researchshows this to be one of the largest con-cerns from the repairer’s perspective.State Farm was made aware of this

during the pilot process and reports itis seeking ways to address this.” Sup-pliers cannot see “price quotes” madeby other suppliers.

The ASA report also said thatpilot shops have reported experienc-ing increased cycle time delays as re-lated to “Priced Perfect” recycledparts – based on inaccurate descrip-tion. “This is not a new issue. Part-sTrader believes that a combination ofsupplier education and the plannedfeedback and ratings system can helpaddress this,” the report said.

Another issue to consider, Fowlernoted, is “how State Farm is reactingto the wholesale rejection of the pro-gram in the Birmingham market area.They are scrambling to find replace-ment shops for their Select Serviceprogram and are approaching the veryshops that they removed form the pro-gram when they scrapped the ServiceFirst program, or shops that have al-ways passed over because of poorquality repairs, excessive charges, orboth. State Farm bragged that only thebest of the best shops were selected toparticipate in the Select Service pro-gram, so what does it say about the in-tegrity of their DRP program whenthey are enlisting the very shops they

have already rejected? Why is this partprogram so important to State Farmthat they would allow this question tobe raised?”

While the State Farm PartsTraderissue has brought some auto bodyshops up in arms, in Mississippi, StateFarm has inadvertently revived an as-sociation.

“Our association was very strongfor several years,” Mosley said. “Wehelped bring I-CAR and other trainingto the state of Mississippi. We lobbiedfor legislation to protect consumersrights in our state. But we became vic-tims of our own complacency. Every-thing was going good, so theonce-energetic association sloweddown and became inactive. But thisissue served as a spark to unite our as-sociation, and body shops nationwide.The one thing this PartsTrader pro-gram has succeeded in is waking upand helping to unify our industry. TheMississippi Collision Repair Associa-tion is back, is on track, and will stayfocused on this industry.”


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Some recent controversy about who isa BMW certified training center andwhy, prompted us to look into exactlywhat the requirements are for dealer-ships to gain certification. There are no“authorized” repair centers and onlydealerships can become BMW Certi-fied Collision Repair Center (CCRC).At present there are only 69 CCRCs inthe US, and only nine in California.

The entity that owns the BMWCenter must be the same entity andmust have the same level of ownershipin the applicable collision repair facil-ity.

Here you will find a condensedversion of the key steps and require-ments for a facility to become a BMWCertified Collision Repair Center.BMW requires each and every CCRCin the program to follow these strin-gent criteria and follow these guide-lines. BMW CCRC’s are expected torepair BMW vehicles back to BMWspecifications using only OriginalParts and following the repair proce-dures stated by BMW.

With general technician training,technicians are recognized for attend-ing the training courses by BMWNorth America but they are not [nec-essarily] BMW Certified Technicians.They have a recognition plaque of allthe training courses they have attainedbut it is not a Certification plaque. Ifthe technician goes from a CCRC toanother repair center it does not meanthat shop will now have BMW Certi-fied Technicians.

The only time the word “Certi-fied” is used is when the facility be-comes part of the BMW CertifiedCollision Repair Center program. Thatmeans that the BMW CCRC has metall the requirements and goes throughan annual Re-certification process.

2011 BMW Certified Collision RepairCenter ProgramThe BMW Certified Collision RepairCenter Program is a voluntary, no feeprogram developed to ensure thatBMW clients receive a first -class cus-tomer experience. The Certified Col-lision Repair Center (CCRC) Programis designed to enable BMW Center-owned collision repair centers to: ● Focus on achieving a high level ofprofitability; ● Operate more efficiently; ● Ensure vehicles are repaired toBMW specifications (as outlined in theTechnical Information System, or

ISIS/ISTA); and ● Ensure vehicles are repaired usingonly BMW original parts, approvedpaint, materials, tools, and equipment.

CCRC Program BenefitsDuring initial certification (andthroughout the certification and re-cer-tification process) BMW NA’s vendor,Summit Consulting, Inc. (“Summit”)provides several types of 100% BMW-funded support to help a CCRC en-hance its collision repair business. Theobjectives of this support include:● Identifying market opportunities togenerate revenue;● Establishing the CCRC’s currentcollision revenue performance;● Closing the financial gap betweenthe CCRC’s market revenue opportu-nity and its actual revenue perform-ance trend on a per collision repairbasis; and● Identifying required tools / equip-ment needs, while assisting CCRCs toproject the recommended capital in-vestment levels.

Annual CCRC Managers’ MeetingThe CCRC management should ac-tively participate in the Annual BMWCCRC Managers’ Meeting. By at-tending this event, a CCRC managerbenefits by:● Receiving the latest BMW brandedcollision repair business tools;● Reviewing the trend of CCRCs’ col-lision process and profitability per-formances;● Learning and sharing key collisionrepair service strategies focused on im-proving profitability; ● On-going professional training; ● Management Roundtable Discus-sions—These facilitator-led group dis-cussions are designed to allow CCRCparticipants to share proven techniquesand best practices to grow the collisionbusiness both in parts sales and repairrevenue; ● 4 Stage Market Network Develop-ment Financial Analysis Tool—Thisfour stage tool provides enrolledCCRC managers access to: ▬ Identify market opportunities togenerate revenue; ▬ Establish the CCRC’s current colli-sion revenue performance; ▬ Close the financial gap betweenCCRC’s market revenue opportunityand its actual revenue performancetrend on a per collision repair basis; ▬ Identify recommended capital in-

vestment levels and required tools andequipment needs.

Collision Repair Parts Incentive ProgramAll BMW Centers have the opportu-nity to open a BMW CCRC. BMWNA offers all CCRCs the opportunityto participate in the monthly CollisionRepair Parts Incentive Program. Eli-gible BMW CCRCs can earn a 2% re-bate on the dealer cost of all originalBMW parts purchased from BMW NAand used by the CCRC for non-war-ranty or non-maintenance collision re-pairs. The BMW CCRC is eligible forthe rebate only if the CCRC remainscompliant with the CCRC Program.

CCRC Promotional Material● BMW NA CCRC plaque and annualre-certification endorsement slugs;● CCRC Customer Creed plaque;● BMW branded marketing materials;● BMW NA approval to use officialCCRC signage.

Additional CCRC BenefitsIn addition to the benefits outlinedabove, CCRC Program Benefits in-clude:

● Accessing & using customizedBMW CCRC marketing materials;● Utilizing BMW approved collisionrepair tools and equipment;● Making use of the latest BMWbranded collision repair business tools;● Participating in body & paint tech-nical and non-technical trainingcourses;● Efficiency improvement by usingBMW repair specifications(ISIS/ISTA), the flat rate manual(KSD), and electronic parts catalog(EPC) for repairs;● Utilizing an approved refinishingsystem of the BMW Group;● Participating in the 2011 Profiles InAchievement (PIA), which includes anincentive program for CCRC man-agers; and● CCRC’s premium access to Road-side Assistance.

Program ParticipantsSuccessful results in the CCRC Pro-gram rely heavily upon the CCRC’sprofessionals and the culture in whichthey operate. These individuals are re-sponsible for adopting the processesnecessary to: order and install original


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What it Takes for a BMW Dealership to Become a BMW CCRC

BMW parts, follow BMW RepairSpecifications and use only BMW NAapproved paint, materials, tools, andequipment for every BMW collisionrepair.

CCRC Certification and Re-certificationProcess Initial Certification Visit The first visit by BMW’s vendor,Summit, will focus on ensuring basiccompliance and review of the ap-proved center’s collision repair facil-ity’s core processes to profitablyrepair vehicles per BMW repair spec-ifications (ISIS/ISTA.) A CCRC’s useof BMW NA approved paint, materi-als, tools, and equipment is also re-viewed.

Following the initial visit, theCCRC’s management team and Sum-mit will develop specific on-site actionplans for technical and ColorSystemtraining to ensure that these mutuallyagreed upon business goals are met bythe CCRC.

Re-certification VisitIf the CCRC continues to comply withthe CCRC Program requirements, theCCRC receives an annual re-certifica-tion visit and follow-up by Summit.

Following the re-certification

visit, the CCRC’s management teamand Summit will review specific on-site training and action plans to ensurethat these mutually agreed upon busi-ness goals are met by the CCRC.

Certification Program ElementsTechnical and Non-Technical Train-ing Requirements To ensure premium quality collisionrepairs, body and paint technicians willmeet the training requirements listedin Appendix A. Each CCRC musthave a designated individual who isaccountable for approving staff train-ing and determining the training pathfor each individual of the CCRC’sstaff.

The amount of training requiredis based on the CCRC’s body and paintmarket penetration, the size of the col-lision center staff, and the CORA JobClassification of the associates at thecollision center. Training require-ments are reviewed and adjusted on anannual basis. As the collision repairfacility’s staff and market penetrationgrow, so will their training require-ments. Training is currently offered atthe following five locations: ● Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey ● Spartanburg, South Carolina

● Oxnard, California ● Ontario, California ● Wixom, Michigan Technical training is offered withoutfees; however, transportation costs,lodging expenses, meals, salary, andany other related travel expenses arethe responsibility of the CCRC.

Collision Repair Facility RequirementsThe physical location of the CCRCmust be within the BMW Center’sPMA.

Facility CriteriaIn support of the BMW brand, eachCCRC may use BMW NA approvedCCRC signage only if the facility con-sistently complies with the BMW NArecommended BMW facility guide-lines. This applies whether the facil-ity is on or off site in relation toapproved certified center’s location.

Usage of Original BMW Parts CriteriaThe CCRC Program prohibits the in-stallation of imitation, aftermarket,non-BMW remanufactured, and/orsalvage (allegedly Like Kind andQuality) parts, including glass, on anyyear or model BMW passenger car orSAV. Failure to comply with this re-quirement qualifies for automatic de-certification from the CCRC Programfor at least the remainder of the calen-dar year in which these non-approvedparts were installed.

Tools and EquipmentA CCRC is required to have an on-sitelocation for all approved tools andequipment necessary to properly repairBMW vehicles. The BMW approvedtools, equipment, and materials arelisted in Appendix C. Required tools,equipment, and materials are subject tochange based on technology, requirednew tools, and special tool changes re-lating to new models.

Submission of Monthly Reports BMW NA’s CCRC Program requiresparticipants to ensure timely submis-sion of a monthly Parts Rebate Report.This Report verifies the CCRC’s pur-chases and use of original BMW partson repairs, potentially eligible for a 2%rebate for those parts. This informa-tion must be submitted on a monthlybasis directly to Summit Consulting bythe 15th of the following month. Fail-ure to comply with this monthly re-quirement of submitting the partsrebate will result in the CCRC forfeit-ing that month’s rebate. Late reports

will not be accepted for the parts re-bate.

Failure to Comply with CCRC ProgramElementsCCRCs that fail to comply with theCCRC guidelines will be in jeopardyof forfeiting their certification and therelated BMW CCRC’s monthly partsrebate. This decision will be at thesole discretion of BMW NA.

The CCRC will then have 90 daysto correct the area(s) of non-compli-ance or risk de-certification. Duringthis 90 day period or until such time asthe CCRC has remedied the non-com-pliance issue(s); the BMW CCRC willforfeit all parts rebates. If the CCRCfails to resolve the action item(s) bytheir deadline, they will be de-certifiedand removed from the BMW CCRCProgram.

Summit conducts CCRC facilityon-site inspections of BMW NA-ap-proved paint, materials, tools, equip-ment, and review of the CCRC’s stafftraining requirements. Summit workswith the CCRC’s management team toevaluate and assist the staff to manageand improve the key elements neededto repair vehicles to BMW repair spec-ifications and help increase profitabil-ity per collision repair.

Summit’s team of seasoned pro-fessionals has extensive experience inthe collision industry with top auto-motive distributors. Each consultanthas the industry knowledge and train-ing skills required to effectively assessand educate the CCRC’s staff to de-velop and utilize the processes for:● Ordering and installing originalBMW parts;● Training collision repair staff;● Repairing BMW vehicles to thehighest quality standards; ● Analyzing financial performance,and establishing action plans; ● Submitting the Parts Rebate reports

2011 BMW CCRC Training Determin-ing the number of technicians and es-timators that must complete training tomeet CCRC Requirements:● 100% of the collision center staffdedicated to BMW repairs based onthe technician’s Dealer EnrollmentManagement System (DEMS) jobclassification will be required to meetthe training standards established byBMW NA. The total number of dedi-cated and trained BMW techniciansrequiring training will be adjusted totake into account the CCRC’s BMW


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See BMW CCRC, Page 55

I’ve been very busy the past threemonths working on a new project forDan Weaver of the Bakersfield areaand his 11-year-old son BrandonWeaver, a junior race car driver whois number #1 in California and #3 inthe nation for his class, BandaleroBandit Division.

Dan and Brandon wanted me tobuild them a junior motor sports vehi-cle and I’m excited to share this newproject with you. I was pretty pumpedup. I’ve built body kits for the Mus-tang, I’ve worked with Mopar, andbuilt the polyurethane body kits forthe Challenger. Now, it’s going fromparts to a complete vehicle—I am allabout that. This is a challenge for me.It brings on my creativity and I will beable to learn more in depth what ittakes to build a complete vehicle.

I started with a basic foundationand that’s a great way to get a headstart. What I decided to do with thisproject is to build backwards. Westarted with a Legend body becauseBrandon is just a little guy, 70–80pounds max. This way I can gain thewheel base and get some ideas about

width and positioning. We got a Leg-end vehicle and I stripped the body offit and I had Brandon’s dad, Dan, lookaround and get some bodies. Theylooked like miniatures of NASCAR,

so we could makea plug. Making theplug means get-ting the shape anddesign in placeand modifying itto look like whatDan wants. Danfell in love withmy Mustang and

he likes my style of the bodies. UsingFiberglass is obviously better thanmetal at this point because race carsget all banged up, they get wreckedand then they have to change out thebody.

We cut the body in half because itwas a little long, shortened it up, got itto fit the wheel base of the Legend,spliced it together and cut off the frontend because we’re not going to beusing that front end. I took pre-exist-ing body parts that I’ve made andpulled some parts out of molds so I

can cut them up and modify them tofit this car, which I would call a ‘mini-me’ because it’s a smaller version.

Next, we took the splash off aMustang hood, cut it down, andspliced it in so we can get our hoodlooking right, and then we got thebody secured to the frame.We definitely needed to makeaccessories, so I came upwith the scoop, the rear wingaccessory, the left and rightquarter scoops and the frontfender scoop, and that givesus nine pieces, which means Ineed to make 9 molds. Withall that being said, the properprocess of doing this is sculpturing itout and making sure all sides are sym-metrical, such as the left rear wheelwells matching the right wheel wells.I am modifying the rear of the car tolook more like the Mustang, and thesides I have to modify to make thelines look more like the Mustang, to

give them a Rich Evans designed ve-hicle. We are using some features toreplicate the Mustang. The whole ideais to use the taillights and headlightsfrom a Mustang. We don’t want tohave to re-create the wheel and haveto get into tooling expenses by mak-

ing our own headlights and taillights,so we need to utilize what’s out there.

After getting it pretty close, I’musing 80-grit sandpaper. PCL #901once again has stepped up to the plate.I cannot build any cars without thatproduct. After shaping with 36-grit andthen 80-grit, I’m ready for primer. For


Building a Junior Motor Sport Vehicle for 11-Year-Old Driver

Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.

with Sheila LoftusYour Turn

Opinions Countwith Dick Strom

Shop Showcasewith Janet Chaney

Industry Overviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Interviewwith Janet Chaney


Rich Evans is the owner of Huntington Beach Bodyworks and an award winning painter andfabricator. He offers workshops in repair and customization at his facility to share his uniquetalents. For contacts and design samples visit www.huntingtonbeachbodyworks.com

Brandon Weaver.(From File)


2012 GT-R

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the first process of primer, I lay aboutthree gallons of primer on the body.PCL is both a timesaver and moneysaver. I’ll use 80-grit to shape it, thenguide coat it, and then come back with150-grit, re-primer it with another gal-lon or gallon and a half of primer, sandit again with 150-grit and come backwith 400 wet. Then, we’re ready for

molds and that’s the point where weare at now. Three months of hard work

to get to the molds.I am excited about this project.

It’s another challenge. I have to thankmy sponsors, PCL, 3M, SATA sprayguns and Infratech heat lamps, andBrandon and his dad for allowing meand believing in me to do this project.

Also, check out my new website,builditwithRichEvans.com. DIY (Do-

it-yourself) car builders arethe root the of American carculture and one that I grewup in. If you guys are build-ing cars out in your garage, Icould show up at yourgarage and give you threedays of free help with yourown do-it-yourself carbuilding project. Fill out anonline application off mynew website. We’re teamingup with my sponsors for free

products and parts. I want to knowyour story.



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swirling around the program and StateFarm’s attempt “to clear up perhapssome misinformation.”

In the State Farm letter signed byRoger Mann, it stated: “Collision re-pairers must be profitable to providethe quality repairs on which our cus-tomers depend. At the same time, StateFarm must act as an advocate for rea-sonable repair costs on behalf of allour customers. We believe repairerprofitability and reasonably priced,quality repairs can both be achieved.

“... We understand there are manyfactors associated with making part se-lection decisions. Pricing, availability,vehicle type, and supplier service lev-els are all important considerations.Our pilot acknowledges and respectsexisting relationships that repairershave with suppliers, including the con-fidentiality around margins and pur-chase prices. This new process keepsrepairers in control of all part selectiondecisions. There are no requirementsfor repairers to use suppliers they don’tknow or trust. Suppliers are invited to

participate by their repairers and havean opportunity to compete on equalfooting – putting their best price for-ward. Since it is widely accepted thatopen competition is at the heart of suc-cessful marketplaces, we aim to helpby providing repairers with a morecompetitive and comprehensive partsmarketplace,” the letter continued.

Added Avery, “We thought it wasimperative to reach out to all our Se-lect Service shops, even though theyaren’t in the test or pilot. They are ob-viously hearing a lot.”

As the PartsTrader pilot continuesin its four test markets, Avery reportedthat the four-week “feedback phase”phase started June 4 and comprises ofState Farm representatives who willfollow up with each repairer on theprogram to gather their feedback. Thenext phase will be the “evaluationphase” and the length of that stage willbe determined by the amount and typeof feedback State Farm receives fromthose shops testing the PartsTradersoftware application. Avery explainedthere will be “two portions” to theevaluation stage, how the process it-self is working and recommendationson software changes.


Birmingham Reacts

you’re giving away for free. The same applies to setting up for

a second color. For instance: a bumperon a sports car that has a different colorthan the rest of the vehicle. The paintproviders assume that it’s all done as asingle operation. They fail to accountfor clean up between colors, identify-ing, mixing and matching both colors.These are just a few easy examples ofprocesses that you may not be gettingpaid for. The list goes on. What are yougoing to do about it?

P-Pages obviously has its limita-tions and faults, but these issues aren’tinsurmountable and altering P-Pagesisn’t the only solution. Let the respon-sibility fall on you and your shop tostart examining P-Pages more carefullyto determine how much revenue youare losing every day. If you’re not con-cerned with filling these revenue leaksand correcting the oversights that neg-atively affect our bottom line, then whyeven bother showing up to work in thefirst place?

We’ve given too much power tothe insurers, and the average shop that

isn’t a DRP needs to start correctingthese mistakes if they have any chancein the industry today. Again, the solu-tion is coming together as a communityand creating a new standard. If we allfamiliarize ourselves with the P-pagelogic and determine what we are andaren’t getting paid for, then we canbegin to make a change in how ad-justers value our time and materials.

Know your P-Pages: Your esti-mating database can be your best toolbut you have to know it thoroughly touse it correctly. There are seminars andonline classes if you need help, but youmust familiarize yourself with what isand is not covered in each procedure.

Join a professional association.Network with your competition. Theymay compete for your jobs, but we’reall in the same boat when it comes togetting paid what we’re worth.

Don’t ever stop complaining orvoicing concern through the properchannels. If you educate yourself onproperly accounting for these proce-dures and you’re still having troublegetting compensated by the insuranceadjusters, make your voice heard. Writeyour local and national representatives.Call the insurance company. It’s possi-


Getting Paid

See Getting Paid, Page 54

by David M. Brown

Two schools in Arizona and Califor-nia are prepping the future of the in-dustry.

In Mesa, AZ., the collision repairprogram at The East Valley Institute ofTechnology is the state’s only highschool-level coursework certified bythe National Automotive TechniciansEducation Foundation, the independ-ent non-profit based in Leesburg, VA.Since 1983, secondary and post-sec-ondary automotive-training programsin 50 states have been accreditedthrough NATEF standards.

And, in Sacramento, the Univer-sal Technical Institute campus offersits Collision Repair & Refinish Tech-nology (CRRT) program, preparingstudents as collision repair and refin-ish technicians.

Arizona’s first joint technologicaleducation district, EVIT, offers occu-pation training for high school stu-dents at 10 school districts in theexpanding Phoenix East Valley. Themain 65-acre main EVIT campus is at1601 W. Main Street, and the ex-tended campus, 6625 S. Power Road.

The school’s areas of certificationinclude non-structural analysis/dam-age repair and painting and refinish-ing. Students in the two-year programdevelop auto body repair and refinish-ing skills, learning to perform jobsfrom detailing to assisting with paint-ing in a contemporary paint booth.The main campus facility includestwo frame racks, two downdraft bakespray booths and two downdraft prepstations.

The two-year program, with sixelective credits toward graduation,teaches students collision and cus-tomizing skills, using I-CAR guide-lines. The course started in the early1970s when it was offered at Mesa Vo-Tech, and for more than 20 years EVIThas offered it to aspiring technicians.

“The format of their curriculum isexactly like the curriculum used by I-CAR to certify technicians already inthe industry,” says Instructor NeilCarroll, custom paint instructor andan EVIT teacher for 10 years. “Stu-dents learn the basics with emphatichands-on lab practice.” Formed by thecollision industry in 1979, the not-for-profit Inter-Industry Conference onAuto Collision Repair focuses onhelping the industry achieve a highlevel of technical training.

NATEF requires many items,such as a facility and equipment andthat teachers must be ASE certified, he

says, noting his Master’s Techniciancertification through AutomotiveService Excellence as well as Auto-motive Youth Education Systems cer-tification (AYES).

For the current school year, Car-roll is guiding 71 high school students,divided between morning and after-noon sessions. In addition, an adultcollision-repair program in theevenings, through the School of AdultEducation, is administered by a dif-ferent instructor.

In Arizona, students compete inthe SkillsUSA competition whereEVIT wins the majority of the medalsannually, Carroll says. Five EVIT stu-dents this year competed against 49students statewide and won gold, sil-ver, top estimator and other awards.Last year, a female student wonbronze—the first female medal win-ner in state competition—and thisyear a female student won fourth,missing bronze by only 16 points.

In 1995, a student won silver and,about four years ago, another studenttook bronze at National SkillsUSA. Inaddition, last year 11 students partici-pated in internships, and there are cur-rently 12 on internships this year,nearly double the national average,Carroll says.

One of the oldest Ford dealershipsin Arizona, Berge Ford in Mesa, em-ploys a number of EVIT students andhas been impressed. “They havefound a great starting point here,” saysSteve Roger, Collision Repair Center

manager, who notes the appreciationas well of Ed Baker, the dealership’sservice director. “The industry is in

great need of qualified entry-level per-sonnel.”

The Sacramento campus of Uni-versal Technical Institute, founded inPhoenix in 1965, offers a CollisionRepair & Refinish Technology Pro-

gram, accredited by NATEF, ACCSC(the Accrediting Commission of Ca-reer Schools and Colleges), the Stateof California Bureau of Private Post-secondary Education and the U.S. De-partment of Education. The Houstoncampus of UTI, which opened in1983, also offers the program. Na-tionwide, nine UTI locations provideautomotive-education courses, andtwo motorcycle and/or marine tech-nology.

“Our program is designed to serveindustry need,” says Don Black, edu-cation director for the Sacramentocampus. “We partner with industryand I-CAR regarding our curriculum,facility, education delivery, trainingaids and lab activities to ensure thatwe are providing the most relevanttechnical training that will allow ourstudents the greatest opportunity forsuccess in the collision-repair indus-try.”

He adds,”It is this focus on indus-try and partnership with industry thatmakes Universal Technical Institutethe best choice for technical trainingand how we distinguish ourselvesfrom our competitors.”


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Arizona and California Schools Preparing for Collision Repair’s Future

Collision Repair & Refinish Technology at UTI. Image courtesy UTI

Guided by 11 instructors, the 51-week CRRT program guides the stu-dents on how to repair and refinishstructural and non-structural damageas well as how to prepare cost esti-mates on all phases of repair and re-finishing. Students also learn to repairmechanical and electrical damage. Asa result of completing the program,graduates can achieve certifications inDuPont refinishing, 3M plastics repairand Chief Automotive measuring andstraightening systems, Black explains.

Based on the industry standard, I-CAR Live, the course includes fivemodules of collision repair and refin-ish training: Nonstructural Repair;Structural Repair; Refinishing; Me-chanical & Electrical Repair; andAuto Customizing. Graduates will bePlatinum I-CAR certified, preparingthem for entry-level collision repair orrefinish technician for a dealership, anindependent body shop or a fleet re-pair facility.

Success has been continuing sincethe program started at UTI Sacra-mento in 2005. One recent examplehas been with Cooks Collision, a largeregional CRRT employer with 20 lo-cations in California. The companyhad been struggling to find estimators

for the last two years, and UTI thoughtthere might be an opportunity to part-ner with the business, Black says.

“During follow-up meetings withCooks, UTI learned more about theirneeds and we were able to connectthose needs with the value UTI pro-vided, resulting in a win/win partner-ship,” he explains. Cooks wouldcreate a one-month paid training pro-gram on estimating to build on thefoundation of the UTI training.

UTI first identified seven candi-dates. “Our hope was to identify fourhires for the program,” Black says,“but after interviewing our seven UTI

candidates, they hired six, and all butone of them was able to advancethrough the training program.”

That group comprises JustinAbner, William Bakke, Colton Dor-man, Carlos Solórzano, and DylanBurtis, who started working withCooks Collision in February as juniorestimators.

They recently returned to UTI toshare their experiences and challengestudents, telling them to focus on all

courses, including estimat-ing, as they didn’t know theywould become estimatorswhen starting the UTI pro-gram, Black says.

“Our estimating trainingfrom UTI was a great foun-dation to build on during ourtraining with Cooks and wewished we would have fo-cused on it more,’ they said,”he reports, adding that UTIwill soon be choosing thenext set of UTI graduates tobe interviewed for an oppor-tunity with Cooks Collision.

Another recent UTI success isColton Hart, who graduated from theschool in September 2011, accepted ajob a month later working with Sunny

Stotler in Kalispell, MT., doing customauto body and refinish repair work.

He started out at $15, received araise in February and then switched toa flat-rate commission of 40 percentof the total job profit. Quickly, he waspromoted to Refinish and RestorationTech/Airbrush Artist for the two-manshop.

“He now does all the paint andairbrush work and is continually tak-ing on more of refinishing process,”Black reports. “Sunny reports thatthey have business lined up for thenext two years and the community hasbecome a fan of Colton’s airbrushwork, with specific requests for hisdesigns and skills.”

Black said, “Colton is doing hisdream job and is excited to keep learn-ing and developing under the directionof a veteran in the industry, and UTIis very proud of Colton’s accomplish-ments and that he is pursuing hisdreams.”


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Megan Peterson is a student at EVIT taking advantage oftwo new paint mixing systems along with a computer,software, label printer, paint books, tech manuals and amixing scale from Leading Edge Auto Refinishes andRiverview Collision in Mesa Follow us on Twitter:

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Three more members of Congresshave signed on as co-sponsors of fed-eral legislation (HR 3889) that wouldreduce the time automakers can usedesign patents to prevent other com-panies from producing replacementcrash parts. Reps. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Walter Jones (R-NC) and Den-nis Ross (R-FL) are now supportingthe bill, backed by insurers and non-OEM parts manufacturers and distrib-utors, that would reduce patentprotection for OEM parts from 14years to just 2.5 years. Supporting thebill are numerous aftermarket organi-zations, including the Quality PartsCoalition who issued a statement say-ing, in part: “American drivers cur-rently have access to alternative autoreplacement parts that can save thembetween 26–50% when repairing theircars after an accident. But car compa-nies are trying to force consumers tobuy their parts only and eliminate thecompetition. Car companies have beenacquiring U.S. design patents on exte-rior auto repair parts—such as hoods,bumper covers and mirrors—and en-forcing them against independent sup-pliers who have been selling thesemore affordable and quality alternativeparts for more than 60 years.”

PARTS Patent Bill GetsThree Additional Sponsors

Ford began shipping the new Escapeto dealers several weeks ago even ashail damaged thousands of units neara Louisville assembly plant. TheLouisville Courier-Journal reportedthat 3,500 Escapes were damaged byhail during an April 28 storm, whileawaiting shipment last month at FordMotor Co.'s Louisville, Ky., assem-bly plant, but the incident won't delaythe launch of the all-new crossover.Ford spokesman Todd Nissen saidthe company is inspecting the plant'sshipment lot to assess damage. Hesaid affected SUVs will not be sold tonew-car buyers.

“We haven't determined whatwe will do with them yet, but theywill not be shipped to dealers as new,"Nissen said.

“We'll be able to recover, overtime, our production volume as we gothrough the launch of the vehicle andas the plant continues to ramp up,"Nissen said. This year through May26, Ford has built 11,000 new Es-capes. The company spent $600 mil-lion to retool the Louisville plant,shifting production of the Escapefrom the company’s Kansas City,Mo., factory. The move created about1,800 jobs.

Ford Ships New Escapes,Some Have Hail Damage

During the past 15 years or so, I’venoticed that many body shops spenda great deal of time and money pro-moting to referral sources that neversend a single job. There is somelogic to continually dripping onprospects in the hope that at least afew of them will send a job or twoone day. And if the promotion goingout isn’t too costly, it can’t hurt.

But what if more effort were ap-plied to reinforcing those sources thatactually do refer jobs? In a busy mar-ket, I know of a shop that promotes to200 insurance agents a month. Lessthan 10% of those agents ever referwork to the shop, and even fewer ac-tually send work on a regular basis.This particular shop also has a DRPwith an insurance company that hasregular agent meetings and has madethe conference room and area avail-able for agent and manager meetingsfairly frequently. This has resulted insignificantly more referrals by agentswho attend meetings at the shop. Inchecking with other shops that marketto agents, I found this was a commonoccurrence. Once an agent either cameto a shop, brought his or her vehicle tothe shop for repairs, or had a customeruse that shop with a good result, theagent then did actually refer businessto the shop.

A physician’s Hippocratic oathsays, “First do no harm.” Someonecontemplating a referral to a shop willhave a similar concern: “First, avoidany harm.” An agent or other referral

source knows that referring a job to ashop that does a bad repair will reflectbadly on him or her and may lose thatcustomer or client. So great caution isexercised in making referrals. On theother hand, I’ve spoken with agentswho said they had gotten a glowingreport from a customer who had beenreferred to a shop and found that re-ferral formed an even closer bondwith the customer. In a case like this,referrals can be an excellent way tosolidify or build business.

This should be a clear messageto a shop owner or manager seekingto build referral business. Getting thereferral source to come to the shop tosee it in action, or better yet to bringhis or her own vehicle in for repairswill greatly improve the chances ofgetting referral business. Dependingon the financial capability of theshop, it could even be worthwhile tooffer to do a free repair to a poten-tially high volume referral source.

Much depends on a shop care-fully identifying who has referred ajob. When a real referral source hasbeen identified, it’s time to reinforcethat willingness to refer in every waypossible. Many shops send thank younotes or offer a free car wash as athank you. Others offer small giftslike theater tickets, dinner for two ata nice restaurant, or a voucher for useat a beauty parlor, local gym or bar-bershop. Some agents aren’t allowedto receive gifts, so a more subtle formof appreciation is in order. Like the

shop, agents, car dealers and other re-ferral sources are also looking tobuild their business. Posting theircard or flyers at the shop would be aminimal thing to do, but hosting apromotional event at the shop couldbe appropriate for someone who fre-quently referred business.

Some events can be a win-winfor both the shop and an agent ordealership promotional person. Asafe driving event for teenagers canbring in parents with insurable andrepairable vehicles. In a previous ar-ticle I wrote about a car care clinicfor a woman’s professional networkgroup. Promoting a good referralsource as a sponsor and co-presenterfor such an event would be an espe-cially effective way to reinforce thatsource of referrals.

Happy customer referrals canalso be enhanced with recognition.One shop tracked the number of jobsper month and year and awarded a

prize to the 10,000th customer. A shopmight also create a “Customer Appre-ciation Day” once a month, and inviteall customers who had referred jobs tocome in for a fancy lunch and alsoperhaps a car wash. Unique souvenirscould also be awarded, like a coffeemug or special hat or T-shirt with theshop’s logo. The key element with in-dividuals who refer business is to cre-ate a sense of family and belonging.And when one of these referring cus-tomers comes back for repairs on hisor her vehicle, the shop might award asurprise rebate.

It all comes down to recognizingwho actually sends work. Radio, TVand publication ads reach out to thegeneral public. Flyers, mailers, e-mails and more, target potential (butnot yet real) referral sources. Butthere’s nothing like reinforcing and re-warding those who send the real jobsand provide the funds for reaching outto grow even more.


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Maximizing Referrals to Your Shop

Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.

with Sheila LoftusYour Turn

Opinions Countwith Dick Strom

Shop Showcasewith Janet Chaney

Industry Overviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Interviewwith Janet Chaney


Tom Franklin has been a shop sales and marketing consultant for fifty years. He haswritten numerous books and provides marketing solutions and services for many busi-nesses. He can be reached at (323) 871-6862 or at [email protected]. See Tom’s columns at www.autobodynews.com under Columnists > Franklin

ble they’re unaware of what these pro-cedures actually entail, and at the veryleast it’ll put you on their radar and getthem thinking about it. Imagine if theyhear it from body shops all over thecountry all the time? They wouldn’t beable to ignore it or play ignorant. Neveragain accept the alternatives of cost-shifting, padding other repair times, orbelieving the promises of the adjustersto “make it up to you next time.” Likeall industries, ours will keep evolving,losing the traits that harmed us andadding traits that are beneficial. The

newest evolution our industry under-takes must include improvement to theestimation process and improved un-derstanding between the shops and theadjuster of what refinishing proceduresentail.


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repair volume (in dollars) as a percentof its total repair volume. This sameformula will also be taken into accountfor body shop estimators. Exceptions:► SB011 GRAV Aluminum Repair: Aminimum of 2 technicians per CCRCbut at least 50% of body techniciansbased on repair volume; ► SB012 Level 3 Body Repair: Aminimum of 2 technicians per CCRCbut at least 50% of body techniciansbased on repair volume; ► SB018 Glass Repair and Replace-ment: A minimum of 1 technician perCCRC regardless of repair volume.

● Only those courses completed by as-sociates or technicians who are regu-larly involved as part of their jobdescription with physically performingbody and paint repairs to BMW vehi-cles will count towards meeting theskill level requirements● Technical training courses com-pleted by managers, production coor-dinators, advisors, or other supportstaff members will not count towards

certification requirements. ● Combination technicians will betreated as both body and paint techni-cians.● Training completed by non-produc-tive or support staff will not count to-wards certification requirements.

Technician training course re-quirements are based on CORA job ti-tles, which will be used to determinetraining requirements. It is imperative,then, that management lists the correctCORA job titles for associates and thatInteractive Career Pathways (ICP)/Dealer Enrollment Management Sys-tem (DEMS) is updated on a regularbasis. Please consult with your Re-gional Aftersales Development Man-ager (RADM) for more guidance.

Improperly classifying techni-cians can severely impact a CCRC’straining requirements. It also affectsan associate’s ability to log into Cen-terNet and DCSnet to research andobtain the most current repair infor-mation. It is in the CCRC’s best in-terest to regularly review and updateits ICP/RUA staff roster and makesure that associates have appropriateaccess to the BMW website.

The CCRC’s training plan will bedeveloped each year. A CCRC must

then complete its training plan duringthe same calendar year (no later thanDecember 31st). Adjustments to train-ing plans may occur during the calen-dar year due to newly introducedtraining programs and/or changes tothe CCRC’s technician count. Newlycertified centers will receive a trainingplan at the on-site certification visitthat will be pro-rated based on theircertification date. A center’s progresstowards completing their training planis monitored regularly.

2011 BMW CCRC Program Tool, Equip-ment, and Materials RequirementsInformation Technology Requirements High speed internet service CenterNet access ICP administrative access ISIS/ISTA access on all terminals Separate computer terminal(s) forISIS/ISTA access with printer locatedin or convenient to technicians thatwork in the metal shop Computerized estimating system Frame/Unibody Alignment and Di-mensioning System Any one of the following systems: Car Bench with dedicated or universalfixtures Car-O-Liner bench with Car-O-Tronic/Vision electronic measuringsystem with either EVO 1,2,3 or Car-O-Flex universal fixture system, B66or B76-77 side supports Celette bench with dedicated fixturesor NAJA electronic measuring systemalong with positioning tool NA.1000 Welding and Riveting Equipment Any one of the following CompressionResistance Spot Welders: Car-O-Liner CR600 Celette MIDIspot QSVM 9000 Elektron MI100 Control MIDIspot QSVM 1200 T

Wire Feed Welder: Approved MIG / GMAW welder Other Welding Equipment: Oxy-acety-lene torch Riveting and Bonding Equipment TKR Punch Riveting Tool Aluminum Repair Equipment Aluminum stud welder (Wielander &Schill Stud Welder BSP03) Powerbird stud/punch rivet extractor(PN 81430301745) Pyrosil flame coating kit (PN81430301740) Dedicated aluminum hand tools con-sisting of body files, body hammers,body dollies, abrasive tools, and basichand tools which are to be stored intheir own, separate tool storage box.

Curtain walls to separate aluminumwork stalls, either portable or fixedwith a minimum height of 8’.Hand or special tools (such as files,hammers, dollies, cutters, grinders,spoons, etc.) in sufficient quantities toproperly repair vehicles dedicated toaluminum repair only must be markedas such.

Paint Shop RequirementsRefinish MaterialsNew CCRCs agree to purchase and useColorSystem products for all repairsand refinish work performed on BMWGroup vehicles at its collision repair lo-cation. As a reminder, any CCRC en-rolled in the CCRC Program beforeOctober 10, 2007 has the opportunityto utilize Glasurit, Spies Hecker, orStandox in lieu of ColorSystem untiltheir pre-existing paint contracts datedbefore October 10, 2007 expire. Oncequalifying pre-existing paint contractshave expired, conversion to ColorSys-tem must then occur to remain a part ofthe CCRC Program.

Spray BoothDown draft spray booth and oven musthave the following minimum specifi-cations: ● 14,000 CFM (or higher) air flow ca-pacity ● 750,000 BTU (or higher) heatingsource Interior lighting system: 1200 LUXoutput, color corrected, with a ColorRendering Index of at least 96 CRI ● Three-stage air filtration system ● Air accelerators recommended forwater-borne applications ●Refrigerant, desiccant, or membraneair filtration/drying unit

The CCRC is responsible for en-suring that government regulationsand restrictions are always followed inregards to paint application, storageand disposal. Please refer to your localEPA and OSHA guidelines.

Thanks to Kenny Tran, BMW of NorthAmerica, LLC, Body & Paint Techni-cal Business Assistant and to KevinMiller, BMW Concord Collision Cen-ter Manager for information herein.


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