july 2012 southwest edition

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 33See Birmingham Reacts, Page 28

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 34

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

Special to Autobody News

see p. 40

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. 16

Columnist David M. Brown starts a newseries of articles on Nationwide TechnicianTraining for Collision Repair Students.Special to Autobody News. see p. 44

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SouthwestPublisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst

General Manager: Barbara DaviesAssistant Editor: Melanie AndersonContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, John Yoswick, Lee Amaradio, Dan EspersenJanet Chaney, Toby Chess, Mike Causey, Tom McGee, David Brown, Rich Evans,Ed Attanasio, Chasidy SiskAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman, Jay Lukes (800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Kristy NavarroArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Serving Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and adjacent metro areas, Autobody Newsis a monthly publication for the autobody industry. Permission to reproduce in any form thematerial published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher.©2012 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody NewsBox 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018; (800) 699-8251 (760) 721-0253 Faxwww.autobodynews.com Email: [email protected]

Accudraft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 39CCC Information Services . . . . . . . . 9Chevyland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Classic BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Dallas Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48David McDavid Auto Group . . . . . . . 2Don Carlton Auto Group. . . . . . . . . . 6Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Ford Wholesale Parts DealersTX, OK, LA, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Fowler I-240 Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge. 11Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Gene Messer Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . 28GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 44Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25

Huffines Hyundai Plano . . . . . . . . . 30Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 37Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 29LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 36

Mercedes-Benz of Oklahoma City . 32Mike Calvert Toyota. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Mitsubishi Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 21NACE Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13North Freeway Hyundai . . . . . . . . . 18OE Reman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Ray Huffines Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . 5Reliable Chevrolet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Replica Plastics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Safety Regulations Strategies. . . . . 12Scoggin-Dickey Buick . . . . . . . . . . 23Solution Finish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42South Pointe Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge. 15Star-A-Liner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Toyota of Fort Worth . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Toyota of Laredo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 41Volkswagen Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 38Young Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Inde

xofAdvertisers

REGIONALASA Testifies at Texas Tax Law Hearing . . . 3Claims Adjusters Given Temporary

Licensing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Dallas Auto Paint & Body Shops Booked

After Latest Hail Storm. . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Electronic Insurance Proof Bill Clears

LA Legislature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Industry Day Set for July 11 at Louisiana

Tech College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Kansas Businesses Still Dealing with

Spring Storm Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Kansas City Teens Drive Electric Car

Across America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Louisiana State Penitentiary Lifer Makes

ASE Triple Master Rank . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Louisiana Towing Bill Signed by Governor . 7May Storms Bring Giant Hail, Significant

Damage to Oklahoma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Memorial Held for Carroll Shelby at College. 8New Captive Law Will Invite Businesses

to Oklahoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6New Service King in San Antonio . . . . . . . . 8Oklahoma Gets Prepared for Summer

Road Trips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Rockport, TX, Mechanic Woke Up to

Homicide Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Texas DOI to Hold Hearings on Consumers

Bill of Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Texas Hail Storms Cause High Insured

Losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20TIAA Hosts Jeff Franco, PartsTrader

Discussed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Wind and Hail Coverage May Lead to

Big Losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Yukon, OK, Student Wins State

SkillsUSA Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

COLUMNISTSAttanasio - Matters of the Heart—Body

Shop Owner Saves Adjuster’s Life . . . . 14Evans - Building a Junior Motor Sport

Vehicle for 11-Year-Old Driver. . . . . . . . 42Franklin - Maximizing Referrals to

Your Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Hey Toby! - Matrix Wand is a

Game Changer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Sisk - Al Brodeur’s Auto Body Offers

Honesty, Inspires Loyalty . . . . . . . . . . . 30Weaver - Take it to the Dealer! . . . . . . . . . 27Yoswick - SCRS Meeting Discusses

Insurance Regulation, State Farm . . . . . 10

NATIONAL‘Back 2 Back’ Joins Calif. Jobber . . . . . . . 18Arizona and California Schools Preparing

for Collision Repair’s Future . . . . . . . . . 44Battery Maker BYD Probes Electric-Car

Crash Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Birmingham, AL, Shop Owners Drop State Farm’s Select Service Due to PartsTrader . 1

Body Shop Does Paint Job on Paint Blob . 18Caliber Collision Refurbishes Vehicle

for Student. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Disruption Became the New Normal in ‘11. 40DuPont Unveils New No. 24 Chevrolet

Paint Scheme for 20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Florida Shop Owner Arrested for

Impersonating Adjuster . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Ford Ships New Escapes, Some Have

Hail Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Geico Settles Lawsuit with Gunder’s . . . . 31Hail Damage Claims Prove Value of

Comprehensive Insurance Coverage . . 38Hertz CEO Robert Smalley, Sr. . . . . . . . . . 8Honda to Add Acura MDX to Alabama

Plant for Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Insurance Regulators Face Budget Cuts,

Increased Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18International Body Shop Meeting (IBIS) in

Spain Addresses Misleading KPIs,Winning Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Mike Causey in NC Runoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Mississippi Nissan Plant Starts New

Altima Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Mitchell AutocheX Celebrates

Top-Performing Shops. . . . . . . . . . . . . 38NABC Helps Operation Comfort’s

Automotivation Secure a NewFacility for Disabled Vets . . . . . . . . . . . 12

NHTSA: Safety Improvements Prevented 700,000 Crashes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Nissan EVs Tested in New York AmidStandard Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

PARTS Patent Bill Gets Three AdditionalSponsors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

PCI Claims ABARI Legislation Has Increased Repair Costs Twice National Avg. . . . . . 34

Poll Shows Americans Still Blame Bushfor Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Rhode Island’s Auto Body LegislationCalled “Great Consumer Bill” Decriedby Insurers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

SCRS Hosts Repairer Driven Educationat SEMA 2012 Featuring “InnovationForum” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Seattle Auto Body Repair Students Give“Billy-the-Kid” Hydroplane a Makeover. 37

Service, Diagnostic and Mechanical News. 26State Farm PartsTrader Issue Resuscitates

Mississippi Collision Repair Association. 1Storm Chaser Chases Hail-Damaged Cars

for Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Toyota Donates $32K in Training and Support

to CREF in Support of Instructors. . . . . 43What it Takes for a BMW Dealership to

Become a BMW CCRC. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Contents

www.autobodynews.com | JULY 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

ASA Testifies at Texas Tax Law HearingThe Automotive Service Association(ASA) testified before the Ways andMeans Commission in Austin, Texas,June 5, regarding what it feels is an in-equity in the current Texas FranchiseTax code.

Denise Caspersen, ASA’s Col-lision Division manager; CharlesParker, executive director of ASA-Texas; John Firm, AAM, presidentof ASA-Texas and owner of FirmAutomotive in Fort Worth; and JohnMiller, owner of Freedom Automo-tive in Stafford, were all present atthe hearing. ASA members fromTexas who testified included VinceOliva, owner of Vin’s Paint andBody Mid Co. Inc. in Nederland, andVin’s Paint and Body Inc. in Beau-mont; Johnny Bang, owner ofJohnny Bangs and Bumps Shop Inc.in Tomball; and Danny Sullivan,owner of Sullivan Advanced AutoCare in Kingwood.

If passed, House Bill 429 and itscompanion, Senate Bill 476, wouldallow automotive repair shops to betaxed the same amount that dealers,parts stores and tire stores are nowtaxed.

“The independently owned auto-motive repair and collision businessesin Texas are being denied equal treat-

ment under the law,” said Parker.“Automotive repair and collisionshops owned and operated by new orused car dealerships are taxed at halfthe rate used to tax the independentlyowned businesses doing identicalwork. This is justified in the tax codeby classifying dealership sales as ‘re-tail’ and allowing their service and re-pair business to be included under thatbanner.

“Furthermore, repair shops op-erated by tire companies (NTW,Firestone, Goodyear), parts stores(Pep Boys) and mass-merchandisers(Sears, Wal-Mart, Target) are alsocharged at half the rate paid by inde-pendent repair shops. We should notbe taxed at a rate different than abusiness performing an identicalservice. We should not be denied thetrue cost of our product by disallow-ing our skilled labor.”

Added Caspersen, “We werevery pleased with the number of ASAmembers who took time away fromtheir businesses to attend the hearingand demonstrate how important it isto change the current franchise taxlaw in Texas. We ask other shop own-ers in Texas to take the time to contacttheir legislators asking them to sup-port ASA’s efforts.”

Numerous severe thunderstorms pum-meled Oklahoma in late May, a bless-ing and a curse for an area whichdesperately needed some rain, butcould have done without the fist-sizehail smashing car windows. Hail-stones as large as 4.25 inches were re-ported by the National WeatherService on May 29.

Hail damaged the roofs and win-dows of many homes and broke outcar windshields. In Edmond, about450 cars at Bob Howard Dealershipwere damaged by the hail.

The storms dropped enormoushail on the Oklahoma City area theevening of May 29. The NationalWeather Service received reports ofsoftball-sized hail or larger in theKingfisher area. No deaths were re-ported but authorities say a handful ofpeople were injured by the large hail-stones.

The storms also knocked outpower to homes and businesses. Ahandful of people were injured andwind gusts exceeding 75 mph snappedutility poles, leaving thousands with-out electricity.

The storm system spawned aweak tornado and hail the size of soft-balls in northwestern and centralOklahoma.

Governor Mary Fallin on May30 declared a State of Emergency for35 Oklahoma counties due to straightline winds, hail, flooding and torna-does.

Heavy rain flooded streets inTulsa. A woman drove her car intohigh water and was stranded when theengine quit. Other drivers came to heraid and pushed the car out of thewater.

Hail the size of softballs, highwinds and lightning-sparked fires

destroyed property and left a messfor many Oklahoma City metro arearesidents. Nearly 100,000 peoplelost power in the metro area.Downed power lines caused trafficsnags, and high water trapped somepeople in vehicles. Most of the dam-age across the state was from hail upto the size of softballs and windgusts that reached as high as 85miles per hour.

Hail smashed roof tiles andstained-glass windows on the southside of Christ the King CatholicChurch in Nichols Hills, said PatrickCullen, church business manager. Thedamage could exceed $600,000,Cullen said. In 2010, hail caused $1.7million damage to the church.

Emergency Medical ServicesAuthority paramedics responded to95 calls between 7 and 11 p.m. onMay 29 in the Oklahoma City metroarea, including injuries from hail,broken glass, flying debris and caraccidents.

Eight of those calls were for trau-matic injuries. Six people were hit byhail, one had a cut hand and one washit by a loose road sign that fell as

people sought shelter under an over-pass.

One person was critically injuredin a car wreck when she exited her ve-hicle and was hit by a vehicle that hy-droplaned.

Medics also responded to 14wrecks directly attributable to thestorms, low visibility, sliding throughpooled water or disregarding traffic

laws at intersections where power wasoff to traffic lights.

The Oklahoma City Fire Depart-ment also handled several rescues, in-cluding four people stuck in kayaks inhigh waters near SW 15 and MeridianAvenue, and two people trapped in avehicle in high waters at 400 AnnArbor.

May Storms Bring Giant Hail, Significant Damage to Oklahoma


Wind and Hail Coverage May Lead to Big LossesThe severe weather that hit Oklahomain late May could lead to Oklahoma in-surance companies having to pay an es-timated $400 million to cover insuredproperty damage, according to an in-dustry group.

At the same time, a major insurerhas claimed that the high winds and hailwere not considered to be catastrophic.

According to the Oklahoma FarmBureau Insurance vice president ofpublic affairs, John Wiscaver, “Fromthe standpoint of comparing this to thehail event we had a couple of years agoin the spring that was just a massivehailstorm, it is not even close to themagnitude of that event.”

He went on to say that it was onlythe coverage by the media that left theimpression that the storms lead to mas-sive damage to property. Wiscaver ex-plained that while there had been somedamaging hail in certain isolated parts ofthe state, it was no means as extensive aswas suggested by the media coverage.The preliminary estimate from theSouthwestern Insurance InformationService was $400 million.

That organization, based in Texas,

felt that this would be the total cost of allof the insured losses, following a surveythat it conducted and which included theparticipation of its members, such as thelargest Oklahoma insurance providers.

The president of the SouthwesternInsurance Information Service, SandraHelin, did confirm, though, that thesenumbers were only preliminary andthat they are bound to change. She il-lustrated by saying that for one of itsmember companies, the number had al-ready doubled from earlier predictions.

Helin stated that the storm’s dam-age claims are quite widespread. Shealso pointed out that the estimate pro-duced by her organization did not in-clude any of the commercial losses or thelost income from businesses as a resultof the damage from the severe weather.

Oklahoma insurance company,Group 1 Automotive Inc., a publicallytraded business which operates eight cardealerships within the area of the state’scapital, had reported that it anticipatesa cost of around $1.8 million to $2.3million after taxes and deductibles as aresult of the vehicle damage experi-enced at seven of its locations.


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Tri-State Coatings, Inc. will host anIndustry Day on July 11 at LouisianaTechnical College, 2010 North Mar-ket in Shreveport, LA, from 7 a.m. to4:30 p.m. Guest speaker is TroyNiles, who will talk about the “Stateof the Industry.”

Classes will include:● Blending strategies and how to getpaid for it● Buffing black without swirls● Collision industry jobs● Keeping customers for life● Compressed air● Vehicle dimension measuring● Waterborne basecoat applicationdemonstration● Aluminum repair● Masking strategies● Squeeze type resistance welding● Corrosion protection

There is a limited seating ineach class. Cost is $125 per shop forthe first three people; $25 for eachadditional person. Classes will be 45minutes to an hour. Pre-registrationis highly recommended.

Lunch will be served by theLouisiana Technical College Culi-nary Department.

For more information/register,visit Tri-statecoatingsonline.com.

Industry Day Set for July 11at Louisiana Tech College

Oklahoma Insurance CommissionerJohn Doak recently announced thata proposed new law paves the wayfor more insurance companies to dobusiness in Oklahoma.

Senate Bill 1617, requested byOklahoma Insurance CommissionerJohn Doak, caps the premium tax oncaptive insurance companies at$100,000. Captive insurance refers toa subsidiary corporation that pro-vides insurance to the parent com-pany and its affiliates. It allowscorporations and groups to take fi-nancial control and manage risks byunderwriting their own insurancerather than paying premiums to third-party insurers.

Oklahoma has allowed captiveinsurance companies to operate in thestate since 2004, but the law didn’tattract any new business to the mar-ket. The Oklahoma Insurance De-partment (OID) discovered thatcaptive insurance companies wereinstead choosing to operate in stateswith a cap in premium tax. In fact,several Oklahoma-based companiesare domesticated in Vermont.

The OID asked for a change inthe law in order to attract new busi-nesses to the state.

A proposal in Louisiana allowing au-thorities to accept electronic forms ofinsurance proof was approved in itsfinal round through the Legislature.

HB 1130 permits policyholdersto use a “mobile electronic device” todisplay original or photocopied imagesof their policy to police during trafficstops that show they have the cover-age required to operate a vehicle.

The legislation was adopted inthe state House with a 98-0 vote afteragreement over minor, language-ori-ented amendments from the stateSenate. It now heads to Gov. BobbyJindal for further consideration andlikely approval.

The bill defines a mobile deviceas “any small, hand-held computingor communications device that has adisplay screen with touch input or aminiature keyboard.”

Strong support from Louisianalegislators sped HB 1130 quicklythrough both the state House andSenate, which approved the proposalwith a 94-0 vote on April 25 and 39-0 vote on May 16, respectively.

A Rockport, Texas mechanic woke upJune 4 to find the body of 26-year-oldMatthew James Chipps outside hisshop. Investigators have named 42-year-old Lewis Scholten Jr. as a sus-pect in this murder. Authorities say heis considered armed and dangerousand was last seen driving a green Sat-urn. Investigators searched MonkeyRoad looking for clues to help themfigure out what led to the death ofChipps early on June 4. Neighborssay the business owner at Jerry’s AutoService found the man’s body on hisfront porch, covered in blood.

“When I looked out the window,there was police everywhere and therewas a body and I got sick,” saidneighbor Lou Collins. She and herhusband live right between the crimescene and the auto shop. Collinsfound a trail of blood from the streetand through her front yard, all the wayto the auto shop next door. “He wasstabbed in the neck and they hit his ar-tery and he bled out. That’s why allthe blood is everywhere. I guess hewas trying to find a safe place,” shesaid.

Aransas County Sheriff’sDeputies could not confirm if the manhad indeed been stabbed.

Rockport, TX, MechanicWoke Up to Homicide Scene

Electronic Insurance ProofBill Clears LA Legislature

New Captive Law Will InviteBusinesses to Oklahoma

www.a

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ECOTECH SYSTEMS LLC

A bill that allows police to tow cars ofdrivers lacking insurance coverage ona first offense was signed by Gov.Bobby Jindal on June 5 and goes intoeffect on August 1, 2012.

HB 1053 repeals current law thatprohibits officers from towing cars offirst–time violators of the compulsoryinsurance law and allows towing onlyon second and subsequent offenses.State senators passed the bill on May24 with a 28–3 vote. The state Housepassed the bill by an 82–7 vote onApril 25.

After the bill’s approval by sena-tors, Speaker of the House ChuckKleckley signed off on the latest ver-sion agreed upon by the state Houseand Senate, before sendings the legis-lation to Gov. Bobby Jindal for finalconsideration.

The bill, supported by theLouisiana State Police, aims to helpbring down the number of uninsureddrivers in the state by returning toharsher enforcement of the law, ac-cording to Rep. Ray Garafalo (R-Meraux), who authored the legislation.

Louisiana Towing BillSigned by Governor

TIAA Hosts Jeff Franco, PartsTrader DiscussedApproximately 40 members of theTexas Independent Automotive Asso-ciation met May 23 at Pompeii ItalianGrill in San Antonio. The two-hourcollision-specific meeting hostedguest speaker Jeff Franco, presidentof Elite Sales and Marketing Group,Inc., based out of Scottsdale, AZ andpast president of the Arizona CollisionAssociation.

Franco spoke to the group ofshops and vendors about how being amember of an association can be ben-eficial to shops and promote a positivefuture for the collision industry. Thismeeting marked the first gatheringthat was focused specifically for col-lision shops.

“The meeting was based uponmy passion and the importance ofbelonging to an auto body associa-tion,” said Franco. “Some of thehighlights that were discussed in-cluded state legislation representa-tion and voicing opinions on issueslike the State Farm PartsTrader Pro-gram. Working in Texas, I quicklysaw that there was very little unitywithin the collision shops and theirfrustrations with dealing day-to-daywith insurance companies. I sawwhat the TIAA had accomplished forthe mechanical shops and saw theneed for a collision association in the

entire state. Myself, along withTIAA, look forward to also openingup chapters in Austin, Dallas andHouston.”

About Jeff FrancoFranco was very involved with theCalifornia Autobody Association,Ontario Chapter and helped start thePalm Springs Chapter in the early1990s. In 1993, he moved to Scotts-dale, AZ to work for Raintree Auto-body as a marketing professional.He was also vice president of CoastAutomotive Group. In 1993, he waselected membership director of theArizona Collision Craftsman’s As-sociation and set up chapters in Tuc-son and Flagstaff. In 1996, thePhoenix chapter became the StateBoard and he was asked to run forstate president to oversee all chap-ters. He was the state president1996–1998. As the current presidentof Elite Sales and Marketing Group,he has opened offices in Dallas,Austin, San Antonio and Houston.The company represents over 60new car dealer parts departments inTexas for collision shops and me-chanical shops promoting the use ofOEM parts. For more information,contact Jeff at (602) 577-6520 orvisit www.elite-dealers.com.

The Texas Department of Insurancewill hold a hearing June 26 on pro-posed amendments to its “ConsumerBill of Rights” for auto and home in-surance policyholders. The documentspells out consumers’ rights to chooseboth the shop and parts used for re-pair of their vehicle. The HoustonAuto Body Association hopes to clar-ify this section to define the ‘reason-able amount’ for replacement parts as“based on the suggested list pricingprovided by vehicle manufacturers.”

Texas DOI to Hold Hearingson Consumers Bill of Rights

Mike Causey, former AutobodyNews columnist and a former lobby-ist for the Independent Auto BodyAssociation, finished a close secondin a 3-way Republican primary forstate insurance commissioner inNorth Carolina. Causey received 35.1percent of the vote, and will now bein a July 17 runoff election againstRichard Morgan, a former state leg-islator who received 37 percent ofvotes in the primary.

Causey’s columns can be read atautobodynews.com, select Colum-nists/Causey, Mike from the menu.

Mike Causey in NC Runoff




Memorial Held for Carroll Shelby at CollegeCar enthusiasts from near and fargathered at Northeast Texas Commu-nity College May 30 to say goodbyeto automotive legend Carroll Shelby.

The event was hosted by NTCCin conjunction with Team ShelbyTexas. The evening began with carlovers gathering on the north side ofMount Pleasant for a memorial run.More than 45 Shelby vehicles partic-ipated in the memorial ride that in-cluded a drive by Mr. Shelby’s homein Pittsburg.

“It was a powerful sight to seethat many fans gathered together toremember Carroll. I like to think hewas looking down on us smiling thatnight,” Dr. Jonathan McCullough,NTCC vice president for advance-ment said.

The run ended on the NTCCcampus, where the cars were put ondisplay and local fans gathered to visitand pay their respects to Mr. Shelby.At 8:55 p.m. there was a 30 secondceremonial “revving of the engines.”

“I can’t think of anything thatwould have honored his memory bet-ter than that moment. Mr. Shelbylived a big life and we are just thrilledthat NTCC got the chance to knowthis great man,” Dr. Brad Johnson,NTCC president, said.

At 9 p.m. the event moved intothe Student Union Building for a live

simulcast of the memorial servicebeing held in Los Angeles, CA. Per-sonal friends of Mr. Shelby, includingJay Leno, Dan Gurney, Edsel Fordand Lee Iacocca, eulogized Mr.Shelby in both touching and amusingtributes.

Following the simulcast, theevent gathered at the NTCC CarrollShelby Automotive Technology build-ing and raised a toast his memory. Ap-proximately 150 people were inattendance.

Mr. Shelby, a native of Leesburg,became a benefactor of the NTCCAutomotive Program in 2008. In ad-dition to lending his name and influ-ence to the program, Shelby hasprovided scholarships that have al-lowed many students to achieve theircollege dreams.

“We at the college always under-stood that he could have started hisprogram anywhere. Bigger schools inlarger and more high-profile commu-nities would have done anything topartner with him. But Mr. Shelbynever forgot his roots and chose to in-vest here in Northeast Texas,” Dr.Johnson said.

To learn more about the ShelbyAutomotive Technology program atNTCC,visit www.shelbyautotech.comor contact Keith Fennimore at 903-434-8159.

Claims Adjusters Given Temporary LicensingAfter damaging storms hit Oklahomain late May, state Insurance Commis-sioner John D. Doak cleared the wayfor insurance companies to bring in ad-ditional claims adjusters.

Doak’s emergency declaration en-ables emergency claims adjusters to belicensed temporarily to expedite the in-surance claims process and provide im-mediate assistance.

The move, Doak said, is designed“to help storm victims get the help theyneed quickly.”

Strong winds, hail and severaltornadoes left damage across much ofthe state. Insurance officials had nopreliminary estimate of the insuredlosses.

Doak urged Oklahomans to becautious in their response to damagedproperty.

“First and foremost, make sureyou and your family are safe,” Doaksaid. “Don’t make a bad situationworse by putting yourself in dangerwhile assessing damage. Be especiallycareful of downed power lines, brokenglass, exposed nails and other debris.”

State Attorney General ScottPruitt warned residents in areas dam-aged by severe storms to be on guardfor home repair schemes and charityfraud that typically follow in the wakeof weather damage.

“We know from past experiencethat this type of damage attracts crimi-nals looking for ways to take advantageof Oklahomans,” Pruitt said. “We’regetting the message out now so peoplecan be aware of such quick-fix schemesand spread the word to neighbors andfamily members before they becomevictims.”• Call your insurance company or agentwith your policy number and all rele-vant information as soon as possible.Ask what forms, documents and infor-mation you will need to provide toprocess your claim.• Take photos or video of the damage.• Make necessary repairs to preventfurther damage to the property (for in-stance, covering broken windows, leak-ing roofs and damaged walls), but donot have permanent repairs made untilyour insurance company has inspectedthe property and you have reached anagreement with them on the cost of ap-propriate repairs.• Save receipts, including those fromtemporary repairs that might be cov-ered by your insurance policy.• If your home is uninhabitable, askyour insurance provider if you havecoverage for living expenses in-curred while repairs are being made.Save all receipts to document thosecosts.

New Service King in San AntonioService King Collision Repair Cen-ters is expanding its presence in theSan Antonio area with the purchaseof Bordelon Collision in SpringBranch, north of San Antonio.

The acquisition, which is ex-pected to close June 29, would giveService King nine centers in the SanAntonio area to go with 40 others inHouston, Dallas-Fort Worth andAustin. It exploded into the San An-tonio marketplace last year with thepurchase of Alamo Body and Paintand its eight San Antonio locations.

The new acquisition is locatedat 5371 U.S. 281 North and hasbeen open for two years serving thegrowing market around that freewayand Texas 46.

Max Bordelon, the company’scurrent owner, said he was excitedby the acquisition and was confidentService King would “take care ofour employees and customers foryears to come.”

A new report from the National High-way Traffic Safety Administrationfinds that vehicle safety improve-ments made since model year 2000have prevented 700,000 crashes. Thelikelihood of crashing in 100,000miles of driving, the report indicates,has dropped from 30% in a 2000model year car to just 25% in a 2008model year car.

NHTSA: Safety ImprovementsPrevented 700,000 Crashes

Robert Smalley Sr., former CEO ofHertz Corp., died May 28 in FlatRock, NC. He was 88. Smalley beganhis career in Miami at his grandfa-ther's company, Couture Rent-A-Car.He moved to Hertz when it acquiredthe family business in 1958 and helda number of jobs in Chicago and NewYork before getting the top job in1968.

In the early 1970s, after leavingHertz, he founded an RV rental com-pany in Florida called Cruise Amer-ica. The headquarters later moved toArizona and is still run by the fam-ily.

Hertz CEO Robert Smalley, Sr.



State Farm’s PartsTrader program, theuse of shops’ estimating and otherdata, and how one state regulatoroversees auto insurers, were amongthe topics at a recent board meeting ofthe Society of Collision Repair Spe-cialists (SCRS).

A number of participants at themeeting held on April 24 in Okla-homa City, OK, wore large buttonsopposing “data mining” by the “BigThree” information providers, indi-cating they wanted the ability to “optout” of having their shop estimatingdata aggregated and used or sold. Thebuttons were part of the follow-up toa joint statement that SCRS and twoother trade associations sent in Janu-ary to CCC Information Services,Mitchell and Audatex, voicing con-cern about collection and use of shopdata.

SCRS Executive Director AaronSchulenburg said that as of lateApril, only CCC had provided a for-mal response to the associations’ re-quest.

“The response addressed thatthey have a mutual concern in protec-tion of data, but didn’t really addressthe questions that we’d asked relativeto an opt-out policy or discontinuationof collecting the data,” Schulenburgsaid.

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 reportsof vehicle accident histories showingup on CARFAX reports—instances inwhich the vehicle owner presumedthe information could only have beenobtained through the collision repairshop that prepared an estimate on (orrepaired) the vehicle.

In two of the three cases of thistype of situation that SCRS lookedinto, Schulenburg said, the CARFAXdata actually had been sourced thoughlocal police accident reports. In a thirdinstance, a woman seeking to trade-ina vehicle was upset that a CARFAXreport indicated that her vehicle hadhad structural damage repair, when

she knew this wasn’t the case. Shecontacted the shop shown on theCARFAX report as having done therepairs. SCRS worked with CARFAXand determined the report was inerror, incorrectly linking collisiondamage on one vehicle to the VIN ofanother. CARFAX was able to correctthe error, 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 state-ment by SCRS and other trade asso-ciations last November recognizingpublished automaker repair proce-dures as the “official industry-recog-nized repair standards for collisionrepair.” The associations also asked I-CAR to create an industry council “toidentify gaps in existing OEM proce-dures and develop processes 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 ap-plied.

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

He said his shop had to do $3,000in re-repairs to the vehicle. He saidthe shop that had done the originalwork under an insurer direct repairprogram paid his shop for the reworkwith a credit card – and remains onthe direct repair program.

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

Also at the meeting, a presenta-tion by representatives of the Okla-homa Department of Insurance wasprobably both heartening and dis-heartening at times for collision re-pairers.

On the upside, Michael Copelandof the Department’s anti-fraud unit

confirmed 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 John-ston, a senior claims processor and re-viewer for the Department, seemed toacknowledge the state’s anti-steeringlaw is being interpreted loosely. Thelaw prohibits insurers from makingshop referrals unless requested by thevehicle 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 address

because 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 butperceived as unfair “steering” tech-niques used, such as an insurer tellinga customer the process could beslower at the non-DRP shop and thuscould result in the customer having topay some 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-


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SCRS Meeting Discusses Insurance Regulation, State Farm

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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].

See SCRS Meeting, Page 20


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.

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 asnew,” 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

The National Auto Body Council(NABC) announced it has receivedboard approval to help Operation Com-fort’s Automotivation program secure anew facility in which it can continue tohelp disabled U.S. service membersand their families through the instruc-tion and practice of proper collision re-pair.

Located in San Antonio, Texas,Operation Comfort complements therehabilitation efforts carried out by theU.S. Army at the Brooke Army Med-ical Center (BAMC). As a form of oc-cupational therapy, the organizationruns the Automotivation programthrough which disabled veterans, inmany cases those that have lost one ormore limbs, are rehabilitated throughautomotive-related activities such asrebuilding and restoring cars, trucks,and motorcycles.

The property Automotivationused for training is being sold, a devel-opment made even more dishearteningbecause Operation Comfort used thefacility without a rent or utility obliga-tion. Now, a newer, larger buildingmuch closer to the hospital is being of-fered for sale to Operation Comfortand the National Auto Body Councilintends to raise the funds for purchas-

ing and renovating the new building.Though fund-raising details are stillbeing finalized, the National AutoBody Council will work with the Col-lision Industry Foundation, a recog-nized 501(c)(3) charity. Because theFoundation will be the entity throughwhich money will be raised, thosewishing to support Operation Comfortwill have the option to make their do-nation tax deductible.

A fundraising committee is beingcreated to seek out contributions at sev-eral different levels: corporate dona-tions for vendors, insurers and otherinterested businesses, as well as bodyshop level and individual contribu-tions. Matching grants are also beingconsidered in order that businesses andemployees, vendors and customers,and other partners can be invited tomatch funds.

“Our battle-tested veterans havegiven more of themselves for theircountry than most of us can even imag-ine,” stated NABC Executive DirectorChuck Sulkala.

Those interested in making dona-tions for the new Automotivation facil-ity should contact Chuck Sulkala at888-66-PRIDE or e-mail: [email protected].

NABC Helps Operation Comfort’s AutomotivationSecure a New Facility for Disabled Vets

Autobody News ispleased to announce our

Great Lakes Editionwill publish in September!

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.”


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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

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 areno “authorized” repair centers andonly dealerships can become BMWCertified Collision Repair Center(CCRC). At present there are only 69CCRCs in the US, and only nine inCalifornia.

The entity that owns the BMWCenter must be the same entity andmust have the same level of owner-ship in the applicable collision repairfacility.

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.That means that the BMW CCRC hasmet all the requirements and goesthrough an annual Re-certificationprocess.

2011 BMW Certified Collision RepairCenter ProgramThe BMW Certified Collision RepairCenter Program is a voluntary, no feeprogram developed to ensure thatBMW clients receive a first -classcustomer experience. The CertifiedCollision Repair Center (CCRC) Pro-gram is designed to enable BMWCenter-owned collision repair centersto:

● Focus on achieving a high level ofprofitability; ● Operate more efficiently; ● Ensure vehicles are repaired toBMW specifications (as outlined inthe Technical Information System, orISIS/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-certification process) BMW NA’svendor, Summit Consulting, Inc.(“Summit”) provides several types of100% BMW-funded support to help aCCRC enhance its collision repairbusiness. The objectives of this sup-port 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’collision process and profitability per-formances;● Learning and sharing key collisionrepair service strategies focused onimproving profitability; ● On-going professional training; ● Management Roundtable Discus-sions—These facilitator-led groupdiscussions are designed to allowCCRC participants to share proventechniques and best practices to growthe collision business both in partssales and repair revenue; ● 4 Stage Market Network Develop-ment Financial Analysis Tool—Thisfour stage tool provides enrolled


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

CCRC managers access to: ▬ Identify market opportunities togenerate revenue; ▬ Establish the CCRC’s current col-lision 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 Pro-gramAll 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 BMWNA and used by the CCRC for non-warranty or non-maintenance colli-sion repairs. The BMW CCRC iseligible for the rebate only if theCCRC remains compliant with theCCRC Program.

CCRC Promotional Material● BMW NA CCRC plaque and an-

nual re-certification endorsementslugs;● 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 businesstools;● 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 includesan incentive 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 areresponsible for adopting the processesnecessary to: order and install origi-nal BMW parts, follow BMW RepairSpecifications and use only BMWNA approved paint, materials, tools,and equipment for every BMW colli-sion repair.

CCRC Certification and Re-certifica-tion Process 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 ac-tion plans for technical and

ColorSystem training to ensure thatthese mutually agreed upon businessgoals are met by the CCRC.

Re-certification VisitIf the CCRC continues to complywith the CCRC Program require-ments, the CCRC receives an annualre-certification visit and follow-up bySummit.

Following the re-certificationvisit, 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 technicianswill meet the training requirementslisted in Appendix A. Each CCRCmust have a designated individualwho is accountable for approvingstaff training and determining thetraining path for each individual ofthe CCRC’s staff.

The amount of training requiredis based on the CCRC’s body and


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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.

Pennsylvaniaacademy ofthe fine arts

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,” saidPalmer.

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 majorboosts for the zero-emission electriccar.

Americans still blame the country’seconomic ills more on former Presi-dent George W. Bush than on Pres-ident Obama, a Gallup poll releasedJune 14 indicated. Sixty-eight percentof Americans still blame the BushWhite House while 52 percent saidObama was at fault, results indicated.

The relative economic blame as-cribed to Bush over Obama in the lat-est poll is virtually the same as it wasin September, the Princeton, NJ,polling agency said.

Gallup first began assessingblame in July 2009, six months afterObama became president. Then, 80percent of Americans indicated theygave Bush a great deal or a moderateamount of blame for the bad econ-omy compared with 32 percent whoascribed the same level of blame toObama. Results are based on nation-wide telephone interviews with 1,004adults conducted June 7-10. The mar-gin of error is four percentage points.

Poll Shows Americans StillBlame Bush for Economy

Insurance Regulators FaceBudget Cuts, Increased NeedThe NAIC released the first volume ofthe 25th edition of the Insurance De-partment Resources Report (IDRR) tohelp state insurance departments as-sess their resources in comparison toother states. State insurance depart-ments received more than 283,000 of-ficial complaints against insurers lastyear, and fielded more 2.1 million in-quiries. But with many of these de-partments already facing budget andstaffing shortages, the report found thedepartments expect their total budgetsfor 2013 will be $1.3 billion, a 3.2 per-cent decline from this year.

www.autobodynews.com


‘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.

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Vehicles were one of the biggest vic-tims of a hail storm that hit Dallas onJune 13. The next day, damaged carsstarted rolling into auto body and re-pair shops.

Manager Bobby Lee of HancePaint and Body spent much of his dayon the phone talking to people tryingto get their vehicles into his shop.

“It’s been non-stop. Yeah, it’sbeen non-stop,” said Lee.

The small, independent shop hadseven cars dropped off by middaywith dozens more already scheduled.

“We have probably 30 cars inprogress right now and we’ll keep 30

cars in the shop every day for the restof the summer I’m sure now,” Lee said.

The hail damaged vehicles cameon top of the full load already in theshop.

“We stay really busy. We averagea lot of money every month and it’sbeen here so long, we stay really busy,but when something like this comesalong, we have to hire extra help andit’s almost overwhelming,” said Lee.

At the much larger Service KingPark Cities, they didn’t have any roomto park all the damaged vehicles.

“A madhouse. Controlled chaos,”said manager Patrick Matthews.

The body shop posted on the frontdoors that appointments had to bemade before vehicles were droppedoff. Many of the cars in the shop hadto be crash wrapped and returned totheir owners.

“We’re trying to get all of the cus-tomers that have back glasses blownout, vacuum the glass out, crash wrapthem and at least try to get them towhere they are in a drivable state,”Matthews said.

Matthews said once someone gotan appointment, it might be a whilebefore their car is returned to its oldself.

“We were already scheduled outthrough September from the hailstorm that hit April. So now we aregoing to be scheduling all the waythrough October, November proba-bly,” he said.

Dallas resident Coury Jacockshad to watch his truck, which was hisbackup vehicle, get slammed withhail. His first car was already in theshop because of hail and it might bemonths before his truck got repaired.

“I hope that’s not going to be me.Again, it’s a backup vehicle, hopefullygoing to get mine back soon, but Idon’t doubt it,” said Jacocks.

Dallas Auto Paint & Body Shops Booked After Latest Hail Storm

Texas Hail Storms Cause High Insured LossesIt does not make drivers in Texashappy when they just get their carback from an auto body shop aftergetting repairs from the latest hailstorm, only to have it damaged againas more baseball-size pieces of ice fallfrom the sky.

Such is the case for some un-lucky drivers in the Dallas area as twostorm systems pummeled severalcities in the area with hail ranging insize from a golf ball to a baseball.

“We’ve had enough,” says MarkHanna, spokesman for the InsuranceCouncil of Texas (ICT). “Here we gowith another high-loss event.”

In April more than a dozen tor-nadoes ripped through the Dallas-FortWorth area. ICT says insured lossesfrom the tornadoes are estimated at$400 million.

But the hail and wind storms onJune 13 could produce higher insuredlosses. State Farm says it has alreadyreceived 3,800 auto claims and ex-pects that number to increase.

“You’re talking about two sys-tems with large hail hitting heavily-populated areas,” Hanna says.“Everything got hit. The price of roofshasn’t gotten any cheaper and neitherhave car repairs.”

State Farm agent StephanieSouth of Richardson, Texas says the

morning after the hail storm was thebusiest she has ever had.

“When I got in, every line wasringing,” she says. Most claims are forheavily-damaged vehicles with shat-tered windows. Other policyholdersare calling to seek advice about theirhome roofs. South says she is tellingpolicyholders to mitigate future dam-ages, especially for cars without win-dows, by putting the car in the garageor placing a tarp over the car.

Hail the size of baseballs travel-ing at a high rate of speed from thesky is enough to break windshieldsand compromise the roofs of homes,leaving them susceptible to leaks.

Vehicles traveling on the city’shighways when the hail started fallingscrambled to find shelter under over-passes, which became crowdedquickly, or on the sides of tractor-trail-ers, at least to shield some of thefalling ice.

“Other than that, you pull overand take your lumps,” Hanna says.

Insurers have classified the June13 storm as a catastrophe, meaning in-surance adjusters from throughout thestate are returning to Dallas to helpwith claims.

“If they were headed home fromthe last storm, they’re headed backnow,” Hanna says.

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 obviouslygathering information, making ad-justments along the way. But I can tellyou that State Farm is moving for-

ward with this. We think it is in thebest interest of our customer. I knowwe don’t have agreement, and that isfine, and I carry that informationback. (And) something could happenthat I can’t predict. But I can tell youthat, right now, that we are movingforward with the process with our Se-lect Service providers.”

Schulenburg said SCRS also hadworked with State Farm on an issuerelated to shops in several markets

being 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 wasable to communicate to their staffthat “if it’s legitimate to have at-tempted repair and then it’s necessaryto replace, that certainly there is no(company) policy prohibiting (pay-

ing 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?’”

Continued from Page 10

SCRS Meeting

Hail damage from last month’s stormin Sedgwick County will keep manylocal businesses busy for a year.

Roofers, sheet metal workers,auto body shops and insurance ad-justers were still busy from the Apriltornado that swept through south Wi-chita when the May 30 storm hit,bringing 70 mile-an-hour winds andgolf-ball size hail. In fact, Mother Na-ture has been a boon to those busi-nesses since the recession.

Storms inflicted a record $1 bil-lion in losses in Kansas in 2011, ac-cording to the Kansas InsuranceDepartment. In three of the past fouryears, storm losses in Kansas were 30percent above previous records.

And the storms have kept up a fu-rious pace so far in 2012. No fewerthan 29 hail storms have pounded thestate since February, including six inSedgwick County.

“Basically, this is God’s stimuluspackage,” said Mike Heiland, of Hei-land Roofing.

There was enough damage toprompt large insurance companies tosend help, and to keep local busi-nesses busy.

A week after the storm, LarryGreider, owner of Auto Masters Serv-ice Center, 2222 N. Hoover, said 10 to12 insurance adjusters were at hisstore writing up an average of eight to10 vehicles every 30 minutes. AutoMasters was taking care of 15 cars aday.

“It’s crazy right now. It’s proba-bly the busiest I’ve ever seen it,” Grei-der said.

Auto dealerships on the east sideof Wichita were hit by hail, but not se-verely. Dawson Grimsley, presidentof Davis-Moore Auto Group, said hiscars on that side of town were struck,but not badly damaged.

“It shouldn’t be any big deal fix-ing the cars and making them look allbrand new again,” he said

Some of the larger insurancecompanies, such as State Farm, All-state and Progressive, sent outsideclaims representatives to Wichita afterthe storm. Jim Camoriano, StateFarm spokesman, said 13-20 StateFarm claims representatives from anational team that deploys to sites ofcatastrophes are still in Wichita.Within a week of the storm, State

Farm customers statewide had sub-mitted 1,302 homeowner claims and3,282 auto claims, he said.

The decision whether to file aclaim isn’t always easy in cases wheredamage isn’t severe.

“It’s a little bit like being sick andtrying to decide whether to go to thedoctor,” said Bob Tomlinson, assis-tant state insurance commissioner.He advised people to contact their in-surance companies if there is damage.On the other hand, he said, theyshould be aware that insurance com-panies keep track of the number ofclaims a customer files.

“If you call them after everystorm, they will very quickly dropyour coverage because they are goingto know that if you ever do have dam-age, you are going to file a claim at theleast little amount, and they’re goingto know your house is prone to suchthings,” he said. “Like the doctor, youdo not want to go if you can possiblyavoid it.”

A person’s insurance rates won’tgo up simply for filing a claim, Tom-linson said. But rates could go upbased on an insurer’s overall losses

within that person’s community, aswell as a host of other factors, such astype of insurance policy, age of thehome, which fire department coversthem, and theft and vandalism rates inthe area.

But insurance companies have tofile rate increases with the state, and,by law, they can’t raise rates morethan 12 percent without being scruti-nized by the state insurance depart-ment.

For people who suffered loss ordamage from a storm and contactedtheir insurance agents, the state insur-ance department recommends keepinga record of conversations with agentor company, making a list and takingphotographs of damaged property, andgetting instructions from the insurancecompany’s adjuster before hiringsomeone to repair or replace damagedproperty.

The department also recommendsthat people be present when an ad-juster inspects the property, be leeryof an adjuster who charges a fee, beaware of questionable or unfamiliarcontractors and get more than one bidfor repairs.

Kansas Businesses Still Dealing with Spring Storm Damage


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A Louisiana State Penitentiary inmateserving a life sentence for murder ismaking a name for himself for hisself-taught achievement in the field ofautomotive mechanics.

Shelby J. Arabie, 49, was one of12 people this year to qualify throughthe Institute of Automotive ServiceExcellence as a Triple Master in auto,truck and collision repair, with ad-vanced certifications in gasoline anddiesel engines. About a dozen peopleeach year qualify as Triple Masters,said Tony Molla, ASE vice presidentfor communications. The institute setscertification standards for automotiveservice technicians.

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 this year,and he will be honored in 2013 byASE and the Automotive AftermarketIndustry Association. As part of thathonor, his name will be listed in abook housed at the Automotive Hallof Fame.

“Shelby is a member of a verysmall and elite group of technicians

whose 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 be inthe millions.”

In June 2010, Arabie assistedprison officials in designing Angola’sre-entry program, which offers pre-re-lease training to short-term prisonerssentenced in Orleans Parish. The pro-gram aims to offer prisoners job skillsin auto repair, auto paint and bodywork and welding. Carefully selectedinmates serving longer sentences, in-cluding life terms, teach the courses.

Arabie got a machine shop upand running at Angola with the help of20th Judicial District Court Judge HalWare. Also, Arabie and two otherASE 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 theschools checking on things,” Cain said.

Arabie killed Bennie Posey, 29,of Meridian, Miss., in 1984, after Ara-

bie and a friend agreed to sell Poseyand another man 10 pounds of mari-juana.

Posey and his friends, however,pulled a fake holdup and took the mar-ijuana, leaving Arabie and his friendtied up on the side of the road.

Arabie and his partner got looseand chased Posey and his accomplicesto Baton Rouge, where Arabie shotPosey when the victim’s van stalledand 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 Hurricane Ka-trina, he was transferred to New Or-leans to help law enforcement officersmaintain a local jail, and to repair gen-erators, air conditioning and electricalsystems and help Amtrak officials geta locomotive running.

In 2008, he helped restore elec-trical power to Angola and AvoyellesCorrectional 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 ofher,” Arabie said. “I always felt badabout it. When I killed her father, Ididn’t realize it back then, I wasyoung myself, 21 years old, she wasput in foster care and basically raisedby the state of Mississippi. I don’t sus-pect she had a lot of real favorable ex-periences growing up, but she gotthrough 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.

Louisiana State Penitentiary Lifer Makes ASE Triple Master Rank


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Bankston HondaLewisv i l le

800-344-8611972-219-0021

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 8-5www.bankstonhonda.com

Benson HondaSan Antonio

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Dept. Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat [email protected]

Cleo Bay HondaKi l leen

877-253-6229254-699-2478

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat [email protected]

Gillman HondaHouston

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Honda Cars of McKinneyMcKinney

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McDavid Honda of HoustonHouston

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Wholesale Parts DirectAust in

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Don Carlton HondaTulsa

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Joe Marina HondaTulsa

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Walker HondaAlexandr ia

318-448-8255318-445-6677

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Patty Peck HondaRidgeland, MS800-748-8676601-957-3400


Superior HondaHarvey

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Garcia HondaAlbuquerque

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Santan HondaChandler, AZ

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Showcase HondaPhoenix , AZ

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David McDavid AcuraAust in

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David McDavid AcuraPlano

972-964-6044Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat [email protected]

Gillman AcuraHouston

800-288-9180281-209-4214Dept. Hours: M-F 7-6

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Mac Churchill AcuraFort Worth

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Sterling McCall AcuraHouston

713-596-2337713-596-2338

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-7; Sat 7:[email protected]

Don Carlton Acuraof TulsaTulsa

888-550-7278918-664-2300

Dept. Hours: M-Sat [email protected]

Acura of Baton RougeBaton Rouge

866-733-2861225-756-6166


Walker AcuraMetai r ie

800-359-8555504-465-8555


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NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSService, Diagnostic and MechanicalService, Diagnostic and Mechanical

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Autobody News July 2012TEXAS • OKLAHOMA • LOUISIANA • NEW MEXICO


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. (And“YES” they do come in baskets,crates, and/or boxes. All the nuts,bolts, electrical parts, and compo-nents scattered in hap-hazard piles ofthe owner’s greatest intentions gonewrong.)

Of course, there are the strangeor unusual customer responses thatkeep you on your toes. I sometimesstand behind the counter wondering

what in the world these people arethinking... 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 sent me,” (I’m think-ing to myself... alright! this is a goodstart), he said you could fix my car,”the new arrival to the shop tells me.

“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-di-agnostics … 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 cents to fixmy car... do you think that’s toohigh?”

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’rethere... let them take care of the prob-lem as they see fit. Unless you feeluncomfortable with their results or di-agnosis, I would suggest you let themtake care of it.”

Take it to the Dealer!

with Gonzo WeaverGonzo’s Toolbox

This is a new story by Scott “Gonzo” Weaver as posted on his website, www.gonzostoolbox.com.Gonzo has been serving the Tulsa area at Superior Auto Electric for over 27 years. See his book“Hey Look! I Found The Loose Nut”, which provides a Good Laugh for Mechanics of Any Age.The book is available at amazon.com. Contact Gonzo at [email protected].

See Take it to the Dealer, Page 36

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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 thanbe forced to use the PartsTrader soft-ware.

“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 the

PartsTrader 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,” Bur-gett said. “PartsTrader was going tocreate discounts and maybe even illfeelings with my vendors becausethey were going to have to bid onparts and I felt like parts would becoming in from every direction on onejob, instead of from one direction. It’sall about discounts for State Farm, andI don’t have a problem with discounts,except when it is going to cost memoney. Being on the program wouldcause me extra work, an extra twohours per claim on my part, to saveState Farm money and cost me moneyand reduce my profits.”

(To read the rest of this story, please seewww.autobodynews.com.)


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Continued from Cover

Birmingham Reacts


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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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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


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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.”

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

paint market penetration, the size ofthe collision center staff, and theCORA Job Classification of the asso-ciates at the collision center. Trainingrequirements are reviewed and ad-justed on an annual basis. As the col-lision repair facility’s staff and marketpenetration grow, so will their train-ing requirements.

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 facilityconsistently complies with the BMWNA recommended BMW facilityguidelines. This applies whether thefacility 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 cal-endar year in which these non-ap-proved parts were installed.

Tools and EquipmentA CCRC is required to have an on-sitelocation for all approved tools andequipment necessary to properly re-pair BMW vehicles. The BMW ap-proved tools, equipment, andmaterials are listed in Appendix C.Required tools, equipment, and mate-rials are subject to change based ontechnology, required new tools, andspecial tool changes relating to newmodels.

2011 BMW CCRC Training Determin-ing the number of technicians and es-timators that must complete trainingto meet CCRC Requirements:● 100% of the collision center staffdedicated to BMW repairs based onthe technician’s Dealer EnrollmentManagement System (DEMS) jobclassification will be required to meet

the training standards established byBMW NA. The total number of ded-icated and trained BMW techniciansrequiring training will be adjusted totake into account the CCRC’s BMWrepair volume (in dollars) as a percentof its total repair volume. This sameformula will also be taken into ac-count for body shop estimators.

● Only those courses completed byassociates or technicians who are reg-ularly involved as part of their job de-scription 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 towardscertification 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 impera-tive, then, that management lists thecorrect CORA job titles for associatesand that Interactive Career Pathways(ICP)/ Dealer Enrollment Manage-ment System (DEMS) is updated on aregular basis. Please consult withyour Regional Aftersales Develop-ment Manager (RADM) for moreguidance.

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 willbe developed each year. A CCRCmust then complete its training planduring the same calendar year (nolater than December 31st). Adjust-ments to training plans may occurduring the calendar year due to newlyintroduced training programs and/orchanges to the CCRC’s techniciancount. Newly certified centers will re-ceive a training plan at the on-site cer-tification visit that will be pro-ratedbased on their certification date. A

center’s progress towards completingtheir training plan is monitored regu-larly.

2011 BMW CCRC Program Tool,Equipment, and Materials Require-mentsInformation Technology Require-ments 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 univer-sal fixtures 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 Compres-sion Resistance Spot Welders: Car-O-Liner CR600 Celette MIDIspot QSVM 9000 Elektron MI100 Control MIDIspot QSVM 1200 T

Paint Shop RequirementsRefinish MaterialsNew CCRCs agree to purchase anduse ColorSystem products for all re-pairs and refinish work performed onBMW Group vehicles at its collisionrepair location. As a reminder, anyCCRC enrolled in the CCRC Programbefore October 10, 2007 has the op-portunity to utilize Glasurit, SpiesHecker, or Standox in lieu of Col-orSystem until their pre-existing paintcontracts dated before October 10,2007 expire. Once qualifying pre-ex-isting paint contracts have expired,conversion to ColorSystem must thenoccur to remain a part of the CCRCProgram.

Thanks to Kenny Tran, BMW ofNorth America, LLC, Body & PaintTechnical Business Assistant and toKevin Miller, BMW Concord Colli-sion Center Manager for informationherein.


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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 the

program 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 the

association.“No one from State Farm has

called, 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 will

be limited and the profit onparts will definitely godown.”Even though he hasn’t tried

it, Mosley declared he isn’tinterested in the electronicparts ordering applicationprogram and his answer toState Farm will be a resound-ing “NO!” if PartsTrader is arequirement to continue withthe Select Service program.Mosley wants to stay with theSelect Service program be-cause it helps shops by sav-ing time waiting on

appraisers and allows the shop to de-termine what type of part and whichsupplier would serve to properly re-pair the vehicle in the least amount oftime. However, he is willing to giveup 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 to


International Body Shop Meeting (IBIS) in SpainAddresses Misleading KPIs, Winning RelationshipsThe recent International Bodyshop In-dustry Symposium (IBIS) saw 371delegates from around the worldgather in Barcelona, Spain, for a three-day global summit on the hottest in-dustry topics. The theme was winningrelationships, pulling together the two-day conference program of interactivepresentations, interviews and head-to-head sessions. Forging lasting, mean-ingful and mutually profitablerelationships was top of the agendathis year, as was avoiding divorce,both of which everyone agreed madefinancial sense.

Kicking off day one was keynotespeaker, Kelly McDonald, presidentof McDonald Marketing, who spokeabout achieving winning relationships.

Kelly’s overview of the ‘dramaticchanges in the way we do business,’included insights into doing businessin the ‘relationship era’ where connec-tions to brands and companies is keyto success. Kelly identified eight char-acteristics of winning relationships:‘authenticity, value alignment, collab-oration, trust, responsibility, focus,nurturing and profitability’.

“Businesses need to earn trust,”said Kelly, “and employees are am-bassadors of trust. It’s created between

people, not companies.”Andrew Marsh from Auto In-

dustry Consulting provided a techni-cal perspective and futurologist-styleinsight into the industry over the next10 years. His message to IBIS dele-gates was “build for a global market,”illustrated by examples of working al-liances between Renault/Nissan,Fiat/Chrysler and Ford/Volvo, plus aheads-up on Volkswagen’s accident re-pair-friendly MQB platform.

“Collaboration is the future,” saidMarsh. “There’s an opportunity forbody shops to acquire other busi-nesses, especially electronic compa-nies. Are you ready?” he asked.

For the final session of IBIS2012, George Avery of State Farmwelcomed one of his repairers, MikeLeVasseur from Keenan Auto Body,for a highly honest overview of in-surer/repairer relations. Mike is justone of State Farm’s 1,003 approved re-pairers, yet his influence and feedbackis clearly valued. Attendees took hometwo key messages from this presenta-tion. First, KPIs are misleading whentaken in isolation. Second, the mostimportant thing to do in any businessrelationship is to listen. For more onIBIS 2012, see ibisworldwide.com.


Mississippi Reacts

John Mosley addressing the Mississippi Collision RepairAssociation

See Mississippi Reacts, Page 37


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.

“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

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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Matrix Wand is a Game Changer

Hey Toby!with Toby Chess

Toby Chess is an I-CAR program instructor, Training specialist, and former salvage yard operator.Toby is universally known in the collision industry for his work with first responders and advocacyfor body shops and consumers. He can be reached at [email protected]

See Matrix Wand, Page 36

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 pretty remarkable.

The only way that you can appre-ciate this revolutionary piece of equip-ment is to see it in operation at yourshop. Either call me at 310-995-7909or email me at [email protected] I will set up a demo for you, eitherpersonally or through the company.You will be amazed!


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“I didn’t know where else to takeit... but when I talked to my neighborsthey 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 previous deal-ings in the past, and the customer did-n’t like the results. It could be size ofthe shop or the location... the real rea-sons are hard to pin down. I’m not

knocking the quality of work per-formed at a dealer repair shop, no...quite the opposite. I would say I’vealso seen an increase in the quality ofthe independent shops in my area aswell. There’s fewer wrench slinginggrease monkeys out there than inyears past. It really takes a differenttype of “mechanic” than it did eventen or twenty years ago, and that’s notjust for the independent shops... thatgoes for the dealer technicians 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

procure 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 beimplemented—I believe insurance

companies view shop profits asmoney they left on the table. Theywon’t be satisfied until they have itall,” Fowler said.

Fowler said he won’t participatein the program either.

“I think this PartsTrader debaclehas caused many a shop owner to dragout the Select Service agreement theysigned and revisit just exactly all thethings they agreed to,” said Fowler.“They are coming to a collective real-

ization that all the language, terms andconditions contained in that agree-ment aren’t just words to fill space.Each and every one of those condi-tions will eventually come to fruitionand many are reconsidering if it isworth it. As far as me giving the pro-gram a try, I have been quoted as say-ing, ‘If you put a s#!t sandwich infront of me, I don’t have to take a biteto tell you I don’t like it.’ So, no, thereis no chance I will participate in the

program, either voluntarily or invol-untarily.”

Mosley also takes issue with theState Farm video released in May.

“The State Farm video states thisprogram 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 to


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Students in South Seattle CommunityCollege’s Automotive Collision Repairprogram will have the opportunity to seetheir work making waves in the watersof Lake Washington this summer, afterthey finish their makeover of the Schu-macher Racing unlimited hydroplane.

The No. 37 hydroplane currentlyhoused at the college in West Seattle isowned by legendary Billy Schu-macher (“Billy the Kid”), the formerunlimited champion driver who won17 races from 1967-1976, and is per-haps best known for his unprecedentedstring of wins with the Miss Bardahlteam. Schumacher Racing pays a shopfee and materials costs for the project.

The newly-painted and refinishedboat will carry the South Seattle Com-

munity College name and logo on itsside, as it competes throughout theU.S. and in Qatar during the 2012 rac-ing season.

According to instructor SteveFord, the project couldn’t have comeat a better time. His spring quarter cur-

riculum focuses on painting and refin-ishing, and he has grouped studentsinto three teams that work on fabrica-tion, prep, and paint. Their assignmentsall serve as final performance tests onproblem solving and critical skills.

“The beauty is that this gives stu-dents the chance to work on somethingother than fixing fenders on a car, andshows them there’s more variety in thefield,” he explained. “It also giveseveryone the chance to be involved insome aspect of the project.”

Long-time racer Schumacher saidhe is delighted to be able to provide anew medium for the South SeattleCommunity College students to paint,noting, “This will be a good opportu-nity for them to see how much team

work it takes to paint such a large raceboat.”

The students were given direc-tion, but have had to work and decideas a team how to best accomplish thetasks. One group has fabricated metalstands, braces, and brackets to supportand hold many of the individual partsof the hydroplane that have to bepainted.

Another group has been repairing,sanding, cleaning, masking and paint-ing the individual parts for the hy-droplane.

The third group, which includesadvanced students who graduating thisquarter, is responsible for sprayingthree color coats on the 14-ft by 31-fthydroplane.

Seattle Auto Body Repair Students Give “Billy-the-Kid” Hydroplane a Makeover


Mississippi Reacts

See Mississippi Reacts, Page 45


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A recent analysis from the HighwayLoss Data Institute (HLDI) showedthat the frequency of hail-related in-surance claim payments rose in 2011compared with each of the precedingthree years, highlighting the impor-tance of comprehensive coverage in awide range of areas in the U.S. and thepotential destructiveness of hailstorms,according to Online Auto Insurance.

A total of $797 million in hail-re-lated claim payments were made in2011, the highest of the past fouryears. Claim payments totaled $536million in 2010, $527 million in 2009and $471 million in 2008. Paymentsfor hail-related car damage account for“a sizable portion” of all comprehen-sive coverage losses, according toHLDI.

The analysis also identified loca-tions that experienced severe hail in-curring the highest dollar amounts inclaim damage, finding that thosestorms aren’t exclusive to one placebut that when they hit, they can hithard. One of the most expensive daysrelated to hail damage claims, accord-ing to the four-year analysis, was onMarch 25, 2009, when hailstormsstruck Texas and Louisiana. Duringthat storm, Texas’ Williamson andTravis counties produced about 22,000

claims and $81 million in total pay-ments. Policyholders in those areasseeking financial protection can searchfor Texas car insurance and purchasecomprehensive coverage that coversweather-related damage.

In fact, policyholders in any areawith possible hail may want to con-sider getting the optional form of cov-erage so they are not caughtunprotected when the unpredictabledisasters strike. The HLDI analysisfound that, from 2008 to 2011, SouthDakota, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Kansasand Nebraska had some of the highestfrequencies of hail-related claims.

A single hail-involved event canhave wide impact. April 9 was the daywith the highest number of hail-relatedinsurance claims and payments in2011, according to the analysis, whichfound that hailstorms that day rakedcounties across seven states, includingSouth Carolina, North Carolina, Ten-nessee, West Virginia and Virginia.The county racking up the highestnumber of claims was South Car-olina’s York County, which saw 6,000claims and $18 million in paymentsfrom hail that day.

States that were in the top 10 inclaim frequency each of the past fouryears were South Dakota, Nebraska

and Oklahoma. Recent inclementweather brought softball-sized hail toOklahoma on May 29, 2012 andcaused widespread damage, accordingto media reports.

On the other hand, Alaska,Hawaii, Idaho and Washington haveshown consistently low numbers ofhail-related claims, according toHLDI.

Comprehensive coverage is op-tional, but is the only type that coversweather-related damages. About 75percent of policies written by insurersincluded comprehensive coverage in2009, according to data from the Na-tional Association of Insurance Com-missioners (NAIC). NAIC data alsoshow that in 2009 the average pre-mium for comprehensive coveragewas about $130. Premiums vary de-pending on several factors includingthe vehicle covered and deductibleamount.

Consumers can raise their de-ductible to reduce coverage costs ifcomprehensive coverage's price tag istoo high for them, although those con-sumers subsequently pay larger por-tions of the claims they file. Accordingto one industry group, raising a de-ductible from $200 to $500 can cutcoverage costs by 15 to 30 percent.

Hail Damage Claims Prove Value of Comprehensive Insurance Coverage

Mitchell honored collision repair fa-cilities from throughout the U.S. andCanada with the 10th annual Au-tocheX(TM) Premier AchieverAwards, hosted "virtually" for thefirst time on the exclusive PremierAchiever Award website. The Pre-mier Achiever Awards recognize top-performing auto body repair shopsthroughout the U.S. and Canada, cel-ebrating exceptional customer serv-ice and satisfaction achievements.

The class of 2011 PremierAchievers includes top-performingcollision repair facilities of all sizesacross the U.S. and Canada. In an in-dustry of nearly 50,000 North Amer-ican shops, these winning shopsqualified among the 400 exclusivePremier Achiever Award recipients.Since the award program waslaunched in 2002, AutocheX has pre-sented over 3,000 Premier AchieverAwards to industry-leading collisionrepair facilities. The award is basedon customer satisfaction scores asmeasured by AutocheX, either inde-pendently or as part of an insurance-sponsored repair program. This year,participating insurance programs in-cluded seven of the top 25 carriers inNorth America.

Mitchell AutocheX CelebratesTop-Performing Shops

Florida Shop Owner Arrested forImpersonating AdjusterA Florida body shop owner wascharged with impersonating an in-surance adjuster for three carriers ataccident scenes to generate morebusiness for his auto body shop, po-lice say.

Vincenzo Gurrera, 43, ofBoynton Beach, FL, became thesubject of an investigation after nu-merous complaints were filedagainst his shop, Collision World, at610 Industrial Ave, according to thePalm Beach County sheriff’s officeand the Sun Sentinel newspaper.

Between August 2011 andApril, Gurrera allegedly imperson-

ated an adjusterfrom GEICO,Liberty Mutualor State Farm,giving specificdirections topeople to taketheir cars to hisshop for repairs.It would oftentake weeks for

the companies to find out aboutGurrera’s transaction, the sheriff’soffice said.

The routine allegedly began in

August 2011 and continued to Aprilof this year.

Those involved in the crashestold investigators they signed Gur-rera’s release forms because theythought Gurrera was a “legitimateinsurance representative.” Each vic-tim identified Gurrera in a photoline-up, authorities said.

Detectives received four swornaffidavits from the three insurancecompanies, which stated Gurreradoes not currently work, and hasnever worked, as an insurance ad-juster for their companies.

The Florida Department of Fi-nancial Services confirmed to in-vestigators that Gurrera was notlicensed.

Anyone who suspects they arebeing lured into an insurance scamshould call the Department of Fi-nancial Services at 877-693-5236.

According to investigators,Gurrera was possibly receivingaccident information from crashscenes and then filing claimsbased on that information. InFlorida, however, accident reportsare not released for 60 days afterthe crash.

Vincenzo Gurrera

by Chasidy Sisk

Four-time NASCAR Cup Serieschampion Jeff Gordon helped DuPontunveil a new 20th Anniversary paintscheme on his No. 24 DuPont Chevro-let at the headquarters of DuPont Per-formance Coatings during the 2012DuPont NASCAR Day celebration.

Gordon, a NASCAR legend, willdrive the new Hot Hues™ CosmicDust Silver Metallic No. 24 DuPontChevrolet in the season finale at theHomestead-Miami Speedway inFlorida this November marking his fa-mous long-standing partnership withDuPont.

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 of DuPontPerformance Coatings. “Twenty yearsis a unique relationship in NASCARand it shows that the business of racinghas been good business for DuPont andour 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, chief mar-keting 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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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 for companiesin terms of speed to market, price, anddesirability of product. The most re-cent recession still drags the globaleconomy, and continues to make con-sumers acutely aware of their fi-nances, and the danger of living withtoo much debt. Consumers have be-come increasingly sensitive not onlyto price, but also to each individualproduct or service’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 outside theirhistoric range of competitors. Take forexample, Amazon’s emergence as oneof the largest providers of cloud com-puting, and the disruption Apple’siPhone created in the mobile phonemarket. Companies should be takingqueue from recognized leaders in theconsumer 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 disruptiveshift in consumer demands. The U.S.,like most industrialized countries, hasseen its population grow older. Theoldest Baby Boomers turned 65 onJanuary 1, 2011. An estimated tenthousand more per day will turn 65over the next nineteen years, takingthe share of 65-year-old-plus individ-uals to 18% of the U.S. population,versus just 13% today. An aging pop-ulation has historically led to loweraccident frequency as people have his-torically retired and reduced drivingduring peak traffic times. The reces-sion however has led many to post-pone retirement, so we may see thetraditional reduction in frequencypush out several years.

Generation Y or “Millennials”, in-dividuals born between 1997 and 1990,

accounted for 77.4 million individualsin the U.S. according to the U.S. Cen-sus, just slightly above the 76.2 millionBaby Boomers. This generation ismore ethnically diverse than olderadults, and a greater share of them hadat least one immigrant parent—11%,versus 7% for Gen X and 5% for BabyBoomers. A 2010 Pew Research Centerstudy looked at the values, attitudes

and behaviors ofMillennials versusolder generations.Among the find-ings of this studywas the Millenni-als’ greater use oftechnology. Mil-

lennials feel that this is a defining fea-ture of their generation. Millenialswere also the first generation to fullyembrace the use of technology in theirrole of a consumer 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 growing sen-timent that the automobile has beenreplaced by the Internet and smartphones for those in the Generation Yage group (born between 1978 and1984); changing the world the sameway the automobile did at the turn ofthe 20th century.

One of the areas with perhaps themost potential to directly impact auto-motive claim severity and frequencyis the shift in the population towardsurban areas. Results from the 2010U.S. Census report that 54 percent ofthe U.S. population resides in its 10most populated states, with just over83 percent living in one of the nation’s366 metro areas (core urban area pop-ulation of 50,000 or more). During thelast decade, the metropolitan areashowever saw the largest increase, sig-nificantly higher than micropolitanareas or areas outside a core based sta-tistical area. Personal mobility willreach beyond individual vehicle own-ership to an integrated mobility ap-proach, incorporating car sharing,public transportation and greater useof technologies such as telematics,smart metering and navigation.

These major demographic shiftsmay ultimately lead to a disruption inthe historical trend of vehicle acci-dent frequency and severity. A

greater 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, compa-nies must understand these, and in-corporate them into the way that theyinteract with potential and existingcustomers. The ability to customizecommunication and marketing into

generational and demographic cate-gories will help companies portraythe appropriate image and messageand better grow their business. Insur-ers and repairers that will be success-ful in this disruptive demographicenvironment are those that have plansin place to market and serve the dif-ferent age groups, and have looked atwhether their current geographies arepositioned to shrink or grow, andhave adjusted their growth plans ac-cordingly. While factors such as at-mospheric conditions may be difficultto project, 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 will becritical to assessing market growthopportunity in the future.

The Accident is The Ultimate DisruptorThe average consumer today has anauto accident once every seven to 10years, well behind the average vehicletrade-in cycle of every five years. Dueto the nature of the product being sold,


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Disruption Became the New Normal in 2011

auto insurers and collision repairerssubsequently have very limited inter-action with consumers. Insurers cer-tainly interact with their customer atpolicy issue, at bill time, and some-times through other services such asbanking or games in apps. However,the real moment of truth for the autoinsurer and the repairer is at the timeof an accident.

For the automotive insurance andcollision repair industries, the chal-lenge is to take the infrequent and un-expected negative experience of anauto accident and turn it into an expe-rience where the customer is de-lighted. No one wants to have theirvehicle damaged, and few consumersknow what to expect in the auto claimand vehicle repair process. However,they come to this experience the sameway they come to any other experi-ence—with expectations that youknow who they are, that you will ful-fill your commitments to them, andthat you will create a positive experi-ence. For insurers, the claim is one ofthe most significant opportunities toretain or lose a customer. For repair-ers, a positive vehicle repair experi-ence can create a customer that willshare their experience with friends

and family, and help your businessgrow. Effective use of technology notonly enables companies to meet theminimum set of expectations of theircustomers, but can also facilitate thedelivery of a personalized experiencethat 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 havethe 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. The

ability for a repair technician to sendmessages to the claims adjuster elec-tronically, versus calling and tradingvoicemails, can ensure speedier reso-lution 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-accident con-dition, mobility can play a key role inreducing inefficiencies in the overallprocess.

The recession led to a drop-off indriving, reduction in claim and fatal-ity frequency, and a larger number ofconsumers opting to cash-out versusactually 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 this willlead to moderate increases in cus-tomers opting to actually repair theirvehicles versus living with the dam-age (i.e. moderate increases in vol-ume of vehicles actually repaired),but the gradual infusion of crashavoidance technologies in new vehi-cles will likely flatten-out any inflec-tions in accident/claim frequency.With the exception of storm or catas-trophe-driven claims activity, it is un-likely the market will see anydramatic change in the current pat-terns of claim frequency over the next18 to 24 months.

Outside of the increases in com-prehensive losses tied to erraticweather patterns and catastrophes,loss costs for liability and collision arereturning to their pre-recession patternof year-over-year increases betweenone and three percent. Inflation in re-placement parts and labor have accel-erated slightly as the U.S. emergesfrom the recession, but still point tooverall increases in repair costs of oneto three percent. As new vehicle salesgrow and ultimately show up inclaims, repair costs will see some in-herent lift. The juxtaposition of greatervehicle complexity in terms of elec-tronics and materials with greaterprevalence of crash avoidance sys-tems may ultimately result in fewer

but more expensive repairs in the fu-ture.

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 besuccessful in today’s environment,companies must tap into the notionof disruption – where companies de-velop innovative technologies thatimprove business processes, andfine-tune the messages to customersso they are delivered at the righttime, on the right device, with themost customized content, and placethemselves in a position to meet theexpectations of today’s consumer ina way that delivers value.

Susanna Gotsch is Director, IndustryAnalyst at CCC Information ServicesInc. She has been with CCC since Julyof 1992. Susanna brings twenty-plusyears of experience within the auto-motive claims industry as Director, In-dustry Analyst. She has authored TheCrash Course, CCC’s annual publica-tion on trends impacting collision re-pair and total loss costs since 1995.This publication has become a key re-source for the industry in understand-ing how broader trends within theeconomy, new and used vehicle mar-ket places, and collision industry areimpacting auto claim frequency andcosts. She is also responsible for thegeneration of all trend analyses of theinsurance and automotive industriespublished by CCC since 1995.

In 2011, Ms. Gotsch was selectedas one of five Most Influential Womenin the Collision Repair Industrythrough the annual industry honorar-ium established by AkzoNobel Auto-motive & Aerospace Coatings America(A&AC).

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


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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 becauseit was a little long, shortened it up,got it to fit the wheel base of the Leg-end, spliced it together and cut off thefront end because we’re not going tobe using that front end. I took pre-ex-isting 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 ver-sion.

Next, we took the splash off aMustang hood, cut it down, andspliced it in so we can get our hoodlooking right, and then wegot the body secured to theframe. We definitely neededto make accessories, so Icame up with the scoop, therear wing accessory, the leftand right quarter scoops andthe front fender scoop, andthat gives us nine pieces,which means I need to make9 molds. With all that being said, theproper process of doing this is sculp-turing it out and making sure all sidesare symmetrical, such as the left rearwheel wells matching the right wheelwells. I am modifying the rear of thecar to look more like the Mustang,and the sides I have to modify to

make the lines look more like theMustang, to give them a Rich Evansdesigned vehicle. We are using somefeatures to replicate the Mustang. Thewhole idea is to use the taillights andheadlights from a Mustang. We don’twant to have to re-create the wheel

and have to get into tooling expensesby making our own headlights andtaillights, so we need to utilize what’sout there.

After getting it pretty close, I’musing 80-grit sandpaper. PCL #901once again has stepped up to theplate. I cannot build any cars without


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

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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)


that product. After shapingt with 36-grit and then 80-grit, I’m ready forprimer. For the first process of primer,I lay about three gallons of primer onthe body. PCL is both a timesaver andmoney saver. I’ll use 80-grit to shapeit, then guide coat it, and then comeback with 150-grit, re-primer it withanother gallon or gallon and a half ofprimer, sand it again with 150-gritand come back with 400 wet. Then,

we’re ready for molds and that’s thepoint where we are at now. Three

months of hard work to get to themolds.

I am excited about this project.It’s another challenge. I have to thankmy sponsors, PCL, 3M, SATA sprayguns, Infratech heat lamps and Sof-Sander, and Brandon and his dad forallowing me and believing in me todo 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,I could show up at yourgarage and give you threedays of free help with yourown do-it-yourself car build-ing project. Fill out an onlineapplication off my new web-site. We’re teaming up with

my sponsors for free products andparts. I want to know your story.

[email protected] us!write us!

Start Your FREEMail Subscription.

CALL 800-699-8251

The source for timely information that every

body shop needs!e-mail:

[email protected]

800-699-8251

To advertisecall Joe Momber at:




800-699-8251CALL: Joe Momber for details!



800-699-8251Call for details!

[email protected]

Want to Contribute to this Southwest Edition?Give us your opinion on matters affecting the industry.

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Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. donated$32,000 in collision repair trainingsupport for secondary and post-sec-ondary collision instructors throughthe Collision Repair Education Foun-dation (CREF).

Toyota donated 25 vouchers, val-ued at $400 each, for their collisionrepair and refinish training classesheld at three training center locationsaround the country. Additionally, Toy-ota donated 10 Toyota TechstreamLite devices that include two-yearToyota TIS subscription certificates.These in-kind product donations willbe offered to those instructors thathave applied for the Education Foun-dation’s Ultimate Collision EducationMakeover school grant in the past andwill assist in providing up-to-datetechnical repair information.

John Saia, Technical & BodyTraining Development Manager atToyota said, “This donation will go along way in support of collision repair& refinish training for schools, colli-sion instructors, and students. We canbring instructors up to date with ourCollision Repair & Refinish trainingprogram, provide repair details andtools that equip collision instructorsand students with state of the art diag-

nostic tools, repair procedures and in-formation. In the end, this direct sup-port helps the entire collision repairindustry and our customers!”

Robb Cowell, Auto CollisionRepair & Refinishing Instructor atColonial High School (Orlando, FL)noted, “Much can be gained by in-structors attending these training ses-sions as I always tell my studentsabout the Lexus refinishing processand how highly regarded the finish oftheir vehicles is held in the industry.”

Robert Winfrey, Auto BodyTechnologies Instructor at South Pied-mont Community College (Polkton,NC), noted, “I would like to expressmy devoted thanks to Toyota for thisopportunity. It is not often that schoolinstructors are able to attend this typeof training and bring that technicalknowledge back to the classroom forthe benefit of the students.”

Industry members and compa-nies interested in supporting second-ary and post-secondary school’scollision programs through monetaryand/or in-kind product donationsshould contact Associate Director ofDevelopment, Brandon Eckenrodeat [email protected] or 847-463-5244.

Toyota Donates $32K in Training and Support toCREF in Support of Instructors

SCRS Hosts Repairer Driven Education at SEMA2012 Featuring “Innovation Forum”The Repairer Driven Education (RDE)series, presented by the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS),is returning to the SEMA Show for thethird consecutive year. With coursesindividually selected or crafted by theSCRS, the program includes nearlytwo dozen sessions taking place dur-ing the SEMA Show Tuesday-Friday,October 30–November 2, 2012, in LasVegas. The headline session, “GameChangers–Innovation Forum,” takesplace November 2 and features indus-try leaders discussing what innovationcan look like in the collision repairbusiness and how it’s becoming coreto business strategy. Other sessions ex-plore how digital marketing, socialmedia and related tools can increasecustomer retention and loyalty, andhow new metals being used in the con-struction of today’s vehicles are im-pacting the repair process.

SCRS Executive Director AaronSchulenburg said, “The RDE series isa tremendous educational opportunityfor the collision industry, providing anaccessible and affordable education ontopics that address issues that trulymatter to those working in repair fa-cilities. We were fortunate to be ableto present the series at the last two

SEMA Shows, and look forward to ex-panding the program this comingyear.”

SCRS partnered with show or-ganizers to present the RDE programat the 2011 SEMA Show. The annualtrade show, which saw nearly 30 per-cent more collision repair attendeescompared to the previous year, bringsmanufacturers of automotive parts andaccessories together with industrybuyers from all over the world. Manu-facturers represent every segment ofthe automotive specialty equipmentmarket, including restyling, hot rod,trucks and SUVs, and racing and per-formance.

“The SEMA Show features prod-ucts from every automotive niche,which makes it the ideal venue forbuyers to discover new markets,” saidPeter MacGillivray, SEMA VP ofevents and communications. “Becausethe collision market is so closely re-lated to many of our traditional mar-ket segments, it’s become one of thefastest growing areas and is of huge in-terest to our attendees.”

In addition to the SCRS RDE se-ries, the SEMA Show will featurenearly 60 educational seminarsthroughout the week.

Battery Maker BYD Probes Electric-Car Crash FireBYD Co., the Chinese auto makerbacked by Warren Buffett, faces a set-back in its electric-car business, afterone of its e6 vehicles caught fire in acollision that killed three people inthe southern Chinese city of Shen-zhen.

The company’s shares plungedafter the accident in Shenzhen andHong Kong, reflecting investor con-cern that the crash could highlightsafety issues with electric cars as theChinese government is pushing fortheir nationwide adoption.

The e6 involved in the accidentwas being used as a taxi and caughtfire after being hit by a Nissan GT-Rsports car being driven by a drunkendriver at 150 to 180 kilometers anhour, or roughly 90 to 110 miles anhour, BYD spokesman Paul Lin said.The driver and two passengers of thee6 died, he said. “We are investigat-ing…we’re trying to help the trafficdepartment with the investigation.”

Mr. Lin said it was “too early” tohave detailed information about thecrash, pending a police investigation.He declined to comment on safetyconcerns for electric vehicles.

Authorities around the worldface challenges in promoting the wideadoption of electric cars, followingseveral high-profile incidents that

have raised concerns about the safetyof batteries used in such vehicles.General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Voltbattery-powered car faced negativepublicity after U.S. safety investiga-tors highlighted the possibility ofelectric-car batteries catching fire in acollision. In April, an electric-car bat-tery being tested at a GM facility inthe U.S. exploded, injuring an em-ployee.

Nonetheless, China has givenstrong support for electric vehicles asit attempts to battle increasing re-liance on oil imports and addresschronic pollution in its cities amidrising car ownership. The StateCouncil, China’s cabinet, in Aprilsaid it would expand and speed uppolicies to boost sales of energy-sav-ing vehicles, including measures todevelop electric-vehicle technologyand charging infrastructure. Chinaaims to have 500,000 electric andplug-in hybrid vehicles on its roadsby 2015, and more than five millionby 2020.

Yale Zhang, managing directorof consulting firm Automotive Fore-sight, said that while the e6 incidentmight create a negative impression ofelectric vehicles in the short term, itwon’t be detrimental to the whole in-dustry’s development.

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, soft-ware, label printer, paint books, tech manuals and a mixingscale from Leading Edge Auto Refinishes and RiverviewCollision in Mesa Follow us on Twitter:

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perform under the cloak of fairnessand efficiency. The only real informa-tion we have learned in our area camefrom shop owners, suppliers and aformer 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.”

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’sinaccurate and assumptions aremade.”

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....Isee no way this program is a benefitto the repair shop or the consumer.The underlying purpose of this pro-gram is for State Farm to make ahigher profit at the expense of the col-lision repair industry and the parts in-dustry...How can any program thatadds to the administrative process bygathering bids, waiting for those bidsbefore we can begin repairs, only tobe waiting again when we have a sup-plement, add to efficiency? There isno way.”

(To view the rest of this article,please see www.autobodynews.com.)


Mississippi Reacts

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 referralsource 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 glowing

report 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 theshop, 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 aprize 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 coffee

mug 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

Caliber Collision Centers recently re-furbished a 2003 Kia Optima that wasdonated to a high school graduate inTucson, AZ. The vehicle donation wasmade through Project Graduation, anational program designed to promotedrug and alcohol free graduationnights and keep high school graduatesoff the roads.

Matthew Tyrrell, a 2012 gradu-

ate of Ironwood High School in Tuc-son, received the vehicle after beingthe grand prize winner in a drawingheld after the school’s graduation cer-emony.

Several local businesses also do-nated services to refurbish the vehicle,including Dent Solutions, Big O Tires,Lefty’s Custom Striping, Mercado DelRio Car Wash and The Specialist.

Caliber Collision Refurbishes Vehicle for Student

july 2012 southwest edition

Documents

state farm ratherthan

percent of state farm

sister of state

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