southwestern may 2010

by John YoswickSpecial to Autobody News

Just hours before industry trainer TobyChess was to make another presentationabout non-OEM bumper and structuralparts at the Collision Industry Conference(CIC) inAtlanta onApril 15, Chess said hewas threatened with a lawsuit if he did so.He declined to reveal who threatened thelegal action but said, because he had nothad a chance to consult with an attorney, hechose to forego making his presentation atthe meeting.

In presentations at the previous twoCIC meetings in November and January,Chess showed potential problems with anumber of non-OEM bumper parts, includ-ing apparent significant differences in thematerial and structure of the parts. That has

led at least four insurers to pull back fromthe use of such parts; it has also led partssuppliers to develop improved tracking andrecall programs for the parts, and to thelaunch of several testing and certificationprograms for such parts.

Chess was clearly frustrated by thethreat of legal action against him, saying henever portrayed the demonstrations as sci-entific research but merely as a way to“bring light” to a potential problem.

“I was asked last month why I didthis,” Chess said. “I said that I don’t workfor insurance companies, I don’t work forparts companies, I don’t work for bodyshops. I work for the consumer. I’m atrainer. I teach. So I have no vested stake inthis. I thought it was necessary to say thesethings. I think we’ve demonstrated to the

SouthwestEdition

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Threat of Lawsuit Leads to Postponementof Latest CIC Parts Presentation

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS

• CIC Presentation Postponed

• Plano’s Ray Huffines Chevrolet Wins on Margins

• Houston Auto Body Association

• It’s a Safety Marketplace

• Dallas Forcing Body Shop Owners Out

In what can only be called a remarkableturnaround since last year’s bankruptcy pro-cedings, both GM and Chrylser have re-warded the faith of “bailout” proponentswith strong first quarter results reflectingbetter vehicle sales buoyed by a thawingeconomy and improved consumer spending.

General Motors announced it has re-paid loans from the U.S. government, fiveyears ahead of schedule. GM completedthe repayment of its loans from the U.S.and Canadian governments by paying theoutstanding balances of $4.7 billion and$1.1 billion respectively.

In addition, Chrysler announced an op-erating profit for the first quarter of 2010, somay soon be in a position to start to repay itsgovernment loans as well. Chrysler posted a$143-million operating profit in the first quar-ter andwas on track to at least break even this

year on an operating basis with a strongercash position. Chrysler owes the U.S. gov-ernment nearly $7 billion in loans. Paymentson principal are not due until 2011 and fullrepayment is not expected until 2014.

The administration wasted no time intaking credit where it is due, saying thatnot only did the $85 billion auto industrybailout work, it saved millions of jobs.President Barack Obama “took a lot ofheat” to keep GM alive, said Vice Presi-dent Joe Biden. “And this has even ex-ceeded our expectations.”

White House press secretary RobertGibbs led off his press briefing with the GMand Chrysler news, saying it justifies Presi-dent Obama's “very difficult and unpopulardecision” to loan them money last year. Theloans were designed to assist “a structured

GM Pays Back Gov’t Loans Years Early;Chrysler Posts Operating Profit in Q1

See Bailout Bonus, Page 3

by John YoswickSpecial to Autobody News

Collision repair associations leaders fromaround the country met in Secaucus, NewJersey, inMarch to share ideas and discuss

state legislative orregulatory successesand efforts. The2010 East CoastResolution Forum,an event sponsoredby the Society ofCollision RepairSpecialists (SCRS)and the Alliance of

Automotive Service Providers (AASP) ofNew Jersey, was held in conjunction withAASP-New Jersey’s NORTHEAST 2010trade show.

Here’s a round-up of some of thenews and discussion from the meeting:Iowa: Janet Chaney, of the Iowa Colli-sion Repair Association, reported on theprogress of a proposed state law the groupsupports that would in essence allow Iowashops to transfer the expense of sales taxon paint materials they purchase to insur-ers or customers. Chaney said currentlyshops pay the sales tax on such purchasesbut are not reimbursed for it by insurers.

See SCRS Forum, Page 6

SCRS Forum Brings State Shop AssociationsTogether to Discuss Efforts and Share Ideas

Janet Chaney

See Threat of Lawsuit, Page 4

See Page19

Toyota Fined, Awaits Class ActionStill A Mustang, in name only, part 2Gonzo’s Toolbox: “Slick Talkin’ Mechanic”

• TIAA Fishing Tournament and Meeting

2 MAY 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

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WELCOME TO THEWELCOME TO THEDAVID MDAVID MccDAVID AUTO GROUPDAVID AUTO GROUP

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www.autobodynews.com | MAY 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

SouthwestPublisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst

General Manager: Barbara DaviesContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, John Yoswick, Lee Amaradio, Dan EspersenJanet Chaney, Toby Chess, Mike Causey, Tom McGee, Stefan Gesterkamp, Rich EvansAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Christina Shubert (800) 699-8251Advertising Sales Assistant: Stephanie BowlingArt 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.©2010 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody NewsBox 1400, Oceanside, CA 92051(800) 699-8251 (214) 371-6626 Faxwww.autobodynews.com Email: [email protected]

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Autoland Scientech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . 23

Chacon Suzuki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Chassis Liner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chevyland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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David McDavid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers

TX, OK, LA, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Fredy Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Gladwin Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Goodson Honda West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Honda/Acura Wholesale Parts Dealers 37

Huffines Hyundai McKinney . . . . . . . . . 15

Huffines Hyundai Plano . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 26

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 9

LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . 34

Mercedes-Benz of Oklahoma . . . . . . . . 35

Mike Calvert Toyota. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 36

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 11

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Park Place Lexus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Ray Huffines Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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SCA Appraisal Company . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Suzuki Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . 31

Soft-Sanders from Style-Line, Corp . . . 25

Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . 38

VIM Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 32

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . 33

Young Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Inde

xofAdvertisers

‘R2R Act’ Bipartisan Co-sponsor List Grows. . . . . . . . 1880 Percent of Tested Cars Fail Inspection Checks. . . . 21AAA Oklahoma Gave Consumers Crash PreventionCourse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Administration Continues Push for AccidentPrevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Aluminum Roof Replacement On The MitsubishiLancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Arizona Auto Glass Fraud Bill Passes StateSenate 28-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

ASAA Opposing Ohio OEM Parts Legislation . . . . . . . . 21Attanasio - Car West Elite Hits its Numbers . . . . . . . . 28Attanasio - Marina Auto Body Melds DealershipRelationships & DRPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

BMW Group has Sales Growth of 13.8% In First Quarter 20CA Auto Recycler Meets with Rep. Thompson in DCon R2R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

CA Insurance Commissioner Says Mercury IllegallyOvercharged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

CAPA 501 Standard for Bumper System Parts . . . . . . . 10Car Car Council Wants Consumers to RememberTheir Three “R’s”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

CARSTAR Collision Centers Promotes Green Initiatives . 7Causey - Games Insurers Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14CAWA Battery Core Bill Now Law in Arizona . . . . . . . . . 21City of Dallas Forcing Body Shop Owners Out . . . . . . 18CRA Aftermarket Parts Demonstration GetsMajor Media Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

El Paso, TX, Body Shop is Target of AttorneyGeneral Lawsuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Evans - Working On a ‘57 Thunderbird WithOld School Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Falling Average Vehicle Product Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19First Responders Get Vehicle Extrication TrainingCourtesy of GCIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Franklin - Concentrate Your Marketing Firepower . . . . 13GM Pays Back Gov’t Loans Years Early; ChryslerPosts Operating Profit in Q1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

GM, Carfax Unite to Push Out Recall News . . . . . . . . 18Gonzo's Toolbox - “You’re Just One of Those Slick

Talkin’ Mechanics” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Houston Auto Body Association Joins ExistingTexas Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Houston Auto Body Association Joins ExistingTexas Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Maaco Positions Itself As Customer Pay Provider. . . . 10Maryland Salvage Bill Now Awaits Governor Signature. 18McGee and Webster - It’s Still a Mustang®;But in Name Only – PART 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Minnesota Body Shop Gets 30% of Power FromSolar Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Mitchell Inc. Gives CAA Members Open-HouseTour of Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Mitchell Releases Industry's Total LossVehicle Configuration Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

National Performance Buys Speed Warehouseof Hayward, CA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

New Revolution® Lift Line Offers Quality & Valueat the Right Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Parts for Profit, Part 2—Profitable Management . . . . 16Plano’s Ray Huffines Chevrolet Wins on Marginsin Wholesale Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

PPG Chairman Charles Bunch Reports on New Strategy 32SCRS Forum Brings State Shop Associations Together . . 1State Farm Prevails in Gunder Slander Suit. . . . . . . . . 33Suppliers Partnership Adds Five New CorporateMembers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Texas Companies Leave Millions in Tax CreditsUnclaimed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Threat of Lawsuit Leads to Postponement . . . . . . . . . . . . 1TIAA 2010 Scholarship Fishing Tournament. . . . . . . . . . 11TIAA Annual Meeting Includes Leadership Training,Hotel Stay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

TIAA Has Free PCI Terminal Perk from Bancard Group. . . 11Toyota Fined $16.4M, Will Face Single SuddenAcceleration Lawsuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Transmission Anti-Rollaway Shift Interlocks Now Required 21U.S. Chemical Introduces Two New 2.1 VOC Primers . . . 37Yoswick - Insurers And Shops Don’t Speak SameLanguage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Contents

bankruptcy, and save 1 million to 3 millionjobs.”

While the Obama administration still ex-pects a loss on the taxpayer bailout of the in-dustry, it will be smaller than initially forecast.The White House budget office once pro-jected the loss on the GM package alone tobe some $30B, but now says it will likely notexceed $8B.

GM didn't need to be making this pay-ment now. The company had already paidback $2 billion of what it owes under theterms of the Troubled Asset Relief Programthat began in December of 2008. The com-pany had until 2015 to repay the rest butchose to do so now for reasons of businesspsychology in an attempt to reduce the “Gov-ernment Motors” taint.

“We’ve developed a healthy, clean bal-ance sheet and we’ve developed a cost struc-ture that allows us to be competitive,” CEOEd Whitacre, said of GM’s performance.Much of GM’s improvement comes fromslashing its debt load and workforce as partof its bankruptcy reorganization last year. Ithas stated it wants to be a public companyagain as soon as practical, but CEOWhitacre's team has backed off of that com-mitment somewhat. GM is still a long wayfrom regaining its blue-chip status. It remains

more than 60 per cent government-ownedand lost $3.4 billion in last year's fourth quar-ter alone.

Chrysler, now run by Italy's Fiat Group,posted an operating profit of $143 million inthe first quarter that was attributed to cost cutsand sales of its new Ram Heavy Duty pickup.The company is building up cash but had anet loss of $197 million in the quarter and hasshed $3.78 billion after it emerged from bank-ruptcy on June 10. That loss included $2.1billion in payments to the healthcare trustfund of the United Auto Workers.

Chrysler-Fiat CEO SergioMarchionnehas said Chrysler will break even this year(Fiat also lost significant money last year)saying, “This positive operating result in thefirst quarter is a concrete indication to ourcustomers, dealers and suppliers that the 2010targets we have set for ourselves are achiev-able. We are also generating cash to financethe investments being made in our productportfolio and brand repositioning,”

Larry Summers, presidential economicadviser and co-architect of the bailout, wrote:In 2008, theAmerican auto industry lost over400,000 jobs and analysts estimated that atleast 1millionmore jobs could have been losthad GM and Chrysler liquidated. That didn'thappen. Instead, over the past nine monthssince GM and Chrysler emerged from bank-ruptcy, the industry has actually added 45,000jobs— the strongest pace of job growth in theauto industry in nearly a decade.

Continued from Page 1

Bailout bonus


industry that there has to be more than justselling these parts. I hope that after I getsome legal counsel on this, I can come backto you and show you more of what I didfind. Some (of the non-OEM parts) are verygood. And I was prepared to tell you aboutthat.”

What may have provoked alarm in themarket was that Chess was preparing topresent his results on a series of tests onOEM and aftermarket hoods. In part, Chesshad intended to point out that a particularreplacement hood for an ‘09 Corolla, whichwas CAPA-certified, had tested very closeto the OEM control in his analysis. Ofcourse, this information was not relayed tothe attendees.

Without confirming or denying it wasthe source of threatened legal action against

Chess, LKQ Corporation, following theCIC meeting issued a written statementabout Chess’ presentations (see sidebarabove), including the one last November inwhich he used a firefighter’s extrication sawto show it was easier to cut through themetal used to make a particular non-OEMbumper bar being sold as a replacement foran OEM part made from ultra-high-strengthsteel.

In its statement, LKQ Corporation saidit tried to replicate such a test and found“the saw [also] cut through the OE rebarwith relative ease, “raising concerns that“there is a lot of misinformation beingspread.”

The company pointed to crash testingit did that it says showed both an OEM andnon-OEM bumper passed federal safetystandards for passenger protection.

A number of CIC participants in At-lanta after Chess’ announcement expressedoutrage that legal threats would be used to

prevent a presentation and open discussionat the meeting.

Speaking as a past CIC Chairman,Chuck Sulkala said this was the firstsuch incident he was aware of in CIC’snearly 30-year history. He said Chess wasmerely raising awareness of issues thathad been discussed for decades, and com-mended parts suppliers for finally takingaction in the months since Chess’ previ-ous presentations to address traceabilityof the parts.

“To have something stopped becauseof a potential lawsuit is shooting the mes-senger,” Sulkala said. “The day of stoppingdiscussions at CIC because of a legal issuehas got to come to an end. It should neverhave come to be in the first place.”

Industry consultant John Bosin, whochairs the CIC Parts Committee, also calledsuch a threat of legal action “reprehensible”and told Chess he would help start a legaldefense fund if necessary.

“Whomever has initiated this (threatof) legal action passed up the opportunityto use this as the forum it is, to express theirviews,” Bosin said.

“We would have been open. We maynot have liked what we heard, but theycould have come here. They were wel-come. Whoever it is, why aren’t they heretalking about the issue and telling us whattheir concerns are and explaining their ac-tions.”

CIC Chairman and Collision Weekpublisher Russ Thrall assured CIC atten-dees he would “figure a way through thisto make sure the things that need to be saidget said.” Like Bosin, he said CIC’s mis-sion is to serve as an open forum for theindustry.

“If there’s a presentation up herethat you find uncomfortable or you feelis wrong, that’s why the microphones(throughout the room) exist,” Thrallsaid.


Threat of Lawsuit

In a media-oriented demonstration or-ganized by the Collision Repair Associa-tion of California (CRA), AutobodyNews’ columnists CRA President LeeAmaradio (left in photo) and IndustryTrainer Toby Chess (using saw) werefeatured on ABC TV news replicatingChess’ earlier demonstration of softersteel in certain aftermarket parts vshigher-strength steel in OEM bumper re-inforcements.

In the photo Lee Amaradio steadies anaftermarket reinforcement bar for TobyChess who saws through it in a pressdemonstration of the apparent differencebetween OEM and an unspecified type ofaftermarket reinforcement bar. The sawhardly scratched the OEM part (see videoat www.autobodynews.com) yet cut thisparticular aftermarket part with apparentease.

Attending the April 8 demonstrationin Sacramento was California State As-semblymanDave Jones, (flanked by Ama-radio (l) and Chess (r) in the photoadjacent) who said he wants claimants no-tified if they had their vehicles repairedwith any aftermarket bumper bar. Jonessaid he wants insurers to stop requiring theuse of aftermarket rebars.

Jones released the following state-ment on April 9:

“Unbeknownst to mostCalifornians, for manyyears inferior aftermar-ket parts have been in-stalled in their carswhen they are repairedas part of an insuranceclaim after a collision.These substandardparts can affect thesafety and performanceof the vehicle in a fu-ture collision and posea serious risk to anyoneon California roads andhighways.

California law re-quires that aftermarketreplacement crash partsonly be used in the re-

pair of an automobile if “the parts are atleast equal to the original equipment man-ufacturer parts in terms of kind, quality,safety, fit, and performance,” and that in-surers warrant that these parts are in factas good or better than the manufacturerparts.

Today, I am calling on the InsuranceCommissioner and the Insurance Industryto:

* Identify all of the vehicles that con-tain these inferior aftermarket bumper re-

inforcement bars;* Notify the owners ofthe vehicles of the exis-tence of these substan-dard parts and the riskthey pose; and,* Develop a programto replace all of thedefective bumper re-inforcement bars onCalifornia roads andhighways.

If the Insurance In-dustry is not able to takethese simple steps tocomply with Californialaw and protect our resi-dents, legislation shouldbe introduced that ordersinsurance companies to

do so, and provides strict penalties for fail-ing to do so.”

State Assemblyman Dave Jones flanked by CRA president Lee Amaradio(left) and ICAR trainer Toby Chess (right) announces his plan to take leg-islative action if Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner fails to addressthe issue of damaged vehicles repaired with aftermarket reinforcementbars. Jones said he wants claimants notified if they had their vehicles re-paired with an aftermarket bumper bar and said he wants insurers to stoprequiring the use of aftermarket bars.

Lee Amaradio steadies an aftermarket reinforcement bar for Toby Chesswho saws through it in a press demonstration of apparent differencesbetween OEM and aftermarket reinforcement bars.

LKQ Issues Statement Following CIC Meeting“LKQ believes the collision industryneeds accurate and relevant informa-tion. In an effort to determine the ve-racity of Mr. Chess’ “sawzall” test atNACE in November 2009, we at-tempted to replicate his test of the OErebar. Our results were significantlydifferent! The saw cut through the OErebar with relative ease.

“Questioning the relevance of asawzall test, we chose to conductcrash tests of the aftermarket part. Theresults of the tests, which more accu-rately replicate actual accident condi-

tions, showed the aftermarket rebarmet FMVSS208, the federal standardfor occupant safety.

“That both the OE and aftermarket re-bars performed well in the crash testwas not surprising. But, by performingthe sawzall test ourselves, it is veryclear to us that there is a lot of misin-formation being spread. LKQ believesthat it is important for the consumerand the industry to receive relevantand accurate information, so we havecommunicated that message to theparties involved.”

CRAAftermarket Parts Demonstration Gets Major Media Attention


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The bill (HF 2530) would exempt shopsfrom sales tax for wholesale materials pur-chases if sales tax is billed and collected asa line item to the shops’ customers.

“That’s money right in our members’pockets,” Chaney said. “If it’s a $1 millionshop, that’s $10,000.”

An Iowa House committee had ap-proved the bill, though it failed to make fur-ther legislative progress before lawmakersadjourned the session.

Montana: Chaney, who also repre-sents the Montana Collision Repair Spe-cialists, said a past president of theassociation,MaxYates of Yates Body Shopin Butte, Mont., has registered to run as aRepublican for an open House seat in theMontana legislature.

“He said, ‘I’m tired of complainingabout it. I’m going to see if I can make adifference,” Chaney said.

SCRS Executive Director AaronSchulenburg said such efforts are impor-tant for the industry. “Because that gives ussomebody inside that body, being able tospeak our voice to their peers, instead of justus speaking to them as a legislative body,”Schulenburg said.

New Jersey: Charlie Bryant ofAASP-New Jersey said state regulators havetold the association that companies con-ducting mobile repairs—such as those doinglot repairs at dealerships—are not coveredunder the state’s shop licensing law. He saidthe association is working to change that, inpart by pointing ouot that even photos onsome of those companies’ websites showthem doing more than just minor damage re-pairs. Representatives from other states atthe meeting told Bryant they have success-fully addressed mobile repair operations byspeaking with environmental regulators, thefire marshal, and even land zoning agencies(when a dealership was not zoned to have abody shop at its location).

Pennsylvania: Steve Behrndt, of thePennsylvania Collision Trade Guild, ex-pressed concern about a towing-relatedlegislation in his state that he believescould have profound impact on collisionrepairs. Behrndt said the bill (HB 2041),which has been passed by the Pennsylva-nia House and has been introduced in theSenate, prohibits a tower from obtaining asignature authorizing repairs, or from re-fusing to release a vehicle to an insurerwhen paid for towing and storage, seem-ingly overriding current state law requir-ing permission from the vehicle-owner. Italso requires a tower to notify the insurerof a vehicle, if known, the whereabouts ofthe vehicle within 24 hours of the tow.Behrndt said all these provisions will makeit easier for an insurer to get a vehicle intoa shop of its choice.

“We call this legalized wreck-chasingon behalf of the insurance industry,”Behrndt said. He cautioned those fromother states to watch for similar legislationin their state being promoted as s pro-con-sumer towing-related bill.

Massachusetts: Two of the three as-sociations serving Massachusetts colli-

sion repair shopsspoke at the meetingin New Jersey andboth said the threegroups are workingmore closely to-gether than ever be-fore.

“I can almostguarantee you withinthe next six monthsthat we will merge,”PeterHendrix, presi-dent of the Massachu-setts AutobodyAssociation, said of

his group, the Central Massachusetts AutoRebuilders Association, and the AASP ofMassachusetts/Rhode Island. “We’ve beenfighting each other and fighting the insur-ance industry, we’ve been hiring separatelobbyist and dealing with often the same is-sues but on our own. It hasn’t worked. It’snot going to change unless we group to-gether.”

Peter Abdelmaseh, executive direc-tor of AASP of Massachusetts and RhodeIsland, said proposed state legislation re-lated to shop rates is among the projects onwhich the three groups have been workingtogether. The bill would establish threelevels of shop classification, opening thedoor for higher rates for shops with betterlevels of equipment and training.

“We believe in Massachusetts that thestandards need to be attached to some eco-nomic benefit,” he said. “Otherwise, ourpeople will be out making investmentswith no return”

Connecticut: Although there was notany discussion at the meeting about anymerger of the two associations servingConnecticut shops, there was talk aboutimproved relationships among the approx-imately 600 shops in the state.

“We stopped calling each other com-petitors,” shop owner Bob Skrip of theAuto Body Association of Connecticutsaid. “We’re all colleagues. Start using thatword. In every other profession in thisworld, they all stick together. You’d talk toa colleague every day, but everyone’safraid to talk to their competitors. No morecompetitors. We’re all colleagues.”

Skrip said his group is conducting amembership drive, getting board membersand others from the group to meet one-on-one with other shop owners to offer amoney-back guarantee that new memberswill more than make back their first-yeardues to the association.

As he reported a year earlier, Skrip saidrather than legislative efforts, the associationis focused on consumer education efforts.

“A smart consumer is very dangerousto insurers,” Skrip said.

He said he had no news to share withregard to the association’s successful classaction lawsuit against The Hartford, sayingthe insurer is preparing its appeal of the $15million judgment shops won against it.

“We all knew going in from 2003 that it’sa long process,” Skrip said of the litigation.

Meanwhile, Lisa Siembab of theConnecticut Collision Repair Specialistssaid that in addition to industry educationand community service, that associationmay also focus this year on what it sees asa consumer disclosure issue related to somedealerships taking in collision repair workeven if they don’t operate a body shop.

“The consumer is being led to believethat they indeed have a body shop when infact they do not,” Siembab said. “We havea problem with that. We think the con-sumer needs to be fully informed that theirvehicle will be leaving the premises to goto a body shop to be repaired. Consumersaren’t being told this.”

She said some dealers have gone sofar as to have doors labeled “Body Shop”within the dealership. At least one memberof the Auto Body Association of Connecti-cut at the meeting said that was an issue onwhich the two groups might work together.

Maryland and Virginia: JordanHendler, executive director of the Wash-ington Metropolitan Auto Body Associa-tion, discussed several legislativeproposals her group recently helped defeat.The association opposed a bill in Mary-land, for example, that it felt would legit-

imize the use ofsalvaged airbags,and a bill in Virginiathat would haveraised the thresholdof damage requiringa flood-damaged ve-hicle to receive abranded title from$1,000 to $5,000.

“ L e g i s l a -tively, it’s importantto remember that thistype of block is asgood as a win,” EdKizenberger, execu-tive director of the

Long Island Auto Body Repairmen's As-sociation (LIABRA), said associationleaders should remind their members.“Here is an example where something thatis proposed that is detrimental to the in-dustry. Being able to block that is impor-tant. It takes just as much work, andsometimes more, to stop something thathas momentum than it is to try to startsomething legislatively on your own.”


SCRS Forum

Janet Chaney an-nounces Butte shopowner Max Yates willrun as Republicancandidate for Mon-tana Legislature.

Peter Hendrix, presi-dent of the Massachu-

setts AutobodyAssociation, saying“it’s not going tochange unless wegroup together.”


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Texas employers are leaving millions infederal tax credits unclaimed and the op-portunity for tax savings is now greater forthose who choose to participate in the WorkOpportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program.Employers who hire unemployed veteransor eligible 16- to 24-year-olds are now en-titled to receive up to $2,400 in tax savingsfor each member of those groups added totheir payrolls in 2009 and 2010. As part ofthe American Recovery and ReinvestmentAct of 2009, these groups are now includedwith the existing 10 targeted populationseligible for WOTC.

Administered by the U.S. Departmentof Labor and the Texas Workforce Com-mission (TWC), WOTC is a federal in-come tax benefit for private employers whohire from certain groups. Tax credits rangefrom $1,200 to $9,000. WOTC reduces abusiness’ tax liability, serving as an incen-tive to select job candidates who face bar-riers in their efforts to find employment.

“We want Texas employers to earnvaluable tax credits while benefittingfrom the skills of these often untappedgroups of qualified workers,” said TWCChairman Tom Pauken. “It’s particularlyencouraging to me that unemployed vet-erans now are included in this program.”

TWC certifies which newly-hiredemployees make an employer eligible forthe tax credit based on applications re-

ceived from the new employer. AlthoughTWC was able to identify more than $200million in tax credits for Texas employ-ers in FY 2009, there were many morecredits available that went unclaimed be-cause applications were not submitted.WOTC offers employers a way to addressworkforce shortages while reducing hir-ing costs and gives job seekers a way toovercome some employment barriers.

For the newly added groups to qual-ify their employers for WOTC, new hireswho are unemployed veterans must havebeen receiving unemployment benefitsfor at least four weeks and youth must nothave been regularly employed or regu-larly attending school for six months priorto being hired.

“Our company saved $114,000 onour federal income taxes last year by hir-ing 85 qualifying employees to work inour restaurants,” said Joseph Hicks, Cer-tified Public Accountant for WrightFoods, which owns several restaurantfranchises in the McAllen area.

Within each employee group, specificeligibility requirements apply. All formsand WOTC information are available on-line at: www.twc.state.tx.us/svcs/wotc/wotc.html, or by calling the TWC WOTCunit at 1-800-695-6879.

(Source:Texas BusinessToday,Winter Issue)

Texas Companies Leave Millions in Tax Credits UnclaimedWhen most car owners think aboutgoing green, they think of hybrid vehi-cles or alternative fuels. But now, carowners can go greener when they havetheir accident damage repaired.CARSTAR Collision centers are adopt-ing green repair practices—from newpainting technology to energy savingtechniques to environmental improve-ments—designed to improve the car re-pair process and reducing the shops’carbon footprint.

CARSTAR has created a CertifiedGreen program with partners such as theEPA’s Collision Repair Campaign, En-ergy Star and Certified Green Investmentto guide collision centers through enact-ing smart environmental managementpractices and delivering continual im-provements on a yearly basis.

“We want to do our part to helpimprove the environment and enhancehow the thousands of collision repairsthat happen in CARSTAR locationsimpact their local communities,” saysDick Cross, CEO of CARSTAR Colli-sion Centers, the nation’s largest chainof collision repair experts. “There havebeen tremendous improvements in re-pair technology, new methods for de-creasing energy use, and better ways toreduce waste that, collectively, helpthe collision centers deliver a more

‘green’ car repair. We’re proud of themany CARSTAR stores who haveachieved Certified Green status andlook forward to having all of theCARSTAR stores embrace this impor-tant effort.”

The CARSTAR Certified Greenprogram will help deliver projected an-nual savings of $5,300 to eachCARSTAR Collision Center, along withan annual Eco Savings of 26.7%, whichreflects a reduction in environmentalpollution and contribution toward globalgreenhouse gas reduction. CertifiedGreen stores also qualify for tax credits,utility service rebates, governmentgrants and other benefits such as re-duced insurance premiums, workerscomp discounts and compliance conces-sions.

The first CARSTAR stores toachieve Certified Green status areCARSTAR Metcalf in Stillwell, Kan.,and Scuderi Auto Body CARSTAR inRockville, Md. CARSTAR stores aremodernizing their equipment, chang-ing to waterborne paint systems,adding energy efficient light fixtures,updating heating, ventilation and airconditioning controls, improving pol-lution prevention measures and em-ploying smart waste managementpractices.

CARSTAR Collision Centers Promotes Green Initiatives


by David M. BrownSpecial to Autobody News

A trio of auto association groups is nowserving the Lone Star State: San Antonio-based Texas Independent Auto Associa-tion; Austin’s Automotive Parts &Services Association; and, as of 2009, theHouston Auto Body Association, whichbecame an affiliate of the national Societyof Collision Repair Specialists in February.

Established in 2009 to serve thegreater Houston area, HABA comprisesapproximately 35 owners and managers ofcollision centers (Active Members), busi-nesses associated with the collision indus-try (Associate Members) and like-mindedassociations that abide by the group’s codeof ethics (Group Affiliate Members).

The group was formed to put the col-lision industry in Houston on a straighter-course. “Many of us felt we weren’t gettingfair and reasonable compensation for ourwork,” says the group’s president, JamesBrown, owner of Rapid Body Works inHouston. He notes that different areas andinsurers were using unique procedures, cre-ating confusion and misinterpretation.

Brown explains that Andy Holder,owner of Metropolitan Collision, also inHouston, began contacting body shops thefirst part of 2009, and by that SeptemberHABAbecame a registered nonprofit associ-ation. Holder is now vice president of thegroup. “Together, we could strategize andagree on standards and procedures to improvebusiness for all of us, so that consumers couldbe ensured their vehicles were being restoredto their safe pre-loss condition,” says Brown,whose nine-year-old company is ICAR Plat-inum and ASE certified.

HABA’s membership requirementsinclude proof of liability insurance andtechnical certification for technicians, theuse of a computerized estimating system, alifetime warranty against defects and anapproved spray booth meeting current fed-eral and local requirements.

Brown says that the organization isdedicated to setting just and equitable stan-dards and providing a forum for working outdifferences between shops and shops and in-surers. HABA is establishing itself as a con-sumer advocacy agency in providing bothinformation and a presence at the Texas Leg-islature to protect the public’s rights, as wellas those in the collision industry.

“One of our members has already hadmeetings with the Texas Insurance Com-missioner and presented questions as wellas signed petitions to add to the ConsumerBill of Rights,” Brown reports.

Assisting Brown and Holder as boardof directors officers are Phillip Hahn,Treasurer (Mossy Nissan Collision Cen-ter); Jennifer Barbee, Secretary (Metro-politan Collision); and Ronnie Brush,

Chairman of the board (Westside LexusCollision Center).

SCRS is welcoming of HABA, whichadds to its portfolio of 38 affiliate associa-tions comprising 6,000 collision repairbusinesses and 58,500 specialized profes-sionals in the United States.

“It is always exciting for SCRS topartner with new, emerging industry lead-ers,” says Aaron Schulenburg, executivedirector of SCRS.

“The HABA has exhibited tremendousdrive and determination in the formation oftheir association, and their commitment tothe implementation of recognized and prac-ticed repair standards is laudable.”

The oldest organization of the Texasthree is the Texas Automotive Parts &Services Association, founded Oct. 11,1932, as the Automotive Wholesalers ofTexas. As a trade association designed toserve the automotive aftermarket industry,APSA serves a 10-state membership of800 members representing approximately2,000 locations. Besides Texas, represen-tative states are Kansas, Oklahoma, Ne-braska, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas,Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

The members own or represent autoparts and paint stores, machine shops, en-gine rebuilders and service repair shops,both mechanical and collision. In the lastfew years, through a series of mergers,APSA has grown from a single state asso-ciation to a regional association which, be-cause of the increase in the number ofmembers, has enabled APSA to pro-vide quality programs and benefits, saysthe organization’s president, Jim Quinten.

For instance, the group offers its mem-bers an insurance package through the mem-ber-owned AP&S Insurance Agency. Still,the most important work APSA does is leg-islative advocacy — lobbying in the variousstates and in Washington, Quinten explains.He is assisted by the APSA vice president,Melanie Norman, and a 25-member boardof directors representing all 10 states.

“The members own the association,and it only exists for their benefit,” hesays. “The APSA staff works for the mem-bers and are dedicated to that effort.”

Formed in 1980, TIAA comprises me-chanical and body shops throughout Texas.The organization began with chapters inOdessa, Waco, Austin, Houston, San An-

tonio and the Rio Grande Valley, but mem-bership grew to approximately 850 mem-bers statewide. Between 30–40 collisionshops now belong.

“Our members are mostly family-owned and -operated independent businessthat put the focus on customer service on apersonal level,” says Gary Pundt, TIAApresident and owner of Alamo HeightsGarage in San Antonio.

Joining him on the board are HankAmor, vice president and owner of OakHill Automotive in Austin; David BippertSecretary, owner of Lone Star Radiator inSan Antonio; and Roy Baird, Treasurer,owner, Car Pro of San Antonio. In May,the group will choose new officers at itsannual meting, Pundt explains.

“We formed so that our memberswould have more control over the state andlocal chapters and be able to monitor theLegislature and act on our own behalf atthe state level and not get lost in the na-tional association shuffle,” he explains.

The group actively monitors legisla-tion affecting the mechanical and the col-lision industry: “We have members inAustin that will at a moment’s notice rallysupport to testify at the state capitol on be-half of our membership.”

He adds: “We’re also a great platformfor our members to network across the state

and be able to stay in touch and discuss in-dustry issues that come up.” He notes thatthese include “insurance-steering problemsand the repair process that the insurancecompanies force upon the collision shops.”

Education is also an important TIAAcomponent. Members serve on various ed-ucation boards, offering feedback on newtraining programs and guidance for futuretechnicians. The group also fund raises forscholarships to give financial aid to thosedeserving and in need.

For the last for years, TIAA membershave also donated services and parts to repairvehicles at no charge for residents of batteredwomen’s shelters inAustin and SanAntonio.Says Pundt: “This is a public service that weare proud to do, and we feel it is a great wayto give back to our local communities.”

James Brown, President, [email protected] (832)-515-9609

Jim Quinten, APSA8000 Centre Park Drive, Suite 150Austin, Texas 78754Phone: 512-339-0044Fax: [email protected]

Gary Pundt, State PresidentT.I.A.A. [email protected]

Houston Auto Body Association Joins Existing Texas Associations

David Abrahams (l) of PPG distributorTASCO presenting a substantial dona-tion to HABA President James Brown.


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Minnesota’s Southwest Journal, a regionalbusiness publication, has reported thatMulroy’s Body Shop at the corner of 39thStreet and Nicollet Avenue in Twin CitiesMinnesota, has installed the largest arrayof solar panels in the Twin Cities area, gen-erating 30 percent of the building’s power.

“Once you have grandchildren, youstart thinking about how we’ve got to doour part to leave this world in better shapethan we’ve got it,” said shop owner PatMulroy. “Body shops, we’re not known asa real green thing, but we want to changethat.”

The installation of the shop’s 174-panel, 40-kilowatt system was completedin early April as part of a project run bySouth Minneapolis-based Solarflow En-ergy, which offers solar electricity leasing.The company is under contract with XcelEnergy for the project, which involves in-stalling solar panels on 20 residential andfive commercial properties in the metro. Itis also partially funded through an Xcel En-ergy Renewable Development Fund grant.

“We’re trying to prove the model ofsolar service in Xcel territory,” said So-larflow CEO Gerardo Ruiz during a Marchinterview about the project.

Ruiz said the panels are leased at acost that is less than the value of the elec-tricity being delivered, which Mulroy willreceive at no additional expense. Mulroy

said he expects to break even financiallythis year, but because the lease rate islocked, he foresees significant savings inyears to come.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.)swung by Mulroy’s on April 7, along withCity Council Member Elizabeth Glidden

(8th Ward) to see the panels, talk to in-stallers and emphasize the role of federalstimulus dollars in the project. Stimulusfunds provide a grant to Solarflow basedon the value of the installation, Frankensaid.

“This is an example of where thestimulus package has created jobs and

helped create a new energy future,” hesaid. “So to me, this is just a perfect ex-ample of what we should be doing andwhat we are doing.”

Ruiz declined to specify how muchstimulus funding he was getting, but he didsay the purchase price of the system in-

stalled at Mulroys is about$300,000.

Glidden, who leads the city’sRegulatory, Energy and Environ-ment Committee, said Minneapo-lis is pushing to find more ways togo solar and Mulroy’s is standingout as an example for the rest ofthe community of how to do it.

“I live a block away from hereand Mulroy’s is one of the bestcommunity partners you canhave,” she said.

The shop is also leasing spaceto a company that converts gas-powered vehicles to electric. Theofficial launch of that business isplanned later this spring. Mulroy

said his shop’s other green efforts includethe use of eco-friendly water-basedpaints.

Mulroy’s solar array is the largest inthe Twin Cities for now, but the Min-neapolis Convention Center will pass itthis summer with a project that involvesthousands of panels.

The typical vehicle is 10.2 years old,the highest average in 14 years, ac-cording to a late-March report fromR.L. Polk & Co. Old or new, most willeventually require some form of body-work and painting. The cost should re-flect conditions including a car's ageand projected longevity, say con-sumer-oriented statements by Maaco.A collision repair on a one to three-year-old car usually calls for state-of-the-art options. The owner of a four to10-year-old car could often benefitfrom a shop that knows how to pro-vide a superior looking job and stillfind ways to lower the estimate, espe-cially when the driver is paying out ofpocket.

“It's important to bring a vehicleback to a condition that maintains theresale value if the car would be goinginto the resale arena,” said DavidLapps, president of Maaco CollisionRepair & Auto Painting, “such as alease turn back or a car that's going tobe sold in the next year or so.

“However, with an older car, orone the customer... may be paying her-self, Maaco will find ways to save hermoney without affecting the quality, sothat only the expert commercial buyersof newer used cars could pick it up.”

Maaco Positions Itself AsCustomer Pay Provider

Minnesota Body Shop Gets 30% of Power From Solar Arrays

CAPA announced Feb 1 that it is devel-oping a new bumper certification stan-dard. The CAPA Bumper SystemsStandard will cover steel bumpers (frontand rear), steel reinforcements (rebars),bumper brackets and absorbers. TheCAPA program is a direct response to theimportance of truly independent certifi-cation and testing as a mechanism for fos-tering market competition. “We arepleased to respond to the cross-industrydemand for CAPA certification. The bot-tom line is that insurers, repairers, andpart distributors cannot simply look atcompetitive parts and make an informeddecision on the true comparability of thatpart to a car company brand part,” saidGillis.

To ensure comparability, the carcompany service part undergoes a com-prehensive testing regimen with the re-sults becoming the “standard” to whichthe aftermarket part is compared. The af-termarket part undergoes the same com-prehensive testing regimen. If the testresults show the aftermarket part is com-parable to the car company brand part,then, and only then, it can bear the CAPAQuality Seal. “The CAPA Quality Seal iscrucial because as the various “tests re-sults” being released demonstrate, it isimpossible to determine if an aftermarketpart will perform comparably to a carcompany brand part, unless all critical as-

pects of the part have been tested and re-viewed,” said Gillis. The CAPA programrequires comprehensive continuous postapproval inspection and marketplacemonitoring. After the dynamic bumpertesting process has been completed, theproposed standard will be presented toCAPA’s Technical Committee for reviewand approval.

The CAPA Technical Committee in-cludes representatives of key collision in-dustry segments including repairers,distributors, manufacturers and insurers.CAPA’s new Bumper Systems Standard(CAPA 501) will benefit from CAPA’shistory in quality, safety assurance, andcompliance. For over six years CAPA hasbeen certifying automotive lighting. It wasCAPA who discovered and reportedFMVSS 108 compliance issues to the Na-tional Highway Traffic Safety Adminis-tration (NHTSA) in 2004. We learned thatmarketplace and package claims aboutsafety compliance may be suspect whenwe discovered that 80% of the aftermar-ket lights we tested did not meet all the re-quirements of FMVSS 108 even thoughFMVSS 108 was printed on the boxes de-livered to shops by part distributors.Today, the best way insurers, shops, anddistributors can ensure that aftermarketlights are truly comparable to car com-pany brand lights and fully comply withFMVSS 108 is to look for the CAPA seal.

CAPA 501 Standard for Bumper System Parts

U.S. Sen. Al Franken and Minneapolis City Council Mem-ber Elizabeth Glidden (8th Ward) stopped by Mulroy’sBody Shop earlier this month to see its new solar panels,talk to installers and promote clean energy.

The 2010 Texas Independent AutomotiveAssociation Scholarship Fishing Tourna-ment is Friday, May 21 in Port Aransas.Proceeds from the TIAA event supportthe scholarships for Texas youth who at-tend college-level automotive repair pro-grams within the state of Texas. Toregister for the fishing tournament and topay for meal at the event, you can down-load a form (www.tiaa.net) and mail withcheck payable to TIAA to 639 W. Rhap-sody, San Antonio, TX 78216.

There will be double the payoutsthis year for award winners in bothRedfish and Speckled trout. In addi-tion, this year there will be two com-petitive divisions: guided and unguidedanglers.

Participants are encouraged to regis-ter as soon as possible to ensure enough

fishing guides can be contracted for theevent ahead of the event as possible. Ifyou wait to register right before the event,

it may be possible you won't be able to fishbecause there may not be enough boats foreveryone to fish from. For more informa-tion or to ask about sponsorship opportu-nities, call Luke Harms, the eventorganizer, at (210) 413-2428

The Annual meeting, managementsession and lunch will be held on Satur-day, May 22 at Virginias on the Bay from10 a.m. to 1 p.m. All members in goodstanding who attend will receive reim-bursement for one nights stay up to $100and a FREE lunch for two. There are cur-rently rooms being held at the PlantationSuites 1-877-836-FUNN for $89 per nightand Best Western Ocean Villas 1-361-331-1749. Reservations through the state of-fice must be made by April 9th to qualifyfor the FREE night. Contact the office viaE-mail at [email protected].


TIAA 2010 Scholarship Fishing Tournament, May 21, Port Aransas

Mike Riordan (Left) and son Christian, 12, hold uptwo large King Fish they caught during the 2009TIAA Scholarship Fishing Tournament. Although thefish didn't qualify for the awards, the two benefitedfrom time spent together. Photo by Lee Roberts

In conjunction with the fishing tournamentin Port Aransas, there is a brief annualmeeting, lunch and management sessionfrom 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 22,2010 at Virginia’s On The Bay.

The leadership training is being pre-sented by Automotive Speaker and AuthorDavid Eschbach. All members in goodstanding who attend will receive reim-bursement for one nights stay up to $100and a FREE lunch for two. There are cur-rently rooms being held at the PlantationSuites 1 (877) 836-FUNN for $89 pernight as well as The Best Western OceanVilla 1-361-331-1749.

Reservations through the state officeneeded to be made by April 9th to qualifyfor the FREE night. Contact the office viaE-mail at [email protected].

Eschbach will present leadershiptraining titled, “The Challenge.” To excelin tomorrow’s marketplace we must chal-lenge ourselves to identify our true part-ners by discovering and utilizing the rightorganizations, vendors and employees.Your independence relies on the partnersyou choose. Challenge yourself to choosethe right partners. Challenge them to sup-port you while you achieve your goals.Challenge yourself to create a winningteam and remain strong, independent andproud.

Management companies nationwidehave charged hundreds of dollars for thisinformation, but thanks to cooperative ef-forts with TIAA, it's yours free. Not onlythat, but TIAA will pay for a FREE night’sstay (per membership) at the hotel we willbe holding the conference at and comple-mentary lunch for up to two people. Theonly requirement is that you are a memberin good standing, register by April 9th, andattend the luncheon and leadership ses-sion. TIAA will finish the day with the in-stallation of officers and plan to be doneby no later than 1 p.m.

TIAAAnnual MeetingIncludes LeadershipTraining, Hotel Stay

“What is PCI Compliant?” or “Howdo I become PCI Compliant?” arecommon questions these days. Didyou know that Visa & Mastercard canfine you up to $500.00 per transac-tion if you are not in compliance?The BankCard Group announced thatthey will provide any existing TIAAmember in good standing (excludingcurrent members with The BCG) aFree Pci Compliant Terminal in themonth of April. Call Jayme Mathis@ 866.412.0717 or 210.639.1497.You can also reach him at:[email protected]

TIAA Has Free PCI TerminalPerk from Bancard Group

The wholesale parts game isn’t a slamdunk, nor is it a no-brainer. If a dealershipmakes a commitment to wholesale andworks it hard and smart, they might be ableto eke out a meager profit at the end of theyear. But, if a parts department deviatesfrom its plan, their already paper-thin mar-gins can disappear in a millisecond.

Robert Jones has been the parts di-rector at Ray Huffines Chevrolet in Plano,Texas, for 12 years and possesses fourdecades of total industry experience. Heknows that wholesale is a tough game, butif you do it right, it will reward you inmany ways, he explained.

“Wholesale is a different game thanselling parts retail or selling them to yourown service department,” Jones said. “Ifyou set up a system and can stick with it,you can make money in a recession. Wegrew in ’09 and business has drasticallyimproved already in ’10, so if you contin-ually push and stress customer service andsell a good product, you can succeed inwholesale.”

Jones runs a highly successful partsdepartment that maintains an inventory of$2.2 million in parts. Last year, his depart-ment sold more than $9 million in bothmechanical and collision parts for the en-tire General Motors lineup, includingGMC, Buick, Pontiac and Cadillac andnow Saturn, a nameplate they added ear-lier this year when a local Saturn dealer-ship closed its doors.

The parts department at Ray HuffinesChevrolet operates from a 35,000 square-foot facility and employs 18 people, in-cluding 10 countermen, Jones said. TheHuffines family has been in the automo-tive business since 1924 and owns a totalof eight dealerships.

Jones, 58, knows this business istough in any economy and admits thattoday price is more important than ever.“It’s a grind and volume is king—and vol-ume is dictated by price. That’s why we’realways trying to take advantage of theprice programs offered by the manufac-turer. It all works together. You need tobuy right so that we can sell right. In theend, it’s all about offering our customersthe best deals out there. Everyone is fo-cusing on price. Sure, service is para-mount, but in this tough economy, we leadwith price and that’s the reality.”

His attitude about maintaining excep-tional customer service in his departmentis unwavering, Jones said. “We literallytreat every one of our customers like fam-ily, like our fathers or mothers. TheHuffines family has always stressed cus-tomer service over profit. Sure, we want tomake a profit, but the customer alwayscomes first. The company employs 600people and each one of them shares theHuffines approach 100%, Jones explained.

“This is a very different work envi-ronment here,” he said. “The Huffinesfamily makes every employee in their or-ganization feel wanted, respected and val-ued. Mr. Huffines insists on singing happy

birthday for each employee on their bigday—from every manager and technicianto each driver and in between. You won’tfind something like this at many othercompanies.”

Jones is right out there on the frontlines every day when it comes to the never-ending battle of OEM vs. the aftermarket.The insurance companies he works withwant to save money by using the after-market, so Jones needs to be flexible, headmitted.

“It’s a dance between the shops, theinsurance companies and us. It’s a two-edged sword, because we need the insur-ance companies to provide us withrevenue. But, they have the checkbook andthey call the shots. If they insist on usingaftermarket or re-manufactured parts on a

repair, that’s the way it will go. That’s whywe try to do whatever we can to get ourparts on as many of their estimates as wecan.”

By offering price flexibility to hiswholesale body shops, Ray HuffinesChevrolet positions itself in a more com-petitive situation when matched up againstthe aftermarket, Jones said. “Our ‘Bumpthe Competition’ program has been work-ing well for us for the past several years.It’s a simple process. The shop faxes acopy of the estimate, and if particular partsfit into the program, we’re able to adjustthe price and then capture more of the es-timate.”

But in the end, Jones knows that hisparts are superior to their aftermarket al-


Plano’s Ray Huffines Chevrolet Wins on Margins in Wholesale Parts

• 9 Salesmen• Over $2 Million Inventory• 7 Delivery Trucks• Extensive Collision Parts Inventory• Free Delivery within Texas (call for details)• Engines and Transmissions at truck load

pricing (call for details)

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• Cycle time costs you money. Letour huge collision inventory workto your advantage.

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From left to right, Parts Director Robert Jones, Ad-ministrative Coordinator Kathy Fondry and Assis-tant Parts Manager Paul Cruson run the partsdepartment’s front office at Ray Huffines Chevrolet.

See Ray Huffines, Page 15

Insurance companies are up to their oldtricks again. Apparently none learned thelesson of the M-2 fiasco a few years ago.Because insurance executives are oftengraduates of business schools and thor-oughly educated in corporate culture, theyhave a natural tendency to believe themyth of “economy of scale.” This leadsthem to believe that a monolithic mess likeM-2—a consolidator that bought up a hugenumber of shops only to collapse under apile of debt, loss and inefficiency—couldrepair vehicles for much less than inde-pendent shops.

Around that time, the nations largestinsurance company dropped dozens ofsmall shops in favor of large shops andconsolidators they believed could deliverrepaired vehicles for less because of“economy of scale.” Management guruPeter Drucker observed many years agothat so-called “economy of scale”—bywhich shops would be expected to pur-chase parts and outsource some servicesmore cheaply—are generally lost becauseof bloated bureaucracies that arise in large

corporations so that tracking real costs areoften lost in the shuffle. At the end, M-2could no longer pay for parts or stall onpayments. Inconsistent payment of em-ployees resulted in continual turnover ofemployees. The idea that “economy ofscale” is really that important in a labor-intensive business like collision repair iscorporate think nonsense.

So now another large insurance com-pany (see last month’s column) is droppingdozens of small shops—not because theyfailed to do quality repairs or to treat cus-tomers fairly—but because the company’scorporate-minded executives believe themyth that shifting to large consolidatorsand multi-shop enterprises will result inlower repair costs. The irony of their moveis their inconsistency in reasoning. This isa company that still works through agentsbecause agents provide personalized care.They ignore the fact that large corporateshops tend, like M-2, to have revolvingdoor employees who thus pay far less per-sonal attention to customers.

So what does this have to do with the

dozens of independent shops that suddenlyfind a major insurance source of jobs andrevenue disappear? The usual response isto scramble to find other sources of busi-ness. Unfortunately this often means try-ing many multiple marketing efforts atonce. By dividing their resources into rel-atively unfocused advertising, promotionand sales efforts, they lose the power thatcould be gained from one highly concen-trated marketing effort at a time. It’s notthat a shop should only go after a dealer-ship, a DRP, a fleet account or any otherspecific source. It’s just that it’s more ef-fective to choose a single target and put allavailable resources behind that one bigpush. Otherwise they’re like a militarybombing operation that scatters a fewbombs over a large area without hitting themost important target.

An example of concentrated firepowerwould be going after a new insurance DRPby addressing the agents, the adjusters, thelocal coordinator and also executives at thestate and national level. Records of priorjobs performed for that insurer’s customers

and letters from satisfied customers plus anyother relevant documentation may takesome time to assemble, but that is the kindof ammunition needed to press this market-ing initiative. One shop manager who suc-ceeded in gaining new DRP business for hershop traveled to several CIC meetings tomeet the top-level insurance executives whorepresented their companies at the periodicalmeetings. Rather than the usual approach,contacting the local DRP coordinator andsending a comprehensive package of infor-mation about the shop, she used a top-downapproach, using her CIC contacts to influ-ence the local coordinators, and then usingthe references from customers and agents toreinforce her proposal.

A concentrated effort to get a dealer-ship’s business would involve getting thebuy-in from every level of management,including the used car sales manager, theparts manager, the service manager, and ofcourse the general manager and owner.Shop records of jobs performed on thosemakes and models of vehicles would rein-


On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

Tom Franklin has been a sales and marketing consultant for forty years. He haswritten numerous books and provides marketing solutions and services for manybusinesses. He can be reached at (323) 871-6862 or at [email protected].

Concentrate Your Marketing Firepower

See Franklin, next page


It has been said that one does not realizethe value of a good insurance companyuntil one files a claim.

Insurers that have local agents that thepolicyholder can meet with “face to face”generally fare better than the “internetbased” insurance policies, according to nu-merous autobody association surveys.

When it comes to insurance coveragefor physical property damage, cheaper pre-miums are not always the best way to go.Remember that old adage: You get whatyou pay for!

As for the claims process for autobody repair, most claimants can use all thehelp they can get. The truth is that mostclaimants are simply not familiar with theprocess and all the pitfalls that many in-surers place in their path.

The investment in a motor vehicle issignificant for most people. Making surethe value of that investment is not dimin-ished through poor quality visible repairsis important to most vehicle owners.

While not all insurance companies areguilty of “steering” customers to certain“preferred body shops” or demandingbody shops cut corners to save a dime,most insurers do just that. The goal is tosqueeze every penny they can to pay outas little as possible on each claim.

Most insurance companies play agame—a game that makes sure that the

cost of repairing an insured damaged ve-hicle is held down to the lowest level pos-sible without incurring the wrath of themasses.

Insurers bank on one important fact.The fact that most vehicle owners won’tkeep their vehicle very long. Therefore, theinsurers are not too worried about usingimitation crash parts or sub-standard parts.

Suppose an insurance company saves$40 or $50 on a part by demanding thebody shop use the “Made in Taiwan” or“Made in China” imitation crash parts.How much does this “savings” cost the un-suspecting customer? Could it be hundredsor maybe thousands of dollars at trade-intime?

When an insurance company choosesto use the cheaper types of parts, a “di-minished value” claim (DV) is a possibleconsideration in many states. A DV claimcould compensate you for the “imitationcrash parts” replacing your factory “origi-nal equipment” or “OEM” parts.

The art of steeringHere are a few of the word tracks used tomanipulate the customer into using a spe-cific “preferred” repair facility:> “Oh, sorry, we can’t guarantee the re-pairs at [your shop] because ‘they’ are notone of our network shops and they’re noton our list;”

> “If you use them, we can’t get an ad-juster out for two weeks; if you take it toour network shop we will have someonestart on it right away;”> “Claims take longer to settle if you usethem;”> “Oh no, they charge more than the pre-vailing rate for this area and you will haveto ‘pay the difference’ in repair cost;”> “If you use that shop you will have topay for your rental out of pocket.”

Insurance company control of the col-lision repair industry has grown signifi-cantly in recent years. Many shop ownersnow struggle everyday to get paid fairly.They’re pressured to use aftermarket crashparts on the jobs they do get and watch in-surers steer away customers right and left.

Shop owners are routinely “second-guessed” regarding their estimates. Theygenerally feel “under the thumb” of the in-surer (or insurer representative). All thisdaily pressure from insurers has causedmany body shop owners to be resentful to-ward the insurance industry.

This resentment is apparent fromcomments on internet blogs as well as sur-veys conducted by industry associationsand publications.

Body Shop owners who say they havelost business because of steering had thesecomments:

● “We’ve been in business for 19 yearsand 99 percent of the time, the customersare very happy. Yet insurers steer businessaway from us constantly.”● “I’ve had old customers tell me theywere told to go to another shop.”● “Insurers make the customers feel asthough they won’t pay unless they take thevehicle to one of their shops.”● “Vehicles have been removed from ourshop because of insurers.”

“The companies tell appraisers whatthey can and can’t pay for,” says anothershop owner. “We continually hear, ‘Iknow you need to do it, but I can’t pay forit.’”

Tell your customers to call their in-surance company and tell them wherethey would like to have their vehicle re-paired.

Customers should be told: “If youneed any help deciding on which insurancecarrier to buy your policy from, ask or callyour local body shop. We can tell youwhich insurance companies are customerservice friendly and will help with your in-surance claim needs every step of the way.Some insurance companies make you feelthat they have your best interest in mind.when in reality they are just managingtheir bottom line.” Suggested slogan foryour office: REMEMBER, IT’S YOURCAR, YOUR CHOICE.

Games Insurers Play

The Right Causewith Mike Causey

Mike Causey is a consumer advocate and lobbyist for the Independent Auto Body Association (IABA), in additionto Non-profits such as alternative healthcare groups (Citizens for Healthcare Freedom, NC Reflexology Associa-tion), Organic farming and Healthy Eating. Mike is a writer and speaker on numerous consumer issues and legis-lation. Mailing address: Causey & Associates, P.O. Box 16725, Greensboro, NC 27416 Email: [email protected]: (336) 210-1947

force this shop’s ability to focus on this deal-ership’s products. While a DRP arrangementeither exists or it doesn’t, it is possible withmany dealerships to propose a “toe-in-the-door” approach, such as a dealership that al-ready had an “authorized collision repairfacility.” You could take on any overload andany problem jobs the other shop preferred notto do. Dealership relationships can be a lotlike marriages, often ending in divorce. Byproviding exemplary service, the “toe-in-the-door” shop, became the new authorized shopwhen the other shop failed to deliver one toomany times. Losing a major source of busi-ness—especially in a tough economy likethis— can be a devastating experience, butit’s essential for a shop owner or manager toresist scattering resources all around. Using aconcentrated firepower approach may notguarantee a result, but it can form a basis fora second and third concentrated effort ifneeded and provide a feeling of certainty thatall that could be done has been done on thatone target. That certainty will make the nextconcentrated effort that much more effective.


FranklinMitchell International, Inc., a leadingprovider of information, workflow andperformance management solutions to theProperty & Casualty claims and CollisionRepair industries, announced the releaseof WorkCenter™ Total Loss 4.0, the latestversion of the industry's most accurate,trusted and verifiable total loss vehicle val-uation solution developed in conjunctionwith customer satisfaction and vehiclepricing expert J.D. Power and Associates.

As a part of its advanced feature set,WorkCenter Total Loss 4.0 presents de-tailed vehicle equipment data much likethat contained in a build sheet and in thesame “window sticker” terminology usedby the manufacturers themselves. Sourcedthrough R. L. Polk & Co., the premierprovider of automotive information andmarketing solutions, the detailed descrip-tions of options and packages are dis-played on the Mitchell comparable vehicleand N.A.D.A.® vehicle valuation reports.Supplying an easily understood, readily

accepted description of vehicle equipmentallows carriers to assure policyholders thatall the equipment on their total loss vehiclewas taken into account for the valuation.This results in increased customer satis-faction along with improved first call set-tlement rates for insurance carriers.

Jesse Herrera, Senior Vice President,Product Management and Marketing forMitchell International, said, “With the ad-dition of vehicle equipment option pack-age data, we believe WorkCenter TotalLoss 4.0 is now the industry's most com-prehensive vehicle configuration offering,underscoring Mitchell's commitment tovastly improving often hotly contested andopaque claims settlements involving vehi-cle equipment and option packages. Thisadvancement also further streamlines thetotal loss valuation process by making themost up to date, accurate and trusted vehi-cle valuation data instantly available toconsumers, estimators and insurers.”

In addition, WorkCenter Total

Loss 4.0 will ease the job of the esti-mator because all of the manufacturerstandard equipment will display auto-matically via Vehicle IdentificationNumber (VIN) decode. The estimatorwill only need to review and select ve-hicle packages and optional equipment,improving accuracy and reducing cycletime.

WorkCenter Total Loss is a statisti-cally-driven, fully automated single solu-tion that can optimize the total loss claimssettlement process and fully support thehighest customer satisfaction initiatives.The solution combines Mitchell's superiorclaims processing solutions with J.D.Power and Associates' data analysis andsuperior pricing capabilities, resulting inan intuitive and powerful methodology forinsurance carriers. It is available via theweb or as a stand-alone, desktop applica-tion.

For more information, please visitwww.mitchell.com.

Mitchell Releases Industry's ‘Most Comprehensive Total LossVehicle Configuration Solution’

ternative, saying “An OE part is the origi-nal part made by the manufacturer andthat’s the bottom line. In some cases, there-manufactured part is fine for a specificjob. In other instances, the OEM is the bestway to go, because it fits correctly andlines up perfectly every time. In the end,there’s enough business out there that wecan all make a living, I believe.”

Parts availability and reliable deliveryis just as important to quality and price,Jones said. “We have a 91.5% fill-rate,which means we have pretty much any-thing our customers need right here onsite.We deliver roughly within 10 miles southof our location and 100 miles to the Northand to portions of southeast Oklahoma. Wehave two deliveries per day and everythingis pretty much guaranteed next day at thelatest. GM’s distribution center is in FortWorth, so it’s conveniently located for us.”

Jones cites his staff’s overall knowl-edge about the brands they sell as a key in-gredient to their formula for success.“We’re real fortunate to have a ton of ex-perience on our front line staff,” Jones said.“We’ve got well over 100 years combinedtotal experience in this group. Dean, one ofmy top people, is 70 and he’s been with me

for almost 20 years. These guys know howto handle our wholesale and retail effortsfrom top to bottom. We need to know moreabout these cars than our customers do, andthat’s where their value is apparent. Sure,quality parts delivered on-time are impor-tant, but our knowledge is something thatcan differentiate us from the rest of theparts suppliers out there in the market.”

Ongoing training is a major compo-nent within the entire customer service dy-namic, Jones explained. “GM has atraining system that is very effective. Allof my counter guys have to train on alltheir new products every year. It comes outto about 8–10 hours of training per yearand it’s all done online. That way they cando it at their convenience, so they don’thave to travel and they won’t miss work.”

Jones identified the value of his depart-ment’s outside sales efforts through his soleman on the street, Jesse Dominguez. “We’regetting a lot additional business from Jesse.He calls on 10–15 shops per day, which addsanother layer of customer service. By get-ting him out in the field, he’s also availableto any and all of our wholesale accounts. Ifa customer has delivery or pricing issues,Jesse can address them before they becomea problem. We’re currently in the process ofadding another salesman, because we cansee the results of our efforts in this regardand want to strengthen that aspect of ourwhole marketing mix.”

Other marketing efforts directed byJones include targeted direct mail pro-grams and promotional flyers thatDominguez hands out to his contacts whilevisiting shops, Jones said. Ray HuffinesChevrolet also advertises in trade publica-tions to reach his accounts and prospectiveones on a regular basis, he said.

“We want the shops to know thatwe value their patronage,” Jones said.

“We’re willing to go out of our way togive them quality parts priced reason-ably and delivered promptly. Those arethe basic things they want and we wantto be there to give it to them—consis-tently and reliably.

Ray Huffines Chevrolet Plano1001 Coit RoadPlano, Texas 75075(866) 687-8647


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Ray Huffines

The delivery team at Ray Huffines Chevrolet in-cludes, from left, Byron Rodriguez, Art Littlefield,Brinca Roberts, Ryan Ekstrom and Juan Costilla.

The wholesale parts crew at Ray Huffines inChevrolet is a highly-skilled and seasoned group,including from left, Kelly Kendrick, Chris Smith,John Limbocker and J.D. Webster.

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by Larry Williams

This is Part 2 of lastmonth’s article di-rected to dealershipparts managers di-rectly managing em-ployees handling bothmechanical and colli-sion parts, however,the same principles

apply to parts management in a body shop.To read Part 1, see Autobody News, April2010 edition or look online at www.auto-bodynews.com.

Larry Williams is a former parts man-ager and consultant who has received na-tional awards during his 40 years of creatingprofitable departments. He can be reached [email protected].

Making the most profit out of your inven-tory is easy, and once set up properly, needsminimum maintenance. Making the bestprofit out of your personnel is the hard part.This is why I spend most of my effort on mypeople.

The hardest part of any profession islearning the language. The various termi-nologies used to communicate needs. Autoparts is one of the hardest, a language ofmultiple words for the same item. Con-troller, solenoid, actuator, module, ECU, etc.can all used to describe the same object.Only a few years ago Ford started a programto unify parts terminology. Now all depart-ments, design, engineering, manufacturing,service and parts would all refer to a part byone name. Manufacturers have been in busi-ness almost a hundred years, and only noware addressing the problem. Same thing withnew models…all kinds of information forsales and service, nothing for parts educa-tion. Everyone must learn on the job.

Qualified personnel are difficult to find,so your best results will be if you train yourpeople yourself. Promote from within on ascale of needed expertise, driver, stockman,back counter, front counter, phones. Alwaysstart new counter personnel at the backcounter. They can get the most help, infor-mation, and actually see the vehicle if nec-essary. Technicians will educate a newcounterperson better and faster than anyother method. Every person has an area theyare happiest working in, find the best fit foryour personnel.A person is most productivewhen working in the area that they like.They make fewer mistakes, enjoy theirwork, have less attendance problem, etc.

Every person must know exactly whattheir job and their responsibilities are. Notjust verbal, WRITTEN DOWN! You mustcreate your own policy and procedure man-ual, with every position defined, and all du-ties outlined. Only with a permanent“bible” for your department can you cope

with ongoing personnel issues.A few examples:

Driver Duties:1) Maintain a professional appearance2) Keep my vehicle clean and maintaineddaily.3) Maintain a professional attitude with allmy customers.4) Organize my deliveries in the best wayfor time and distance.5) Maintain contact at all times.6) When not delivering, assist with receiv-ing-shipping, and housekeeping.7) Obtain training toward further advance-ment.

Receiving Clerk Duties1) Maintain my area in a neat and clean, or-ganized manner.2) Complete all receipts every day.3) Complete all paperwork every day.4) Complete all stocking duties every day.5) Report all errors, mistakes, problems im-mediately.

Shop Counter Duties1) Fill all part requests as quickly as possi-ble.2) Record all transactions at time of sale.3) Attempt to fill all missed sales with localsources.4) Verify all unfilled orders with both tech-nician and service advisor.5) Handle all “car down” orders as quicklyas possible.6) Process all core and warranty part returnsdaily.7) Keep my area as neat as possible.Analyze and define every position and dis-cuss with each employee exactly what youbelieve their job duties are. The result cre-ates secure feelings between you and yourpeople about their work.

Here are a few thoughts concerningeach position.

Parts Driver:One of the most important, yet lowest-paidand least-trained position. Many times, thisis the only representative of the dealer to ac-tually meet the customer face-to-face. Yourdriver is the symbol of your professionalism,pride, and sincerity in all transactions withyour most frequent customers. These cus-tomers have the option of purchasing partselsewhere, and if offended by a driver surelywill. Let your drivers know how importantthey are to the image of the dealership, andthat the customers are theirs as well as thedealers. Their uniforms must be clean andwell kept, their appearance a credit to yourbusiness. Delivery trucks must be clean,with easily read signs, not cluttered, but withname and phone numbers clearly stated.

Make each driver responsible for theirvehicle. Check all fluids, tires, gasoline, etc.

each night, in order to have them completelyready for the next morning’s business. Re-member, your customers appreciate earlydeliveries rather than late ones. It is better tohave several runs each day to different areasrather than one run that will take all day.Short runs allow you to make an emergencyrun for that “special” customer. If you havea central location in town, divide your de-liveries by area, east/west, or north/south,and set a schedule. Make sure all your cus-tomers are aware of your schedule. Alwayshave some way to keep in touch with yourdriver—radio, pager, cell phone, etc.

Give your driver some discretion in thefield.Allow him to make minor adjustmentsfor damaged goods, returns, wrong parts,etc. Your customers will appreciate the quickhandling of their problems. Drivers are re-sponsible for obtaining all information whenwrong parts are sent, since the second tripmust be correct.

I make a note here about an unfortunatebias in our industry. I have found it unwiseto use a female driver in a situation that callsfor speedy deliveries. The typical garage orbody shop customer is male, and whenmeeting a female driver, usually wants totalk longer than he would with a male driver.This creates a no-win situation for the fe-male driver. If she stops to be friendly, she isdelaying deliveries to the rest of her cus-tomers. If she is efficient, the man willsometimes interpret this action as curt or un-friendly, and may hesitate on placing hisnext order. None of this is her fault; it’s justthe situation. I therefore have used only maledelivery drivers, although I have absolutelyno hesitation in placing women in any otherparts department position. Indeed, some ofmy best parts salespeople have been women.

Receiving-Shipping:Stated in that order because receiving is themost common and the most important duty.All incoming freight must be checked piece-by-piece. Quantity ordered, billed, and re-ceived must match. All packing slips mustbe checked and turned in to the manager forfinal accounting. Mark all exceptions onpacking slips, also a separate exception re-port to the manager. For extra parts, makepacking slips for posting; then make allclaims after checking with the factory in-voice. All part number changes must beposted, any bin locations changed daily,after all the receiving is done.

Remember, you must have accuracy inthree places: physical on-hand stock, com-puter inventory information, and your ac-counting dollars. All three have to agree atall times.

Parts received are generally in two clas-sifications, stocking and special orders.Stock orders are easier to handle. Every parthas a location, and no pressure to deliver.Orders are received in the morning and parts

are on your shelves in the afternoon.Special orders are a completely differ-

ent situation. All special orders are to beconsidered high priority.A$2.00 part can beholding up a $1,000 job. After checking allthe parts on the packing slip, separate piecesby order type. Priority is your shop, thenwholesale, and finally retail.

With shop orders, speed is your firstconcern, followed by communication. Takeall shop orders to a designated area nearyour back counter. Give written notificationto your back counter personnel and also tothe responsible service consultant. Partsshould also be visible to the technicianswhen they are at the back counter.

Wholesale customers are next. Notifythe counterperson responsible; then placethe part in either the will-call or deliveryarea for your driver.

Retail customers are last, but they re-quire the most handling. A copy of the spe-cial order is attached to the part; the part isplaced in a special order section in alpha-betical order.Acopy of the order is placed inan alphabetical file, and another copy is usedto contact the customer. A phone call is best,but a post card can also be mailed.

Special orders will always accumulate.For reasons unknown, even when parts havebeen pre-paid, customers will not come backfor them. You must clean out special ordershelves on a regular basis. This is just a partof normal business.

The most important thing about ship-ping is keeping records. Duplicates of pack-ing slips, carrier name and shipping number,all necessary information to track shipmentsmust be kept in an organized file, preferablykept by carrier and date. Remember, if youcannot prove liability on lost shipments, youwill have to assume the loss.

As you can see, the receiving, ship-ping, housekeeping portion of the depart-ment’s business is critical to all sales areas.This is a good position for an assistantmanager. You need someone with good or-ganizational skills, who is good with pa-perwork, neat, and supportive of all theother personnel. This position is truly thefoundation of a good parts department.

Shop Counter PersonelAs I have said before, the back counter isthe best place to train a future counterper-son. The technician cannot be lost or drivenoff by unfortunate delays or errors. The car,the technician, all of the necessary infor-mation, is here. Advice and help are avail-able at all times. Your regular back counterpersonnel can always use the extra handsand feet, and the heavy volume of ordersprovides the greatest experience in the leastamount of time.

Your back counter (service sales) isthe best profit center and the backbone of allparts department sales. A good parts opera-

Parts for Profit, Part 2—Profitable Management of Inventory & Personnel

Larry Williams

tion contributes to increased service andsales. Customers who have their car repairedin a timely manner return for more service,and continue to purchase vehicles at yourdealership. The most important thing forservice sales is the proper inventory of ex-pected parts. You must never be out of partsfor regularly scheduled service. Set mini-mum amounts (two services) for all partnumbers. Not having simple items such asspark plugs, filters, etc. will give your cus-tomer the worst possible impression of yourdepartment and dealership.

Aseparate fast-moving stock area mustbe next to your back counter. Not only forfilters and fluids, your service special ordersection must also be here. A separate shelf,in view of your technicians, is used for all“car down” orders. The part is a constant re-minder to get the car into the shop and fin-ished.

The back counter is also the center forphasing in new numbers and adjusting on-hand quantities. Here is where you purchaseparts from other dealers or more impor-tantly, other parts suppliers, like NAPA andAUTO ZONE. If you have a regularmonthly bill of over $1000 for your own carline, you are not managing your inventoryproperly. Independent part stores only carrythe most popular parts, the same ones youshould never be out of.

Every purchase of a part that has a fac-tory number needs to be entered in your sys-

tem. Instruct all of your countermen to useonly factory numbers on purchase orders.When you do your daily review, enter allthese numbers as lost sales. You should onlyhave to do this two times before the numbercomes up on your suggested stock order. Ifyou do not catch these missed sales, you willcontinue giving away profits that rightfullybelong to you.

If your dealership includes a bodyshop, assign one person to handle all theseorders. This position is mandatory trainingfor a future wholesale counterperson. Theymust know how your best customer operatesin order to work with him. Six months ofdedicated involvement with a functioningbody shop will give them the experiencenecessary to understand this customer’spoint of view.

Remember, you are not just a partswarehouse. You are a partner in the auto re-pair business. Your people should know howtheir parts will be used. They should beaware of a technician’s primary needs, andwhich parts need to be available first. Thisattitude creates a bond between you andyour customer that will benefit you both.

Retail Counter PersonelAfter learning on the back counter; trans-fer your trainees to the front counter. Bynow they should be able to find the mostcommon parts, and understand the repairprocedures used in mechanical and body

repair. At the front counter they will learnhow to take care of a new kind of cus-tomer… the kind that can be extremelyfrustrating to serve.

The typical front counter (walk-in) cus-tomer is an amateur mechanic, who may ormay not know the correct terminology of thepart, or parts, that he needs. A trainee willlearn to use illustrations, locations, and de-scriptions to determine the required parts.These customers need more time per salethan any other. Patience is the primary re-quirement for this position. Other walk-incustomers will be your local wholesale ac-counts; picking up orders.

This position, along with your partsdriver, is the “face” of your dealership. Thefirst few seconds of your customer’s experi-ence determines all of his future purchases.A smile, with a pleasant greeting, helps setthe stage for future sales. An attitude ofbeing “interrupted” however is unfortu-nately a common occurrence in many busi-nesses. If you happen to notice this attitude,shift your employee to the back counter,where his frustration will do less harm.Technicians know how to deal with this, andmay help you save the employee. At thefront counter the manager will also learn ifthe trainee is a salesman or an “order taker.”Most of your employees will simply take or-ders. There are very few “natural” salesmenfound in parts departments. Cultivate thesepeople when you find them. This is the typeof personality you want on the front counter,and later, on wholesale telephones. Specialtraits to look for are friendliness, extra con-sideration, eagerness, keen sense of enthu-siasm, and the desire to help. All of thesecharacteristics are required to understanddifficult customers, and again, patience! Youare looking for someone who likes to solveother people’s problems. This employee willhave ideas that encourage sales—by chang-ing displays, promoting accessories, andlooking for extra opportunities which pro-mote growth. In other words, this is an “A-type” personality. This employee respondsbest to positive feedback, self-management,and performance rewards, and is one of yourbest profit-producing assets.

Let this person be the one who takes theoverflow of your telephone business. Hetakes the calls from your main telephonenumber—not your direct wholesale lines.This process allows gradual entry into tele-phone sales. Some time must be spent in thiscapacity in order to gain the experience nec-essary for the most difficult position; thevoice of your dealership.

Retail Counter Duties1) Keep work area neat and clean.2) Maintain a professional image.3) Maintain a professional attitude.4) Greet every customer as soon as possible.5) Maintain the sale. When parts are out ofstock, check nearby sources, then specialorder.

6) Call customers when special orders ar-rive.

Wholesale Telephone SalesThis position calls for your most experi-enced personnel. It is the voice of your de-partment, and the hallmark of yourcompetence. Many of your important cus-tomers will never see anyone except yourdriver. Their perception of you will be theperson they talk to when they place theirorder. That perception must be the best onepossible. Your employee will have to recog-nize exactly what the customer wants, with-out delay, and complete the transactionquickly.

Here is the perfect spot for your “A-type” individual. This person loves to hearthe phone ring, has a smile in their voice,and makes friends easily. This employee en-joys getting ahead, reaching goals, and re-sponds to rewards.

This individual will have every toolthey need at their disposal. Telephone, com-puter, paper, order forms, pens, andstapler—everything should be at their sta-tion. Time management is the key to whole-sale success. Every call needs to be handledas efficiently as possible, to keep your linesopen for the next call. If any call is for morethan two parts, train your personnel to al-ways call back. Never keep a customer onhold. The hold button is your worst enemy.

Your next enemy is doubt. Time spentgoing to the bin to check on a part is timewasted. Your telephone wholesaler must al-ways be able to trust the inventory informa-tion available to them. If the inventory statesthat there is one part in stock, they must beable to sell it, without checking. The accu-racy of your inventory is key. The partsmanager is the one who should accept all re-sponsibility for the accuracy of the inven-tory. You can allow your people to makeinventory adjustments, but make sure theynotify you of any and all changes that havebeen made. You need to know if your in-ventory errors are excessive, and why.

If you do your job right, an increasewill be the natural result of your efficiency.With proper training, you will always havepersonnel available to move up into salespositions. Simply add personnel as your de-mand increases.

Increasing business can bring on a newset of problems—a breakdown in commu-nication being the most common one. Watchyour telephone traffic, and be prepared toadd additional direct phone lines when nec-essary. With a large wholesale operation, aseparate line just for your drivers is also agood idea.

Some dealers employ outside sales per-sonnel to promote their business. I havenever done this myself, but you may find itthat works for you.

Comments? Contact Larry Williams [email protected].



If you are an Automotive Repair Shop,Body Shop or Fleet for Wholesale Parts.

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The Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Re-pair Act (HR 2057) has gained more bi-partisan support with the addition of ninemembers of Congress to the growing co-sponsor list. Reps. Michael Arcuri (D-NY), Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-LA), BarneyFrank (D-MA), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA),James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI), BennieThompson (D-MS), Glenn Thompson(R-PA), Paul Tonko (D-NY) and CharlesWilson (D-OH) have declared their sup-port of the Right to Repair Act. The billnow has 60 co-sponsors in the House ofRepresentatives.

“We thank these nine members ofCongress for backing this critical piece ofpro-consumer and pro-small business leg-islation,” said Ray Pohlman, president ofthe Coalition for Auto Repair Equality(CARE). “The Right to RepairAct does notcost tax payers money, does not create anew agency and, more importantly, doesnot ask taxpayers for a bailout. It simply re-quires that vehicle manufacturers providecar owners and their trusted neighborhoodrepair shops with the same access to thesame safety alerts, technical service bul-letins, diagnostic tools and repair informa-tion they provide to their dealer network –nothing more, nothing less. The top priorityof the Right to Repair Act is motoring con-sumer safety, ensuring that motorists knowwhat is happening with their vehicles.” Be-

cause vehicles are becoming increasinglysophisticated with virtually every systemeither monitored or controlled by comput-ers, servicing these vehicle systems to keepthem in safe working order requires readyaccess to complete and accurate informa-tion, tools and software from the car com-panies. The Right to Repair Act protectsmotorists by allowing them to have accessto the repair information for the vehiclethey purchased, thus ensuring that they canchoose where, how and by whom they havetheir vehicles repaired.

“Allowing independent repair shopsto compete on a level playing field pro-motes fair competition and ensures thatcar owners throughout the country con-tinue to have access to affordable andconvenient automotive repair,” saidKathleen Schmatz, president and CEOof the Automotive Aftermarket IndustryAssociation (AAIA).

The Senate version of the Motor Ve-hicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act (S3181) was recently introduced with bi-partisan support by Sens. Barbara Boxer(D-CA) and Sam Brownback (R-KS).The House version of the bill (HR 2057)was introduced by Reps. EdolphusTowns (D-NY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA) andGeorge Miller (D-CA). The legislation issaid to provide car companies with strongprotections for their trade secrets.

The Washington Metropolitan AutoBody Association (WMABA) is tak-ing credit for successfully movingHB 1199 through both the House andthe Senate during the recent 2010 leg-islative session.

This bill (HB 1199), which addsan exclusion to the threshold for“cosmetic damage” and “the cost oftowing, storage or vehicle rental,”was successfully passed with major-ity support by stakeholders, as well aslegislators.

The bill’s provisions create anadditional salvage application state-ment that an insurer must provide incertain circumstances; prohibit any-one from using specified costs to de-termine the cost to repair a vehiclefor highway operation under themotor vehicle salvage program; andensure that a specified cost of repaircalculation may not affect specifiedrights. The legislation would add anexclusion for non-structural items tothe state’s total-loss calculation.

The bill also creates a specificexclusion for costs arising from tow-ing, storage and vehicle rental, andwould require a salvage certificateapplication for any vehicle acquiredby an insurance company as a resultof a claim settlement.

Maryland Salvage Bill NowAwaits Governor Signature

General Motors and Carfax have en-tered into an agreement to aid dealers,owners and potential buyers about rec-tifying unrepaired safety, non-compli-ance and emission recalls.

GM executives explained thatthey’re providing millions of vehicleidentification numbers to Carfax forunits with open recalls. Brands includeChevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac aswell as ones the automaker no longersells, Hummer, Saab, Pontiac and Sat-urn. Buyers and sellers can access thisinformation through Carfax Vehicle His-tory Reports and at www.carfax.com/re-call by May 1.

Carfax research indicated thatconsumers utilizing these resourcescan help significantly increase com-pletion rates on open recalls. The dataalso revealed that about four out of fiveGM owners complete recall repairswithin 18 months of being notified of arecall.

“We know some people do nottake their vehicles in for recall repairswhen they get their letters. Carfaxmakes it easy for consumers to find outwhether a vehicle they are consideringhas an open recall and increases thechances of that repair being made,”stressed Jamie Hresko, GM’s vice pres-ident of global quality.

GM, Carfax Unite to PushOut Recall News

‘R2R Act’ Bipartisan Co-sponsor List Grows

A Dallas business operating for 31 yearsis being forced to close its doors. But it’snot because of the economy or lack ofcustomers. It’s because the city of Dallasis forcing it to, according to a storybroadcast by FOXdfw.com

Jerry Moreno, 61, owns DowntownAuto Upholstery and Body Shop at 1623N. Hall St., in the shadow of downtownDallas on Ross Avenue at Hall Street.

He’s been in business more than twodozen years and he says it’s all he’s everknown. He does auto glass and convert-ible tops as well

“This place is my life,” he said.But now he has to close and move

out.“We don’t have any choice. I have

to leave,” he said.He’s no longer allowed to operate an

auto related business on the property.Otherwise, he faces a $2,000 per day fine.

“They’re taking it away from me. Ifeel they’re taking part of my life; part ofmy body, you know?” he said.

Moreno is worried about his halfdozen employees, too.

“I will try to find another job be-cause this one is going away,” said JuanHernandez. “And I have two kids. I don’tknow what I’ll do.”

The city said it’s looking for highend development on Ross Avenue

heading downtown into the arts dis-trict from the east. The city approved aplan five years ago to rezone the areaand is now enforcing its eminent do-

main.Local busi-

nesses, mostly cardealers and an-other body shop,Rick’s Auto Bodyand Repairs, weregiven two to fiveyears advancednotice to relocate.

“Clearly there’sa lot of sympathyfor businesses,”said David Cos-sum, assistant di-

rector of Current Planning. “The way itwas addressed that was to provide someadequate time period for business own-ers to seek, relocate and market theirproperty. You can’t argue it’s not a hard-ship on an owner. Clearly it is. But aswith a lot of things with the city, you’relooking at the bigger picture in howyou’re trying to make the entire city ben-efit.”

Jerry, 61, says that all may be truebut he can’t reinvent himself now, andmore importantly, he feels he shouldn’thave to.

City of Dallas Forcing Body Shop Owners Out

Jerry Moreno is beingforced out of his N.Hall St. location.


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Autobody News May 2010

Falling Average Vehicle Product Useby Jim Lang, President, Lang Marketing

The number of cars and light trucks onU.S. roads increased slightly during 2009;while light vehicle aftermarket productsales receded. As a result, average light ve-hicle product volume continued its down-ward trend during 2009, at user-price.

Ten Year Aftermarket ViewProduct use by the average car and lighttruck decreased $13 at user-price between1999 and 2009, with 2009 product volumetotaling just over $360 for the typical lightvehicle on U.S. roads.

Rate Of DeclineAftermarket product consumption per lightvehicle declined at a 0.4% average annualpace between 1999 and 2009, underscor-ing that all aftermarket product gains

across the overall light vehicle marketwere generated by the expanding numberof vehicles on U.S. roads during these tenyears.

Cars Versus Light TrucksAftermarket product consumption by thetypical car is falling faster than is light ve-hicle truck product volume.

While annual product use per passen-ger car in the U.S. declined 16% between1999 and 2009, light truck product use forthe average vehicle climbed nearly 3%over this ten-year span.

Passenger Car Product UseAftermarket product volume by the aver-age passenger car slipped below $275 atuser-price during 2009, much less than thenearly $325 in 1999 product volume percar.

This reflects the increasing average ageof cars in the U.S. and the growing numberof domestic cars twelve years and older.

Generally, consumers perform onlynecessary repairs on older vehicles. Con-sumers are also inclined to purchase econ-omy rather than premium aftermarketcomponents when having repairs done bymechanics or performing DIY work onolder vehicles.

Light Trucks Also Decline in 2009Light trucks averaged $4 less in 2009

products per vehicle than during the previ-ous year.

This annual product decline amonglight trucks is the result of two factors: anaging truck population and a drop in ac-cessory volume, which average muchmore per light truck than for the typicalpassenger car.

Growth Versus DeclineAftermarket product use by the averagelight truck climbed over $12 between 1999and 2009, while product consumption bythe typical car slipped nearly $55 at user-price. At the same time, total light vehicleaftermarket product sales climbed nearly16%, a direct result of the increasing num-ber of light vehicles on U.S. roads andlight truck population growth.

More AnalysisIn-depth analysis of the changing use of af-termarket products for cars and light trucksas well as for all light vehicles is providedin the soon-to-be-released 2011 AAIAFactbook & Lang Aftermarket Annual.

From Aftermarket Insight™ by Jim Lang,President of Lang Marketing Resources,Inc., www.langmarketing.com.

Toyota agreedApril 19 to pay a $16.4 millionfine imposed by the Transportation Depart-ment—the largest ever government penaltyagainst an automaker, and the maximumamount allowed under U.S. law. The fine wasimposed on Toyota for concealing and delay-ing the release of information related to re-cent recalls to fix sticking pedals. Toyotafailed to tell the agency about the ‘stickypedal’ problem for at least four months.”

The Houston Chronicle reported,“The government has linked 52 deaths tocrashes allegedly caused by acceleratorproblems in Toyotas. The recalls have ledto congressional hearings, a criminal in-vestigation by federal prosecutors, dozensof lawsuits and an intense review by theTransportation Department.” A separateinvestigation by the Los Angeles Timeshas indicated that more than 100 deathsmay ultimately be blamed on the defect.

The federal fine “is only narrowly tai-lored for one of the many defects,” con-firms Susan Schroeder, the Orange County(California) DA's chief of staff, “and it inno way effects our case.” It does not releaseToyota from civil or criminal actions, in-cluding the recently filed lawsuit. The fed-eral court system has consolidated morethan 200 separate lawsuits against Toyota

into one single class-action suit, which willbe heard in a California courtroom.

The Los Angeles Times reports, “In aruling handed down [April 16], the U.S.Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigationallowed more than 100 suits seeking class-action status, as well as at least 50 personalinjury cases, to be adjudicated in a singlefederal courtroom.”

The Detroit Free Press notes, “law-suits began appearing last fall as Toyotainitiated recalls eventually involving about8 million vehicles,” all triggered by claimsthat some Toyota vehicles can acceleratesuddenly, without input from the driver.

The Times put the number at about150 lawsuits, but an AP report on April 21claims the decision “affects more than 200lawsuits against Toyota around the coun-try.” Claims have been filed by ownersseeking “damages from Toyota for injuriesor deaths attributed to instances of suddenacceleration,” as well as some who don’tclaim their Toyotas have been involved inaccidents, but who are suing because theirvehicles have lost value due to the recalls.

Toyota had pushed the courts to con-solidate all of the claims into a single case,according to the Times. The company ar-gued that “the legal process would be best

served if the cases were argued in onecourtroom.”

However, there are risks for Toyota inthis approach. Reuters notes, “Somelawyers estimate Toyota faces potentialcivil liability of more than $10 billion as itstruggles to contain an auto-safety crisisthat has tarnished its public image.” Sucha massive claim will be covered heavily bythe media, and a loss in the lawsuit couldbe devastating to the Japanese automaker.

The major players in the courtoomwill be used to high stakes. The legal teamopposing Toyota, Reuters reports, include“firms with experience ranging from bigtobacco litigation to the Enron Corp bank-ruptcy and claims arising from the ExxonValdez oil spill.” The first hearing in thematter has been set for May 13.

Lexus GX 460 recallToyota said the factors contributing to theLexus GX 460 rollover risk include com-ponents such as 18-inch wheels, as well asheavy components, such as the fuel tank,which is located on the left side. Plus “theleft side is made even heavier because ofthe presence of the driver.”

Toyota also said the activation of thevehicle stability control “may not be suffi-

cient in certain circumstances due to thesetting of the VSC program.

Toyota will update the VSC programto enhance the effectiveness of the VSC sothat the risk of the vehicle sliding, even tothe point that it is almost sideways, will bereduced.

Sienna RecallToyota has issued a recall order for about600,000 Sienna minivans from modelyears 1998 through 2010, in order to cor-rect a defect that could cause the spare tireto fall from beneath the van.

In light of bad publicity from a se-ries of high-profile recalls, the companyhas released details of this recall to themedia unusually quickly—before TheNational Highway Traffic Safety Admin-istration had time to issues a formal re-call order. The New York Times reports,“Toyota said its latest recall covered the1998–2010 model year Siennas withtwo-wheel-drive that have been sold orregistered in 20 cold-climate states andthe District of Columbia. Toyota said rustfrom road salt could cause the carriercable that holds the spare tire to rust andbreak, allowing the tire to tumble into theroad.”

Toyota Fined $16.4M, Will Face Single Sudden Acceleration Lawsuit


A referral came in from and old customer.It was an early 90’s Ford pickup that couldhave passed for a clown car. This thing hadevery color of the rainbow on it. Wind-shield was cracked, and the driver side win-dow was hanging sideways. Even the bedof the truck was loaded down with all kindof debris from roofing shingles to oldbusted up lawn furniture. Not to mentionthe interior could use some house cleaning.

These are the type of vehicles I hateto get stuck behind when I’m riding mymotorcycle. You just never know whensomething is going to fly out of the bed ofthe truck and smack into you.

The only reason I even took this pileof junk into the shop was because it was areferral from a regular customer. Normally,if you pull up to the shop in this bad ofshape you better have one hell of a heartbleeding story, or I’ll tell you to get it ondown the road.

Anyway, this beat up old Ford had somany problems. I had to do my best to sortthough what I could. It was hard to start,and when it did start it had a terrible miss.If you tried to drive it even few feet itwould buck and backfire, and eventuallystart to move, but not without a great ef-fort on the motor’s part.

I called our junk collector and toldhim what I had found right off the bat, andthat it needed taken care before we wentany further. The old distributor had such awobble in the shaft that half the time itcouldn’t find the contact points. I thoughtthis was why it was so hard to start, and forthat matter the big backfire. Of course a lotof other things could cause the same prob-lem. But this was so obvious any first yeartech could have spotted the problem.

“So that’s all there is wrong with it?”he asked. “I seriously doubt that. I haven’tchecked it for codes. I haven’t looked at

the transmission or fuel pressure, but thisdistributor has got to go,” I said.

Now it’s a money thing. He told meto go ahead with it, and keep him informedof the results.

After installing the distributor itstarted right up, even sounded pretty good.Before pulling it out onto the road, Ithought I better check those codes. Therewere 2 codes; One for a TPS, and anotherfor the transmission. I called him and toldhim what I found.

Now it’s back to money thing again.“OK, go ahead with the TPS. I don’t thinkthere is anything wrong with the transmis-sion,” he told me. This was like putting thecurse of Murphy on the truck. Somethinghas to go wrong now.

I put the TPS in, and cleared the codes.The engine started great, ran terrific, andsounded surprisingly solid. All the codescleared, and no more really obvious prob-lems (I could have spent days straighteningthings under the hood). It was time to hitthe road. Oh, oh. The truck’s transmissionwas trash. It had all the gears, well, sort of.It would lumber along, drop in and out ofgear, and find a new neutral position whenit had a chance. For the most part the trans-mission was in about as good of shape asthe rest of the truck. Just plain overworked.You might as well put a fork in this one, be-cause it’s done.

Time to make the call. It seems everytime you get this far into one of these neverending repairs it will reach a point whereyou’re not solving one problem at a time,but creating an even bigger one, the finan-cial one. Almost every time this type ofcustomer will go along with what needsdone until he thinks you don’t know whatyou’re doing, and are just out to take theirmoney. Not so! The whole thing comesdown to maintenance. It’s not like every-

thing broke at once. They let it go, then ex-pect a one-fix repair with a discount!.

Like I said, the outcome is a little dif-ferent each time, but the common factor isusually the same. I’m not getting paid forall the work I have completed….onlysome sort of agreed upon amount of the re-pair. This guy took it the extreme. When Icalled him and told him about the trans-mission he didn’t have the money. I ex-pected this. Oh, he didn’t have the moneyfor the repairs we had already done. Whathe was going to try to do was talk me intogiving the truck back to him, and he wouldpay so much each week, because heneeded that truck to get back and forth towork. If he didn’t have a way to get towork he couldn’t pay me. I told him thathe should have thought of that before heagreed to the work that was done, becausethe car doesn’t leave until the bill is paid.That’s when he started in on me. “You’rejust one of those slick-ass talking mechan-ics,” he shouted through the phone.

“Well that might be the case, and Ihave called worse, but we did have anagreed upon bill.” I said. “Oh come onman, I know it didn’t need any of thatwork you did. All it needed was a trans-mission. So I’m not going to pay for any ofit, and I’m picking up my truck today,” hescreamed into the phone.

Now there are two things to keep inmind on this story. One, he originallyagreed to all the repairs as they were gettingdone. And two, he didn’t think there wasanything wrong with the transmission. Ordid I miss something in the conversation?

The screaming on the phone went onfor what seemed like hours. There was nogetting through to him about the agreedupon work, or the conversations we hadabout the additional work to the truck. Orthe fact that I had originally told him about

the amount of items I found wrong withthe truck. I could tell I might as well betalking to the wall.

“OK fella, I can see we’re not goingto get anywhere. You know me being aslick-ass talking mechanic and all; tell mehow much you have and be honest now. IfI agree to accept the amount I’ll put yourtruck out front, and you bring in what cashyou have and I’ll give you the keys. HereI am trying to help you out, and now allyou want to do is change things after thefact. I didn’t want to do this job in the firstplace because of the horrible condition itwas in, but another customer said you werean upstanding guy. So I did the work. Takeyour truck home and do whatever youwant with it, because I don’t need to makea living off someone who doesn’t trust me.Even if the guy who referred you does.

He agreed to this strange arrangement,but he was still mouthing off when he gotto the shop. He walked out to his truck andstarted right up. He came back in the officestill mad as hell, and wanted me to showhim which parts I changed, so he wouldn’tchange the same ones again. I did, and thenhe wanted a receipt for the parts. You canfigure out the rest, he left the same way hecame in. Unfortunately for him, there wasno way to show his manhood with a tiresquealing peel out in the parking lot. Thetransmission doesn’t work that well!

Oh by the way, I do feel sorry for theguy, and wish I could have done more forhim since he was a referral from a goodfriend and customer. The money is very im-portant, but I do need to have some assur-ance that I’m appreciated for what I do.The old customer and I talked about it later.He said he thought the guy was a kind andconscientious guy. He’d never heard a cussword out of him, since he was the janitor athis local church and all. Go figure.

“You’re Just One of Those Slick Talkin’ Mechanics”with Gonzo Weaver

Gonzo’s Toolbox Excerpted from Scott “Gonzo” Weaver's Book, “Hey Look! I Found TheLoose Nut”, which provides a Good Laugh for Mechanics of Any Age. Thebook is available at amazon.com. Contact Scott Weaver [email protected] and see his website at www.gonzostoolbox.com.

“You’re Just One of Those Slick Talkin’ Mechanics”

BMW Group has Sales Growth of 13.8% In First QuarterThe BMW Group increased sales by 13.8%percent in the first quarter: A total of315,614 (prev. yr. 277,264) BMW, MINIand Rolls-Royce brand automobiles weredelivered to customers worldwide. Thecompany’s sales volumes rose 12.1% inMarch to reach a total of 141,701 (prev. yr.126,381) vehicles. All three brands madestrong gains: Sales of BMW brand vehiclesclimbed 12.7% to 117,696 (prev. yr.104,423) units in the month under review.MINI delivered 23,880 vehicles in March(+9.1%), while Rolls-Royce automobileswere presented to 125 customers (+78.6%)last month. Ian Robertson, member of the

Board of Management of BMW AG, re-sponsible for Sales and Marketing: “We areback on our growth track in nearly all theautomobile markets. We had a good firstquarter with a sales increase of 13.8%. Weintend to continue improving on last year’sfigures throughout the second quarter,thanks not least to the new BMW 5 SeriesSedan and new models such as the 3 SeriesCoupé and Convertible.”

Robertson added: “For 2010 as awhole, we are aiming for healthy growth inthe single-digit percent range to reach morethan 1.3 million vehicles.”

In the United States, the company

posted a 7.4% increase in volumes, withsales of 55,051 (prev. yr. 51,244) vehiclesbetween January and March. Substantial in-creases were also seen in other key markets:For instance, in the United Kingdom salesclimbed 13.8% to 34,327 (prev. yr. 30,165)units; in France sales were up 5.2% to14,462 (prev. yr. 13,745) units; and in Spainsales were 37.4% higher at 10,374 (prev. yr.7,549) units. The BMW Group made gainsin almost all automobile markets in the firstquarter. The company achieved new quar-terly records not only in the emerging BRICcountries of Brazil (+131.2%), Russia(+11.6%), India (+32.5%) and China

(+106.1%), but also in Austria (+23.1%),South Korea (+65.8%) and Malaysia (967 /+14.0%), as well as in the Latin Americanmarkets (4,173 / +71.0% - including Brazil)and the Middle East (3,908 / +13.1%).

Despite the overall downward markettrend, the BMW Group was the only Ger-man manufacturer to also make gains in itslargest single market, Germany, where it ex-panded its market share. With a total of56,617 (prev. yr. 55,837) vehicles sold inthe country in the first three months of theyear, there were 1.4% more new BMW andMINI registrations than in the same periodlast year.


New cars with automatic transmissionsmust be equipped with an interlock de-vice that requires the brake pedal bepressed before the driver can shift thetransmission out of “park,” as of Sept.1, 2010.

The National Highway TrafficSafety Administration took the actionin response to a law passed in 2008 de-signed to protect children from vehiclerollaways in which a car is inadver-tently shifted into neutral or anothergear. The new requirement applies toall passenger cars and light trucksweighing 10,000 lbs. or less.

Transmission Anti-RollawayShift Interlocks Now Required

Larry Pacey, president and CEO of Na-tional Performance Warehouse (NPW),has announced that the company is ac-quiring the wholesale operations ofSpeed Warehouse.

The transaction will be completedon April 26th. Speed Warehouse hasbeen in business for more than 60 years.The business was started by Jerry Lightin 1949, selling high-performance partsafter World War II. Speed operates outof three distribution points in Hayward,San Jose, and Tustin, CA.

National Performance Buys SpeedWarehouse of Hayward, CA

In recognition of Earth Day, the Car CareCouncil is encouraging vehicle ownersto consider the new 3 R’s to do their partto protect the environment: Reuse, re-duce and repower. Consumers couldmake a huge environmental contributionand a wise investment by reusing orhanging onto their current vehicles ratherthan buying a new one, by reducingemissions and fuel consumption throughvehicle maintenance and by repoweringa failed engine. This year marks the 40thanniversary of Earth Day.

Last year, eight out of 10 cars failed atleast one component of a national ve-hicle-inspection process, according tothe Car Care Council (carcare.org)

Problems were:● Low, overly full, or dirty engine oilwas found in 27% of cars● Low, leaky, or dirty coolant in the ra-diator or surge tank was identified in26% of cars.● One out of every two belts was un-satisfactory in 51% of cars● 10% of cars required at least onenew hose.

80 Percent of Tested Cars FailInspection Checks

The Automotive Aftermarket SuppliersAssociation (AASA) is working to op-pose provisions in Ohio legislation thatwould bar OEM part sales to non-fran-chised dealers or reimbursements to non-franchised dealers for warranty or recallwork. The two provisions are part ofHouse and Senate bills revising Ohio’smotor vehicle franchise laws. Rep. MattLundy (D-Ohio 57th District) is the spon-sor of HB 364 and Sen. Mark Wagoner(R-Ohio 2nd District) introduced a com-panion bill in the Ohio Senate.

In its March 22 letter to Rep. Lundy,AASA noted, “Aftermarket manufactur-ers are deeply concerned with languagecontained in HB 364 ... We believe thisprovision eliminates consumer choice byrequiring individuals to obtain replace-ment parts only at automobile dealer-ships.” The letter notes that the provisionwould affect both independent repairshops and the DIY market. “The lan-guage restricts the access to originalequipment parts only to auto dealers. Ve-hicle owners would no longer performtheir own maintenance with the parts oftheir choice. Moreover, independent re-pair shops would no longer have accessto the full range of parts that consumersmay need for vehicle repair,” the AASAletter noted.

AASA appealed to Lundy to amendthe provisions.

ASAA Opposing Ohio OEMParts Legislation

The California/Nevada/ArizonaAutomo-tive Wholesalers' Association (CAWA)says that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer hassigned into law HB 2130 to address a dis-crepancy in battery core sales and de-posits. HB 2130, authored by Rep.Michele Reagan and sponsored on behalfof CAWA, will update the amount of therecycling deposit that retailers can chargeconsumers who purchase automotive bat-teries to an amount that is not greater thanthe recycling deposit charged by batterymanufacturers. The bill increases from $5to not more than $15, the recycling de-posit that a retailer can charge a consumerfor the purchase of a new battery. The de-posit is returned to the consumer upon thereturn of the used battery core. The billalso increases from 30 days to 45 days theamount of time a consumer has to returna used battery core for recycling, in orderto have the recycling deposit returned infull. “CAWAis elated with this victory onbehalf of Arizona automotive parts storesand retailers. Last year we heard from ourretailer members how important this issuewas for them, and as a result, we actedquickly and proactively to address thismonetary discrepancy related to the saleand deposit of automotive batteries,” saidRodney Pierini, CAWA president andCEO. In 1990, legislation was enactedthat prohibits the disposal of automotivebatteries in landfills or by incineration. In

CAWA Battery Core BillNow Law in Arizona

Car Car Council Wants Consumersto Remember Their Three “R’s”


with Tom McGeeALL OEM Information

Tom McGee is National Account Manager for ALLDATA Collision. He has had a long career with I-CAR, in-cluding as President & CEO. Tom is an ASE certified Master Collision Repair/Refinish Technician. He hasalso run his own collision facility and been a career and technical school instructor. He can be reached [email protected]. For other Tom McGee articles in Autobody News, go to:http://www.autobodynews.com/tom-mcgee/index.php — JEFF WEBSTER is an ALLDATA Technical Writer.and Jeffrey Webster

In my April column, I wrote that, as I visitshops, I sometimes hear the same com-ments regarding the need for OE repair in-formation. Among the most common are:

“I’ve been fixing cars since 1960-something and we know how to fix them.”

“They are still cars and nothing is re-ally changing on them.”

“My technicians are great and theyknow how to fix cars.”

So, last month, I started comparing a1965 Ford® Mustang® with the 2008 ver-sion. The point being that fixing today’scomplex cars requires more than experi-ence. New metals and plastics, electronicsystems and reset procedures, hybrid sys-tems and more have changed the way wedo business.

Let’s continue looking at the Mustangto see what has changed over the years andhow those changes affect the collision re-pair process.

Sectioning – Lower Frame RailWhile I looked everywhere I could, I wasnot able to find any sectioning proceduresfor the front lower frame rail on the ’65.Here is a portion of the 2008 sectioningprocedure:

Always refer to ALLDATA® Colli-sionSM for safety procedures, identificationof material types, recommended refinishmaterials, and removal and installation pro-cedures. Always refer to the vehicle manu-facturer for questions relating to applicableor non-applicable warranty repair informa-tion.

MaterialFront Frame RailWARNING: Frame rail crush zones ab-sorb crash energy during a collision andmust be replaced if damaged. Straightendamaged frame rails to correct frame di-mensions prior to frame member section-

ing. Failure to follow these instructionsmay adversely affect frame rail perform-ance and may result in serious personal in-jury to vehicle occupant(s).

NOTE: Right side shown (Figure 1), Leftside similar.

NOTE: Cut line shown in illustration is ap-proximate, refer to the following proce-dure for specific cut locations.

WARNING: Never install used or recon-ditioned parts (as specified below) frompre-owned, salvaged or damaged vehicles.The use of such parts could lead to seriousinjury.

Never use non-Ford parts or acces-sories for completing repairs.

Ford Motor Company does not ap-prove or recognize body and structural re-pair procedures, tools, parts or anythingbut new genuine Ford equipment. Fordcannot attest to the safety, quality, durabil-ity or legality of non-Ford parts or acces-sories. Use of such parts could lead toserious personal injury as they may con-tain damage which is not visible.Ford does not approve use of the follow-ing:• Salvaged or used parts• Major body clips or assemblies fromsalvage vehicles• Aftermarket structural or body com-ponents• Salvaged or reconditioned wheels• Used supplemental restraint system(SRS) components

- air bags- restraint sys-tem modules- safety belts,buckles or re-

tractors- crash sensors

Returning a vehicle to pre-accident condi-tion can only be assured if repair proce-dures are carried out by skilled techniciansusing new genuine Ford parts and Ford-ap-proved methods. Structural component re-

pair proceduresapproved by Ford,using genuine Fordparts, have been val-idated by FordMotor Company en-gineers.Ford Motor Com-pany does not en-dorse, cannot attestto, and makes norepresentations re-

garding structural repairs (frames, rails,aprons and body panels) carried out usingnon-genuine Ford Motor Company parts ornon-Ford-approved methods. In particular,Ford makes no representations that the ve-hicle will meet any crash safety or anti-cor-rosion performance requirement. Suchparts and methods have not been tested byFord, and may not meet Ford's require-ments for safety, performance, strength,quality, durability and corrosion protection.

Ford Motor Company bears no re-sponsibility or liability of any kind if re-pairs are performed using alternativestructural component repair proceduresand/or parts.

WARNING: Invisible ultraviolet and in-frared rays emitted in welding can injure un-protected eyes and skin. Always useprotection such as a welder's helmet withdark-colored filter lenses of the correct den-sity. Electric welding will produce intenseradiation, therefore, filter plate lenses of thedeepest shade providing adequate visibilityare recommended. It is strongly recom-mended that persons working in the weldarea wear flash safety goggles. Also, alwayswear protective cloth-ing. Failure to followthese instructionsmay result in seriouspersonal injury.

WARNING: Al-ways wear protectiveequipment includingeye protection withside shields, and adust mask whensanding or grinding.Failure to followthese instructionsmay result in seriouspersonal injury.

NOTICE: This sectioning procedure is onlyrecommended when collision damagedoes not extend into the front shock towerarea. For more severe collision damage,repairs must be made at the original fac-tory seam and joint locations. Failure tofollow these instructions may compromisethe structural integrity of the vehicle.

NOTE: The following repair procedure il-lustrates the sectioning of the front sidemember and fender reinforcement compo-nents In situations where collision damageis less severe, the sectioning procedure torepair only those damaged componentsmay be determined from these procedures.

1. Position the vehicle on a frame repairrack following the manufacturer's recom-mendations. Measure the vehicle to deter-mine if the body requires straightening andalignment.

• Remove the front bumper For addi-tional information, refer to Bumpers.2. Remove the engine For additional in-formation, refer to Engine System - Gen-eral Information.3. Remove the suspension components Foradditional information, refer to Front Sus-pension.

NOTICE: The frame rail sectioning instruc-tion kit provides the specific service pro-cedure instructions for replacement of theframe rail sectioning kit. It is mandatorythat the replacement section be installedper the installation guidelines. The framerail service component must be located tomaintain the original factory dimensions.For additional information, refer to Bodyin this section for correct underbody di-mensional information.4. Remove the radiator support assembly.5. Cut off the front apron from the mainpart of the apron, 80.5 mm (3.16 in) for-

ward of the 14 mm (0.55 in) x 20 mm(0.78 in) slot, and remove the remainder ofthe apron (Figure 2).

6. NOTE: Factory spot welds may be sub-stituted with either resistance spot weldsor Metal Inert Gas (MIG) plug welds.Spot/plug welds should equal factorywelds in both location and quantity. Do notplace a new spot weld directly over anoriginal weld location. Plug weld holeshould equal 8 mm (0.31 in) diameter.

NOTE: Refer to welding equipment manu-facturer's instructions for correct machineset up. Drill out the spot welds in the frontfender apron reinforcement.

It’s Still a Mustang®; But in Name Only – PART 2 of 2

Item Part Number Description1 16055 LH / 16054 RH Frame rail sectioning kit

See Still a Mustang, Page 27

Mitchell International hosted an OpenHouse for CAA members at their MitchellTechnology Campus in the Scripps Rancharea of San Diego on March 23rd.

The CAA San Diego Chapter joinedwith Mitchell International to host theOpen House so that CAA members couldget a unique insider’s view of Mitchell’scollision information software and devel-opment facility.

The event was well attended with ap-proximately 100 participants. Mitchellprovided small group tours of their edito-rial and software development areas andexplained how tremendous amounts of in-formation is turned into state-of-the art

tools for collision repair professionals.Mitchell also hosted a casual dinner at theend of the tour.

Hosting the Mitchell tour was MikeMilliken, VP Content Management. Thetour coordinator was Gil Silva, Director ofEditorial Operations/Data Acquisition.

The Mitchell tour was comprised of 4stops (see photos).

Jerry explained how the MitchellCollision Estimating Database team wasmade up of 3 key process teams. TheParts Team is comprised of staff withmany years of dealership Parts Depart-ment experience, the Labor Team staff

each have over 10-15 years of collisionrepair hands-on experience and the Esti-

mating Team is made up of staff with es-timating backgrounds.

Many in the CAA group were im-pressed to hear that Mitchell measures eachcar independently from what the OEM’s pro-vide as measurements.According to Tom: “Ittakes about 6 hours to measure a vehicle. Ifit’s in Mitchell, it’s been measured by us.”

For additional information about theCAA and membership benefits, contactHop Sanchez at [email protected]

For additional information aboutMitchell International and their productsand services contact Amanda Smith at 858-371-1523 or [email protected]


Original BMW Parts

bmwusa.com

BMW of DallasDallas(800) 245-7269(972) 241-3953 Fax

BMW of Houston NorthHouston(888) 215-7431(281) 875-4021 Fax

BMW of San AntonioSan Antonio(210) 732-7121(800) 880-1430

Classic BMWPlano(214) 778-2673 Direct Wholesale(214) 778-2674 Direct Wholesale(214) 778-2814 Fax

Texas

BMW of TulsaTulsa(800) 331-3996(918) 665-1360 Fax

Oklahoma

When you repair a BMW, use the parts

that are identical to those used in Se-

ries production – and just as reliable.

Choose Original BMW Parts. Because

you can’t repair your reputation.

You only get one chance at thefirst repair.

Original Thought #78

Original BMW Parts

Sandia BMWAlbuquerque(800) 642-2697(505) 217-0289 Fax

New Mexico

X6 M 2010

Mitchell Inc. Gives CAA Members Open-House Tour of Facilities

1st stop: TechAdvisor-Repair Standards Database- Serge Pirino, Manager Procedural Department.

2nd stop: Collision Estimating Database – JerryGastineau, Manager, Labor Department.

3rd stop: Vehicle Dimension Database – TomBeres, Supervisor, Vehicle Dimension Department.

4th stop: Mitchell Data Center – Larry Grimes, Manager, IS Services. Larry gave a tour through the Mitchellhigh-security IT Data Centers.

We are going to switch it up this monthand go back to the old school way of fix-ing things on a `57 Thunderbird. A friendfrom New York shipped me out his Thun-derbird, and there’s a good story behind it.His Dad had it in the family for awhile andtook it for its last drive before turning itover to his son. We know what happenedfrom there. It got in a car accident and tooka heavy hit to the front. My buddy knowsmy work and was prepared to ship me the

car from New York, so I told him ‘no prob-lem, I could fix it.’

Now it would probably be faster andeasier to go to a wrecker and buy a frontclip to repair this Thunderbird. But withmy experience buying parts for older cars,I always seem to come across problemswith those parts when I buy them. They’realso expensive.

Here I decided we are going to repairas much as possible and see what’s avail-able in new parts, which are easily repro-duced from jigs made to reproduce theoriginal parts. The nose panel was avail-able; a couple of the fiberglass pieces wereavailable, but that would take away fromits original feel. Then I happened to get acall from a buddy in New Zealand, WillieNewman, a friend who is probably one ofthe best metal finishers on the planet. Nota lot of guys I know here are doing muchmetal finishing, but in New Zealand it’s avalued trade. They will fix or fabricatewhat they don’t have or can’t get easily,and they get very good at it.

Willie stopped off in California on hisway to Germany and I figured it would bea good time for me to take on a differentchallenge and repair, rather than just buy-ing, by making a few panels. It’s good tohone your inner craftsman. There’s always100 ways to fix a car but I’m always will-ing to try something new and approach itin a different way.

I got the car on the frame rack andtied the car down securely. It looks like itgot hit above the frame. So what I want todo is hang my gauges on the four points ofthe chassis so I can see if the chassis isbent or not. The chassis looks good so we

are one step ahead. Looking at the uni-structure bolted on the chassis and fromthere we need to start with our left fenderwhich is pretty much wasted. In most peo-ple’s eyes that fender is gone. They’d cut itoff and put a new one on.

This time I’m going to take a moredifficult route and repair that. It’ll takeprobably about 160 hours of actual laborversus spending the money on “gold parts”from the wrecking yard. When you have acustomer that is budget conscious, it paysto have to have an A, B and C plan. Whatis left over is profit.

I’m going to repair as much as I canand reach out to companies that will sup-ply me with the available parts needed. Isend the bumper out for repair. I am goingto get a left headlight bezel, a left headlightassembly, a new grill and there’s a nosepiece and a reinforcement for a nose piece,a new harmonic balance drum. I’m alsogoing to need a new radiator.

What I can’t repair I’ll get used. I amgoing to have to repair the left and rightcore support, the lower balance, repair theleft fender, left inner fender, the hood, lefthood hinge. I’ll get the harmonic balancerused. Other than that we are going to haveto repair everything else.

Starting with the fender we take ahalf-inch piece of metal and make a tem-plate because the right and left side are ba-sically the same but flip-flopped. We willmake a template, flip-flop it to the right.Then put this piece of metal behind it, drilla hole in the middle of it and use it as apulling device, so we’re not tearing thefender. We want to put tension on it andmassage this fender out and walk it backout to give it shape.

There’s a lot of hammering and dol-lying involved. Willie and guys like himuse more gas acetylene torches versus theTIG or MIG. It’s just great old-schoolcraftsmanship. They use a low flame andthe type of rod you use when you’re piec-ing things together you can hammer anddolly and flatten out the weld from behind,as long as you make access when you’redoing that. We pull on the fender and get it

pretty true, and at a certain point removesome of the paint so we can see what’s un-derneath and guess what? We run into a lotof shoddy craftsmanship. We then decidednot to put another fender on it because wemight run across it in the other fenders orrust or extra work so we were geared upfor it. We had to cut a few pieces out onthe top of the fender.

After getting it pulled we got the newparts in and had to make some alterationswith those parts. The header panel was re-ally flimsily done and the inner reinforce-ment I just had to pack it back up and sendit back to the place I got from. I ended upordering the left and right baffle, at 300bucks each, and they weren’t even closeto being a fit. So we just took the old ones;hammered and dollied them out, gettingthe reference lines from the factory stamp-ing and just spent a lot of time hammer-ing and dollying these parts. Each part thatwe took, we dressed up, got it back to asclose as we could. When we go for amockup, things are getting closer. You’rescrewing and fitting them in, cross meas-

uring, using your grills and other piecesfor reference.

We expect some obstacles. The nextbig part was straightening out that hood.We didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg fora hood. We figured we would remove theskin from the frame and that will give usthe access to straighten that frame. Beforedoing that we hammer and dolly the frame.

We used a flat bench where we could re-ally get on it and push it back to get themajor buckle out of it. Then we depickedit and fixed the frame.

The metal has memory so you canhammer and dolly areas that are obvious


Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

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

Working On a ‘57 Thunderbird With Old School Tools & Techniques

Hood.

Hood Reinforcement.

Hood Repaired.

ly damaged. You don’t want to look atthe whole picture at this point. You wantto have a plan, go in, hammer and dolly,get things straightened out, it will starttaking its shape back. Then we’ll go tothe hood and hammer and dolly that. We

had to do a lot of shrinking to give it itsshape because the metal was reallystretched. Take your time and bring backsome real craftsmanship. I know that’s adying art.

Nowdays, working on the moderncars, we’re really just changing panels thatare already made available. A lot of bodytechs out there aren’t really learning thecraftsmanship. I try to learn somethingnew everyday and the biggest thing is astaying active. “If you don’t use, you loseit.”

I make an effort to work alongsideother people who’s work I admire and tryto learn their ways of doing things. If I

don’t like what I learn, I just won’t use it orapply it. Even if you are only picking up20% of what’s being done, you are learn-ing. That’s the key. Learning somethingnew every day will make you better atwhat you do at the end of the day.

So getting our left and right bafflesbanged and hammered out. We get thehood where we need it so all the pieces arecoming into place. On the front of thefender we needed to cut the front flange offand make a flange, taking a piece of metal,putting it in the brake and take it over tothe shrinkers. Woodward supplies me witha lot shrinkers, English wheel and brakesand shears. Go to their web site. They’vegot a great set of equipment choices that ifyour just working in your garage or youhave a body shop and you want to startmessing with metal of more and fabbingyour own pieces. These are affordableproducts, and if you do it more and moreeveryday, you might get a heavier dutyproduct that is a little bit more expensive.Those are available through Woodward aswell.

Use what you have. A lot of jigs youhave to make up for putting these hoodson, or clamping things. When you’re mak-ing parts, you have to make jigs and tem-plates. It’s more man hours, but it’s lessmoney out of your pocket and more profitin your pocket.

So getting back to that flange on thefront fender, we create that. We’ll fit itover, mark it, and cut the old piece it hastoo many cracks and too many welds.Too many people have worked on it, andthe metal is too thin. We’ll add a newpiece there. So taking measurementsand making sure everything is in itsright place. We take the torch and gas it,hammer and dolly it, and tack it inplace. Just like a TIG you are going towork your way around and hammer anddolly it. Make sure the metal is not mov-ing. Keep checking it. Check your ref-erences and use what templates andwhat pieces you have. We’ve got the

new hinge in and we’re putting thehinge on just to check our gaps. We raninto a few problems on the hood, buteventually, if you keep checking it,you’re going to get it right.

You are dealing with a unistructureso with everything screwed in place youcan move things around and adjust it.You want to have the integrity of every-thing moving smoothly. You want yourgaps to be even. Again, it’s a lot of ham-mering and dollying. Make sure youwear earplugs because it does get loud. Alot of body shops aren’t used to just ham-mering and dollying any more. If youwalk into a body shop and you hear ham-mering and dollying, you know the realthing’s going on. It’s a kind of music tomy ears. It’s amazing what you can dowith a hammer and a dolly.

We had to make some adjustmentsthat to the front nose panel we bought. Wehad to cut and move it in because it wasway off. Sometimes the parts that you arebuying have to be modified to fit. They aregoing to be close but not really accurate.Any time you are buying aftermarket partsyou can guarantee you have to modifythem somewhat to fit. Make sure you doyour mockup and check things as you go.Don’t weld things into place and put yourhood on without checking your gaps be-cause you are going to run into some prob-lems.

Working with Willie, who has maybe35 years of experience with this kind ofcraftsmanship, is a great experience. All hedoes is build, so coming into a collisionjob he might not understand it in the sameway guys who do it everyday. But he doesthis kind of fabrication every day, so heknows that when he comes across obsta-

cles, he can actually take a flat piece ofmetal and just make it, versus purchasinga replacement.

So think about that if you’re buildinga hot rod or an old-school vehicle and youcan’t find the part. Don’t think you’re at adead end because there are ways. Thereare videos out there that can show youhow. Gene Winfield has a line of videosout. So does Ron Covell. Visit their Websites.

I thought this would be a goodproject to cover in the column becauseit was fun and satisfying doing it. It’sgood to stand back and see what youcan fix versus replace. Everything thatyou learn from this kind of project youare going to be able to take to the nextone. You are going to be able to dependon yourself to create and make some-thing cool. Using that approach withhammering and dollying so you are notusing so much filler. Anytime you aretaking out a dent or something makesure you are getting it as metal finishedas possible by using slapsticks or metalfiles. You want to file everything down.Guys like Willie file everything. Hitand pick and find your lows and highsand hammer and dolly it until it comesout true. You don’t want to take toomuch metal away because it takes awayfrom the strength and integrity of thevehicle.

Next time I’ll be able to show you a57’ Thunderbird completed with usingevery part you’ve seen damaged, re-paired versus the grill and the nosepanel. I had to alter those. The grill waschrome, so I used that as referencepoint. I think of it like the old black-smiths who have inspired me. Espe-cially the guys that used to make thesuits of armor. That took thousands andthousands of hours but they did what

they did without a welder. They did withwhat they had: fire, hammers, wood,whatever they needed, even leather toput things together and they rivetedeverything.

Imagine what you can do today if youapplied that kind of creativity with thetypes of tools you have available now.Anyway that’s the story for this month.Take a look. I think you guys will be im-pressed with what was done.

Thanks as usual to my sponsor com-panies. I’ll go over them next column.



DO THE RIGHT THINGENOUGH TIMES,AND PEOPLE BEGINTO NOTICE.

�e Hyundai Genesis—2009 North American Car of the Year.

Hyundai Sales Up More than 14% (year onyear). In 2008 Hyundai became the world's��h-largest automaker, with 7% marketshare in the United States.

See these Hyundai dealers below for all your collision parts needs!

�ink About It

OKLAHOMATEXAS

James Wood HyundaiDECATUR

940-627-4607940-627-4653 Fax

Mon-Fri 7:30am - 5:[email protected]

Hub HyundaiHOUSTON

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NEW MEXICO

Larry H. MillerHyundai

ALBUQUERQUE505-792-7050505-792-7016 FaxMon-Fri 7:30am - 6pm

Sat 8am - [email protected]

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Allen Samuels HyundaiNORTH RICHLAND HILLS800-888-2079817-589-7882 FaxMon-Fri 7am - 7pmSat 7am - 4pm

[email protected]

Vandergriff HyundaiARLINGTON

866-643-7320817-557-6778 FaxMon-Fri 7am - 6pmSat 8am - 5pm

[email protected]

Automax HyundaiNORMAN

866-619-6406405-364-3307405-364-6504 FaxMon-Fri 8am - 6pmSat 8am - 1pm

On Friday April 16th, the Georgia Colli-sion Industry Association conducted afree seminar for First Responders so theycould learn the latest and safest tech-niques and procedures for accidents in-volving late model vehicles with newtechnologies.

The course was attended by MetroAtlanta first responders and 135 fire-fighters and first responders from over 20

different departments showed up to learnthe latest in vehicle construction, hybridtechnology, air bagsafety, and extricationtechniques using thelatest equipment. Theprogram was held atSports & Imports Du-luth at 3400 McDaniel Road, Duluth, GA30096.

The course covered Hybrids, Air Bags,Vehicle Safety, Vehicle Construction, and

the latest ExtricationTechniques in hands-onexercises. The coursewas taught by collisionindustry professionalswho have taught this

class all over the United States. It is de-signed for any First Responder, Firefighters,

Police and EMTs. Turnout gear was requiredfor training on late model vehicles.

The GCIA would like to thank Geneand Michelle Hamilton of Sports & Im-ports, FinishMaster, Weaver Automotive,LKQ Corp, Progressive Insurance, Hol-matro Rescue Equipment, Georgia Fireand Rescue Supply, Jason’s Deli-Duluth,All Event Rentals, Atlanta Toyota, andToby Chess for sponsoring this program.

First Responders Get Vehicle Extrication Training Courtesy of GCIA


7. Drill out the spot welds attaching theshock tower to the apron panel, and theapron to the lower rail.• Dress all spot weld surfaces.8. Chamfer inner and outer side member cut-line surfaces to improve butt weld surfaces.9. Measure 12.5 mm (0.49 in) rearward

from the lower rail cutline. Drill seven 8mm (0.31 in) holes in the insert overlaparea flange (Figure 3).10. Transcribe the inner front side membercutline to the new lower side member, cutto length and chamfer the bull end to im-prove the weld surface.11. Construct an insert fromthe unused inner side mem-ber material (Figure 4).12. Measure 12.5 mm(0.49 in) forward from thelower rail cutline. Drillnine 8 mm (0.31 in) holesin the new lower sidemember for attachment ofthe insert (Figure 5).13. Apply corrosion pro-tection to the repair areason the vehicle and serviceparts (Figure 6).14. Position the insert tothe new lower side member, clamp andcheck fit and alignment MIG plug weld 9holes.15. Measure underbody to verify correctdimensions. For additional information,refer to Body for dimensional information.16. Position the new radiator support as-sembly, apron panel, rail assembly, frontfender lower reinforcement and frontfender upper reinforcement (Figure 7).• MIG plug weld all holes.17. Fusion weld the front fender upperand lower reinforcements to the frontfender apron, front fender apron to the ra-diator support and the seam between theold and the new side members.• Dress all welds.18. Install the engine. For additional infor-mation, refer to Engine System-GeneralInformation.19. Install the suspension components. Foradditional information, refer to Front Sus-pension.

Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)As near as I can tell, the ’65 Mustang cameequipped with bias-ply tires. You had to pro-vide your own pressure gauge to determinethe air pressure in the tires. Today we havetire pressure monitoring systems. Here is theprocedure to reset the TPMS on the 2008Mustang:

NOTE: If the vehicle has been stationary formore than 30 minutes the sensors will go

into a “sleep mode”to conserve batterypower. It will be nec-essary to wake themup so they will trans-mit the latest tirepressure informationto the Smart Junc-tion Box (SJB).NOTE: The tire pres-sure sensor trainingprocedure must bedone on a single ve-

hicle in an area without radio frequencynoise and at least 1 m (3 ft) away fromother vehicles equipped with a Tire Pres-sure Monitoring System (TPMS).

Radio frequency noise is generated byelectrical motors and appliance operationcellular telephones remote transmitters,

power inverters and portable entertainmentequipment.

NOTE: If a sensor does not respond to theTire Pressure Monitor Activation Tool at-tempt to activate the same sensor with theTire Pressure Monitor Activation Tool. Ifthe sensor still does not respond move thevehicle to rotate the wheels at least one-fourth of a turn and attempt to activate thesame sensor again.NOTE: The SJB has a 2-minute time limitbetween sensor responses. If the SJB doesnot recognize any 1 of the 4 tire pressuresensors during this time limit, the horn willsound twice and the message center (ifequipped) will display TIRE NOTTRAINED REPEAT and the entire proce-dure must be repeated.

NOTE: For vehicles with different front andrear tire pressures (such as the E-Seriesand certain F-Series), the tire pressure sen-

sors must be trained following a tire rota-tion. Failure to train the sensors will causethe TPMS indicator to illuminate. For ve-

hicles with the same tire pressure for frontand rear tires, tire rotation will not affectthe system.1. Turn the ignition switch to the OFF posi-tion, then press and release the brake pedal.2. Cycle the ignition switch from the OFFposition to the RUN position 3 times, end-ing in the RUN position.3. Press and release the brake pedal.4. Turn the ignition switch to the OFF po-sition.5. Turn the ignition switch from the OFFposition to the RUN posi-tion 3 times, ending in theRUN position.

The horn will soundonce and the TPMS indica-tor will flash if the trainingmode has been entered suc-cessfully. If equipped, themessage center will displayTRAIN LF TIRE.6. NOTE: It may take up to 6seconds to activate a tirepressure sensor. During this time, the TirePressure Monitor Activation Tool must re-main in place at the valve stem.Place the Tire Pressure Monitor ActivationTool on the LF tire sidewall at the valvestem. Press and release the test button onthe Tire Pressure Monitor Activation Tool.The horn will sound briefly to indicate thatthe tire pressure sensor has been recog-nized by the SJB.7. Within 2 minutes of the horn sounding,place the Tire Pressure Monitor ActivationTool on the RF tire sidewall at the valvestem and press and release the test buttonto train the RF tire pressure sensor.8. NOTE: Do not wait more than 2 minutesbetween training each sensor or the SJBwill time out and the entire procedure must

be repeated.Repeat Step 7 for theRR and LR tires.

The proce-dure is completed afterthe last tire has beentrained. When thetraining procedure iscomplete the message

center (if equipped) will display TIRETRAINING COMPLETE.

For vehicles not equipped with a mes-sage center successful com-pletion of the trainingprocedure will be verified byturning the ignition switch tothe OFF position without thehorn sounding. If the hornsounds twice when the switchis turned to the OFF positionthe training procedure was notsuccessful.9. Using the scan tool locatethe updated TPMS sensoridentifiers trained to the SJBand document them.10. NOTE: This step is required

to clear DTC C2780 cause the SJB to exitthe manufacturing mode and to make surethere are no other concerns with a newlyprogrammed SJB.

If the sensors are being trained due tothe installation of a new SJB clear any DTCsand carry out the SJB On-Demand Self Test.

It’s still a Mustang, but it has definitelychanged since the 60’sThere have definitely been changes in thisvehicle since the ‘60’s. And we haven’t

even touched the diagnostic trouble codes,changes in the drivetrain, or even the num-ber of exterior colors available. We mighthave been able to set the points and timingon the ’65 without OE technical informa-tion, but you cannot work by memory ontoday’s version of the Mustang, or anyother vehicle for that matter. You definitelyneed the proper OE technical information.

©2010 ALLDATA LLC. All rights re-served. All technical information, imagesand specifications are from ALLDATACollision. ALLDATA is a registered trade-mark and ALLDATA Collision is a markof ALLDATA LLC. All other brand namesand marks are the property of their respec-tive holders.


Still a Mustang


Car West Auto Body has six locations inNorthern California fixing approximately1,200 cars monthly combined, but thecompany’s prize gem is its 52,000-squarefoot shop in Fremont, CA. The facility em-ploys 35 people and contains approxi-mately $1.8 million in equipment alone,making it one of the largest body shops inthe entire Bay Area.

They call it Car West Elite Auto Body,and tout it as a premium auto body shop—and when people see it for the very firsttime, it’s hard to disagree.

It’s an enormous undertaking withthousands of moving parts, but CraigMoe, the president of Car West Auto Body,is reporting respectable numbers from hisFremont location after just one year in ex-istence. Many people said Moe was crazyfor opening a big shop in April ’09 in themidst of a deep recession, but it now lookslike a sage move, because the Fremont fa-cility is fixing 175 cars per month andadding more all the time.

“We figured it would take us at least ayear to get ramped up to where we we’remaking money and we’ve done that,” Moetold Autobody News.

“For the first couple of months, wewere doing 35–50 vehicles per month andnow we’re just under 200. We’ve alreadyreached its minimum capacity to makemoney, so it’s worked out very well. It’snot like we came here thinking we’d haveto start all over. We knew we were going toget a fair amount of business at the start,because we had been doing all the colli-sion work for Magnusssen’s Lexus of Fre-mont out of our Dublin location. We wererunning the Dublin shop 24/7, so it waslogical to move that work to Fremontwhen we opened.”

Shop Manager Brian Hobaughbrought his key employees from Dublin towork at their Fremont shop so that theycould hit the ground running when itopened. “We took most of the top peoplefrom our Dublin facility so that we couldimmediately start servicing the Mag-

nussen’s Lexus located in the FremontAuto Mall. The entire purpose of buildingthis shop was to be closer to the dealership.The transition has worked well and we’repleased with the results. The service toMagnussen’s was uninterrupted and fairlyseamless, which was our goal.”

In the meantime, Car West’s Dublinfacility has re-ramped up their volumequickly through targeted marketing and byreaching out to the area. “We’ve extendedour market reach in Dublin now by addingmore and insurance DRPs and we’re alsogetting a lot of referral business from thedealerships in the area. We have Dublinback to where it was before we opened thefacility in Fremont.”

Hobaugh is enthused about the resultshe’s seen within just one year of operationat the company’s Fremont mega-shop, heexplained. “Craig essentially said, ‘we’llbuild it and they’ll come’and it’s worked outthat way. Once people see this shop, theywant to work with us. It speaks for itself.”

Car West Elite is Moe’s dream shop,containing all of the bells and whistles hebegan to envision many years ago. “Thisis my first opportunity to build a shop fromthe ground up, so to speak. We had a shell,but when it came to the complete layout—the overall design, the equipment we putinto it and exactly how it was going to beset up—including the lean processes andeverything—we did it all from scratch. Webasically started with a blank piece ofpaper and we didn’t want to make any mis-takes.

Moe traveled throughout the state tolook at other cutting-edge shops before de-signing his own, he said. “We lookedclosely at some of the top body shops inCalifornia and researched all of the bestequipment. Then, we had many, manymeetings with employees and vendors.The worst thing you can do is build some-

thing without everybody’s input. We madesure that everyone contributed feedback,from the technicians, mechanics, paintersand management. And I believe we dideverything right. I think we nailed it.”

By implementing a production systemwhere techs work in teams and help eachother when needed, Car West Elite is op-erating smoothly, hitting their cycle timesand putting out the type of quality they’realways thriving for, Moe said.“The shop is very efficient. We wanted tocreate a facility where our customerswould always want to bring their cars here.We wanted to carry the same high-endlook and approach throughout the entireshop. I’ve seen some impressive shopswhere the front end of the facility is reallynice, but when you get into the actual shopitself, that’s where they try to save money.We didn’t cut back in any aspect of thisshop and it’s paid off.”

To get their name out there, Car WestAuto Body showcases their Fremont shop

whenever they can. “Part of our marketinginvolves using the shop for meetings,luncheons and training sessions for insur-ance companies, I-CAR classes, and forequipment vendors to promote the facilityand the industry as a whole. We’ll do what-ever it takes to get exposure for this shopand to get people to see what we’ve done,”Moe said.

What will the immediate future looklike for Car West?

“Things will get better,” Moe said.“From what I’ve seen, we’ve already hitthe bottom of this recession, so we’re ex-cited about growing and pushing to capac-ity. We’re doing only 25% of what thisshop can produce. Our goal is 700 cars permonth and I believe we can get there.”

To feed their plus-sized shop, CarWest Elite has added several insuranceDRPs and local car dealerships in the Fre-

mont area to their list of customers. “We’readding DRPs and we have several more inthe works. We’re very close to the Fre-mont Auto Mall and we’ve always beenworking with Magnussen’s Lexus, butwe’ve now also added Fremont Chevroletand are now working Jaguar, Volvo, Nis-san, and Land Rover—all from the AutoMall,” Moe said.

Being a multi-shop operation (MSO)has helped Car West Auto Body in acquir-ing insurance business, Moe said. “It’s amodel that many insurance companies pre-fer, I believe,” he said. “They want onepoint of contact with a company like ours,so that if there are any changes to their pro-gram or administrative procedures theyneed to deal with, they don’t have to callsix different people. It’s convenient and theinsurance companies are leaning towardthat model more and more.”

Moe also thinks the number of bodyshops in the Bay Area will shrink consid-erably more within the next year, he said.“We’ve seen a lot of car dealerships closewithin the last 18 months, so it logicallymeans that more body shops could closetheir doors as well. There are shops outthere right now that are probably out ofbusiness, but they just don’t know it orhaven’t admitted it yet. The problem in thisbusiness is that you have to keep investingin newest equipment and adapting to serv-icing the insurance companies the bestway you can. We decided a long time agoto gear our key performance indicators(KPIs) toward dealing with the insurancecompanies. They’re always looking at ourcycle times, days and hours touch time andcustomer satisfaction numbers, so we’respecifically gearing ourselves to what theinsurance companies are looking for.”

Car West Elite Auto Body4311 Solar WayFremont, California 94538(510) 657-3300Shop Manager Brian Hobaugh52,000-sqaure-foot facility

Car West Elite Hits its Numbers After One Year in Businesswith Ed Attanasio

Shop Showcase Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based inSan Francisco, California. He can be reached [email protected].

Car West Elite Auto Body operates from a huge fa-cility in Fremont, Calif.

Body techs work in teams and support each other within the production system imple-mented at Car West Elite Auto Body.

Car West Elite prides itself on a high profile recep-tion area that impresses customers and vendorsalike.


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Inquiry also finds insurer failed to cease il-legal acts despite previous agreements todo so

California Insurance Commissioner StevePoizner announced today that an exami-nation found that Mercury Insurance hasviolated the state insurance statutes and asa result, Mercury Insurance may have ille-gally overcharged thousands of Californi-ans for auto and homeowners insurance.

“As the head of the state’s largest con-sumer protection agency, I must ensure thatinsurance companies fulfill their obligationsand follow state law,” said CommissionerPoizner. “However, an examination done bythe Department of Insurance appears to showthat Mercury Insurance has disregarded Cal-ifornia’s consumer protection statutes andovercharged consumers. In addition, the De-partment’s examination finds that MercuryInsurance has apparently continued to vio-late the law despite agreements with the stateto terminate its illegal behavior.”

The California Department of Insur-ance (CDI) conducted a Market ConductExam covering the period of March 1,2007 to May 31, 2007. During that time-frame, CDI found that Mercury InsuranceGroup, comprising Mercury InsuranceCompany, Mercury Casualty Companyand California Automobile Insurance

Company, violated the insurance code, re-sulting in consumers being overcharged ordenied coverage. The 35 categories of al-leged violations include:

Mercury Insurance failed to correctviolations of state law indentified by theDepartment of Insurance from exams con-ducted in 1998 and 2002.

Mercury did not collect the right in-formation about a driver’s prior accidentsduring its auto insurance application andunderwriting process to make sure thatsurcharges are only applied for those acci-dents where the insured is at fault, and tomake sure people are not charged for bod-ily injury accidents when no injuries hadoccurred.

The auto insurance applicant is re-quired by Mercury Insurance to provide“lifetime” experience regarding certainmajor convictions, while the law only al-lows insurers to charge for such convictionsfor “10 years” for specific alcohol-relatedoffenses and “three years” for the others.

Homeowners’ insurance premiumcredits were not being consistently appliedwhen they were due, resulting in insuredsbeing overcharged.

Mercury’s auto insurance non-renewalnotices and procedures required the GoodDriver to take additional steps, beyond whatis provided for in the law, to obtain cover-

age when another person on the policy nolonger qualified for coverage.

Mercury’s auto insurance underwrit-ing guidelines required individuals withcertain medical impairments to undergoadditional underwriting scrutiny before apolicy could be issued.

Mercury barred from coverage peoplein certain occupations -- Bartender, LiquorStore Owner, Painter, Cocktail Wait-ress/Waiter and Artists – who didn’t meetadditional underwriting standards that werenot applied to people in other occupations.

Mercury Insurance Group has 10days to correct each violation found in thelatest exam. Should the violations not becorrected, Mercury Insurance Group facesa $5,000 fine for each violation and an ad-ditional $5,000 fine for each violation if itis found to be willful. The insurer alsofaces additional penalties for the past vio-lations, and its failure to implement cor-rections following the previous exam.

Mercury was quick to point out that Com-missioner Poizner is seeking the Republi-can nomination for California governor. Thecompany stated that “political interests”were at play in the department’s an-nouncement.

Poizner's own spokesman acknowl-edged that making such a big announce-ment about such violations was unusual,but Poizner's office argues that the com-pany has repeated violations it had previ-ously agreed to fix.

Mercury is the $3.5millionmain backerof Prop. 17, a November ballot initiative thatwould allow transferable “loyalty discounts”for drivers who change carriers, but the rateswould not apply to those who let their insur-ance lapse. Prop 17 would create an insur-ance surcharge on drivers, including soldiersand seniors, who have had a lapse in car in-surance coverage for virtually any reasonduring the past five years, or who missed asingle payment. Under the measure, peoplewho stopped driving and didn't need insur-ance for a time would be required to pay upto a $1000more for car insurance when theysought to restart coverage. Currently, insur-ance companies are prohibited from impos-ing such a surcharge in California (see p. 18).

In an unrelated incident, protestersshowed up at a booksigning by Poiznerfor his new book, “Mount Pleasant.”They objected to passage in whichPoizner says he knew he shouldn't ex-pect “Silicon Valley-caliber ambition andsmarts from East San Jose schoolkids.”

Mercury Says Poizner’sInterests are Only Political

CA Insurance Commissioner Says Mercury Illegally Overcharged Consumers

On its surface, the proposal seems fairlystraight-forward.

“Word-tracks used to offer repair shopreferrals to consumers should not includecomments, remarks or statements that dis-parage any collision repair business,” theproposal, crafted last year by the CollisionIndustry Conference (CIC) Trade PracticesCommittee, reads. “When a consumervoices their shop selection, their decisionshould be honored without further com-ment. Repairers should also refrain frommaking any comments that disparage aninsurer, direct repair program or other re-pair facilities.”

But during a recent panel discussionat CIC about how this and other trade prac-tice proposals might get implemented, itbecame clear that shops and insurers aren’talways speaking the exact same language.One man’s “steering” is another man’s“consumer education.”

“I’m not sure what this statement isintending to provide,” Allstate’s RandyHanson said, a statement echoed by someother insurance company representativeson the panel. “If you’re trying to say,’ Fol-low the law and play nice,’ we do that. ButI suspect there are other issues this is try-ing to get at, and this statement doesn’t doa lot for me in terms of what that is ex-actly.”

Industry consultant Lou DiLisiospoke for many collision repairers when atCIC he voiced frustration with insurers’view of the issue.

“It’s the implementation and execu-tion of those word tracks, and it’s what getsdone when there’s something identifiedthat’s out of place,” DiLisio said. “Whetgets done when I call up and say, ‘Yourword track was deviated from…’ Whatgets done? Unfortunately, nothing.”

Steering vs. educationThe panel discussion organized by the “In-surer-Repairer Relations Committee” atthe latest CIC meeting focused on just twoof the first five proposals developed by the“Trade Practices Committee.”

Hanson wasn’t alone in portraying theword tracks and other information used todescribe a direct repair program as “con-sumer education.”

“We should have the right to informthe consumer about the process,” MichaelLloyd of California Casualty said. “Insome states, once the customer voices achoice of shop, that’s where it stops, andI’m good with that. But there are otherstates, like California, which recentlypassed a regulation that says we have the

right to explain our program to our cus-tomers. We’re going to honor their choiceof shop, but I agree with that law that weshould have the ability to make sure theconsumer is informed.”

Joe Laurentino of Esurance toldDiLisio that he doesn’t think his com-pany’s employees stray from the com-pany’s word tracks when talking toconsumers about shop choice.

“I won’t say it doesn’t ever happen,”Laurentino said. “But the vehicles we fixtoday are highly complex. We need to makesure they get to the repairers who can fix thecar properly and by the OE specifications.”

If there are concerns about the word-ing used by an Esurance employee, Lau-rentino told DiLisio, “I would personallyaddress that if you call me with the claimnumber.”

Hanson said as more and more claimscalls are handled by call centers, there is“strict adherence to the script,” scripts thatAllstate has made available to the Auto-motive Service Association for feedback(and to which Allstate responded withsome changes, he said). In response to aquestion, he said there is no financial in-centive for call center employees to get acertain percentage of customers to use aAllstate direct repair program shop.

Hanson argued against state laws thatlimit an insurer’s right to discuss the pro-gram even with a consumer who has ashop in mind.

“What about the customer who comesback and says, ‘How come you didn’t tellme you had this program?’” he said. “I en-tertain a lot of those calls. That’s a difficultconversation too because I have to tellthem I can’t tell them. They don’t under-stand that. They don’t understand thatthere’s a law that says I can’t informthem.”

But Aaron Schulenburg, executivedirector of the Society of Collision RepairSpecialists (SCRS), challenged the ideathat insurers are consistently adhering toscripts and honoring customers’ shopchoice.

“Otherwise, I and the other associa-tion leaders in the room wouldn’t get callson a regular basis from shops who say, ‘Ihad a customer. I had their keys. I had theircar. I had a signed authorization, and thecar got towed out because of what theywere told,’ “ Schulenburg said. “That hap-pens. Often. And there’s a lot of customerswho quite frankly aren’t willing to fight. Ifthe customer doesn’t have the time or en-ergy in invest in fighting it and moving upthe ladder and meeting the (insurance)

manager and going to their department ofinsurance, at the end of the day they’llthrow their hands up and say, ‘Fine, tow itout and take it where you need it.’”

Dispute resolutionThe panel also discussed another of the“Trade Practices Committee” proposals,which calls for insurers to make availabletheir DRP agreement guidelines and keyperformance metrics, and to “publish theintended field application of the program’spolicies, guidelines and metrics, alongwith a process for handling potential mis-understandings or deviations from com-pany policy.”

As with the word track proposal, thisidea got a mixed reception from insurerson the panel. Hanson said Allstate includesa copy of its direct repair program contracton its website. Lloyd said California Ca-sualty already makes standard operatingprocedures available to its direct repairshops through its website.

“But as far as posting that (DRP)agreement to everyone, that’s not going to

happen,” Lloyd said. “Hopefully ouragreements give us some kind of compet-itive advantage. I guess that would be themain reason I just don’t see it happening.”

Laurentino said his company’s legaldepartment won’t allow Esurance directrepair agreements to be openly published.

But several shop representatives onthe panel said the actual terms of the DRPcontracts are not as much the issue as in-the-field policies and procedures being in-terpreted or implemented differently bystaff even within the same insurance com-pany.

“When we believe there’s a deviationin the field, when a policy is being applieddifferently than, as I understand, corporateintended it, where do we go to bring thatto somebody’s attention, to have some res-olution of the issue,” Bill Lawrence of LCAutomotive Group asked the insurers onthe panel.

Joe Lacy of GEICO said in those in-stances a shop should contact a supervisorfor a clarification. Lloyd said his company

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

John Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, who has been writingabout the automotive industry since 1988. He is the editor of the weekly CRASHNetwork (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com).He can be contacted by email at [email protected].

Insurers And Shops Don’t Always Speak The Same Language

See Insurers and Shops, next page


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could be willing to put together some“generic guidelines of how we do business”but would want more input from the com-mittee as to what topics should be covered.Hanson said he understand shops are some-times hesitant to move up the chain of com-mand because of possible reprisals. But hebalked at the idea of some way to submitconcerns anonymously or through a third-party or “hotline,” saying it “complicates theresolution” and often lacks enough detailedinformation to be “actionable.”

If a problem involves some sort offraud—such as an insurance company em-ployee seeking some of pay-off—repairersshould contact the corporate security de-partment at that company, several of the pan-elists said.

But panelist Mike Condon, one ofthe consultants that conducted a study lastyear to examine the viewpoints of top autoclaims personnel, offered perhaps themost optimistic viewpoint on hopes for atleast one aspect of the trade practice pro-posal.

“It was clear that most insurers wanted,or were interested in, some sort of disputeresolution process, but none of them reallyhad any idea of how to do it,” Condon saidof the interviews in the study with top claimspersonnel at nine major insurers.

He said the fact that no such mecha-nism exists could provide a good opportu-nity for the industry to work together todevelop one, rather than having a number ofdifferent ones pop up.

“What we need to start is probably todevelop requirements from insurers as towhat it might look like,” Condon said.


Insurers and Shops

An Arizona House bill addressing autoglass businesses and insurance fraudpassed the state’s Senate April 19 with aunanimous vote of 28-0. The legislationadds a section to the state’s laws address-ing auto glass shops and details a numberof items that are “unlawful” for those“who sell or repair auto glass.”

It had previously passed the state’sHouse, where it originated, but one smalltechnical amendment was made in theSenate (changing the word “advising” to“advise”), so it now returns to the Housefor Rep. McLain’s acceptance of theamendment and a final vote.

The Senate calendar defines thebill’s purpose as follows: “Outlines un-lawful practices for a person who sells orrepairs auto glass and institutes a penaltyof a class 6 felony for persons who vio-late the auto glass laws with the intent toinjure, defraud or deceive an insurer.”

The legislation identifies the follow-ing items as illegal:

* To submit a false claim to an in-surer for auto glass repair or replacementor for related services if the services werenot provided, if the work appears on theinvoice as being completed in an incor-rect geographical area, resulting in ahigher payment, if the work wasn’t au-thorized by the owner or lessee of the ve-hicle, or if the invoice was mislabeledwith such a date that insurance coveragemight not have applied;

* To advise a policyholder to “fal-sify the date of damage to the auto glassthat results in a change of insurance cov-erage for repair or replacement of theglass;”

* To misrepresent the price of therepairs or replacement being billed to aninsurer, or that the insurer has approvedthe repairs “unless the auto glass repairor replacement facility has verified cov-erage or obtained authorization directly

from the insurance company or any otherthird party administrator contracted withthe insurance company and the evidencehas been confirmed by fax, e-mail orother written and recorded communica-tion;”

* To advise a customer that the workwill be paid entirely by his/her insurer“unless the insurance coverage has beenverified by a person who is employed byor is a producer contracted with the poli-cyholder’s insurer or is a third party ad-ministrator contracted with the insurer;”

* To add to the damage of the autoglass prior to the work being done, or toencourage a customer to do the same “toincrease the scope of repair or replace-ment;” and

* To perform work “clearly and sub-stantially beyond the level of work nec-essary to repair or replace the auto glassto put the vehicle back into a safe pre-damaged condition in accordance withaccepted or approved reasonable and cus-tomery glass repair or replacement tech-niques.”

In addition, the legislation includesa section making it illegal for an autoglass business representative to “misrep-resent the relationship of the glass repairfacility to the policyholder’s insurer.”

The bill originally was introduced byArizona Rep. Nancy McLain, who ad-vised at a recent hearing that she intro-duced the bill “to try to get rid of someoutright fraud that’s going on in the wind-shield repair business.”

Representatives of the Arizona GlassAssociation, including RexAltree of NewImage Auto Glass and Kerry Soat ofFasBreak, both of which are based in Ari-zona, worked closely with legislators toreach an agreed-upon wording in the bill.

To read background on the bill andits journey to passage, see www.glass-bytes.com and www.autobodynews.com

Arizona Auto Glass Fraud Bill PassesState Senate 28-0An east El Paso body shop is facing

serious allegations of lying to cus-tomers, according to a lawsuit filedby the Texas state attorney generaland the El Paso County Attorney’sOffice. The suit alleges Jacob’s BodyShop, previously known as Gemini’sBody Shop, and its owner VeronicaQuiroz took money for repairs prom-ising new parts had been installed.According to the suit, subsequent in-spections revealed that on various oc-casions the parts actually were usedand second-hand.”If you're drivingwith parts that already have 200,000miles on them or have been used ex-tensively, sure, it could be a safety is-sues,” said Ralph Girvin, anassistant El Paso county attorney.In atleast one case, an inspection revealedthe car in question was not deemedunsafe to drive. The suit is requestingup to $20,000 per incident fromQuiroz.

“Gemini’s Body Shop wouldcharge the consumer a fee of $500. Ifthe consumer could not pay the priceof this exorbitant fee, Gemini's BodyShop would refuse to release the ve-hicle,” said an affidavit of RayNiblett, an agent with the NationalInsurance Crime Bureau.

El Paso, TX, Body Shop is Targetof Attorney General Lawsuit

AAA Oklahoma offered Enid, OK, itsfirst vehicle crash prevention courseon April 24. The seven-hour class-room course qualified motorists foran auto insurance discount from mostinsurance carriers, including AAA In-surance Co. The class was open to alllicensed drivers.

The course was held 9:30 a.m. to4:30 p.m. April 24 at the Public Li-brary of Enid and Garfield County,120 W. Maine. Cost was $20 for AAAmembers and $30 for non-members.

Mark “Safety Guy” Sprayberry,from Tinker Air Force Base, taughtthe course, using AAA’s newly re-vised “Managing Visibility, Time andSpace” curriculum. Drivers learnedhow to simplify driving situations,improve skills behind the wheel, andreduce risk on the road.

For information on futurecourses contact Sheryl Williams inTulsa at (800) 222-2582 or go towww.AAA.com and click on “AAANews & Safety.” Pre-registration isrequired.

AAA is a not-for-profit organi-zation serving 344,000 members inOklahoma. The club’s Enid office isat 215 W. Garriott. Call 242-7100 forinformation.

AAA Oklahoma Gave ConsumersCrash Prevention Course


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SP is a partnership between automobileoriginal equipment manufacturers andtheir suppliers and the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA). SPWork Groups address issues that im-prove the environment while providingvalue throughout the automobile supplychain.

SP provides a forum for small,mid-sized and large automotive and ve-hicle suppliers to work together, learnfrom each other, and share technologiesand environmental best practices.

The Suppliers Partnership for theEnvironment (SP) announced April 19that five companies have joined the or-ganization: AGS Technology Inc., Ar-calis Scientific, LLC, Green TreeProducts & Technologies LLC, LearCorporation and TestAmerica Labora-tories, Inc. In addition, the State Gov-ernment of Victoria, Australia, will bejoining SP as a liaison member.

SP Chair Randy Leslie, Vice Pres-ident and General Manager, JohnsonControls, Inc., Automotive Experience,stated, “These company additions to SPwill enhance the organization as awhole, and provide more opportunitiesfor the organization to improve envi-ronmental and economic excellence,while sharing best practices to improveindividual company performance.”

Adam Westerdale, COO of GeneralOil Company and Chair of SP's Mem-bership Development Committeeadded, “We are excited to have thesecompanies working with us and a newliaison member to SP. In addition, weare particularly pleased to welcomeback one of our founding members,Lear Corporation.”

The new member companies' rep-resentative to the SP Board of Directorswill be:

* AGS Technology Inc.: George Sta-niulis, Vice President

* Arcalis Scientific LLC: Pat Beattie,President

* Green Tree Products & Technolo-gies LLC: Sam Cremin, Managing Di-rector

* Lear Corporation: Barbara Bor-oughf, Vice President, Global Environ-mental, Health & Safety

* TestAmerica Laboratories, Inc.:Dave Lanzola, National Account Man-ager

Steve Hellem, Executive Directorof SP states, “We look forward to work-ing with these new companies, and con-tinuing our pursuit of environmentalexcellence and the economic viabilityof the automobile supply chain.”

More information about SP can befound at www.supplierspartnership.org.

Suppliers Partnership Adds Five New Corporate MembersThe U.S. Senate Committee on Environ-ment and Public Works held a hearingApril 14 titled, “Opportunities to ImproveTransportation Safety.” U.S. Sen. BarbaraBoxer, D-Calif., is the chairwoman of thecommittee. She and Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., ranking member, gave opening re-marks.

Discussed at the hearing were op-tions that could further reduce fatalitieson America's highways by improvingsafety for all modes of surface trans-portation.

Witnesses at the hearing included:* The Hon. John D. Porcari, deputy

secretary of transportation, U.S. Depart-ment of Transportation

* Kirk T. Steudle, director, MichiganDepartment of Transportation

* Laura Dean-Mooney, nationalpresident, Mothers Against Drunk Driv-ing

* Jackie Gillan, vice president, Ad-vocates for Highway & Auto Safety

* Deb Hubsmith, director, SafeRoutes to School National Partnership

* Gregory M. Cohen, president andCEO, American Highway Users Alliance

* Ted Miller, Ph.D., principal re-search scientist, Center for Public HealthImprovement and Innovation

In his statement about reducing ac-cidents, Porcari told the committee,

“Innovation and technology will becritical to improving vehicle, operatorand infrastructure safety. Infrastructureimprovements reduce the number ofcrashes and the severity of crashes.They are designed to work in concertwith vehicle and behavioral measuresto improve driver performance and di-minish severity through tools such assignage, pavement friction, rumblestrips, the Safety Edge and cable me-dian barriers. We must also explore in-novative ways to reduce deaths andserious injuries caused by impaireddriving, speeding, failure to wear seat-belts and motorcycle helmets, andother high risk behaviors, includingdistracted driving.”

Porcari also noted an issue that hasgrown in its significance for causing ac-cidents, “[Transportation] Secretary[Ray] LaHood is personally committed toreducing the number of injuries and fatal-ities caused by distracted driving - a dan-gerous practice that has become a deadlyepidemic. Our latest research shows thatnearly 6,000 people died in 2008 incrashes involving a distracted driver, andmore than half a million people were in-jured.”

The DOT will continue research em-phasis on IntelliDrive technologies thathelp prevent accidents.

Administration Continues Push for Accident Prevention

At the company's recent annual meeting,PPG Industries’ Chairman and CEOCharles Bunch reviewed steps the com-pany took in 2009 to respond to the globalfinancial crisis that began at the in 2008and continued through 2009.

“The strategic vision we have estab-lished is to continue to be the world’sleading coatings and specialty productscompany,” Bunch said. “We have contin-ued to make progress toward achievingthat vision. Yet, in 2009, we were clearlychallenged with an uncertain and difficultglobal economy. At PPG, we respondedquickly and decisively.”

Bunch said that during 2009, PPGshifted its priorities to respond to the dif-ficult economic conditions.

“We placed greater emphasis on op-erating discipline. We worked on restor-ing margin leadership, especially in thecoatings industry. We focused more onprofitability than pure growth. We tooksteps to improve our cost structure, andwe worked to leverage our global tech-nological and manufacturing capabilitiesto the most efficient use of the entire com-pany. We keyed in on costs, margins,working capital and cash flow,” he said.Bunch also noted two restructuring ini-tiatives—one announced in September2008 and one in March 2009 – that are

expected to result in approximately $250million in annual cost savings once com-pleted.

“In addition to our cost-cuttingmeasures,” Bunch said, “PPG benefitedfrom actions it has taken over the pastseveral years to grow the coatings and op-tical and specialty material componentsof our portfolio.” He said that the propor-tion of PPG’s sales in these businesseshas grown substantially over the past fewyears. “These businesses saw continu-ously improving positive momentumthroughout the year, and by the end of2009 were delivering higher year-over-year earnings,” he said.

Bunch commented that the companyalso benefited from efforts to broaden thegeographic reach of its business, andspecifically its expanding footprint in theAsia/Pacific region, which posted recordearnings for the year and now representsabout 15 percent of the company. “Over-all, our efforts to transform PPG haveserved us well in this downturn,” Bunchsaid. In 2009, PPG posted sales of $12.2billion, a decrease of about 23 percentversus the prior year. This was largely at-tributable to the contraction of demand inmany of PPG’s key end-use markets,which in turn was driven by the global re-cession.

PPG Chairman Charles Bunch Reports on New Strategy

State Farm won a summary judgementagainst Ray Gunder (see Autobody News,April edition) on March 26.

The U.S. District judge, Steven D.Merryday, ruled that although State Farmmay have made defamatory statementsabout Gunder’s Auto Center of Lakeland,Fla., the shop failed to prove that the in-surer’s primary motive in making such state-ments was to harm the shop rather thanfurther its own cause.

Gunder had alleged that State Farm“intentionally and unjustifiably interferedwith [Gunder’s] relationships with its cus-tomers” by falsely stating to insureds thatthe shop overcharged for repairs and com-pleted repairs in an untimely, inefficient andsubstandard manner.

The judge noted that Gunder’s AutoCenter was terminated from State Farm’sDRP program in 2004, and case records alsoshowed that Gunder’s objected to StateFarm’s method of compensating repairshops for paint and materials.

To recover for slander, the plaintiffmust show 1) that the defendant publisheda false statement; 2) about the plaintiff; 3) toa third-party and 4) the plaintiff suffereddamages as a result of the publication of thestatement.

State Farm argued that even if State

Farm agents uttered false statements aboutthe plaintiff, the statements are privileged.“State Farm was acting as an insurer andwas communicating with the party seekingbenefits under the insurance contract aboutan issue in which they have a common in-terest, the prompt and full repayment of re-

pairs,” the courtdecision stated.

Although thejudge agreed that thecommunications be-tween State Farm andclaimants were privi-leged, he noted thatthey could still beconsidered slander-ous if Gunder’s could

prove State Farm acted with “express mal-ice,” meaning, “ill will, hostility or evil in-tention to defame and injure.” However, thecourt ruled that “The plaintiff fails to pro-vide extrinsic evidence of express malice.”The Florida Supreme Court defined “ex-press malice” as follows:

Where a person speaks upon a privi-leged occasion, but the speaker is mostlymotivated more by a desire to harm the per-son defamed than by a purpose to protect thepersonal or social interest giving rise to theprivilege, then it can be said that there was

express malice and the privilege is de-stroyed. Strong, angry or intemperate wordsdo not alone show express malice; rather,there must be a showing that the speakerused his privileged position to “gratify hismalevolence.”

Ray Gunder openly discussed with theother repair shops State Farm’s method fordetermining the “prevailing competitivemarket rate” for repairing vehicles insuredby State Farm.

The judge said “in essence, the plain-tiff alleges that State Farm began falsely ac-cusing the plaintiff of “overcharging”customers promptly after State Farm ad-monished the plaintiff for attempting to setprices in the area. Although State Farmstatements (if false) might be defamatory,the plaintiff offers no evidence (other thanthe alleged falsity of the statements) fromwhich a juror could infer malice. The state-ments “do not inherently demonstrate ex-press malice.”

Gunder submitted additional affidavitsfrom several potential and former customerswho said they would have used Gunder’s forrepairs had it not been for statements aboutthe shop made by State Farm. RegardingState Farm’s claims that Gunder’s over-charges for repairs, the shop submitted proofthat State Farm routinely paid for repairs at

other shops that charged rates similar to orhigher than Gunder’s. When the judge ruledfor summary judgement the additional affi-davits were declared moot.

“State Farm neither attacked theplaintiff's moral character nor accuse theplaintiff or its proprietors of violent crime;each allegedly slanderous statement con-cerns only the matter of common interestbetween State Farm and the insured—thequality and value of the plaintiff's work,”said the judge.

Merryday ruled that the evidence pro-vided by Gunder’s was insufficient andfailed to show “express malice” on the partof State Farm: “The plaintiff fails to presentevidence showing that State Farm’s ‘pri-mary motive’ was to harm the plaintiff ratherthan to further State Farm and the insured’smutual interest in securing timely, quality re-pairs to the insured’s automobile,” the deci-sion stated.

Ray Gunder has said he will appeal.


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State Farm Prevails in Gunder Slander Suit; Gunder Says He Will Appeal

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Reprinted from the Insurance Institute of High-way Safety, Status Report, V. 45, No. 4.

Car safety ratings often grab the media spot-light. Sometimes they’re published by theInstitute, while other ratings are from thegovernment or Consumer Reports. Biggernews than these periodic media splashes isthe growth of the safety marketplace aroundthe world, spurred by the availability of ve-hicle ratings from multiple sources.

“These crashworthiness ratings aren’t incompetition. One isn’t better than another,”

says Institute president Adrian Lund. “Thekey is to look at every available source ofsafety information and choose a car, pickup,or SUV with top ratings across the board.These vehicles are on the market, and buyersare finding them.

A new poll confirms the attention thatconsumers are paying to safety, factoring itinto their vehicle choices. In turn, this de-mand puts pressure on auto manufacturersto compete in the safety marketplace.

Consumer interest isn’t new: More thana half century ago, Ford officials estimatedthat installing optional lap belts and othersafety features in 1956 models pushed salesup about 200,000. The safety belts generat -

ed demand that was “considerably higherthan originally anticipated,” A.L. Haynes ofFord told Congress in 1957.

Other early indicators of car buyers’ in-terest in safety involve their rejection of ve-hicles perceived to be unsafe. Sales ofChevrolet Corvairs plummeted after 1965,for example, when Ralph Nader focusedpublic attention on suspension problems thatcould lead to loss of control and rollover.Likewise, negative publicity about the easy -to-damage fuel tanks on Ford Pintos led todeclining sales in the 1970s.

By the 1980s, automakers were tuningin to safety and beginning to compete in theworldwide safety marketplace. A sign of thisinvolves airbags. After waging in earlieryears what the US Supreme Court dubbed“the regulatory equivalent of war” againstfrontal airbags (see Status Report, July 7,1983; on the web at iihs.org), automakersbegan competing in the mid-1980s to putair-bags in cars ahead of federal require-ments (see Status Report, Dec. 7, 1985; onthe web at iihs.org). Side airbags followedat a much faster pace, beginning in the1990s. This also is when automakers begana concerted effort to redesign vehicle seatsand head re straints to provide better occu-

pant protec tion in rear-end crashes.Among the most important safety ad-

vancements since the 1990s are the rede -signed structures of passenger vehicles.Now the fronts and sides themselves, notjust the safety features inside, provide important protection in crashes.

Initially pushing automakers towardthis emphasis on safety was the popularityof The Car Book, a National Highway Traf-fic Safety Administration (NHTSA)brochure that compiled safety informationvehicle model by vehicle model. Launchedin 1980, it be came the most frequently re-quested govern ment publication of its time.

Raising consumer interest in safety tomuch higher levels are the crash tests andcrashworthiness ratings published not onlyby NHTSA but also by private organizationsin the United States and worldwide. Con- sumers use the comparative ratings to makeinformed choices among cars to buy.

US government was first: The 1972Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Sav-ings Act required NHTSA to establish a pro-gram of car crashworthiness ratings. Theresul tant New Car Assessment Program(NCAP), launched in 1978, isn’t part of anygovern ment regulatory program. It exists toprovide consumer information, initially as-signing pass or fail scores to cars based onperfor mance in front and rear crash tests.Since then the pass/fail ratings have givenway to stars, 1 to 5 depending on how well

a vehicle performs in front, side, androllover tests.

Now more than 30 years old, NCAP isdue for some changes (see Status Report,July 24, 2008; on the web at iihs.org). Thehigh NCAP scores most vehicles earn limitthe usefulness of the ratings in distinguish-ing safety differences among vehicles.

“We do favor changes,” Lund says,“but at the same time it’s important to rec-ognize NCAP’s success over decades.Auto manu facturers have improved the de-signs of their vehicles. In particular,they’ve improved the restraint systems inmodern cars to earn high NCAP ratings.”Besides NCAP, both the Institute and Con-sumers Union rate vehicle safety, and theratings attract more media attention thanNCAP’s. Institute crash tests routinely arecovered on national news, attracting tensof millions of viewers. About 8 millionpeople subscribe to Consumers Union publications, making the flagship ConsumerRe ports a top 10 magazine.

Ratings expand worldwide: Compar-a tive safety ratings aren’t confined to the USmarket. NHTSA’s pioneering NCAP hasspawned similar programs in other countries. These include:

1. EuroNCAP, launched in 1997, isbacked by 7 governments, the EuropeanCommis sion, and by consumer groups inevery EU country. Ratings are based on oc-cupant pro tection in front, side, and pole


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It’s a Safety Marketplace and Consumers Are Buying

Consumers are paying attention to vehicle safety A new institute poll shows safety is a high priority among drivers

“You need all the safety you can get.” This is what a respondent to a 1992 Institute survey said whenasked about factors that are important when buying a new car (see Status Report, May 23, 1992; onthe web at iihs.org). The responses haven’t changed much since then. Safety still is impor tant. It’sthe second most important factor, behind only quality/reliabil ity, in both the 1992 survey and a newone conducted for the Institute earlier this year.

Eighty-six percent of respondents to the 2010 survey said safety is a very important consider-ation. Only 2 percent said it’s not important.

What’s new this year is the proportion of respondents who know about vehicle crash tests andsafety ratings. Back in 1992, only the fed eral government was supplying such ratings, but since thenthe Institute and others have begun rating vehicle safety and attracting extensive media attention tothe comparative results. So it’s not surprising that more than 3 of every 4 respondents to the 2010survey said they’ve seen vehicle safety ratings.

The source of such ratings isn’t uppermost in consumers’ minds. Only 30 percent of respon-dents could name an organization that pro vides ratings (Consumer Reports was mentioned the most).Only 14 per cent could name the rating of their present vehicle. Yet 78 percent said they’d seen safetyratings, mostly on the internet, in magazines, or on television. Sixty-seven percent said such ratingswould be very useful in purchasing a vehicle or considering what vehicle to own.

These findings are in line with a 2005 survey conducted for Euro-NCAP in the Czech Republic,France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Po land, and Portugal. Safety and reliability were cited as the topfactors in buying a car. Each was deemed important by 94 percent of EU respon dents. Only 2 per-cent said these aren’t important.

Almost half of the EU respondents overall, including more than 70 percent in Germany, said theyhad used or looked for information about the crash protection provided by various vehicle makes. Thesource of this information was fairly evenly distributed among car magazines, friends or acquaintances,and newspaper or television.

The Institute’s telephone survey of 928 licensed drivers 18 and older was conducted in February2010 by International Communications Re search in Pennsylvania. The 2005 survey for EuroNCAP wasconducted by Market & Opinion Research International. It involved face-to-face in terviews as well as tele-phone polling of more than 900 adults in each of the 7 EU countries.

The safety ratings published by the institute, consumer re-ports, and the federal government aren’t in competition. Oneisn’t better than another. The key for any car buyer is to lookat every available source of safety information and choose avehicle with good ratings across the board. These vehicles areon the market, and buyers are finding them.

tests. There’s also a test for whiplash injuryin rear impacts and a set of measures tocompare the dam age vehicles inflict onpedestrians in crashes. EuroNCAP booststhe ratings of vehicles with safety belt re-minders, speed limiters, and electronic sta-bility control.

2. Japan’s NCAP, established in 1996and revised in 2001, is a government pro-gram based on front and side tests adoptedfrom both US government and Institutetests. Japan’s side test is conducted at a

faster speed than EuroNCAP’s (35 versus 30mph).

3. Launched in 1992, ANCAP in Aus-tralia and New Zealand is sponsored by na-tional and state governments together withinsur ers and other private groups. Currenttests are based on the front and side impactscon ducted by EuroNCAP.

4. Also launched in 1999 is Korea’sNCAP, sponsored by the Ministry of Con-struction and Transportation. Tests includenot only front, side, and rear configurationsbut also brake and rollover tests.

5. The world’s newest NCAP is inChina, where the basis of the ratings is a reg-imen of front and side tests. This program isrun by the China Automotive Technol ogy &Research Center, an independent group au-

thorized by the government.A common characteristic of these

NCAPs and the crash-worthiness evaluationpro grams run by the Institute and Con-sumers Union is that the tests aren’t part ofany regulatory program. In fact, the idea ofthese tests conducted primarily for con-sumer information is to see which vehiclesgo beyond minimum governmental require-ments to do a better job of protecting theiroccupants in crashes. For this reason, thetests generally are more demanding than

those required to comply with safety regu-lations established by governments in theUnited States and elsewhere.

Ratings influence automakers: Pro-viding consumer information is the primary,but not the sole, purpose of rating vehiclesfor safety. The ratings also pressure au-tomakers to manufacture safer cars. As a for-mer Ford executive put it, the ratings“provide information we have to address.Our customers are paying attention.”

The hard evidence that automakersheed the ratings is the overall improvementin scores. NCAP was first, compelling man-ufac turers to improve vehicle restraints. An-oth er example involves the Institute’s frontaloffset crash tests. When the first set of results of this program became public in the

mid-1990s, poor performers outnumberedgood ones (see Status Report, Dec. 2, 1995;on the web at iihs.org). But this has turnedaround, and it’s the rare new car design thatdoesn’t earn a good rating based on the sametest. So successful is this program that theInstitute has looked for ways to get out ofthe business of frontal offset crash testing al-together (see Status Report, March 29, 2006;on the web at iihs.org).

“Everybody who has been rating vehi-cle safety for years has a similar successstory,” Lund says. “The scores improve overtime, and sometimes very quickly. Thiswouldn’t happen over and over again if con-sumers weren’t paying enough attention tothe rat ings to make automakers take notice.”

Real-world data complement tests:Be sides vehicle ratings based on controlledtests, information is available about the on -the-road safety experience of hundreds ofpassenger vehicles. For example, the Insti -tute publishes death rates by vehicle makeand model (see Status Report, April 19,2007; on the web at iihs.org). The affiliatedHigh way Loss Data Institute compares ve-hicle loss experience under 6 insurance cov-erages, including 3 related to injuries. Boththe in surance statistics and the death ratesare adjusted for driver age and other factorsthat could influence the results.

“This real-world information comple -ments the crash test results. Each kind ofinformation has its strengths,” Lund explains. “The tests take the driver factorcompletely out of the comparisons amongvehicles, focusing on design differencesthat influence safety. The real-world re-sults are useful, too, because they indicatewhat’s go ing on out on the road. The ideais to pick vehicles with good test resultsand good real-world experience, too.”

Future of vehicle safety ratings: Sofar ratings worldwide indicate primarily ve-hi cle crashworthiness — that is, how well avehicle protects its occupants in collisions. Acouple of years ago the Institute added theavailability of electronic stability con trol tothe criteria to earn its highest award, TOPSAFETY PICK, and the following year Eu-roNCAP began factoring this feature into itssafety ratings.

The addition marks a new direction because electronic stability control isn’t aboutcrashworthiness. It’s designed to help drivers maintain control in emergencies andavoid crashing in the first place. Thus, morerecent ratings of vehicle safety reflect notonly crashworthiness but also how well avehicle can help a driver avoid a crash.

This may be the direction of the future,as more crash avoidance features are addedto cars. Their potential to reduce crashes is

huge (see Status Report, April 17, 2008; onthe web at iihs.org), but the features are rel-atively new. They aren’t on most models yet,so their effectiveness hasn’t been quan tified.The Institute is working on this.

“If our evaluations find that some ofthe newer features are reducing crashes,we’ll report this and look to factor it into ourve hicle safety ratings,” Lund promises.Other organizations are headed in the samedirec tion, seeking to expand the amount andquality of safety information available toconsumers worldwide.

Defects Versus Safety RatingsSafety ratings indicate how well a car protects its occupants in a crash, compared withother models. The tests on which the ratingsare based sometimes reveal safety defectsbut aren’t designed to do so. Ferret ing outvehicle design defects that jeopar dize safetyand deciding what to do about them are thework of the National Highway TrafficSafety Administration’s (NHTSA) Of fice ofDefects Investigation.“If one of our crash tests finds a defect, wereport it to NHTSA. We also tell the auto-maker, who might elect to fix the problemvoluntarily and initiate a recall. If we believea proposed fix will solve the problem, we report the findings to consumers and let themknow that our published ratings apply onlyto vehicles that have been fixed. This hashappened a number of times,” says Institutepresident Adrian Lund.

By the same token, the Institute woulddowngrade the crashworthiness rating of avehicle that isn’t fixed. This virtually neverhappens, though, because disclosure is sucha powerful incentive. Automakers usuallyhurry to fix any problems the Institute un- covers in its tests.Most safety defects aren’t uncovered incrash tests conducted by the Institute orany other group. Most such problems arerevealed by consumers who report problems to NHTSA. The agency monitorscom plaints, looking for trends indicatingthat a serious defect might exist, and thenopens an investigation when a trend indi-cates this step is warranted. NHTSA is au-thorized to order automakers to recallvehicles and make repairs, based on inves-tigations indi cating serious safety prob-lems in a vehicle’s design, construction, orperformance.

“Think of crashworthiness ratings asgeneral information about car safety, andthen consult NHTSA about specific safetyrecalls,” Lund concludes. “Make sure a vehicle you’re thinking of buying hasn’t beenrecalled or, if it has, the problem has beenfixed. Then it should be okay.”


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Knowing that consumers factor safety into their decisionsabout which vehicles to buy, auto manufacturers rush toadvertise any safety honor associated with their products.

These days automakers mostly advertise the crash test ratings of their safest ve-hicles, but before such ratings became ubiquitous some automakers advertisedthe real-world experience of their cars. For example, General Motors ran an an-nual ad toutIng the better-than-average insurance loss experience of its productline. The 1981 ad shown above ran in more than 330 newspapers and magazinesas part of what GM described as “a continuing effort to emphasize the quality”of its products.

The use of dissimilar metals together inone area of the vehicle structure, and theattachment methods used with those mate-rials, can affect damage analysis and repairversus replace decisions. Two models fromMitsubishi that require these considera-tions are the Lancer Evolution and Out-lander.

The Lancer Evolution and Outlanderare equipped with an aluminum roof, onmodels without a sunroof (see Figures 1and 2). On models with a sunroof, theroof panel is made from steel. On vehi-cles with an aluminum roof, the roofpanel is attached to steel roof rails androof bows.

According to the 2008–2010 Lancer Evo-lution and 2007–2010 Outlander Body Re-pair Manuals, the aluminum roof panel ismade from a type of aluminum containingmagnesium, copper, and silicon. The man-uals state that this type of aluminum hasthe equivalent strength of cold-rolled steelsheets.

Roof Panel AttachmentThe aluminum roof panel is rivet-bondedto the front, side, and rear roof rails, andbonded with adhesive alone to the innersides of the front and rear roof rails and tothe center roof bow. Self-piercing rivets(SPRs) are used for the factory rivet-bond-ing attachment.

Roof Panel RemovalFollowing the removal of the SPRs, the

roof panel is ready to be separated fromthe body at the bonded locations. To as-sist in the removal process, heat can beused in the bonded area of the damagedpanel with a flameless heat source up to204°C (400°F). As the adhesive getswarmer, its strength and bond willweaken. Heating above 204°C (400°F)may weaken high-strength steels and alu-minum. The lower center roof bow on theLancer Evolution, and the inner side roofrails on both the Lancer Evolution andthe Outlander are high-strength steelparts.

Installing a Replacement Roof PanelBlind rivets and adhe-sives are used for thereplacement roof panelattachment. The rec-ommended rivet diam-eter is 4.8 mm.

The adhesive usedfor the rivet-bondingis different from thatused for the attach-ment areas with justadhesive. The LancerEvolution and Out-lander body repairmanuals state to usean epoxyayresin struc-tural adhesive for therivet-bonding attach-

ment, specifically 3M AAD Part No. 8115or equivalent. For the adhesive bonding at-tachment, a urethane body sealer, specifi-cally 3M AAD Part No. 08360 orequivalent is recommended.

The recommended adhesives are ap-plied to the appropriate locations, noted inthe repair manual. The adhesive maker’srecommendations should be followed forpart preparation.

For specific instructions, refer to thevehicle maker’s technical information athttp://www.mitsubishitechinfo.com. Thisis a subscription-based web site. Sub-scriptions are available for one day,seven days, 30 days, six months, or oneyear.

ConclusionEstimators, auto physical damage ap-

praisers and collision repair techniciansmust provide complete and accurate di-agnosis and repairs to maintain the reli-ability of a vehicle structure. Damageanalysis and repair versus replace deci-sions have become more challenging be-cause of the increased use of dissimilarmaterials in vehicle construction, suchas the rivet-bonded aluminum roof panelon some Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

and Outlander mod-els.

This aluminum roofpanel replacementprocedure is just oneexample of this typeof construction tech-nology.

The I-CARAdvanced MaterialDamage Analysis(DAM08) coursepresents additionalinformation regard-ing the use of dissim-

ilar metals in new vehicle construction.Watch for it in your area.

For comments or suggestions on the Ad-vantage Online, please contact I-CAR [email protected].

Photos courtesy of Mitsubishi MotorsNorth America, Inc.


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Genuine Mitsubishi replacement Crash Parts are close at hand through the following quality dealerships. They o!er exceptional customer service, wide selection of in-stock parts and the experience necessary to ensure your repairs proceed smoothly.

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with Kathy Steck-FlynnAutobody CSI

with Dan EspersenALL OEM Information


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I-CAR Tech

Amaradio Explains CRAwith Lee Amaradio Jr.

Consumer Callout


with Ed AttanasioShop Showcase

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This article first appeared in the I-CAR Advantage Online, which is published and dis-tributed free of charge. I-CAR, the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair,is a not-for-profit international training organization that researches and developsquality technical education programs related to collision repair. To learn more aboutI-CAR, and to subscribe to the free publication, visit http://www.i-car.com.

Figure 1 - (Mitsubishi media photo) This 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutionhas a rivet-bonded aluminum roof panel.

Figure 2 - (Mitsubishi media photo) This 2008 Mitsubishi Outlander has arivet-bonded aluminum roof panel.


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Aluminum Roof Replacement On The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution And Outlander


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F. John Azevedo and his wife ShirleyAzevedo, owners of Pacific Auto Sal-vage Inc. in Napa County, CA, met withRep. Mike Thompson (D-S.Helena) onMarch 18. The meeting was in conjunc-tion with the (ARA) Automotive Recy-clers Association Legislation Daysmeeting held in Washington, DC,March 17–19 2010.

During the visit, ARA memberspresented issues that affect the Auto-motive Recycling Industry. The Azeve-dos said they were lucky to have Mr.Thompson and Jonathan Birdsong, hisLegislative Director, speak with themin person; many of the members do notget to see their Representatives, onlystaff. During the visit, Anthony Liv-ingston, Director of Government Af-fairs with ARA, addressed three majorissues: 1) National Motor Vehicle TitleInformation System (NMVTIS); 2) Na-tional Vehicle Mercury Switch Recov-ery Program (NVMSRP); 3) MotorVehicle Owners Right to Repair (HR2057)

“HR2057 is probably the biggestissue for me and my son at Pacific AutoSalvage. My son Willie Azevedo is a li-censed ASE Master Automotive Tech-nician. In order for us to provide aquality part and the solution to our cus-tomer’s transportation needs, we needto be able to accurately test the parts we

provide to our customers. We also needthe vehicle repair information so thatwe can help our customers properly di-agnose their automobile problems,”said Azevedo.

Small auto repair businesses saythat if HR2057 does not pass the inde-pendent auto repair and auto part sup-ply businesses like Pacific AutoSalvage will not have access to the in-formation needed to test and repair cus-tomers’ cars. There will not be anychoice for the consumer, but to taketheir cars back to the dealer. That is nota good solution for the auto industryand the consumers.

“If you can’t afford $5,000 for anew Dodge transmission and buy a re-built one from me for $800, you stillhave to have your car towed to the dealerbefore it will work,” Azevedo said.

CA Auto Recycler Meets with Rep. Thompson in DC on R2R

Left to right, Pacific Auto Salvage owner, F. JohnAzevedo, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-S.Helena),Shirley Azevedo and Jonathan Birdsong lastmonth in Washington D.C.

U.S. Chemical & Plastics, a division ofAlco Industries and a leader in repair,refinish, appearance and maintenanceproducts for the automotive aftermar-ket, has added two new low 2.1 VOCprimers to its line-up of refinishingproducts, including 2520™ DTMPrimer and 2720™ 2K UrethanePrimer.

“Our 2520 is a fast drying, highbuild, direct-to-metal primer,” saidSharon Nixdorf, product manager.“It's ideal for use on properly-pre-pared bare substrates, body filler andsanded original equipment (OE) fin-ishes. It also features outstanding fill-ing, leveling and sanding propertiesand offers excellent adhesion to baremetal.”

USC 2520 is available now alongwith 2515-4 Activator, which is specif-

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The company's 2720 2K UrethanePrimer is a high quality, two-compo-nent acrylic urethane that is easy tosand and can be applied to a variety ofsubstrates. It provides outstanding fill,build and color holdout and is ideal forrepairs requiring the use of low-VOCprimers.

USC 2720 should be used with2715-4 Activator, which is specificallyformulated for use with the 2K Ure-thane Primer.

USC's new 2520 and 2720 2.1VOC primers join an already extensivefamily of premium primers, includingUSC 1K Acrylic, Easywork Epoxy,Easywork 2K Urethane, Morton Elimi-nator HB Polyester and Morton ImpactFlexible Primer/Surfacer. This diverseoffering gives auto body repair profes-sionals several options for selecting theright primer for each unique project.

Founded in 1950, U.S. Chemical &Plastics is internationally recognizedfor formulating and manufacturing pre-mium body filler and refinishing prod-ucts. Its products are sold in more than60 countries. U.S. Chemical & Plastics,an ISO 9001:2008 Certified company,is a privately owned corporation head-quartered in Massillon, Ohio.

U.S. Chemical Introduces Two New 2.1 VOC Primers

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Revolution® Lift brand has a new line ofvehicle lifts, from the world’s leading liftmanufacturer and available throughoutNorth America from local Rotary Lift dis-tributors. The Revolution Lift line offersquality, safety and overall value at a com-petitive price.

With the many economic chal-lenges facing shops today, it’s more im-portant than ever to buy the rightequipment at the right price. In the past,shop owners have been willing to sacri-fice value for low price when choosingwhich vehicle lifts to install, says JohnRylee, director of marketing. Now theydon’t have to.

The Revolution line currently in-cludes the lift models most commonlyfound in North American independent re-pair shops: two-post, four-post and spe-cialty. The two-post lifts range incapacity from 9,000 lbs. to 12,000 lbs.Four-post lifts are available in 9,000 lb.or 14,000 lb. models. Also available area 6,000 lb. mid-rise lift and a motorcyclelift.

Technician productivity and wellbe-ing are paramount at Revolution Lift. AllRevolution two-post and four-post liftswear the gold label that demonstrates theyhave been third-party tested by ETL, andALI certified to meet ANSI/ALI ALCTV-2006 safety standards. They are manu-

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Revolution lifts are backed by morethan 85 years of lift design and manufac-turing experience, plus an unmatched net-work of factory-trained distributors andinstallers who can provide convenient in-stallation, parts and service.

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To learn more about Revolution Lift,contact your local Rotary Lift distributor,log on to www.revolutionlift.com or call(800) 604-3359.

About Revolution LiftRevolution Lift manufactures commer-cial-grade two-post, four-post and spe-cialty lifts for use in professionalautomotive service facilities and at home.Revolution is the low-cost lift line youcan trust. All Revolution Lift products aremanufactured to the highest quality stan-dards in ISO 9001 certified factories andfeature reliable safety features as part oftheir design.

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Tom Williamson has owned and operatedmultiple body shops over many years. He’sdiscovered a formula for success that in-cludes a team of people whom he trusts todo a great job; by building referral rela-tionships with new car dealerships, and bycarefully choosing insurance Direct RepairPrograms (DRPs).

Williamson, 57, owns Marina AutoBody, with two locations in Southern Cal-ifornia. Both shops are flourishing despitetough economic times by building solidpartnerships, riding a strong reputation andstressing customer service above every-thing else.

Williamson’s Marina Del Rey loca-tion operates out of a 25,000 square-footfacility, employing 39 people and repair-ing 275–300 cars per month. The other lo-cation in Huntington Beach is in a 10,000square-foot facility, employing ten peopleand repairing 75 cars per month.

“They’re two very different sizes andtypes of businesses, but we run both ofthem using the same principles. In the end,it comes down to satisfying our customers,which are in three key groups—car own-ers, insurance companies, and the dealer-ships we work with. You can have the rightequipment, best people, and use top tech-niques to fix these vehicles, but the basicsall apply. It comes down to CSIs (customerservice indexes) in this industry. And, itcan either make you or break you.”

Marina Auto Body has done remark-ably well during the recession andWilliamson credits that success to buildinga strong reputation in the past decades. Heunderstands that a company is only as greatas the employees who help run it and main-tain credible relationships with their clients.

“We’re down a little because of theeconomy, but we are still keeping our carcounts high. We’re fortunate, because manyshops are having a difficult time in this area.I believe one of the main reasons we’redoing well is because our team is constantlyworking towards improvements.”

Williamson’s method of sharing em-ployees between his two locations hasproven to run his shops more efficiently.“We have to find economies of scale.There is not enough margin in this businessto ignore savings where we can take ad-vantage of them. By utilizing key employ-ees in both locations we’re able to takeadvantage of those resources,” he said.

One of the reasons Marina Auto Bodyhas held its own is its tenacity in improvingproduction processes and techniques. Inearly 2008, Marina Auto Body began usinga tracking and analysis system developedby The Fix Auto Group. This allowed thecompany to change the way the shops wereperforming, based on the information theyreceived from their customers.

“We joined Fix Auto in ’08 and theyhelped us open our eyes. From the data andcustomer feedback they made available tous, we found out who we really were as acompany. We were able to determine whatwas missing to, not only, become better, butalso compare ourselves against our peers.We found out that we were doing a goodjob, but not a great job each time. As a team,we made diligent and appropriate changesand have seen better results overall.”

Williamson said the majority of Ma-rina Auto Body’s revenue is evenly splitbetween working with dealerships and in-surance companies. “It’s a good mix. Ihave several DRP’s and referral relation-ships with three key dealerships (Toyota ofHuntington Beach, Toyota of Marina DelRey, and W.I. Simonson Mercedes-Benz).They’re our referral source in each case.While these dealerships don’t have theirown collision facilities, we’re proud to act

as their preferred repair facility. They sendus their clients and in return we purchaseall of our parts for each Toyota and Mer-cedes-Benz from them. We’re satellite op-erations for these three accounts, and itworks very well for our mutual customers.”

It’s a comfortable situation because,by working with a wide range of clients,

Williamson never puts too many of hiseggs in one basket. “I’ve always felt likewe need a blend of DRP’s and dealershipwork. When the dealerships are recom-mending us, it’s a win-win, because thecustomer in most cases is going to say,‘this must be a pretty good shop and let’stake our vehicle there.’ Then, when theycome to one of our shops, they see a pro-fessional operation. Immediately they no-tice that we all have the appropriatetraining, the latest equipment, and that weprovide great service. After the job is com-pleted, we follow it up with CSIs.

“These dealership relationships en-hance our credibility and our reputation,but then we have to deliver every time tomaintain those levels. If we didn’t perform,we wouldn’t still have these great relation-ships with both the insurance companiesand the dealerships. You’re only as goodas your last job in this industry, and weknow it,” said Williamson.

Williamson needs to keep all of hisclients happy, but he knows the car owneris the most important cog in the wheel.

“Everything is driven by customer service,bottom line. The person who brings theircar into our shops has to leave here feelingbeyond satisfied every time. Sure, we wantour insurance partners and our dealershipshappy, but what we focus on is the finaluser. Without their respect and positivefeedback, we wouldn’t succeed.

“We work with the DRP’s we’ve se-lected and we believe that the insurancecompanies we’re working with today arevery pro-customer. They want their cus-tomer’s vehicles to be repaired to pre-ac-cident condition. They’re not looking forthe cheapest, but want customer satisfac-tion. You hear it over and over again fromall of the really good carriers. It’s aboutpolicy retention and not about doing acheap repair.”

Williamson admitted that there arenever easy solutions or simple answers tothe questions surrounding what type ofpart to put on a particular car. “At times it’san issue, because in many instances cus-tomers are bewildered when we have tocall them and tell them that their insurance

Marina Auto Body Melds Dealership Relationships & Selected DRPs








Automaker Actions and Announcementswith Janet Chaney


I-CAR Tech

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Say What?!

Say What?!

Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based inSan Francisco, California. He can be reached [email protected].

Between their two locations in Southern California,Marina Auto Body repairs an average of nearly 400cars per month.

A clean, comfortable customer waiting room atMarina Auto Body in Huntington Beach keepsclients content.


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company requested that they put an after-market or used part on a car.

“I have no problem with a used part. Ifit’s an OE part, I have no issues selling it andwe communicate that fact to the customer.

If their insurance company wants to put anaftermarket part on the customer’s car andthey agree to it and it doesn’t fit, we won’tput it on their vehicle. When that happens,we’ll get the insurance company to come outand inspect. In most cases, after someonefrom the insurance company has seen in forthemselves, they’ll then allow us to put anOE part on that car. The parts are getting bet-ter, but we still experience fit problems.”

What does Williamson expect from aquality parts vendor? “The two most valu-able things a vendor can bring to the tableare knowledge and value. Our Mercedes-Benz and Toyota dealerships do an out-standing job and our relationship withthem is great. Sure, quality and price are

important, but in the end there is no sub-stitute for a vendor’s product knowledge.”

Marina Auto Body has had great expe-riences with their parts vendors, because theyshop around and find the ones that fit intotheir system most effectively. “If they don’thave everything you’re looking for, find avendor that does. Our dealerships started lis-tening to their customers loud and clear longago, so they have the right people in theirwholesale parts departments which makeeverything easier. They do a great job.”

Continually refining and improvingyour business in this industry isWilliamson’s final piece of advice to hisfellow shop owners. “If we don’t strive tobe better, we’re going to be extinct pretty

quickly. We need to do it by embracingnew technology, instituting employeetraining to insure proper repair techniquesand emphasizing customer service whilekeeping it a priority.”

Marina Auto Body (Orange County)17911 Georgetown LaneHuntington Beach, CA 92647(714) 848-3178www.marinaautobodyhb.com

Marina Auto Body (Los Angeles)4095 Redwood AvenueLos Angeles, CA 90066(310) 822-6615www.marinaautobody.com

Body Tech Jorge Jimenez sets up a 2010 Mer-cedes-Benz GLK on a Celette bench at Marina AutoBody.


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southwestern may 2010

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