autobody news september 2011 western edition

Autobody News Congratulates the Collision Industry’sMost Influential Women of 2011, Thanks to AkzoNobel

Russell Thrall III Mike Condon

Doug Craig George Avery

We were thrilled to have our Barbara Davies, General Manager and co-owner of Autobody News, selected as one of the five most influential womenin the collision industry in 2011. We know what she does and how hard sheworks. Pictured with Barbara (l to r, right photo) are Sharon Mazanec,Jennifer Justice-Hayley, Susanna Gotsch and Michelle Rolls.

Ford Releases video show-ing differential performancebetween OE and A/M parts.Questions whether airbagswould deploy correctly.

See Ford and ABPA, Page 44

ABPA counters with theirown video demonstrationshowing neglible differ-ences in airbag deploy-ment at low & high speedcollisions.See Ford and ABPA, Page 44

Toby Chess clarifies the origin of the parts discussed inhis CIC presentation this July. He says repairers shouldpost images of parts, whether A/M or OE, that don’t fitcorrectly on a blog site.

See Hey Toby Column, Page 40

See John Yoswick Column, Page 22The Debate about Industry Standards at CIC

With NACE and CARS in Orlandoa little over a month away ...

See NACE Crowds, Page 36

we wanted to know more about the keynotespeaker, social media guru Chris Brogan...

by Anthony J. Mamo, Jr., Attorney

When I first met Greg Coccaro, theowner of North State Custom inBedford Hills, New York, I was im-mediately struck by his passion forhis business, his customers and his

industry. But it was his frustrationwith the inequities inherent in hischosen field that truly captured myattention. I listened as Greg ex-plained to me what a DRP was, howhis labor rate was determined bySee North State v. Progressive, Page 56

North State v. Progressive—What the NY SupremeCourt’s Recent Decision Might Mean for Your Business

Greg Coccaro Anthony J. Mamo

CaliforniaNevadaArizona YEARS www.autobodynews.com

3030ww.autobodynews.comww

WesternEdition

VOL. 29 ISSUE 9SEPTEMBER 2011

PresortedStandardUSPostage

PAIDOntario,Ca.PermitNo.1

P.O.BOX1516,CARLSBAD,CA92018

ChangeServiceRequested

2 SEPTEMBER 2011 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2011 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

REGIONAL2012 NABC Annual Fundraiser to Be Held in

Palm Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10BMW, Teamsters Reach Deal to Keep CA

Parts Depot Open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Bob Baptiste Appointed to CAWA Board

of Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4CA Insurance Commissioner Announces

10.7 Percent Decrease in GEICO AutoInsurance Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CAA San Diego Chapter to Hold MonthlyMeeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

CAWA Will Install Officers for the 2012 Yearat SEMA 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CCAR Grows its GreenLink Shop Program . . . 4Chief Automotive Technologies Opens New

Research and Specifications Center inIrvine, CA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

East Bay CAA Chapter Hosts 25th AnnualChapter Golf Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Gene Crozat Family Opens Newest G&CLocation in Novato . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Gerber Glass Services Receives Award fromCA Casualty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Google’s Self Driving Prototype Involved inThree-Car Collision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Man Attempts To Steal Car From Escondido,CA, Auto Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Nevada Becomes First State to IssueRobo-Car Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Nevada Governor Takes Spin in Google’sDriverless Car. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Nevada Insurance Commissioner Resigns,Effective August 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Two Southern CA Insurance Agencies Merge . 8

COLUMNSAttanasio, GFS - Trial by Fire: Indianapolis Body

Shop Turns a Potential Tragedy into a Win-Winwith a State-of-the-Art GFS Paint Booth . . 21

Attanasio, Mattei - Brown Auto Body AppreciatesMattei’s Rotary Vane Compressors. . . . . . 39

Attanasio, PPG - Pennsylvania Body ShopOutshines with PPG’s Aquabase® PlusWaterborne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Attanasio - How to Fix Your Damaged OnlineReputation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Brown - Arizona’s Auto Body World Expandsto Chandler with Eighth Location. . . . . . . . 18

Chess - Confusion over Certified Parts at CIC. 40Espersen - Estimators – The Front Line in the

Battle for Profitability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Evans - This Year’s Entry for the SEMA

Pinewood Derby 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Franklin - Long or Short Ad—Which is Best? . 16Insurance Insider - Ridiculous DRP Requirements?

Guess Why They’re Asking . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Schroeder - TGIF Body Shop—Complete

Body Repair and Fleet Services. . . . . . . . . 38Sisk - NACE/CARS Receiving Renewed

Enthusiasm from East Coast Shops . . . . . 61Weaver - Is It ‘Change Is a Good Thing’ or

‘It’s Good That Things Change’?. . . . . . . . 35Williams - Acura of Westchester . . . . . . . . . 32Yoswick - CIC, Consultant, Seeking Views on

Industry Repair Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Zurada - Tips for Negotiating a Commercial

Lease For Your Body Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

NATIONALAkzoNobel Presents 2011 FIT Sustainability

Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26ASRW Expands its Town Hall Event to Include

Health Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20ASRW Partners with Muscle Car Network of

Florida at Expo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12BASF to Return to NACE Expo for First Time

Since 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20BK Listings: Marketing Automotive Businesses

Through Innovative Listings . . . . . . . . . . . 45Chevy Volt Sales Slow to Grow, Nissan Leaf

Worse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Chrysler Recalls Up To 370,000 ‘08 Minivans . 34CollisionLink Represents ‘Inevitable Change’

Says Major Parts Dealer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30CREF and CCC Name Five Student

Scholarship Winners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Domestics More Popular Among Auto

Thieves Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Enterprise Rent-A-Car Makes $11,000

Donation to CREF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Ford Minivans Not Subject to Recall,

Infrequent Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Ford Partners Azure on F-Series Plug in

Hybrids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Ford Releases Another Crash Test Video

Comparing OEM to Aftermarket CrashParts, ABPA Responds with its ownCrash Test Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Ford to Recall 1.22 M Trucks, Fuel Tank Straps. 34GMHas No Recall on its Tahoe and Yukon SUVs. 34GM Recalls Over 16K Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Handling People, Including Insurance Adjusters,

Means Negotiating Effectively . . . . . . . . . . 42Hertz Files Premerger Notice with Federal

Antitrust Regulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Hertz to Acquire Donlen in $930M Transaction . 46Honda Accord, Buick Enclave, Chevy Traverse

get 5 stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Honda Recalls 2.5 Million Vehicles for

Software Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Honda to Recall 1.5M CRVs, Elements, Accords. 34How Shop Owners Can Take Advantage

of Salvage Auctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54I-CAR Board of Directors Welcomes New

Board Member, James Roach, AmericanHonda Motor Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

I-CAR Offers New Course on ElectronicsDamage Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Lincoln Electric Acquires Torchmate Parent. . 44Mitchell Releases Industry Trends Report for

Q3 of 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12My Take On the I-CAR Training Issue . . . . . . 28NACE/CARS Program Expected to Draw

Larger Crowds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36NHTSA Investigates BMW for Potential

Rollaways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Repairer-Driven Education at SEMA Gets

Support from PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20SCRS Conducts Survey of 17 Insurers on

Aftermarket Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20The New Lean, Customer-Centric Body Shop. 56Truck Driver Behavior Now Trackable with

New Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Contents

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

Serving California, Nevada and Arizona, Autobody Newsis a monthly publication for the autobody industry. Per-mission to reproduce in any form the material publishedin Autobody News must be obtained in writing from thepublisher. ©2011 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody NewsP.O. Box 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018(800) 699-8251 (760) 721-0253 Faxwww.autobodynews.comEmail: [email protected]

AAPEX Trade Show . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .59Autoland Scientech . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Automotive ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46BASF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9BK Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45BMW of Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . .43Buerge Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . .15California Superstores . . . . . . . . . . .16Carlsen Volvo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Chief Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62Completes Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Crevier BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Downtown Motors of LA(Audi, VW, Porsche) . . . . . . . . . . .53

Drew Hyundai-Volkswagen . . . . . . .44DuPont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Elk Grove Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Enterprise Rent-A-Car . . . . . . . . . . .61Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Ford Wholesale Parts DealersAZ, CA, & NV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Galpin Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32, 37Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Glenn E. ThomasChrysler-Jeep-Dodge .7Global Finishing Solutions . . . . . . . .20GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . .56Honda/Acura Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . .54Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers .47LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63Mattei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .58MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .48Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers .59MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . .33Moss Bros. Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . .11NACE Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49Nick Alexander BMW . . . . . . . . . . . .13Nick Alexander MINI . . . . . . . . . . . .64Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale Parts Dealers .50Normandin Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . .11NRD Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2PreFab Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Pro-Spray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Rally Hyundai-Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30Rally Mitsubishi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Rare Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12RBL Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41Rely-On Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . .6Replica Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57Riverside Metro VW-Honda-Hyundai-Nissan-Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Safety Regulation Strategies . . . . . .40SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . .23SEMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Shingle Springs Nissan-Subaru . . .22Sierra Chevrolet-Honda-Mazda-Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .51Timmons VW-Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . .55Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .60VIM Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58VolkswagenWholesale Parts Dealers .52Volvo Crash Wholesale Dealers . . .48Weatherford BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Inde

xofAdvertisers

Western


The Coordinating Committee ForAutomotive Repair announced theexpansion of its GreenLink Shop pro-gram to include shops in New Mex-ico and North Carolina on July 28.

GreenLink Shop serves to pro-mote consumer confidence in localauto shop environmental awarenessand stewardship. It is an expansion ofthe CCAR-GreenLink Environmen-tal Compliance Assistance Center andS/P2 Safety and Pollution Preventione-learning program.

The recently certified shops are:

• Car Crafters, Albuquerque, NM• Darrell Allen Body Shop, Burling-ton, NC• F. Lofrano & Son Collision Center,San Rafael, CA

Repair facilities pursuing Green-Link shop recognition must maintainhigh standards of excellence in envi-ronmental, health and safety practicesin four categories: employee training,safety compliance and environmentalmanagement.

Separate criteria are establishedfor auto service facilities and colli-sion repair shops. For more informa-tion visit www.ccar-greenlink.org.

CCAR Grows its GreenLinkShop Program

California Casualty ManagementCompany, based in San Mateo, CA,presented its 2010 Customer ServiceExcellence Award to Gerber NationalGlass Services.

“We are very excited to receivethe award from California Casualty,”said Mark Flasch, general managerof Gerber National Glass Services.“We are proud that our efforts havetranslated into the highest level ofcustomer satisfaction for CaliforniaCasualty policyholders.”

California Casualty AssistantVice President Michael Lloyd saidthe Gerber National Glass ServicesTeam provides excellence in customerservice to company policyholders.

“We recognize that it is critical toacknowledge these efforts,” Lloydsaid. “I was privileged to go to bothof their Call Centers in Paducah, KYAnd Ft. Myers, FL recently to demon-strate how essential their daily workproduct is for California Casualty. Wewanted to show Gerber’s associateshow important their work is to ourcompany and how much it is sincerelyappreciated.”

For more information on Cali-fornia Casualty, visit calcas.com.

Gerber Glass Services ReceivesAward from CACasualty

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jonesissued the following statement re-garding GEICO’s recently approvedrate filing, reducing auto insurancerates for its California policyholdersby 10.7 percent:

“I am happy to announce that therate filing submitted to my Depart-ment by GEICO has been approvedsaving GEICO’s policyholders inCalifornia millions of dollars annu-ally,” said Commissioner Jones. “It isgood news when consumers pay lessfor premiums and are able to keepmore of their earnings.”

“We at GEICO are proud to haveour regional headquarters in Califor-nia and we’re even prouder to be ableto deliver great rates and service toCalifornians,” said Shawn Burklin,GEICO regional vice president.“GEICO is committed to its policy-holders in the Golden State and willcontinue to provide the great cus-tomer service they have come to ex-pect from us.”

According to GEICO, the ratefilings were approved on June 2 andthe rate decrease will be effective Au-gust 15, 2011.

GEICO policyholders in the LAMetro area will realize an averagesavings of $238 on their premiumsannually.

Approximately 98,000 policy-holders in the San Diego area willsave, on average, $163 on their pre-miums annually.

GEICO’s policy holders state-wide will realize an average annualsavings of $127.

The rate filing included GEICO,GEICO General and GEICO Indem-nity, which provide coverage to,717,443 GEICO auto policyholders inCalifornia. This premium reductionwill save them $91 million dollars an-nually.

GEICO has 841,000 GEICOpolicies in California, making thecompany the seventh largest auto in-surer in the state and the fastest-growing.

GEICO’s premium rate reduc-tion approval is the most recent ratedecrease approved by the CaliforniaDepartment of Insurance.

CA Insurance Commissioner Announces 10.7 PercentDecrease in GEICO Auto Insurance Rates

Bob Baptiste has been appointed tothe California/Nevada/Arizona Auto-motive Wholesalers Association’s(CAWA) Board of Directors represent-ing Performance Warehouse – BaxterAuto Parts in Sacramento, California.

He was appointed by Chair of theBoard, Mary Davis of NGK SparkPlugs in Sacramento. “Mr. Baptistehas a long and distinguished career inthe automotive aftermarket industrystarting in the family business as manyof our members have done” saidDavis. “Mr. Baptiste’s breadth of in-dustry experience will be a great addi-tion to the board of directors and we’llwelcome his contributions to the auto-motive aftermarket industry and itstrade Association out west”, said ChairDavis following the appointment.

CAWAis an automotive aftermar-ket trade association, which representsauto parts jobbers, warehouse distribu-tors, retailers, manufacturers and man-ufacturer representatives in California,Nevada and Arizona. The Associationprovides education, legislative, regula-tory and business support to the indus-try and its membership.

For more information visitwww.cawa.org.

Bob Baptiste Appointed toCAWA Board of Directors

At its annual meeting to kick off thisyear’s Industry Week in Las Vegas onOctober 30, 2011, the California/ Ne-vada/Arizona Automotive Whole-salers Association (CAWA) willinstall the following individuals toserve as officers for the 2012 year:• Chair of the Board – Steve Sharp,WORLDPAC• Vice Chair of the Board – EdJimenez, Riebe’s Auto Parts• Treasurer – Ron Cannon,Charleston Auto Parts• Secretary – Ron Aparicio, WalkerProducts• Immediate Past Chair of the Board– Mary Davis, NGK Spark Plugs(U.S.A.) , Inc.

For more information pleasevisit www.cawa.org.

CAWAWill Install Officers forthe 2012 Year at SEMA 2011

e-mail:[email protected]

800-699-8251

To advertisecall Joe Momber at:

CALL 800-699-8251

The source for timelyinformation that every

body shop needs!

By Ed Attanasio

Some yelled “Fore” while others ex-claimed “Duck!” but in the end, 62golfers of varying skill levels partici-pated in the California Autobody As-sociation East Bay Chapter’s 25thAnnual Golf Tournament at DiabloCreek Golf Course in Concord, Calif.on a sunny Saturday, July 30th.

Followed by a great dinner andraffle prize giveaways galore, EastBay CAA members and their friendsplayed 18 holes while enjoying a rare

day of good weather. Matt Pattersonfrom Airbagservice.com won thegrand prize, a beautiful deluxe BBQwith all the bells and whistles that wasdonated by Hertz.

If you haven’t played in a tourna-ment like this and you’re not familiarwith how these events go, here arethree valuable tips: First rule: Alwaysbring a ringer (or two). Second rule:Fudge your score (it’s not cheating un-less you get caught and everyone elsedoes it!) and Three: Have fun anddon’t get too competitive (a rule manyserious golfers always forget.)

Lisa Daves, the East Bay CAAchapter’s president was thrilled to seea great turnout for the tournament.

“We raised a lot of money for ourscholarship pool and everyone had anoutstanding time,” she said. “I’d liketo thank all of the volunteers and thecompanies that donated raffle prizes.It’s amazing to think that this tourna-ment has been going for a quarter cen-tury now without interruption and itshows that we’re a strong chapter sup-ported by our membership and peoplein this industry who care.”

Here is the list of the winners:1st Place Team: Gary Phillips, JimRyan, Mike Reichmuth and GuyWeirich2nd Place Team: Kevin Miller, MikeFoley, Dennis Manzer and RickStucken3rd Place Team: Chris Martinez,Rick Ranger, Jim Weins and BrianHalesClosest to Pin #4: KevinMiller (2’3”)Closest to Pin #13: Frank Imburgio(9’ 11”)Closest to Pin #17: Sonny Gonzales(8’ 5”)Winner-Putting Contest: JerryManzer (28”)Longest Drive: Randi Seuferer

East Bay CAA Chapter Hosts 25th Annual Chapter Golf Tournament


BMW AG and the InternationalBrotherhood of Teamsters reached adeal August 11 that will prevent thelayoff of 68 workers at a parts distri-bution center in California, the unionsaid according to the Detroit News.

BMW had planned to lay offworkers at the automaker’s Ontario,CAplant at the end of the month and toreopen the facility with an outsourced,low-paid managerial, clerical andwarehouse work force, the union said.The Teamsters had protested at 50BMW dealerships across the countrythis month in 11 states, includingMichigan, California and New York.Under a deal announcedAugust 11, thecurrent contract will be extended forsix months at BMW’s parts distribu-tion facility. BMW managementagreed to work with the Teamsters toreach a “mutually acceptable solutionthat addresses long-term employment”for the current BMW workforce in On-tario, CA, the union said in a statement.

“This agreement shows whatTeamsters can do when we stand to-gether and fight back,” said TeamstersGeneral President JimHoffa. “Team-sters and unions that represent BMWand supply-chain workers across theglobe, took part in numerous solidarityactions in support of these workers.”

BMW, Teamsters Reach Dealto Keep CA Parts Depot Open

The San Diego chapter of the Cali-fornia Autobody Association willhold their monthly members meetingon September 27th at 7PM at TomHam’s Lighthouse, 2150 Harbor Is-land Dr. San Diego, CA 92101.

The main topic for the meetingwill be “How to Capture, Service, andRetain More Cars, Customers, Revenueand Profit with Digital Marketing” withspeakerFrankTerlep of Summit Soft-ware and Mobile Solutions, Inc.

Terlep is the author of the book“The Digi-Lean Collision Repair Sys-tem”, and the inventor of the patent-pending “Help I Crashed My Car”, anext generation customer service,sales, marketing, advertising, andcommunication platform.

Frank will be discussing keytopics such as 10 new digital market-ing tools and technologies. These top-ics include Using Digital Marketingto drive more cars, customers, andrevenues to your shop; Social Media;The importance of on-line customersurveys, reviews, and comments;Mobile; And the Digital Deals.

Mail your check and reserveyour seats now.

Check In and “Meet & Greet”starts at 6:30pm. Meeting StartsPromptly at 7:00pm.

CAA San Diego Chapter toHold Monthly Meeting

From left, Hellen Pezzotti from Hertz; GigiWalker, owner of Walkers Auto Repair & FleetRepair; Kathy Mello, owner of TGIF Collision;East Bay CAA Chapter President Lisa Davesand Lynn Miller greeted the golfers and ran aflawless tournament

From left, Volunteers Jen Gallego, TiffanySilva, owner of Accurate Auto Body; and Jes-sica Cichon hosted the 17th Casino Hole atthe East Bay CAA’s annual golf tournament

From left, BMW Concord came out to play ina big way, with (from left) Parts Manager GaryDaniel; Collision Center Manager Kevin Miller;Parts Advisor Greg Chittum and WholesaleParts Manager Doug Boam

Beshoff Motors Parts Director Randi Seuferer(left) and SSF Auto Parts Sales Manager/Colli-sion Group Bill Foxworthy shot for the greensand stayed on the fairways at the East BayCAA Golf Tournament. Duffers from PebbleBeach to Augusta are still talking aboutSeuferer’s monster shot that won thelongest drive!


• Large Inventory of Volvo Genuine Parts• Extensive Parts Experience• 3 Delivery Trucks with Cell Phones Making Two

Deliveries Daily to Most North and South Bay

Call Today! 800-70-VOLVO Parts Direct 650-493-3205Fax 650-493-1516

4180 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Hours: Mon - Fri 7:30am - 5:30pmwww.carlsenvolvo.com

Passion for PerformanceNevada’s State Business & Industry Di-rector Terry Johnson announced thattwo agencies within his department willsee a change in leadership on August 1,according to Insurance Journal.

Division of Insurance Commis-sionerBrett J. Barratt has resigned hispost, effectiveAugust 12. He will be re-locating out of state for personal rea-sons. Amy Parks, currently ChiefCounsel for the Division, will be theActing Insurance Commissioner.

Labor Commissioner MichaelTanchek will leave his post to join theDivision of Industrial Relations.Tanchek, a licensed attorney, will jointhe Division’s legal team.LarryDizon,currently the Labor Commissioner’sChief Investigator, will become ActingLabor Commissioner.

Johnson said that he will immedi-ately begin recruiting for a new Insur-ance Commissioner and a new LaborCommissioner.

Parks and Dizon will serve as act-ing commissioners until final appoint-ments are made.

Nevada Insurance CommissionerResigns, Effective August 12

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval got be-hind the wheel of a Toyota Prius onJuly 27 and left the driving to a com-puter for a test drive through the cap-ital and a scenic valley, according toClaims Journal.

Sandoval became the first gov-ernor in the nation to test drive therobot-car technology Google Inc. istesting in Nevada.

“All of it is amazing,” Sandovalsaid after the gas-electric hybrid—with a spinning gizmo on its roof—pulled into a parking space in front ofthe Nevada Department of Motor Ve-hicles. “It’s another compliment toAmerican engineering.”

The gizmo is a laser rangefinder. The cars are also equippedwith radar, sensors and computersthat allow the vehicles to drive them-selves.

Nevada lawmakers approved abill this year allowing the cars onNevada roadways (see adjacentstory). Another bill exempts opera-tors of robotic vehicles from a tex-ting-while-driving ban that takeseffect Jan. 1.

“I think it’s important for Ne-vada to be first on this,” Sandovalsaid. “This is going to be part of the

future, and Nevada has always beena very progressive state.”

Sandoval, with Google engineerChris Urmson riding shotgun andDMV Director Bruce Breslow in theback seat, drove from the DMV of-fices to the middle of Washoe Valleyabout 10 miles north before turningaround.

The governor took manual con-trol of the car for a while but wasamazed at its maneuverings while onautopilot.

“It accounts for all the safetyissues,” Sandoval said. “It even tellsyou when a crosswalk is comingup.”

The technology is not yet avail-able commercially, and the DMV isin the process of developing regula-tions for licensing the cars, said DMVspokesman Tom Jacobs, who got totake a spin in the driverless auto ear-lier in the day.

Meanwhile, Google officials,who did not want to speak with re-porters, have been mapping thestate’s roadways.

If the car enters an area that has-n’t been mapped, Jacobs said a fe-male voice will tell the operator,“Please drive.”

Nevada Governor Takes Spin in Google’s Driverless Car

Two independent insurance brokers an-nounced August 1 they are joiningforces to become one of the largest in-surance brokerages in Los Angeles andVentura counties, according to Insur-ance Journal.

The August 1st agreement com-bines Northridge Insurance Agency(NIA) in the San Fernando Valley withthe Scanlon Guerra Burke (SGB) oper-ation in Woodland Hills. In additionNIAbrings their office locations in Ven-tura and Thousand Oaks.

The two agencies combined willhave over 70 employees and will offerall lines of insurance for both businessesand individuals.

SGB was started by Scanlon’s fa-ther in 1964 and has developed a nicheserving the manufacturing and tool in-dustry in Los Angeles County, the SanFernando Valley and Ventura Countyareas.

NIAwas started in 1931 in the SanFernando Valley and expanded to threelocations. Partners Stuart Lorch, PaulNewman, Paul Roth, Tom LemanandSteveRuehlen purchased the com-pany in June 2006.

NIAoffers all lines of personal in-surance, business insurance, life andhealth insurance, and employee bene-fits.

Two Southern CaliforniaInsurance Agencies Merge

Google has been developing auto-mated cars that drive themselves, pro-ducing enough evidence to Nevada’sState legislature to create a licence es-pecially for self-driving cars (see ad-jacent stories). Since then, itstechnology has been legally drivinghundreds of thousands of miles in Cal-ifornia, however mishaps have oc-cured. Google’s Prius project carrear-ended another Prius just outsideof Google’s Mountain View head-quarters in California.

Google released a statement onthe incident highlighting that safety istheir first priority. They also claim thatthe self-driving car was being drivenby a person at the time, which is whyit resulted in an accident. In fact, atotal of three cars were involved, twoPriuses (Prii) and a Honda Accord.

Google’s driving cars use a com-plex combination of laser and imag-ing systems to help identify potentialhazards.

Google Spokesman Jay Nanacar-row pointed out to NBC Bay AreaNews that since Google’s self-drivingprototypes hit the road last year, “thecars have traveled 160,000 miles au-tonomously without incident.”

Nevada Becomes First State toIssue Robo-Car LicensesNevada is on course to become thefirst state to approve robo-cars on theroad . The state passed a bill that au-thorizes the Department of MotorVehicles to begin drafting rules for“autonomous vehicles” like the onesthat Google is building and testing inCalifornia.

Nevada residents won’t havetheir roads taken over by robotic carsovernight. The legislation is only apreliminary move.

The bill goes into effect onMarch 1, 2012, and gives officialsthe go-ahead to work out car certifi-cation standards, insurance guide-lines and other rules that would applyto robotic cars. The DMV also willmark out areas of the state where thecars can be tested. According to thebill, these rules would apply to carsthat use sensors, global positioningsystems and artificial intelligence todrive “without the active interventionof a human operator.” Google startedtesting the “automated cars” last yearand logged 140,000 test miles in theBay Area (with engineers in the frontseat). Google’s cars are designed tonavigate traffic using Google’s mas-sive data centers.

Google’s Self Driving PrototypeInvolved in Three-Car Collision

www.autobodynews.comCHECK IT OUT!

The National Auto Body Council(NABC) has selected January 11,2012 for its upcoming annual golfevent fundraiser, which will againtake place at the Tahquitz Creek GolfResort in Palm Springs, California.

The event is held in conjunctionwith the NABC’s open board meeting,which will take place the previousday, January 10.

Because it is a major source offunding for the NABC, the fundrais-ing event plays an integral part in pro-viding the resources that support theorganization in its mission of improv-ing the image of all dedicated colli-sion industry professionals. Not onlydoes it help NABC implement theprograms and activities that define itand give shape to this purpose, it helpsreduce the cost of NABC’s programsfor participants, making them moreaffordable.

The fundraising golf event isopen to both individuals and teams,and will be played using a four-personscramble format. Breakfast will beserved at the course prior to the 10 amshotgun start and the event will con-

clude with a buffet reception, awardsceremony, and prize package draw-ings.

Transportation will be providedto and from the Palm Springs Hilton,the conference hotel, to the TahquitzCreek Golf Resort.

“As this event is the one and onlyfundraiser for the National Auto BodyCouncil, we are excited that the newstart time will allow for an entire dayat the course,” said David Merrell ofCSi Complete, who with DomenicBrusco of PPG is the NABC fundrais-ing committee co-chair. “Without thisevent and the industry’s support wecould not continue the mission and vi-sion of the NABC.”

Making the event even more spe-cial will be a vehicle gifting presenta-tion which is part of NABC’sRecycled Rides® program. The vehi-cle gifting will take place at the golfcourse before play begins.

Registration and sponsorship op-portunities will open soon and theevent has sold out on a regular basis.

Contact the NABC at 888-667-7433 or [email protected].

2012 NABC Annual Fundraiser to Be Held in Palm Springs


RadiatorsRadiatorsRadiatorsRadiatorsRadiatorsA/C CondensersA/C CondensersA/C CondensersA/C CondensersA/C Condensers

The Radiator and CondenserHeadquarters for Collision Centers

Mon-Fri7:30 am -6:00 pm

10425 S. La Cienega Blvd. > Los Angeles, CA 90045

Call our Cooling Specialists:888.500.6557

Fax: 310.703.5752www.completesplus.com

» Free Daily Delivery by 30 Company Trucks

» Free California Overnight Shipping

» Four Los Angeles Warehouses

» Limited Lifetime Warranty on All Radiators& Condensers

> Cindy Shillito,“The Radiator Girl”

NOWAVAILABLE:Cooling Fan

Assemblies!

In a special press briefing in recogni-tion of the opening of its new centerdevoted to research and specifica-tions, Brent Johnson, Chief GlobalSpecifications Manager, explainedthat Chief’s new 3,500 sq. ft. facilityis used to measure every new passen-ger vehicle sold in the U.S.

According to Johnson, Chiefstarted measuring every new vehiclein 1993, but the company providesdata on some models going back asfar as the 1970s. Chief uses OEMmeasurement data as often as possi-ble, but they still verify that data bymeasuring every car independently.

It takes approximately 12–14hours, or two full days, to completelymeasure each new vehicle. Chiefmeasures between 130–140 new ve-hicles in its U.S. Specification Centerevery year. Another 300 vehicles aremeasured by the other three Chiefspecification centers around theworld.

All of the vehicle measurementsare inputted to the Chief VelocityComputerized Frame-Measuring Sys-tem. Shops with Velocity systems sub-scribe to receive updated vehicleframe data regularly so they have allthe information they need in order toaccurately measure a collision-dam-aged car and return it to pre-accidentcondition. Johnson pointed out thatthe technicians in the Chief Specifica-tion Center use the same Velocity sys-tem to measure the new cars thattechnicians use in the shop, so thetechs are getting real-world data.

The information availablethrough Velocity includes descrip-

tions of measuringpoints as well asphotos, to make itas efficient as pos-sible for techni-cians to quickly andaccurately measurea vehicle. If a tech-nician runs intotrouble during themeasuring or repairprocess, Chief’stechnical supportstaff are availableto troubleshoot, andcan even access thetechnician’s Veloc-ity system if it’sconnected to the In-ternet.

Ken Boylan, Chief Training andSpecifications Manager, wrapped upthe tour by explaining the benefit toshops of measuring the entire car dur-ing the estimating process. “You can’tsee a 3 mm alignment problem but itcan play a huge role in the repair if itisn’t identified during the estimatingprocess,” he said. “Also, customersappreciate the extra effort a shop takeswhen it does a thorough evaluation.Customers have more confidence thatthe repair will be done right whenthey see a thorough evaluation, in-cluding measurements, done on thefront end. By using Velocity to meas-ure a vehicle, the shop can provide acustomer with a printout showing ex-actly what is wrong with the frame.That is a powerful sales tool and con-fidence builder. At the conclusion ofthe repair, Velocity enables the shopto printout a final report showing thatthe work was performed and the vehi-cle was returned to pre-accident con-dition. The customer confidence thatbuys for the shop is priceless.”

The new center is the newest ofChief’s four global specification centers.The others are in the Netherlands,Malaysia and China. This global com-mitment ensures that Chief can effi-ciently measure every vehicle produced,whether it’s in Europe, China or the Pa-cific Rim. Chief’s U.S. specificationcenter was previously located in Omaha,NE. Prior to that, it was in Torrance, CA.

For more information aboutChief’s new Research and Specifica-tion Center or the Chief Velocity Com-puterized Measuring System, contactChief at (800) 445-9262.

Chief Automotive Technologies Opens New Researchand Specifications Center in Irvine, CA.

Chief Automotive Technologies opens its new Research and Speci-fication Center in Irvine, CA. (l to r): Brent Johnson, Global Specifi-cations Manager; Mike Cranfill, VP of Collision, Vehicle ServiceGroup (VSG); Ken Boylan, Training & Specifications Manager; andRuben Castorena, Data & Specifications Technician


ASRW Partners with MuscleCar Network of Florida at ExpoASRW announced a new partnershipfor 2011 with the Muscle Car Networkof Florida. The Muscle Car Networkplans to display approximately 80 ve-hicles on the ASRW show floor atASRW, during the expo. The displayincludes rare, exotic and hot rod vehi-cles, which belong to members of thenetwork. Additionally, the Muscle CarNetwork plans to make a donation to alocal automotive charity Saturday,Oct. 8, to further education and train-ing for the next generation of automo-tive service and repair professionals.

“Our audience has a true passionfor automobiles, and we know they’llappreciate this collection of vehicles.We’re pleased to be partnered withthis group, and to have something newand exciting to offer at the show thisyear,” said Ron Pyle, ASA president.“We’re grateful for the opportunity togive back to the local Orlando-areacommunity, in appreciation of ourtime there.”

“This is a win-win for everyoneinvolved. We’re excited for the oppor-tunity to show off our ‘pride and joy’to the industry professionals who at-tend ASRW,” says J.R. Goodman,Muscle Car Network director.

CREF and CCC Name FiveStudent Scholarship WinnersThe Collision Repair Education Foun-dation and CCC Information Servicesnamed five exceptional students aswinners of the CCC Michael Salva-tore Memorial Student Repair Tech-nician Scholarship, renamed to honorthe memory of longtime CCC teammember Michael Salvatore. The CCCMichael Salvatore Memorial StudentRepair Technician Scholarship awardsscholarships to students currently en-rolled at eligible technical schoolsthroughout the country. The award re-cipients use the scholarship funds toreduce the balances on tuition loans orto reimburse tuition costs that accu-mulated during their education. Eachstudent will receive a scholarshipaward in the amount of $5,000. The2011 winners are:● ManuelAguilar, UTI (Sacramento,CA)● NabilAssad, Pennsylvania Collegeof Technology (Williamsport, PA)● Isaac Hostetter, Pennsylvania Col-lege of Technology (Williamsport, PA)● Ian Hilner, Pennsylvania Collegeof Technology (Williamsport, PA)● Michael Releford, Sowela Techni-cal Community College (LakeCharles, LA.)

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Makes$11,000 Donation to CREFEnterprise Rent-A-Car is the first rentalcar brand to receive the Collision RepairEducation Foundation’s Industry Lead-ership Circle donor designation throughits $11,000 donation to the organizationin 2011. This donation will support an-nual student scholarships, school grants,and the recently created Ultimate Colli-sion Education Makeover grant.

“Our partnership with the collisionrepair industry has been a key to oursuccess over the years,” said BruceClifton, vice president-insurance re-placement for Enterprise Rent-A-Car.“We are happy to assist the efforts of theCollision Repair Education Foundationto identify and develop the next gener-ation of industry leaders.”

Collision Repair Education Foun-dation Executive Director ScottKruger added, “Thanks to EnterpriseRent-A-Car for supporting the CollisionRepair Education Foundation and join-ing our efforts in supporting collisionrepair school programs and their stu-dents.

“The Industry Leadership Circleincludes a wide cross-section of the en-tire collision repair inter-industry andwe are pleased to have Enterprise as thefirst rental car company in the Circle.”

Domestics More PopularAmong Auto Thieves NowFor the first time since 2002, NICBdiscovered thieves preferred domesticnameplates over foreign brands, as in-dicated by the list of the 10 most stolenvehicles in the U.S. Among the top 10,Ford took three spots, Dodge held twoand Chevrolet held one, while the re-maining four were held by Honda,Toyota and Acura. However, the topthree positions continue to be held byHonda and Toyota models, a trend thatNICB said has been consistent since2000. According to an examination ofvehicle theft data submitted by law en-forcement to the National Crime In-formation Center in 2010, the moststolen vehicles in the nation were—1994 Honda Accord—1995 HondaCivic—1991 Toyota Camry—1999Chevrolet Pickup (Full Size)—1997Ford F150 Series/Pickup—2004Dodge Ram—2000 Dodge Caravan—1994 Acura Integra—2002 Ford Ex-plorer—1999 Ford Taurus. NICB sayscertain older cars and trucks are popu-lar with thieves because of the value oftheir parts — but many are not insuredagainst theft. Whereas newer, more ex-pensive and insured vehicles are oftenstolen to be resold intact with counter-feit VINs or shipped out of the country.

Mitchell International released theirthird quarter Industry Trends Reportthis month; the report focused on gasprices and their affect on car-buyingand car value trends. This issue alsodiscusses how volatile and sustainedhigh fuel prices are impacting insur-ance claims beyond a reduction inmiles driven.

Vice president of industry rela-tions for Mitchell International GregHorn talks about the role gas pricesplay in resale values of vehicles fromfuel-efficient to so-called gas guz-zlers.

“Fuel efficient vehicles tend torise more quickly and reliably in valueduring periods of high gas prices thangas guzzlers, which fall in value,”Horn said in the report.

The insurance and collision re-pair industries need the accuracy ofa true market survey method forvaluing a total loss because con-stantly fluctuating fuel prices movetoo fast, with too great an impact, forslower traditional ‘book value’ valu-ations to accurately reflect the trueactual cash value of total loss vehi-cles.”

Other valuable points of interestin the current issue of Mitchell’s ITRinclude:

Mitchell’s Q2-2011 data reflectan initial average gross Collision ap-praisal value of $2,761-$90 less thanthis same period last year. However,applying the indicated developmentfactor of 9% suggests a final Q2-2011 average gross collision ap-praisal value of $3,008. The averageActual Cash Value (ACV) of vehi-cles appraised for Collision lossesduring Q2-2011 was $13,705-an in-crease of $500 over the same periodlast year.

In Q2-2011, the average grossappraisal value for Comprehensivecoverage estimates processed throughMitchell servers was $2,854-com-pared to $2,625 in Q2-2010. Applyingthe prescribed development factor of1% for this data set produces an in-crease in the adjusted value to $2,883-reflecting the strong storm seasonwith many hail claims.

For more information aboutMitchell, visit www.mitchell.com.

To view the entire report pleasevisit www.autobodynews.com.

Mitchell Releases Industry Trends Reportfor Q3 of 2011


Wholesale Direct: 323.583.4108Parts Fax: 323.582.3709

Toll Free: 800.800.NICK

Nick Alexander BMWOriginal BMW Parts & Accessories

Nick Alexander BMW

(800) 800-NICKwww.alexanderbmw.com

6333 S. Alameda St. Los Angeles, CA 90001

Hours: M-F 8am-5:30pm; Sat 8am-4pm

www.alexanderbmw.comE-mail: [email protected]

95% Same Day Order Fill Rate. We Stock the Parts YouNeed to Serve Your Customers Quickly.Four Delivery Vehicles.Serving All of Los Angeles Metro Area and Nearby Cities.Ten Knowledgeable Parts Specialists with an Average of17 Years of Experience Ready to Serve You.Get the Correct & Complete Order the First Time.

Signing a commercial lease is one ofthe biggest, if not the biggest, finan-cial commitment your auto body re-pair business will make. Commercialleases are easy to commit to, full oftraps for the unwary, and very hard toget out of without significant pain andexpense. When you consider that acommercial auto body lease (five yearlease at a rental rate of $5,000) is a$300,000 commitment, it really paysto develop a basic understanding ofcommercial leases and to learn how toavoid common pitfalls.

Commercial leases are binding:A commercial lease is a specific typeof contract. In a commercial lease, theowner (landlord) of a building or landgrants your body auto body repairbusiness (tenant) the exclusive right touse some or all of the building or landin exchange for monthly payments ofrent. Commercial leases can be oral,though almost always the terms arespelled out in a very long written con-tract. Many commercial leases usepre-printed forms that are then furthermodified in the landlord’s favor by thelandlord’s lawyer through an adden-dum attached to the back of the lease.Commercial leases can be enforced incourt and the landlord almost alwayshas the advantage in a lawsuit becausethe contractual language favors him.

Understand the lease and bargain:Your job is to understand the unfavor-able terms and then bargain as hard aspossible to improve them. Even ifyou don’t completely succeed in elim-inating unfavorable terms, you willknow what you are agreeing to and bebetter prepared to fulfill the responsi-bilities that you are undertaking.

Consider what may go wrong:Think like a lawyer. This means tryingto figure out the different ways inwhich you and the landlord may endup in a dispute. Then negotiate the po-tential disputes with the landlord be-fore signing the lease so that the twoof you can figure out how to allocateresponsibility in the written lease. It isalways better to negotiate a resolutionof potential problems before signingthe lease rather than signing the lease

and then fighting in court over unclearor unfavorable provisions.

If it isn’t in writing, it doesn’t exist:When you bargain, never rely on oralpromises made to you by the landlordbefore or after the lease is signed.Most written leases have an entireparagraph devoted to disclaiming (i.e.denying) the existence of any oralagreement outside of the written termsof the lease and stating that any mod-ification to the lease must be made inwriting. If the landlord promises youimprovements to the building you arethinking about leasing, get the land-lord to describe in detailed writingwhat improvements will be made,when they will be made, and that thelandlord will pay for them. You canalso attach drawings to the lease thatillustrate the improvements to havefurther clarity. If the landlord objectsto putting any promises in writing orwaters down the promises once theyare written down there is an over-whelming chance that you will not getwhat the landlord promised orally.

Rent isn’t the only lease obligation:Many business owners bargain hardover the rent and then happily signany rental agreement given to them bythe landlord thinking that they got agreat deal. This is understandable.

The written lease contract is usu-ally difficult for a business person todigest because it is very lengthy, con-tains small type, and is commonlypacked with legal terms that are hardto decipher. When you are signing thelease, it is hard to image that there willever be any dispute between you andthe landlord. The tenant may be ex-cited about the new premises, the land-lord is on his or her best behavior, andall the fine print in the lease seems ir-relevant. Many business owners dis-cover that the fine print in the leaseobligates them not only to paymonthly rent but to also pay significantproperty taxes as well as maintenanceand utility expenses on top of the rent.

Do your homework:Most landlords will not guarantee thatthe rented premises are suitable for thetype of business you are planning to

run. The lease may permit you to run“an auto body repair business” ormore broadly a “car repair business”but not other businesses. However,this is not a guarantee that the city orcounty will permit you to run an autobody or any auto repair business in therented location. You must check cityand county records to determinewhether the landlord has received anynotices or warnings related to theproperty and talk to the zoning offi-cials. An auto body repair use thatwas permitted 20 years ago may nolonger be permitted today. Prior bodyrepair shops at the premises may havebeen granted an exception (been“grandfathered in”) and this exceptionmay not extend to you. Do not as-sume anything and whenever possiblemake the lease contingent on yourbusiness obtaining a use permit foryour auto body repair business.

You may be taking the premises

“as is”: Most of the time the ownerwill give you the rented premises “asis” meaning that they are not makingany guarantees or warranting aboutthe condition of the premises. Otherleases may provide for a very limitedwarranty meaning that the landlordwill fix certain problems but only ifthey are reported within 30 or 60 daysfrom the beginning of the lease. Mostauto body repair businesses may notlook like palaces but the structuralcondition of the leased premises doesmatter. Have a good contractor inspectthe premises you want to rent beforecommitting to the lease and either getthe landlord to commit in writing to fixitems at the landlord’s expense oragree to fix the items yourself but askfor a rent credit. Common problemsinclude cracking foundation, damagedwalls, leaking roof, non-functioningHVAC, and lack of compliance with

Tips for Negotiating a Commercial Lease For Your Body Shop


1715 Hacienda Dr.,Vista, CA 92081www.bmwofvista.com

Monday - Friday 7am - 7pmSaturday 8am - 5pm(No Saturday Deliveries)

Bill CoxBill CoxParts Manager:Parts Manager:(760) 208-2350(760) 208-2350Main Phone:Main Phone:

[email protected]@bmwofvista.comE-mail:E-mail:Mark CruegerMark Crueger

WholesaleParts Manager:WholesaleParts Manager:

(760) 940-6395(760) 940-6395Fax:Fax:(760) 208-2341(760) 208-2341Call Direct:Call Direct:

BMW of Vista

Original BMW Parts

bmwusa.com

Extensive original BMW parts inventoryFast, friendly service and delivery

Original BMW Parts & Accessories

See Commercial Leases, Page 17

with Attorney Martin ZuradaBody Shop Law Martin Zurada is a San Francisco-based attorney who regularly

advises and litigates on behalf of California’s auto body repairbusinesses. Contact him at: [email protected]

If you’ve ever received a long sales let-ter, you may have wondered why it wasfour or more pages long—and whowould expect you to read it all? In thedays before the Internet, e-mail andTwitter, snail-mail marketing often in-cluded these long sales letters. At thattime, statistics proved that recipientswho read these long letters were oftenthe ones who bought the product. Mywife’s ex-husband was an ad copy-writer who made a nice living fromwriting long ad copy, but no more.Today we’ve entered the era of theshort message. Twitter is a prime ex-ample. Ad copy must be 140 charactersor less. Most advertisers no longer be-lieve people will read long copy. Theassumption is most people have a veryshort attention span and a messagemust be fast, brief and dramatic to cap-ture viewer interest and attention.

Institutional advertising mightlead a shop owner to think all an ad

has to do is have an attention grab-bing image displaying the companyname and product. Nothing could befarther from the truth. National cor-porate products have large advertis-ing budgets and often simply try tokeep the product name in front of thepublic eye. A gigantic billboard mayhave a huge photo of an attractiveperson drinking that company’s bev-erage and the company name mightbe so small you could miss it if youdidn’t look closely. The thinking be-hind this is that repetitive viewingswill encourage sales of the product.Unless you have very deep pockets,don’t even think about advertisinglike this. But one aspect of this kindof ad is very accurate: Repetitiveviewing can result in a prospect try-ing or buying the product. The ques-tion is: what is the best media to useto convey that brief, repetitive mes-sage?

A good start is to think aboutwhere you can put a brief message sothat it will be seen over and over.One obvious place is a lighted win-dow sign if you have a window thatcan be seen from a street or road. Ifnot, the entrance to your drivewaymay front on a road or street whereyou can put up a changeable sign. Ahotel near me that has entertainmentand a lounge has a high, lighted signthat can be seen from the freeway.The sign always has a joke or a hu-morous quote plus an invite to theirlounge. When traffic backs up, it’sinevitable that most drivers will readthe sign, out of boredom if nothingelse. A changing message is the keyto getting readership. If you have awebsite or Facebook page or even aTwitter account, these are obviousplaces to run a continuously chang-ing message. Even a cheap, weekly-changing classified ad can be

effective. And of course, if you canafford it, radio and TV are ideal forthis kind of advertising.

Most ad sites are not very adapt-able to a changing message. Benchads, bus ads, print ads, flyers and busi-ness cards generally contain long-termmessages. Nevertheless, the brief,easy to read and understand messageis still a good choice. This oftencomes out in the form of a slogan. Agood rule of thumb is to challenge thereader with an apparent contradiction:“Can cheap auto body repair also behigh quality? Call us to find out!”“Can the dent or damage on your carbe fixed while you wait? Call us tofind out!” If someone is reading ashort ad, time, speed and cost are sureto be high priorities for him or her.Your tougher job is selling them oncoming in once they call.

It’s also important to not forgetthat a picture is often worth a thou-


On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

Tom Franklin has been a sales and marketing consultant for fifty years. He has writtennumerous books and provides marketing solutions and services for many businesses.He can be reached at (323) 871-6862 or at [email protected] Tom’s columns at www.autobodynews.com under Columnists > Franklin

Long or Short Ad—Which is Best?

ADA (lack of handicapped access).These issues can be very pricy to fix.

You may have to fix everything:Most commercial leases place the bur-den of fixing the premises mostly orentirely on the tenant. You may be ob-ligated to fix all problems with thepremises if the landlord does not pro-vide a warranty or the warranty ex-pires, and the lease makes fixing allproblems at the premises your re-sponsibility. Read the commerciallease carefully to determine whetherthe landlord is taking any responsibil-ity for repairs and whether or not theseresponsibilities expire shortly after thelease begins. Negotiate so that thelandlord agrees to fix any problemswith the roof, walls, foundation, andthe parking lot throughout the dura-tion of the lease.

Get a shorter lease with options:Try to avoid signing a long term leaseunless you are absolutely sure that youcan get the same length of lease with a

shorter initial term followed by severaloptions. A 10 year lease is not as goodas a 5 year lease with an option for an-other 5 year extension or a 3 year leasewith two 3 year extensions. Optionsgive you flexibility because near the endof the term you can choose to either ex-ercise the option or to let the lease ex-pire and move to another location.

Use CPI index for rent increases:If possible don’t tie the annual rentalincreases to a fixed percentage peryear unless the fixed annual rent in-crease is less than 3% per year. A lowinitial rent may grow significantlyover time if the rental increases eachyear outpace inflation. It is advisableto tie the rental increases to the localConsumer Price Index that tracks theactual inflation in your area. Thismeans that the rent will track inflationand therefore remain constant intoday’s dollars.

Good attorneys are useful:A good attorney, like a good doctor orcar mechanic, can be your best friend.It is always advisable to consult an at-torney before signing any significantcontract and this is especially true for a

commercial lease. Anyone who hasgone to court over a written contract willconfirm the old saying that “An ounceof prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

No matter how hard you negoti-ate you may still sign a commerciallease that favors the landlord. How-ever, given today’s poor economy andhigh vacancy rates, you owe it to your-self to get the best deal possible notjust on the rent but on the entire lease.

Martin Zurada regularly advises andlitigates on behalf of California autobody repair businesses.

Please contact him at:Zurada Law Group785 Market Street, 16th FloorSan Francisco, CA 94103(415) 637-8483www.SFLawyer360.comm.zurada@sflawyer 360.com

Please remember — this article onlyprovides general legal informationbut not legal advice. You should con-sult a lawyer who will provide youwith legal advice by applying the spe-cific laws in your state to your specificfactual circumstances.

sand words. But even if you have thespace for a picture, choosing the rightone can be a difficult task. It’s gener-ally best to just illustrate the messagein some way. An image suggestingspeed, like a race track pit crew,could work. Or just an illustration ofa clock with wings. Shop owners liketo show a picture of their shop, butthis is unlikely to motivate a prospectto come in for repairs. And this raisesthe most important aspect of the mes-sage. It absolutely has to motivate theprospect to respond. There MUST bea demand for action: “Call us to findout!” “Come in for a free estimate.”“Come find out how cheap we canbe!”

As good as repetitive short adsmay be, there’s nothing like a greatrepetitive slogan. “You’re in goodhands with Allstate,” has been aroundforever. Even if you totally disagreewith the slogan, you know that mostpeople recognize it. That’s the kind ofrecognition you want to build with aslogan about your shop. Brief butpowerful may seem like a contradic-tion in terms, but if you can create it,it can do great things for your busi-ness.


Continued from Page 14

Commercial Leases

Auto Body World, the largest collision-repair company in Arizona, opened itseighth store in May at 6815 W. Chan-dler Blvd., near Interstate 10. “We’reconveniently located close to Ahwatu-kee, Sun Lakes and Tempe to betterserve our customers in the East Val-ley,” says Mark Turner, the com-pany’s president.

The 34,000-square-foot 40-bayfacility was formerly occupied byAdvanced Auto Body. The existingdown-draft Ameri-Cure booths wererefurbished to Auto Body Worldstandards. Here, and at all ABW lo-cations, PPG Waterborne Paint, dis-tributed by Finish Masters, is usedexclusively.

The new facility is staffed byseven technicians and five adminis-trative staff, and Turner hopes to in-crease the full-time employees to 28,led by Ryan Downs, the store’s gen-

eral manager. The ABW administra-tive team includes David Fait,CEO, the 1999 Phoenix Chamber ofCommerce “Small Businessman ofthe Year,” David Bybee, DFO, andLorie Kinman, chief administrativeofficer.

The company was started in 1946in South Dakota by Warren Fait,David Fait’s father. He relocated hiscompany to Phoenix in 1962, buildinghis first collision center at 27th Av-enue and Maryland Street in 1968.David slowly built the business

through the following decades.Today, ABW’s eight facilities re-

pair more than 10,000 vehicles annu-ally. Auto Body World has received anA+ rating by the Better Business Bu-reau since 1998 and won First Prizefrom Auto Body Repair News in its in-augural “2009 Top Shop” nationalcompetition.

The repurposed Chandler facilitywas reconfigured and remodeled to in-corporate ABW’s Lean-inspired RapidProduction Model process. The ABW-trademarked RPM ensures qualitycompanywide—from greeters, initialacceptance of a vehicle, through esti-mating, parts ordering, completion ofrepairs by the technicians to qualitycontrol and follow-up after delivery ofthe customer’s vehicle.

Seven years ago, to improve effi-ciency throughout the company, Faitand his management team began im-plementing Lean business concepts,based on the Toyota Production Sys-tem (TPS) at its branches. “Leanteaches fundamental principles for

maximizing efficiency and continuousimprovement, and our Chandler storepersonnel have learned and are imple-menting these beautifully,” explainsTurner, who became ABW presidentin 2007.

Since its implementation, RPMhas eliminated waste in the process ofdelivering superior products: in-creased satisfaction levels with sup-pliers, insurance companies andcustomers. Turner: “Our goal at thenew Chandler facility, as throughoutthe ABW family, is to process a vehi-

cle at the highest quality and speed inthe most efficient manner.”

Turner adds: “The success of ourRPM and our people are the reason wesurvived the economic downturn and

have still been able to grow our busi-ness. We are excited about our Chan-dler addition and the opportunities

that it will provide to us as an organi-zation and the great people that workfor us.”

He notes that ABW plans furtherexpansion following the new store.

“We are currently prospecting for op-portunities in acquisitions and start-ups,” he says.


Arizona’s Auto Body World Expands to Chandler with Eighth Locationwith David Brown

Shop Showcase David M. Brown is a native of Philadelphia who has lived in Arizona for 30 years. He writes aboutsubjects he is passionate about, including the car industry. A father of two, he is mentored by hisborder collie/pointer, Haylie, who is much more concerned with thrown tennis balls than with abeautifully repainted Aston Martin.


SCRS Conducts Survey of 17 Insurers on Aftermarket PartsThe Society of Collision Repair Spe-cialists (SCRS) is conducting a sur-vey of 13 major insurance companiesto determine their use of aftermarketreplacement parts.

The survey was sent to Allstate,American Family, Farmers, GEICO,Liberty Mutual, Mercury Insurance,Met Life Auto and Home, Nation-wide, Progressive, State Farm, TheHartford, Travelers and USAA, ac-cording to Aaron Schulenburg, ex-ecutive director of SCRS. He said thesurvey was “an effort to bring furthertransparency to our understanding ofcarrier’s approaches to use of after-market replacement parts.”

The survey was motivated byinput from SCRS members and on-going discussions stemming from af-termarket replacement parts,Schulenburg said.

“We are finding that members indifferent parts of the country are sub-mitting conflicting reports about thepolicies of some major national in-surance companies. In other words,we are hearing that in some casesfield level practices may vary fromofficial corporate policy on parts use.In some cases, an insurer may have apolicy for use of only certified parts,

but when a certified part is unavail-able, the shop is instructed to simplyselect a non-certified part by the fieldadjuster,” Schulenburg said.

“It is also possible that, in thosecases, some shops may assume that anon-certified part is what the carrierwants them to do, and may not realizethat the insurer would prefer an OEMreplacement part if the only availablealternative is a non-certified part,” hecontinued.

“Knowing what specific corpo-rate policies exist, provides for a bet-ter, more transparent, understandingof the approach taken in settling a ve-hicle owners claim. “In the interest oftransparency, and with an issue as im-portant as aftermarket parts in struc-tural repair, the SCRS board ofdirectors felt that it would be worthour efforts to conduct this study, andshare the results with the industry.”

To see the insurer survey, searchall or part of this heading at Autobo-dynews.com.

For 2011, ASRW has expanded theTown Hall concept at theNACE/CARS show to look at the im-pact of health care reform included inthe new Patient Protection and Af-fordable Care Act (derisively referredto by some as “Obamacare.”) and anoutlook for changes in health carelaws in the future. Industry expertswill review the new law's impact onindependent automotive repair busi-nesses and possible changes in healthcare laws. Attendees will have an op-portunity to ask pertinent questions ofhealth care experts.

Repairer-Driven Education atSEMA Gets Support from PPGFor the second consecutive year, PPGAutomotive Refinish has demon-strated support of collision industryeducation programs through their in-volvement with the Society of Colli-sion Repair Specialists (SCRS) hostedRepairer Driven Education (RDE) se-ries during the SEMA Show in LasVegas. PPG will contribute coursecontent with a program led by JimBerkey and Mark Mueller entitledLoad Leveling - The hidden enablerfor shop performance.

"All of us at PPG are excitedabout helping promote education tothe collision repair community withSCRS this fall," said John Parran,director, marketing, PPG AutomotiveRefinish. "Education is a key part ofthe value-added services we deliver toour customer base, and it is an honorto be a part of the growing and uniqueopportunity SCRS has put togetherwith RDE. Last year we saw greatvalue for the industry from our in-volvement, and it was an easy deci-sion to continue our support in 2011."PPG will also co-host the much antic-ipated Afterburner evening event withSCRS on November 3rd. Visitwww.semashow.com/specialevents.

ASRW Expands its Town HallEvent to Include Health Care

ASRW announced that BASF has re-turned to the show floor at the upcom-ing 2011 event for the first time since2008. “NACE is the premier event forthe collision repair industry and we un-derstand how important it is to repre-sent the BASF brand among this coreaudience who uses BASF products,”said Chuck Soeder, VP, BASF Auto-motive Refinish. “We look forward tosupporting the industry this October.”BASF will be at booth N1413.

BASF to Return to NACE Expofor First Time Since 2008

www.autobodynews.com


SHOP & PRODUCTSHOP & PRODUCTSHOWCASESHOWCASE

Sometimes a negative, even tragic,event can lead to a positive outcome.When a serious fire hit Collision So-lutions in Indianapolis, IN, and de-stroyed its paint booth, managementtook the opportunity to make lemon-ade from lemons. The fire offeredthe owners a chance to rearrangethe shop’s layout and take the leapinto the world of waterborne. Insteadof being paralyzed by the devasta-tion, the shop bought a new cutting-edge ECO Expert paint booth fromGlobal Finishing Solutions (GFS)and converted one of their locationsto waterborne paint before any re-strictions mandated it. As a result,Collision Solutions was soon turningout amazing paint jobs and theircrew quickly became fully comfort-able with waterborne and the numer-ous benefits offered by their newGFS paint booth.

“We took a couple of the prepstations and replaced all of the oldequipment with GFS equipment afterlooking at several companies. Wewent with GFS based on what peo-ple out there in the industry weretelling us about the company and itstrack record.

Owner Aaron Clark, 40, is a sec-ond generation body shop ownerwhose parents operated a shopmore than three decades ago. “Istarted working in our family’s shopwhen I was 16 and worked my wayup from porter to technician,” Clarktold Autobody News. “In 1994, mypartner and I opened our own shopin friendly competition with my par-ents’ company. It was a very suc-cessful operation that eventuallygrew into a two-location business inthe Indianapolis area.”

In 1998, Clark sold his interest inthe two shops and returned to workat his parent’s shop. By workingharder and smarter, Clark startingadding new locations. “We’ve grownand currently have five stores inMetro Indianapolis with 75 employ-ees. We fix 500--600 vehicles everymonth.” Today, Collision Solutions isan $11-$12 million business main-taining several DRPs. Clark is thecurrent Chairman of the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS),and has served the organization onits Board of Directors for the past fiveyears.

Clark’s relationship with GFS–which bills itself as “the world’s lead-ing provider of technologicallyadvanced capital equipment solu-tions for the finishing industry” —started almost immediately after the

fire that nearly devastated the busi-ness. “We were in the process ofchanging over to waterborne any-way, so it was important for us to geta paint booth that was going to treatus well while using the waterbornefinishes and that’s why we went withthe GFS ECO Expert booth,” Clarksaid. “We put the four corner towerblowers in it and installed a doubleprep deck adjacent to the paintbooth. We took the opportunity tomove the booth to a better locationand connect it to a mix room and in-stalled additional overhead doors inthe building to create a better flowthrough our paint department. Eventhough it was definitely a tragedywhen our old paint booth caught fire,we have used it to get better equip-ment and improve our operationoverall.”

Clark says he wants to be able tobuy a paint booth and then forgetabout it for a very long time. “wewould like to enjoy 30 years of serv-ice out of this type of equipment andexpect to see that from this GFSbooth. We’re very excited to be work-ing with GFS. This is our first GFSpiece of equipment and by using itside-by- side with the other equip-ment we’re still using at our other lo-cations, we can see that it performsbetter than the other equipmentwe’ve had. No question about it. Wewanted a paint booth with all of thelatest technology that’s currentlyavailable and the ECO Expert is ex-actly that. Everything is computer-ized and has all the features we werelooking for.”

The process of installing theECO Expert booth was painlessand the power savings are consid-erable, Clark said. “Our rep, DonPutney of Indiana Booth Associ-ates, installed it completely in Oc-tober of 2009. Price-wise, GFSwas very competitive, but we weremore focused on all of the otherthings we were getting from thecompany. We were interested inthe Variable Speed Drive (VSD)motors and the digital panel andthe corner blowers we installed aretotally controlled by the digitalpanel. Also, a big plus is that thebooth pulls less electricity. We’veseen an overall drop in our electri-cal bills, because the VSD motorspull less juice.”

The GFS ECO Expert has beenthe real instrument in getting Colli-sion Solutions up and running withwaterborne. “We have never sprayedwith solvent in that booth. We con-verted the first day we got the ECOExpert and we’re happy we did,”says Clark. “We’re not in an areawhere we have to use it by law, butwe have five stores and since wewere installing this new paint booth,we decided to spray waterborne toconduct my own internal testing.We’re still using solvent primarily atmy other four stores, but by lookingat the profitability and the perform-ance, we will be converting anotherstore at some point, definitely. It’s abetter and safer product and if it’sbeing used at the OE level (for newvehicles), so it should be used by thecollision industry.”

Aaron Clark is a second-generation shopowner and the Chairman of the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS)

Collision Solutions CorporateHeadquartersLocation: Indianapolis, IN

Telephone: 317-787-8366www.collisionsolutions.com

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: 75

In Business Since: 1978

DRP Programs: 10

Number of Locations: Five

Combined Production Space:88,000 square feet (combined)

Global Finishing SolutionsPhone: (877) 658-7900email:[email protected]: www.globalfinishing.com

After a fire destroyed their old paint booth, Collision Solutions bought a new cutting-edge ECOExpert paint booth from Global Finishing Systems (GFS) and converted the location to waterbornepaint before any restrictions mandated it

Trial by Fire: Indianapolis Body Shop Turns a Potential Tragedyinto a Win-Win with a State-of-the-Art GFS Paint Booth

Collision Solutions has grown into a $11-12million business with five stores in MetroIndianapolis that repair 500-600 vehiclesevery month

by Ed Attanasio

The skittishness among some in theindustry about how formalized repairstandards may be developed or imple-mented was evident during discussionat the most recent Collision IndustryConference (CIC).

At the meeting, the CIC-formedRepair Standards Advisory Commit-tee offered an update on its work, in-cluding the hiring of a consultant tobuild a business case for the develop-ment and implementation of formal-ized standards.

Russ Thrall, publisher of Colli-sionWeek and a past CIC chairmanand who co-chairs the advisory com-mittee, said the goal of the consul-tant’s work is to present a report byNovember about what consensus ex-ists within the industry about stan-dards and a possible new organizationto oversee the development and im-plementation of standards.

Thrall said that as of mid-July,

the committee had raised $26,600 ofthe $60,000 it needs in sponsorshipsfor the consultant’s work and the de-velopment of an industry forum on thetopic in November. More than 50 per-cent of the 21 sponsors to date are col-lision repair businesses, 38 percent aresuppliers and less than 5 percent areinsurers.

Mike Condon, whose consultingfirm has been hired by the committee,said he has conducted about 10 of the40 interviews—about half with re-pairers and half with those in othersegments of the industry—that he an-ticipates doing to prepare the reportfor the committee. That report, hesaid, will examine if there is supportfor the idea of a standard-setting body,and if so, how that body could bestructured and funded. As part of theresearch, Condon also will examinestandard-setting entities in other in-dustries and in the collision repair in-

dustry in other countries.He said he is also looking at what

various segments of the industry viewas “deal-breakers” in the concept.

“We want to flesh those out so wedon’t go down a path that ultimatelywill not work,” Condon said.

Speaking for the Society of Col-lision Repair Specialists (SCRS) andthe Alliance of Automotive ServiceProviders (AASP), Aaron Schulen-burg of SCRS said the two groups“believe standards are both necessaryand a good thing,” but have concernsabout the approach the CIC commit-tee is taking.

“Our members believe there arestandards that exist today,” Schulen-burg said. “They view the (automaker)recommendations and procedures asthe standard. That standard is not fol-lowed every day because while that’sthe overwhelming view of repairers,not every industry segment recognizes

that or agrees with that statement. Andsome of those other industry segmentsand participants who don’t necessar-ily support that as the standard are in-volved in this activity and committee,and that is cause for concern.”

Thrall said those opinions arepart of what Condon’s research is de-signed to capture, and that the associ-ations’ volunteer leadership areamong those slated for interviews.

While some CIC participants atthe July meeting in Salt Lake City,Utah, raised questions or concernsabout the consultant’s researchprocess or the questions being askedin interviews, Rollie Benjamin, CEOof ABRA Auto Body & Glass, calledthat “micromanaging the process.”

“I trust Russell, I trust Mike. Ithink they will do a good job,” Ben-jamin said. “I think they’ll come outwith the information we need to makea good decision on whether we move


CIC, Consultant, Seeking Views on Industry Repair Standards

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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

SHINGLE SPRINGSSHINGLE SPRINGSSHINGLE SPRINGS

530.677.6528 FAX

SUBARUWholesale’s Our Business For Your Business

530.676.0444Call us Today!

4045 Wild Chaparral Dr.,Shingle Springs, CA 95682www.shinglespringssubaru.com

Hours: M-F 8 am - 5:30 pm / Sat 8 am - 5 pmHours: M-F 8 am - 5:30 pm / Sat 8 am - 5 pmHours: M-F 8:30 am - 5:30 pm / Sat 8 am - 5 pm

• Professional and knowledgeable staff• FREE UPS Ground freight• We match or beat all competitor coupons

• Professional and knowledgeable staff• FREE UPS Ground freight• We match or beat all competitor coupons

• Highly experienced parts personnel• Highly experienced parts personnel• No order too big or too small• No order too big or too small• Your source for genuine Nissan parts since 1986• Your source for genuine Nissan parts since 1986• Family owned and operated• Family owned and operated• Order parts: [email protected]• Order parts: [email protected]

• Highly experienced parts personnel• No order too big or too small• Your source for genuine Nissan parts since 1986• Family owned and operated• Order parts: [email protected]

NISSANWe Have The Parts You Need!

530.677.6528 FAX

SHINGLE SPRINGSSHINGLE SPRINGSSHINGLE SPRINGS

530.676.0444Call us Today!

4045 Wild Chaparral Dr.,Shingle Springs, CA 95682www.shinglespringsnissan.com

Hours: M-F 8:30 am - 5:30 pm / Sat 8 am - 5 pmHours: M-F 8:30 am - 5:30 pm / Sat 8 am - 5 pmHours: M-F 8:30 am - 5:30 pm / Sat 8 am - 5 pm

GENUINE SERVICE & PARTS

forward or not. Let’s let these guys dotheir job.”

Scott Biggs of Assured Perform-ance Network, who also is part of theleadership of the committee, said heunderstands that the standards issuemay be “threatening to so many dif-ferent organizations because it is suchan enormous issue.” But he said thosewith concerns should understand thatopposing viewpoints are held andbeing voiced even among those lead-ing the effort.

“There isn’t even general con-sensus within the executive commit-tee,” Biggs said. “I can tell you that’swhat Mike’s charter is: to see whatpeople’s opinions are.”

Dale Delmege, another formerCIC chairman who has been asked bythe committee to raise the additional$33,000 needed for the project, urgedrepairers to donate $100 per facility(insurers and vendor sponsors are alsobeing sought) for the effort. Delmegesaid he sees the consultant’s work hashaving no bias toward shops, insurersor automakers. He also said his re-search of the repair standards programin the United Kingdom indicates it hasbeen positive for the industry.

“They transformed their indus-try—about an hour and 15 minutes be-fore regulators ‘helped them’ do so,”Delmege said. “Those people overthere are pretty happy about wherethey got to.”

State Farm, others offer updatesIn other news and discussion at CICin Salt Lake City:

● George Avery of State Farmsaid the insurer is continuing to workon an electronic parts ordering systemit will require its Select Service shopsto use. “The repairer will continue tohave a choice on who they buy partsfrom, and they will have control overwhich parts they buy, regardless of theprice,” Avery said. “We are not inter-ested in purchasing parts. What we’reinterested in is helping the industrysmooth out the process. We believe inquality, efficiency and competitiveprice. As you know, we have a score-card that we use to evaluate perform-ance across the board in those threecategories. So that’s why we think therepairer is the best person to make thechoice on parts.”

● Doug Craig, collision repairmanager for Chrysler, said Chrysler,

Ford and some other automakers areworking to “commonize where wecan” some of their “approaches to dif-ferent repairs.” He said Chrysler alsowill be moving away from “recom-mendations” to instead offer muchmore specific “requirements on whatprocess, procedure and/or compo-nents... should be used in a repair.”

● The National Auto Body Coun-cil said because 20 percent of all col-lision and mechanical repairtechnicians are Hispanic, it will soonbe release a Spanish glossary of colli-sion industry terms. The glossary,which will be downloadable andsearchable, was funded in part by agrant from AASP.

● The CIC Insurer-Repairer Re-lations Committee released a draft ofwhat the committee is compiling as el-ements of the “most beneficial andproductive repairer-insurer relation-ships.” Those elements—11 of themin the current draft, some of whichapply to non-direct repair programshops as well – include an explicitoutline of the key performance indi-cators (KPIs) used to measure shopperformance; consistency betweencorporate and field employees regard-

ing the selection and retention of DRPshops; an unbiased dispute resolutionprocess with a designated point ofcontact to resolve issues “free of thefear or reprisal’: communication to theconsumer about the relationship be-tween insurer and shop; and a stream-lined electronic communicationprocess between repairer and shop.

● I-CAR’s Jeff Peevy said 11percent of shops in the United Statehave achieved the “Gold Class Pro-fessionals” designation, and another20 percent are involved in some levelof consistent technician training. But69 percent of shops, he said, have noconsistent training for technicians “yetthey claim to do collision repairs.” Heurged more insurers to require theirDRP shops to maintain the Gold Classdesignation. “If you do not requiretraining of those shops that are doingrepairs for you, you need to considerthe rapid changes (in vehicle designand materials),” Peevy said. “You can-not properly repair a new car acciden-tally any more. You just can’t do it.”


In a previous column, I offered someof my thoughts on the decision of theSociety of Collision Repair Specialists(SCRS) to make the Farmers Insur-ance “Circle of Dependability” (COD)agreement public, and to questionsome of the requirements of that directrepair program agreement.

In doing so, SCRS said that “theindustry is often disadvantaged by re-striction of communication from par-ticipants of these program.”

I am little confused as to wherethe disadvantage lies? Okay, I am veryconfused. Explain to me the disadvan-tage. What would the advantage be ifthere were no restrictions? Shopsshould be deciding what is best fortheir individual business. That deci-sion shouldn’t be predicated uponwhether or not your competitor thinksit’s a good idea to participate. WhileSCRS makes a lot of good points intheir press release, this is one it needs

to reconsider. Go ahead and publishall of the major insurance carriers di-rect repair program agreements andsee what it changes. Would it reallyimprove the industry or help shops?

That said, here are a few more ofmy thoughts—some of which maysurprise you—from an insurer’s per-

spective on the COD agreement andSCRS’s concerns about it.

The agreement states that Farmershas the right to inspect a shop’s booksto validate and audit files to ensureproper payment and compliance withthe program requirements. Why insur-ers continue to infuse themselves intothe body shop’s business in this way isbeyond me. It’s wrong and they haveno business inspecting your books.

If SCRS wants to take a stand onan issue, this is an easy one. But asso-ciation’s comments on this section ofthe agreement have me wondering,“Where’s the beef?” If you are goingto call someone out, take a stand. Leadthe way. Insurers will continue to askand demand more until shops say ‘no.’

And here’s a news flash: If youaren’t following the guidelines, insur-ers don’t need to look at your books tofind out. They have other ways of ob-taining the same information. If you

are committing fraud, they aren’tgoing to casually walk into your shopand ask to inspect the books. Theywill probably have their legal teamsubpoenaing your records. There’s noneed for this clause, and it just showsthey will continue to make demandsuntil the industry says, “Enough.”

The COD agreement also saysparticipating shops will conduct back-ground checks on all employees andnot employ convicted felons. SCRS isdead-on with its assessment: This isthe most ridiculous clause I’ve everread. Doesn’t everyone know that sta-tistics show that nine out of 10 con-victed felons prefer to work for a bodyshop?

Just joking. Please don’t send any(more) hate mail.

But seriously, the audacity ofFarmers to prohibit shops from hav-ing a convicted felon on staff is trou-

Ridiculous DRP Requirements? Guess Why They’re Asking


with The Insurance InsiderInside Insurance The Insider is a corporate-level executive with a Top 10 auto insurer

in the U.S.. Got a comment or question you’d like to see him addressin a future column? Email him at [email protected]

CHEVROLET1450 South Shamrock Ave.Monrovia, California 91016

• Exceptional Service• Full-time Experienced

Wholesale Specialists• Ready to Serve You• Genuine OEM Tires

626-249-0032Parts Dept.:

Hours:Mon.-Fri. 7am - 6pm; Sat. 8am - 4pm

Fax: 626-932-5660www.sierraauto.com

[email protected]

SUBARU1450 South Shamrock Ave.Monrovia, California 91016

• Wide Delivery Area• Competitive Pricing• Ready to Serve You• Genuine OEM Tires

Fax: 626-932-5660


626-359-8291Parts Dept.:

[email protected]

HONDA1450 South Shamrock Ave.Monrovia, California 91016

• Open Saturdays• Serving all of San Gabriel

Valley for over 30 Years• 5 Delivery Trucks• Genuine OEM Tires

Fax: 626-932-5660


800-320-9065Parts Dept.:

[email protected]

MAZDA735 East Central Ave.

Monrovia, California 91016

• Extensive Inventory• Free Delivery• Dedicated Wholesale

Parts Staff• Genuine OEM Tires

Fax: 626-932-5660


800-245-8509Parts Dept.:

[email protected]

See DRP Requirements, Page 26


750 Potter Street, Berkeley, CA 94710www.weatherfordbmw.com

Weatherford BMW

Weatherford BMW

www.weatherfordbmw.com(800) 995-9269

(800) 995.9269(510) 841.5996 Fax(800) 995.9269(510) 841.5996 Fax

Toll Free:Toll Free:

[email protected]

Over $1 million parts inventoryExtremely Knowledgeable Parts CrewOur fleet of vehicles will get your order deliveredwhen you need itAt Weatherford BMW we are 100% committedto your complete satisfaction

Original BMW Parts and Accessories

bling from many perspectives. I’m notadvocating the hiring of mass-mur-derers or anything of the sort. But thefact is in some states you could be aconvicted felony simply as a result ofa DUI judgment. This isn’t a valid rea-son to not be considered for a job at aprofessional collision repair facility.

Of course a shop should be con-cerned and do its due diligence beforehiring anyone who has been convictedof a felony. But Farmers should re-move this clause from the agreementunless of course they would like tosubject their staff to the same scrutiny.In fact, how do you know it isn’t aconvicted felon from Farmers inspect-ing your books? What if that personhappens to be an unscrupulous indi-vidual who just hasn’t been caughtyet? You could potentially have a con-victed-but-rehabilitated Farmers staffmember remove you from the CODprogram because you have a similarex-con on staff. How’s that for irony?

I’ve seen just as many thieveswearing white-collar shirts as thosewearing blue-collar shirts. Insurershave no business telling you who youcan or can’t hire. Shops should be

judged on the product and service theydeliver, and not based on arbitrary andunjustified requirements.

All that said, I hope you aren’tmissing the overarching theme of myview of Farmers’ (or any insurer’s)DRP requirements: Quit whining.Quit saying it’s not fair. It’s like rais-ing kids. Even the best kids will con-tinue to misbehave until there is aconsequence for their actions. You canthreaten to ground them, tell them it’stheir last chance, or insinuate a goodold-fashioned butt-whuppin’ is a-comin,’ but if you don’t followthrough, the antics will continue.

Until the insurers hear ‘no,’ theywill only continue to ask for more,whether that more is “reasonable” ornot.

“The Insider” is is a corporate-level executive with a Top 10 auto in-surer in the U.S. who wishes to remainanonymous. This column reflectssolely the opinion of The Insider as itoffers an unvarnished look at variousissues impacting the collision indus-try.

Got a comment or question you’dlike to see him address in a future col-umn?

Email him at [email protected].

To see the Farmers COD agree-ment referenced in the column, go towww.autobodynews.com and search“Farmers COD.” The SCRS press re-lease about the agreement can also befound there. Search “SCRS Farmersagreement.”


Crevier BMW

www.crevierbmw.com(714) 835-2025

Mon - Fri: 7:00 am - 7:00 pm Sat: 7:00 am - 6:00 pm Sun: 10:00 am - 6:00 pmParts Hours:

1500 Auto Mall Drive, Santa Ana, CA 92705www.crevierbmw.com

(800) 945.1618 Wholesale Direct(800) 945.1618 Wholesale Direct(714) 835.4359 Wholesale Direct Fax(714) 835.4359 Wholesale Direct Fax

CREVIER BMW

The most awarded BMW dealership inthe United States is here to help you withall your Original BMW Parts.

Experienced, Knowledgeable and Friendly Staff

5 Delivery Vehicles

$3,000,000 Parts Inventory means great partsavailability and quicker vehicle turn rate for you

Serving All of Orange County & Beyond

Kevin: [email protected]: [email protected]

— 2008 winner of BMW’s “Center of Excellence”.

Our parts. Your peace of mind.

BMWZ4 ‘10


DRP Requirements

Man Attempts To StealCar From Escondido,CA, Auto ShopA man attempted to steal a car froman Escondido, CA, auto sound busi-ness on August 20, according to re-ports made by 10News San Diego.

The man did not get far be-cause the car had no windshield andthe steering wheel came off duringthe attempted getaway, police said.

A witness told police a manbroke the glass and entered Al andEd's Auto Sound in the 1100 blockof West Valley Parkway in Escon-dido, police said.

The burglar allegedly spedaway in a Volkswagen Beetle thatdid not have a windshield. Further-more, the VW's seats and steeringwheel were not properly attached,police said.

Officers responded to an alarmat the business at 4:52 a.m. andspotted the missing vehicle shortlyafter, police said.

Officers arrested its driver,identified by police as AlexanderJosic, 35, of Escondido, on suspi-cion of burglary and vehicle theft.

AkzoNobel Presents 2011FIT Sustainability AwardsAkzoNobel Automotive & Aero-space Coatings Americas for thesecond year presented the collisionrepair industries “FIT” Sustainabil-ity Award. The by invitation onlyawards ceremony was conducted inSalt Lake City, Utah at the GrandAmerica Hotel before an audienceof approximately 100 key collisionindustry dignitaries.

Receiving the 2011 award willbe Mark’s Auto Body Ltd. of BritishColumbia, Canada, Moody’s Colli-sion Centers Gorham, Maine andLafontaine Automotive Group inHighland, Michigan.

The “FIT” Award centers onthe use of three key attributes:Focus, Innovation and Talent.



Proactive body shops that are em-bracing the inexorable change to wa-terborne paint in states where thelaws are looming, but not yet a real-ity, are anticipating an advantageover their feet-dragging competitorsover the next few years. One ofthese forward thinking shops is OldForge Collision Centers, a 20-year-old company with two locations inPennsylvania that repair an averageof nearly 200 vehicles monthly.

Old Forge’s General Manager,Bob Scarpello, 54, is a 30-year vet-eran of the collision industry and aformer painter. Three decades ago,his first job out of tech school was asa painter’s helper and by continuallylearning and improving his skills,Scarpello eventually progressed upthe ladder into upper management.One of the first things Scarpello didwhen he was hired at Old Forge,was to take a long, serious look atconverting both of his locations towaterborne paint, he told AutobodyNews.

“We were one of the first bodyshops in Pennsylvania to go with wa-terborne paint. When I came here in2003, after reading everything Icould get my hands on about water-borne painting systems, I realizedthat it would eventually be cominghere. I mean, Europe has been usingit for decades, and so what are wewaiting for?”

Before he could pursue thechangeover, Scarpello had to per-suade the owners. “Our owners,Peter Watson and Larry Schoppert,were environmentally consciousguys already, which made it easier.It didn’t really take much coaxing onmy behalf to get them on board. Imet with them and told them, ‘this isthe way things are going and prettysoon we will have to do it anyway. Itold them that the conversion willbenefit us in two ways. First, we’llget recognition around Pennsylva-nia for being a waterborne earlyadopter. Several local newspapershave published articles about ourconversion process, so that wasgreat. Second, we’re providing asafer environment for our crew andfor the planet. It’s all positive stuffand from day one it’s been a greatjourney. I can’t complain about anyaspect of it.”

Scarpello met with several paintcompanies and decided to go withPPG and their Nexa Autocolor™Aquabase® Plus waterborne prod-uct. “I wanted to be a step ahead ofeveryone else, so we met with PPG

to discuss their waterborne prod-ucts. I had used PPG solvent-basedpaint extensively at other shopswhere I worked before, so I knewthat their quality was outstandingand the service was always excel-lent. So, we took two months tostrategize the changeover and hashout the details.

“My biggest concern was howthe painters would react when theyhave to start using waterborne afterusing the solvent for so many years.But I didn’t need to worry so much.PPG made the switch as smooth asbutter. They took all of my paintersto their school in Baltimore and afterone day there my paint crew cameback and reassured me about theproduct. They were especially happywith the color matches and theblending aspect of the Aquabase®

Plus. They were literally blown away,even my lead painter, Dave Miller.Now, we don’t have to spend timetaking spray outs and tinting themfor 45 minutes to get a color match.The color matching qualities ofAquabase® Plus is a lot better thanwhat we encountered with the sol-vent.”

The conversion took place in2008, aided by Old Forge’s jobberBill Flannery and his crew. “We hadto reorganize our paint departmentin several ways. The drying sys-tem, of course, was considerablydifferent with the waterborne. Theold solvent system we were usingwas based on heat and now it pri-marily involves air flow. We had torevamp our paint booth and install

several air movers in there to getthe air flow suitable for the water-borne. But my painters love it andthey will never go back to solvent,guaranteed. Once they adapted tothe PPG waterborne, they weresaying ‘Why did we ever use sol-vent?’”

Have any of Old Forge’s localcompetitors made the switch to wa-terborne? Some have, but Scarpellois baffled that other body shops arereluctant to make the move to water-borne. “The only switch involves thebasecoat, because the sealers andprimers and top coats are still sol-vent. So, it’s not like everything haschanged. One piece of the puzzle isnow different, but it’s so easy that Ican’t believe when I hear that othershops are fighting the change.”

“Some are in the process of con-verting, but we were definitely thefirst in this region,” Scarpello ob-served. “A lot of them are getting onboard with it, but I know that many ofthem are waiting until the last minuteto change, and we didn’t want to waituntil the final hour. As a result, we gotmore attention from PPG and myjobber, because back then we werethe only ones doing it. In the next fewyears, there will be a rush to thesewaterborne systems and body shopswill be competing for their attention.A lot of shops around here will bestruggling and shuffling to get itdone, and we will already be usingthe waterborne for five years bythen.” If you’re an educated con-sumer, who would you take your ve-hicle to?

Old Forge Collision Center’s General ManagerBob Scarpello has taken his operation into thewaterborne age by embracing his PPGAquabase® Plus system

Old Forge Collision CenterLocation: Two locations in Lansdaleand Chalfont, PA

Telephone: 215-368-3100www.oldforgecollisioncc.com



Facility Employees: 25


DRP Programs: 12 (Lansdale)

and 8 (Chalfont)

Number of Locations: Two

Combined Production Space:32,700 square feet (combined)

PPG Automotive RefinishCompany Contact: Cindy PiazzaPhone: (440) 572-2800email: [email protected]: www.ppgrefinish.com

Miller is shown here painting a car with PPG’s waterborne product Aquabase® Plus

Pennsylvania Body Shop Outshines withPPG’s Aquabase® Plus Waterborne

Old Forge Collision Center’s Lead Painter DaveMiller appreciates the dead-on colors he getswith the Aquabase® Plus paint

by Ed Attanasio


GreatService.

GreatPrices.

GENUINE SERVICE & PARTS

951.509.2125951.509.2123 Fax

Direct Line:

951.509.6574951.509.6575 Fax

Direct Line:951.509.6577951.509.6578 Fax

Direct Line:951.509.6577951.509.6578 Fax

Direct Line:

951.509.6550951.509.6523 Fax

Direct Line:Riverside Volkswagen

Riverside Honda Riverside Hyundai Riverside Mazda

Riverside Nissan

8330 Indiana Ave., Riverside, CA 92504

99

DFREE DELIVERY TO

MOST OF THE INLAND EMPIREMention this ad for

a free gift!Hours: Mon-Fri. 7-7; Sat. 8-5

CompetitiveParts Pricing!

We UseCollision Link!

GenuineOEM Parts!

HugeInventory!

QualifiedStaff!



8330 Indiana Ave., Riverside,CA 92504

8330 Indiana Ave., Riverside, CA 925048330 Indiana Ave., Riverside, CA 92504

by Charles Bryant,Executive Director, AASP/NJ

There is no doubt that ongoing train-ing in the collision industry is a mustin order to keep the technicians up todate on proper methods of repair andsafety related issues. The questionsare Why isn’t the cost of such trainingbeing considered by the insurance in-

dustry when deter-mining the laborrates that they arewilling to pay forrepairs? and Whyisn’t I-CAR push-ing or at least sup-porting this? Saferepairs equal fewer

future claims, both in property dam-age and personal injury, especially onthe type of vehicles on the roadstoday. Rather than taking the highroad and take the cost of training intoconsideration, the insurance industryappears to be taking the low road byattempting to force shops to maintainI-CAR Gold Class Status in order toget on or stay on Direct Repair Pro-

grams without any consideration forthe associated cost.

I-CAR too appears to be takingthe position that insurer’s should sim-ply force collision shops to maintainI-CAR Gold status, rather than at-tempting to take steps to help maketraining more affordable for shops.

Back in March, I-CAR represen-tatives, including the new I-CARCEO, John VanAlstyne met with nu-merous representatives from variousautomotive trade associations frommultiple North East States where anoffer was proposed to I-CAR for theassociations to get behind I-CAR andencourage their members to partici-pate in I-CAR Training, including tak-ing on the task of assisting withsetting up and advertising trainingmeetings in return for a discount forthe members of the participating asso-ciations. I-CAR was supposed to con-sider the proposal and get back to theparties that participated in the meet-ing. To date and to my knowledge, therepresentatives of I-CAR, includingMr. VanAlstyne, have not respondedback even to say “no thank you.” This

is not the first time that this proposalhas been on the table and not the firsttime that I-CAR has failed to followthrough.

What makes things even worse isthat I-CAR appears to be accepting in-surance industry representatives as theacknowledged experts over the colli-sion industry people that are actuallyrepairing the vehicles. The fact is thatsimply taking I-CAR classes doesn’tmake anyone an expert. To back upthis statement one only need to go tocourt on an automotive related insur-ance claim issue in dispute and watchthe process of qualifying the expertsthat are going to testify in the courtproceedings. Usually the first questionthat is asked of the person being of-fered as an expert is how many vehi-cles have you ever repaired in yourlifetime? Most of the time when an in-surance appraiser is the party beingpresented as the expert, the answer is“none.” Or, that they have never actu-ally repaired an automobile—as op-posed to the average auto body shopowner who almost always grew up re-pairing automobiles. Naturally, the

body shop is the only one that can befully qualified as an expert on anyjudgment call issue such as a repair orreplace issue. The appraiser’s testi-mony is usually limited to issues suchas the price for parts listed in the esti-mating program along with the hoursto perform the operation listed in thebooks or program. In other words, thetestimony of the appraiser without anyhands on experience in repairing au-tomobiles is usually limited to the costof the repairs rather than the propermethod of repair.

Ultimately, the industry will getthe training necessary to make the re-pairs on the complicated vehicles onthe roads today. Unfortunately, it maynot come from I-CAR, which wouldbe a shame. Obviously, the trainingissue revolves around the associatedcost. If the insurance industry is goingto require specific training, includingthe level of training, they should alsoconsider the related cost, either by in-creasing the labor rates to assist withcost or create or support programs tohelp lower cost such as the program

My Take On the I-CAR Training Issue

Charles Bryant

See I-CAR Training, Page 42


Hit a HOME RUN!Hit a HOME RUN!with our Genuine Ford Parts

When it comes to Ford Genuine Parts,go with a winning team.

Use Genuine Ford Parts for yourcustomers’ late model Ford,Lincoln and Mercury vehicles.

You're always guaranteed thatthey will �t right the �rsttime, every time.

Hit One Out of the Park!Hit One Out of the Park!Call your local AuthorizedFord Wholesaler today!

ss

Shelby GT350 2011

SO. CALIFORNIA NO. CALIFORNIA

Airport MarinaFord

LOS ANGELES888-590-6622

310-306-2899 [email protected]

Antelope Valley FordLANCASTER

Wholesale Parts Dept.661-945-0881

661-945-3501 Faxwww.avford.com

[email protected]

Bob Wondries FordALHAMBRA

Wholesale Direct888-238-5415


Buerge FordWEST LOS ANGELES310-820-1431

310-826-0221 Fax

Citrus FordONTARIO

909-390-0948909-390-0982 Fax

[email protected]

Colley FordGLENDORA

Wholesale Parts877-441-3673

909-592-8577 FaxE-mail your orders

[email protected]

Drew FordLA MESA

800-648-7431619-668-7765

619-668-7719 Faxwww.drewauto.com

Fairview FordLincoln MercurySAN BERNARDINOWholesale Direct909-386-0220

909-889-1741 Fax

Ford of MontebelloMONTEBELLO



Future Fordof ClovisCLOVIS

800-350-2552559-294-0816 Fax

Fritts FordRIVERSIDE

951-343-7556951-687-3044 [email protected]

Galpin FordVAN NUYS

818-778-2005818-778-2090 Fax

Kearny PearsonFord

SAN DIEGO858-560-5033800-635-6669

858-560-9648 FaxLargest wholesaler in San

Diego with 17 delivery trucks.

Ken Grody FordCARLSBAD

760-438-2892760-431-0803 Fax

[email protected]

Pacific FordLONG BEACH800-353-7224


Palm Springs MotorsCATHEDRAL CITY760-328-7149

760-328-5092 Fax

Super FordLincoln Mercury

(Formerly Puente Hills Ford)CITY OF INDUSTRY800-965-1055


Tuttle-Click FordLincoln Mercury

IRVINE949-472-5230

949-472-0327 Fax

Vista Ford LincolnMercuryOXNARD


805-278-0554 Fax

Worthington FordLONG BEACH800-622-4225562-421-4033


Harrold FordSACRAMENTO916-922-8355


Serramonte FordCOLMA

Wholesale Parts Dept. Phone:650-301-7190

Wholesale Parts Dept. Fax:650-301-7087

www.serramonteford.com

Sunnyvale FordLincoln Mercury

SUNNYVALE408-738-1530

408-738-3125 Faxwww.fordautodirect.com

The Ford Store ofSan LeandroSAN LEANDRO800-690-6906

510-347-4160 Fax

Walnut Creek FordWALNUT CREEK925-932-2901

925-937-7460 Fax

Findlay LincolnHENDERSON702-982-4765

702-457-2375 Faxwww.findlaylm.com

[email protected]

Ford CountryHENDERSON702-558-8100

702-566-7037 Faxwww.fordcountrylv.com

Friendly FordLAS VEGAS702-877-6546

702-870-6280 Fax

Gaudin FordLAS VEGAS702-796-2762

702-792-5370 Fax

Team FordLincoln Mercury

LAS VEGASWholesale Parts Dept.702-395-5144

702-395-5196 Faxwww.teamfordparts.com

Berge FordMESA

480-497-7660480-497-7581 [email protected]

Camelback FordLincoln Mercury

PHOENIX602-248-8396

602-240-5645 Fax

Chapman FordSCOTTSDALE480-946-3900

480-949-7617 Fax

Earnhardt FordCHANDLER

480-763-6233480-783-4655 Fax

www.earnhardtford.com

Power FordNorth Scottsdale

SCOTTSDALE480-998-0652

Sanderson FordGLENDALE

800-367-3673623-842-8762

623-842-8799 Faxwww.sandersonparts.com

NEVADA

NO. CALIFORNIA

ARIZONA

These dealers are Genuine Ford Parts wholesale specialists.Make us your one-stop shop today!

by Ed Attanasio

Back when Galpin Motors’ Parts Man-ager Butch Lemen was 12 years old,he worked with his father in the aircraftparts industry, some time before the ad-vent of personal computers. Computersare now indispensible in parts depart-ments and body shops worldwide. But,although many body shops have em-braced the software and the Internetmethods, there are still a ton of shopsout there that are reluctant to acceptwhat Lemen calls, “the inevitable.”

Lemen is a strong advocate forCollisionLink, the Internet-based elec-tronic parts ordering system designedby OEConnection for OEM partsdealerships and body shops. By usingthe system, shops can save time andmoney while including more originalfactory parts in their repairs. Colli-sionLink’s price comparison feature iscurrently used by shops of all sizes,from little independent facilities allthe way to large chains.

Lemen manages a multi-milliondollar wholesale parts operation atGalpin Motors in North Hills, Calif.

With 75 employees in his departmentand selling parts for the 10 brandsthey represent (Ford, Lincoln, Subaru,Mazda, Honda, Volvo, Jaguar, Aston-Martin, Lotus and Spyker), Lemenvalues the time-saving aspect associ-ated with using CollisionLink.

“CollisionLink makes us moreefficient and can save time for theshops that participate,” Lemen ex-plained. “It frees up the shops’ time,because they don’t have to makephone calls searching for a part and/or

waiting for a response. All of the cor-respondence through CollisionLink ishandled via e-mails, and our partspeople will call once we receive theorder. It’s a streamlined process andallows shops to go on with the othermultiple tasks that happen every day

in your averagebody shop.”

Lemen says hehas seen Collision-Link work timeafter time in help-ing him to get or-ders and assistshops in gettingOE parts on morerepairs withoutpaying more thanthe aftermarket.“It’s a conduit forelectronic parts or-dering, but many

body shops are still in the habit of or-dering parts over the phone or viaFAX. We can assist the body shops byproviding parts with better fit and fin-ish while delivering the parts quicklyand improving cycle times.”

Lemen recognized the importanceof this system more than a year agowhen Galpin starting offering it, butnow he wants his shop customers tosee the light as well. “We’ve been anadvocate for CollisionLink for awhilenow and we do have customers whouse it and like it and we’re trying to getmore shops up and running with it ona daily basis, so that we can put somemore OE parts into their hands. Wehave roughly 30 shops currentlysigned up with CollisionLink, and theytend to be shops that are computer-savvy and already using the Internet asa tool to improve their business. Thecomputer age isn’t the future anymore,we’re right in the middle of it, and still,many of my customers don’t evenhave computers in their shops yet.”

Once his shop customers take theleap of faith and embrace CollisionLink,it quickly becomes a daily part of theirlives, Lemen reasons. But, getting themto take that first step can be difficult.“It’s getting people to accept a change,it’s just that simple. Change comesalong no matter what, but the old days ofgoing through catalogs and writing


RALLY KIA

Parts Hours:

Parts Direct:Parts Direct:P Di

800-585-0551Fax:Fax:Fax:

661-266-1881

Mon-Fri 8 - 6 / Sat 8 - 4

• Large Inventory • Fast & Free Delivery• Experienced Wholesale Specialists Ready to Serve You

438 Auto Vista Dr., Palmdale, CA 93551

www.4rally.com

FF

www.4raww rall

[email protected]

RALLY HYUNDAI

Parts Hours:

Parts Direct:Parts Direct:P Di

800-585-0551Fax:Fax:Fax:

661-266-1881

Mon-Fri 8 - 6 / Sat 8 - 4


38958 Carriage Way, Palmdale, CA 93551

www.4rally.com

FF

www.4raww rall

[email protected]

CollisionLink Represents ‘Inevitable Change’ Says Major Parts Dealer

From left, Galpin Motors Sales Rep Joe Jotikasthira; Sales Rep Ger-ardo Sanchez; Warehouse Manager Tom Thompson; Ford Motor Co.Rep Anne Tran-Malone; Assistant Warehouse Manager Istvan Gerlei;Wholesale Parts Manager Butch Lemen and Sales Rep Javier Gonzalezreceive yet another award for hitting top numbers year after year


RALLY MITSUBISHI

Parts Direct:Parts Direct:

800-585-0551Fax:Fax:

661-266-1881


39012 Carriage Way, Palmdale, CA 93551

www.4rally.com

PPP

39 2 Ca9012

w

[email protected]

Mon-Fri 8 - 6 / Sat 8 - 4Parts Hours:

down part numbers is tedious and nolonger efficient. Now, if you went intothese forward-thinking shops and toldthem they had to go back to using thosebooks, they might beat you up. Theywere reluctant a few years back, but nowthey can’t do business without the com-puters and systems like CollisionLink.It’s just a matter of accepting the change

and seeing a new way of doing things, inorder to make their shops more efficientand profitable.”

Using CollisionLink is easy andmost people can be proficient at itwithin just several days, Lemen said.“The majority of the body shop man-agement systems out there right now

contain all the parts pricing already.When the insurance company tells theshop ‘you need to use this aftermarketpart to save money,’ that’s when Colli-sionLink steps in. Once their estimate isapproved by the insurance company,they send it to us electronically and wecall it the “1-2-3 Go,” because it’s justthree steps, push a button and it’s done.

Getting good at using it is a mat-ter of repetition, just like anything else.To make it easier, I’ll send one of ourreps to the shop and he’ll go throughthe training, both on-site and over thephone, with CollisionLink’s staff. Itnormally takes 15–30 minutes to learnthe system and how to use it.”

Once his customer sends him theinvoice, Lemen and his staff can gothrough it and identify the parts tomake certain they are correct for therepair. “Once I get the order, I simplyopen the file, import the file and pushone button and everything else hap-pens automatically. Once we’ve de-termined that it’s accurate, we can callthe body shop and discuss the pricingor other options, for example.”

If Galpin can meet or beat the af-termarket, it can obviously benefitboth his operation and the body shop

involved, he said. “We can beat the af-termarket prices in many cases. We’regoing up against the aftermarket andthe used parts industry as well. For ex-ample, we received an estimate earliertoday and within less than two hours, itwas processed. We were able to meetor beat the aftermarket on 14 parts onthe invoice and the shop bought them

all. Our overall conversion rate forJune was 71%, so, that’s significant.”

One of Galpin’s customers usingCollisionLink is Autoworld Collisionin Valencia, California, a 14-year-oldshop owned by Maurice Starrantino.“We’ve been using CollisionLink forat least a year, and it’s been a Godsend.

By using it, we’re able to provide ourcustomers with OE parts where wecouldn’t before. These manufacturerswant to incorporate factory parts in ourrepairs, and this is the best way to do it.On some items such as hoods, fenders,bumpers and many sheet metal parts,Galpin can match or beat the aftermar-ket parts a majority of the time, de-pending on the brand and the repair.CollisionLink is easy-to-use and nowa part of our daily operations, so wedefinitely rely on it and value it.”

CollisionLink software operateson PCs from Windows XP on up andis completely free to body shops. It canonly be used to order OEM parts.

It can be used with all of the leadingsystems already being used by most bodyshops, including Mitchell UltraMateAd-vanced Estimating System, CCC OneTotal Repair Platform, CCC PathwaysEstimating Solution and Audatex. If ashop has another system, CollisionLink’sreps can help them to get it set up.

Galpin Motors15505 Roscoe Blvd.North Hills, California 91343(800) 256-6219www.galpin.com

By utilizing CollisionLink, Galpin’s customerscan incorporate more factory parts into theirestimates without paying more than theaftermarket

Owner Maurice Starrantino (left) and AssistantManager Jesse Elizondo at Autoworld Collisionin Valencia are using CollisionLink with greatsuccess to identify and purchase OE parts andget them into more of their repairs

The last time I wrote about a dealer-ship it was a California multi-linedealer near Sacramento. This time it isa single franchise dealer in the metroNew York area. You would think thatthey had nothing in common, but youwould be mistaken. Both dealers aresuccessful, and both have the samewinning philosophy; customer serv-ice.

Acura of Westchester is trulyunique. They are an example of theword “commitment”. Since 1986,they have taken good care of their cus-tomers, and their customers know it.The dealership is not on Main Street -you have to know where it is in orderto find it. Apparently, once found theyare never forgotten. In 2010, theywere number one in the nation forAcura new car sales.

This dealer is an example of thebenefits of stability. Customers see thesame people, year after year. They be-come friends; confident that they will

always have the very best service.Their service manager has been therefor 17 years, and there has only beenone GM in the history of the store! AsI said, this dealer is unique.

The parts department follows thesame pattern. Jake Dildine is the partsmanager, and he has been there for 18years. His commitment to customerservice is amazing. Over and over, hestressed loyalty, relationship, attitude,pride, and dedication, but never price.His crew is just as dedicated; they allpitch in to answer four direct tele-phone lines; keeping three delivery

trucks going full time. In response toincreasing business, this dealer is openseven days a week!

“Fast paced” is the description ofthis parts department, something I un-derstand is normal in this area. Usu-ally, this results in a belief that nogrowth is possible, all resources arealready at maximum. Jake is proofthat there is always room for im-provement, always room for anothercustomer. You can always find a wayto improve your operation.

Acura supports Jake, deliveringdaily orders and implementing the“Collision Select” program, allowingJake to compete on pricing with after-market and used parts suppliers. Yes,price is still an issue with some shops;forced by cut-rate insurance policiesto use the cheapest parts available.These insurance companies willinglyforce some shops to accept parts thatvoid their customer’s warranties.Other shops, some in their second

generation, are strong enough to resistthese pressures and insist on qualityrepairs. The strong partnership be-tween Jake and these shops - alwaysputting their customer first - con-tributes to their mutual success.

There are over 20 million peoplein the area, and the pressure on thebody shops and dealers after a hailstorm is unbelievable. Jake and hiscrew take inclement weather in stride,always answering the phone with asmile and a welcoming attitude. Thereare five other Acura dealers within 20miles, offering some competition, butAcura of Westchester is obviously thebest choice.

I am proud to include Acura ofWestchester in my list of DistinctiveDealerships.

Larry Williams is a former partsmanager and consultant with nationalawards and over 30 years of experiencein creating profitable departments. Hecan be reached at [email protected].

Acura of Westchester


(818) 778-2090 FAXHOURS: M-F 7AM-6PM, SAT 8AM-5PM WWW.GALPIN.COM

OOOOOOOOONNNNNNNEEEEEE OOOOOOOFFFFFF SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOUUUUUUUTTTTTTHHHHHHEEEEEERRRRRRNNNNNNN CCCCCCCCCAAAAAALLLLLLIIIIIIFFFFFFOOOOOOORRRRRRNNNNNNNIIIIIIAAAAAA’’’’SSSSSSS LLLLLLLLAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGEEEEEESSSSSSSTTTTTTLLLLLLARGESTL CCCCCCCCCOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIISSSSSSSIIIIIIOOOOOOONNNNNNN PPPPPPPPAAAAAARRRRRRTTTTTTSSSSSSS IIIIIIIINNNNNNNVVVVVVVEEEEEENNNNNNNTTTTTTOOOOOOORRRRRRIIIIIIEEEEEESSSSSSSONE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S LARGEST COLLISION PARTS INVENTORIES

5

5

210

405

27118

101 170

ROSCOE BLVD.

5

210

170

N

• 50,000 parts in stock and ready to ship• We do bulk buying so we can pass the savings

on to you• 16 professional parts associates ready to help you• 30 delivery trucks serving the San Fernando

Valley and surrounding areas• We ship around the U.S. and the world• Online ordering through OEConnection

— Call for details

We are authorized to sell Ford’sRecovered Original Equipment (ROE).

(866) 665-2365Call DIRECT

Wholesale HotlineGALPIN WHOLESALE7868 Orion Ave. • Van Nuys, CA 91406

FORD EDGE ‘12

Parts Profileswith Larry Williams

Larry Williams is an innovative parts manager with national awards and over 30years of experience in creating and managing profitable departments. He canbe reached for consultation at [email protected]

www.autobodynews.comwww.autobodynews.com

NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSService, Diagnostic

and MechanicalService, Diagnostic

and Mechanicalcci Di ii Di iService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticS i i iService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticS i i iggService, Diagnosticg, DService, DiagnosticDService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticD cccccceeeeee sssoService, DiagnosticoService, DiagnosticService, DiagnosticService, Diagnosticoaaa tttggg iiinnnnnnaaService, DiagnosticaiiiiiirrrvvService, DiagnosticService, Diagnosticv ga tSSS DService, DiagnosticggService, Diagnostic

ndandda dddddaaa ddanddnnnnnnaaandanda daandddandd hanicalech n caMd Mec a calllhanical Mechanicali Mechanical Mechanical Mechanicalicnhecg

Mechg

MMd Md cccccce Mechanicale Mechanicale aaaaaa lllaa Mechanicalaiiinnnnnnaa MechanicalahhhhhhMM Mechanical MechanicalM aaMMechanicalg

MechanicalddandService, Diagnostic

and MechanicalWestern Edition September 2011CALIFORNIA • NEVADA • ARIZONA


I-CAR Offers New Course on Electronics Damage AnalysisI-CAR has premiered several onlinetraining programs in 2011, includingits newest course, Basic ElectronicsDamage Analysis (DAM13e).

By taking this course, individu-als will learn how to effectively com-municate at every level of the damageanalysis process, identify the basic re-quirements for a circuit and how cir-cuit values are measured, as well aswhat other parts of a circuit are de-signed to do. This course provides anunderstanding of how electrical sys-tems are designed to work and whatcan be done when these systems aredamaged. Information on how to rec-ognize collision damage to wiring,the possibilities for repair, and thetools and steps required when trou-bleshooting an electrical circuit prob-lem are also covered in this course.

Joyce Kasmer, I-CAR Directorof Business Development said, “Un-derstanding how to effectively com-municate throughout the entire repairprocess lends to more accurate dam-age assessments, which can result inreduced cycle times and higher cus-tomer satisfaction. This online coursewill be beneficial to collision repairprofessionals who are interested inlearning about specific procedures re-

lated to electronics damage analysisand how to effectively interact withvehicle owners, repair facilities, andinsurance companies.”

This course meets I-CAR® Pro-Level™ or annual training require-ments for the Estimator and AutoPhysical Damage Appraiser roles andsatisfies the Basic Electrical knowl-edge area within the I-CAR® Profes-sional Development Program™.Once an online training course hasbegun, an individual has thirty daysto complete the course and can re-ac-cess it an unlimited number of timesuntil it has been completed. Aftercompletion of the course, the individ-ual will have access to course materi-als for reference by logging in to theiraccount.

Information and registration forthis course can be found on the I-CAR website (www.i-car.com) or bycontacting I-CAR Customer Care at800-422-7872.

www.autobodynews.comCHECK IT OUT!

Ford Partners Azure on F-Series Plug in HybridsFord and Canadian-based Azure Dy-namics plan to convert the largest of itsF-Series models into plug-in hybrids,starting with the F-550 and later addingthe F-450 and F-350 models. The truckswould operate in electric-only mode atlow speeds while also reducing fuelconsumption at higher speeds in hybridmode. Anticipated range on batterypower, overall fuel efficiency and pric-ing details have not been released. Mar-keting is aimed at commercial fleetbuyers sensitive to the rise in fuel prices.

Ford Will Recall 1.22 MTrucks, Fuel Tank StrapsFord told the National Highway TrafficSafetyAdministration itwill recall1.22mil-lion trucks toreplacefuel tankstrapssubjecttocorrosion.Therecall includes theseunits:—Ford F-150 from 1997 through 2004—Ford F-250 with GVW of less than8,500 pounds from 1997 through 1999—Lincoln Blackwood from 2002 and2003 model years.

NHTSA said the trucks were man-ufactured from June 20, 1995 throughAug. 4, 2004. The flaw could causedropped fuel tanks and fire hazards.

Lincoln Electric AcquiresTorchmate ParentLincoln Electric Holdings, announcedAug. 12 that it has acquired substan-tially all of the assets of Applied Ro-botics, Inc., a leading manufacturer ofCNC cutting tables and accessories inNorth America. Applied Robotics,known in the welding industry by itsbrand name, Torchmate, has head-quarters and manufacturing facilitiesbased in Reno, NV. Torchmate(www.torchmate.com) offers a wideselection of CNC plasma and oxyfuelcutting tables to medium-sized fabri-cators.

GM Recalls Over 16K CarsGM said Aug. 12 it is recalling 16,198Chevrolet Impala and Buick LaCrossecars in the United States and Canada toaddress sensor and power steering prob-lems. There are 11,905 2012 Impalas re-called to check the power steering hose.The hose, if misrouted, could be dam-aged and spray fluid onto hot engine partsto create a potential for a fire. GM alsosaid it is recalling 4,293 2012 LaCrossesto reprogram the electronic brake controlmodule because an incorrect calibrationmay cause the electronic stability systemto improperly detect a sensor malfunctionand fail to illuminate a warning light.

Chrysler Recalls Up To370,000 2008 MinivansChrysler is recalling nearly 370,0002008 Grand Voyager, Town and Coun-try and Dodge Grand Caravan vehiclesfor a possible heating and air condition-ing problem that could inadvertentlytrigger the air bag, the second related re-call in nine months. NHTSA said con-densation from the heating and airconditioner could leak onto a sensormodule. This could lead to activation ofa warning light and inadvertent deploy-ment of the air bag. There was a recalllast November to replace a heating andcooling drain tube in those model vehi-cles to eliminate potential condensation.

U.S. safety regulators have opened an in-vestigation into about 120,000 BMW 7-series cars regarding shifting into parknot engaging, with roll away. NHTSAsaid it has opened a preliminary probe ofthe BMW cars from 2002–2008 after re-ceiving a complaint that a 2006 modelrolled away after the consumer parkedand exited the vehicle. Reports involvingsimilarly equipped cars also describingroll-away incidents were submitted byBMW. A BMW spokesman said the au-tomaker is cooperating with the NHTSAand is not aware of any reports of acci-dents or injuries related to the issue.

NHTSA Investigates BMWfor Potential Rollaways

Advances in transportation research areincreasing interest in putting cameras andsensors in and on work trucks. Scientistsare using a strategy that combines tightlycontrolled simulator driving, closely mon-itored runs on closed tracks and scrutinyof working truckers on revenue runs tohelp researchers translate observationsabout driver behavior. With simulators, acomputer vision system can tell where adriver is looking.Adriver’s eye position isone of the most readily quantifiable fac-tors in truck-safety as a computer can nowdetermine a driver’s level of fatigue.

Truck Driver Behavior NowTrackable with New Tech

A NTHSA team cleared GM from theneed to bring back more than 266,0002007 Chevy Tahoes and GMC Yukons.The concern was chrome plating on in-terior door handles that could peel orseparate from the plastic base material.De-lamination could result in a sharpedge and pose a risk of laceration.“Theresultant population group had a total of746 complaint reports with 309 injuryincidents and 43,619 unique VIN regularwarranty claims over a combined451,745 vehicle population,” NHTSAsaid in a report.

GM Has No Recall on itsTahoe and Yukon SUVs

American Honda is bringing back approx-imately 1.5 million vehicles to update thesoftware that controls the automatic trans-mission. Included are 4-cylinder Accordsfrom 2005 through 2010, the CR-V from

2007 through 2010, and the Element 2005through 2008. Honda believes the auto-matic transmission secondary shaft bear-ing can be damaged if the transmission isquickly shifted.

NHTSA previously said the FordFreestar and Mercury Monterey from2004 through 2007 might have defec-tive automatic transmission controlmodules, but now says “below defecttrend.” Tests found 200 potential prob-

lems out of population of 125,865, fora failure rate of 0.16 percent. The con-cern was water running down onto thecowling under the hood and drippingonto the PCM, causing a stall and thetransmission to shift badly.

Honda to Recall 1.5M CRVs, Elements, AccordsFord Minivans Not Subject to Recall, Infrequent Issue


A body shop dropped off a 2005 Nis-san Titan XE for a trailer light prob-lem. It was hit in the rear and hadfolded the bumper under the body.

This particular body shop I haveknown for years, and they pride them-selves on doing a top notch repair onevery vehicle that they are associatedwith. This truck was being a problemthough. All the systems were workingexcept for the trailer turn signal lights.To be thorough, they went backthrough each and every part that theyhad replaced or disturbed. They foundnothing, not a thing—2 days ofchecking it out led to a dead end.

That’s where I came into the pic-ture. As always, the first thing I wantto see is the wiring diagram. Youknow, I’ve always said change is agood thing, this time, I should re-phrase that to—it’s a good thing that“things change”—and I hope thisdoes real soon, because, this was

about the stupidest thing I’ve everseen.

It’s not the first time I have ranacross trailer lights going throughcomputer systems but it’s the firsttime I ran across only the trailer turnsignals running thru the BCM (bodycontrol module) not the trailer parklights, not trailer brakes—nope, justthe turn signals. Right there on theprint, plain as day, R-trailer turn andL-trailer turn, oh please—what wereyou dudes thinking? (Referring to theengineers) What was the reasoningbehind this?

I checked the rear wiring and allthe circuits involved along the under-side of the truck, all of which were inimpeccable condition. I couldn’t helpbut stare at that BCM on the wiringdiagram. I said to myself, “You meanto tell me I’m going to have to changean expensive BCM just for trailerlights? Come on, guys.” (Engineers)

The BCM is attached to bracketsjust above the gas pedal. Once I man-aged to get into position to see theBCM, I moved the wire harness outof the way to get a better look at it.All of which looked great. Anotherglance at the print showed that pin 51and 52 were the trailer turn signalwires, one yellow/black and the othergreen/black. Using a test light Ichecked the leads output signal di-rectly at the BCM connector. I was soglad to see the test light flashing withthe turn signals, what a relief! At leastit’s not the BCM, it’s wiring in be-tween the BCM and the rear connec-tor.

Another long stare at the printwith my head under the dash, allwedged in between the driver’s seatand my feet dangling out the door,one hand holding the wiring harnessout of the way, flash light by my rightear, the test light and the wiring dia-

gram all getting cramped in what lit-tle space that’s provided; but I stillcouldn’t see the problem. Since I al-ready checked the wiring running intothe truck and the signal was comingout of the BCM I had to be close, realclose. I was starting to understandwhy the body shop spent two dayslooking for the problem and couldn’tfind it.

I knew what I had to do—starthand tracing the two leads again fromstart to finish—one-more-time. Atthis point anything would be betterthan spending another minute “sar-dined” in this truck.

As I moved my arm out of theway and was about to slide out fromunder the dash I noticed right whereI had my hand holding the harnessout of the way were two small in linefuse holders, almost opaque in colorright on the green/black and the yel-

Is It ‘Change Is a Good Thing’ or ‘It’s Good That Things Change’?

See Change, Page 37

with Gonzo WeaverGonzo’s Toolbox This is a new story by Scott “Gonzo” Weaver as posted on his website, www.gonzostoolbox.com.

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

The keynote speaker for NACE’sOpening General Session will be So-cial Media Guru Chris Brogan. Bro-gan will headline the Opening GeneralSession at ASRW 2011, Thurs., Oct.6, from 8:30 A.M.–10 A.M.

Brogan is a noted author andjournalist; he is the New York Timesbestselling co-author of Trust Agents,and a featured monthly columnist atEntrepreneur Magazine. Brogan’s

blog, chrisbro-gan.com, is also inthe Top 5 of theAdvertising AgePower 150. Bro-gan is a marketingconsultant and fre-quent speakerabout social media

marketing who educates businessesand organizations on how social soft-ware aligns with their strategies. He isthe president and CEO of HumanBusiness Works, an education andcommunity company.Brogan’s keynote presentation willfocus on small business solutions,sales, lead generation and specific

strategies—all as they relate to the useand implementation of social media.

“We carefully selected Chris Bro-gan this year and feel his presentationwill be a highlight of ASRW,” statedRon Pyle, ASA president. “Attendeescan expect an entertaining and engag-ing presentation and also to walkaway with ideas and solutions theycan easily implement as soon as theyget home.”

“Technology and the advent ofsocial media in particular havechanged the way we all do business,so we feel Chris Brogan is not only atimely choice for this year’s keynotepresentation, but an extremely rele-vant one," said Harry Hall, DuPontNorth America Sales Manager—Re-finish. “Brogan has become a leaderin his field through his innate use oftechnology and connecting it to busi-ness, which parallels DuPont Per-formance Coatings’ philosophy ofinnovation as a leader in the collisionrepair industry.”

BASF Back as ExhibitorBASF has also committed to a pres-

ence at the NACE show for the firsttime since 2008. “NACE is the pre-mier event for the collision repair in-dustry and we understand howimportant it is to represent the BASFbrand among this core audience whouses BASF products,” said ChuckSoeder, vice president, BASF Auto-motive Refinish. “We look forward tosupporting the industry by exhibitingat ASRW this October.” BASF can befound in booth N1413 at the ASRWExpo.

BASF’s Felicia Funchess willalso be leading two sessions entitled,“Creating a Positive Work Environ-ment” and “Leading Change,”throughout the week’s industry edu-cation sessions.

The shows’ sessions will cover abroad range of subjects includingmanagement tips and tricks, technical

information, legaland HR advice,and women’s pro-fessional develop-ment.

Eric Schmitzwith KPA, an ex-

pert compliance company on safety, en-vironmental, and human resources(HR), will lead a session titled “Whatto Do When an Inspector Knocks onYour Door.” KPA’s environmental,health and safety services help to re-duce accidents and associated costswhile ensuring companies are in com-pliance with EPA and OSHA regula-tions.

Autobody News columnist TomMcGee with ALLDATA will lead an

information sess-sion titled “StopGuessing and StartKnowing.”

Personal devel-opment speakerand lifestyle guruRichard Flint willalso be speaking

again this year. He will lead sessionsentitled “The Power of Change” and“Wanted: Leaders That Lead!” Hisleadership session will touch on theTop 6 roadblocks that prevent leadersfrom being successful and how to re-move them, how to interpret the rede-finition of Leader, Leadership and


DID you know you can…

GET your Autobody News by e-mail newsletter twice a month?

SEE local collision news from other regions of the country?

READ and link to past columns for all our regular columnists?

Name

Shop

Street Address or P.O. Box

City State

Title

E-mail

Fax your forms back to 760-721-0253

It’s easy and it’s freeRegister your e-mail for our FREE twice monthly e-newsletter

Information provided is completely confidential and will not be shared or sold.

NACE/CARS Program Expected to Draw Larger Crowds

Chris Brogan

Eric Schmitz

Tom McGee

Company, how to break down the 6Secret “must haves” for being an ef-fective leader, examining the 5 sup-port beams that connect Leaders totheir people, and identifying the mind-blowing insights into working withthe 3 personality types leaders areconfronted with daily.

Cory King with the law firm ofFine, Boggs & Perkins LLP, who hasspoken at several California Auto-body Association meetings over theyears, will lead legal advice sessionsentitled “Survival Skills for Today’sEmployer: HR Best Practices” and“Survival Skills for Today’s Em-ployer: Compliance with Wage/HourLaws.”

The events, which have con-sistently tracked ahead of lastyear’s expos, are expected to drawin larger crowds than usual thanksto this year’s new east coast loca-tion.

Tickets for the Opening GeneralSession are included in the purchaseof a Super Pass or may be purchasedonline for $35 after the early-birddeadline of Aug. 9.

For more information about theexpos please visit www.naceexpo.com.

low/black wires leading away fromthe BCM.

AHA! THERE IT IS! Two inline 10 amp fuses to the trailerlights, Wowser!!! Fixed, done,works perfectly. The prints did notshow any fuses in the circuits, itonly showed the wiring leadingfrom end to end. Unbelievable, nowonder the body shop couldn’t findthe problem. I even missed it until Imoved my hand out of the way andknew the correct wire colors. It’s notthe sort of thing I’d expect to find—factory fuse holders in-line with theBCM—but there they were, you canbe guaranteed that I made a noteabout this one. I won’t forget nexttime.

It doesn’t help that the printswere wrong, and it doesn’t help thatthe manufacturer ran the trailer turnsignals leads thru the BCM, so I guessI can officially change my status from“change is a good thing” to “goodthing it changes” now do me a favorthere engineers; Change it!


(818) 778-2090 FAX: M-F 7AM-6PM, SAT 8AM-5PM WWW.GALPIN.COM (818) 778-2090 FAXHOURS: M-F 7AM-6PM, SAT 8AM-5PM WWW.GALPIN.COM

(866) 665-2365Call DIRECT

Wholesale HotlineGALPIN WHOLESALE7868 Orion Ave. • Van Nuys, CA 91406

5

5

210

405

27118

101 170

ROSCOE BLVD.

5

210

170

N

OOOOOOOONNNNNNEEEEE OOOOOOFFFFF SSSSSSSSOOOOOOUUUUUUTTTTTHHHHHEEEEERRRRRNNNNNN CCCCCCCCAAAAALLLLLIIIIIFFFFFOOOOOORRRRRNNNNNNIIIIIAAAAA’’’SSSSSS LLLLLLLAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGEEEEESSSSSSTTTTTLLLLLARGESTL CCCCCCCCOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLIIIIISSSSSSIIIIIOOOOOONNNNNN PPPPPPPAAAAARRRRRTTTTTSSSSSS IIIIIIINNNNNNVVVVVVEEEEENNNNNNTTTTTOOOOOORRRRRIIIIIEEEEESSSSSSONE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S LARGEST COLLISION PARTS INVENTORIES

• 50,000 parts in stock and ready to ship• We do bulk buying so we can pass the

savings on to you• 16 professional parts associates ready

to help you• 30 delivery trucks serving the San

Fernando Valley and surrounding areas• We ship around the U.S. and the world

JAGUAR XF ‘12


ChangeHonda Accord, Buick Enclave, Chevy Traverse get 5 starsThe Honda Accord, Buick Enclave andChevrolet Traverse became the latest ve-hicles to get a five-star overall crash rat-ing, under new stricter government tests.

The National Highway TrafficSafety Administration issued its re-vised, tougher five-star crash ratings,releasing 34 vehicle ratings. NHTSAis posting additional ratings as theycomplete testing of 2011 model vehi-cles on its safercar.gov website.

The Accord got five stars inthree tests: side, frontal and rollover.

The Buick Enclave and Chevro-let Traverse got five stars for side im-pact—and four stars on frontal androllover—but still got the five-starhighest rating overall. Two of the first34 vehicles got five stars—the BMW5 Series and Hyundai Sonata—andthe Hyundai only reached that pinna-cle after it was modified and retested.

Of the first batch tested, 29—in-cluding the Ford Fiesta and Taurus,Jeep Grand Cherokee, Cadillac Es-calade, Audi A4, Infiniti M37 andM56, Kia Sorento, Toyota Sienna,Honda Pilot and Chevrolet Malibu—got four stars in the overall score thattakes into account frontal, side androllover crash test ratings.

The new ratings won’t appear on

vehicle window stickers until the2012 model year.

Under the old frontal tests, morethan 95 percent of vehicles got fouror five stars; that figure fell to 83 per-cent after the first batch of new tests.Grades dropped in several or all testsfor many older models.

The Toyota Camry, the best-sell-ing car in the United States since2002, got three stars, as did theCamry hybrid.

The Buick Lucerne also got athree-star overall rating—after it gottwo stars on side impact—and fivestars on both rollover and frontalcrash tests.

The Buick got one star on theside impact for the driver and twostars for the passenger.

GM spokesman Alan Adlernoted that the tests have gotten moredifficult—and the vehicle hasn’tchanged. The Lucerne, which is in itslast year of production, got four starson side impact last year.

“You’ve got new numbers. butthe Lucerne didn’t change—just theratings,” Adler said.

The compact Nissan Versa receivedtwo stars, after getting a low score on thenew tougher side-crash tests.

TGIF (To Get It Fixed) Body Shop inFremont, CA, is a 12,000 square foot,family-owned business that focuseson the customer just as much as theactual vehicle repairs.

The shop has 17 employees, plussome part-time help, and is able toservice about 120 cars per month. Lastyear the business grossed about $3million.

The business was founded in1980 by Richard Mello, who startedthe business with his own hands andtool box, and was able to grow theshop by word of mouth.

Richard’s wife, Kathy Mello,took over the business and now runsthe shop with son Jason Cocco.

“We take the people into consid-

eration as well as the repair of the ve-hicle,” said Kathy.

TGIF is heavily involved intheir local community as well as thecollision repair industry. The busi-ness supports local little leagueteams, several high school sportsteams in the area, the Fremont Sym-phony, and several local businessgroups. Kathy is a Women’s Indus-try Network (WIN) member, Boardmember of the East Bay CaliforniaAutobody Association, SCRS mem-ber and CIC member.

TGIF is also a part of the AssuredPerformance Network, which pro-vides independent body shops with alegal cooperative that provides thequalified shops with financial rewardsfrom participating vendors and allowsthem to work together under a legalstructure.

When the business started to re-ally market themselves they decidedcommunity participation would be thebest way to go about gaining morecustomers.

“We decided to only spendmoney on things that had a dual pur-pose--things that give back to ourcommunity,” said Kathy.

TGIF has 4 major DRPs and on-site windshield and glass repairthrough Prestige Glass.

They also have fleet car repairspecials for businesses with vehi-cle fleets; they have been contract-ing with businesses to repair theirfleets for over 29 years. Kathy saidthe business has primarily workedwith a third-party vendor who re-ferred fleets to them for service,but they have recently started toreach out to smaller fleets as well.They mainly do fleet repair serv-ices for construction companies,security companies and plumbingcompanies.

“We understand that getting a carback on the road means dollars andcents more to a business than the av-erage person,” said Kathy.

TGIF has also invested a lot oftraining in their staff. Their techs areASC certified, I-CAR Gold Class andToyota Certified. The business itselfhas also been Green Certified since2003.

Kathy was able to get two federalgrants to provide lean and new metaltechnical training for some of TGIF’sstaff. The identification and weldingtechnology of new metals training wasprovided by the Work Investment Board.

Only certain employees were providedthis training and that was based on payrates set by the county government.

The company’s lean trainingcame through a grant with MEP, the

Manufacturing Extension Partner-ship. A trainer from MEP came outand taught TGIF lean techniques,made a value stream map for thecompany and helped them to betterflow their influx of cars through theirtwo, adjoined buildings as repairs aremade.

TGIF also sent its front desk teamto a management success schoolthrough the American ManagementInstitute.

All of this training benefits thebusiness as a whole; and thus the busi-ness has been honored by severalawards, which includes being votedthe Best Body Shop in Fremont by thepubic. For more information pleasevisit www.tgifauto.com.

TGIF Body Shop4595 Enterprise StFremont, CA 94538(510) 490-1342

TGIF Body Shop—Complete Body Repair and Fleet Services


with Erica SchroederShop Showcase Erica Schroeder is assistant editor at Autobody News in Carlsbad, CA. She loves

to talk with owners about their shops and goings on in their areas. Contact herat [email protected], or 800-699-8251

TGIF on Enterprise Street in Fremont, CA

Cars await welding in the bays by TGIF’sProSpot set up

TGIF has a storage area between their twobuildings where cars await painting

TGIF’s entire crew, with Owner Kathy Mellocenter, back left



Dana Cooper, the owner of BrownAuto Body, a busy, modest-size shoplocated in southwest Iowa, has beenin the collision industry for more thanthree decades. Cooper knows thevalue of reliable equipment and he’sconvinced there’s no more importantneed in a shop than having a reliableair compressor. Not only is it criticalfor his painting needs but he de-pends on it for air tools needed tomaintain his cycle times. That’s whyCooper was so pleased when hisKeystone rep introduced him to Mat-tei compressors for the first time latelast year.

“With a machine like an air com-pressor, I want to be able to buy itand never worry about it ever again.We’re fixing 30-40 cars per monthhere, and it’s just another thing Idon’t want to have to think about.We’ve had this Mattei unit for aboutseven months now, and they’ve beenvery good about keeping us on theright maintenance schedule. I knowthis is important. If my air compres-sor goes down, we’re dead in thewater. Almost everything from buffersto paint guns depends on air. It wouldbe like trying to fix vehicles withoutpaint or techs—that’s how importantit is to have a good air compressorthat won’t quit or need service all thetime.”

Darrin Cook, General Managerfor Keystone Automotive Indus-tries Inc. in Omaha, Nebraska hasworked for Keystone for more than22 years, so he’s seen (and heard)his share of air compressors of allbrands, sizes and styles. It’s notjust a lot of hot air when Cook en-thusiastically lauds the quality andperformance of Mattei’s rotaryvane compressors.

“We’ve been marketing the Mat-tei compressors for more than ayear now and they’re super quiet,while using less energy and pro-ducing more air,” Cook said. “TheseMattei units are smaller than theother brands we’ve sold before, sothey also take up less space. Price-wise, they’re also in the ballpark.You’re getting a quality product, soyou might be spending a little morewith these Mattei compressors, butin the long run these machines willlast you longer. In the past, thecompressors I encountered workedhard but wore down pretty quickly.These rotary vane compressorsfrom Mattei don’t work as hard, sothey last longer, and they put outmore air. They say ‘Get your lastcompressor, get a Mattei’ and after

working with them for a while now, Ibelieve it.”

Mattei’s machines have been inuse worldwide for industrial and au-tomotive applications for almost acentury. The company was foundedby Enea Mattei, an Italian engineer,when he became fascinated by thethen relatively minor compressedair industry in 1919. After 15 yearsof research and innovation, Matteiinvented the world’s first portableair compressor and, after embrac-ing a series of technological ad-vances, Mattei became one of theleaders in compressed air world-wide. The company solidified theirrole as a pioneer in the industry.Mattei started manufacturing rotaryvane compressors in 1958, andhave gained popularity with bodyshops within the last decade be-cause they’re efficient, durable andmaybe most importantly—quiet.

Cooper started out as a techand later purchased Brown AutoBody after he had been working for20 years, he explained. “The origi-nal owner, Pete Brown, wanted toget out, so I bought the shop andtook it over in 2000. Owning andrunning a shop has been a ton ofwork, but we’ve been staying busy,even during the recession and av-erage $2,000–$3,000 per repairwithout any DRPs. I’ve got twotechs and an office manager work-ing part-time, so it’s a lean opera-tion. We serve Atlantic, Iowa(6,800 population) and some ofsurrounding areas, competing withabout three other shops in thisarea.”

Cooper has been pleasantly sur-prised with his compressor, partiallybecause of the fact that he wasn’t fa-miliar with Mattei until Darrin Cook atKeystone introduced him to the com-pany and its line of rotary vane com-pressors.

“Darrin gave me Mattei’s litera-ture and we researched them on-line to find out a little more. Ataround the same time, one of myfriends purchased an American-made compressor, and I realizedthat it was a lot noisier and doesn’tput out quite as much cfm as myMattei does.”

After doing his homework,Cooper made the move to Matteiand he hasn’t had any regrets.“We bought Mattei’s 11 kilowattunit,” he said. “We tested it bysandblasting a car and it per-formed really well. It gained psithe whole time and we didn’t haveto stop to interrupt the job. Andit’s so quiet! That’s a big plus. Ican now stand right next to itwhile it’s running and still actuallytalk on the phone. Our old com-pressor was in our paint mixingroom. It was so loud in there wehad to scream to have a conver-sation—it was terrible. It wasstarting to leak oil and was begin-ning to worry about it, so we pur-chased it just in time. They comewith a 10-year warranty and de-signed for 100,000 hours of use,although many go way past that,from what we’ve heard.” Cooperis looking forward to not hearing,or not hearing about, his Matteicompressor for a good long time.

The shop’s old air compressor was loud andstarting to leak oil, so Owner Dana Copperresearched Mattei and made the move to thecompany’s rotary vane compressors

Brown Body ShopLocation: Atlantic, IA

Telephone: 712-243-4610www.brownautobody.com



Facility Employees: Three


DRP Programs: Zero

Number of Locations: One

Combined Production Space:4,000 square feet

Mattei Compressors, Inc.Phone: (410) 521-7020email: [email protected]: www.matteicomp.com

It’s a small yet talented crew at Brown Auto Body, consisting of (from left) Owner Dana Cooper,Tech Doug Towne and Tech Dan Schriver

Brown Auto Body Appreciates Mattei’s RotaryVane Compressors

Brown Auto Body in Atlantic, Iowa fixes30–40 cars per month without any DRPs

by Ed Attanasio

This July I did a presentation at theCollision Industry Conference (CIC)in Salt Lake City on the need for OEMdata prior to estimating and repairingtoday’s cars. I also included some ad-ditional discussion and presented ex-amples of bumper reinforcements. Ireceived a letter from a CAPAspokesperson stating that my demon-stration “caused members of the colli-sion repair industry to believe,mistakenly, that the part used in yourdemonstration was CAPA-certified.”I think that it is important that I givereaders an accurate account of whatreally happened. I want to make thisclear. I am not against the use of qual-ity aftermarket parts in the collisionrepair process, but I am very muchagainst being told to use substandardparts and then assuming all of therisks for their use.

A couple of months ago, a shopin the Midwest received an estimate

from a major insurance companycalling for a certified front bumperreinforcement for a 2008 HyundaiSonata. The shop had ordered fromthe A/M supplier a certified front-bumper reinforcement, but they re-ceived a non certified front bumperreinforcement. The shop’s tech didthe right thing—he compared thedamaged OE part to the A/M partand showed it to the owner. The wasa considerable weight difference be-tween the two parts. He ordered anOE part and sent the A/M part to me.

I purchased a new part and com-pared them. I found that A/M wasnot like, kind and quality. About thesame time, I received a bumper rein-forcement made by Diamond Stan-dard for a 2003 to 2008 ToyotaCorolla that was certified by NSF.

Again, I compared the two. Thiswas an OE part and it was extremelydifficult to distinguish between the

two parts. I thought that it was nec-essary to ship both sets of bumpersreinforcements to the CIC audience,so I sent all four parts to Salt LakeCity. While I was boxing up theparts, I had an A/M reinforcementsitting outside for the past year (Ilive in LA and we do not get muchrain) and I decided to throw it away.I cut it in half and what I saw turnedmy stomach. The entire inside of thereinforcement was filled with rust. Iincluded this part in my demonstra-tion.

In my presentation, I never men-tioned CAPA or NSF, but a memberof the audience stated that the frontbumper from Diamond Standard wascertified and I corrected my state-ment. I also thanked the AutomotiveBody Parts Association (ABPA) forthe effort in making sure that the partsthey sell can be traced. I think that isimportant for you to see what I pre-

sented so you can understand why Imade this subject matter part of mypresentation.

Let’s look at the Diamond Standardand OE front bumper reinforcements.

I proceeded to take a piece ofmetal out of both parts to check themetal strength with a metal analyzerfrom Europe (Bor-On).

The Diamond Standard part hada reading of 36.1 which translate toUltra High Strength Steel.


• Dedicated WholesaleStaff with Over 100Years Experience

Parts800-952-5307

Fax916-405-8045

Direct916-405-4700

9640 W. Stockton Blvd. • Elk Grove, CA 95757

Hours:Mon-Fri 7-7 • Sat 7-5

9640 W. Stockton Blvd. •

• Large Inventory

• Daily Local Deliveries

Visit Us at:NACE Booth N1210SEMA Booth 11068

Hey Toby!with Toby Chess

Toby Chess is an I-CAR program instructor, Welding specialist, and former salvage yardoperator. Toby is universally known in the collision industry for his charitable works,worthy causes, and magic tricks. He can be reached at [email protected]

Confusion over Certified Parts at CIC


The reading of the OE part was48.1 which translates to Ultra HighStrength Steel. Both parts were ultrahigh strength steel, but the OE parthad a higher strength. Also the OE hada series of ribs stamped into back sidewhereas the A/M did not. I put bothparts on a table at the CIC meetingand asked the audience to look at themand select the OE part. About half ofthe people misidentified the A/M partas the OE. A shop owner, who sits ofthe CAPA technical committee, toldme that the OE part was not an origi-nal equipment part, but a replacementpart and I should not be calling it anOE part (the only OE part comes onthe car).

The letter I received from CAPAstates the “CAPA has yet to see any re-inforcement bars or bumper parts thatmeet CAPA certification standards.” Arepresentative from a OE manufac-turer stated that the OE high strengthwas probably needed to pass the fed-eral safety crash standards. Let’s lookat the A/M reinforcement with therust.

The part had some sort of finish onthe inside end of the rail, but bare steelon the rest of the inside of the rail. Iasked a CIC participant “what does rustdo to the part?” His response was thatthe part was weakened. You don’t haveto be an engineer to understand that ifthe strength of the steel has deteriorted,it will perform in different way. Thestrength category of this steel was highstrength-low alloy (slightly higher instrength than mild steel), where as theOE part was ultra high strength steel.

Let’s look at the A/M HyundaiSonata Reinforcement.

The OE part is on the top andA/M is on the bottom. I asked anotherCIC participant to feel the weight dif-ference, which was considerable, andshe picked the OE because it washeavier. I compared the thickness ofboth parts and you can see that therewas a significant difference.

My question to everyone is this—Ifthe OEMs can make a part that will meetsafety standards with a lesser strength ma-terial, don’t you think that they would?Asthe strength of the steel increases, so doesthe cost. You be the judge.

I have a few more questions—Why do repairers have to be the betatesters for these substandard parts? Arethe repairers being compensated fortheir time and expense in testing theseparts? Are repairers being penalized for

greater cycle times for installing theparts, taking off the parts, sending theparts back and ordering different parts?

I have been told by a number ofshops that a particular national insurerwill not allow a shop to substitute an OEpart for the aftermarket part even thoughthe OE has priced matched the aftermar-ket price. WHY? What can repairers do?

Next month, you will be able topost on Facebook-type blog any after-market or OE parts that do not fit,have poor quality or are not of like,kind, and quality. You are probably al-

ready taking pictures of these parts, soit will be a snap to add them to theblog page. More to come in the nextissue of Autobody News.

Aftermarket—.93MM / High Strength Steel

OE—1.42MM / Ultra High Strength Steel

Aftermarket—27.7 / High Strength Steel

OE—40.7 / Ultra High Strength Steel

I-CAR, the Inter-Industry Conferenceon Auto Collision Repair announcedAugust 9 that James Roach of Amer-ican Honda Motor Company hasjoined the I-CAR International Boardof Directors as a Board Member.

James Roach has been part ofthe collision inter-industry for overthirty years and has been employedby American Honda Motor Com-pany since 1978. Currently, Mr.Roach is Senior Vice President –Parts and Service Division of Amer-ican Honda Motor Company. Hemanages a workforce exceeding2,000 employees which are geo-graphically placed throughout 18 lo-cations in the United States. Roachoversees the areas of automobilecustomer service, parts and acces-sories marketing, service marketing,

parts inventory procurement and dis-tribution, technical operations, andthe improvement of Lifetime OwnerLoyalty and CSI for both Honda andAcura automobile customers. He isalso responsible for the distributionof service parts and accessories formotorcycle, power equipment, andmarine products.

Roach has successfully inte-grated four previously separate busi-ness divisions into one. Throughidentifying gaps in communicationprocesses, developing countermea-sure plans, and introducing strategiccommunications channels to definedaudiences, employees of the Parts andService Division are more engagedand productivity is higher.

Elise Quadrozzi, Chair of the I-CAR International Board of Directors

stated, “Alongside his extensive ex-perience at American Honda MotorCompany, including operational,training, and marketing experience,Jim’s broad knowledge-base andproven leadership in the collisioninter-industry will truly be of value inhis role on the I-CAR InternationalBoard of Directors.”

The Board of Directors sets theoverall strategic direction for the or-ganization and assists in obtaining re-sources in support of the I-CARMission. The Board of Directors iscomprised of representatives fromeach of the following six industry seg-ments—collision repair; insurance;equipment, tools, and supplies; edu-cation, training, and research; vehiclemanufacturers; and related industryservices.

I-CAR Board of Directors Welcomes New Board Member, James Roach, American Honda Motor Company Chevy Volt Sales Slow toGrow, Nissan Leaf WorseChevrolet has sold only about 3,200Volt plug-in hybrids through the endof July. A survey of Volts on the mar-ket found 116 available nationwide. Anew CNW marketing study suggeststhat potential Volt buyers are losing in-terest. Volt’s $41,000 sticker price isthe big problem although it qualifiesfor $7500 tax credit. The 2012 pricefor Volt will drop to $39,995. GM of-ficials remain convinced Volt willmeet their sales expectations whichare projected to grow to 40,000 in2012. The Nissan Leaf trails behindwith only 1,044 units sold.


by Bob Spitz—Management Success

I was talking with a fairly new shopowner the other day about the state ofhis business and the challenges of get-ting a new business off the ground.During the talk the subject of insur-ance adjusters came up.

This particular owner, like manyin the business, has a passion for hisart. He is a master painter and doesbeautiful work. Like many new oper-ators, he has some body techs but he isstill the one who does the painting. Hehas goals. He wants his shop to be thebest collision shop in his market and Ihave no doubt that with his drive hemight make it. The reason I say mightis due to the fact that he is currentlystuck working in the back and tryingto run the business which includeswriting his own estimates.

He is experiencing his first caseof true stress and it is starting to man-ifest itself in the way he handles peo-ple. He looks at adjusters as an enemywho is there to drive him crazy andwhittle down his profits to the pointwhere he is not making any money.

I asked him if he provides a spacefor the adjuster to work while the ad-juster is in his shop. His reply was in-stantaneous and filled withantagonism. “Why should I do that?He is not here to help me!” I knew im-mediately that he was looking at theadjuster as an adversary and not a po-tential ally.

I was not trying to find fault withhim. He is a well trained and experi-enced painter with a lot of knowledgeand talent in that area. His problem isthat, he is not trained in the fine art ofhandling people, which as an owner ismore important than his skills as apainter. As a result he is trying to han-

dle the wrong problem in his business.Mishandling adjusters will not im-prove his bottom line!

I got him to calm down and takea look at what an adjuster does. Howthe adjuster plays the fine balancingact between the insurance companyand the shop which has the customer’sinterests as the priority. I got him toalso look at that fact that he needs theadjusters’ help in accomplishing hisgoals and yelling at people and beingbelligerent is probably not the bestway to win someone over.

I agreed with him that adjustersare not all sweethearts. Some are areal problem. They can be difficultand unreasonable. Maybe they just gotchewed out by the owner of the lastshop they were in. It doesn’t matter.You need this person to help you getwhat you need. Maybe just offeringthem a bottle of water and a place tosit down for a moment to talk aboutanything other than the business athand would help. Not all of them areout to get you. In fact if he would putdown his sword and shield he mightfind the majority of them are just try-ing to do a difficult job the best waythey know how.

Interacting effectively with peo-ple is not only a skill; it is an art formthat has to be mastered by anyone try-ing to run a business. There are manythings to know about business. Un-derstanding personal relationships andknowing how to negotiate is amongthe top items on the list.

Very few people are born withthese skills, they have to be learned.

I asked him “What if you had thesame ability in dealing with adjustersthat you have in dealing with the cars?Where would you be?” He stoppeddead in his tracks.

I continued, “You are a talentedpainter who only knows how to do thejob one-way, the right way. You’rebeing upset with the adjuster is be-cause you feel he is trying to get youto do the job in a lesser way—a waythat will not satisfy you or the cus-tomer. You do not have the skill to getthe adjuster to see it your way. Thisleaves you with limited choices ofshort-cutting, or accepting what isbeing offered which reduces yourprofit. Neither one of these is accept-able, nor should they be. You aregoing to do it the right way regard-less.”

“Two things need to happen hereand happen quickly or you will burnout and never achieve your goals. Thefirst is you have got to learn how to re-cruit, hire and train the right people sothat you can get back out of the paintbooth and run your business. You arekilling yourself trying to do both. Youcan get short fused when you have tostop what you are doing to handle theinsurance adjusters. Don’t start theconversation with the adjuster with anegative attitude.

“The second thing is you have tolearn is how to deal with people andnegotiate in order to get what it is youneed to do the job right and put moneyin your pocket.” His shoulders saggedand he said to me, “Where do westart?”

I am happy to report that this par-ticular shop owner did not blow up hisbusiness and is now in a much bettercondition. He smiles more. He is wellon the way to achieving his goals.

Collision shop owners are in thepeople handling business. If you arenot achieving your goals, feeling fedup and frustrated, give ManagementSuccess a call—we can help.

Management Success!, is a companythat specializes in training and con-sulting the independent automotive re-pair shop owner. Bob tours thecountry as an educational speakerand writes numerous columns. Addi-tional articles on management can beread online at www.managementsuc-cess.com

©2011 Management Success! AllRights Reserved.


offered by the trade associations ref-erenced above. If I-CAR wants theirtraining to be the accepted training,they need to work with the trade asso-ciations that work hard educate, assist

and speak for their members. If thecost of I-CAR training could be re-duced as the result of the increase involume through trade association par-ticipation, it would be a win, win forall. Once again, I encourage I-CAR toconsider and act on the opportunityrecently offered by the numeroustrade associations referenced above.


I-CAR Training

Handling People, Including Insurance Adjusters, Means Negotiating Effectively

at www.autobodynews.com

Register Your Email for Our

Free Monthly NewsletterFree Monthly NewsletterFree Monthly Newsletter


Original BMW Parts

bmwusa.com

When you repair a BMW, use the parts that are identical to those used in Seriesproduction – and just as reliable. Choose Original BMW Parts. Because youcan’t repair your reputation.

Southern California BMW Centers

BMWof EscondidoEscondido(800) 544-4269

BMWof PalmSpringsPalm Springs(760) 324-8314

BMWofSan DiegoSan Diego858-560-0268FAX (858) 277-7928

BobSmith BMWCalabasas(818) 340-9640FAX (818) [email protected]

CenterBMWSherman Oaks(818) 990-9518

Crevier BMWSanta Ana(714) 835-2025

LongBeach BMWSignal Hill(800) 794-4269(562) 427-5494www.longbeachbmw.com

NewCenturyBMWAlhambra(626) 576-2867

Nick AlexanderBMWLos Angeles(800) 800-NICK(323) 583-4108 [email protected]

Savage BMWOntario(800) 241-4269

South BayBMWTorrance(310) 939-7342(310) 939-7343

Sterling BMWNewport Beach(949) 645-8729

Niello BMWSacramento(916) 486-1299

Sonnen BMWSan Rafael(415) 482-2040

Weatherford BMWBerkeley(800) 995-9269

Northern California BMW Centers

You only get one chance at the first repair.Original Thought #78

• Original BMW Parts & Accessories

Ford released their second compara-tive tests of Genuine Ford structuralsteel collision parts versus aftermarketcounterparts on their Youtube accounton August 8.

The video is described as show-ing a “parts comparison performanceof genuine Ford parts vs. aftermaketcollision parts using computer aidedsimulation tests, crash sled tests, andactual vehicle crash tests data. In allcases, genuine Ford parts perform asdesigned. Aftermarket parts per-formance leads to questions of doubtconcerning proper air bag deploy-ment.”

The video is hosted by Ford Re-pairability Engineer LarryCoan. Coanalso describes Ford’s own version of the“sawzall test,” which they recreated fol-lowing its publicity since last year’sCIC meeting, where a Sawzall is usedto cut into aftermarket and OEMbumper beams. The test has been du-plicated numerous times and depicts thedifference in difficulty between cuttingthrough an OEM bumper beam versus

an aftermarket bumper beam.The test has been called into

question by several aftermarket partsadvocates, the groups call the test “un-scientific” and question whether itprovides a true measure of how a partwill perform in a crash, however theintent is not to show whether cutting asupport member more easily means itwill fail, but rather that the materialsare different. In the video Coan statesthat Ford’s saw test yielded similar re-sults to others depicted over the pastyear. (See also Toby Chess’ columnthis issue.)

Ford’s comparative tests weredone with 05–09 Mustang and 08-09Focus Bumper Beams, 06–08 F-150bumper brackets and 04–07 F-150 ra-diator supports, and 05–09 Mustangbumper absorbers and isolators. Initialcomparisons showed that part con-struction and weight were noticeablydifferent between OEM and aftermar-ket parts.

Crash simulations between partsalso showed a large difference be-

tween impact reactions. Repair costsfollowing such crashes also revealeda difference between damage sus-tained from crashes where OEM andaftermarket parts were used.

ABPA Responds with Own VideoThe Automotive Body Parts Associa-tion (ABPA) responded to Ford’svideo by releasing their own videoand press release detailing some oftheir own crash test results. Accordingto the group, the video of their crashtests illustrates the safety and qualityof aftermarket auto parts. The video,which is available on the ABPA web-site at www.autobpa.com, showcasesactual high- and low-speed crash tests.

According to the ABPA, side-by-side video taken during a high-speedcrash test illustrates the simultaneousairbag deployment (down to the mil-lisecond) for two 2006 Toyota Corol-las, one outfitted with an aftermarketbumper reinforcement bar and theother a car company equivalent.

The group uses this set of crash

tests to claim that false assertionswere made “by some car companiesthat airbag timing is affected byusing comparable aftermarket com-ponents.”

The ABPA goes on to say that,“the high-speed crash data also showsthe aftermarket- and the car company-equipped cars both delivering occu-pant safety well within the federalsafety standards, with the car outfittedwith non-branded car company partsactually delivering slightly better oc-cupant protection as measured across11 key injury criteria.”

“In low-speed crash tests pre-sented in the video, an aftermarketbumper reinforcement bar outper-forms an equivalent car-companybranded part, effectively absorbingimpact without deployment ofairbags while sustaining less damagethat results in a $200 lower repair es-timate.”

“Time and again the aftermarketindustry has demonstrated the safety


• Large Inventory • Fast & Free Delivery• 12 Trucks Serving San Diego County, Imperial County

and parts of Riverside County• Experienced Wholesale Specialists Ready to Serve You

• Large Inventory • Fast & Free Delivery

San Diego’s Best Selection of Hyundai

New & Re-manufactured Parts!New & Re-manufactured Parts!San Diego’s Best Selection of Hyundai

New & Re-manufactured Parts!

p y

1-888-839-07771-888-839-07771-888-839-0777

Monday - Friday: 7:00 am - 6:00 pmSaturday: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Hours:

8850 Grossmont BoulevardLa Mesa, CA 91942

HYUNDAIHYUNDAIDREWDREWHYUNDAIDREW

www.drewhyundai.comEmail: [email protected]

omuto.com

1-619-668-7782 Direct

Genuine OEM Volkswagen Parts!Genuine OEM Volkswagen Parts!Genuine OEM Volkswagen Parts!

VOLKSWAGENVOLKSWAGENDREWDREWVOLKSWAGENDREW

www.drewvolkswagen.comEmail: [email protected]

Monday - Friday: 7:00 am - 6:00 pmSaturday: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Hours:

8850 Grossmont BoulevardLa Mesa, CA 91942

1-888-839-07771-888-839-07771-888-839-07771-619-668-7782 Direct

en.comwauto.com

m

• Large Inventory • Fast & Free Delivery• 12 Trucks Serving San Diego County, Imperial County

and parts of Riverside County• Experienced Wholesale Specialists Ready to Serve You

Ford Releases Another Crash Test Video Comparing OEM to AftermarketCrash Parts, ABPA Responds with its own Crash Test Video

See Ford ABPA, Page 62

BK Listings, an internet marketingcompany that provides industry-spe-cific listings to businesses in the auto-motive industry, has expanded itsservices to include everything auto-motive. BK Listings was founded inearly 2010 and is headquartered inDearborn, MI.

The company started with 3 em-ployees; a web designer, a program-mer, and Owner and Founder BradleyBrennan.

Brennan started BK Listings tooffer industry specific and content rich

profiles to busi-nesses in the auto-motive industryand to offer cus-tomers an easierway to find the bestshops in their area.BK Listings fo-cuses exclusivelyon the automotive

service industry—their motto is “any-thing and everything automotive.”

“You could never include thetype of information you can with uson a Google or Yellow Page ad.

They’re too general and don’t let yourcustomers see what they need to see,”said Brennan.

BK Listings allows automotivebusinesses to list the industry-specificinformation customers searching for

this type of busi-ness want to see,such as which in-surance compa-nies the shop has aDirect Repair rela-tionship with anda complete list ofservices providedthat distinguish the

shop from the competition.All of this information is search-

able by users on BK Listings, so if ashop offers a certain service that peo-ple in their area want, customers willbe able to search for that service andfind that shop with ease.

Customers can create a free loginwith BK Listings that will allow themto upload information about whatneeds to be repaired on their vehicle.

This information then becomesavailable to shops with advanced pro-

files and they can bid on these jobs, al-lowing the customer to make an in-formed decision when choosing ashop and allowing the shop to find ad-ditional work in their area.

“This addition to the site is rela-

tively new but we are really excitedabout its potential,” said Brennan.

Customers can also submit infor-mation about a job they had done at ashop as well as shop reviews.

BK Listings has expanded since


Email all inquiries to:

Visit Our Website:www.bklistings.com

[email protected]

We offer basic and advanced profiles • Include your shop in prospective customers’ search resultsIndustry-specific advanced profiles that are fully customizable!

www.bklistings.com • [email protected]

BK Listings-“Advanced” Pro!le• Additional services you provide such as

loaners, detailing, alignments, part sales, etc.• Certifications• Average turnaround time• Promotions• Normal and special business hours• Extra space for unique features• Ability to view and bid on jobs

(submitted by customers) in your area!!

• Name• Address• Phone Number• Website• Up to 10 pictures and graphics• 1 Slogan• 1 Link to your website• Priority Placement• Direct Repair Statuses

• $49 per month $39 per month with code (BK50)

• 1 Graphic• 1 Slogan• 1 Link to your website• Priority Placement• Basic Shop Information

o Nameo Addresso Phone numbero Website

• General informationo Whatever information you can

squeeze into a couple lines

$176 per month

Yellow Pages - “Platinum” Status

Offer ends (12/31/11)

A Direct Comparison of How Much More a BK Listing Ad Offers

BK Listings: Marketing Automotive Businesses Through Innovative Listings

A mock listing was created for Autobody News

Alyssa Koslowsky,Marketer

Gavin Crawford,Web Designer

their founding to include listings forautomotive service businesses beyondjust collision repair shops, like me-chanical, customization, and wheel &tire. They have also increased theirstaff; expanding to include three pro-grammers, a graphic designer, a writer,and a marketer.

“We are currently building a sec-tion for buying and selling automo-biles to help offer another marketingsolution to our dealership friends, andwe plan on facilitating automotivepart sales in the future,” said Brennan.

BK Listings offers two types ofprofiles, basic and advanced. Theydiffer in the amount of informationprovided about the business and theway they are searched by users.

BK Listings has over 30,000body shops listed with basic profiles.Advanced profiles, once set up, willalways come before basic profiles insearch results and will always displaymore information, so shops fortunateenough to be one of few signed upwith advanced profiles in their areawill enjoy increased visibility in allsearches by local users.

“We have decades of experiencein the collision industry and know ex-

actly what shops are looking for; weknow what customers want and weknow how to bring business in. Ourgoal is to provide a service that allowsthe best shops to find the customers

they need to survive and succeed,”said Brennan, “The collision industryis just now beginning to aggressivelypursue internet marketing; we want tobe at the forefront of that movement.We have the best interests of the shops

in mind, and we believe together wecan improve the industry as a whole.”

John Germain, owner of E & FAuto in Melvindale, Michigan, has hada listing on BK Listings for a short pe-

riod of time but has already seen a pos-itive response from the listing.

“It is easy to use and makes ourcompany more visible. We alreadyhad a website in place but the addi-tional traffic helps with our online

marketing,” said Germain.BK Listings is currently running

a promotional deal for their members;if a member refers another shop to signup, BK Listings will send the membera check for $100. All members have todo is tell a friend to sign their shop up,if they stay on for at least 3 months,BK Listings will send the check. Thereis no limit on the amount of shopsmembers can refer for this deal. Shopsshould email BK Listings notifyingthem of the referral (see below).

“We have done our best to pull inevery shop in America, but throughthe process there is the chance wemissed a couple,” said Brennan. “It isvery easy to add your shop if youdon’t already have a basic profilelisted, you can submit a request on thewebsite or email us directly and wewill add it for you.”

Questions can be directed [email protected] or [email protected].

“I want to develop a personal re-lationship with every shop that is in-terested; we can only succeed byworking together,” said Brennan.

Please visit www.bklistings.comfor more information.


The request an estimate form available for potential customers to fill out andhave shops bid on their job

Hertz to Acquire Donlen in$930M TransactionHertz Global Holdings and DonlenCorp. announced July 18 they havesigned a definitive agreement forHertz to acquire Donlen. The transac-tion has been approved by the boardsof directors of both companies and bythe stockholders of Donlen.

The transaction is expected to becompleted in the third quarter of 2011,subject to the satisfaction of custom-ary closing conditions, including reg-ulatory approvals. Mark Frissora,the chairman and chief executive offi-cer of Hertz, said, “The acquisition ofDonlen expands our portfolio of trans-portation solutions by giving Hertz animmediate leadership position inlong-term car, truck and equipmentleasing and fleet management for cor-porate customers who need scale andsophisticated fleet management serv-ices. This range of solutions from asingle provider will make Hertzunique among its peers.”

Frissora added, “The integrationof Donlen gives Hertz a yearly andmulti-year offering that complementsour hourly, daily and monthly carsharing and car rental options for cus-tomers, giving us a more stable rev-enue stream and new adjacentmarkets to leverage our existing busi-ness model.

Hertz Files Premerger Noticewith Federal Antitrust RegulatorHertz Global Holdings has pushedback the deadline of its latest offer toacquire Dollar Thrifty AutomotiveGroup, but the proposed Hertz-Dol-lar Thrifty merger took a major stepforward the week of July 10.

Hertz says that it gave federalantitrust authorities the premergernotification required by the Hart-Scott- Rodino Antitrust Improve-ments Act of 1976, as amended,regarding its offer for DTAG.

According to the Federal TradeCommission, Hart-Scott-Rodino ba-sically created the path by which par-ties must inform the FTC andDepartment of Justice about largemergers and acquisitions ahead oftime.

“The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act es-tablished the federal premerger noti-fication program, which provides theFTC and the Department of Justicewith information about large merg-ers and acquisitions before theyoccur,” the FTC explains on the Bu-reau of Competition section of itswebsite.

The FTC says that deals cannotbe closed until the one of the follow-ing happens: the specified waitingperiod ends or the government al-lows the waiting period to end early.


NO. CALIFORNIADublin Kia

DublinWholesale Direct

(925) 828-8251(925) 829-2941 FaxM-F 7:00am - 6:00pmSat 8:00am - 4:30pm

Elk Grove KiaSacramento/Elk Grove(888) 244-3404(916) 753-1040(916) 753-1045 Fax

www.elkgrovekia.com

Momentum KiaVallejo

(707) 638-1825(707) 554-2637 Fax

[email protected] 8am - 5pmSat 8am - 3pm

San Leandro KiaSan Leandro

(510) 347-3010(510) 347-3003(510) 895-1027 FaxFree Local DeliveriesShipping Available

SO. CALIFORNIACar Pros Kia

CarsonToll Free

(800) 553-0940Parts Direct

(310) 221-9101(310) 816-9811 Parts Fax#1 Wholesale Dealer Serving

Southern California

Citrus KiaOntario

(800) 583-7042(909) 390-0948(909) 390-0982 Fax

[email protected] - Sat 7:00am - 6:00pm

Free Local DeliveryAsk for Ike, Jimbo, Chris, Juan, Sean, Jeff

Se Habla Español

First KiaSimi Valley

1-888-531-4785(805) 306-1085 FaxFree Local Delivery

M-F 7:00am - 6:00pmSat 8:00am - 5:00pmSe Habla Español

Ask for David or Julio

Kia of El MonteEl Monte

(626) 450-0500(626) 443-9800 Fax

www.kiaofelmonte.comM-F 7:30am - 6pmSat 7:30am - 3pm

Rally KiaPalmdale

(800) 585-0551(661) 266-1881 Fax

[email protected] 8am - 6pmSat 8am - 4pm

Precise fit and finish, easy instal-

lation and a limited warranty

direct from KIA — all genuine

advantages of genuine KIA

parts.Your local KIA retailer

has all the parts you need.

New car in the shop – front end lookslike it ran into a tree. It did! So, what’sit going to take to get it back on theroad? Well, it starts with you, the esti-mator. As an estimator, you need ex-perience, good judgment, diplomaticskills and accurate information.

As far as experience, judgment anddiplomacy go, you either have them oryou don’t. I can’t really help you there.But, when it comes to information,that’s a different story. Today, everymodel year brings innovations: Materi-als technology, electronic systems, fin-ishes, vehicle drivetrains, steering andsuspension… the list goes on.

Can you develop a repair plan justby looking? How about an educatedguess, or calling your friend who workedon one of these vehicles once? Sorry, theold ways just don’t work anymore!

Information is the keyBut not just any information. You

need manufacturer’s information. OEprocedures and guidelines are ab-solutely required to efficiently and ef-fectively repair today’s vehicles. Youneed it to write a repair plan. YourParts Manager may need it to orderthe correct parts the first time. And ofcourse your technicians need OE in-formation to make accurate repairs inthe shortest amount of time possible.

Back to the car in the shopYou start to build your repair plan. Asan experienced estimator, you proba-bly have a good sense of how deep thedamage goes. But what about thatframe rail? Can you section it? (Fig-

ure A). Are you sure? Can you tellwhat kind of steel is used in each lo-cation? Those are just a couple of fac-tors that will make a difference in theestimate… and in the ultimateprofitability of the job. Ofcourse, profit is not the only con-cern. Your primary mission is todeliver a vehicle that is safe todrive. That’s really the bottomline, isn’t it?

Here are some of the ques-tions you may have to wrestlewith:• How do you determine thetypes of construction materials?• Is the part you are repairingmade from high-strength steel?Ultra high-strength steel? Dual phasesteel? High strength low alloy steel?(Figure B.1).• How do you know for sure if themanufacturer says it is safe to sectiona particular component?

• Do you follow the insurance es-timator’s procedures about where tosection? If you don’t comply with theestimator’s recommendation, who is

liable for damage in the event of a fu-ture accident?• Do you have all the informationyou need for a safe, reliable – yet effi-cient – repair, including electronic sys-


Your Source for Wholesale Volvo Parts

Right Part. Right Price.Right Now.

Trust your order to the collision parts specialists at these fine Dealers

volvo Genuine parts

No.California

Carlsen VolvoPALO ALTO

650-493-3205800-70-VOLVOwww.carlsenvolvo.com

Sanderson Volvo of PhoenixGLENDALE

888-249-3673623-842-8799 [email protected]

Galpin VolvoVAN NUYS

818-778-2005818-778-2090 Fax

www.galpin.com

So.California

Arizona

Choose Original MINI Parts.Because you can’t repairyour reputation.

YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE AT THE FIRST REPAIR.

These Dealers Below Are Original MINI Parts Distributors:

S Hardtop 2011

South BayMINITorrance310-939-7342310-939-7343

California

Nick AlexanderMINILos Angeles800-800-NICK323-583-5109 Directwww.alexandermini.com

Estimators – The Front Line in the Battle for Profitability

See Battle for Profitability, Page 50

with Dan EspersenALL OEM Information Dan Espersen is ALLDATA® CollisionSM Program Manager. Dan is a Gold Pin

Member of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) and holds an AA Degree inAutomotive Technology. He has 17 years of experience in the collision industryand 17 years of experience in the automotive industry.and Jeff Webster


For the first time in 7 YEARS, the world’s collision event is headed east!Join the automotive service & repair industry at the only event that is specifically designed and created for YOU. As the flagship

event of ASRW, NACE constantly evolves with the industry to meet your ever-changing business needs, continues to investin the industry it serves, and is a must attend event for anyone in the automotive service & repair industry. And this year…

IT’S ALL ROLLED INTO ONE:World class exhibits // Unmatched education & training you won’t find anywhere else

Live on-floor demonstrations // Opening general session // Welcome reception // ASRW Town HallASRW Industry Forum // Association Leadership Summit // Networking Events

Vehicle Display Featuring the Muscle Car Network of Florida

www.ASRWEVENTS.com

Exhibits: October 6–8 // Conference: 5–8 // Orange County Convention CenterTHE PREMIER EVENT DEDICATED TO THE AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE & REPAIR INDUSTRIES

ASRW 2011 // ORLANDO, FL USA

Held During:Co-Located With:

NACE 2011 in Orlando! SPECIAL PRICINGFOR AUTOBODY NEWS READERS.$15 Expo Pass > $335 Super Pass

Go towww.autobodynews.com

and select the NACEbanner and register

for NACE 2011in Orlando!

FOR AUTOBODY N$15 Expo Pass > $335 Super Pass

GGGo tto

Show Your Support forShow Your Support forAUTOBODY NEWSAUTOBODY NEWSby Registering onby Registering on

our website!our website!

Show Your Support forAUTOBODY NEWSby Registering on

our website!

DON’T MISS OUT ON THE SAVINGS!

tem reset or reprogramming procedures?• Will your estimate comply withyour shop’s DRP agreements if youparticipate in such a program?• Does your technician have theprecautions he or she needs to worksafely. What are the special safetyconcerns for hybrid vehicles? Withhybrids, the safety of the technicianAND the vehicle needs extra atten-tion. (Figure C).

• Will the shop make money on thejob?

OE information is the gold standard forcollision repairWhen developing a repair plan, OErepair information helps you:• Increase estimate accuracy forcollision and mechanical repairs• Identify proper repair proceduresto reduce supplements• Provide required documentationto customers and insurers• Increase sales and consumer con-fidence with a professional explana-

tion of necessary repairs• Manage costly vehicle returns

Here is an excerpt of an OE repairarticle for a 2011 Buick® Regal®A-Pillar – Front Hinge PillarBody Sectioning (Upper)Always refer to ALLDATA® for safetyprocedures, identification of materialtypes, recommended refinish materi-als, removal and installation proce-dures. Always refer to the vehiclemanufacturer for questions relating toapplicable or non-applicable war-ranty repair information.

Removal ProcedureWarning: Sectioning should be per-formed only in the recommendedareas. Failure to do so may compro-mise the structural integrity of thevehicle and cause personal injury ifthe vehicle is in a collision.

The body side outer panels areavailable in one-piece side frames.You can perform any one of these re-placement procedures separately or inany combination, depending upon theextent of damage to the vehicle. Sec-tioning must take place in specified

areas only. Stay away from the doorand window opening radius areas.Perform sectioning only in straightareas of the openings.

1. Disable the SIR system.2. Disconnect the negative battery cable3. Remove all related panels and com-ponents.4. Repair as much of the damagedarea as possible.5. Remove the sealers and anti-corro-sion materials from the repair area, asnecessary.Note: Sectioning can be done any-where in the straight area along therocker panel.

6. On the “A” Pillar Measure down100 mm from the door wiring conduit


Genuine Nissan and Infiniti OEM WholesaleParts are superbly crafted to strict qualitystandards. Use of genuine OEM WholesaleParts is a shift in the right direction towardtrouble-free repairs and quicker turnaround.The following dealers proudly stock genuineparts for your Nissan or Infiniti repairs. Callyour local distributor today!

2011 Juke Shift into Genuine Nissan and Infiniti OEM Parts

CORONA NISSANCORONA

800-553-7438(951) 549-6564 FaxServicing L.A., Orange,

Riverside & San Bernardinocounties

INFINITI OFBAKERSFIELDBAKERSFIELD

661-617-2020(661) 617-2039 Fax

M-F 8-5www.infinitiofbakersfield.com

MOSSY NISSANNATIONAL CITY

800-300-7251(619) 474-4347 Fax

Same Day DeliveryThroughout All San Diego

Largest Inventory in San Diego

SHINGLE SPRINGSNISSAN

SHINGLE SPRINGS530-676-0444(530) 677-6528 Fax

www.shinglespringsnissan.com

DOWNEY NISSANDOWNEY

888-444-1355(562) 334-1195 Fax

Billy Smith-Parts ManagerM-F 7-6, Sat. 7-5

www.downeynissan.com

METRO NISSANINFINITI OF MONTCLAIR

MONTCLAIR800-243-5575(909) 625-4087 Fax

Ask for Rita or SteveLarge inventory available

NISSAN OFBAKERSFIELDBAKERSFIELD

888-402-6915(661) 835-0389 FaxM-F 7-6, Sat. 8-5

www.nissanofbakersfield.com

S. CALIFORNIA N. CALIFORNIA

DIRITO BROTHERSNISSAN

WALNUT CREEK800-865-5792

(925) 934-8459 &(925) 934-8221 Fax

LITHIA NISSANFRESNO

800-870-7779559-436-6040 Parts Direct

559-438-0183 FaxM-F 7-6, Sat. [email protected]

www.lithia.com


Battle for Profitability

FIGURE C: Precautionary Statements for a 2011 Toyota® Prius®

CAUTION:Pressing the power switch with the brake pedal depressed causes the system toenter the READY-on state. This is very dangerous because high voltage may beapplied to the inspection area.

NOTICE:When the cable is disconnected from the negative (-) battery terminal, initialize thefollowing system(s) after the cable is reconnected: Advanced Parking GuidanceSystem.

NOTICE:A short circuit to ground may occur if the AMD terminal is disconnected before thecable is disconnected from the negative (-) terminal of the auxiliary battery. If a shortcircuit to ground occurs, it can result in an open circuit in a fusible link or fuse.

See Battle for Profitability, Page 60

The Crozat family had a grand open-ing recently to unveil their newestG&C location in Novato, California.

From left to right, General Man-ager Shawn Crozat, Owners Teri andGene Crozat, and Josh Crozat, themanager of the company’s Windsor lo-cation, were on hand for a ribbon cut-ting.

Approximately 70 people attendedthe event, including dignitaries from theCity of Novato. The facility has the

ability to handle 100 cars per month.G&C purchased the business

from Complete Auto Body and remod-eled the shop for approximately$300,000, including the purchase priceof the business as well as the con-struction costs, and subsequentlysigned a long-term lease with thebuilding’s owner.

Teri is holding a plaque welcom-ing the business from the NovatoChamber of Commerce.


Galpin SubaruVan Nuys

(818) 778-2005(818) 778-2090 Fax

www.galpin.com

Kearny Mesa SubaruSan Diego

(800) 548-9124(858) 300-3331 Fax

Mon.-Fri. [email protected]

www.kearnymesasubaru.com/parts

Subaru of GlendaleGlendale

(818) 550-1500(818) 549-3850 Fax

Mon.-Fri. 7-6; Sat. [email protected]

Sierra Subaru ofMonroviaMonrovia

(626) 359-8291(626) 932-5660 Fax

Mon.-Fri. 7-6; Sat. [email protected]

Timmons SubaruLong Beach

(888) 489-5001(562) 426-3550 FaxTue. 7-8; Mon., Wed.-Fri. 7-6;Sat. 8-4, Sat. No Delivery

[email protected]

Marin SubaruSan Rafael

(415) 257-4690(415) 257-4684 FaxMon.-Fri. 7:30-5:30; Sat. 8-4

[email protected]

Shingle Springs SubaruShingle Springs(530) 676-0444

(530) 677-6528 Faxwww.shinglespringssubaru.com

Subaru of Santa CruzSanta Cruz

(800) 549-8490(831) 420-1402

(831) 420-1923 FaxMon.-Fri. 7:30-6; Sat. 8-5

[email protected]

Anderson SubaruLake Havasu City(928) 764-5177

(928) 764-2574 FaxMon.-Fri. 7:30-5:30; Sat. 8-2www.andersondeals.com

www.andersondealssubaru.com

Power SubaruScottsdale

(480) 425-2950(480) 425-2948 Fax

Mon.-Fri. 7-6; Sat. 7-4

ARIZONA

NO. CALIFORNIASO. CALIFORNIA

The following dealerships are eager to serveyour needs. Call your local Subaru collision

parts specialist today!

SO. CALIFORNIA

Gene Crozat Family Opens Newest G&C Location in Novato

In an article in July’s Autobody NewsI wrote about Yelp and how shopshave objected to the way this reviewsite seems to perpetuate negative re-views on shops unless they’re mem-bers of the premium (paid) userprogram. If you missed it see www.au-tobodynews.com and search: Yelp.The question for many shops in thissituation is: what can I do about it?

Okay, let’s assume your nameand the reputation of your shop hasbeen thrown under the bus and nowyou want to fight back. Maybe it’s abad review on Yelp, or maybe a dis-gruntled former employee has trashedyou on the Web and posted a collec-tion of half-truths coupled with someoutright lies. Or, maybe one of “thosecustomers” that is never be happy isposting negative things online aboutyou and they are beginning to get no-ticed and starting to affect your busi-ness.

Okay, it looks bad and it can bevery frustrating, but don’t panic—there are some strategies you can useto defend yourself online and clean upyour damaged reputation in theprocess.

To get started, you can initiallydo some things on your own that candistance you from the snarky onlinecomments or bad reviews about youand your business. If you have anyeven rudimentary computer skills, youcan help yourself considerably bymaking the right moves. The basicrule here is always take the high road.Don’t’ respond directly to anything ina negative or combative fashion. Ifyou jump in the mud with your onlineaccusers, than all you’re really doingis adding credibility to their claims.

Focus on disseminating positiveinformation about your shop and getit on as many websites as you possi-bly can. Put them on your Facebook

page and other social media sites, suchas LinkedIn, MySpace, Bebo, Friend-ster, and Netlog, to name some ofmany. Join as many as you can andmaintain them, inviting customers andfriends to join. Eventually, your in-volvement in these sites will start ap-pearing in search results, and prettysoon, you’ll notice that the bad re-views will begin to migrate down thelist.

If you really want to get proactivein defending your company online,you can take it a step further and startyour own blog. Blogs are popular, be-cause they’re simple and posting sto-ries and photos on there is a snap,even for the cyber-challenged. Youcan link your blog to your website andit will also provide a wide range ofSEO advantages over your haters.

For example, BlogSpot(blogspot.com) is a very popular blog-ging site. It’s easy-to-use and ab-

solutely free. Posting stories on yourblog doesn’t require a lot of time andeven with just casual computer skillsyou can start and maintain a blogwithin a short time.

Now, of course, you might beasking yourself—how do I find thetime to do these things online? You’reprobably already working 50 hours aweek—fixing cars, dealing with cus-tomers, insurance companies, vendorsand employees is your priority everyweek, so how can you do it all?

Some body shops call upon afront office employee to assume therole of the company’s IT person. But,if you don’t have anybody currentlyon your staff like that, you’ll need tohire a company or an individual to as-sist you in salvaging your reputationonline and defending you in the fu-ture.

Some body shops have hiredpublic relations firms to perform these


Want every jobWant every jobto be a bang-up job?to be a bang-up job?Want every jobto be a bang-up job?

WE WANT TO BE YOUR SOURCEFOR REAL VOLKSWAGEN PARTS.

These dealers are Genuine VW Parts Wholesale Specialists.

We have the Real Volkswagen CollisionParts that make your job easier andyour customers happier. With your skilland our parts, every collision repair willbe a bang-up job. And that will add upto more repeat business for both of us.Call your order in today.

So. California

City VolkswagenSAN DIEGO

880000--992277--22227777FAX: 619-276-2414

M-F 7:30am - 6pm;Sat 8am - 5pm

www.cityvolkswagen.com

Volkswagen ofDowntown LA

LOS ANGELES

221133--774477--77224466FAX: 213-222-1272

Ask for Carlos or Erasmo

No. California

Dirito Bros. WalnutCreek Volkswagen

WALNUT CREEK

11--880000--VVOOLLKKSSWWAAGGEENNFAX: 925-934-0786

[email protected]

TimmonsVolkswagenLONG BEACH

11--888888--448899--55000011FAX: 562-426-3550

[email protected]

Drew VWSAN DIEGO

888888--883399--00777777DIRECT: 619-668-7782

FAX: [email protected]

How to Fix Your Damaged Online Reputation

with Ed Attanasio

Shop and Product Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Shop Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Social Media for Shops

with Erica SchroederShop Showcase

The Right Causewith Mike Causey


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


duties. If you can afford them, it’s asage move. Bruce Miles is a publicrelations specialist who has workedfor companies such as Cisco Systems,Apple Computer and a wide range ofstartups in Silicon Valley. He offeredme some tips for how to position yourshop in a good light and reap acco-lades that can offset any bad reviewsor negative content about you and/oryour business online.

“Start a list of all the things youdo well and leverage those items,”Miles said. “Collect testimonials fromyour satisfied customers and get theirpermission to use them. If you’re notcurrently helping the community thatyou’re doing business in, start gettinginvolved. It’s a win-win, because itwill help your business and attract

more customers. Too many smallcompanies don’t see the big pictureand concentrate solely on profit, pay-roll and the bottom line. Those thingsare obviously crucial, but establishinga solid reputation especially in yourarea is paramount.”

Press releases distributed to thelocal media is one way to get the wordout about all of the great things you’redoing, Miles explained. “Hire a PRperson and have them generate onepress release every couple months.Any positive news is good news andlocal community papers love to runupbeat stories, because most of theheadline news out there is grim, as weknow. Maybe you’re mentoring localstudents who want to get into collisionrepair? Maybe you fixed a rare,

unique vehicle? Or maybe held a din-ner for the local Little League teamyou’re sponsoring? Good public rela-tions specialists will find the storyideas for you, and by using their con-tacts with the local media, you’ll startseeing your name in print and onlinein a positive vein.”

If you have a really negative per-ception on the Web you may need togo further. For many body shops, agood solution is hiring a companycalled Reputation.com (formerly Rep-utationDefender.) Located in Red-wood City, California, the companysells online reputation management(ORM) and Internet privacy to com-panies and individuals worldwide.ReputationDefender was founded sixyears ago to help parents in shielding

their children from damaging theirreputations via embarrassing postingson social media websites, but Reputa-tion.com has shifted its businessmodel to defending adults online aswell and continually monitoring webcontent about their clients. Whendamaging content is found, the com-pany tries to get it removed from theoffending websites through methodslike contacting the site owners and re-questing that they remove the contentin question.

In 2006, Susan Crawford, a cy-berlaw specialist on the faculty of Car-dozo Law School in NYC, says thatwhen contacted in that fashion, “Mostpeople will take materials down justto avoid the hassle of dealing withpossible litigation.”

Reputation.com also leveragesthe positive approach, by writing 200-300 word articles praising their clientsand posting them throughout the Web.By building a reservoir of positivefeedback out there in cyberspace andcontinually acting as a watchdog,Reputation.com can help you to offsetbad press or disparaging reviews thatyou’ve received and keep the goodword coming, so that you’re readywhen and if it happens again.

“Be prepared” is the Boy Scoutmotto, but we can’t all be EagleScouts all the time, so when disparag-ing things appear about you and/oryour business online, the worst thingyou can do is ignore the situation. Ifnegatives are out there and you knowit, you’ll never know who’s not com-ing to your shop because they’ve seena bad review. Silence is deafening andpeople will readily form “guilty untilfound innocent” opinions unless yourespond. But keep it positive, buildgood will by doing things that benefityour community and hire an expert ora company to defend you online ifyou’ve really been maligned.

Had success in turning your on-line reputation around? Contact me [email protected] and let me know howyou did it. I’ll pass that along to shopswho may find themselves in the samesituation.

AudiGenuine Parts

Audi of Downtown LA1900 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90007Tel: (213) 747-7248 Fax: (213) 222-1261

www.audiofdowntownla.comParts Manager: Fausto G.

Service Hours: 8:30 am – 6:30 pm

Best Delivery Service (Twice Daily) to LA County$750,000 Genuine Audi Parts Inventory8,000 + Parts in Stock

• Best Delivery Service (Twice Daily) to LA County• $500,000 Genuine Porsche Parts Inventory• 6,000 Numbers in Stock

OF DOWNTOWN LA

1900 S. Figueroa StreetLos Angeles, CA 90007Parts Manager: Marlon L.

www.porschedowntownla.com Service Hours: 8:00 am - 6:30 pm

Tel: (213) 748-4624 Fax: (213) 222-1278

• Best Delivery Service (Twice Daily) to LA County• $750,000 Genuine VW Parts Inventory• 8,000 Numbers in Stock

1900 S. Figueroa Street • Los Angeles, CA 90007Parts Manager: Carlos L.

www.vwdowntownla.comService Hours: 8:00 am - 6:30 pm

Direct: (213) 747-7246 • (213) 747-7247Fax: (213) 222-1272

Search:

Autobody Newson Facebook

by Vinnie Mitz,President, Copart, Inc.

Although used car dealers and insur-ance companies are the types of cor-porations that seemingly benefit themost from the salvage auction indus-try, auto body shops are less obviousbut equal beneficiaries. If properly uti-lized, salvage auctions can help bodyshops to supplement their existingbusiness by increasing their repair vol-umes and facilitating access to parts.

Fixing the Fixed CostsAuto body shop owners have much ofthe same fixed-business costs as anyother operation. The cost of land orrent, utilities, payroll and upkeep alladd to an auto body shop’s overhead.That means that whether a shop re-pairs 10 cars or 50, the basic fixed costof doing business will generally be thesame.

By utilizing salvage auctions,body shops have the opportunity tobetter utilize their fixed-cost base.

One way to use the auctions is tobuy repairable cars to fill in work slots.

A lot of the cars that are written off asa total loss are actually repairable.

Body shops canbuy these damagedcars through a sal-vage auction, thenrepair and resellthem for an addedrevenue stream.Or, if a shop needsmultiple parts froma car, it can buy the

car, strip it of the parts it needs, andthen resell the remainder of the car.

Going VirtualTop tier salvage auctions utilize onlinetechnologies that allow bidders to par-ticipate in virtual salvage auctionsfrom the convenience of their home oroffice. Vehicle searching, previewingand bidding can all be accessed via aclick of the mouse. Since the Internethas a global reach, it can vastly in-crease the size of an auto body shop’sbusiness universe.

Locating Hard-to-Find PartsShops can also buy vehicles for parts.

Shops often fit used or recycled partswhen making repairs to automobiles.They usually source them from a localor regional dismantler, but if they needa large number of used parts, it maybe prudent to acquire an entire vehi-cle, use the parts required and then re-sell the rest. This method is oftenhelpful in non-insured repair jobs.

If a shop is working on a rare orexotic car with hard-to-find usedparts, sourcing from a salvage pool isan option. If the shop can’t find a parton its own, a salvage pool can informthe shop about recent sales of thesame rare car. The shop can then trackdown the dismantler who bought thecar and buy the part directly.

An advantage to using virtual sal-vage auctions for body shops is the in-creased reach it offers when acquiringcars or car parts. Because the auctionsare online and available to anyone inthe world, shop owners are not limitedto the cars or parts in their generalvicinity. Additionally, the auctionsdon’t require bidders to be physicallypresent, which will save the shopowner countless hours of boredom

and drudgery, as well as travel costs.

A Level Playing FieldVirtual salvage auctions help mitigatethe shadier aspects of auto auctions,such as collusion or intimidation. Col-lusion can occur when multiple bid-ders conspire to fix the auction. Itcheats other bidders out of a fair auc-tion, and keeps cars from being soldat their optimum price.

However, with the virtual auc-tion, buyers simply enter their bidsinto a computer, rather than gothrough an auctioneer or auction man-ager, who may handle multiple com-peting bids simultaneously. Byeliminating the human element in thispart of the process, virtual salvageauctions create a fair auction for allbidders.

Going Once, Going Twice, Sold!To participate in an online salvageauction, here are the three steps:

Step 1: Search and PreviewBidders from around the world canquickly search through all current ve-


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

QUALITY IS ALL WE THINK ABOUT. THAT

AND QUALITY.

Hyundai Sonata 2011

ARIZONA

Rally HyundaiPALMDALE

800-585-0551661-266-1881 Fax

Mon-Fri 8am - 6pmSat 8am - 4pm

[email protected]

Chapman HyundaiPHOENIX

877-684-5803602-866-6166

602-866-6196 FaxMon-Fri 7am - 6pmSat 8am - 3pm

[email protected]

San Leandro HyundaiSAN LEANDRO

510-347-3010510-895-1027 Fax

Lithia HyundaiFRESNO

800-462-2231559-436-6041

559-436-0743 FaxMon-Fri 7am - 6pmSat 8am - 1pm

[email protected]

SO. CALIFORNIA

NO. CALIFORNIA

Tuttle Click HyundaiIRVINE

800-428-7485949-472-7430

949-586-5104 Fax949-586-7093 Fax


[email protected]

Drew HyundaiSAN DIEGO

888-839-0777619-668-7782 Direct


SO. CALIFORNIA

Kearny Mesa HyundaiSAN DIEGO

800-469-9731858-300-3331 Fax


[email protected]

How Shop Owners Can Take Advantage of Salvage Auctions

Vinnie Mitz,Copart President

hicle inventories online to find exactlywhat they want through a variety ofonline search tools. Each vehicle hasdigital images and detailed conditioninformation, allowing the bidders tofully preview the vehicles before de-ciding whether to bid. Bidders can alsosearch for vehicles in their generalvicinity and preview them onsite toevaluate the condition first hand.

Step 2: Preliminary BiddingOnce a bidder has found the vehiclethey are interested in pursuing, theycan enter preliminary bids online or atbidding kiosks where vehicles arestored prior to the live sale.

Preliminary bidding is where bid-ders enter the maximum price that theyare willing to pay for a vehicle. Thesystem will then bid incrementally forthe bidder up to their maximum bid,even during the virtual auction.

Step 3: Live SaleAfter the auction organizer receivesthe vehicle seller’s transferable title,the car is slated for a virtual sale. Po-tential bidders continue to compete inthe preliminary bidding process up toone hour before the start of the Inter-

net-only virtual sale. When the virtualsale starts, digital images of the car ortruck for sale are displayed along withthe current highest bid from the pre-liminary bidding period. When bid-ding on the vehicle stops, a countdownis initiated. If no one bids during thecountdown, the vehicle is sold to thehighest bidder.

Now that you have the basicsdown for participating in a virtual sal-vage auction, use it to your businessadvantage. Happy bidding!

About Copart, Inc.Copart sells more than one million ve-hicles each year at more than 140 facil-ities throughout the United States,Canada, and the United Kingdom,through its two-stage VB2 internettechnology. Copart sells vehicles for avariety of consignors including financecompanies, banks, dealers, fleets, rentalcar companies and the insurance indus-try. Copart’s success has earned it aplace on Forbes “200 Best Small Com-panies” list nine years in a row. Copartwas also featured on the televisionshow, World’s Best as “The World’sBest Remarketing Company.” For moreinformation, see www.copart.com.


Miles ahead withMiles ahead withMiles ahead with$850,000 inventory...$850,000 inventory...$850,000 inventory...

Surf with us for a GreatSurf with us for a GreatDeal on Collision Parts!Deal on Collision Parts!Surf with us for a GreatDeal on Collision Parts!

Surf with us for a GreatSurf with us for a GreatDeal on Collision Parts!Deal on Collision Parts!Surf with us for a GreatDeal on Collision Parts!

3940 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807

1-888-489-50011-888-489-5001TollTollFreeFree

FaxFax 562-426-3550562-426-35501-888-489-5001Toll

Free

Fax 562-426-35503940 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807

1-888-489-50011-888-489-5001TollTollFreeFree

FaxFax 562-426-3550562-426-35501-888-489-5001Toll

Free

Fax 562-426-3550

Miles ahead inMiles ahead inMiles ahead incustomer service...customer service...customer service...

Ask for Tee or Bill3 delivery trucks serving South Bay, L.A.,

Orange County — Irvine to Brea

[email protected]

M-F 7-6, Sat 8-4 (No Delivery)

Ask for Miguel or Dana3 delivery trucks serving South Bay, L.A.,

Orange County — Irvine to Brea

[email protected]

M-F 7-6, Sat 8-4 (No Delivery)

Forester ‘11

Passat CC ‘11

Honda Recalls 2.5 Million Vehicles for Software IssuesHonda Motor Co. said August 5 itwill recall 2.49 million cars, smallSUVs and minivans worldwide, in-cluding its popular Accord sedan, torepair a software problem that coulddamage the automatic transmission,according to Automotive News.

The recall includes 1.5 millionvehicles in the United States, 760,000in China and 135,142 in Canada, theautomaker said in a statement.

Globally, the recall affects four-cylinder Accord sedans for the modelyears 2005 to 2010.

In the United States and Canada,the recall also includes the CR-Vcrossover for the model years 2007 to2010 as well as the small SUV Ele-ment from 2005 to 2008.

Without updating the software,the automatic transmission in thesevehicles could be damaged if thedriver quickly shifts between gears.

That might cause the engine tostall or make it difficult to put the carinto park. The company has said itdisagreed with the influential U.S.consumer advocate’s assessment.

Chris Martin, Honda spokesmanat the company’s U.S. headquarters inCalifornia, said August 5 the recall wasnot a sign of deeper difficulties.

Martin said the current recallwas the result of “extremely unusualcircumstances. The far majority ofour consumers would never really en-counter this. It’s software program-ing. It’s not a weakness in thetransmission per se.”

No injuries or deaths have beenreported from this problem, Martinsaid.

Honda said the problems mightarise if the transmission were quicklyshifted between the reverse, neutraland drive positions. A driver might dothis in an attempt to dislodge a vehi-cle in mud or snow.

The automatic transmission sec-ondary shaft bearing could be dam-aged in this scenario.

An update to transmission con-trol module software will ease thetransition between gears and reducethe possibility of damage.

Honda will begin informing U.S.consumers at the end of August.

It did not disclose expected costof the recall.

The software update will takeabout a half-hour, but customers mayhave to leave their cars at Hondadealerships for a longer period, Mar-tin said.

someone other than himself and whatthe practice of “steering” had done tohis and other businesses like his. Hav-ing spent nearly 20 years litigating forand against insurance companies, Iwas aware of the power an insurancecompany can exert. However as Gregexplained to me the realities of thecollision repair industry, I was admit-tedly shocked by what I heard.

The Case of North State v. ProgressiveInsuranceIn 2007, as attorney for North StateCustom, I commenced a lawsuitagainst Progressive Insurance allegingthat Progressive engaged in deceptivebusiness practices and interferencewith North State’s business and cus-tomers. The case has survived two mo-tions to dismiss, two appeals and aseparate action brought by Progressiveagainst North State resulting in twoseparate jury trials. (For a summary ofthe Progressive v. North State saga seeautobodynews.com, Cocarro CaseTakes a Wide Turn...). While the caseagainst Progressive has not yet been re-

solved and in fact we expect a jury trialto be held sometime next year, a recentcourt ruling in the matter has signifi-cant impact for the industry as a whole.

I. Backround: The State of the Law inNew YorkIn New York, as in most states, the in-surance industry has been able tolobby state legislatures to enact “tooth-less” insurance laws that claim to reg-ulate the insurance industry withoutactually doing so. As a result, most in-surance companies believe, and right-fully so, that they can exploit the lawwith impunity and bully insured’s intohaving their cars repaired by captiveand tightly controlled repair shops.Fortunately, most states includingNew York, also have little known buteffective consumer protection laws de-signed to protect consumers from im-proper corporate behavior.

New York’s “toothless” insurancestatute is called Insurance Law Sec-tion 2610, known as the “anti-steeringlaw.” It states that not only do con-sumers have an absolute right to selectthe repair shop of their choice, but thatan insurance company may not rec-ommend a repair shop without a con-

sumer request to do so. Of course,nowhere does this “anti-steering law”provide for a remedy to a consumerwhen the statute is violated. Rather,the law gives the power to raise a vio-lation only to the Attorney General orthe Department of Insurance, and notthe consumer or his chosen repairshop. New York’s Consumer Protec-tion Law can be found within thestate’s General Business Law andspecifically at section 349. The lawwas originally enacted to protect con-sumers from unscrupulous businesspractices but has been expanded to in-clude any consumer oriented conductthat is materially misleading whichcauses harm to a party.

Thus, it is here, where the interestsof large corporations overlaps with theinterests of small businesses, that thelegal battle between insurers and inde-pendent repair shops is taking shape.

II. Progressive’s motion to dismissIn our lawsuit we alleged that Pro-gressive, as one of the largest auto-mobile insurance companies in thecountry, used intimidation, threats,disparaging statements and directlies about North State in order to

force North State’s customers andothers similarly situated into usingProgressive’s network of direct re-pair shops and that these actionscaused harm to North State. In otherwords, that Progressive purposefullyand improperly misled and deceivedcustomers about both North Stateand its own repair shops for theireconomic gain and to North Stateseconomic detriment.

At the close of the discovery phasein the case, Progressive moved the courtfor a dismissal. It did so by making twodivergent but significant arguments.

First, Progressive argued that itsactions in connection with the way it“offered” its Direct Repair Programwas not misleading or deceptive.

Second, Progressive argued thateven if the way it offered its direct repairprogram was misleading and deceptive,New York’s Insurance Law did not allowa consumer or a repair shop such asNorth State to bring such an action.

Thus the court was forced to makethree separate but intertwined decisions:

First, did Progressive act improp-erly?

Second, if they did act improp-erly, were those actions of the kind


OUR PARTS IN THE TRAINED HANDS OF A PROFESSIONALTogether it’s a Masterpiece!

OU

GM PartsFinish Second to None.

818-832-1660Fax: 818-832-1692

[email protected]: 6:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Saturday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

We are YOUR Source for GM Partsin Los Angeles!

Extensive inventory — Delivery trucks are in your area

Accountable, responsible & unconditionally

dedicated to excellence

AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

San Fernando Valley

WWW.CITY-CHEVROLET.COM

• Large Inventory of Mechanical and Collision Parts• Fast Delivery/7 Delivery Trucks

• Over 250 Years Combined Parts Experience

San Diego

800-927-2277Toll Free:619-276-6900Parts:619-276-2414Fax:

Hours:Mon-Fri: 7:30am - 6pm;Sat: 8am - 5pm

CITYCHEVROLET

Wholesale Direct: 925-828-8251Fax: 925-829-2941

Chevrolet•Cadillac•GMC•Buick•PontiacOldsmobile•Saab•Saturn•Hummer

4200 John Monego Ct., Dublin, CA 94568

Hours: Mon. - Fri. 7am - 6pm Sat. 8am - 4:30pm

Serving Contra Costa, Alameda,San Joaquin Counties.

An Authorized Saturn Wholesaler.

Continued from Cover

North State v. Progressive

contemplated by the Consumer Pro-tection Law?

And third, if Progressive actedimproperly and those improper ac-tions violated the consumer protectionlaw, did the fact that those actions alsoviolate the Insurance Law matter?

As explained below, the court dis-agreed with each of Progressive’s argu-ments and denied Progressive’s motionto dismiss. (Dennis Artese, Esq., of thefirm of Anderson, Kill & Olick, au-thored the legal papers submitted onbehalf of North State and the decisionissued by the court could not have beenpossible without the immense effort anddedication of Mr. Artese and the Ander-son, Kill & Olick firm.)

III. Did Progressive act improperly in vi-olation of the Consumer Protection Law?In response to this question, NorthState submitted evidence obtainedfrom its customers that Progressiveused deceptive and misleading tacticsin order to bully consumers into hav-ing their cars repaired at its DRP shops.This evidence included testimony fromNorth State customers chronicling thelies and misrepresentations made byProgressive’s employees about North

State. North State also relied upon sim-ilar cases where Insurance Companieshad been found guilty of violating NewYork’s Consumer Protection Laws aswell as on the decision in the matter en-titled MVB Collision v. Allstate, wherea Federal Court found that actions suchas disparaging statements, intentionallydeclaring vehicles a total loss and“steering” were deceptive practices ascontemplated by the Consumer Protec-tion Statute. (Here a special thank youand expression of appreciation must goout to the owners of Mid-Island Colli-sion in Long Island, New York, as wellas to their Counsel, for obtaining thisextremely important decision.)

After viewing the evidence sub-mitted by both sides, the court held:“North State has submitted evidencethat Progressive employees made dis-paraging, untrue statements to its in-sured’s concerning North State, inconnection with the DRP, that causedPlaintiff to lose customers and thatsuch evidence of misrepresentations,made in connection with its DRP, anestablished program involving billionsof dollars and thousands of consumer-insured’s was sufficient to violate theconsumer protection statute”.

Thus having dispensed with thequestion of whether Progressive’s actscould be deemed deceptive and mis-leading in violation of the ConsumerProtection Law, and answering thatquestion with a resounding ‘YES,’ thecourt turned to the question ofwhether North State had a right tomake such a claim at all.

IV. Are North State’s claims barred bythe Insurance Law?As stated above, Progressive pre-dictably relied upon the argument thatNorth State’s consumer protection ac-tion was simply a veiled “steering”claim which was barred by New York’sInsurance Law. This argument has beenmade by insurance companies in nearlyevery jurisdiction (see the California“Hughes v. Progressive” case atwww.autobodynews. com) and in factProgressive had been successful inmaking this same argument in NewYork in another matter involving MVBCollision. (See MVB Collision v. Pro-gressive, Nassau County, New York).

After viewing all of the evidencesubmitted in this case however, the courtdisagreed with Progressive and held thatbecause an insurer’s misrepresentations

to its insured’s as part of a broad DRP isenough to violate the consumer protec-tion laws, the fact that those misrepre-sentations also violate the InsuranceLaw does not stop the collision repairerfrom being allowed to bring an actionagainst the insurance company.

The court again looked to theMVB Collision v. Allstate case forguidance when it wrote: “With respectto the argument that the plaintiff’scause of action was really a disguisedsteering claim, the Allstate Court held:Here, by contrast, there is evidence ofa free-standing claim of deceptiveness’that simply happens to overlap’ with aclaim under the Insurance Law. The al-leged scheme to dissuade Allstate in-sured’s from going to Mid Islandinvolved not only steering but also,inter alia, alleged defamatory com-ments. Thus, because plaintiff’s § 349claim merely happens to overlap’ withprovisions of New York InsuranceLaw, it is not an improper attempt tocircumvent the lack of a private rightof action under the Insurance Law.”

II. What does it all mean?So what does the North State case,


Acura & Hondaof the DesertCathedra l C i ty

760-770-0828 Honda

760-321-2700 Acura

760-328-2489 Shared FaxM-F 7-6 Honda/Acura

Sat 7-5 Honda

SO. CALIFORNIA

Galpin HondaVan Nuys

818-778-2005818-778-2090 Faxwww.galpin.com

See North State v. Progressive, Page 60


Some readers will remember that lastyear I built a Pinewood Derby modelcar, raced it at SEMA, and took sec-ond place. I told myself last year thatthis year I was going to really staywithin the traditional Pinewood Derbybuild using a single block of wood. A‘Celebrity Pinewood Derby’ build iswhat they were calling it. It’s all about

having fun and auctioning off the carsto benefit Childhelp and Victory Junc-tion Gang Camp. I’m all about chari-ties and fundraising and whatever Ican do to give back.

This year I decided to get creativeand came up with a pretty cool design.There are rules in Pinewood Derbyracing and building and so “maximumweight limit of this car cannot exceed24 ounces, overall length shall not ex-ceed 8˝ , overall width of the car shallnot exceed 2.75˝ including wheels.The car must have approximately 3/8˝

clearance underneath the body of thecar, the car must have 4 wheels, allcars must display at least one HRIAdecal on the car.”

The organizers provide a basicpinewood car kit including a block ofwood, 4 wheels, and two axles. “Theonly required component is a piece ofthe wood block which must be visibleon the car. You are not required to useany wheels or axles provided. Anymaterials may be used for the body ofyour car.” So that’s cool, but for me,for a Pinewood derby build, I want to

stay traditional and use a hand tool tocarve it out. To me that’s the fun ofbuilding a pinewood derby car.

Last year I lost by like one inch,so I’ve got this crazy idea that I’mgoing to bring. I’m sure I’m going toraise a lot of commotion on “no, youcan’t do this, or can’t do that” but Ijust read the rules and I don’t see any-thing about this. It says no rules (ex-cept the following), so I’ve got thisidea where I’m going to have a pair ofheadlights that extend out. So thewhole idea behind that is when I’m up

This Year’s Entry for the SEMA Pinewood Derby 2011

Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.

with Sheila LoftusYour Turn

Opinions Countwith Dick Strom

Shop Showcasewith Janet Chaney

Industry Overviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Interviewwith Janet Chaney


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

Genuine Mazda parts are specifically designed, engineered and tested for Mazda vehicles. Customers and repair professionals prefer the quality and satisfaction that only comes from genuine Mazda parts.

Galpin MazdaVan Nuys818-778-2005Fax 818-778-2090www.galpin.com

Chapman MazdaPhoenix866-593-5078602-344-4501Fax 602-344-0315Mon-Fri [email protected]

Give your customers what they deserve... The Best.

SO. CALIFORNIAARIZONA

Order your Genuine Mazda Parts from one of these parts specialists in your area.

Mazda 3 ‘11

Specially crafted, uniquely designed pinewoodcars, built by a talented class of hot rodders,are featured in the HRIA Builders Challengerace held on July 29 in Long Beach, CA. Thesecreations will be on display at the SEMA Showbefore being placed on eBay for auction.

behind the starting gate, the post isgoing to come up in the middle of thecar and I’m already going to have a 6inch lead.

So I’m going to use the oldschool way of building this, I’m going

to bring this car all the way up to 24ounces, as it is laid out in the rules. Sowhat I’m doing is carving out thebasic silhouette of the body, and thenI’m going to buy myself some leadweight, and with this car I’m going tomake it more of a flat, roadster style.You know, kind of create my ownbody and have fun with it, utilize thatcomplete piece of wood.

Obviously the piece of wood it-self doesn’t weigh 24 oz. so I’m goingto add lead underneath the car. I carvedit out and melt the lead into it and get

it to where I’m at about 23 ounces,leaving about an ounce for the paint,additional hardware, and wheels. I’mgoing come as close to that 24 oz. as Ican. If I go over 24 ounces I can al-ways drill some weight out. For the

capsule I’m going to take half of adeep sea fishing weight cut in half.

I sanded it down and used a08115 body panel adhesive, whichsticks to wood, plastic, metal, alu-minum, lead, anything. It has a 24-hour dry period, but you can accelerateit with a heat gun. For my headlights,I’m going to use a manual antennaethat collapses (and extends). I foundone with a nice little round knob on itthat looks like a chrome headlight.

I’ve got everything carved out,I’ve got my antennaes ready to go, I’m

going to go back to the 08115 3Mpanel bond and I’m going to gluethose antennaes in. I run that panelbond around the lead so it fills in someof the gaps. Then I sand it with 80 grit,and give it a good 3 or 4 coats of mypreferred PCL Primer. I let it dry, thenguide coat it, sand it with some 150grit, re-guide coat it, and hit it with400 grit dry. I don’t want any mois-ture to get into the wood. Then sealerand base. The PCL Primer I’m usingis the 901 Poly Prime High Build andI’m shooting that with a SATA spraygun with a 1.9 tip. I’m also using a 3MRespirator, I’m not putting on the fullpaint suit because I’m only paintingan 8 inch by 2 inch piece of wood.

So, what am I going to do for thewheels? I’ve located some .0937 x .1875x .0937 stainless steel precision bearings.Now I’ve got to hunt down wheels andI’m running out of time because I’mgoing out of town. I find a washer thatthis bearing will fit into. I want a biggerwheel so it doesn’t have to turn as muchto get moving. I’m using a washer sothere’s less drag when the car’s goingdown the track. The less contact with thetrack, the less drag you’re going to have.(Think train wheel.)

I use the 08115 Panel Bond andglue the bearing in, gluing two wash-ers together. Next year I’ll spend a lit-tle more time on the wheels, but rightnow I’ve got to finish and make sure Ihave a car to race. So after gluing allthe washers together and the bearingsin. I’m using a stainless steel rod cutup to make axles about the size of anail. I’m need spacers to keep thewheels away from the body so I’mgoing to use heat-shrink tubing. Onthe very end I use a Staples’ push pinfor a hubcap because they’re chrome.I’m going to glue those in also withthe 08115 3M panel bond, and let thatdry. Then I’ll have the wheels ready toput on after I’ve completed my paint.

After sealing it, I put a black baseon it, I’ve got a my Rich Evans logofor brand awareness. It also gives thecar a finished look. I’m just going withblack, I’m not doing any two-tone orany heavy graphics. Plain and simple,the car looks cool, it’s coming out theway I want it to. The best features on itare the headlights and the stainlesssteel washers, just like a poor boybuild, but, we’ll see how it performs.

The day of the race I’m going to


AudiGenuine Parts

Order Audi Genuine Parts from these select Dealers

Nothing else measures up.

Audi ofDowntown LALOS ANGELES213-747-7248213-222-1261 FaxAsk for Carlos or Fausto

Circle AudiLONG BEACH800-675-2472562-597-2854 FaxAsk for Eddie or Nate

So. California

GeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGeGenununununununununununununununununununununununununununununununununununununununununununununununuininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininininine e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e MiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMiMitstststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststsububububububububububububububububububububububububububububububububisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisishihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi r r r r r r r r r r r r r r repepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepeplalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalacececececececececececececececececececececececececece----mememememememememememementntntntntntntntntntntntntntntntntnt C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C Crararararararararararararashshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshsh P P P P P P P P P P P P P P Pararararararararararararararartstststststststststststs a a a a a a a a a a a a a arerererererererererererererere c c c c c c c c c c c c clololololololololololosesesese a a a a at t t t hahahahandndnd t t thrhrhrouououghgh t thehehehe f f f folololollolololowiwiwiwiwingngngngng ququququququququalalalalititity y y dedededealalalerererershshshipipipipips.s.s.s. T T Thehehehey y y y y y o!o!o!o!o!o!erererererer exexexexexexexexexexexexexexexcececececececececececececeptptptptptptptptptptptptptioioioionanananal l l l cucucucucustststststststomomomomomererer s sererererervivivivivicecececece, , , , wiwiwiwiwiwiwiwiwiwidedededededededededededededededededededededede s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s selelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelelececececececececececececececececececectitititititititititititititiononononononononononon o of f ininin-s-s-s-stotototototockckckckckckckck papapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapartrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrts s s s s s s s ananananananananand d d d d d d d d d d ththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththe e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e exexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexexpepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepepeperiririririririririririririririririririririririririririenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenencecececececececececececececece nececececececececececececececececececececessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssarararararararararararararararararararararararararararararary y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y tototototototototototototototototototototo e e e e e e e e e e e e e e ensnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsurururururururururururure e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyourururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururur

nenecececececececessssssssssssssssssssssararararararararary y y y y y totototototototo e e e e e e ensnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsurururururururururure e e e e e e e e e yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyourururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururururur rerererererererererepapapapapapapapapaiririririririrs s s s s s prprprprprprprococococococeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed d d d d d d d d d d smsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmoooooooooooooooooooooooooothththththththththththththththlylylylylylylylylylylylylylyly....

Genuine Mitsubishi replace-ment 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.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyoooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddddddddddddd...PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooooooooooooooopppppppppppppppppppppppppppllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuusssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt...Parts you Need.People you Trust.

2011 Lancer

Veracom MitsubishiSAN MATEO

866-509-0642(650) 340-6108 Fax

M-F 7:30 am - 5:00 pmSat 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

[email protected]

CCAALLIIFFOORRNNIIAA

Rally MitsubishiPALMDALE

800-585-0551(661) 266-1881 Fax

[email protected]

See SEMA Pinewood Derby, Page 62

hole lower edge (1). Mark this cut lo-cation on the front hinge pillar (2).Mark a cut location in the straight areaon the rocker panel (3) (Figure 1).7. Cut the front hinge pillar bodywhere sectioning is to be performed(1) (Figure 2).

8. Locate and mark all the necessary fac-tory welds of the front hinge pillar body.Note: Record the number and loca-tion of welds for installation of theservice assembly.9. Drill out all factory welds (1) (Figure 3).

10. Remove the damaged front hingepillar body.

Installation Procedure1. Cut the replacement hinge pillar incorresponding locations to fit the vehi-cle (1) (Figure 4). The panel should betrimmed to allow a gap 1 1/2 the metal

thickness at the sectioning location.2. Create a 50 mm (2 in) backing platefrom the unused portion of the servicepart for the “A” pillar area.3. Create a 100 mm (4 in) backingplate from the unused portion of theservice part for the rocker area.4. Trim the backing plates as neces-sary to fit behind the panel at the sec-tioning joint.5. Drill 8 mm (5/16 in) plug weldholes along the sectioning area in theservice part, and at the locations notedfrom the original panel.6. Prepare all mating surfaces as necessary.7. Apply 3MTM Weld-Thru CoatingP/N 05916 or equivalent to all matingsurfaces.8. Fit the backing plates halfway into

the sectioning joints, 25 mm (1 in) atthe “A pillar” area and 50 mm (2 in) atthe rocker panel areas. Clamp theplates in place, and plug weld to thesection joint.9. Position the outer front pillar to thevehicle using 3-dimensional measur-ing equipment (1) (Figure 5). Clampthe pillar in place.

10. Plug weld accordingly (1) (Figure 6).

11. Stitch weld the butt weld locations(2) (Figure 6).12. To create a solid weld with mini-mum heat distortion, make a 25 mm(1 in) stitch weld along the seam withgaps of 25 mm (1 in). Go back andcomplete the stitch weld.13. Clean and prepare all of thewelded surfaces.14. Apply the sealers and anti-corrosionmaterials to the repair area, as necessary.15. Paint the repaired area.16. Install all of the related panels andcomponents.17. Connect the negative battery cable.18. Enable the SIR system.

NOTE: This repair/service proce-dure is excerpted from informationpublished by the vehicle manufac-turer, and intended for the purpose ofpromoting OE collision repair infor-mation to trained, professional tech-nicians with the knowledge, toolsand equipment to do the job properlyand safely. Before attempting the re-pair described, refer to the completearticle in ALLDATA CollisionS3500. It is recommended that thisprocedure not be performed by “do-it-yourselfers.”


THESE DEALERS ARE GENUINE WHOLESALE PARTS SPECIALISTS.

CALIFORNIA

Elk Grove ToyotaELK GROVE

916-405-4700800-952-5307916-405-8045 FaxMon. - Fri. 7am - 7pm;Sat. 8am - 5pm

www.elkgrovetoyota.com


Battle for Profitability

MVB v. Allstate and Hughes v. Pro-gressive mean for the collision repairindustry today?

First, the cases show that individ-ual repair shops and the industry as awhole now have a means to combatthe illegal steering practices so long astaple of the insurance industry. By as-serting your rights as a consumerunder your state’s consumer protectionlaws, you as a business now have themeans to stop improper steering assoon as you become aware of the prac-tice. While lawsuits can be expensive,the costs of a suit pale in comparisonto the amount of business that a shoploses at the hands of illegal steering.Further, now that the precedents arebeing set, attorneys in your state willbe much more willing to bring an ac-tion on your behalf which should bring

litigation costs down as well.Second, but perhaps even more

critical is the fact that as a result ofthese and other lawsuits, there arenow a growing number of legalprecedents that are establishing ex-actly what constitutes improper, de-ceptive and illegal steering activitiesin the insurer-collision repairer rela-tionship. For example, the court in theNorth State case took great pains todefine what it considered “improperconduct” to be and looked to the ear-lier MVB Collision case for help incrafting its definition. The practice iscalled “setting and defining prece-dent” and it is the way in which ourlaws and our society develop overtime. Thus, cases like North State v.Progressive and MVB Collision v.Allstate are actually helping to definewhat it is an insurance company canand cannot do when interacting with



See North State v. Progressive, Page 61

For the first time since 2003, theNACE expo will be held somewhereother than Las Vegas. From October5-8, 2011, NACE will take place at theOrange County Convention Center inOrlando, FL. As of July, attendee reg-istration for 2011 surpassed double theregistration of 2010, a fact largely at-tributed to the new east-coast location.

Kathleen Moyer of Rex’s BodyShop and Garage Inc. in Vincennes, INis very excited that NACE is being heldin a new location in 2011 and hopesthey continue alternating locations.

Luckily, this is what NACE hasannounced they intend to do, rotatingthe expo to different locations aroundthe country in upcoming years inorder to attract new attendees.

Though he and his wife attendNACE every other year, Shawn H.Moody of Moody’s Collision Centersin Maine is also happy for the changeof scenery, pointing out that Orlando

is a more family-friendly environmentthan Las Vegas, and therefore morelikely to attract attendees who can cor-relate the trip to the expo with a fam-ily vacation to Florida. His absencefrom NACE in the past has often beendue to the distance between Maineand Las Vegas, and he likes the ideaof toggling the location between theeast and west coasts.

Mike Morgan of Mike’s Paintand Body in Crawfordville, FL alsoapproves of the new location. He lastattended NACE in 2003 with his son,but in prior years, he took his em-ployees and their families when theexpo was held closer to home, such asOrlando, New Orleans and Atlanta,because it “was a great morale boosterfor the shop.” Now, he hopes SEMAwill follow NACE’s example of alter-nating locations.

Shawn H. Moody also findsSEMA fascinating to attend when it

runs concurrently with NACE, but hefeels NACE has made a wise decisionby not competing with SEMA because“we need to keep our industry fo-cused”. He is currently completing hisnewest facility and needs to “tool up”.He is particularly anticipating the ex-hibits about frame machines, CCC,measuring and resistance welders.

Kathleen Moyer also prefers theseparation of the two events, and sheis eager to see the new products in theindustry, particularly in the computerline, as she likes to keep her shop thor-oughly stocked and up-to-date with thenewest and most effective technology.

Audra Fordin of Great BearAuto in Flushing, NY will be attend-ing NACE for the first time this Octo-ber. She is excited to see what newtechnology is available or will be soonto “make the auto body shop run moresmoothly with less footprint on the en-vironment and to work on an autobody program with the Girl Scouts ofAmerica”.

When discussing what NACEcould do to attract new attendees,Shawn H. Moody believes NACE hasmade two critical decisions that, ifcontinued, will have a positive effecton attendance: “having NACE thefirst week of October is perfect tim-ing…November is too late” as well asno longer competing with SEMA. Hedoes suggest “if you really want to re-store attendance, you need to lowerexhibitor costs and also bring the paintmanufacturers back.”

Mike Morgan contributes “thereshould be a national discussion on howto fairly set labor rates by some inde-pendent entity agreed upon by all”.

Overall, most auto body shopowners that do not plan to attend citedistance and cost as a reason, as wellas the implicit cost of time away fromtheir business. Domenico Nigro ofNigro’s Auto Body in Philadelphia, PAstates “I think NACE would be a won-derful and worthwhile trip for mybody shop business. Unfortunately, Ijust cannot get away from my shop forthat length of time, nor do I have any-one that I can spare. This pains me be-cause I know how helpful NACEcould be.”

The NACE expo is a portion ofAutomotive Service and Repair Week(ASRW) which includes the Interna-tional Autobody Congress and Expo-sition (NACE) and the Congress ofAutomotive Repair and Service(CARS). ASRW is widely consideredthe industry’s leading event. In 2011,it will include over eighty educationalsessions as well as exhibits showcas-ing products, services and on-floorcompetitions. The ASA Marketplacewill showcase current car technology.Participants in NACE include BASF,DuPont and many other well-knownbrands.

Kathleen Moyer plans to attendthe expo with two employees in 2011.She has been in the auto body industryfor 37 years and has attended NACEevery year since the expo began.

Moyer finds NACE extremelyeducational and claims “I’m going totry to attend as many years as I can.”Shawn H. Moody’s opinion is “We’rein the Collision Repair business so forus, the choice is clear, and it’s NACE.The educational component of NACEalone make it worth attending.”


NACE/CARS Receiving Renewed Enthusiasm from East Coast Shops

with Rick WhiteShop Management

with Stefan GesterkampPaint Management

with Gonzo WeaverGonzo’s Toolbox

with Richard ArnoldJobber Journal

with Dale DelmegeAsk Dale

Mainstream Media

Automakers’ Actions and Analysisby Autobody News Staff

Shop Showcaseby Autobody News Staff

with Ed AttanasioShop and Product Showcase

with Ed AttanasioConsumer Callout

with Walter DanalevichShop Strategies for Savings

with The Insurance InsiderInside Insurance

with Ed AttanasioCustom Corner

with Chasidy Rae SiskCompany Connections

with Chasidy Rae SiskNortheast News

with Chasidy Rae SiskShop Showcase

with Erica SchroederShop Showcase

with Erica SchroederShop Snapshot

Chasidy Rae Sisk is a freelance technical writer from Wilmington, Delaware,who works in a variety of fields and subjects, but grew up in a family of NASCARfans. She can be contacted at [email protected].

a collision repair business and the im-portance of these and other cases likethem cannot be overstated.

In the end, the conflict betweenthe independent repairer and the in-surance industry will of course con-tinue. However, the legal precedentsnow set by North State v. Progressiveand other matters are working towardestablishing the legal and practical

boundaries within which an insurancecompany may conduct itself.

Anthony J. Mamo is an attorneypracticing in Westchester County NewYork. He specializes in litigation onbehalf of individuals and small busi-nesses particularly in the collision re-pair industry. He has been involvedwith the representation of North StateCustom since 2005. He may be con-tacted by email at Mamolawfirm.comor by phone at (914) 631-5050.



and quality of its products, yet somecar companies seem determined tocounter scientific facts with fear-mongering,” said Co-Chair of the

ABPA Legislation and RegulationCommittee Eileen Sottile. “OEs can-not credibly argue that only theirbranded parts can provide safety, es-pecially when it comes to componentsthat play a very small role in crash en-ergy management. If car companysafety systems cannot handle a wide

range of real world crash conditionsand material differences in minor re-placement parts then they are not ro-bustly engineered and as such are asignificant threat to the consumers.”

“Rather than relentlessly smear-ing our industry in an attempt to gaina competitive business advantage on

replacement parts, our biggest corpo-rate critics would do well to focus onreducing their own recalls and deliv-ering high-quality, robustly engi-neered products for the motoringpublic.”

Ford’s crash test video can beviewed at www.autobodynews.com.

be in Canada so I’m sending a buddydown there to race it. Now I knowsome people will say “oh, you can’t dothat, (with the headlights)” but whenthere are “no rules, except...” You haveto push the limits to come up with anew design for anything. So, this yearthe Rich Evans entry is going to do it.Next year it might be in the rule booksthat you can’t, but this year I’m goingto innovate. I guarantee next year, if

it’s not ruled out, other people will bedoing it too. My design philosophy isto pay attention, learn something new,try to better yourself at what you do.Just have fun at what you’re doing.That’s what I do. It doesn’t matter ifit’s a small or big project. I’m alwaystaking on a design challenge. I hon-estly think I’ve never worked a day inmy life. I’m just having fun.

Mine and other design creationswill be on display at the HRIA boothduring the 2011 SEMA Show, No-vember 1–4, in Las Vegas, beforebeing placed on eBay for public auc-

tion. All of the proceeds from the auc-tion will go to the Childhelp and Vic-tory Junction Camp children’scharities.

So what can be better? Guys lookinto this, bid on the cars, help thesecharities out, and we’ll have anotherarticle for you next year on this. Hope-fully next year This year I was out ofthe country to go build a car in fivedays in Canada. So I was just glad tobe able to get this in for a good causeand also take a little time away fromreal cars and have fun with thePinewood Derby. Thanks to all my

sponsors, I can’t build cars withoutyou: 3M, SATA Guns, HRIAPinewood builders, and every otherbuilder out there that took time to takethis challenge on, thank you.

Visit me at Richevansdesigns.com also like my Facebook page RichEvans Designs if you want to followmy week to week projects. Also visitHuntingtonBeachBodyWorks.com andwatch for my new wheels coming out.

UPDATE: Rich’s car took 2ndplace in the HRIA Builder’s Challengeon July 29. First place went to StreetVizions.


AUTOBODY MARKETPLACE

WWHHEEEELLSS AAMMEERRIICCAANine Locations in the USA!

888-4-FIX-RIM$109 to repair with this ad

wwwwww.. ff iixxrr iimm ..ccoomm

• Thousands of OEM Remanufactured Wheels in Stock

• Lifetime Guarantee• CNC Quality• Powder Coated

101

POLYCRACKE

RWaterborne Wax andWaterborne Wax andGrease RemoverGrease RemoverWaterborne Wax andGrease RemoverSINCE 1985SINCE 1985SINCE 1985

Available fromAvailable fromYOUR local Jobber orYOUR local Jobber or

CALL: 973.335.2828CALL: 973.335.2828FAX: 973.402.7222FAX: 973.402.7222

Available fromYOUR local Jobber or

CALL: 973.335.2828FAX: 973.402.7222

[email protected]@[email protected]

To advertise, call800-699-8251

Call or e-mail now for rates: 800-699-8251 or [email protected]

Every order enters you to win $100 weekly!855-3085-ASK

• OEM New and Used• Aftermarket• Remanufactured and Rebuilt• Fast Professional Service

WE HAVE YOUR PART,ALL YOU NEED TO DO

IS ASK.ASK ERIK

Search:Autobody News

on [email protected] us!write us!www.autobodynews.com

CHECK IT OUT!

Start Your FREEMail Subscription.

CALL 800-699-8251

The source for timely information that every

body shop needs!e-mail:

[email protected]

800-699-8251

To advertisecall Joe Momber at:


e-mail:[email protected]

800-699-8251

To advertisecall Advertising Sales at:


Promote your business with an exclusive article featuring

your products or services.

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

Promote your business with an exclusive article featuring

your products or services.

800-699-8251Call for details!

[email protected]

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

write us!write us!


Autobody News WebsiteAutobody News Websiteat www.autobodynews.com

Register Your Email for OurSee the NEW

Free Monthly NewsletterFree Monthly Newsletter


SEMA Pinewood Derby


Ford ABPA

Nick Alexander MINI6201 S. Alameda St. Los Angeles, CA 90001

Toll Free:800-800-NICKToll Free:800-800-NICKWholesale Direct:323-583-4109Wholesale Direct:323-583-4109Fax Line:323-277-8213Fax Line:323-277-8213

95% Same Day Order Fill Rate. We Stock the Parts YouNeed to Serve Your Customers Quickly.Four Delivery Vehicles.Serving All of Los Angeles Metro Area and Nearby Cities.Ten Knowledgeable Parts Specialists with an Average of17 Years of Experience Ready to Serve You.Get the Correct & Complete Order the First Time.

Original MINI Parts

WWW.ALEXANDERMINI.COM

Parts Hours: Monday-Friday: 8 - 8:30Parts Hours: Monday-Friday: 8 - 8:30Saturday: 8 - 7Sunday: 10 - 6

autobody news september 2011 western edition

Documents