Autobody News March 2011 Southeast Edition

Class Action Judgments: GEICO Wins Appeal vs.Greenberger & Progressive Wins vs. Blue Ash Inc.Two collision-related class action law-suits against major insurers have re-cently been decided in favor of the

insurers. In theGEICO case onappeal partiallydue to lack of evi-dence (the vehi-cle). In theProgressive case asummary judg-ment was returnedon two of sixcounts charged.

The plaintiffs in the Progressive casehave decided to drop the remainingexisting charges to facilitate an appealof the summary judgment.

Don’t Give Away the EvidenceThe January 10, 2011 GEICO decisionpertains to a Chicago law professor’sprospective class action suit accusingthe insurance company of deliberatelyomitting repairs from its estimates. Helost the case in part because he gaveaway the car (the evidence) before thecase was resolved.

On July 4, 2002, Greenberger, aprofessor and administrator at aChicago law school, was involved inan automobile accident, and his 1994

Acura sustained damage to its bumper,steering box, suspension, andlower body. The next day, a GEICOinsurance adjuster inspected the car atGreenberger’s home and wrote him acheck for $3,284.69 ($3,784.69 minusa $500 deductible).

Greenberger cashed the check butdid not repair his car. Five monthslater, a stranger approached Green-berger in a parking lot and expressedinterest in buying the car. Greenbergerpermitted this prospective buyer totake the Acura to a friend’s body shopfor an estimate of what it would costto repair it. The buyer’s technician,Sarkit Tokat of Lake Side Auto Re-builders, delivered an estimate of$4,938.65, about $1,150 higher thanGEICO’s estimate. The sale was notmade, however, and in December2002 Greenberger donated the car tocharity without making any repairs.

Exactly three years after accept-ing GEICO’s payment on his claim,Greenberger filed a proposed class-ac-tion lawsuit in Cook County CircuitCourt alleging breach of contract, vio-lation of the Illinois Consumer Fraudand Deceptive PracticesAct, and com-mon-law fraud. He claimed that

Erica Eversmancomments onProgressive vs.Blue Ash et. al.

See Class Actions, Page 27

Mississippi Auto Insurance Bill PassesSenate, Moves to HouseThe Mississippi Senate has passeda bill requiring each motorist to

show proof of lia-bility insurancebefore receiving acar tag, accordingto reports madeby the Clarion-Ledger.

Sen. BillyHewes, a Republi-

can from Gulfport, says his con-stituents have complained about beinginvolved in crashes with drivers whoaren’t insured.

Hewes says the bill wouldn’t re-

quire any extra paperwork for tax col-lectors.

He says all they’ll have to do isask to see an individual’s proof ofinsurance before granting the cartag.

Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith, a Re-publican from Brookhaven who votedagainst the bill, says her local officialswere concerned about the extra dutyslowing the process at tax collectors’offices.

The bill nowmoves to the House,where similar proposals have died inthe past.

The bill is Senate Bill 2053.

Jordan Hendler, executive director ofthe Washington (D.C.) Metropolitan

Auto BodyAssoci-ation, averted a sui-cide attempt inJanuary by physi-cally interveningwhen she encoun-tered a teenage girlthreatening to jumpfrom a freeway

overpass. Hendler called 911 as she ap-proached the girl on the edge of theoverpass, then kept talking to her,pleading with her not to jump.

“I told her something my father(CIC Administrator Jeff Hendler) al-ways told me about suicide: “This is apermanent solution to a temporary prob-

lem.’” Jordan Hendler kept talking tothe girl as another by-passer approachedfrom the other end of the overpass. To-gether they restrained the girl and pulledher from the barrier she had climbedover. Hendler said it took both of themto hold the hysterical girl down untilemergency responders arrived aboutfour minutes after the call to 911. “Itseemed like an eternity, a lot longer,”Hendler said. She said she knows noth-ing about the girl other than she lookedto be about 14 or 15, and lives in a grouphome for teenagers. “You don’t knowthat one day you’ll be called upon to dothe right thing at the right moment, butwhen the time comes, if you have yourheart open, you will know exactly whatto do,” Hendler said.

Jordan Hendler Averts Teenager’s Suicide Attempt

Jordan Hendler

REGIONAL STORIES in this issue...Arkansas Legislature to Ban Certain Cell Phone Usage . . . . . . .p. 23Florida Cracks Down on Auto Insurance Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 8Florida Has Most Staged Auto Crashes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 7Florida Officials Warn on Used Car Title Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 5Mississippi Considers KKK Leader for License Plates . . . . . . . .p. 9

NATIONAL and COLUMNS in this issue...Class Action Lawsuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 1Ford Cuts Back on Lincoln Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 20ABPA says Aftermarket Outperforms OEM Sometimes . . . . . . . .p. 21

COLUMNS in this issue... Amaradio, Attanasio, Danalevich,Evans, Franklin, Insurance Insider, and Yoswick

Billy Hewes

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REGIONAL

ABRA Opens Five New Vehicle Repair Centers

in Three States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Arkansas Legislature to Ban Cell Phone Usage

in School, Work Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

CA Paint Jobber NDI Sues BMW North Amer-

ica After the Automaker Implemented its own

BMW Paint Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

FL Cracks Down on Auto Insurance Fraud . 8

FL Representative Wants to Stop Texting

While Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

FL Senator Looking to Get Funding for

High-Speed Rail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Florida Has Most Staged Auto Crashes—

Due to No-Fault? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Florida Officials Warn on Used Car Title Fraud,

No National Standard Exists . . . . . . . . . . 5

Floridians Get Rewards for Reporting

Insurance Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

GCIA & ASA-GA Doing Committee Work

with Georgia Insurance Commissioner

Ralph Hudgens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

GCIA Has CARFAX Talk About Information

Collection at January Meeting . . . . . . . . 5

Georgia Agency Approves Air Permit for

Steel Mill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Houston Auto Body Association Hosts

Legislative Breakfast for Texas Reps. . . 30

Hyundai sending 71 O.C. jobs to Texas,

Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Hyundai, Kia Lift Southeastern Job Market,

Economy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

LA Insurance Agent Arrested for Unfair

Trade Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Sherwin-Williams Announces A-Plus™

University Ecolean™ Workshop in

Houston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Louisiana Insurance Department Recovers

More than $9.6M in Insurance Payments

in 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Mississippi Auto Insurance Bill Passes

Senate, Moves to House . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Mississippi Commissioner Chaney to Run

for Reelection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Mississippi Mulls Putting KKK Leader on

Confederate Veteran License Plates . . . . 9

MS Bill to Repeal Vehicle Safety Inspections . 12

MS May Get Tough on Uninsured Drivers . . 6

MS Passes Texting Bill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

MS Supreme Court Asked to Rule on Limit

on Damages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes

Announces Workshop in Atlanta. . . . . . 12

Toyota Opens TX, FL Quality Offices in Drive

to Cut Defects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

COLUMNISTS

Amaradio - Setting the Record Straight on

Ford vs. Aftermarket Parts Testing . . . . 20

Attanasio - G&C Autobody Seizes

Opportunity to Expand in Northern

California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Danalevich - “It’s a Misunderstanding”—

Insurance Appraiser Boot Camp. . . . . . 18

Evans - The Rich Evans Designs-Mopar Kit

for Dodge's Challenger, Part 2 . . . . . . . 29

Franklin - ‘Consistency’ May be Boring—But

It’s Also Profitable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Insurance Insider - Not All “Referrals” are

Created Equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Yoswick - New CIC Committee . . . . . . . . 13

Yoswick - Ten Things to Consider When

Designing a New Shop, Remodel, or

Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

NATIONAL

ABPA Says Aftermarket Bumper

Outperformed Ford Counterpart in Lab

Crash Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

All Diamond Standard Bumpers Are Now

Certified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

BASF Official Show Sponsor of

NORTHEAST 2011. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chief Advises on High-Strength Steel

in OEMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chrysler Group’s Mopar Division to Expand

Accessories Portfolio in 2011 . . . . . . . 17

Class Action Judgements: GEICO Wins

Appeal vs. Greenberger & Progressive

Wins vs. Blue Ash Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

CREW Hosts New CIC Chairman Mike Quinn

in Webcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Federal $7,500 EV Credit May Change . . . 31

Feds to Decide on Vehicle Grades by July

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Ford to Ax Another 100 Lincoln Dealers . . 20

General Motors January Sales Rise 23% . 23

House Votes to Block E15 from Pumps Due

to Potential Engine Failure . . . . . . . . . . 16

Jordan Hendler Averts Teenager’s Suicide

Attempt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Toyota Unintended Acceleration Probe Finds

No Electronic Flaws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Contents

Southeast

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy HayhurstGeneral Manager: Barbara DaviesEditorial Assistant: Erica SchroederContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, Stefan Gesterkamp, John Yoswick, Lee Amaradio,Toby Chess, Mike Causey, Dan Espersen, Tom McGee, Jeff Webster, Rich Evans, EdAttanasioAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman (800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Kristy MangumArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and adjacent metro areas, Autobody Newsis a monthly publication for the auto body industry. Permission to reproduce in any form thematerial published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher.©2011 Adamantine Media LLC.

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

Arrigo Dodge-Jeep-Chrysler . . 12Autoland Scientech. . . . . . . . . 17Bill Penney Toyota. . . . . . . . . . 14BMWWholesale Parts Dealers. 24Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Crown Automobile Company . . 7Delray Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Don Reid Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Equalizer Industries. . . . . . . . . 13Ford Wholesale Parts DealersFL, GA, AL, MS . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Galloway Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . 21Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Global Finishing Solutions . . . . 5Global PDR Solutions . . . . . . . . 6GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . 19Gus Machado Ford . . . . . . . . . 15Honda Wholesale Parts Dealers 25HyundaiWholesale Parts Dealers23

Kia Motors Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Mazda Wholesale Parts. . . . . . 15Mercedes-Benz Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

MOPARWholesale Parts Dealers11Nalley BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Nimnicht Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . 10Nissan Wholesale Parts Dealers 20Palmers Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . 21PorscheWholesale Parts Dealers19Savannah Hyundai . . . . . . . . . 10Tameron Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . 26Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers 22Unique Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . 9VIM Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Volkswagen Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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“Specifically, 571 Diamond Stan-dard parts/applications have reachedCertification status in the NSF pro-gram,” says Geoff Crane, BusinessDevelopment Manager of DiamondStandard.

Additionally, all 280 DiamondStandard rear step bumper full assem-blies are now Certified as meeting theFederal Standard of VESC V-5 towa-bility byMGAResearch Corporation ofBurlington,Wisconsin, an independent,17025 accredited test facility to the au-tomotive industry. VESC V-5 func-tional performance testing is the onlyFederal requirement for step bumperassemblies. Diamond Standard’s Man-ufacturing Group also supplies USAmade replacement steel/aluminumhoods and bumper top pads which areCAPA certified.

“I am proud to announce thatCAPA certification of Diamond Stan-

dard bumpers is moving forward. Di-amond Standard Brand is poised toaccelerate the introduction of newmodel car parts across all categoriesbeginning this month and we’ll beadding new part categories within theyear,” said O’Neal.

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Diamond Standard Structuralparts are available through limitedquality distributors nationwide in-cluding the AQRP program at Key-stone, an LKQ company.

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Diamond Standard Says All its Rear StepBumpers Are Now NSF Certified


Eight Floridians who provided infor-mation that led to arrests and convic-tions in five major fraud cases havebeen given rewards totaling $50,500,according to Insurance Journal.

These citizens helped uncovermore than $2 million in fraudulent in-surance billings leading to 26 arreststo date, according to Florida Chief Fi-nancial Officer Jeff Atwater.

“These citizens stepped up andmade a tremendous contribution tothe fight against insurance fraud,”said Atwater. “Their actions go be-yond these cases—they have helpedevery Floridian who pays more thanthey should for insurance premiums.”

Four of the cases involved fraud-ulent Personal Injury Protection (PIP)claims. Atwater had made combatinginsurance fraud on of his agency’spriorities.

“It is unfair and unconscionablethat every person who buys an autoinsurance policy in the state ofFlorida is paying for the thieves andenabling industries who are gamingthe system, and it won’t be tolerated,”said CFOAtwater, who yesterday ad-dressed the Florida House of Repre-sentatives Insurance & BankingSubcommittee on auto insurance

fraud. Rewards issued for PIP casesinclude:• $2,500 to a witness who providedinformation leading to the arrests andconvictions of three individuals whostaged an auto accident and filedmore than $48,000 in fraudulentclaims through a Tampa clinic.• Three witnesses will be paid a totalof $25,000 for providing informationagainst Jacksonville-based Lee andCates Glass Co., a windshield re-placement business that filed 2,245fraudulent claims totaling more than$1.2 million. There have been 11 ar-rests associated with this company.The company replaced windshieldswith after-market windshields andcharged insurance companies for newones. One of the witnesses will bepaid $15,000, and two others will re-ceive $8,750 and $1,250.

These cases were investigatedby the Division of Insurance Fraud.The Department of Financial Serv-ices said that to date it has awardedalmost $250,000 to approximately 40citizens as part of its Anti-Fraud Re-ward Program. The program rewardsindividuals up to $25,000 for infor-mation that directly leads to an arrestand conviction in a fraud scheme.

Floridians Get Rewards for Reporting Insurance Fraud

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Florida Representative Irv Slosbergis continuing his fight to ban textingand driving amongst minors, accord-ing to reports made by WPTV.

Slosberg is pitching the MinorTraffic Safety Act.

He’s suggesting minors be pro-hibited from texting while driving, aswell as talking on the phonewhile driv-ing unless they use a hands-free device.

He’s suggesting the same thingfor school bus drivers.

The bill would also restrict thenumber of passengers minors canhave in the car while they’re driving.

Slosberg also wants any vehiclea minor is driving to contain a specialsticker denoting their age, similar to adisability decal.

“We know kids, they thinkthey’re invincible, unfortunatelythey’re not, and 87 percent of seriousinjuries are due to driver distraction,”said Rep. Slosberg.

Critics claim a sticker pointingout a minor could attract trouble, butSlosberg disagrees.

“You could say the same thingabout senior citizens or disabled peo-ple. They have handicapped stickerson their car. Law enforcement has tohave some kind of way to identify

who is a minor,” he said.Drivers questioned by WPTV

agreed with the bill.“Absolutely, it’s very distract-

ing, especially out on I-95, a smalldistraction can result in a lot of trou-ble real quick,” said driver MarkLuttier.

Slosberg talked about his billFebruary 2 at Olympic Heights HighSchool in Boca Raton.

FL Representative Wants to Stop Texting While Driving

A federal appeals panel is asking theMississippi Supreme Court if statelaw that limits non-economic dam-ages to $1 million in civil cases isconstitutional, according to reportsmade by Insurance Journal.

The question from a three-judgepanel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court ofAppeals, dated Jan. 19, came in law-suit filed over a traffic accident in-volving Lisa Learmonth and Searsand Roebuck Co.

The law on non-economic capsputs a limit on what juries can awardsomeone for such things as pain andsuffering. The limits on damageswere adopted by lawmakers afteryears of contentious wrangling overtort reform.

Learmonth sued Sears and Roe-buck Co. after she had been involvedin a collision with one of the com-pany’s vans.

AU.S. District Court jury foundSears liable for her injuries andawarded Learmonth $4 million indamages, of which the parties agreed$2.2 million were for non-economicdamages. The judge reduced thenon-economic damages to $1 mil-lion.

In its appeal, Sears asked the 5thCircuit for a new trial, which the ap-peals court panel denied. Learmonthappealed the decision to reduce the

non-economic damages, an issue thatthe 5th Circuit panel referred to theMississippi court.

“This is an important question ofstate law, determinative of the non-economic damages issue in this case,for which there is no controllingprecedent from the Supreme Court ofMississippi,” Chief Judge Edith H.Jones wrote for the panel.

Last September, the Mississippicourt overturned a $1.67 million ver-dict against the owners of a conven-ience store who were sued after a manwas shot and wounded in its parkinglot.

Ronnie Lee Lymas sued Dou-ble Quick Inc. after he was shot in2007 while leaving the store in Bel-zoni. He claimed the company didn’tdo enough to ensure safety.

A Humphreys County jury in2008 awarded Lymas $4.17 million.The award was reduced to $1.67 mil-lion by the trial judge, who threw outall non-economic damages more than$1 million.

The Mississippi SupremeCourt said Lymas failed to provethat Double Quick was liable for hisinjuries.

The case has been toued as a testof Mississippi limits on civil liabili-ties. The Supreme Court did not ad-dress the issue.

MS Supreme Court Asked to Rule on Limit on Damages

MS Passes Texting BillThe Mississippi Senate has passed abill that would ban texting while driv-ing, according toWREG Channel 3.

The bill says drivers cannot oper-ate a vehicle on a highway while usinga wireless device to type, send or readwritten communication. A violationwould be a misdemeanor punishableby a $500 fine.

Some lawmakers questioned howofficers would be able to distinguishbetween texting or making a phonecall. Judiciary B Chairman Gray Tol-lison acknowledged the measurewould be difficult to enforce, but saidlawmakers needed to act to ban the“dangerous” practice. The bill nowmoves to the House.


The Georgia Collision Industry Asso-ciation held their first meeting of 2011on January 27; the main speakers for

the night were DataAcquisition Man-ager Sali McCahill and Repair Ad-vantage Program Director NancyFiorino from the vehicle history re-porting company CARFAX.

The speakers gave a presentationon how CARFAX gathers the infor-

mation they have on accidents and re-pairs on vehicles and their new RepairAdvantage Program.

Some repairers at the meeting ex-pressed that they had gone throughscenarios where a previous repair cus-tomer had come back to the shop quiteupset because they had tried to selltheir vehicle and had to lower theprice due to accidents reported onCARFAX.

The customers was concernedthat the repair shop had reported therepairs without letting the customer

know or had misreported the repairsaltogether, thus causing a diminshedvalue scenario when the owner at-tempted to sell the vehicle.

McCahill and Fiorino said thatCARFAX gets their reports from over30,000 sources, or data partners, in-cluding police reports some bodyshops and some parts vendors.

The new Repair Advantage Pro-gram will allow shops to becomemore of a part of the reporting processaccording to Fiorino.

CARFAX has a few thousand

shops reporting to them already, butwould like to increase that number.

“Shops can ensure information isbeing correctly represented on reportsif they’re part of the program,” saidGCIA President Howard Batchelor.

Shops can also brand their nameon reports they give about cars theyhave repaired and make sure CAR-FAX has accurate information aboutthe accident, repair processes andparts used.

For more information please visitwww.carfax.com.

GCIA Has CARFAX Talk About Information Collection at January Meeting

Each state has a different title formssystem— some such as Nebraska thatdisplay vehicle brand informationprominently and others such asFlorida that mix brand information inwith routine data such as the VIN (ve-hicle identification number), themake, model and mileage of the vehi-cle. This can cause mishaps when ti-tling used vehicles.

Hall County supervisors recentlypaid $3,000 to a used car dealer and acar buyer after a clerk for the county

issued a clean title for a vehicle thatwas actually rebuilt.

Hall County Sheriff’s deputies,who legally must inspect all used carspurchased from out of state, recentlydiscovered one that was stolen. It leftthe car buyer, an innocent third party,without the car or the money used tobuy it.

Neri Alarcon Villa of Grand Is-land bought a 2002 Jeep Liberty atJubba Auto Sales on West SecondStreet. She bought the car for $9,500,

but later discovered from a check byprivate vehicle information companyCARFAX that the Jeep had beenwrecked and rebuilt in Florida.

Jubba and Villa approached thecounty for repayment, saying theyboth had believed the car had a highervalue than it really does based on theclean title issued by Hall County.

Hall County Treasurer DorisMason and Motor Vehicle Depart-ment Supervisor Sandy Ballard re-searched the title. They traced it back

and discovered the initial HallCounty title was issued in June 2009when the titling functions were over-seen by Hall County Clerk MarlaConley.

The treasurer’s office took over ti-tling duties in October 2009 as man-dated by the Nebraska Legislature inits effort to create a single stop for tax-payers needing to title, license and paytaxes on new vehicles or boats.

There is no national standard ontitle forms.

Florida Officials Warn on Used Car Title Fraud, No National Standard Exists

The Georgia Collision Industry Asso-ciation (GCIA) has been working withnew Insurance Commissioner RalphHudgens this month on creating sixregional Property and Casualty Advi-sory Committees and one smaller,statewide version of the committee.

Hudgens firstcame to the GCIAin the beginning ofJanuary askingtheir help in find-ing people whowould like to benominated for thecommittee, said

GCIA President Howard Batchelor.Batchelor then reached out

Neva Hollins, Executive Director atASA of Georgia, to help fill in nom-inees for more rural regions where

the GCIA has low membership num-bers.

On January 12, people from theindustry met with Hudgens to discusswhat he wants from this advisorycommittee and who would compriseeach regional group.

Once the regional committeemembers were decided, 3 people werenominated from each region to be part

of the statewide committee. A.C.“Carroll” Proctor Jr. and HowardBatchelor were nominated from theGCIA for the statewide committee.

According to Batchelor, the com-mittees will meet 2–3 times per year,and have conference calls another 2–3times per year in the hopes of bring-ing issues and potential solutions inthe Georgia collision industry to Com-

missioner Hudgens’ attention.The regional meetings will be

public while the statewide meetingswill be members only.

“Now we’re just really waitingfor these committees to meet,” saidBatchelor. The committeeswill focus onautomotive industry issues that wouldconcern the Insurance Commissioner’soffice.

The Property and Casualty Advi-sory Committee also met on January25 for their first discussion meeting.

For more information see:w w w . g a i n s u r a n c e . o r g ,ww.asagashop.org or http://gacolli-sionindustry.wordpress.com.


GCIA & ASA-GA Doing Committee Work with Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens

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Some state lawmakers say Missis-sippi’s decade old law requiring driv-ers carry insurance is being largelyignored because they say it has noteeth. Studies show more than onequarter of Mississippi drivers areuninsured. A bill set to go before thestate House aims to make it difficultfor uninsured motorists to hit theroads, according toWLOX-TV.

Every dayMississippians get be-hind the wheel hoping they won’t getrear-ended by that one in every fourdrivers who doesn’t have liability in-surance.

“It seems to me sometimes peo-ple got to get around,” said driverNicholas Quarles. “Got to get towork. If they’re just paying their bills,sometimes they can’t afford insur-ance.”

Matthew Langlinais ownsLighthouse Insurance in Biloxi. Hesaid the state’s current mandatory in-surance law has good intentions, butthat’s about all.

“When they passed the law 11years ago, it did not have enoughteeth to track the uninsured motorists.So it really has done nothing in theway of forcing people to get insur-ance,” said Langlinais. “If you getinto a wreck now with someone thatdoesn’t have insurance and you’re

only carrying liability yourself, thepinch to the pocketbook is pretty sub-stantial.”

Lawmakers are considering anelectronic insurance verification sys-tem that police officers could accessafter a traffic stop. County tax acces-sors would also play a role keepinguninsured motorists off the roads.

“When you go to get a tag rightnow and if you are forced to showyour insurance card. For them to ac-tually look on a database and see ifit’s enforced or not, that would makemore people carry the insurance,”Langlinais said.

Not everyone is convinced an-other law is the answer.

“I don’t think they’ll be very ef-fective,” said Quarles. “I think peoplewill get insurance just to get the tagthen just drop it right afterwards.”

Another driver, John Leggett,thinks people should show proof ofinsurance to buy car tags. “I thinkthat’s a good thing. It will help out inthe long run. Because if you’re not in-sured, that’s the same as not having alicense. You have to have both tohave a vehicle on the road.”

The proposed bill would alsoallow the Mississippi Department ofPublic Safety to run random insur-ance checks. Fines would ensue.

MS May Get Tough on Uninsured Drivers

Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens and the GCIA’s Howard Batchelor at the January 25thProperty and Casualty Advisory Committee meeting

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Minneapolis, Minn.-basedABRAAutoBody & Glass, a national damaged ve-hicle repairer, announced it has openedfive repair centers. Three of the centersare corporate owned, and two are fran-chises, according to reports made byClaims Journal.

The corporate centers wereopened in Tucker, GA— part of metroAtlanta, and Glendale and Waukesha,WI— both Milwaukee suburbs.

The new franchise centers are lo-cated in Clinton, Iowa, and WisconsinRapids, WI.

The Clinton franchise agreementwas awarded to John McEleney whohas been operating under the name ofMcEleney Collision.

McEleney also owns Chevrolet,GMC, Buick, and Toyota franchises inClinton.

Allen Taylor has opened the repaircenter located in Wisconsin Rapids.

Taylor was formerly operatingunder the name of Rapids Ford BodyShop. He is also the owner of RapidsFord-Lincoln-Mercury.

ABRA Opens Five New VehicleRepair Centers in Three States

Mississippi Insurance CommissionerMike Chaney has officially an-nounced his intention to seek a secondterm. Chaney was first elected to of-fice in November 2007 when he beatDemocrat Gary Anderson by taking57 percent of the vote. Chaney suc-ceeded long-time commissioner,George Dale.

Prior to his election, Chaney, aRepublican, served seven years inMississippi’s House of Representa-tive, followed by an eight year stint inthe state Senate. He was a key mem-ber of the Senate Insurance Commit-tee that enacted a major windstormreform bill in 2007.

Gearing up for the coming cam-paign Chaney highlighted a number ofaccomplishments including oversee-ing the transfer of $19 million into thestate’s wind pool to stabilize rates forGulf Coast homeowners. He alsonoted that the state had recovered $9.3million from companies that over-charged policyholders premiums,which were returned to the policy-holders. He also changed state regula-tions so that agents could now receivetwo-year licenses. Still, Chaney saidthere is much to be done.

Mississippi CommissionerChaney to Run for Reelection

Toyota Motor Corp. is adding officesin Texas and Florida to catch potentialdefects at an early stage a year after re-calling millions of U.S. vehicles.

The new Houston and Jack-sonville operations follow similar fieldoffices opened in New York and SanFrancisco last year to evaluate and re-spond to customers’ safety and qualityconcerns, Toyota said in a statement. Itplans to open a fifth office in Denver inthe first quarter of 2011, Toyota said.

After recalling U.S. vehicles, Toy-ota is still working to regain its reputa-tion for quality. The impact of a seriesof recalls last year led Toyota to reporta 0.4 percent U.S. sales decline for theperiod, bucking the industry’s 11 per-cent annual gain.

Technicians at the regional officeswill investigate customer complaintsand research specific vehicle issues, thecompany said. The Jacksonville officewill specialize in heating, ventilationand air conditioning problems, whileHouston will focus on trucks and chas-sis components, Toyota said.

The Denver office will evaluatesport-utility vehicles and performancein high-altitude areas, the companysaid.

Toyota Opens TX, FL QualityOffices in Drive to Cut Defects

According to the National InsuranceCrime Bureau, Florida ranks at the topof the list for staged accidents and sus-picious automobile insurance claims.Miami, Tampa and Orlando remain inthe top three, but West Palm Beachcontinues to climb, nearly doubling itsnumbers from 50 in 2008 to 96 in2009.

Special Agent Fred Burkhardt,with the South Florida Major MedicalFraud Task Force, said he thinksstaged accidents may be happeningeveryday.

“It’s just tough to prove on thesurface because you have to do the in-vestigation after the loss happens,”said Burkhardt.

Experts believe one of the rea-sons the number of staged accidents isso high is because Florida is a no-faultstate, which requires each driver’s in-surance to pay for medical payments,no matter who is at fault.

“It’s pretty bad how desperatethings have gotten, but people are tak-ing advantage in every way they canright now,” said resident BrendaBrown.

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Hyundai sending 71 O.C.jobs to Texas, GeorgiaHyundai CapitalAmerica, the Koreanauto company’s financing arm, istransferring 71 jobs from Irvine to itsoffices in Dallas and Austell, Ga., aspokesman has confirmed.

Chris Hosford, a HyundaiMotor America spokesman, saidHyundai Capital would maintain apresence in Irvine but that collectionsand customer service positions wouldbe moved.

“The jobs are being transferredbecause they are focusing more oftheir efforts in the South and South-west through Hyundai’s existing op-erations in those two cities,” Hosfordsaid.

He said the people in Irvine whoare affected have been notified andthose jobs will end March 31.

“All the employees who arequalified have been offered to applyfor the positions and encouraged to doso,” Hosford said.

He did not know how many peo-ple will make the move. HyundaiCapital’s website says it has about 500people in Irvine, Fountain Valley andAustell. The company provides fi-nancing to Hyundai and Kia dealersand vehicle buyers. Some of the Irvineworkers have applied for other jobswith the company in California.

“For some people, the opportu-nity to move to an area of the countrywhere housing costs are lower couldbe a good thing,” he said.

Hosford said the job transfers areunrelated to Hyundai MotorAmerica’splans to more than double the size ofits North American headquarters offthe I-405 in Fountain Valley. The com-pany plans to begin hiring this yearand expects to double the staffing at itsheadquarters to about 1,400 people.

FLCracks Down on AutoInsurance FraudRepresentatives from 17 auto insur-ance companies joined forces withthe Broward County Sheriff’s Officeduring a one-day crackdown on mo-torists who drive without insurance,according to Claims Journal.

This month’s crackdown on in-surance fraud was an initiative put to-gether by the sheriff’s office and theNational Insurance Crime Bureau,which fights insurance fraud.

Insurance agents waited at thesheriff’s substation as deputies calledin to verify driver’s insurance infor-mation during traffic stops. By 3p.m., they had fielded 39 calls.DeputyMarty Chastain said similarcrackdowns are planned and hewarns they will be random. Insurancefraud is “through the roof’’ in Florida.

The Georgia Environmental Protec-tion Division (EPD) of the GeorgiaDepartment of Natural Resources hasgranted an air permit to Osceola SteelCo., which is looking to build a min-imill in Adel, Ga. Approval of thepermit came on Dec. 29, 2010, andfollowed a forum held earlier thatmonth when the EPA fielded com-ments and listened to a presentationon the proposed steel minimill. Thecompany initially applied for the airpermit in April 2010.

According to documents submit-ted during the hearing, the OsceolaSteel, founded in 2009, is looking tobuild a steel mill with the capacity of430,000 tons per year.

The end product would be pri-marily rebar and merchant bar, withthe Georgia and Florida markets astargets for the steel.

Raw material for the steel millwould be almost exclusively ferrousscrap metal. The location of the pro-posed steel mill is in an area zonedfor heavy industry.

In its presentation to the EPD,Osceola Steel said it expects the in-vestment at the site to be around $70million, and at full capacity the mill

would employee between 140-150people.

The mill would include one elec-tric arc furnace, two horizontal ladlepreheaters, one vertical ladle heatingstack, two tundish preheaters, one re-heat furnace, two casting machinetorches and three cooling towers. Thefacility would use ferrous scrap as itsraw material.

In the public hearing, the com-pany indicated that it hopes to startsite construction, subject to the com-pletion of venture financing, byMarch 2011 with start up by April2012.

Eric Cornwell, manager ofEPD’s Air Protection Branch’s Sta-tionary Source Permitting Program,says that the permit requires the com-pany to break ground on the steel millwithin 18 months.

The company will need to obtaina number of other permits before itcan break ground on the operation.

Dennie Andrew, who is listedas a contact for Osceola Streel, saysthat the company is in the process ofputting together its financing, whichthe company hopes to have completeby the middle of 2011.

Georgia Agency Approves Air Permit for Steel Mill

The nextA-Plus™EcoLean™Level 1workshop from Sherwin-WilliamsAu-tomotive Finishes will be held April13-14 at the Gulf States Toyota Corpo-rate Training Center in Houston, TX.

Sherwin-Williams’ exclusiveEcoLean Level 1 workshops are de-signed to educate attendees aboutmaximizing profitability by improv-ing productivity and eliminating wastethroughout their facilities. The pro-gram is offered to collision centerowners and dealer managers fromacross the United States and Canada.

“Our EcoLean workshop curricu-lum is developed with collision shopoperators in mind,” notes Steven Fel-tovich, manager of business consult-ing services for Sherwin-WilliamsAutomotive Finishes. “We aim togive them a comprehensive look ofhow they can build a lean culture intheir shop from the ground up.”

During the upcoming HoustonEcoLean Level 1 workshop attendeeswill learn practical processes and use-ful tips on lean production’s practicalapplication in collision repair andmethods to make their collision shopsmore efficient, productive and prof-itable.

To register online for theApril 13-14 workshop, go to:www.sherwin-automotive.com/en/Events.aspx or call (216) 332-8580.

Sherwin-Williams Announces A-Plus™ University Ecolean™Workshop in Houston

Following Governor Rick Scott’s an-nouncement to reject $2.4 billion infederal stimulus funding for a high-speed rail, Senator Bill Nelson saysthey’ll try to get that money here someother way, according toWOKV.

Senator Nelson spoke withTransportation SecretaryRay Lahoodabout financing the high-speed railline between Tampa and Orlandowithout the state’s participation.

He says lawyers with the DOT areworking on finding a way to get thefunding allocated to an entity other thanthe state. One suggestion he had off thetop of his head, getting Tampa, Lake-land andOrlando to join as one group inwhich federal funding would go to. Theproject is about 90% funded accordingto Nelson and the remaining $280 mil-lion could then be taken up by a privatecompany. Several companies are vyingto take the project up so the senator sug-gests having them make the remaininginvestment and have the federal stimu-lus aid come straight to the three cities.

Without the project the statewould lose out on 24,000 projectedjobs that would have been createdover the next 5 years.

FL Senator Looking to GetFunding for High-Speed Rail

A new, uncivil skirmish is brewingover a proposal to put the first KuKlux Klan Grand Wizard on state li-cense plates in Mississippi. Confed-erate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrestwill appear on the plates in 2014 if theSons of Confederate Veterans, anAmerican national heritage organiza-tion with members in all fifty states,

gets its way. Theorganization issponsoring a seriesof specialty platesover the next fouryears to commem-orate the 150th an-niversary of theCivil War, or theWar of Northern

Aggression, if you prefer. The Sons ofConfederate Veterans describes itsmission as “preserving the history andlegacy of Confederate heroes, so fu-ture generations can understand themotives that animated the SouthernCause.” This year’s plate features thelast home of Confederate presidentJefferson Davis.

The state-issued Specialty Auto-

mobile License Plates available to ve-hicle drivers in Georgia, North Car-olina, Alabama, Maryland,Mississippi, Louisiana, South Car-olina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In eachcase, the license plate features theSons of Confederate Veterans logo,which incorporates the square Con-federate Battle Flag.

There is some opposition in anumber of these states to putting theConfederate battle flag on state licenseplates, given the widespread associa-tion of the flag with racist causes. TheNorth Carolina appellate court upheldthe issuance of such license plates inSONS OF CONFEDERATE v. DMV(1998) and noted: “We are aware ofthe sensitivity of many of our citizensto the display of the Confederate flag.Whether the display of the Confeder-

ate flag on state-issued license platesrepresents sound public policy is notan issue presented to this Court in thiscase. That is an issue for our GeneralAssembly.”

Forrest is remembered both as aself-made, self-educated innovativecavalry leader who rose from privateto general officer during the war andas a leading southern advocate in thepostwar years. Much more controver-sial is that he also served as the firstGrand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, asecret vigilante organization whichlaunched a reign of terrorism againstblacks and Republicans during con-struction in the South. Forrest wasborn and died in Tennessee and joinedhis home state’s KKK shortly after thewar. The general has both been hailedas a military hero and accused of warcrimes at the Battle of Fort Pillow forallowing forces under his command toconduct a massacre upon hundreds ofblack Union Army and white South-ern Unionist prisoners in 1864.

Mississippi’s chapter of theNAACP strongly criticized the call tohonor Forrest, who led several battles

in Mississippi during the war.“He should be viewed in the same

light that we view Saddam Husseinand Osama bin Laden,” DerrickJohnson, the president of the NAACPin Mississippi, told The AssociatedPress, adding that the Klan was a ter-rorist group. “The state of Mississippishould deny any vanity tags whichwould highlight racial hatred in thisstate,” he said.

Before his death in 1877, somehistorians claim Forrest softened hisviews on racial relations. “If Christianredemption means anything—and weall want redemption, I think—he re-deemed himself in his own time, in hisown actions, in his own words,”GregStewart, a Sons of Confederate Vet-erans member, told the AP. “Weshould respect that.”

At least one black state lawmakerisn’t bothered by the group’s push toremember Forrest. “I don’t have aproblem with it,” Rep. Willie Baileysaid. “They have that right. We’ll lookat it. As long as it’s not offensive toanybody, then they have the samerights as anybody else has.”


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The February webcast of the CollisionRepair Executive Webcast (CREW)hosted new Collision Industry Con-ference (CIC) ChairmanMike Quinn.Quinn also owns 911 Collision Cen-ters with 7 locations in Arizona.

The webcast detailed Quinn’sgoals for his 2011-2012 term at CIC

Chairman. Quinn’smain goals are toincrease attendanceand participation,increase trust, makeCIC a place forpeople to voice is-sues without fear ofcriticism, create a

process where committees can developwork product that is valued by the in-dustry and formulate processes to im-prove the overall effectiveness andefficiency of CIC as a body.

Quinn further explained what hemeans by process by using the class Astandard of a work facility that camefromCIC previously as an example. Healso mentioned the effectiveness ofCIECA and their work with electroniccommerce as a good process that was

brought by a committee before his term.Quinn said he would like to make

CIC helpful in creating a solution orfinished product that can help solve aproblem, not just a floor for people tovent their issues and opinions.

“We’ve paired down a few of thecommittees,” said Quinn. CIC steam-lined a few of their committees this termin order to make sure each committeehad a specific and attainable goal.

“We’re going to create a votingstandard for the adoption of prac-tices,” said Quinn. The hope is thatnew processes for solving issue withinthe industry can be voted on by com-mittees, presented to the whole CIC tovote, then to the entire industry beforeattempted adoption.

Quinn said he would like to see arepair standards committee take a sim-ilar route as compared to CIECA.

“We’ve worked very closely withThatcham... we’re hoping to discusstheir repair standard at the July meet-ing,” said Quinn.

Quinn also talked about promot-ing respect and new leadership at CICmeetings and in committees.

“All segments of the industryneed to be represented, respected andable to participate,” said Quinn.

New guidelines and a code ofconduct were released at the PalmSprings meeting held on January 12,13, 14 to increase respect and encour-age communication.

“We’re reaching out to a numberof the top 10 insurers and others toparticipate,” said Quinn, “And repair-ers as well as vendors.”

Quinn also spoke about the closevote during the Palm Springs meetingbetween whether to hold the Novem-ber 2011 meeting at NACE or SEMA;SEMAwon out by one vote.

“The vote was 99 to 98 in favorof SEMA, that really shows how di-vided this industry is over this issue,”said Quinn.

Quinn also spoke about how thissplit is the beginning of a big changein how people conduct business andwhether or not they attend tradeshows, largely thanks to technology.

Quinn was asked whether or notthe CIC meetings should be televisedor streamed live by webcast, and he

expressed that it was a good idea al-though CIC has some concerns aboutprivacy and people continuing to beopen with their opinions when theyknow they are being broadcastedworldwide.

“It’s inevitable for the mere rea-son we’re talking about it,” saidQuinn, who is positive technologywill influence future meetings.

Quinn also plans to engageyounger people in the industry to par-ticipate in CIC, he said that he is al-ready doing this through some of thepeople he has elected to chair certaincommittees and by reaching out to re-pairers to attend.

“The only way we’re going to getnew leadership ... is to have the lead-ers in the industry reach out to theyounger people and bring them for-ward to participate,” said Quinn.

Upcoming meetings for the CICare: March 17 in Newark, NJ, July 20in Salt Lake City, UT and November 2and 3 in Las Vegas, NV.

For more information please visitwww.ciclink.com or www.crewweb-cast.com.

CREW Hosts New CIC Chairman Mike Quinn in Webcast

Mike Quinn


In their quest to make passenger vehi-cles even safer and more fuel-efficient,manufacturers continue to incorporateincreasing amounts of advanced steelin new car and truck designs. Andwhile the use of high-strength steel(HSS) makes the vehicles lighter andstronger, it can also make repairingthem more complex.

Many modern vehicles, regard-less of sticker price, are built withmore than 50 percent advanced steel.The Ford Fusion hybrid, for example,contains 55 percent HSS, and the FordFiesta uses more than 60 percent HSS.

After a collision, most advancedsteel can’t be repaired by traditionalpulling or heating methods. The mostefficient way to reverse the vehicledamage is through multiple, simulta-neous pulls using equalized pressure.This technique applies the sameamount of pressure across multiplepoints of the damaged area at theexact same time, to prevent ripping,tearing, bending or rolling the steel.

“In many cases, the advancedsteel components of a vehicle arestrong enough and peripheral to the

primary impact zone that they remainundamaged in a collision — theweaker steel around them absorbs themajority of damage,” explains MikeCranfill, vice president of collision for

Chief Automotive Technologies. “Byusing multiple, simultaneous pullswith equalized pressure, the centersection of the vehicle can be squared.Then the mild steel damage can becorrected or sectioned as defined by

OEM repair procedures. In contrast,pulling just a single area at a time, orpulling multiple areas without equal-ized pressure can actually put moredamage into the vehicle.”

Chief offers a range of pullingsystems that can be used for multiple,simultaneous pulling with equalizedpressure, including its Impulse™-E/VHT, Goliath™ and Titan™-360.Each of these products features anelectric-over-hydraulic system toequalize pressure to all towers in use.These Chief pulling systems also pro-vide 10 tons of pulling power at thehook. Since advanced steels make itnecessary for shops to use more pres-sure than ever before, this is an impor-tant differentiator. Other systems mayuse 10-ton rams, but by the time thepressure gets to the hook and the vehi-cle it’s attached to, the pressure couldhave dropped to as little as four tons.

The Chief Impulse-E/VHT, Go-liath and Titan-360 pulling systemsare compatible with Chief’s Vector,Velocity and VelocityMAXmeasuringsystems, featuring Chief’s exclusivevehicle measurement data.

For more information about anyof the pulling or measuring systemsavailable from Chief AutomotiveTechnologies, contact your local Chiefdistributor, call 877-644-1044 or visitwww.chiefautomotive.com.

About Chief Automotive TechnologiesChief Automotive Technologies, a Ve-hicle Service Group (VSG) brand, isone of the world’s largest manufactur-ers of high-quality collision repairproducts and services, including frame-pulling equipment, vehicle anchoringsystems, computerized measuring sys-tems, and vehicle frame specifications.Chief is also a leading provider of com-prehensive training on structural analy-sis, repair and collision theory.

VSG brings together several topbrands of vehicle service and repairequipment, including Chief and RotaryLift®. Based in Madison, Ind., VSGhas operations worldwide. VSG is partof the Industrial Products segment ofDover Corporation (NYSE: DOV), amulti-billion dollar, global producer ofinnovative equipment, specialty sys-tems and value-added services.

Chief Advises on High-Strength Steel in OEMs

The most efficient way to reverse collisiondamage in vehicles made with advanced steelis through multiple,simultaneous pulls using equalized pressureas provided by pulling systems like the ChiefTitan-360


Sherwin-Williams Automotive Fin-ishes will hold its first 2011A-Plus™University “Winning the Keys” Esti-mating and ProfitabilityWorkshop onMay 4-5, at the Marriott GatewayAir-port Hotel, in Atlanta.

Designed to meet the challengescollision repair facilities face intoday’s economic climate, participantsin the innovative Sherwin-Williams“Winning the Keys” workshop willlearn how to close more sales and in-crease business at the front end of thebody shop. The program is targeted atcollision repair facility owners, man-agers, estimators and customer servicerepresentatives who are interested inimproving their closing ratio and cre-ating loyal customers.

Built by leading collision repairindustry professionals, “Winning theKeys” focuses on three critical profitareas of importance to a successfulcollision facility: customer service,selling skills and estimating. In par-ticular, the course curriculum focuseson achieving service excellence andestimating solutions for profit.

“With these concepts in mind, at-tendees will learn how to implement

proven sales techniques that havebeen custom-tailored to the collisionrepair industry and designed to im-prove the effectiveness of their sellingskills during the estimating process,”says Troy Neuerburg, marketing busi-ness services manager for Sherwin-WilliamsAutomotive Finishes. “Eachattendee will leave the workshop withthe detailed information and toolsnecessary to immediately write andnegotiate more profitable estimates.”

The workshop also provides at-tendees the opportunity to share bestpractices with their industry peersthroughout the two-day learning ses-sion. Breakfast and lunch will be pro-vided each day, with a group dinnerscheduled for the first evening.

To register online for the work-shop, go to www.sherwin-automo-tive.com/. Formore information on theA-Plus Network, call (216) 332-8580.

Sherwin-Williams Automotive FinishesAnnounces Workshop in Atlanta

Mississippi House Bill 151, whichwould have repealed the Mississippiannual safety inspection of motor ve-hicles program, has died in commit-tee. The bill was introduced by stateRep. Steve Horne, R-81. The Auto-motive Service Association (ASA)had previously launched a grassrootsinitiative to oppose MS H.B. 151 andis pleased the bill will not move for-ward.

Another Mississippi bill of inter-est, H.B. 848, has also died in com-mittee. MS H.B. 848, introduced byRep. Charles Jim Beckett, R-23,would have revised the MississippiMotor Vehicle Safety Inspection Lawto require the commissioner of public

safety to require inspections not morethan once every two years. It also re-vised the fees for motor vehiclessafety inspections.

To view MS H.B. 151 or MSH.B. 848, visitASA’s legislative web-site at www.TakingTheHill.com.

The Automotive Service Associ-ation is the largest not-for-profit tradeassociation of its kind dedicated toand governed by independent auto-motive service and repair profession-als. ASA serves an internationalmembership base that includes nu-merous affiliate, state and chaptergroups from both the mechanical andcollision repair segments of the auto-motive service industry.

MS Bill to Repeal Vehicle Safety Inspections

Troopers with the Lafayette Field Of-fice of the Louisiana State Police In-surance Fraud Unit recently arresteda Ville Platte insurance agent for un-fair trade practices, according to In-surance Journal.

In October 2010, troopers re-ceived a criminal complaint about 65-year-oldMelvin J. Lavergne of VillePlatte, La. The complaint alleged thatLavergne, the owner and agent ofLavergne’s InsuranceAgency locatedin Ville Platte, had failed to send in-surance premiums collected fromcustomers to the insurance compa-nies.

Lavergne allegedly failed to sub-mit more than $1,160 in insurancepremiums for four separate customeraccounts resulting in seven cancella-tion notices being issued. Based onthe investigation troopers were able toobtain a warrant for Lavergne’s arrest.

Lavergne is charged with com-mitting unfair trade practices. The De-partment of Insurance Fraud SectionInvestigators served Lavergne with asummary suspension of his license, acease and desist order, a $4,500 finenotice and notice of proposed licenserevocation for alleged misappropria-tion of insurance premiums.

LA Insurance Agent Arrested for Unfair Trade Practices

Louisiana Insurance CommissionerJim Donelon announced that theLouisiana Department of Insurance(LDI) aided Louisiana insurance con-sumers in receiving more than $9.6million in insurance payments fromconsumer complaints last year, ac-cording to reports made by InsuranceJournal.

This is an additional $1.4 millionover the amount of funds recovered in2009.

The largest amount—more than$6 million — was recovered fromproperty and casualty insurers.

The recovered funds result frominsurance claims disputes in whichLDI was able to work with insurancecompanies and consumers to recovermonies above what the insurancecompanies originally offered the con-sumers to settle their claims.

Funds recovered are from formalcomplaints regarding property and ca-sualty, health insurance, life and annu-ities, and consumer advocacy claims.

Information on inquiries, com-plaints and funds recaptured by each

office is as follows:2010 Consumer Insurance DisputeSettlementsOffice: Inquiries - Complaints - $RecoveredOffice of Property & Casualty:4,596 1967 $6,076,864.58Office of Health:592 1,310 $1,440,147.46Division of Life and Annuities:7,836 456 $2,060,429.00Office of Consumer Advocacy:74 21 $51,852.25Total:13,098 3754 $9,629,293.10

Consumers who feel they are notbeing paid what they should for lossesas stated in their insurance policiescan contact LDI and request assis-tance and/or file a formal complaint.

Department examiners reviewcomplaints from policyholders anddetermine if the insurance companyhas honored the insurance policy andpaid the consumer what they are dueper the provisions of their policy.

For more information pleasevisit www.ldi.state.la.us.

Louisiana Insurance Department Recovers More than$9.6M in Insurance Payments in 2010

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Arizona shop owner Mike Quinnopened his first Collision IndustryConference (CIC) as chairman of thequarterly gathering, held in January inPalm Springs, CA, by asking outgo-ing I-CAR CEO John Edelen to in-troduce new I-CAR chair John VanAlstyne, who takes the helm of thetraining organization this month.

Quinn followed Van Alstyne’sbrief remarks by praising Edelen’s ef-

forts at transition-ing I-CAR overthe past threeyears. “If I’m ableto engage the in-dustry as much asJohn Edelen hasengaged the indus-try in the last sev-

eral years, I’ll be successful as CICchair,” Quinn said.

The first meeting of a new CICchairman’s term is generally set aside

as a “planning meeting,” one in whichparticipants discuss the issues they’dlike to see CIC address in the comingyear or two, and form the committeesto which those issues are assigned.

In Palm Springs, about 10 com-mittees were approved to move aheadwith their proposals of what theywould work to accomplish in the com-ing year or two.

A “Data Privacy Committee,” for

example, was formalized based on ataskforce that CIC created last year toaddress issues related to the use of

shop estimate andother data. Theissue has contin-ued to grow inimportance as thei n f o r m a t i o nproviders shift to-ward “cloud com-puting” systems,

in which estimates and even shopmanagement system data are stored onthe vendor’s computers rather than theshop’s.

Tony Passwater, who chairs thenew committee, said part of what itwill do is identify how shop data isbeing “captured, used, distributed,sold or reported on.” The committee,he said, also would seek to recom-mend guidelines or standards to pro-tect the rights of shops, insurers andvehicle owners when this informationis being captured or used in any way.

Currently, Passwater said, shopshave little in the way of choice aboutsuch issues, basically having to sub-scribe to an estimating system service,for example, under the terms offered.

“If they do subscribe, they reallydon’t have any control of whether or

not their data isused beyond theirown internal use,”Passwater said. “Ithink the issue thecollision repair in-dustry has is thatthere should besome rights for the

individual subscriber that this datacannot be used outside of their owninternal use.”

Scott Biggs of Assured Perform-ance Network said he’d also like tosee the committee address the issue ofthe shop’s access to its own historicaldata once they no longer subscribe tothat particular vendor’s service, forexample, or if they want to accesstheir current data through anotherservice or application.

The CIC “Parts Committee”oversaw some of the most heated orcontroversial subject matter over thelast two years at CIC, particularly sur-

rounding concernsabout structuralnon-OEM parts.That committeecontinues to havea long list of is-sues on its platefor 2011. It will beco-chaired by

Chris Northup, a former KeystoneAu-tomotive executive who continues towork in the non-OEM parts industry,and Chris Caris of PCG Campbell, amarketing and communications firmwhose clients include several au-tomakers.

In a first for a CIC committee, theParts Committee will also have an“executive board,” that will consist ofa representative from various seg-ments of the industry (repairers, in-surers, automakers, alternative partsand paint/materials).

Several CIC participants offeredideas on issues the committee couldaddress. Aaron Lofrano of F. Lofrano& Son Collision Centers in San Fran-cisco, said he’d like the committee toaddress the issue of insurers askingshops to code parts in ways that don’tcorrectly identify them, as is requiredin some states.

Biggs said he’d like to see thecommittee develop some industry“ground rules” on when it is and isn’tappropriate to use certain types ofparts. “Establishing some practicallogic instead of just arbitrary rules thatsomeone throws on you to use ‘X’amount of this and ‘X’ amount ofthat,” Biggs said.

Rick Tuuri, who last yearchaired the “Repairer-Insurer Rela-tions Committee” said that group has


New CIC Committee to Focus on Shop Data’s Capture, Use, Sale, and Reports

See CIC Committees , Page 15

Mike Quinn

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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

Scott Biggs

Tony Passwater

Ron Guilliams

General CIC session with approximately 200in attendance

Outgoing I-CAR Chair John Edelen (l) andJohn Van Alstyne, the new I-CAR Chair

As we get rolling in this NewYear, wesee a multitude of new ways to mar-ket the shop: Awebsite, e-mail, Face-book and other social media sites, likeTwitter. Should we ignore these newways to reach potential customers?Certainly not, but there can be a ten-dency to discard tried and true wayswhen we jump on the bandwagon forthe new ones. And that can be a seri-ous mistake.

Customers who have been com-ing to your shop for years may nowbe getting a bit older. And they maynot all share the younger genera-tion’s enthusiasm for these new ap-proaches to communication andmedia. If they have kept comingback, they must have liked whateverit was you were doing to stay intouch with them. You may not knowimmediately what that was thatpleased them, but of course you canalways ask. You can also be fairlycertain that they are like consumersof other services. There are somestandards that never change.

What Keeps Customers Coming Back?As I noted in an article more than tenyears ago, if there’s one thing thatcustomers value in a business, it’sconsistency. We go back to the samerestaurant, the same hair-dresser, thesame mechanic over and over becausewe come to know what to expect ofthem. We know the level of servicewe’ll receive for the price we expectto pay. When a place changes hands,we dread the changes we’ll probablyencounter. The menu we enjoyed sud-denly no longer has the choice itemswe preferred. The barber or hair-dresser we liked best has moved onbecause he or she didn’t get alongwith the new owner. And the rep-utable mechanic we trusted to do anhonest job on our car has been re-placed by a fast-talking, slick salestype who wants to sell us unneededextras. The consistency that we val-

ued has gone and we must go insearch of a new place that will serviceus in the manner we have come to ex-pect.

Chances are that you can deliverconsistency. You’ve been there a longtime. You’ve built a good customerbase. They know what to expect fromyou. All you have to do is make cer-tain That you don’t change what yourclients or customers value most, andthat you let them know that, in aworld of fleeting consistency, you arestill here delivering the same pre-dictable message and quality you al-ways have!

Consistency: Promoting Your BusinessThink about the advertising power ofthe consistency of major brands. Howlong have we heard “You’re in GoodHands With Allstate” or “BMW, TheUltimate Driving Machine?” Eventhough the specific ad may change,these consistent messages are alwayspresent.

What is your consistent message?Do you have one? Shops that havebeen in business a long time are wiseto capitalize on that longevity in theiradvertising and promotion.A line thatsays “Quality Collision Repair Since1981” tells a customer at a glance thatyou have survived in business for 30years. The clear implication is thatyou must have been doing somethingright to be around that long. If you arerelatively new in business, it’s stillprobable that you have been some-where in the industry for a while. Youmay be able to use a line like: “Ser-vice by professionals with more than20 years of experience.” If you havesurvived in this industry for anylength of time, you must have someelement of consistency in how you ap-proach collision repair. That consis-tency may be the most valuablecommodity you have to sell. Now isthe time to capitalize on it in your ad-vertising and promotion!

More Than One Way To CommunicateConsistencyI was startled, one day, when I walkedinto an auto body shop office in anoutlying area. The walls were com-pletely covered with photos of beforeand after repair jobs. It would havetaken hours to examine the multitudeof before and after photos this shopowner had accumulated over theyears. While it’s unlikely there wouldbe many shop owners who wouldadopt this approach to displayingproof of consistency in repair, it is asound idea to somehow convey theenormous number of quality repairsthat a shop has done.

This is the idea behind the mes-sage that McDonald’s “has servedmore than five hundred million ham-burgers.” Publicizing a long history ofhigh volume seems to convey a mes-sage of consistency although it maynot necessarily be true. That wall cov-

ered with photos was one effectiveway to communicate that consistency.That same shop owner gives the cus-tomer a before and after photo whenthe job is finished as a reminder of thequality of work that has been pro-vided.

Some shops have a photo albumin the waiting area with before andafter photos. One shop I visited had analbum filled with impressive lettersfrom satisfied customers who owneda BMW, a Porsche, a Mercedes Benz,a Lamborghini or a Rolls-Royce. Theunspoken but obvious message was“we do a consistent, superior job onthe ultimate in high-end cars.”

Your website, e-mail, Facebookpage and Twitter feed can also be usedto communicate your consistencywithout neglecting to emphasize yournew qualities and awareness of thenew communication tools we have athand.


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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

‘Consistency’ May be Boring—But It’s Also Profitable

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already been asked for revisions to the“digital imaging best practices” doc-ument finalized just last year.

Ron Guilliams, who had chairedthe CIC Definitions Committee, re-ceived a standing ovation at the firstmeeting he has attended in more thana year. Guilliams, who was seriouslyill and in a coma for a number ofmonths in 2010, thanked CIC partici-pants for the support he and his fam-ily received during his illness andrecovery. “I’m really glad to be here,”Guilliams said, drawing laughter fromCIC attendees. “I can guarantee you Iwouldn’t be standing here today withthe same outlook and view of life if itwasn’t for all the support from you inthis room. I just want to thank youfrom the bottom of my heart.”

He said he would serve as vice-chair of the Definitions Committee in2011, and that the committee plannedto review CIC’s long-established def-inition of a “Class A shop,” wouldwork to define a “green shop,” andwould review CIC’s glossary of in-

dustry terms. The committee also maydevelop some best practices or guide-lines for the communication to cus-tomers from shops and insurers.

“Is it, for example, right for theshop to be the one who informs some-one their vehicle is a total loss, or thatdamage is not related to this particularclaim,” Guilliams said. “In many in-stances, those lines of responsibilityhave been blurred. So one of thethings the committee has been askedto look at is to try to get consensus onboth sides on what really is the bestpractice, so we can standardize that.”

Other existing CIC committeesthat will continue in 2011 will include“Education and Training,” “Govern-mental and Regulatory,” and “HumanResources.”

CIC’s ad-hoc Marketing Com-mittee reported in Palm Springs thatits surveys after CIC’s last two meet-ings found that 87 percent of those re-sponding said the presentations at themeetings had “good” or “very good”value for their business. More than 91percent said the quality of the meetingcontent and the networking opportu-nities at the meetings were good orvery good.

Continued from Page 13

CIC Committees The Alliance of Automotive ServiceProviders of New Jersey (AASP/NJ)has announced that BASF Automo-tive Refinish has signed on as the of-ficial show sponsor of their 34thAnnual NORTHEAST(TM)Automo-tive Services Show at the Meadow-lands in Secaucus, New Jersey.NORTHEAST 2011 takes placeMarch 18,19, and 20.

“Having BASF come on boardto sponsor NORTHEAST 2011 justadds to the national influence and per-ception our show is gaining,”AASP/NJ President Jeff McDowellsaid from his shop in Fords, New Jer-sey.

“BASF’s decision to be the offi-cial show sponsor of NORTHEAST2011 was really an easy one,” ex-plained Darlene Eilenberger, Mar-keting Director for BASFAutomotiveRefinish.

“We have displayed at NACEand SEMA, but we’re well aware thatthere is also a very important cus-tomer base who may not always beable to travel to Las Vegas. TheNORTHEAST show is an optimalplace for us to catch up with our cus-tomers in the Northeast region whileshowcasing our newest products.Given the increasing growth and in-

fluence of NORTHEAST, we wantedto show our support of this year’sevent in a big way,” Eilenberger con-tinued.

BASF is also looking forward toparticipating in the educational por-tion of the show.

“With environmental legislationpending in the Northeast region,”Eilenberger added, “we felt 2011 wasthe perfect year to actively participatein NORTHEAST — not only to in-crease visibility on our line of water-borne refinish products, but also toeducate and network with the thou-sands of repair professionals who willbe directly impacted by it. We arevery excited to showcase our brandsand meet with NORTHEAST Showattendees.”

“This is the first time in all theshow’s years that we have had a soleevent sponsor for NORTHEAST,”McDowell said. “We are honored thatsuch a prestigious company as BASFwould incorporate its brand withNORTHEAST 2011, and we hopethis is the start of a long and prosper-ous tradition.”

For more information on theNORTHEAST 2011 show andAASP/NJ, visit: www.aaspnjnorth-east.com and www.aaspnj.org.

BASF Official Show Sponsor of NORTHEAST 2011


www.autobodynews.comwww.autobodynews.com

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An intensive 10 month investigationinto possible causes of unintended ac-celeration in Toyota cars found nofault with the automaker’s electronicthrottle control systems, the Depart-ment of Transportation announcedFebruary 8, according to reports madeby CNN Money and the Los AngelesTimes.

U.S. Transportation SecretaryRay LaHood said, “We enlisted thebest and brightest engineers to studyToyota’s electronics systems, and theverdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas.”

NHTSA enlisted the help ofNASA scientists and engineers. Theagency said their expertise in areassuch as computer controlled elec-tronic systems, electromagnetic inter-ference and software integrity wouldbe a big help.

Despite a string of recalls forother problems Toyota has long in-sisted that the electronic controls in itscars are safe.

Toyota recalled nearly 8 millionvehicles in 2008 and 2009 for defectsrelated to gas pedals — includingsticky pedals and floor mat obstruc-tion — as a result of complaints ofunwanted acceleration.

Some critics of the automaker, atthe time. were not satisfied that thosetwo problem were the only ones toblame for for the growing number of

reports that Toyotas were acceleratingout of control and pointed to the elec-tronic throttle control system as an-other possible culprit.

A common feature in newer ve-hicles, electronic throttle control usessensors and computer chips to passcommands between the vehicles’ gaspedal and the engine to control a car’sspeed instead of the simple me-chanical connection usedin older cars.

Congress or-dered the DOT toinvestigate whetherthere might be a prob-lem with those electroniccontrols. The study was launched lastspring.

As part of the study, the agenciesran tests at a Chrysler Group LLCtesting facility inAuburn Hills, Mich.headquarters in which researchersbombarded Toyota vehicles with elec-tromagnetic radiation to see if theycould cause any malfunctions thatmight lead to unintended acceleration.

Toyota Motor Co. has also pro-vided NASA software engineers with“unrestricted access” to the computercode used to control the electronicthrottle control systems. The softwareengineers have been combing throughthe code looking for anything thatmight cause a car to accelerate out ofcontrol under any circumstances,NHTSA said.

Also, scientists at NASA’s God-dard Space Flight Center and NHTSAEast Liberty, Ohio, research centerhave been examining cars and Toyotathrottle systems, searching for any de-fects that might cause unwanted accel-eration.

This summer, NHTSA releasedthe results of some investigations into

Toyota sudden acceleration inci-dents. Those investiga-tions specificallylooked into 58 al-leged unintendedacceleration cases.

These investigationssuggested that drivers

themselves may have been partly atfault. At that time the agency stressedthat the results were preliminary.

Although Toyota sales have suf-fered much of the automaker’s salesdecline is due to an aging model line-up more than concerns over safetyproblems, analysts say.

Toyota now includes “brakeoverride” on all its new vehicles. Thissystem automatically cuts enginepower as soon as the brake pedal ispressed in order to prevent unwantedacceleration.

Toyota is currently facing hun-dreds of lawsuits over alleged unin-tended acceleration, most of whichhave been grouped together in a sin-gle California court. Toyota MotorCorp. will also use the results of the

study as evidence that a sudden ac-celeration class action suit against itshould be dismissed.

In a filing in federal court inSanta Ana this month, the automakerargued that the study is proof that itsvehicles have no defects and the law-suits are therefore without merit.

“Plaintiffs are chasing a phantomtheory of defect that only last weekNASA and NHTSA, after an exten-sive investigation, jointly confirmeddoes not exist,” Toyota outside coun-sel Lisa Gilford wrote in a motionfiled on Feb. 14.

She asked judge James Selna todismiss the suit, which consolidatesscores of claims from Toyota andLexus owners alleging that the pres-ence of defects in their vehicles neg-atively affected the value of theirvehicles.

Even if the NASA and NHTSAfindings hold up in court, plaintiff at-torneys argue that Toyota still could beon the hook for the lack of a brakeoverride feature in its vehicles, whichis designed to prevent sudden acceler-ation in cars with electronic throttle.

That technology has been em-ployed by other automakers, includ-ing Nissan and Volkswagen, for years,but Toyota did not begin adopting ituntil last year.

Ahearing to review the dismissalmotion is scheduled for April 29,court filings show.

Toyota Unintended Acceleration Probe Finds No Electronic Flaws

The U.S. House voted overwhelm-ingly to bar the Environmental Pro-tection Agency from moving aheadwith allowing a higher blend ofethanol in the nation’s gas tanks, ac-cording to reports made by theDetroitNews Washington Bureau.

February 19 the House voted286-135 to block the EPAfrom spend-ing any money to carry out a waiverto allow E15 to be sold at the nation’s

fueling stations. Currently, most gasstations sell E10 — which is 10 per-cent ethanol. The EPA has granted awaiver to allow a blend of 15 percentof ethanol to be sold for vehicles fromthe 2001 model year and newer.

Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla-homa, introduced an amendment tothe bill to fund government opera-tions through Sept. 30, to block EPAfrom moving ahead.

“The EPA has completely ig-nored calls from lawmakers, industry,environmental and consumer groupsto address important safety issuesraised by the 50 percent increase in theethanol mandate issued over the pastyear. Putting E15 into our general fuelsupply could adversely impact up to60 percent of cars on the road todayleading to consumer confusion at thepump and possible engine failure in

the cars they drive,” Sullivan said.Automakers have expressed con-

cerns about using a higher percentageof the ethanol blend that could cor-rode engines.

Before E15 can be sold, the EPAmust finalize a labeling rule to warnconsumers that the higher blend isonly for certain vehicles.

All major automakers filed suitin December in the U.S.

House Votes to Block E15 from Pumps Due to Potential Engine Failure


Chrysler Group’s Mopar Division to Expand Accessories Portfolio in 2011Vehicle buyers are spending more andmore to personalize and accessorizetheir rides. Consumer spending forMopar accessories on Chrysler,Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles nearlydoubled in 2010.

“More of our customers are driv-ing out of our dealerships with Moparaccessories on their vehicle,” saidPietro Gorlier, President and CEO ofMopar, Chrysler Group’s service,parts and customer-care brand.

Mopar currently offers more than8,000 proven, quality-tested acces-sories. Following is a list of Mopar’stop-10 selling accessories in 2010:1. Wheel Lock Kit: Wheel locks areavailable for most models and havean exclusive key code for maximumprotection.Available in one- and two-piece styles, kits include four or fivechrome-plated locking nuts, and oneexclusive Mopar key. The kit protectsagainst wheel and tire theft withoutaffecting wheel balance.2. Roadside Safety Kit: Safety kitincludes flashlight, fleece blanket,six-gauge jumper cables, safety trian-gle, screwdrivers, pliers, two bungee

cords and gloves.3. Mopar Portable Navigation Sys-tem: This Garmin nuvi® 1490T pre-mium system packs a ton of featuresinto a slim design with a 5-inchscreen. The system includes lane-as-sist with junction view, pre-loadedmaps, pedestrian navigation options,traffic alerts, ecoRoute™ that calcu-

late a fuel-efficient route, integratedhands-free Bluetooth® wireless tech-nology with a built-in microphone andspeaker, integrated FM traffic re-ceiver, and free lifetime traffic up-dates.

4.MoparElectronicVehicleTrackingSystem (EVTS): lMopar’s industry-firstElectronic Vehicle Tracking System(EVTS) works 24/7 with nationwidecoverage to keep track of your vehicle.This GPS-enabled real-time trackingsystem includes a $1,000 Theft Protec-tion Warranty and is transferable. Op-tional upgrade plans provideEmergency

Service Dispatch and anOnCall™on-board panicbutton. Features such assetting speed and distanceparameterswith text alerts,unlimited online tracking,and full concierge serviceare also offered.5. Premium CarpetFloor Mats: Thick,durable and color-matched for a strong, in-tegrated appearance.Front mats feature a rub-

ber-nibbed backing to keep themfirmly in place and are custom-con-toured for an exact fit.6. Slush Mats: Custom-fit mats fea-ture deep grooves that help preventwater, snow, and mud from ruining

vehicle’s carpet. Mats are availablefor front and rear compartments de-pending on vehicle model.7. Molded Splash Guards: Moparsplash guards offer long-lasting dura-bility. They are custom-contoured fora stylish flare and deflect gravel, saltand other road debris away from thevehicle.8. Mopar Bedliners: Skid Resistorbedliner’s ribbed construction helpskeep cargo from shifting and promotesdrainage from bed. Mopar liners aremolded of a high-density polyethyleneblend for added durability. Tailgatecover also included. Also availablefor Ram 1500 RamBox.9. Chromed Tubular Side Steps:Mopar’s heavy-duty premium stepsare built to last and are available inchrome or black depending on vehicle.Side steps feature slip-resistant steppads for easy vehicle entry and exit.10.Hitch Receivers and TowingAc-cessories: In addition to hitch re-ceivers for a range of vehicles, Moparalso offers hitch balls, receiver plugs,and ball-mount adaptors.

Visit www.mopar.com.

Mopar Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS) works 24/7with nationwide coverage to track your vehicle

Those of us who are active in the autobody industry understand there ismuch skill involved negotiating withinsurance company appraisers in ar-riving at an “acceptable” (profitable)repair bottom line.

During my 30 year auto body ca-reer, I have written thousands of autobody repair estimates mastering the“the art” of negotiating with a varietyof insurance appraisers. It’s only natu-ral to have a “preference of which in-surance appraisers we welcome intoour auto body shops. Commonly wefind some insurance appraisers are con-sistently easier to work with and arriveat a profitable “bottom line.” Thenthere are those appraisers that make usfeel as though they are paying for therepairs out of their own pockets.

Recently, our body shop in SantaBarbara, Calif., had an insuranceclaim where the issuance of the sup-plement was an experience I havenever encountered in over thirty yearsof owning and managing a body shop.

On the day the insurance appraiserrepresenting a well known companyarrived, I noted this appraiser hadnever been assigned an appraisal in-spection at our shop before. ThereforeI had some concern we did not haveany history of a working relationship.

The insurance appraisal inspec-tion involved a 2002 BMW 323cic.Upon introducing herself the appraiserbegan taking photos of the claimant’svehicle and making notes pertainingto the damaged left rear door andquarter panel. I listened attentively tothe often heard we-can-only-pay-for-this-procedure speech.

Days later, we completed the re-pairs and submitted a supplement tothe insurance appraiser. During myfollow up on the supplement confir-mation, I received a phone call fromthe appraiser saying “her supervisorhas now decided not to pay for therear $130 bumper moulding she hadoriginally approved to be replaced onher preliminary insurance estimate.By the way, the “non returnable” parthas been installed on the customer’svehicle. My initial reaction was Icould not believe what I was hearing.If this was ten years ago I feel certainthis appraiser would have been on the

receiving end of some colorful lan-guage. Instead, I phoned the vehicleowner and informed him there is aninsurance delay in delivering his cartoday. I said it appears the insurancecompany does not mind paying for“additional” rental car expenses overthe weekend because of an unsettlednew policy which I never experiencedbefore. I explained the “we would payfor it yesterday but not today” re-sponse. The vehicle owner phoned theinsurance appraiser expressing hisconcern about the delay as he neededhis car returned for an upcoming trip.That same day I received a phone callfrom the insurance appraiser whostated I would need to call their com-pany’s supplement hotline to “negoti-ate” an agreement for full paymentconcerning the $130 moulding.

I thought to myself there is noth-ing to negotiate here—the insurancecompany owes us full price for thepart! On Monday morning I thenphoned the insurance company’s 1(800) SCREW U hotline. I’m suremany of you know the supplementhotline which I am referring to. Thisparticular hotline did not have ahuman voice, only a voice recordinginstructing you to fax your supple-ment to 1(800) SCREW U 2. Feelingfrustrated, I then phoned the insuranceappraiser and learned she had thisMonday and Tuesday off, probably formeeting the insurance company’squota of withdrawing parts and laborfrom the original written estimates.

Near mid-dayMonday, I receiveda phone call from the insurance super-visor who appeared to be “shadowing”this claim. He told me the claimant hadphoned seeking his assistance to arriveat a settlement which resulted in un-necessary delays in releasing the vehi-cle to the claimant. I explained to theinsurance supervisor the problem initi-ated by their appraiser, specifically, the$130 bumper moulding part which hadbeen withdrawn from their proposedsupplement. Upon further discussionthe claim supervisor replied his deci-sion of withdrawing allowance for thepart was based upon thinking the partin question was a door side mouldingnot the bumper molding! Say What!?At that point, I had to ask how long his

appraiser, has been employed. Hereplied about “Twomonths”! Like, NoKidding!

According to the insurance su-pervisor’s explanation this was all a“misunderstanding”!

Is it a misunderstanding or amistake when hiring someonewho is not experiencedenough for the position tomake confident decisions?Asa result of my efforts in stand-ing up to the insurance super-visor we were paid in full($181) for supplement partsand labor pertaining to thewithdrawn bumper mouldingfrom the original insurance re-pair estimate.Have you ever had a 1 800SCREW U 2 “misunder-standing”?If so, drop me a line I wouldwelcome you to share your

memorable insurance “misunder-standing” experiences.

Walter [email protected]


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“It’s a Misunderstanding”—Insurance Appraiser Boot Campwith Walter Danalevich

Shop Strategies for Savings Walter Danalevich, AAM, has been the owner of Santa BarbaraAuto Refinishing since 1979. Contact him at:[email protected].

Hyundai MotorAmerica celebrated its25th anniversary in the U.S. the week-end of Feb. 19th. The automaker re-ports that it has sold 6,608,208 modelsin the U.S. in that time, and more than4,350,000 units still are on the roadtoday.

Last year, Hyundai recounted thatits sales surpassed 538,000 units,making the Korean company the sixthbest-selling brand in the country be-hind only Toyota, Honda, Nissan,Ford, and Chevrolet.

To handle demand, the companyhas expanded production capacity tomore than 400,000 units—specificallythe Sonata, Elantra and Santa Fe thatare manufactured in modern assemblyplants in Montgomery, Alabama, andin Georgia. Hyundai pointed out thatits engines and transmissions are pro-duced in the U.S., too.

U.S. employment now includesmore than 4,000 workers, with totalemployment including suppliers anddealers coming in at more than45,000. Hyundai has declared that itscommitment to the U.S. market in-

cludes engineering, design, testing,production, sale and marketing. In all,Hyundai's investments in the U.S.total $1.7 billion.

Local Presence Boosts SE EconomyFew people in Mongomery, AL, 800miles south of Detroit cared muchabout the auto industry until Hyundaiannounced it would build cars herenine years ago, according to reportsmade by the New York Times.

At Hyundai‘s Montgomery plant,rarely do more than a few weeks passwithout word that another parts sup-plier has dozens of new positions tofill, typically offering good benefitsand double the pay that the averageAlabaman earns.

Hyundai and its sister company,Kia, which opened a plant last yearjust across the Georgia state line, havebrought thousands of well-paying jobsto the region and even helped nurturea little Korean culture in Montgomery,the first capital of the old Confeder-acy. Hyundai is running its Mont-gomery plant almost nonstop. Rarely

do more than a few weeks pass with-out word that another parts supplierhas dozens of new positions to fill,typically offering good benefits anddouble the pay that the average Al-abaman earns.

Hyundai, which will observe its25th anniversary selling vehicles toAmerican drivers on Sunday, was lit-tle more than an ambitious, second-tier brand when it chose to build itsfirst United States car factory justsouth of Montgomery. But during therecent recession, the South Koreancompany thrived asAmericans soughtout cheap cars just as Hyundais wereimproving in quality.

In 2010, Hyundai and Kia eachposted their highest sales in the UnitedStates and, taken together, surgedahead of Ford Motor to becomefourth-largest automaker worldwide.Hyundai built 300,000 cars in Mont-gomery last year and sold most ofthem in the United States.

“If folks looked deeply at how farwe’ve gone so quickly, from havingno U.S. production five years ago to

where we are today, it’s amazing,”John Krafcik, chief executive ofHyundai Motor America, said. “Idon’t know that any company has got-ten to such a high level of local as-sembly as Hyundai that fast.”

While Michigan’s dependence onthe auto industry caused it to have oneof the nation highest unemploymentrates in recent years, the presence ofHyundai and Kia has helpedAlabamakeep its jobless rate among the lowestin the Southeast even as textile millscontinue to close.

“As far as the pay, nobody elsearound here can compete with them,”said Richard Watson, a former automechanic who was out of work for ayear and a half before getting a tem-porary job at the Kia plant in WestPoint, GA, last fall. He said some ofhis co-workers drove two hours eachway because the plant’s jobs were insuch demand.

Hyundai is running its Mont-gomery plant, which employs 2,650,around the clock on weekdays and oc-


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I read about the aftermarket parts test-ing conducted by ABPA (ABPA SaysAftermarket Bumper OutperformedFord Counterpart in CrashTest—Next page this issue) and I haveto say that I expected as much. Notunlike CAPA certification, the resultswill always favor the aftermarket part.In the article they stated that is somecases the aftermarket performed “bet-ter than the OEM.”

Wow, I guess I will need to re-think my standards regarding all af-termarket safety-related parts, andmaybe we should all lobby to havethe OEM’s recall their vehicles sowe can install these superior after-market parts. We know that the con-sumers’ safety is our primaryconcern so now that the cat is out ofthe bag what should we do? After all,I have been installing OEM rebarsthat have been “proven” (?) to be in-ferior to the aftermarket rebars. Ithink we should probably take it onestep further and start testing head-lights and other parts because thepoor consumer has been duped intothinking that the manufacturer’sparts are best for the safe repair oftheir vehicle.

There is only one problem thatwe still need to address and that is to“test” the actual test results. I meanbefore I go to the Insurance Commis-sioner’s Office and tell him that I havebeen wrong all along about the saferepair of vehicles today I better knowmy facts. So a couple of questionscome to mind that maybe the com-

pany that did the testing should an-swer first.

1) Ford showed up at a publicgathering and came equipped withphotos, videos, sensor reading data.They even brought their engineers toanswer questions. Plus they broughtin the actual parts so we all could seewith our own eyes what was being ex-posed. Ford was willing to answerquestions (and did a very good job),they also made their test results pub-lic and published them on CIC’s web-site (www.ciclink.com). Where isABPA’s evidence? I need to see thisfirst hand so I can quit making a foolof myself.

2) The article (this issue) said thatpart of the OEM-rebarred Mustang’sbumper fell off? This baffles me be-cause if they actually did the testing asthey claim then they should knowthere is no part that can fall off. Whatpart could fall off? There is nothing tothis part but a beam and two bracketsand the bolts go all the way through.This makes me question all the testingthey describe.

3) Ford ran two separate tests,both a set of 5-mph crash tests and aset of 8-mph test. Ford’s 5-mph crashtest showed there was more intrusiondamage and a higher cost of repairwith the Aftermarket verses the OEMvehicle, which contradicts the ABPAtest. Ford’s 8-mph test with the after-market bumper beam revealed themost dangerous evidence of “AIR-BAG DEPLOYMENT” when it“SHOULD NOT DEPLOY.” Why

didn’t ABPA do the 8-mph test? Thisraises concerns for me, (it’s not ‘ap-ples to apples’.) Does the term “likekind and quality” come to mind? It’suspicious at best.

4) Ford’s damage estimates werevery detailed, listing all of the partsused. The ABPA report glosses overthese details completely, “the truth liesin the details,” and who wrote thedamage assessments? Some “highlyregarded” shop? What kind of answeris that? Why aren’t they identified?

5) Ford videotaped the entireteardown process and created someserious evidence which contradictsthe ABPA test. Where is their video? Iwant to see it made public. After all,they are implying that Ford is the onewith the skewed results. ABPA needsto put its money where its mouth is.

6) I know that Ford didn’t mod-ify anything but it is possible to mod-ify an entire vehicle to make it crash

better (look at Nascar reinforcementsfor racing safety, for example).

We need to see this so-calledABPA evidence made public and giveFord and the other OEMs a chance torebut it. Maybe we should presentboth tests to Congress and let them de-cide. After all, this is a serious safetyissue.

What I have read in this articleseems like another effort to mask thetruth. The facts are the facts and I saylet’s compare apples to apples andbring everything out in the open.Then we can give the information tothe public and let them decide. Butthis question still remains: “Why arewe using these parts when we knowthey have not been tested nor provento be equal to the original manufac-turer’s specifications as the law “re-quires.”

We are assuming an awful lotwith respect to someone else’s safety.


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Setting the Record Straight on Ford vs. Aftermarket Parts Testing

Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans


Opinions Countwith Dick Strom



Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.


with Sheila LoftusYour Turn



Shop Showcasewith Janet Chaney


Industry Overviewwith Janet Chaney


Industry Interviewwith Janet Chaney




Lee Amaradio, Jr. is the president and owner of “Faith” Quality Auto Body Inc. in Murrieta,California. Lee is president of the CRA as well as an advocate for many other industrygroups. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Ford Motor Co. confirmed February6 it wants to cut another 100 Lincolndealers as it pares back its luxurybrand network. In October, publishedreports quoted dealers as saying Fordwanted to shrink its 500 dealers in130 major markets to 325, accordingto the Detroit News Washington Bu-reau.

Ken Czubay, Ford’s U.S. saleschief, said the company said the 500dealers in 130 major markets hadbeen reduced to 434 as of Dec. 31,and he confirmed the 325-dealer tar-get.

“That’s our evaluation of the

marketplace,” Czubay said. Ford isoffering financial buyouts to Lincolndealers. “We’re working with everydealer to help them evaluate theirbusiness plan. We’re not forcing any-one out. This is strictly voluntary,”Czubay said. “It’s a tough personaldecision that they have to make.”

Most luxury brands in the UnitedStates have 250 to 300 dealers. Lin-coln has 1,200 — and it has the oldestaverage buyer among luxury brands— older than 60. Ford says it is nec-essary to reduce the number of deal-ers to make the remaining dealersmore profitable.

Ford to Ax Another 100 Lincoln Dealers

ABPA says a laboratory crash test per-formed in December 2010 by MGAResearch Corporation determined thatan aftermarket bumper reinforcementbar outperformed its original equip-ment supplied (OES) equivalent, theAutomotive Body Parts Association(ABPA) announced.

The trial involved sled-testing apair of 2007 Ford Mustangs into afront-end barrier at 5 mph (the sametest presented by Ford at the CollisionIndustry Conference last November),measuring the effectiveness of the re-inforcement bars and estimating thecosts of repair to the aftermarket andOES-equipped vehicles.

“We decided to incur the ex-pense of further testing to illustratecomparable performance and to dis-prove the claim that it costs more torepair aftermarket-equipped vehi-cles than those with only OEM orOES parts,” said Eileen A. Sottile,co-chair of the ABPA Legislation &Regulation Committee. “Tests haveconsistently demonstrated that after-market parts perform just as well as

original equipment components, andconsumers should feel good abouthaving these parts on their vehi-cles.”

While both parts effectively ab-sorbed the impact and protected thevehicle occupants, a piece of thebumper fell off of the Mustang outfit-ted with an OES rein-forcement bar. Thelow-speed test did notresult in the deploy-ment of the air bagsystems on either ve-hicle.

Two repair shops which ABPAsays are “highly regarded” were askedto calculate the costs of repair to thetest vehicles without knowledge of theparts used in the crash test. One of theshops gave an identical estimate forrepairs, while the other (a Ford dealerbody shop) estimated that it wouldcost approximately $200 less to repairthe aftermarket-equipped vehicle thanthe one with original equipment parts,which sustained more damage, ac-cording to ABPA.

“When aftermarket and OEMparts performed equally well in trialsat 35 mph, some industry memberscomplained that the tests were con-ducted at too high a rate of speed,making all rebars ‘toast’ even thoughthe government requires tests at 35mph in order to test for occupant

safety,” said Sottile.“Now that this

low-speed test hasvindicated the after-market in terms ofquality, safety and

damageability, the focusshould return to preventing more carsfrom becoming total losses, whichmeans everyone wins — the repairer,the insurer and, most importantly, thevehicle owner.”

Sottile has previously said “Theaftermarket industry is a thriving partof the American economy and willcontinue to be," declared Sottile."Consumers benefit when they havechoice about which parts they use forcar repairs, and competition preventscar company monopolies from charg-

ing excessive prices to line their pock-ets.”

The ABPA says it will performadditional testing and also make thoseresults public.

About the ABPAThe more than 150 members of theAutomotive Body Parts Association(ABPA) occupy more than 415 sepa-rate collision parts distribution,bumper sales, recycling facilities andmanufacturing plants. Collectively,they are responsible for distributingmore than 75 percent of independentlyproduced aftermarket collision re-placement parts sold to the collisionrepair trade. ABPA members warrantthe products they sell and endorse theconcept of Complete Customer Satis-faction which not only extends to thequality of the product lines but alsoencompasses product availability,product service, product price andservice after the sale. Visit www.au-tobpa.com.

See www.autobpa.com andwww.mgaresearch.com.


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ABPA Says Aftermarket Bumper Outperformed Ford Counterpart in Crash Test

Nicolosi Distributing Inc. (NDI), apaint jobber in the San Francisco bayarea, filed a lawsuit against BMW ofNorth America earlier this year alleg-ing intentional interference with acontract with a BMW-certified shop.

NDI accuses BMW of NorthAmerica of interfering with a contractthe jobber had with a BMW-certifiedshop for paint supplies. The suit per-tains to a contract signed betweenNDI and German Motor CollisionCenter, a BMW-certified collisioncenter connected to the BMW of SanFrancisco dealership in May of 2005.The contract was a multi-year agree-ment that BMW of North Americawas aware of before German MotorsCollision Center signed it.

NDI contends that “BMW inten-tionally interfered with NDI’s con-tractual relationship with GermanMotors Collision Center... by the fol-lowing conduct: BMW has decided toproduct its own paint line ... BMW re-quires auto body shops painting aBMW automobile to only use BMWpaint. BMW forced German MotorsCollision Center to enter into a writ-ten agreement ... which requires Ger-man Motors to use BMW paint on anyBMW car painted at German Motors.”

“BMW North America told Ger-man Motors that they had to buy fromthem under this new program, no mat-ter what other contracts they had, orelse they would lose their certifica-tion” said NDI’s owner, Tony Ni-colosi.

German Motors Collision Cen-ter’s contract with NDI stated: “Allpaint materials, DPC products andsupplies will be purchased exclusivelythrough Nicolosi Distributing Inc.Materials purchased by BMW of SanFrancisco will not be bought throughany other vendor.”

Under this new program BMWNorth America does not allow any oftheir certified body shops or dealer-

ships to paint BMW vehicles with anyother paints, blocking jobbers acrossthe country out of the market of sell-ing paint supplies to these places.

Nicolosi said that NDI sellsDuPont paints, and the BMW paint isalso made by DuPont.

“A lot of jobbers across the coun-try lost a lot of business because ofthis,” said Nicolosi.

NDI is also accusing BMWNorth America of interfering with aprospective economic advantage, vio-lation of California’s Anti-Competi-tion Act, Business and ProfessionsCode Section 17200 and violation ofBusiness and Professions Code Sec-tion 16727 in which a business’s ac-tions lessen competition and create amonopoly on a trade or line of com-merce.

Nicolosi is asking for damages of$75,000 for the first and second claim,exemplary damages from FederalCourt, injunctive relief from the thirdand fourth claims, attorneys fees,other relief from the Business andProfessions Code violations, courtcosts and other relief as judged by thecourt.

On February 7, 2011, BMW ofNorth America filed a motion forjudgment on the pleadings, whichsought to dismiss the entire action.The Court Denied the motion in part,and granted the motion in part. USDistrict Judge Susan Illston ruled thatthe intentional interference with a con-tract, interference with a prospective

economic ad-vantage and un-fair competitionc o m p l a i n t swould go aheadto court, whilethe claim for anunlawful tyingagreement wasdismissed withleave to refile,

which Nicolosi will do on February25, according to NDI’s lawyer Her-man Franck.

According to Franck, NDI willamend the complaint to describe theparticulars of an illegal tying arrange-ment whereby BMW of North Amer-ica coerces body shops intopurchasing BMW branded pain prod-ucts by withdrawing BMW certifica-tion unless they purchase BMW

branded paint products. This issue ap-plies only to BMW automobiles, anddoes not apply to non-BMW automo-biles.

Franck went on to say that the co-ercion in the industry is that it is “un-thinkable not to have that (BMW)certification” according to GermanMotors Collision Center, so the BMWcertification is really tied to usingBMW-certified paint.

When asked about the litigationby Autobody News, BMW NorthAmerica’s legal representativeStephen Bledsoe said, “It is BMW’spolicy not to comment on any pend-

ing litigation.”The trial date is set for October

24, 2011 at 8:30 a.m.Nicolosi is expecting other job-

bers who feel they have lost businessbecause of this program to come for-ward and join the lawsuit.

Nicolosi Distributing Inc.San Jose location: (408) 573-7146San Carlos location: (650) 413-0150Email: [email protected]

Stephen Bledsoe- representing BMW(816) 561-7007


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CA Paint Jobber NDI Sues BMW North America After the AutomakerImplemented its own BMW Paint Line

Nicolosi Distributing Inc.’s San Carlos location

German Motors Collision Center in San Francisco

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The Arkansas Legislature has givenfinal approval to a ban on driversusing hand-held cell phones in schooland work zones, according to reportsmade by Insurance Journal.

The House has approved the leg-islation on a 52-41 vote.

The proposal would exempt theuse of hands-free phones and GPS de-vices.

A violation would be a secondaryoffense, meaning drivers could onlybe cited if they were first pulled overfor a primary offense such as speed-ing.

It would apply to school zonesduring school hours when children

are present, and highway workzones when a highway worker ispresent.

The proposal now heads to Gov.Mike Beebe’s desk, and a spokesmansaid he plans to sign it into law. Itwould take effect Oct. 1.

For more information please visitwww.insurance.arkansas.gov.

Arkansas Legislature to Ban Cell Phone Usage inSchool, Work Zones General Motors dealers in the United

States reported 178,896 total sales inJanuary, a 23-percent increase from ayear ago for the company’s four brands.The gain was driven by solid retail saleswhich were 36 percent higher than astrong January a year ago.

For the month, overall GM fleetsales were down 7 percent with salesto rental fleets declining 11 percent,while sales to commercial customersrose 7 percent. Retail sales of GM’scars, trucks and crossovers all rose 34percent or more during the month, up39 percent, 34 percent and 35 percent,respectively.

“January was a good month andsignaled a solid start to the new yearfor each of our divisions,” said Don

Johnson, vice president, U.S. SalesOperations. “Our results were drivenby gains across the board in all seg-ments, with our newest models lead-ing the way.”

Combined sales for GM’s newestvehicles – Chevrolet Equinox, Silver-ado HD, Cruze and Volt; BuickLaCrosse and Regal; GMC Sierra HDand Terrain; and Cadillac SRX, CTSWagon and CTS Coupe – increased31 percent, while retail sales surged61 percent for the month.

Month-end dealer inventory inthe United States stood at about510,000 units, which is about 1,000lower compared to December andabout 124,000 higher than January2010.

General Motors January Sales Rise 23 Percent

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casional Saturdays to keep up with de-mand. Last summer, it moved produc-tion of its Santa Fe sport utility vehicle95 miles northeast to the Kia plant tofree capacity in Montgomery. Kia re-cently hired 600 additional workers tooperate a second shift for the Santa Feand plans a third, with 1,000 more jobs.

Both carmakers expect to easilytop their 2010 sales in the UnitedStates this year.

Hyundai’s sales were up 22 per-cent in January; Kia’s rose 25.6 per-cent, the highest among the industry’slarger players. Together, the two soldmore than 65,000 vehicles, about5,000 short of surpassing Chrysler.

Hyundai makes its own enginesin Montgomery, and transmissions forits cars come from a Hyundai-owned

company, Powertech, which is at-tached to the Kia plant. Alabama lists138 suppliers that support theHyundai plant, directly or indirectly.(Some also do business with theHonda and Mercedes plants nearBirmingham and the Toyota engineplant in Huntsville.)

“These jobs have good salariesand good fringe benefits, and are moreself-fulfilling” than the ones that haveleft the area, said Seth Hammett, di-

rector of the Alabama DevelopmentOffice. “The automobile business hasreally been good for Alabama.”

Near the car plant on the southedge of town, a Hyundai subsidiarythat makes electrical transformers isbuilding a factory that was originallysupposed to create about 500 newjobs. Even before construction beganlast year, the company had doubledthat estimate, to 1,000.


Hyundai, Kia

See Hyundai, Kia, Page 30

I want to thank everyone who took thetime to respond to my previous columnon steering. I hope to address some ofthose comments and questions in fu-ture columns.

A related issue is understandingwhat a referral is. “Referral” carriesmany meanings—positive or negative—depending on who you are talking to.Shops that participate in direct repairprograms consider referrals to be as nat-ural as the air we breathe. Simply stated,shops that are heavily-laden with directrepair work would die without the refer-rals, just as we would suffocate withoutair. With that dependence, they typicallyforget who their customer is, and how tomarket to consumers.

Shops that don’t rely on workfrom direct repair programs view re-ferrals as taking food off their table.They define a referral as a process inwhich the vehicle owner is potentiallyillegally steered to another body shop.

What’s ironic is that the insuranceindustry (health care providers in par-ticular) uses the word referral as ameans for a patient to gain prior ap-proval to see a particular doctor. Whydon’t we view that type of referral asillegal or unjust when it’s essentiallythe same thing? You are told whichdoctors you can see and if you want togo outside of the network it may costyou more money. Hmmmm, soundslike a direct repair program.

While there is a fine line betweenreferring and steering, the latest directrepair programs to hit the industry canbe viewed as referrals-on-steroids. It’sone thing to refer a customer to a par-ticular shop. It’s quite another thing tocompletely remove the shop from itsown business. Many insurance compa-nies have immersed themselves intothe collision repairer’s business like noother time in the industry’s history.

Why? The business of insurancehas become extremely competitive andcostly as evidenced by the ungodlysums of money spent to entertain uswith the gecko, Flo and Mayhem. Thebottom line is the button line: In ashrinking market, you better retain yourexisting customers and try to steal someof the competition’s policyholders.

All of that said, “If you want some-thing done right, do it yourself.” Insurersbelieve that they can do a better job ofservicing the customer’s needs than the

repairer. Having spent time on both sidesof this fence, I believe there may be sometruth to that. But one fact that can’t be ar-gued is that there is a direct correlationbetween the vehicle owner’s experiencewith the body shop and their perceptionof the insurance company. This wasprobably a motivating factor for Allstate

buying Sterling. Allstate believed that ifit could control the customer’s repair ex-perience, they probably would see an in-crease in CSI and policyholder retention.

The Progressive (Concierge) andGEICO (RX) direct repair programshave taken things to a completely dif-ferent level. In the Progressive model,unless customers ask, they may nothave any interaction with the shop. TheConcierge program virtually eliminatesthe shop from the entire process otherthan the actual repair work.

This is not a typical referral. Thisis more indicative of slave-master re-lationship. We, the insurer, will giveyou the cars we want to and you willdo what we say. If you don’t agree, wewill give the work to another bodyshop that appreciates the work.

While many of you may say that’sthe case with all direct repair programs,I can assure you that this is different. Ifas a shop you don’t have the ability tobuild a relationship with the customer,you not only lose that person as a po-tential future customer, but also anyresidual benefit from their word-of-mouth advertising for your shop. I per-sonally would not recommend anyrepair facility building their businesson repairing vehicles through aConcierge-like program. Here today,gone tomorrow!

The GEICO RX program is a littlemore palatable. In this model, the cus-tomer actually drops his or her vehicle

off at the shop where there is a GEICOadjuster with a desk and office whohandles the GEICO customer fromdrop-off to pick-up. Although the in-teraction with the shop is limited, theintegrity of the shop and vehicle ownerrelationship is somewhat maintained.

The challenge with this model ishow quickly a shop becomesbeholden to GEICO. GEICOvirtually doubles the shops rev-enue overnight. Larger-produc-ing RX shops can expect to geteight or more referrals per day.This quickly creates an imbal-ance for most shops whereGEICO becomes greater than50 percent of their business. Asyou can imagine, the shop haslimited ability to negotiate withGEICO, and the master-slaverelationship becomes a reality.The shop is working for

GEICO and not the vehicle owner.What’s the answer? There isn’t

one. The fact is insurance companiesare going to continue to trend in this di-rection for several reasons. First andforemost, insurers are a copycat indus-try. Second, to be competitive you needto be innovative and change in ashrinking market as evidenced by theactivities of some of the industry’slargest carriers.

Repairers need to look at referralsas one means of growing their busi-nesses. I’m not advocating for oragainst direct repair programs. The ma-jority of the people reading this articlerely on referrals for business. But ifyou are going to live by the sword,make sure you don’t die by it. Refer-rals can be healthy for a body shopsbusiness. If you want referrals, makesure that you never forget who yourreal customers are, how to market toyour customers, and how not to loseyourself in the process.

More on direct repair programs inmy next column.


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Not All “Referrals” are Created Equal

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 Erica SchroederShop Showcase

with Erica SchroederShop Snapshot

The Insider is a corporate-level executive with a Top 10 auto insurerin the U.S.. Got a comment or question you’d like to see him addressin a future column? Email him at [email protected]

While many body shops in the countryare battening down their hatches fi-nancially, operating with skeletoncrews and going into survivor mode,Gene Crozat, the multiple locationowner of G&C AutoBody in Marinand Sonoma counties, CA, is buyingland, building new facilities, and sign-ing up more DRPs. Crozat is aggres-sively looking to gain more of themarket, while exploring further ex-pansion opportunities in areas wherehe sees potential for growth and prof-itability.

With six body shops, another onein construction and a large mechani-cal repair shop, G&C AutoBody isNorthern California’s largest collisionrepair chain north of the Golden GateBridge. G&C has been family-ownedand operated since 1972, and has be-come synonymous with quality re-pairs and exceptional service,according to G&C’s Director of Pub-

lic Relations Peter Bizaca.The company did $20 million in

2010, up from 2009; employs 65 peo-ple and fixes more than 500 carsmonthly, Bizaca reported.

A good example of Crozat’s “ex-pand rather than contract” approachcan be illustrated by its newest locationin the small town of Windsor, CA.Crozat bought the land at a recession

sale price and has built the 15,000square-foot facility from the ground upat an enormous overall savings, he said.

Some body shop owners consid-ered him insane for building new

shops in a recession without any reliefin sight, but the 50-year industry vet-eran knows that timing is everything.

“Some see a recession as a timeto sit back, but I see it as an opportu-nity instead of an obstacle,” Crozatreasons. “You can sit around all daylong, frightened and paralyzed by thistough economy, or you can use it to

your advantage, and that’s what we’vedone. In 1999, we also went througha recession, and I opened new shopsduring that time as well.”

While many body shops have ex-perienced substantial downturns since2008, G&C’s volume is up and grow-ing. In the last two years, their busi-ness is up 23%, while the nationalaverage in collision repair is down30% across the board, Crozat said.After doing extensive market re-search, Crozat’s team determined thatWindsor was a prime situation for

their newest location.“There are 26,000 people in

Windsor and it will double in sizewithin the next decade. We discoveredthat the entire town had just one bodyshop and many of our Santa Rosa cus-tomers were coming from Windsor.So, it was an ideal situation—a grow-ing area with a need and prime real es-tate available at a good price.”

Simply finding good locations fornew shops isn’t the only way to suc-ceed, Crozat says. By embracing thecommunities in which he operates,G&C is able to capture a lion’s share ofthe available business in each region.

While the business environmentis waning across the board, Crozat andhis team are looking at the positivesrather than the negative reports wehear almost every day in the media.

“Other body shops out there arecutting costs and laying people off, sowe’re asking ourselves, who is goingto fix all these cars? Just because theeconomy is sluggish doesn’t meandrivers are going to suddenly avoidgetting into accidents.”

The prices of realestate, construction,labor and even ad-vertising are at all-time lows, Crozathas realized. “We’resaving 35–40%across the boardover what it wouldhave cost us to dothe same thing fouryears ago. Interestrates are way downand the constructionbids were extremelytight, because con-

tractors are hungrier than ever.”Timing is everything in any in-

dustry, but even more so in collision,Crozat said. “The best time to buy aboat is in January, not in June. Tighttimes are the perfect time to buy andbuild. It behooves us to take a chanceduring a down economy, because Iknow that if I can build a world-classshop in a prime location where thebusiness environment is healthy, it’san easy decision.”

Part of the G&C plan involves


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with Ed Attanasio

Shop and Product Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Shop Showcase


The Right Causewith Mike Causey


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

G&C Autobody’s newest shop in Windsor, CA. is betting on a city that is poised for double-digitgrowth in the next decade

G&C has spent more than $6 million to buy the land and built theirnewest shop in Windsor, California

See G&C Autobody, Page 28

Anyone who has worked in a shop foreven just a matter of months can prob-ably quickly list a half dozen or morethings that work really well in thatshop in terms of its physical designand layout—and a equal number ofthings they’d change about it if giventhe opportunity.

Whether building a new shopfrom the ground-up, or preparing toexpand or remodel an existing facility,here are 10 things to consider whenmapping out your plans.

1. Think about the customer ex-perience. As early in the process aspossible, consider the entire designand layout from the perspective ofhow a customer will interact with it.Is the building situated on the site tomaximize visibility and “curb appeal”from the street? Is it clear where a cus-tomer enters the property and wherethey are to park or leave their vehicle?Can they drop-off or pick-up their ve-hicle under cover or out of the ele-ments? Is there adequate customerparking close to the office?

The office and customer areasoften seem to be an afterthought inmany shops where production space isconsidered paramount. But in additionto staff office space, consider includ-ing a quiet area for customers to waitwith adequate furniture and amenitieslike a water cooler, television, cus-tomer-only restrooms, children’s playarea or work space for those wantinguse of a phone, computer or Internetaccess.

2. Take noise into account. Someshop processes—like grinding—andsome equipment—like air compres-sors—are particularly noisy. Try to sit-uate these processes in a way thatisolates the noise from the office andrest of the shop. A compressor room,for example, should be placed at therear or the building or if possible in anexternal space. Noise-deadening ma-

terial should be included in the wallssurrounding these types of noisyequipment.

3. Get adequate lighting, air sup-ply and electrical sources. Techniciansrarely complain that a shop has toomuch light.

Consider the use of skylights andhigh-efficiency lighting that will re-duce power consumption and in somecases (if replacing existing lightsources) offer opportunity for taxcredits that offset part of their cost(check with your utility or state energydepartment).

Electrical and air supply drops ateach stall allow for maximum techni-cian efficiency—and far fewer trip haz-ards or potential damage to cords andhoses stretched across the shop floor.

In stalls where resistance spotwelding will take place, 3-phasepower is required.

For the office, dedicated electri-cal circuits for computer equipmentwill help protect computers and pe-ripherals from spikes, sags and otherpower fluctuations. High-end surgeprotectors are still recommended, withan uninterruptible power supply(UPS)—which serves as a short-termbattery back-up, allowing for safeshutdown in the case of a power out-age—for key computer servers.

Keep in mind, too, that commu-nication cables for phones or linkingcomputer networks can be subject toelectrical interference, so such cablesshould not be run parallel with electri-cal wiring or near lighting fixtures.

Choose a compressor and air dry-ing system adequate for your currentair supply needs—plus a little more asgrowth or unexpected needs arise.Discuss with suppliers how it shouldbe set up to ensure that heavy use ofair—by a paint booth, for example,doesn’t lead to inadequate air else-where in the system.

4. Get the bay size right. Al-though the natural inclination is to getas many working bays or stalls in abuilding as possible, those bays needto give technicians adequate space to

safely and efficiently move them-selves and tools, equipment and partsaround the vehicle.

For bays with surface or above-ground lifts, a minimum bay size of 12feet by 25 feet is generally sufficient,but for work on larger vehicles, a 13-foot width is ideal. In-ground lifts cangenerally be accommodated in bays

that are 11 feet or wider. If your marketincludes a lot of full-size pick-ups, youmay want at least some larger bays,with a 14-foot width and 27-foot length.

Some equipment, like frameracks, generally require longer orwider bays, so get the specificationsof the equipment you plan to installand choose locations for this equip-ment accordingly.

Allow 24 feet wide by 27 feetlong for each paint booth.

5. Get the proportions right. Onepaint company shop layout consultantuses a 10-2-1 ratio: For every 10 bodystalls, there should be two paint prepstalls and one booth.

6. Leave room for parts. Shoplayout consultants recommend an areaequal to about 10 percent of a 15,000-square-foot collision repair center bededicated for parts. (This percentagecould drop for larger shops.)


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Ten Things to Consider When Designing a New Shop, Remodel, or Expansion

with Ed Attanasio

Shop and Product Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Shop Showcase


The Right Causewith Mike Causey


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

See Things to Consider, Page 28

GEICO systematically underpays onits auto-accident claims by omittingnecessary repairs from vehicle-dam-age estimates. This practice, he al-leged, violates GEICO’s contractualpromise to restore the insured’s vehi-cle to its preloss condition and consti-tutes statutory and common-law fraud.GEICO removed the case to federalcourt under the Class Action FairnessAct (“CAFA”).

The district court dismissed thestatutory consumer-fraud claim with-out prejudice. Greenberger amendedhis complaint and again the court dis-missed the statutory claim, this timewith prejudice (meaning it could notbe refiled), and also denied Green-berger’s motion to file a third amendedcomplaint. Greenberger’s other claims,however, were allowed to proceed.The court eventually granted GEICO’smotion for summary judgment on thebreach-of-contract and common-lawfraud claims, and accordingly did notaddress the issue of class certification.After an unsuccessful motion for re-

consideration, Greenberger appealed.Greenberger’s suit seeking class

status alleged, in the court’s words,that GEICO “systematically underpayson its auto-accident claims by omittingnecessary repairs from vehicle-dam-age estimates,” which Greenbergersaid “violates GEICO’s contractualpromise to restore the insured’s vehi-cle to its preloss condition and consti-tutes statutory and common-lawfraud.”

The court ruled that the fact thatthe one piece of physical evidence,Greenberger’s car, is long gone meansthat the suit cannot proceed.

“Greenberger gave away his car,and without it, he cannot prove thatwhat GEICO paid him was inadequateto restore the car to its pre-loss condi-tion,” the court wrote in its opinion.

The court cited Avery v. StateFarm, a decision out of the IllinoisSupreme Court, in ruling that Green-berger could not preclude on his claim.“Among other important holdings,Avery established the common-senseproposition that a policyholder’s suitagainst his insurer for breach of itspromise to restore his collision-dam-aged car to its pre-loss condition can-

not succeed without an examination ofthe car. Greenberger gave away his car,and without it, he cannot prove thatwhat GEICO paid him was inadequateto restore the car to its preloss condi-tion,” the court wrote.

Avery also made clear that fraudclaims must contain something morethan reformulated allegations of a con-tractual breach. Greenberger allegedthat GEICO never intended to restorehis car to its preloss condition andfailed to disclose that it regularlybreaches this contractual promise.These are breach-of-contract allega-tions dressed up in the language offraud. They cannot support statutory orcommon-law fraud claims.

Among the repairs not included inGEICO’s original estimate were“masking openings to prevent over-spray,” “covering the vehicle to pre-vent overspray onto glass,” “checkingseatbelts to ensure they worked prop-erly,” and “cleaning the car for deliv-ery to customer.”

Though legally distinct, Green-berger’s contract and fraud claims areall premised on the same basic factualallegation: that GEICO systematicallyomits necessary repairs from its colli-sion-damage estimates in violation ofthe promise to restore the policyhold-ers vehicle to its preloss condition. Thedistrict court sidestepped the class-cer-tification question, dismissed the statu-tory consumer-fraud claim, and thenentered summary judgment forGEICO on the breach-of-contract andcommon-law fraud counts.

Perhaps the most puzzling aspectof the case from the plaintiff’s per-spective, is that he should have knownbetter. Greenberger graduated fromYale Law School and currently worksas an Associate Professor, and Associ-ate Dean, at DePaul Law School inChicago. In addition, Greenbergeronce worked as a clerk for the SeventhCircuit, the court that eventually threwout his case.

Progressive vs. Blue Ash et. al.Prepped for AppealThe Progressive vs. Blue Ash case hasresulted in a summary judgment ontwo of the six counts filed against it bya group of independent body shops inOhio. The shops have also agreed todismiss the remaining four claimsagainst Progressive, but the suit willcontinue.

In 2009, Blue Ash Auto Body,Finney Automotive, and Valley Paintand Body filed suit against Progressive

claiming that independent repairers(those not part of the insurer’s DRPprogram) are injured by Progressive’sclaims handling practices. The shopscharged that Progressive’s actions in-clude illegally steering consumers toits network shops, illegal suppressionof price, interfering with professionalcollision repair judgment, misusing es-timating database information (includ-ing the use of a special version of theMitchell estimating system created byMitchell specifically for Progressive’suse), and the refusal to pay for neces-sary repairs on behalf of consumers.

The case is currently in the handsof Attorneys Bill Markovits andTerry R. Coates of Waite, Schneider,Bayless & Chesley. Markovits told Au-tobody News that the gist of the claimswas Progressive’s failure to pay forstandard procedures as taught in anyauto body tech program or textbook.Essentially Progressive was saying“we’ll pay for steps one, two, and five,but not for three and four.”

When the case was originallyfiled, plaintiff’s attorney Stan Chesleyof Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Ches-ley, said, “This case is corporate arro-gance at its worst. Progressive justwalks all over these independentshops, and is trying to prevent themfrom performing the repairs that anyreasonable consumer would expect.”

On January 19, Hamilton CountyJudge Steven E. Martin entered a sum-mary judgment in favor of the insureron two of the six counts claimed in thesuit. Those two counts, claimingbreach of contract and unjust enrich-ment, primarily claimed that Progres-sive increases its profits at the expenseof repairers by refusing to pay, or se-verely underpaying, for specific repairprocedures that are commonly re-quired to repair collision damaged ve-hicles.

The judgment will be appealed bythe shops however, and according toattorney Erica Eversman, some legalmaneuvering was necessary in prepa-ration for an appeal, including drop-ping the remaining four counts againstProgressive.

Eversman explained, “We wantedthe decision to be immediately appeal-able. A judge can put that language inan order, that it is immediately appeal-able, but the appellate court doesn’thave to accept that. Sometimes theydon’t and send it back down to the trialcourt and tell the appealing party towait until the entire case is over. So in


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Continued from Cover

Class Actions

See Class Actions, Page 31


7. Keep safety in mind. Em-ployee and customer safety must bekey considerations in planning anynew or expanded facility. Access tothe production area by customersshould be carefully controlled, andareas where customers can walk beshould be clearly delineated.

Adequate ventilation for exhaustand solvent fumes is required.

Many fire extinguishers are ratedto handle only two or three of the fourtypes of fires that could occur. Shopsshould have extinguishers rated forClass A (wood and paper), Class Band C (flammable fluids and electri-cal) and Class D (special agents, com-bustible metals). Make sure there’s anextinguisher no more than 50 feetaway from any point in the shop, thatsignage clearly indicates where theyare, and that they are easily accessible(mounted between 36 and 60 inchesoff the floor).

Also plan for smoke and carbonmonoxide detectors, and one or moreeye-wash stations.

8. Consider parking needs.

When planning building size, con-sider how much external parking willbe needed for customers, vehiclestorage and vendors (for deliveries).If inclement weather or concernsabout theft or vandalism are issues at

your location, some outdoor parkingcould be sacrificed in order to havemore indoor space for vehicle stor-age. Or consider whether rooftopparking—or multi-level vehicle stor-age units—can help increase your ca-pacity without expanding yourproperty’s footprint.

9. Go with the flow. One of thekeys to shop efficiency is minimizingthe movement of vehicles that is nec-essary. Time spent moving one car just

to get another out of a stall or to an-other part of the shop is wasted time.

While more overhead doorsallow easier vehicle access in and outof the building, they also make it moredifficult to maintain a comfortable

working temperature in the shop dur-ing hot or cold weather. Where ade-quate aisle space within the buildingis available, fewer doors are needed.

A building width of at least 70feet allows the shop to have 23-feet-long stalls on one side, 26-feet-longstalls (to allow for larger equipment,for example) on the opposite side andstill an adequate center aisle (21-feetwide) down the middle. A 25-footwide aisle will even more easily ac-

commodate the turning radius oflarger vehicles.

10. Think green. A new shop orexpansion offers a great opportunityto incorporate “green building prac-tices” or equipment and systems thatwill help you tread easier on the envi-ronment—while saving money andproviding a potential marketing op-portunity.

Easy access to overhead door clo-sure switches, for example, can helpencourage technicians to reduce heatloss in cold weather. Tax incentivesoften are available that can help makeinstallation of solar or other alterna-tive energy sources competitive withtraditional sources. Waste water col-lection systems can not only meetlocal ordinances but also include oil-water separators, or allow reuse of“grey water” for landscaping or otheruses. Consider the energy-efficiencyof the various brands and models ofequipment you are purchasing.

Check the website of the non-profit Coordinating Committee forAutomotive Repair (www.ccar-green-link.org) for more information onbuilding and operating a “green” shop—and an opportunity for earning na-tional recognition for doing so.


Things to Consider

getting onboard with each communitythey open a new shop in, for severalreasons, Bizaca explained.

“We are involved in a wide rangeof community groups in every city inwhich we operate, because we don’tjust want to be a business that takesmoney from the residents without giv-ing something back. We want to bepart of the fabric of the communityrather than a just a company doingbusiness there.”

To that end, G&C is already in-volved with several community or-ganizations, local schools, andplanning to sponsor Little Leaguesteams in Windsor, even thoughthey’ve only been open since Decem-ber, Bizaca said.

“We’ve already been out to theschools talking to the students and weinvited the band at Windsor MiddleSchool to play at our grand opening,”Bizaca said. “Seventy children andtheir teachers, as well as many of theirparents came to the event attended bymore than 400 Windsor residents.

We’re also working closely with theRotary Clubs, the Chamber of Com-merce and doing other forms of com-munity outreach.

“Don’t just work in the town, bepart of the town,” Crozat advocates.

“It’s just a philosophy. Everyone looksat life from a different paradigm, butI’ve always thought that if we don’t doit, then who will? It’s good for us busi-ness-wise obviously, but it also givesour industry as a whole a better name.”

“Get the best buying power in themarketplace and pass it on to the con-sumers and to the insurance compa-nies as well. If you do whatever

everyone else is doing, you’ll just beanother one of them. And that’s why Ihave always gotten the best equip-ment, top technicians and the bestproducts I can find. You can’t dotoday’s work with yesterday’s tools.”

Building top-quality facilities alsohelps G&C to get DRPs and retainthem over the long run, Crozat argues.

“People say they don’t like DRPs,but they represent 90% of the work.Why wouldn’t you cater to these in-surance companies that are trying toget the best prices they can, in order tokeep their rates down? We have twofull-time in-house reps who work full-

time dealing with the insurance com-panies and their agents, because DRPsare a big part of our business. I learnedmany years ago—don’t fight the di-rection of the DRPs. Instead, providethem with the best deal in the market-place, by providing the best service,the best cycle times and the best imageyou can establish. That’s why we havecycle times that average six days,while the national average is 14 days.”

Gene Crozat has always main-tained that if any other body shopowners want to visit his facilities tosee what he’s doing and glean infor-mation from his business model, he’sanxious and pleased to help them inany way he can.

“People don’t believe it when Isay it, but there have never been se-crets or closed doors around here. Iwon’t be in this business forever and ifI can make the industry better overall,it will benefit my children and mygrandchildren down the road. Give mea call and I’ll do everything and any-thing I can to help you. I’ve done itmany times before and that will neverchange.” Call Santa Rosa shop: 707-525-3520. E-mail: Peter Bizaca:[email protected].

With 15,000 square feet, G&C’s facility is hoping to fix 50-70 cars monthly at its new Windsor,Calif. location


G&C Autobody

This article is a continuation from Rich’scolumn last month. For an archive ofRich’s columns please visit www.auto-bodynews.com/columnists/Rich Evans.

A lot of times when I’m takingparts off the car and putting them backon, from mock up position I’ll go intothe doors and the hinges and drill two1/8th inch holes. That way I can stick

two 1/8th inch dowels through, tightenup the parts and then they’re right backto where I was before so I don’t have totake the time to re-line everything up.

That way when I do my graphics,they’re going to line up. So I do thesame with the hood, deck lid; I reallydon’t have to worry about the fend-ers—on some projects you do, but onthis one I don’t.

So after getting the graphics layedout, it’s time to tear it back down again.Now I’m ready for my graphic color,True Blue Pearl part number PBC36AB.

On the silver I applied three coats.I just do that on all my projects, I havea system and I apply it with a SATA 1.4tip gun and I use 27 psi, 3 heavy coats,then I seal it with a House of Kolorsealer. The reason for using three coatsis so if it ever got in a wreck and I hadto redo this job I know how I did it soI do that routinely on all my vehicles.

If for some reason I change mypatterns from normal spraying I’ll writeit on the back of the file so when thecar comes back in I can repeat exactlywhat I did and get to as close of a color

match as possible.With the True Blue, I’m going to

do six light coats just for coverage so Idon’t get the blotchiness with a highbuild. I’ll do a half trigger using 27 psi.I do six coats to get a nice, dark, evenfeel. I’m painting everything in piecesso it needs to match. You’ve got to re-member how you’re applying it, howclose your gun is, to be able to paint carsin pieces. It gives me a better result.

After adding my six coats of theTrue Blue Pearl, now I de-mask every-thing, and add six coats of House ofKolor’s clear. Six good coats allows meto cut two coats off and not have anyedges on my graphics.

I’m ready for color, sand, andbuff. On my color sanding method Iwill use all 3M products. I start with800 grit sand paper, then 1000 grit,1200, then 1500, 2000, then to 2500.

Also I am using Soft-Sandersblocks along with their new sand paper.All their sand paper is wet from 800 allthe way on up, and it’s sticky-back sothat is a great time saver. Visit soft-sanders.com and check out the sandpa-per products. They don’t wrinkle up, lasta long time, and you can get them all theway from 400 grit up. Their blocks arealso great, good for sanding out scratchesand unbeatable for getting into curves.

I use the combination of 3M andSoft-Sanders products. 3M doesn’thave the sticky-back sand paper all theway up to 2500 grit so Soft-Sanders isthe way to go. I burned through a lot ofsandpaper on this project. I’m ready for buffing, I do use the 1-2-3 step from 3M. That gives the fastestand best results that I have come acrossto date. Check out 3m.com and checkout the 1-2-3 step buffing process. It’llsave you time and give you best results.

We created a headliner and I’mgoing to send it over to Rivo at Stitch-craft Interiors. I sent them a design to

use in Katzkin Leather. I’m lookingforward to seeing how it comes out andthey’re also going to do the door pan-els. Katzkin styled me out with doingRich Evans designed seats for this andKatzkin just does a phenomenal job.Visit www.katzkin.com and stitchcraft-interiors.com. They’re both great indi-viduals to work with.

I’m at the point when I’m ready toput this project together and get it over toSEMA. I called Mike Curtis over atCurtis Speed Equipment. I had him cutme off some one-off wheels, created acenter cap for it, and then gave it to Mike.He’s just over the top in his wheel cuttingexperience. I collaborated with Mike onthe grill. You can just bolt these grillsright on top of yours. It takes only eightscrews to and you can change the wholelook of your Challenger with just addingthese inserts. They look cool and you canorder them to color or just plain alu-minum as you see them on my original.

Visit Richevansdesigns.com andget your grill inserts, your scoop, yourwing, your lower front spoiler, left andright rocker, left and right flares, yourrear bumper lower spoiler, your rearwing and your hood scoop. Even yourheadliner and grill inserts can be foundat huntingtonbeachbodyworks.comand richevansdesigns.com and we’llhave these parts available for you.

At the Mopar booth at 2010SEMA, the Challenger was on stage onthe turntable and people were loving it.I had a great time working with theMopar Aftermarket team and I had agreat time working with all the spon-sors and utilizing the Mopar parts onthis build — it just brought this Chal-lenger to a whole other level.

If you want to give this project aname it would be “modern muscle tothe max.” We ended up with a name,calling it the Beast; 451 CID HEMI,pushing over 550 horsepower. Visit mysite for more photographs or you canvisit Mopar’s site and find some pho-tographs on there.

The car is on tour with Mopar forthe next nine months. If you guys wantme to turn your car into a modern mus-cle car, look me up. I hope you guysenjoyed the build, I definitely enjoyedevery minute of the 3-month build. Seeyou next month!











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

The Rich Evans Designs-Mopar Kit for Dodge’s Challenger, Part 2

The Houston AutoBody Association(HABA) hosted alegislative break-fast event on Feb-ruary 16 at theCapitol Grill in theTexas State Cap-tiol.

The event al-lowed attendeesfrom the collision

repair industry to meet and discuss is-sues with their state representatives.

The entire legislature was invitedto the event that ran from 8:30 AM to10:30 AM.

“The breakfast was a successwith around 200 in attendance, wealso visited all 150 State Representa-tives offices and all 31 State Sena-tors,” said HABA’s President JamesBrown.

HABA passed out individual let-ters to each representative that de-tailed HABA’s mission and code ofethics, along with gift bags containinga coaster and acrylic car with HABA’swebsite and logo on them.

“On a side note, the AutomotiveService Association (ASA) was thereand making their rounds trying to gainsupport for HB 429 concerning theFranchise Tax law revision which

would allow Inde-pendant Automo-tive and Collisionshops to be taxedat the same rate asDealer owned Au-tomotive and Col-lision Shops whichwe support aswell,” said Brown.

Breakfast wasincluded in the

event which was sponsored by HABAand the Automotive Parts and ServiceAssociation.

For more information please visitwww.habaonline.org.


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Houston Auto Body Association Hosts Legislative Breakfast for Texas Reps

Trey Perdue and his wife with David Walla of Walla & Co

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The factory will undoubtedly re-ceive a crush of job applications,much as Hyundai did when it was firstincreasing production.

“It was like a rock star was com-ing to town,” said Ashley Frye, vicepresident of production for HyundaiMotor Manufacturing Alabama. Mr.Frye said that when he wore hisHyundai jacket or shirt around town,people often approached him to ask,“Are you hiring? What can I do to geta job out there?”

For more than a year, workers atthe Hyundai plant have been putting in10 hours of overtime a week as part oftheir regular schedule, plus occasionalSaturdays. With an average regularwage of about $20 an hour, the addi-tional overtime hours mean workershere are earning more than many work-ers at the unionized plants up north.

The United Automobile Workersunion has long tried to organize plantsin the United States operated by foreigncarmakers, most of which are in theSouth, but has yet to succeed anywhere.

For 2011, Hyundai is working to

increase the plant’s output by an addi-tional 10 percent, or 30,000 vehicles,Mr. Krafcik, the chief executive, said.

The plant builds the Sonata mid-size sedan and the newly redesignedElantra compact car.

Hyundai is opening its new state-of-the-art headquarters in FountainValley, CA, late next year. Officialssaid the new campus doubles the sizeand capacity of the current building,“giving Hyundai and its employees anenvironment conducive to growth asit prepares to help write the next chap-ter of a great American success story.”

John Krafcik reminisced that “Asfar as we’ve come since 1986, we stillfeel we're in the early stages of con-necting the Hyundai brand to the U.S.consumer.

“We’ve always challenged con-vention—from our powertrain strate-gies, to our consumer partnershipprograms, to our unique Genesis andEquus retail approach,” Krafic stated.“It’s authentically Hyundai to ques-tion the status quo and pursue our ownvision of how things should be inorder to best serve our customers.This willingness to challenge conven-tion will continue to guide us thesenext 25 years.”


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The Environmental Protection Agencyplans to decide by the end of Julywhether to require vehicle emissionsgrades on all new vehicles, accordingto reports madeby the Detroit NewsWashington Bureau.

Margo Oge, the director of theEPA’s Office of Transportation andAir Quality, said the agency was sym-pathetic to concerns raised about theproposed “A” through “D” grades thatthe EPA and the Transportation De-partment may require on all new ve-hicles.

“We want to make sure we givethe auto industry plenty of lead time,no matter what the decision is,” Ogetold The Detroit News after a forum inWashington.

The timetable suggests that thenew labels won’t appear on new vehi-cles until the 2013 model year, whichwould begin in the fall 2012. Oge de-clined to confirm when the new labelswould appear on vehicles.

The labels — first proposed inAugust as one of two possible revi-sions — would give 40 percent of thevehicles on the roads C’s and D’s.

Automakers oppose the gradingsystem and back a more modest re-design that’s also under consideration.

The final decision is up to EPAadministrator Lisa Jackson andTransportation Secretary Ray La-Hood, Oge said.

Environmentalists back thegrades and say they will prod morepeople into buying more fuel efficientmodels. They compare them to gradesfor restaurant cleanliness in changingbehavior.

In December, more than 50 mem-bers of Congress sent a letter urgingthe EPA and Department of Trans-portation to stick with fuel efficiencylabels that highlight miles-per-gallonon stickers.

Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, called the grades “some loopynew green curve they’ve devisedwhere cars are graded from A+ to Dbased on fuel economy and green-house gas levels.”

“Those who live in planet realitymight need a minivan or SUV to haularound four kids in child and boosterseats, and have room for luggage and

a family dog. Thanks to the EPA,they’ll be lucky to find a vehicle thatgets a C.”

Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Flint, saidthe grades would “tip the scales un-fairly against many fuel efficientSUVs and trucks, relegating them to aC or C+ grade.”

Separately, Oge noted that asEPA works with the National High-way Traffic Safety Administration on2017-2025 fuel economy and emis-sions requirements, she said the gov-ernment hasn’t made any decisions. Ithas said it’s reviewing a range of re-quirements — from setting a fleetwideaverage of 47 to 62 mpg by 2025.

“There are environmental groupson one side calling for 62 mpg, andthe last time I checked, they hadn’tdone any work to show why that’s thecase,” Oge said.

Gloria Bergquist, spokeswomanfor The Alliance of Automakers, thetrade association representing De-troit’s Big Three, Toyota Motor Corp.and eight others, said: “We all want toput the most fuel-efficient vehicles aspossible on the road, but for the 2017-

2025 rulemaking, policymakers stillneed to gather and analyze much datato determine the maximum feasiblefuel economy standards that avoidnegative impacts on affordability,safety, jobs and vehicle utility. No oneknows what the 2025 target should beyet, and the data needs to drive therulemaking.”

Feds to Decide on Vehicle Grades by July 2011

You might have heard it during theState of the Union address January 25,but President Barack Obama's want-ing 1 million electric vehicles on theroad by 2015 is more than just a talk-ing point.

January 26 the White House re-leased a plan to achieve this goal, andat the top of the list is a giant incen-tive for prospective EV buyers. TheObama administration wants to turnthe current $7,500 EV tax credit into astraight-up $7,500 rebate you get atthe point of purchase. That woulddrastically alter the confusion aroundhow the current tax credit is applied.

This new proposal would be a re-bate, similar to how Cash for Clunkersworked.

$7,500 EV Credit May Change

order to make those two claims imme-diately appealable, we agreed withProgressive that we would “voluntar-ily dismiss the remaining claims with-out prejudice” which means we canrefile them later, depending on the out-come of the appeal.

The four claims that were dis-missed include: Count 1: DeceptiveTrade Practice (primarily involvingtactics used to steer customers); Count4: Tortious Interference; Count 5:Civil Conspiracy, Use of UnregisteredBody Shops; and Count 6: Civil Con-spiracy, Unlawful Conduct with DRPShops.

About the Avery vs. State Farm CaseAvery was a nationwide class actionagainst State Farm challenging thecompany’s practice of not using OEMparts to repair vehicles. The plaintiffsclaimed that using aftermarket partsbreached State Farm’s promise to re-store vehicles to their preloss condi-tion. The Illinois Supreme Courtreversed a lower court ruling in favorof the plaintiffs, holding that in order

to establish a breach of contract, theplaintiffs would have to show that theparts specified or used by State Farmdid not restore the vehicle to its prelosscondition.

That case was watched veryclosely by the collision industry at thetime, because the initial Avery verdictseemed to vindicate repairer concernsabout aftermarket parts quality andwould have established a more strin-gent standard for insurance companiesrelative to returning a vehicle to itspreloss condition.

In the GEICO case, the finalAvery verdict was used to refute all ofGreenberger’s claims, particularlysince his vehicle was no longer avail-able for examination. “Among otherimportant holdings, Avery establishedthe common-sense proposition that apolicyholder’s suit against his insurerfor breach of its promise to restore hiscollision-damaged car to its prelosscondition cannot succeed without anexamination of the car,” said the 7thCircuit ruling in the Greenberger case.

The court also noted that thehigher estimate issued by the bodyshop did not establish a breach of con-tract, although it would be admissibleas supporting evidence.


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Autobody News March 2011 Southeast Edition