Autobody News May 2011 Northeast Edition

by John Yoswick

Collision repair associations leadersfrom around the country met in Se-caucus, New Jersey, in March to shareideas and discuss state legislative orregulatory successes and efforts. The“2011 East Coast Resolution Forum,”an event sponsored by the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS)and the Alliance of Automotive Serv-ice Providers (AASP) of New Jersey,was held in conjunction with AASP-New Jersey’s NORTHEAST® 2011trade show.

Here’s a round-up of some of thenews and discussion from the meeting:

Efforts to regulate mobile repairersCharles Bryant AASP-New Jerseysaid his group has been working for

some time to get the New JerseyMotor Vehicle Commission to regu-

late repair busi-nesses that areperforming workon a mobile basisin violation,AASP-New Jer-sey contends, withthe state’s shop li-censing law. Thatlaw requires thatrepairs be made

inside a building zoned for autobodyrepairs and that all paint work be doneinside a booth or a room with a filtra-tion system.

Mobile repair work, such as thatdone on a dealership lot, Bryant said,clearly falls outside these parameters.

On March 16, 2011 the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS)

held its AnnualAwards Banquet atthe Crowne PlazaMeadowlands inSecaucus, NewJersey. As always,the highlight of theevent was thepresentation of theSCRS IndustryAwards, throughwhich the Society

recognizes those that demonstrate out-standing service and achievement

within the collision repair industry.“Two Hawaiian

words characterizethese awards andtheir recipients,”explained DaleMatsumoto, chair-man of the SCRSAwards Commit-tee. “The first,‘aloha,’ is familiarto us as a greetingand farewell; but it

also can be used to mean the giving ofone’s self-a lifestyle encompassing a life

See SCRS Awards, Page 18

COLUMNS in this issue...Franklin—Summertime Means Event Time For Body Shops . . . .p. 17Danalevich—Is Your Parts Supplier Purchasing Policy aBenefit or an Expense? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 20Gonzo’s Toolbox—On the Other Side of the Bookstore Counter .p. 22Toby Chess—Getting OSHA-Compliant: Plans, Protection,Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 24Yoswick—Effort to Develop Collision Repair Standards TakesAnother Step Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 27Insurance Insider—Insurers Serve “Flavor of the Day” . . . . . . . .p. 38

PAINT FOCUS ARTICLES in this issue...PPG’s MVP Spring Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 29Painting with Waterborne at John Force Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 30New Jersey Shop Embraces PPG’s Envirobase® . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 31Revisiting Paint by Numbers: A Deep Dive into Refinish Data . .p. 34

REGIONAL STORIES in this issue...SCRS Industry Achievement Awards: Winners Include NY’sEd Kizenberger and Greg Coccaro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 1New Jersey’s Green Automotive Repair Program . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 9Rodi’s in Cherry Hill, NJ, Reminds the Customer of Rights . . . .p. 36

State Farm has announced that in thecoming months it will develop a newelectronic parts ordering system forits Select Service shops. The newparts ordering plan was rolled out tothe DRP shops through an onlinevideo. In the video, claims consult-ant Gregg McDonald outlines StateFarm’s plans, stating that the com-pany will work with repairers, partssuppliers and technology vendors todevelop a new electronic ordering so-lution. To view the video, go tohttp://www.statefarm.com/landing/b2b/eparts-ordering.asp.

McDonald said the insurer willwork with all segments of the industry

to develop a system to “reduce theamount of time and effort needed tosearch for, source and order all parttypes,” and “to give suppliers a betterview of the process, and access tocomplete parts orders.” McDonaldalso said that the system will includea review tool to allow shops and ven-dors to provide feedback on the partsordering experience, saying “Supplierchoice and decisions regarding whichparts are best suited for the individualrepair will remain in your hands.”

In 2009, State Farm ended anelectronic parts ordering test it hadrolled out in California and Indiana,

State Farm to Offer Electronic Parts Orderingto its Own Select Service Shops

SCRS Industry Achievement Awards: WinnersInclude NY’s Ed Kizenberger and Greg Coccaro

See State Farm Parts, Page 27

Eddie Kizenbergerreceives the

Regional LifetimeAchievement

Award

Greg Coccarogets SCRS’

Special Recognition

See East Coast Forum, Page 25

‘2011 East Coast Resolution Forum’ Meets in NJ toDiscuss Ongoing Efforts and Ideas

Charles Bryant,AASP/NJ Executive

Director

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

Serving New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and adjacent metro areas,Autobody News is a monthly publication for the autobody industry. Permission to reproducein any form the material published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from thepublisher. ©2011 Adamantine Media LLC.

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AkzoNobel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Amato Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Autoland Scientech. . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 35

Burdick Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Franklin Sussex Automall . . . . . . . . . 8

Fred Beans Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Fuccillo Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Global PDR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 32

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 33

Jaguar Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 34

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts

Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Lazare Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Manhattan Automobile Company. 10-11

Mattei. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Maxon Mazda-Hyundai. . . . . . . . . . 29

Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 42

Metric Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 21

Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale Parts

Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers . 38

PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

PreFab Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Prince & Portnoi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Quality Stainless Products . . . . . . . 14

Scion Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . 39

Scorpion Coatings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Stadel Volvo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 28

Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 37

VIM Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 36

Inde

xofAdvertisers

REGIONALAAA Urges Passage of Texting Ban,

Graduated Licensing Program in PA . . . 4AASP-NJ to Hold 7th Annual Lou Scoras

Memorial Golf Outing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4AASP-Pennsylvania’s Big E Trade Show

Coming in October. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Allstate to Open 50 Agencies in Florida. . . 40Chrysler Trenton Plant Holds Recycling

Drop-Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Crackdown on Distracted Drivers in

Connecticut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Florida Autobody Collision Alliance (FACA)

Hosts 1st Annual First-ResponderExtrication Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Foley to Become Mirenco Dealer in NJ . . . 12GM to Invest in Rochester, NY, Auto

Parts Plant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Gunder’s Loses Appeal to State Farm—

Court Rules ‘Even if False,’ Claims arePriviledged. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Insurance Fraud Claims on Rise in New York. 9Japan Tragedy to Affect Vehicle Supply, N.J.

Dealer Group Says. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Man Shot To Death At San Diego, CA,

Auto Repair Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42New Jersey Businesses Offered Free

Electronics Recycling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14New Jersey Green Automotive Repair

Program Works with AASP/NJ atNortheast Trade Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

New Jersey Rated 2nd in Nation for RoadSafety Laws. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

New York Merges Banking and InsuranceDepartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

NY Drivers Contest Parking Tickets onCity Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Penn. Insurance Broker Dismayed byFraud Verdict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Pennsylvania Drivers Could Be Taxed onMiles Traveled, Not Gas Usage. . . . . . . 16

Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud JudgeFacing State Discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

PPG Announces its 2010 PlatinumDistributor of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

SCRS Industry Achievement Awards:Winners Include NY’s Ed Kizenbergerand Greg Coccaro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Subaru Shows Off Impreza in 3-D atNew York Auto Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Toyota Wins New York Case overUnintended Acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

COLUMNISTSAttanasio, Chief - Indiana Shop Owner Favors

Chief for Quality, Durability & Support . 15Attanasio, PPG - 32-year-old N.J. Body Shop

Embraces PPG’s Envirobase® HPWaterborne Basecoat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Chaney - Three of Largest Auto RecyclingNetworks Merge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chess - Getting OSHA-Compliant on Plans,Protection and Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Danalevich - Is Your Parts Supplier PurchasingPolicy a Benefit or an Expense?. . . . . . . 20

Franklin - Summertime Should MeanEvent Time For Body Shops . . . . . . . . . 17

Gonzo - A Day to Reflect—On the OtherSide of the Bookstore Counter . . . . . . . 22

Horn - Revisiting Paint by Numbers: A Deep

Dive into Refinish Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Insurance Insider - Insurers Will Continue to

Serve “Flavor of the Day” to Shops . . . 38PPG’s MVP Spring Conference—Excellent,

Entertaining and Informative. . . . . . . . . 29Sisk - Rodi’s in Cherry Hill, NJ, Reminds

the Customer of their Right to Choose . 36Stoll - Painting with Waterborne at John

Force Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Yoswick - ‘2011 East Coast Resolution

Forum’ Meets in NJ to Discuss OngoingEfforts and Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Yoswick - Effort to Develop CollisionRepair Standards Takes Another StepForward. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

NATIONALAirbiquity to Supply Air-Over-Voice

Technology to Onstar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Feds Open Probes of Imprezas and

Sorrentos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Ford Expands F-150/Lincoln Recall Due to

Airbag Flaws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Ford Surpasses GM in March Monthly

Auto Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Ford’s CEO Mulally Says Suppliers

Accomodating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Ford’s Electric Focus Will Not Lease

Lithium-Ion Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Full Deliveries From Japanese Suppliers

Stalled Until July . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Gas Prices Not Significantly Driving

Fuel-Efficient Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Gas Prices Take Toll on Miles Driven . . . . 19Honda Extends Production Cuts in North

America to May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Honda Pushes Natural Gas Civic Alternative

to E-Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Houston Auto Body Association, SCRS

Association of the Year, Gathers at StateCapitol in Austin to Support SenateBill 1300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Hybrids & Electrics Growth OutpacesGeneral Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Hyundai, Kia Running U.S. Plants atFull Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Japan Supply Chain Will Rattle EarningsWorldwide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Microsoft and Toyota Join Forces inTelematics Venture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

NHTSA to Review Claim Corolla Air BagFailed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Nissan’s Leaf Experiences A/C SensorProblem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Rutgers Engineer is Pioneer in PlasticsRecycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

SANYO Gets Two Ford World ExcellenceAwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

State Farm to Offer Electronic Parts Orderingto its Own Select Service Shops. . . . . . . 1

The Curious Case of Hibbs vs Allstate—DoesAn Insurer Have the Right to Repair? . . 40

Toyota Warns Dealers that Inventory Couldbe Short . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Used Vehicle Pricing Expected to Rise inQuake Aftermath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Verizon Unveils Hybrid and Alternative-energyVehicles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

When it Comes to Cars, Men Buy Looks,Women Seek Practicality . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Contents


Citing statistics that show highway fa-talities increased in Pennsylvania lastyear, AAA Mid-Atlantic has urgedarea lawmakers to support proposalsthat would strengthen teen driver andseatbelt laws and ban texting, accord-ing to Pennsylvania’s MontgomeryNews.

“There is legislation in Harris-burg that we’ve been urging legisla-tors to support,” Rick Remington,AAA’s Philadelphia manager of pub-lic and government affairs, said lastthis week.

Specifically, AAA Mid-Atlanticurged Southeast Pennsylvania legisla-tors to support House Bill 9, intro-duced earlier this year by state Rep.Kathy Watson, R-144.

The bill would expand trainingrequirements before a teenager couldtake a test for his or her license, in-creasing behind-the-wheel trainingfrom the current 50 hours to 65 hours.Ten of those hours would have to beat night and five of those would haveto be during inclement weather, ac-cording to Watson’s proposal.

House Bill 9 also would limit thenumber of teen passengers to one in avehicle operated by the holder of ajunior driver’s license, those ages 16-1/2 to 18, with exceptions for familymembers.

Watson’s bill would make it a pri-mary offense for any person to drive avehicle with a passenger under 18who is not wearing a seatbelt.

“Across the nation, AAA has suc-cessfully urged states to take sensiblesteps to improve highway safety, stepsthat could have saved lives in Penn-sylvania during 2010,” Remingtonsaid. “Pennsylvania motorists cannotafford to wait longer.”

Deaths in crashes on Pennsylva-nia highways climbed to 1,324 in2010, an increase of 68 from 2009, ac-cording to the latest Pennsylvania De-partment of Transportation statistics.

Fatalities in crashes that involveda 16- or 17-year-old driver increasedfrom 40 in 2009 to 57 last year, ac-cording to PennDOT. Unbuckled fa-talities increased to 524 last year, upfrom 451 in 2009.

“Driving a vehicle is one of themost dangerous things a teen will do,because teens are more likely to takerisks, not buckle their seatbelts andspeed,” Remington said. “As a leaderin teen driver safety for over 75 years,AAA knows that we need to be doingall that we can to make our most vul-nerable drivers safer on the roads.”

To date, Remington said, 31states with the support of AAA haveenacted “primary” seatbelt laws thatenable police to cite drivers and pas-sengers who are observed not wearingseatbelts. But Pennsylvania has amore lax “secondary” law, underwhich police can cite motorists forseatbelt violations only if they arestopped for some other offense.

The neighboring states of NewJersey, New York, Maryland andDelaware all have enacted primaryseat belt laws, according to Advocatesfor Highway and Auto Safety, a na-tional safe driving advocacy group.

“We’d like to see Pennsylvaniajoin it,” Remington said.

According to statistics providedby Advocates, seatbelts saved the livesof about 12,713 people over the age of4 in 2009. An additional 3,688 livescould have been saved if all passengervehicle occupants over age 4 hadworn seat belts.

Remington said AAA also willurge Pennsylvania to join the morethan two dozen other states that havebanned text messaging behind thewheel.

Watson’s proposal and Reming-ton’s comments came just weeks afterAdvocates gave Pennsylvania a fail-ing grade for driving safety legisla-tion, ranking Pennsylvania as one of

the seven worst performing stateswhen it comes to the adoption of 15overall basic laws the group believesare essential to reducing deaths and in-juries on the nation’s highways and re-ducing health care costs.

The group determined that Penn-sylvania, through 2010, enacted only6-1/2 of 15 basic safe driving lawsoverall and only 3-1/2 of the sevenlaws it proposes for safe teen driving.Pennsylvania received an overall“Danger” rating, the group findingthat the “state falls dangerously be-hind” in adoption of the basic lifesav-ing laws.

Watson’s proposal primarilydeals with updating the state’s gradu-ated driver licensing law. Another pro-posal, House Bill 330, which dealsprimarily with distracted driver issues,was introduced in January by stateRep. Josh Shapiro, D-153.

Under Shapiro’s distracted driv-ing proposal, those drivers under 18would not be permitted to use a hand-held or hands-free cell phone andwould be prohibited from text mes-saging. Adult drivers would be pro-

hibited from using hand-held devicesand text messaging but could use acell phone if a hands-free device wasused.

A violation of the proposed lawwould be considered a primary of-fense, meaning police could stop aperson for that violation alone.

State Sen. Andrew E. Dinniman,D-19, introduced a distracted driverproposal that is similar to Shapiro’sbill.

Having similar proposals couldmake legislative passage easier, with-out compromises having to be workedout between the two chambers, Dinni-man explained.

Similar distracted and teen driv-ing proposals failed last year when theSenate watered down stronger Houseproposals and the two chamberscouldn’t agree on compromise lan-guage.

AAA Urges Passage of Texting Ban, Graduated Licensing Program in PA

The Association of Automotive Serv-ice Providers of New Jersey will hosttheir 7th annual AASP-NJ Lou ScorasMemorial Golf Outing on May 23 atthe Colonia Country Club.

Lunch will be served at 11:30and tee-off time will start at 1:00.

The event is dedicated to Lou

Scoras of Holmdel Auto Body andpart of the proceeds from the outingwill go to create a collision industryscholarship fund.

The association is still lookingfor sponsors for this event, please visitwww.aaspnj.org for more informa-tion.

AASP-NJ to Hold 7th Annual Lou ScorasMemorial Golf Outing

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Police in Connecticut are bolsteringpatrols this month to look for dis-tracted drivers as part of a federalpilot program, according to reportsmade by Insurance Journal.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman andpolice officials announced the fourthand final enforcement wave of theprogram at a Capitol news confer-ence March 28.

Police are looking for driverstalking and texting on cell phonesand doing other distracting activitiesthroughout the month, in a campaigncalled “Phone in One Hand, Ticketin the Other.”

Police in the Hartford and Syra-cuse, N.Y., areas were chosen to par-ticipate in the initiative, whichfederal officials plan to use to createa national program.

State police and officers inHartford, West Hartford and EastHartford issued about 6,900 cita-tions for talking on cell phones and348 citations for texting during thefirst three waves that began lastyear.

It’s illegal in Connecticut to usecell phones without hands-free de-vices while driving.

Fines are $100 for a first of-fense, $150 for a second violationand $200 for any subsequent viola-tions.

About 5,500 people die on U.S.roads in crashes reported to involvedistracted driving each year, and an-other 450,000 are injured, accordingto the National Highway TrafficSafety Administration.

Police say the percentage ofHartford-area drivers seen holdingphones to their ears dropped from6.8 to 3.1 after the first two enforce-ments waves.

Schools are also taking on anti-distracted driving campaigns.

“Distracted driving is againstthe law,” third-grader Nina Pezzellosaid. “So all you have to do is followthe rules and a lot of people won’thave to die.”

Crackdown on Distracted Drivers in Connecticut

New Yorkers who get undeservedparking tickets can now contest themonline, according to NY1 News.

Mayor Michael Bloombergand other city officials unveiled anew program today that allows NewYorkers to dispute tickets online.The site has a space to let a usermake his or her case and upload pic-tures or other evidence. After com-pleting the process, a judge shouldget back to the user within 10 dayswith a decision.

City leaders said New Yorkersno longer have to choose betweenswallowing an unfair ticket and tak-ing a day off from work to fight it.

“We can’t stop giving outparking tickets. Because that isunfortunately one of the thingsthat keeps people following thelaw. But we can make it easier topay them, and we’re trying tomake it easier to contest them ifyou think you were given one un-fairly,” said Bloomberg.

City Council Speaker ChristineQuinn said small business ownersparticularly pushed for the online op-tion.

“At the end of the day, if youhave to pay the ticket, and you feellike you were heard, you fully sub-mitted evidence... if you’re a smallbusiness person but you didn’t alsohave to lose a day’s work, things arebetter in the total,” she said.

The mayor said the city writesabout 10 million parking tickets ayear. Of those, 10 percent are cur-rently challenged and about half ofthose challenges are dismissed. SomeNew Yorkers told NY1 they weremore likely to challenge a ticket ifthey could do it from their computer.

“I think it’s great that we’recatching up with technology, but Iwould think that you’re more likelyto lose when it’s not so personal,”said one local.

“I think it will save a lot of timefor people, instead of taking time outof work to have to deal with it,” saidanother.

The mayor said the websitesaves the city money on paper andmail and makes New York seemmore user-friendly.

To contest a parking ticket, visitwww.nyc.gov.

NY Drivers Contest Parking Tickets on CityWebsite

A federal jury found that ToyotaMotor Corp. isn’t responsible for a2005 crash that the driver blamed onthe floor mat or the electronic throttle,in the first case to go to trial since au-tomaker recalled millions of its vehi-cles, according to reports made byClaims Journal.

After 45 minutes of deliberationApril 1, the jury found Toyota was notliable for product liability for theScion’s floor mat or for the absence ofa system that allows the brake to over-ride the accelerator when both arepressed.

The car’s driver, 59-year-oldLong Island physician Amir Sitafal-wala, contended that defects in theelectronic throttle system or the floormats caused him to suddenly acceler-ate and crash into a tree.

U.S. Magistrate Judge E.ThomasBoyle ruled out evidence about thecar’s electronics earlier this month.Sitafalwala’s 2008 lawsuit was the firstto go to trial since Toyota recalled mil-lions of vehicles beginning in 2009.

In a written statement, Toyotacalled the verdict an “early indicatorof the strength of the legal theories be-hind unintended acceleration claims”against it.

“We believe that this case sets animportant benchmark for unintendedacceleration litigation against Toyotaacross this country,” the statementsaid.

Toyota has recalled more than14 million vehicles globally to fixgas pedals and other safety prob-lems, including more than 2 millionthat were recalled in February to ad-dress accelerator pedals that couldbecome entrapped in floor mats orjammed in driver’s side carpeting.The company paid the U.S. govern-ment a record $48.8 million in finesfor its handling of three recalls. U.S.regulators said earlier this monththat electronic flaws were not toblame for reports of sudden, unin-tended acceleration.

Hundreds of claims from aroundthe U.S. related to the recalls havebeen consolidated under one judge ina U.S. District Court in California.

In December, Toyota agreed topay $10 million to the family of fourpeople killed in a runaway Lexuscrash in California that led to the re-calls. Investigators determined that awrong-size floor mat trapped the ac-celerator and caused the August 2009crash.

Toyota Wins New York Case over Unintended Acceleration


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The New Jersey Green AutomotiveRepair Program (NJGARP) an-nounced in September that the Al-liance of Automotive ServiceProviders of New Jersey (AASP/NJ)joined them as a new organizationalpartner.

The NJGARP program, launchedin April 2009, encourages the State’sautomotive repair facilities—includ-ing dealerships, independent shopsand, soon, auto body shops-—to im-plement environmentally-friendlybusiness practices and become certi-fied as “green” businesses.

“AASP/NJ is very proud tojoin with the other organizations inNJGARP as a partner in promotingenvironmentally-sound businesspractices within the body repair in-dustry,” said Charles Bryant, Ex-ecutive Director of the AASP/NJ.“The group has done tremendouswork in its first year and I knowthat our members will be commit-ted to helping promote processesthat are good for the environment,good for consumers and good forbusiness.”

Since 2011 NJGARP has recog-nized the 27 auto repair and auto bodyfacilities that have received “Green”certification.

The facilities were honored at theorganization’s Open House held at NJCAR Headquarters in Trenton in Feb-ruary and began with Opening Re-marks from representatives of eachmember organization.

Wayne Staub, NJDEP Direc-tor of Economic Growth & GreenEnergy was the event’s KeynoteSpeaker. After recognizing the“Green” certified facilities, those inattendance took part in a brief, butproductive roundtable discussionabout how the NJGARP programhas resulted in real, and sometimes,substantial, cost savings to their fa-cilities and how the program can befurther developed.

“NJGARP and its member organ-izations are proud of the facilities thathave gone beyond what the rules andregulations say and have taken theirenvironmental stewardship seriously,”said Alex Yankaskas, Vice Presidentof NJGARP. “The growing interest in

“Green” certification signifies thecommitment auto repair and autobody facilities have to reducing theirimpact on the environment.”

NJGARP committee membersworked with the DEP to develop achecklist of “green” initiatives thatautomotive repair facilities can im-plement in an effort to becomemore environmentally responsible.Each “green” initiative a facilityimplements is assigned a pointvalue.

Repair shops must achieve aminimum number of points to qualifyfor – and maintain – New JerseyGreen Automotive Repair Program-certification and “green” businessrecognition.

Auto body repair facilities havesome elements that are unique to thework they do, which is why they willbe evaluated with an industry-specificchecklist of “green” initiatives theycan implement.

The overall checklist includes:pollution prevention and resourceconservation measures; waste fluidsmanagement; energy and water con-

servation efforts; waste water reduc-tion; recycling practices; and protec-tion of customers and workers at thefacility.

The auto body repair checklistwill include such areas as: surfacecoatings, spray booth operations, on-site paint recycling/ equipment clean-ing, paint stripping and sandingoperations.

Approved facilities must applyfor recertification every two years,and NJGARP committee memberswill conduct on-site evaluations to de-termine if facilities continue to meetthe specifications of the program andre-certify them.

NJGARP provides certifiedshops with some opportunities to en-gage in a continuing education pro-gram. This program offers continuedsupport and green education coursesto certified shops.

NJGARP also hopes to branchout into neighboring states to createsimilar programs in those regionswithin the next year.

For more information please visitwww.njgreenautorepair.org.

New Jersey Green Automotive Repair Program Works with AASP/NJ at Northeast Trade Show

PPG has named MillerAuto Parts &Supply Company, Inc., as its 2010Platinum Distributor of the Year.

The award was announced atPPG’s annual Platinum Distributor

Conference, Feb. 24-27 at Loews RoyalPacific Resort in Orlando, Fla. CharlieLightner, president of the Huntingdon,Pa.-based distributor, accepted theaward on behalf of the company.

“I am extremely elated and veryproud of our entire organization andthank PPG for this award,” said Light-ner. “I attribute our success to our twogeneral managers, Jamey Robertsonand JimMcGonigle, and our 250 em-ployees. They’re very knowledgeableand we get tremendous support fromeveryone at PPG. This is wonderfulrecognition for everyone’s efforts.”

Bob Wenzinger, director of thePPG Platinum Distributor program,presented the award to Lightner.

“This is a much deserved honorfor Charlie Lightner and the hard-

working team at Miller Auto Parts &Supply,” said Wenzinger. “They do anexceptional job for their customers,who benefit from the company’s tech-nical expertise and outstandingknowledge of our products. The phe-nomenal growth they’ve been able toachieve reflects their commitment tobeing the best at what they do.”

Lightner joined MillerAuto Parts &Supply Company as a buyer in 1974. Atthe time, the company had four stores.

Today, it has 29 locations in Penn-sylvania, Maryland and West Virginia.

It became a PPG Platinum Dis-tributor in 2006, shortly after electingto carry PPG paint and coating prod-ucts exclusively.

The company also provides partsand supplies for the mechanical side

of the automotive aftermarket indus-try. Currently, it is heavily involved inassisting its PPG Refinish collisionshop customers in the conversion toPPG waterborne products.

The PPG Platinum Distributorprogram began in 1995 as a loyaltyand support initiative for PPG single-line distributors with the ultimate goalof providing exceptional service andbenefits for PPG Refinish customers.

The program delivers competitiveadvantages to its participants by align-ing the technology, training, and cus-tomer support of PPG with theentrepreneurship, customer awareness,local market knowledge and service ca-pability of the independent distributor.

For more information please visitwww.millerautoparts.com.


PPG Announces its 2010 Platinum Distributor of the Year

Miller Auto Parts’ Tyrone, PA location

Insurance Fraud Claims on Rise in New YorkSuspicious insurance claims in NewYork were up about 4.5 percent in2010, an industry report shows.

In 2010, insurers reported a totalof 7,026 questionable claims in thestate, compared with 6,726 in 2009,according to the insurance industry’s

National Insurance Crime Bureau(NICB).

Questionable claims (QCs) are onesthat NICB member insurance companiesrefer to NICB for closer review and in-vestigation based on one or more indica-tors of possible fraud. A single claim

may contain up to seven referral reasons.The 2010 total represents about a

10 percent rise since 2007, when 6,378QCs were recorded in the state.

Of New York’s 7,026 question-able claims reported in 2010, NICBsays 4,016 of them—57 percent—

were from New York City alone. Therest were scattered around the statewith the ext highest number—145—originating from Buffalo. NICB hashad task force in New York since 2002to help the industry and officials targetinsurance fraud activity.




The two state agencies will bemerged into the new Department ofFinancial Services, streamlining thatwill save money and promote betterinvestigations of financial fraud, ac-cording to Andrew Cuomo, a formerattorney general in New York.

The merger, which includes a re-quirement that separate insurance andbanking divisions be formed, is part

of the governor’s$132.5 billionbudget approvedby state lawmak-ers earlier thisweek and await-ing Cuomo’s sig-nature.

T h enew entity will

regulate any financial product beingoffered in New York, as well as anyservice or entity that is not regulatedby another state agency.

The state’s banking regulatorsnow oversee all state-chartered banksand the state insurance departmenthas jurisdiction over all insurancecompanies and products being sold inthe state.

Gary Henning, Northeast re-gion vice president of the American

Insurance Association (AIA), repre-senting the property-casualty indus-try, said the group is “pleased” withthe merger.

“AIA strongly advocated for in-surers to remain regulated by a sepa-rate insurance division and thislegislation accomplishes that goal bymandating separate banking and in-surance divisions within the Depart-ment of Financial Services,” Henningsaid. He said the creation of a Mod-ernization Working Group, consistingof policymakers and stakeholders, tostudy how to best make financialservices regulation more effectiveand efficient is another benefit of theplan.

“AIA looks forward to being anintegral part of this important discus-sion on streamlining regulation andstrengthening the property-casualtymarketplace in New York,” Henningsaid in a statement.

State officials have said they ex-pect the new, combined office to openearly October.

New York Merges Banking and Insurance DepartmentsA jury recently found an Allentown,Pa.-based insurance broker liable forfraud after denying coverage to twoBristol Township, Pa., police offi-cers injured on duty.

USI MidAtlantic, a subsidiaryof USI Holdings, and two of thefirm’s employees, Claims ManagerRobert Brown and Assistant VicePresident Freda Batipps, werefound liable for fraudulent conductand intentional interference withcontract by a 12-member jury, ac-cording to the Bristol Pilot. The de-fendants and USI Claims AnalystLindaMagovern, were found liablefor breaching the duty of good faithand fair dealing owed by an insur-ance broker to an insured, the news-paper reported.

“All of us at USI MidAtlanticare disappointed with the recentfindings of a Philadelphia Court ofCommon Pleas jury as well as thesubsequent misrepresentation of theverdict in a press release issued bythe plaintiffs’ attorneys,” said USIMidAtlantic CEO Philip Remig.

Michael Egan and MarkBuzby, the policemen, were in-vestigating an accident on Route13 in Bristol Township Aug. 27,2005, when they were hit by adrunken and uninsured driver.Egan had his leg amputated andBuzby suffered permanent injuriesto his legs.

The policemen alleged in thelawsuit that before the accident, theUSI defendants failed to obtain awritten statutory waiver of uninsuredmotorist coverage as required bylaw, which lead them to a year-longfraud scheme to obtain backdatedwaiver forms and use them as a basisto deny insurance coverage to the of-ficers.

When this conduct was discov-ered by Bristol Township’s insurer,more than a year after the police-men’s accident, the insurer quicklysettled the police officers’ uninsuredmotorist claims, according to theBristol Pilot.

The jury awarded $250,000 toeach policeman.

Penn. Insurance Broker Dismayed by Fraud Verdict

Whayne Supply Company an-nounced that Foley, Inc. has becomethe Mirenco Dealer for New Jersey.This provides Foley, Inc. with theexclusive distribution rights to pro-vide Mirenco exhaust gas testingand fuel management services intheir territory. Whayne SupplyCompany, the national distributorfor Mirenco products & diesel com-bustion testing, is assisting CatDealers to provide Mirenco servicesin their respective territories.

“It is an exciting time to haveFoley, Inc. join Mirenco’s dealer net-work. Increased fuel costs and emis-sion regulations have placed manyoperations in a tight spot. Foley, Inc.is now in a position to provide muchneeded assistance to its customerswith Mirenco’s fuel and emissionsservices,”DwayneFosseen, CEO ofMirenco, Inc., stated.

Mirenco’s evaluation productsand services have proven to bevaluable to those who operatediesel engines in mining, construc-tion and on-road trucking.

Foley to Become MirencoDealer in NJ A report issued in January 2011,

rated New Jersey the second safestin the nation, based on the laws de-signed to promote highway safety.Only the District of Columbiaranked in front of New Jersey.

Motor vehicle crashes impose asignificant financial burden on society.According to the NHTSA, the totaleconomic cost of motor vehicle crashesin 2000 was more than $230 billion.

The Advocates for Highway andAuto Safety issued its eighth annualroadmap to state highway safety laws.The report ranks the states on fifteencriteria that promote highway safety:

Adult Occupant Protection● Primary Enforcement Seat BeltLaw● All-Rider Motorcycle Helmet Law

Child Passenger Safety● Booster Seat Law

Teen Driving● Graduated Driver Licensing● Learner’s Stage: Minimum Age 16for Learner’s Permit● Learner’s Stage: Six-Month Hold-

ing Period Provision● Learner’s Stage: 30-50 Hours ofSupervised Driving Provision● Intermediate Stage: NighttimeDriving Restriction Provision● Intermediate Stage: Passenger Re-striction Provision● Age 18 for Unrestricted License

Impaired Driving● Ignition Interlock Devices (IID)● Child Endangerment● Mandatory Blood Alcohol Con-centration (BAC) Testing for Killedand Surviving Drivers● Open Container

Distracted Driving● All-Driver Text Messaging Re-striction

Even with having laws that pro-mote highway safety in place, NewJersey still pays a high price for thefreedom and flexibility the automo-bile carries.

In 2009, 593 people died in au-tomobile crashes in New Jersey, at acost of $9.34 billion. Put another way,it costs New Jersey $25,589,041every day.

New Jersey Rated 2nd in Nation for Road Safety Laws

Ford CEO Alan Mulally said April13 that Ford is working with sup-pliers to minimize the North Amer-ican production impact of Japaneseparts shortages caused by lastmonth’s earthquake and tsunami.The only impact on Ford in NorthAmerica to date has been limitingvehicle orders in certain paint col-ors because of interruptions toJapan-supplied paint products.

Mulally said Ford has shiftedparts from slower-selling to hot-sell-ing vehicles, used scheduled vaca-tion downtime early and taken otheractions to keep NorthAmerican pro-duction from being disrupted.

He counseled patience to Lin-coln brand dealers, asking them togive increased product spendingtime to yield a broader vehiclelineup in the coming years. SomeLincoln dealers are upset that Fordis pushing them to improve theirfacilities and begin offering perkssuch as free car washes and loanervehicles when the brand’s productlineup is limited.

Ford’s CEO Mulally SaysSuppliers Accomodating

Andrew Cuomo

www.autobodynews.com


MON-FRI: 7:00 - 6:00SAT: 8:00 - 3:00

604 old liverpool rd.liverpool, ny 13088

PPAAARRTRTSSS DDEDEDEPPTTTT.PARTS DEPT.

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IT’S ABOUT TIMECHEVROLETCHEVROLETVROBurdickBurdick

Honda is making a push to improvesales of its compressed natural gas pow-ered Civic. Honda cautiously intro-duced the Civic GX first to governmentand business fleet owners and then re-tail customers in a handful of test mar-kets. The nationwide retail launch setfor this fall comes as President Obamapushes for wider adoption of fuel-effi-cient vehicles, including mandating thatall federal cars will need to run on al-ternative, hybrid or electric power by2015. Potential customers could also belured by substantial cost savings as oilprices climb and natural gas prices fallin the wake of major newgas discover-ies in the United States.

The Civic GX enters a crowdedfield where new plug-in hybrid andfully electric cars such as the ChevyVolt and Nissan Leaf dominate the pressand new compact cars offer competi-tive fuel economy.

Honda’s goals are relatively mod-est—doubling sales to around 4,000 ve-hicles in the first year of national saleswhile Nissan is hoping to hit annual USsales of 20,000 Leafs—but it still thinksthe GX can compete.

“We’re asking the GX purchaser tomake far fewer sacrifices than any otheralternative fuel vehicle,” Eric Rosenberg,

who heads Honda’s alternative fuel ve-hicle program in the United States.

“When you compare it to the Volt orLeaf, it’s the most affordable, it has thebest range and it has the quickest refill.”

The GX can drive up to 250 miles(403 kilometers) on a single tank andonly takes a few minutes to fill at pub-lic or home fueling station.

Honda Pushes Natural GasCivic Alternative to E-Cars

General Motors will invest $100 millionand add 30 jobs at the company’s autoparts plant in Rochester.General Motorssaid that the investment will update fourproduct lines produced at its ComponentsHoldings Rochester operation. The com-pany will update its integrated air mod-ule product line, a new high-pressure fuelrail, a new lifter oil manifold assemblyand a new direct injection injector. “Thisinvestment in our manufacturing opera-tions will enable us to produce a new gen-eration of fuel-efficient small block carand truck engines,” General Motors VicePresident of Labor Relations Cathy Cleggsaid. The parts made in Rochester will beshipped to GM Powertrain plants inTonawanda, N.Y., Ontario, and Mexico.The 30 new jobs will be added to the ex-isting work force of 826 hourly andsalaried employees in Rochester.

GM to Invest in Rochester,NY, Auto Parts Plant

Nissan Motor Co. said there havebeen a few reports of Leaf electriccars failing to restart after they havebeen turned off because of an air-con-ditioning sensor problem.

“If this sensor is activated it willilluminate a warning light on the in-strument panel and may cause the ve-hicle to not restart once it has beenturned off. We are actively investi-gating to determine the root causeand what action is necessary to ad-dress the issue,” the company said ina statement. Nissan isn’t planning arecall because the problem isn’t asafety issue. The company says thecars won’t not stop running whilebeing driven. Nissan says it is tryingto “promptly address this issue.”

Nissan’s Leaf ExperiencesA/C Sensor Problem

Ford’s new all electric Focus isready to hit the market, however itwill be sold without a leased-batteryoption. The lithium-ion batterypack will be included with the carand will not be leased separately.Awaiting customer reaction, Ford isconvinced that leasing the batteriesis not the right strategy. Leasingbatteries would have brought theinitial price down and many pre-dicted that Ford ultimately wouldmake the decision to lease batteries.The Focus has a 28kWh electricmotor with a top speed of 84 mph.It will take around 4 hours torecharge the car, about half of whatits main competitor, the NissanLeaf, needs.

Ford’s Electric Focus Will NotLease Lithium-Ion Batteries

The AASP-PA trade show in the East,known as the Big E, will return thisfall October 14th through 15th at theValley Forge Convention Center inKing of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

The Big E features world renownspeakers and trainers all the whilebringing together aftermarket partsand product specialists with AASP-PAmembers. This show fills fast so visit

www.aasp-pa.org to register.Booth space is available at a first

come, first serve basis so AASP-PAurges all exhibitors to register as soonas possible. Not only does it guaranteeyour space at the show but it allows theAASP-PA to publicize the fact thatyour business will be in attendance.

Visit www.aasp-pa.org to sign upnow to attend.

AASP-Pennsylvania’s Big E Trade Show Coming in October


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Gas Prices Not SignificantlyDriving Fuel-Efficient SalesWhen gas prices first spiked a fewyears ago, car industry insiders saythere was big demand for more fuel-efficient cars. But things are slightlydifferent this time around.

New Car Dealers of Utah Exec-utive Director Craig Bickmore saysgas prices a few years ago jumpedfrom around $1.50 per gallon tonearly $4. This time, the cost of a gal-lon of gas started close to $3 beforemoving up. So, demand for the highlyfuel-efficient car isn’t as high in thisstate as it was previously.

Hybrid sales went down from2.9 percent of new vehicle sales in2009 to 2.4 percent last year, accord-ing to USA Today. Sales of pickups,SUVs, crossovers and minivans wentup to 51 percent from 48 percent inthe same period.

“I think they’re looking at theirindividual circumstances and makingbuying decisions based on that ratherthan on the fact that fuel is up,” Bick-more said. Bickmore says many con-sumers are sticking with the SUVsand minivans they’re used to. But he’sconcerned about a potential ripple ef-fect new efficiency standards mayhave on manufacturers’ product lines.

Rutgers Engineer is Pioneerin Plastics RecyclingAxion International , a leading pro-ducer of industrial building productsand railroad ties made from 100% re-cycled plastic, has announced todaythat Dr. Tom Nosker, a professor ofMaterials Science and Engineering atRutgers University and inventor ofAxion’s Recycled Structural Com-posite (RSC), was recognized alongwith five of his peers as one of the na-tion’s top Mechanical Engineers. Thedesignation appears in the April issueof Inventors Digest magazine.

“This is a terrific recognition ofDr. Nosker’s tremendous contribu-tion to the world of recycling, and theincredible legacy he’s created,” statedAxion President and Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Steve Silverman. “Tom’scontribution to the world of plasticrecycling goes back to the mid1980’s, when he helped develop PETresin recovery recycling technology,and continues to this day with hiswork in advances in thermoplasticscomposites, design of structures, andeven flame retardant materials. Axionis extremely proud to be associatedwith him and we’re grateful for thecontributions he’s made and contin-ues to make to our society.”

New Jersey residents and small busi-nesses now have more options to eas-ily recycle their unwanted electronicdevices. AERC Recycling Solutionsand E-World Online, LLC have part-nered to offer free electronics recy-cling services to residents andbusinesses with fifty or less employ-ees in New Jersey. While AERC hasbeen offering various solutions for in-dividuals and small businessesthroughout the United States, this part-nership offers additional options forNew Jersey residents and small busi-nesses with the added benefit of recy-cling electronics at no cost.

The partnership is a result of therecent New Jersey legislation banningelectronics from landfills and requiringmanufacturers to subsidize the recy-cling of electronics. E-World Online,LLC founded the Manufacturers Inter-state Takeback System (MITS) to helpmanufactures comply with state legis-lations requiring manufactures to pro-vide recycling options for electronics.

AERC is very pleased to be of-fering free recycling options for theresidents and consumers of New Jer-sey, said Lindsay Landmesser, VicePresident of Sales and Marketing,AERC Recycling Solutions. Manyconsumers are unsure of the proper

way to dispose of electronics. Theyknow they shouldn’t just throw itemsin the trash because of data securityand environmental concerns but theydont know where to go.

New Jersey Businesses Offered Free Electronics Recycling

Chrysler Trenton PlantHolds Recycling Drop-OffIn celebration of Earth Day, theChrysler Trenton South Engine Plantis holding a household electronics re-cycling drop-off event. Great LakesElectronics Corp. and MPS Groupalso are sponsoring the event. It willbe held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April30 in the parking lot at the engineplant, 2000 Van Horn.

It is open to the public, but notbusinesses, and the disposal of elec-tronics is free. Household electronicitems acceptable for recycling in-clude computers, printers, monitors,cords, TVs, VCRs, cell phones andother small electric or electronicitems. No large appliances will beaccepted. Chrysler is encouragingthe community to drop off householdelectronics for recycling, saidMelanie Orcher, environmental spe-cialist at the Chrysler Trenton EngineComplex.


SHOP & PRODUCTSHOP & PRODUCTSHOWCASESHOWCASE

Jimmy Lefler owns and operates fiveextremely busy body, mechanical, andglass shops based in Evansville, Indi-ana, that are repairing more than 200cars per week, juggling eight DRPs,employing 80 people and doing ap-proximately $9million in annual sales.So, when it comes to purchasingequipment to run his shops, CEOLefler expects that his machines willperform day-after-day without break-ing down or requiring extensive main-tenance. That’s why he’s been buyinghis racks, computerized measuringsystems and lifts from Chief Automo-tive Technologies, a leading manufac-turer of pulling, measuring, anchoringand vehicle specification products.

Lefler is a third-generation bodyshop owner whose grandfather,Leroy, founded Leroy’s Paint &Fender Repair as a dirt floor garagein 1952. Times have changed. For al-most 60 years, Lefler has been ahousehold name for fixing cars in thetri-state area on the borders of Indi-ana, Kentucky and Illinois. Leflershas been winning national awardsfor the family’s contributions to thecollision industry, while expandingand succeeding in a very competitivemarket with more than 60 bodyshop/collision centers listed in thesouthern Indiana region.

Jimmy started working in thefamily’s business in 1986 in the partsdepartment. “I did it all in the begin-ning—fixed cars, washed vehicles,worked as an estimator and cleanedfloors—anything and everything tolearn the business. In 1996, I boughtout my father and starting runningthe operation,” he said.

The Lefler family has had a long-term mutually beneficial relationshipwith Chief, he said. “We bought ourfirst rack from them in 1982, after wesaw their demonstration. That wasthe key, because it was very inform-ative and they showed us everythingthat the machines could do. We haveone Chief machine right now that’sbeen here for 18 years and it’s stillgoing strong. It’s paid for itself sev-eral times over, that’s for sure. Today,we own three Chief measuring sys-tems, four racks and a drive-overlift/pulling system.”

Chief Automotive Technologiesstarted manufacturing its first pullingsystems in 1972, and it rapidly be-came a leader in the industry. Thecompany has stepped up over theyears, driving technology changes,including the introduction of comput-erized measuring systems and com-prehensive vehicle specifications.

Lefler’s VP/Operations ManagerEd Dietz praised Chief’s exemplarycustomer service for keeping histechs informed and productive whilethey are working with the manufac-turer’s machines.

“Our techs can get a Chief tech-nical person on the phone immedi-ately, and that’s critical,” Dietz said. “Itallows my technicians to resolve theirissue and stay productive, which is soimportant to our cycle times. If theyhave to sit on hold or wait to get a callback, that’s time that’s been lost.”

Roger Tutt, production managerfor Lefler’s Evansville North shop,has consistently received fast andaccurate information from the Chiefcustomer service team whenever hehas needed it.

“They make it easy. The only timeI ever need technical service fromChief is a computer-related issue, andthe technical service hotline walks meright through it every time,” he said.“The ability for a Chief technical per-son to log in remotely to see what thetech is looking at on the Genesis com-puterized measuring system com-puter is a ‘game changer’ for service.”

Lefler has all his techs trained byChief, he said, to ensure that theyknow every detail involved in the op-eration of these machines. “We re-cently brought Ken Soupene, a Chiefinstructor, on-site for a week of trainingfor all of our technicians. It was great,because all of our employees wereable to go through the training in areal-world setting, without costing usa decline in production or cycle times”.

A big part of what Chief brings tothe equation for Lefler is its training,

which allows techs to get certifiedand earn I-CAR credits in theprocess, Lefler said. “They make thetraining very effective and compre-hensive,” Lefler explained. “It’s top-notch all the way. Soupene is one ofthe best instructors we have ever en-countered from any company, andhe taught most of my techs how towork these machines.”

Chief’s support starts with train-ing and continues after the sale viathe company’s equipment reps onthe ground, Lefler said.

“Mark Lee is our equipment repand he has proven to be one of thebest we have ever worked with,” Leflersaid. “He’s very responsive and is al-ways readily available to answer anyquestions after the sale. Customerservice is a big deal, because we’reusing these Chief racks on a dailybasis, and we work them hard. So, weneed to have a guy like Mark whoknows these machines inside and outand is dedicated to servicing ourneeds. I know that if we need a part ina hurry, he’ll drive it over here, eventhough his company is in Indianapolis,a 3.5-hour ride from here. That’s thekind of customer support we’ve beengetting fromChief and reps like Mark.”

Lee, owner of Lee Equipment,has been selling Chief equipment toLefler for the past five years, and hasa long history with the manufacturer,he explained. “Chief doesn’t makecheap machines, but the quality isthere and the products’ longevity anddurability is the proof. I have cus-tomers who are still using the sameChief machines that they bought 35years ago.”

Jimmy Lefler is a third-generation body shopowner who owns five locations in SouthernIndiana

Lefler Collision &Auto Glass CentersLocation: Evansville and Newburgh, IN

Telephone: 812-423-4044www.leflers.com

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision & Mechanical Repair

Facility Employees: 80

In Business Since: 1952

DRP Programs: Eight

Number of Locations:Three collision body shops &two mechanical/glass shops

Combined Production Space:47,800 square feet (combined)

Chief Automotive TechnologiesPhone: (800) 445-9262email: [email protected]: www.chiefautomotive.com

Lefler Auto Body Tech Rodney Blandford works on a vehicle using the shop's Chief Impulse framerack, one of the Chief machines that Lefler counts on to repair approximately 200 cars weekly

Indiana Shop Owner Favors Chief for Quality,Durability & Support

All of Lefler’s shops are busy day and night,doing $9 million in annual sales despite arocky economy

by Ed Attanasio


New Jersey’s association of auto deal-ers is warning of possible repercus-sions as a result of last month’searthquake and tsunami that devas-tated Japan, according to reports madeby Asbury Park Press. See numerousindividual reports in this issue.

“At this time, there are morequestions that answers, but it is clearthat vehicle supply will be affected bythe tragedy in Japan,” said JamesAp-pleton, president of the New JerseyCoalition of Automotive Retailers, onApril 5. “How much of an impact theinterruption will have and whichmakes and models will be most af-fected are uncertain.”

The earthquake and walls ofwater that followed put virtually allJapanese auto manufacturing on holdwhile the country assesses the dam-age, the association said.

The manufacturing of parts formany makes and models, from paintpigments to computer chips, even forsome vehicles assembled in theUnited States, has been interrupted aswell, the group said.

Few auto plants were seriously

damaged by the quake, but with sup-plies of water and electricity fleeting,no one can say when factories willcrank up. Some auto analysts said itcould be as late as this summer.

Steve Kalafer, chairman ofFlemington Car and Truck Family ofDealerships in Raritan Township, saidcustomers are asking questions abouthow the crisis will affect availability.Among the company’s dealerships areSubaru, Mazda and Infiniti. TheKalafer family separately owns Clin-ton Honda.

“We have been notified by thedifferent manufacturers of differentshortages, different schedule changesand they will be very severe over thenext 60 days,” Kalafer said April 1.“These cars will be in very short sup-ply, and we are very concerned for ourcustomers being able to have all oftheir orders fulfilled in a timely basisthat has been historic.”

There are signs, though, thatthings might not be as bad as analystsare predicting.

Nissan Motor Co., which hasseen production stop in several areas,

said last week that it expects factoriesto be back in operation in weeks ratherthan months.

March 31, Honda Motor Co. andMazda Motor Corp. said they will re-sume limited production at severalJapanese factories, but full productionwill depend on the availability ofparts.

Tom Stark, vice president atJoyce Honda in Denville, said thedealership has “plenty of inventory.”

“Our pipeline of inventory is notaffected going forward,” he said.

On April 4, Toyota said someproduction interruptions in NorthAmerica are likely, but the companycould not predict location or duration.

The majority of parts for itsNorth American plants come fromabout 550 suppliers in North America,the company said. And Toyota contin-ues to receive parts from Japan thatwere already in the pipeline.

At Honda and Acura, more than80 percent of the vehicles sold in theU.S. are produced in North America.The majority of its parts also comefrom the region, the company said.

Jim Schwartz, co-owner ofSchwartz Mazda in Shrewsbury, saidthe dealership ordered more cars be-fore the earthquake. “We have someextra cars to bolster our inventory aswe see inventory may be a problem aswe move through the spring and intothe summer,” Schwartz said. “Weshould be OK.”

Schwartz said he recently spokewith the president of Mazda who saidthere was no damage to the plantswhere cars are built. “It is just a mat-ter of the supply line getting reopenedand up and running.”

For now, Appleton of the stateauto dealer association said his groupis watching the situation. Demand fornew vehicles has increased as theeconomy has started to recover.

The group said growing demandand a reduction in supply likely willresult in higher prices for many newvehicles.

“If the impact of the catastrophein Japan has even a minor impact onsupply, you will find that demand willsignificantly outstrip supply in themonths ahead,” he said.

Japan Tragedy to Affect Vehicle Supply, N.J. Dealer Group Says

Taxing motorists on the miles theydrive—rather than the gas theyuse— could provide a more stablesource of funding for transportation,the chairman of the state HouseTransportation Committee said April4, according to the Pittsburgh Trib-une-Review.

Because many new vehicles useless gas, experts predict per-gallongas-tax revenue will taper off or evendrop.

So state Rep. Rick Geist, R-Al-toona, said a proposal to study a pos-sible vehicle-mileage tax will beincluded in the transportation fundingpackage for the next fiscal year. Hecharacterized such a tax as a “userfee.”

“In all honesty, the fairest rev-enue you have is at the pump, but un-

fortunately that is dwindling,” Geistsaid. “This (vehicle-mileage) fee isfair because the more miles you drive,the more you pay.”

Similar studies have been con-ducted in Oregon, Washington andGeorgia, though no states have imple-mented a program.

In Pennsylvania, federal, stateand local fuel taxes add almost 51cents a gallon to prices at the pump;that’s one of the highest rates in thecountry, according to the AmericanPetroleum Institute.

But the increasing fuel efficiencyof modern vehicles—and their in-creasing popularity as gas prices soar—raises concerns that revenue willdecline.

A report released last month bythe Congressional Budget Office

highlighted the benefits—and compli-cations—of such a tax.

“A consensus view of manytransportation experts and economistsis that a system of taxes on vehicle-miles traveled should be viewed as theleading alternative to fuel taxes as asource of funding for highways,” theCBO report said.

The report conceded it would re-quire a lot of time and money to getmetering equipment in all vehicles,and the equipment could fuel privacyconcerns.

Collecting vehicle-mile taxeswould likely be more costly and com-plicated than fuel taxes, the reportsaid.

But revenue from vehicle-miletaxes could be less volatile than per-gallon taxes as vehicle fuel effi-

ciency improves, the report said.Sales of fuel-efficient, advanced-

technology vehicles increased 37 per-cent in the first quarter compared tothe first three months of 2010, ac-cording to automotive website Ed-munds.com.

“We’ve seen a surge in peoplelooking for more fuel-efficient carssince prices got around $3.50 a gal-lon,” said Steve Werkman, generalsales manager of Valley Honda inMonroeville.

The region’s average gas pricehas been at least that for a month, dur-ing which time Werkman said sales ofHonda Civics that get 40 miles pergallon jumped 75 percent.

Sales also have been strong onhybrids such as Honda’s Insight andCR-Z.

Pennsylvania Drivers Could Be Taxed on Miles Traveled, Not Gas Usage

Judge Facing State Discipline for Pennsylvania Insurance FraudThe Judicial Conduct Board has begundisciplinary proceedings against a for-mer Pennsylvania Superior Court judgeserving a 46-month federal prison sen-tence for insurance fraud.

Itwasnot immediatelyclear if ex-Su-

perior Court Judge Michael Joyce couldlose his pension if he’s found to have vio-lated the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct.

The Erie Times-News said theboard alleges the judge has violatedthe code by his 2008 felony conviction

in U.S. District Court.Joyce’s attorney, John Quinn of

Pittsburgh, would not comment on thepending litigation.

Joyce was convicted of defraudingtwo insurance companies out of $440,000

he collected after exaggerating injuries tohis neck and back following a low-speedauto accident in August 2001.

He was also required to forfeitsome items he spent that money on, in-cluding his home.


On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

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

Summer time is nearly here and shopowners who are interested in attract-ing insurance or other referral busi-ness may be considering putting on anevent.

These can vary widely in terms ofsize and cost. I assisted one dealershipowner in creating quite a large eventto build business for his body shop. Inaddition to insurance DRP coordina-tors. Since he did a lot of work forcommercial contractors and also locallaw enforcement, he invited manycompany owners and managers andalso sheriff’s department personnel.

He put up large umbrellas overpicnic tables all along the driveway infront of his body shop work bays. Nat-urally food and drink vendors were lo-cated along there.

Each work bay was convertedinto a presentation space. By the prepand spray booths, his paint jobber setup demos of spray guns, a color-matching photospectrometer, and var-ious paint supply items.

His 3-M distributor used a bay todemonstrate special materials foreverything from windshield repair tosimple repairs on plastic and fiber-glass auto parts. Another bay houseda paintless dent removal specialist,and some attendees were providedwith small dent removals from theirvehicles. An ongoing demonstration

of the estimating and managementsystems was provided in the bodyshop office. Tours of the entire dealer-ship were given every fifteen minutes.

The cost of the event was in ex-cess of $10,000. Was it worth it? Onesmall insurance company representa-tive agreed to add the shop to theirDRP list. The dealership got a few or-ders for new pick-up trucks, but veryfew new commercial company peoplecame to the event and I didn’t hear ofany new commercial contracts. Wasthe event a wise investment?

I don’t think the dealership ownerconsidered it a success, but the up-grades to the shop were needed and theP.R. value of the event was substantial.Could he have put on an event for less?The answer is a definite “Yes!” Look-ing back, I could see that a dealershipprincipal would have difficulty resist-ing turning a body shop promotionalevent into somewhat of a vehicle salesevent. That increased his cost greatly.

In general I’ve seen more shopssimply put on a barbecue along with atour of the shop. Others have madetheir shop available for a small localtrade show with suppliers and othervendors setting up their demonstra-tions and presentations on long tables.

One disadvantage of this is havingother shop owners coming through.The barbecue event can be focused

purely on insurance company repre-sentatives and/or other referral sources.

An even more economical ap-proach to an event is to participate insomeone else’s event.

One local school put on a safedriving event. The Auto Club and alocal radio station sponsored it. A cou-ple of collision shop owners and alsodriving school owners were invited toset up tables with safe driving infor-mation. In a sense this was more of anevent looking to the future when thehigh school kids would become newdrivers, but parents were also there andhad an opportunity to learn more aboutthe participating collision repair shops.

A more direct event for the gen-eral public was put on by a shop thatbecame a voting location on an elec-tion day. The owner played patrioticmusic and had patriotic banners allover the place.

He even hired a model dressed upin an Uncle Sam costume to conducttours of the shop for anyone inter-ested. Since many voters are long-term local homeowners with moreexpensive high-end cars, the shopowner felt he would reach the kind ofcustomer he wanted.

While a shop event aimed at insur-ance or commercial account attendeeshas to direct their promotional mail,phone calls and faxes to a very specific

list of prospects, the shop focusing onthe general public could use radio, TVand print publication ads to get the wordout. Shops located in a desirable resi-dential area could also distribute flyersdirectly to homes in the area.

Collision shops have one majoradvantage over many other businesseswhen it comes to putting on events.Most shops occupy a fairly largespace overall. Like the dealership I de-scribed, most have many parkingspaces and open repair bays wheredemonstrations and presentations canbe carried out easily.

Few people are aware of the sizeand complexity of a typical bodyshop. The event can be an ideal op-portunity to educate prospective cus-tomers on the advantage of choosing ashop with state-of-the-art spraybooths, frame measuring and straight-ening equipment, top quality weldingequipment and the many special toolsneeded to perform repairs on today’sever-changing vehicles.

Putting on an occasional event isa good promotional effort for a shopbecause it not only provides a reasonto invite key potential referral sourcesto see the shop, but it also motivatesshop owners and managers to clean upthe place and make it presentable forthe event. That alone is worth at leasta small investment.

Summertime Should Mean Event Time For Body Shops

by Janet Chaney

The merger of three of the largest in-dependent auto recycling networks inthe country was announced at theUnited Recyclers Group Annual Con-ference in Colorado. QRP Midwest, anetwork of 33 independent recyclershas joined TEAM PRP affiliates, Ab-solute and Heartland, to form PRPMidwest. This alliance unites 52 inde-pendent recyclers in the Central geo-graphic region of the United States.

Krystyn Roberts of County LineAuto Parts, Kansas City, Missouri is theChair of QRP Midwest and feels thetiming is right, “Both PRP and QRPMidwest are very excited for the futureand the possibilities that will come fromour three independent recycling groups

joining forces. All groups have differ-ent strengths that we have brought tothe table and it just makes sense for usto team up to ultimately better serve ourcustomers and our industry.”

The merger came about quicklyafter the first meeting between the re-cycler groups at which sharing deliv-ery system resources was explored.Ultimately, they recognized the bene-fit of consolidation, leveraging a fullintegration of the three trading net-works. Significant value will be of-fered in better service to PRP Midwestmechanical and collision customersthrough the integrated delivery sys-tems, expanded inventory and accessto better salvage procurement options.

“The merger of these three qual-ity driven membership groups of in-

dependent recyclers will no doubtpositively impact the repair commu-nity in the regions covered,” statesChris Northup, an independent indus-try consultant who is currently re-tained by the TEAM PRP NationalBoard of Directors, “Realistically, thiscould provide the template for a goforward footprint of independent re-cyclers to compete on the nationalscale.” Kent Rothwell, Weaver AutoParts, Carnesville, Georgia, a TeamPRP National Board Member ispleased with the expansion, “TeamPRP encourages individualism as weuse our combined philosophy to buildthe strength of our network.”

Mel Hunke, the General Managerof PRP Midwest has been workingclosely with all entities and sees the

positive change ahead, “ I am very ex-cited about the potential resulting fromthese three networks of auto recyclers,who have a long history of commit-ment to excellence and outstandingcustomer service, joining forces toform one superior source of auto partsfor all categories of customers,” Hunkecontinues, “I am optimistic that PRPMidwest will offer even greater cus-tomer benefits than the three groupshave provided separately in the past.PRP Midwest is ready to assume aleadership role in providing “alternatesource” auto parts to our customers”.

About TEAM PRP: Team PRP isa national network of independentauto recyclers, offering expanded in-ventory, regional transportation sys-tems and knowledgeable support staff.

Three of Largest Auto Recycling Networks Merge

of giving, sharing, caring and love.”“The second, ‘kina’ole,” means

flawless-as in doing the right thing forthe right reason with the right feeling.Most individuals can, and will, do therights things; but it is the deep feelingsin our heart that makes us to things,for the right reason. This year’s win-ners embody the meaning of boththese words.”

Below is a summary of thisyear’s awards, their recipients, and theachievement being recognized.

Regional Lifetime AchievementAward: Eddie KizenbergerFor decades Ed Kizenberger hasworked on behalf of the collision re-pair industry in his native New York.He founded the New York State AutoCollision Technicians Association andthe Long Island Auto Body RepairersAssociation, and serves as executivedirector for both. In addition, theNortheast Leadership Meeting wouldnot exist without his influential in-volvement. He has broken significantbarriers regarding legislation at hisstate capital by showing lawmakersthat the collision repair industry is notafraid to voice its opinion and standup for itself. He has never hesitated toassist other states or associationswhen a helping hand is needed.

“Ed is never shy to roll up hissleeves to display the leadership andcreativity necessary to succeed,” saidSCRS Immediate Past ChairmanBarry Dorn. “He stands up for therights of the consumer and repairerbecause it is the right thing to do; hedoesn’t take ‘no,’ for an answer. I havelearned a lot from him, as has ourmembership and the industry. He’s aninvaluable resource.”

Special Recognition: Greg CoccaroThere are years in which SCRS findsindividuals deserving of recognition,yet are hard to fit into a specific cate-gory. In those cases, SCRS presents a“Special Recognition.”

While we all strive to live hon-estly, lead by example, and like tothink we would do the right thing inthe face of adversity, Greg Coccarohas proven over the past year that hedoes. In the past year his character hasbeen put to strenuous test, and he hascome through-despite some signifi-cant struggles-placing his personal

and professional integrity at the fore-front of his life’s decisions. Where theless steadfast would have faltered,Greg wasn’t afraid to put it all on theline. For his dedication and tenacity ofspirit SCRS acknowledged him withthis very special award.

Collectively this year’s award re-cipients, through a variety of accom-plishments, represent the best of thebest that the collision repair industryhas to offer. “It’s satisfying to be ableto devote this night to those individu-als who set a positive tone for our pro-fession and serve as an inspiration forus as we move forward,” added SCRSChairman Aaron Clark. “Their enthu-siasm for the industry is infectious,and as a result they motivate us to giveour best as well.”

Humanitarian Award: Toby ChessThis award recognizes an individualor group within the industry whose ef-forts advance the industry throughsupport of humanitarian activities intheir community outside the industry.

As one of the industry’s premiereinstructors, Toby Chess has a longhistory of providing enlightening in-formation in an entertaining, thought-provoking way. In all that time, he hasnever lost sight of the individual’srole in the community and the abilityone person has to make a differencefor those who need it most.

Toby spent much of 2010 travel-ling the nation, educating first respon-ders on the technological advancementsin today’s vehicles and delivering theknowledge they need to respond toemergency situations quickly and effi-ciently, in order to keep themselves andvehicle occupants safe.

Toby’s community service didn’tstop there. During the holidays he led ateam of “Santa’s helpers” to donatetoys and gifts to families of U.S.Marines. These presents included over100 new bicycles, four SUVs, a 12-passenger van, two cars and a giant boxtruck filled to the brim with toys. “Tobytruly leads by example,” noted SCRSPast Chairman Gary Wano. “We thankhim for his generous spirit and his ded-ication to helping those less fortunate.”

Affiliate Association Award: The Hous-ton Autobody Association (HABA)The Affiliate Association Award rec-ognizes an SCRS affiliate that exhibitsexemplary actions on behalf of thecollision repair professional.

The recipient of this year’s awardwas selected based on the volume of

feedback from SCRS’other affiliate as-sociations as the Houston Auto BodyAssociation mixed their vigor for ad-vancing their market with some out-of-the-box thinking to achieve greatertransparency in their state’s claims set-tlement practices. Working with theTexas Insurance Department, and so-licited participation from the entiremarket, they facilitated a documentedsurvey of carrier practices and madethem available to the public. The ini-tiative’s success sparked interest fromour other associations interested in cre-ating greater transparency in their ownareas toward the ultimate goal of im-proved understanding of the carriers’processes in a non-legislativeway thatbrought benefit to all repairers.

Collision Industry Non-Individual Serv-ice Award: Collision HubThis award recognizes contributions tothe collision repair industry that origi-nate at a corporate or company level.

Collision Hub has served as acatalyst for the explosion of inter-in-dustry dialog upon the nationalscene. A premier professional net-working site for the collision repairindustry that deploys a suite of mod-

ern communications technologies, in-cluding live Web broadcasts of in-dustry meetings, Collision Hub hasbeen extremely effective at helpingassociations like SCRS expand theirmessage to a greater audience. Colli-sion Hub, and its founder KristenFelder, are prime examples of serviceto the industry.

In addition to the recognition ofindividual acheivments, SCRS wasfortunate to also honor and thankthose that make the association’s ef-forts throughout the year possible. Asa token of appreciation, SCRS pro-vided its long list of Corporate Mem-bers with a specific mention ofgratitude and a commemorative dis-play to recognize the ongoing supportreceived by these corporations.

About SCRS: Through its direct mem-bers and 39 affiliate associations,SCRS is comprised of 6,000 collisionrepair businesses and 58,500 special-ized professionals who work with con-sumers and insurance companies torepair collision-damaged vehicles. Ad-ditional information at the SCRS Website: www.scrs.com. E-mail SCRS atthe following address: [email protected].


Continued from Page 1

SCRS Awards


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Microsoft and Toyota Motor Corp.have forged a strategic partnership andplan to build a global platform forTMC’s next-generation telematicsservices using the Windows Azure plat-form. Telematics is the fusing oftelecommunications and informationtechnologies in vehicles; it can encom-pass GPS systems, energy managementand other multimedia technologies.

The two companies plan to par-ticipate in a $12 million investment inToyota Media Service Co., a TMCsubsidiary that offers digital informa-tion services to Toyota automotive cus-tomers. The two companies aim tohelp develop and deploy telematics ap-plications on the Windows Azure plat-form, which includes Windows Azureand Microsoft SQL Azure, startingwith TMC’s electric and plug-in hy-brid vehicles in 2012. TMC’s goal is toestablish a complete global cloud plat-form by 2015 that will provide afford-able and advanced telematics servicesto Toyota automotive customersaround the world.

As part of its smart-grid activities,aimed at achieving a low-carbon soci-ety through efficient energy use, TMCis conducting trials in Japan of its Toy-ota Smart Center pilot program, whichplans to link people, automobiles and

homes for integrated control of energyconsumption. TMC believes that, aselectric and plug-in hybrid vehicles be-come more popular, such systems willrely more on telematics services forachieving efficient energy manage-ment.

Microsoft has a long history ofdelivering platforms and services tothe automotive market, including in-car infotainment systems built on theWindows Embedded Automotive plat-form, in-car mapping services withBing and the Microsoft Tellme voiceapplication, and many other consumersolutions.

“Our announcement of our part-nership with TMC is a great exampleof how we continue to invest in the au-tomotive industry and of our commit-ment to power the services that areimportant to consumers,” said Mi-crosoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “It furthervalidates the power of the cloud, as theWindows Azure platform will providethe enterprise-grade, scalable platformthat TMC needs to deliver telematicsin its automobiles worldwide.” SaidAkio Toyoda, president of TMC: “Toachieve this, it is important to developa new link between vehicles, peopleand smart center energy-managementsystems.”

Microsoft and Toyota Join Forces in Telematics Venture

With gasoline costing more than $3.50a gallon in all but one state, there aresigns that Americans are cutting backon driving, reversing a steady increasein demand for fuel as the economy im-proves.

For five consecutive weeks, Amer-icans bought less gas than they did a yearearlier, according to MasterCard Spend-ing Pulse, which tracks the volume ofgas sold at 140,000 service stations.

For the week of April 1, driversbought about 2.4 million gallons lessthan they did one year earlier, or 3.6percent. That was the biggest declinesince December, when people werestaying home because of snowstorms.

Before the decline, demand wasincreasing for two months. Some ana-lysts had expected the trend to continuebecause the economic recovery is pick-ing up, adding 216,000 jobs in March.

“More people are going to work,”said John Gamel, director of gasolineresearch for MasterCard. “That meansmore people are driving, and theyshould be buying more gas.”

Instead, about 70 percent of the na-tion’s major gas-station chains say saleshave fallen, according to a March sur-vey by the Oil Price Information Serv-ice. More than half reported a drop of 3

percent or more, the sharpest since thesummer of 2008, when gas soared past$4 a gallon.

This year, gas prices have shot upas unrest in North Africa and the MiddleEast has rattled energy markets and in-creased global demand for crude oilsqueezed supplies. A gallon of unleadedregular costs $3.77 on average, andonly Wyoming has an average lowerthan $3.50. Gas is already 41 centsmore expensive than at this point in2008, when it peaked at $4.11 in July.

Gas Prices Take Toll onMiles Driven

Subaru of America, Inc. will debut theall-new Impreza at its New York Inter-national Auto Show news conferencevia 3-D video. In a show first, atten-dees will throw on some 3-D glasses sothey can experience the lives of Subaruowners—from mud running, to yoga,to car driving—as its new model is re-vealed to the world. You can also catchthe show in plain old 2D on Sub-aru.com. The Impreza is being toutedas the most fuel efficient all wheeldrive vehicle in America. Marking itsbest sales in company history, Subaru’sApril 20th news conference will takeplace on the floor of the Jacob JavitsConvention Center.

Subaru Shows Off Impreza in3-D at New York Auto Show

This month let’s take a look at partsordering considerations that will im-prove your bottom line. Think for amoment of all your part suppliers bothOEM and aftermarket. Do you knowwhat the return parts policy is fromeach supplier? You should if you wantto maximize your business profits.

What is their return policy onparts that do not fit? Will they reim-burse you for full labor or just the partcost and leave you with a “catch youon the next one” policy?

Not too long ago, it was no “bigdeal” to return parts for credit monthslater. Some of us may even remembercredits issued with certain part suppli-ers for returns where we did not evenproduce evidence in the form of an in-voice. Well, times have changed con-siderably when ordering auto bodyparts. Today we have the option of or-dering parts by the traditional voicephone communication or a variety ofelectronic options which include fax,text, digital and e-mail.

Before ordering parts, Do youknow if there is a1) Maximum part return date2) Credit for returns for damagedparts3) Credit for returns on electricalparts4) Warranty for reconditioned wheels5) Warranty for off road usage6) Warranty for CAPA aftermarketparts (like kind & quality)

7) Warranty for Mechanical Parts8) Warranty for Chrome parts9) Warranty for New sheet metalrust through10) Warranty for Non-CAPA after-market parts11) Optional mechanical service war-ranty Agreement12) Transferable warranty to a non-original owner13) Policy for compensation to shopfor wrong parts received14) Fee for shipping cost on specialorder parts15) Restocking fee after 30 Days

Having answers to the aboveparts ordering warranty concerns willassure you maintain and improve yourparts department profit margins.

For example, recently our autobody shop in Santa Barbara, Califor-nia had a very positive parts warrantyexperience involving our aftermarketparts supplier.

Our repair shop had customer ap-proval to proceed with repairs to their2010 Honda Civic. Their insurancecompany, to my complete surprise,stipulated in the repair estimate theuse of an aftermarket fender and frontbumper. I questioned the insurancecompany adjuster to make sure therewas no mistake on their proposed es-timate for such a new vehicle. The In-surance adjuster replied the insured’spolicy stipulates using aftermarket

parts when available in exchange for alower annual policy premium. Uponhearing this news I decided not tomake a fuss and proceeded with re-pairs.

All appeared well until the carbumper was installed. After the bodytech installed the bumper it was quiteobvious there was a “quality of fit”problem. The bumper end did notmeet the attachment point of the after-market left fender. Additionally, therewere noticeable one-inch gaps in frontof both headlamps. How Sweet!!!

I immediately addressed the issuewith our aftermarket supplier who re-ferred me to the district manager. Thedistrict parts manager asked me totake a few digital pictures of the mis-fit and send them to him to forwardonto the manufacturer. Within 24hours he authorized the aftermarketparts manufacturer to pay 100% of allthe body & paint labor, including paint

supplies. We then reported the poten-tial catastrophe to the insurance com-pany who authorized us to install anOEM bumper. We proceeded withcompleting the repairs.

A couple of weeks later we re-ceived payment in full for $653.93from the aftermarket parts supplier.The insurance company even com-mented on how well we handled po-tential part warranty replacementcrisis. This could have turned uglyif we choose to involve a less rep-utable aftermarket part supplierwhose warranty did not conform tofull reimbursement for parts andlabor.

By choosing carefully your sup-pliers part sales warranty, you will ex-perience increased productivity andretained shop profits.

May you all receive many “PER-FECT FITTING PARTS” and addedincome to your bottom line!


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

NHTSA to Review ClaimCorolla Air Bag FailedThe National Highway TrafficSafety Administration has agreedto review a petition claiming thefrontal air bag of a 2008 ToyotaCorolla failed to deploy during acrash.

The agency said in a statementon its website that it received a peti-tion that “the frontal air bags in theirMY 2008 Corolla failed to deployduring a 55-mph frontal impact witha large animal (a deer). During thiscrash, neither the driver nor frontpassenger was seriously injured inthe incident.”

Feds Open Probes ofImprezas and SorrentosFederal regulators have opened twonew auto safety investigations intoSubaru Impreza and Kia Sorento ve-hicles. The National Highway Traf-fic Safety Administration said itopened an investigation into 50,0002011 Kia Sorento SUVs. NHTSAsaid it has received four complaintsalleging a loss of power because of asudden failure of a transmission in-termediate driveshaft. Another fivecomplaints allege a loss of power be-cause of transmission failure thatcould be related to a driveshaft fail-ure.


For only the second time since 1998 (theother time was February 2010), Fordsurpassed General Motors in total U.S.monthly auto sales. Despite gasolinecosts being up 17% since the beginningof the year, truck sales continue to bestrong, with Ford seeing truck sales up24.3% during the month and up 21.7%year to date. For GM, the Silverado sawsales increase 8.9% during the monthwhile sales are up 27.6% for the year.For Chrysler, the Dodge Ram saw salesincrease 23% for the month and 39% forthe year. Additionally, with respect toChrysler, the recently re-released Du-rango should be an area for growth.

Chrysler reported the best salesresults in nearly three years, whileNissan reported numbers that nearlymatched Chrysler’s as a result ofheavy incentives. Some automakers(namely Nissan and Ford) had a smalllevel of incentives during the first twomonths of the year, however, Nissanreally ratcheted up the incentiveswhich helped to fuel the monthlysales result. Ford’s incentives on theother hand were down 9.7% year overyear according to TrueCar.com; how-ever, compared to the month of Feb-ruary, incentives were up 7.8%.

Incentives were a main culprit forGM’s less than stellar result duringthe quarter, with incentives beingdown 16.7% compared to February.Part of the problem with offeringheavy incentives is that it pulls for-ward some future sales.

GM estimated that the seasonallyadjusted annual rate of sales for themonth of March came in at 13 millionvehicles, which is down from February’s13.4 million figure, but still up year overyear. This would mark the sixth monthin a row the figure tops 12 million.

Ford Surpasses GM inMarch Monthly Auto Sales

The Detroit News is reporting thatU.S. sales of hybrid and electriccars rose nearly twice as fast in thefirst three months of 2011 as themarket, according to research firmEdmunds.com.

Bolstered by rising gas prices, gas-electric hybrid and electric car sales in-creased 37 percent in the first quarter to78,523 vehicles, Edmunds said.

Toyota Motor Corp. accounted formore than two-thirds of the total, but thebiggest sales gains were recorded byHonda Motor Co., Germany’s BMWAG and General Motors Co., whichrolled out the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car late last year.

During the first quarter, sales ofvehicles with conventional powertrainsrose 20 percent.

In the budding hybrid and electricvehicle market, Toyota led with 54,609vehicle sales, up 37 percent. Sales of itsflagship gas-electric Prius car rose morethan 50 percent.

Honda moved into second placeafter boosting sales 84 percent to 11,354vehicles, followed by Ford, whichrecorded a 9 percent rise to 7,704 ad-vanced technology vehicles. Not all hy-brids are winners, though, Edmunds

cautioned. Sales of Toyota’s premiumLexus HS 250h car declined nearly 80percent.

Americans bought smaller carsand SUVs in March. The trends liftedU.S. sales of new vehicles by 17 per-cent from a year earlier to 1.25 mil-lion, a rate that shows the autoindustry’s slow and steady recoveryremains on track. The monthly salespace, adjusted for seasonal differ-ences and projected out for the year,came in at 13.1 million. That’s upfrom last year, but still far belowyears when car sales hit 16 million ayear.

Hybrids & Electrics GrowthOutpaces General Vehicles

Toyota is telling U.S. dealers that newvehicles could be in short supply thissummer because of production slow-downs in Japan and North America. Ina memo to dealers, Toyota’s U.S. gen-eral manager Bob Carter said Toyotais producing cars and trucks at re-duced levels in April and hasn’t set itsproduction schedule for May throughJuly. Production has been hamperedby parts shortages after suppliers weredamaged by the March 11 earthquakeand tsunami in Japan.

Toyota Warns Dealers thatInventory Could be Short

SANYO Gets Two FordWorld Excellence AwardsSANYO announced that two of itsproduct groups that supply Ford, theaudio console and HEV hybrid car bat-tery groups, have been awarded as topperforming suppliers in 2010, receiv-ing World Excellence Awards. Theyare Ford's highest recognition for sup-pliers around the globe in the 13thsuch annual awards event. Fordawarded 15 Gold and 26 Silver Awardsthis year, and SANYO received both aGold (Audio) and Silver (HEV batter-ies). The awards are given out for ex-cellence in quality, cost and delivery.


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

www.gonzostoolbox.com. See his book “Hey Look! I Found The LooseNut”, which provides a Good Laugh for Mechanics of Any Age. The bookis available at amazon.com. Contact Gonzo at [email protected]

Sometime ago I had my first booksigning at a local book store. Steve’sSundry—Books and Magazines. It’s alandmark bookstore in town. Every-one knows Steve’s place. It’s been intown for more than 60 years. It’s agreat place for a large malt at the sodafountain, or to browse around the storeto find a good book. I’m not a wellknown author; I’m a mechanic/techni-cian who wrote a book. I really didn’tthink there would be a crowd of po-tential buyers and admirers at the booksigning; I’m not that naive to think Iwould be bringing in a flood of newcustomers to the book store.

So, instead, I used the time tostudy the people that came in and outof the store. What a wonderful place,a book store. In the back of the storeis an old counter with a bar and sev-eral bar stools. The counter, the sodafountains, and the bar stools are alloriginal 50’s decor. With malt shakesand great sandwiches. You could takethe whole day to browse for bookswhile sipping on a shake or coffee.It’s a very pleasant place, nostalgicand modern at the same time.

One regular customer sitting atthe end of the bar was sipping awayon his coffee while texting messageson his Blackberry. On the other endthere was an old couple who appearedto be in their 70’s reading the paperand browsing a book or two. I couldsee this Norman Rockwell painting ofthem pictured there for probably thelast 40 years doing the same thing.

My place for the day was at a lit-tle table next to the register. A largestack of my books was neatly spreadacross the table. People would walkby, glance, and smile. The owner ofthe store would make short referencesto my book and try to get people in-

terested in talking to this so called“author” sitting there all solemn andquiet. The register was busy withsmall book purchases and a few pa-trons from the bar. Very home spunand relaxing, a lot of ‘hellos’ and“how’s the weather” commentsthroughout the afternoon. Some peo-ple would ask about thefootball game coming upand others would want toknow where a certainbook was.

All this was goingon while I sat there pa-tiently waiting for theclock to roll around tomy designated leav-ing time. Not that Iwanted to leave, ohno, I was enjoyingthe atmosphereand the quiet na-ture of the daily workingsof the store.

That brings me to the thoughtthat crossed my mind. Are these thesame people that come to my shopwith an attitude and misconceptionsof the auto industry? Probably so. Ihave often wondered if it’s my atti-tude that brings out the worst in peo-ple, but, the whole time I was sittingthere I was still the mechanic. I wasstill the guy they needed to fix theircar. However these people didn’tknow me as such. I was an unknownauthor signing books.

When someone would ask aboutmy book I would tell them that it wasa book about people and the dailyhappenings at my repair shop. That itwas funny, but informative, and youwould definitely get something out ofit. If you knew a person in the auto in-dustry this would make a great gift

and they would get a great kick out ofreading it too. Well, something likethat anyway. Most of the time I wouldget a disagreeable hmmm in response.Others had that pondering look as ifthey were going back into their mem-ory trying to find what was so funnyabout getting the oil changed on theircar. And then walk away shaking their

head. I didn’t find thatin anyway offen-sive, or disrespect-ful. I found it to bea logical, and a veryintelligent way for aperson to state theiropinion without say-ing much at all. I ad-mire folks like this, theones that can speaktheir minds without ut-tering a word.

As each and everyone of these patrons would

checkout at the register theygladly paid for their things and gave abig thank you to the person behind thecounter. I never heard one person everask “why does this cost so much”, “Ithink you shouldn’t charge so much forthis sandwich,” “I know a place downthe street that can do the same thing forhalf of what you’re charging.”

Now that’s funny, that’s prettymuch what I hear every day. Whatgives? Oh, now don’t get me wrong,it’s not every customer that complainsabout the prices. I have many, manycustomers that are eager to pay for mytime and service, even a few that thinkI’m not charging enough for what I do.I even have some that feel the need toleave a tip. It’s those that want to com-plain and complain and complain thatirks me. I have even had some tell methat I should give them the part for

what I paid for it. Does the book storegive you the book for what they paidfor it? Come on people. I wish I knewwhy it is the way it is, but for some rea-son perfectly sane people arrive at anauto repair shop and become tyranni-cal evil forces. Is it the smell of 90weight oil in the air? Could it be theconstant groan of pneumatic tools inthe background? I wish I knew. Maybeafter I retire I’ll take a job somewherepleasant. Quiet, reserved, and ever sonostalgic. Yeah. Like a book store.

A Day to Reflect—On the Other Side of the Bookstore Counter

Japan Supply Chain WillRattle Earnings WorldwideGlobal makers of products from mo-torcycles to mobile phones are findingit harder to get the parts they need afterJapan’s earthquake and tsunamiwrecked supply chains, and investorsworry that the worst is yet to come forearnings, Reuters reports detail.

Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson lowered the bottom end ofits 2011 shipments forecast on Tues-day because of problems getting holdof radio components. Revenue fromphone handset maker Sony Ericssonmissed forecasts because of difficul-ties with displays, batteries and otherparts. Apple Inc, which obtains manyparts for its top-selling gadgets fromJapan, expressed concern that marginsare coming under pressure as makersof electronic gadgets around the worldcompete for crucial components.

Toyota said it would cut U.S. ve-hicle production and might have tolower its full-year U.S. sales targets ifparts shortages extend into the sum-mer. “Electronics are used in so manyareas,” said Bryan Keane, equity ana-lyst. “It has the potential to be verywide-ranging. To some extent, it’sgoing to affect everyone. Even if yourdirect supplier isn’t impacted, yoursupplier could get their materials fromsomeone in Japan.”


Verizon showcased some of thenewest energy-efficient additions toits motor vehicle fleet at an event at-tended by President Obama on April1. Verizon, which has the third-largestcorporate vehicle fleet in the nation,was among five companies recog-nized by the president for adding sub-stantive numbers of green vehicles.

Verizon displayed three of its lat-est energy-efficient vehicles at theevent, which featured alternative-en-ergy trucks and cars operated by someof the nation’s largest corporations.

“We’re bringing environmen-tally friendly innovation and ad-vanced technologies to our motorfleet operations,” said Jim Gowen,chief sustainability officer for Veri-zon. “By seizing the opportunity tohelp improve the environment, ourvehicles are saving energy, reducingemissions and improving our green-house gas profile.”

At the event, held in Landover,Maryland, Verizon displayed a hybridChevrolet pick-up, an all-electricChevrolet Volt and a first-of-its-kindhybrid aerial-splicing vehicle. Overthe past few years, the company hasadded hundreds of hybrid ToyotaPriuses, as well as more than 500

compressed natural gas vans and 700hybrid pickups.

Verizon is the first communica-tions company to engineer and deploya hybrid fiber splicing unit. Because oftheir weight, these vehicles (com-monly known as “bucket trucks”) usu-ally consume significant amounts offuel. To reduce fuel consumption, thecompany incorporated a hybrid engineand innovative, onboard batteries thatassist in the vehicles’acceleration, andpower the bucket lift and lighting units.

“We’re replacing less-efficientvehicles with transformational, energy-efficient cars and trucks—a move thatwill have a long-term impact on re-ducing and improving fuel consump-tion and reducing pollutants,” saidWilliam Roberts, president of VerizonMaryland. “This event is a clear ex-ample of what happens when compa-nies are allowed to innovate anddeploy different technologies to meettheir needs while achieving our sharedenvironmentally positive goals.”

Verizon was also the first com-pany in the nation to deploy hybridpickup trucks on a large scale, in acommercial setting. Last year, Verizondeployed more than 700 of these vehi-cles and plans 300 more units in 2011.

Verizon Unveils Hybrid and Alternative-energy Vehicles

Airbiquity, a provider of wirelessconnected vehicle services, an-nounced at CTIA Wireless in Or-lando, the company’s selection toprovide data-over-voice technologyto OnStar’s retail product, OnStarFMV. OnStar’s mirror-mounted re-tail device will bring connected ve-hicle services to virtually anyvehicle. “We’re exceptionally proudof Airbiquity’s eight-year relation-ship with OnStar, the leading brandin connected vehicles,” said DavidJumpa, senior vice-president ofglobal business development, Air-biquity. Currently available on morethan 40 MY 2011 GM models, On-Star soon will be available for instal-lation on most other vehicles alreadyon the road through local electronicsretailers, including Best Buy. “Withour underlying technology, OnStarcontinues to offer an innovative andcost-effective range of services todrivers,” Jumpa said. “Adding On-Star to a car is now as quick and easyas installing a new rear-view mir-ror.” According to Airbiquity, OnStarFMV will be available for purchasefrom North American consumerelectronics retailers in 2011.

Airbiquity to Supply Air-Over-Voice Technology to Onstar

Ford Motor Co. is recalling almost1.2 million F-150 pickups and someLincoln Mark LTs due to faulty airbags. Federal regulators have re-ceived hundreds of instances of in-advertent air-bag deployment, manyof which have resulted in bruises,cuts and even a chipped tooth. Twodrivers said they were knocked un-conscious. Ford, however, said it isnot aware of any accidents related tothe glitch. The recall affects Fordtrucks from model years 2004through 2006.

“If the clockspring jumper wirecomes in contact with the driver sidefrontal air bag lower horn plate, thewire insulation may become chafed,creating a potential short circuit,” theNational Highway Traffic Safety Ad-ministration said. Ford had resistedexpanding the recall because the carmaker didn’t see it as necessary, butit finally caved to pressure from reg-ulators.

“We understand the govern-ment’s desire to reach a broad groupof potentially affected consumersand will recall the remaining popu-lation of trucks for our customers’peace of mind,” a spokesman said.

Ford Expands F-150/LincolnRecall Due to Airbag Flaws

As I promised in last month’s article,I have put together a checklist to helpyou get ready for an OSHA inspec-tion. This a not a complete checklistand you will probably need some out-side help to help you achieve totalcompliance, but it will help you havea better understanding of what isneeded to get your facility ready foran inspection.

You can also call your stateagency and they will come out a giveyou a courtesy inspection. All viola-tions will need to be corrected, butthere is no fine/ticket issued at thetime of inspection. You should knowthat they will return to check if the vi-olations have been corrected and youwill be on their radar screen. I willneed another article to complete thischecklist, so stay tuned next month.

To see the OSHA standards, go toGoogle.com and type in 29CFR 1910.38. This is the official OSHA web site.

First off, do you have 10 or moreemployees? If ‘yes,’ you will need awritten Emergency Contingency Plan.I took this description from the OSHAManual:

1910.38(b) Written and oralemergency plans. An emergency ac-tion plan must be in writing, kept inthe workplace, and available to em-ployees for review. However, employerwith 10 or fewer employees may com-municate the plan orally to employees.

An example of an Emergency Exit Plan

Do you have a Written Hazard Com-munication Plan?OSHA rule 29CFR 1910.1200 statesthat you need to have an active safetyand health program in operation thatdeals with general safety and health

program elements as well as manage-ment of hazard specific to your shop.

A written plan which describestraining, labeling, Material SafetyData Sheet (MSDS) management andother requirements of “Right-to-Know” must be in place. A good startfor you and your employees is I-CAR’s 4-hour WKR 01 (HazardousMaterials, Personal Safety, and Refin-ish Safety) class. The class deals withMSDS sheets, personal protectionequipment and a number of hazardsthat are common in the body shop.

A couple of other items that youmay want to incorporate into yourplan.● A written procedure for handling in-house employee complaints regardingsafety and health.● An incentive program for reducingwork place injuries● A formal disciplinary policy relat-ing to safety. I know one shop that willwrite up techs who do not wear theirsafety glasses. Second time is a oneday suspension, third write up is 3-daysuspension, and the fourth write up istermination.

Do you have all your current andpast MSDS sheets? Are they in a con-spicuous location? Did you know thatyou must retain all MSDS sheets for30 years after product is no longerbeing used? After the evacuation plan,this is a big ticket item with OSHA in-spectors. You can obtain them fromyour jobber, manufacturer’s reps andon-line.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)Let’s talk about Personal Protectiveequipment. Look at the picture belowand tell yourself what is wrong.

The refinish tech is mixing paint withno eye protection, gloves, respirator,

and paint suit. He is being exposed toisocyanates and doesn’t know it. Whois responsible for the Personal Protec-tive Equipment (I will refer to it aPPE) and its use? Well, the employeris responsible for providing the equip-ment and the training in using it andthe employee is responsible for actu-ally using it.

Respirators:● A respirator fit test is requiresyearly (29 CFR 1910.134).

● Respirators must be placed a sealedcontainer when not in use (29 CFR1910.134)● A program in place for training andproper use of respirators.● The type of respirator used for spe-cific products will be found in the Pre-ventative Measures of the MSDSsheets.● Respirator cartridges need to be re-placed on a regular basis. 3M P100cartridges need to be replacing after40 hours of use or 30 days, whichevercomes first.

Here are some common ques-tions that are asked about PPE:● Are approved safety glasses re-quired to be worn at all times in areaswhere there is a risk of eye injury?● Are protective goggles providedand worn where there is any danger offlying particles and harmful vapors


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Hey Toby!with Toby Chess

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

See Hey Toby!, Page 26

The Commission, however, had pro-posed bringing mobile repairers inunder the shop licensing program.AASP-New Jersey opposed this ac-tion, showing the Commission pub-lished ads by mobile repairersindicating they were doing far morethan minor cosmetic repairs and paintwork.

Bryant said the Commissionmost recently has taken the proposalto license the mobile repairers off thetable, placing the issue “on hold in-definitely.”

Assignment of proceeds discussedMike Parker of Parker’s Classic AutoWorks in Rutland, Vt., said he recentlyreceived nearly $12,000 from Nation-wide Insurance after successfullysuing the insurer in small claims courtfor unpaid amounts owed to 31 Na-tionwide insureds who had their vehi-cles repaired at Parker’s shop.

Parker used the “assignment ofproceeds” process in order to sue theinsurer on behalf of the vehicle-own-

ers for labor and materials on Parker’sfinal invoices that was not paid by Na-tionwide.

He said Nationwide’s attorney atthe 2-day trial last summer argued un-successfully that the case should bemoved to Superior Court, in part be-

cause many in thejury pool had alsohad their vehiclesfixed at the shopor had heard theshop’s radio ads.The jury decidedin the shop’s favorafter 45 minutes of

deliberation, and Nationwide’s initialappeal was denied. The insurer thenappealed to the state Supreme Court,and also offered to settle with Parkerfor the amount owed (about $11,000)less only the interest on that amountthe court had also ordered paid. Parkerdeclined the settlement, and Nation-wide subsequently dropped its appeal.

Despite Parker’s success, anotherattendee at the event urged cautionwhen using the “assignment of pro-ceeds.”

“It’s a very powerful document,but if it’s misused, it will come back

and cost you a ton of money,” saidTony Lombardozzi of the CoalitionFor Collision Repair Excellence.

Lombardozzi said anyone con-sidering using the process shouldwork with an attorney that is well-versed in how it works and who alsounderstands the collision repair busi-ness.

Massachusetts Labor rate bill returnsPeter Abdelmaseh, executive direc-tor of AASP of Massachusetts, saidthat group hopes the third time will bethe charm, as it tries again to get alabor rate bill passed in that state. Ab-delmaseh said shop labor rates inMassachusetts are the lowest in thecountry, an average of $5 less thanthose in the 49th state.

Under the proposed legislation, anewly-established commission woulddetermine the average labor rate na-tionally. The established rate in Mas-sachusetts would be based on that ratebut adjusted up or down based on howaverage technician wages there (as re-ported by the US Bureau of Labor Sta-tistics, compare to other states.

The commission would also de-fine three levels of shops based on

verifiable requirements for suchthings as equipment and training. “Alevel” shops would receive not lessthan the rate established by the com-mission; “B level” shops would re-ceive not less than 90 percent of thatrate. Shops that did not apply or meetthe A- or B-level requirements wouldnot have an established minimum rate.

Abdelmaseh said the associationhas estimated that under the legisla-tion, A-level shops would receive anhourly labor rate above $50 rather thecurrent mid-$30s. Insurers have saidthis would add $100 million to theirannual costs, but Abdelmaseh saidthose estimates are based on all shopsreceiving the A-level rate.

“We have said out of the 1,800shops (in the state), we think that only200 shops will be getting that A-levelrate, and maybe 300 more getting theB-level rate,” Abdelmaseh said.“Those shops will be doing about 60percent of the jobs, because they tendto be higher-capacity shops.”

The association has estimated therise in costs for insurers to the bill tobe about $28 million per year, or about$6 per policyholder in the state. He



East Coast Forum

See East Coast Forum, Page 42

Mike Parker

(isocyanates for example)?● Are protective gloves issued forvarious toxic exposures? (Again, youcan look in the Preventative Measuresof the MSDS sheets for specific typeof gloves that are necessary for a par-ticular product).● Do you have an eye-wash stationand it is properly maintained?● Is protective clothing supplied forpainting (paint suit for protection

against overspray and isocyanates)and welding (jackets and gloves)?● Is proper hearing protection equip-ment furnished? Here is an example ofan ear muff.

What Gets Most Scrutiny from OSHA?The area that receives the most atten-tion during an OSHA inspection is thepaint department. Let’s look at someof the problem areas that need your at-tention. The painter is first on my list.

All painters should be wearing apaint suit, glove and utilize a fresh-airsystem. I think that the fresh air sys-tem incorporates goggles and respira-tor into one system. Your painter canwear a half-mask fresh air system or arespirator, but must also wear goggles

if used instead of the full fresh air sys-tem. (Did you know that the fastestroute for hazardous materials to getinto the blood stream is through theeyes?)

You will also need a CO monitorif you use shop-supplied air. There aresystems that use electric pumps thatproduce no carbon monoxide, oil va-pors, or oil mist. The only drawbackis that the painter will need a separateair hose (The SATA unit pictured uti-lizes one hose. You plug your air lineinto a unit on a supplied belt and asmall hose comes off the unit to theCO monitor and then delivers fresh airto the helmet.)

I ask the same questions everytime I conduct I-CAR’s WKR 01 classto refinish technicians and helpers.Doyou mix paint? Do you clean theguns? When they answer ‘yes,’ I askthem if they wear goggles, respirators,paint suits, and gloves when they per-form both task. The majority answerthat comes back is they ‘only weargloves.’ Isocycantes are present in allthree operations: mixing, painting,and cleaning. The appropriate PPEmust be worn at all times. You need toenforce this rule or you are settingyourself up for a lawsuit. Be fore-warned.

Here are some other areas in thepaint department that need your atten-tion.● All containers need to have aworkplace label. If you mix paint forthe day, it is not necessary, but if thepaint is not used that day, it willneed a label. A piece of masking

tape with the paint code is not suffi-cient.This is a disaster in the making.● All metal flammable containersmust be grounded● A fire extinguisher must bewithin 10 feet of any inside storagearea of flammable liquids (More onfire extinguishers in the next arti-cle).● All solvent wastes and flammableliquids must be kept in fire-resistant,covered containers when not in use.

● All hazardous liquids must have aspill containment system● No smoking signs must be postedin areas of flammable liquid storage

● Paint mixing rooms/areas musthave explosion proof lights.

There are many companies thathave these materials (Grainger is anexample). Craig Oliveira of Kent Au-tomotive gave me his parent com-pany’s (Lawson Products) SafetyCatalogue and I found it to be ex-tremely helpful in getting all the in-formation and products necessary tobe in OSHA compliance. It is free—check with your local Kent Automo-tive Representative or other reputablesource. Next month’s article will focuson the rest of the shop. Stay safe.


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Hey Toby!

A Collision Industry Conference(CIC) committee hopes by April tohave hired a consultant to help build abusiness case for a new organizationthat would oversee the developmentand implementation of formalized col-lision repair standards in the UnitedStates.

Russ Thrall, co-chairman of theRepair Standards Advisory Commit-tee, said at the CIC held in Secaucus,NJ in mid-March that several propos-als from consultants are now being re-viewed, and a decision is expected inApril. If funding for the position canbe raised, the consultant will be askedto issue a draft of the business case bythe end of September.

For a number of years, an all-volunteer CIC committee has dis-cussed and crafted some portions ofa possible standard, which would ad-dress training, equipment and evenrepair procedures. A draft of the stillin-process 100-page document canbe viewed online (www.repairstan-dards.com).

Thrall has said the consultant isneeded to work with the volunteercommittee to conduct the interviewsand research necessary to propose astructure and funding mechanism forthe organization that would use a for-mal process to create and implementthe standards. The consultant’s reportwould also outline the value suchstandards would offer various seg-ments of the industry, and how theperformance of the standards could bemeasured.

The committee is planning aforum to be held in conjunction withCIC’s November meeting in LasVegas that would present the consul-tant’s findings and recommendations.

Thrall said the committee hopes to in-clude presentations and discussion atthat forum with representatives fromshops and insurers in the United King-dom where a formalized set of indus-try standards has been in place forseveral years.

As happens during many of thediscussions of proposed industry stan-dards, a number of participants at CICin Secaucus expressed questions orconcerns about the process or out-come.Aaron Schulenburg of the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists, for ex-ample, asked whether the fund-raisingthat was planned was just to cover theexpense of the consultant’s research,or if would be establishing funding fora standards organization even beforethe need for and interest in such an ef-fort was established. He said his grouphad recently held a conference callwith about 18 of its affiliated state re-pairer associations.

“The perspective was pretty con-sistent from association to associa-tion,” Schulenburg said. “To behonest, there was a lot of skepticismover the value, the benefit, and theoverall impact (of formalized industrystandards) on the repair facilities thatthese association represent.”

Thrall and others on the commit-tee stressed that funding was onlybeing sought to determine whetherthere is an interest in and business casefor the development of a standard-set-ting and –implementing organization.

I-CAR offers updateAlso at the meeting, Bill Stage of I-CAR provided an update on the train-ing organization’s efforts to revamp itsofferings and recognition program. He

said that while the Gold Class Profes-sionals designation is currently basedon “points,” it will convert to be basedon “hours” of training next year.

Stage said there are currentlyabout 4,000 Gold Class facilities inthe United States, up by about 1,800since last July. That growth, he said,came in part because of Allstate’spush to ensure all shops in its directrepair program are Gold Class.

“There’s another insurance com-pany that is pretty close to going downthat path as well,” Stage said. “Andtwo OEMs at this time are close to an-nouncing a Gold Class initiative fortheir dealership shops.”

Starting in July, I-CAR will beginto allow experienced technicians to“test-out” of some of the more “basic”courses required for “Platinum Indi-vidual” status.

He said I-CAR will announcethree new online classes in April, aswell as about one new online classabout each month after that. He saidthat while four hours of online train-ing currently is more expensive thanone 4-hour live I-CAR class, a newpricing structure expected to roll outin January will have “a lot more ra-tionality” in the pricing for the twotypes of training.

Other discussion at the meetingIn other news and discussion at CICin Secaucus:● Industry trainer Toby Chess pre-sented information on the need to re-calibrate the steering angle sensor thatis part of the electronic stability con-trol system on an increasing numberof new vehicles. Such systems arestandard equipment on 85 percent of2010 new vehicles, and will be re-

quired on all new vehicles as of modelyear 2012. The recalibration is an ad-ditional procedure that must be doneafter the vehicle alignment. “It’s anadded step, and there’s also no more2-wheel alignments with these sys-tems. That won’t work,” Chess said.He said even though no “trouble light”will be lit on the dash and the vehiclemay handle properly under normaldriving conditions even if the systemis not calibrated, the electronic stabil-ity control function may not workproperly in a subsequent “emergencymaneuver.”● Deborah Craig, a compliance officerwith the U.S. Environmental Protec-tion Agency, said that even though thedeadline has passed for shops to com-ply with new federal refinish and paintstripping regulations, any business thathas not complied should not avoiddoing so. “Some folks think if theyhang back and don’t submit the paper-work that somehow EPA isn’t going toknow about them,” Craig said. “Theydon’t want to shine a light on them-selves by submitting something late.Our recommendation is that you justmove forward as quickly as possiblyto come into compliance. Give the re-gional EPA folks a call. Ask for help infilling out the forms. Talk to folks inyour trade group for assistance. Talk toyour paint suppliers. A lot of the paintsuppliers have really been offeringsuch excellent customer service byhelping you comply.”● An informal collection of cash do-nations from the approximately 150people at the meeting raised more than$1,600 for the Japanese Red Cross tosupport efforts to help that countryfollowing the earthquakes and March11 tsunami.


Effort to Develop Collision Repair Standards Takes Another Step Forward

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].

saying it had no plans to implementsuch a program nationally, but that ithad found that electronic parts order-ing “has value”. The Select Serviceagreement that participating shopsmust sign gives the insurer the right torequire electronic parts ordering.

As of yet there is no firm startdate for the test. According to GeorgeAvery, State Farm claims consultant,the company has yet to work out de-tails about which Select Service shopswill participate or what kind of tech-nology will be used.

“We don’t have a timeline and wedon’t know where we’re going to testit,” Avery said. “Our intent is to givethe repairer the choice of the type of

parts they want to use. We’ll thor-oughly test this solution before we rollit out to our shops, like we do all ofour projects.”

The goal is to improve the effi-ciency and accuracy of the parts or-dering process to minimize returnsand potentially increase the speed ofrepairs. State Farm could poten-tially benefit through reductions inrental costs and overall repair costs

by eliminating supplements and re-turns.

The first electronic parts pro-gram, which was designed based onan OE discounting program, ran from2007 to 2009. “This is just the nextstep in the process,” Avery said.“We’re taking what we learned andapplying that to improve efficiency,get the right parts and possibly fix thecar quicker.”


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Used Vehicle Pricing Expectedto Rise in Quake AftermathAutomotive News Reporter ArlenaSawyers writes that since theearthquake in Japan, used-vehicleprices have become so volatile thatprice experts are scrambling tokeep up. And dealers, anticipatingnew-car shortages, are going be-yond usual channels to stock used-car lots, often paying more forthose vehicles and then worryingabout having shelled out too much.Prices already were high. The re-cession led to a shortage of usedvehicles, and when demand rose ascredit eased for used-car cus-tomers, prices soared. Then thequake struck.

Reduced production by Japan-ese automakers, such as ToyotaMotor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.,and the threat of production cuts byvirtually all automakers means areduced new-vehicle supply. Deal-ers who are short of new vehicleslook to the used-car lot to meet de-mand.

And prices could go evenhigher. If new-vehicle incentives dryup, as many predict, prices of usedvehicles will rise as new-car transac-tion prices go up.

Full Deliveries From JapaneseSuppliers Stalled Until JulyAutomotive News Editor Jason Steinreports that as inventories of Japan-ese products continue to dry up, Toy-ota Motor Corp. and Nissan MotorCo. have warned U.S. dealers: Fulldeliveries from Japan likely won’t ar-rive until July at the earliest, and per-haps as late as September.

Parts shortages have forced Toy-ota and Nissan to prepare several sce-narios in which full production inJapan wouldn’t begin until at least 30to 90 days after the country’s upcom-ing holiday break, said people whohave been briefed on the situation.

In the best-case scenario, bothautomakers will begin full productiona month after Japan’s Golden Weekholiday that ends May 9.

In an internal document sent todealers Friday, April 15, Toyota saidit will keep building cars in Japan athalf of the original plans until June 3,which will cost the automaker an-other 120,000 vehicles in lost pro-duction. A decision on Toyotaproduction at Japanese plants afterJune 6 “will be made at a later dateafter assessing the situation of its sup-pliers and other related companies,”the document says.

Honda Extends ProductionCuts in North America to MayAutomotive News is reporting thatHonda will extend reductions of vehicleoutput at its U.S. and Canadian plantsthrough May 6. The automaker had pre-viously said it would reduce vehicle out-put through April 22. Decisions havebeen made on a plant-by-plant basis onhow much to cut back production inorder to conserve parts. Affected plantsinclude East Liberty, Ohio, which makesthe Honda Accord Crosstour and CR-V;Greensburg, Ind., which builds theHonda Civic and Civic GX; Lincoln,Ala., which makes the Honda Odyssey,Pilot and Ridgeline; Marysville, Ohio,which produces the Accord and theAcura TL and RDX; and Alliston, On-tario, which builds the Civic and theAcura CSX, MDX and ZDX. Hondahas been altering production schedulesat those plants since March 30 in thewake of the March 11 earthquake andtsunami in Japan. The automaker said itanticipates that additional productionadjustments will continue after May 6.Honda has already restricted dealer or-ders for June, so that allocated colorsand trim levels for U.S.-built vehiclescannot be altered. It also has suspendedU.S. dealer orders for Japan-built mod-els that are sold here.

Hyundai, Kia Running U.S.Plants at Full SpeedHyundai and Kia, South Korea’sbiggest carmakers, are running fullshifts at their U.S. plants with over-time, unaffected by parts shortagesthat are curbing output for Japan-based competitors. Hyundai’s plant inMontgomery, Ala., aims to squeezeout 10 percent more Sonata andElantra sedans than its 300,000-unitcapacity this year, said Robert Burns,a spokesman for the factory. About 80miles east, Kia’s plant in West Point,Ga., has run extended weekday shiftsand Saturday work since last year andexpects that to continue for the fore-seeable future, said Corinne Hodges,a spokeswoman for Kia. ExpandedU.S. output at Hyundai and Kia con-trasts with assembly reductions at theNorth American plants of Toyota,Honda and Nissan implemented afterJapan’s earthquake on March11. U.S.-based General Motors and Ford alsocut some assembly, and ChryslerGroup canceled overtime shifts toconserve supplies of parts that mightgrow scarcer. Globally, 1.5 millionunits of auto production might be losttemporarily because of damaged op-erations at Japan-based parts and ma-terials suppliers.

PPG hosted its invitation-only Spring2011 MVP Conference in PalmSprings at the spectacular Rancho LasPalmas Resort March 27 through 29.The theme of the conference was‘Journey to Excellence’ and excel-

lence on many levels was provided formore than 350 fortunate PPG cus-tomers and special guests in atten-dance.

Imagine a collision repair train-ing event that combines a golfingretreat at a top-notch Southern Cal-ifornia resort, high-end illusionistsand magic tricks, nationally known

motivational speakers, excellent andabundant food, and of course, seri-ous and substantial shop manage-ment training. Add in a spectacularlocation, beautiful weather, and anintimate cocktail party—with livemusic—to introduce a continuoustwo-day trade show, and it’s hard toimagine a collision shop owner whowouldn’t want to be part of it.

Take note, industry, this is theway to hold a collision and refinishconference that leaves the attendeeswondering what can possibily be donenext year to top it. But it wasn’t just

fun and games. In fact a good deal ofthe fun and games were designed witha serious purpose in mind, either to il-lustrate good and bad thought habitsimpacting business, or to invite intro-spection about running a collisionbusiness in an era of change and un-certainty. Clearly a lot of planning, re-finement, and foresight went intodesigning the curriculum that drivesthe MVP Business Development Se-ries from PPG.

The MVP program is a series ofbusiness development training coursescovering every aspect of running asuccessful and profitable collisioncenter. Add to that, the opportunity toattend MVP round table forums whereparticipants brainstorm with theirpeers on ways to reduce cycle time,increase productivity and improve in

areas where they might be underper-forming, and the full import of theprogram comes together to benefit theshop, its employees, and its cus-tomers.

Jim Berkey, Director of Busi-ness Solutions for PPG Refinish,andNorm Angrove, Senior Manager ofPPG Value-added Programs, ex-plained over lunch that, when intro-duced more than a decade ago, MVPBusiness Solutions was the first pro-

gram of its kind in the collision repairindustry. Since then, thousands of col-lision center owners and managershave taken advantage of MVP’s inno-vative programs to improve the waythey run their businesses. Said Berkey,“In anticipation of industry consolida-tion five years ago, we started re-


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PPG’s MVP Spring Conference—Excellent, Entertaining and Informative

From top left clockwise: The beautiful Rancho Las Palmas Resort; l to r: Shop Owner Tom Bisson-nette (Parr Auto Body), Norm Angrove (PPG) and Jim Berkey (PPG); Bottom photos: Over 30 ven-dors participated in the Vendor Fair which was well attended by the participants.

The conference kicked-off with a Golf Tournament. The winning 4-some shot a 63 (l to r)Ed Carwile, Chuck Anderson, Benjamin Mahoney and Walter Hughes

Jim Berkey, Director of Business Solutions forPPG Refinish, introduced the keynote speakers

Michael McMillan, Author of “The Pink Bat”was one of the motivational speakers at theevent. His key message was that “Imaginationis more important than knowledge”

with Jeremy HayhurstPublisher’s Page Jeremy Hayhurst is a former geologist, university science publisher, and now newsmagazine

owner who started working in a body shop in high school. Contact him with your ideas andsuggestions at [email protected]

See PPG’s MVP Conference, Page 35


by Paul Stoll, PPG Trainer

John Force Racing drivers have wonthe last five National Hot Rod Associ-ation (NHRA) events, dating backinto late 2010. You don’t do that with-

out some body damage to your FordMustang Fuel Funny Cars.

John Force Racing has beenusing PPG’s Envirobase® High Per-

formance waterborne basecoat ontheir cars for two years now. Envi-robase® HP is very easy to use and re-pair, something that the paint team hasthe opportunity to do on more thanone occasion—when things go bad onthe racetrack. PPG waterbornebasecoat dries to a thinner film thanconventional solvent basecoats, help-ing the team keep the Ford Mustangbodies light. And PPG’s Envirobase®

HP waterborne paint has helped JohnForce Racing go green.

I had the opportunity to go to theteam’s Brownsburg, Indiana shop ear-lier this winter and spend four dayshelping paint the Ford Mustang bodiesfor 2011. I worked with Dean An-tonelli, one of John Force’s crewchiefs and general manager of theBrownsburg facility. Paint shop man-ager and graphic designer BrandonBaker, painter Dave Gregory andJesse Knox were all part of the team.

Creating Robert Hight’s 2011 FordMustang BodyLast year’s carbon fiber bodies arestripped of the PPG clearcoat and

most of the basecoat too, to keep theweight down. We used a PPG citrus-based paint remover for various rea-sons: first to be safe over the carbonfiber; second, it’s a green productthat’s safe for the environment; andfinally, the water-based stripper

works better than the caustic typepaint removers traditionally used.Envirobase® HP is a latex resinbasecoat that is very flexible and re-sists solvents and chemicals. Thepaint that is not removed, as well asthe exposed carbon fiber, are thensanded with 400 grit dry sandpaper.

Painting with Waterborne at John Force Racing

Spot primed and sanded Mustang Body readyto move in to booth to spray PPG EHP SilverMetallic base coat

With the first color sprayed and Dry for 30minutes Brandon and Dave begin the maskingprocess

Yellow Paint Mask Brandon cut helps keep thedesign the same on all John Force Racing 2Mustangs

2 Coats PPG EHP White base coat

Ready to cover up the white with TransferTape, and spray Blue

See Painting with Waterborne, Page 33

White covered up with transfer tape

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Robert won NHRA’s 2011 Winternationals. Proving PPG Envirobase High Performance is not onlyFast in the paint shop but also Fast on the track


SHOP & PRODUCTSHOP & PRODUCTSHOWCASESHOWCASE

The conversion to waterborne paintin states like New Jersey is a realityfor body shops throughout the North-east, because by 2012 regulationswill likely mandate the use of the newpaint. While some collision busi-nesses are not enamored with theidea of changing the way they’vebeen painting cars for decades,many are happy to say ‘goodbye’ tosolvent and ‘hello’ to waterborne.Proactive shops that see the value inmaking the changeover beforethey’re forced to do so by law arejumping on the waterborne band-wagon right now.

One of these proactive shops isAndrews Auto Body in Brick, NewJersey; a shop that has embracedPPG Envirobase®High Performancewaterborne paint in a big way.

If you live in or around Brick, youknow the name Andrews. This sec-ond-generation body shop has beenaround since 1979, when Rich An-drews, Sr. started his small bodyshop and built a substantial cus-tomer base, many, many years be-fore waterborne paint was evensomething to consider.

But growth dictates new proce-dures. In August of 2009, Rich, Sr.,and his whole family moved to anew, 6,000 square-foot facility. I saythey all “moved” there because theentire family works for the business.Mom (Linda) is the front office man-ager, her oldest son Keith, 36, is theshop’s manager; Rich Jr., 31, is theshop’s lead painter and their sister,Jennifer, is the shop’s assistant officemanager. And dad is still there,watching his sons as they take theirshop to a new level—which includeswaterborne.

Since the move, Andrews haspurchased a towing company anddoes a lot of work for the town ofBrick, Keith Andrews said, whichhas provided a new source of rev-enue for the shop. Simultaneously,Andrews Auto Body made thechangeover to PPG Envirobase®

HP basecoat in their new, larger fa-cility. The moves have paid off in abig way, because the shop is hittingbetter numbers than ever.

“We’ve tripled our revenue sincemoving here and now we’re repairing50–60 vehicles per month,” Keithsaid. “Switching to the PPG water-borne paint has played a big part ofit. This year, we’re on track to do $1.4million, which is very encouragingnews, especially since we’re still in arecession and all the snow this win-ter didn’t help us either. We switched

over to waterborne to stay ahead ofthe game. We know we don’t have todo it until 2012, but we decided—since we’re moving—why not usethe opportunity to do it now? ThePPG rep convinced me that their En-virobase® HP waterborne would be abetter way of doing things, so wemade the move and we haven’tlooked back. PPG Envirobase® HP isa great product and we’re happy withit for several reasons.”

As lead painter it was particularlyimportant that Rich Andrews, Jr. was100% onboard with the switchover toPPG waterborne, because he is theshop’s only painter and runs thecompany’s paint department fromthe mixing station all the way to thepaint booth.

The whole changeover startedwith the training provided by PPG,both on-site and through their train-ing center in Maryland. Rich, Jr. ex-plained, “They trained me on thewaterborne system in shop and thenthey sent me to Maryland for furthertraining. Scott Pearson, from PPGwas great and he made the transitionpainless. Our paint jobber, AlbertKemperle Paint and Body EquipmentInc., played a big role too. The PPGpeople were here several times andthey stayed with us until we were to-tally comfortable with the paint andprocedures. They walked us throughthe process until the result was per-fect. We’d been using solvent since1979, so this was a significantchange, obviously.

“It was a huge change, so Iadmit I was a little reluctant at first,”Rich, Jr. said. “But I didn’t have to re-

do one single car, to be completelyhonest. The color matches are spot-on and the finished product is betterthan solvent. There was a very smalllearning curve, but once I got intothe groove on how to spray it anddry it, it was a pretty smooth transi-tion.

Keith Andrews knows that PPGhas been instrumental in improvinghis production system and he con-tinues to be pleased by the com-pany’s top-notch customer service.“PPG has done a great job in help-ing us be more productive in gen-eral,” said Keith. “Everyone withPPG has been excellent in every as-pect of what they do for us. If I askthem or Albert Kemperle, my PPGjobber, I get it. They respond to mealmost immediately in every case,which is great. That’s all you can askfrom a paint company. PPG hasplayed a very integral part in gettingus to where we are now, so it’s beena great relationship.”

Now that he’s been using thewaterborne basecoat for almost 18months on a daily basis, what doesRich, Jr. think of waterborne in gen-eral? “It may slow you down for afew minutes, but in the end youwon’t be re-doing jobs, because thecolor matches are perfect. With En-virobase® HP, the finished productis better, with zero comebacks orcomplaints. They make the simplematches so simple and it has prettymuch eliminated spray outs. I’mnow doing 3–4 cars a day, and Idon’t have to do even one singlespray out. I’ve reached a pointwhere I can just trust it.”

It may take a few more minutes to paint a carwith waterborne vs. the old solvent days, RichAndrews, Jr., said, but the finished product issuperior in every way.

Andrews Auto BodyLocation: Brick, NJ

Telephone: 732-920-3692www.????.com

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: Nine

In Business Since: 1979

DRP Programs: Four

Number of Locations: One

Combined Production Space:6,000 square feet

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

It’s a family affair at Andrews Auto Body in Brick, New Jersey. From left, Rich, Jr. is the shop’slead painter; his sister Jennifer is the assistant office manager; Rich, Sr. started the shop 32 yearsago; his wife Linda runs the front office; and Keith Andrews manages the shop

32-year-old N.J. Body Shop Embraces PPG’sEnvirobase® HP Waterborne Basecoat

Lead Painter Rich Andrews, Jr. doesn’t have tore-do jobs by using PPG Envirobase® HP wa-terborne paint, he said, because the colormatches are on the money 100% of the time

by Ed Attanasio

TrueCar.com has released a refresheddemographic study based on car-buy-ing behavior in 2010, examining gen-der differences in auto buying.TrueCar.com’s study was based on overeight million retail purchases in 2010.

“The study shows that womencar buyers are more cost-consciousand purchased fuel-efficient vehicleswhile male buyers were completelythe opposite, purchasing vehicles thatwere either big and brawny, like alarge truck, or chose a high-priced,high-performance vehicle,” said JesseToprak, Vice President of IndustryTrends and Insights at TrueCar.com.

Some of the key findings of theTrueCar.com study include:● The brand with the highest percent-age of retail sales to females in 2010was MINI (47.9 percent), followed byKia (46.8 percent), and Honda (46.0percent) compared to 2009 when Sat-urn and Kia tied at 45.2 percent andMINI came in third at 45.0 percent.There were fifteen brands with a fe-male ratio over 40 percent in both2009 and 2010.● The highest percentage of male buy-ers primarily purchased exotic brands.

There were five brands in 2010 at10 percent or less for retail sales to

women, including Ferrari (6.4 per-cent), Lotus (7.2 percent), Lamborgh-ini (7.4 percent), Maybach (8.0percent), and Rolls Royce (9.3 per-cent) compared to 2009 when therewere six brands; including Bugatti (0percent), Maybach (3.7 percent), Fer-rari (5.1 percent), Lamborghini (5.5percent), Rolls Royce (8.0 percent),and Aston Martin (9.0 percent).● The top ten models that had greaterthan 50 percent retail sales to femalesand at least 1,000 annual retail salesin 2010 were: Volkswagen New Bee-tle, Kia Spectra, Nissan Rogue, Volk-swagen Eos, Hyundai Entourage,

Volvo S40, Jeep Compass, HondaCR-V, Nissan Sentra, and HyundaiTucson.

– The top ten models that hadgreater than 50 percent retail sales tomales and at least 1,000 annual retailsales in 2010 were: Porsche 911,GMC Sierra, Chevrolet Corvette,Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-Series,BMW M3, Ford Ranger, Toyota Tun-dra, Dodge Ram and Audi S5.

TrueCar.com also examined themost current market prices and listeddiscounts for all of the brands and spe-cific models that were tracked withover 1,000 vehicle sales annually.


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Houston Auto Body Association, SCRS Association of the Year, Gathers at StateCapitol in Austin to Support Senate Bill 1300The Houston Auto Body Associationasked that members of the collisionrepair industry in Texas contact theirSenators in support of SB 1300, whichwas up for committee hearing on April12.

The Texas Senate Business andCommerce committee voted unani-

mously to pass SB 1300 on that date,which will require more disclosurefrom insurers about their Direct re-pair Program policies and require-ments.

James Brown, HABA’s Presi-dent, and many others with the HABAmet in Austin April 12 at 7am to show

support for this bill.The Texas Department of Insur-

ance is in full support of this bill aswell, according to Brown.

The Committee Substitute ver-sion of the bill was passed out ofcommittee, it now heads to the Local& Consent calendar and then it will

go to the House Insurance Commit-tee.

“I would also like to extend aspecial thanks to all those who madephone calls and those who came toAustin in show of support for this Bill.I especially want to thank Larry Cer-

See HABA SB1300, Page 37


Sanding carbon fiber will expose thefibers, so sanding is kept to a mini-mum.

Areas that require a body fillerand any fuzzy carbon fiber exposedfrom over sanding are sprayed withPPG’s ECP A-Chromatic Surfacer.After drying, we sanded with 400 gritdry sandpaper, and finished with 600grit. Envirobase® HP basecoats shouldbe sprayed over a 600 grit (or finer)scratch because of the thinner filmbuild. A sealer could be used to fillsand scratches, but on these cars,sealer is left off to help keep theweight to a minimum.

The Mustang body is now blownoff and cleaned with PPG’s One-Choice® H2O-So-Clean waterbornecleaner. This evaporates quicker andpulls the sanding dust from the sand-ing scratches much better then solventcleaner, leaving a nice surface that isready to paint. Since we are workingon a carbon fiber body, we do not getany static when wiping the body.

The first color to go down will be

a metallic silver. I spray three coatsjust in the area where we will mask offthe silver with ½-inch tape for Bran-don’s design. I use an Iwata LPH400gun with a gold air cap. I let the metal-lic silver dry between coats, whichtakes only five minutes thanks to the

TurboAir Drying System® installed inJFR’s booth. Air movement is whatmakes waterborne paint dry fast, andthe TurboAir unit is a turbine blowerthat does the job quickly—speed is re-quired at John Force Racing.

After a 30-minute dry time in thebooth, masking begins. We use a plas-tic/vinyl masking tape like FBS. Bran-don also uses his computer skills tocut out a paint mask to aid in speed-ing up the process and, more impor-tantly, to keep all the designs the sameon all the John Force Racing Mus-tangs. The area of the car that will beblue is covered with plastic, so as tonot add excess paint and weight to thecar. The white stripes are sprayednext.

Two coats of Envirobase® HPT400 white toner are sprayed, withfive minutes dry time between coatsand a 30-minute dry time before we’reready for the blue. The white basecoatcovers twice as fast as solvent, so thisstep goes quickly and weighs less dueto fewer coats of paint. This also helpskeep edges between colors muchsmoother.

We mask off the white with atransfer paper that Brandon uses totransfer the vinyl decals he puts on thecar. Again, this is faster than tape andpaper.

I am back in the booth, and Ispray two coats of ‘AAA of SouthernCalifornia’ blue. The Envirobase® HPformula covers quickly, and with theTurboAir blowing, I am ready for thesecond coat as soon as I can reload thepaint gun. In just half an hour, I am

ready to clean up and we are unmask-ing. We had a couple of small blowthroughs on the first car—easily fixed.A quick mask of the blue and re-spraya little silver. The second car was per-fect, no blow throughs.

I blew the body off and tacked itwith a PPG tack rag. Dave thenstepped in and sprayed a double coatof PPG EC700 Production Clearcoat.While custom, multiple-color paintjobs are not considered to be very pro-ductive, with the tools at John ForceRacing and the speed of the Envi-robase® HP basecoats, we where ableto spray a body a day while I was vis-iting.

The last part of the job was ap-plying sponsors’ logos on the cars,which I left in the experienced handsof Brandon.

Paul Stoll is a PPG Trainer, who,among his many duties, teaches cus-tom painting classes at PPG trainingcenters across the country. Classes in-clude training using Envirobase® HighPerformance basecoats in custompaint jobs. When not traveling, Stollcan be found at the PPG training cen-ter in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.,(909) 987-0924.

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1st coat of PPG EHP Blue water base coat Body unmasked, tacked, ready for Clear Coat

2 coats of PPG EHP Blue. White unmasked 1 Double coat of PPG ECS 700 Clear PPG EHP finished cars getting sponsors logos


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by Greg Horn, VP Mitchell

Recently, I published an article on re-finish times broken down by vehicletype, age and origin in the Q1 MitchellIndustry Trends Report (ITR). Iwanted to see if all vehicles receivedthe same treatment in the refinishprocess regardless of these factors.“Paint by Numbers: A Deep Dive IntoRefinish Data,” drilled down into therefinish data for a year’s worth of ap-praisals and compared these elementsto determine if there were significantdifferences in the refinish process.

At the outset, I want to stateclearly that this article examines thedata only and is not intended to be con-strued as advocating or refuting anyOEM refinish procedure or recom-mendation. I firmly believe that everydamaged vehicle is unique and theproper repair procedure must be doneon an individual basis. This determi-nation should include the vehicle’s de-sign, age, condition, finish, locationand extent of damage, automaker andpaint company recommended proce-dures, and last but certainly not least,the customer’s expectations.

Our data immediately pointed outthat there are in fact differences in therefinish process appearing on the ap-praisals. According to the data domesticmade vehicles, including trucks/SUVsand older vehicles, received slightlyfewer additional paint operations.Trucks and SUVs have slightly fewerhours added for blending into adjacentpanels, averaging 1.35 hours of blendvs. 1.4 on average for passenger cars onestimates where a blend was specified.Surprising? That’s one way to put it.

The original ITR article spurreda great deal of discussion in the colli-sion repair industry. Many expressedthat the data didn’t represent what wastruly indicative of the operations re-quired; rather they felt it was repre-sentative of what insurers paid for. Infact, the data does reflect what waswritten and accepted for the repair be-cause the estimates were “aged,”meaning at least 90 days had elapsedbefore we queried the data. Note, Isaid accepted because these repairs re-flect that an appraisal was written, aclaim was made and presumably therepairs were done in accordance withthe appraisal.

I also received many questionsabout the difference in allotted hoursfor blend into adjacent panel time vs.full refinish operations and believe itis important to clearly state the differ-ences between the two in the MitchellProcedure Pages.

In order to explain the differenceswe need to clarify our refinish labor timepremises. The steps for refinishing a newundamaged E-Coated panel include:

* Solvent wash* Scuff panel and clean* Mask adjacent panels* Prime or seal as required* Final Sanding and clean* Mix materials* Adjust spray equipment* Apply color * Clean equipment

Mitchell refinish labor times alsoallow for flash times between coats.

When blending a panel the re-duction in labor time is due to not hav-ing to perform the following steps:

* Prime or seal as required* Final Sanding and clean* Mix materials* Adjust spray equipment* Clean equipment

Revisiting Paint by Numbers: A Deep Dive into Refinish Data

Thesese luluxuryry a obilryry aututomomomobilesesdeseserve e to b beefinishshed witithithGenunuineeJaguarar P Partsts..ts....

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Asia Domestic Europe 1 yr or Less 1 yr to 5 yrs 5 yrs or older Car Truck/SUV

Avg Blend Hrs Only Ests w/Blend1.46

1.44

1.4

1.3

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1.38

1.36

1.34

1.32

1.28

See Paint by Numbers, Page 37

building our programs. It was clear tous that the industry was going to de-mand stronger performance aroundquality cost and speed. Feeling goodabout the training received and feelinggood about their paint supplier wasnot going to be enough.”

“Our mission was to addresscycle time reduction, the hardest met-ric to improve, by improving under-standing about what really impactscycle time.”

Both Berkey and Angrove elob-orated on what success means to PPGand a great deal of their motivationstems from helping shops surviveand thrive due to improved perform-ance. Yes, it means keeping a cus-tomer who uses PPG product, butsuccess really means helping thatshop maintain its DRPs by helpingthem improve continuously. Berkeysaid that most shops (say 90%) knowwhat’s wrong with their operations,roughly half of those know how tochange (say 45%), but only half ofthose again (say 20%) can actually

accomplish the change.When asked about trends in

DRPs during one of the sessions,Berkey responded, “Look at StateFarm. State Farm has decreased itsDRPs from around 20,000 to some-where around 11,000. It’s just gettingmore competitive. Shops must workon performance if they want to be one

of those shops in competitive pro-grams.”

The Keynote speakers at theevent, introduced by Berkey, set thetone with an energetic talk by GregSmith titled Fired Up, Leading YourOrganization To Achieve Exceptional

Results. Smith’s talk stressed thatsuccess increasingly depends onkeeping your organization heading inthe right direction and acceleratingperformance across the board. Totruly succeed you need a high-energyworkplace that boosts performance,generates more profits, increasessales and provides outstanding cus-

tomer service. You must develop aplan that will generate measurable,bottom-line performance improve-ment results immediately. This willallow you to adapt to changing trendsand manage shifts in markets, com-petition and customer preferences ina changing work environment.

Another motivational speakerwas Michael McMillan, Author ofPink Bat: Turning Problems Into So-lutions who spoke engagingly on thenature of problems, and the fear of a“problem pandemic.” Using eventsfrom his childhood, McMillan di-rected the audience to see how manyperceived problems are actually un-seen solutions. You either live eachday in a world filled with “problems,”or invert your thinking to perceive aworld of unseen solutions.

The keynotes helped pave theway for the larger message that MVPServices is all about continuousprocess improvement. The success ofany collision center, now and in thefuture, is critically dependent on itsability to compete for business and re-pair vehicles more quickly withoutsacrificing quality or increasing costs.It requires new thinking, newprocesses, and a work culture devotedto continuous process improvement.Most critical are the leadership skillsof managers, supervisors and teamleaders, and their ability to implementand sustain continuous improvementthroughout the organization. MVPLeadership training sessions providea systematic approach for giving at-tendees the skills required to imple-

ment change in their collision centers.The MVP Business Solutions

program is designed to provide colli-sion centres with an ongoing, real-world assessment of theirperformance as it compares to top-performing shops of similar size.Once this benchmarking analysis andbodyshop assessment is in hand, anowner or manager can identify anycritical areas of their business thatneed to improve in order for the shopto reach its full potential.

The first day of breakout ses-sions were devoted to a variety ofshop performance topics such as:360 Degree Marketing, Load Level-ing, Value Stream Mapping, and TheLean Journey in Collision. The sec-ond day consisted of follow-upworkshops that were more interac-tive in nature and gave attendees anopportunity to see what type of ma-terial would be covered in the fullPPG MVP classes, which are offeredthroughout the year in various USand Canadian locations.

PPG has worked with customerson implementing Lean for years, andhas identified critical and necessarysteps to go through to work success-fully with customers. One of thebreakout sessions, The Lean Journeyin Collision—A Road Map to Imple-mentation, presented by Jim Berkeyand Randy Dewing, pointed out someunvarnished facts about Lean—thatthe failure rate while implementingLean is far too high. This can be verydiscouraging. On the other hand, thosesuccessful in implementing changes totheir shop culture and process per-formance can rest assured they willenjoy a competitive edge that otherswill envy. Thinking Lean and actuallyimplementing are two different things.There is no one specific path thateveryone must follow to implementLean and develop processes with lesswaste.

Another session, Value StreamMapping, was designed to see andalign your organization around thegreatest waste elimination opportu-nity. Collision center owners and man-agers know changes to their shopprocesses must be made to obtain im-provement; however, change can bedifficult. It is important that collisioncenters develop a way of routinelyevaluating where their real next op-portunity lies in eliminating wastefrom the collision center process. Theworkshop included exercises with par-


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Walking into Rodi’s Auto Body inCherry Hill, NJ on a Saturday morn-ing, the first thing I noticed were cus-tomers praising the convenience ofRodi’s being open on Saturdays forestimates, unlike other shops in the

area. The second thing that caught myeye was the prominent lettering on therug spread across the floor: “The in-surance company CANNOT tell youwhere to take your car for repairs.”Joseph Rodi, President of Rodi’sAuto Body, reinforces the message re-peatedly that auto body work belongsto the auto body shop and the cus-tomer, not the insurance company.

Joseph Rodi moved to the UnitedStates from Italy in 1956 when he wasseventeen years old. He worked in abakery fifteen hours a day, seven daysa week, before returning to the tradehe wanted to pursue, auto body repair.After working for local shops and tak-ing trade classes at Woodrow Wilson

High School in Camden during thenight, Joseph Rodi was able to pur-chase a lot and open Rodi’s Auto Bodyin 1965. He received his Doctoratedegree in Business Administrationfrom Somerset University in 2006. Ashis website proudly states, “the pridehe takes in his work has made the dif-ference for thousands in his lifetimeand has helped shape his success inachieving the American Dream.”

Rodi’s Auto Body employs elevenindividuals in addition to Joseph andhis son, Anthony Rodi, who is the VicePresident and Operations Manager ofRodi’s. Although all of Rodi’s employ-ees have been trained in body, me-chanic and/or welding school, JosephRodi believes the trade is in the shopand focuses his attention on training hisemployees accordingly. Their shop en-compasses 10,000 square feet and uti-lizes all of the most recent equipment,including two downdraft spray booths,frame racks and two Car-O-liner align-ment machines which enable them totend to every end of the business, from“scratches to smashes,” as their mottostates. Additionally, Rodi’s uses wate-borne paints because they are better forthe environment.

According to Joseph Rodi, hissuccess results from his insistence on

integrity, hard work and honesty whichhe delivers to his customers throughhis repairs. Customers choose Rodi’sAuto Body because they guarantee fastservice, low prices and honesty, plusthey reinforce with the customer thatall of their work is under warranty aslong as they own the vehicle.

What struck me in talking withJoseph Rodi was his genuine passionfor the business. He has dedicated hislife to serving people in need and introuble because he is filled with a realdesire to give back to his fellow man,

and he is clearly driven by the need toeducate his customers. According tohis website, he fights “for [his] cus-tomers because most of them don’tknow what their insurance rights are.”

Rodi refuses DRP agreementswith the insurance companies becausehe believes it is the customer’s right tochoose an auto body shop and the

parts used in the repair, thus allowingthe customer to control the resell valueof their automobile. He compareschoosing an auto body shop to choos-ing a doctor; people go to the doctorthey trust and are comfortable with

rather than letting their insurancecompany tell them which doctor tovisit, and Joseph Rodi believes thattreating your auto body needs shouldbe handled in the same manner.

Direct repair programs, JosephRodi says, are not the American-waybecause America was not founded onthe principles of enriching some, the in-


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with Rick WhiteShop Management

with Stefan GesterkampPaint Management

with Gonzo WeaverGonzo’s Toolbox

with Richard ArnoldJobber Journal

with Dale DelmegeAsk Dale

Mainstream Media

Automakers’ Actions and Analysisby Autobody News Staff

Shop Showcaseby Autobody News Staff

with Ed AttanasioShop and Product Showcase

with Ed AttanasioConsumer Callout

with Walter DanalevichShop Strategies for Savings

with The Insurance InsiderInside Insurance

with Ed AttanasioCustom Corner

with Chasidy Rae SiskCompany Connections

with Chasidy Rae SiskNortheast News

with Chasidy Rae SiskShop Showcase

with Erica SchroederShop Showcase

with Erica SchroederShop Snapshot

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

Rodi’s in Cherry Hill, NJ, Reminds the Customer of their Right to Choose

Joseph Rodi, in the lobby of his Cherry Hill shop

Rodi’s Haddonfield Road location

Joseph Rodi likes to display his shop’s numerous media stories

nosek personally for the all the time

he spends in Austin on behalf of theHABA and the Collision Industry as awhole,” said Brown. To view the fulltext of this bill search ‘SB 1300’ atwww.autobodynews.com.

The largest portion of not includedtime is for flash time between coats.The blend formula is to be used in con-junction with refinishing an additionalpanel on the vehicle and thereforewould not allow for the already in-

cluded flash times on the original panel.Were vehicle owners charged for

the additional operations that were notapproved for reimbursement by insur-ers? While this occasionally does hap-pen, and is not a great customerexperience for the vehicle owner, it issafe to assume that this practice doesnot occur on every estimate where ad-ditional paint operations are per-formed but not reflected in the

uploaded estimate. Again, the fact thatcalling for a blend on a truck or SUVis less frequent than on smaller pas-senger cars points to the fact that withthe larger panel areas found on trucksand SUVs there is more of an oppor-tunity to blend within the damagedpanel. Some may object to this con-clusion and say cost shifting was in-volved, meaning that the additionalcosts were spread into other areas ofthe appraisal so that a shop could becompensated for what was truly re-quired. Unfortunately, that may be thecase and there is no way in the data toisolate instances where cost shifting isoccurring. It is important to note thatwhen we looked at blending withinthe panel, we did not evaluate howmany refinish hours were specified onthe appraisal for a specific panel vs.full refinish time. It is very likely thatthe full base and clear coat were spec-ified in the damaged panel, however,that data is nearly impossible to sepa-rate in a data pool of several millionestimates. We focused on the blendoperation as called out in the ap-praisal.

In looking at the results of theoriginal refinish study, I did not fullyexplore the question of geography inthe initial finding. Does the area of thecountry affect how many hours ofblend time are reported? Herein liesthe key; areas in the Midwest andSouth had fewer hours of blend time,and they also have the largest popula-tion of trucks/SUVs as well as moredomestic vehicles than foreign.

When broken out by West Coast,Midwest, Southern and Eastern states,the blend time is lower in states wherethere are higher volumes of trucks andSUVs being repaired. We can con-

clude that in today’s collision repairenvironment, older vehicles, domesticvehicles and trucks and SUVs receivefewer blend hours in part because thepanel is being blended within thepanel and in part because of the geog-raphy of where the vehicle is located.

The focus on refinish operationsis particularly important as we see dra-matic increases in the cost of a barrelof oil. As Mideast turmoil adverselyimpacts the cost of oil, Americans areshifting towards smaller vehicles. In-creases in paint costs because of ris-ing oil costs will soon follow. Whilerefinish operations have been an areaof contention between some collisionshops and insurers, when the price ofoil rises, so does the frequency of con-tention and the volume of questionsour editorial department receives re-lated to refinishing. Looking towardsthe future, as we start the shift awayfrom large SUVs, the increasing num-ber of smaller vehicles on the roadwill increase the necessity of blendinginto adjacent panels.

Statements and opinions expressed inthis article are solely those of the au-thor. They are not offered as and donot constitute legal advice or opinionof Mitchell International, Inc.


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surance companies, while impoverish-ing the general public. These insurancecompanies frequently send New Jerseyauto body work to Philadelphia shops.Joseph Rodi refuses to allow insurancecompanies to mandate which materialshe uses in his shop, and he hasthrown insurance representatives out ofhis shop in the past for their demands.He insists that he will repair cars to thecustomers’ expectations, not the insur-ance companies’ liking, and he wonderswhat happened to honesty, integrity,hard work, fairness and perseverance.

Joseph Rodi has served on theCamden County planning board for six-teen years and believes it is time for thepublic to talk to their legislators because

these politicians have obligations to thepublic. Most shop owners serve the in-surance companies instead of the cus-tomer because they are afraid to speakup, but Joseph Rodi professes “Well,I’m not scared; when you’re an honestman, you have no reason to be scared.”In fact, Joseph Rodi is working on plansfor a car care warranty to replace manyinsurance policies, and he has begun anauto body guild to collaborate withother like-minded individuals.

Rodi’s Auto Body 904 Haddonfield RoadCherry Hill, NJ 08002(856) 665-4455www.rodisautobody.com

Jim Quinten, Automotive Parts& Services Association;George Perdue, Bear CreekCollision Specialist; Larry Cer-nosek, Deer Park Paint & Body;Mike Riner, Riner’s Paint andBody Shop; Trey Perdue, BearCreek; David Walla, WallaCompany; James Brown, Han-ley Bros. Certified Collision andHABA President, Don Ward,A-1 Auto & Collision; and ChrisSingleton, Goodson CollisionCenter. HABA is the SCRSAssociation of the Year.


HABA SB1300

The Insider offers an unvarnishedlook at various issues impacting thecollision industry from an insurers’perspective.

In past columns I have explored manydifferent perspectives on the value ofdirect repair programs. I believe mostDRPs provide value to the vehicleowner as well as the shop, althoughbased upon the responses I’ve receivedfrom readers, there are a lot of peoplewho disagree with my position.

But from my perspective, mostvehicle owners reap tremendous valuefrom DRPs. DRPs have raised the barfor body shops; it forces them to pro-vide exemplary customer service andhigh quality repairs. They also need tocontinually train their staff and investin equipment otherwise risk being leftbehind as technology evolves. As a re-sult, insurance companies don’t wantto do business with every shop in thecountryand they shouldn’t. Theyshould want the best-in-class repair-ing their policyholders’ vehicles.

But there is one reason why thecurrent DRP models sucks, regardlessof insurance carrier. This exceptionprovides absolutely no value to theshopalthough it does provide a lot ofvalue to the insurance company. Can

you guess what the exception is?Okay, it’s actually not just one thing. Itcan be summarized in four words: fla-vor of the day.

Similar to the ice cream shop inyour neighborhood, insurance compa-nies regularly serve shops a flavor ofthe day (or week or month). Insurancecompanies have a set of guidelines thata shop must agree to in order to partic-ipate in their program. These guide-lines are in writing and allow a shopowner to decide whether or not the pro-

gram is of value to them. I cautiouslyuse the word guidelines because the lit-eral translation is “concessions.” WhileI don’t agree with concessions, at leastthey are in writing. It allows the shopowner to make a business decision asto whether or not the concessions areworth the potential additional work.

Unlike the guidelines, however,the “flavor of the day” isn’t in writing.Unlike in the ice cream shop, it isn’tposted or advertised. And it sure theheck doesn’t taste good.

What I’m talking about is partsusage, paint labor hours, cycle time,repair times, rental car days and thelike…whatever it is that the insurer de-cides that today is most important tothem. There are enough flavors of theday to make Baskin Robbins jealous.

And unfortunately, sometimesthese unwritten rules are weightedmore heavily by the insurer than thewritten ones. Shops are routinelyeliminated from a DRP for not adher-ing to everything that they neveragreed to adhere to in writing.

Sound fair? Not really. What cana shop do? You can say noand jeop-ardize your relationship with that car-rier. Fair? Not at all. This is what werefer to in the U.S. as the 500-poundgorilla or the bully on the playground.

How do these flavors of the dayoccur? Are they handed down fromthe insurer’s corporate headquarters?In most instances, no. It’s somethingthat is usually a result of a local or re-gional claim office. Management inthese offices have the autonomy to dowhatever is necessary to meet theirbudgets. Thus the “flavor of the day.”Local or regional management ana-lyzes data and identifies trends while

trying to figure out what number canbe manipulated to give them the resultthey desire. That’s why the flavor isalways different and ever-changing.

Shops need to find a way to workwithin the system because you aren’tgoing to beat it. I’m not encouraginganyone to give into whatever the in-surance company wants. Nor am I en-couraging fraud. I am encouragingyou to play the game.

Continue to write complete, con-sistent estimates. Perform the workyou write on the estimate. Documenteverything.

As you know, the flavor of theday changes routinely. If you can holdout for a day or a week, somethingelse will be a priority and today’s fla-vor can quickly become yesterday’sold ice cream.

You can’t change the flavor butyou can change what you do and howyou react.


Genuine Porsche Parts... Only The Best.

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Cayman 2011

DELAWARE

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with Rick WhiteShop Management

with Stefan GesterkampPaint Management

with Gonzo WeaverGonzo’s Toolbox

with Richard ArnoldJobber Journal

with Dale DelmegeAsk Dale

Mainstream Media

Automakers’ Actions and Analysisby Autobody News Staff

Shop Showcaseby Autobody News Staff

with Ed AttanasioShop and Product Showcase

with Ed AttanasioConsumer Callout

with Walter DanalevichShop Strategies for Savings

with The Insurance InsiderInside Insurance

with Ed AttanasioCustom Corner

with Chasidy Rae SiskCompany Connections

with Chasidy Rae SiskNortheast News

with Chasidy Rae SiskShop Showcase

with Erica SchroederShop Showcase

with Erica SchroederShop Snapshot

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]

Insurers Will Continue to Serve “Flavor of the Day” to Shops

ticipants using their own shop data todevelop a value stream map to illus-trate their performance.

A comprehensive implementationplan can be used as a starting point forthose who have not yet started a Leanjourney or as a benchmark for thosewho are somewhere on the implemen-tation journey.

Another breakout session, a‘360-Degree Marketing’ Work-shop—Developing Your Plan, pro-vided guidance on building apersonalized marketing plan foryour business. Led by the market-ing experts of the MVP BusinessSolutions team, Norm Angroveand John Martin, the two-hourworkshop addressed the practicaltools collision center owners andmanagers can use in their busi-ness. Starting with a marketingtemplate, each participant focusedon a target audiences and market-ing techniques to attract and retaincustomers, covering strategies andneeds of connecting with the four

generations in the marketplace, so-cial media engagement, elevatingthe customer experience and newinsurer communication opportuni-ties.

This session focused on the dif-ferent generations that comprise abody shops’s customers, and the dif-ferent ways they need to be commun-ciated with. The Boomer generation(those born 1946–1964) grew up withnewspapers, the nightly news, andphone calls. The X, Y and Z genera-tions grew up with computers and In-ternet and prefer text-basedcommunications. As the sessionpointed out, the “Unshakeable Is-sues” for body shop owners are thatthey must learn to communciate withcustomers the way the customerswant to be communciated with, andlearning to use social media is criti-cal to any businesses success. As thepresenters pointed out, “It took news-papers 100 years to reach 50% pene-tration in US households, and socialmedia has reached 50% househouldpenetration in only 4 years!”

Load LevelingLoad Leveling with Mark Mueller,

Brett Bialowas and David Knapp,was an interactive workshop to helplevel the volume of work in the shopby understanding simple models likethe law of the funnel (Little’s law, seesidebar). Most if not all collision cen-ters are faced with high levels of vari-ation in the incoming work to the shop.There is the classic dilemma of pres-sure to take too many sets of keysbased upon current levels of work inthe shop versus the real fear of losingthose keys to the competition. As cycletime became a critical measure wehave learned more about the relation-ship between work in process inven-tory at the shop, and the cycle time atthe shop. As we know, as car count in-creases, so does cycle time. Thus it ismore important now than ever beforeto influence incoming work flow toany degree possible. The workshoplooked at the impact that variation inwork volume and mix has on theprocess and explored practical workload leveling systems that have beensuccessfully used within collision cen-ter businesses.

Perhaps the most entertainingspeaker of all was magician and co-median, Kevin King, who billedhimself as a practitioner of VerbalPerception Manipulation (VPM) anda “Master of Information” as well as“master of doubletalk.” King usedverbal bafflegab in his talk purport-ing to describe “federal securities andaccounting practices” but which soondevolved into a rapid fire non-sensi-cal speech delivered deadpan untilthe audience could not help but burstinto laughter. He proceded to amazewith prodigious feats of memoriza-tion, identifying hidden items whileblindfolded, and some interestingvariations on standard card tricks.Along the way he offered a few tipson how to use verbal perception ma-nipulation (double-talk) to fend offthose you’d rather not communicatewith. Of course, King’s real messagewas that clear and real communica-tion is the core ‘secret’ of businesssuccess.

When you end this two-day ex-travaganza with a gourmet sit-downdinner catered on the fairway adjoin-ing the last green on the golf course,you begin to understand why a chip-ping contest over a water hazard wouldbe the appropriate prelude to dinner. Arat pack of tribute singers provided afifties-era Vegas-style dinner show un-derneath a brilliant moon. It’s hard toimagine a better ending—or is it just a


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A Funnel as a Metaphor forYour Cycle TimeLittle’s Law dictates what drives cycletime in any process. Think about afunnel which you want to put marblesthrough. What affects the amount oftime—or cycle time—that it takes toget each marble from the top of thefunnel out of the bottom? First is thesize of the funnel opening, which con-trols how fast things come out. This isthe output rate. The second thing is thenumber of marbles already in the fun-nel. If the funnel is full it takes moretime to get the next one out. If the fun-nel is empty, the next one in comes outmore quickly. This represents the“work-in-process” inventory.

A collision center works thesame way. The output rate—or carsper day—is dependent on the re-sources the shop has to get work done.A collision center process also haswork-in-process inventory. And themore inventory the shop has, thelonger it takes to get the next carthrough.

In the past it was thought a goodthing to have the “security” of a largebacklog of work at the shop. It’s a nat-ural feeling. Imagine a shop with 50cars sitting on the premises and seventechnicians. How many cars can onetechnician touch at once? One! So 43cars are sitting untouched while youare touching maybe seven. The morecars we have in process, relative to thenumber of cars we can touch or finishin a day, drives up cycle time. So atsome point the very cars that havebeen making us feel secure can makeus less competitive.

We are not saying ‘completefewer cars.’ We expect to complete asmany or more as before. We want toget better at working on fewer cars atone time and having fewer idle cars inthe system not being worked on. Any-one who has been successful doingsomething a certain way for a longtime runs the risk of hanging onto tra-ditional ways too long when the modelor the paradigm changes. Today, thosewho are most responsive to changewill survive, and those are the oneswho maintain quality, cost, and speed.

A rat pack of 50s-era tribute singers finishedoff the event under a picture perfect desert fullmoon


Let’s say your car is damaged in an ac-cident and you’re properly insured.Most policies say that an insurer caneither pay for the repair or fix the ve-hicle. You feel that the vehicle is toobadly damaged and you want themoney so you expect your insurer tototal the vehicle and give you a check.But instead the insurer says it will paya shop to fix the vehicle. No othercompensation is offered or given. Infact, the vehicle is ultimately fixedagainst your will even though you re-fuse to explicitly authorize it or pick itup. It’s eventually sold at auction—tothe body shop owner holding the de-ductible lien on the repair.

The California Court of Appeal,ruling in this situation, explained thatthere’s an 1867 case from New Yorkthat says this is OK—that the insurercan do whatever it wants. However, italso noted that “modern cases,” in-cluding cases in the last century fromMissouri and Colorado, hold that theinsured has a right to get the money ifshe prefers, notwithstanding the policylanguage. The insured should be ableto get the money rather than have in-surance funds spent on a repair shedoesn’t want, right?

Enter the real life situation of Cal-ifornia’s Hibbs vs Allstate. In Februarythis year, the California Court of Ap-peal for the Second Appellate Districtissued a decision reversing the trialcourt’s summary judgment ruling infavor of the insurer and holding thatwhen an automobile insurance policyprovides the insurer with the option topay for damages to or repair an insuredvehicle, the insurer satisfies its con-tractual obligation by electing to repairdamages even though the insured re-fused to authorize repairs.

However, the Court of Appealalso held that the insurer can be liablein bad faith if it pays for repairs not au-thorized by the insured and then re-covers from the tortfeasor (civilwrongdoer) in subrogation because thesubrogation action maybe prejudicial to the in-sured’s direct actionagainst the wrongdoer.

Harry and JessicaHibbs’ van was insuredby Allstate InsuranceCompany. On April 13,2004, the van was struck by a vehicledriven by Jerome Brooks and the frontwas substantially damaged. The van

was taken to a repair shop where Jes-sica Hibbs signed an authorization torepair the van. The repair shop later es-timated the cost to repair the van was$6,500. Jessica Hibbs contacted All-state and advised that she believed thevan was a total loss and refused to au-thorize the repairs.

On April 22, 2004, Allstate wasadvised by the repair shop that JessicaHibbs had authorized the repairs, andthat the repairs were substantiallycomplete. On May 3, 2004, after thevan had been repaired it was driveninto another car by a repair man andagain suffered front end damage. TheHibbs refused to authorize repairs andrefused to pick up the van. Allstatepaid the repair shop the cost to repairthe van less the Hibbs’ deductible. All-

state eventually recovered the cost torepair plus the Hibbs’ deductible fromBrooks’ insurer in a subrogation actionand sent the deductible to Hibbs,which they never cashed.

The Hibbs filed a complaintagainst Allstate alleging, among otherthings, breach of contract and breachof the implied covenant of good faithand fair dealing. The trial courtgranted Allstate’s motion for summaryadjudication as to the breach of con-tract and breach of the covenant ofgood faith and fair dealing claims anddenied Allstate’s motion for costs.Both sides timely appealed.

The Court of Appeals first af-firmed the trial court’s determinationthat a triable issue of fact existed as towhether or not the Hibbs authorizedthe repair of their van. The Court ofAppeals cited to Business & Profes-sions Code section 9984.9 which re-quires, among other things, that anautomotive repair dealer give the cus-tomer a “written estimated price forlabor and parts necessary for a specificjob... before authorization to proceedis obtained from the customer.” TheCourt of Appeal found that the author-ization to repair the van signed by Jes-sica Hibbs was void under section9984.9 because the repair shop failedto provide Jessica Hibbs with a writtenestimate prior to obtaining her written

or verbal approval for the repairs. The Court of Appeal next ad-

dressed an issue of first impression inCalifornia—whether an insurer thathas elected to repair a vehicle under anautomobile insurance policy that pro-vides it with an option to repair or paythe costs of repair, is relieved of its ob-ligation under the policy by its in-sured’s refusal to authorize repairs.After considering decisions from otherjurisdictions, the Court of Appeal heldthat where the policy clearly and un-equivocally provides the insurer withthe option to repair and the insurerchooses that option, the insured’s pre-vention of the insurer’s performanceby refusing to authorize the repair, ex-cuses the insurer’s obligation under thepolicy. The Court of Appeal also re-jected the Hibbs’ contention that All-state’s adjuster chose to settle theclaim.

Finally, the Court of Appeal ad-dressed the Hibbs’ contention that All-state breached the implied covenant ofgood faith and fair dealing. The Courtof Appeal held that Allstate did not actin bad faith when it authorized the re-pairs to the van finding that there wasno authority indicating such authoriza-tion constituted bad faith and that anyrepair authorized by Allstate wouldstill be subject to further authorizationby Hibbs’ under Section 9884.9.

The Court of Appeal also foundthat Allstate did not breach the impliedcovenant of good faith and fair dealingby ignoring the Hibbs’ request for amechanical and safety inspection toensure the van was safe or for failingto respond to the Hibbs’ settlement de-mand for full market value, becauseAllstate was not obligated under thepolicy to provide such expert inspec-tions or to pay full market value for thevehicle.

However, the Court of Appealfound that a triable issue of fact existedas to whether Allstate breached thecovenant of good faith and fair dealingby prosecuting its subrogation claimagainst Brooks. The Court of Appealfound that because Hibbs did not con-sent to the repairs, the repair shop wasnot due any compensation. As a result,Allstate had no right to subrogationagainst Brooks. In addition, the Hibbswere prejudiced by Allstate’s subroga-tion action since Brooks would have aright to an offset against any cause ofaction the Hibbs might be able to suc-

The Curious Case of Hibbs vs Allstate—Does An Insurer Have the Right to Repair?

“The parties cite no California caseon point, and we have found none.There will be one now.”

—Justice P.J. Gilbert

Allstate Insurance says it wants toopen nearly 50 new agency offices inFlorida.

About half of those openingswill be in north Florida, the companysaid, according to reports made by In-surance Journal.

“North Florida has shown in-credible growth for our agencies,”says Bob Jackson, regional salesleader for Allstate’s Florida regionbased in St. Petersburg. “In order tomeet the demands of our current andfuture customers, we’ve made a deci-sion to expand.”

Allstate estimates that each newoffice will mean multiple job oppor-tunities for licensed staff, perhaps asmany as 130 new jobs statewide.

The agencies will sell auto,home and life insurance, according toa spokesman.

Allstate began scaling back onits property insurance writings inFlorida in 2005, after the severe hur-ricane season but it has shown re-newed interest in Florida businesslately.

Last spring, it launched an effortto write about 50,000 new multilinepolicies and began looking into tak-ing out policies from state-backedCitizens Insurance Corp.

In Florida, Allstate operates asCastle Key Insurance Co.and CastleKey Indemnity Co.

Allstate changed the names ofits Florida subsidiaries to Castle Keyin July 2009.

The insurer said the namechanges were made in order to “bet-ter reflect the fact that these propertycompanies are separately capitalizedfrom Allstate Insurance Co.” Thecompany has about 1,000 agents inthe state.

Allstate agents operate as inde-pendent contractors selling Allstatepolicies. They can own their ownfranchise while drawing on supportand resources from the parent com-pany.

The company said there is nofranchise fee associated withowning an Allstate agency, al-though candidates need to have$50,000 to $75,000 in liquid cap-ital.

The company says that moneydoes not go to Allstate; rather itshows the new agency can pay forthe normal operation costs associ-ated with opening and running anagency.

Visit www.insuranceagent.flori-dajobs.com for more information.

Allstate to Open 50 Agencies in Florida

See Hibbs vs Allstate, Page 42


The Mid-State Chapter of theFlorida Autobody Collision Alliance(FACA) provided hands-on training toCentral Florida area First-Responders

including Fire Department personnelfrom the areas of Lakeland, Auburn-dale and Winter Haven on April 13.

I-Car certified instructor; SteveLaszlo, was on hand to assist in thetraining and provided information oncurrent vehicle construction technol-ogy and related materials.

Training forcused on avoidingareas on newer vehicles where airbagsor electrical components could pose apotential risk. Newer hybrid and all-electric vehicles can be dangerous foremergency personnel unfamiliar withthe cars mechanics.

Activities took place at 6:30 pm atAll Pro Used Auto Parts, 1425 Old

Dixie Highway Auburn-dale, FL 33823-9505.

All Pro Used AutoParts provided the ex-ample vehicles for thetraining.

Food and beverageserved to participantswas also provided byGunder’s Auto Centerand Subs and Such ofLakeland.

The Florida Auto-body Collision Allianceis a State-wide associa-tion of collision repair-ers and is committed tothe future of the colli-sion repair industry.

FACA’s mission isto provide the leader-ship needed to raise theprofessional image ofthe industry and to de-velop new industryleaders.

FACA’s goal is toeducate, inform andrepresent the collisionrepair professional inall aspects of the indus-try.

For more informa-tion on FACA pleasevisit:www.FACAFL.com or

contact Ms. Cathy Mills,Executive Director via e-mail at:[email protected] or byphone at (904) 994-6516.

Florida Autobody Collision Alliance (FACA) Hosts 1st Annual First-Responder Extrication Training

Certified first responders and firemen learn electrical and airbag‘hot spots’ to avoid on newer vehicles

Training Instructor Steve Laszlo

The proper equipment used in real-life scenarios was used dur-ing the training

Firefighters were able to put the information learned to workright away with vehicles from All Pro Used Auto Parts

On April 7th, 2011 the United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Cir-cuit upheld a lower court’s ordergranting summary judgment in favorof State Farm Insurance in Gunder’sAuto Center’s claim against the na-tion’s largest personal auto insurer forslander and tortious interference witha business relationship. (See Autobo-dynews.com for background.)

To recover for slander in Florida,the claimant must show (1) publica-tion of a false statement; (2) about theplaintiff; (3) to a third party; and (4)damage resulting to plaintiff from thepublication.

To state a claim for tortious inter-ference in Florida, the claimant mustshow (1) the existence of a businessrelationship; (2) knowledge of the re-lationship on the part of the defendant;(3) an intentional and unjustified in-terference by the defendant; and (4)damage from the breach of the rela-tionship.

The court found that, “althoughdenied by State Farm, we assume thestatements allegedly made by StateFarm disparaging Gunter’s weremade and are untrue. Nonetheless, we

agree with the district court that StateFarm’s statements were privileged:

Under Florida law a privilegedstatement is one in which “A commu-nication made in good faith on anysubject matter by one having an inter-est therein, or in reference to which hehas a duty, is privileged if made to aperson having a corresponding inter-est or duty, even though it containsmatter which would otherwise be ac-tionable.

The court continued: “Becauseall statements were made to StateFarm insureds in the context of aclaim under a State Farm insurancepolicy, and because all statementsconcerned a matter of mutual interestto the insureds andState Farm—thequality, timeliness and costs of vehi-cles repairs—the statements wereprivileged.

The privilege raises a presumptionof good faith on the part of thespeaker, but the privilege is not ab-solute. The privilege is forfeited if thestatements are made with express mal-ice: [w]here a person speaks upon aprivileged occasion, but the speaker ismotivated more by a desire to harm

the person defamed than by a purposeto protect the personal or social inter-est giving rise to the privilege, then itcan be said that there was expressmalice and the privilege is destroyed.

Gunder’s failed to proffer suffi-cient evidence of express malice toraise a material issue of fact for a jury.The statements of which Gunter’scomplains—even assuming their fal-sity—supports no inference of malice,and Gunter’s failed to proffer extrin-sic evidence of express malice. Sum-mary judgment was due on Gunder’sslander claim.

On the tortious interference claimby Gunder, the court ruled “Gunder’smakes no allegation that State Farminterfered with customers or prospec-tive customers of Gunder’s who werenot State Farm insureds. As a matterof law, “[t]here can be no claim [fortortious interference with a businessrelationship] where the action com-plained of is undertaken to safeguardor promote one’s financial or eco-nomic interest.”

The court continued, “”[u]nderFlorida law, a defendant is not astranger to a business relationship, and

thus cannot be held liable for tortiousinterference, when it has a supervisoryinterest in how the relationship is con-ducted or a potential financial interestin how a contract is performed.”

Gunder had argued in court thatState Farm had lost the priviledge be-cause it used improper means, but wasunable to prevail because the testi-mony detailing the improper meanshad earlier been stricken from thecourt’s records.

The court continued, “ On appeal,Gunder’s cites—for the first time— [aparagraph in the] amended complaintto claim it pleaded improper means.Even if Gunder’s has preserved thisargument, the only arguably impropermeans Gunder’s alleged are the state-ments Gunder’s claims State Farmmade to its insureds about the costs,quality, and timeliness of Gunder’s re-pairs. These statements are the samestatements upon which Gunder’sgrounds its slander claims. Even as-suming the falsity of those statements,as earlier discussed, those statementswere privileged; they fail to show theimproper means needed to defeat

Gunder’s Loses Appeal to State Farm—Court Rules ‘Even if False,’ Claims are Priviledged

See Gunder State Farm, Page 43

said the association has proposed orworked with insurers on otherchanges to regulations that would helpoffset much of this higher cost.

Insurer free speech discussedThose at the meeting in Secaucusalso discussed recent events inRhode Island where the Property Ca-sualty Insurers Association of Amer-ica (PCI) is suing two Rhode Islandofficials in an effort to halt the en-forcement of that state’s law that pro-hibits an insurer from recommendingrepair shops once a claimant has in-dicated that he or she has made ashop choice.

The suit names as defendantsRhode Island Director of BusinessRegulation Paul McGreevy and thestate’s Attorney General Peter Kil-martin. The PCI is asking a court todeclare that the law is an unconstitu-tional interference with free speech,much as courts in several other stateshave when anti-steering laws havebeen challenged.

Taxing issue Janet Chaney of the Iowa CollisionRepair Association said that group ismaking a second effort at pushing fora state law that would in essenceallow Iowa shops to transfer the ex-pense of sales tax on paint materialsthey purchase to insurers or cus-tomers. Chaney said currently shopspay the sales tax on such purchasesbut a decades-old state law preventsthem from seeking reimbursed for itby insurers.

An Iowa House committee lastyear had approved a similar bill, but itfailed to make further legislativeprogress.

Chaney said another recent bill inIowa, which would have established acommission to study the effects of di-rect repair programs on shops, insur-ers and consumers, was introduced onbehalf of a shop in that state, not theassociation, and is not expected topass.

John Yoswick, a freelance writerbased in Portland, Oregon, has beenwriting about the automotive industrysince 1988. He can be contacted byemail at [email protected].

cessfully assert against him.As a result, the Court of Appeal

reversed and remanded for trial on theissue of bad faith and awarded costs onappeal to Hibbs.

So what does this mean for abody shop and its customer? It hasbeen pointed out in legal commentaryand blogs on the case that the rulingupholding the 1867 New York case ba-sically lets the insurer do what itwants, regardless of the interests of theinsured. That is the letter of the policybut Colorado and Missouri found oth-erwise.

It is poor public policy whenwhat the insurer wants frustrates thelegitimate desires of the insured. Theonly thing beyond the letter of the pol-icy that the Judge cites is that an in-surer might want to repair a vehiclerather than giving an “unsafe” (unre-paired) vehicle to the insured. But thevehicle couldn’t be driven anyway.And even if they did, no way the in-surance company would be liable.

Good public policy suggests weshould allow such recovery (instead ofrepair) as consumer friendly. Did theHibb’s feel that the repairs wouldn’t besafe and so wouldn’t drive the vehicleeven if repaired? Maybe someone in asimilar situation thinks the insurer has

incorrectly valued the vehicleand—rather than file a lawsuit (withresulting transaction costs) —thinksmore can be gained if she takes the re-pair money and sells the unrepairedcar for scrap. That might be betterthan accepting a repaired car and sell-ing it to someone else. Perhaps the in-sured can find someone to repair thevehicle himself for less than the origi-nal shop, and wants to pocket the dif-ference. None of these things hurt theinsurer, but they all help the insured.They should be allowed. So this is oneof those rare instances where Califor-nia law, rather than leading the pack,radically lags behind it. Following anoutdated, anti-consumer opinion from1867 in New York rather than theweight of modern, pro-consumer, au-thority.

For stakeholders, the takeawaymessage is this:

A. The body shop must give thecustomer a written estimate for price,labor and parts before authorization toproceed with repairs. An authorizationfor teardown and a verbal approval au-thorization over the phone does notsatisfy Section 9884.9

B. Where an insurance policy haslanguage similar to Allstate’s: “All-state will pay for the loss in money, ormay repair or replace the damaged …property at our option”—the languageprovides the insurer the option to re-pair.


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Hibbs vs AllstateContinued from Page 25

East Coast Forum

A man found shot at a Point Loma-area auto repair shop was declared

dead at the scene the morning of April19, according to reports made by SanDiego’s 10 News.

A customer dropping off her carfound the man at Joe’s Auto Repairin the 1900 block of Rosecrans Streetin San Diego around 7:30 a.m.

Witnesses reported hearing gun-shots at the location at around 7:15 a.m.

The owner of Point LomaSmog, which is located next door,told 10News that owner of Joe’sAuto Repair is the person who wasshot.

Police are looking for an older-model, green sedan that might be con-nected to the incident.

More information about the in-vestigations as it progresses can befound at www.autobodynews.com.

Man Shot To Death At San Diego, CA,Auto Repair Shop

[email protected] us!write us!write us!www.autobodynews.com

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State Farm’s privilege against a tor-tious-interference claim.”

Ray Gunder, the founder ofPolk County’s Gunder’s Auto Center,a 43 year-old auto collision repairand mechanical shop, made the fol-lowing statement after the judgmentwas delivered:

“Last night, after getting thecourt’s decision, I re-read it and justsat in disbelief just staring at it forhours. Is it really possible in this coun-try for a huge conglomerate like StateFarm to attack my small business withwhat are known to be outrageous liesand be considered legally privileged?

“As I understand it, the legal ruleis that the so-called ‘privilege’ is for-feited if derogatory and defamatorycomments re made with ‘ExpressMalice.’

“To be considered ‘Express Mal-ice’ one would need to reach the levelof calling me and/or my family mur-derers and rapists.

“State Farm came after us in2004 in an attempt to silence myvoice by attacking our company’sreputation in our community and theirattempt to financially destroy ourbusiness by steering customers awaywith totally untrue and outrageouslies… and that, according to the court,at least in my case… is legal!? Thisruling is justice?

“It’s important to understand thatif this ruling stays; every honest andethical shop owner in the industry isin jeopardy of similar efforts againstthem if they don’t fall in line and doas they’re told by this megalith insurerand other insurers who may chose tofollow suit!

Continued Gunder, “This rulingis scary for all of us. Although this isbut one ‘leg’ of my legal journey to

correct the harmful and predatorypractices of some insurers, it’s a verybitter pill to swallow!

“Know this; I’ve been knockeddown but I’m not knocked out. I’mgoing to continue to “pound that rock”and find the justice that I believe ex-ists in our legal system!

While I’m not a poker player, theterm ‘I’m all in’ is indeed applicableas I’m too far invested in time and fi-nances to quit now and I’ve neverbeen one to see a wrong and not try tomake it right and with the best legalrepresentation one could hope for, wewill continue to move on.

“What one doesn’t find in this de-cision is one of the most important parts;State Farm speaking improperly andslandering Gunder’s “once” is privilegedin the courts opinion, but speaking lies“over” and “over” again knowing theyare lies is indeed “Express Malice”!

“We will prove that State Farmhas continuously committed Slander

with Express Malice and have done soregularly with an evil intent.

“I believe with right there’s mightand Gunder’s will press on and wewill begin by giving serious consider-ation to submitting a request for a re-view and appeal with the UnitedState’s Supreme Court.”

A copy of the court’s ruling maybe found at: http://www.courtlis-tener.com/ca11/26Fy/gunders-auto-center-v-state-farm/

In another lawsuit the shop haspending against the insurer in PolkCounty Court, a judge has grantedthe shop’s request to compel StateFarm to make documents and a num-ber of witnesses available to theshop’s attorney as part of the discov-ery process. Among those that shopattorney A. Brent Geohagan seeks todepose in the case are representativesof at least eight repair shops thatserve State Farm insureds in PolkCounty.


Gunder, State Farm



Documents

Autobody News May 2011 Northeast Edition