June 2012 Southwest Edition

by Melanie Anderson

In tornado season in Okla-homa you don’t have to besuperstitious to think badthings could happen on anygiven day, never mind Fridaythe thirteenth. But for Nor-man shop owner Philip De-Fatta, this Friday, April 13,could have been a day out ofthe movies. At about 4:00p.m., a tornado hit the heartof Norman, Oklahoma andcut roughly an eight-mile swaththrough the town, especially thesouthwest portion.

According to local reports, thetornado hop-scotched through thecenter of town, tossing telephonepoles, shredding trees and ripping offroofs. At least 10 people were taken tothe hospital with minor injuries.

“I didn’t wake up that morningthinking anything bad was going to

happen. I call that ‘stuperstitious,’”joked DeFatta, 43, owner of LeonPierce Body Repair at 521 N. PorterAvenue.

However, that afternoon he wasdashing inside his shop to take coveras the tornado hit. DeFatta heard thebuilding next door literally explode,and debris from that building flewinto his shop through the large garage

See Friday 13th, Page 11

Summit Software’s Presidentand Head Sherpa Frank Terleptalks with Autobody News aboutthe state of Digital Media forthe Collision Industry

by Melanie Andersonsee p. 40

of 3issues

SPECIALPAINT ISSUE

PAINT & REFINISH TECHNOLOGIES

Norman, Oklahoma Body Shop NarrowlyEscapes Next-Door Tornado Devastation

Leon Pierce Body Repair at 521 N. Porter Ave. in Norman, OKnarrowly avoided a tornado that ripped through the town onApril 13. The building next door is being demolished aftersustaining considerable damage. Photos courtesy of PhilipDeFatta, owner of Leon Pierce Body Repair.

State Farm’s forced implementation ofits PartsTrader e-bidding processwithin its Select Service Programshops has ignited a firestorm of criti-cism from the industry, not just fromits own DRPs.

Usage of the PartsTrader soft-ware, developed in New Zealand, hasbeen required by the insurer in severaltest markets nationwide, includingTucson, AZ, and Birmingham, AL,however several sources have reportedshops dropping the Select Service Pro-gram as a result, up to 40% in somemarkets.

The Alliance of Automotive Serv-ice Providers (AASP), the Society forCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS),and the Automotive Service Associa-tion (ASA) and numerous independ-ent industry observers have come outwith strong statements cautioningtheir members against State Farm’sbidding process for parts procurement.

AASP called it “an unprecedentedand uninvited intrusion into the busi-ness of collision repair.” The AASP re-leased the following statement, whichreads in part:

“Despite posturing from thelargest national insurance carrier onwhat it believes to be positive attributesof the program, collision repair facili-ties, parts suppliers, parts manufactur-ers and interested parties around thecountry have been consistent in theirperception that this type of activity willultimately harm their businesses andthe customers they serve.

“Collision repairers are in thebusiness of selling parts, labor and ma-terials at a retail level. Each of theserevenue sources contributes to theoverall success of the roughly 35,000small businesses across the nation, al-lowing the business to provide em-ployment opportunities to individualswithin their community and invest inthe necessary equipment and trainingneeded to provide customers with safe,quality repairs. As is the case with alltypes of business—including the busi-ness of insurance—the pursuit of a re-turn on investment (profit) is a coreprinciple, and one that collision re-pairers should neither apologize fornor relinquish to the influence of otherparties.

“Insurers are in the business of in-suring risk and then settling losses atmarket value when those losses occur.As the payer of claims, insurers shouldnot be “market makers” for pricing ofindividual products and services thatare components of final invoices. Todate, insurance pressure and influenceover collision repair market pricinghas driven average profit margins tolow single-digit figures, despite thefact that the business of collision re-pair has a high cost of entry and re-quires ongoing capital investments tokeep pace with automotive technolo-gies.

“Feedback from other marketsoutside the U.S. familiar with insurer-mandated bidding platforms indicates

State Farm’s PartsTrader Program EncountersSignificant Opposition, Not Just From its DRPs

See PartsTrader, Page 8

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SouthwestPublisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst

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

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

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

Accudraft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21BASF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 37Chevyland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Classic BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46CSS USA, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Dallas Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48David McDavid Auto Group . . . . . . . 2Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Ford Wholesale Parts DealersTX, OK, LA, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Fowler I-240 Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge. 19Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Gene Messer Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . 18GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 45Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25

Huffines Hyundai Plano . . . . . . . . . 28Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 39Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 23LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 43

Mercedes-Benz of Oklahoma City . 30Mike Calvert Toyota. . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Mitsubishi Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 29North Freeway Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . 8OE Reman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11PCL Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Ray Huffines Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . 5Reliable Chevrolet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Replica Plastics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Safety Regulations Strategies. . . . . 32SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . . 6Scoggin-Dickey Buick . . . . . . . . . . 15Solution Finish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42South Pointe Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge. 13Toyota of Fort Worth . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Toyota of Laredo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 41Volkswagen Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 44Young Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Inde

xofAdvertisers

REGIONAL50 PBE Professionals Attend PBES Session

in Oklahoma City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Abilene’s 2011 Perfect Storm Still Brings

Benefits to Body Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Antique Car Restorer Andy Hope, ‘The Man

in White,’ Dies at 97. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32ASA Asks Texans to Help Fix the Franchise

Tax Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11ASA Says it is Fact Finding on State Farm’s

PartsTrader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Caliber Collision Opens New West

San Antonio Location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Caliber Collision Teams with Farmers for

Recycled Rides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Corpus Christi Body Shop Burns,

Arson Suspected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Fiat of Austin Sells More than 100 of

its only Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Hit and Run Driver with 42 tickets lets

Mother Take the Rap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Louisiana Insurance Commissioner and

U.S. Treasury Join Forces in Campaignto Target Money Laundering . . . . . . . . . 10

Norman, Oklahoma Body Shop NarrowlyEscapes Next Door Tornado Devastation . 1

OSHA Fines San Antonio Parts SupplierDue to Fatal Accident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Private Sector Solution Should Lower OK Health Premiums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

SCRS Hosts Standards Meeting inOklahoma City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Service King Acquires Arizona’sAuto Body World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Service King Opens 12th Locationin Houston. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

TIAA Holds Spring Meetings. . . . . . . . . . . . 7Van Tuyl Group Holds March of Dimes

Chili Contest Benefit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Yukon, OK, Student Wins State

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

COLUMNISTSFranklin - Positioning Your Shop . . . . . . . . 42I-CAR - Bonding and Rivet Bonding

Technology on Steel BMW Vehicle Parts. 18Insider - Is the State Farm Elephant in

the Room a Bad Elephant?. . . . . . . . . . 12Nigro - Q&A with Chuck Gosney of

Collision Billing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Sisk - Larry Montanez Talks OEM

Procedures and Repair Standards . . . . 14Weaver - Comparing Automotive Parts:

Is it Apples to Apples? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Yoswick - Shops and Insurers Discuss

Indemnification in DRP Contracts . . . . . 16

NATIONALABRA Opens 20th Body Shop Location

in Macon, GA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21America’s Car Museum Celebrates

Grand Opening. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43ASAA to ‘Educate’ Legislators on

Aftermarket Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Audi A3 Development with Master Jigs

and Color Matching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31BMW Recalling Diesel Vehicles or Fuses . 26

BMW Replaces Toyota as Most ValuableAutomotive Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Body Shop Customer Attempts Rescueof Elderly Fire Victim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Carfax Study Shows ConsumerThreatened by Ignoring Recalls . . . . . . 26

Carroll Shelby—Race Driver, Designer,Industrialist—Dead at 89 . . . . . . . . . . . 15

CCC Becomes Exclusive Provider ofUpdatePromise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Chrysler Recalls 68,000 Jeep Wranglersfor Fire Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Chrysler to Recall 127K Dodge Chargersand 300’s for Fuses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Collision Repair Education Foundationto Award Two $50K Grants . . . . . . . . . 46

Collision Section Secures Exhibit Spaceat SEMA Show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Distracted Driving No. 1 Killer, Especiallyof Teens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Enterprise Introduces Customer RepairNotification Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Ford Blocks JAC from Selling BlatantF-150 Knock Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Ford Recalls 10.500 Vehicles forTransmission Sensor Issues . . . . . . . . 26

Ford Starts Shipping its first EV, theFocus Electric, to Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . 32

I-CAR Introduces New Series of Online Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Leading Edge Receives BASF AutomotiveRefinish Distributor of the Year Award. . 35

Major Physical Damage Indicators UpFor 6 Quarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Museum for Ford’s Model A. . . . . . . . . . . 11Newest Body Shop Boy Matt Ng Shines

in Rumble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Nissan Recalling Certain 2012 Titan

Pickups for Mislabeling . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Romney Claims Credit in Auto Industry

Turnaround . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46St. Louis, MO, Hail Damage Hit Rental

Fleets Too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43State Farm’s PartsTrader Program

Encounters Significant Opposition,Not Just From its DRPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Why Your Body Shop Can’t Ignore Socialor Digital Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Women’s Industry Network 6th AnnualMay Conference Hosts 200 Women. . . 39

PAINT SPECIALAuto Painting USA Collision Specializes in

Cosmetic Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Custom Painter Jim Hetzler Started Out at

Age 13 with a Model Car . . . . . . . . . . . 38DuPont™ Cromax® Pro is the Ultimate

Upgrade for Your Refinish Painting Process. 22House of Kolor® Colors Automotive World

for 56 Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Leading Edge Receives BASF Automotive

Refinish Distributor of the Year Award. . 35Legendary “Crazy” Painter Mitch Kelly Cites

his Top 5 Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Top Hot Rod Shines ‘Brilliant Red’ Bright

with Glasurit® Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Contents

www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

Service King Acquires Arizona’s Auto Body WorldTexas-based, Service King CollisionRepair is partnering with Auto BodyWorld, Inc., with nine large scale, highvolume locations throughout metroPhoenix and Casa Grande. Terms of theagreement were not disclosed.

The transaction is expected toclose in July 2012. By joining ServiceKing, Auto Body World will become apart of the third largest collision repaircompany in North America with 48Texas locations throughout the Dallas,Ft. Worth, Houston, San Antonio, andAustin areas.

Service King’s expansion acrossTexas over the last three years hastaken Service King from the 6th to the3rd largest collision repair company inNorth America, doubling revenue andlocation count.

“We welcome our new teammatesin Arizona to the Service King family,”said Service King’s President, ChrisAbraham. “We’re excited about theopportunity here. Arizona is special be-cause it’s our first venture outside ofTexas, but it’s not our last.”

“Service King is committed tocontinuing Auto Body World’s longtradition of excellent customer serviceand quality repairs with good relation-ships in the insurance industry. We lookforward to adding Auto Body World’s

talented teammates and skilled techni-cians to our base of nearly 1,400 Serv-ice King teammates throughout Texas,”added Abraham.

“We are very excited about AutoBody World joining the Service KingTeam,” stated Mark Turner, AutoBody World’s President. “Both compa-nies believe that we’re a great matchfor each other, in that we share verycommon cultures, and while ServiceKing brings national insurance rela-tionships and financial strength, AutoBody World brings dominance in a newmarket, with a strong operations teamand platform for rapid growth.”

Cathy Bonner, CEO of ServiceKing stated, “In DFW and Houston,Service King has been recognized asone of the “best places to work” by theDallas and Houston Business Journals,and we plan to bring our same level ofhealth, retirement, and career benefitsto all new teammates in Arizona.”

Said Eddie Lennox, “ServiceKing is one of the fastest growing USbased collision repair companies is be-cause of the team we have in place. Thepeople in this company focus on what’smost important and take pride in pro-viding the best service and quality col-lision repairs, while caring for ourcustomers.”

The economy in Abilene, TX is stillcashing in on the 2011 Easter stormthat dumped 2.4 inches of rain in threehours and hammered cars, shatteredwindshields and punched holes inrooftops with pea to softball size hail.

According to Hector Guerrero,a meteorologist with the NationalWeather Service, four weather ele-ments combined to create a “perfectstorm” on Easter Sunday 2011.

At 2 p.m. April 24, a dry linemoving in from West Texas collidedwith a stationary cold front runningeast to west along Interstate 20, rightabove Abilene. At the same time,Guerrero said, an upper-level distur-bance generated “tremendous energyaloft.” The final ingredient was greatatmospheric instability caused by lotsof cold air at high altitude needing totrade places with warm air at the sur-face.

“Basically, you had all of themakings of really bad severe weather,”he said.

In Abilene, residents caught awayfrom home reported being stuck insidestores as the rain and hail pelted down,

and tornado warnings were announcedon TV and radio. Motorists soughtshelter under highway overpasses andgas station awnings. One of thoseseeking shelter was Barry Smith, whowas trying to protect his daughter’sday-old car.

More than a year ago, that stormcreated huge hailstones that batteredroofs, punched holes in shingles andshattered windshields. Soon after-ward, garage bays filled with carsneeding dent repairs and roofersfrom out of the area swarmed thecity.

“It’s about one of the best thingsthat’s going to happen to the economyin Abilene for a long time,” StateFarm agent David Ballard said in theweek after the storm.

He was right.There are no existing numbers

to exactly quantify the April 24,2011, hailstorm’s boost to the econ-omy, but the storm generated$505,000 in permit fees for the city,26 times more than the five-year av-erage for roofing permits. Over thelast 12 months, the city has issued

9,838 roofing permits to contractorsand repair companies. That’s 24times as many as the average num-ber of permits issued in the preced-ing five years, according to recordsfrom an online city database.

Roofing repairs may have beenthe most visible, but other industriesalso benefited from the shellacking.Half a dozen Abilene painting compa-nies reported more work in the monthsafter the hail as they added coats ofpaint to roughed-up siding and pum-meled fences.

Hail didn’t just pound roofs andtree limbs. There were thousands ofshattered car windshields and dentedhoods.

Auto body repair business jumpeddramatically last spring after the stormand stayed high for months.

Glen Gibbs, manager at GibbsPaint & Body, said the hailstorm was“very profitable” for the shop, whichstill sees a few customers every weekneeding hail damage repairs from lastyear’s storm.

“Right after the storm it was arush,” he said. “It was overwhelming.

We were overwhelmed. We learned alot about how to improve with cus-tomers.”

After a time, shops changed theirprocedures to ensure they could han-dle the increase.

“Shops got smarter about sched-uling out so that they could handle allthe volume coming in,” said ArmenNorman, owner of Norman’s Colli-sion Plus. “At first there were toomany, and places couldn’t get every-body in. Some people just waited andare just now coming in. We got threeor four in last week that still neededrepairs from last year, so there’s stillsome out there.”

Just days after the ‘perfect storm’hit Abilene, the same four severeweather elements would combine sev-eral hundred miles to the east in aweather system that unleashed hun-dreds of lethal tornadoes throughoutthe South. As the storms moved eastand north out of Abilene, they gener-ated several tornadoes: one confirmedeast of Potosi, one north of Baird inCallahan County, and one near Moranin Shackelford County.


Abilene’s 2011 Perfect Storm Still Brings Benefits to Body Shops

Service King Opens 12th Location in HoustonService King Collision Repair Centers,a Texas-based operator of collision re-pair facilities in the Houston, Dallas-Ft.Worth, San Antonio and Austin mar-kets, announced the opening of their12th new collision center within theHouston marketplace on May 22. Theshop is located in Clearlake, Texas, at17080 Mill Forest Rd. This facility isthe 48th location in Texas.

“Our strategic goal is to chooselocations that are convenient for ourcustomers and focus on the areas wherethe most growth occurs,” said ChrisAbraham, president of Service King.

Added Justin Regan, vice presi-dent of the Houston market, “The newService King facility represents thecompletion of our service coveragearound the Beltway. We’ve been look-ing forward to this facility for overthree years, and we’re very excitedabout it.”

The 40,622-square-foot facilitywill employ around 20 people at start-up and more than 45 as operationsramp up. It will be able to house morethan 150 vehicles in production at anygiven time.

“This repair facility fits in linewith our national growth strategy toserve growing communities with largepopulations,” said Regan. “Our meth-ods for growth include acquiring exist-ing collision repair shops as well as

renovating brownfield locations andeven greenfield locations if they’re ina prime location. Along with all of ourHouston locations, this facility housesan onsite Enterprise Rent-A-Car loca-tion.

“Our number-one focus is tomake sure each store is running at 100percent in terms of quality repair, on-time delivery and customer service. Wealso want to make sure we’re offeringthe superior value and service that ourinsurance partners have come to expectfrom all of our Texas locations.

“The services offered by ServiceKing throughout Houston are a mirrorimage of any Service King CollisionRepair Center one would find through-out Texas, with a focus on customerservice, quality repairs and on-goingtraining. All repair work is backed by awritten lifetime guarantee, providingthe ultimate in quality and customersatisfaction, and visitors can expect thesame clean, comfortable customer lob-bies, accommodating to both cus-tomers and insurance partners.”

With 23 Dallas-Fort Worth loca-tions, 12 Houston locations, eight SanAntonio locations and five Austin lo-cations, Service King recently an-nounced national expansion plans toacquire nine collision center locationsowned by Auto Body World in Arizonain July 2012.


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Collision Centers & Body Shops


A Corpus Christi body shop owner ispicking up the pieces after his shopwent up in flames in the early morn-ing of May 9. Around 2:30 a.m., theCorpus Christi Fire Department wasdispatched out to Baiza’s Paint andBody at 601 Brownlee in Corpus.Crews arrived to find heavy smokeand flames spewing from the busi-ness. The shop restores old cars andthe owner, who doesn’t have insur-ance, estimates the damage to beabout $75,000.

Fire investigators believe theblaze was the work of an arsonist. Ittook about an hour to get the blazeunder control. No one was injured,and firefighters were able to save adog that lives in the shop.

“And for me, I say, ‘why, does ithappen?’ This, because I’m a goodguy, I do favor to anybody and whydoes this happen to me?” said LuisBaiza, owner of Baiza Paint andBody. “A friend of mine says he sawsomeone running from the shop.Pero, we don’t know who it is. I wantto know who it was,” says Baiza.

See autobodynews.com forvideo of the fire. Anyone with infor-mation is asked to contact authorities.

Corpus Christi Body ShopBurns, Arson Suspected

As part of its ongoing “PBES Con-nect” learning series, the Paint, Body& Equipment Specialists (PBES)segment of the Automotive After-market Industry Association (AAIA)held its latest session, How Will YourCustomers Thrive? on April 25 inOklahoma City, OK. The event wasattended by about 50 industry pro-fessionals.

PBES Connect is an ongoing in-formational series tailored specifi-cally to the needs of PBE distributorsand supply chain members. Typicallyheld in conjunction with the Colli-sion Industry Conference (CIC), theprograms provide in-depth explo-ration of the industry’s most criticaland complex issues, including thoseaffecting the collision repair cus-tomers supported by PBE profes-sionals.

The April meeting featured apresentation by George Avery,claims consultant with State Farm,on the insurer’s electronic parts or-dering initiative using PartsTrader,and a counterpoint by Aaron Schu-lenburg, executive director of theSociety Collision Repair Specialists(SCRS). See related stories.

50 PBE Professionals AttendPBES Session in Oklahoma City

Caliber Collision Centers announcedthat it has acquired Legend CollisionCenter and reopened the location asCaliber West San Antonio.

“West San Antonio centerbrings our total number of locationsin the San Antonio market area to 10as we continue to grow both organi-cally and through strategic acquisi-tions,” said Steve Grimshaw,Caliber Collision Centers’ Chief Ex-ecutive Officer. “This new centeralso creates additional capacityacross this important market as weprovide our insurance clients the cus-tomer focus, operational consistencyand cost management they require intoday’s competitive insurance mar-ket.”

The newly acquired 19,900-square-foot collision repair facility isat 11720 Culebra Road, San Anto-nio, TX 78253.

“Our new West San Antoniocenter provides another example ofhow Caliber Collision continues togrow across the Texas market,” addedMark Sanders, Chief Operating Of-ficer for Caliber Collision Centers.“This brings our total number of cen-ters in Texas to 49.”

Caliber Collision Opens NewWest San Antonio Location

Caliber Collision partnered withFarmers Insurance in its 7th RecycledRides presentation of the year, donat-ing a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta to alocal veteran at Caliber’s Woodlands,Texas location on Wednesday, May 2.Michael Ryan Lease received keysand title to his newly refurbished ve-hicle in a special ceremony to thankand honor him for his service to ourcountry. After serving four years inthe Army, from 2003–2007, Leasehas struggled emotionally and finan-cially. Lack of reliable transportationhas made it difficult for him to findsteady employment. He recentlylanded a full-time position with an in-dustrial painting company but has toborrow a car or arrange rides to get towork. Finding transportation isequally challenging for Lease as hetries to spend as much time as possi-ble with his three young children,ages 5–9. Lease was nominated forthe Recycled Rides vehicle by Re-serveAid, a nonprofit organizationthat provides assistance to militaryfamilies. Farmers Insurance donatedthe vehicle and Caliber Collision pro-vided the resources and services torefurbish it for Michael Lease.

Caliber Collision Teams withFarmers for Recycled Rides


A San Antonio company has beenfined $46,000 by OSHA in connec-tion with a fatal loading dock acci-dent.

A worker at Certifit Incorpo-rated in San Antonio was preparing aloading dock for a delivery when thedelivery truck backed over him.

Investigators with the Occupa-tional Safety and Health Administra-tion said the auto body parts supplieris being cited for serious violationsthat compromised worker safety, in-cluding failure to make sure someonewas available to give first aid.

The Occupational Safety andHealth Administration cited SaltLake City, Utah-based CertiFit Inc.for nine serious safety violations atthe company’s facility in San Anto-nio. OSHA initiated the inspectionafter an employee, 40-year-oldSolomon Roberts, was killed whena delivery truck backed into a load-ing dock.

OSHA found the companyfailed to ensure that a trained personin first aid is present, provide train-ing on evacuation procedures, repairand maintain electrical equipmentand rolling ladders.

OSHA Fines San Antonio PartsSupplier Due to Fatal Accident

A Yukon High School and CanadianValley Technology Student competedfor eight hours to win a state Skill-sUSA championship.

All that went through BlakePrice’s mind at the recent SkillsUSAstate contest was it didn’t go as wellas planned. However, Price won thestate championship in Collision Re-pair at the recent statewide SkillsUSAcontest. He sought perfection, evenwhile realizing that was not possible.

After eight grueling hours ofbody work, plastic repair, welding andwritten estimates, Price was awardedthe gold medal at the state champi-onship in the collision repair event.

The Yukon High School seniorwas competing for Canadian ValleyTechnology Center, where he hastrained in auto body technology fortwo years.

“I had a lot of fun,” Price, 18,said. “I was thinking about every littlething I could have done wrong, but Iwas happy with how I did.” Price,who is considering seeking an associ-ate degree, would like to own a bodyshop one day. Price will compete in anational competition in June inKansas City, MO.

Yukon, OK, Student Wins StateSkillsUSA Contest

Oklahoma’s small businesses might besaving some health insurance premi-ums due to Governor Mary Fallin’ssigning of Senate Bill 1621. The meas-ure will allow small employers to pur-chase group insurance through anemployer association, which can poolresources with like businesses. Insur-ance Commissioner John D. Doaksaid, “SB 1621 has been a top prioritythis session because it will greatlystrengthen Oklahoma’s business envi-ronment by allowing industry associa-tions to offer large group policies tosmall employers.” Doak expressed hisappreciation to the Governor, as well asto Representative Glen Mulready andSenator Bill Brown for their hard workon the legislation. The bill requires as-sociations to meet the federal guide-lines of a ‘bona fide’ association. Thefour requirements are: 1) the associa-tion must have been in existence for 5years, 2) have been formed and main-tained in good faith for purposes otherthan obtaining insurance, 3) the associ-ation cannot condition membership onany health-status related factor relatingto any individual and 4) the associationmake the insurance available to allmembers regardless of health status.

Private Sector Solution ShouldLower OK Health Premiums The Texas Independent Automotive

Association met April 19 at the BarnDoor in San Antonio, Texas. Therewere 55 members and guests in atten-dance. Guest speaker Sid Hurlbertspoke on customer service and how an-swering the phone correctly can retaincustomers. The Alamo chapter ofTIAA awarded $4,000 in scholarships.

The May 23 TIAA meeting,held at Pompeii Italian Grill in SanAntonio, was a collision specificmeeting. Jeff Franco, who was thepast president of the Arizona Colli-sion Association, was the guestspeaker. He talked about his historywith the California Autobody Asso-ciation, and his involvement in statelegislation, aftermarket parts issues,insurance company issues and someof the bills that were passed in Ari-zona while he served as the statepresident of that association. Francospoke about the benefits of belong-ing to an association and working asa team to tackle the issues that colli-sion shops deal with on a daily basis.Franco touched on how to deal withissues not only on a state level, buton a national level as well, and beingrepresented at industry-leading con-ferences, such as the CIC.

TIAA Holds Spring Meetings

that the State Farm parts bidding pro-gram is a win-lose scenario, with re-pairers losing both profit and controlof their business. Furthermore, thenegative impact of this parts programhas the very real potential to quicklyspread beyond parts to other areas,such as paint, and beyond the bound-aries of voluntary direct-repair pro-gram (DRP) agreements to theindustry at large. If State Farm con-tends that this parts program is indeedgood for the collision industry, surelythe industry would embrace the pro-gram on a voluntary basis – assumingthe benefits of the program did indeedextend to more participants than justthe carrier.

“The collision repair industry hasgradually transitioned from a proudtrade of hard-working owners and em-ployees to a service provider that sub-contracts to the insurance industry,working on net margins that it nolonger controls and that jeopardize itsability to invest in its business and at-tract and train qualified employees to

ensure safe and quality repairs. AASPhas grave concerns for its members’future welfare if giant insurance cor-porations are permitted to trample onthe free market philosophies that sup-port a culture of small business suc-cess.”

John Shoemaker, of JSE Con-sulting, released the following state-ment;

“The collision industry hasweathered situations like this as in theSafelite Glass Program and Greenleafsalvaged parts program. Both theseinsurance company directed programswhittled away the shop owner’s abil-ity to make a business decision thatbenefited the shop. All shop ownersdevelop an expectation on how theirbusiness should operate as well as es-tablishing the profit margins necessaryto ensure survivability. They have de-veloped business partnerships withlocal businesses to ensure that theirprofit margins are maintained. In-turnthe local business have relocatedstores to become more convenient,stocked more parts and negotiatedwith shop owners to maintain an edgeon their market. The State Farm PartsProgram negates these partnerships

forcing shop owner’s to purchaseparts from an unknown outside theirmarket. As insurance companiesmove farther away from insuring ve-hicles and go deeper into the repairprocess shop owners will see furthererosion of their ability to run theirbusiness. First it was glass, now it isparts, tomorrow it could be paint.

“Another issue I have with theState Farm Parts Program is the dis-traction it has caused in the collisionindustry. Every blog I read, everymagazine I open up and every shopowner I talk to has the State FarmParts Program on top of their mind.Everybody is up-in-arms about it andnot paying attention to the immediatetasks on hand. If you look around youwill see that this program has causeddistractions far beyond parts!

“My last thought on this is thatshops are dropping State Farm as aDRP, up to 40% in some markets andState Farm does not care. They arecontacting shops that were previouslydropped from the DRP program formultiple reasons and signing themback up if they agree to the parts pro-gram. Does that mean that you can bea poor performer and as long as you

accept their parts program you aregood again?”

See additional reaction atwww.autobodynews.com, includingSCRS’ statement and Scott Biggs’blog: “State Farm – Parts Trader: It’sabout losing profit, control, and yourvery survival” which can be read atScottBiggs.com. See also the Insur-ance Insider column, this issue.


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North Freeway HyundaiASA Says it is ‘Fact Finding’ on State Farm’s PartsTraderThe Automotive Service Association(ASA) is conducting a multi-seg-mented fact-finding mission on StateFarm's new electronic parts procure-ment program “to ensure the infor-mation collected and provided to theASA membership and the broader in-dustry is as accurate and thorough aspossible.”

An ASA Collision Division teamconsisting of operations committeemembers and staff recently inter-viewed George Avery, State Farm’sclaims consultant, regarding the pilotprogram. ASA has since posed somefollow-up questions and will issuefurther statements as conversationscontinue.

Several additional interviews arebeing set up with other industry par-ties involved in the program. ASAsays that as each exchange is fact-checked for clarity, updates will beshared with ASA members and the in-dustry at large.

“State Farm’s pilot program hasa potential to have a tremendous im-pact on the collision repair industryand the motoring public,” said DeniseCaspersen, ASA Collision Divisionmanager. “It is vital for ASA to ap-proach this situation methodicallywith an emphasis on facts to ensurethat the results of the pilot are in thebest interest of the collision repairer.

ASA has an obligation to provide ourmembership, and the industry, asmuch factual information as possible– just as State Farm has an obligationto answer the community’s concerns.ASA also has a responsibility to ad-dress issues directly with the partiesinvolved to provide recommenda-tions and solutions benefitting repair-ers, consumers and the industry.”

Several of ASA’s volunteer lead-ers representing the collision repairmembership also spoke with RobCooper, CEO of PartsTrader LLC.ASA’s questions focused on imple-mentation plans, supplier qualifica-tions, data extraction and qualitychecks on recommended parts. ASAis also following up with Cooper withadditional questions and comments.

“This pilot program, whichreaches beyond the insurer/repairerrelationship, is at a pivotal point topotentially allow adjustments to theprogram as a result of industry inputand analysis,” said Caspersen.

“If this tool is to go forward andbenefit the entire industry, it requirestransparency, mutual understandingand collaboration. ASA is committedto a collaborative process that pro-duces the best possible outcome forthe collision repairer. ASA says thekey questions are the financial impactof the program on body shops.

Continued from Cover

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Louisiana Commissioner of Insur-ance Jim Donelon and James H.Freis, Jr., Director of the FinancialCrimes Enforcement Network (Fin-CEN) within the U.S. Treasury,signed a Memorandum of Under-standing (MOU) aimed at boostinganti-fraud efforts.

The MOU, signed April 27, willallow Freis, as the nation’s federalAnti-Money Laundering (AML) reg-ulator and Commissioner Donelon,as the insurance regulator for thestate of Louisiana, to share importantinformation enabling both parties tobetter protect the industry and con-sumers from criminal activity andfraud.

The new MOU will allow bothparties to improve and enhance thelevel of AML cooperation and seeksto efficiently maximize their com-bined resources in discharging theirstatutory obligations to defendagainst money laundering, fraud andother financial crime. The collectivegoal is to enhance communicationand coordination between FinCENand the Louisiana Department of In-surance to help Louisiana insurancecompanies better identify, deter and

interdict financial crime and effi-ciently convey that information toFinCEN.

With the signing of this Memo-randum of Understanding, Louisianabecomes the first state to partner withFinCEN. “This is a significant toolthat will enhance our efforts to betterprotect our consumers from fraudand other criminal activity,” saidCommissioner Donelon.

“FinCEN looks forward toforming new partnerships with stateinsurance regulators to share infor-mation to detect and deter illicit fi-nancial activity including insurancefraud,” said Director Freis.

“FinCEN has a solid record ofworking with state financial regula-tors. Commissioner Donelon’s influ-ential role as president-elect of theNational Association of InsuranceCommissioners will help set the stan-dard for other states to follow.”

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner and U.S. Treasury JoinForces in Campaign to Target Money Laundering On April 25th, the Society of Colli-

sion Repair Specialists (SCRS)hosted a face-to-face meeting of na-tional repair associations, I-CAR,the OEM Roundtable and the vastmajority of the top automakers inOklahoma City prior to the start ofthe Collision Industry Conference(CIC).

The meeting was a continuationof the major step more than two dozenadditional state, regional, national andinternational collision repair organi-zations took last November, recogniz-ing OEM repair procedures as theindustry’s official repair “standard”for collision repair. This meeting fur-ther advanced the unified efforts andserved as an opportunity to take sig-nificant next actions in a coordinatedeffort by all parties by establishing atangible working agenda and action-able items.

“A clear takeaway from each ofthe meetings we have held is that thegroup indeed is powered with aclearly defined sense of purpose,”stated SCRS Chairman Aaron Clark.“There is complete consensus that ourtask at hand is to ensure that collisionrepairers across the nation are able toeasily access and attain the technicalinformation that has been recognized

as the standard of repair for our in-dustry.”

The work group established keycontacts, further refined the commu-nications strategy and developedagenda items and tasks which wereassigned as internal action items. Par-ticipants exchanged reports from eachof the organizations involved, includ-ing a report from I-CAR on theprogress of their consideration to fa-cilitate an industry council as requestby the repair community in Novem-ber of 2011. Future meetings, time-lines and work product werediscussed as the groups came to con-sensus on the next steps to presentingeasily attainable technical standardsof care for collision repair.

About SCRSThrough its direct members and 39 af-filiate associations, SCRS is com-prised of 6,000 collision repairbusinesses and 58,500 specialized pro-fessionals who work with consumersand insurance companies to repair col-lision-damaged vehicles. Additionalinformation about SCRS includingother news releases is available at theSCRS website: www.scrs.com . Youcan e-mail SCRS at the following ad-dress: [email protected]

SCRS Hosts Standards Meeting in Oklahoma City

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door that was left open in his haste toreach safety. “I was holding onto theframe rack thinking I was going for aride with it.”

While his shop suffered no dam-age, the building next door was de-stroyed and is now being demolished.Two cars, both owned by DeFatta,were damaged in the parking lot. Onevehicle was totaled and the othernearly totaled.

Less than 30 minutes before thetornado hit, DeFatta heard the news onthe radio about an approaching stormand he sent his five employees home.

DeFatta stayed at the shop and wasworking under a frame machine whenhe heard the tornado sirens go off. Hewent outside to watch the storm.

“I’m from Texas,” DeFatta said.“In Texas, you can watch the tornadosbecause you can see them coming. So,I went outside looking for it. That wasmy takeaway lesson from this,” helaughed. “Don’t stand outside lookingfor a tornado.” The tornado camewrapped in swirling, heavy rain, mak-ing it impossible to see. “I never sawit, never heard it. It just came.” De-Fatta, who has been in town for only afew years, is told by the older folks intown that it’s a rare occurrence for atornado to hit the heart of Norman.

Today, DeFatta says the town isstill cleaning up. “Overall, we hadmild damage but there are stillmesses, tree limbs, to clean up.” Dam-age to cars in town is making the shopbusier these days too.


Continued from Cover

Friday the 13th

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Fiat of Austin Sells More than100 of its only VehicleFiat of Austin, located at 11011 Do-main Drive in the Texas state capital,sold 107 Fiat 500s in April, or aboutthree percent of the new brand’s 3,849sales across 158 dealers. Pretty goodfor a year-old dealership with justunder 6,000-square-feet of showroomspace and a single lineup to sell. Fiatexpects Austin, Texas to be one of itstop markets for the Fiat 500. The NyleMaxwell Auto Group owns Fiat ofAustin which features the car on a ro-tating stage similar to a fashion runway.

The Automotive Service Association(ASA) is concerned about inequitiesin the Texas Tax Code. Currently, inthe Texas Franchise Tax Code, auto-motive repair and collision shopsowned and operated by new or usedcar dealerships are taxed at half therate used to tax independently-ownedautomotive repair businesses doingidentical work. The tax code classifiesdealership sales as “retail” and allowstheir service and repair business to beincluded under that banner. Texas in-dependent repairers are seeking simi-lar treatment.

ASA Asks Texans to Help Fixthe Franchise Tax Code

The Van Tuyl Group of Irving, TX,will host a chili contest to benefit theMarch of Dimes on June 2 from 3-5p.m. at 8333 Royal Ridge Parkway.Every dollar raised by this event willbe donated to March of Dimes to helpthem reach their goal of every babybeing born healthy. Admission is free!Besides the best-dang chili this side ofTerlingua, this event will include:Sprint Cup Series No. 5 Farmers Car,activities for the kids, vendor expo,raffle, silent auction and a live auction.

Van Tuyl Group Holds March ofDimes Chili Contest Benefit

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Museum for Ford’s Model AConstruction is underway in southernMichigan on a museum celebratingFord Motor Co.’s Model A. Officialswith the Gilmore Car Museum hope tofinish construction on the Model AFord Museum by Labor Day. The mu-seum will be housed in a building de-signed to resemble one of theDearborn-based automaker’s old deal-erships. The museum is being built atHickory Corners, about 115 miles westOrganizers say it will be the largestpublic museum dedicated to the ModelA, which was built in the late 1920sand early 1930s following the wildsuccess of Ford’s Model T.

This is an interesting story and I don’tknow quite where to start. How about:Elvis has just entered the building andnobody noticed. Is it possible for Elvisto walk into a room and take a seat yethave nobody notice that the King is inthe house? It’s impossible, right?

Well, it seems just as impossiblethat collision repairers didn’t mentionState Farm and parts at the most re-cent Collision Industry Conference(CIC) meeting. They are the mostcommon words ‘affectionately’ ut-tered by body shops owners through-out the country these days. So how isit possible that during one of the in-dustry’s biggest stages, CIC, therewasn’t even a mention?

Yes, there were some sidebar con-versations during breaks. Yes, therewas a lot of discussion at an associa-tion meeting held in conjunction withCIC. And yes, there have been somepress releases.

But when everyone had a chanceto address State Farm publicly, no-body noticed that the elephant was inthe room. I know the elephant wasthere.

Maybe a gag order was issued?Maybe the industry felt that StateFarm deserved a break? Or could it bethat the industry realized that it’s notas bad as some have made it out to be?

I am among those who think StateFarm’s parts move isn’t as bad assome make it out to be. While thereare pros and cons, the reality is thatoverall it’s a good thing. If State Farmdidn’t take the lead on this, the indus-try would have continued to flounderaround for years to come. The ineffi-cient parts ordering model employedby the collision repairers is archaicand wasteful.

Why wouldn’t State Farm want ashop to order the most cost-effectivepart on a given repair? Why shouldState Farm have to reimburse a shopfor a more expensive part if the exactsame part is available at a cheaperprice? Paying more for the same partis a waste of insured’s premium dol-lars.

If shops were more cost-con-scious over the past 10 years, insurersmay have been in a position to lowerthe cost of insurance instead of con-

tinually raising it. I realize it’s not en-tirely the shops’ fault, but I can assureyou that when shops are repairing oneof their own vehicles, they’re lookingharder for the best price on parts.

We all have a responsibility to becost-conscious when spending some-one else’s money. When you repair acustomer’s vehicle, you are spendingTHEIR money. Yes, you are spendingTHEIR MONEY. I don’t care if it’s aninsurance claim. The money the in-surance company pays you is from theinsured’s premiums.

If you understand and respect thatconcept, you would treat an insuranceclaim like it was a customer-pay jobfrom a family member. Instead, wehave an industry that couldn’t careless about the cost of parts becausethey aren’t paying for them and willmake more money by choosing thehighest-priced parts.

Don’t all of us have a responsibil-ity to make sure the customer’s car isrepaired in the most cost-effectivemanner possible? If the answer is‘yes,’ why are body shops all over thecountry crying foul? If State Farm wastrying to eliminate your parts profit,like an ill-fated pilot program manyyears ago, then you’d have a right tocomplain. But finding the most cost-effective part shouldn’t be somethinginsurers have to ask or require you todo. You should have been doing itsince the first car entered your build-ing.

Although insurance companiesinserting themselves into the bodyshop’s business isn’t a popular sub-ject, you might as well get used to it.I’ve been around this industry long

enough to know that unless an insur-ance company requires it, it’s notgoing to happen. Allstate requiringCCC’s first estimating system facili-tated the widespread adoption of elec-

tronic estimating. Ifthat didn’t happen,we might still bewriting estimates byhand.

Why is Allstaterequiring their di-rect repair shops tobe I-CAR GoldClass? It’s becausethe vast majority ofthe industry doesn’twant to investmoney into training.Shops shouldn’t be

forced to keep up with the latest tech-nology and repair methodologies.They should be seeking training with-out any interference or mandate by an

insurance company. But they don’t.There are many other examples of

insurance companies changing the in-dustry but I think my point has beenmade. When there are inefficiencies inthe system, money to be saved or abetter way to serve the customer, un-less an insurance company decides toplay the role of the evil villain, shopsaren’t going to do it willingly.

If the majority of shops were op-erating at a high level (as a few are),there would be no reason for any car-rier to manage the shops’ business. In-surance companies are similar to thegovernment. You are better served re-solving the problem yourself, other-wise your fate will be decided for you.

Elvis sang a song titled, “Don’tAsk Me Why.” The next time you areat an industry meeting and want tocomplain about insurance companiestaking over the industry, remember theKing’s song…and this article.


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Is the State Farm Elephant in the Room a Bad Elephant?

with Rick WhiteShop Management

with Stefan GesterkampPaint Management

with Gonzo WeaverGonzo’s Toolbox

with Richard ArnoldJobber Journal

Mainstream Media

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]



After listening to Larry MontanezIII of P & L Consultants discuss OEMprocedures and repair standards atAASP NORTHEAST™ in March thisyear, I wanted to know more abouthim and his company.

First, a little personal history. Asa teenager, Montanez was all but ob-sessive about cars, both in real life andon TV. Enamored with the Batmobile,he remembers that fast American mus-cle cars were—then and now—“where it’s at.” It’s became a lifelongfascination.

As an adult, he became involvedin the auto body industry as a fabrica-tor and welder focused on customiza-tions and restorations. Around 2000,Montanez became an I-CAR instruc-tor, and about six months later, he andhis mentor, Peter Pratti, decided tobegin a consulting business aimed atteaching both sides of the business toboth sides of the business, auto bodyshops and insurance agencies, in an ef-fort to prove that everyone should beable to get along and to work togetherto figure out how things should bedone. Montanez and Pratti strive toteach the same material in the sameexact way, regardless of their audi-ence.

Montanez and Pratti began byteaching classes on estimating as wellas the triaging/blueprinting process,providing two aspects of the samesubject. Additionally, they offerclasses on damage analysis, welding,structural repair, airbag knowledgeand safety information. P & L Con-sultants currently offers a dozen

classes, six of which have been ap-proved for the Rhode Island TrainingCertification program.

OEM ProceduresIn discussing OEM procedures, Mon-tanez reasons that they exist to provideOEMs with liability protection and be-cause of component failure as sup-ported by testing, in addition to thepressure from government regula-tions, consumer advocates, IIHS crashtesting and NHTSA investigations,lawsuits and court decisions and de-fects attributed to design flaws. OEMposition statements were created forthe purposes of or because of OEM li-ability protection, components failuressupported by case studies, lawsuitsand court decisions, re-engineeringdesign flaws, ensuring safe repairs andproduct, copyright and trademark pro-tection.

Repair StandardsThe desire for repair standards resultsfrom the influence of outside entities,or according to Montanez, “repairstandards are made up by people whoare trying to appease a different groupof people who have no business beinginvolved in collision repair, who arelooking to save money on it.”

Montanez notes that collision re-pairers want repair standards becausethey are untrained and are reluctant tosearch for them on OEM websites.MLO shop owners want them tomake insurance “partners” happysince insurers desire repair standardsbecause they want to save money. Af-

termarket suppliers are also driven bygreed and the desire to make sales,while many industry associations areinfluenced by insurers. Still, Mon-tanez does not believe that the idea ofcreating repair standards is not com-pletely wrong; he is just not comfort-able with the parties involved as theirreasons for wanting repair standardscreate a biased view.

If repair standards are created,Montanez insists that it should beginwith the formation of an independentgroup comprised of OEM representa-tives, collision repairers, engineers,physicists, metallurgists, industry ex-perts and I-Car Tech Center’s JasonBartanen and Steve Marks. Addi-tionally, repair standards should onlybe created where none currently existand only after a request letter to theOEM has failed. They should also besupported by crash testing and com-puter animated drawings, and theyshould be reviewable every sixmonths. Montanez points out that thisprocess should not include insurancecompanies because “no one careswhat the insurance companies think.”

Specifically, both OEM and af-termarket parts should be tested toprove that the aftermarket parts workjust as well as OEM parts before theiruse is encouraged.

Montanez lists the pros of creat-ing repair standards as follows: moreavailable procedures, lower insurercosts, lower severity, fewer totaledvehicles, more repaired vehicles, bet-ter insurer relations, more use of usedparts, more sectioning procedures andmore parts options.

He also notes the following cons:more improper repairs, more liabilityexposure, more fatalities, more in-juries, more diminished value law-suits, more shop lawsuits, dangerousto motorists and more bad businessdecisions. The use of damaged com-ponents or inferior parts can lead tomore injuries in collision because thevehicle will not react the way itshould, and this can lead to cata-strophic separation which becomes ahazard to the general driving public.

In the case of improper repairs,even if due to the parts requested bythe insurance company, liability falls

on the repair facility, the shop ownerpersonally, the technician (in somestates) and sublet jobbers. The sup-plier can also be sued, but the insurerwill never be called to the courtroomfor an improper repair. Because theshop is potentially liable, shopsshould inform the customer or the in-surance company if they cannot repaircars that way to avoid liability issues.In the instance of liability, safety fac-tors are important, so only the OEMguidelines matter.

Because so much time, moneyand effort goes in to creating OEMprocedures, these should always beadhered to. The goal behind theirmultiple engineering principles is tokeep the occupants safe, therefore itis very important not to change theparameters of OEM guidelines. Inorder for repair standards to be made,a comparable amount of time, moneyand effort should be utilized. WhenOEM procedures are not available, apanel needs to collaborate to createrepair standards to form a consensusthat enhances the safety of collisionrepairs for all drivers and protects col-lision repair facilities from issues ofliability.

Montanez reminds repairers thatit generally takes three to four yearsto develop a vehicle, and manufac-turers have spent many millions ofdollars on designing and testing,using crash tests, CAAD drawings,algorithms and so forth, and their in-structions need to be taken seriously.

Though some aftermarket partsare not very different from OEMparts, a problem arises if the OEMchanges the substrate of their materialwhich can change corrosion rates andmultiple other variables. For example,using an aftermarket radiator thatdoes not meet OEM standards cancause overheating which will not becovered under the OEM’s warranty.

These standards can be referencedat i-car.com or nastf.org. Both providelinks to OEM websites. Alldata.comand autoepi.org also offer informationon some OEM procedures. Atwww.autobodynews.com you can reada list of OEM guidelines to give you aminimal reminder on specific OEMcautions, processes and procedures.

Larry Montanez Talks OEM Procedures and Repair Standards





Mainstream Media


Mainstream Media













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

CCC Information Services Inc. an-nounced it is now the exclusiveprovider of the customer status up-date communications platform Up-datePromise.com for the automotiveclaims and collision repair industries.

The text message and email-based UpdatePromise product will berebranded as CCC ONE UpdatePlus,and will be integrated with the CCCONE Total Repair platform, CCCsaid. The technology integration willmake repair status and post-repair up-dates with customers and insurers au-tomatic for shop users.

“CCC has been working withUpdatePromise for several months todevelop an easier-to-use, integratedand more streamlined status updatesolution for the APD industry,” saidJim Dickens, senior vice president ofCCC’s Automotive Services Group.

“With the CCC ONE platform,we have found that true integration iswhat drives efficiency and this is justanother example of that philosophy atwork.

“We’re very excited about howthis can help repairers and insurersimprove the customer experience.”

CCC Becomes Exclusive Provider of UpdatePromise

Carroll Shelby International, Inc., an-nounced that Carroll Hall Shelby, aman whose vision for performancetransformed the automobile industry,died at age 89. Mr. Shelby passedaway at Baylor Hospital in Dallas.The cause of death was not disclosed.

Born on Jan. 11, 1923, CarrollShelby was one ofAmerica’s greatest suc-cess stories. Champi-onship-winning racecardriver, “flying sergeant”wartime pilot, philan-thropist, entrepreneur,car manufacturer andracing team owner, heembodied the ingenuity,tenacity and grit toovercome any obstacle.He is perhaps the onlyperson to have workedat a visible level with allthree major Americanautomobile manufactur-ers.

Carroll Shelby founded CarrollShelby International, a publicly heldcorporation involved in many indus-

tries. His licensing arm has agreementswith industry giants, such as Mattel,Sony, Ford Motor Company and Elec-tronic Arts. His car company, ShelbyAmerican, has a thriving parts businessas well as a line of muscle cars includ-ing the Shelby GT500 Super Snake,Shelby GT350 and Shelby GTS. The

Las Vegas-based com-pany also manufac-tures a limited numberof the 1960s Shelby289 “street,” 289 FIA,427 S/C and DaytonaCoupe Cobras.

Shelby consideredhis greatest achieve-ment to be the estab-lishment of the CarrollShelby Foundation™.Created in 1992 whileShelby was waitingfor a heart transplant,the charity is dedi-cated to providing

medical assistance for those in need,including children, educational oppor-tunities for young people through au-tomotive and other training programs

and benefitting the Carroll Shelby Au-tomotive Foundation.

Shelby remained active in themanagement of each of his companiesand the Foundation until his death,even though he endured both heartand kidney transplants in the last twodecades of his life.

“We are all deeply saddened,and feel a tremendous sense of lossfor Carroll’s family, ourselves andthe entire automotive industry,” saidJoe Conway, president of CarrollShelby International, Inc. and boardmember. “There has been no one likeCarroll Shelby and never will be.However, we promised Carroll wewould carry on, and he put the team,the products and the vision in placeto do just that.”

Shelby is survived by his threechildren Patrick, Michael and Sharon,his sister, Anne Shelby Ellison of FortWorth, and his wife Cleo.

Donations to the Carroll ShelbyFoundation are encouraged in lieu offlowers. Information about the CarrollShelby Foundation is available atwww.carrollshelbyfoundation.org.


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A college student from Paoli, ChesterCounty, is in a coma more than 1,000miles from home after a hit-and-rundriver plowed into Eliza Gresh inMiami, authorities say. The teen wascrossing the street on April 27 whenpolice say a hit and run driver plowedinto Gresh. Police were looking forthe car, a Mercedes Benz, and thedriver, Luis Moya, 24.

The car showed up at an autobody shop a week later, but not withLuis. Behind the wheel was Moya’smom, Zoila. She told the shop ownershe had gotten into an accident, butthe shop owner recognized the carfrom police descriptions and calledinvestigators.

Police took Zoila into custodyand got in touch with Luis Moyathrough his mother and told him ifhe did not turn himself in, theywould arrest his mother andcharge her with filing false andfraudulent insurance claims. Moyatold them to go ahead and arresther.

Luis Moya has received 42traffic tickets in the last five years,including tickets for reckless andcareless driving.

Hit and Run Driver with 42 ticketslets Mother Take the Rap

Should repairers be held solely re-sponsible if a repair process or partthey choose fails—even if that processor part was chosen at the behest of aninsurer?

That was one of the questions atthe heart of a panel discussion on “in-demnification” at the Collision Indus-try Conference (CIC) held inOklahoma City in late April.

Rick Tuuri, who chairs CIC’s“Insurer-Repairer Relations Commit-tee,” said the topic was triggered bythe indemnification clause found inmany direct repair agreements. Thatclause requires the participating shopto “indemnify” (or “hold harmless”)the insurer, which could prevent theshop from pursing a legal claimagainst the insurer, or make the shopresponsible to compensate or defendthe insurer in a legal claim arisingfrom repairs made under the agree-ment.

“I think for repairers it ultimatelycomes down to this: If the contract isgoing to hold me to indemnify the in-surer against anything caused by therepair, then insurers should ultimatelysay, ‘You’re responsible for indemni-fying us, so you make all the (repair)decisions and we’ll pay you for whatthe repair is,’ ” panelist Aaron Schu-lenburg, executive director of the So-ciety of Collision Repair Specialists(SCRS), said. “I think most repairerwould be fine with that. I think wherethe issue comes is when insurers startto be involved in the process by spec-ifying part types or repair proce-dures—to identity how the repair shopdoes their job –while also asking to beindemnified against anything that re-sults from that. If there’s involvementin the decision-making process, Ithink the repairer believes thereshould also be involvement in the lia-bility.”

Oklahoma shop owner GaryWano agreed. He said he thinks that,indemnification or not, if a problemoccurs based on a repair, the shop andinsurer will both find themselves incourt.

“The argument from the repairerstandpoint is thatif the insurer…hadleft me to do whatI do—put the parton I want to puton, or do the oper-ation the way Iwanted to do it—none of us would

be in that court to begin with,” Wanosaid.

Perhaps not surprisingly, insurerson the panel viewed the issue differ-ently. Allstate’s Randy Hanson saidthat, first, he’s not sure it’s much atopic of concern. He said that in thedecades he’s been involved with his

company’s DRP, he doesn’t recall aquestion from shops coming up aboutit.

“I can also say in 30-plus years, Ihave not once evoked an indemnifica-tion clause in a contract for a DRPpartner,” Hanson said. “Not once.”

He said five of the six indemnifi-cation elements in the Allstate DRPagreement have nothing to do with re-pair issues. They prohibit such thingsas a shop making a claim against theinsurer if a shop employee makes aworkers’ compensation claim, orsomeone having repaired vehiclesunder the agreement seeking Allstateemployee benefits.

But Hanson said Allstate needsrepairers to fix cars for its policyhold-ers, so if concerns about indemnifica-tion prevented enough shops fromsigning the agreement, his companywould have to find ways to addressthat.


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Shops and Insurers Discuss Indemnification in DRP Contracts

with Ed Attanasio

Shop and Product Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Shop Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Social Media for Shops


The Right Causewith Mike Causey

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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

Gary Wano

“I don’t want to be so crass as tosay take it or leave it, but they’re notgoing away.” Hanson said of the in-demnification clauses. “Everybody isprotecting themselves to a certain ex-tent. To an extent that we can’t dobusiness together? Let’s have a con-versation. I’m open for that. I thinkwe’ll listen. And I think we’ll makechanges where it’s appropriate.”

Panelist George Avery, a claimsconsultant with State Farm, said atfirst that like Hanson, he hasn’t seenthe indemnification clause beingmuch of an issue for shops on hiscompany’s direct repair program. Buthe also said State Farm did make asignificant change to its indemnifica-tion clause.

“Our initial Select Service agree-ment did have a 1-way hold-harmlessagainst us,” Avery said. “It was in ourbenefit. As a result of input from our(repairer) advisory council, wechanged that and now it’s both ways.We added a two-way hold-harmlessfor both the repairer and for us.”

But he also pointed out that someof what shops consider insurer in-volvement in the repair process isdriven by the insurer’s policy contract

with its customers. He said StateFarm’s insurance policy, for example,says it can designate the type of re-placement parts for which it owes.

“George has a good point: The pol-icy is the policy,” Schulenburg con-ceded. “You’ve set an expectationwith your policyholder on what youowe for. I don’t think there’s an issuethere at all. You owe for what youcontracted for. However, there arethird-party claimants, and they don’thave a policy with you.”

Schulenburg also pointed out thatinsurers attempt to involve themselvesin repair decisions beyond just parts.The policy doesn’t inform the con-sumer that the insurer may say,“We’re going to section this rail hereversus putting it in at a factory seam,”Schulenburg said.

He said that intrusion by insurersinto the repair process, pressing shopsto do something that deviates fromOEM recommendations or their ownrepairers expertise, is why shops areconcerned about the indemnificationclause.

Speaking from the floor of CIC,California shop owner Randy Stablerraised several other concerns he has

related to indemnification. He said thefact that Avery and Hanson haven’tseen indemnification result in an issuedoesn’t mean it couldn’t.

“I’ve never had a fire in my shop,but I have fire insurance,” Stablercited as an analogy.

He also said it would seem fair thatinsurers cross-indemnify shops, in casean adjustor, for example, slips and fallswhile at the shop, or makes inappropriatecomments to a shop employee that re-sults in a claim against the shop. He alsopointed out that shops have business in-

surance to protectthemselves in thecase of an error oromission, but thatinsurer offering thatcoverage is basingthat policy on pro-tecting the shop, notthe insurer with

which the shop has a contract.“When you actually go to your

(business) insurance company and sayhere’s my DRP agreement and theyactually look at that, they go, ‘Ooooh.Ooooh. We don’t like that so much.’So that’s another practical issue wehave to be aware of.”

Schulenburg pointed out that theindemnification discussion cameabout as part of the committee’s effortto craft a set of guidelines for the“most beneficial and productive re-pairer-insurer relationships.”

“So insurers could say, ‘Look, it’sin there; you should read your docu-ments and if you don’t like it, don’tsign it,’ and repairers could say, ‘Letme fix the car and get out of my busi-ness.’ But neither of those things reallyget us to the goal of this committee,which is to build better relationshipsbetween the two parties.”

To that end, committee chairmanTuuri said he drafted a position state-ment on the topic that reads in part,“Indemnification clauses in DRPagreements…should be fair to both in-surer and repairers.”

Wano, Avery and Schulenburgsaid that initially that seemed like agood addition to the committee’sguidelines for mutually-beneficial in-surer-shop relationships.

“We’re not solving the world’sproblems here,” Wano conceded. “Butas long as the carriers and repairers arewilling to sit down and take a look atthese things…”


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As BMW Groups’ vehicle construc-tion technology advances, so does therepair process required to fix themproperly. Conventional welding,which has been used primarily inBMW Groups’ repair processes in thepast, is slowly becoming the second-ary method to bonding and rivet bond-ing technology. BMW currentlyrecommends primarily using bondingand rivet bonding to replace exteriorbody panels, structural parts, and sec-tioning specific locations in conjunc-tion with VIN-specific repairprocedures. Changes in recommendedrepair procedures affect all currentproduction models. This does notmean that all models, and all parts, areaffected though. Consulting VIN-spe-cific repair procedures should alwaysbe the first step in the repair process.The same is true for Mini and forRolls-Royce vehicles (see Figure 1).

BMW Group has been recom-mending bonding and rivet bondingtechniques to replace damaged alu-minum parts for over a decade. Therecommendation has now been broughtto repairs on steel vehicles. The theorybehind the repair of both aluminum andsteel parts is similar, although the ad-hesives and preparation material usedcan vary by the repair situation and thematerials being joined (see Figure 2).

Reasons for the ChangeThere are several reasons that BMWhas made the transition from conven-tional welding and STRSW to bond-ing and rivet bonding. One of the mainreasons is the use of heat-sensitivesteel. With bonding and rivet bonding,there is no heat generated that wouldweaken the steel, allowing the steel toretain its strength.

Another reason for bonding andrivet bonding is the increased corro-sion resistance of the repair joints.Corrosion protection is extremely im-portant during repairs because BMWoffers a 12-year corrosion warranty.

Repair OverviewThe recommended BMW sectioningjoint on outer body panels requires apre-fabricated E-coated reinforcementplate, available from BMW, alongwith VIN-specific repair information.The sectioning joint locations are in asimilar area as the previously recom-mended weld joint, but may havemoved to accommodate the reinforce-ment plate. The reinforcement platehas studs built into the part. This re-quires notches to be placed into theexisting part and the new part.

Special plastic lock nuts are usedto hold the parts in position until theadhesive cures. If the joint calls forthem, rivets, which may be specialblind rivets or punch rivets (alsocalled self-piercing rivets or SPRs),are then installed on mating flangeareas where applicable. When the ad-hesive is cured, the studs on the rein-forcement plate are removed and thesurface is prepared for the applicationof the BMW-recommended epoxymetal filler.

The sectioning procedure for arail is similar to an outer body panel.The difference is this repair joint usesa repair element that fits into the rail.A bolt is inserted into the repair ele-ment. When the bolt is tightened

down, the repair element expandsagainst the inside of the rail, causingthe adhesive to emerge. The bolt is re-moved once the rivets have been in-stalled and the adhesive is cured.

Still Some WeldingBonding and rivet bonding does notreplace all welding procedures forBMW. There are some areas that willstill require welding to be done. Theseareas can only be identified with thecorrect repair information.

Tools and Equipment AvailabilityAll of the tools and parts, includingthe reinforcement plates, repair ele-ments, rivets, and adhesives needed tocomplete bonding and rivet bondingprocedures for BMW are available toindependent collision repair facilities.It is highly recommended, however,that before any repairs are attempted,the technician acquire training fromBMW on the tools and techniques tocorrectly perform these repairs. It isalso critical to have access to the mostcurrent and up-to-date repair proce-dures and sectioning locations fromBMW.

ConclusionBMW recommends primarily usingadhesive bonding and rivet bonding toreplace exterior body panels, framerails, and when sectioning. The repairsare vehicle specific and require spe-cial tools, equipment, and procedures.BMW recommends specific trainingbefore doing these repairs, and havingaccess to their specific repair infor-mation.

The recommended change in re-pair procedures from BMW is just oneof the many examples of the chal-lenges that collision repairers face ontoday’s HSS and UHSS vehicles.While traditional repair methods arestill used on these vehicles, how andwhere those repair methods are usedis constantly changing. For more in-formation on working on HSS andUHSS vehicles, attend I-CAR’s BestPractices For High-Strength Steel Re-pairs (SPS09) course.


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with Kathy Steck-FlynnAutobody CSI

with Dan EspersenALL OEM Information

with Tom McGeeALL OEM Information

with J.R. CarlsonConsumer Callout

Automaker Actions and Announcementswith Jeremy Hayhurst

Autobody Techwith Jeremy Hayhurst

Parts Profileswith Larry Williams

Automaker Actions and Announcementswith Janet Chaney

I-CAR Tech

Amaradio Explains CRAwith Lee Amaradio Jr.

Consumer Callout

The Right Causewith Mike Causey

with Ed AttanasioShop Showcase

Say What?!

This article first appeared in the I-CAR Advantage Online, which is published and distrib-uted free of charge. I-CAR, the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair, is anot-for-profit international training organization that researches and develops qualitytechnical education programs related to collision repair. To learn more about I-CAR, andto subscribe to the free publication, visit http://www.i-car.com.

Bonding and Rivet Bonding Technology on Steel BMW Vehicle Parts

Figure 1 - This BMW 5 Series has several partsthat need to be rivet bonded during repairs

Figure 2 - The repairs on this aluminum frontend are similar to the repairs on steel vehicles


The following is an interview withChuck Gosney, President of CollisionBilling, a company that could helpbring the changes the collision indus-try desperately needs. In this inter-view, Domenico Nigro asks somedirect questions on exactly how thiscompany could bring needed change.

Domenico: Chuck, what exactly isCollision Billing?

Chuck: Collision Billing was cre-ated to keep the insurance compa-nies in check and to help the autobody shops get paid for the workthey are doing. Nobody was repre-senting the shops, so we createdCollision Billing to level the playingfield. We have two main servicesthat we provide for the collision in-dustry, the first being our FullBilling Services, and, of course, ourClaims Database.

Domenico: For years, there have beenconsultants that have been tellingshops how to get paid by using the ref-erence manuals, P-Pages, and othertips on writing a complete sheet. Howare you different?

Chuck: The other consultants do agreat job of explaining what is in-cluded and not included and what toask for. We have all been to theirworkshops and get excited and go outon Monday and start writing repair or-ders the way we should. When youask for those things, the insurancecompany’s response is that they don’tpay for that and the shop has no re-course to get paid for it and they stopasking for it. What the shop is lackingis data to substantiate the operation, orsomeone who will challenge the in-surance company on the shop’s be-half. That’s where we come in, andthat’s how we’re different.

Domenico: How does your full billingservices work?

Chuck: Our full billing services aresimilar to the professional billing serv-ices used in the medical field, andmuch like a medical biller, we workwith the shop in submitting their finalblueprint for repair to the insurancecompany. We work with the shop tomake sure they are billing for all op-erations performed to repair their cus-tomer’s vehicle to pre-accidentcondition. We then use data gatheredfrom our experience and our claimsdatabase to justify the charges to theinsurance company.

Domenico: So you simply submit thefinished paperwork to the insurancecompany once the job is done?

Chuck: Actually, we work the jobfrom the moment the car arrives at the

shop to the time the shop receivesfinal payment for the job. The estima-tor writes the original blueprint for re-pair and we take over from there,adding any additional R&I or otheroperations that may have been missed.From that point forward, we handle allcommunication with the insurancecompany. We then make them justifywhy they refuse to pay by using ourarsenal of tools and experience toshow them the validity of the opera-tion.

Domenico: So what has been the re-sponse so far?

Chuck: Given our knowledge of thethree major estimating platforms, theP-Pages, database reference manualsand our Claims Database, we havebeen very successful in getting ourclients paid on the work they haveperformed. We have helped shops get


Domenico Nigro’s Q&A with Chuck Gosney of Collision Billing

with David BrownShop Showcase

with Attorney Martin ZuradaBody Shop Law

with Domenico Nigro

The Community-Focused Body Shop

with Janet CheneyShop Showcase

with Frank SheroskyIndustry Business Beat

Domenico Nigro is the president of Nigro’s Auto Body, a very progressive shop fortheir community in Philadelphia. In addition to many productivity innovations, Nigro’sinstalls equipment for disabled drivers, has developed several phone Applications,and represents products which directly support charities such as United Way and theNational Breast Cancer Foundation. Contact him at: [email protected].

paid for operations where previouslythey were told “We don’t pay for that”and we were able to show that the in-surance prevailing rates were not ac-curate to get some shops their truelabor rates.

Domenico: I’m familiar with the P-Pages and reference manuals, butwhat exactly is the Claims Data-base?

Chuck: The Claims Database is ournumber one tool in assisting ourclients in getting paid. It’s wherewe track different components ofthe estimates and log them for fu-ture use. For example, we can findif a certain insurance company haspaid for a specific operation (suchas a finish sand and buff or testdrive car), paid for itemized mate-rials, or are even suppressing thelabor rates for the area with decep-tive estimating practices. It’s realsimple. We submit this data toprove our point.Domenico: That sounds like it wouldbe extremely useful. Do shops have touse your billing service to get accessto that information?

Chuck: Actually, we realized earlyon how powerful the data was, andwe wanted to make it available to themasses. So we created a subscriptionmodel that allows shops to submittheir estimates along with the corre-sponding insurance estimates to con-tribute to the database. They canthen request from Collision Billinginformation to be sent to an adjustoron specific operations or rates. Tofollow our earlier example, let’s sayan insurance company claims theywon’t pay for finish sand and buff,so we then show them examples ofwhere they have. Now, it’s up tothem to justify why the operation ispaid on one side of town, but not onthe other.

Domenico: You have mentioned afew times that you will pursue pay-ment. What is meant by that and howfar are you willing to take it?

Chuck: We are collecting and track-ing a lot of information. We will usethat information to get our memberspaid, period. We see trends where in-surance companies have “policies”that they don’t pay for specific opera-

tions. We don’t see any justificationfor their “policies,” especially whenthe information providers state thatthose are not included operations. Wewill challenge them to do what’s rightand start paying for the operations,and if we have to, we will take them tocourt. One of our partners and legalcouncil, Erica Eversman, has suc-cessfully won many cases. With thedata we are collecting, we will be ableto achieve on a global scale what shehas accomplished at the local and statelevel. This data can also be used toshare with both the Department of In-surance and the States Attorney Gen-erals to show patterns of unfair tradepractices.

For more information on Colli-sion Billing, call 517-489-4280 or goto www.collisionbilling.com.

All opinions presented are those of theauthor. Autobody News does not en-dorse or recommend any company orservice discussed by columnists in thecourse of their editorial submissions.


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A vacant former car dealership innorth Bibb County is becoming a newbody shop. Minnesota-based ABRAAuto Body & Glass bought the 20,129square-foot former BMW dealershipat 111 Riverside Parkway in Macon,GA, and spent nearly four monthsrenovating the building, said DavidKulkis, regional business develop-ment director in Atlanta.

“We believe it’s an excellentmarket for our business model,”Kulkis said. “And the research we didindicates we should be very success-ful there. It fits the profile and whatwe look for size, cost to renovate it,visibility from the road, proximity inthe city and where the growth is (lo-cated).” The store is expected to openwith about seven employees “but willgrow rapidly,” he said. “We will even-tually have about 30 people.”

This will be ABRA’s 123rd loca-tion in the country and the 20th inGeorgia, Kulkis said.

Since the company has been “very,very successful in Atlanta,” it wantedanother location in this area, he said.

ABRA opened a location on CarlVinson Parkway in Warner Robins inJanuary.

ABRA Opens 20th Body ShopLocation in Macon, GA


The transition to waterborne paint iswell underway countrywide. Today,volatile organic compounds (VOC) inpaints are seen as harmful to the envi-ronment and because of that manystates in the U.S. have enacted regula-tions that are making auto body shopsswitch to waterborne basecoat to re-duce VOC emissions while ensuringthey meet all standards.

Europe and Canada already usewaterborne and many OEM’s havealso converted to using water-basedpaints. Most paint companies are de-veloping new low-VOC primers andclearcoats along with color coats tomeet the expected regulations that theentire country will need to complywith in the coming years.

Auto body shop owners will tellyou, the change to water is happeningand the majority agree that it is not asdifficult or as costly as many first sus-pected. The decision on choosingwhich waterborne paint to use can becritical to shop productivity.DuPont™ Cromax® Pro waterbornebasecoat is helping shops meet all ofthe new requirements while also meet-ing production goals. Cromax® Pro isformulated with 88% less solvent but25% more pigment. The results havebeen astonishing. Painters are callingit the easiest waterborne to use andmost productive waterborne basecoatavailable. Cromax® Pro also complieswith the toughest emissions regula-tions and helps to reduce cycle timesand improve shop efficiency.

“DuPont did more than formulatea basecoat to help our customers meetall of the environmental regulations,”said Harry Hall, DuPont Perform-ance Coatings North America SalesDirector. “With Cromax® Pro, youcan paint cars faster than ever before.And that speed of production im-proves your bottom line.”

Cromax® Pro delivers single-visitapplication, 1.5 coat coverage for themajority of colors and application iseasier, faster and more dependable.No flash time between coats helps tosignificantly reduce cycle times. Cro-max® Pro’s wet-on-wet process meansthat basecoat can be applied non-stopuntil full coverage is achieved. Fewercoats reduces the opportunity for dirtand contamination and fewer bake ordrying cycles reduce energy costs.You can paint more cars in less timebecause painters get the job done witha single trip into the booth.

“We made the switch in Novem-ber 2007 and since then, Cromax® Prois all I use,” said Rande Lance, LeadPaint Technician & Paint Shop Man-ager at Prestigious Auto Body &Painting, Goleta, CA. “It’s very user-friendly and holds up extremely wellwhen you push it to the limit. Plus, it’sa great finish. It looks better than sol-vent, and it’s much better in regard tospeed and efficiency.”

Cromax® Pro also has excellentcolor match because DuPont has in-dustry-leading digital color tools thatwork in all types of shops and provideease-of-use and confidence as well asfan decks that are sprayed with actualCromax® Pro colors.

DuPont™ Cromax® Pro waterborne basecoat is a 5-step process:Step 1: Surface Preparation – Repairarea is cleaned, degreased, primed andsanded to prepare for basecoat.Step 2: Blender Application – Applyone or two closed coats on the fade-out area.Step 3: Wet-on-Wet Basecoat Appli-cation – Spray one full coat of Cro-max® Pro to 75% hiding. Followimmediately with a half-coat to com-plete hiding and to set the flake.Step 4: Flash Basecoat – Allowbasecoat to flash until matte.Step 5: Final Step – Clearcoat is ap-plied.

Compare to competitors’ water-borne basecoat 9-step process:Step 1: Surface Preparation – Repairarea is cleaned, degreased, primed andsanded to prepare for basecoat.Step 2: Blender Application – Applyone or two closed coats on the fade-out area.Step 3: Basecoat Application – Firstcoat: apply one medium coat to repairarea.

Step 4: Flash Basecoat – Allowbasecoat to flash until matte.Step 5: Basecoat Application – Sec-ond coat: apply one medium coat torepair area.Step 6: Flash Basecoat – Allowbasecoat to flash until matte.Step 7: Effect Coat Application –Apply a final half-coat to completehiding and to set the flake.Step 8: Flash Basecoat – Allowbasecoat to flash until matte.Step 9: Final Step – Clearcoat is ap-plied.Cromax® Pro eliminates up to foursteps in the repair process so you canmove more cars through your shopevery day.

The changeoverfrom solvent-borne toCromax® Pro bringshops a number of im-portant advantages.Body shops that makea living on being ableto paint fast, matchcolors perfectly andare economical in theprocess are winningwith this product.

A lot of collisionshops have put off thetransition, in part be-cause of cost concernswith equipment and

training. But according to Harry Hall,that isn’t the case. “When switchingto waterborne, you don’t need to buyall kinds of new equipment and newspray booths to make the conversion,”said Hall. “Shops will, however, needa new stainless steel spray. Because ofthe water, you need a gun that won’trust.”

In addition to a new paint gun,waterborne paint does have a little dif-ferent technique. DuPont trainspainters at one of their 11 DuPont Re-finish Systems North American Train-ing Centers and will also spend aweek at the shop once they are fullysetup to make sure painters are com-fortable.

Your employees are your mostvaluable asset. Providing them withopportunities to increase their knowl-edge and improve their skills makesgood business sense. It’s a smart wayto increase productivity, profitabilityand customer satisfaction.

DuPont offers outcome-based,continuing education that is designedto enable even the most experienced

painters to raise the bar for quality,productivity and cost efficiency.

The Refinish Systems TrainingCenters are located throughout theUnited States and Canada and educateover 4,000 collision repair techniciansannually. In Canada, they are locatedin Pointe-Claire, QC (Montreal), Ajax,ON (Toronto) and Coquitlam, BC(Vancouver).

In the United States, the Centersare located in Lionville, PA (Philadel-phia), Marietta, GA (Atlanta), Jack-sonville, FL (Florida State College ofJacksonville), Plymouth, MI (Detroit),Itasca, IL (Chicago), St. Louis, MO,Pomona, CA (Los Angeles) and Ana-heim, CA.

The centers are fully equippedand staffed by capable instructors whohave a solid background in collisionrefinishing.

“My body shop switched toDuPont Cromax® Pro and I couldn’tbe more pleased,” said Rob Daku,Owner and Production Manager atDaku’s Auto Body Shop, North Cata-sauqua, Pennsylvania. “DuPont’s wa-terborne paint is easy to use, looksgreat when applied, and is so muchfaster. DuPont made sure that wewere comfortable with waterborneand their training was great.”

“Not all waterborne basecoats arethe same. Give us the chance to showyou our product and I am sure youwill want to upgrade to Cromax®

Pro,” continued Hall.Environmental requirements and

regulations are coming, so make thedecision to go with DuPont water-borne and join the thousands of bodyshops around the country that are up-grading to the next level of productiv-ity.

For more information aboutDuPont Cromax® Pro, go to up-grade2cromaxpro.dupontrefinish.comor call 1-800-GET-DUPONT. To reg-ister for a DuPont training course, call1-800-338-7668, prompt 7, fax/emailStudent Enrollment Form, or login towww.pc.dupont.com, click on DuPontRefinish, click on Training then loginto eCareerTrack.

DuPont™ Cromax® Pro is the Ultimate Upgrade for Your Refinish Painting Process

Attendees learn the benefits of DuPont Cromax® Pro at a DuPontRefinish Systems North American Training Center

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Chrysler Group will voluntarily recall127,346 2011 and 2012 DodgeCharger and Chrysler 300 sedans inthe United States and Canada to fix afuse problem that could disrupt thevehicles’ antilock brakes and elec-tronic stability control systems. Aplastic insert surrounding a fuse inthe vehicles may become distortedbecause of thermal expansion andcontraction, Chrysler said in a state-ment today. The problem could affectvehicle control and increase the riskof a crash. Drivers are alerted to theproblem by the vehicle ABS/ESCwarning lamp, the statement said,noting that despite the failure, driverswill retain basic brake function. Therecall affects all 2011 and 2012 unitsbuilt before Dec. 20, 2011. The recallincludes 119,072 vehicles in theUnited States and 8,274 in Canada.According to documents submitted tothe NHTSA, the affected system issupplied by Global Automotive Sys-tems of suburban Detroit, a unit ofDura Automotive Systems. The de-fective part is in the vehicle’s powerdistribution center. Chrysler said itwas unaware of any accidents or in-juries related to the recalled vehicles.

Chrysler to Recall 127K DodgeChargers and 300’s for Fuses

Nissan Motor Co. is recalling certainTitan pickup trucks from the 2012model year because they have im-proper seating-capacity labels thatcould lead owners to overload the ve-hicles and increase the risk of a crash.

The recall reflects tight safetyregulations in the auto industry andthe fact that manufacturers cannot de-pend on the common sense of driversto insure vehicles are operated in asafe manner. Customers may contactNissan at 615-725-1000.

Nissan Recalling Certain 2012Titan Pickups for Mislabeling

A new study from Carfax shows thatchoosing to ignore auto recalls threat-ens the safety of consumers every-where. In 2011, over 2.7 million usedcars were for sale online with safetyrecalls that were never fixed. Carowners and sellers can help improvepublic safety by actively checking foropen recalls and having them fixedby franchise dealers. There’s no ex-cuse—recall repairs are free and find-ing cars with open recalls is easy.

“We’re making a lot of progress,but there are still too many open re-calls out there,” said Larry Gamache,communications director at Carfax.“Many of these cars change handswithout the buyer ever knowing a re-call exists, increasing the safety risksboth to passengers in the car and oth-ers on the road. We all need to do ourpart to make sure these cars are iden-tified and fixed—buyers, sellers andowners alike. A simple online checkfor open recalls is all it takes to helpmake our roads safer.”

California, Florida and Texaslead the nation with the most usedcars for sale with open recalls, eachhaving well over 100,000 last year.More about recall campaigns is avail-able at www.safercar.gov.

Carfax Study Shows ConsumerThreatened by Ignoring Recalls

BMW is recalling 24,340 vehiclesequipped with diesel engines fromthe 2009-11 model years that may failto meet U.S. and California emissioncontrol requirements.

About 2,740 2011 and 2012model year X5 xDrive 50i and X6xDrive 50i vehicles, and 21,600 3-se-ries diesel models, will be recalled,the automaker said. The recalls werescheduled for May 9, with a customerletter to follow, BMW North Amer-ica spokesman Dirk Arnold said.

The vehicles were manufacturedat factories in Spartanburg, S.C., andGermany.

BMW said certain emissionscomponents, including the SCR cata-lyst, the DEF mixer and the EGRvalve, may improperly overstate ve-hicle mileage, causing emissionsstandards to be exceeded and the il-lumination of the “Service EngineSoon” light.

BMW said the repair will re-quire the inspection and replacementof one or more of the emissions com-ponents and the reprogramming ofthe vehicle’s engine control unit.

BMW Recalling Diesel Vehiclesor Fuses

Chrysler is recalling about 68,000Jeep Wranglers manufactured in2010 due to the chance of a vehiclefire resulting from debris collectingin the transmission. The automakersaid in a filing with the NationalHighway Traffic Association that thepullback of 67,872 Jeeps with an au-tomatic transmission reflects con-cerns that the transmission skid plate,which is close to the catalytic con-verter, can collect debris and ignitewithout warning. The company saidit will notify owners, and dealers willreplace the skid plate free of charge.The move comes after the NHTSAbegan investigation complaints aboutfires in 2010 Wranglers earlier thisyear.

Chrysler Recalls 68,000 JeepWranglers for Fire Concerns

The Chinese-made JAC 4R3 is a fac-simile of Ford’s F-150, right down tothe blue oval on the hood, and Fordhas blocked the Chinese companyfrom selling it. “Not going to hap-pen,” said Bill Coughlin, presidentand CEO of Ford Global Technolo-gies in an interview. In the past, othercar companies have found it difficultto protect their designs from Chinesecopiers, but Ford is not among them.“We can protect ourselves in China,it’s not easy, but you can do it. Is itexpensive? Not really.”

The Chinese government re-quires foreign OEMs to partner withtheir own domestics but Ford andJAC are not partners. It remains to beseen whether JAC will respect the de-cision, or build its knock off F-150anyway.

Ford Blocks JAC from SellingBlatant F-150 Knock Off

BMW has overtaken Toyota as theworld’s most valuable automotivebrand, an annual ranking of theworld’s top brands shows. Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Audi im-proved their brand value, accordingto the BrandZ Top 100 Most ValuableGlobal Brands study released by mar-ket research company MillwardBrown. The world’s most valuablecar brands in $ billion1. BMW $24.62. Toyota $21.83. Mercedes $16.14. Honda $12.75. Nissan $9.96. VW $8.57. Ford $7.08. Audi $4.79. Hyundai $3.610. Lexus $3.4

BMW Replaces Toyota as MostValuable Automotive Brand

Ford is recalling 10,500 vehicles, in-cluding the 2012-’13 Ford Mustang,2012 Ford Expedition, 2011-’12 FordF-150 and 2012 Lincoln Navigator,due to transmission and light calibra-tion problems. “These vehicles mayhave a transmission range sensor(TRS) that was calibrated out of spec-ification for reverse gear,” saidNHTSA. “If this condition exists, thetransmission may not go into reverseor when the driver pushes the shiftlever in the reverse “R” position andthe vehicle’s transmission does go inreverse, the “R” may not illuminate onthe dashboard of the F-150, Expeditionor Navigator models and/or the back-up lamp on the rear of the F-150, Ex-pedition, Navigator or Mustangvehicles may not illuminate. The recallis expected to begin on June 25. Own-ers can contact Ford at 1-866-436-7332.

Ford Recalls 10.500 Vehicles forTransmission Sensor Issues

The National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration reports that distracteddriving is the number-one killer ofAmerican teens. Five seconds is theaverage time a driver’s eyes are offthe road when texting. When travel-ing at 55 mph, that’s enough time tocover the length of a football field.According to a national survey re-leased by the Ad Council, 60 percentof young adult drivers (16–24) saidthey have texted while driving. In2010, more than 3,000 people werekilled and an additional 416,000 wereinjured due to distracted driving,which includes texting while driving.

Distracted Driving No. 1 Killer,Especially of Texting Teens


Alternators, starters, voltage regula-tors, window motor assemblies, lightbulbs, serpentine belts… the list goeson and on of the various cheaplymade replacement parts available.Being able to distinguish what partsare good or bad is part of being a pro-fessional in this crazy world of auto-motive repair.

When a customer calls wantingprices on a certain job, more thanlikely this isn’t the first phone callthey’ve made today. The way I cantell this is how they answer certainquestions I ask to narrow down theoptions on that particular part or job.“What’s the motor size? Two- or four-door? Automatic or manual?” If thesequestions aren’t a hit and miss an-swer, chances are they’ve beenthrough this before, and have a prettygood idea what the cost is, or at leastwhat they’ve found out from the autoparts cheapo depot.

“Yes, I need a price on an alter-nator for my car,” the caller asks. Igive them a price for the brands I sell,and before I’m even finished they’lltell me how much the last guy wouldsell the part for. That’s fine, I knoweveryone is looking for a bargain, andshopping around for prices is all partof it. However, let’s compare applesto apples — not just prices to prices.

A perfect example is the com-mon external regulator for a Fordproduct. The prices will range from afew bucks to as much as $30. The dif-ference is quality, of course. You cantell the difference for yourself by justpicking one up. The cheap regulatorfeels like a feather compared to themore expensive one. The question is… do they both work? Yes they do,but there’s no doubt the cheaper onewill not take any abuse, or a fluctuat-ing signal, or load variations as wellas the better made part. No doubt the

cheaper one will need to be replacedsooner than you think.

From the professional side, ittakes just as long to diagnose a prob-lem and make the repair with a well-manufactured part as it does to put onone of those bottom-of-the-barrelparts. The big difference is you onlyhave to do the job once, rather thanrepeatedly. That eats up diagnostictime, shop time, and doesn’t make fora very happy customer.

Over the years, the number oftimes I’ve had someone bring in a carand tell me they have put five or sixalternators on the car, and it still does-n’t work, is beyond comprehension.The unsuspecting customer will al-most certainly have the same reactionon the phone or at the service counter.

“There has to be something elec-trically wrong with the car,” they’llsay.

Even though I haven’t checkedthe car out yet, I’ll still ask them,“Where are you buying your parts?”

Nine chances out of ten they arebuying the cheap knock-off brandsbecause of the cost, and under certainapplications, these knock-off brandsfail constantly.

By the time I get the car in theshop and run the needed tests, I’m al-ready stretching their pocket bookjust to give them the answer I alreadyassumed it would be.

“It’s a cheap part that’s causingthe problem,” I’ll tell them, and whenI give them the price of the “quality”part I know I’m in for an argument.

“It shouldn’t cost that much. I’lljust go get another one myself,” thenow irate customer will tell me. Itcould be they really wanted me tofind something else wrong with it, be-cause they know it can’t be the part.Then again, it could be because theydon’t want to change it again.Whichever the case may be, I’m thelucky guy taking the brunt of the cus-tomer’s meltdown at the frontcounter.

Why is it that the second largestpurchase most people make in theirlifetime is left to using cheap discountparts as a way to keep their familytruckster on the road? You know, if

the original manufacturer used someof these discount parts, most of thosecars wouldn’t make it from the man-ufacturer to the show room floorwithout breaking down.

One morning when I arrived atthe shop, a customer was waiting forme with a rear main seal for me tosee. I had just replaced the seal in hiscar a few weeks earlier. There wasn’ta problem with the car, his problemwas that he believed that I overcharged him for the seal. While hewas at one of those discount partsstores, he purchased a rear seal him-self, and after having some time tothink about it, he figured I shouldknow just how ticked off he was.Needless to say, now he’s thinkingevery bit of the labor cost must havebeen exaggerated as well.

There was only one way to solvethis problem. I called my supplier andhad them send down another seal justlike the original one I had purchased.With the customer standing in front ofme, we took both of the seals out oftheir boxes and laid them on thecounter.

“You see, they are actually thesame,” the aggravated customer tellsme, “They’re the same color, samedesign and obviously are identical.You overcharged me!”

I’ll admit they looked the same,and I was getting a little worried thatI wouldn’t find a difference betweenthe two of them. I wanted to prove mypoint that not all parts are createdequal, but how? As this anger man-agement class dropout got even moresteamed, he started to make his pointknown how he felt about mechanicsin general, parts stores, and the worldat large. I picked up the two sealswhile he was standing on his soap boxproudly putting down anyone whohad anything to do with the car busi-ness. When I gently snapped the ac-tual seal area that touches the crankshaft back and forth, I had the answerand the difference was obvious.

“Sir, if you’ll calm down aminute, I’ll show you the difference.The one you brought from the dis-count part store has fewer coils on the

Comparing Automotive Parts: Is it Apples to Apples?

See Apples to Apples, Page 30





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

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This year’s winner of hot rodding’stop prize—the Don Ridler® MemorialAward—was a 1955 Ford Thunder-bird owned by Dwayne Peace ofTyler, Texas. This masterpiece of cre-

ativity, engineering and workmanshipwas chosen from among 63 verystrong contenders that had been pareddown to the “Great 8” before the ulti-mate winner was announced at theDetroit Autorama® back in February.

The ‘55 T-Bird had been in thefamily for more than 20 years and thecustom build was a family af-fair, handled by Peace’s sonsin an outbuilding behind hishouse. The uncompromisingdesign and build of the customhot rod brought in a number ofoutside shops and some of thecountry’s top automotivecraftsmen. Greening AutoCompany in Nashville, Tenn.,was one of these partner shops,called upon to handle the paintwork and some machining du-ties.

In a meticulous process that tooksix months, Greening machined all ofthe side trim, as well as the grill, taillights and wheels; and painted theshow-stopper with BASF’s Glasurit®

90-Line™ Brilliant Red waterbornepaint. In the process, they demon-

strated once again why the premiumGlasurit line is a favorite of top cus-tom builders.

“Dwayne Peace found us througha customer referral,” recalled Jesse

Greening. “We knew up front that hewould be going to Detroit with the car,so we had the goal of going for the Ri-dler from the beginning.”

The shop has been a loyal BASFcustomer for years, after SalesRepresentative Ray Mc-Cutcheon called on them andhelped them solve some par-ticularly challenging paint is-sues. “Ray got us started withGlasurit years ago, and we’vebeen working with him andBASF ever since,” said Green-ing, who runs the full-servicestreet rod shop with his fatherJeff.

“The ‘55 T-Bird representsour typical approach and quality fin-ish,” observed Greening. “What madeit different were some of the areas wedon’t normally get into. Just look atthe underbody and engine compart-ment detail.”

Greening Auto Company looks toBASF to help them deliver show-win-

ning results with every project, andthat sometimes involves the kind ofproblem solving that started their re-lationship. “One example where welean on Ray for technical help is whenwe’re facing problems with a repairthat involves blending back into an al-ready-painted panel,” said Greening.“Fortunately, we don’t do this veryoften, but when we do it needs to beflawless.”

Greening Auto Company’s workon the Ridler-Award-winning ‘55 T-Bird is a great example of howBASF’s industry-leading products andcommitment to adding value after thesale gives its customers a competitiveedge.

“Our focus is on adding value toour products and supporting our cus-tomers to help them be more efficient,cost-effective and successful,” saidMarket Segment Manager TonyDyach. “That translates into the top

quality finishes that make our cus-tomers stand out.”

The commitment to customer sat-isfaction demonstrated by Mc-Cutcheon’s work with Greening AutoCompany is an integral part ofBASF’s business model and companyculture. “Our work with high-end cus-

tomizers, restoration specialists andstreet-rod builders like Greening re-flects the ‘passion around the paint’that makes our business fun and per-sonally satisfying,” said Dyach. “Inturn, our passion at BASF is to offerthe world’s finest automotive coatings

and to add value through expert, re-sponsive service with all of our cus-tomers, including the collision repairshops that are the core of our busi-ness.”

It’s no wonder that many of thecountry’s top custom builderschoose to go with BASF. And it’s no

coincidence that Glasuritpaint has been on six of thelast 11 Ridler Award win-ners. That same commitmentto excellence extends toevery BASF Automotive Re-finish customer, and also totheir demanding customers.So, it should come as no sur-prise that among users ofGlasurit paints, more than 50percent of their volume is inhigh-end and luxury vehicleapplications — twice that of

the premium brand’s nearest com-petitor.

For more information aboutBASF Automotive Refinish productsand services, contact your BASF rep-resentative by calling 800-825-3000,or visit www.basfrefinish.com.


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Dwayne Peace's Ridler-Award-winning '55 T-Bird gets itsfirst prime coat at Greening Auto Company

Final fitment of all billet parts took place after the carhad been primed

The '55 T-Bird took hot rodding's top prize at the 2012Detroit Autorama, the latest Ridler Award winner tosport premium Glasurit paint


retaining spring. This spring is whatkeeps the rubber seal up against thecrankshaft to prevent any leaks. Lookat the one I just purchased, and you’llsee it has twice as many coils on thespring,” I calmly explained to him.(OK, I “tried” to say it calmly).

After a bit of scrutiny on his part,he did see the difference between thetwo so-called “exact” parts. He apol-ogized for his belligerent ranting andsaid he would make good on hispromise not to buy any more partsbased on the dollar amount. I hopeso — that sure would make my day goa lot smoother.

These days, with even more partscoming in from different countries, andat different quality levels, the tech hasto be on his toes to make sure what theyare installing on a customer’s car is ac-tually a decent component. Even today,I’ll do my best to sway the customerinto buying quality parts rather thangoing the cheap route. If they insist onusing a cheaper part, I’ll be the first totell them what the results will be.

Comparing apples to apples is stilla good method of explaining things tosomeone who might have a differenceof opinion. One bad apple doesn’t spoilthe whole bunch; even good parts failsometimes. But I’d put my money on aquality part any day. Service is thename of the game in the automotive re-pair business — knowing which“apple” is the right one for a customer’scar is just another part of the servicegood shops provide. There are plenty ofapples out there in the orchard, andsorting out the bad ones aren’t aboutwho has the best TV commercial ornewspaper ad. Ask a mechanic, he’llknow the difference between goodparts and bad ones. As the old sayinggoes; “Ya get what ya paid for.”


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Pictured:2006

SL600Roadster

Continued from Page 27

Apples to Apples



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Collision Section Secures Exhibit Space at SEMA ShowAfter debuting at last year’s SEMAShow, the Collision Repair & Refin-ish section will return to provide buy-ers with a dedicated area on the showfloor where they can quickly and eas-ily meet with major refinish compa-nies, paint booth manufacturers, partssuppliers and manufacturers, estimat-ing and management software com-panies, manufacturers of structuralrepair and welding equipment, safetyequipment and other related products.The section has been identified as oneof the fastest growing areas of theshow, and is on track to surpass lastyears’ numbers. The 2012 SEMAShow takes place Tuesday throughFriday, October 30 through Novem-ber 2, in Las Vegas, NV.

“We’ve seen interest from thecollision repair market increase overthe years,” said Peter MacGillivray,SEMA VP of events and communi-cations. Last year, due to significantgrowth and interest from the collisionrepair industry, show organizers cre-ated a new floor section called “Col-lision Repair & Refinish” to make iteasy for those in the professional re-pair business to connect with manu-facturers in the industry. SEMAShow exhibitors are categorized by

market segments and display theirproducts in sectionalized floor areas.

Buyers interested in the Colli-sion Repair & Refinish segment, forexample, often visit the Tools &Equipment section of the SEMAShow. The related section featuresproducts, such as new lifts, grinders,jacks and more, to help shop ownerswork smarter and faster.

Last year’s SEMA Show fea-tured more than 300 companies thatwere of high interest to the collisionrepair business owners attending theshow.

“One of the unique things aboutthe SEMA Show is that is encom-passes the entire automotive partsand accessories industry,” saidMacGillivray. “Participants are ableto accomplish a great deal in a shortamount of time.”

Other floor sections at theSEMA Show are Business Services,Global Tire Expo Powered by TIA,Hot Rod Alley, Mobile Electronics &Technology, Powersports & UtilityVehicles, Racing & Performance,Restoration Marketplace, Restyling& Car Care Accessories, Trucks,SUVs & Off-Road, and Wheels &Accessories.


by the Audi Quality AssuranceDepartment for the A3

Exterior Master JigAt Audi, the master jig is the main in-strument used by the Quality Assur-

ance department to attain a premiumimpression and perfect fits.

The task of the exterior masterjig is to optimize and fine-tune di-mensional fits on every vehicle proj-ect before a production launch. Thisinvolves coordinating the fits of allparts that are visible on the exteriorwith one another.

These parts range from sheetmetal panels such as doors, enginehoods and trunk lids to exterior trimparts such as bumpers, headlights, tail-lights, windows, mirrors, door handles,spoilers and decorative trim strips.

The measurement and analysisfixtures of the exterior master jig arehoused in a dedicated building to-gether with the interior master jig.

Other tools—which are also fun-damental to successful coordina-tion—are used in this area beforework is performed on the exteriormaster jig.

The joint master jig is used tocheck for dimensional conformity ofthe underbody and its individual com-ponents, such as the front and rearfloors and to coordinate them to oneanother.

It ensures that all components canbe joined without stresses. This is nec-essary to be able to produce a high-quality body in the later productionprocess, which is the foundation forthe premium image of Audi vehicles.

Using what are known as exte-rior function cubes, experts analyzethe vehicle’s exterior trim parts in alocal zero-reference environment.Correction data is derived from thisprocess, which is used to optimizecomponents at an early phase. When

they fit to the cubes, they are addedto the exterior master jig for furtherfine tuning.

Work in the zero-reference envi-ronment of the exterior master jig be-gins about nine months beforeproduction launch. Previously in-spected panel parts of the body’s ex-terior skin and the parts mounted tothem, such as doors and hoods andlids, are built up on a frame con-structed of solid aluminum profiles.Exterior trim parts are also added tothe assembly to analyze the interplayof all body parts.

This gives specialists a stepwisemethod for perfecting the dimensionaltolerances of parts, achieving flush fitsand perfecting the lines of joints.

An additional fine-tuning step in-volves working with reference bodiesthat are equipped in a way similar tothat of an exterior master jig.

This is done so that the paint ap-plication can also be considered in afinal fine-tuning step. Although thepaint is only as much as 15 hundredthsof a millimeter (0.04 inch) thick, byAudi’s way of thinking, even thisplays a major role in dimensional op-timization.

The seam pattern on the new AudiA3 does not always follow exactmathematics; in some zones, subjec-tive impressions are also considered inthe tuning process.

Take the front bumper, for exam-ple, which is slightly offset to the rearat its transition to the fender so that thecustomer always perceives a harmo-nious transition when looking at itfrom above. Another example: theseams at the fuel filler door. The upperseam was intentionally made smallerthan the lower one, to give the subjec-tive impression of a better fit for theobserver.

Along with dimensional con-formity, the exterior master jig alsoyields information on color fidelity,

gloss level and the tactile feel of sheetmetal, aluminum and plastic parts. Inaddition, it provides information onthe firm seating of all components andtheir easy assembly and whether opti-mization potential exists in the com-ponent concepts.

Audi specialists are alwaysfaced with exciting new challengesin their work at the exterior masterjig—challenges they must overcometo fulfill stringent requirements forthe overall impression of the vehi-cle’s exterior.

Different materials such as steel,aluminum, plastics, rubber and glassmust be cleanly fitted to one another.The overall impression is only dis-tinctive and high- end if all edges andtheir radii fit precisely to tenths of amillimeter; only then is the run of thetornado line from the fender over thedoor to the side wall frame pleasing tothe eye.

Interior Master JigThe interior master jig is a body pro-duced to a specific design level thatdoes not exhibit any deviations at thepoints where interior components aremounted.

Ten months before productionlaunch, the components are coordi-nated and fitted to one another usingoptical and tactile measurement meth-ods.

Along with verifying functionalcriteria—free movement of parts, firmseating, ease of installation, harmo-nious actuation forces and sounds—the primary focus of measurementwork with the interior master jig is onvisual properties. All parts are in-spected for grooves, voids and blisters.

Special attention is given tochecking of seams, e.g. on the centreconsole that is made up of numerousindividual components—from kneepads to the MMI terminal.

The four air nozzles in jet design

at the front of the cockpit are highlycomplex parts. Each consists of over30 individual components.

Allowable tolerances are on theorder of a few hundredths of a mil-limeter in the design feature for ad-justing the air stream to spot mode ordiffuse mode. Therefore, the supplierassembles and checks every part in a100 percent automated process.

A parts that helps to ensure optimalsitting comfort is the center armrestwith its height and length adjustments.A high-quality aluminum die cast bodywith a two-component material jointensures full adjustment acoustics.

Another highlight in the Audi A3:the three-dimensional decorative trimstrips in the doors—they are embed-ded in a soft film without any gaps.

The complex mounting feature onthe rear side was not released in the in-ternal master jig process until it wasperfectly tuned to assure an elegantimpression and no noise.

The decorative ring on the gearshift grip is embedded with a preci-sion of just a few hundredths of a mil-limeter to assure perfect tactile feel forthe driver.

Audi has even implemented elab-orate solutions in the luggage com-partment of the new A3: when thecargo floor is folded upward, spring-loaded plastic latches hold it in placefor the customer.

Special cubes are used to checkthe fits of functionally relevant vehiclesubassemblies. In the doors of the newA3, quality experts worked untilpleasant-sounding window trackingand door closing acoustics were as-sured under all conditions.

This was technically implementedby features such as “post-tracking,” inwhich the window slides into the win-dow guide starting at the front.

Only then did the window sealperfectly on the roof profile of thewindow guide with a constant inser-

Audi A3 Development with Master Jigs and Color Matching

Master jigs are used to optimize dimensionalfits and the colors and materials matchingoperations.

Front cubing measurements with CNCcoordinate machine

Rear cubing measurements with CNCcoordinate machine

Optical measurements on joints master jig

See Audi A3, Page 45

by Tim Stanley, Tulsa-World Staff Writer

From Model A door handles toLaSalle chrome grills, the antique carbuffs who converged on Andy Hope’splace for his heralded going-out-of-business auction found plenty to getrevved up about.

Well-known nationally for hiswork on antique cars, the longtimeTulsa-area auto-body man had built upa mind-boggling collection of old and,in many cases, rare car parts over 25years.

In 1980, with the news that hewas retiring and auctioning most of itoff, hopeful bidders from across thecountry came flocking.

At least one thing of Hope’s re-mained hands-off, though: his restored1915 Willys-Overland touring car.

The first car he had ever restored,the dark-green beauty with the jet-black fenders, was too much like fam-ily to part with.

It had won him a roomful of tro-phies at shows, and, moreover, he stillenjoyed driving it in parades.

But truth be told, Hope hadtreated all of his cus-tomers’ antique carslike family.

The snow-whitecoveralls he worewere his way ofshowing them that.

Hope, who becameknown as “The Manin White” because ofhis apparel, “wantedpeople to know theyweren’t going tohave some greasyguy climbing allover their cars,” hisson Ron Hope said.

“At shows youcould see him fromthe other side of the

room in his whites,” he said. “He al-ways stood out. He didn’t mind,though. Dad was a bit of a ham.”

Andrew Hoyet “Andy” Hope,who operated shops in Tulsa beforeopening one near Mannford, died May10. He was 97.

A graveside service was heldTuesday under the direction of FloralHaven Funeral Home of BrokenArrow.

Growing up in Poteau in a familyof sharecroppers, Hope left school

after the fifth grade when his fatherbecame ill. As the oldest of six chil-dren, he helped support the family.

Hope’s affection for automobilesbegan early.

He fondly remembered one 1916Model T Roadster pickup, from theback of which as a kid he had peddledwatermelons and peaches. Later, hebought and restored one just like it.

To get his own first car as ateenager, Hope traded a .22 rifle and asaddle.

A career in auto body work fol-lowed, and in 1954, he expanded intorestoring antique cars.

Leaving the engine work to oth-ers, Hope devoted himself to autobodies and paint with the seriousnessof an artist.

His clients were usually wealthy,and he met many influential peoplethrough his work.

One of his biggest thrills, RonHope said, was a trip to the Indi-anapolis 500, where he got to chauf-feur Indy founder Tony Hulman andoil magnate J. Paul Getty around thetrack in a 1936 Packard.

After retiring in 1980 from full-time work, Hope continued to do oc-casional vehicle restorations.

And he discovered another pas-sion: restoring vintage toy trucks.

Over 30 years at his workshop,Hope restored thousands of trucksfrom the early- to mid-1900s, makingonetime playthings into sought-aftercollector’s items.

He eventually sold more than 300of them to Hard Rock Café for displayin its restaurants.

Hope’s beloved Willys Overlandis still in the family. His grandsonAdrian Hope, a lieutenant colonel inthe Army, has the car with him in Vir-ginia.

Andy Hope, who bought it in theearly 1950s from its original owner, aWorld War I veteran, “wanted it to ei-ther stay in the family or go to a mu-seum, someone who would appreciateit and care for it,” Ron Hope said.

Hope’s survivors include twosons, Ron Hope and Jim Hope; 10grandchildren; nine great-grandchil-dren; and two great-great-grandchil-dren.


Antique Car Restorer Andy Hope—‘The Man in White’—Dies at 97

Andy Hope, longtime Tulsa-based antique automobile restorer wholater turned to restoring vintage toy trucks, appears here at his shopin his trademark white coveralls. Hope, who became known as “TheMan in White,” died May 10. He was 97. Tulsa World file

Ford Starts Shipping its first EV, the Focus Electric, to DealersFord started shipping its first electricpassenger car to dealers the weekendof May 19, according to Reuters.About 350 Focus Electric cars will besent to 67 dealers in California, NewJersey and New York over the nextcouple weeks. Manufacturing execu-tives signed off on the decision onMay 18. Each dealer will get about sixcars, one of which will be a demon-stration model, the reports said. Forddeclined to comment on the news. Thepeople asked not to be named becausethe plans are confidential.

“We are still on track to beginshipping the Focus Electric thisspring,” Ford spokesman Wes Sher-wood said.

The Focus EV will compete inthe burgeoning electric vehicle marketagainst Nissan’s Leaf and GM’s Co.’s

Chevrolet Volt.In April, Ford CEO Alan Mulally

said he would not consider it a failureif Ford sold fewer than 5,000 FocusEVs in its first year.

In the first four months of 2012,GM sold 5,377 Chevrolet Volts, whileNissan sold 2,103 of its Leaf electriccars. Both vehicles were launched inlate 2010.

Ford expects hybrids, plug-in hy-brids and electric cars will representup to 25 percent of its sales by 2020,with hybrids accounting for the ma-jority. Americans have been slow toadopt electric cars due to their highcost and concerns over their range.Automakers have also improved thefuel efficiency of their traditional gas-powered engines more quickly thanexpected.


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Auto Painting USA Collision(APUSA) is a production auto paint-ing and collision shop specializing incosmetic body repair and auto repaint-ing. APUSA offers four varieties ofpaint finishes starting with The Amer-ican, which is a low-cost syntheticenamel factory basecoat/clearcoatpaint job. The American paint serviceis guaranteed for two years againstcracking, peeling and flaking. Themost popular paint job is The Florid-ian, which is a DuPont Nason 2KPolyurethane paint job. The Floridianis guaranteed for three years againstcracking, peeling, flaking, and fading.The Simulator includes a simulatedbasecoat/clearcoat, three full coats ofintegrated clear, free pinstripes, and afive-year guarantee against fading. TheUltimate includes a factory-likebasecoat/clearcoat, ultra wet look, freepinstripes, and a lifetime guaranteeagainst fading or paint failure.

Along with full paint jobs,APUSA also performs spot work forthose cars that only need small areasrepaired and some minor body work,up to $5,000-$6,000 per job. The ticketaverage is approximately $650- $700per car, with an average of seven to 10cars per day, 25 to 40 cars per week.The cost to paint a car is $55 to $75 forpaint and materials, with a profit mar-gin between 20% to 30% after all ex-penses. Sales are approximately

$750,000 per shop per year. APUSA iscommitted to customer satisfactionand is proud to say there are zero com-plaints with the Consumer AffairsDept. of Florida. It is their policy tobend over backwards for customers.

As a car enters the productionline, it first goes to the body person forany repair work that is necessary. Typ-ically, that includes rust damage andminor dents or body work. Next, thecar moves into the area where it issanded and prepped for painting. Fromthe prep area, it proceeds to the maskerfor taping and then into the paint boothwhere a gallon of paint, or the equiva-lent of three coats, is sprayed on thecar. Before the car is finally ready fordelivery, a detailer cleans all paintoverspray from the windows, tires, andbumpers, then cleans all the windows,Armor-alls the tires and dashboards,

and blows all the dust and dirt out ofthe interior.

Presently the company has threelocations between Ft. Lauderdale andMiami. These locations are supervisedby Vice President, Claudio Casasno-

vas. Claudio has been a val-ued employee with APUSAfor over 20 years. A new lo-cation opening in Phoenix,AZ, with two or three morelocations in the works. Thesenew locations are part of aLicensing Agreement Pro-gram, which allows new oralready established autopaint and body shops to li-cense the name and purchasematerials at a huge discount.By becoming a licensed

owner of an APUSA shop, shops ben-efit from a name that is recognized andassociated with quality and value.They also become part of a team that iswell known and respected in SouthFlorida for over 35 years. Training isoffered to all licensees to run a smoothand profitable business. In addition,advertising through direct mail, TV,

radio and Internet is provided. Formore information on joining the teamand Licensing Agreement Program, goto www.autopaintingusa.com and clickon business opportunities.

Auto Painting USA Collision(APUSA) originally started in DelrayBeach, FL and has its roots in a com-pany called Electro Bake Auto Paint-ing. Tom Kobus, the owner andPresident of APUSA, began workingfor Electro Bake Auto Painting in1975. Tom started as a manager, thenwas a supervisor and became Execu-tive Vice President before buying twoshops in 1982 in Delray and LakeWorth. In 1984, Tom bought CongressAuto Paint and Supply Inc. (the hold-ing company) and the remaining twoshops, Pompano and Stuart.

Over the next four years, Tomopened the remaining five shops:Davie, Hollywood, West Palm Beach,North Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale.In 1987, Tom changed the name of thecompany to Auto Painting USA and in1988 the holding company waschanged to Auto Painting USA Enter-prises Inc.


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Major Physical Damage Indicators Up For 6 QuartersAccording to the latest available datafrom the Independent Statistical Serv-ice Inc. (ISS), Insurance Services Of-fice, Inc. (ISO), and the NationalIndependent Statistical Service(NISS), the frequency of private pas-senger collision claims has now beenon a gradual rising trend for six con-secutive quarters. Having been in anear-constant down trend since thefirst quarter of 2008, data through thefourth quarter 2011 shows that colli-sion claims frequency has risen to5.66 claims per 100 earned car years.That represents an increase of 1.92percent from the recent low of 5.56claims per 100 earned car yearsreached in the second quarter of 2010.

Paid losses for private passengercollision claims have been on the riseas well. The data shows over $16.4billion in physical damage losses paidfor the year ending with the fourthquarter of 2011. That is the sixth con-secutive quarterly rise in paid losses.The average paid loss once again

broke above the $3,000 mark to endthe fourth quarter at $3,029 comparedto $2,946 a year earlier.

The average paid loss, while ris-ing recently, has held pretty steadythrough the recent recession years.The average paid loss reached a recenthigh of $3,027 in the first quarter of2008 and declined fairly steadilythrough the first quarter of 2010,reaching a low of $2,922. It has beengradually rising ever since.

However, even while claims fre-quency and paid losses have been onthe increase in recent quarters, it hasnot necessarily meant a return of busi-ness for the collision repairer. That'sbecause, according to ISO, the num-ber of claims paid is still below the re-cent highs set in early 2008. In the 12months prior to second quarter of2008, the insurance industry paid 5.63million private passenger physicaldamage claims. But as of Q4 2011,the industry paid 5.44 million claimsover the prior 12 months.

BASF Automotive Refinish presentedits Distributor of the Year Award toLeading Edge Auto Refinishers, Inc.,

Phoenix, Arizona, at its annual Color-Source™ Conference on April 19 inLa Jolla, California.

“Leading Edge received the awardbecause of its innovation, forward

thinking and ability to differentiate it-self in Arizona. With a strong record ofcontinued growth and outstanding cus-

tomer service and support, as well ascommitment to waterborne conver-sions, Leading Edge is a true partnerwith BASF,” said Denise Kingstrom,BASF’s Strategic Accounts Manager.

Leading Edge has been familyowned and operated since 1993.

“We are very proud to receive thisaward on behalf of the entire team atLeading Edge. It would be hard toimagine operating Leading Edge with-out all the talented people in the organ-ization,” said Matt Johnson, co-ownerof Leading Edge. “We would also liketo thank BASF for supporting our busi-ness initiatives. Without BASF’s single-line ColorSource PREMIER program,much of what we have accomplished inArizona would have not been possible.BASF is vital to our success. It’s aunique partnership because we all suc-ceed together.”

ColorSource PREMIER is a pro-gram designed by BASF exclusivelyfor single line distributors of BASFrefinish paints and coatings. Color-Source PREMIER distributors are keystrategic partners with BASF.

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Chuck Soeder, far left, Vice President, Automotive Refinish and Industrial Coatings Solutions forBASF; and Denise Kingstrom, far right, Strategic Accounts Manager, Automotive Refinish forBASF present the business’s Distributor of the Year Award to the Leading Edge team. From leftare: Soeder; Travis Leybeck, Paul Derdich, Mike Priest, John Rang, Matt Johnson, DavidBrannon, Troy Schooley, Steve Balsley, and Vaughn Lindberg of Leading Edge; and Kingstrom

I-CAR has introduced a new series ofonline courses that provides founda-tional knowledge on the basics of thecollision repair process for profession-als across the collision repair inter-in-dustry. The Intro to Collision RepairSeries is designed for such roles asentry-level technician, entry-level ap-praiser, front office staff, customer serv-ice rep, sales staff, call center agent andvo-tech student. The series includes aset of 14 one-hour online courses thatcovers topics such as vehicle parts ter-minology; mechanical repair terms andvehicle protection; tools, equipment andattachment methods; and collision re-pair process overview. The intro seriesis customizable to a business, and staffmembers can take all the courses oronly the ones they need.

“Efficiency is key to running asuccessful business, and ensuring thatyour team has a solid understanding ofthe basics of the collision repairprocess can benefit a business in sev-eral areas,” said John S. Van Alstyne,I-CAR CEO and president. Special in-troductory pricing of 30 percent offthe total purchase price of the entireset of 14 courses is available throughJuly 30, 2012.

I-CAR Introduces New Seriesof Online Courses

by Ed Attanasio

If there’s a list somewhere containingthe names of the automotive indus-try’s top artisans/painters, MitchKelly is right up there at the top. The

owner of Kelly & Son in Bellflower,California and the creator of CrazyPaint, Mitch and his father Tom areproud to say that they’re not averagepainters and they run a shop that is notaverage either.

Tom Kelly’s grandfather startedpinstriping vehicles back in the 1940sand Tom is well-known for workingwith Von Dutch as well as Ed “BigDaddy” Roth and still works along-side his son on a wide range of proj-ects.

Mitch Kelly, 52, is at a stage inhis professional career where he isready to start giving back to the in-dustry in which he made his name.

“I have a ton of knowledge and atthis point in my life, I want to shareit,” says Kelly. “Back in the day, mycars were on at least three magazinecovers every year, whether it was atruck, motorcycle or hot rod maga-zine. More recently, a motorcycle thatI painted will be appearing on thecover of Ground Pounder magazine.It’s a cinnamon-colored Harleypainted with PPG paint and I reallylike working on bikes lately. We didone Harley that has more than$13,000 worth of paint, with multiple

colors, stripes everywhere, includinggold leaf—-it’s just really cool stuff.”

It all began 39 years ago when ateenager started to learn the familybusiness to make some walkingaround money. “When I was 13, my

dad told me to tape off somewheels on some vans,” Kellyexplained. “He was doinglots of vans back then. In the1960’s everybody had a vanand they wanted graphics on

them. He was fast. He’d lay them out,paper them and Scotch Bright themand I learned how to do it all.

The first thing I did was paintwheels. They used to have those oldwestern-style wheels with ribs onthem and you’d have to paint betweenthe ribs and color match them to thevehicle. I would do a couple sets ofwheels every day and Dad would giveme $10-$15 per wheel. So, as a 13-year-old, I was making good money,sometimes $150 per day.”

Tom Kelly didn’t want his son’sfuture in the paint business. “At onepoint, my father told me, ‘This is fineand all, but I want you to get a regularjob.’ I worked six hours a day in a cab-inet shop, but I also stayed on at mydad’s shop. Between the cabinet shop,my dad’s shop, and school, I was put-ting in 13-hour days. Eventually Iwent to work with my father full-timein 1978.

“My father is probably the bestpinstriper in the world, in my opinion,and many will agree. His talent andhis ability to stripe stuff is phenome-nal,” Mitch says with evident pride.

“He’s a super artist and he’s verycreative. He’s got all my ability in his

little pinky. I realized early on that Ididn’t want to do pinstripes, murals orhand lettering, so I figured out that Ineeded to get into the painting side. Ilearned about as much as I couldabout two-color toning, fading andgraphics to where I could do them at ahigh level. My father and I are still ateam. He’s 72 now and we still worktogether.”

ABN sat down with Mitch Kellyrecently to chronicle his topfive projects over the yearsand the first one he cited wasthe very first car he paintedcompletely from start to fin-ish while a high school stu-dent. “My friend had a 1978Z-28, and asked ‘would I putsome stripes on his car’? Isaid yeah, but not for free. For$200, I put three-coloredstripes around his car for a hotrod look. That was my firstsuccess, because it made the cover ofHot Rod magazine. I was still in highschool and I got my first cover! Ithought to myself, “I must have atleast some talent to make the cover of

a magazine! It was my first really se-rious graphic effort and I was soproud.”

Mitch Kelly’s number two proj-ect came at age 19. “After a while, Istarted getting better and better atpainting cars. One day, a couplebrought in a 1969 Corvette that theywanted candy red. I used a red andgold pearl base with the red candy ontop. It came out with a very different

effect by just messing around with thecolors.

They wanted a silhouette ofthem together painted on the hood,so we ghosted it in. It looked awe-


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Legendary “Crazy” Painter Mitch Kelly Cites his Top 5 Projects

One of Kelly’s current projects is this 1957 Chevy Bel Air. The crew at Kelly & Son is (from left) JohnWeening, Mitch Kelly, Brandon Hedden, Thomas Kelly (Mitch’s son) and Tom Kelly (Mitch’s father)

Kelly includes this truck he painted for Thor Wear as oneof his top five projects ever

some and the customers loved it.They gave me a $300 tip, which wasunheard of way back then! Thatrocked my world and I realized howimportant good customer service canbe. Meeting deadlines and givingthem exactly what they want is cru-cial, and I learned a lot about it withthat Corvette.”

Number three on the MitchKelly countdown happened roughly20 years ago, he said. “One day in1992, I got a phone call from the peo-ple at the Association of Volleyball

Professionals (AVP). At that time,they had a countrywide tour featur-ing some of the country’s best vol-leyball players and Miller Lite was

their sponsor. They asked me, canyou airbrush a mural of a 30-40 footvolleyball player diving for volley-ball on the side of a semi-truck? AndI told them, yes—we can do that.After I hung up the phone, I turned tomy dad and said, ‘Uh, we can do this,right?’ and he said we’ll give it ourbest shot! We got the job and did animage of Sinjin Smith, who was oneof the world’s top volleyball playersat that time and they were reallyhappy with it.”

That semi led to a lot of newbusiness on a corporatelevel, Mitch explained.“After that initial meetingwith the people from MillerLite, things really startedhappening. It’s totally differ-ent from working with cus-tomers off the street. Forone, my business clientsnever even come to look atthe trucks after they’re fin-ished. They just send thecheck after seeing it on TV

or in publications. We started doing alot of these semi trailers for the AVPand they let us do the things we dobest—our graphics, fading and

blending. We worked closely withtheir designers to make them pop andit’s been a great relationship.”

The fourth notable accomplish-ment for Kelly is another truck proj-

ect that came from some of hismotorcycle work, he said. “I’ve al-ways loved motorcycles of all kindsand I was racing for a while. So, wewere painting a bike one day for acompany called Thor Wear and theyasked us to bid on a truck job forthem. We got the bid and then workedwith their designer and it came outgreat. They loved it! We took it to abig show and it got amazing reviews.The big boss saw it and said, ‘We need

to do more of those!’ I’ve done at least15 trucks for them over the years andat least a total of 50 jobs overall, so ithas turned out to be an excellent ac-count.”

This now takes us to thefifth fabulous project per-formed by Mitch and hiscrew—another semi for amajor brand name. “Fifteenyears ago, we got a callfrom the people fromMazda’s racing team anddid a semi for them featur-ing a Mazda race car on theside and with the logos.When the people fromMazda saw it, they werethrilled. The next call was

another car and trailer. They neededit in just three weeks time and it hadto be in Texas for a TV commercial.They said we don’t care about theprice. It was the biggest projectmoney-wise that I had ever done. Wegot it done three days early and it ledto a bunch of work with Mazda afterthat.”

For more information aboutMitch and his work, go to:www.kellyandsoncrazypainters.com


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Mitch Kelly is well-known for his amazing work onmotorcycles. This green beauty is his own personalride and proud of it

Mitch Kelly is well-known for painting semis, includingthis beauty he designed and painted for one of hissponsors, PPG


by Melanie Anderson

Custom Painter Jim Hetzler, 53, ofMuscatine, Iowa is a world class pin-stripe and airbrush artist whose careerstarted at the tender age of 13 whenhis hobby was building model cars.

“It’s a funny thing,” Hetzlersaid. “I enjoyed building model carsas a pre-teen and I wanted to paintpinstripes on my cars but didn’tknow how to begin. I wanted to learnand know the secretsof pinstriping, butback in those days itwas hard to findsomeone to teachme.” One day he sawan advertisement in amagazine and boughta $5 book on how topinstripe. That bookwas written by fa-mous car builder anda i rbrush /p ins t r ipeartist, Ed “BigDaddy” Roth. Rothwas the creator of the “Rat Fink andgang” monster hot rod characterswhich became rock-art icons, ap-pearing on airbrushed T-shirts,posters and hot rods. Roth’s cartooncharacters were known for symbol-

izing the rebellious nature of the1960s hot rod movement. Roth took

the young man under his wing, andeven though Roth was in Californiaand Hetzler lived in Iowa, Rothtalked to young Jim over the phoneand became his mentor. “He is theone who gave me direction,” Hetzlersaid.

Hetzler became a self-taught artist when his interestin art grew over time in highschool. His love of art, hisfriends’ referrals and word ofmouth soon grew to be a full-time business. In the early 80shis career took off, launchedby the Honda MotorcycleGold Wing touring bikes.“They came from the manu-facturer in only three colors,”Hetzler said. “People wantedcustom paint jobs and the

more I did, the more referrals I got andmy business grew to cars, trucks andsemis.”

Today, Hetzler is a world classpinstripe and airbrush artist and spe-

cializes in lettering, graphics, pin-striping, gold leaf and airbrush and ishighly recommended for his symmet-rical, multi-colored fine line stripes aswell as his realistic airbrush tech-niques and ability to apply the most

current techniques toany project. Jim andhis wife, Chris, ownand operate Hetz Pin-striping and JC HetzStudio Signs andGraphics in Musca-tine, Iowa.

With 40 years ex-perience as a pin-striper, 35 years as anairbrush artist and 25years in the custompainting business, Het-

zler has too many projects to count.But some of his favorite projects in-

clude pinstriping the Good Guys 2009Street Rod of the Year, custom paint-ing his own 1950 Ford Club Coupe,and creating the paint job on a full-

size tractor trailer semi for the Uni-versity of Iowa’s Hawkeye FootballTeam.

Jim was given the title of “Pin-striping Legend” by Northern andSouthern Rodder magazines and hasreceived many awards for his graph-ics and designs throughout the years.In 2007 and 2011, Hetzler receivedthe House of Kolor Prestigious PainterAward. He’s been using House ofKolor products for 25 years and forthe past two years, has been testing thenew Shrimrin2 Formula.

“I like the new line even more,”Hetzler said. “It’s incredible paint andgives you the ability to create thou-sands of colors from16 base colors. It’s eas-ier to use and you canintermix it for anycolor combination.”The newest line ofpaint from House ofKolor, released in June2011, is a solvent-based paint with lowVOC. What makes theShrimrim2 Formulaspecial, Hetzler says, isthe ability to customcreate a multitude ofcolors and intermixing Kandy withbases and creating special effects withits line of pearls and flakes.

“House of Kolor has been mypaint of choice for the last 25 years,”Hetzler said. “House of Kolor paintsis the foundation of all my artworkand graphics. It’s vibrant, easy towork with and is convenient to mixcolors. Using their paints has en-hanced my artwork and really madethe colors pop.”

One of the highlights of his ca-reer, Hetzler said, has been the honorof working with Jon Kosmoski, whofounded House of Kolor in 1956.

Today, they work to-gether to create newproducts for House ofKolor. “When I firststarted using theirpaints 25 years ago, Iwas impressed andthought they had agreat product. In myworld, Jon is a rockstar. To be involvedwith custom paintingat this level is amazingfor me.”

Hetzler often trav-els with the House of Kolor, taking histalent on the road and showcasingHouse of Kolor paints. He is a regularshowcase artist every year at theSEMA show in Las Vegas. He also willbe at the Back to the 50s car show inMinnesota in June. In August, he’ll bein Louisville, Kentucky for the StreetRod Nationals. In his spare time, heholds his own workshops in pinstripingand airbrushing, as well as working asa pinstripe instructor for “getawayworkshops” in Orlando and Las Vegas.

Hetzler’s trademark signature is“Hetz” and can be found on all hisprojects. His online, Facebook andpersonal connections in the custom

painting world have made him fa-mous. “I can go anywhere in the U.S.and people know who I am. It’s kindof scary,” Hetzler said.

For more information, visithttp://www.hetzstudio.com/ or contactJim at (563) 263-2803 or at [email protected].

Custom Painter Jim Hetzler Started Out at Age 13 with a Model Car

Jim Hetzler won the House of Kolor Prestigious Car Painter Awardin 2007 when he painted this 1940 Buick

Jim Hetzler painted his own 1950 Ford Club Coupe

Jim Hetzler is a world-class pinstripe and airbrush artistwho started painting when he was 13.

One of Jim's favorite projects was painting this full-sized semi forthe University of Iowa’s Hawkeye Football team.

Jim Hetzler won the House of Kolor Prestigious Car Painter Awardin 2011 for this 1934 Ford



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The sixth annual Women’s IndustryNetwork Conference kicked off in At-lanta with over 200 women from allsegments of the collision repair indus-try. The first day included a keynote ad-dress on “Extreme Change: Adapt,Overcome & WIN as One” by RobynBenincasa, World Champion Adven-ture Racer, San Diego City Firefighterand Founder of World Class Teams andProject Athena Foundation. Dr. LindaGravett of Gravett and Associates in-spired conference attendees with herstrategies for managing stress andmaintaining inner peace utilizing exer-cises borrowed from Tai Chi, Yoga andTae Kwon Do. The afternoon sessionincluded an update on vehicle designand collision avoidance technology andits impact on the industry presented byKim Hazelbaker, Senior Vice Presi-dent, Highway Loss Data Institute.

Included in the day was recogni-tion of the nine conference scholar-ship winners including six students:Nicolette Cole, Le’Trina Ervin,Tiffany Owen, Leslie Mendoza, Jen-nifer Watkins, Kinsey Simmons;one instructor, Greg Brink; and two

collision repair facility employees:Deborah O’Kean and Jessica Gau-thier.

Margaret Knell was awardedthis year’s Cornerstone Award, giveneach year to a board member that ex-emplifies the values and ideals ofWIN. Also recognized were WIN’s2012 Corporate Sponsors: AkzoNobel;DuPont; Allstate; ASE; BASF; Enter-prise Rent-a-Car; State Farm Insur-ance; Hertz; 3M; LKQ; SterlingAutobody Centers; Geico; Fix Auto;Carstar; PPG; ABRA Auto Body &Glass; CAPA; Finishmaster; Sym-phony Advisors; Sherwin Williams;Mitchell; CCC Information Services;Insurance Auto Auctions; Audatex andCar-Part.com.

“We want to thank every one ofour sponsors for their support of WIN.Their commitments are essential toachieving our mission of engagingwomen in the collision repair industry,”said Victoria Jankowski, WIN’s chair.

Day two at the WIN conferencestarted off with the Annual ScholarshipWalk Presented by Fix Auto wheremore than 100 women laced up their

sneakers and trekked through Atlanta’sBuckhead district. Over $1700 wasraised through individual donations.The funds will be directed towardWIN’s various scholarship programs.

Following the walk, WIN’s sec-ond keynote speaker, Cathy Bonner,CEO, Service King Collision RepairCenters, shared the top performingskills that she has learned throughforty years of professional and per-sonal success. Cathy had a uniquemessage that has been built on yearsof teaching leadership through theprograms she developed called Lead-ership America and Power Pipelineand her own management experiencesin both the public and the private sec-tors of America.

Susanna Gotsch, Director In-dustry Analyst, CCC InformationServices, gave an industry update ti-tled “The Latest Trends, Market Dy-namics & Business Drivers ImpactingOur Industry.” Ms. Gotsch exploredthe ways economic and demographicchanges have impacted the automo-tive claims and repair industries.

The afternoon continued with

three breakout sessions: “Why WomenShould Do Business with You” pre-sented by Lori Johnson, Owner ofLadies, Start Your Engines!®; “QualityControl: Are you Looking CloselyEnough and at the Right Time?” pre-sented by Shawn Collins, a SeniorTechnical Service Engineer at 3M; and“Customer Service…Back to Basics”presented by Dianne Young, Founderand Master Instructor for PropelTraining and Development.

After two exciting, fast-paceddays spent networking and learningfrom dynamic speakers, the confer-ence wrapped up with the closing ses-sion “Take Control…Be the Change.”Michelle DeMaris, WIN member andconference attendee, said, “I’velearned we have to take charge ofchanging the perception of females inthe industry and own that concept.”Linda Sommerhauser, a long timeWIN member, added her thoughts, “Ifeel energized and invigorated to goback and work more with our schoolsand advisory boards and to advocatefor shops to sponsor internships withintheir facilities.”


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“Social Media is Word of Mouth onSteroids” —Frank Terlep

by Melanie Anderson

There’s no escape. Nearly everyoneand their grandmother is using socialor digital media. Is your shop up tospeed with the age we live in?

According to Frank Terlep, CEOof Summit Software and MarketingSolutions, more than 112 million gen-eration X and Y consumers, 60 millionbaby boomers and 20 million seniorsare on the Internet, emailing, texting orusing social media. And these numbersdon’t even reflect the younger genera-tion, those between 18–34 who com-prise an outsized proportion ofconsumers who watch online videos,visit social networking sites and blogs,own a tablet and use a smart phone.

“In today’s world, every shopneeds a website and social media pres-ence to attract consumers to theirbrand and business,” said Terlep.“Getting involved with digital and so-cial media is not a matter of ‘if’ - it’sa matter of ‘when’ - because shopswill end up doing it anyway and theymay as well do it now and be a winnerinstead of a loser. Waiting to join the

social media world is losing an op-portunity to increase your business.”

To connect with, market to, serv-ice or retain today’s ‘digital consumer,’a shop must consider several digitalmarketing tools, techniques and strate-

gies, such as digital databases, email,text messaging, social media, mobileand location-based marketing, smartphones, phone apps, micro sites, searchengine optimization, pay per click ad-vertising, digital ads, promotions, e-coupons, videos and more, said Terlep.

A digital consumer is an individ-ual who uses smart phones, text mes-

saging, email, Facebook, LinkedIn,Twitter, Google, YouTube and otherdigital or social media technologies toperform their jobs, communicate withbusiness associates, friends and familyor to educate and entertain themselves.

According to Terlep, the threemost critical steps repair and collisionshops should take regarding social ordigital media are:#1. Know how their website is per-forming

#2. Continue communication with ex-isting or previous customers#3. Participate in social media

Your Website“The shop’s website is the hub of theshop’s whole digital marketing strat-egy,” Terlep said. “A shop’s website istheir online lobby.” Knowing howwell their website is performingshould be a priority for every shop.“Shops need to make sure their con-sumers can find their website fromanywhere, whether it is a local searchor from a variety of search engines,”Terlep said. “A website is performingwell if your shop ends up on the firstpage of engine search. Less than twopercent of customers will go to thesecond page of a search.”

Your CustomersStaying in touch with previous or exist-ing customers is an important market-ing strategy that many shops overlook.Terlep believes that most shops don’tmarket to previous or existing cus-tomers. “It’s easier to get business fromold customers than it is to find new cus-


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Why Your Body Shop Can’t Ignore Social or Digital Media

Sherwin-Williams’ Digital Marketing SeminarSherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes A-Plus University (a value-added program

for Sherwin-Williams body shop customers) is partnering with Summit Software

and Marketing Solutions to offer a digital marketing advanced business class

specifically for collision repair facilities. The program is launching in multiple lo-

cations this year throughout the country.

A recent workshop was held April 26 in a skybox media suite at Petco Park,

the home of the San Diego Padres, and concluded with a catered dinner and pre-

mium seat viewing of the night's game.

The four-hour workshop was designed for shop owners and managers to

help them meet the challenges body shops face in today’s rapidly changing digital

and information age.

Troy Neuerburg, Sherwin Williams Automotive Finishes' Marketing Manager,

Business Services, led the meeting, with input from Chris Lynch, Falls Communi-

cations. Frank Terlep, CEO of Summit Software and Marketing Solutions, pre-

sented the program. Terlep's rapid-fire style covered a huge menu of topics

touching on shop-consumer communications via social media, smartphone

apps, and digital marketing for the busy shop. The digital and social media strate-

gies covered included: What digital marketing means; Why digital marketing is re-

quired for success in today’s world; What a shop’s potential digital marketing

audience is; The benefits shops can expect to receive from digital marketing; The

importance of a digital marketing database; and Digital marketing tools that are

available. For more information, visit www.sherwin-automotive.com.

Frank Terlep uses ‘personal media’ to engage a group of shop owners invited by Sherwin-Williamsto San Diego’s Petco Park for a talk and a baseball game on April 26

tomers,” Terlep said. “Shops think,‘Why should we keep in touch withprevious customers if, on average, con-sumers only use a body repair shop onlyseven to 10 years?’ Car accidents are abad experience and most customerswant to forget about it as soon as possi-ble, and that means they forget aboutthe shop too. After a couple years, peo-ple tend to forget where they even hadtheir car repaired.”

Getting customers back in the dooris important to the success of a bodyshop, and the way to do that is to offeradditional appearance-related services,such as detailing, glass repair, headlightrestoration, mechanical repair services,or any other type of non-collision re-pairs. “There is a huge opportunity tomarket to existing or previous cus-tomers and many shops aren’t doingthis,” Terlep said. Social and digitalmedia are successful ways to stay intouch with your customers to get themback in the door for other services.

Your ‘Friends’One of the biggest reasons why a bodyshop should be on social media is be-cause their customers are already there.Terlep suggests a shop focus on one of

the ‘Big 5’ —Facebook YouTube, Twit-ter, LinkedIn or Google Plus. Postingitems that are educational and enter-taining and offering exclusive deals willget more attention than random facts.

Shops should participate in socialmedia for two important reasons: ithelps shops stay in touch with theircustomers, and it gives them the abil-ity to position themselves to be onlineexperts in their field with an online au-dience within their community. “Ashop should want their customers toknow them as an expert so their cus-tomers can tell their friends, and beingon social media is the best way to dothat. Social media is word of mouth onsteroids,” Terlep said.

Email MarketingWith all that said and despite the frenzyover social media, Terlep said the bestdigital marketing is still email because“80% of consumers still prefer emailover Facebook or Twitter to get theirinformation.” Customers are comfort-able getting surveys, e-newsletters, e-coupons and other promotions byemail. Terlep said shops are movingaway from phone-based customer sur-veys because electronic surveys garner

better and more honest feedback, aswell as improved tracking.

Another good reason to switchover to digital marketing is it is muchless expensive than traditional market-ing. E-newsletters cost only about $50a month compared to thousands of dol-lars it costs to print and mail print ver-sions of newsletters. And social mediais free!

Phone AppsAnother digital marketing tool forshops to consider is a phone app fortheir business. According to Terlep,more than 50% of the U.S. populationwho own a cell phone use a smartphone, and that percentage will in-crease as the older cell phones becomeobsolete. He recommends an Apple orAndroid app as those two platformshave the majority of the smart phonemarket. The benefit of a body shophaving an app is that it will allow aconsumer who has just been in an ac-cident to be able to push the app ontheir phone without having to remem-ber the location, phone, name or emailaddress of the body shop. An app al-lows the customer to take photos, filea report and send information to the

body shop, insurance and police. “Abody shop who has their own appowns a piece of real estate of the con-sumer’s smart phone,” Terlep said.

Goodbye TV?The three most prevalent screens todayare, in order: the TV, PC and then thesmart phone, tablet or mobile device.In the next five years, that order willreverse as the smart phone will be-come the No. 1 screen people will lookat the most, becoming more popularthan the television or computer screen.

So, why aren’t shops up-to-date inthe electronic world we live in? It’s timeand expertise, Terlep said. Most shopsdon’t have time during their daily oper-ation to properly market their businessdigitally. And many just don’t have theexpertise. “They don’t know what theydon’t know,” Terlep lamented.

“Social media and digital mar-keting is not a passing fad. It’s here tostay. Body shops will end up usingdigital marketing at some point, andthose who don’t wait will benefit themost,” Terlep said.

For more information about Ter-lep’s business, visit their website atwww.emarketingsherpas.com.


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In the world of big corporation mar-keting, how a company or product is“positioned” is a big deal. For exam-ple, a shop that is known to be thebiggest, or the fastest, or (not likelybut possibly) the cheapest, or (asmany would like to claim), the high-est quality, would be likely to holdthat position in people’s minds indef-initely, unless something radicallychanged their mind. In copiers,Xerox is still thought of as the stan-dard, in computers IBM is still firstin most people’s minds, and Hertz isstill the top rental car name peoplethink of.

In marketing, it’s well establishedthat it’s always better to be first than tobe better. Charles Lindbergh flew theAtlantic solo first, but Bert Hinklerdid it faster, consuming less fuel. Hewas second and never heard of again.George Washington was the first pres-ident. Who was second? Neil Arm-strong was first to walk on the moon.Who was second? Second place isgenerally no place. So, is it too late tobe first in your area? It all depends onfirst… at what? And are there other al-ternatives?

One problem with being recog-nized in the collision repair industry isthe infrequency that people even think

about or look for a shop. Coca-Colacan stay first in people’s minds be-cause they drink beverages every day,but few people need collision repairmore often than once every threeyears. Nevertheless, now and then ashop succeeds in capturing mass pub-lic attention. 3-C Collision Center inOhio captured a lot of publicity by at-tacking shops that catered to insurancecompanies. He also created a new cat-egory in which he could be first—a“no-insurance-connection-shop.”

This is one way a shop can be-come first: Create a new category tobe first in. Sometimes new technol-ogy creates that opportunity for you.In most areas, one shop became thefirst to use waterborne paint. As high-end car manufacturers began theswitch to aluminum structures, oneshop had the opportunity to be firstwith the costly frame machine neededto work on aluminum structures. Ofcourse these opportunities were shortlived as other shops made the samemove to the new technology, but ifthe first shop capitalized on beingfirst and promoted that fact effec-tively, that position of “first” could re-main in the minds of key referralsource coordinators.

The question now is, what newcategory might a shop use to vault intoa number one position, and if so whatcould be done to make that factbroadly known? I recently wroteabout a shop that closed off its drive-through area and made it available fora meeting of 40 professional womenbelonging to a networking groupcalled “Power Babes.” Another shopsponsored an even larger group called“The Women’s Resource Network.”These shops successfully positionedthemselves as “firsts” to recognize therepair purchasing power in profes-sional women’s groups in their area.Although these were not moves tograb a large mass audience, they weresufficient to capture an emerging, sig-nificant market.

This may be the most effectiveway a collision repair shop that’s notpart of a large chain or franchise cancreate a marketing category. As babyboomers get older, another categorythat might work well is reaching out

to AARP members or even handi-capped people. On the other end ofage-related categories, becoming aspecialty shop for driving schools andnew drivers could reach significantnumbers of people. Another approachis becoming known for championinga highly respected charity. Some pos-sibilities might be transportation forthe blind or special events for autisticor handicapped children. It’s wellknown that children and pets capturepeople’s attention in ads and media.Helping almost any charity that fo-cuses on these will draw attention toyour shop and enable you to get freepublicity.

One other marketing strategythat has worked well in getting a busi-ness positioned profitably is seekingthe number two position with con-trast. Perhaps best known is the slo-gan used by Avis in competing withHertz Car Rental: “We try harder.”

Another was the success of Pepsi-Cola competing with Coca-Cola’snumber one position by creating “ThePepsi Generation.”

If a competing shop in your com-munity has somehow captured thenumber one position in people’sminds, you may be able to capturepart of that glory with a clever con-trasting campaign.

“We produce top quality faster.”“No one produces a safer re-

paired vehicle than our shop.” “Top quality doesn’t have to go

for top dollar.” The trick is to identify what you

do that can be better than what is per-ceived as “the best.”

And then find a way to commu-nicate to the right public to receivethat message. You have the power tocreate a profitable position in yourmarket. You just have to recognize itand work at it.


Positioning Your Shop

Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.

with Sheila LoftusYour Turn

Opinions Countwith Dick Strom

Shop Showcasewith Janet Chaney

Industry Overviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Interviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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

Advertise in ourCLASSIFIEDSECTION for

$50 per columninch!

[email protected]

Place an ad in ourAUTOBODY

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Autobody News.

LeMay America’s Car Museum opensJune 2 in downtown Tacoma, WA.

The museum explores how the au-tomobile has fulfilled a distinc-tive role of the Americanexperience and shaped our so-ciety. The spacious museumwith rotating exhibits is de-signed to be the centerpiece forautomotive history as well as aneducational center and library.The museum, located adjacentto the Tacoma Dome, also con-tains a 3.5-acre show field, the-atre, café, banquet hall andmeeting facilities. The 165,000-square-foot museum has beennamed one of the “8 big open-ings of 2012” by USA Todayand will feature more than 350cars, trucks and motorcycles.

ACM is dedicatedto preserving and high-lighting America’s loveaffair with the auto. Thefacility will host con-certs, collector car showsand drive-in movies.

A free concert bysix-time Grammy win-ner “Asleep at theWheel” will be thefeatured Grand Open-ing Day entertainment,

with Tacoma native and recent “TheVoice” contestant Kim Archer as theopening act.


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RX-8 2012

For some time now, Edwards Paint andBody, in St. Augustine, FL, has beenmaking shop space available a to about20 young martial artists who call them-selves the Body Shop Boys. The group’sbenefactor is co-owner Jimmy Ed-wards, who with his son-in-law, ToddRaven, felt the boys needed a place tocompete other than the streets, saidshop co-owner Chris Cheshire.

The Body Shop Boys’ newest mem-ber already has something to brag aboutaround the garage. Former Menendezathlete Matt Ngwon his first local matchat Rumble in the Ancient City mixedmartial arts event at Ketterlinus Gym.

Ng recently moved back to St. Au-gustine. It wasn’t long before Ng be-came one of the Body Shop Boys,training for fighting events weeknightsat Edwards Paint and Body.

“Everybody has something toteach,” Ng said. Fighting at 158 pounds,Ng said he’s trained all over and mostrecently fought in Georgia. He said theSt. Augustine event was a great thing toget people interested in the sport.

“It’s a good-sized event,” he said.“I do it because I love it. I’d really liketo do more. Ng wasn’t the only memberof the Body Shop Boys to compete in theearly matches. Joseph Green, who wasnot on the original schedule, picked up avictory over Michael Dukes in a sub-mission grapple match. With Russell un-able to fight Saturday, the main event

was probably the 155-pound title bout.St. Augustine fighter Teddy Hud-

son came in with a 5-0 record and wasthe two-time defending Ancient Citychampion. Yet he was stopped by chal-lenger Richard Evers.

“It was awesome,” Evers said. “Ilove to fight like that. I was nervousand excited,” he said. Evers came outaggressively and put Hudson into theropes multiple times. However, Hud-son never really panicked and kepthimself in the fight.

Knowing how close the match was,both fighters came out swinging wildlyin the final round. Neither contenderwas able to dominate, and Hudson re-acted with complete disappointmentwhen the winner was announced.

Newest Body Shop Boy, Matt Ng, Shines in Rumble

Matt Ng throws a kick in his bout with BertSmallwood during Saturday’s Rumble in theAncient City mixed martial arts event atKetterlinus Gym. Photo by Gary McCullough

America’s Car Museum Celebrates Grand Opening

America’s Car Museum celebrates its grand opening on June 2in Tacoma, WA

1914 Detroit Electric Priscilla on display at the AlternativePropulsion exhibit at the new America's Car Museum.The Priscilla represents Detroit Electric, one of the mostsuccessful early electric cars

A 69-year-old woman died in a housefire in South Salt Lake City, UT, de-spite heroic rescue attempts by herneighbor and a local body shop cus-tomer. Oralyn Reay was pulled fromher burning home but unfortunatelydid not survive her injuries. Neigh-bors had already pulled her dog fromthe burning house before firefightersarrived. Investigators were not sure ifshe died before the fire started.

Sonny Gines said he was stand-ing on his porch smoking a cigarettewhen he smelled smoke, then real-ized Reay’s house across the streetwas on fire. He ran toward the house.

Meanwhile, Thomas Brent wasnearby at The Painter’s Center whenhe saw the fire. He joined the neigh-bors and ran toward the blaze. Ginessaid he kicked in the front door andwas greeted with a wall of blacksmoke. Brent arrived once the doorwas open.

“The fire wasn’t that bad when Iwent in,” Brent said. “There was a lotof smoke.” Brent crawled in on hisbelly. He and Gines pulled Reay out-side. “It was just instinct,” Gines said.

“I would hope someone woulddo it for my family.”

Body Shop Customer AttemptsRescue of Elderly Fire Victim

The impact of hail storms that hit St.Louis in early May is still being feltas thousands of owners of homes andcars continue to make, or await, re-pairs.

Hail the size of baseballs, evensoftballs, fell in some parts of the St.Louis region. Reports indicated thatup to 50,000 cars in the area weredamaged. Many repair shops broughtin extra help from out of state to meetdemand.

As thousands of vehicles weredamaged, so were the rental fleets.Car rental companies had to scrambleto fix or replace their own fleets. TheSt. Louis Post-Dispatch reported thatEnterprise Rent-A-Car brought inmore than 1,000 vehicles from otherstates to replace cars damaged in thestorm. Of those damaged, about 800were at Lambert Airport.

Avis had more than 300 carsdamaged at the airport. The com-pany honored some reservationsbut had to put some customers onwaiting lists until more cars arrivedfrom other areas. Some car rentalcompanies had to suspend reserva-tions until their fleets were replen-ished.

St. Louis, MO, Hail Damage HitRental Fleets Too

by Melanie Anderson

Back in 1956, House of Kolor®,based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, wasfounded by world-renowned custompainter, Jon Kosmoski, and 56 years

later, is still a strong player in theworld of automotive color.

House of Kolor producesbasecoats, surfacers, primers, sealers,thinners, reducers, dry pearls andflakes and other specialty products.The company is known in particularfor its premium custom finishes.

The company’s roots were in-spired by a ‘40 Chevy Coupe. Jon hadrebuilt the car and took it to the bestpaint shop in town. But the paint jobwas less than satisfactory and Jonknew it could be done better and so hedecided to learn how. And, as they say,the rest is history. Jonquickly became well-knownfor his skills as a custompainter, however, he was dis-pleased with the problematicnitrocellulose laquers andalkyd enamels of the day,which would sometimes sun-fade or cold-crack.

Jon wanted something better andif it wasn’t already available, then hedecided he would have to invent it.Together with a doctor in polymerchemistry, Jon set out to produce cus-

tom paints that wouldn’t tarnish, crackor sun-fade, even in severe climates orradical temperature changes. In addi-tion, he wanted paints that could with-stand the many coats required for acustom job. When Jon’s products and

skills came together, his paint jobsbegan to win awards, and peoplebegan to talk. Word spread and by1965, House of Kolor was nationallyrenowned as high-caliber paint forcustomizing vehicles.

In 1997, House of Kolor becamepart of the Valspar Automotive Coat-ings Division. Jon continues to playan important role in House of Kolor.He travels around the world con-ducting training classes and contin-ues to share his innovative ideas,helping to keep House of Kolor onthe leading edge of custom automo-tive coatings.

“After all these years, I’m stillpassionate about House of Kolor asever,” said Jon. “In fact, I can walkthrough a car show and pick out thecars that have the House of Kolorpaint on them. They are that muchricher and brighter. The people atHouse of Kolor know that it is allabout quality and longevity. That’swhy we use the best pigments and sol-vents that money can buy.”

House of Kolor maintains its in-tegrity and reputation as a leader in thecustom coatings industry by usingonly the finest ingredients in the pro-duction of its award-winning paint

products. The unique product linegives custom painters the freedom touse their imaginations to design, in-vent, and create “one of a kind” cus-tom paint jobs.

The newest paint from House ofKolor is called Shrimrin2 and comeswith a supporting line of new clears,primers and more, said Nick Dahl,General Manager with House ofKolor. Shrimrim2 is the second gen-eration of the proven ShrimrinBasecoat technology introduced in1982.

“Through new polymers and in-novative chemistry, we are able tomeet and exceed waterborne with asolvent-based system which allowsthe painter to create an unlimited pal-let of easy-to-mix colors and to usecolors that are the most exciting,” saidDahl, who has been with the companyfor 17 years. “Shrimrim2 basecoatsare ultra productive, easy to apply andrange from metallic, pearl and kandybasecoats. Shrimin2 Basecoats are athree-component system that consistsof our S2-FX Karrier Bases, S2-FXEffect Pacs and RU Series Kosmic re-

ducers. This new system is the futureof custom painting and is availablenow and compliant throughout theUnited States, including the strictest

districts in California. House of Koloris hitting a home run with solvent-based custom paints that are coast-to-coast compliant.”

For more information, visitHouseofKolor.com or contact:901 3rd Avenue South Minneapolis,Minnesota.Phone: (800) 845-2500Phone: (601) 798-4731Email: [email protected]


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tion depth.Another focal point was the dou-

ble seal between the door and thebody.

A continuous seal was attainedwith the help of color imprint methodsand optical measurement technology.Only with this high level of precisioncould the stringent quality require-ments for closing noise, closing com-fort and interior acoustics be met.

On the interior master jig, spe-cialists also ensure that the door trimhas precise, uniform gaps in its transi-tion to the body door to ensure noise-

free operation over the entire life ofthe vehicle at the customer. A new fas-tening concept with a flocked stop railwas coordinated and implemented.

Audi A3—Color matchingThe interior of the new Audi A3 inte-grates about 150 colored components;customers can choose from five colorschemes.

All parts, from decorative trimstrips to the carpeting, must be pre-cisely matched and coordinated. AudiQuality Assurance coordinates themall and resolves any issues with sup-pliers.

The colored parts in the A3 interiorare extremely diverse. They consist of34 different types of semi-finishedgoods—such as fabrics, leathers and

films—and ten types of plastic; theycome from 45 suppliers across theglobe.

This broad variety of materials re-sults in many difficult neighboring in-teractions. For example, when smoothplastic meets textured surfaces, such asin the area of the center console, thedifferent reflectance values of the ma-terials can generate different, undesir-able colors as perceived by an observer.

Special pigments are necessary todye parts with different materialchemistries in the same color hue. All

components are dyed through, andmany are also painted—some withhigh-gloss paint. In the new A3, forexample, high-gloss components in-clude the control panel for the climatecontrol system and the frame of theMMI monitor. UV-stabilizers in theplastics prevent colors from bleachingout over a period of years.

Quality Assurance coordinatescolors in its light studio whose light-ing system can be adjusted to producethree different light environments:clear daylight, warm evening light orartificial light as in a showroom.

This is necessary, because indi-vidual materials give a different colorimpression under different lightingconditions. This effect—known asmetamerism—must of course beavoided.

Visual surface inspection of a trimstrip. All employees participating in

color matching efforts must first pass aspecial vision test, because the opticalmeasuring instruments at Quality As-surance—such as the spectral pho-tometer—can only provide objective

measured values of the surfaces.Such instruments cannot measure

the impression the color makes on aperson, because only people can si-multaneously detect and evaluatecolor, gloss level and surface texture.Therefore, if there is any doubt, in theend it is the subjective impression oftrained employees that is the decisivefactor in achieving perfect color har-mony.

Color matching work is also per-formed in the finished, assembled in-

terior, i.e. with components in theirmounted positions and from the view-ing perspective of the driver. This isdone, because the appearance of cer-tain components such as pillar trimchanges due to the texture of the trimmaterial.


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Color hue check and gloss measurements incockpit

Measurements on instrument panel withcoordinate machine

Visual surface inspection of a trim strip

Discussing analysis results of functionalcubing for door

Visual color evaluation of roofliner

Continued from Page 31

Audi A3

Enterprise Rent-A-Car has launcheda new customer repair status notifi-cation system for collision repairshops that uses text and email mes-sages to keep customers updated onthe status of vehicle repairs.

Enterprise said the new cus-tomer repair status notification sys-tem was developed in response tostudies conducted by J.D. Power &Associates that revealed customersof all ages prefer to receive repairstatus updates through email and text

messages. The system is now part ofEnterprise’s Automated Rental Man-agement System (ARMS) suite ofproducts.

The feature allows shops to up-date all of its customers, not just itsEnterprise rental customers, througheither customized or automated mes-sages. The system also providesshops with a written record of infor-mation communicated to customersto help avoid misunderstandings, En-terprise said.

Enterprise Introduces Customer Repair Notification Tool


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ASAA to ‘Educate’ Legislators on Aftermarket PartsThe Alliance of State Automotive Af-termarket Associations (ASAAA) re-cently launched a national LegislatorEducation and Awareness programmeant to increase recognition amongstate policymakers about the positiveeconomic and consumer benefits gen-erated by the automotive aftermarketparts and service industry.

The ASAAA said it is becomingcritical for new and returning lawmak-ers to be educated about the benefits ofalternative aftermarket replacementparts and services as policymakers inU.S. states are addressing aftermarketparts issues on many legislative fronts.

The ASAAA said its Legislator Ed-ucation and Awareness program is de-signed to promote the importance,quality, value and availability of after-market replacement parts and services.The ASAAA developed a blueprint tohelp state associations and industry com-panies send unified industry messagesand implement educational processes toinform state policymakers about the sig-nificance of the aftermarket parts indus-

try to help ensure consistency and fair-ness in the government affairs process,and to eliminate misconceptions aboutthe value that aftermarket replacementparts play in the American economy.

“In state Capitols nationwide, in-dustry advocates are faced with the chal-lenge of educating legislative bodiesabout the value and importance that af-termarket replacement parts and servicecontribute to the nation’s economy andthe motoring public,” said Barbara Crest,president of ASAAA. “However, whendescribing aftermarket replacement partsand service, words like ‘imitation,’ ‘in-ferior’ and ‘not of like kind and quality’are used by our opposition to confusepolicymakers and discredit our industry.”

The ASAAA said its campaign wasdeveloped and financed by a team of in-dustry experts, including representativesfrom the Automotive Aftermarket In-dustry Association (AAIA), AutomotiveWarehouse Distributors Association(AWDA), Automotive Aftermarket Sup-pliers Association (AASA), and numer-ous national companies.

Romney Claims Credit in Auto Industry TurnaroundMitt Romney argued against thebailout of the U.S. auto industry in2008, in an article entitled “Let DetroitGo Bankrupt,” notes Chris Isidore,writing for CNN.

Now three years after the Bush,then Obama administration, bailed outGeneral Motors and Chrysler Group,and with U.S. auto industry sales, prof-its and hiring all rising, Romney be-lieves he deserves credit for thatturnaround.

“I’ll take a lot of credit for the factthat this industry’s come back,” he toldan Ohio television station, May 7. “Myown view is that the auto companiesneeded to go through bankruptcy be-fore government help. And frankly,that’s finally what the president did. Hefinally took them through bankruptcy.”

Romney is right that the 2009bankruptcy reorganizations at GM andChrysler played a major role in theturnarounds at those automakers. It al-lowed them to shed billions in debt,along with plants, workers, brands anddealerships they could no longer af-ford.

And he’s correct that the au-tomakers and the United Auto Workersunion were initially opposed to thebankruptcy process, uncertain that thecompanies would survive what theyexpected could be months if not yearsin bankruptcy court.

But the billions of dollars fromthe federal bailout helped the bank-ruptcy process get done in about twomonths, much faster than anyonethought was possible, said Van Con-way, CEO of Conway MacKenzie, arestructuring firm in Detroit. And Con-way said the idea of a managed bank-ruptcy was not unique at the time.“Romney might very well have had the

idea, but it’s not an idea no one else hadon their own,” Conway said.

Other supporters of the bailouts,and even some critics of them, say thatRomney deserves no credit for theturnaround, given that he opposed thefederal bailout that kept the companiesalive during the bankruptcy process.Without that $81 billion in funding, thecompanies would have been forced togo out of business and liquidate, ac-cording to those experts.

“There was no way they could getfinancing,” said Conway. “They wereburning money so fast, with no end insite, that no one but the governmentwas going to give them money.”

Steve Rattner, who served as thecar czar for the Obama administration,has repeatedly said that the governmentwas the only source of financing tokeep the automakers alive throughbankruptcy. Rattner said in a recentNew York Times opinion piece that he“spoke diligently to all conceivableproviders of funds, and not one had theslightest interest in financing thosecompanies on any terms.”

“If Mr. Romney disagrees, heshould come forward with specificnames of willing investors in place ofempty rhetoric,” he added. “I predictthat he won’t be able to, because therearen’t any.”

While Rattner is a long-timeDemocratic supporter, his view isechoed by some conservative execu-tives in the auto industry, among themBob Lutz, who was then vice chairmanof GM.

“He thinks we didn’t try to bor-row money from the banks,” Lutz toldthe Detroit Free Press in February.“The banks were even more broke thanwe were. Who had the money?”

Collision Repair Education Foundation to Award Two $50K GrantsThe Collision Repair EducationFoundation’s 2012 Ultimate CollisionEducation Makeover $50,000 schoolgrant application is now available on-line and two grants (one secondary,one post-secondary) will be awardedthis year. The winning schools will beannounced during SEMA 2012. Aspart of the Makeover grant applica-tion, schools provide their own item-ized wish list, which can include anytools, supplies and equipment that areneeded by the collision program.Each of the winning schools willhave their $50,000 wish list fulfilledthrough the Collision Repair Educa-tion Foundation and through industrydonors/supporters. The application isavailable at the Education Founda-tion’s website (www.CollisionEduca-tionFoundation.org), and must becompleted by August 31, 2012. In-structors are advised to begin the ap-plication process early and industry

professionals are encouraged to getinvolved with the Makeover grant byworking with their local schools’ col-lision instructors to help them apply.

The GCIA encourages all itsmember shops to get in touch withtheir local schools and help the in-structor apply for the grant. Part ofthe application requests schools to in-clude their personalized $50,000 wishlist of needed tools, equipment, andsupplies. Those lists (even if theydon’t win the Makeover grant) aredistributed, asking for donations forthe schools. If a school doesn’t apply,their wish lists can’t be fulfilled.

The goal of the Ultimate Colli-sion Education Makeover grant is tohonor a school that has been doing anoutstanding job in educating studentsin collision repair, but needs some fi-nancial assistance to improve theirprogram’s teaching materials andequipment.


Documents

June 2012 Southwest Edition