W 0714 issue web

When Warden Jerome Price (picturedright) first worked at Deuel VocationalInstitution in 1987, the state prison hadvibrant vocational training programsfor prisoners, according to MichaelEllis Langley writing for the TracyPress.

By the time Price was appointedwarden at DVI, 23500 Kasson Rd., inDecember 2012, those programs werelong gone and the prisoners were un-prepared to get jobs after their sen-tences were served.

“These inmates are coming backout in the community, and you wantthem to be viable citizens,” Price saidin an interview Friday. “You want themto be able to work so that they’re notlooking at you when you go to workand go in your house and take all yourproperty.” Almost immediately after

Price took over DVI, the California De-partment of Corrections and Rehabili-tation asked wardens around the state ifthey were interested in job training pro-grams at their prisons.

Price said he volunteered DVI to

by John Yoswick

PartsTrader proposed state limits onuse of non-OEM parts, and challeng-ing the automakers’ patent designs oncrash parts were all being discussedwhen non-OEM parts manufacturersand distributors met recently inAustin, Texas.

The Automotive Body Parts Asso-ciation (ABPA) allowed only mem-bers in the room during discussion atits convention of the association’spending lawsuit challenging the valid-ity of six of Ford’s design patents oncollision repair parts. But proposed

federal legislation that would reducehow long automakers can use design

patents to preventother companiesfrom producing re-placement crashparts was amongthe topics dis-cussed at the eventby Louisiana taxlawyer Cassie

Felder, who is running for Congress.Felder, a Republican who be-

lieves in tax reform and repealingthe Affordable Care Act, told atten-

A wanted fugitive who barricaded him-self inside a West Haven auto bodyshop was shot and killed the afternoon

of June 4th when he pointed a gun atSWAT officers after negotiations brokedown, the Weber County Sheriff’s Of-fice reported.

Kristopher Chase Simmons, 35,was shot by two Ogden Metro SWATofficers after over four hours of nego-tiations broke down and died afterbeing transported to Ogden RegionalMedical Center, said sheriff’s Sgt.Lane Findlay.

“They exhausted pretty mucheverything they can to try to get himto give himself up — negotiatingwith him, talking with him,” Find-lay said. “I believe there was somecontact with family in this. Theydid everything they could possiblydo to try to get him to put the gundown.”

Wanted Fugitive Shot and Killed AfterSWAT Standoff at West Haven, Utah, Shop

Aftermarket Parts Sellers Hear from CongressionalCandidate With Ties To The Industry

See Path out of Prison, Page 26

See Wanted Fugitive, Page 13

Advocates Say Job Training, Including Collision Repair, Provides Path from Prison

See Aftermarket Parts Sellers, Page 16

Cassie Felder

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

Three-C Body Shops, a four-facility,multi-shop operation in the ColumbusOH, area, has filed multiple lawsuitsagainst State Farm Insurance Com-pany in an effort to recover allegedshortpay losses. Since November2012, Three-C has filed 104 suits

against the insurer, all of which accuseState Farm of engaging in “repeatedunderpayments for services generallyrendered and charged to their cus-

tomers when their vehicles have beendeemed total losses.” Currently,owner Bob Juniper is seeking$405,000 in recovery, including legalfees and court costs, of which StateFarm previously agreed to pay$31,565.03.

Juniper notes that he rarely hasproblems with insurers refusing to paythe full cost of repairs because “wenegotiate with them pretty well. Wespend a little time with their adjustersand can generally get to where weneed to be. We may not always get thefull amount of our estimate, but weget close by compromising until wecome to terms we can both agree on.”

In fact, Juniper hasn’t experi-enced difficulty from State Farm inpaying for repairs either. Three-C’sshortpay lawsuits are associated withcosts related to vehicles that aredeemed total losses which the insurerobjects to paying. Juniper provides thefollowing example: if the shop writes

OH’s Three-C Body Shops Has Filed Over 100 LawsuitsAgainst State Farm Alleging Systematic Shortpays

See Three-C Body Shops, Page 12

Three-C is Suing State Farm, Alleging Re-peated Estimate Discrepancies on Total Losses

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VOL. 32 ISSUE 7JULY 2014

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Contents

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy HayhurstGeneral Manager: Barbara DaviesOnline Editor: Alicia BasteriContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, David Brown,John Yoswick, Janet Chaney, Toby Chess,Ed Attanasio, Chasidy SiskAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman,Bill Doyle, David Petro (800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Louise TedescoArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Serving California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. AutobodyNews is a monthly publication for the autobody industry.Permission to reproduce in any form the material pub-lished in Autobody News must be obtained in writingfrom the publisher. ©2014 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody NewsP.O. Box 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018(800) 699-8251 (760) 603-3229 Faxwww.autobodynews.comEmail: [email protected]

AAPEX Trade Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . .50Automotive ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14AutoNation Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram of North Phoenix . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Axalta Coating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Bill Luke Dealerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15BMW MINI of Escondido . . . . . . . . . . . .30BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . .45Bob Smith BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Bob Smith MINI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Capitol Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Certified Automotive PartsAssociation (CAPA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Chapman Scottsdale Autoplex . . . . . . .12Chief Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24, 25Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54Colortone Automotive Paints . . . . . . . . .24Completes Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18DCH Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram . . . . . . .8DCH Kia of Temecula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Downtown Motors of LA(Audi, VW, Porsche) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Drew Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47East Bay BMW-MINI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38Elk Grove Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Enterprise Rent-A-Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Ford Wholesale Parts DealersAZ, CA, NV & UT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Galpin Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Glenn E. Thomas Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep .11Glenn E. Thomas FIAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . .53Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28-29

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .48Innovative Tools & Technology, Inc. . . . .9Kearny Mesa Subaru-Hyundai . . . . . . .39Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .41LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Los Gatos Luxury Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Maita Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Malco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Mark Kia-Mitsubishi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Martech Services Company . . . . . . . . .18Matrix System Automotive Finishes . . . .2Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . .52MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . .44Minute Man Wheel Lifts . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .48MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .33Moss Brothers Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . .7Mossy BMW of Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale Parts Dealers . .46PDR Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Replica Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Riverside Metro VW-Honda-Hyundai-Nissan-Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Shingle Springs Nissan-Subaru . . . . . .43Sierra Chevrolet-Honda-Mazda-Subaru .35Sonnen BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32South Bay Volkswagen . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . .49Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . .50Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers . .51Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . .52Weatherford BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Inde

xofAdvertisers

Western

REGIONAL

‘No’ to Sick Leave Proposal Says Shop Owner

in Oregon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Alpine Auto Body sold to Kadel’s. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Attanasiio - Tech Turned Tool Designer

Headlines EB-CAA May Meeting . . . . . . . . . . 6

Bob Leone Appointed to CAWA Advisory

Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

CAA San Diego Holds 19th Annual

Golf Tournament. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Caliber Acquires MSOs in Los Angeles and

North Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Caliber Collision Adds 4 Shops in Classic

Collision Center MSO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Caliber Opens New Location in Sunnyvale,

87th in California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Cerritos College Hosts Japanese Tech Students . 4

Cottonwood Family of Fallen Firefighter to

Receive Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Evan Wilson, Math Teacher Come Auto

Body Shop Owner Come Math Teacher,

Retires in Mesquite, NV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Franklin - CAA Glendale-Foothill And Valley-Ventura

Chapters Meeting June 2, 2014 . . . . . . . . . . 10

Indicted Senator Leland Yee in 3rd place

for Scry. of State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Mitchell Awards Oregon Shop Trip Worth $3,000 . 4

Nissan and Assured Performance Partner for

Certification and Consumer Referrals . . . . . 51

COLUMNS

Attanasio - How to Market to Millennials . . . . . 34

Franklin - Ding Day–A Marketing Tactic . . . . . . 42

Luehr - Using an Outside Expert to Improve

your Competitive Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

NATIONAL

Aftermarket Parts Sellers Hear from Congressional

Candidate With Ties To The Industry . . . . . . . 1

AMI to Honor New Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

ASA-CO to Host Pinnacol Safety Meeting

July 9 in Denver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Attorney and AASP-MN Lobbyist Kevin Walli

is Minnesota’s Shop Champion . . . . . . . . . 30

AudaExplore Pledges $150K to SkillsUSA

in Tool Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

CARS This Year Is All New, ASA Promises

It Will Be The Best Show Ever . . . . . . . . . . . 38

CARSTAR Sees Record Revenue in 2013, Plans

Expansion of HQ in Leawood, KS . . . . . . . . . 32

CAWA Reports on Status of California

Legislation Impacting Industry . . . . . . . . . . . 8

CCAR and ShipMate Launch Improved

HazmatU website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Chrysler Airbag Recall Being Probed by

Regulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Crashes Cost Almost $1T in Costs,

Loss of Life, Pain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Farmers Drops Climate Change Lawsuits

in Chicago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Fix Auto Acquires Alaska Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

I-CAR Gold Class and ASE-Certified Shops

Rewarded at NACE | CARS . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

I-CAR® Adds New OEM Segment Development

Director, John Bosin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

I-CAR® Conference on Future of Collision Repair

and Automotive Industry, July 30 In Detroit. . 51

IL Shop Owner Posts 20-min Video of

FPB for Panel Fixes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Interactive Advanced Steering and Suspension

Systems Damage Analysis Course . . . . . . . 43

John Borek Takes Aggressive Action,

Files Trespassing Complaints Against

Argumentative Appraisers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Letter to the Editor - Why Should Insurers

Get Free Estimates When They’re

Not Using Adjusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

MERA Joins the Excitement at

NACE | CARS 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

NACE 2014: In its 32nd Year, It’s Still a

World Collision Repair Event . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

New Study Says More Than 75% of All Pickup

Trucks will be Aluminum-Bodied by 2025 . . 53

NSF International’s Bob Frayer Earns Prestigious

ASQ Quality Leader Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

OH’s Three-C Body Shops Has Filed Over 100

Lawsuits Against State Farm Alleging

Systematic Shortpays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

PartsTrader Integrates Hollander Interchange

Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Philadelphia Shop Accused of Staging Car

Accidents as ‘Fictitious Deer Crashes’ . . . . 49

Quality Parts Coalition Says Five-Year Price

Comparison Report Shows Certified

Aftermarket Parts Saved Consumers

$80 Million Since 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Rhode Island Bills Under Consideration

Affect Airbags, Two-tiered Body

Shops, Aftermarket Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

SCRS Open Board Meeting on July 28th in Detroit . 50

Service King Collision Repair Centers Finalizes

Sterling Collision Centers Acquisition . . . . . . . 26

Sisk - ASA-NW’s Automotive Training Expo 2014 . 48

Sisk - LaCIA Hosted Louisiana Attorney General

at May 22 Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Sisk - New Auto Body Association of Texas

Launches June 18, PartsTrader Provides

Impetus, Statewide Members Invited to Join. . 20

Women’s Industry Network Celebrates Excellence

In Leadership and the Formal Transition of the

‘Most Influential Women’ Program to WIN. . 44

Young Technician’s Program to Debut at CARS . 50

www.autobodynews.com | JULY 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

I would like your opinion on somethingI’m seeing becoming a trend. I am see-ing more and more insurance companiesmaking the body shop do the original es-timate and send up pictures. We willhave one of our customers bring a car toour shop and they want US to do thework. They call their insurance companyup and let them know the car is at ourshop. Normally, they would send out ainsurance adjuster to do the estimate be-cause for years now if we did one it wasnot good enough for them. They wouldnot want it. They would do their ownand in turn we would go over it andmake adjustments or add to it from there.They may argue and haggle if repairtimes were unacceptable. Now, Nugentonline uploading of pictures and esti-mates is available. I’m finding more andmore insurance companies telling us togo ahead and use Nugent, upload andsend pictures.

All of a sudden now our esti-mates are good enough for them ! Ofcourse they are saving money by notsending out an adjuster! This is whatI’m upset about. Before we weren’tgood enough to write a estimates now

they want us to write the estimate andsend up pictures for free! Why do theythink my time is worth nothing?

My partner and I share the officework and are out in the shop workingall day. Our time is valuable. When weare in the office our production timesuffers. The insurance companies tellme “Well, you write free estimatesdon’t you?” My answer is ‘yes, to aprospective customer that I don’t know,or my regular customers,’ but when Ihave a customer that drops his car off Iknow I have that job already. The per-son has picked my shop. Why is it theinsurance company feels that I shouldprepare the estimate for them on mydime? They are saving money by notpaying an adjuster, but I feel theyshould at least pay me some fee for mytime and not take advantage of me.Small shops cannot take that kind ofabuse and I think it’s taking an extremeadvantage of shops and the proprietors.I would like your [readers’] thoughts onhow we can combat this abuse.

Thanks, Pete Gutierrez,Pete <[email protected]>

Letter to the Editor: Why Should Insurers Get FreeEstimates When They’re Not Using Adjusters

Letters to the Editor can be sent to [email protected]. They may be edited forlength and clarity. See Facebook/autobodynews to respond via comment.


Parts You Need. People You Trust.

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Parts Center HoursMon - Fri: 7:30am - 5:30pm

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Parts Center HoursMon - Fri: 7:30am - 5:30pm

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Genuine Mitsubishi Parts are close at hand.Exceptional customer service, wide selection of in-stock parts and the experience necessary to ensure your repairs proceed smoothly and efficiently.

Caliber has acquired two multiple col-lision repair shop operators with atotal of nine locations—four in LosAngeles and five in Raleigh, NC. TheNorth Carolina acquisition is the firstlocation for Caliber in the easternU.S.

Caliber Collision Centers an-nounced that it acquired Classic Colli-sion Center, Inc., with four locations ingreater Los Angeles: (Los Angeles,Pasadena, Tujunga, and La Crescenta),and Haddock Collision, a dominant re-pairer with five locations in the Raleigh,North Carolina market (Raleigh, Wake-field, Cary-Crossroads, Cary-Maynard,and Fuquay-Varina.)

Classic Collision was founded in1980 and Haddock in 1972.

Caliber Collision CentersSteveGrimshaw, Caliber Collision Chief Ex-ecutive Officer commented, “Our ac-quisition of Classic Collision Center,Inc. continues to offer more customerchoices in the Southern California mar-ket. After spending time with ClassicCollision’s management team, it wasobvious that Classic Collision alignsperfectly with Caliber by delivering in-dustry-leading customer satisfactionacross all four Los Angeles locations.”

“We are proud that Classic Col-lision Center is now a part of the na-

tion’s leading collision repairprovider,” said Majic Berenji, ClassicCollision President. “This combina-tion will allow the company to con-tinue to grow, while providing ClassicCollision’s customers with evenhigher standards of quality and per-sonal service that has become ourtrademark. It will also provide Clas-sic Collision’s staff and their families’new advancement opportunities and asecure future in the dynamic collisionrepair industry.”

“Our acquisition of HaddockCollision Centers in North Carolinarepresents our first of many acquisi-tions to come in the eastern U.S. I amvery excited to have Todd McGowan,and the entire Haddock Collision or-ganization, join forces with Caliber,”said Grimshaw.

With these acquisitions Calibernow operates 177 collision repair fa-cilities in Arizona, California, Col-orado, Nevada, New Mexico, NorthCarolina, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Caliber Acquires MSOs in Los Angeles and North Carolina

Follow us on Twitter:@autobodynews

Accept no Substitutes!

Rod Cook, founder of collision repairchain Alpine Auto Body, has sold thecompany for an undisclosed price toTigard, OR-based Kadel’s Auto Body,according to Don Braden, president andCEO of Kadel’s. Alpine Auto Body wasfounded in 1975 by Cook, then 19, whosold his muscle car to bankroll thestartup. The business grew to three col-lision shops, with one on Fourth PlainRoad, one in the Cascade Park area, anda Hazel Dell site. Kadel’s Auto Body al-ready operated one Vancouver locationat 2600 E. 33rd St. The company wasfounded in Tigard in 1954 and has ex-panded by purchasing small chains andsingle, mom-and-pop operations.

Alpine Auto Body sold toKadel’s

The family of Mark Ratledge, aCottonwood fire captain who waskilled more than two years ago whileassisting the California Highway Pa-trol, is scheduled to receive a re-stored car Friday in the Bay Areathanks to Mercury Insurance. Thefamily, selected by Police and Fire:The Fallen Heroes, will receive a2013 Hyundai Sonata, which was re-furbished by Car West Auto Body.Ratledge, a nine-year veteran of theCottonwood Fire Department, is sur-vived by his fiancée, Jennifer, andthree children. The donated vehiclewill help Jennifer get to and from herjob, become more self-sufficient andprovide the children with safe, reli-able transportation. Police and Fire:The Fallen Heroes is a nonprofit or-ganization that supports families ofCalifornia peace officers and fireservice personnel who were killed inthe line of duty. Mercury is an autoand home insurance provider in Cal-ifornia. Car West Auto Body is a col-lision repair shop that has helpedNorthern Californians for nearly 25years. The presentation was at 11:30a.m. June 6 at Callippe Preserve GolfCourse, 8500 Clubhouse Drive,Pleasanton.

Cottonwood Family of FallenFirefighter to Receive Car

In a goodwill trade agreement be-tween Cerritos College and Japan,students from Japan ecently receivedtraining through the campus’s auto-motive program. More than 200 stu-dents from the Nissan AutomotiveTechnical College on May 12-13 vis-ited three automotive mechanical re-pair and automotive collision repairclasses and participated in a hands-onbody painting demonstration. “Wewere able to give them a little bit ofautomotive history and technologicalinformation that they wouldn’t be ex-posed to in their own country,” saidLeonard Glick, assistant professorof automotive mechanical repair. “It’sjust a great opportunity for us to showoff our programs, our school, our fa-cilities and our country.” The NissanAutomotive Technical College hasfive campuses in Japan. The recenttour of Cerritos College—and a localInfiniti dealership—was planned bythe college and Nissan Motor Co.with sponsorship by Nissan Corp. inJapan. The partnership began about12 years ago, according to Ron Toy-ota of Meitetsu Travel, who coordi-nated the visit. The automotivetraining program at Cerritos Collegehas run strong for 30 years.

Cerritos College HostsJapanese Tech Students

Caliber Collision Centers continues itsexpansion across the California mar-ket with the acquisition of FendersCollision Center, Inc. in the SiliconValley region. “The opening of ournewest location at 438 West MaudeAvenue in Sunnyvale, increases ourtotal locations in California to 87,”said Steve Grimshaw, Caliber Colli-sion Centers’ Chief Executive Officer.“We are committed to acquiring cen-ters across every Caliber market toprovide industry-leading convenienceand CSI metrics.”

Caliber has acquired Classic Colli-sion Center, Inc. Recognized as oneof the premier collision repair com-panies in Southern California, Clas-sic Collision Center, Inc. has fourlocations in and around the Los An-geles market. “Our acquisition ofClassic Collision Center, Inc. in-creases the total number of CaliberCollisions locations to 172,” addedMark Sanders, Caliber CollisionCenters’ President and Chief Operat-ing Officer.

Caliber Opens New Location inSunnyvale, 87th in California

Caliber Collision Adds 4 Shopsin Classic Collision Center MSO

Mitchell announced that Advanced Col-lision Repair of Seaside, Oregon hasbeen selected as the winner of its annualmarketing campaign that awards oneshop a trip worth $3,000. The shop waschosen among 11,000 repair shops in theU.S., and emphasizes its commitment tocustomer service and technology invest-ments that have helped keep the shop apillar in the Seaside community.

Mitchell Awards OregonShop Trip Worth $3,000


Francesco’s Italian Restaurant in Oak-land, CA was the place to be on May20, especially if you were a member ofthe East Bay Chapter of the CaliforniaAutobody Association (EB-CAA). Itwas the association’s spring dinnermeeting and featured a program withthree speakers discussing three distinctsegments of the collision industry. TimBrusher from Honda’s ProFirst Pro-gram discussed the importance of OEcertifications in today’s collision indus-try while reviewing Assured Perform-ance Network’s Certification Program;Karl Kirschenman from Alldatamadea presentation entitled “Creating Cus-tomers for Life” and Tim Gerhards, aformer body tech turned tool designerpresented his line of collision repair

tools during a presentation he called“Tool Time with Tim.” More than 30collision professionals attended themeeting as they dined on Italian cuisineand networked with fellow body shopowners, local vendors and prospectiveEB-CAA members.

Gerhards’ story will resonate withanyone looking to make a bettermousetrap, or in this case, an improvedway of skinning a car door. Many greatinventors started out the same way asGerhards did. In fact, Thomas Edisonwas a salesman before inventing thephonograph and the light bulb andHenry Ford was a machinist before hefounded Ford Motor Co. Both saw a

burning need and found solutions byinventing tools that can make our liveseasier. And that’s why Tim Gerhardsembarked on a journey that eventuallyled this collision repair veteran to hisfirst invention and six other tools thathe subsequently designed—all ofwhich are currently being used for awide range of applications worldwide.

It all began one day when Ger-hards was skinning a door whileworking at B & J Body Shop in Ran-cho Cordova, CA back in 2001, he ex-plained. “This procedure normallyrequires lots of hammering and dolly-ing and walking around the entiredoor frame and beating this metal overand over until you get what you need.It puts a ton of wear and tear on yourhands and it’s time consuming. I keptasking myself ‘how does the factorydo this?’ and I just began experiment-ing with a better way of doing it.”

So one day Gerhards picked up apiece of wood and shaped it into a crudetool that would enable him to bend thedoor’s flange over and flatten it out at thesame time. After testing it and tweakingit a little, Gerhards realized that it workedand named it the Skin Zipper. “I realizedwow—I need to patent this thing,” hesaid. “This tool takes a two-hour repairand cuts it down to about 10 minuteswith a hammer, so I thought shops aregoing to love this thing.”

After more than 40 months, Ger-hards received his patent and jumpedinto the inventor’s world with bothfeet. “I immediately joined a local in-ventors’ group and was advised tomarket the tool at a trade show. So Iwent to NACE in 2009 and showedthe Skin Zipper to everyone I couldfind. Steck Manufacturing called meback after NACE was over andshowed some interest in manufactur-ing and distributing the tool. It was agreat moment, because all of the workI had done on designing it and devel-oping it were finally paying off.”

Since inventing the Skin Zipper,Gerhards and Steck Manufacturing inDayton, OH started working togetheron more tools, he explained. “The peo-ple at Steck must have been pleasedwith the Skin Zipper, because theywere interested in pursuing patents foranything else I could think of, Ger-

hards said. “Those products include aMIG Light, Panel Shaper, WorkstandClamp, E-Z II Strip Molding Tool anda Handipull Kit that consists of a se-ries of eyebolts that screw into welded-on nuts to allow for light pulls allaround a vehicle. Once I get into thatinventor’s mindset, the ideas just keptcoming. As a tech, I was encounteringdifficulties all the time during repairs,so I started asking myself, how can Imake a tool to solve these problems?”

Gerhards’ success with Steck hasinspired him to create his own company,TG Products, to manufacture and mar-ket other inventions on his own. TG’sfirst product is The Rail Saver, a systemthat repairs damaged side members andframe rails. Last year, Gerhards was ableto finally step away from his job as abody tech to pursue his dreams as a tooldesigner and inventor full-time. Hestrongly believes that the collision repairindustry is primed for new excitingtools, to be made by people who actu-

ally make the repairs, just like him.“Many collision repairers have the

skill sets to build their own prototypes,because they already know how to weld,shape metal and build prototypes,” hesaid. “In this business, we’re all con-stantly encountering situations wherethere is no tool. So, I know I’m not thefirst person to ever rig something to getthe job done and I surely won’t be thelast. One of the biggest problems is thatpeople are reluctant to show their in-ventions to anyone, because they’reafraid of them getting stolen. Or theythink it’s worth more than it really is andthink they’re going to be millionairesovernight, which is totally unrealistic.”

Gerhards advises aspiring inven-tors not to go to invention submissioncompanies. Instead, he says they shouldjoin a local inventor’s organization atthe United Inventors Association orwww.uiausa.org. For more informationabout any of his tools, visit his web siteat: www.therailsaver.com.

Tech Turned Tool Designer Headlines EB-CAA May Meeting

Tim Gerhards, a former body tech turned tooldesigner presented his line of collision repairtools during a presentation at the East BayChapter of the California Autobody Associa-tion’s May dinner meeting

with Ed AttanasioWestern Associations

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



As the California Legislature comes tothe middle of its legislative session,CAWA’s Legislative team reports thestatus of three legislative proposalsimpacting the automotive aftermarketindustry and CAWA members specif-ically.

CAWA is currently tracking ap-proximately 40 legislative proposalsthat could have an impact on the af-termarket industry, however the fol-lowing bills have been the mainpriority of the association and its gov-ernment affairs team.

AB 1735 (Hall) – Nitrous Oxide:Dispensing and DistributingCAWA POSITION: OPPOSE UN-LESS AMENDEDThis bill would make it a misde-meanor to dispense or distribute ni-trous oxide to a person, knowing orhaving reason to believe that the per-son is going to use the nitrous oxidewith the intent to breathe, inhale, oringest for the purpose of causing in-toxication, euphoria, dizziness, etc.and that person proximately causesgreat bodily injury or death to himself,herself, or another person, punishable

by imprisonment in a county jail notto exceed 6 months, or by a fine not toexceed $1,000, or by both that fineand imprisonment. Additionally, thebill would require any person who dis-penses or distributes nitrous oxide torecord each transaction in a written orelectronic document and would re-quire the person to make the docu-ment available for inspection, uponpresentation of a duly authorizedsearch warrant, to the California StateBoard of Pharmacy or other law en-forcement agencies. The bill would re-quire the purchaser to sign thedocument and provide a government-issued photo identification and resi-dential address.Status: Currently working with au-thor’s office to craft amendments toremove impact on CAWA membersthat sell or distribute nitrous oxide.

SB 916 (Correa) – Biosynthetic Lu-bricants: Procurement/SaleCAWA POSITION: OPPOSEEffective January 1, 2016, this billwould have required state agenciesand state contractors to purchase lu-bricating oil that meets minimal stan-

dards and certifications, and bans thesale of lubricating oil in Californiaafter January 1, 2017 unless it meetsthese minimal standards for biosyn-thetic lubricants.Status: Died in Committee

SB 994 (Monning) – Telematics Leg-islationCAWA POSITION: NEUTRALSB 994 would have created the Con-sumer Car Information and ChoiceAct by requiring manufacturers thatgenerate or collect vehicle informa-tion through telematics technology tomake disclosures to the owner aboutthat information, provide the ownerwith access to the information fortransmission to a 3rd party, and wouldprohibit a manufacturer from limitingor restricting the owner from access-ing their vehicle information.Status: Died in Committee

“CAWA is at the forefront of protect-ing its members from legislation andgovernment regulations that adverselyimpact the automotive aftermarket in-dustry each year. This California leg-islative session proves to be a busy

year for us as we are defending the af-termarket from a number of attacks onour ability to provide parts and serv-ice to motorists”, stated Rodney K.Pierini, CAWA President & CEO.

In addition, CAWA in its effort topromote the National Be Car CareAware Campaign was successful in se-curing a California Senate Resolutionrecognizing April 2014 as “NationalCar Care Month” in California. Themeasure, SCR 112 by Senator TomBerryhill, urges all California residentsto be “Car Care Aware” and inspectand perform all maintenance necessaryto ensure their vehicle is operating in asafe, efficient and clean manner.

“CAWA remains committed toprotecting the business and industryinterests of its members in the threestates we represent, Arizona, Nevada,and California”, continued Pierini.“While we waited with great anticipa-tion the telematics legislation that wasintroduced by AAA, CAWA took aneutral position on the measure due toa number of concerns that were not re-solved in the bill. CAWA commits tocontinuing to engage in constructivedialogue with AAA to add the after-


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The CAA San Diego Chapter held its19th Annual Golf Tournament Satur-day, June 7th at Twin Oaks GolfCourse in San Marcos. The event wasa great success with over 80 players, 9“Event Sponsors” and 2 “Hole Spon-sors.” The weather was, as usual, per-fect.

Said Hop Sanchez of Finishmas-ter Inc. and CAA San Diego Treas-urer, “It was another great day with agroup of fun-loving auto body indus-try people. A big thanks to Dee,Michelle, Nicole, and Brett from En-terprise for all their help in makingthis event a success.”

For winners see the photos... andthe other winners were:Net / Peoria 1st Place: Team WeselohChevrolet–Frank Presley, KernieKohlmeyer, Tom Peronto, FrankMetroyanis.Men’s Closest to the Pin: Rob Blue/3MWomen’s Closest to the Pin: CarolRomero/LKQ (and Raffle Prize Ringers)Men’s Longest Drive: Kurt Ney/Spencer’s Auto Body-IndioWomen’s Longest Drive: HaileyNey/Spencer’s Auto Body–Indio (Kurt’sdaughter).

The Low Gross Teams are in-vited to play in the Randy Jones Invi-tational Tournament. Last year’s

inaugural Randy Jones Invitationalwas a huge success with 1440 golfersplaying in the semi-final rounds atSycuan Resort and is in the planningstages for this year.

Special thanks are due to the ‘atthe hole’ sponsors: Hertz, Enterprise,and Axalta, who provided refresh-ments and handouts for the playersthroughout the day.

market perspective should AAA de-cide to take the bill up again nextyear.”

CAWA is a regional automotiveaftermarket trade association, whichrepresents auto parts jobbers, ware-house distributors, retailers, manufac-turers, manufacturer representativesand program groups. The Associationprovides education, legislative, regu-latory and business support to the in-dustry and its membership. It is one ofthe largest trade associations of itskind in the United States and recog-nized as a leader in the automotive af-termarket industry.

For more information about theCalifornia Legislative session contactCalifornia Legislative Advocate GaryConover at [email protected] 916-233-9655.


CAA San Diego Holds 19th Annual Golf Tournament

Low Gross 3rd Place: Team Autobody News -Kyle Robinson (IT guy who plays way too much golf),Sean Hartman, Jeremy Hayhurst, Barbara Davies

Low Gross 2nd Place: Team Milo JohnsonAuto Body - pictured: Ross Johnson andTeam Henson and Son – pictured: Zac Brown

Low Gross 1st Place: Team Fuller Ford-Honda– Dave Busse, Mike Allison, Danny Meador

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The combined chapter meeting washeld at the Odyssey Restaurant inGranada Hills, CA. The speaker wasMichael Anderson, whose Collision-Advice.com organization and Team ofAdvisors provides free Forms & Toolsfor the industry. Mike speaks more than300 days a year and is much soughtafter for his presentations and semi-nars. He was introduced by Glendale-Foothill Chapter president, DanielPanduro, who also works closely withMike. Danny noted that this is PartTwo of a series of Chapter meetings fo-cusing on putting all necessary repairoperations on every estimate and get-ting paid for them! The meeting wassponsored by Finishmaster, arrangedby Danard Cook.

Mike’s theme for the eveningwas “Educate, Don’t Alienate” – theproven method to successfully nego-tiate for required and necessary repair

operation compen-sation. Mike notedthat all elementsand examples arebased on standardeconomic princi-ples, not price (thatwould be in viola-tion of anti-trust

law). Mike said to get paid for whatyou do, it must meet four criteria:1. That it is necessary and required torestore a vehicle to pre-accident con-dition. OEM documents specify muchof what is needed to prove this.2. That it is not included in any other

operation. The not-included informa-tion in the estimating systems is agood start. Mike provides much more.3. That there is a pre-determined timespecified for the operation. Beyondthe estimating systems, All-Data,SCRS, DEG and others reference timestudies for proof, but Mike has actu-ally proven some of the times himself.4. That the operation has real worthfor the repair of the vehicle and itsowner. Even just one question, “Is it asafe repair,” if answered affirmatively,proves worth for the customer.

Mike stresses that each of thesemust be proved, not just opinion. Hestresses that when an adjuster says“No,” he or she actually means, “Idon’t KNOW enough to say Yes.”And it’s the shop negotiator’s respon-sibility to educate the adjuster to pointof knowing enough to say “Yes.” Hesays the smart shop negotiator doesn’twait until the time of the negotiationto document the proof. This, he says,will give the adjuster time to think ofways to say “No.” A common com-plaint is it takes too long to researchthe proof to substantiate each chal-lenged operation. But Mike demon-strates with clear examples that even again of .1 (point one) for an operation,when accepted, can grow to a .2 and a.4 and be gradually accepted as alwaysnecessary.

Mike’s list of reference materialsprovides adequate ammunition for anyshop negotiator to win the day, butMike notes that many shop estimators

are little more than sign-up clerks.Only a hand-full of shops has astuteestimator-negotiators who know howto document necessary operations andget paid for them. But the materials todo so are readily available. As noted,much of the time the estimating sys-tems’ indication of “not-includeditems” is a good start. ASA’s “not-in-cluded chart” is updated annually.OEM bulletins cover much of what isneeded and All-Data as an excellentsource can be integrated into ADP,CCC and Mitchell estimating systems.Other resources include SCRS’s“Guide to Complete Repair Planning”and DEGWEB.org. And after drawingon these resources, one can still createa pdf file of the estimate and take it toestimatescrubber.com to get a list ofwhat may have been missed. AndMike’s own CollisionAdvice.comprovides twelve free negotiating toolsto give a shop a real negotiating edge.

As his talk proceeded, it becameobvious Mike has a deep, passionate

love for these processes. He spent sev-eral thousand dollars of his own moneyvideotaping challenged operations(there is an ABRN video on YouTube).He worked to get feather prime andblock and final sand and polish prop-erly paid for. He helped publicize theBlend Ruler (now available in manyforms) and he personally demonstratedthe true cost of cover car. Now he iscreating an annual 200-question surveyof operations to find out how manyshops (1) always charge, (2) sometimescharge, (3) never charge, and (4) neverask.

Throughout the talk, Mike re-ferred members of the audience to goto his CollisionAdvice.com site forforms and tools. This site contains de-tailed information on all the estimat-ing platforms, all the paint companymemos, and all vehicle OEM manu-facturers’ technical bulletins -- a vir-tual encyclopedia of whatever shoppersonnel need to get the job done.Mike can be reached at 301-535-3333.


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CAA Glendale-Foothill And Valley-Ventura Chapters Meeting June 2, 2014

Western Associationswith Thomas Franklin

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

Mike Anderson

In June, Idaho auto professionalsworking in painting and coating vehi-cles will be able to earn certificationfor handling regulated heavy metalscommonly found in industry prod-ucts. The Idaho Small Business De-velopment Center and the IdahoDepartment of Environmental Qual-ity are sponsoring the one-day work-shops next month in six Idaho cities.Many paints used in auto body refin-ishing work contain heavy metals thatare regulated by the EnvironmentalProtection Agency. The workshopsgive classroom and hands-on trainingthat will instruct participants how tocomply with state and federal regula-tions. The course will also teach effi-

cient spray painting methods andways to reduce costs and improve ef-ficiencies. Participants completing thecourse will earn a training certificaterequired by the EPA. Staff from theDEQ will also be on-hand to answerany questions about Idaho’s generalair quality permit. The remaining $35workshops are at the following datesand locations:•June 19 in Lewiston at Lewis-ClarkState College’s Meriwether LewisHall, Room 220, from 5 to 9 p.m.•June 20 at the Coeur d’Alene DEQoffice, 2110 Ironwood Parkway, fromnoon to 4 p.m.

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a $10,000 estimate on a car valued at$11,000 and the insurer’s adjuster es-timates $4000 in damages, the shophas to perform many additional stepsas part of the process of writing a thor-ough estimate. Moving the disabledvehicle, disassembly, taking inventoryof parts, recycling hazardous waste,and performing a comprehensivesafety check to test for damages arejust a few of the many steps needed inorder to document the car as a totalloss; however, when the adjuster re-turns to discuss the estimate and de-clares the vehicles to be a total loss,State Farm only wants to pay the costof storage and a few minimal charges,though all of these processes are re-quired. Other processes which Juniperfeels shops should be aware that theycan charge for include suspensionchecks, rough access, preparing thepack-totaled vehicle, glass clean-up,and labor.

Meanwhile, Three-C has timeassociated with the estimate forwhich they expect (and deserve) tobe compensated since they’ve lost

time being involved with a job theyaren’t being paid for, yet StateFarm wants to pay only the mini-mum charges. Juniper explains,“our charges are necessary to offsetour lost opportunity. When we’reworking on these total losses, that’stime we can’t work on jobs wherewe could make money, but the in-surer does not want to understandthat—that’s why we have to suethem. Other shops also have to per-form these steps, and they should

ask why they’re not getting paid forall of their time and hard work!”

Over the past three decades, Ju-niper has been an active voice in theindustry, speaking out against insurersand their attempts to exert control over

the repair process. “Insurers have beenbeating on body shops for many years.They used to just pay the bill, but overthe years, they’ve decided that theydon’t want to pay the labor times andrates. Instead, they want to argueabout which steps are necessary be-cause they are trying to control the re-pair itself. This industry has been beatdown so far that many shops are goingout of business; insurers have foundthe bottom on pricing and can’t pushanymore because there’s nothing left.We have to charge them for our timebecause we can’t afford to work forfree!”

Though Juniper admits that hisrelationship with State Farm is cur-rently less than perfect due to thepending lawsuits, he hopes that willchange after matters are settled. Healso believes that he is taking a neces-sary step towards preventing short-pays in the future. “Nationally, thereare over 70 body shops with pendingshortpay lawsuits right now, and weneed to win these battles to changethings. With enough victories, maybethe insurers will change their behav-ior.”

Three-C Body Shops asks theircustomers to sign documents, such as

the Authorization to Repair and As-signment of Proceeds, to enable themto pursue proper compensation whenthe need arises. Juniper explains thatthey “involve the vehicle owner in-stead of dealing with the insurancecompany directly because the insureris bound by a contract with the in-sured, but the problem is that manyconsumers don’t know the laws. Someare savvy, but others don’t understandor want to be involved; that’s what theinsurers take advantage of and the rea-son that lawsuits are necessary… It’snot convenient, but this still has tohappen. I don’t see any other alterna-tive.”

A family-owned business sinceopening in 1956, Three-C BodyShops works on around 250 vehi-cles monthly, yielding $700,000 to$800,000 in sales. They have neverparticipated in DRPs because whenthe insurers introduced these pro-grams in the early 1990s, Juniperforesaw the negative aspects associ-ated with them, predicting that theywould start off good and get worseover time. Though he spoke outagainst DRPs, the industry movedforward, and he believes “most DRPshops now wish they’d never gotten


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After the negotiations broke down,Simmons pointed a gun at “members ofthe SWAT team. Two of those membersfired at the suspect. Ultimately he diedfrom his injures.” Findlay said.

Simmons was taken by ambu-lance to Ogden Regional MedicalCenter, Findlay said. Police have notreleased how many shots were fired orhow many times Simmons was hit.But Findlay said the protocol for an of-ficer-involved shooting had been ini-tiated, and the two officers involvedwere put on administrative leave dur-ing the investigation.

Weber County deputies and aSWAT team were dispatched to the Fly-ing J near 1900 S. 1100 West around11:40 a.m. after Kristopher Chase Sim-mons, 35, barricaded himself inside.Police officers were attempting to arresthim when ran into the auto body shop,Weber County Sheriff's Sgt. Lane Find-lay said.

It was reported that a woman wasbarricaded with Simmons, but whenSWAT went in, Simmons was the onlyperson found.

“There was initial information ofa female being inside the building.She has yet to be identified and her in-volvement is unknown at this time,”Findlay said.

The owner of the building wassafely evacuated when the standoffbegan, Findlay said. Officers didn'tfear for the safety of nearby busi-nesses, including a busy Flying J truckstop next door, but crews attemptingto reach another auto body shop at theend of the dead-end street were not al-lowed to pass until the standoff ended.

Simmons was wanted on outstand-ing warrants, which included felonywarrants for drug possession and evad-ing police, Findlay said.

A search of court records revealedSimmons was found guilty of felonycharges in Weber and Davis countiesfor failure to stop for officers, attemptedforgery, drug possession and unlawfulpossession of a transaction card, as wellas misdemeanors for theft, drug use,possession of drug paraphernalia andgiving false personal information to apolice officer.

involved, but we weren’t loudenough with our objections. DRPshave caused many body shops to goout of business. Once you’re de-pendent on them, you can’t affordto lose them—you’re unable towalk away because you’ve becomereliant on the insurance compa-nies.”

Now, Juniper fears that insurersare using parts procurement systems,such as PartsTrader, to exert evenmore control over repairs, and heworries that insurers will take overparts distribution also, leaving shopsas labor providers only and inhibit-ing them from supplementing theirincomes with the price of parts. Be-cause of this, many shops will be un-able to pay some of their personnel,such as office staff, customer serviceteams and detailers, whose salariesaren’t paid by the estimates but byparts profits. “If the insurers absorbthis discount, we won’t be able to af-

ford these employees, so customerservice will decline, and that will bethe beginning of the next big prob-lem for our industry,” Juniper pre-dicts.

Juniper notes that the industrydid not stand up for themselves whenDRPs were developed and they havesince regretted it; he believes the in-dustry will really regret it if they donot step up to inhibit parts procure-ment as it will lead to poor customerservice in the collision repair industry,forcing repairers into a position wherethey are not making any money andmay be unable to pay their bills. Heasks “when and where does the colli-sion industry say no? Because it’stime!”

A State Farm spokesman was in-vited to comment but declined due tounfamiliarity with the specifics of thecases. Autobody News will continueto invite comment on this story for fu-ture issues.


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Autobody News previously reportedon the controversial use of digital im-ages in appraisals in Connecticut(ABAC Legal Counselor Objects toUse of Camera Phone Photos for Es-timates in June 2014 issue.)

The concerns have also caughtthe attention of Massachusetts’ Com-monwealth’s Auto Damage AppraiserLicensing Board (ADALB) whichmade an advisory ruling on May 20thstating that using “quality video ordigital images” to prepare an appraisalsatisfies its regulations.

The Massachusetts ADALB ap-proved Advisory Ruling 2014-01 bymajority vote at a board meeting. Itseeks to clarify the use video or digitalimaging technology to settle claims.

The adopted ruling states: TheAuto Damage Appraiser LicensingBoard has passed a motion agree-ing that an appraisal conducted bya licensed appraiser via review ofquality video or digital images withdocumentation meets the require-ments of 212 CMR 2.04(1)(d) “Theappraiser shall personally inspectthe damaged motor vehicle andshall rely primarily on that per-

sonal inspection in making that ap-praisal....”

“This Advisory Ruling shall beeffective upon posting on the AutoDamage Appraiser Licensing Board-public website. Failure to comply withthis ruling could result in fines andpenalties as provided for by law.

The practice comes about wheninsurance companies allow their cus-tomers to file claims via a smart phoneapplication. In March, for example,Esurance has announced it is offeringreal-time video appraisals for con-sumers using its mobile application.

Allstate, State Farm and MetLife,are also asking their customers to sub-mit camera phone pictures of the dam-age, and they are using these photos towrite their estimates. In Connecticut,Attorney John Parese, who acts aslegal counsel for the Auto Body Asso-ciation of Connecticut (ABAC), saidhe believes “the growing trend ofusing camera phone pictures prior togetting a repair professional involvedis illegal, unethical, and most impor-tantly, harmful to consumers.”

Because claims are being paidbased on claimant-taken photos which

cannot possibly depict the full extentof damages, Parese sees this practiceas “a fundamental misrepresentationof policy or third-party rights and ben-efits... “Insurers have a legal andoften fiduciary responsibility to makefair and complete payments for cov-ered losses. This system is plainly de-signed to save insurers money on itsown labor costs (ie. less paid apprais-ers) and on the amount it ultimatelypays on claims (ie. calculated under-payment of claims). These savingscome at the expense of consumersafety and complete reimbursement,”writes Parese.

In Massachusetts the appraisalprocess explicitly requires personalinspection and 212 CMR 2.04 detailsthe procedures for conducting ap-praisals. In Section D, Requirementof Personal Inspection and Photo-graphs the regulation states: “The ap-praiser shall personally inspect thedamaged motor vehicle and shall relyprimarily on that personal inspectionin making the appraisal. As part ofthe inspection, the appraiser shallalso photograph each of the damagedareas.”

This requirement is now in doubtgiven the ADALB ruling.

Carl Garcia, owner of Carl’sCollision Center in Fall River, MA,and a member of the ADALB, told amedia source that understandinghow new technologies could im-prove the claim process is a keydriver for the new ruling. Garcia hasa radio show on 1480 WSAR wherehe fields consumer questions on col-lision repair.

“Last year, attorneys at the Mas-sachusetts Division of Insurancedrafted a detailed, five-page opinionthat basically said that a personal in-spection was not a physical inspectionso virtual technologies could be usedunder the existing regulation,” saidGarcia. “In my view, the advisory rul-ing shows that we’re open to newtechnologies but we have to be surethey will benefit consumers and im-prove the claim process. This opinionmoves us in the direction.”

Garcia cautioned, however, thatthe requirement for documentation ofhow video or images were used tocreate the appraisal is an important


Massachusetts ADALB Issues Positive Advisory Ruling on Use of Digital Images in Appraisals

See Photos in Appraisals, Page 18


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dees at the ABPA event that havinggrown up in her parent’s BatonRouge business, Felder’s CollisionParts, she has a good understandingof the issues facing the non-OEMparts industry.

“This industry hasn’t had a realfriend in Congress,” Felder said. “Formany of you who have been to the leg-islature, who’ve been up there trying toget some of these bills passed, fightingagainst some of the things that affectyou, there aren’t a lot of real friends tothe industry there, not a lot of peoplethere who really understand this indus-try. And so it’s really important for youto pay attention to this race, and I’masking for your support in this race.”

One of the issues Felder men-tioned she would go to Congress un-derstanding is the “PARTS Act,” anABPA-supported bill that would slashautomaker design patent protectionfrom 14 years to just 30 months.

Felder also discussed the “devas-tating” impact that automaker partsprice-matching programs have had onher parent’s business and others in the

non-OEM parts industry. She said shedrafted the lawsuit that Felder’s Colli-sion Parts filed in 2012 against GeneralMotors, alleging that General Motor’s“Bump the Competition” price-match-ing program was an illegal predatorypricing scheme designed to drive non-OEM parts distributors out of business.(A U.S. District Court judge dismissedthe case in April, but Felder’s CollisionParts has filed an appeal of that deci-sion. See Autobody News June 2014issue.)

Felder asked ABPA members tosupport her campaign to representLouisiana’s 6th Congressional Dis-trict. She is seeking financial contri-butions (www.cassiefelder.com) bothfrom individuals and through businesspolitical action committees.

“Obviously there are a lot of is-sues that are going to be affecting mydistrict,” Felder said. “But this industryhas been so important to me and myfamily, that this was absolutely one ofthe industries I wanted to target.”

State Legislation DiscussedState legislation related to non-OEMparts was also the focus of anotherpresentation at the ABPA conventionin Austin. Ray Colas, director of gov-

ernment affairs for LKQ Corporation,told the non-OEM parts suppliers thatthe body shop industry seems reinvig-orated.

“PartsTrader is something thathas motivated them, not only throughlegislation but also litigation,” Colassaid. “With that momentum, they’rethrowing us under the bus as well.”

In the past, Colas said, most ofthe legislative challenges to aftermar-ket parts came from automakers.

“But the body shops have reallytaken it over,” he said. “Now the au-tomakers are supporting the bodyshop association initiatives.”

Colas talked about a number ofbills his company successfully lobbiedagainst, including one introduced inMaryland last year that would haveprohibited the manufacture, sale or in-stallation of a counterfeit or substan-dard airbag.

“Some of you may wonder: Whyare we concerned about airbags?There are no aftermarket airbags,”Colas said. “Well, that’s true today.That doesn’t mean that in the futurethey may not exist. So we want to pro-tect that market today in case in the fu-ture there is an opportunity for that.We don’t want to be restricted from

selling any alternative part.”Colas said after a “long, drawn-

out fight” and “a very, very close call,”aftermarket parts supporters were ableto convince Maryland lawmakers thisyear not to pass a bill that would re-quire insurers to pay for new OEMparts for repairs to vehicles manufac-tured within the previous three years.

“Jordan Hendler (executive di-rector of the Washington MetropolitanAuto Body Association, which backedthe Maryland legislation) has done agreat job educating these legislators,meeting with them year after year,”Colas said. “It’s something we reallywant to keep an eye on.”

A lawmaker in Iowa also neededto be “re-educated” about the after-market parts industry, Colas said, afterhe introduced at the behest of bodyshops a bill that included a provisionsimilar to the one in Maryland. Colassaid that lawmaker’s district includesan LKQ facility.

“We got there and told him, ‘Hey,you’re really going to affect our busi-ness,’ ” Colas said. “This is how manyjobs we have in your district.”

Colas said the Iowa bill also in-cluded provisions prohibiting an insurerfrom recommending a shop without



Aftermarket Parts Sellers

also telling the customer they aren’t re-quired to use a recommended shop, andfrom requiring a shop “to use a specificvendor or process for the procurementof parts or other materials.” Colas saidthose provisions will likely be includedin a future piece of legislation.

“There will be a bill that’s rein-troduced, but it will not include the af-termarket parts restriction,” Colas said.

PartsTrader addresses questionsKen Weiss, director of business de-velopment for PartsTrader, also spokeat the ABPA convention, just daysafter his company completed nationalroll-out of its system, now reportedlyused by more than 7,500 body shopsand 8.500 parts suppliers. Weiss saidthat by the end of this past April, partslists from more than 700,000 esti-mates had been put out for quotethrough PartsTrader, and more than1.25 million orders totaling more than$450 million had been placed throughthe system.

Weiss said although State Farm“is a little bit restrictive with regard toaftermarket parts,” he expects non-OEM parts orders through the systemto increase as shops use PartsTraderfor non-State Farm jobs.

He cited a number of benefits thatPartsTrader offers suppliers, including“increased sales opportunities andfewer parts returns.” However not

everyone at theABPA conventionagreed with Weisson this last point.

“We have notnoticed a lower re-turn rate on (partsordered through)PartsTrader versus

phone calls versus faxes versus any-thing,” Bob Petty of Collins CollisionProducts in Loveland, CO, told Weiss.“Our return rate is higher than it’s everbeen in the history of the company.”

Petty also asked if returned partsare taken into account in the fees Part-sTrader charges to suppliers, which arebased on average monthly sales. Weisssaid they are, provided that parts pur-chased through the PartsTrader systemare also returned though the system.

“We all know the games todaywhere repairers will buy multipleparts, sometimes just to get a receiptthat they can show somebody else,and then return the part,” Weiss said.“With the PartsTrader system, youcan only buy a part once unless youreturn it. Then you can buy the partagain from another supplier. So wethink that will avoid some of thegames and will help bring down thereturns.”

Weiss was asked if there’s a wayfor a shop to bypass the system to re-turn a part.

“Only if you let them,” Weisstold the parts distributors. “If theywant to return a part, you need to tellthem, ‘You bought this through Part-sTrader; you need to return it throughthe system,’ so you get credit for thereturn.’ If they don’t want to return itthrough the system, then, I hate to sayit, but they are probably up to nogood.”


Ken Weiss




Charges of corruption and gun-run-ning conspiracy notwithstanding, al-most a tenth of California votersthought suspended state Sen. LelandYee should become secretary ofstate. “Under the Constitution, theSecretary of State’s job is to em-power Californians to govern Cali-fornia, to guarantee fair elections,expose special interests, and preventcorruption,” Yee wrote.

Indicted Senator Leland Yeein 3rd place for Scry. of State

The idea upset Eugene business ownerPatty McConnell so much that lastmonth she fired off a critical email toMayor Kitty Piercy. McConnell,owner of a Eugene auto body shop,told Piercy that she was angry over theCity Council’s interest in requiringemployers to provide paid sick leave,without first consulting business own-ers. “It isn’t that I’m not sympatheticto the need for sick leave. It’s that theydidn’t talk to us first to see how itwould impact us and our bottomlines,” McCon nell said in an interview.“To have them railroad this over us isvery disappointing.”

‘No’ to Sick Leave ProposalSays Shop Owner in Oregon

part of the ruling. “Quality video andimages along with documentation isimportant. The capabilities of smartphone can vary impacting the photosthey take,” said Garcia. “Anyoneusing the technology should thor-oughly document how any technol-ogy was used and how it supports theappraisal.”

Rick Starbard, owner of Rick’sAuto Collision in Revere, MA, and apast-president of both the Alliance ofAutomotive Service Providers ofMassachusetts (AASP-MA) as well asthe National AASP organization, isconcerned that the ruling might openthe door to increased steering by in-surance companies in the Common-wealth and create problems forconsumers. “I take a ton of photos inmy business and I still find that I often

need to go back out and look at the ve-hicle,” said Starbard. “I’m also con-cerned that this could make it easierfor an insurance company to steerwork or just use the shop as their drivein facility. Now an insurer will justsay ‘Take the car to this shop and theycan shoot some photos and send themto us’ to get the car to the shop theywant.”

According to Starbard, AASP-MA will focus on working with theMassachusetts Division of Insuranceto revise the regulation to clearly de-fine what is allowed. “Having thisruling when they are going to needto make a regulatory change doesnot make sense,” said Starbard. “I’mconcerned that insurers will use thisruling to justify using a couple ofsmart phone pictures from con-sumers to settle the claim. The rul-ing leaves a lot open to interpretationthat needs to be addressed in the reg-ulation.”

by Alicia Basteri

John Borek, general manager of Au-tocraft Bodywerks Inc. in Austin, TX,has resorted to filing four criminaltrespassing complaints against insur-ance appraisers.

On average, about four insuranceappraisers come into his shop every

day. Occasionally,an appraiser willfind fault with thelogic behind cer-tain repair esti-mates. Borek saidthat he usuallypoints out the man-

ufacturer’s specifications when thishappens and prints them out for the ap-praiser on the spot, which tends tomollify their concerns. However, hesometimes gets an appraiser who stillwants to argue.

According to Borek, most of theappraisers who want to argue areyoung and have never worked on a carin their life. Having worked on carsfor over 30 years himself, this can befrustrating, to say the least—not to

mention a waste of time.So, when he gets a particularly ar-

gumentative appraiser, he calls hismanager after the third incidence. If ithappens again, he files a criminal tres-passing charge. Once the appraiser hasbeen served papers, he’s not allowedon the property. If he violates the order,he could be arrested and fined.

Borek hasn’t had to have an ap-praiser arrested, although he said theydid serve papers to the wrong guyonce—a father with the same name asthe son who worked at the same insur-ance company.

Now, it costs money to file a crim-inal trespassing charge, he has to hire alawyer, etc. This isn’t something thathe wants to do—it’s a last resort. Andit’s a last resort that he’s only imple-mented four times in 30 years. Thisstrategy has worked for them.

Borek told Autobody News that hehas received calls from body shop em-ployees all over the country saying thatthey ‘wished they’d thought of that, wayto go, etc.’ Maybe his self-proclaimedout-of-box thinking is setting precedentsin the industry.


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John Borek Takes Aggressive Action, Files TrespassingComplaints Against Argumentative Appraisers

John Borek

Continued from Page 14

Photos in Appraisals

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The newly formed Auto Body Associ-ation of Texas (ABAT) will be holdingtheir Inaugural Meeting on June 18that the Henderson Civic Center withguest speaker Barrett Smith, Presidentand Founder of Auto Damage ExpertsInc. Burl Richards, Acting Presidentof ABAT, took some time to explainhow the association is getting startedand what they hope to achieve throughits development.

Several months ago, a local job-ber, Chad Neal of Paint Works inTyler TX, held an educational seminaron estimating which included a num-ber of Eastern TX shop owners. Nealand Richards had previously dis-cussed the need for a trade associationin their area, but when Richards triedto organize an association meeting ayear earlier, he garnered little interestand participation.

Thus, when Neal held the estimatingseminar earlier this year, they saw it as

the perfect opportunity to present theiridea for a new association. Richards be-lieves that a contributing factor to the

positive receptionthey received thistime around was“the fact that Part-sTrader had begunto be implemented,and these localshops were trulybeginning to seethat we had betterjoin together or theinsurance compa-nies were going to

continue to control more and more ofour businesses… [Neal and I] basicallycapitalized on the opportunity that pre-sented itself with shops from all overEast Texas being present.”

For the past three months,Richards has been working with hislocal attorney to set up the Corporate

Filings for the new association, yet ahandful of shop owners have con-tributed to organizing ABAT.

“This would not be happening ifnot for the enthusiasm and excitementshared throughout our region. Everyonehas been more than willing to assist andcontribute when asked. It’s really beenmore about spreading the word, andonce others hear about what is happen-ing, they know that they are not aloneand begin to realize that together wecan truly take back our business for thebest interest of our customers and theindustry as a whole,” Richards states.

Richards and those involved withorganizing ABAT are also grateful toJohn Mosley of Clinton Body Shopand Doug White of Capitol AutoBody for donating their personal timeand funds to travel from MS to TX toaddress shops about the benefits of anorganized auto body association in asecond meeting held to gauge interest

in ABAT. According to Richards,“their presence, being from an outsidearea, really motivated others to get in-volved.”

Though ABAT was originallygoing to be called the East Texas AutoBody Association, they were unable toobtain the name, opting instead forABAT which Richards feels “was justmeant to be… [it has been] fitting aswe have received interest from shopsand vendors throughout the state. Wewelcome members from all overTexas.”

While ABAT is still in develop-ment, Richards notes that their maingoal thus far is to “take back our shops.We repair vehicles, and insurance com-panies sell insurance; it’s that simple!Who knows better and is more qualifiedto make these repairs than us? We workfor the customer, so it is our responsi-bility to properly repair and restore theirvehicle to pre-accident condition.”


New Auto Body Association of Texas Launches June 18, PartsTrader ProvidesImpetus, Statewide Members Invited to Join

with Chasidy Rae SiskSouthwest Associations

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

Barrett Smith ofADE will be thefeatured guest

speaker at ABAT’sInaugural Meeting

on June 18

ABAT will also strive to providemore education, both from a technicalstandpoint and as it pertains to shops’rights without solely relying on whatinsurers mandate. Along with that,ABAT plans to investigate legislationthat will promote beneficial changefor the consumer, rather than the in-surance companies whose focus is onsaving money. Richards add, “we willaddress more concerns legislatively aswe progress as an association andbegin identifying specific issues. Forexample, profit margins have de-creased over the years, and we mustbecome more profitable in order toprovide the training and equipmentnecessary to perform repairs to theever-changing technological advance-ments on today’s vehicles – and thatcan honestly be accomplished bybeing compensated for all repairs andprocesses that must be performed (notjust the hand-picked operations thatinsurers want to pay for).”

Since their initial meeting earlythis year, Richards has been verypleased with the number of repair pro-fessionals who have expressed inter-est in ABAT. “The response that wehave received has been more than Icould have imagined. Going back to

just six months ago, I felt like I wason an island by myself, and now Ihave more faith and excitement aboutthe future of our industry than ever.We will put the customer first, andeverything else will take care of itself;good things are about to happen!”

Smith also took time to speakabout the upcoming meeting, and heis excited to speak at ABAT’s meetingwith the “intent to generate excite-ment and to enlighten and edify Texasrepairers in several areas.” Smithplans to discuss three main topics, in-cluding Federal Antitrust Laws, Pro-cedures and Labor Rate Surveys. Tobegin with, he explains that o FederalAntitrust Laws “are fairly simple, yetoften misunderstood, and have beenused in the past to stifle conversationbetween repairers out of fear of pun-ishment. I will be giving a layman’soverview of the true nature of thelaws, why they exist and how to avoidbreaching them regarding what canand cannot be discussed. Federal an-titrust laws exist to promote and pro-tect competition. They are to governthe activities of businesses in ourcountry and are designed to be safe-guards against activities that may beharmful to the consumer, business

competition and the economy.”“Procedures are also an important

topic because many required repairprocesses and necessary materials gounpaid, and these overlooked andoften omitted processes and createsignificant liability issues for the re-pairer that need not occur.” Smithplans to highlight these important as-pects of the business operation andhow to avoid these unnecessary liabil-ities. He will also be introducing theVariable Rate Survey (VRS) programoffered by the National AutoBody Re-search, Inc. which “provides a viableand labor rate survey to show repair-ers, consumers and insurers the rangeof labor rates based upon the individ-ual rates and allowances of participat-ing repairers in a given area. Rangesof labor rates from an area comprisedof repairers within mere miles to par-ticipating repairers across the country.The VRS not only provides partici-pants the labor rates of repairerswithin various markets, the programshows them in real-time and canchange based upon a repairer’s changein rates, training, certifications, equip-ment and such. This defeats those so-called surveys which lump allrepairers together and provides the

same labor rates for the best of theworst to the worst of the best!”

As the President and Founder ofAuto Damage Experts, Inc., Smith be-lieves that one of the most valuableservices his company offers is Re-pairer Consulting and Coaching forthose who offer high quality work-manship and services. He states, “re-gardless of their size, all ADEconsulting/coaching clients have thesame fundamental characteristics incommon: integrity and the courageand conviction to do the right thing forthe right reasons. What we do is tohelp them to step outside the box thatis often built around them by ‘inter-ested third-parties’ and to see things ina more common sensical and prag-matic manner. This enables them tomodify their business acumen andmethods of conducting businesswhich is found to be much more prof-itable and enjoyable.” Smith hopes toshare his experience in this area atABAT’s meeting in order to aid thisdeveloping association and its mem-bers.


www.a

By Rhode Island standards, this year’sentry in the automobile insurers ver-sus repair shops category is a mini-malist one. Nonetheless, a series ofbills in ongoing tug-of-war betweenthe auto body and insurance industriesin Rhode Island are ongoing and wereheard by the Rhode Island SenateCommittee on Judiciary June 5.

The bills are co-sponsored byNorth Providence Sen. Dominick Rug-gerio, majority leader from District 4.Corresponding bills from North Provi-dence Rep. Arthur Corvese have alsobeen referred to committee in theHouse.

The following are some of thebills up for consideration:● S2833 prohibits insurance compa-nies from mandating use of used or re-manufactured airbags or suspensionparts. It would prohibit insurancecompanies from requiring the use ofused or remanufactured airbags and/orsuspension parts when vehicle repairsare made by an auto body shop.● S2834 establishes a two-tiered li-censing system for body shops. It cre-ates two distinct license classificationsand labor rate surveys for auto body

repair shop facilities, basically mean-ing different pay for different shops.● S2835 extends regulations on after-market auto body replacement parts toany automobile replacement part. Itamends the definition of the term “af-termarket part” to refer to all motorvehicle replacement parts.● Another would eliminate theprocess that allows filings by casualtyinsurers seeking rate increases or de-creases of not more than 5 percent tobecome effective when filed, essen-tially taking away the ability of insur-ers to increase rates without a hearing,according to Jina Petrarca-Karam-petsos, spokeswoman for the AutoBody Association of Rhode Island(ABARI) and daughter of ProvidenceAuto Body owner John Petrarca.

ABARI is backing the licenseclassification bill, the aftermarketparts bill, and the insurance notice billas “good consumer” pieces of legisla-tion, said Petrarca-Karampetsos. Shetold The Breeze that ABARI membersare “as confident as we always are”that state lawmakers will wonce again“support the consumer” as they’vedone historically.

The Property Casualty InsurersAssociation of America is opposingall four above pieces of legislation,calling them “bad bills” that will takemore money from average Rhode Is-landers.

Ruggerio and Corvese have de-clined to discuss any of their bills withmedia.

Frank O’Brien, vice president ofstate government relations with theProperty Casualty Insurers Associa-tion of America, said the continuedcampaign by Ruggerio and andCorvese—lawmakers he says havesupported a combined 17 bills sup-ported by ABARI over the pastdecade—is having a cumulative nega-tive impact on consumers, helping tocause some of the highest insurancerates in the country to balloon further.

The insurance notice bill on June5’s docket is unique in that it doesn’trelate to auto body issues, saidO’Brien, but is “more related to sourgrapes.” Rhode Island is one of 14states that has a “flex-rating” statutein place allowing an expedited rate fil-ing process for insurers if the size ofthe increase is 5 percent or less.

According to O’Brien, less than10 percent of rate filings actually takeadvantage of the statute. Having thestatute in place has actually resulted inlower rate increases, said O’Brien.Without it, insurers may be reluctantto change their rates in response tocompetition.

The National Association of Mu-tual Insurance Companies issued thefollowing news release:

The National Association of Mu-tual Insurance Companies providedtestimony to the Senate Judiciary Com-mittee opposing S. 2834 that wouldcreate a dual licensing classificationsystem for auto collision repair shops.“The legislation is totally unneces-sary,” said John Murphy, NAMIC’sstate affairs director for the Northeast.“If the auto body repair industrywants to create a classification sys-tem, it can do so without involving theLegislature in its marketing strate-gies.”

According to Murphy, the Legis-lature has appropriately identified theminimum standards that all auto col-lision repair shops should meet in


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Rhode Island Bills Under Consideration Affect Airbags, Two-tiered Body Shops, Aftermarket Parts

See RI Body Shop Bills, Page 35


On Thursday, May 22, the LouisianaCollision Industry Association (LaCIA)held a meeting at the Hilton Garden Innto update members on the direction theassociation is taking and their upcomingplans. Featured speakers included At-torney General Buddy Cald-well and his assistant AG,Randy Ishee, who updated at-tendees on their efforts. Exec-utive Director Alysia Hanksnotes, “overall, the meetingand turnout was excellent, andI think the Attorney General ison top of things! He was pres-ent with some of his other at-torneys who are working onour issues, and they had somegreat updates to share with us.I don’t think I’m alone when Isay this, but Mr. Caldwell very muchexceeded my expectations with what heand his staff of lawyers have accom-plished so far. I heard the comment‘blown away’ when I asked others to de-

scribe the meeting. Mr. Caldwell andfour other attorneys are now workingnon-stop on our issues.”

The meeting began with ChairmanLynn Lejeune welcoming attendees andleading the group in prayer, followed by

Vice Chairman Derek Stubbs who in-troduced LaCIA’s Board of Directorsand discussed some of the association’sgoals and accomplishments.

When Caldwell was introduced,

he assured the group that he and histeam are working diligently on resolv-ing the collision repair industry’s issues,and he provided an update on theirprogress thus far. Because State Farm isthe largest insurance company in LAand all other insurers follow their lead,he first set his sights on this insurancegiant, learning that they did put up themoney for PartsTrader. His office hasalso begun a Civil Investigation De-mand where the Attorney General or-ders the insurance companies toproduce documents which they wouldnot ordinarily produce in a regular dep-osition, such as surveys and internalpolicies; he also pointed out his findingthat insurers aren’t even attempting tohide the fact that they are steering theircustomers to DRP facilities!

Although his office is still in thediscovery stages of the process, theAttorney General’s influence in itselfis beneficial to legislative initiativessince politicians are less apt to ignore

their pleas for help. They also plan toproduce some ad campaigns to adviseconsumers to read their insurancepolicies and encourage them to un-derstand their rights during the repairprocess. Attorney Stacy noted that theAttorney General’s office may alsolook into possible tax evasion on thepart of the insurance companies. De-spite this progress, Hanks cautions “itwill take a while to get this situationwe find ourselves in today resolved,or even to see any movement on it.We did not get into this situationovernight, and it won’t go away thatfast either. We need to have patience.”

Next, Ishee updated attendees onseveral matters, beginning with thefact that he cannot comprehend whyany repair facility would willingly joina DRP since he can find nothing inthose agreements that benefits theshops whatsoever; his feelings aboutPartsTrader are the same. He notedthat by signing those agreements, it


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LaCIA Hosted Louisiana Attorney General at May 22 Meeting



Executive Director Alysia Hanks (l) with Attny GeneralBuddy Caldwell (m) and Randy Ishee (r) from the LADept of Justice

was like relinquishing ownership ofthe shop to the insurance company.Furthermore, Ishee emphasized thatthe repair professionals are responsi-ble for properly fixing their customers’vehicles, plus if a shop has a signedwork authorization from the customerand the insurer sends their vehicle toanother facility, that is a breach of con-tract for which they can be sued.

The Louisiana Attorney General’soffice is working with several other At-torney Generals throughout the South,and they have also reached out to theirstate’s Insurance Commissioner’s of-fice to inform them that they will bepursuing State Farm, with or withoutthe Commissioner’s support. Hanks re-calls, “they wanted to make it clear

what their main objectives were, andthat was to attempt to get rid of DRPs,to get things changed through legisla-tion, and to make sure everyone knowsthe law on both sides. They want in-surers to stick to what they do, which iswriting policies, and let the body shopsdo what they do, which is fixing cars.They believe the insurers shouldn’thave their hands in our businesses.”

After the Attorney General’s pres-entation concluded, several additionalspeakers provided updates on some in-dustry trends. Abel Cantrell of Advan-tage Collision Center in Houma LAspoke about who really owns yourshop, you or the insurance company,and he also distributed instructions on“How to Use Twitter” so no one has an

excuse not to get connected to othershops. Ray Gunder of Gunder’s AutoRepair in Lakeland FL discussed howinsurers pushed him to the edge andwhy he started suing them to get thingsdone, nothing he has not lost a case be-cause “right is right!” Next, MikeParker of Parker Auto Body in WestMonroe LA shared the measures he hastaken to maintain control of his busi-ness which includes installing videoand audio surveillance in and aroundhis shop as well as a module to recordevery call made to or from his business.

LaCIA’s Board of Directors is verygrateful to all of their guests who spokeat the meeting. Vice Chairman DerekStubbs stated “we have to be excitedabout the turnout and have to keep themomentum we are establishing goingin a positive direction and not let it slipaway.” Board member Pat Graham be-lieves the Attorney General and his staff“had a very positive vibe that I thinkwas felt by everyone.” All in all, Hanksbelieves the meeting “was an incredi-ble success! We are taking back the in-dustry ladies and gentlemen!”

LaCIA will hold their next meeting onJuly 8 in Lafayette.www.la-cia.com


LaCIA’s Board of Directors meet with their guests (l to r): Chris Medine, Randy McLachlin, AlysiaHanks, Derek Stubbs, AG Buddy Caldwell, Lynn Lejuene, Asst. AG Randy Ishee & Pat Graham

Farmers Insurance Group has droppedlawsuits against 200 Chicago-areacommunities, reports the ChicagoTribune. The insurer claimed the com-munities did not do enough to preventwidespread flooding in the areas inApril 2013.

The class-action suits soughtto make the local governments re-imburse Farmers for claims it paidout to more than 600 propertyowners in the communities. Theinsurer argued that public agenciesshould have taken more preventa-tive measures to avert damagecaused by the record-breakingfloods, such as emptying reservoirsbefore the rains hit, says the Trib-une.

But now, less than two monthsafter the suit was filed, Farmers haswithdrawn it. “We believe our law-suit brought important issues to theattention of the respective cities andcounties, and that our policyholders’interestes will be protected by thelocal governments going forward,”says Trent Frager, a spokespersonfor Farmers, in a statement.

Frager says the company doesnot intend to refile the suits, saysthe Tribune.

Farmers Drops ClimateChange Lawsuits in Chicago

Service King Collision Repair Centershas announced that it has finalized theacquisition of Sterling Collision Cen-ters. Service King now operates 175locations across 20 states.

The company says that the acqui-sition supports Service King’s robustgrowth strategy and further strength-ens its position as the premier providerof high-quality collision repair backedwith exceptional customer service.

“Acquiring a company like Ster-ling Collision Centers is about morethan expanding our network withbricks and mortar. The strength of ourorganization lies within our people andwe are extremely excited to welcomethe very talented Sterling team to theService King family,” said Chris Abra-ham, CEO of Service King. “ServiceKing has offered consumers a superiorcollision repair experience for morethan 38 years and we are well posi-tioned to grow that legacy with what Ibelieve is the most capable and expe-rienced team in the industry.”

Sterling’s 62 locations will beginoperating as Service King immedi-ately and the rebranding of Sterling

stores across the country commencesJune 3, 2014.

“Service King has built a strongreputation in the communities wherewe do business. We recognize that col-lision repair is not just about the car,but it’s about the care and the lives wetouch every day. This acquisition al-lows us to expand our footprint andoffer more consumers an unparalleled,personal repair experience,” said JeffMcFadden, President of Service King.

Service King now employs morethan 3,800 technicians and support teammembers and offers collision repair serv-ices in the following states: Arizona,Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia,Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan,Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Ohio,Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

For a full list of locations by cityand state or any additional informa-tion on Service King, visit:www.serviceking.com.


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become an incubator for heating, venti-lation and air-conditioning, or HVAC,certification courses and training inauto body maintenance, building main-tenance and computer literacy.

“Auto body is another one. Thatwill give them a trade that they can goout there, work and get a viable living.”

Harriet Salarno, whose daughterwas murdered at University of the Pa-cific in Stockton on Sept. 3, 1979, is thechairwoman of Crime Victims United ofCalifornia. In an interview, Salarno saidall California prisons should have voca-tional training like the programs at DVI.

“You can’t open the door and letthem out and they can’t get a job,”Salarno said. “If they don’t have a job,they’re going to go back to their lifestyle.”

That lifestyle, according to Price,regularly includes an average fourth-grade education level among prisoners,lack of motivation to work and expo-sure to other criminals.

“We’re trying to provide them liter-acy, the ability to get jobs when they get out,education,” Price said. “We try to establisha work ethic that, regardless of where theyare, when they leave they can go out and

get a job and have some of those skills thatwe develop here in the institution.”

Price and Salarno both said that re-habilitation must be part of the prisonexperience.

“Our biggest challenge is the culturechange. Trying to get them to understandthat if you apply yourself in education andlearn to read and write, it opens up a worldof opportunities for you,” the warden said.Price said everyone at DVI is committedto serving the community of Tracy and thestate at large. The day of Price’s interview,DVI housed 2,677 prisoners. He hopesvocational training will change the out-comes for criminals paroled back into thecommunity around the prison.

“I’ve got 27 years in the departmentand I even used to be a counselor. In talk-ing with (prisoners who came back), theysaid, ‘Man, we can’t get a job becausewe’re ex-felons,’” Price said. “In our reha-bilitation program, we’re trying to estab-lish that — have a good work ethic, respectyour elders and your neighbors. Toleratethe different ethnic groups, because wehave them all out there in the community.”

Price added, “DVI used to have someserious vocational programs. It was im-portant for me to get it back online,” Pricesaid. “We’re doing a good job out here atDVI. And we’re passionate about it.”


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ARIZONA

by Ed Attanasio

Kevin Walli has been the lobbyist forthe Alliance of Automotive ServiceProviders (AASP-MN) for the past 20years. He is a shareholder in the lawfirm of Fryberger, Buchanan, Smithand Frederick in St. Paul, MN. Wegot in touch recently to discuss the re-cent history of legislation that has im-pacted the collision industry inMinnesota in the past five years.

Q: How did you become the lobby-ist for the AASP-MN?KW: I’ve been representing the colli-sion industry in Minnesota for 20 yearsnow, after working in government af-fairs for many years prior to that. Afriend of a friend knew someone at theAASP-MN and told me they were look-ing for some representation and moresupport at the Capitol. Over the years,we’ve been working hard to providemore balance between the interests ofthe collision industry and the insuranceindustry, because there’s an ongoingtug-of-war there obviously. I believethat there has been a constructive ap-proach by the two industries to try and

communicate with one and other. So,what we’ve done for several years run-

ning is that we sitdown usually a fewtimes per year to airout our issues andsometimes there’s aresponse from theinsurance compa-nies that indicatesthat maybe we canaddress some ofthese issues our-selves. But in othercases, we end upsaying let’s agree todisagree and armwrestle it out at theCapitol.

Q: You’ve dealt with legislationregarding steering?KW: Yes, and we’ve had some suc-cess with legislation concerning steer-ing. We’ve been able to find moreclarity on the laws dealing with steer-ing, so that we can understand whatsteering is and provide some directionin the law. The purpose of the lan-guage is obviously to protect con-

sumers from being steered and we’vehad some success with that. Steeringhas always been an issue and it still isin many ways, so we’ve developedlegislation to address that. We soughtlanguage a few years ago to preventan insured or claimant from being re-quired to take their vehicle to a partic-ular drive-in claims center and wewere able to get that changed. We alsoadded a section that restricts an insurerfrom specifying the use of particularvendors for the procurement of partsor other materials necessary to per-form a satisfactory repair. Now thisvery issue is still being contested.

Q: There’s been a battle in Min-nesota between the insurance com-panies and the body shops, becausethe insurers want the shops to usecertain parts, products and man-agement platforms, correct?KW: Yes, we had some legislationthis year that we did not succeed with(House File 2690/Senate File 2542-the Auto Repair Claims ProcessingBill) that would have prevented insur-ance companies from dictating certainbusiness practices at repair shops. I

think there’s a sense with the bodyshop owners in Minnesota that thereare more and more situations in whichinsurers are dictating what estimatingsystems and materials they should use.And we’re concerned that it’s a slip-pery slope where the insurance com-panies will take away the autonomy ofthe collision repair shop owner. Wehad some proposed legislation thatwould have restricted insurance com-panies from specifying or requiringthat repair shops have to utilize spe-cific vendors, manufacturers, suppli-ers, business platforms or internalprocesses and we got the bill intro-duced and some great authors for thebill both in the House and in the Sen-ate. But ultimately, we couldn’t getmovement for the bill on the Senateside. The Chairperson there (SenatorJim Metzen, who was also a co-au-thor of the bill) was uncomfortablewith the onslaught of input he re-ceived from the insurance industry.Some of what they had to say was le-gitimate, and some was not, but that’snot unusual. When we proposed thelegislation and it was circulating at theCapitol, the insurance industry came


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Attorney and AASP-MN Lobbyist Kevin Walli is Minnesota’s Shop Champion

Kevin Walli, Esq.has been the lobby-ist for the Allianceof Automotive

Service Providers(AASP-MN) for thepast 20 years, sohe’s seen the ongo-ing tug-of-war be-tween shops andinsurers from theCapitol’s front row

forward and said that they hadn’theard of this bill. They said“Hey—we’ve had this practice forseveral years of discussing legislativeproposals with the collision industryin advance of the Legislative Ses-sion.” They argued that they hadn’thad such a discussion on this proposal.In addition, this year’s LegislativeSession was shorter with very tightdeadlines for getting bills heard, sothat also played a role in the death ofthe bill. But, we’re going to bring itback in a new form, after getting somevaluable feedback from the insuranceside. They said that we were trying tokill the DRP system, which was neverour intention at all. So, we have to ad-dress that issue and re-work some ofthe language the next time around, sothat it’s clear we’re not trying tochange the fundamental relationshipthat exists between body shops and in-surance companies.

Q: I imagine you haven’t been sup-portive of programs like Part-sTrader?KW: Exactly, because our concern hasalways been that if a body shop is re-quired to use a particular parts vendor,the shop doesn’t have a relationship or

a history with that vendor. As a result,parts that aren’t appropriate for the ve-hicle can enter the picture, because thecommunication between the shop andthe vendor is not present. Shops spenda lot of time and effort to developedbusiness relationships with particularparts vendors and then all of this goesout the door when they are forced towork with someone else they don’tknow anything about. In addition, wehave had an ongoing dialog with theDepartment of Commerce regardingits enforcement and there is an inves-tigation that’s open in this matter andthe Department of Commerce is con-tinually gathering information abouthow PartsTrader system is working ornot. We were hoping that the statutewould provide enough guidance forenforcement action. But now they’regathering information and studyingthe marketplace and as an industrywe’re trying to provide informationfor the Department of Commerce inthis matter.

Some time ago, we also addedlanguage to the same statute that “pro-hibits an insurer from unilaterally andarbitrarily disregarding a repair oper-ation or cost identified by an estimat-ing system…” This means, if you’re

using an estimating system that youand the insurance company have bothagreed that it’s acceptable to use, thenthey can’t deny the repair operationand cost without some clear justifica-tion. This kind of shifts the burden tothem and it’s now their responsibilityto prove the repair practice should notbe recognized.

Q: What other issues have you’vetackled on behalf of the members ofAASP-MN?KW: We had to deal with some taxprovisions in recent years. There wasa sales state tax on paint and suppliesfor shops when they were purchasedat wholesale. But, we were able toshift the point of imposition on the taxfrom the wholesale to the retail level.That way, shops are able to pass thattax onto the consumer. The repairshops were eating that tax cost before.Most of the other states were alreadydoing it this way and Minnesota waskind of an island in that regard, so thelegislation was much-needed.

Q: You have an annual LegislativeDay where shop owners can meetwith their legislators, right?KW: We’ve been doing a Day at the

Capitol on occasion, where we meetwith our members and give them anorientation of how things work at theState Capitol. Then, we ask them totalk with their Representatives andSenators and walk the halls to discussthe legislation we’re working on. Theinsurance industry is extremely well-represented and they have a lot verysmart people working for them, bothin-house people as well as consultantsthat they’ve retained. The sheer num-bers can be rather daunting at times,to be honest. So having the shop own-ers converging at the Capitol andmeeting with their Legislators puts apractical perspective on our issues--soit’s been a very positive thing. Plus, ithelps me to do a better job for theAASP-MN, because after these Sena-tors, for example, have met with oneof their constituents, we can follow upto emphasize the point made by theshop owners.


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CARSTAR Sees Record Revenue in 2013, Plans Expansionof HQ in Leawood, KSCARSTAR brought in a companyrecord $641 million in revenue in2013, an increase from its $603 mil-lion in revenue in 2012. CEO DavidByers said the company's 2013same-store sales were up by 17 per-cent from 2012 and Carstar added 45more locations to its multishop oper-ator network in the United States andCanada. Byers said the unusuallypoor winter weather, which lastedwell into 2014, and the increasingcomplexity and cost of repairs to au-tomobiles buoyed the company in2013. He expects the company'sstrong same-store sales to drive thecompany to record revenue and storeadditions in 2014.

“We expect to break the recordsfrom last year again in 2014,” Byerssaid. “Based on the fact that we'reseeing that 17 percent same-storesales number, that's an indication thatthe business and the industry is per-forming extremely well and we haveno reason to believe that that is goingto subside in the second half of theyear.”

With increased revenue, Carstaris looking to add new senior staff.Byers said the company is recruitinga new chief information officer and a

new vice president of business de-velopment. It is also looking to addnew technical resources at its newheadquarters at the Pinnacle IVbuilding in Leawood. It relocatedfrom Overland Park in December2013. Byers said Carstar chose to lo-cate its call center in existing Cana-dian operation instead of building anew call center in the Kansas Cityarea. Byers said the continuing con-solidation of the collision repair in-dustry positions his company wellfor long-term growth. Over the lastdecade, Byers said, the number of in-dependently-owned collision repaircenters dropped to 35,000 from80,000. He said the flow of privateequity money—Carstar is owned bySan Francisco-based private equitymanagement firm Champlain CapitalPartners LP—encourages independ-ent shops to sell or join a larger fran-chising company. “(Independentshops) have two choices: they cansell to one of the consolidators or ...they can join a franchise network likeus. Those are really the only twochoices they have,” Byers said. “Wefind we're in a very good growth po-sition because, as the industry con-tinues to contract and consolidate.”

CCAR, the Coordinating Committeefor Automotive Repair, and Ship-Mate, Inc. announced the launch oftheir new website, www.hazmatu.org.This intuitive new site is specificallydesigned to be easier to use and eas-ier to access for all HazMatU train-ing and resources. CCAR providestailored information and resourcesfor OEM dealers, collision repaircenters, schools and mechanicalservice centers. The new websitecommunicates updated news, eventsand services to HazmatU customersin an easier, faster and more user-friendly layout. ShipMate, Inc.works with clients to help resolvetheir most demanding dangerousgoods transportation, environmentalmanagement and safety issues.ShipMate provides creative ideasand cost effective solutions to re-solve and manage their many com-pliance challenges.

CCAR and ShipMate LaunchImproved HazmatU website



Russ Hoernis of Hoernis Auto Body inBelleville, IL, has created a 20-minutevideo and posted it on YouTube todemonstrate all of the steps in thefeather, prime and block procedure thatmust be performed to bring a repairpanel back to a new, undamaged one.

“Feather, prime and block is a re-finish operation that for years has beensnubbed by the insurance industry as ei-ther an included operation in repair times,or they have just been unwilling to com-pensate shops for the work and materi-als utilized. I have researched the CCC,Audatex and Mitchell manuals, and eachestimating system has independentlystated that feather, prime and block is anecessary operation that must be per-formed to bring a repaired part back to anew, undamaged panel. Each manualalso clearly states that published refinishtimes are for new, undamaged panels.”

After documenting the entire op-eration, Hoernis goes over the laborand materials used and ultimately cal-culates that not getting paid for this re-sults in roughly $50,000 per year inlost revenue to his shop.

Hoernis concludes the video bysaying, “I hope for whoever is watch-ing that this clarifies some of the is-sues we are up against.”

IL Shop Owner Posts 20-minVideo of FPB for Panel Fixes


What exactly is a Millennial? Bornbetween 1981 and 1996, Millennialsare represented by 86 million people,which means they’ve trumped theBaby Boomer generation by sevenpercent. There are more 22-year-oldsthan 53-year-olds on the planet rightnow and by 2018 it is estimated thatthe Millennials will be outspendingthe Baby Boomers by a large margin.

My stepdaughter is staying withus this summer, so I am getting a first-hand view of how these Millennialslive. One thing I noticed is that they eata lot and text a lot and ignore me witha passion. They’re also very in tunewith all of the latest technology andsocial media and are extremely adeptat rolling their eyes and saying thingslike “whatever” and “it is what it is.”

Some find them to be entitled anddownright rude, but no matter whatyour opinion of them is, Millennialsare a very significant segment of themarket, and that’s why any consumer

business should be at least remotelyinterested in what they’re up to. So,why should the collision industry careabout this age group? Because theyhave money, they drive nice cars andjust like everyone else—they get intoaccidents.

After years of studying Millenni-als, marketers and ad agencies all overthe world know full well that the Mil-lennial generation isn’t just a bunch ofentitled kids with smart phones snap-ping selfies and chasing down the lat-est Groupon deal. In fact, businessesthat aren’t pursuing Millennials willsoon be missing out on a major con-sumer opportunity from a generationwith an expected $2.45 trillion annualspending power by 2015. Body shopsshould be marketing to Millennialsright now, because they’re the con-sumers of the world’s, both today andtomorrow.

The problem is that most ownersof leading ad agencies and market-

ing/pr companies are in their 40s and50s and they’re still trying to use tech-niques that worked back in the Mad-men days. But, in order to cater to theMillennials, the powers-that-be haveto re-invent themselves once againand devise ways to appeal to these 20-somethings. I recently took a two-dayseminar about social media and mostof it was dedicated to advertising andmarketing to Millennials. The classwas taught by a Millennial, so the in-formation was both pertinent and use-ful.

More and more companies arerecognizing the value of marketing toMillennials. By using these five tips tore-calibrate your marketing, public re-lations and advertising efforts, you’llbe able to tap into this increasinglypowerful generation.

1. Don’t Talk Down to ThemI was talking to a Millennial one dayabout a world without personal com-

puters or the Internet and he looked atme like I had just emerged from acave. As the most educated and savvyconsumer group in the world, Millen-nials know what they want and arevery skilled at finding it all by them-selves. Now, collision repair is obvi-ously not an impulse buy and theMillennials will treat it as an unneces-sary expense, like Obamacare or park-ing tickets. But, in the end they don’tlike to be corralled into doing some-thing, so branding and advertising tothis group may be more importantthan ever. They’re not the type that isgoing to just blindly pick one bodyshop from the list their insurance com-pany shows them. They will want todo their due diligence and ask around,as well as referring to the shop’s website, Yelp page and other assorted so-cial media.

2. Don’t Camouflage Your Message“Be real,” is something the Millenni-

How to Market to Millennials

with Ed Attanasio

Social Media for Shops

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


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order to protect consumers and shopworkers. “Any bells and whistles be-yond that should be left up to individ-ual shops,” he said.

Details of bills and amendmentsare available online:● http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText14/SenateText14/S2833.pdf.● http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText14/SenateText14/S2835.pdf.● http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText14/SenateText14/S2834.pdf.

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als want to tell their parents and thenew word I keep seeing everywhere is“transparency.” (Back in the old days,if you called somebody “transparent,”it meant they were not genuine, butnow I guess it means exactly the op-posite.) My stepdaughter has seen themedia change and evolve and hasbeen bombarded by literally millionsof ads during her 20 years on theplanet, so she can’t be fooled, cajoledor directed by advertising. The Mil-lennials want the facts now and don’twant to sit through your long descrip-tions or veiled messages. Their time islimited and they’re juggling 1,500things simultaneously and that’s whystudies show that Millennials willvalue honesty and a straightforwardapproach when it comes to advertis-ing.

3. Strengthen Your Presence OnlineMillennials are comfortable buyingthings online and that’s why brick andmortar businesses are moving towardthe Internet more all the time. Unfor-tunately, you can’t get a fender ben-der repaired via the computer, butmuch of the groundwork can likelyhappen there. And that’s why it is im-portant to have a good web site and

some presence on Facebook and In-stagram, for example, because theseMillennials care about it and may useone or more to make their buying de-cisions.

4. Millennials Communicate All the Time…with Each OtherThis generation is more connectedthan any group in history, becausethey have so many ways to do it.They also rarely live alone and havenumerous roommates in many cases,so word-of-mouth (or text or videoor photo bomb) is more valuable toadvertisers who understand this. Theold days of creating a “buzz” is al-ways beneficial, but now it’s moreconcentrated and it all moves somuch more quickly. Come up with ashorter, more concise message, sothat the Millennials can grasp it fastand disseminate it to their friendsand associates seamlessly. It’s called“going viral” and if you can get

achieve it, you’ll be a success—Mil-lennially speaking.

5. Quality is Still King (or Queen)With today’s technology, bad serviceand poor quality can’t be swept underthe carpet anymore. Anyone can findyour competitors online within mil-liseconds and we all know that badnews travels faster than good news.Companies that take the time to pro-vide convenient, Millennial-friendlyservices and quality products will becontinually rewarded with positiverecommendations, via the spokenword, smartphones or laptops. Eitherway, Millennials are demanding bet-ter service and higher quality whilepossessing the power to influence oth-ers, so listen to what they’re sayingand start concentrating on this demo-graphic more. Whether you’re enam-ored or not with their attitudes orbehavior, they’re a huge market andyou can’t deny it any longer.





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NSF International’s Bob Frayer EarnsPrestigious ASQ Quality Leader AwardThe Automotive Division of ASQ(American Society for Quality) re-cently awarded Bob Frayer of NSFInternational its prestigious QualityLeader of the Year Award for hisleadership and NSF International’s

commitment totesting and cer-tifying aftermar-ket automotiveparts. The ASQ-Automotive Di-vision QualityLeader of theYear Award rec-ognizes leaders

in the automotive industry who ex-emplify outstanding dedication toquality.

Over the past four years, Frayer(NSF International Global ManagingDirector Automotive) has signifi-cantly increased the number of certi-fied automotive collision replacementparts available in the market, nowcovering more than 20,000 vehicleapplications including models fromall major auto companies. As back-ground, NSF International is a globalorganization with 70 years of certifi-cation and testing experience.

Frayer oversees NSF Interna-

tional’s Automotive Collision Certi-fication Program, which includesparts certification through which heand other NSF engineers independ-ently evaluate and compare theform, fit and function of aftermarketparts to original equipment (OE)parts. The program helps ensure thatcollision parts meet quality, safetyand performance standards throughrigorous facility audits and partstesting. He also oversees the Auto-motive Collision Parts DistributorCertification Program which certi-fies distributors who sell automotivecollision parts.

“We are honored to recognizethe achievements of Bob Frayer andNSF International for their dedicationto continually advance the quality andsafety of the aftermarket automotiveparts industry,” said Jd Marhevko,ASQ Fellow and ASQ AutomotiveDivision council member.

“It is an honor to receive thisaward on behalf of NSF Interna-tional from the ASQ. NSF Interna-tional and ASQ are committed toquality improvement and standards,and to helping ensure that the safetyand performance of auto parts con-tributes to that mission,” said Frayer.

Bob Frayer

Chrysler Airbag Recall Being Probed by RegulatorsThe automaker says 6 fixed SUVsfrom 2012 recall had inadvertentairbag deployments. Chrysler Groupmay be facing a recall do-over afterthe fix it initiated to stop inadvertentairbag deployments in older JeepLibertys and Grand Cherokees failedin at least six instances to fix theproblem, says a report inAutomotiveNews. The National Highway TrafficSafety Administration said in docu-ments filed on Monday that it hadopened a query into the 2012 recall744,822 Jeep Liberty SUVs frommodel years 2002 and 2003, and JeepGrand Cherokee SUVs from modelyears 2002 through 2004. NHTSAsaid it plans to study the effectivenessof the nearly 2-year-old recall, whichChrysler launched on Nov. 7, 2012.

Chrysler acknowledged in astatement that it had notified NHTSAof a half-dozen instances in which theSUV’s airbags deployed inadver-tently while the vehicles were in op-eration after they had allegedly beenfixed.

“Chrysler Group LLC advisedthe National Highway Traffic Ad-

ministration of the six reports and, inaccordance with the company’s long-standing practice, is cooperating fullywith the resulting investigation. Cus-tomer safety is paramount at ChryslerGroup,” the company said in a writ-ten statement.

In 2012, Chrysler addressed theproblem by installing an in-linejumper harness with an integratedelectrical filter to eliminate electricalspikes that the company believedwere causing the problem, accordingto the NHTSA documents. The safetyagency had previously opened an in-vestigation of the issue in October2011 and three months later upgradedthe probe.

In the latest six cases in theNHTSA documents, no crashes werereported, but injuries consisting ofcuts and burns were alleged. At thetime of the recall in 2012, another174,723 SUVs were affected inCanada, Mexico and outside of NorthAmerica. The probe found 215 casesof inadvertent airbag deploymentsthat resulted in 81 minor injuries inthe United States but no crashes.

PartsTrader Integrates Hollander Interchange CodesPartsTrader announced that it has in-tegrated Hollander Interchange codeswithin the PartsTrader application toassist suppliers when they are quot-ing recycled parts.

The Hollander Interchange is a75-year old numbering system thatindexes which parts are interchange-able among vehicles. For example,the timing cover for a 1976 GMCTruck also fits a 1969 Corvette. Hol-lander Interchange Manuals covermost foreign and domestic cars andlight trucks from the 1920s to thepresent. The manuals cover morethan 150 mechanical and body partsand assemblies.

For information on how to usethe Interchange, go to http://hollan-derinterchange.net/How_To_In-structions.pdf.

In the PartsTrader system a col-lision repair estimator will be asked,when appropriate, clarifying vehicleoption questions prior to sending outa quote request for their specific partneeds. The estimator’s answers tothese questions will trigger Part-sTrader to display the appropriateHollander code to the quoting recy-

cler whenever that code is availablefor the parts or assemblies required.

The new functionality has beenpreviewed in Illinois and New Jer-sey, and is now available to Part-sTrader users nationwide.

“The repairers and recyclerswho have been using this feature inour preview areas have been pleasedwith the efficiencies it has deliveredto them,” said Dale Sailer, Part-sTrader’s vice president of businessdevelopment. “Our developmentteam has worked diligently on ask-ing the right questions of repairers,and to display the Hollander codesin an easy-to-use manner for anysupplier quoting recycled parts.PartsTrader’s goal is to continuallyimprove our solution so that it re-duces the risk of getting the wrongparts and creates efficiencies forboth the repairer and the supplier.”

Said Rob Cooper, CEO of Part-sTrader, “In meeting with recyclersacross the country, we’ve heard theneed for integration with HollanderInterchange loud and clear, and it’s ex-citing to be able to respond to the mar-ket’s needs in such a positive way.”





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This year’s CARS will be held July 30-Aug. 2 in Detroit and for the first time,the focus will be on younger techs.

There will be a two-day, intensiveprogram called the “Young Technician’sSymposium.” Donny Seyfer, chairman-elect of the Automotive Service Associ-ation, which sponsors CARS, reports theprogram will be “powered” by Bosch.“It’s the brainchild of Bob Pattengale,”said Seyfer, “and will feature cutting-edge learning techniques and thoroughintroductions to the electronic systemsthat control modern cars. Targeting thetwo- to three-year tech, Bosch’s trainerswill use hands-on techniques mixed withclassroom training to move young techsfrom maintenance service and light re-pair to adding routine diagnostic skillsto their toolbox.”

Each program at CARS this yearhas been handpicked with an eye to-

ward making your shop better, saidSeyfer. Management sessions will belimited so that the “meeting after themeeting” networking opportunitieswill be enhanced.

Seyfer said the “crown jewel” ofthe CARS lineup will be Friday’sTelematics & Technology Forum spon-sored by the Alliance of AutomobileManufacturers. “We will bring youface-to-face with the future,” saidSeyfer. “Learn about what cars aredoing today and tomorrow from theengineers who build them. How doesthe independent repair shop fit into thisworld? You will only know if you at-tend CARS and attend this session.”

Business has changed, said Seyfer,“and things that were effective a fewyears ago are no longer working.” Tohelp bring attendees up-to-date, ASA isenlisting the aid of notables such as Vin

Waterhouse, Rissy Sutherland, DannySanchez and Margie Seyfer, all expertsin their respective fields.

Always a concern are employeeissues, including successfully integrat-ing new employees into the business.Bill Haas, industry consultant andtrainer, has a new class that will provideshop owners the tools they need to helpnew employees fit right in.

On the technical side, since CARS2014 will be in the Motor City, repre-sentatives from Chrysler, Ford and Gen-eral Motors will all be presentingclasses. Pete Meier will help you bringthose lab scopes back out to aid you indiagnosis for a new generation of cars.

“Speaking of diagnosis,” saidSeyfer, “we are going to push the bound-aries of your diagnostic techniques andunderstanding with presentations byMark Warren and Chris Chesney— both

technical wizards. They will bring newprograms that will take your diagnosti-cians to areas many of them will findcompletely new.”

Seyfer said ASA’s board of direc-tors and members of the association’sMechanical Operations Committee“are excited” to present a different ap-proach to training at CARS this year.“We surveyed members, asking whattheir biggest challenges were in run-ning their business and repairing cars,and we took the dominant responsesand sought out trainers to provide in-sight and new skills to solve thoseproblems.” Said Seyfer, CARS is builtfor shop owners. “It’s built for yourtechnicians and it is built for your salesstaff,” he said. “ASA puts on a few‘must attend’ programs each year. Thisyear, CARS will be at the top of thatlist. See you in detroit!”

CARS This Year Is All New, ASA Promises It Will Be The Best Show Ever

ASA-CO to Host Pinnacol Safety Meeting July 9 in DenverOn Wednesday, July 9, ASA-CO willhost a Pinnacol Safety meeting enti-tled “Managing Safety Through GoodHiring Practices” at Pinnacol Assur-ance, located at 7501 E. Lowry Blvdin Denver, CO. The event will takeplace from 11:30AM until 1:00PM

and includes lunch.ASA-CO is hosting this event for

all ASA Safety Group Members, to-taling around 50 policyholders, andthey expect around 15 to 20 attendees.For more information, call 303-202-5231 or go to www.asacolorado.org

Bob Leone Appointed to CAWA Advisory CouncilChair Ron Aparicio of MOTULUSA, has appointed Bob Leone ofADVICS to CAWA’s ManufacturersAdvisory Council (MAC). “In addingBob Leone to our MAC, we areadding a true leader in the auto careindustry. I have known Bob for many

years, and he brings a well-respected“real world” viewpoint to our group,Chair Aparicio stated. “Bob's valuedinput from his experiences in the af-termarket, and representing a presti-gious OEM supplier such as ADVICSwill greatly benefit the Association.


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A new report released May 29, 2014revealed a dramatic price gap betweenoriginal equipment manufacturer(OEM) and aftermarket or alternativeversions of the top 20 most commonlysold certified auto collision repairparts from 2009-2014.

The study, compiled by the Qual-ity Parts Coalition (QPC), found thatthe top 20 aftermarket parts that weretested by the Certified AutomotiveParts Association were priced up to 50percent less than OEM versions of theparts. Aftermarket versions of all of thetop 20 were priced lower than theOEM versions; the average was 29 per-cent less expensive. These price differ-

ences have led to more than $80 mil-lion in consumer savings since 2009.

“This report reinforces the im-portance of consumers having achoice when making collision re-pairs to their cars,” said Ed Salamy,Executive Director of the QPC.“Without competition, auto manu-facturers would be free to charge in-flated prices, and consumers wouldhave no other options.”

In recent years, automakers havebegun exploiting a loophole in designpatent law to limit access to alterna-tive collision repair parts, forcing con-sumers to pay car companies more tofix their vehicles.

Bipartisan legislation has beenintroduced in both the U.S. House andSenate that would fix this loopholeand safeguard consumers against pricegouging. The Promoting AutomotiveRepair, Trade, and Sales (PARTS) Actof 2013 (H.R. 1663 and S. 780) wouldensure consumer choice for auto col-lision repair parts is preserved andprotect 60 years of competition thathas existed in the auto repair partsmarket.

“It is simply not fair to saddleconsumers with higher repair and in-surance costs as a result of car compa-nies seeking to eliminate competitionand charge monopolistic prices,” said

Jack Gillis, director of public affairsfor the Consumer Federation of Amer-ica. “This report highlights the ex-traordinary consumer savings inherentin a competitive marketplace and theneed for Congress to pass the PARTSAct without delay. Consumers need tomake their voices heard to ensure thathappens.”

The QPC says it is leading agrassroots effort to build support forpassage of the PARTS Act at support-partsact.com. QPC is providing infor-mation about the bill, including a2-minute whiteboard video that at-tempts to explain its side of the issuein a clear and fast way.

Quality Parts Coalition Says Five-Year Price Comparison Report Shows CertifiedAftermarket Parts Saved Consumers $80 Million Since 2009

Evan Wilson, Math Teacher Come Auto Body Shop Owner Come Math Teacher, Retires in Mesquite, NVEvan Wilson, the math teacher atCharles A. Hughes Middle School(HMS) in Mesquite, NV, is retiring thisyear and a celebration was scheduledto honor him from 1 to 2:30 p.m. June5 at HMS. Wilson started teaching atVirgin Valley High School (VVHS) in1969 where he stayed until 1976 when

he moved to Boulder City. While therehe taught Math, Automotive Repairand was the head football coach.

After three years, Evan moved toSt. George and opened his own autobody shop. In 1981, Wilson returned atVVHS and taught Math and AutoBody and was also the head football

coach. Wilson taught and coached atVVHS until 1995. In 1995 Wilson tookon a new role as principal of LincolnCounty Middle School, he soon movedon to Lincoln County High School(LCHS). In 2002, Wilson retired fromLCHS. His retirement was short as hereturned to VVHS to teach Math.

Shortly after Wilson made the move toHMS to teach math there, where he hasremained until his retirement this year.

Wilson has been named a nationalcoach of the year finalist. He is in theVVHS Hall of Fame, Southern NevadaCoaches Association Hall of Fame andthe NIAA Hall of Fame.

Collision repair has changed, and so hasNACE, says ASA. The InternationalAutobody Congress and Exposition(NACE) has been fine-tuned to ensurecollision repairers get the very latest andgreatest information available.

Much will be new this year atNACE, which for 32 years has been“the world’s premier event for colli-sion professionals.”

NACE 2014 will be held July 30-Aug. 2 in Detroit.

What’s new includes:• 20,000 square feet dedicated to livedemonstrations of welding, cutting,grinding, sanding and painting• Expanded and enhanced training classesweighted toward technical training• Manufacturer-specific classes• Expanded I-CAR class offering• Outstanding lineup of exclusive tours(see list below)• A bigger, better MSO Symposium –which has been renamed the CollisionRepair Executive Symposium (CRES)

“NACE is the only show in theUnited States solely dedicated to thecollision repair industry. It’s a show forrepairers about repairers. This year’sevent is focused on ensuring that repair-ers have access to the information, tool-ing, training and equipment they need torepair today’s vehicle as well as those inthe future,” said Dan Risley, Automo-tive Service Association (ASA) presi-dent and executive director. “As anexample, Ford’s recent announcementof its aluminum-bodied F-150 is caus-ing the entire industry to take notice andseek information and training. As a re-sult, there will be several differentclasses at NACE offering aluminum re-pair information and training.”

Risley added, “Another example isthe Collision Repair Education Founda-tion (CREF). They reported recentlythat the Alcoa Foundation, the philan-thropic arm of Alcoa (which makes alu-minum), awarded a $60,000 grant thatwill provide aluminum repair-focusedtraining and technical presentations tohigh school and college collision in-structors, and industry professionals at-tending the 2014 NACE event.” Readmore about CREF and the Alcoa Foun-dation grant at: http://collisioneduca-tionfoundation.org/press-releases/.

Other manufacturers will also offerpresentations at NACE on aluminum re-pair – including, but not limited to, FordMotor Co., Audi, Pro Spot, Car-O-Liner,Chief and 3M. Ford will have a class that

will provide 2015 F-150 aluminum re-pair information and details on its Na-tional Body Shop Program.

There will be at least nine classescovering aluminum, including ses-sions on aluminum welding and repairand a class explaining the differencesbetween aluminum and steel.

For a complete list of classes to beoffered at NACE, visit:www.NACEexpo.com.

Risley said, “Alcoa’s commitmentto educate instructors and the collisionrepair industry on aluminum repairs isunparalleled. In addition to the classesand material presented by I-CAR onaluminum, we will be assembling ashowcase on the show floor highlight-ing current model vehicles that are alu-minum-intensive. In addition, attendeescan see live demonstrations on properaluminum repair techniques to furthersupplement an already outstandinglineup of classes offering aluminum in-formation.”

The rebranded Collision Repair Ex-ecutive Symposium (CRES), formerlythe MSO Symposium, has been an ex-tremely popular, sold-out event duringNACE since it premiered in 2011. It tra-ditionally has drawn attendance from thelargest multi-shop operators in the colli-sion repair industry. But the all-newCRES business event will cater to abroader group of collision repair execu-tives, allowing it to be more inclusive ofsome of the best, as well as the largest,operators in the marketplace.

This year’s event includes keychanges in content, including a focus onmanagement, operations and participa-tion from insurance company execu-tives presenting leading information onindustry trends.

CRES is designed for collision re-pair multi-shop operators, as well asoperators looking for high-growthstrategies, mergers and acquisitions.The symposium is scheduled for Fri-day, Aug. 1.

Attendees will experience the his-tory of the Motor City through a hostof tour options, including:• The General Motors Co. HeritageCenter• Chrysler Museum (which is closed tothe public)• The Henry Ford Museum and Green-field Village• Windsor, Canada• The Ford Motor Co. F-150 Plant• Chevy Volt Plant• BASF Color Trends

• NSF Technical Tour• OnStar Facility

In addition to the tours, there willbe other events and recreational outingsfor spouses, guests and families. Amongsuch events are Detroit Tigers baseballgames, river and city tours, and casinos.

“Since NACE will be held in theMotor City, original equipment manu-facturers will have a bigger presencethan ever,” said Risley. He also pointedout that NACE is part of a new IndustryWeek with an overriding purpose tobring the industry together. Among in-dustry organizations that will host meet-ings, events, and/or exhibit during theweek are I-CAR, CIC, ASE, CIECA,NABC, SCRS, AMI, CCIF, OEM Col-lision Roundtable, CREF, Alcoa Alu-minum Transportation board, MERA,AASA and ETI.

“This gathering of the industry –plus the fact several of the world’smajor car manufacturers are head-quartered in Detroit and will partici-pate in Industry Week – createstremendous opportunity for education,collaboration and networking,” saidRisley. “Our focus is giving the repairindustry an event – and a week – that

is dedicated to them. It will be good tosee the entire industry come together.”

Also part of Industry Week isCARS, which is for mechanical repairprofessionals.

This repairer-focused week willstart Monday, July 28, and run throughSaturday, Aug. 2. The Collision Indus-try Conference will be held Tuesdayand I-CAR on Wednesday. The Cana-dian Collision Industry Forum will beheld Wednesday afternoon.

ASA’s NACE | CARS Expo will beheld Thursday and Friday, July 31-Aug.1, with education beginning Wednesday,July 30, and ending Saturday, Aug. 2.

Tuesday will feature a CIC quar-terly meeting. Wednesday will highlightthe I-CAR Conference and Gala 35thAnniversary Networking Reception. OnThursday and Friday, the NACE |CARS Expo will take place, along withnumerous NACE and CARS businessand technical sessions, the Collision Re-pair Executive Symposium (CRES), theTechnology & Telematics Forum, theAutomotive Management Institute(AMI) graduation ceremony and on-siteI-CAR training. Technical presentationsend at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, August 2.


NACE 2014: In its 32nd Year, It’s Still a World Collision Repair Event


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Shop owners with a shop in a metro-politan area see many vehicles withminor dings, dents, scratches andmore, all around the city. Many ofthese drivers have tolerated these im-perfections on their vehicle for weeks,months and possibly even years. Whyhaven’t they done something aboutthese eyesores? Maybe the discomfortof driving around with these flawssimply hasn’t been great enough tomotivate them to fix them. Or maybethey imagine the cost, not only interms of money, but also in consider-ing the inconvenience of being with-out the vehicle while it’s being fixed,is too great to bother.

If a shop mainly relies on insur-ance or dealerships for work, this maynot be an interesting marketing move.But if a shop seeks to bring in newcustomers and add to a database ofmarketing targets, this could be a realopportunity to increase the shop’s vol-ume and potential volume of business.

In general advertising a collision re-pair shop is mainly done to make ashop’s name, location and reputationbroadly known. When viewers of thead may not have an accident for threeor more years in the future, getting animmediate response is only a periph-eral intent of the ad. But the advertis-ing campaign I’m proposing here,aimed at a great many drivers withminor body damage, could produce animmediate volume of responses ifhandled right.

The proposed ad should offer a“Ding Day Special.” The two vital as-pects of the ad must be that it will below cost, and with very little timecommitment. For the bold shop owner,the ad could also offer “No risk—yourmoney back if not completely satis-fied.” Some owners might hesitate onthis one, but statistically the no riskoffer increases responses significantly.An additional attraction to be offeredby the tech-savvy shop would be an

on-line inquiry and approximate esti-mate for potential customers. Theprospective customer simply uploadsa photo of the damage and the shopgets back to him or her with an ap-proximate repair time and cost.

To make the “Ding Day” routinework well, a shop must commit sig-nificant resources to getting vehiclescompleted and out quickly at reason-able cost. The real profit should not bein the limited scope of the minor re-pair. Instead it should be viewed as asales opportunity. This is a chance tocollect many customer informationforms filled in with vital marketing in-formation. It has to collect informa-tion on all vehicles owned by thecustomer’s family and employer andany other vehicles in need of repair. Itshould have his or her insurance agentand possibly organizations the cus-tomer belongs to that could be mar-keting targets. Filling in of the formcan’t be simply handing it to the vehi-

cle owner, leaving him or her to omitmany important marketing bits of in-formation. The estimator or a well-trained front desk person should makecertain most of the requested informa-tion is captured. And this is just stepone in capturing this vital sales op-portunity.

While it may be possible to talkthe prospect into bringing in anothervehicle that needs repair right thenand there, this could be shortsighted.In order to keep the turn-around timeshort, it could be better to solicitwork on other vehicles with follow-up calls. If the customer was pleasedwith a quick turn-around, the esti-mator should get a welcome re-sponse when making the follow-upcall. This call would also be an ap-propriate time to ask for permissionto call the customer’s business andsocial organization connections tomake the shop known to them. Thistactic has worked well with Amway


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Ding Day–A Marketing Tactic

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

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

and Avon solicitors and builds anever-expanding network of relatedindividuals for marketing purposes.When there is reluctance to passalong phone numbers, these daysasking for an e-mail address or evenFacebook connection could get aneasier response.

Perhaps the greatest difficultygetting this tactic to work is the prob-lem of where to advertise and how toreach the greatest number of prospec-tive customers. Today print ads havelimited value as people turn awayfrom printed newspapers and get theirnews on-line. TV ads are generally tooexpensive, but radio ads could be areal possibility in some areas. On-lineads are essential.The ad has to be di-rect and simple. It should start withthe key question: “Are you tired ofliving with that ugly dent, ding orscratch on your vehicle? For a limitedtime we are offering a very low-cost,fast turn-around repair to restore yourvehicle to its original beauty. Andwe’re located close enough for you todrop your vehicle off in the morningand pick it up, possibly as early asnoon. Call us or e-mail a quick photoof your damage and we’ll give you anapproximate estimate immediately.”


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GENUINE SERVICE & PARTS

I-CAR® announced that its new inter-active Advanced Steering and Suspen-sion Systems Damage Analysis(DAM15) course is now available. Thiscourse provides detailed informationon the considerations for inspectingsteering and suspension systems andprovides knowledge that can lead to in-creased efficiency and a positive cus-tomer experience.

Josh McFarlin, I-CAR Director ofCurriculum & Product Developmentstated, “Advanced steering and sus-pension systems are common intoday’s vehicles and if not repairedproperly, other vehicle systems can be

compromised.” He continued, “Repair-ers can apply knowledge learned in thiscourse throughout the repair process.”

The course features a series of in-teractive classroom activities and prob-lem-solving scenarios designed toengage the student and enrich theirlearning experience in order to furtherprepare them to apply their knowledgeon the job. Toward the end of thecourse, the student will engage in a“damage discovery” activity wherehe/she will simulate the estimatingprocess.

This instructor-led, Live 3-credithour course meets training require-

ments for Estimators, Auto PhysicalDamage Appraisers and Electrical/Me-chanical Technicians in I-CAR’s Pro-fessional Development Program™(PDP). DAM15 has replaced Electron-ically Controlled Steering and Suspen-sion Systems (STE05). If STE05 hasbeen completed, training credit earnedwill not be lost.

To register for Advanced Steeringand Suspension Systems DamageAnalysis (DAM15), visit the I-CARwebsite at www.i-car.com or contact I-CAR Customer Care at 1-800-I-CAR-USA (800-422-7872). Classes arebeing added to the schedule regularly.

Interactive Advanced Steering and Suspension Systems Damage Analysis Course

I-CAR® Adds New OEM Segment Development Director, John BosinI-CAR® announced that John Bosinhas joined I-CAR in the role of Direc-tor, Segment Development– OEM.John will oversee all business devel-opment and strategic activity for I-CAR in the OEM segment includingrefinement of strategies to better servethe OEM segment, as well as I-CARactivity with OEMs related to Colli-sion Repair Network (CRN) programsthat rely on I-CAR’s training and GoldClass program, I-CAR® WeldingTraining & Certification™ initiatives,

and contract training. He will alsowork closely with I-CAR’s IndustryTechnical Relations team to advanceI-CAR’s Reparability Technical Sup-port (RTS) program as I-CAR worksto develop and mature the portfolio ofRTS services for the benefit of OEMsand the Inter-Industry. John Van Al-styne, I-CAR CEO & President stated,“Segment focused sales and market-ing, and strategic alignment, havebeen key to I-CAR’s progress over thepast three years. John Bosin is a great

addition to our team, and with his join-ing, I-CAR is more firmly positionedto create more positive impact in theOEM segment and across the board.”

Bosin joins I-CAR with signifi-cant experience in the OEM segmentthrough his extensive and diverseroles in the Collision Repair industry.Most recently, John was with Ak-zoNobel as OEM Aftermarket Man-ager, and earlier with Fix Auto USA,ICI Autocolor and DuPont. John isalso a Lean Six Sigma Sensei.


Choose Original MINI Parts.Because you can’t repair your reputation.

YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE AT THE FIRST REPAIR.

These Dealers Below Are Original MINI Parts Distributors:

Northern CaliforniaSouthern California

South Bay MINITorrance310-939-7342310-939-7343

Bob Smith MINICalabasas888-215-7854818-340-9455 Fax

MINI of EscondidoEscondido800-544-4269760-291-2878 FaxWWW.MINIOFESCONDIDO.COM

East Bay MINIPleasanton888-686-4580M-F 7:30-6; Sat 7:30-5

©2014 MINI, a division of BMW of North America, LLC. The MINI name, model names and logo are registered trademarks.

Fix Auto Acquires Alaska ShopsFix Auto USA continues expansion inthe Western United States with the in-troduction of five locations in Alaska,bringing the total number of Fix Autofranchises to 59. This marks the firsttime Fix Auto has ventured into theAlaskan market.

“We’re ecstatic to join this eliteand exclusive brand of high caliberoperators as we adapt to shifting mar-ket dynamics,” said Tony Stanley,who along with his wife Mel are theowners of the Fix Auto Alaskan fran-chise group, formerly Driven AutoBody.

AMI to Honor New ManagersThe Automotive Management Insti-tute (AMI) will honor its 20th classof Accredited Automotive Managers(AAMs) with a formal cap and gownceremony on Aug. 1 during the newIndustry Week 2014 July 28-Aug. 2at the COBO Center in Detroit. TheAAM designation is awarded afterthey successfully complete course-work and earn 120 credits of man-agement education. More than 1,700individuals have earned the AAMdesignation and approximately 100new graduates are added each year.For more go to www.AMIonline.org.

The prestigious Most InfluentialWomen in Collision Repair (MIW)Awards were presented to three womenduring a celebratory dinner in SanDiego during the Women’s IndustryNetwork (WIN) Conference. The MIWAwards recognize women who haveenriched the collision repair industrywith their leadership, vision, and com-mitment to excellence. Doug Holm-berg, representing AkzoNobel,formally transitioned the MIW pro-gram to Margaret Knell, Chair ofWIN, by giving WIN a framed issue ofAkzoNobel’s Profit Magazine with acommemorative note officially mark-ing the transition. Profit Magazine hashighlighted Most Influential Womenhonorees since inception of the award.This year’s honorees were FredericaCarter, President of F. Carter Events,LLC; Jordan Hendler, Executive Di-rector of the Washington MetropolitanAuto Body Association; and LeanneJefferies, Director of Collision Pro-grams at AIA Canada. Each honoreewas introduced by an industry peer andformer MIW who nominated them forthe award. In a welcome message,Knell thanked those being honored aswell as award recipients from prioryears, “for your visibility and ongoing

example of most influential women inthe collision repair industry by yourleadership, vision, and commitment toexcellence—both in your professionsand in your communities.” She thenrecognized AkzoNobel for their vision

and elevation of the societal issue of theadvancement of women in the collisionrepair industry. The recognition pro-gram's charter aligns with WIN’s mis-sion to ‘enhance the role of women inthe industry’ and has recognized morethan 75 women for their professionalaccomplishments and for going beyondrequirements of their positions to giveback to their communities. Honoreeshave held positions in every facet of thecollision repair industry, as shop own-ers, body and paint technicians, man-

agers, wholesalers, lobbyists, suppliers,insurance adjusters, consultants, edu-cators, editors and writers, and indus-try association directors. Established in1999 by AkzoNobel, WIN assumedmanagement of the MIW program in2013. The Most Influential Womenprogram has supported the industry byfunding scholarships for prospectivefemale students interested in pursuinga career in collision repair.

“The Women’s Industry Networkhas, in a very short period of time, be-come a pillar association within theNorth American collision repair mar-ket,” said Doug Holmberg, Director ofVehicle Refinishes for AkzoNobel Au-tomotive & Aerospace Coatings NorthAmerica. “It was both a pleasure andhonor for AkzoNobel to be part of the2014 WIN Conference and formallytransition the Most Influential Womenin the Collision Repair Industry pro-gram from our stewardship to WIN fortheir continued mentoring. WIN willbe able to advance MIW and createsustainable resources to the full benefitof the entire collision repair industry.”To learn more about WIN and the MIWAwards, or to see a list of past recipi-ents, visit http://thewomensindus-trynetwork.ning.com.

Women’s Industry Network Celebrates Excellence In Leadership andthe Formal Transition of the ‘Most Influential Women’ Program to WIN

Margaret Knell and Doug Holmberg


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

Southern California BMW Centers

BMW of EscondidoEscondido(800) 544-4269www.bmwofescondido.com

BMW of MurrietaMurrieta(888) 805-2393FAX (951) 698-2086www.bmwofmurrieta.com

BMW of Palm SpringsPalm Springs(760) 324-8314

BMW of VistaVista(760) [email protected]

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

Center BMWSherman Oaks(818) 990-9518

New Century BMWAlhambra(626) 576-2867www.ncbmw.com

South Bay BMWTorrance(310) 939-7342(310) 939-7343

Sterling BMWNewport Beach(949) 645-8729

East Bay BMWPleasanton(888) 686-4580M-F 7-6; Sat 7:30-5; Sun 10-5

Niello BMWSacramento(916) 486-1299

Sonnen BMWSan Rafael(415) 482-2040

Weatherford BMWBerkeley(800) 995-9269

Northern California BMW Centers

YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE AT THE FIRST REPAIR.Original Thought #78

Original BMW Parts

bmwusa.com

I received a call last month from adear friend of mine on the West Coast.I’ll call him Paul here, but that’s nothis real name. His voice was shakyand he was clearly upset. Paul told methat one of the big MSOs had recentlyacquired a shop just down the streetfrom him and at first he wasn’t tooconcerned, but now he was extremelyconcerned. My friend has always ran avery good shop, so I asked him whathe was so worried about to which hereplied, “I hate to admit it, but theseguys are better than I thought and I amlosing business to them!” You seePaul’s biggest DRP provider put hisnew big MSO neighbor on the sameprogram even though they are only ablock apart! What’s more, Paul wastold by his DRP coordinator that un-less his shop improved its KPIs, hisnew neighbor was going to be receiv-ing the lion’s share of the business.

Paul’s story is not an isolatedone. Knowing Paul, he will figure out

a way to compete and win, but he isgoing to need some help.

Everyone in the collision repairindustry knows how challenging it hasbecome. DRPs are demanding more,Consolidators are growing faster thanever, and profits are shrinking. Theshops that are serious about compet-ing in this game need to quickly im-prove their position in the marketplaceby performing at unprecedented lev-els. This document is intended toshow the reader that many of the ad-vantages provided to large MSOs canbe afforded to any shop serious abouttransforming their business throughusing an outside firm to provide manyof the services.

Organizations like Service King,ABRA, Boyd Group, etc. have sys-tems in place that give them a verystrong presence in many major mar-kets in this country. These systemsallow for consistent and predictableresults in quality and customer serv-

ice. These systems when combinedwith the footprint of the consolidators,gives them a very lucrative “seat at thetable” with all major insurance carri-ers.

While each MSO is slightly dif-ferent in their approach to centralizedresources, this is a generalized list ofadvantages that large MSOs have overthe rest of us…■ Assurance of DRP affiliation whenopening new locations■ Centralized Human Resource De-partments■ Centralized Accounting ■ Centralized Customer Call Center■ Centralized Load Leveling ■ Centralized Management of I-CARGold Class ■ On-line training, Learning Manage-ment Systems, and testing■ Self-managed DRP with centralizedaudit teams■ Marketing Teams■ Safety and Environmental Compli-

ance Teams■ Proven workflow systems and ac-countability to make them work■ Mass advertising and name recog-nition■ Ability for employees to help otherlocations when needed■ Stability and benefits are attractiveto potential new-hires■ Buying power

Most small collision repair busi-nesses must attempt to perform manyof these functions, but are rarely ableto perform all of them well, if at all.To remain profitable typical shopowner/managers must perform manyof the functions that shop managers atlarge MSOs don’t have to deal with.The time that a typical shop managerwould spend performing many ofthese functions is spared to the largeMSO shop manager thereby provid-ing them time to ensure that processesare being followed, quality and cycletime standards are being met and in


Shift into Genuine Nissan and Infiniti OEM Parts

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The following dealers stock genuine parts for your Nissan or Infiniti repairs. GENUINE SERVICE & PARTS

S. CALIFORNIA N. CALIFORNIA

DOWNEY NISSANDOWNEY

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

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

www.downeynissan.com

METRO NISSANINFINITI OF MONTCLAIR

MONTCLAIR800-243-5575(909) 625-4087 FaxAsk for Rita or Steve

Large inventory available

NISSAN OFBAKERSFIELDBAKERSFIELD

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

www.nissanofbakersfield.com

SHINGLE SPRINGSNISSAN

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

www.shinglespringsnissan.com

MOSSY NISSANNATIONAL CITY

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

Largest Inventory in San Diegowww.mossyparts.com

LITHIA NISSANFRESNO

800-870-7779559-436-6040 Parts Direct

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

with David LuehrLean Operations

David Luehr is the owner of Elite Body Shop Solutions, LLC, a collision business consultingfirm based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a 30 year veteran of the collision repair industry.David is an expert in Body Shop Operations and specializes in Lean, and Theory ofConstraints methods. Email him at [email protected]

Using an Outside Expert to Improve your Competitive Position

many ways acts as an “auditor.” Withthese disciplines in place, it becomesvery difficult to compete with theseguys.

In order to perform all these func-tions that are required, you wouldneed to hire people that are experts inInsurance DRP Relations, HR, Ac-counting, Customer Relations, I-CARGold Class, Marketing and Advertis-ing, Safety and Environmental Com-pliance, Admin Workflow Systems,Change Management, Lean, etc., etc.,etc. I would bet in most collision re-pair businesses, at least one or morehighly paid people would need to behired to perform all of these functionswhich are currently not being per-formed well or at all. That couldequate to $5,000 - $15,000 a month,plus benefits to hire who is needed toget all this stuff done! This of coursewould be considerably more if youhave multiple locations needing theseservices.

Solutions can be provided by anoutside firm at a substantially lowerprice and be performed by experts thatwill ensure these functions are per-formed precisely. So in other words,you could get many of these functionsat your shop performed both better

and cheaper than trying to do it your-self in-house.

A look at ROIIs it actually costing you money bynot using an outside firm? In manycases, yes! Training & Coaching hasbeen proven to increase a shop’s KeyPerformance Indicators substantially.Coaching and Training provided byqualified outside sources can have animmediate positive impact on bothKPIs and return on financial invest-ment. Even a modest 5% increase inproductivity at a shop producing$100,000 in revenue can yield an ad-ditional $2,000 in gross revenuewhich in many cases is enough to payfor the outside services. There aremany cases of shops experiencing sig-nificant gains in productivity and prof-itability that never would have beenpossible with the assistance of outsideexperts. Don’t expect quality outsideservices to be cheap, but look at it asan investment with a favorable ROI.

Do your homework when hiringa business coach or any kind of out-side service, these folks in many waysbecome a reflection of your businessand will have an impact either positiveor negative. You must be able to trust

them much as you would a new em-ployee, so don’t feel you need to hirethe first one that comes along.

The old saying that the “Defini-tion of Insanity is doing the samething over and over and expecting adifferent result” is exactly what manyshop leaders continually do. It doesn’thave to be this way. Quality of life forstakeholders at body shops doesn’thave to be so bad. We all need help,and there are resources available toprovide support.

Resources Available:Business Coaching & Consultants● General Business Consulting● Admin Workflow Processes & Im-plementation● Learning Management System● Leadership Coaching● Training Clinics

Online Human Resources● Hiring Programs● Performance Evaluation Process● Employee corrective action● Legal Advice

Data Management● CSI● Centralized Call Center

● KPI Management & ReportingSafety & Environmental Compli-anceMarketing & Advertising SolutionsI-CAR Gold Class ManagementAssociations, Buying Groups &Networks

If you would like more information,or a referral to a capable service inyour area, feel free to contact me [email protected]


MONDAY - FRIDAY: 7:00AM - 6:00PM

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Place an ad in our

AUTOBODY MARKETPLACE

section of Autobody News.


QUALITY IS ALL WE THINK ABOUT. THAT

AND QUALITY.

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

SO. CALIFORNIA

NO. CALIFORNIA

Lithia HyundaiFRESNO

800-462-2231559-436-6041559-436-0743 Fax

Mon-Fri 7am - 6pm; Sat 8am - [email protected]

Kearny Mesa HyundaiSAN DIEGO

800-469-9731858-300-3331 Fax

Mon-Fri 7am - 6pm; Sat 8am - [email protected]

www.kearnymesahyundai.com

Drew HyundaiSAN DIEGO

888-839-0777619-668-7782 Direct619-460-4082 Fax

[email protected]

Genuine Mitsubishi Replacement Crash Parts are closeat hand through the following quality dealerships.

Parts You Need.People You Trust.

Glendale MitsubishiGLENDALE

800-424-7884(818) 549-3850 Fax

M-F 7:00 am - 6:00 pmSat 8:00 am - 4:00 pm

[email protected]

Oakland MitsubishiOAKLAND

510-267-0688(510) 267-0622 Fax

M-F 7:30 am - 5:30 pmSat 8:00 am - 4:00 pm

[email protected]

CALIFORNIA

On March 21 through 23, ASA-North-west held their 6th Annual AutomotiveTraining Expo (ATE) at the DoubletreeHilton in Seattle, WA. With over 600attendees and 83 exhibitors, the 2014ATE marked the first year the eventhas been sold out. The goal of theevent was to provide training for theautomotive industry, including owners,managers and technicians, and ATE2014 really delivered with 62 trainingsessions, six of which were I-CARcourses, taught by industry-leadingprofessionals.

Attendees raved about ATE 2014,and some of the feedback that ASA-Northwest has received so far in-cluded the following: “2014 was thebest ATE ever; my production team allbrought back valuable informationthey could use the first day back towork, and my service advisors madesubtle changes in how they functionand brought up ARO and GP the firstweek back. If this improvement con-

tinues, we will pay the entire invest-ment of sending six people to ATEback in three months just off of that,not including what the Techs learned!”“This was a premier event that al-lowed my team and I to increase ourknowledge in all facets of our busi-ness as well as an amazing team build-ing experience. It’s a no-brainer thatwe will be back next year, and I thinkevery shop should attend.” “ATEteaches you to be better at your job.”“ATE is a great way for Automotiveeducators to get updated on current re-pair information. Attending is alwaysa positive experience.”

Jeff Lovell, President and Execu-tive Director of ASA-Northwest, notes“this year, our sixth year, was sold outand exceeded our expectations. Wehave grown this event from the firstyear of 173 attendees to over 600 at-tendees going to training classes with12,430 hours of training. We also had83 exhibitors participate in our expo,

both Friday and Saturday evening. Theexpo floor was sold out three monthsin advance!”

On Thursday, the National Auto-motive Service Task Force (NASTF)joined ATE to host their Spring 2014General Meeting, and over 100 partic-ipants attended to discuss the topic ofJ-2534 Reprogramming. At breakfaston Saturday, renowned trainer GarySmith presented “Success or Strug-gle,” and during lunch, Bryan Dodgetaught attendees “How to Have YourBest Year Ever.” Throughout the event,ATE offered an impressive trade expowith exhibitors displaying automotiveparts, repair equipment, shop manage-ment services, and specialty products.ATE attendees also had the chance towin a variety of door prizes which weredistributed throughout the weekend.

Lovell believes these types of as-sociation-sponsored events are impor-tant for members and the industrybecause it “brings our membership to-

gether to discuss issues affecting ourindustry, such as getting new techni-cians into the industry, environmentalissues, legislative issues and network-ing. It is so gratifying to have ATEgrow each year and that it has estab-lished itself as the West Coast’s pre-mier training event. Our staff andvolunteers help make this an excep-tional event that provides qualitytraining to all levels of the service andrepair industry.

In addition to ASA-Northwest,sponsors for ATE included the North-west Tire Dealers Association, AutoShop Solutions (the official socialmedia sponsor), and “Parts & PeopleNorthwest” who was the officialmedia sponsor of the event. ATE2015 will be held on March 20-22ndat the Doubletree Hilton in Seattle,WA.

www.asanorthwest.com253-473-6970

ASA-NW’s Automotive Training Expo 2014

with David BrownShop Showcase

with Attorney Martin ZuradaBody Shop Law

with Domenico Nigro

The Community-Focused Body Shop

with Janet ChaneyShop Showcase

with Frank SheroskyIndustry Business Beat

with Chasidy Rae SiskAssociations Assembling

with Chasidy Rae SiskWestern Associations

with Chasidy Rae SiskOld School Know How

with Chasidy Rae SiskAssociations Assembling

with Chasidy Rae SiskSoutheast News

with Chasidy Rae SiskMidwest Associations

with Chasidy Rae SiskNational Associations

with Chasidy Rae SiskNorthwest Associations


with Chasidy Rae SiskSoutheast Associations

with Chasidy Rae SiskNortheast Associations

with John YoswickHistorical Snapshot

with Ed AttanasioShop Showcase

with Ed AttanasioMedia Matters

with Ed AttanasioOld School Know How

with Ed AttanasioAdvertising Advantages

with Ed AttanasioAssociations Assembling

Association Meetingswith Thomas Franklin

Western Associationswith Thomas Franklin



Galpin SubaruSanta Clarita

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

www.galpin.com

Kearny Mesa SubaruSan Diego

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

Mon.-Fri. [email protected]

www.kearnymesasubaru.com/parts

Marin SubaruSan Rafael

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

[email protected]

Subaru of GlendaleGlendale

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

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

Sierra Subaru ofMonroviaMonrovia

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


Maita SubaruSacramento

(877) 484-4870(916) 484-4876

(916) 484-4878 FaxMon.-Fri. 7:30-5:30

www.maitasubaru.com

Shingle Springs SubaruShingle Springs(530) 676-0444

(530) 677-6528 Faxwww.shinglespringssubaru.com

Subaru of Santa CruzSanta Cruz

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

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

[email protected]

Camelback SubaruPhoenix

(866) 641-9880(602) 776-6407 Fax


AutoNation SubaruScottsdaleScottsdale

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

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

Subaru Superstoreof Chandler

Chandler(877) 443-3239(480) 268-2402

(480) 621-3805 FaxMon.-Fri. 7-6; Sat. 7-5

[email protected]

SO. CALIFORNIA

NO. CALIFORNIA

ARIZONA

NEVADA

TEXAS

OKLAHOMA

LOUISIANA

NEW MEXICO

ARKANSAS

COLORADO

MISSISSIPPI

KANSAS

UTAH

SO. CALIFORNIA

NO. CALIFORNIA

ARIZONA

NEVADA

TEXAS

OKLAHOMA

LOUISIANA

NEW MEXICO

ARKANSAS

COLORADO

MISSISSIPPI

KANSAS

UTAH

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

parts specialist today!

SO. CALIFORNIA

NO. CALIFORNIA

ARIZONA

NEVADA

TEXAS

OKLAHOMA

LOUISIANA

NEW MEXICO

ARKANSAS

COLORADO

MISSISSIPPI

KANSAS

UTAH

SO. CALIFORNIA

NO. CALIFORNIA

ARIZONA

NEVADA

TEXAS

OKLAHOMA

LOUISIANA

NEW MEXICO

ARKANSAS

COLORADO

MISSISSIPPI

KANSAS

UTAH

Philadelphia Shop Accused of Staging Car Accidents as ‘Fictitious Deer Crashes’Ronald Galati Sr. is one of 41 peoplein Philadelphia indicted by a grandjury in an elaborate insurance fraudscheme that used deer carcasses tostage auto accidents, according to re-ports at Philly.com. Galati is accusedof running the $5 million scam out ofhis auto body shop in Philadelphiawhere he stored deer carcasses, blood,and fur in the back of his shop to use asprops to stage the accidents. Galati

was in the business, according to agrand jury, of “fictitious deer acci-dents.” Galati, 63, was one of 41 peo-ple charged in the fraud after a16-month investigation by a Philadel-phia grand jury. Also charged were hiswife, Vicki, 59, and their son Ron Jr.,37, who since 2000 has been the legalowner of his father’s American Colli-sion & Auto Center at 1930 S. 20th St.According to District Attorney Seth

Williams, Galati encouraged cus-tomers to file insurance claims sayingthey struck a deer instead of a car soinsurance companies would considerthem “no fault” accidents and pay theclaims without raising the customers’premiums.

Galati favored creating single-ve-hicle accidents because insurancecompanies would consider them “no-fault” and pay the claims without rais-

ing the vehicle owners’ premiums,Williams contended. Galati wouldcopy keys to cars brought into his shopfor repair, and an accomplice wouldlater find them parked on the street,steal them, and crash them into theother vehicles owned by Galati cus-tomers, a grand jury witness said. Thepurported point of their vandalism? Tocreate more work and potential insur-ance paydays for American Collision.


AudiGenuine Parts

Order Audi Genuine Parts from these select Dealers

Nothing else measures up.

Audi of Downtown LALOS ANGELES213-747-7248213-222-1261 FaxAsk for Carlos or Fausto

Circle AudiLONG BEACH800-675-2472562-597-2854 FaxAsk for Eddie or Nate

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That includes $277 billion in actual cost,and an estimated $594 billion in “harmfrom the loss of life and the pain and de-creased quality of life due to injuries,” anew U.S. Department of Transporta-tion’s National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration report said.

Studying crashes in the U.S. in2010, NHTSA counted up 32,999 fa-talities, 3.9 million non-fatal injuriesand 24 million damaged vehicles in“The Economic and Societal Impactof Motor Vehicle Crashes 2010.”

The sweeping report takes in a lotof ground, particularly in calculatingthe “quality of life” losses. Among thefactors considered in the direct lossesof $277 billion, the report said, were$93 billion in lost productivity, $76billion in property damage, $35 billionin medical expenses, and $28 billionin the costs of traffic-related conges-tion—like traffic jams and increasedair pollution.

The report concluded that drunkdriving, speeding and “distraction”were key contributors.

Drunk driving alone, the reportsaid, accounted for 18% of the total eco-nomic loss from motor vehicle crashes,costing the economy as much as $199billion in direct and quality-of-life losses.

Crashes Cost Almost $1T inCosts, Loss of Life, Pain

On Monday, July 28th, the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS)will hold an open board meeting from3:00–5:00pm in Detroit. The meeting,held at the Marriott Renaissance Cen-ter located at 400 Renaissance Dr.West, Detroit, will be open to anyonewishing to learn more about the cur-rent state of the association's activitiesand pressing industry topics. The twohour meeting will include updatesfrom SCRS staff and committees out-lining current and future work initia-tives each group has undertaken onbehalf of the membership. It will in-clude a presentation from the SCRSEducation Committee who will be pro-viding a detailed presentation sur-rounding aluminum repair approaches,techniques and considerations.

Attendees are not required to bea member of SCRS to participate inthis meeting. Anyone interested inlearning more about the association,the work it does on behalf of the col-lision repair industry or interactingwith the SCRS Board of Directors isencouraged to attend. Pre-registrationis not required.

For more information aboutSCRS, or to join as a member, visitour website at www.scrs.com.

SCRS Open Board Meetingon July 28th in Detroit

Automotive service and repair shopowners will want their young techni-cians to attend this unique symposiumat this year’s Congress of AutomotiveService and Repair (CARS), which willbe held in Detroit July 30-Aug. 2. Itwas designed specifically for youngtechnicians who shop owners believehave the skills to be all-star technicians.The Young Technician’s Symposium isa first time event at CARS and will bepowered by Bosch. Targeting the two-to three-year technician, Bosch trainerswill use interactive teaching methods tomove young technicians to electricaland driveability diagnosis with confi-dence and speed. ASA is working withBob Pattengale, training manager forRobert Bosch, to address the challengesyoung technicians face. Donny Seyfer,chairman-elect of the ASA, whichsponsors CARS, said Bosch recentlyconducted a trial training program withmembers of ASA-CO. Out of that camea two-day, four-session program thatwould teach techs with two or moreyears’ experience real-world diagnosticskills in basic electronics, gas anddiesel engine management, sensors andactuators, and electronic brake man-agement, including ABS and vehiclestability systems.

Young Technician’s Programto Debut at CARS

AudaExplore has pledged a three-year commitment of $75,000 in toolgrants that will be awarded to all highschool and post-secondary collisionrepair and refinishing students com-peting at the national SkillsUSA con-test. By working together withindustry companies and their studentproduct discounts, the retail value ofthese tools will exceed $150,000.

The tool grants are meant torecognize the students’ outstandingefforts in qualifying to compete at thenational SkillsUSA event and helpprepare them for careers within thecollision industry. “This donationaligns well with our LIFT charitablegiving program, which focuses onhelping those in need to build sus-tainable roots for lasting change,”said Rick Tuuri, vice president of in-dustry relations, AudaExplore.

“The U.S. Department of Laborprojected the employment growth ofthe automotive body segment to be13 percent from 2012 to 2022. Skill-sUSA and the Collision Repair Edu-cation Foundation have done afantastic job enhancing career op-portunities for students to take ad-vantage of this growth, and we areproud to be a part of it.”

AudaExplore Pledges $150Kto SkillsUSA in Tool Grants


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Nissan and Assured Performance Partner forCertification and Consumer ReferralsAssured Performance announced todaythey have entered into an agreementwith Nissan to provide third-party bodyshop Certification services leveragingtheir joint effort Certification program.The program will establish a nation-wide Certified body shop network andconsumer referral program for Nissan.The measures are aimed at helping en-sure consumer safety and buyer reten-tion following a collision repair. Nissanwill use the Assured Performanceturnkey certification and business de-velopment program built through ajoint-effort approach providing greatervalue for shops.

The official Nissan Certificationis based upon the bona fide repair re-quirements developed by Nissan andAssured Performance in a collabora-tive effort strictly focused on ensur-ing that the Certified shops have theproper training, tools, equipment, andfacilities to repair Nissan vehicles tomanufacturer specifications. Thebusiness requirements are essential tohelp ensure the fit, finish, durability,safety, and value of the vehicles beingrepaired. Shops must meet the certifi-cation requirements and pass an on-site inspection and audit by AssuredPerformance to earn the official “Nis-san Certified Repair Provider” status

and leverage the exclusive access tocutting edge Nissan marketing toolsand signage.

Among the unique aspect ofNissan’s Body Shop Certificationprogram is their aggressive consumermarketing program. Nissan vehiclebuyers will be directly connectedwith their local Nissan Certified Re-pair Provider and the shops able tobecome Certified are marketed di-rectly to the vehicle owners.

Nissan Certified shops will be apart of an exclusive turnkey market-ing campaign developed by Nissan.Nissan’s program also provides con-sumer referral elements such as a shoplocator and other methods to helprefer consumers to only the shops thatare Certified to repair Nissan vehicles.

The entire Nissan program is ad-minister and managed by Assured Per-formance. Under the unique joint-effortapproach, repair businesses that areCertified by Assured Performance mayalso officially be considered Recog-nized by multiple OEMs and con-sumer-facing organizations through oneconsistent process. This approach al-lows both the shops, Nissan, and otherOEM’s to avoid duplication of effort,redundancy of equipment purchases,and extraneous inspection fees.

I-CAR® Conference on Future of Collision Repairand Automotive Industry, July 30 In DetroitI-CAR® announced that registrationis now open for the 2014 I-CARConference, which will be held onJuly 30, 2014 at Cobo Center in De-troit.

This year’s Conference picks upI-CAR’s technology advancementdiscussion started at the company’s2013 Conference and will provideexecutives and leaders across the in-dustry further insight into the chal-lenges and opportunities surroundingthe Technical Tsunami.

John McElroy, host of AutolineDaily and Autoline This Week, will re-turn to moderate this year’s I-CARConference. The Conference will fea-ture an expanded lineup of speakersfrom Ford Motor Company, OakRidge National Laboratory, SteelMarket Development Institute, Alcoa,University of Michigan, Robert BoschLLC and more. Key topics will in-clude:• Ford: A high impact sessioncovering OEM strategies related toCAFE, details on the new aluminumF-150, and Ford’s enhanced Colli-sion Repair Service Strategy• Lightweighting: Advancementsand trends in Carbon Fiber, AdvancedSteels, Aluminum.• The Changing DNA of the Ve-

hicle: Reinventing the Automo-bile.• Advanced Electronics, Commu-nications and Safety: Vehicle WideDriver Safety Systems: V2X Deploy-ment, and how Vehicle Data will re-shape our industry.

I-CAR has also announced new,reduced pricing for this year’s Con-ference to encourage more of the in-dustry to attend and hear about theimportant challenges being faced.The admission price is now just $250for Early Bird registration—a pro-motion that is running from nowthrough June 14.

As an added bonus, all I-CARConference attendees will receive aFREE pass to the NACE/CARS expo,also being held at the Cobo Center onJuly 31 and August 1.

In addition to insightful andthought-provoking presentations andpanel discussions, the I-CAR Confer-ence also offers numerous networkingopportunities, including an eveningreception celebrating I-CAR’s 35thAnniversary, complete with live en-tertainment.

For more information and de-tails on how to register, please visit:http:// i-car.cvent.com/2014Confer-ence.


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NACE | CARS, held at COBO Centerin Detroit July 30-Aug. 2, will offerspecial recognition to attendees whohave a proven commitment to collisionrepair training demonstrated through

achievement of I-CAR Gold Classrecognition or ASE Blue Seal certifica-tion. Collision and Service Repair fa-cility personnel that belong to an I-CARGold Class business or hold the ASEBlue Seal certification will receive a 50percent discount on the training andconference sessions at NACE | CARS

2014. In addition, any individual that iscurrently I-CAR Platinum or an ASEMaster Technician will be entitled to thesame 50 percent discount. This discountincludes individual sessions through theSuper Pass that covers sessions duringthe entire conference.

“We want those who have achievedthe highest levels of industry-recognizedtraining and certification to be rewardedfor their achievements,” stated Dan Ris-ley, ASA president and executive direc-tor. “This is a great way to highlight anelite group and to encourage their on-going technical and business educa-tion.”

“As technology advancements dic-tate a necessary evolution in repairabil-ity, more collision repair businessesthan ever are adopting a learning cul-ture to ensure that they are able to per-

form safe and quality repairs,” stressedJohn Van Alstyne, I-CAR CEO andpresident. “I applaud NACE and CARSfor recognizing this commitment to ed-ucation and knowledge by giving backto the businesses and individuals whotrain.”

“ASE’s relationship with NACEand CARS goes back to the very begin-ning of the event, and we are pleased toonce again be a part of this significanteducational opportunity for the indus-try,” said Tony Molla, ASE vice presi-

dent of communications. “We also salutethe efforts to encourage professionalismwith this generous discount program forour ASE certified professionals and thebusinesses that employ them.”

Registration is now open forNACE | CARS and hotel reservationscan be made via the Travel section ofthe website, www.NACEexpo.com orwww.CARSevent.com for the week ofJuly 27 and all events taking place dur-ing “Industry Week” in Detroit.

Now in its 32nd year, NACE|CARSwill feature numerous opportunities fortechnical training, business education,demonstrations, networking and technol-ogy showcases for stakeholders, owners,managers and technicians in the collisionand service repair industries.

I-CAR Gold Class and ASE-Certified Shops Rewarded at NACE | CARS

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The Motor Equipment RemanufacturersAssociation (MERA) has joined a grow-ing coalition of leading organizationssupporting NACE | CARS 2014 IndustryWeek in Detroit this summer. MERAwill host a Remanufacturing TechnologyExpo on Thursday, July 31, from 10:00am-4:00 pm in the Ambassador Ball-

room in the COBO Convention Center.Dan Risley, ASA president and ex-

ecutive director, stated, “We are excitedto have MERA join us in Detroit. This isa very important organization in the au-tomotive market and their participation,content, and attendance is beneficial toIndustry Week. The overriding purpose

of the event is to bring the industry to-gether, and MERA’s involvement furthersolidifies our goal of deeper market cov-erage.”

“Remanufactured parts offer like-new quality and real value that techniciansand end users can trust,” said John Chali-foux, president and COO, MERA. “Dur-

ing the MERA Remanufacturing Tech-nology Expo, members will showcase theadvanced methods they use to restore corecomponents to original—or better—con-dition and performance.”

Registration information and theagenda is available at MERA.org/tech-expo.

MERA Joins the Excitement at NACE | CARS 2014


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Marketing research firm DuckerWorldwide is predicting that once the2015 Ford F-150 debuts and worksout the bugs with dealerships and theauto repair industry, other truckmak-ers will likely to follow suit. A studyconducted by Ducker Worldwide forthe Aluminum Association’s Alu-minum Transportation Group (ATG),projects that, by 2025, more than 75percent of all new pickup trucks pro-duced in North America will be alu-minum-bodied.

The study surveyed all major au-tomakers and reports Ford, GeneralMotors and Fiat Chrysler will becomethe biggest users of aluminum sheetin the next decade. It also forecaststhat the number of vehicles with com-plete aluminum body structures willreach 18 percent of North Americanproduction, from less than one per-cent today. Vehicle segments revealedas emerging aluminum content lead-ers are pickup trucks, sport-utility ve-hicles (SUVs) and both mid-sized andfull-size sedans.

The study finds that every lead-ing automaker will have numerousaluminum body and closure programsby 2025. As the material mix for bodyand closure parts continues to changedramatically in the years to come, use

of aluminum sheet for vehicle bodieswill increase to 4 billion pounds by2025, from 200 million pounds in2012.

“The numbers tell a powerfulstory of aluminum’s explosive growthacross the automotive sector,” saidTom Boney, chairman of the Alu-minum Association’s AluminumTransportation Group and vice presi-dent and general manager of automo-tive for Novelis in North America.“Within the next ten years, seven outof 10 new pickups produced in NorthAmerica will be aluminum-bodied,and so too will be more than 20 per-cent of SUVs and full–sized sedans.”

The ATG commissioned globalconsulting and research firm DuckerWorldwide to conduct the 2015 NorthAmerican Light Vehicle AluminumContent Study. Through detailed in-person interviews with automotiveoriginal equipment manufacturers(OEMs), component suppliers andregulators, Ducker Worldwide main-tains a comprehensive material usedatabase to track material and mass ofindividual components for every ve-hicle model manufactured in NorthAmerica. The findings were compiledusing data updated and verified be-tween October 2013 and April 2014.

“Aluminum-bodied cars andtrucks are coming in a big way, andsoon. Consumers won’t visibly noticea different metal under the paint, butthey’ll see greater savings at the gaspump and experience better perform-ance and handling at the wheel,”added Boney.

Additional findings from thestudy include:

For 2015, pickup trucks willcontain the most aluminum at 548.9lbs. per vehicle, followed closely byE segment sedans at 546.9 lbs., SUVsat 410.3 lbs. and minivans at 396.5lbs.

The average aluminum contentin 2015 will be up 44 pounds per ve-hicle or 13% over 2012.

Total North American light vehi-cle aluminum consumption will in-crease 28% in 2015 over 2012.

Tesla, Mercedes, BMW and Fordwill all exceed the average aluminumcontent and the average aluminumshare of curb weight for 2015.

By 2025, 26.6% of all the bodyand closure parts for light vehicles inNorth America will be made of alu-minum.

Total North American aluminumcontent in 2025 will be 10 billionpounds.

Aluminum hood penetration willreach 85% and doors will reach 46%;complete bodies will reach 18%, fromless than one percent today.

Globally, light vehicle aluminumcontent will approach 35 billionpounds by 2025 making light vehiclesthe most important global market foraluminum.

In a separate analysis, Bank na-lyst John Murphy said that Ford’saluminum F-150 will determinewhether consumers are willing to paya premium for a larger-but-lighter ve-hicle. The 2015 F-150 could be effi-cient enough to meet future U.S. fueleconomy standards without requiringFord to offset its performance by sell-ing more small cars, he said.

If Detroit auto makers can suc-ceed at slashing weight from theirlarge SUVs and pickups, Murphysaid, “you could see an environmentwhere [their sales] perform reallywell.” Heavy-duty pickups and SUVsare big moneymakers for Detroit automakers and efforts to make themmore fuel efficient would keep theprofits flowing.

New Study Says More Than 75% of All Pickup Trucks will be Aluminum-Bodied by 2025



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I-CAR® And National Auto Body Council Partner on Membership Discount, 30% Off Until End of 2014I-CAR®, in partnership with the NationalAuto Body Council (NABC), has an-nounced it will pilot a membership dis-count program for I-CAR Gold Class®

businesses. The promotional offer in-cludes a 30 percent discount towardNABC Bronze Membership through De-cember 31, 2014. “I-CAR and NABChave complimentary goals of encourag-ing professionalism and promoting apositive image of our industry,” said JeffPeevy, I-CAR Senior Director of FieldOperations and Segment Development.

“I believe all of us within the collisionrepair industry have an obligation to pro-mote a positive image of it. And one ofthe best ways to achieve this is to sup-port and enable the growth of an organ-ization designed for this purpose.”

NABC membership provides busi-nesses with an array of opportunities formembers to reinforce their leadership rolewithin the industry and community, andfoster goodwill throughout those com-munities. The NABC also implementscommunity-based programs like Recy-

cled Rides, Distracted Driving Initiativeand First Responders Emergency Extri-cation, while recognizing those in our in-dustry who epitomize the fundamentalgoodness which exists in the collision re-pair world.

Recycled Rides is a widely-knownand unique program in which insurers,collision repairers, paint suppliers, partsvendors and others collaborate to repairand donate vehicles to deserving individ-uals and service organizations in localcommunities throughout the country.

NABC Executive Director, ChuckSulkala explained, “In addition to help-ing make a difference in someone’s life,participation in NABC initiatives such asRecycled Rides, provides many intangi-ble benefits. Within a business, it createsrewarding experiences, excitement andpride in and for your team, plus has a verypositive impact on the community. Theenhanced recognition of our member’sbusinesses in their community as a resultof gifting a Recycled Rides vehicle is anadded benefit of membership.”



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