Autobody News February 2014 Southeastern Edition

A host of body shops has alleged inMississippi federal court that a groupof insurance providers, includingState Farm Mutual Automobile Insur-ance Co. and GEICO General Insur-ance Co., of conspiring to manipulatecar repair costs in order to reduce theirpayments.

The complaint was filed in theU.S. District Court for the SouthernDistrict of Mississippi, Northern Di-vision-Jackson. Defendants named in-cluded: State Farm; Progressive;Allstate; Nationwide; GEICO; UnitedServices Automobile Association;USAA; Safeco; Shelter Mutual Insur-

ance Co.; Direct General InsuranceCompany of Mississippi; MississippiFarm Bureau; and Shelter General In-surance Co.

The repair shops are representedby John Arthur Eaves Jr. of JohnArthur Eaves Attorneys At Law inJackson, MS.

The suit named 16 separate in-surance firms as defendants, but re-peatedly alleges that State Farmlargely orchestrated the scheme,which the body shops said involvesthe artificial suppression labor, repairand material costs and the enactment

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

As previously reported in AutobodyNews, last November 27, MichaelBradshaw, VP of Operations at K&MCollision in Hickory, NC, filed sixshortpay lawsuits on his customers’behalf. Of the six cases filed, threewere against GEICO, two wereagainst Nationwide, and one againstAllstate, with amounts ranging from$680.95 to $5749.64. Some of theclaims included in the lawsuits wereBreach of Contract, Bad Faith, andUnfair/Deceptive Trade Practices.

K&M Collision was representedby attorney William E. Morgan of

Morgan Law PLLC in Hickory, NC.According to Bradshaw, “These

claims stem from the insurers’ contin-ual refusal to pay for factory correctrepairs according to manufacturer re-pair specifications and guidelines. Notall insurers are bad; what we’re find-ing is that many of these companiesare doing the right thing and payingfor manufacturer correct repairs; how-ever, there is a select group of insur-ance companies that show completedisregard for manufacturer specifiedrepairs, procedures and safety checkson a consistent basis. Unfortunately,those insurers put us in the position of

Hickory, NC’s K&M Collision Files Suit in Six NewShortpay Cases

Insurance Companies Manipulate Repair Costs SaysShop-Sponsored Complaint in Mississippi Court

See Six New Shortpays, Page 22

See Insurers Sued, Page 4

If you’ve been paying the least bit of attention to legal issues in thecollision repair industry over the past decade, you probably know ofErica Eversman, an OH-based attorney and consumer advocatewho specializes in understanding collision repairers’ issues andtheir impact on consumer safety. A noted authority and frequentspeaker on the topics of diminished value, DRP networks and theinfluence insurers attempt to exert over repairers, Eversman servesas a consultant to the industry, assisting repairers to analyze pro-posed regulations and laws affecting collision repair. In addition tocreating “AutoMuse”, an award-winning blog, she is chief counselfor Vehicle Information Services, Inc. and the founder of the Auto-motive Education and Policy Institute, a non-profit organizationgeared towards educating consumers. Though Eversman is obvi-ously busy playing so many roles, she took time from her hecticschedule to talk to Autobody News readers about some of the majorconcerns plaguing the collision repair industry today.

As a consumer advocate, Eversman stresses that consumereducation is vital; “first and foremost, consumers are the people incharge of their vehicles, but if they don’t have the proper informa-tion, they can’t stand up for themselves. They are the only oneswho can effect meaningful change because it is their vehicles andtheir contract with the insurance company.”

Furthermore, collision repairers must comply with consumerprotection laws, so they are the ones at risk of noncompliance wheninsurer interference promotes a situation where repairers are askedto do as the insurer requests, which is always focused on cost andsaving money rather than on providing a quality repair. The shopcan only do so much, and if the consumer doesn’t help, they are es-sentially saying that the repair is good enough, even if it’s not ac-tually safe.

continued on page 24INTERVIEW by Chasidy Rae Sisk

ERICAEVERSMAN

Industry Observations fromCollision Attorney

Presorted StandardUS Postage

PAIDSan Bernardino, CA

Permit #2244

P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018

Change Service Requested

Southeast Edition

FloridaGeorgia

AlabamaMississippi

VirginiaTennessee

North CarolinaSouth Carolina www.autobodynews.com

YEARS3232

ww.autobodynews.comww

32VOL. 4 ISSUE 12FEBRUARY 2014

2 FEBRUARY 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

• All brands delivered in one convenient daily delivery • Fast and Free delivery Monday thru Friday• Same Day delivery of in-stock parts ordered by 9am • Hot Shot deliveries • Collision Link

Flow Lexus of GreensboroPh: 888-Flow-Lex

Direct: 336.217.5402Fax: 336.232.0810

Carolina KiaPh: 336.884.8800Fax: 336.884.7075

Green FordPh: 800.334.8405

Direct: 336.294.4133Fax: 336.294.5774

Carolina Hyundai2431 N. Main St.,

High Point, NC 27262Ph: 336.884.8800Fax: 336.884.7075

• All brandds delivered in one convenient daily delivery • Fast and Free delivery Monday thru FridaySo. Virginia, Central & Western North Carolina OE PARTS LEADERS DDDDDEEEELLLIIVVEERRIINNGG DDDD

CCOOMMMPPPPPPPEEEEEEETTTTTTTIIIIIITTTTIIVVEE PPRRRRRIIICCIINNGGG CCOOMMMMPPPPPPPEEEEEANNDD EEXXCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEPPPPPPPTTTTTTIIIIIIOOOOOONNAALL SSEERRVVIICCCEEE!!!

Flow General Motors

Ph: 800-GM-BuiltDirect: 336.760.7038

Fax: 336.245.1423

Kernersville Chrsyler Dodge Jeep RamPh: 888.314.7278 Direct: 336.564.0259 Fax: 336.996.0742

Flow LotusPh: 800-GM-Built Fax: 336.245 .1423

Direct: 336.760.7038 Flow SAABPh: 800-GM-Built Fax: 336.245.1423

Direct: 336.760.7038

Southeast

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

Serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina,South Carolina and adjacent metro areas, Autobody News is a monthly publication for theauto body industry. Permission to reproduce in any form the material published inAutobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher.©2014 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody NewsBox 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018; (800) 699-8251 (760) 603-3229 Faxwww.autobodynews.com Email: [email protected]

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 31Cavalier Ford-Lincoln Greenbrier . . 13CCC Information Services . . . . . . . 11Certified Automotive PartsAssociation (CAPA). . . . . . . . . . . 15

Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Coggin Deland Honda . . . . . . . . . . . 9Creative Metal Manufacturing. . . . . 16Crown Automotive Group . . . . . . . . 39Don Reid Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Equalizer Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . . 6Ford Wholesale Parts DealersFL, GA, AL, MS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Franklin Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram. 22GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 36Gray-Daniels Auto Family . . . . . . . . . 5Gus Machado Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Hendrick BMW/MINI . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 20-21

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 33I-CAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Jon Hall Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Kernersville Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 29Landers Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . . 8Martech Services Company . . . . . . . 9Mercedes-Benz Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 31Mitchell International. . . . . . . . . . . . 17MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 25Nalley BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Nissan Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 37Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers . 34PreFab Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Preval Spray Gun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Priority Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Rare Parts, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Stateline Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-FIAT. 14Subaru of Gwinnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 32Tameron Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Inde

xofAdvertisers

ContentsREGIONAL

Auburn AL Gets First KIA Dealership . . . . . 9

Auto Supplier in AL Gets $350K Grant

from State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Dealership Files Suit v. MBUSA to Block

New Dealership in Irondale, AL, MBUSA

Responds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Fire Destroys St. Augustine, FL’s Complete

Collision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Hickory, NC’s K&M Collision Files Suit in

Six New Shortpay Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Insurance Companies Manipulate Repair

Costs Says Shop-Sponsored Complaint

in Mississippi Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Nelson County High School in Lovingston, VA,

Strives to Get Students to Work Right

Away. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Newell’s in GA Happy to Receive I-CAR

Gold Class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

SUV Crashes into Colleyville Body Shop,

Alcohol a Factor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

COLUMNISTS

Attanasio - How to Improve Your Success

with Google in 2014. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Chess - Honda’s Repair Instructions

Need to Be Read and Followed. . . . . . . 30

Franklin - Re-Think Your Marketing For

The New Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Sisk - Montana Repairers Form a Small

Association with Big Goals. . . . . . . . . . 26

Yoswick - Shops Can Put News and

Trends Related To Auto Insurers

To Good Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

NATIONAL

14 Fort Wayne, IN, Shops Opt Out of State

Farm’s Select Service Citing PartsTrader . 16

14 States to Increase the Minimum Wage

in 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

AAIA Releases 67 page 2013 Digital

Collision Repair Trends Report with

Analysis of Whole Industry . . . . . . . . . 33

Axalta Global Color Popularity 2013 . . . . . 28

Beware Hole-in-One Golf Insurance Scams. 37

Bosch Demos Driverless Car . . . . . . . . . . 27

CCC Acquires Auto Injury Solutions Inc.. . 36

Chrysler Files Suit Against LKQ on RAM

Design Patents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chrysler Seeks Registration of Diagnostic

Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

CIC in Brief, More Next Issue . . . . . . . . . . 32

CIC Roundtable Launches Consumer

Website for OEMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Daydreaming Tops List of Crash-Causing

Distractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Ford Approves Chief and Elektron Equipment

for 2015 F-150 Repairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Ford Rep Paul Massie on Repairing the

2015 F-150 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Ford’s 2015 F-150 Launch Focuses Repairer

Concern on Costs and Benefits . . . . . . 10

Ford’s Best Selling F-150 Gets Lighter

and Tougher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Hyundai, Kia Expect to Top 2013 Global

Vehicle Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

I-CAR President Van Alstyne Talks Welding

and Training at CIC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Industry Observations from Collision

Attorney Erica Eversman . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

LKQ Responds to Chrysler Design

Patents Suit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Mobileye Integrates with Accel Connected

Car Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

New Nevada Driver Authorization Cards

Allow Legal Driving, Insurance Has

Been Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

NHTSA Moves Ahead on Backup Camera

Legislation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

North American Car & Truck Production

Hits 16.6M Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Not All Insurance Carriers Will Sell Policies

to Newly Carded Immigrant Drivers,

Citing History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

OSHA Implements New Internet Resources

to Encourage Safer Practices: Toolkit

Options and PEL Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Other Lightweights at the Detroit

Auto Show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

State Farm to Exit Canadian Market,

Credit Union Buying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Study Estimates 9% of Cars will be

Self-Driving by 2035 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

WMABA Lobby Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

www.autobodynews.com | FEBRUARY 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

LKQ Corporation confirmed that acomplaint has been filed against itby Chrysler Group LLC in the U.S.District Court in the Eastern Districtof Michigan. The lawsuit contendsthat certain aftermarket parts LKQsells infringe Chrysler design patentsrelating to the Dodge RAM pickuptruck. LKQ says it believes that thelawsuit is without merit and will de-fend it vigorously, “Moreover, theparts we sell that allegedly relate tothese design patents represent an im-material amount of our revenue.They represent less than one-tenth ofone percent (0.001) of our estimated2013 total revenue and less than one-half of one-tenth of one percent(0.0005) of our estimated total rev-enue for all the years since the firstpatent was granted (2009 through2013).”

LKQ says it has forged mutu-ally-beneficial business relationshipswith other auto manufacturers andcites its license arrangement withFord, in place since 2009.

The license arrangements allowthe company to sell aftermarket partscovered by certain patents in ex-change for a license fee.

LKQ Responds to ChryslerDesign Patents Suit

Chrysler has filed a patent infringe-ment action against LKQ and Key-stone Automotive, saying thecompanies are producing and/orselling parts that infringe on 10 of itspatented designs, specifically relatedto the Dodge RAM brand. Chryslernoted that LKQ's regulatory filingshave the company stating that one ofthe risks of manufacturing aftermar-ket parts is patent infringement. Thefiling, which was made with federalcourt in Detroit, MI, Jan. 17, hasChrysler looking for a ban on theparts that infringe on the patents anddamages “adequate to compensateChrysler for the infringement, in-cluding the infringers’ profits,Chrysler’s lost profits, and/or no lessthan a reasonable royalty... Damagesalone will not be a sufficient remedyunder the law, and Chrysler has beenand will continue to be irreparablyharmed by Defendants’ infringe-ment of the Ram Design Patents.Only a permanent injunction againstDefendants will be adequate.” Thesuit seeks attorneys fees, a jury trial,and an award tripling the damagesfound at trial.

LKQ has responded (next story.)

Chrysler Files Suit AgainstLKQ on RAM Design Patents

of harsh punitive measures againstnoncooperating repair providers.

One of the main cogs of the al-leged scheme is the abuse of direct re-pair program agreements under whichthe body shops agree to certain priceconcessions in favor of preferentialtreatment from the insurers, accordingto the complaint.

“The concessions demanded bythe individual in exchange for re-maining on the direct repair programwere not balanced by the purportedbenefits,” the suit alleged. “The de-fendants, particularly State Farm,have utilized these agreements toexert control over plaintiffs' busi-nesses in a variety of manners, wellbeyond that of an ordinary businessagreement.”

“The entire collision repair in-dustry is caught between a rock and ahard place," said Eaves. “On onehand, they're trying to maintain thesafety and quality of repairs for thecustomers in a time when the manu-facturers are trying to develop moresophisticated, more fuel efficient and

safer cars, but yet the insurance in-dustry is trying to force them to cutcorners on their repairs. So Missis-sippi repairers have felt like they havebeen backed into a corner, and nowthey have to start to reclaim some ofthese costs and send a message to theinsurance industry."

Eaves said the complaint is cur-rently being modified for use in sevenother states. Meanwhile, 22 otherstates are preparing to join the fight.While his law firm is leading the ef-fort, it's also partnering with “tal-ented” attorneys in each state whohave experience in asbestos, tobaccoand natural disaster litigation.

“We're looking to go to all 50states," Eaves said. “What we need isa few committed shops in each of the50 states that are willing to take the in-dustry back and join us."

Collectively, insurers named inthe suit control nearly 70 percent ofthe automobile insurance business inMississippi, a dominant position theyhave used to create a vertical conspir-acy in violation of the Sherman Act,the complaint said.

The suit accuses State Farm andthe other companies of employingvarious tactics to artificially set rates

for repairs, labor and parts used in therestoration of vehicles damaged in ac-cidents, such as refusing to compen-sate shops for replacement parts whenrepair is possible though strongly notrecommended based on the shop'sopinion.

Insurers have also routinely en-gaged in the practice of “steering” inorder to punish noncompliant shops,the suit said, elaborating that insurerswill urge customers not to seek repairsfrom a certain shop because quality orcustomer service issues have croppedup.

Used/recycled parts are also men-tioned in discussing the insurers goingagainst the repairers’ expert opinionsand therefore “compromising thesafety of both the driver and passen-gers as well as other members of thetraveling public.”

Another count in the complaintreferences “quantum meruit,” a con-cept that states that a party is not al-lowed to enrich itself at the expense ofanother.

“These statements have beenmade about certain plaintiffs withoutany attempt to ascertain the truththereof,” the suit said. “Not only that,some of the ills recited which implic-

itly criticize the shops are wholly at-tributable to the insurer itself.”

“Plaintiffs have performed valu-able services and expended materialresources with the reasonable expec-tation of payment/compensation forthose services and materials. This istheir business,” the complaint reads.“Performing said services and ex-pending material resources benefittedDefendants and Defendants’ in-sured/claimants for whom Defendantsare required to provide payment forrepairs.”

The complaint added that severalof the plaintiffs attempted to raisethese issues with insurance industryrepresentatives at a meeting held inApril.

At the meeting, the insurers saidthat repairs and subsequent paymentsshould be consistent with the esti-mates prepared through the compa-nies' database software. But the suitsaid that little has changed since, withState Farm and the other defendantscontinuing to refuse to make full pay-ments for necessary repairs.

The suit seeks treble damagesand injunctive relief, along with anyother relief the court deems proper.


Our dealerships specialize in Honda Genuine parts. When you purchase parts from our dealerships, you can rest assured that you are getting the highest quality parts from Honda Parts professionals that know your vehicle.

Mon-Fri 7:30am-6:00pmSat 8:00am-5:00pm

Priority Honda Chesapeake621 North Battlefield BlvdChesapeake, VA 23320

PH 757.213.5039

Priority Honda Hampton4115 W. Mercury Blvd.Hampton, VA 23666

PH 757.838.1672

Dealership Files Suit v. MBUSA to Block NewDealership in Irondale, AL, MBUSA RespondsHoover’s Crown Automobile hasfiled a lawsuit against Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC to stop the plannedopening of a new Mercedes-Benzdealership in Irondale, AL, accord-ing to court records.

“Crown Automobile has suf-fered... irreparable harm as a resultof MBUSA’s decision to add an ad-ditional Mercedes dealer in CrownAutomobile’s market area,” the fil-ing states.

“MBUSA’s decision gives thenew dealer an immediate windfall byappropriating to it a portion of thegoing concern value of Crown Auto-mobile’s business.”

In a November filing in Jeffer-son County civil court, attorneys forCrown state the dealership has anagreement with MBUSA to sell itsvehicles in the Birmingham area andis among the top 25 percent of Mer-cedes dealerships in the South.

MBUSA, the filing stated, “hasassured Crown Automobile that itscurrent location is the best location atwhich to sell Mercedes automobilesin the Birmingham area, and even re-jected a suggestion by Crown Auto-mobile to relocate the dealership toGrants Mill Road at I-459” the site of

the planned Irondale dealership.Attorneys for Mercedes-Benz

USA, LLC responded to the lawsuit:“MBUSA admits that Crown’s

area of influence presently includesthe intersection of Grants Mill Roadand I-459 in Irondale,” the filingstates. “However, Crown’s dealeragreements with MBUSA clearlyprovide that Crown “has no right orinterest in any AOI and that MBUSAmay add new dealers to or relocatedealers into [Crown’s] AOI.”

The filing also states: “MBUSAadmits that a Letter of Intent was en-tered with a prospective dealer toopen a Mercedes dealership at prop-erty located on Grants Mill Road inIrondale, Alabama. MBUSA deniesthat it has yet granted a franchise forthis location ... MBUSA admits thatit has not yet provided Crown withformal statutory notice of anotherMBUSA franchise being grantedwithin Crown’s market area becauseno such franchise has yet beengranted. MBUSA will comply withall applicable contractual and statu-tory obligations as they come due.MBUSA denies that Crown has everrequested to relocate from its currentlocation.”

Continued from Cover

Insurers Sued

See Insurers Sued, Page 14


GGGGGGGrrrrrraaaaaayyyyyy--DDDDDDDaaaaaannnnnniiiiiieeeeeellllllssssss NNNNNNNiiiiiissssssssssssaaaaaannnnnn ooooofffffff JJJJJaaaaaccccckkkkksssssooooonnnnnfffffGray-Daniels Nissan of Jackson

• Trained Wholesale Crew• In State Next Day Shipping w/Quick Local Delivery• Great Discounts

Hours: Monday - Friday 7 am - 5:30 pmSaturday 8 am - 4 pm

Parts Manager: Steven Hill800-530-7522601-899-7462 [email protected] I-55 North Frontage Rd.,Jackson, MS 39211

GENUINE SERVICE & PARTS

GGGGGGGrrrrrraaaaaayyyyyy--DDDDDDDaaaaaannnnnniiiiiieeeeeellllllssssss NNNNNNNiiiiiissssssssssssaaaaaannnnnn ooooofffffff BBBBBrrrrraaaaannnnndddddooooonnnnnfffffGray-Daniels Nissan of Brandon

• Collision Parts Price Matching• Dedicated Wholesale Sta!• Large Inventory

Hours: Monday - Friday 7 am - 6 pmSaturday 8 am - 4 pm

Parts Manager: Jack Willoughby800-530-7989601-985-3753 [email protected] Gray-Daniels Blvd.,Brandon, MS 39042


GGGGGGGrrrrrraaaaaayyyyyy--DDDDDDDaaaaaannnnnniiiiiieeeeeellllllssssss CCCCCCChhhhhheeeeeevvvvvvrrrrrroooooolllllleeeeeetttttttGray-Daniels Chevrolet

• Prompt, Accurate and Free Local Delivery• Dedicated Wholesale Sta!• Large Inventory

Hours: Monday - Friday 7:30 am - 5:30 pmSaturday 8 am - 4 pm

Parts Manager:Eddie Williamson800-729-6160601-206-5894 local601-206-5899 [email protected] I-55 North,Jackson, MS 39211

GGGGGGGrrrrrraaaaaayyyyyy--DDDDDDDaaaaaannnnnniiiiiieeeeeellllllssssss FFFFFFFoooooorrrrrrddddddGray-Daniels Ford• No Order Too Big or Too Small• Highly Experienced Parts Personnel• Great Discounts


Parts Manager:Bill Styrone800-898-1944601-591-2648 [email protected] Octavia Drive,Brandon, MS 39042

GGGGGGGrrrrrraaaaaayyyyyy--DDDDDDDaaaaaannnnnniiiiiieeeeeellllllssssss LLLLLLLiiiiiinnnnnnccccccoooooollllllnnnnnnGray-Daniels Lincoln• Trained Wholesale Crew• In State Next Day Shipping w/Quick Local Delivery• Great Discounts


Parts Manager:Bill Styrone800-898-1944601-591-2648 [email protected] Octavia Drive,Brandon, MS 3904

Gray-Daniels ToyotaGray-Daniels Toyota

• Prompt, Accurate and Free Delivery• Dedicated Wholesale Sta!• Large Inventory

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

Parts Manager: Steve Calhoun800-530-7955601-948-0576601-965-8458 [email protected] Gray-Daniels Blvd.,Brandon, MS 39042

GGGGGGGrrrrrraaaaaayyyyyy--DDDDDDDaaaaaannnnnniiiiiieeeeeellllllssssss SSSSSSScccccciiiiiioooooonnnnnnGray-Daniels Scion• No Order Too Big or Too Small• Highly Experienced Parts Personnel• Great Discounts

Hours: Mon. - Fri. 7:30 am - 6 pmSaturday 8 am - 4 pm

Parts Manager: Steve Calhoun800-530-7955601-948-0576601-965-8458 [email protected] Gray-Daniels Blvd.,Brandon, MS 39042

For All YourCollisions Part Needs

WWW.GRAYDANIELS.COM

Visit our E-Store:www.graydanielsnissannorthparts.com

Participating in Collision Link





A law passed by the 2013 Legislatureand signed by Republican Gov. BrianSandoval allows immigrants in Ne-vada without citizenship status to ob-tain driver authorization cards. Anincreasing number of states have beenpassing similar laws in recent years,and 11 states and the District of Co-lumbia have enacted such measures.

These cards authorize the holderto drive a motor vehicle on Nevadapublic streets and highways. A DAC isnot valid as identification to obtain anystate benefits, licenses or services orfor federal purposes such as boardingaircraft or entering facilities where IDis required. Driver Authorization Cardsare valid for one year from the date ofissuance. You may renew the card eachyear. All renewals and address changesmust be completed in person.

You cannot drive legally in Ne-vada without a driver’s license but youhave long been able to buy auto insur-ance without one. It’s a little known factthat illegal aliens in Nevada have al-ready been able to insure themselves,purchasing insurance for as little as $30a month and as much as $200. It meetsthe state’s requirements, even if they’vebeen illegally driving the roads.

Las Vegas agent EsperanzaMonte longo sells at least a dozen poli-

cies for liability coverage a month. Shehas sold more than 5,000 policies inthe past eight years for American Ac-cess, a Chicago-based insurance car-rier that saw an opportunity to provideauto insurance to a segment of peoplewho have been ignored by mainstreaminsurance companies. These immi-grants have been considered a highrisk because they can’t produce a validdriver’s license. Montelongo estimatedthat at least 80 percent of the undocu-mented population in Las Vegas al-ready have insurance.

Asked whether from a businessstandpoint she’s looking forward toNevada’s new driver authorization card,which will allow immigrants in thecountry illegally to legally drive in Ne-vada starting , the 58-year-old Nebraska-born woman sat back and chuckled.

“Gosh, I can only hope that there’sa huge fluctuation in business. But I’mnot anticipating it because most of theMexicans here are already insured,” shesaid, referring to Las Vegas.

“And I say Mexicans becausewe’re talking about Mexicans. Nevadais Mexican country. They’re the ma-jority of my customers, and they’refiercely loyal.”

It’s an interesting approach todoing the right thing and yet such pur-

chases have been upstaged by the po-litical hype surrounding the new cardand the boon that an estimated 60,000card-carrying customers are expectedto bring insurance companies acrossthe Silver State under Senate Bill 303,Montelongo said.

The legislation was designed tomake the roads safer on the premisethat motorists will not only be requiredto purchase insurance but also to passDMV tests demonstrating that theyknow how to drive and understand therules of the road.

Aztec isn’t the only insuranceagency doing business in the valley.Nearly 50 such companies, most li-censed and registered under the Ne-vada Department of Insurance, can befound in and around predominantlyLatino neighborhoods. There’s Insur-ance for Less down the block from theAztec Insurance office. There’s El SolInsurance about a mile away. EstrellaInsurance a little bit farther.

Many of these insurance compa-nies here have been selling liability poli-cies for years to immigrant motoristswho want to be covered in case of an ac-cident. In the absence of a license, theimmigrants want to have proof of insur-ance should they be cited for a traffic in-fraction and wind up in court.

Alfonso Garcia, a criminal attor-ney, has represented hundreds of im-migrants who have had to explain toLas Vegas judges why they don’t havea valid driver’s license. Many timesthat proof-of-insurance card brings le-niency, not only from the traffic copbut also from the judge.

“We’re talking about people whoare already on the radar for being in thecountry illegally,” he said. “The lastthing they want to do is get stopped andnot have proof of insurance.”

Mostly, Garcia said, the judges ac-commodate them by reducing chargesand fines for first-time offenders. “Theyknow that just about any of us can getcited for a traffic infraction, and so theygive them a chance,” he said. “Just likethey’d give you or me a chance.”

But because they are living in thecountry illegally, it can be difficult toproduce a driver’s license without firstproducing proof of legal residency.This fact has led some offenderstrekking across state lines to apply fordriver’s licenses in the more lenientstates, such as Oregon, Washingtonand New Mexico.

“But all that’s about to change,”Garcia said. “Now every thing will beabove board with the new law, and thejudges are hip to that.”

New Nevada Driver Authorization Cards Allow Legal Driving, Insurance Has Been Available

Not All Insurance Carriers Will Sell Policies toNewly Carded Immigrant Drivers, Citing HistoryAlthough some insurance companiesanticipate a flood of new policies,many are taking a wait and see ap-proach to the newly legal drivers.

Some car insurance companiesanticipate a new golden market innew driving privileges. Even beforethe cards were available, these carri-ers found that the illegal driver seg-ment is very profitable. The insurancecompanies experience good “reten-tion,” meaning that the policies renewregularly.

Just as important is the fact thatillegal immigrants seldom reportsmall accidents to lower the chancesthat they'll have a brush with the law.Companies like Progressive, FarmersGroup, Bristol West, Infinity P&Cand Alliance United have been put-ting a lot of effort into expanding thispart of their book of business.

Even though many states denydriver's licenses to illegal immi-grants, the law generally doesn't pre-vent insurers from selling insuranceto unlicensed drivers and car owners.Companies like Progressive are al-ready writing car insurance for ille-gal immigrant drivers and expect tosell more now that licenses are avail-able to illegals.

However others are more cau-tious. Farmers Insurance Group ofCompanies, for example, is still tak-ing a wait-and-see approach as towhether it will insure the new mo-torists, according to Robert Com-pan, the company’s government andindustry affairs manager. He esti-mates it will take at least three yearsto figure out whether there’s a profitin the business.

“The law doesn’t mandate thatwe sell it,” said Compan, an execu-tive board member for the NevadaInsurance Council, an educationaland public policy arm of the indus-try.

“But if there’s a profit margin tobe made, of course we’re going tosell it, but how do you rate it if theydon’t have a driving history? Howdo you rate it if somebody doesn’thave a credit history? If we don’tknow how they manage their dailylives, it could be difficult providinginsurance.

“Normally, what we’ll do istake a look at the driving historyand predicate the rates on that, butin this case it’s hard to rate some-body who doesn’t exist in the sys-tem,” he said.



Saturday 8 - 1

Parts Phone: Fax:800-741-4444 386-236-47544444 386 2

• Exceptional Customer Service• Prompt & Dependable Delivery• Dedicated Wholesale Staff

LargestLargestInventoryInventoryin Centralin CentralFloridaFlorida

LargestInventoryin CentralFlorida

Police believe alcohol was a factorin an accident where an SUVcrashed into a Colleyville, GA, bodyshop. The GMC Yukon crashed intothe Lone Star Collision repair in the6800 block of Colleyville Blvd. inColleyville after hitting a sedan. Col-leyville police believe alcohol andspeed were a factor in the accident.The driver of the Yukon was takeninto custody by Colleyville Police.That person’s name has not yet beenreleased, but sources say that thesuspect has prior arrests for DWIand at least one DWI conviction.

A grandfather who was drivingthe sedan that was hit was trans-ported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries along withhis granddaughter, who was in thepassenger seat. “Had somebodybeen in the backseat, they would nothave survived,” said Captain RobertHinton with the Colleyville Police.

“There was very little left of thecar.” Lapier and her husband re-ceived a call from police around11:30 p.m. Jan 1. “It was unbeliev-able,” said the business’ owner, Jen-nifer Lapier. “I just couldn’t believewhat I saw. I’ve never seen anythinglike that before.

SUV Crashes into ColleyvilleBody Shop, Alcohol a Factor

The Florida Department of Environ-mental Protection and Hazmat crewsare assessing the damage left behindby a fire at an auto body shop onState Road 207 on Jan. 21. St. JohnsCounty Fire and Rescue arrived onscene at Complete Collison shortlyafter 12:00 a.m. They said the firewas out just after 1:30 a.m.

Local TV News talked to adeputy with the St. Johns CountySheriff's Office who said the buildingis a total loss. According to their web-site, Complete Collision is a trucktowing, transportation and auto bodyshop.

SR 207 reopened just before 4:30 a.m.

Fire Destroys St. Augustine,FL’s Complete Collision

The City of Dadeville, AL, wasawarded a $350,000 grant by Gov.Robert Bentley to assist the expan-sion of auto parts maker KwangSungat the William T. Thweatt IndustrialPark. The Community DevelopmentBlock Grant will help the city makeimprovements to the sewer system toassist the company’s planned $9 mil-lion expansion. The expansion willinclude construction of a new100,000-square-foot facility. Dadev-ille Mayor Joe L. Smith said, “It willbe a big help to the City of Dadevilleand Tallapoosa County. We’re readyto get started on it just as soon as thefunds are released.” KwangSungCorp., which has operated in Dadev-ille since 2006, uses a blow moldingprocess to produce components thatinclude door panels and sun visorsfor Kia and Hyundai vehicles madein the region. Currently the companyemploys 334 people at the industrialpark along U.S. Highway 280. Theywill hire 100 new local employeesafter the expansion. “The success ofautomobile manufacturers in theSoutheast depends on high qualityparts producers like KwangSung andtheir skilled Alabama workforce,”Bentley said.

Auto Supplier in AL Gets$350K Grant from State

Newell’s Auto Body has achievedGold Class status, the industry stan-dard for training that contributes tocomplete and safe repairs. Only 10percent of collision repair businessesmeet the requirements necessary toearn the Gold Class designationfrom I-CAR. Gold Class shops arerequired to have every technician in-volved in collision repair take train-ing that is specific to their role. Theymust continue with ongoing trainingeach year for the business to main-tain its Gold Class recognition, in-cluding classes in new technology.

“Newell’s Auto Body is hon-ored to be named a Gold Class col-lision repair facility,” owner ToddNewell said. “We are proud of ourcommitment to training because itis also a symbol of our commitmentto professionalism and to the safetyof our customers.” Newell’s has re-cently added advanced laser wheelalignment and laser frame measur-ing systems to complement theskills of its trained shop workers.Newell’s Auto Body is proud toserve Decatur and surroundingcommunities. Newell’s Auto Bodyis at 996 W. Harrison Ave. or go tonewellsautobody.com.

Newell’s in GA Happy toReceive I-CAR Gold Class

www.autobodynews.comCHECK IT OUT!



MARTECH SERVICESC O M P A N Y

Quality Air Breathing Systems

We’re serious about the air you breathe

Plus we offer a complete line of NIOSH Approvedmasks and hoods.

1-800-831-1525www.breathingsystems.com

“We’re serious about theair you breathe”

By

Quality Air Breathing Systems designed to provide Grade “D” breathable air from an existing compressed air source, for a supplied air hood or mask.

Belt Unit Portable Wall Mount Single Line

aCompetitive PricingaFree and fast deliveryaKnowledgeable Wholesale Parts Staff

Mon-Fri 7:30am-6:00pmSat 8:00am-5:00pm

PH 800.758.0007FX 386.917.1403

Coggin Deland Honda2677 N. Volusia AvenueOrange City, FL 32763

aaaCompetitive PricingaFree and fast delivery

Start something special.

On Jan. 16, the city of Auburn wel-comed its first Kia car dealership onSouth College Street. The dealership,which covers over 18,000 square feetand represents a capital investmentof $5 million, first opened on July 2and according to Kia President JesseLiechty, the dealership has sold over140 cars per month. “I am thrilled tobe here,” Liechty said. “Kia is justvery innovative and they’re bringingproducts to the market that are some-thing else.” Auburn Mayor Bill Hamoffered a few words of encourage-ment, thanking Kia for choosingAuburn as the site of a new dealer-ship. “What a great addition toAuburn, Alabama,” Ham said. LollySteiner, president of the AuburnChamber of Commerce, said a deal-ership of Kia’s caliber was a sub-stantial economic boon for Auburn.“The sales tax can really make a dif-ference in the city’s sales tax draw,plus they’re good corporate citi-zens,” Steiner said. Curt Snider, mar-keting director for the Auburn Kiadealership, said Auburn’s status as afast growing area of Alabama madethe location very attractive. Kia soldapproximately 535,179 cars in theUnited States last year.

Auburn AL Gets First KIADealership Ford Motor Co. has named Chief

Automotive Technologies and Elek-tron approved collision repairequipment suppliers for the 2015 F-150 pickup truck. Ford’s F-Serieshas been America’s best-selling ve-hicle for more than 30 years.

To improve fuel economy, Fordhas significantly redesigned the F-150 to replace the vehicle’s tradi-tional steel body panels and bedwith military-grade aluminum. Fordhas also increased the amount ofhigh-strength steel in the new F-150’s frame from 23 percent to 77percent. Properly restoring an alu-minum collision-damaged vehicleto pre-accident condition requiresnew repair methods and equipment.Recognizing this, Ford has added anumber of Chief and Elektron prod-ucts to its Rotunda Dealer Equip-ment program and is encouraging itsdealers to invest in the proper equip-ment and training before the 2015F-150 hits the showrooms later thisyear.

‘Chief has the largest installedbase of structural repair equipmentin North America and is a long-timeFord-approved supplier,’ says MikeCranfill, vice president of collisionfor Vehicle Service Group (VSG),

parent company of the Chief andElektron brands. ‘In fact, more than60 percent of Ford dealers withbody shops currently rely on Chiefequipment every day. We haveworked closely with Ford to de-velop a dedicated new structuralholding package and target attach-ments for the 2015 F-150 that willfunction seamlessly with dealers’existing Chief frame racks andmeasuring systems. We are also pro-viding a full range of Elektronwelders designed specifically foraluminum repair.’

In addition to the Chief frameracks, LaserLock™ live mapping™system and Elektron spot weldersthat are already available to Forddealers through the Rotunda DealerEquipment program, Ford has ap-proved the following F-150 specialtools:● Chief Structural Holding with F-150 Kit, Complete (part #128-3000001)● Chief F-150 Holding Kit (part#128-300002)● Chief Deluxe Chain and Clamp-ing Package with Rolling Cart (part#128-619205)

Chief Collet Style Target Attach-ment Set for Non-Ferrous Vehicle

Openings (part #128-540-200)● Elektron MultiMig 511 Welderwith Standard Torch (part #128-EL900011)● Elektron MultiMig 511 Welderwith Push-Pull Torch (part # 128-EL900012)● Elektron MultiMig 522 DualTorch Welder Complete with Stan-dard and Push-Pull Torch (part#128-EL900010)● Elektron MultiTool AluminumDent Repair Station (part #128-EL930001)

Chief will also introduce newtraining through Chief Universitylater this year that will cover properaluminum repair methods to helptechnicians prepare to work on thenew F-150.

‘Our Chief and Elektron tech-nical experts are working with theRotunda team to help dealers ensurethey are ready to properly repair thenew 2015 F-150 as soon as it goeson sale,’ Cranfill says. ‘We canequip them with the training, toolsand equipment they need tosmoothly transition to aluminum ve-hicle repair.’

See www.chiefautomotive.comor call (800) 445-9262.

Ford Approves Chief and Elektron Equipment for 2015 F-150 Repairs

Ford has spend 5 years developing its2015 F-150, the first full size pickupwith a 95% aluminum body, and it hasinvested heavily in a market segmentit already dominates. Ford startedwork in 2009 on the truck programthat yielded the F-150, according toCOO Mark Fields in assessing itsability to service, manufacture andpurchase material before deciding onan aluminum body.

What are the costs of this radicalreengineering to consumers? Ford hasimplied the sticker price will be“roughly the same as the current F-150, from $24,500 to $55,000.”

Maybe. But what is indisputableis aluminum’s inherently higher price.Aluminum sheet currently costs $2.20per pound vs. steel at 75 cents perpound. Analysts say you can roughlycalculate the price premium of thenew F-150 by figuring $2 extra perpound saved (700 lbs.)

If those estimates are correct, thenew F-150 should cost about $1,400more than its predecessor. Ford alsocharges an extra $2,095 for adding theEcoBoost engine option on the currentF-150.

Repairers though have differentconcerns: the impact of probablehigher insurance rates; the complexityof aluminum repair; and the potentialimpact on the iconic brand they’reused to working on.

Writes Craig Trudell in Automo-tive News, “Less than 10 percent of the

more than 30,000independent repairshops in the UnitedStates are certifiedand meet trainingand equipment re-quirements to workwith most alu-minum auto bodyparts, according to

an estimate by Darrell Amberson,ASA chairman. While some dealershipsdo in-house body work, independentbusinesses handle the vast majority ofcollision repair in the United States, hesaid.

“Ford is betting buyers will ac-cept what it estimates will be a 10 per-cent jump in costs to insure the pickupin return for improved fuel economy,towing and payload. Ford must alsoget the aftermarket industry up tospeed as it debuts the highest-profilevehicle ever to swap steel for alu-minum.”

“You don’t get any more main-stream than the F-150,” Amberson,who is also vice president of opera-tions for LaMettry’s Collision Inc. inMinneapolis.

Insurers see the material as moreof a liability and Ford expects rates onthe new F-150 to be about 10 percenthigher than its predecessor. Ford has

said it isn’t worried about this becausethe current F-150 is now about 10 per-cent cheaper to insure than competingtrucks, said Doug Scott, Ford’s truckmarketing manager.

But repair shops need separatehand tools for aluminum and steel suchas wire brushes, grinders and sanders,because corrosion can happen whendissimilar metals come in contact withone another. The repair industry alsohas less experience with differences inhow aluminum springs back from im-pacts compared with steel.

“Aluminum has a very poormemory and it resists straighteningattempts,” noted Jeff Poole, a coor-dinator for I-CAR. “Experience re-ally pays dividends here, and this iswhere we’ve got a learning curveahead of us.”

Ford’s internal data show that 90percent of customers live within twohours of a capable repair facility fortoday’s F-150, and 80 percent are within30 minutes, Ford’s Scott said. Buyers ofthe aluminum-bodied F-150 will havethe same access by the time it arrives indealerships late this year, he said.

“We’ve just been waiting for thereveal to unveil a certification processfor dealer-owned body shops and theindependent channel,” Scott said.

Once the decision was made togo with the material, Ford was able toselect a military grade high-strengthalloy, thicker than what’s used in thecurrent truck, because aluminum isabout one-third the density of steel,Fields told reporters.

“The new F series is going to bemore dent- and ding-resistant,” hesaid. “Our engineers have great tests

where they’re dropping bowling balls.We’ve actually been testing this with anumber of our customers, in the con-struction industry, the mining indus-try, to help us.”

Residual values for the new F-150, which measure how well thetruck retains its worth after years ofownership, could decline because ofhigher insurance costs.

“The automakers can force theircertified body shops to be able towork with aluminum, but that stillcould narrow down the choice and thescope of shops that consumers and in-surance companies will have,” LarryDominique, the president of ALG,which has forecast residual values foralmost 50 years. “This will work itselfout, but it could take 10 years.”

Ford produces its F-series trucksin much higher volume than other alu-minum-centric manufacturers do. Pastexamples of aluminum use in autobodies are inconsistent in terms ofwhether insurance rates rise and affectownership costs that play a role inforecasting residuals, Dominique said.“Truck owners are so damn loyal,” hesaid.

Manufacturing experts and steel-industry advocates say that moving toaluminum will require fundamentalchanges to how Ford truck bodiesmake their way down the assemblyline.

Ford is adding thousands ofsalaried workers including technicalengineers to support new-product in-troductions and assigned Fields thetask of honing its processes.

The complicated switch to alu-minum from steel in the F-150's bodycontributes to IHS Automotive's esti-mate that Ford will need to take aboutsix weeks of downtime at each of itstruck plants to retool and swap out ro-bots and machinery.

However, Ford estimates that 80percent of its customers are or will becomfortable with its use of aluminumbecause they know it in other applica-tions, such as with toolboxes and lad-ders that need to be both strong andlight, Scott said.

The ability of the industry toprove it can handle collision work onthe new F-150 will be tested soonafter the truck reaches the market, said


Ford’s 2015 F-150 Launch Focuses Repairer Concern on Costs and Benefits

2015 Ford F-150

Darrell AmbersonFile Photo

See Ford’s 2015 F-150, Page 22


It’s easy as a shop owner to get socaught up in day-to-day operations thatit can be a challenge to follow just thenews directly affecting collision re-pairers.

But there’s plenty of insurance-re-lated news that shops also shouldknow about, because it can help themeducate their customers, market theirbusiness, and maybe even alter howthey vote or shop for insurance them-selves.

Insurer pushes for more alternativepartsAs of this year, The Hartford is nowrequiring its direct repair shops to use“any appropriate alternative part whenit is available” regardless of the age ormileage of the vehicle being repaired.

A memo from Bethany Siddall,director of auto claims for The Hart-ford, tells shops the new policy is sub-ject to state law, and that any salvageparts still must be of the same modelyear or newer than the vehicle being

repaired. But unless prohibited by statelaw, the new mandate means availablenon-OEM parts must be used even oncurrent model year vehicles.

“Keep in mind that each claimshould be handled on an individualbasis and any variance from this stan-dard should be clearly documented inthe claim file,” Siddall’s memo states.

State Farm encouraging weldingtraining, certification. When I-CARannounced a new lower pricing struc-ture for its welding qualification test-ing (now called Welding Training andCertification) early this year, it alsoannounced that State Farm negotiateda discount for its Select Service shopsas well. The announced continuesState Farm’s track record of encour-aging but not mandating certain train-ing requirements on its direct repairshops.

“We believe welding proficiencybenefits State Farm policyholders byproviding quality repairs to policy-holder vehicles,” Russ Hoffbauer, di-

rector of property and casualty claimsfor State Farm, said. “While partici-pating in the I-CAR Welding Trainingand Certification is not mandatory forSelect Service repairers, we anticipatethat repairers will be eager to take ad-vantage of this unique opportunity.”

Tardy insurance regulation reportissued by the feds. Nearly two yearsafter it was due, a new report releasedby the Federal Insurance Office in De-cember concludes more federal regu-lation of some aspects of insurance isneeded. Rather than debating federal-vs. state-oversight of insurance, the re-port suggests a hybrid approach, withfederal involvement where beneficialin an otherwise state-based system.

Most of the federal regulationsuggested in the report deals withmortgage insurance and internationalinsurance issues, but it also calls foroversight of personal lines in terms ofpractices related to risk-profilinggroups and individuals based on per-sonal information.

Insurer groups were generallypleased with the report’s support formore consistent state-based regulationof the industry but were more skepticalof its call for more federal involve-ment.

State insurance regulator group in up-heavalAt the same time when increased fed-

eral oversight ofthe insurance in-dustry is beingproposed, the as-sociation of stateinsurance regula-tors appears to behaving internalconflicts. Con-

necticut Insurance Commissioner TomLeonardi is calling for an outside firmto conduct a corporate-governance re-view of the National Association of In-surance Commissioners (NAIC),questioning what he sees as poor deci-sions by the group’s executive com-


Hendrick BMW6950 E. Independence Blvd.Charlotte, NC 28227Mon-Fri: 7:30am-6:00pmSat: 9:00am-5:00pm

888.814.1938

Hendrick BMW Northlake10720 Northlake Auto Plaza Blvd.Charlotte, NC 28269Mon-Fri: 7:30am-6:00pmSat: 9:00am-5:00pm

888.286.2651

Hendrick MINI7036 E. Independence Blvd.Charlotte, NC 28227Mon-Fri: 7:30am-6:00pm Sat: 9:00am-5:00pm

866.952.7851

ORIGINAL BMW PARTS AND ACCESSORIES

Original BMW Parts

bmwusa.com

©2013 MINI, a division of BMW of North America, LLC. The MINI name, model names and logo are registered trademarks.

• OE Parts Express• Collision Link• OPSTRAX• Parts Trader

• Collision Link• OPSTRAX• Parts Trader

• OE Parts Express• Collision Link• OPSTRAX• Parts Trader

Shops Can Put News and Trends Related To Auto Insurers To Good Use

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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

Tom Leonardi


757.282.0021 fax

COLLISIONLINK SPECIALISTS

Cavalier Ford LincolnGreenbrier

1515 S. Military Hwy. • Chesapeake, VA 23320

Parts Department Hours:Mon-Fri: 8:00am - 5:30pm; Sat: 8:00am - 1:00pm

• 6 Delivery trucks available for quick delivery• We go above and beyond the competition• 9 countermen ready to take your order via - fax, phone &• Mention promo code: CFABN to receive 5% off your first order

mittee and what he called NAIC’s“imperial presidency.”

Leonardi cited as one examplethe decision by last year’s president,Kevin McCarty of Florida, “to givethe Federal Insurance Office one ofthe NAIC’s three seats on the Interna-tional Association of Insurance Su-pervisors Executive Committee.” Hewas also critical of some insurancecommissioners’ decision to turn downan invitation to meet with PresidentObama.

“This could be so bad that itmight be the pivotal point we laterrecognize that doomed state-basedregulation. Talk about a self-inflictedwound,” Washington CommissionerMike Kreidler is quoted in the letter.

Leonardi said “cronyism” andthe “undue influence of two former[unnamed] commissioners,” is under-mining the NAIC and gives fodder tothose who question “whether we areup to the task of regulating the largestinsurance market in the world.” Otherstate insurance commissioners haveraised similar concerns but believethe NAIC needs to attempt to addressthe issues internally before seekingthe outside review that Leonardiwants.

State enacts new deductible rules.Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett inDecember signed a new law that al-lows insurers to offer zero-deductibleauto policies? Previous state law re-

quired a deductibleof at least $100.The legislation alsodrops the currentmandate that poli-cyholders selectinga deductible below$500 acknowledgein writing that they

recognize that “a lower deductiblemeans a higher premium.”

Insurer offers telematics as a way forparents to track teen driversEsurance says parents in 39 states whohave installed its DriveSafe telematicsdevice on their vehicle can now pairthe device with their teenage driver’scell phone to limit (on some phonebrands) texting or other use of thephone while the car is in motion. Thesystem also allows parents to monitora teen’s driving behaviors includingroutes taken, speeding, hard braking ordriving past curfew.

Esurance says the information isnot shared with the insurer nor is itused to determine premiums.

Insurance exec a big, big winnerIra Curry, a 56-year-old vice presi-dent for property-casualty in the At-lanta office of Aspen Insurance, wasone of two winners in December’sMega Millions $636 million jackpot.An Aspen spokesman said Curry hadtaken a leave from the company “todisappear with family for a while.”Curry took the lump-sum cash option,walking away with about $120 millionafter taxes.

Insurer to offer policies in anotherstatePennsylvania-based Erie InsuranceGroup will expand into Kentucky, its13th state, by early next year. Erie isthe 15th largest personal auto insurerin the country, although nearly half ofits premiums are from insureds in itshome state.

Idea of city-owned insurer debatedAn editorial in the Detroit News urgedMayor-elect Michael Duggan to drophis idea of starting a city-owned autoinsurance company.

Duggan first raised the idea last fallwhile campaigning to become Detroit’snext mayor. Detroit residents by some

estimates have thehighest auto insur-ance rates of anycity in the country,leading some resi-dents to use subur-ban addresseswhen buying autoinsurance. Duggan

said his own auto insurance rates dou-bled when he moved from nearby Livo-nia to within the city limits of Detroit.

The newspaper says Dugganshould not take on such a risky en-deavor but should instead focus on ef-forts to curtail auto thefts and tolobby the state for reform of the no-fault system. One claim in the edito-rial surely caught the eye of collisionrepairers.

“If Duggan believes he can lowerpremiums by taking the profit out ofinsurance, he’s in for an awakening,”the editorial states. “There is no profitin auto insurance, (Peter) Kuhnmuench(executive director of the Insurance In-stitute of Michigan), says.”

John Yoswick is also the editor ofthe weekly CRASH Network (for afree 4-week trial subscription, visitwww.CrashNetwork.com). He can becontacted by email at:[email protected].

Mike Duggan

Tom Corbett

Among the other insurers namedin the suit are Progressive Gulf Insur-ance Co., Allstate Insurance Co. andNationwide Property And CasualtyInsurance Co.

An attorney for the repair com-panies and a representative for StateFarm did not immediately respond torequests for comment Wednesday.

Counsel information for the in-surance companies was not immedi-ately available for comment.

The case is Capitol Body Shop,Inc. et al v. Lewis et al., case number3:14-cv-00012, in the U.S. DistrictCourt for the Southern District ofMississippi.


Continued from Page 4

Insurers SuedI-CAR® CEO & President, John VanAlstyne, addressed I-CAR’s leadinginitiatives for 2014 and reviewed2013 milestones during a speech atthe Collision Industry Conference(CIC) meeting in Palm Springs onJan. 16.

The 2014 initiatives highlightedby Van Alstyne will have a signifi-cant impact on the industry and willdeliver on I-CAR’s commitment toeducation, knowledge and collision-repair solutions. Van Alstyne honedin on enhancements to I-CAR’s in-dustry-recognized Welding Training& Certification™ program and theRepairability Technical Support ini-tiative in 2014.

Van Alstyne stated, “Today, asthe major provider of welding train-ing to the collision repair industry, I-CAR estimates that at leasttwo-thirds of technicians who weldlack formal welding training.” Headded, “I-CAR has beefed up itswelding programs and significantlyreduced pricing to encourage repair-ers to more broadly invest in thetraining that makes perhaps thebiggest difference in complete, safeand quality repairs for the ultimatebenefit of the consumer. To effec-tively navigate the vehicle technol-

ogy tsunami our industry is facing,repairers today need technicians thatare trained and certified with up-to-date welding skills in order to per-form the complex structural repairsthat are now required.”

Major insurers, such as StateFarm, and OEMs, including GM,have already committed to partner-ing with I-CAR in 2014, encourag-ing or requiring their networks toparticipate in I-CAR’s WeldingTraining & Certification.

Van Alstyne also provided an up-date on the Repairability TechnicalSupport initiative. Van Alstyne shareddetails on the launch of the dedicated“technical knowledge” website, up-coming plans and key milestones thathave been achieved. This initiativelaunched in 2013 and is designed toprovide technical repair knowledge,address gaps in repair procedures andenhance industry technical communi-cation with OEMs.

“I-CAR thanks the industry forits support in 2013. Through yourcommitment, I-CAR is well posi-tioned to deliver on its vision in2014 and beyond,” explained VanAlstyne.

Key 2013 accomplishments thatVan Alstyne shared were the mile-

stone $200,000 donation to the Col-lision Repair Education Foundationon behalf of the industry, no priceincreases for the third consecutiveyear, the introduction of GoldClass™ program enhancements, a$2.6 million investment in a newlearning content management sys-tem (LCMS), the expansion of net-work partner programs and newProfessional Development Pro-gram™ training.

Van Alstyne further renewed I-CAR’s commitment to hold all pric-ing flat again in 2014, except theWelding reductions mentioned. Healso announced that an estimated$165,000 donation will be made byI-CAR to the Collision Repair Edu-cation Foundation in 2014, repre-senting $1 for every class theindustry took with I-CAR in 2013.

I-CAR President Van Alstyne Talks Welding and Training at CIC

Search:

Autobody Newson Facebook

CALL 800-699-8251

The source for timely information that every

body shop needs!



by Chasidy Rae Sisk

In December 2013, State Farm expe-rienced a dramatic reduction in thenumber of shops participating in Se-lect Service (their direct repair pro-gram) in the Fort Wayne, IN, area due

to the implementa-tion of PartsTrader.Of the 22 localshops participatingin the DRP, 14(over 60%) optedout of the program,though some ofthese shops had

been on the program for decades. Sev-eral shop owners and managers werewilling to discuss their reasons forbeing removed from the Select Serv-ice.

Todd Bonecutter, General Man-ager at Glenbrook Collision at 100 W.Coliseum Blvd in Ft. Wayne, said heopposes PartsTrader as a mandatedtool. “We don’t like being told wherewe can buy our parts or being pre-vented from buying parts from ourusual vendors. This is just a steppingstone for the insurers to dictate other

things in the collision industry. Theystarts with parts, but it’s only a matterof time before they move on to paintsand other materials.”

Jeff Rice, Estimator at KoesterBody Shop at 6818 SR 930 East, alsoin Ft. Wayne, agrees that the changesto the Select Service program are abad thing which is why his shop optedout when use of PartsTrader becamemandated. He also notes that sincebeing removed from the program,there have been big delays in gettingState Farm to get out to the shop tolook at new jobs.

The owner of Dan T. Gratz BodyShop, Dan Gratz, said PartsTrader is“just another way of keeping us underState Farm’s thumb and having themdictate how we run our businesses.They are looking for a way to makemore money off the little guy, the colli-sion shops… Insurer interference is get-ting worse and worse. If we don’t takea stand now, when will we? State Farmneeds to learn that there are shops whowill take a stand for the right thing.”

Since the removal of these shops,State Farm has been using small,sometimes uncertified, shops that

don’t have the proper training andequipment, according to Gratz whosees this as a “lawsuit waiting to hap-pen… State Farm doesn’t seem to re-

alize that they are running shops outof business by doing things like im-plementing PartsTrader which reducesour profits. If we can’t make money,we will have to close our doors. Whois going to repair cars then?”

Eric Knipscheer, owner ofKnipscheer Collision Center at 747 WSuperior St in Fort Wayne, opted outof the Select Service because Part-sTrader did not offer parts from anylocal suppliers. He prefers buying lo-cally for the benefit of his local econ-omy and “really doesn’t appreciatesomeone telling [him] where to buy

his parts.”All four of these shops currently

participate in four to six total DRPs,and the consensus seems to be that theSelect Service program wasn’t partic-ularly problematic until the use ofPartsTrader was enforced. All of thesegentlemen agreed that they’d be will-ing to renegotiate their DRP contractswith State Farm if the insurer ceasedto mandate the use of PartsTrader.

When asked about the advicethey’d give to shops on the Select Serv-ice in areas where PartsTrader is not yetmandated, everyone agreed thatwhether a shop should remain on theprogram after PartsTrader is imple-mented is a personal decision each shopmust make. Bonecutter suggests that“you understand the ins and outs of theprogram so you can evaluate your op-tions and make an educated decision inthe best interests of your business.”

Gratz believes that shops shouldalso consider contacting some of theshops in Fort Wayne that opted out tolearn more about the program andwhy they made the decision to with-draw from the Select Service. Knip-scheer cautions that if PartsTrader is


Your shop will breathe easy with a Flowmaster portable clean-air, re-circulating unit. Ideal for sanding, priming, spot painting or overallwhole shop ventilation.

Your shop will breathe easy

Creative Metal Manufacturingwww.creativemetalmfg.com

(888) 631-6687 Toll Free

Flowmaster is priced right and Made in the USA

• No assembly required• Most powerful unit on the market• Easy mobility with pneumatic locking wheels• 50’ cord, folding hook and filter change indicator• 110V or 220V• Custom Sizes Available

A

h g

ilable

No permits, fire suppression, plumbing or roof

penetration needed!

CLEAN AIR RECIRCULATORCLEAN AIR RECIRCULATORCLEAN AIR RECIRCULATOR

14 Fort Wayne, IN, Shops Opt Out of State Farm’s Select Service Citing PartsTrader

Todd Bonecutter

not resisted, “other insurers will adoptsimilar programs if we allow it, andshops will lose the freedom to choosetheir suppliers and to make a profit.”

Mike Hartman, former presi-dent of the Indiana Auto Body Asso-ciation (IABA), is also paying closeattention to this situation. Though

Hartman Auto Body still participatesin Select Service since he is located inan outlying rural area where Part-sTrader is not yet mandated, once thischanges, he will “probably bail out.My sign says Hartman Auto Body, notState Farm Auto Body! I’m not will-ing to be forced to use PartsTrader be-cause I see no benefit to it whatsoever,especially if there are no local vendorson the system.”

From his conversations with

some of the shops that chose to optout, Hartman has found “the shops arenot opposed to using parts procure-ment systems, but they are opposed tohaving it shoved down their throats.Owners don’t like someone coming inand telling them how to run theirshops.”

Another problem cited is thatsince parts vendors in Fort Wayne arenot participating in PartsTrader, shopshave to order parts from outside theirarea, from suppliers they don’t haverelationships with. This negatively im-pacts the shops’ cycle times as they’reforced to wait to receive their parts,and this affects their scorecard withState Farm.

One Fort Wayne dealership optedout of Select Service because the pro-

gram forbade them from purchasingparts from their own parts departmentsince it wasn’t on PartsTrader, andthey didn’t like the loss of control inchoosing their parts, particularly inbeing unable to supply their own bodyshop.

Yet another criticism of Part-sTrader is that it cuts the collision re-pair facility out of the parts profit. InNew Zealand, the parts procurementprogram has progressed and expandedto include paints and materials also,and Hartman fears this hap-pening in the U.S. because“you can’t sustain your busi-ness on labor rates alone.”

Hartman also notes thatthe shops that opted out areseeing State Farm takelonger to write estimates,sometimes taking as long asa week to even visit the shop.Because of this, longtime customersare being steered to shops on the Se-lect Service where estimates are beingwritten immediately. In one such in-stance, a shop waited eight days for anappraiser to come out to view a claim;meanwhile, several appraisers fromState Farm visited the shop for sup-plements, yet they refused to write an

estimate on the new job, according toHartman.

Though State Farm is making itdifficult on the shops that opted out,Hartman believes these shops aredoing a fabulous job with explainingthe reasons for the delays and educat-ing consumers on their right tochoose. Customers have been prettyunderstanding, and some evendropped State Farm because they weredispleased with how the insurer istreating the shops and their customers.

The 14 shops, many of themlarger facilities and dealerships, whichopted out of Select Service were doingapproximately 80% of State Farm’sbusiness in Fort Wayne before Part-sTrader was mandated. The shops thatremain are struggling to keep up withthe increase in volumes while State


Join the fastest growing information technology provider to the collision repair industry!

Mitchell International is looking for sales consultants to help its collision repair customers grow their business more pro�tably by using Mitchell’s broad array of deeply e�ective business automation solutions.

If you are a technology savvy, results driven individual with an established track record of exceeding goals, check out what Mitchell can o�er you. We are currently looking for top talent in several territories and identifying individuals to fuel future growth across the U.S.

• Visit our LinkedIn page or career website for more information and to apply. (linkd.in/1ithUn5 )

Ready to Take Your Sales Careerto the Next Level?

Now Hiring!

Todd Bonecutter (center) with Glenbrook Collision Staff

See Shops Opt Out, Page 27

When you’re running a busy shop,it’s necessary to have many systemsand procedures more or less on auto-matic. There’s no time to addressevery situation newly every time.Lean processes and procedures havebeen carefully thought out so ifeveryone adheres to the system, theshop runs smoothly.

Nevertheless, periodically it’snecessary to re-evaluate any system orprocedure that’s been used for a longtime. I, for example, tend to invest individend-bearing securities that I cancount on generating consistent incomefor the long haul. But from time-to-time I have to weed out the poor pro-ducers and replace them with betterproducers or perhaps just purchasemore of the good producers. An astuteshop owner or manager should do thesame thing with marketing proce-dures.

Sadly many shops fail to accu-rately track the effectiveness of pro-motional ads, mailings, e-mails,website hits and events. At one timethis was understandable. We didn’thave tools like hit counters or e-mailsreceived reports or 800 number calls.But even tools like these don’t reallytell us whether any of these promo-tional responses turned into real jobs.Our only reliable statistic is the cus-tomer’s report about what sent him orher to the shop. Without those num-bers the shop owner or manager hasno real idea what marketing actions todrop and which ones to double up, torefine or replace.

Even with customers’ informa-tion about who sent them, it’s still notalways possible to know how to rein-force the sources that sent business tothe shop. Some insurance companyreferrals will specify the customer’sagent but sometimes the agent is manymiles away so that it’s not practical tomarket to thse remote agents. If mostof the jobs come to the shop referredby one insurance company, how se-cure is it to bet the survival of the shopon one source that could cripple theshop if it stops sending work? Oneagain, the investment metaphor ap-plies. How secure is it to put most ofyour investment money into purchas-ing or holding just one stock, bond orother security? It’s well known that acertain amount of diversity is neces-sary to protect oneself against possi-ble market turndowns.

Another factor that must be con-sidered in a re-evaluaton is the cost ofeach marketing action. Some promo-tional actions are hard to track but costso little it may be worth keeping themin motion. But if a marketing move iscostly, it’s definitely worthwhile totake a close look at how much profitthat action is creating. One shopowner I knew well kept a DRP with alow-profit, cut-rate insurance com-pany that he knew barely made him aprofit on each job. But when he wasable to get a contract with a much bet-ter paying DRP, he dropped the otherone like a rock!

I’ve found that some shop own-ers don’t really know the true cost of

referral arrangements with insurancecompanies, dealerships and other re-ferral sources. If the labor and partsdiscount is calculated per job, andgive-aways factored in, like lot dam-age, totals storage and more, the realcosts of some of those relationshipsmay be much more than they seem tobe at a glance. Like the automatic pro-duction procedure, a shop owner mayhave gotten so comfortable with a re-lationship, he or she may not realizeit’s time to re-evaluate that relation-ship and perhaps consider looking fora new one -- or re-negotiating theprofitability of that long-term situa-tion.

Finally, our world has changedsignificantly with the proliferation ofsmart phones and tablets. New appsfor these pop up daily now, and thereis an expectation that every businesscan provide instant electronic infor-mation. Printed paper phone booksand many publications are now rarely

read or used. Resources spent in thisdirection may be totally wasted. Whileit can be costly to seek out a goodprovider for social media promotionand possibly even a smart phone app,it would be wise to face up to that costnow or be left behind in the dust. Andeven this marketing effort and costmight not be necessary if a shop’s pri-mary customer base is unlikely to seekout or respond to this electronic kindof marketing.

The location, age, environmentand occupations of a shop’s customerscould be such that the shop could getaway with another year of limitedstate-of-the-art electronic marketing.But the young people becoming adultstoday are totally conversant withsmart phones, social media and more.If a shop plans to be in business pastthis year, there’s no getting aweayfrom the need to embrace these newtechnologies and put the marketingdollars in that direction.


Nalley BMW

www.nalleybmw.com(800) 622-2021

Large original BMW parts inventoryBMW trained techniciansService when you need it

Open 7 days a week:M-F 7:30am - 7pmSat 7am - 5pm

Free express delivery serviceto the southeast region.

1606 Church St., Decatur, GA 30033www.nalleybmw.com

(800) 622.2021(404) 297.9134 Fax(800) 622.2021(404) 297.9134 Fax

Toll Free:Toll Free:

Nalley BMW

Parts Manager: Gary Lazenby

NEED PARTS?Our parts department is always ready to help you outwith our original BMW parts & accessories.

Re-Think Your Marketing For The New Year

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

Mobileye, a Dutch private companyand a leader in camera-based advanceddriver assistance systems (ADAS)technologies for the automotive indus-try and Accel Telecom Ltd., a leadingprovider of cellular based connectedcar solutions, have announced the inte-gration of Mobileye’s Collision avoid-ance system with Accel’s VOYAGERconnected car smartphone. The inte-grated solution allows remote monitor-ing of Mobileye alerts transmitted viathe VOYAGER 3G cellular connec-tion, which is ideal for fleet managers,insurance companies and families thatwant to receive real time updates on

their driver’s behavior on the road.Isaac Litman, Mobileye CEO

commented: “[This] is an elegant so-lution that allows both the driver anda third party to receive Mobileye’s lifesaving alerts in real time which is areal need for fleet managers, busi-nesses, families and more. We arehappy to partner with Accel on thisexciting offering and believe it willenhance the Mobileye experience.”

Marc Seelenfreund, Accel CEOsaid, “the integrated VOYAGER–Mobileye solution will add an addi-tional layer of driver safety via remotemonitoring of Mobileye alerts.”

Mobileye Integrates with Accel Connected Car Technology


Great News!...Honda and Acura Genuine OE Radiatorsand AC Condensers.

Great Price!...On Select Popular Units.

Contact your local Honda or Acura dealer for details.

Honda

CivicCRVAccord

2012-13-142012-13-142013-14

$166.65$166.65$166.65

$133.33$133.33$133.33

Model Year RadiatorMSRP

ACCondenser

MSRPAcura

RDXILXILX HybridMDX

2013-142013-142013-142014

$166.65$166.65$166.65$166.65

$133.33$133.33$133.33$133.33

Model Year RadiatorMSRP

ACCondenser

MSRP


Jerry Damson HondaHuntsv i l le

800-264-1739256-382-3759

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-5:30; Sat [email protected]

Serra HondaBirmingham

800-987-0819205-949-5460

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5; Sat [email protected]

AutoNation HondaClearwaterClearwater

888-205-2564727-530-1173

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 8-5; Sun [email protected]

AutoNation HondaHollywoodHol lywood

800-542-8121954-964-8300


Braman Hondaof Palm Beach

Greenacres888-479-0695561-966-5185

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-4:[email protected]

Classic HondaOr lando

888-893-4984407-521-1115

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat [email protected]

Coggin Deland HondaDeland

800-758-0007386-626-1811


Ed Morse HondaRiv iera Beach800-232-1098561-844-8089

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 7:[email protected]

Headquarter HondaClermont

800-497-2294407-395-7374


Hendrick Honda BradentonBradenton

877-706-2021941-752-2123


Hendrick Honda DaytonaDaytona Beach800-953-4402386-252-2301


Rick Case HondaDavie

877-544-2249Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7:30-4

[email protected]

South Motors HondaMiami

888-418-3513305-256-2240Dept. Hours: M-F 8-7

[email protected]

Carey Paul HondaSnel lv i l le

770-985-1444Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat [email protected]

Ed Voyles HondaMariet ta

800-334-3719770-933-5870 DirectDept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat [email protected]

Gerald Jones HondaAugusta

800-733-2210706-228-7040


Gwinnett Place HondaDuluth

800-277-8836678-957-5151


Honda Mall of GeorgiaBuford/Gwinnet t678-318-3155


Milton Martin HondaGainesv i l le

770-534-0086678-989-5473

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:[email protected]

Nalley HondaUnion C i ty

866-362-8034770-306-4646


Southern Motors HondaSavannah

888-785-8387912-925-1444


Patty Peck HondaRidgeland

800-748-8676601-957-3400


Apple Tree HondaAshevi l le

800-476-9411828-684-4400


ALABAMA FLORIDA FLORIDA GEORGIA

FLORIDA

MISSISSIPPI

HONDA

ALABAMA FLORIDA GEORGIA GEORGIA

ACURA

Jerry Damson AcuraHuntsv i l le

800-264-1739256-533-1345

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-5:30; Sat [email protected]

Acura of Orange ParkJacksonvi l le

888-941-7278904-777-1008


Duval AcuraJacksonvi l le

800-352-2872904-725-1149


Rick Case AcuraFort Lauderdale800-876-1150954-377-7688


Jackson AcuraRoswel l

877-622-2871678-259-9500

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-6; Sat 7:[email protected]

Nalley AcuraMariet ta

800-899-7278770-422-3138


Southern Motors AcuraSavannah

800-347-0596912-232-3222


Flow AcuraWinston-Salem800-489-3534336-761-3682

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-1www.flowacura.com

NO. CAROLINAFLORIDA

GEORGIA

NO. CAROLINA

The Honda and Acura Dealers Listed Here are Subscribers:


Burlington HondaBur l ington

800-822-5108336-584-3431

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6:00; Sat [email protected]

Crown Honda SouthpointDurham

855-893-8866919-425-4711

Dept. Hours: M-Thu 7-11; Fri 7-6Sat 7-5; Sun 11-5

www.southpointhonda.com

Hendrick HondaChar lo t te

800-277-7271704-552-1149


Leith HondaRale igh

800-868-6970919-790-8228

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7:[email protected]

McKenney-Salinas HondaGastonia

888-703-7109704-824-8844 x 624Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30

[email protected]

Metro HondaInd ian Tra i l

866-882-9542704-220-1522

Dept. Hours: M-F 6:30-6:30; Sat 7-4www.copytk.com

Vann York AutomallHigh Po int

336-841-6200Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-3

Breakaway HondaGreenvi l le

800-849-5056864-234-6481


Dick Brooks HondaGreer

800-936-9090864-877-1772


Midlands HondaColumbia

877-273-4442803-691-8585

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7-4www.copytk.com

Piedmont HondaAnderson

800-849-5057864-375-2082


Airport HondaAlcoa

800-264-4721865-970-7792

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6:30; Sat 7:[email protected]

AutoNation HondaWest Knoxville

Knoxv i l le800-824-1301865-218-5461

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:[email protected]

Bill Gatton HondaBr is to l

800-868-4118423-652-9545


Wolfchase HondaBart le t t

800-982-7290901-255-3780Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7

[email protected]

Duncan’s Hokie HondaChr is t ianburg800-979-9110540-381-3200

Dept. Hours: Mon-Fri 7:30-5:30Sat 8:00-5:00

[email protected]

Hall HondaVi rg in ia Beach800-482-9606757-431-4329


Hendrick HondaWoodbridgeWoodbr idge

703-690-7777Dept. Hours: M-Fri 7-6Sat 8-5; Sun 10-4

Priority HondaChesapeake

757-213-0539Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat [email protected]

Priority HondaHampton

757-838-1672Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat [email protected]

Valley HondaStaunton

800-277-0598540-213-9016


West Broad HondaRichmond

800-446-0160804-672-8811

Dept. Hours: M-Thu 7:30-6:30;Fri 7:30-6; Sat 8-3; Sun 11-3

[email protected]

NO. CAROLINA NO. CAROLINA

SO. CAROLINA

TENNESSEE

TENNESSEE

VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA

Hendrick AcuraChar lo t te

800-768-6824704-566-2288


Leith AcuraCary

800-868-0082919-657-0460

Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-4:[email protected]

Performance AcuraChapel H i l l

888-788-0750919-932-2577

Dept. Hours: M-Th 7-7; Fri 7-6; Sat [email protected]

Crown Acura of RichmondRichmond

800-523-4411804-527-6865


Karen Radley AcuraWoodbr idge

800-355-2818703-550-0205


Radley AcuraFal ls Church800-550-5035703-824-5785

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6:00;Sat 8-6; Sun 10-5

[email protected]

got repair info?

NO. CAROLINA NO. CAROLINA VIRGINIA VIRGINIA

Amberson.“People don’t wait until the ve-

hicle is a few years old to start hav-ing accidents,” he said. “We can seethem very early on.”

It’s expected the first F-150s willhit dealerships in the third quarter.Ford said last week that the truck willgo on sale in the fourth quarter.

“This is the biggest bet of theshow and maybe one of the biggestbets ever in the car industry,” MikeJackson, CEO of AutoNation Inc.,said in an interview.

“Ford is going to have to exe-cute, and building at that volume inaluminum has never been done in thehistory of the automobile business.And there are reasons it hasn’t beendone: It’s expensive, and it’s compli-cated and it’s difficult to work with.”

It’s a lot to ask” [of dealers],Jackson said. “But that’s the price ofleadership.”

either performing the operations forfree, making the customer responsiblefor the additional costs or resorting tolegal action.”

While the six shortpay casesBradshaw is currently pursuing en-compass a little bit of everything, “themost consistent problem is the failureto recognize and reimburse customersfor manufacturer recommended re-pairs and safety checks.” This is par-ticularly the case when only a fewshops are performing the operation asit leaves the insurance company unin-terested in the manufacturer’s docu-mentation showing the need for therepair, and they will refuse to pay forsomething which other shops don’tcharge, even though the absence ofthe charge is due to the fact that it isnot being done. Bradshaw fears thatthese insurers are “basing their repairstandards on sub-standard repairsbeing performed.”

An example of this is seen with aBMW recently brought to the shop.Because the manufacturer’s facility isonly 45 minutes away from K&MCollision, Bradshaw toured the facil-ity and learned about a procedure theyuse to correct any imperfections in thepaint; however, Nationwide refused topay the shop to perform this proce-dure, though manufacturer guidelinesindicate it is required and should bebilled separately without being in-cluded in the paint time. The insurerinsisted they have to do what the mar-ket dictates, and because most shopsdon’t perform this requirement, K&MCollision cannot perform it either (orat least they won’t be paid if they do).

K&M Collision has been in busi-ness since 1991, and though Brad-shaw did not begin working thereofficially until 2006, he has alwaysbeen around this family-owned andoperated business. Despite their deci-sion to refrain from participating inany DRPs, the shop repairs a high vol-ume of vehicles, grossing just over 1.3million this past year.

When questioned about the im-portance of pursuing shortpay law-suits, Bradshaw explains, “in order tomaintain our 12 manufacturer certifi-cations, pay employees, and make aprofit, it’s really a necessity; either wedo it, or we don’t make money. Theshortpay amounts are usually ourprofit margins on these jobs.”

Though Bradshaw just won ashortpay lawsuit against Nationwidethis past summer, he has not seen anyimprovements in their behavior sincethe victory; “they seem to change theway they handle claims, in terms ofwhat they will and won’t pay, everyfew months.” He also notes the odd-ity of how Nationwide handles ap-praisals; they usually send at least twopeople to the shop, one of whom isgenerally a supervisor, and these indi-viduals will engage in a review oftheir findings before making a deci-sion about what they’ll pay. It is notuncommon for Nationwide represen-tatives to be at the shop for four hoursor more to process just one claim.

Additionally, Bradshaw recentlyran into a case where Nationwide didnot believe certain repairs were nec-essary, and even after K&M Collisionproved the necessity by performingmeasurements and providing this evi-dence, the insurer only paid for a por-tion of the repair.

In contrast, Bradshaw notes thathe is seeing some improvements fromsome other insurers. For example, hefiled a claim against one insurer forrefusing to pay his labor rates becausethey claimed the rates were too high.Since the lawsuit was filed, this sameinsurer has not contested four newclaims that were processed withhigher labor rates than the first casewhich caused K&M Collision tolodge the complaint.

Though Bradshaw believes thatthe majority of insurance companiesare changing their behavior due to therecent influx in shortpay cases beingpursued, for some insurers “this is theway it is and the way it’s going to be.Some of these insurers fear payingone shop more than the others becausethey have the mistaken belief that it’snecessary to pay all shops the same.”

This is especially untrue as it per-tains to shops that are certified by raremanufacturers, such as Porsche whichonly has around 50 certified shops inthe nation, making it logical that theseshops should receive increased com-pensation when performing the moredifficult repairs that these cars call for.Bradshaw believes there will be“fewer cases being filed in the futuredue to a combination of factors.”

“As always, our main concern isthat our customer’s vehicles are re-paired safely, as close as humanlypossible to their pre-accident condi-tion. The costs involved in having theproper equipment, training, facilities

and staff to repair today’s vehiclescontinues to escalate. But the reim-bursement rates have moved very lit-tle in the past several years. I think theproblem is many times an insurer isattempting to base payment on thelowest cost in the market and not thecost of proper repairs in the market.Based on our conversations with othershop owners around the country, thisis a situation I believe is occurring na-tionwide. I remain hopeful that some-day these actions will no longer benecessary as all insurers will chooseto do right by their customers.”

Bradshaw is fairly confident andoptimistic about the outcome of thesepending lawsuits. “We put a lot of re-search into this, and we believe thesecases will be decided in our favor.”Trial dates for these six lawsuits havenot yet been set, but they are expectedto occur sometime during the first halfof this year.


Nashville FIAT 615.790.4616 | 800.498.50001124 Murfreesboro Rd., Franklin, TN 37064


Six New ShortpaysContinued from Page 10

Ford’s 2015 F-150



Search:

Autobody Newson Facebook

With plenty of hands-on experience in-tertwined with book work, the auto-motive technology program at NelsonCounty High School in Lovingston,VA, makes strides each year to con-tinue offering a useful vocational alter-native for students hoping to workright after graduation.

“We try to teach them so whenthey leave here, they could make some-one money,” teacher Mike Fanelli said.

The program is split into threeyears. As sophomores, students take aone-semester auto mechanics coursethat is about half book work and halfshop work. In their junior and senioryears, the students take a two-semestercourse with an increased emphasis onshop work. This school year, Fanelliteaches 40 sophomores, 16 juniors and10 seniors.

A majority of students graduatecertified by Virginia State Police to bestate inspectors, or they get that certifi-cation soon after graduation, Fanellisaid. That certification alone provides adegree of job security for the students.

After leaving the high school’s pro-gram, students have branched out towork as auto technicians in several sur-rounding areas, including Charlottesville,Lynchburg and Amherst County.

“We supply a lot of centers in thearea with entry-level individuals,”Fanelli said. For instance, of the eight

students who graduated from the pro-gram in May, four already are em-ployed in the field, and all eight aredoing state inspection work, he said.

NCHS graduate Aaron Scheib,19, who completed the program in2012, said he enjoyed the Auto technol-ogy program and felt it gave him a solidfoundation for his work in the industry.

“It’s a great program,” said Scheib,who works as an auto technician at theNelson County Public Schools busgarage, working on a variety of county-owned vehicles. During his senior year,he did an internship with the garage andthen was employed full-time after grad-uation. Going through the programmeant he and other students “could getinto what we wanted to a little earlieron,” he said.

Since 2000, NCHS has been ac-credited under the National Institutefor Automotive Service Excellence(ASE), which means the instruction,course of study, facility and equipmenthave been evaluated by the NationalAutomotive Technicians EducationFoundation (NATEF) and met stan-dards of quality for training auto tech-nicians.

“It brings the program to a higherlevel,” Fanelli said.

Earlier this year, the NCHS pro-gram was re-certified through 2018.

“Basically, they want these kids to

have good entry-level skills,” saidFanelli, who has been an ASE mastertechnician for more than 30 years anda NCHS teacher since 2006.

He said the high school’s programhas been improving over the years tomatch the way cars have become more“technical and complicated.” Fanelliworked to move the class away frombeing a “hobby shop,” and NATEF’s en-forced requirements have helped, he said.

“We’ve got a lot more stringent, Iguess,” he said. “More rigid in someways, but I think we’ve definitely comea long ways. But cars are so compli-cated. I mean, not anyone can fix themanymore.”

NCHS is certified in four of eightareas monitored by NATEF: brakes,electrical/electronic systems, engineperformance and suspension and steer-ing.

During the course of the students’time in the three auto classes, the learn-ing is comprehensive.

“We try to teach them a little bitof everything,” Fanelli said.

First and foremost is shop safety.Secondly, the students learn theoriesand small details car owners may notknow or be able to apply when it comesto solving problems with their cars.

“We just teach [the students] astep-by-step, scientific method of trou-bleshooting it,” he said. “But the first

thing we always do is verify the prob-lem.”

A less obvious skill set taught inthe course involves knowing how to in-teract with others, since students willbe dealing with customers in the pro-fessional world.

“We try to teach them the softskills, how to talk to people,” Fanellisaid. “You know, if you think [a car is]a piece of junk, it may be someone’sbaby, and you need to respect it.”

The school owns 10 vehicles thatthe students can practice on, and some-times teachers or other students canbring in their cars. Fridays often pro-vide an extra treat for those in the class,as Fanelli allows them to bring in theirown vehicles to work on.

Scheib said that was his favoritething about the course — “having freerange of the shop on that day.”

He said the students also werelucky to have a master technician witha state inspection license as a teacher.

Overall, Schieb said, everythinghe needed to know heading into hisjob, he gained through the program. Allthe basic information he learned, espe-cially knowledge about how to operatea lift, shop safety, changing oil, tiremaintenance and more, has been usedduring his time at the bus garage.

“They leave with a wealth ofknowledge,” Fanelli said.


Your Premiere Dealership for GenuineSubaru Parts and Accessories

Your Premiere Dealership f for G Genuine

We are the #1 PartsWe are the #1 PartsWholesale Dealer in Georgia!!Wholesale Dealer in Georgia!!

We are the #1 PartsWholesale Dealer in Georgia!!

2920 Satellite Blvd. è Duluth, GA 30096920 Satel e Blvd920 tellite B vd. èè 09th, GA 3009th Du Dulut

SubaruSubaruof Gwinnettof Gwinnett

Subaruof Gwinnett

678-584-7246678-584-7246Parts Fax:

678-584-7245678-584-7245Parts Direct Line:

678-584-7246678-584-7246678-584-7246678-584-7246Faxx:

800-584-8727800-584-8727800-584-8727Toll Free:

è Order Using Collision Linkè Most Comprehensive Parts Collection in Atlanta!è Visit our Subaru Parts eStore!è Wholesale Specialist On Call!

www.subaruofgwinnett.comè HOURS: Monday - Friday 8:00 am—6:00 pm Saturday 8:00 am—4:00 pm

THE LARGEST INVENTORY OF FORD • LINCOLNMERCURY PARTS IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY

• OE COLLISION PARTS, MECHANICAL REPAIRS AND HEAVY REPAIRS PARTS

• SPECIAL PRICING FOR COMPETITIVE COLLISION AND MOTORCRAFT PARTS

• EXPERT COUNTER LOOK-UP WITH MASTER CERTIFIED COUNTERMAN

HOURS: MONDAY - FRIDAY 8 A.M. - 7 P.M., SATURDAY 8 A.M. - 4 P.M.

NORTH MIAMI-DADEHIALEAH LOCATION:1200 W. 49 STREET,HIALEAH, FL 33012

DIRECT: 305-822-8338FAX: 305-825-3018

[email protected]

SOUTH MIAMI-DADEKENDALL LOCATION:15551 S. DIXIE HWY.,

MIAMI, FL 33157DIRECT: 305-234-2668

FAX: [email protected]

Nelson County High School in Lovingston, VA, Strives to Get Students to Work Right Away


According to Eversman, con-sumers possess the power in relationto shops and insurers, so they must de-mand what they are entitled to or theinsurance companies will steer themto low-cost shops that may not be per-forming quality repairs. These con-

cerns should be highlighted because“if consumers had any idea thatthey’re driving potentially dangerousvehicles due to insurer interference,they would be appalled, but they haveno clue what’s going on.”

Actually, insurers have no role inthe repair process whatsoever; theyare only supposed to sign the checkpaying for the repairs, but they’ve be-come involved because the closertheir involvement, the more controlthey can exert, allowing them to avoiddispersing full payment on repairs.Rather than arguing labor rates andshortchanging repairers, Eversman be-lieves insurers should “take a stepback, consider what they are askingshops to do, and reevaluate whethertheir requests are fair.”

When insurers refuse to compen-sate for the full repair cost, shops areforced to pursue shortpay cases, butEversman admits, “litigation is notpleasant. You may get what you’re en-titled to at the end of the day, but youhave to trudge through mud to getthere.”

Recently, there has been a signif-icant rise in the number of shortpaylawsuits being pursued in the courts,but this is not a novel or recent expe-rience. Eversman believes that “colli-sion repairers have had enoughinterference in their businesses from athird party entity who doesn’t performrepairs or accept liability. They aretired of being shortchanged on pay-ments, so they are turning to the courtsfor attention, but no one is excited togo to court.”

There are benefits to this recentinflux, though. Not only do these law-suits send a message to the insuranceindustry, they also serve to createawareness of these issues amongst re-pairers, attorneys and consumers na-tionwide, raising public scrutiny and

helping to alter insurers’ behavior. Ad-ditionally, it “sheds light on how muchyou can trust insurance company adsthat promise to take care of you butdon’t explain how they intend to doso,” Eversman explains.

Eversman hopes these shortpaycases will cause insurance companiesto reevaluate their attitudes. Thoughcollision repairers can’t control in-surer’s behavior, this type of litigation

provides them with an opportunity tobe fairly compensated for their workwhich, in turn, allows them to acquirethe training necessary to branch out toother vehicles.

Still, this concern is detrimentalto consumers, and it should be re-solved by the Departments of Insur-ance who insist this only involvescollision repair shops and insurancecompanies due to their failure to un-derstand that most of these shops thatare being shortchanged are non-DRPfacilities that have no contracts withor obligations to the insurance com-panies. Eversman is “appalled it hascome to this because the Departmentsof Insurance are not doing their job

which is to protect the consumerssince insurance companies are notproperly and fairly paying theseclaims.”

Another example of insurer inter-ference in the collision repair industryis seen in State Farm’s mandate forshops on their Select program to usePartsTrader. Eversman insists, “any-thing which is imposed on collisionrepairers from an outside entity is in-herently a bad thing. There are otherparts procurement systems that shopsuse, but it is their decision. I find themandate to use PartsTrader troubling,and I’m also troubled by the applica-tion as recent disclosures have indi-cated estimates coming back withalterations to labor rates which havenothing to do with parts! This is notwhat PartsTrader was intended to do,as represented by State Farm and Part-sTrader.”

The state of OH specifically has

a state statute prohibiting repairersfrom installing salvage parts on a ve-hicle unless those parts were removedby an Ohio licensed salvage dealer.Eversman fears that the mandate re-quiring the use of parts procurementsystems, especially PartsTrader, willlead repairers to violate these types ofstatues, creating a dangerous situationwhich could potentially lead to con-sumer protection-related lawsuits.

Eversman feels that these issuescould be rectified easily; “State Farmshould withdraw their mandate re-quiring the use of PartsTrader. Then,PartsTrader would be like other partsprocurement systems, and it wouldhave to compete on its own merits, al-lowing repairers to have more powerin choosing parts, ensuring those partscome from a legitimate source, andadhering to the law.”

Eversman sees the PARTS Act as“an absolute example of the extremesto which any industry will go to getwhat it wants without considerationfor other industries. The patent lawsfocus on rewarding companies thatspend money and produce or designsomething unique, protecting them fora designated period of time. Aftermar-ket parts manufacturers and insurersare trying to obtain an exemption forimitation crash parts from the applica-tion of the patent laws, but if Con-

gress really wants to do somethinggood for the consumers, they shouldfocus on evaluating patents on med-ication; that would be far more bene-ficial than exempting imitation parts!”

An interesting side of this pro-posed legislation is the fact that, fordecades, the insurance and aftermar-ket parts industries have claimed thatthe imitation parts are “purely cos-metic” and have nothing to do withhow the vehicle performs in a colli-sion; however, because the parts automakers seek to protect are cos-metic—the standard for design patenteligibility—imitation crash parts man-ufacturers are now arguing that theirparts do have a meaningful function inthe car’s performance.

Eversman says “this is a terribleidea! We have patent laws for a rea-son, and since imitation parts manu-facturers haven’t demonstrated asignificant need to change this, we

may as well do away with patents [ifthe PARTS Act is passed] since it un-dermines the entire patent system.”

Though Eversman admits that shehas not been very involved with andis not particularly informed on theRight to Repair, she wants collisionrepairers to be able to make a livingdoing what they’re good at. On theflip side, she has significant concernswith the increasing technology and so-phistication of vehicles, as well as theuse of alternate metals and compositeparts, and she believes the industry israpidly approaching a point where noteveryone has the necessary skills andequipment to safely repair all vehicles.

Because Eversman also wantsconsumers’ vehicles to be repairedsafely, she can see the value of re-stricting this information to those whohave received the proper training, yetsince she also sees value in permittingany repairer access to this informationin order to repair all vehicles, heropinion is split between these twoconflicting interests.

Additionally, there are manyother challenges facing the collisionrepair industry. For starters, the indus-try is in a continuous state of flux, par-tially because of the changing natureof the vehicles themselves and alsodue to the significant presence of con-solidators and multi-shop operators(MSOs). Many MSOs are activelybuying other shops, leaving independ-ent shops feeling that they can’t com-pete and providing an escape route forshop owners who are exasperated withthe current state of the industry.

Of course, the still impoverishedstate of the economy comes with itsown set of problems which also nega-tively impact repairers. Finally, thefact that people are driving less andwinters have been milder in recentyears leading to fewer accidents alsoaffects some shops’ business. Overall,Eversman believes there is “a conflu-ence of things impacting repairers thatthey don’t have much control over.”

Fortunately, there are some pre-emptive measures that shops can taketo protect themselves from some ofthese problems.

Stay tuned to Autobody News fora future series on key documentationthat every shop should consider utiliz-ing.


Erica Eversman

“There is a confluence of things impacting repairersthat they don’t have much control over.”

“Anything that is imposed on collision repairersfrom an outside entity is inherently a bad thing.”


In the early 1980s, a group of colli-sion repairers in Montana realized“we fight battles on a daily basis inthis industry, and it’s better to do bat-tle as a group than on our own,” asdescribed by repairer Bruce Halcro.They formed the Montana CollisionRepair Specialists (MCRS) and theircurrent president, Bruce Halcro, de-scribes it as “an awfully active asso-ciation. We are very involved intraining, and we also have a stronglegislative agenda.”

Representing members from allover the big sky state, MCRS’s mis-sion is “to provide management andtechnical training to enhance the pro-fessional ability of each individualand improve the quality of the colli-sion repair industry in the State ofMontana.” Halcro expandson this goal, adding the desire tocontinue to be a voice not only forcollision repair facilities in MT butalso on a national level, noting“trends in our industry tend to startelsewhere and migrate to more ruralareas like MT, so we like to stayabreast of these trends to ensure thatour members are aware of anychanges in the industry.”

MCRS strives to be a useful re-source to help all collision repair fa-cilities, whether they are smallindependent shops, larger multi-shopoperators or dealerships. Their mis-sion is to enhance the collision repairindustry in their state and to create asafer, more well-trained industryoverall. Halcro believes that trainingand legislation are the two key com-ponents in achieving this initiative.

As part of their efforts, MCRSbecame an affiliate of the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS)about ten years ago because they feltthey needed more of a national pres-ence. Halcro “can’t say enoughabout what SCRS has done for ourassociation and for the industry na-tionally.”

Halcro stresses the importanceof legislative involvement when itcomes to reaching MCRS’s goals. InMT, legislators only meet everyother year, and since 2014 is not oneof these years, MCRS is currently fo-cused on planning and determining

which issues need to be addressedmost. As such, Halcro is “keeping aclose eye on the parts issue nation-ally, including the different forms ofaction being taken in various states.”

The parts issue is one of thebiggest dilemmas currently facingthe collision repair industry, Halcrobelieves. “In my shop, parts are al-ways a challenge since we’re locatedin a rural area, but shops haveworked through this problem foryears. Parts procurement systemscause delays in obtaining parts be-cause they are sourcing them fromall over the country, but the insurersstill hold us to the same cycle timestandards as urban areas where partsare much more easily accessible.”

Another problem is that manyaftermarket parts ordered are unus-able upon receipt, leaving shops tobegin the process all over again. As aresult, Halcro believes that there is aneed for tighter regulations on partsquality. “Parts procurement systemsare being mandated without any ac-countability as to whether these pro-grams are in the best interest of theshops. I don’t see any benefits. Theirclaim was that it would improve ef-ficiency, but this is not true accord-ing to feedback from shops on theprogram. I see it as being a train-wreck when it’s rolled out in MT.”

Still, Halcro sees no reason tofocus on one company; he thinks thatState Farm and PartsTrader are tak-ing a big hit on this issue somewhatunfairly since other insurers are alsostarting to mandate the use of partsprocurement systems, but, accordingto Halcro, “Mandated use doesn’twork. It’s not beneficial, and the de-cision should be more collaborative.The insurers claim that collision re-pair shops are their partners, so theyshould spend time with their partnersto determine what’s best for the in-dustry as a whole.”

MCRS’s legislative involve-ment is important for the associa-tion’s members because it is relatedto ensuring that consumers’ vehiclesare repaired safely. When shops areforced to take shortcuts because ofinsurer mandates, the consumers arenot getting what they paid for, plus it

can result in unsafe repairs.Additionally, when insurance

companies refuse to pay for certainrepairs, collision repair facilities areleft with the choice of absorbing thecost or passing it along to their cus-tomers. These shortpay situations areunfair to the consumers, and theshops’ best recourse is through leg-islative activity. In fact, MT has anunique law, passed several sessionsago, that prohibits insurers from dis-missing procedures that both theyand the collision repair facilityagreed upon. Halcro believes the lawhas been hugely successful as it hasalleviated many of the shortpays thatwere coming through before it waspassed.

Of course, there are alwayschallenges associated with pursuinglegislative changes. MCRS is a rela-tively small association, and thoughthey employ a lobbyist, they stillhave to battle the insurers’ lobbyists,

plus they have to get legislators tounderstand that the issues doesn’tjust concern the insurance and colli-sion repair industries; it is a matterof consumers’ safety. Halcro states,“our association is professional andwell-respected at the Capitol, butthere are always challenges. Wearen’t there to play politics—wehave real concerns that need to beaddressed. Sometimes, our initia-tives fail. It’s not always pleasant,but it’s important for MCRS’s mem-bers and their customers.”

Halcro also weighed in on someother legislative issues on a nationalscale. Regarding the Right to Repair,he believes “the proper informationshould be available to shops repair-ing vehicles so that they can properlyand safely repair the vehicles goingback on the road.”

The PARTS Act is another causefor attention. Halcro’s opinion is that


Tameron... One Way, the Right Way

Tameron, your trusted automotive wholesale parts supplier, is now Tameron, your trusted automotive wholesale parts supplier, is now delivering Genuine Hyundai replacement parts to your area.delivering Genuine Hyundai replacement parts to your area.

Tameron, your trusted automotive wholesale parts supplier, is now delivering Genuine Hyundai replacement parts to your area.

Please call your salesman for details!Please call your salesman for details!Please call your salesman for details!

1595 Montgomery Highway • Birmingham, AL 35216

www.tameronhyundai.com

Parts Department:1-800-467-0699

205-443-7651 Direct205-443-7656 Fax

Equus

Montana Repairers Form a Small Association with Big Goals

with Chasidy Rae SiskWestern 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].

See Montana Repairers, Page 33

Farm presumably seeks new shops inthe Fort Wayne area to join SelectService.

IABA continues to monitor thesituation closely. In October, Missis-sippi’s John Mosely and Lloyd Bushattended IABA’s meeting to discussPartsTrader, and this topic will cer-tainly be pursued at the association’snext meeting. Members of IABA in-clude shops that opted out, as well asthose who stayed on Select Service.

Hartman thinks “it’s really coolto see so many Fort Wayne shopssticking together. This is a really com-petitive area, and it’s amazing to seethese shops supporting one another.I’ve never seen such solidarity.”

State Farm’s has issued the fol-lowing response: “Repairers who wantto leave our Select Service programcan inform State Farm and removethemselves. We are aware that some re-pairers in the Ft. Wayne area have re-cently done that. Our priority is tocontinue to meet the needs of our cus-tomers in the Ft. Wayne area, and wecontinue to do all we can to do that.”


You’re miles ahead of the packwith Genuine Ford Parts.

FORD Parts FORD Parts

Use Genuine FORD Parts for your Power Stroke Dieselne FORD Parts for your Power Stroke DieselCall your local Authorized Ford Wholesaler today!

FLORIDA

Bartow Ford Co.BARTOW

863-533-0425863-533-7758 Fax

www.fordparts.com/bartowford

Don Reid FordMAITLAND/ORLANDO407-644-5111

407-645-4971 FaxM-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 8-4www.donreidford.com

www.fordparts.com/donreidford

Gus Machado FordKENDALL/HIALEAH305-328-0400

305-234-2657 [email protected]@gusmachadoford.com

Sam GallowayFord LincolnFORT MYERS888-578-8883

239-274-2420 [email protected]

www.fordparts.com/samgallowayparts

Cavalier Ford LincolnGreenbrierCHESAPEAKE757-424-6255

757-282-0021 Faxwww.cavalierfordgreenbrier.com

VIRGINIA

Make us your one-stop shop today!


Shops Opt OutBosch sponsored a Driverless Car Ex-perience at the 2014 InternationalCES (Consumer Electronics Show),the global gathering place for con-sumer technologies, held Jan. 7 to 10,2014, in Las Vegas. “Bosch is proudto contribute to the future of saferdriving by continuously developingtechnologies for a more intelligentand forward-thinking vehicle,” saidMike Mansuetti, president, RobertBosch LLC. “We predict fully auto-mated driving beyond 2020.” TheDriverless Car Experience took placein the Las Vegas Convention Center(LVCC). Bosch technologies appliedto two demonstration vehicles in-clude: automated parking and pedes-trian protection, based on a stereovideo camera, which is being shownfor the first time in the US. Boschwanted to show how each driver as-sistance technology works: intelligentheadlight control, integrated cruise as-sist, traffic jam assist, automatic parkassist, pedestrian protection and more.

Bosch Demos Driverless Car

State Farm Insurance is getting out ofCanada. The Bloomington-based in-surance giant is selling its Canadianunit to Desjardins Group, Canada’slargest credit union. State Farm, Des-jardins and its French partner CreditMutuel, will invest $1.5 billion in thecombined business. State Farm isnow the fourth largest auto insurer inCanada, though it’s business islargely concentrated in threeprovinces. The new business to berun by Desjardins under the StateFarm brand for some years would be-come the second largest Canadianproperty and casualty insurer with alarger geographical reach. The dealis expected to close in January of2015. At that point, State Farm’s1,700 Canadian workers and 500Agents would work for Desjardins.State Farm Chairman Ed Rust saysthe agreement allows future cooper-ative ventures in Canada. Rust toldCanadian workers in a letter that theregulatory and political response tothe great recession and the com-pany’s US-centric approach limitsState Farm’s ability to respond andadapt to changing Canadian markets.Rust calls the decision to sell “diffi-cult” but good for the new operation.

State Farm to Exit CanadianMarket, Credit Union Buying

After several delays, the Obama ad-ministration is reviewing a revisedrule that could push automakers toinstall backup cameras in more oftheir cars and trucks. The reworkedregulation, submitted to the WhiteHouse on Dec. 25, would set newrear visibility standards for light ve-hicles sold in the United States, ac-cording to a White House databasethat tracks the rulemaking process.

The standards are aimed atkeeping children from being runover and killed by vehicles movingin reverse. Automakers might de-cide to install backup cameras in allof their models. The standards mayalso allow automakers to comply bymaking less costly changes, for ex-ample, by redesigning a car’s mir-rors to reduce the odds that a childbehind the rear bumper will go un-detected.

The administration intends torelease the final rule by January2015. But that’s not soon enough tosatisfy auto safety advocates. Con-sumers Union filed a lawsuit in Sep-tember with the goal of compellingthe Obama administration to makethem a standard feature across theU.S. fleet.

NHTSA Moves Ahead onBackup Camera Legislation

Search:Autobody Newson Facebook



FLORIDACentury Kia

Tampa800-250-8864(813) 873-8319 Fax

FREE DeliveryParts delivered by Autoway

Coral Springs KiaCoral Springs

954-344-8706(954) 753-5424 Fax

M-Sat 7-7www.coralspringskia.com

Courtesy Kia877-646-8080www.brandonkia.com

State-wide FREE deliveryAdd’l 5% off 1st in-house orderor 7% off 1st internet order

M-F 8-6, Sat 8-5

Deland KiaDeland

386-734-7800(386) 822-9278 [email protected] Local Delivery

Fuccillo Kia ofCape Coral

Cape Coral239-829-1956(239) 242-7002 FaxM-F 8-5:30, Sat [email protected]

Kia of Orange ParkJacksonville

877-674-0211(904) 674-0221 Fax

M-F 7-7, Sat [email protected]

MISSISSIPPIWilson Auto Group

Flowood866-944-1114(601) 914-4291 [email protected]

www.wilsonautogroup.com

SO. CAROLINABest Kia

Easley864-312-6000(864) 312-4061 [email protected]

TENNESSEECumberland Kia

Cookeville931-526-5600(931) 520-4194 Fax

[email protected] 7-8

Kia vehicles are at the forefront of

today’s automotive design. Unique

details in our Kia vehicles demand precise

engineering and fit. Kia customers

deserve Genuine Kia

collision replacement parts

to keep them satisfied for

years to come. Our brand’s

popularity continues to

grow meaning more Kia

customers for your shop.

Always specify Genuine Kia Parts for the

highest level of fit, finish and quality.

Contact your local Kia dealer today for

assistance and delivery of

your parts.

Question: What is the major differ-ence between the two Honda Ac-cords?Answer: The “A” Pillar reinforce-ment, “B” pillar reinforcement andRocker panel reinforcement are con-structed of one of the highest strengthssteels seen in passenger cars. Theyhave an 1500 MPa steel rating.Question: What does Honda saywhen these parts are damaged from aside impact?Answer:—Plenty

First and Foremost—Honda states“No body repairs should be at-tempted without first referring to theappropriate body repair manual forcomplete information”. I find itamazing how many collision repairshops in this country will repair/re-place structural components ontoday’s vehicles without having theappropriate procedures when the ve-hicle is estimated and repaired. I alsofind in appalling that many insuranceadjusters will estimate a vehicle with-out having repair data before writingtheir estimate. Furthermore, why dobody shops have to prove that theyneed a certain procedure for a OEMstated position, when they shouldhave this information as well. Just theother day, A shop owner called mefor information to justify why theshop could not use heat on repairinga 2010 Toyota Tacoma frame thatwas damaged in the rear. Moreover, Ifeel that there should be a charge onthe estimate for data retrieval. It costme $300.00 for a one year subscrip-tion to the Honda web site and I don’thave a shop or write estimates any-more. (Sorry for getting off the sub-ject, but I needed to get it off mychest.)

Use of Heat for body straighten-ing and repairs. What does Hondasay? “When you are doing bodystraightening and repair procedures:DO NOT apply heat to any body partduring straightening. This may com-promise the internal structure andstrength of high strength steel parts.Moreover, any part that has heat ap-plied to it during straightening MUSTbe replaced with new parts. Ignoringthese instructions, may significantlyreduce occupant protection in anysubsequent collision.”

Let’s look at what Honda saysabout sectioning. “Because of bodystructure improvements for collisionsafety and rigidity, the materials, steelthickness and internal reinforcementshave become very specific. Followthese guidelines to avoid an unsafe re-pair: avoid sectioning (cut and joint)except for outer panels and floor pan-els unless a specific procedure is pro-vided in the body manual (As I statedpreviously, how do you repair todays

vehicles without having the repairdata) and relace body structural com-ponents as assemblies that match thereplacement parts configuration.Honda dedicates 3 pages in their guidelines for replacement and welding, butI will address this later on in the arti-cle.

Honda states in their body repairnews about seats with airbags “ dam-aged front seat covers should be re-placed and not repaired. Furthermore,Do not install non-factory seat covers,because they may alter the airbags in-tended deployment.”

Honda also states “NEVER at-tempt to modify, splice or repairairbag system wiring. If airbag systemwiring is damaged, replace the wiringharness(es).

What does Honda say about theirTire Pressure Monitoring System(TPMS). “TPMS calibration must bestarted every time you: Adjust thepressure in one or more tires; Rotate

the tires; Replace one or more tires;Replace or update the VSA-modula-tor control unit. A couple of otheritems that should be noted when esti-mating and repairing a 2013 HondaAccord.

Honda now sells replaceableheadlamp brackets that get broken inan accident. It should noted that theyonly work if the following criteria ismet: No damage to the headlamp as-sembly and sealing of the headlamplens and housing is maintained.

Some models may be equippedwith one or more of the followingsystems the require aiming aftercollision repairs (special tools arerequired to complete the aimingprocedures).

Lane Watch—Lane Watch uses acamera and center dash display forblind spot detection. The camera mustbe aimed if the following operationsare performed in the repair process:The camera is removed or replaced,


Largest PartsInventory in Central Florida!

Parts Hours: Mon-Fri 7:30-5:30 Sat. 8am-4pm

Ph: 407.644.5111Fax: 407.645.4971Parts Hours: Mon-Fri 7:30-5:30 Sat. 8am-4ppm

www.donreidford.com www.fordparts.com/donreidford1875 South Orlando Ave., Maitland, FL 32751

Hey Toby!with Toby Chess

Toby Chess is an I-CAR program instructor, Training specialist, and former salvage yard operator.Toby is universally known in the collision industry for his work with first responders and advocacyfor body shops and consumers. He can be reached at [email protected]

Honda’s Repair Instructions Need to Be Read and Followed

2012 Honda Accord

2013 Honda Accord

4-door Models1 Front Inner Upper Pillar

2 Center Pillar Upper Stiffener

3 Side Sill Stiffener

4 Inside Sill Reinforcement

1,500 MPa (HOT STAMP) STEELLOCATIONS1,500 MPa steel stronger than ordinarysteel, so it can help protect vehicle occu-pangts while reducing overall vehicleweight to improve fuel efficiency. Thenumbered parts in the diagrams beloware constructed of 1,500 MPa steel:

Door mirror is removed and/or re-placed, door panel is removed or re-placed or the door is repaired. Itshould be noted that DTC will not bedisplayed on the dash, but will bestored in the control module.

Forward Warning: The cameramust be re-aimed if the FWC cameraunit is removed or replaced. If thewindshield is removed or replaced, theunit must be re-aimed. Note a dashlight will illuminate if the system is in-operative.

Adaptive Cruise Control(ACC). The millimeter wave radar ofthe ACC must be re-aimed if the radarunit is removed or replaced. If dam-age occurs in the unit’s mounting area,the system needs to be re-aimed. Amalfunction of the unit will be dis-played in the multi-unit dash. Let’slook at welding and repairing the 1500MPa steel on the Honda Accord.

Honda states when repairing andwelding 1500 MPa steel parts as fol-lows:

● NEVER attempt to straightendamaged 1500 MPa steel

● 1500 MPa steel parts MUST bereplaced at factory seams usingsqueeze type resistance spot welds

● MIG weld braze joints should

be used ONLY in locations that cannot be reached with STRS welders.

● To maintain adequate weld ten-sile strength, always set the spotwelder to specifications in the bodyrepair manual.

● NEVER perform MAG (akaMIG) welding on 1500 MPa steelparts

● MIG brazed joint locations arespecified in the body repair manual

● A single or double hole MIDbraze may be specified in the body re-pair manual depending on tensilestrength of the parts being joined.

● A pulsed MID welder MUSTbe used. You can convert most MIGwelders to weld bronze silicon, butyou have better heat management andcontrol with a pulsed welder. More onthis a little later on in the article.

● Parts made of Ultra HighStrength Steel (UHSS) must be in-stalled as complete part. No section-ing allowed. FAILURE TO USE THEPROPER EQUIPMENT OR FOL-LOW THE PROPER PROCEDURESCAN RESULT IN AN UNSAFE RE-PAIR.

Honda specifications for repair-ing and welding steels with 590 to 980MPa ratings: Parts made of High

Strength Steel (590-980 MPa) must beinstalled as a complete part. No sec-tioning is allowed unless a procedureis provided in the body repair manual.Plug welds using a MIG welder maybe done joining body parts with 590-980 MPa steel ratings. MAG (MIG)butt welding may be done only steelparts with a tensile strength of 590MPa and lower. You will need to printout the diagram showing the locationsof the different strengths of steel fromthe Honda web site.

Here is what Honda specifies forwelding 1500 MPa steel on the2013/2014 Honda Accord. You willneed to go to the web site for pictureson the welding procedures.

2014 Accord

1500 MPa Parts WeldingSpecifications______________________________High-Strength Steel (1500 MPa) PartsWelding SpecificationsThe high-strength steel (1500 MPa) ma-terial is used for the front pillar area, theroof side area, the center pillar area, andthe side sill area of the vehicles.

Parts replacement for the rein-forcement and/or the stiffener may be

required depending on the damage tothe side panel. Take notice that spotwelding conditions for welding the re-placement parts differ from the normalwelding conditions. MIG brazing mustbe used where spot welding cannot bedone. NEVER perform MAG welding.

MIG brazing welding methodTo ensure adequate joint strength, use apulsed MIG welder with specified wireand the following brazing technique.This will create a capillary action in orderto liquefy the solder so that it can pene-trate into the upper and lower plates:

• Begin brazing about 5mm (0.20in)before the holes(s).• Move the torch across the hole in azigzag pattern as you close theholes(s).• Continue the brazing operation about10mm (0.39 in) past the hole(s).

Spot welding specifications

• Current: 9000 A• Pressure: 3432 N (350 kgf, 772 lbf)• Welding cycle: 40

NOTE: When spot welding is per-formed, make sure that the following


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

YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE AT THE FIRST REPAIR.

These Dealers Below Are Original MINI Parts Distributors:

Hendrick MINICharlotte866-952-7851(704) 566-6571 FaxM-F 7:30-6; Sat 9-5www.HENDRICKMINI.com

North Carolina

©2013 MINI, a division of BMW of North America, LLC. The MINI name,model names and logo are registered trademarks.

Original BMW Parts

bmwusa.com

YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE ATTHE FIRST REPAIR.

Original Thought #78

No. Carolina

Hendrick BMWCharlotte(888) 814-1938(704) 531-3323 FaxM-F 7:30-6; Sat 9-5www.hendrickbmw.com

Hendrick BMW NorthlakeCharlotte(888) 286-2651(704) 379-3101 FaxM-F 7:30-6; Sat 9-5www.hendrickbmwnorthlake.com

• Original BMW Parts & Accessories

See Hey Toby!, Page 34

by Chasidy Sisk

The Washington Metropolitan AutoBody Association (WMABA) re-cently distributed invitations for theirupcoming Lobby Day in Annapolis,MD. The event will take place onWednesday, January 22nd from 8:30-10:30am at the Calvert House locatedat 58 State Circle, Annapolis MD21401.

WMABA’s Lobby Day willbegin with attendees joining theirMaryland legislators for breakfast,followed by a presentation given byWMABA Executive Director and theassociation lobbyist representativesfrom Alexander & Cleaver. Attendeeswill learn about the 2014 proposedparts legislation for the current leg-islative session which began on Janu-ary 7th.

This legislation is WMABA’s2014 Parts Bill which focuses on aid-ing shops interested in keeping thesame vendors and on providing thebest parts to customers. In addition todiscussing the specifics of the bill,WMABA will also explain how re-pairers and vendors can participate in

the legislative process.Those who register at least a

week before the event will also havethe opportunity to schedule a personalmeeting with their legislator.

“It is very important that repair-ers be involved with their personallegislator and the legislative process,even if they do not actively supportparticular legislation,” states JordanHendler, Executive Director ofWMABA. “You want them to knowyou as the expert when it comes toanything relating to automotive is-sues. Then, they come to you for ad-vice on proposed legislation versus uschasing them down on something thatcould have been easily avoided. It re-ally is rewarding to be active withthose who represent you and yourbusiness’ interests at the capital.”

www.wmaba.com


The followingdealerships areeager to serveyour needs.Call your localSubaru collisionparts specialisttoday!

Subaru of GwinnettDuluth

(678) 584-7245(678) 584-7246 Fax

Mon.-Fri. 8:00-6:00Sat. 8:00-4:00

www.subaruofgwinnett.com

Parkway SubaruWilmington

(800) 424-9434(910) 793-8710 Fax

Mon.-Fri. 7:00-6:00Sat. 8:00-2:00

GEORGIA NO. CAROLINA

WMABA Lobby Day

CIC chair George Avery welcomedthe CIC body before inviting JohnVan Alstyne, president and CEO ofI-CAR, to present the organization’sinitiatives for the coming year (seeI-CAR story this issue) FollowingVan Alstyne was a presentation byguest speaker Scott Sorrell, CEO ofSales Adrenaline. Sorrell discussedhow to find your value as a businessand how to keep reselling that valueto customers. The afternoon was fo-cused on reviewing each CIC com-mittee—definitions, insurer/repairerrelations, parts and material, dataprivacy, education and training,human resources, governmental,marketing, and technical—and theirplans for the coming year. Notablechanges to the committees includedputting the definitions committee onhiatus, and the appointing of RandyHanson, auto director at Allstate, asthe new chair of the insurer/repairerrelations committee. Hanson willreplace Rick Tuuri. Discussion alsooccured on the data privacy com-mittee on vehicle information tech-nology.

CIC in Brief, More Next Issue

The Collision Industry Conference’sOE Roundtable Committee an-nounced the launch of crashrepair-info.com, a consumer education site,during the first day of the January2014 Collision Industry Conference(CIC) planning meeting in PalmSprings, CA. The site is aimed atproviding consumers with informa-tion that can help them navigate theprocess of getting their vehicles re-paired following a collision. GaryLedoux, assistant national managerof wholesale parts marketing atHonda and a member of the OERoundtable Committee, said the siteis meant to help vehicle ownersmake informed decisions about thecollision repair of their vehicle. Thesite includes OE position statements,collision repair basics, what to do incase of an accident, and links to otherOE sites. Ledoux said the committeerecommends all repairers use the siteas a resource and direct customers tothe site, as is applicable.

CIC Roundtable LaunchesConsumer Website for OEMs

Ford Rep Paul Massie on Repairing the 2015 F-150Paul Massie, powertrain and collisionproduct marketing manager for Ford,spoke at the Collision Industry Confer-ence (CIC) held Jan. 16–17 in PalmSprings, CA. He sought to reassure re-pairers concerned about the forthcom-ing newly engineered 2015 F-150which goes on sale later this year.

“We designed the vehicle so it can beeasily repaired and accessible so the cus-tomer can go where they want to get it re-paired,” said Massie. Massie said there willbe no restrictions on what kind of shopscan repair the vehicle. Ford will not requirea shop to have a separate clean room how-ever, it will recommend the use of curtainsto separate aluminum from steel work andspecific equipment to handle the repairs.The total investment for a shop that is start-ing from ground zero with aluminum re-pair can be as high as $50,000. (AutobodyNews’ next issue will detail a shop’s outlayon clean room setup.)

“That’s if you have absolutely noaluminum equipment,” Massie said.“So if you’re already in the aluminumbusiness and already have the equip-ment and can separate aluminum fromsteel, you’re probably a long way to-wards having the equipment you need.”

Genuine Ford collision repair partswill be available to all shops. All partssold will include instructions on how to

properly install them.Ford will begin its education on

the 2015 F-150 and aluminum repair atthe AASP/NJ Northeast Show March21–23 at the Meadowlands Expo Centerin Secaucus, NJ. A cutaway of the vehi-cle will be featured so repairers can seeall of its structural components. Engi-neers will be present to talk about thevehicle, and I-CAR training developedwith Ford will be available.

Ford is also offering to do a pres-entation on the 2015 F-150 at the nextCIC April 9–10 in Portland, OR, al-though details are not firmed up yet. In-formation will also be available atNACE in July and SEMA in October.

“The goal is to make high-strength,military-grade aluminum alloy collisionrepair mainstream,” said Massie. “Wewant it to be as mainstream as it alreadyis for steel.”

Elsewhere Ford has said it put thenew model through rigorous tests, in-cluding cross-country hauls throughdesert valleys and over high-altitudemountain passes and in climates of 20 de-grees below zero and 120 degrees above.

A disguised F-150 even raced inthe Baja 1000, where it earned the dis-tinction of completing the 883-mile racewhile some other purpose-built race ve-hicles could not.

Search:Autobody Newson Facebook

Search:Autobody News

on Facebook


QUALITY IS ALL WE THINK ABOUT. THAT

AND QUALITY.

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

SO. CAROLINAMISSISSIPPI

TENNESSEE

Wilson HyundaiJACKSON

800-486-6871601-914-4200

601-914-4292 FaxMon-Fri 7am - 6pm

[email protected]

Downtown NashvilleHyundaiNASHVILLE

888-707-0658615-341-3176 FaxMon-Fri 7:30am - 5:30pm

partsmanager@downtownnashvillemotors.comwww.downtownnashvillemotors.com

Dick Smith HyundaiGREENVILLE

864-284-7772864-284-7749 Fax

Mon-Fri 7am - 6pmSat 7:30am - 1pm

www.dicksmithhyundai.com

“manufacturers spend millions ofdollars to pass safety tests with theproper parts and materials designedfor specific vehicles. Aftermarketparts that mimic these OEM partsaren’t always properly tested, andthis can alter the safety ratings on thevehicle, a key deciding factor formany people when they purchase anew car. We also have a high returnrate on aftermarket parts, and I justdon’t believe they’re always de-signed the same as OEM parts. Theyaren’t all bad, and there is definitelya place for aftermarket parts, but Idon’t believe they belong on a two-year-old car.”

Training is also a key initiativefor MCRS, and a national trainer isscheduled to attend their next meet-ing at the end of March. The associ-ation’s Board of Directors will alsobe meeting in February for a plan-ning session to establish their 2014agenda and to discuss a potentiallegislative agenda for the next ses-sion. In the meantime, MCRS strivesto maintain an updated website to

ensure their members are informedof national trends and issues in theindustry. Currently, there are around100 members in the association withabout 75-80% being repairers andvendors making up the remainder.

Like most associations, mem-bership and ongoing participation isalways a challenge for MCRS, espe-cially as it pertains to smaller shopswhose owners write estimates andrepair vehicles, making it difficultfor them to leave their business.Still, Halcro has found that once theycome to a meeting, most of these re-pairers become regular attendees.“This is a tough industry and surviv-ing every day is a challenge, but it’seasier when we face the challengestogether as a group.”

Montana Collision Repair Special-ists (MCRS)P.O. Box 1168Sidney, MT 59270www.mtcollisionrepair.com


Montana Repairers

OSHA Implements New Internet Resources to EncourageSafer Practices: Toolkit Options and PEL TablesOn October 24, 2013, the Occupa-tional Safety and Health Administra-tion (OSHA) initiated two new internetresources to assist employers in betterprotecting their employees from expo-sure to hazardous chemicals.

These initiatives do not createnew mandatory standards, but ratherprovide employers with resources thatOSHA hopes will encourage compa-nies to voluntarily adopt safer policiesregarding hazardous chemicals. Ac-cording to OSHA, these new re-sources are needed because many ofits standards are out-of-date and failto adequately protect workers fromexposure to hazardous chemicals.

One of the new internet re-sources is a toolkit that identifies saferchemicals that can be used in place ofmore hazardous chemicals. Thistoolkit can be found at:http://www.osha.gov/dsg/safer_chemicals/index.html.

OSHA also created AnnotatedPermissible Exposure Limit tables(annotated PEL tables), which listmore stringent exposure limits forchemicals. The annotated PEL tablescan be found at:http://www.osha.gov/dsg/annotated-pels/index.html.

Compliance with the exposurelimits contained in the annotated PELtables is voluntary, though recom-mended by OSHA. David Michaels,assistant secretary of labor for occu-pational safety and health, stated thathe hopes employers will adopt thesenew PEL tables. He explained, “I ad-vise employers, who want to ensurethat their workplaces are safe, to uti-lize the occupational exposure limitson these annotated tables, since sim-ply complying with OSHA’s anti-quated PELs will not guarantee thatworkers will be safe.”

Employers who use hazardouschemicals in the workplace are en-couraged to review these new internetresources in an effort to improve thesafety of their workers.

AAIA Releases 67 page 2013 Digital Collision RepairTrends Report with Analysis of Whole IndustryThe Automotive Aftermarket IndustryAssociation (AAIA) has released the2013 Digital Collision Repair Trendsreport, an online 67-page descriptiveanalysis of data compiled from primaryAAIA research, federal governmentand independent research data sources.The report highlights the size and scopeof the U.S. collision industry, includingthe paint, body and equipment (PBE)aftermarket, with a brief analysis of theCanadian collision industry. It also in-cludes analyses of factors influencingthe collision industry, automotive col-lision insurance coverage and the Di-rect Repair Program (DRP).

According to this year’s report,collision repair-related sales by after-market repair shops grew 2.3 percentin 2012 to $39.7 billion. This growthwas driven by several factors such asincreased number of registered vehi-cles, increased road congestion caus-ing a higher frequency of accidentsper year and the increased collisionrepair cost per vehicle. Powered byNxtbook Media LLC™, this digitalpublication retains both the traditionaldesign and high quality content ofAAIA reports. This online productionprovides added value with many newfunctional enhancements. Users can:

● Download Excel-based files, charts,tables and graphs that can be copiedand pasted for presentations.● Turn pages with the click of a mouse.● View pages in a variety of sizes andformats.● Quickly locate what you are lookingfor through a “word search” feature.● Save material for future referencethrough the “bookmarks” feature.● Print the entire publication.

Copies of the new 2013 DigitalCollision Repair Trends report arenow available—cost is $125 forAAIA members and $250 for non-members. To order, visit:www.aftermarket.org and click “Mar-ket Intelligence,” or call AAIA mar-ket intelligence at 301-654-6664

www.autobodynews.com


CALL 800-699-8251


body shop needs!


www.a

e-mail:[email protected]

800-699-8251

To advertisecall Advertising Sales at:


conditions are maintained: the speci-fied current, conductivity time, weldingpressure, holding time, and shutdowntime recommended for spot welder.Follow the spot welder manufacturer'sinstructions.

MIG brazing specifications

• MIG brazing machine with pulsecontroller• Wire: CuSi3• Shielding gas: Argon gas (100%)

NOTE:• For details about correct brazingcurrent and voltage, refer to the equip-ment manufacturer’s recommenda-tions.• MIG welding/brazing: Metal inert gaswelding or brazing where 100% Argon(Ar) shielding gas is used. Argon isinert and does not react with themolten weld pool or brazing operation.

Brazing hole sizeFor joining, or brazing of stiffener(340 and 980 MPa) and the high-strength steel (1500 MPa) parts: Drilltwo holes φ8 mm (0.31 in) in about 10mm (0.39 in) pitch.

For joining, or brazing of outerpanel (270 MPa) and the high-strengthsteel (1500 MPa) parts: Drill one holeφ8 mm (0.31 in) at the outer panel.

As I previously mentioned, let’s talkwelding machines.

I purchased a Prospot SP5 after test-ing it at the SEMA show.

This is the 5 in one welder. You

can MIG Steel, MIG Weld Braze,MIG aluminum, TIG steel and arc

weld all in one machine. It is a 220volt single phase machine that ispulsed. It is a very user friendly andthe welds that are produced are amaz-ing. This machine is overkill for thebody shop. Prospot has the same ma-chine, but with 2 guns (steel, alu-minum or MIG braze—your choice).It is about 25 percent cheaper and I

would highly recommend this unit.You can go to Prospot.com and clickon the SP welder for a video demon-stration of this welder. Now to the ac-tual replacement of the center pillarand rocker reinforcement.


Genuine Porsche Parts... Only The Best.

These Select Dealers Have The Parts You Need.

918 RSR

FLORIDA

Brumos PorscheJacksonville

800-726-9155904-725-0358 FaxM-F 7:30am - 5:30pm

[email protected]

This diagram is taken from the 2013/2014 Honda Body Repair Manual. It is located in the GeneralDescription under Roof and Side Panel 4 Door Construction

This legend is also found on the same page as the diagram. Note that part number 6 isconstructed of 3 different metal strengths

You will note that there are 3 spot welds (590 steel)welded to reinforcement on the inside of thevehicle along with 4 spot welds

Center Pillar Stiffener Completea: Upper Stiffener [1.8 (0.071)] 1500 —

b: Lower Stiffener [1.8 (0.071)] 590 —

c: Center Pillar Reinforcement [1.8 (0.071)] 980


Hey Toby!

Welding SymbolsPlate spot welding

Plate spot welding

Plate spot welding

MAG plug welding

MAG welding

MIG brazing

L= Welding length unit: mm (in)( ) and ( )*: The number of welds

You will note that the upper and lower out sec-tions of the reinforcement are MIG weld braze

11. From the passenger’s compartment, weld thecenter inner pillar (A) and the roof side rail (B)

You will note that there are 3 spot welds (590steel)welded to reinforcement on the inside ofthe vehicle along with 4 spot welds

1. When replacing the center pillar lower stiff-ener (A) only, weld it to the center pillar rein-forcement (B) and the center pillar upperstiffener (C).( )*: Welding positions with 590 MPa or higherparts. Confirm the plug welding specifications.(■)*: Welding positions with the center pillarupper stiffener (1500 MPa parts). Confirm thespot welding and the MIG brazing specifications

I tell marketing people at body shopsall the time that if you pay attention toGoogle and stay on top of its periodicalgorithm updates, you’ll be wayahead of the game. It may not soundthat important, but when you thinkabout the fact that every website in theworld is affected by Google in oneway or another, you can see that thosewho know how to use it right will ob-viously have a distinct advantage overtheir competition.

Google’s incarnations (or re-leases) come with little or no warningand every time Google updates itself,it’s an attention-getter for anyone whoworks with the Internet. Named afteranimals (first there was Penguin andthen there was Panda) these updatesrevolve around the fact that Googlewants to reward sites that offer valuewhile penalizing those that containspam and irrelevant content. Thenewest update is called Hummingbirdand it’s been buzzing in every web-

master’s ears since it was releasednearly six months ago.

This summer, Google explainedtheir newest update in a simple para-graph: “Hummingbird is paying moreattention to each word in a query, en-suring that the whole query—thewhole sentence or conversation ormeaning—is taken into account, ratherthan particular words. The goal is thatpages matching the meaning do better,rather than pages matching just a fewwords.”

Some people will always try tobeat the system and fool Google with“black-hat” tactics, but in the endthey’re like the IRS. You may getaway with using text that you’re “bor-rowing” from other sites for a whileand do other shady things to rankhighly in local searches, but in theend, the party’s over. And Google isnot like the American justice sys-tem—no one is innocent until provenguilty and they could care less about

reasonable doubt.But, do not fear—if you hire a re-

spectable webmaster with a goodtrack record that performs honest SEOrelevant to your business and adheringto Google’s rules, you’ll be fine on-line. One company that’s been doingexceptional work for both mechanicaland collision businesses online is RingRing Marketing in San Jose, CA.Their motto is “We Make Your PhoneRing” and they specialize in workingwith small to medium-size companies.Welton Hong, the COO at Ring RingMarketing offered us some valuabletips on how body shops can useGoogle effectively in this new Hum-mingbird environment. “To optimizean auto body shop website for GoogleHummingbird, consider adding morereal-world, question-specific queriesinto your site content,” Hong said.“This could be in the form of blogposts, FAQs and more.”

In the end, Google still valuesand respects original content andquality links over anything else. Anytime you’re going to post somethingon your web site or blog, ask your-self this—is it of real value to mycustomers? Make certain that you’recreating content that is relevant toyour audience and then integrate itinto all of your social media. In-crease your exposure and build yourbrand by positioning yourself as anexpert in collision and getting theword out through to the local media,including radio, TV, print and the In-ternet. And post different types ofcontent to enhance your SEO andcreate more opportunities to engageyour audience—especially video, ac-cording to Hong.

“Add more relevant video con-tent to your site,” he said. “It's muchharder for Google to generate this sortof content in response to inquiries, sothis type of material will be insulated,at least for now, from the negative ef-fects of Hummingbird.”Other Google-related things to con-sider this year:● Ride the Google+ Train: Googlerewards companies that use theirproducts and this is one of their lead-ing products. Too many body shopsset up Google+ accounts in 2013 and

did nothing else. Tell your marketingpeople that you want to use Google+more and devise a plan.

● Going Mobile: The Internet isgoing more mobile every day, so geton the ball and be a part of it. Googlewants you to make your site optimizedfor mobile users to attract mobile vis-itors. Right now, half of all Americans(and every 13-year-old girl out there)own smartphones and one-third owntablets. The number is going to growat an explosive rate, so get mobile ofget lost. “Make sure your site is asmobile-friendly as possible,” Hongexplained. “Hummingbird is designedfor mobile users. Mobile visitors arequickly outnumbering desktop visi-tors. You must focus your effortshere.”

● Some Appetizing Google Apps:I use Google Docs every day, becauseit enables me to share documents eas-ily with others, via my desktop, lap-top or smartphone. It saves time,because users can check in wheneverand wherever. Also consider Evernote(a great note-taking app) and ofcourse, Gmail and Dropbox. Googletweaked and improved both of theseapplications in 2013, making themeasier to use and full of new func-tionality.

Whether working on a vehicle orcoordinating your marketing efforts,it’s all about having the best toolsavailable and knowing how to usethem. Google has literally 50-plusbusiness tools to make you more ef-fective and profitable in 2014 and be-yond. So tap into the Google universeand learn which ones are best-suitedfor you.

But, most importantly, learn theHummingbird update and discover itsnuances and capabilities. MakeGoogle a bigger part of your market-ing plan this year and plug away atcreating a significant presence there.Because Google is here to stay and theshops that use it correctly will reaphuge benefits over time. Be patientand stick to your plan and pretty soonyou‘ll hear the phone ringing, fol-lowed by those wonderful words, “Wefound you on Google!”


Finish it like a Masterpiece

THESE DEALERS ARE

MERCEDES-BENZ

GENUINE PARTS

SPECIALISTS.

USE GENUINE MERCEDES-BENZ PARTS.è< SL 63 AMG

ALABAMA

Crown AutomobileMercedes-Benz

Hoover800-476-4669

205-402-2243 FaxM-F 7:30am - 5:00pm [email protected]@crownautomobile.com

[email protected]

FLORIDA

Brumos Motor CarsJacksonville

800-726-9150904-725-2923 FaxM-F 7:00am - 7:[email protected]

How to Improve Your Success with Google in 2014

with Ed Attanasio

Shop and Product Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Shop Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Social Media for Shops

with Ed Attanasio

SEMA Show Goes On

with Erica SchroederShop Showcase

The Right Causewith Mike Causey

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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


ORIGINAL GM PARTS FOR APPPPPPPPPRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL

ORIGINAL GM PARTS FOR APROFESSIONAL

RTS FOR A FINISH

Call Any of These Wholesale Parts Dealers.

Florida

Jon Hall ChevroletDAYTONA BEACH

800-741-4444386-236-4509

386-236-4754 FaxM-F 7:30 am - 5:30 pm

Sat 8 am - [email protected]

Hyundai and Kia saw their com-bined global sales rise 6 percent to6.9 million vehicles from Januaryto November 2013 from a year ear-lier. The companies said that theyare on track to sell more than 7.5million vehicles globally this year,higher than their earlier target of7.41 million vehicles. Hyundai andKia rank fifth in global vehiclesales, and expect a tough year in2014 as Japanese and European au-tomakers are seen acceleratingcompetition and the United Statesand Chinese markets slow. In theUS, Hyundai’s sales are up 2 per-cent this year through Novemberwhile volume has declined 3 per-cent at Kia in an overall market thathas expanded 8 percent. Solid salesgains in emerging markets likeChina and Brazil outweighed slow-ing sales in the United States andSouth Korea where Hyundai andKia have underperformed rivalspartly due to aging models. Lastyear, Hyundai and Kia sold a com-bined 7.1 million vehicles.

Hyundai, Kia Expect to Top2013 Global Vehicle Sales

CCC Information Services Inc.(CCC) announced on Jan. 7 the ac-quisition of Auto Injury Solutions,Inc. (AIS), formerly a division of Hu-mana Inc. The transaction brings to-gether CCC with AIS, the onlynational, full-service provider of autoinjury medical review solutions.“We’re thrilled to welcome MattElges and his team to the CCC family.The acquisition of AIS is an importantstep in the continued execution of ourstrategy to expand into adjacent seg-ments in order to better service theauto claims market,” said Githesh Ra-mamurthy, Chairman and CEO ofCCC. “Together, our platform will beable to leverage proven technology,advanced data analytics and world-class customer service to provide cus-tomers with an array of solutions.”

Elges said, “The combinationof CCC and AIS represents a strongstrategic fit that will enable us to ex-pand our reach and leverage our col-lective strengths in developinginnovative new solutions for ourcustomers.

CCC Acquires Auto InjurySolutions Inc.

The National Automotive ServiceTask Force (NASTF) reported thatthe Chrysler Group LLC is register-ing diagnostic software and tools inboth dealerships and aftermarketshops to ensure authenticity whenservicing customer’s vehicles.NASTF was made aware of thisfrom Chrysler in response to a ques-tion NASTF had asked on this topic.License registration has been in useby many OEMs for some time, butin the near future, unregisteredChrysler tools will not operate.Soon, the wiTECH software willshow a warning to users whose de-vices do not hold a valid registra-tion. Registration of the Chryslertool is free, assuming the user haspaid the yearly license fee. AChrysler spokesperson told NASTFthat approximately 80– 90% ofknown users have already registeredtheir device. Later in 2014, Chryslerwill no longer allow unregisteredusers to operate their wiTECHs. Theother affected group will be users ofclones of the wiTECH VCI.

Chrysler Seeks Registrationof Diagnostic Software

Sales of vehicles able to drive them-selves will account for about 9 per-cent of global auto sales in abouttwo decades, according to a forecastpublished this month by auto indus-try consultant IHS Automotive. Thestudy focused on autonomous cars,which can drive with “no attentionneeded by the driver,” IHS analystEgil Juliussen said. Such cars arenot currently available for sale, butIHS predicts they will be availablearound 2025. IHS expects globalsales of self-driving cars in 2025 tobe 230,000—less than 1 percent ofthe 115 million cars expected to besold that year. But by 2035, sales ofself-driving cars will reach 11.8 mil-lion, or 9 percent of the 129 millionglobal auto sales expected that year,Juliussen said. Most of those saleswill be in well-established auto mar-kets such as the United States, west-ern Europe and Japan. The pace ofgrowth for self-driving cars will ex-ceed that of electric cars, whichhave been hobbled by the high costof batteries, Juliussen said.

Study Estimates 9% of Carswill be Self-Driving by 2035

As of January 1, 2014, thirteenstates will raise the minimumwage for workers. In Arizona($7.90 per hour), Colorado [pdf]($8.00 per hour), Connecticut[pdf] ($8.70 per hour), Florida[pdf] ($7.93 per hour), Missouri($7.50 per hour), Montana ($7.90per hour), New Jersey ($8.25 perhour), New York ($8.00 per hour),Ohio ($7.95 per hour), Oregon[pdf] ($9.10 per hour), Rhode Is-land ($8.00 per hour), Vermont[pdf] ($8.73 per hour), and Wash-ington ($9.32 per hour), workerswill see an increase. All employ-ers in these states need to displayupdated posters with the new stateminimum wage as required bystate law. Additionally, Califor-nia’s minimum wage will increaseto $9.00 per hour on July 1, 2014.The Federal minimum wage re-mains unchanged at $7.25 perhour. However, if your workersare in a state that has a minimumwage above the Federal rate, youmust pay workers the higher rate.

14 States to Increase theMinimum Wage in 2014

North American car and truck pro-duction reached an estimated 16.6million units in 2013, up 4 percent.That would mark the first timesince 2005 that production sur-passed 16 million units. Mexicanplants are expected to have pro-duced a record number of vehiclesin 2013, an estimated 3,071,000units, topping 2012’s record of3,020,404.

Several manufacturers’ NorthAmerican totals are expected tosurpass records set in 2012. Honda,Hyundai-Kia, Nissan and Toyotaall had record producing years in2013, but BMW, Subaru, Volkswa-gen and AutoAlliance—the Ford-Mazda joint venture—producedfewer units in 2013 than in 2012.

While Canada built over 2.4million vehicles in 2012, that num-ber is expected to drop to 1.8 mil-lion by 2020. Since 2010, automakers have invested $42 billion inmanufacturing. The biggest de-clines in Canada are expected tocome at GM and Chrysler.

North American Car & TruckProduction Hits 16.6M Units


The following dealers stock Genuine Parts for your

Nissan or Infiniti repairs.

Shift into Genuine Nissan and Infiniti OEM Parts


Coral Springs NissanCORAL SPRINGS

954-752-9595954-753-3226 FaxM-Sat. 7-7; Sun. 9:30-4

[email protected]

FLORIDA

Ford’s Best Selling F-150 Gets Lighter and TougherIn what many industry analysts considera risky move for Ford, and others con-sider a transformative moment, the com-pany is rolling the dice on the pickupline, America’s best-selling truck for 37years and its best-selling vehicle for 32.

The 2015 F-150 will be substan-tially lighter due to extensive use of alu-minum and more high strength steels.Aluminum alloys are used throughoutthe F-150 body for the first time, as thetruck slims down by up to 700 pounds.

The lighter body then allows othercomponents such as fuel tanks, brakesand powertrains to also shrink, all whilemaintaining or improving driving per-formance and fuel economy, accordingto companies involved, including Alcoaand Novelis Inc.

“This is already the most signifi-cant debut at the auto show,” said JoeLangley, a production analyst for re-searcher IHS Automotive. “Especiallysince Ford will be taking such a biggamble.”

Ford engineers increased the useof high-strength 70,000-psi steel—from23 percent to 77 percent of theframe—to improve stiffness and dura-bility while reducing weight. The newframe is up to 60 pounds lighter thanthe current frame.“The frame is the backbone of the

truck, and we delivered a frame that isstronger and more capable than be-fore,” said John Caris, F-150 leadframe engineer. “Our frame team de-veloped exclusive, industry-first engi-neering techniques to create a truckfoundation that is lighter without sacri-ficing toughness. This F-150 frame isthe toughest we have ever built.”

Ford engineers also increased theuse of advanced materials in the F-150body.

“Our objective was to find mate-rials that allowed us to design the truckto be as tough or tougher than the cur-rent model, yet could help it be hun-dreds of pounds lighter for bettercapability and fuel economy,” said PeteFriedman of Ford manufacturing re-search. “Out of all the materials wetested, we carefully selected only cer-tain grades of aluminum that met ourhigh performance standards in all of ourtests, while allowing us to trim hun-dreds of pounds from the truck.”

The reduced weight of the high-strength, military-grade, aluminum al-loys enables the F-150 to tow and haulmore than ever while also improvingacceleration, braking and handling per-formance. Also, aluminum alloys willnot rust and are resistant to corrosion,helping enhance vehicle life.

Other Lightweights at the Detroit Auto ShowThe redesigned 2015 Ford F-150 andthe 2015 BMW M3 and M4 lead the“lightweight” movement at the 2014Detroit Auto Show.

The push for better fuel economyis helping to drive the movement to-ward lighter weight vehicles. Con-sumer demand for more content, suchas infotainment systems, leather seatsand larger wheels, adds more weightto the car. Automakers are then underpressure to cut weight elsewherethroughout the body of a vehicle inorder to improve fuel efficiency. Thisnew diet requires new materials suchas aluminum, magnesium and carbonfiber, as every pound counts.

The estimated 700 lb weight lossin Ford’s best-selling truck helps thevehicle to “tow more, haul more, ac-celerate quicker and stop shorter,”while “contributing to efficiency,”Ford said on Monday. The EPA hasnot yet published fuel economy num-bers on the 2015 F-150.

BMW said its 2015 BMW M4Coupe has a curb weight of around3,300 pounds, “thanks to the rigorousapplication of intelligent lightweightdesign measures.” This reflects aweight savings of around 176 poundsover a comparably equipped previousmodel, according to the automaker.

The weight was reduced throughthe increased use of lightweight materi-als, such as carbon-fiber-reinforced plas-tic and aluminum on a number of chassisand body components. The 2015 BMWM3 and M4 feature a carbon roof.

Another car in the BMW lineup alsoputs the emphasis on light weight. Theelectric 2014 BMW i3 features a bodymade of carbon fiber. The automaker saysthis super-light vehicle gets more mileson a charge than its competitors.

An all-aluminum body and chas-sis let Land Rover shave about 800pounds off the 2014 Range Rover Sport.

The 2014 Chevrolet CorvetteStingray, which debuted at the 2013Detroit Auto Show, features light-weight materials, including an alu-minum frame, carbon-fiber hood anda removable roof panel on coupes.

Edmunds.com said: As this trendpicks up speed, “lightweight” is be-coming a major marketing point, agood thing for car shoppers concernedabout fuel economy.

Studies and data suggest that driversneed to pay more attention to the taskof driving to avoid accidents. Ac-cording to a recent study, simplybeing “lost in thought” amounted to62 percent of the distractions listed asa cause of a fatal automobile acci-dent. The report indicates thatroughly 10 percent of fatal traffic ac-cidents involve at least one driverwho is distracted. This amounts toabout 6,500 people killed each year.Cellphone usage of all types placedsecond at about 12 percent in thestudy. This includes both talking onthe phone as well as texting and dial-ing. Using other devices, such as nav-igation tools, was ranked as being afactor in two percent of fatal acci-dents as was adjusting the climatecontrol or audio systems. Other majorfactors include being distracted by thescenery or people outside the vehicle,which accounted for seven percent ofaccidents, and conversing with pas-sengers, which was listed in five per-cent of accidents. More minor causesinclude consuming foods or liquids,adjusting car controls, smoking, mov-ing pets and even swatting insects.These factors were found in abouttwo percent of the incidents.

Daydreaming Tops List ofCrash-Causing Distractions

Beware Hole-in-One GolfInsurance ScamsAutobody Associations planninggolf events with hole in one prizesneed to watch out for potentialphony insurance scams. A Con-necticut man pleaded guilty inWashington state to two counts ofselling insurance without a licenseand one count of first-degree theftafter insuring golf tournamenthole-in-one prizes and failing topay.

Kevin Kolenda, 55, of Nor-walk, Conn., could spend up tothree months in jail when sentenced.He must also pay up to $35,000 inrestitution. Kolenda started his busi-ness in 1995 under the name GolfMarketing. It went through severalname changes, including Golf Mar-keting Worldwide, Golf MarketingInc., Hole-in-Won.com and its cur-rent name, Hole-in-Won.comWorldwide. He has a satellite officein Rye, NY.

Kolenda has been accused sev-eral times of insurance tournamentsand failing to pay hole-in-one win-ners in several states, includingMontana, Ohio, Georgia, Califor-nia, New York, Hawaii, Alabama,Massachusetts, Florida, Connecticutand North Carolina.

Search:Autobody News

on Facebook


AUTOBODY MARKETPLACE

Looking for Good Collision Personnel? •1,262 Collision Techs resumes online •1,295 Painters resumes online •1,177 Estimators & Mgs resumes online •11,256 Mechanical Tech resumes online

ACTautostaffing.com or 727-733-5600

• Easy to navigate online catalog • Same or next day priority shipping • Check out our monthly specials • Use promo code TFW at check out to receive an additional 5% savings

www.TheFastenerWarehouse.comSave 40-60%

800.281.6399 / [email protected]

Call or e-mail now for rates: 800-699-8251 or [email protected]

[email protected] us!write us!

Start Your FREEMail Subscription.

CALL 800-699-8251


body shop needs!e-mail:

[email protected]

800-699-8251

To advertisecall Joe Momber at:


Promote your business with an exclusive article featuring

your products or services.

800-699-8251CALL: Joe Momber for details!



800-699-8251Call for details!

[email protected]

Want to Contribute to this Southwest Edition?Give us your opinion on matters affecting the industry.

write us!write us!


Autobody News WebsiteAutobody News Websiteat www.autobodynews.com

Register Your Email for OurSee the NEW

Free Monthly NewsletterFree Monthly Newsletterat www.autobodynews.com

Register Your Email for Our

Free Twice Monthly NewsletterFree Twice Monthly Newsletter



800-699-8251





800-699-8251

To advertisecall Sean Hartman at:


800-524-1504 www.red-viper.com

SAVES YOU TIME AND MONEY> EASY TO USE <

Go to www.forkliftwrecker.comand watch our video.877.593.6959

When all you need to dois move a vehicle, use:

[email protected] us!write us!

Start Your FREEMail Subscription.

CALL 800-699-8251


body shop needs!e-mail:

[email protected]

800-699-8251

To advertisecall Joe Momber at:




800-699-8251CALL: Joe Momber for details!



800-699-8251Call for details!

[email protected]

Want to Contribute to this Southwest Edition?Give us your opinion on matters affecting the industry.

write us!write us!


Autobody News WebsiteAutobody News Websiteat www.autobodynews.com

Register Your Email for OurSee the NEW

Free Monthly NewsletterFree Monthly Newsletterat www.autobodynews.com

Register Your Email for Our

Free Twice Monthly NewsletterFree Twice Monthly Newsletter



800-699-8251




800-699-8251

To advertisecall Sean Hartman at:



Automotive | Group


| Group parts

Original BMW Parts

bmwusa.com

BMW of Charlottesville1295 Richmond RdCharlottesville, VA 22911Parts: (434) 245-4111

Crown BMW3902 W. Wendover Ave. Greensboro, NC 27407Parts: (877) 403-0828

Richmond BMW8710 Broad St.Richmond, VA 23294Parts: (800) 237-0130

Richmond BMW Midlothian12100 Midlothian TpkMidlothian, VA 23113Parts: (804) 897-2211

Crown Nissan3900 W. Wendover Ave.Greensboro, NC 27407Parts: (888) 456-0747

VOLVO GENUINE PARTS

Crown Volvo3604 West Wendover

Greensboro, NC 27407Parts: (877) 403-0828

Crown Honda of Southpoint1001 Southpoint Auto Park Blvd.Durham, NC 27713Parts: (877) 326-8767

Crown Honda of Greensboro

3633 W. Wendover AveGreensboro, NC 27407

Parts: (877) 403-0828

Crown Acura Richmond8704 W. Broad St.Richmond, VA 23294Parts: (800) 523-4411

Crown Acura3908 W. Wendover Ave.Greensboro, NC 27407

Parts: (877) 403-0828

Crown Ford of Fayetteville256 Swain St.

Fayetteville, NC 28303Parts: (800) 682-5092

Crown MINI ofRichmond8710 Broad St.Richmond, VA 23294Parts: (800) 237-0130

©2013 MINI, a division of BMW of North America, LLC. The MINI name, model names and logo are registered trademarks.

PARTS THAT REFLECT ANORIGINAL BMW WORK

• Using Original BMW Parts & Accesories

• Original MINI Parts


Documents

Autobody News February 2014 Southeastern Edition