July 2012 Western Edition

CCC’s Director, IndustryAnalyst, Susanna E.Gotsch addresses Disruption as the New Normal—Macro Trends in the Industry

Special to Autobody News

see p. 24

by Melanie Anderson

Anger over the proposed State FarmPartsTrader program revived a sleepinggiant in Mississippi, revitaliz-ing the previously dormantMississippi Collision RepairAssociation, which met onMay 23 for the first time inmany years.

“Due to many factors, ourassociation as been inactivefor almost eight years,” saidChad Smith, treasurer of theMississippi Collision RepairAssociation and co-owner ofSmith Bros. Collision Centerwith two locations inBrookhaven and McComb. “But thenew State Farm program has re-ignited

our association’s fire!”The years may have gone by in

comfort and complacency, but the con-troversy and negativity surrounding the

State Farm Proposed Parts Procurement

by Melanie Anderson

Several Birmingham, AL auto bodyshops have dropped State Farm ratherthan be forced to use its new Part-sTrader procurement software withinits Select Service Program. Auto bodyshops in Birmingham are located inone of four test markets where thepilot PartsTrader program, an onlineparts ordering/bidding software sys-tem developed by a New Zealandfirm, is being tested.

Usage of the PartsTrader softwarehas been required by State Farm in fourtest markets nationwide: Tucson, AZ,Birmingham, AL, Grand Rapids, Mich.and Charlotte, NC. Approximately 10percent of State Farm Select Serviceshops are participating in the pilot.

According to a report released bythe Automotive Services Association(ASA), 17 Select Service shops inBirmingham, AL, removed them-selves from the program prior to anyregistration or use of the application.

“We are in a pilot—a pilot is stilla process where you are learning,”said George Avery, a Property & Ca-sualty Claims Auto Consultant whohas been with State Farm for 33 years.

“We had an unfortunate incidentin Birmingham because some repairfacilities decided to leave the SelectService program before we even gotthere. They made that decision beforethe pilot was even over or withouteven trying the tool, but that was a de-cision they felt they needed to make,

Birmingham, AL, Shop Owners Drop StateFarm’s Select Service Due to PartsTrader

See Mississippi Reacts, Page 41See Birmingham Reacts, Page 34

State Farm PartsTrader Issue ResuscitatesMississippi Collision Repair Association

The Mississippi Collision Repair Association met on May23 for the first time in 8 years, with special guest Attor-ney General Jim Hood in attendance.

Insurance companies are pushing forRhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee toveto a bill passed by the General As-sembly which is currently on the gov-ernor’s desk. The bill would allow autobody shops to directly sue insurers forreasonable reimbursement. Insurers areurging a veto to prevent a flood of law-

suits.The legislation was originally

sponsored by the Auto Body Associa-tion of Rhode Island (ABARI) andsought by body shop owners, includingthe father and sister of state Rep. PeterPetrarca. It cleared its final legislativehurdle at 3:00 am on the final day of

the legislative session.Representatives from auto body

shops say the bill is about equity. Theyclaim they don’t have a chance to settheir own rates because insurance com-panies refuse to negotiate.

“It shouldn’t cost the consumeranything that’s not what it’s about. The

issue is more about getting the insur-ance companies to actually negotiate asopposed to taking a take it or leave itstance, which some of them currentlydo,” said Randy Bottella, president ofthe Auto Body Association of RhodeIsland.

Rhode Island’s Auto Body Legislation Called “Great Consumer Bill” but Decried by Insurers

See Great Consumer Bill, Page 49

We asked BMW North America:What Does it Take to Become a BMWCertified Collision Repair Center?Why there are only 69 in the US... see p. 14

Columnist David M. Brown starts a newseries of articles on Nationwide TechnicianTraining for Collision Repair Students.Special to Autobody News see p. 16

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REGIONAL

‘51 Chevy Truck Stolen from Fresno Body

Shop Crashes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Arizona and California Schools Preparing for

Collision Repair’s Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Bill Restricting Access to Parts and Repair

Information Advances in CA Legislature . . 33

CAA San Diego Gets a Robert Rick

Refresher Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

CAA SD Holds 18th Annual Golf Tourney . . . 20

Caliber Collision Refurbishes Vehicle

for Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Caliber Collision’s Summer Food Drive

in San Diego. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

CDI Releases Proposed Aftermarket

Part Regulation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter Meeting Features CA Labor

Enforcement Task Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Charles Sawyer, Shop Owner in

Los Banos, CA, Dies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Chef’s Stolen Lamborghini Found a Year Later . 9

Consumer Watchdog Seeks to Stall Google’s

Driverless Cars on California Roads . . . . . 10

Farmers Insurance Involved in Two

Fraud Prosecutions, Two Shop

Owners Arrested for Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Fire Disrupts Tuscon Body Shop,

No Cars Damaged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Fire Guts Montana Shop, $200,000 in Damages. 6

Founder of Corliss Paint & Repair in OR

Dies at Age 61 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

G&C AutoBody Expands to Ukiah & Fairfield . . 8

Gulick’s Auto Body Founder, Shirley Ann

Gulick, Dies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Information Shops Can Use Presented at

East Bay CAA Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Insurance Petition Moves Forward . . . . . . . . . 9

Lakeside NAPA Hosts Car Show, Customer Day . 8

Michael Vick Visit Causes Backlash

at Dealership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Mike Rose Auto Body Opens Ninth Location

in Fairfield, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Nevada Gets Disaster Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Pajaro, CA, Shop Employees Fight off

Four Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Re-repairs Needed for Bad Welds,

No Anticorrosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Richard Mattiussi Appointed to CAWA

Board of Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Ripon, CA, Police’s Bargain: Convicts

Painting Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Sherwin-Williams Offers A+ Workshop

in Anaheim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Stolen Iguana Returned to Bellflower, CA,

Auto Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Watsonville, CA, Shop Owner Arrested

for Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

COLUMNS

Evans - Building a Junior Motor Sport Vehicle

for 11-Year-Old Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Franklin - Maximizing Referrals to Your Shop. 53

Hey Toby - Matrix Wand is a Game Changer . 13

Sisk - Al Brodeur’s Auto Body Offers Honesty,

Inspires Loyalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Weaver - Take it to the Dealer! . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Williams - Downtown Motors of LA—Where

Customers are Familiy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Yoswick - SCRS Meeting Discusses Insurance

Regulation, State Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

NATIONAL

Birmingham, AL, Shop Owners Drop State

Farm’s Select Service Due to PartsTrader . 1

Body Shop Does Paint Job on Paint Blob . . . 21

Canadian Shop Comments on Rhode Island

Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Disruption Became the New Normal in 2011. 24

Epidemic of Scrap Metal Thefts Prompts

New Restrictive Bill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Ford and State Farm Collaborate on

Insurance Savings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Geico Settles Lawsuit with Gunder’s. . . . . . . 33

Honda to Add Acura MDX to Alabama Plant

for Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Iowa Dealership Refuses to Participate

in PartsTrader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Matters of the Heart—Body Shop Owner

Saves Adjuster’s Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

NABC Helps Operation Comfort’s

Automotivation Secure a New Facility

for Disabled Vets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

PartsTrader Issues Open Letter . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Rhode Island’s Auto Body Legislation

Called “Great Consumer Bill” but

Decried by Insurers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

SCRS Hosts Repairer Driven Education at

SEMA 2012 Featuring “Innovation Forum” 18

Service, Diagnostic and Mechanical News . . 30

State Farm PartsTrader Issue Resuscitates

Mississippi Collision Repair Association . . . 1

Student Restores Comet for Senior Project . . 21

Unique Lego Car Sold for $1,626 for Charity. 20

What it Takes for a BMW Dealership to

Become a BMW CCRC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Contents

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy HayhurstGeneral Manager: Barbara DaviesAssistant Editor: Melanie AndersonContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, David Brown, JohnYoswick, Lee Amaradio, Rich Evans, Janet Chaney, TobyChess, Mike Causey, Tom McGee, Ed Attanasio,Chasidy SiskAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman, JayLukes (800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Kristy NavarroArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Serving California, Nevada and Arizona, Autobody Newsis a monthly publication for the autobody industry. Per-mission to reproduce in any form the material publishedin Autobody News must be obtained in writing from thepublisher. ©2012 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody NewsP.O. Box 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018(800) 699-8251 (760) 721-0253 Faxwww.autobodynews.comEmail: [email protected]

Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .48Automotive ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Autowest Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . .11BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . .43CCC Information Services . . . . . . . . .5California Superstores . . . . . . . . . . .17Capitol Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54Completes Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Downtown Motors of LA(Audi, VW, Porsche) . . . . . . . . . . .19

Drew Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Elk Grove Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38Enterprise Rent-A-Car . . . . . . . . . . .49Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Ford Wholesale Parts DealersAZ, CA, & NV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Galpin Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21, 33Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Glenn E. Thomas Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . .44Henderson Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28-29

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . .47Irvine Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Kearny Mesa Subaru-Hyundai . . . . .32Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers .39Levan Group, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Maita Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .46MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .51Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers .52MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . .27Moss Bros. Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . .7Nick Alexander BMW . . . . . . . . . . . .15Nick Alexander MINI . . . . . . . . . . . .56Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

North County Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Pro-Spray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Rare Parts Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24RBL Products, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36Replica Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45Riverside Metro VW-Honda-Hyundai-Nissan-Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Safety Regulation Strategies . . . . . .34Shingle Springs Nissan-Subaru . . .37Sierra Chevrolet-Honda-Mazda-Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Solution Finish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .41Timmons VW-Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . .13Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .53Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers .48Volvo Crash Wholesale Dealers . . .42Weatherford BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Inde

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www.autobodynews.com | JULY 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

Correction on Naming “DrewCollision-Fix Auto and Glass”Autobody News failed to properlyname and credit “Drew Collision-Fix Auto and Glass” in the June,2012, issue (p. 9) and apologizes forthe oversight. Congratulations toLarry Houk, the Collision CenterManager, as well as Ted Stein, Serv-ice, Parts and Collision Director, forreaching VeriFacts’ Medallion statusfor collision repair quality. Fix Autowas instrumental in getting the cov-eted award.

Correction on Amato’s AutoBody Story May, 2012, IssueAutobody News incorrectly stated inits sidebar to CAA San Diego Chap-ter Meeting Goes Nuts Over Effi-ciency, (p. 46) that Amato’s AutoBody Inc. “is also the only BMWfactory trained repair center in SanDiego.” The line should have read“...only Aston Martin factorytrained... ” Apologies to the BMWCCRC certified centers in San Diegocounty: BMW San Diego and BMWEscondido, for the error. See p. 14.

The California Department of Insur-ance has released its proposed regula-tions on “standards for repair and useof aftermarket parts.” The proposedchanges to the Fair Claims SettlementPractices Regulations largely pertainto the specification and use of after-market parts, but also include new re-quirements for adjusting estimates aswell as new consumer disclosures andincreased insurer responsibilities inthe event a defective part is used for arepair.

The first change adds more spe-cific requirements for estimates writ-ten by insurers. Current law simply

requires insurers to write an estimatethat will allow the repairs to be madein “a workmanlike manner.”

The newly proposed sections oflaw would require insurer-written re-pair estimates to be in accordancewith “accepted trade standards forgood and workmanlike automotive re-pairs by an auto body repair shop,”and require that “An insurer shall notprepare an estimate that is less favor-able to the claimant than the stan-dards, costs, and guidelines providedby the [estimating software].”

See story with more details atAutobodynews.com.

CDI Releases Proposed Aftermarket Part Regulation


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Four brothers are accused of assault-ing employees of a body shop and atire business in Monterey County.According to the Monterey CountySheriff’s Office, Jorge Mendozaand his three younger brothers,Jaime, Oscar and Damian, enteredJoe’s Body Shop on Salinas Road inPajaro just before 5 p.m. on May 31.Traffic came to a halt heading intoPajaro as workers at the auto bodyshop fended off the would-be rob-bers. The four robbers were foughtoff by employees, turning the rob-bery attempt into a free-for-all melée,and sheriff’s deputies responded tosort things out. Deputies arrived andtook three of the Mendoza brothersinto custody. The fourth- Damian-fled the scene and was later foundhiding at a nearby residence. TheMendoza brothers are accused of as-saulting two of the employees with asteel pipe, a tire iron and a chain.Witnesses reported that Damian andOscar Mendoza assaulted two moreemployees next door at Los PelonesTire Shop. The suspects suffered de-fensive injuries from the victims,deputies said. The brothers weretaken to Natividad medical center fortreatment of their injuries.

Pajaro, CA, Shop EmployeesFight off Four Brothers

Former Corvallis, OR, residentJames “Jimmy” H. Corliss, 61, ofLebanon died May 21, in Portland.

Jimmy was born on Oct. 15,1950, in Lebanon to Jim and BeverlyCorliss. The Corliss family moved toCorvallis when he was six years old.Jimmy was the eldest of five siblingsand had his work cut out for him asthe leader of the pack of that rowdycrew. He graduated from CorvallisHigh School in 1968 and went on tostudy at Oregon State University.

Jimmy was proud to haveserved as a drill instructor in the U.S.Army Reserves. In 1972, Jimmy’slifelong love of cars and trucksmerged with his entrepreneurialspirit, and he opened Corliss Paintand Repair. His endless drive anddedication made his business a suc-cess, and he was excited to celebratethe 40th anniversary of the shop,Corliss Collision Carstar, this year.

Jimmy met Dawn Sahnow in1981, and they were married on June11, 1983. Upon marrying Dawn, hebecame a father to Brady (then age 8)and Brittany (then age 5).

Jimmy valued his membershipin the Oregon Auto Body CraftsmenAssociation.

Founder of Corliss Paint &Repair in OR Dies at Age 61

The Ripon, CA, Police Departmenthas a history of finding bargains,whether for firearms or vehicles. Thistime it is using convicts from a nearbyprison to paint their police cars for abargain.

“Some of the correctional facili-ties have work programs to keep in-mates busy, whether it’s auto body,mechanics, or paint,” officer AlexBurgos said. “The labor through thefacility is free.” Though labor is free,paint and decals still cost about a$1,000 per vehicle. Still, the depart-ment is paying about a $1,000 per carfor the paint jobs, instead of about$4,000. Ripon officials aren’t an-nouncing which prison is doing thework, because that facility has askedto remain anonymous.

“They have a set schedule andcan only take a certain amount ofcars,” Burgos said. “We jumped inline on that.” Four cars are budgetedto be painted this year.

Ripon, CA, Police’s Bargain:Convicts Painting Cars

A fire started just after 8:30 p.m. onJune 13 at Tucson’s Royal CollisionCenter in the attic space. No one wasinjured and no cars were damaged.

However it took firefightersfrom two companies nearly twoand half hours to put out the fire,Capt. Barrett Baker, a Tucsonfire spokesman said. Firefightersfrom the first engine companychecked the building for people,and tried to find the fire but wereunsuccessful because there was somuch smoke.

A ladder crew used chainsaws tocut holes in the roof and found fire inthe attic. Ladder trucks sprayed wateron the building and firefighters cutopen the attic space from several dif-ferent areas to put out the fire, the re-lease said. The fire was contained tofront offices and customer waitingroom.

The repair shop is fully func-tional, David Roemer, the collisioncenter manager. “(Customers’) carsare OK and it won’t affect their re-pairs at all,” he said. But, customerscan expect phone and computer de-lays, Roemer said. Repair work onthe front of the building could takeabout six months.

Fire Disrupts Tuscon BodyShop, No Cars Damaged

Nevada Gets Disaster VehicleNevada Senator Harry Reid andWashoe County Sheriff MichaelHaley unveiled a special communi-cations vehicle that will help officialsset up a mobile command center dur-ing a disaster. The Critical IncidentResponse Vehicle was unveiled inReno. It will carry vital communica-tions equipment and intelligence-gathering staff, and is the first of itskind in Nevada. Haley says it’s criti-cal that agencies can communicatewith each other during a crisis situa-tion.

Total cost for the vehicle is ap-proximately $573,000.

Mike Rose Auto Body based in Con-cord, CA, announced the opening ofits ninth collision repair facility inFairfield, CA, on June 18.

Mike Rose Auto Body’s acquisi-tion of the new 16,000-square-footshop, previously known as Watson’sAuto Body of Fairfield, is its secondexpansion effort in 2012. The com-pany opened a facility in Lafayette,CA, in January.

“I wanted to sell the business toan organization that believed in thesame principles that we at Watsonshave built our reputation on, beingvery community-minded and puttingthe customer first. Mike’s Auto Bodywas the company of choice becausethey clearly embrace the same princi-ples,” said Scott Watson, formerowner of the shop.

“We’ve been looking for theright location to expand and ScottWatson has established himself overthe last 30 years as a high integrity,community-based quality operator,and that fits our model perfectly. Weare in a growth mode right now anddiligently looking for quality repairfacility’s to join the Mike’s Auto Bodyteam,” said Brennan Rose, vice pres-ident of Mike Rose Auto Body.

Mike Rose Auto Body OpensNinth Location in Fairfield, CA

At the April CIC meeting in OklahomaCity, OK, industry trainer and Auto-body News columnist Toby Chessbrought a quarter panel removed froma vehicle repaired at a “nationally rep-resented corporate body shop.” Chesssaid the spot welds used to “attach” thequarter panel didn’t penetrate, and noweld-through primer or corrosion pro-tection had been applied. “You couldliterally just pull the panel off,” saidPaul Val, the general manager ofRaintree Autobody in Scottsdale, AZ,which did $3,000 in re-repairs to thevehicle. Val said the shop that haddone the original work under an in-surer direct repair program paid hisshop for the rework with a creditcard —and remains on the direct repairprogram. “Someone is going to getkilled in one of these cars,” Val said.

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Fire officials estimate the damage toa Helena, MT auto body shop, HazenAuto Repair & Custom Exhaust, atabout $200,000 after an aggressive,quick-moving fire gutted the EuclidAvenue shop.

Flames shot out of the windowsand smoke billowed from both endsof the building at around 11:30 a.m.

The cause of the fire was a me-chanical accident, said Lewis andClark County Sheriff Leo Dutton.An employee was working on a tur-bocharger when the heat caused afire in the cab of the vehicle, he said.

The interior of the building sus-tained extensive damage.

Bob Harvey, battalion chiefwith the Helena Fire Department,said flames were coming out of thewindows when he arrived at theshop. Black smoke could be seenfrom blocks away.

Harvey said when firefightersarrived on scene, employees wererunning in and out of the burningbuilding, trying to salvage what theycould, removing motors and othercar parts from the building at 2296Euclid Ave. One of the employeeswas treated at the scene for smokeinhalation.

A 22-year-old Fresno, CA, man wasarrested May 25 on suspicion of steal-ing a restored 1951 Chevrolet truckafter crashing the pickup with policein pursuit.

Officers responded to a callabout 2:15 a.m. from a security guardwho was following a man in thetruck stolen from an auto body shopat Greenway Auto Body, 1497 N.Blackstone Ave., police said.

As officers tried to stop the truck,the vehicle sped onto northboundHighway 99 at Olive Avenue. Thedriver attempted to exit at the ShawAvenue offramp, but instead crash thetruck into an embankment.

The truck caught on fire, forcingofficers to break a window to free thesuspect, who resisted arrested. Thesuspect reportedly stole another vehi-cle and vandalized others at the deal-ership.

He was treated at CommunityRegional Medical Center for minorinjuries and then booked into theFresno County jail.

The man was arrested on chargesthat included two counts of stealing avehicle, six counts of vandalism anda count of resisting arrest, along withoutstanding warrants.

‘51 Chevy Truck Stolen fromFresno Body Shop Crashes

Fire Guts Montana Shop,$200,000 in Damages

A man and his pet iguana were re-united and a suspected thief is behindbars nearly six months after the 4-1/2-foot-long, 30-pound reptile wasstolen from a Bellflower auto bodyshop. The reptile was taken during aburglary that occurred at the shop inearly December.

Sheriff’s deputies returned theiguana name Lizard to its owner of17 years.

Lizard was taken on Dec. 9 or10 after someone forced his way intothe Performance 4-Wheel Auto Shopat 9817 Park Street in Bellflower,said Lt. Steve Sciacca of the Los An-geles County sheriff’s LakewoodStation. The iguana was the onlything taken during the burglary, hesaid.

Investigators used “advancedinvestigative techniques” and identi-fied a suspect, 19-year-old Jesus Al-caraz of Downey, who they knewfrom previous contacts, Sciacca said.

Blood found at the crime scenewas matched to Alcaraz, and a searchwarrant was served on his residence,where investigators found the iguana,along with a loaded handgun, mari-juana, hash oil and gang parapherna-lia, Sciacca said.

Stolen Iguana Returned toBellflower, CA, Auto Shop

Richard Mattiussi has been appointedto the California/Nevada/Arizona Au-tomotive Wholesalers Association’s(CAWA) Board of Directors, repre-senting Merles Automotive Supply inTucson, Arizona.

He was appointed by Chair ofthe Board, Steve Sharp of WORLDPAC in Newark, CA.

“Mr. Mattiussi has a diversifiedcareer in the automotive aftermarketindustry and currently serves as theSales and Marketing Director forone of our well respected membersin Arizona” said Mr. Sharp. “Mr.Mattiussi’s breath of industry expe-rience will be a great addition to theboard of directors and we’ll wel-come his contributions to the auto-motive aftermarket industry and itstrade Association out west,” saidSharp.

CAWA is an automotive after-market trade association, whichrepresents auto parts jobbers,warehouse distributors, retailers,manufacturers and manufacturerrepresentatives in California, Ne-vada and Arizona. The Associationprovides education, legislative,regulatory and business support tothe industry and its membership.

Richard Mattiussi Appointedto CAWA Board of Directors

Charles L. Sawyer of Los Banos,CA, passed away on May 23, 2012,at the age of 88 surrounded by hisfamily.

Charles was born October 21,1923 in Fresno, CA; however, helived most of his life in Los Banos.The Sawyer family moved to LosBanos when Charles’ father, James,began Jim’s Radiator and FenderShop. Charles attended Los BanosElementary and Los Banos HighSchool. He graduated in the Class of1943.

After graduation, Charles wasdrafted in the United States Armyand served in World War II from1944–1945. He was discharged in1946 and met Helen Taylor. Theywere married July 13, 1946, and re-turned to Los Banos to begin his ca-reer in the auto body business andraise a family. Charles worked withhis father, James, and ran Sawyer’sAuto Body Repair until his retire-ment in 1989.

Charles is survived by twosons: Steven of Nevada and Randallof Los Banos; grandsons, Zacharyand Jacob; a nephew, Tom; a niece,Becky; and many dear friends. He ispreceded in death by his wife, Helen.

Shirley Ann Gulick, a 50-year resi-dent of Petaluma, CA, died at homeafter a battle with lung cancer. Shewas 77. Shirley and her husband of 55years, Jerry, opened Gulick’s AutoBody in Petaluma in 1967. Shirleyhandled all the office work at the autobody shop while Jerry worked oncars. It still does a brisk businesstoday under their son, Ken, who tookover in 1998.

Born in Modesto and raised thereand in Patterson, Gulick met her fu-ture husband in 1956 when he was inthe Army honor guard stationed at thePresidio in San Francisco. They mar-ried the next year in Reno, NV, andhad a later ceremony at the Immacu-late Conception Catholic Church inSan Francisco. A few years later, thecouple was driving through Petalumain a 1947 Ford with their infantdaughter, Diane. The young familysaw and bought a house for $14,000.“And we’re still in the same house,”Jerry Gulick said. In addition to herhusband, Gulick is survived by herchildren, Diane Gulick of Santa Rosaand Ken Gulick of Middletown; a sis-ter, Dorothy Schollenberger of SantaRosa; four grandchildren and threegreat-grandchildren.

Gulick’s Auto Body Founder,Shirley Ann Gulick, Dies

Charles Sawyer, Shop Ownerin Los Banos, CA, Dies



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G&C AutoBody Expands to Ukiah & FairfieldThe impact of a tough economy hastotaled a number of North Bay auto-mobile body repair shops, but it hasn’tseriously dented growth plans forG&C AutoBody, which has aboutdoubled its number of locations in thepast few years.

The Santa Rosa-based companyopened a 16,000-square-foot store inUkiah on May 29 and a 10,000-square-foot shop in Fairfield on June4. That follows openings in Novatoand Rohnert Park last year and one inWindsor in 2010.

G&C AutoBody (707-525-3520,www.gandcautobody.com) now hasnine locations, 75 staff and 60 inde-pendent contractor repair technicians,repairing an average of 215 vehicles aweek. The other locations are in SantaRosa, Petaluma and San Rafael,which has two shops. The companyplans to open a 10th store this year.

Company revenue was $22.75million last year and is projected togrow by 30 percent this year to $30million. Growth so far this year is 28percent ahead of the same pace in2011.

“The new shops are going to giveus a shot in the arm in the third quar-ter,” said Shawn Crozat, chief oper-ating officer.

Ukiah and Fairfield are good ex-pansion areas for G&C because com-petition isn’t as fierce as elsewhere inthe North Bay, and asking prices forbusinesses and real estate isn’t assteep as Napa, where the company hasbeen looking for opportunities to ex-pand, Mr. Crozat said.

The Fairfield-Suisun City areawith its 130,000 population and Inter-state 80 thoroughfare has been a tar-get expansion area long in G&C’sfive-decade history.

“Fairfield was supposed to bethe location of the second shop, but adeal never materialized,” Mr. Crozatsaid.

The Solano County location at2011 N. Texas St. formerly was Fair-field Auto Body, started by BruceSchafer in 1980 and operated forthree decades. That business hadclosed when G&C secured the prop-erty. The shop now has five employ-ees and was renovated over threemonths to have a similar exterior andhigh-end interior look of the other lo-cations.

“It’s been crazy, but we’vekept it all together,” Shawn Crozatsaid. “We’ll keep growing as longas service and quality don’t dimin-ish.”

A seemingly innocuous visit fromPhiladelphia Eagles quarterbackMichael Vick caused such a back-lash for a Toyota dealership in Hen-derson, NV., that it was forced toshut down the promotional page onits website.

Vick, who was convicted ofdogfighting charges in 2007, was intown for a youth football camp andstopped by the dealership to sign au-tographs and meet with fans, the LasVegas Sun reported.

But after the dealership postedpictures of Vick’s appearance onits website, angry commentsstarted flying in. One commenterdescribed Vick as a “dog killer,”while another threatened to beathim up. Others said they wouldboycott the dealership for sponsor-ing Vick for promotional and char-ity events.

The dealership was initially justdeleting comments but eventuallyhad to shut down the page.

“We’re just trying to do some-thing right for the kids and peoplejust forget about that,” saidStephanie Bernas, marketing man-ager and social media director for thedealership.

Caliber Collision Centers recently re-furbished a 2003 Kia Optima that wasdonated to a high school graduate inTucson, AZ.

The vehicle donation was madethrough Project Graduation, a nationalprogram designed to promote drugand alcohol free graduation nights andkeep high school graduates off theroads.

Matthew Tyrrell, a 2012 gradu-ate of Ironwood High School in Tuc-son, received the vehicle after beingthe grand prize winner in a drawingheld after the school’s graduation cer-emony.

Caliber said the vehicle waspurchased with donations from com-munity members and parents of stu-dents. Several local businesses alsodonated services to refurbish the ve-hicle, including Dent Solutions, BigO Tires, Lefty’s Custom Striping,Mercado Del Rio Car Wash and TheSpecialist.

Joyce Contrades, chair of Proj-ect Graduation, said 95 percent of theschool’s senior class participated inthe event.

Caliber said its Tucson locationhas sponsored Project Graduationsince the program’s inception in 2004.

Caliber Collision RefurbishesVehicle for Student

Michael Vick Visit CausesBacklash at Dealership

Lakeside NAPA in Tahoe hosted a carshow and customer appreciation dayon May 31. More than 20 classic ve-hicles were showcased. Locals, in-cluding Charlie Struve from StruveAutomotive with his 1956 Ford T-

Bird; Rick Taylor of South Y Fire-place with his 1937 Packard; RyanFeliciano of South Side Auto Body

with his 1964 Chevy Chevelle; andBob Lopez, a local retired firemanwith his 1934 Ford Pick-up and 1940Ford Woody, all made the show a suc-cess.

“Locals serving locals” was anappropriate motto for the event.Lakeside gives any classic carenthusiast the opportunity tobring out a cruising ride for thecommunity to admire.

“Everyone had to come to-gether to make this happen,” saidBob Pederson, owner of Lake-side NAPA Auto Parts.

A group of corporate NAPAAuto Parts members came out tojudge the Best of Show contestfor all the vehicles there. Thisyear, Gert Lehman of South

Tahoe Refuse took the prize with his1939 Chevy sedan, a shiny, two-tone,silver and burgundy car.

Lakeside NAPA Hosts Car Show, Customer Day

Gert Lehman won Best of Show with his1939 Chevy

John Keen of Downtown Auto Colli-sion Centre in Toronto says that "Wecould definitely use similar legislationhere in Canada. This is exactly whatwe need,” says Keen. “There is nopractical remedy in this province to re-solve a claim fairly and in a timely

fashion. Some insurers have createdan environment of fraudulent activitythat has turned the body shop/claimsindustry into the ghetto of the car busi-ness.” Keen believes that insurance in-dustry manipulation has led to a lot ofunsafe vehicles on the road.

Canadian Shop Comments on Rhode Island Legislation


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Insurance Petition Moves ForwardA petition seeking heavier regulationswithin the California insurance indus-try surpassed the threshold of signa-tures needed to put it to a statewidevote, moving the initiative a step closerto getting on the November ballot.

The petition for the InsuranceRate Public Justification and Ac-countability Act (IRPJA) garneredmore than 800,000 voter signatures,according to Consumer Watchdog,which recently reported the numbersand is spearheading the campaign be-hind the proposal.

The proposal mostly has to dowith bringing health coverage regula-tions in line with the extensive autoinsurance regulations already in placein the state.

But part of the proposal wouldalso solidify a current ban on ratingdrivers based on whether they havebeen continuously covered, which maybutt heads with a separate, industry-backed proposal to eliminate that ban.

The auto insurance quotes Cali-fornia policyholders get currently maybe affected by whether they’ve beeninsured by the same company for anumber of years, but they can’t be af-fected by whether the applicant hadbeen through a period of being unin-sured.

The IRJPA would reinforce thatban. But, if approved to be put beforevoters, IRPJA would share the sameballot as the Automobile InsuranceDiscount Act (AID), which was ap-proved by the Secretary of State inJanuary for a vote this November.

AID would do just the oppositeof the IRPJA’s auto provision: openconsumers’ prior coverage history,regardless of carrier, to insurers forrating purposes, which supporterssay would be used in discounts forpolicyholders remaining insured andincrease competition between insur-ers.

Consumer Watchdog is one ofAID’s strongest opponents, sayingthat many would see premiums in-crease as a result of the proposal andthat it would make it harder for cur-rently uninsured drivers to enter themarket.

AID clashes directly withIRPJA, and it’s unclear how passageof both proposals would ultimately beresolved.

State law requires 504,000 signa-tures to bring a measure to the ballotfor consideration by voters.

Chef’s Stolen Lamborghini Found a Year LaterSometimes, truth is stranger than fic-tion. A Lamborghini stolen fromcelebrity chef Guy Fieri was found ayear after it went missing. The Lambowas pilfered by a thief who literally rap-

pelled off the roof of a building in orderto get access to the Italian Stallion.

It seems the perpetrator had athing for stealthy operations – the ve-

hicle turned up during an investigationthat began after a motorcyclist wearingall black fired a gun into a parked car.The gunman was a 17-year-old boy.Fieri’s car was located in a storage con-

tainer in Point Richmond,CA., along with the boy’smotorcycle and apparentevidence linking him to theshooting.

Fieri, for his part, ishappy to have his Lam-borghini back:

“I would like to thankthe Marin County Sher-iff’s Office and the MillValley Police Departmentfor their hard work and ef-

fort in the recovery of my car. I’mglad we can put this behind us, andfeel better knowing that justice isbeing served.”

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Caliber Collision employees at each ofthe company’s 12 locations in the SanDiego area are launching a two-weekfood drive to help ensure supplies areplentiful throughout the summer forthose in need through Feeding Amer-ica – San Diego. Caliber employeesare urging its customers and the public

to contribute a variety of non-perish-able food items at any of its auto bodyrepair facilities during its “RhythmRestoration Food Drive" through June29.

The company has pledged tomatch a $1 donation for every singleitem of food or clothing contributed.

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Iowa Dealership Refuses to Participate in PartsTraderDiana Gauthier, Parts Manager forStew Hansen Dodge Ram ChryslerJeep in Urbandale, Iowa, wrote anopen letter intended for all collisionrepairers in the state of Iowa.

All who may be questioning our intentcan rest at ease. Stew Hansen DodgeRam Chrysler Jeep will not partici-pate in PartsTrader.

I’ve been involved in the colli-sion industry since the mid-'70s, andwhat I’ve witnessed is the systematictakeover in the industry by insurancecompanies. We all know insurancecompanies are not insurance compa-nies. They are, in fact, investmentcompanies that use insurance as atool to fund their investments, right?Chrysler’s answer to the insurancecompanies’ demands on the body in-dustry was to step up with price-matching the aftermarket parts. Buttheir response is limited to a few of thebody items that are most consistentlyreplaced, and not really a stand thatcan be taken with the insurance com-panies insisting on less quality, non-fitting aftermarket parts.

We at this dealership have takena stand. We will not participate in thisblatantly biased program and reducethe collision centers’ profit even fur-ther with parts bidding. To those col-

lision centers that will be forced byState Farm to take part in the bidprocess for their parts, you have oursupport should you refuse—we willcontinue to conduct our parts busi-ness as we have done historically. Ifour refusal to participate in Part-sTrader means you cannot buy partsfrom our store, we will surely misstalking with you and servicing yourbusiness—but we will not have a handin the further demise of the independ-ence of collision centers across thestate of Iowa.

I make a statement on most ofour mailings and Mopar Magazinethat the success of your business isour business. We can’t succeed with-out all of you; we have a vested inter-est in making your store as successfulas possible.

The insurance companies likeState Farm are on their own—I refuseto help them take control of your busi-nesses and the industry in general. Forwhat it’s worth, that’s the line we’vedrawn in the sand to help support yourstand against this program.”

Sherwin-Williams Offers A+ Workshop in AnaheimSherwin-Williams Automotive Finishesannounces the next A-Plus™EcoLean™ Level 1 workshop will beheld July 25-26, 2012 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Anaheim. This ex-clusive program is offered to collisioncenter owners and dealer managersfrom across the United States andCanada. In particular, Sherwin-Williams’ exclusive EcoLean™ Level1 workshops are designed to educateattendees about maximizing profitabil-ity by improving productivity and

eliminating waste throughout their fa-cilities. “This curriculum was devel-oped specifically with collision shopoperators in mind. Through it they willlearn practical processes and useful tipson lean production, application in col-lision repair and methods to make theircollision shops more efficient, produc-tive, and subsequently, more prof-itable,” says Troy Neuerburg,manager of Marketing Business Serv-ices at Sherwin-Williams AutomotiveFinishes.

Consumer Watchdog Seeks to Stall Google’sDriverless Cars on California RoadsGoogle’s driverless cars should not beallowed on U.S. highways unless ad-equate privacy protections for users ofthe new technology are implemented,Consumer Watchdog said May 31.The nonpartisan, nonprofit groupurged the California Assembly to de-feat a bill, S.B. 1298, that would allowGoogle’s driverless cars on Califor-nia’s roads unless the legislation isamended to provide adequate privacyprotection for users of the technology.The bill is now under consideration bythe Assembly after the California Sen-ate passed it unanimously.

The call to amend or block the billcame in a letter to Assembly SpeakerJohn A. Perez from Jamie Court, Con-sumer Watchdog president, and JohnM. Simpson, the nonprofit group’s Pri-vacy Project Director. They wrote:“Without appropriate regulations,Google’s vehicles will be able to gatherunprecedented amounts of informationabout the use of those vehicles. Howwill it be used? Just as Google tracks usaround the Information Superhighway,it will now be looking over our shoul-ders on every highway and byway.”

“Consumers enthusiasticallyadopted the new technology of the In-ternet. What we were not told was thatour use of the Information Superhigh-way would be monitored and trackedin order to personalize corporate mar-keting and make Google a fortune,” theletter said. “Now that Google is takingto the freeways, we must prevent inap-propriate collection and storage of dataabout our personal movements and en-vironment before we allow Google’srobots to take to the roads and reportback to the Googleplex.

“Google claims its mission is toorganize the world’s information andmake it accessible. However, when itcomes to its operations and plans, it isa black box. We believe Google’s ac-tions demonstrate that it cannot betaken at its word. Consider the Wi-Spy scandal, the largest wiretappingeffort ever, in which Google’s Street

View cars sucked up e-mails, pass-words and other data from private Wi-Fi networks in 30 countries around theworld… Google kept changing itsstory and still has not come clean. TheFCC fined the company $25,000 forobstructing its investigation of the in-cident. Google initially said the wire-tapping was the job of a rogueengineer, but the FCC has found that,in fact, the company was well awareof the ongoing Wi-Spying activity.”

Consumer Watchdog said that In-ternet technology was implementedwith little regard to protecting users’privacy. The group said society is play-ing catch-up for the failure to protectprivacy. For instance, the Federal TradeCommission has called for the imple-mentation of a Do Not Track systemthat would allow consumers to let web-sites know that they do not want dataabout their web surfing to be gathered.

The letter continued: “Driverlesstechnology is not commercially viableyet, but we are certain it will be avail-able sooner than most of us wouldpredict. S.B. 1298 endorses Google’sdriverless technology and allows itsfleet of robot-driven cars to travel onCalifornia’s roads. Sadly, the bill pro-vides no privacy protection for theusers of the coming technology. Thebill should be amended to ban all datacollection by autonomous cars. Whilewe don’t propose to limit the abilityof the cars to function by communi-cating as necessary with satellites andother devices, the collection and re-tention of data for marketing and otherpurposes should be banned. Unlessthe bill is amended, once again societywill be forced to play catch-up in deal-ing with the impact of the privacy-in-vading aspects of a new technology.”

The letter concluded: “S.B. 1298must be amended to provide that indi-vidual data profiles about the use of adriverless vehicle cannot be compiledwithout the user’s permission and thatpermission should not be required foruse or purchase of such a vehicle.”

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Watsonville, CA, Shop Owner Arrested for FraudThe Santa Cruz Sentinel has reportedthat the owner of a Watsonville autobody shop is accused of forging doc-uments, vandalizing cars for profitand charging customers for new partsthat were never installed.

Martin Calvario Moya, ownerof Moya Auto Body Shop at 125 LeeRoad, was charged by the District At-torney’s Office after a undercover in-vestigation that began earlier thisyear. He was arrested the afternoonof June 14 at his business.

The investigation was con-ducted by representatives from theCalifornia Bureau of Auto Repair, theSanta Cruz County Auto Theft Unitand the DA’s Investigations Bureau.

Moya is also charged with fail-ure to have required workers’ com-pensation insurance coverage for hisemployees and with violating proba-tion. He’s scheduled to be arraignedon the charges.

The investigation began after in-surance carriers and the CaliforniaBureau of Auto Repair began receiv-ing numerous complaints from cus-tomers.

The California Department ofInsurance’s records show Moya waspreviously convicted of one count offailure to have workers’ compensa-tion insurance in June 2009. He was

placed on 48 months of conditionalprobation and ordered to pay nearly$10,000 in fines.

Earlier this year, Moya pleadedno contest to a misdemeanor count ofcheck forgery and was placed onthree years’ formal probation. Hewas also ordered to serve 90 days inCounty Jail, which was authorized tobe served through an alternative cus-tody program. That charge stemmedfrom his wife’s embezzlement ofthousands of dollars from the non-profit organization CommunityBridges.

Elena Moya pleaded no contestin April to felony grand theft. Shewas placed on three years of proba-tion, sentenced to 90 days in CountyJail and ordered to pay more than$37,000 in restitution. Prosecutorssaid that while working at Commu-nity Bridges, she took checks fromthe organization and then cashedthem herself, and gave checks to oth-ers to cash them.

Anyone with information aboutinsurance fraud is asked to call theDistrict Attorney’s Office at 454-2400.

The National Auto Body Council(NABC) announced it has receivedboard approval to help Operation Com-fort’s Automotivation program secure anew facility in which it can continue tohelp disabled U.S. service membersand their families through the instruc-tion and practice of proper collision re-pair.

Located in San Antonio, Texas,Operation Comfort complements therehabilitation efforts carried out by theU.S. Army at the Brooke Army Med-ical Center (BAMC). As a form of oc-cupational therapy, the organizationruns the Automotivation programthrough which disabled veterans, inmany cases those that have lost one ormore limbs, are rehabilitated throughautomotive-related activities such asrebuilding and restoring cars, trucks,and motorcycles.

The property Automotivationused for training is being sold, a devel-opment made even more dishearteningbecause Operation Comfort used thefacility without a rent or utility obliga-tion. Now, a newer, larger buildingmuch closer to the hospital is being of-fered for sale to Operation Comfortand the National Auto Body Councilintends to raise the funds for purchas-

ing and renovating the new building.Though fund-raising details are stillbeing finalized, the National AutoBody Council will work with the Col-lision Industry Foundation, a recog-nized 501(c)(3) charity. Because theFoundation will be the entity throughwhich money will be raised, thosewishing to support Operation Comfortwill have the option to make their do-nation tax deductible.

A fundraising committee is beingcreated to seek out contributions at sev-eral different levels: corporate dona-tions for vendors, insurers and otherinterested businesses, as well as bodyshop level and individual contribu-tions. Matching grants are also beingconsidered in order that businesses andemployees, vendors and customers,and other partners can be invited tomatch funds.

“Our battle-tested veterans havegiven more of themselves for theircountry than most of us can even imag-ine,” stated NABC Executive DirectorChuck Sulkala.

Those interested in making do-nations for the new Automotivationfacility should contact Chuck Sulkalaat 888-66-PRIDE or e-mail:[email protected].

NABC Helps Operation Comfort’s AutomotivationSecure a New Facility for Disabled Vets



Question: How would you like to beable to measure body structure, vehi-cle sub-frame movement, damagedsuspension components and usedBOF frame for damage or damagedparts in 20 minutes with a printoutand the time of tear down?

OK, how about the added advan-tage of doing it anywhere in the shop?We’re not using any frame-measuringequipment, by the way. Let’s throw inanother parameter and do all of thesetasks and more with a camera. Yousay impossible? Up until recentlyyou’d be right but it’s not only possi-ble, it’s here. It’s called the MatrixWand and it’s a game changer.

I was invited to a presentation atthe April CIC meeting in OklahomaCity by Jan Srack on the MatrixWand. It was an interesting presenta-tion, but being the skeptical personthat I am, I really questioned this tech-nology. Gary Wano, Jr., owner ofGW & Son Collision in Oklahoma

City, arranged for a hands on demo.He had a 2009 BMW 3 Series BMWthat took a high hit. Both grilles, head-lamps, upper portion of the frontbumper and hood were damaged. Thevehicle nose-dived under a bumper atless than 10 miles per hour. We in-spected the bumper absorber and rein-forcement for damage and therewasn’t any. We all concluded that thedamage was isolated to the upperstructure and there was no lowerstructural damage. Rob Bailey (fromMatrix) took a picture and imported itinto his computer and 10 minutes laterhis results showed that the left lowerrail had a sway out 5 mm and sagdown of 6 mm. Yeah, that’s what thepicture stated, but did the rail move?Gary placed the vehicle on a CeletteBench the next day, and sure enoughthe rail had moved. Pretty impressive,but I still was not convinced, so Iasked if they were doing any otherpresentations and I was invited to their

office in Kansas.I spent two days with Rob Bai-

ley, Tom Srack and Ron Chiles (na-tional sales manager) measuring anumber of cars. One of the vehicleswas a 2010 Ford Escape. We foundthat the core support was asymmet-rical. In other words, the driver’sside of the upper tie bar is 10 mmforward of the passenger’s side.Mitchell data says that length of theupper tie bar is the same. Who wasright? I check with Chief and theirmeasurement data also had 10 mmdifference on the upper tie bar. Ithink that Mitchell better re-measurethe vehicle and change their date. Itold Jan that I would write an articleon the equipment, but I would haveto use it by myself to validate theirclaims of ease and accuracy. Sheloaned me a unit and I took it toHawaii last month (I conducted awelding workshop and spoke to theHawaiian Autobody Association) to


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Some recent controversy about who isa BMW certified training center andwhy, prompted us to look into exactlywhat the requirements are for dealer-ships to gain certification. There are no“authorized” repair centers and onlydealerships can become BMW Certi-fied Collision Repair Center (CCRC).At present there are only 69 CCRCs inthe US, and only nine in California.

The entity that owns the BMWCenter must be the same entity andmust have the same level of ownershipin the applicable collision repair facil-ity.

Here you will find a condensedversion of the key steps and require-ments for a facility to become a BMWCertified Collision Repair Center.BMW requires each and every CCRCin the program to follow these strin-gent criteria and follow these guide-lines. BMW CCRC’s are expected torepair BMW vehicles back to BMWspecifications using only OriginalParts and following the repair proce-dures stated by BMW.

With general technician training,technicians are recognized for attend-ing the training courses by BMWNorth America but they are not [nec-essarily] BMW Certified Technicians.They have a recognition plaque of allthe training courses they have attainedbut it is not a Certification plaque. Ifthe technician goes from a CCRC toanother repair center it does not meanthat shop will now have BMW Certi-fied Technicians.

The only time the word “Certi-fied” is used is when the facility be-comes part of the BMW CertifiedCollision Repair Center program. Thatmeans that the BMW CCRC has metall the requirements and goes throughan annual Re-certification process.

2011 BMW Certified Collision RepairCenter ProgramThe BMW Certified Collision RepairCenter Program is a voluntary, no feeprogram developed to ensure thatBMW clients receive a first -class cus-tomer experience. The Certified Col-lision Repair Center (CCRC) Programis designed to enable BMW Center-owned collision repair centers to: ● Focus on achieving a high level ofprofitability; ● Operate more efficiently; ● Ensure vehicles are repaired toBMW specifications (as outlined in theTechnical Information System, or

ISIS/ISTA); and ● Ensure vehicles are repaired usingonly BMW original parts, approvedpaint, materials, tools, and equipment.

CCRC Program BenefitsDuring initial certification (andthroughout the certification and re-cer-tification process) BMW NA’s vendor,Summit Consulting, Inc. (“Summit”)provides several types of 100% BMW-funded support to help a CCRC en-hance its collision repair business. Theobjectives of this support include:● Identifying market opportunities togenerate revenue;● Establishing the CCRC’s currentcollision revenue performance;● Closing the financial gap betweenthe CCRC’s market revenue opportu-nity and its actual revenue perform-ance trend on a per collision repairbasis; and● Identifying required tools / equip-ment needs, while assisting CCRCs toproject the recommended capital in-vestment levels.

Annual CCRC Managers’ MeetingThe CCRC management should ac-tively participate in the Annual BMWCCRC Managers’ Meeting. By at-tending this event, a CCRC managerbenefits by:● Receiving the latest BMW brandedcollision repair business tools;● Reviewing the trend of CCRCs’ col-lision process and profitability per-formances;● Learning and sharing key collisionrepair service strategies focused on im-proving profitability; ● On-going professional training; ● Management Roundtable Discus-sions—These facilitator-led group dis-cussions are designed to allow CCRCparticipants to share proven techniquesand best practices to grow the collisionbusiness both in parts sales and repairrevenue; ● 4 Stage Market Network Develop-ment Financial Analysis Tool—Thisfour stage tool provides enrolledCCRC managers access to: ▬ Identify market opportunities togenerate revenue; ▬ Establish the CCRC’s current colli-sion revenue performance; ▬ Close the financial gap betweenCCRC’s market revenue opportunityand its actual revenue performancetrend on a per collision repair basis; ▬ Identify recommended capital in-

vestment levels and required tools andequipment needs.

Collision Repair Parts Incentive ProgramAll BMW Centers have the opportu-nity to open a BMW CCRC. BMWNA offers all CCRCs the opportunityto participate in the monthly CollisionRepair Parts Incentive Program. Eli-gible BMW CCRCs can earn a 2% re-bate on the dealer cost of all originalBMW parts purchased from BMW NAand used by the CCRC for non-war-ranty or non-maintenance collision re-pairs. The BMW CCRC is eligible forthe rebate only if the CCRC remainscompliant with the CCRC Program.

CCRC Promotional Material● BMW NA CCRC plaque and annualre-certification endorsement slugs;● CCRC Customer Creed plaque;● BMW branded marketing materials;● BMW NA approval to use officialCCRC signage.

Additional CCRC BenefitsIn addition to the benefits outlinedabove, CCRC Program Benefits in-clude:

● Accessing & using customizedBMW CCRC marketing materials;● Utilizing BMW approved collisionrepair tools and equipment;● Making use of the latest BMWbranded collision repair business tools;● Participating in body & paint tech-nical and non-technical trainingcourses;● Efficiency improvement by usingBMW repair specifications(ISIS/ISTA), the flat rate manual(KSD), and electronic parts catalog(EPC) for repairs;● Utilizing an approved refinishingsystem of the BMW Group;● Participating in the 2011 Profiles InAchievement (PIA), which includes anincentive program for CCRC man-agers; and● CCRC’s premium access to Road-side Assistance.

Program ParticipantsSuccessful results in the CCRC Pro-gram rely heavily upon the CCRC’sprofessionals and the culture in whichthey operate. These individuals are re-sponsible for adopting the processes

What it Takes for a BMW Dealership to Become a BMW CCRC


See BMW CCRC, Page 42


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by David M. Brown

Two schools in Arizona and Califor-nia are prepping the future of the in-dustry.

In Mesa, AZ., the collision repairprogram at The East Valley Institute ofTechnology is the state’s only highschool-level coursework certified bythe National Automotive TechniciansEducation Foundation, the independ-ent non-profit based in Leesburg, VA.Since 1983, secondary and post-sec-ondary automotive-training programsin 50 states have been accreditedthrough NATEF standards.

And, in Sacramento, the Univer-sal Technical Institute campus offersits Collision Repair & Refinish Tech-nology (CRRT) program, preparingstudents as collision repair and refin-ish technicians.

Arizona’s first joint technologicaleducation district, EVIT, offers occu-pation training for high school stu-dents at 10 school districts in theexpanding Phoenix East Valley. Themain 65-acre main EVIT campus is at1601 W. Main Street, and the ex-tended campus, 6625 S. Power Road.

The school’s areas of certificationinclude non-structural analysis/dam-age repair and painting and refinish-ing. Students in the two-year programdevelop auto body repair and refinish-ing skills, learning to perform jobsfrom detailing to assisting with paint-ing in a contemporary paint booth.The main campus facility includestwo frame racks, two downdraft bakespray booths and two downdraft prepstations.

The two-year program, with sixelective credits toward graduation,teaches students collision and cus-tomizing skills, using I-CAR guide-lines. The course started in the early1970s when it was offered at MesaVo-Tech, and for more than 20 yearsEVIT has offered it to aspiring techni-cians.

“The format of their curriculum isexactly like the curriculum used by I-CAR to certify technicians already inthe industry,” says Instructor NeilCarroll, custom paint instructor andan EVIT teacher for 10 years. “Stu-dents learn the basics with emphatichands-on lab practice.” Formed by thecollision industry in 1979, the not-for-profit Inter-Industry Conference onAuto Collision Repair focuses onhelping the industry achieve a high

level of technical training.NATEF requires many items,

such as a facility and equipment and

that teachers must be ASE certified, hesays, noting his Master’s Techniciancertification through AutomotiveService Excellence as well as Auto-motive Youth Education Systems cer-tification (AYES).

For the current school year, Car-roll is guiding 71 high school students,divided between morning and after-noon sessions. In addition, an adultcollision-repair program in theevenings, through the School of AdultEducation, is administered by a dif-ferent instructor.

In Arizona, students compete inthe SkillsUSA competition whereEVIT wins the majority of the medalsannually, Carroll says. Five EVIT stu-dents this year competed against 49students statewide and won gold, sil-ver, top estimator and other awards.Last year, a female student wonbronze—the first female medal win-ner in state competition—and thisyear a female student won fourth,missing bronze by only 16 points.

In 1995, a student won silver and,about four years ago, another studenttook bronze at National SkillsUSA. Inaddition, last year 11 students partici-pated in internships, and there are cur-rently 12 on internships this year,nearly double the national average,Carroll says.

One of the oldest Ford dealershipsin Arizona, Berge Ford in Mesa, em-ploys a number of EVIT students andhas been impressed. “They havefound a great starting point here,” says

Steve Roger, Collision Repair Centermanager, who notes the appreciationas well of Ed Baker, the dealership’s

service director. “The industry is ingreat need of qualified entry-level per-sonnel.”

The Sacramento campus of Uni-versal Technical Institute, founded inPhoenix in 1965, offers a Collision

Repair & Refinish Technology Pro-gram, accredited by NATEF, ACCSC(the Accrediting Commission of Ca-reer Schools and Colleges), the Stateof California Bureau of Private Post-secondary Education and the U.S. De-partment of Education. The Houstoncampus of UTI, which opened in1983, also offers the program. Na-tionwide, nine UTI locations provideautomotive-education courses, andtwo motorcycle and/or marine tech-nology.

“Our program is designed to serveindustry need,” says Don Black, edu-cation director for the Sacramentocampus. “We partner with industryand I-CAR regarding our curriculum,facility, education delivery, trainingaids and lab activities to ensure thatwe are providing the most relevanttechnical training that will allow ourstudents the greatest opportunity forsuccess in the collision-repair indus-try.”

He adds,”It is this focus on indus-try and partnership with industry thatmakes Universal Technical Institutethe best choice for technical training

Arizona and California Schools Preparing for Collision Repair’s Future


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This month’s Autobody News distinc-tive dealership is Downtown Motorsof L A. The parts manager is JorgeValladares, and they provide parts forPorsche, Volkswagen, and Audi forthe greater Los Angeles area. I spokewith Jorge recently, and found onceagain, the qualities that make a suc-cessful wholesale parts leader.

His dealership is a solid, depend-able establishment, a fixture in LosAngeles since the 1960’s. A loyal cus-tomer base has always permitted thisdealer to prosper, even in hard times.The people who work here are as de-pendable as the dealership, alwaysavailable for the needs of their cus-tomers. Jorge started as a parts driverhere, about twenty-five years ago. Henow has been manager for over fifteenyears. That seems to be a feature of allour best dealerships, leadership with acareer, not just a job.

The same quality of dependabil-ity extends to the employees as well.

You will find over a hundred years ofexperience with this team, anotherfeature of a distinctive dealership. Allof our best dealers recognize the ben-

efits of having quality employees.These parts experts have all theknowledge and experience needed toprovide their customers with the bestservice possible.

But all the dependability and ex-perience in the world will not ensuresuccess. All of our distinctive dealer-ships share two additional key features;

a positive attitude and a real bond withtheir customers. Every one has a differ-ent name for this feeling; Jorge’s wordwas “family.” He used this word not

just for his team, butfor his customers aswell. Many of thesurrounding shopshave been cus-tomers of Jorgesince he first deliv-ered parts to them.This long term com-mitment to provid-ing quality service isa feature of all of

our distinguished dealerships.Downtown Motors of LA has threedelivery trucks, on the road twicedaily to all areas of Los Angeles.Everyone here works together, an-swering phones, pulling orders, in-voicing tickets, whatever is necessaryto provide quality service. Jorge’s goalis not to be the biggest, but “the best.”

His team feels this way too, and youwill get this quality treatment no mat-ter who you talk to. The Audi depart-ment consists of Fausto, Manuel A.,Heidi, Joel, Alicia and Manuel C. Onthe Volkswagen side we have Erasmo,David, Carlos, Maggy, Rene andClemente. Yes, that’s twelve peopleready to answer the phone wheneveryou call.

The last thing I want to leave youwith is a message from Jorge. Hewanted to tell all his customers a sim-ple “Thanks.” He said “I feel like theyare all my family.” I guess when youdeal with someone for twenty-fiveyears they do become a member ofyour family. I welcome this dealer intoour family, the Autobody News Dis-tinctive Dealership family.

Downtown Motors of L.A.1900 S. Figueroa St.Los Angeles, CA 90007213-747-7246


Downtown Motors of LA—Where Customers are Familiy

Distinctive Dealershipswith Larry Williams

Larry Williams is an innovative parts manager with nationalawards and over 30 years of experience in creating andmanaging profitable departments. He can be reached forconsultation at [email protected].

Jorge Valladares with (r to l) Fausto, Manuel A., Heidi, Joel, Aliciaand Manuel C.

SCRS Hosts Repairer Driven Education at SEMA2012 Featuring “Innovation Forum”The Repairer Driven Education (RDE)series, presented by the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS),is returning to the SEMA Show for thethird consecutive year. With coursesindividually selected or crafted by theSCRS, the program includes nearlytwo dozen sessions taking place dur-ing the SEMA Show Tuesday-Friday,October 30–November 2, 2012, in LasVegas. The headline session, “GameChangers–Innovation Forum,” takesplace November 2 and features indus-try leaders discussing what innovationcan look like in the collision repairbusiness and how it’s becoming coreto business strategy. Other sessions ex-plore how digital marketing, socialmedia and related tools can increasecustomer retention and loyalty, andhow new metals being used in the con-struction of today’s vehicles are im-pacting the repair process.

SCRS Executive Director AaronSchulenburg said, “The RDE series isa tremendous educational opportunityfor the collision industry, providing anaccessible and affordable education ontopics that address issues that trulymatter to those working in repair fa-cilities. We were fortunate to be ableto present the series at the last two

SEMA Shows, and look forward to ex-panding the program this comingyear.”

SCRS partnered with show or-ganizers to present the RDE programat the 2011 SEMA Show. The annualtrade show, which saw nearly 30 per-cent more collision repair attendeescompared to the previous year, bringsmanufacturers of automotive parts andaccessories together with industrybuyers from all over the world. Manu-facturers represent every segment ofthe automotive specialty equipmentmarket, including restyling, hot rod,trucks and SUVs, and racing and per-formance.

“The SEMA Show features prod-ucts from every automotive niche,which makes it the ideal venue forbuyers to discover new markets,” saidPeter MacGillivray, SEMA VP ofevents and communications. “Becausethe collision market is so closely re-lated to many of our traditional mar-ket segments, it’s become one of thefastest growing areas and is of huge in-terest to our attendees.”

In addition to the SCRS RDE se-ries, the SEMA Show will featurenearly 60 educational seminarsthroughout the week.


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CAA SD Holds 18th Annual Golf TourneyThe CAA San Diego Chapter held its18th Annual Golf Tournament Satur-day, June 2nd at Twin Oaks GolfCourse in San Marcos. The event wasa great success with over 100 playersparticipating in perfect weather.

Noted Hop Sanchez (Finish-master Inc.) and CAA San DiegoTreasurer, “It was another great day

with a group of fun-loving auto bodyindustry people. Special thanks toDee and her group from Enterprisefor all their help in making this eventa success.”

And the winners were:Low Gross 1st Place: Team ToyotaCarlsbad – Marty Edmonds, RudyRomero, Michael Heller

Low Gross 2nd Place: Team I-CAR– Wayne Krause, Mark D’Angelo,Gene Lopez, Ryan SwansonLow Gross 3rd Place: Team MiloJohnson AB / Henson & Son – RossJohnson, Jeff Johnson, Kirk Hen-son, Cory ClarkeNet / Peoria 1st Place: Team I CAR –Wayne Krause, Mark D’Angelo,

Gene Lopez, Ryan SwansonMen’s Closest to the Pin: LarryHaley (Team Enterprise)Women’s Closest to the Pin: KarenVinkemulder (Team Drew Ford)Men’s Longest Drive: WayneKrause (Team I-CAR)Women’s Longest Drive: BarbaraDavies (Team Autobody News)

Shon Craft, CAA San Diego Chapter President (far left), presenting Low Gross 1st Placetrophy’s to Team Toyota Carlsbad – (l to r) Marty Edmonds, Rudy Romero, Michael Heller

Unique Lego Car Sold for $1,626 for CharityPaul Boratko of Johnstown, PAraised more than he expected with theonline auction of a special Lego car –the Vampire GT – he designed andbuilt.

The 38-year-old Johnstown manworks in auto body repair during theday, but at night he builds Lego cars.

Boratko’s creations are not ex-actly “toys,” however. His cars arehighly technical – built with the helpof a friend in California who is anaeronautical engineer.

The auto body repairman com-pleted the sale on eBay for $1,626 –$626 more than his goal – and has do-nated the money to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“Paypal took $65.98 in fees, butI am going to add that amount out ofmy own personal account to stay trueto my word that every cent of the finalbid will go to Make-A-Wish,” Bo-ratko said.

The talented Lego builder de-cided to hold the fundraiser aftermeeting a young fan who had seriousphysical difficulties.

The eBay auction was won byDerek Ward of the United Kingdom.

Boratko, whose work has beenfeatured in AutoTrends Magazine, en-tered the car’s design on a Lego web-site. The public is invited to vote on

the entries at no cost. Those receiving10,000 votes are considered by thecompany to be made into kits and soldto the public.

Boratko would love to see thathappen with the Vampire GT.

“It would be cool to walkthrough Toys R Us and you see yourname on the (box),” Boratko said. “Itcould become a reality.”

In the world of Lego enthusiasts,Boratko is a celebrity of sorts. A web-site dedicated to his creations has fol-lowers around the world.

It was an encounter at a Legotrade show that convinced Boratko todo something for charity when he meta young boy with his father. Boratkofound out the boy was celebrating his21st birthday.

“I thought he was about 12. Itwas very, very humbling.”

Boratko returned home and toldhis wife that he wanted to do some-thing for charity.

Amanda Boratko, who often ac-companies her husband to trade shows,said she is extremely proud of his talents.

“I love watching him createsomething from nothing,” she said.“The way he figures out how to put somany functions in the car, like a work-ing engine and transmission, stillblows my mind.”


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Student Restores Comet for Senior ProjectThe day before he was to show it off tohis classmates, Tyler Post of NorthStonington, CT, put the finishingtouches on his senior project.

He washed the windows andmeticulously worked on the body of the1962 Mercury Comet he had restoredover the last five months.

The next day, Post, 18, would tellhis classmates during a 15-minute pres-entation about the hundreds of hours heput into the car, from engine work tocutting, grinding and welding the bodybefore sanding and painting the carsatin black with a stripe of carnival redpearl.

“All these months for 15 min-utes,” Post said.

What Post didn’t have time to tellhis classmates was how he had to planthis project for more than two years sohe could save up for, find and buy theperfect car. Or how he spent the nextsummer saving more money workingat Cross Sound Ferry in New Londonso he could buy parts, materials andsupplies. Or how he felt an over-whelming sense of relief once he fin-ished a project that he said excited himmore than graduation itself.

“My senior year wasn’t a lot offun, it was a commitment to this car,”Post told his peers as they examined the50-year-old Comet outside the school

following his presentation. “It’s proba-bly the greatest thing I accomplished inmy high school career.”

It’s the latest accomplishment forPost, a unique student who has decidedto forgo college and has plans to gowork for Electric Boat instead.

At Wheeler High School, Postplayed lacrosse and basketball all fouryears and soccer his freshman andsophomore years. He’s also an ac-complished artist, having had an artpiece, a pencil sketch titled “BirdFlew” entered in the Slater MemorialMuseum’s Connecticut Artists JuriedExhibition.

Post shares a knack for art withhis brother, John, 20, who attendsgraphic design school in New YorkCity. His art skills also come into playin car restoration. Post and his father,Todd, refer to the car as a “canvas.”

“You’ve got to get your canvasperfectly primed and sanded, otherwisethe imperfections will show throughwhen you paint it,” Post said.

The car was a labor of love, Postsaid, one passed on for generations.Todd Post said his great-grandfatherowned an auto business in New Jerseyduring the turn of the 20th century, andTodd Post’s white 1960 Chevrolet BelAir is a testament to the family’s carobsession.

Body Shop Does Paint Job on Paint BlobOn Broad Street in Philadelphia, nextto the Pennsylvania Academy of theFine Arts, a giant orange paint glob sitson the sidewalk underneath the “PaintTorch.” The dollop is positioned to ap-pear as if it was dropped from the top ofthe brush of Claes Oldenburg’s PaintTorch, which towers several stories

above. Few havenoticed, though,that the blob isnow backwards.

When the sculp-ture was originallyinstalled, the paint-drop’s peak was onthe brush side.Now it rises to-ward BroadStreet.

Skateboardershave made a habit of detouring fromthe sidewalk to skip off the glob,scratching and marking its surface,said Harry Philbrick, museum direc-tor at the Pennsylvania Academy ofthe Fine Arts.

So the damaged drop got shippedvia tow truck to an Edgemont auto-body shop, Keenan Auto Body West.

“The whole thing was coveredwith marks,” shop manager MaxSorensen said of the glob. “We pol-ished the whole entire piece with a

buffer and rubbing compound.”Gouges in the fiberglass had to

be filled with clear resin, because thetip glows at night, thanks to a light in-side. The brush atop “The PaintTorch” also shines nocturnally. Aftersanding, the piece was sprayed with aclear sealer, then orange base coat,followed by a new, stronger ceramicclear coat. “It’s basically like the paintthat’s on a Mercedez-Benz,” Sorensensaid. As for cost, he’d only say, imag-ine a car getting a first-class paint job.

On May 30, the piece was rein-stalled on Broad Street, surrounded bya moat of uneven paving stones, akind of rumble strip for skateboards.

It was also turned 180 degrees.On purpose. Matching, it turns out,the sculptor’s original design. Thehope was that, with the most uprightside toward the sidewalk, skateboard-ers would be less tempted.

A few days later, though, the dol-lop already had a few new scuff marks.

The piece is tougher to scratch,so chances are good the marks can beharmlessly removed with rubbingcompound, Sorensen said.

Under a new City Council pro-posal, those skateboarding, bicyclingor roller-blading on public art or mon-uments could be jailed for 90 days andfined $2,000.

courtesy: Tom Crane,Pennsylvania Academyof the Fine Arts

by Melanie Anderson

An auto body shop is like a day carecenter. People want their children welltaken care of, and they want their carswell taken care of.

Getting back to the basics was thefocus of the San Diego Chapter of theCalifornia Autobody Associationmeeting on May 22 at Tom Ham’sLighthouse Restaurant on Harbor Is-land in San Diego.

Presenter Robert Rick, VP ofSales and Consulting Services forGates Business Solutions in Wisconsinand DuPont Performance CoatingsExecutive Facilitator for DPS Educa-tional Series, addressed approximately50 attendees with the topic, “How toImprove Some of Your Best BusinessPractices.”

“Think of a customer’s car astheir baby,” Rick said. “Their cars areimportant to them and their secondmost expensive purchase.” He likensauto body shops to day care centers be-cause “our cars are loved ones too.”

Rick, 52, has more than 30 yearsexperience in the automotive industrywith knowledge in all aspects of colli-sion repair consulting. His animatedstyle and energetic delivery kept themembers engaged as he quickly wentthrough several points to help autobody shops improve their businesspractices. Specifically: how to im-prove the check-in process, improvecommunication with customers, in-crease customer satisfaction feedbackand improve cycle time and customer-pay services.

Rick opened his presentation witha tough question: “Do we know it all?”and spent the next 45 minutes takinghis captive audience back to the basicswith three main points: 1) set expecta-tions; 2) slow down; and 3) stop talk-ing body shop lingo.

“We are very confrontational with ourcustomers,” Rick said. Often, shopsdon’t think about how they comeacross to customers, or that they maybe answering the phone with their badmood showing.

The front office person answeringthe phones and fielding customer callsdoesn’t always know the answers,such as when the car should bebrought in, how much time it will taketo repair a car, or the status of the re-pair. What if the person answering thephone has a bad attitude, is unfriendly,or doesn’t even want to answer thephone?

“How much is that phone callworth?” Rick asked. “Are you losingjobs because your front line persondoesn’t know how to bring in the busi-ness?” A good test Rick recommendsis that a shop owner or manager ‘shop’his own business. “Go to lunch with afriend, have your friend call the shopand turn on the speaker phone so youcan hear the customer service the frontline people are giving,” he said. Front

line people need to be trainedto deal with customers.

In addition, he said, “Wetalk industry jargon with ourcustomers and we intimatethem with our lingo. We needto talk a language they canunderstand, usually at a third-to fifth-grade level. And weneed to slow it down. A lot ofus talk at lightning speed inour own lingo. We under-stand each other, but the cus-tomers don’t understand us.”

Following up with the cus-tomer is a great communication tool.Rick suggested shops “act like a doc-tor’s office” and call to confirm ap-pointments and other details, such asclaim number, repair authorization,damages to be repaired, and the statusof the repair. Taking a few minutes tomake follow-up calls will save shopstime in the long run, he said, explain-ing it takes more time to receive a callthan to make one. Several steps mightbe involved in a call that’s received:call comes in, receptionist puts thecaller on hold, the appropriate personneeds to be located, that person maynot be prepared to take the call, recep-tionist takes a message, the repairercalls back later, leaves a message, andthe customer calls back and the cycleis repeated. Whereas, it only takes aminute or two to make the call or send

the text or email. The lack of keepingthe customer adequately informed ofthe status of a repair is the No. 1 fail-ure of CSI (Customer SatisfactionIndex), Rick reported.

Perhaps one of the best ways tocommunicate with your customer isdon’t mislead them. Avoid giving anestimated time of completion. Cus-tomers rely on that information andmake their plans accordingly. Thenumber one question customers ask is

when their car willbe ready. Shopsknow this and yetthey still wait forthe customer tobring it up, ratherthan address theissue head on.Rick advised

shops not wait for the customer to ask,but instead give the customer the ap-propriate expectation from the begin-ning and this will increase customersatisfaction by the job completion.Rather than guessing when the vehiclewill be finished, Rick advised that re-pairers should take down cell phonenumbers or email addresses and make

phone calls or send text messages oremails to give status updates on the re-pair. “Don’t make promises on a finishdate, but make promises to call to givean update,” he said. The best time toreach customers, he said, is between 9a.m. and 10 a.m. and gives the cus-tomer plenty of time to make arrange-ments to pick up the vehicle.

“We cause our own bottlenecks,”Rick said. “Body shops need to takecontrol of their own schedules. Set upthe expectations up front, and then doit.”

A proper check-in takes about 10-15 minutes, and without it, time andmoney are wasted with follow-upcalls, work being stuck in the stall, ver-ifying repairs and delivery issues.

“Stop asking customers ‘When doyou want to bring the car in?’ and takecontrol of your schedule,” Rick said.“Tell them when the best time is todrop off their car and tell them howmuch time you need for the check-inprocess. When a customer is checkingin a vehicle, they don’t know what toexpect. If we tell them ‘just bring it in,’we aren’t setting the proper expectation.


CAA San Diego Gets a Robert Rick Refresher Course

Robert Rick, VP of Sales and Consulting Services forGates Business Solutions, with Richard Hop Sanchez,San Diego CAA chapter treasurer

Robert Rick

See CAA San Diego, Page 24


They think they can just bring it in, dropoff the keys and leave. But, instead, weneed 10-15 minutes of their time to dothe paperwork, go over the financial in-formation, discuss transportation needsand any other check-in procedures. Butthe customer doesn’t know this, becausewe told them “just bring it in” instead oftelling them we need 15 minutes of theirtime at check-in.”

Letting customers know that theywill need to spend 10-15 minutes atthe shop when they drop off their carsaves the shop time and money, makesa huge difference in the back end, andincreases customer satisfaction whenthe job is complete.

Another important step all shopsshould be taking is spending a fewminutes at the car with the customer toverify the damage, note mileage andfuel level, take digital pictures of thedash, make an interior inspection,check dash lights, power seats andwindows and look for burn holes orwindshield chips. In addition, ask thecustomer to remove personal belong-ings from the car and trunk, and check

to see if other work could be done or ifthere is other unrelated prior damage.This minimizes the opportunity forpeople to take advantage of bodyshops. This is also the time to check tosee if there are any “production stop-pers,” such as security codes or specialwheel lug sockets that may needed.

How many body shops toss thekeys to the customer and tell them thecar is parked out front? Body shopsthat do this miss a great opportunityfor customer service and gettinghigher customer satisfaction ratings.Make the delivery an event! Beforethe customer arrives, tell them on thephone how nice the car looks and howwell the repairs went. It sets their ex-pectations. When the customer arrives,go out to the car with them (before thepaperwork) and show off the work youdid. “Sell the sizzle! Give ‘em the‘wow factor,’” Rick said. “You’veearned the CSI, so ask for it.” Ask thecustomer that if they should receive asurvey call, will they give the shop agood review?

Rick advises that shops shouldbegin the repairs keeping the end inmind. Don’t wait until the end of therepair to ask for the customer’s opin-ion.


Continued from Page 22

CAA San Diego

by Susanna E. Gotsch,Director, Industry AnalystCCC Information Services Inc.

The breathtaking speed of advance-ment in consumer electronics has be-come the new baseline for companiesin terms of speed to market, price, anddesirability of product. The most re-cent recession still drags the globaleconomy, and continues to make con-sumers acutely aware of their fi-nances, and the danger of living withtoo much debt. Consumers have be-come increasingly sensitive not onlyto price, but also to each individualproduct or service’s share of wallet.

Technology such as smartphones, tablets, and social media hasgiven individuals the ability to havetheir voice heard loud and clear. Thechannels for reaching and interactingwith consumers have changed. It be-comes increasingly difficult for busi-nesses to remain relevant, to get theirmessage heard, and to get the con-sumer to pay them any attention.Companies must also embrace thenew disruptive paradigm where com-

petition will emerge from outside theirhistoric range of competitors. Take forexample, Amazon’s emergence as oneof the largest providers of cloud com-

puting, and thedisruption Apple’siPhone created inthe mobile phonemarket. Compa-nies should be tak-ing queue fromrecognized leaders

in the consumer products and servicesarea, but also be aware of where start-ups are focusing their efforts.

Significant shifts in the demo-graphic makeup of today’s consumerare also a factor driving the disruptiveshift in consumer demands. The U.S.,like most industrialized countries, hasseen its population grow older. Theoldest Baby Boomers turned 65 onJanuary 1, 2011. An estimated tenthousand more per day will turn 65over the next nineteen years, takingthe share of 65-year-old-plus individ-uals to 18% of the U.S. population,versus just 13% today. An aging pop-ulation has historically led to lower

accident frequency as people have his-torically retired and reduced drivingduring peak traffic times. The reces-sion however has led many to post-pone retirement, so we may see thetraditional reduction in frequencypush out several years.

Generation Y or “Millennials”, in-dividuals born between 1997 and 1990,accounted for 77.4 million individualsin the U.S. according to the U.S. Cen-sus, just slightly above the 76.2 millionBaby Boomers. This generation ismore ethnically diverse than olderadults, and a greater share of them hadat least one immigrant parent—11%,versus 7% for Gen X and 5% for BabyBoomers. A 2010 Pew Research Centerstudy looked at the values, attitudesand behaviors of Millennials versusolder generations. Among the findingsof this study was the Millennials’greater use of technology. Millennialsfeel that this is a defining feature oftheir generation. Millenials were alsothe first generation to fully embrace theuse of technology in their role of a con-sumer as well.

Owning an automobile has his-

torically represented a rite of passageinto adulthood and freedom for BabyBoomers (born between 1946 and1964), a category still accounting forapproximately 45 percent of new-carpurchases. But there is a growing sen-timent that the automobile has beenreplaced by the Internet and smartphones for those in the Generation Yage group (born between 1978 and1984); changing the world the sameway the automobile did at the turn ofthe 20th century.

One of the areas with perhaps themost potential to directly impact auto-motive claim severity and frequencyis the shift in the population towardsurban areas. Results from the 2010U.S. Census report that 54 percent ofthe U.S. population resides in its 10most populated states, with just over83 percent living in one of the nation’s366 metro areas (core urban area pop-ulation of 50,000 or more). During thelast decade, the metropolitan areashowever saw the largest increase, sig-nificantly higher than micropolitanareas or areas outside a core based sta-

Disruption Became the New Normal in 2011

See Disruption, Page 32


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Fixing cars is rarely a life-and-deathsituation. But, on a hot summer daylast year, a body shop owner had to actquickly to save the life of an insuranceadjuster who was experiencing a seri-ous heart attack at his facility. If BobMcSherry, owner of North HavenAuto Body in North Haven, Connecti-cut had not acted quickly and defini-tively when Mike Vitale, an adjusterfor GEICO, experienced a seriousheart attack in his rear parking lot,there is a very good chance he wouldno longer be alive.

It started out as a typical hot,humid summer morning, but quicklybecame a life-changing experience forat least two people. “It was one ofthose days in Connecticut whereyou’re sweating heavily by 11 a.m.,”McSherry explained. “Mike had along day ahead of him, and he used tobe kind of high-strung back then any-way. Now, since the heart attack, hehas slowed down quite a bit. But, hewas a little wound up that morning be-cause he was behind schedule.”

Vitale’s itinerary then changedradically, McSherry continued. “So,Mike was out there in our back park-ing lot writing up a vehicle when sud-denly he collapsed between two cars.A couple of my techs saw him godown, which was lucky. One of themran into the office and said, ‘The guyfrom GEICO is down and we don’tknow what happened to him!’”

Vitale was fortunate to be atNorth Haven Auto Body because Mc-Sherry is an EMT and a volunteerfireman. “I got out there pretty quickand Mike was not breathing at all,”McSherry said. “After establishingthat he had no pulse, I started doingCPR on him, and, luckily, the fire de-partment was here within three orfour minutes. The firehouse is abouta mile from here and they wereJohnny-on-the-spot. They gave him ashock here and then another one onthe way to the hospital, and by thetime he got there he had a heartbeatand was breathing.”

Unfortunately, Vitale wasn’tquite out of the woods yet, McSherrysaid. “They put him in a medically-in-duced coma for next three days be-cause they were obviously concernedabout brain damage. The people at thehospital told Mike’s family that theywere lucky because we acted quickly,

but they weren’t sure what his condi-tion was. When they took him out ofthe coma three days later, he was100%, talking and being Mike again.”

As a volunteer fireman for almost30 years, McSherry was well-pre-pared and trained to act without hesi-tation. “Most people hear about CPR,but they rarely see it done in person.It’s a mind-blower and not for thefaint-of-heart, that’s for sure. AfterMike went down in the parking lot,more than a few of my employeescame to me and asked about learningCPR. We agreed Mike was very luckythat day, but I asked my guys, ‘Ifsomeone had a heart attack at yourhouse, for example, wouldn’t youwant to help them?’ My employeessaid we should do some training and Iagreed.”

McSherry set up a CPR trainingday for his staff and paid for the ex-pense. “This way, the entire shop willbe ready if anything like that happensagain. We hired a local fireman whodoes CPR training and it took abouteight hours to do it, but after youcomplete it, you’re pretty much anexpert on how to administer it. We didthe training right here at the shop, andwe’re also in the process of installinga defibrillator, which some peoplecall ‘the paddles.’ It costs roughly$2,700, but in the end it’s worth everypenny. I hope one day they don’t haveto use it on me,” he laughed. “They’reeasy to use, and with all of the illus-trations on the device, anyone can doit.”

Vitale is happy to be lucky, in theright place and most importantly, aliveand well. “I went to the shop to look ata car, and the next thing, I was wak-ing up at the hospital. There were nowarnings. My diet is usually prettygood and my weight is ideal, so itcame as quite a surprise.”

A series of fortunate events led toVitale’s life being saved, he explained.“Thank God there was a guy workingon the asphalt in the parking lot. I col-

lapsed between twocars, so if that guyhadn’t been there, Idoubt that anyonewould have foundme until it was waytoo late. He notifieda tech and he raninto the office totell everyone I wasd o w n . A n o t h e rlucky thing was thefact that I had theattack at Bob Mc-Sherry’s shop and

the fire station was so close by. It wasa combination of things and withoutthem, I would probably not be here totalk to you right now.”

Vitale, 61, is now seeing life froma different perspective after the near-death experience, he said. “I have somuch more to accomplish and now Ican. I have a granddaughter and I quitsmoking, so life is good now. Some ofthe things that I used to be so con-

cerned with aren’t as important any-more. Now when I become 65, I willseriously be thinking about retire-ment.”

Vitale thanked everyone whohelped save his life, including the guyfixing the asphalt, Bob McSherry andthe local fire department. “Gratitudeis the word I can use. The first chanceI had, I went around to let everyoneinvolved know that I am truly appre-ciative and indebted forever. Bob Mc-Sherry and I have always had a goodrelationship, but now I can say with-out hesitation that he is my very bestfriend.”

Another valuable piece of ad-vice from Vitale is visit the doctorregularly, whether you need to ornot. “I talked to the doctor after theincident and they told me that theyprobably would have seen some pre-cursors of the heart attack, especiallythe high blood pressure I wasn’taware of. I used to be one of thosepeople that would never go to thedoctor, even when I was sick. But,now for obvious reasons, I havechanged my mind about going to thedoctor.”

Matters of the Heart—Body Shop Owner Saves Adjuster’s Life

Body shop owner Bob McSherry (left) acted quickly to save a lifewhen Mike Vitale, a GEICO adjuster, had a heart attack in the autobody shop parking lot last summer


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Autobody News July 2012CALIFORNIA • NEVADA • ARIZONA


The National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration has widened its inves-tigation of engine fires in the Chevro-let Cruze to include the 2012 modelyear.

In April, the agency announced itwas probing about 177,000 2011Cruzes after reports of two fires thatengulfed and destroyed two vehicles.In documents posted on its Web sitethis week, NHTSA said it’s now alsoinvestigating the 2012 model.

GM spokesman Alan Adler said370,000 vehicles are now included inthe investigation. In an April 4 letter toGM, NHTSA requested data from theautomaker by May 11. Adler said GMresponded to 10 of NHTSA’s 12 ques-tions, and got an extension on theother two. No documentation of GM’sresponse was available on NHTSA’swebsite. Though the Cruze hasn’t beenrecalled, these types of NHTSA inves-tigations can lead to vehicle recalls.

There have been no reported in-juries or accidents resulting from thefires being investigated, and Adlersaid GM is also investigating severalfires, but wouldn’t comment on thenumber being investigated.

On April 29, according to a com-plaint to NHTSA, a driver reported

that flames burst through the front ofa 2012 Cruze while traveling at about45 miles per hour.

GM sold 18,205 Cruzes in April,down 28 percent from the samemonth last year. It sold 75,288 of thevehicles through the first four monthsof 2012, down slightly from sales of75,365 during the same period lastyear.

Malibu Eco recallSeparately, GM said it is recall-

ing 4,304 Chevrolet Malibu Eco carssold in the United States to reprograma module that controls airbag deploy-ments. GM said in what it describedas rare cases under extremely aggres-sive turning, the roof rail airbags insome 2013 model year Malibu Ecosmight inflate. It also said in anotherscenario it described as rarer that theairbags and safety belt pretensionersmight not deploy. GM said no crashesor injuries have been reported relatedto this issue. GM said it discoveredthe problem during a development testin which one of the cars was perform-ing extreme maneuvers. It said letterswill be mailed to car owners on June1 with instructions to have the repro-gramming done at no cost at a dealer.

2012 Chevy Cruze Added to NHTSA Probe Malibu Ecos, More Acura TLs Face RecallGM has said it is recalling 4,304 ofthe 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Ecos to re-program a part that controls the de-ployment of air bags. Honda MotorCo. said it is recalling 52,615 of the2007-08 Acura TL vehicles becauseof fire risks from leaking power steer-ing hoses.

GM said no crashes or injurieshave been reported due to the problemwith the Malibu Eco, but it authorizedthe recall after it found the problemduring a development test in whichthe vehicle was performing “extrememaneuvers,” according to a GM state-ment.

After hard braking, a modulemay reset. If that happens during ag-gressive turning and the vehiclesenses a potential rollover, the roofrail air bag may unintentionally de-ploy, according to the National High-way Traffic Safety Administration.

Also, the air bags or seat belt pre-tensioners may not deploy during acrash, increasing risk of injury.

The Malibus were manufacturedfrom Oct. 24, 2011, through March31.

The recall follows a customersatisfaction program GM launchedabout a month ago on about 10,000

Malibu Ecos that had the moduleissue, GM spokesman Alan Adlersaid. In that program, affected cus-tomers were sent letters advising themto have their module reprogrammedby a certain date to qualify for a freerepair. Dealers also fixed the softwareissue on many cars before they weresold to the public, Adler said.

The 4,304 Malibu Ecos under re-call are the remaining vehicles thathaven’t had the module repro-grammed, Adler said.

Customers will receive lettersafter June 1 with instructions on howto contact their dealer to have theissue fixed for free.

In the Acura TL recall, Hondasaid the power steering hose may fail,causing fluid to leak onto the hot cat-alytic converter, the Japanese au-tomaker told NHTSA.

In total, Honda has now recalledmore than 370,000 vehicles to addressthe problem in three separate recalls.

In November 2007, Honda re-called 43,200 2005-08 Acura RL ve-hicles to address the same problem. InFebruary 2008, Honda recalled273,000 2004-08 Acura TLs. The newrecall adds the 2008 TL base modeland 2007-08 Type-S.

Toyota, Honda and General Motorshave confirmed they plan to inte-grate Siri, Apple Inc.’s voice controltechnology used on the iPhone, intoconnectivity systems of upcomingvehicles.

Spokespersons from the threecompanies confirmed the plans to Au-tomotive News after announcementsmade by Apple at its Worldwide De-velopers Conference in San Fran-cisco.

In essence, vehicles compatiblewith the Siri service will allow driv-ers to make calls, dictate text mes-sages, look up directions and use

other Siri functions by plugging theiriPhone into a USB cable in the car.Pressing a button on the steeringwheel will activate Siri, and driverscan speak commands to their phonehands-free.

A new Siri feature, called “EyesFree,” will help drivers use theiriPhones while keeping their eyes onthe road by allowing iPhone ownersto control more of the device’s func-tions with Siri with the screen off tomitigate distracted driving. The EyesFree feature will be released as part ofApple’s latest version of its mobileoperating software due out this fall.

Toyota, Honda and GM Will Use Siri Voice TechnologyChrysler has expanded a recall re-garding corrosion on Jeep LibertySUVs to include the 2006 and 2007model years after recalling the 2004and 2005 model years in March, U.S.safety regulators and Chrysler saidtoday.

The action brings the total num-ber of Jeep Liberty vehicles recalledin the four model years to about410,000. Most of those vehicles,about 347,000, are in the UnitedStates.

The two additional years add137,176 U.S. vehicles to the recall.

The recall affects vehicles in

cold-weather areas that can sus-tain a rear suspension lower con-trol arm fracture due to excessiveconditions because of salt onroads in winter, according to afiling with the U.S. NationalHighway Transportation SafetyAdministration.

Such a break could lead to loss ofvehicle control and a crash, NHTSAsaid.

Chrysler said it was not aware ofany injuries or accidents related to theissue. Chrysler will pay to replace rearlower control arms in the affected ve-hicles.

Chrysler Expands Recall

The Lexus GX SUV, first introducedin 2003, has always been marketed asa luxury SUV but is based on therugged body-on-frame platform un-

derpinning more serious off-roaderslike the Toyota 4Runner and FJCruiser.

Despite this, the vehicle has en-

joyed a reasonable level of sales and in2010 spawned a second-generationmodel.

For the third-generation of its

GX, Lexus is considering adopting acar-like unibody platform, whichwould make the GX more a crossoverthan a true SUV.

3rd Generation Lexus GX Could Lose its SUV Look


Everyone has a reason why they use adealer repair shop vs. an independentshop… These are a few of those rea-sons I’ve run into over my decades ofindependent service work.

Customers come in a wide rangeof styles. There are my regular cus-tomers, occasional customers, priceshoppers,referrals, and friends of thefamily. Some don’t bother to tell mehow they happened to be at the shop;maybe they’ve read an advertisement,saw a billboard somewhere, orthey’ve checked out one of thosewebsites that evaluate businesses byway of customer responses. Perhapsthey’ve heard of the shop through thegrapevine, or they might have justdriven by to check it out. But I’venever heard of anyone refer to them-selves as a “dealer customer.”

It could be there are some differ-ences between what people think ofthe various different types of repairshops, or what they are used to deal-

ing with. Whatever the case may be,once they are at your front counteryou want to try and make them a cus-tomer of your own.

Then again, do you really wantto take on every job that comes in thedoor? I certainly don’t. There’s timessomeone will bring in something thatI’m not qualified to work on, or it’ssomething that is so far gone it can’tbe taken care of without an exorbitantamount of cash to repair it. Then thereare those proverbial “basket cases”,oh yeah... actual “basket cases”dragged in to the service bays. (And“YES” they do come in baskets,crates, and/or boxes. All the nuts,bolts, electrical parts, and compo-nents scattered in hap-hazard piles ofthe owner’s greatest intentions gonewrong.)

Of course, there are the strangeor unusual customer responses thatkeep you on your toes. I sometimesstand behind the counter wondering

what in the world these people arethinking... how am I going to getthrough the usual monologue in thefront office and still have enough san-ity left to repair the car? Some ofthese requests and explanations arejust too bizarre to be real.

“Hi, I’m here because of mybrother-in-law sent me,” (I’m think-ing to myself... alright! this is a goodstart), he said you could fix my car,”the new arrival to the shop tells me.

“What seems to be the prob-lem?” I’ll ask.

“He changed the “autovalve” andhe said you would know what to doabout it.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what an“autovalve” is. (So much for a goodstart...) Could you describe what’swrong with the car, and then maybe Ican sort out what part you’re actuallytalking about.”

“Apparently you’re not as goodas my brother-in-law said you were.You should know what one is. Obvi-ously you don’t know how to fix mycar then... I’m taking it to the dealer,”the now aggravated customer tellsme, “Oh, and don’t worry I’ll tell mybrother-in-law about this.”

You know, there are times I don’twant to even ask another question, orwant to take the time to get to the bot-tom of some of these wacky explana-tions. I’d rather see this kind ofproblem just vanish with the goofyowner and their explanations. If theythink they need something done totheir autovalve I’m more than happyto let the dealer take care of it. Offyou go to the dealer little lady...they’ll love to talk to you, and I’msure they have plenty of autovalvesover there.

At times, I pity the poor servicewriters at the dealerships. Because asit seems to be in these cases, the deal-ership is primarily the last stop in thislong line of relatives with wrenches,repair facilities, and parts store ge-niuses trying to help out the customer.The service writer really doesn’t havemuch choice but to deal with them.Let’s face it...... they are the “deal-er-ship”

The phone rings again, the callertells me, “Well, I don’t know if you

can do this kind of work or not. Iprobably ought to just take it to thedealership.”

“What seems to be the problem,sir?”

“It’s my electric window, I thinkit’s the switch because my window isstuck halfway down. Probably bent abracket you know.” (Self-inflicted-di-agnostics … I can tell...)

“Sir, any decent independentshop can handle anything the dealer-ships can do. A window problem is nobig deal. I take it you were referredhere?”

“Yes, a couple of my friends toldme about you.”

(Apparently, his friends neg-lected to tell him that we actuallymake the repairs too. I suppose hethinks his neighbors just come by theshop and chat about car repair.)

I find it rather confusing when acustomer calls and tells me their caris at the dealership. They’ll tell methat the problem has already been di-agnosed, and then tell me that all theirfriends recommended that they taketheir car to my shop for repair... but,instead they are sitting in a servicebay at the dealership. After the usualphone introductions they’ll soon getto the real reason for their phone call:

“They want $947.53 cents to fixmy car... do you think that’s toohigh?”

I guess at this point, I’m sup-posed to justify the cost or give themsome outrageously lower price. I re-ally don’t know how I can do that,when I haven’t even seen the car yet,or even what problems they’re havingwith it!

“You’re there already ma’am. Ifthey have done their job correctly, anddiagnosed the car properly then theprice is their price.”

“They want a diagnostic chargeif I take it out of their shop right now.”

“Ma’am, you’ll pay another di-agnostic charge at the next shop, so Iwould advise you… since you’rethere... let them take care of the prob-lem as they see fit. Unless you feeluncomfortable with their results or di-agnosis, I would suggest you let themtake care of it.”

Take it to the Dealer!

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

See Take it to the Dealer, Page 36

tistical area. Personal mobility willreach beyond individual vehicle own-ership to an integrated mobility ap-proach, incorporating car sharing,public transportation and greater useof technologies such as telematics,smart metering and navigation.

These major demographic shiftsmay ultimately lead to a disruption inthe historical trend of vehicle accidentfrequency and severity. A greatershare of the population will fall intothe youngest and oldest age groups,where driving patterns may result indiverging patterns of frequency andseverity. As the population shifts fur-ther to urban areas, increased conges-tion could lead to higher frequency,although increases in use of publictransportation would do the direct op-posite. Accident severity tends to belower in traffic accidents occurring incongested urban areas, and the adventof crash avoidance technologies likethe Volvo City Safety system havebeen shown to reduce both the fre-quency and severity of low-speed ac-cidents. Economic conditions and the

technology in vehicles have beenshown to lead to decreases in vehicleaccident frequency and severity, andwill continue to do so in the future.

Because each generation’s out-look is shaped by different culturalexpectations and experiences, com-panies must understand these, and in-corporate them into the way that theyinteract with potential and existingcustomers. The ability to customizecommunication and marketing intogenerational and demographic cate-gories will help companies portraythe appropriate image and messageand better grow their business. Insur-ers and repairers that will be success-ful in this disruptive demographicenvironment are those that have plansin place to market and serve the dif-ferent age groups, and have looked atwhether their current geographies arepositioned to shrink or grow, andhave adjusted their growth plans ac-cordingly. While factors such as at-mospheric conditions may be difficultto project, understanding employmenttrends (i.e. time of day people arecommuting to work), vehicles pur-chased in your market (vehicle bodytype, accident avoidance technologyand airbag availability and deploy-

ment), and driver age patterns will becritical to assessing market growthopportunity in the future.

The Accident is The Ultimate DisruptorThe average consumer today has anauto accident once every seven to 10years, well behind the average vehicletrade-in cycle of every five years. Dueto the nature of the product being sold,auto insurers and collision repairerssubsequently have very limited inter-action with consumers. Insurers cer-tainly interact with their customer atpolicy issue, at bill time, and some-times through other services such asbanking or games in apps. However,the real moment of truth for the autoinsurer and the repairer is at the timeof an accident.

For the automotive insurance andcollision repair industries, the chal-lenge is to take the infrequent and un-expected negative experience of anauto accident and turn it into an expe-rience where the customer is de-lighted. No one wants to have theirvehicle damaged, and few consumersknow what to expect in the auto claimand vehicle repair process. However,they come to this experience the sameway they come to any other experi-

ence—with expectations that youknow who they are, that you will ful-fill your commitments to them, andthat you will create a positive experi-ence. For insurers, the claim is one ofthe most significant opportunities toretain or lose a customer. For repair-ers, a positive vehicle repair experi-ence can create a customer that willshare their experience with friendsand family, and help your businessgrow. Effective use of technology notonly enables companies to meet theminimum set of expectations of theircustomers, but can also facilitate thedelivery of a personalized experiencethat delights your customer.

By combining innovative tech-nologies that improve businessprocesses, with the ability to fine-tune the messages delivered to cus-tomers at the right time, on the rightdevice, businesses can place them-selves in a position to meet the ex-pectations of today’s consumer in away that can provides them value.Effective use of technology not onlyenables companies to meet the mini-mum set of expectations of their cus-tomers, but can also streamline theoverall claim and repair processes.


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Disruption

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Geico Settles Lawsuit with Gunder’sGunder’s Auto Center announced thatGEICO has elected to settle a lawsuitGunder’s filed on behalf of their cus-tomer rather than concede to deposi-tion of their claims representatives.

Upon deeming the customer’s ve-hicle a total loss and disputing Gunder’sbilling for incurred charges (including aparts return fee), GEICO elected to postwhat is referred to as a “bond” throughthe county courts in the amount of Gun-der’s billing ($972), which allowedGEICO to then take possession of thecustomer’s vehicle. As required, GEICOprovided full payment of the disputedamount to the Clerk of Courts and wasissued a “bond,” which legally requiredGunder’s Auto Center to relinquish thevehicle along with their possessory lienon that vehicle.

Gunder’s, according to stipula-tions in the bond statutes, was thenconfronted with having to file a law-suit against the vehicle owner as theonly means to exercise their right ofrecovery. If Gunder’s failed to file alawsuit within 60 days, they wouldhave then forfeited their right of col-lection, and the monies would havebeen refunded to GEICO, with Gun-der’s receiving nothing.

Ray Gunder, owner of Gun-der’s, proceeded to file the lawsuit

against his customer, who he says un-derstood the issues and did not disputeany portion of their billing. Gunderalso claims that the customer was notaware of the bonding of his vehicle,claiming he would testify that he hadnot even been aware of GEICO tak-ing possession of his vehicle until ithad been removed.

In the process of arranging thedepositions of GEICO’s claims man-ager and the field claims rep whobonded the vehicle, GEICO elected toavoid the depositions by paying Gun-der’s their full billing as well as alllegal fees and costs of $2,621.09 for atotal amount of $3,593.09.

“I surely hope this sets prece-dence that handling returned parts,with all the administrative efforts,costs and assumed liabilities involved,is not merely a ‘cost of doing busi-ness,’” said Ray Gunder. “As I havelearned from my good friend andbusiness consultant Barrett Smith ofAuto Damage Experts, performingsuch activities for free could very wellbe ‘the cost of going out of business.’After setting this legal precedence, Ihope to resume a respectful relation-ship with GEICO for the benefit ofour mutual customers and our respec-tive companies.”

Bill Restricting Access to Parts and RepairInformation Advances in CA LegislatureDespite strong lobbying and grassrootsopposition from CAWA and other after-market organizations, SB 750 passes keycommittee. According to CAWA, con-sumers and the automotive aftermarketsuffered at the hands of big car compa-nies seeking a monopoly that will keepconsumers and their repair professionalsfrom having the information they needto repair their vehicles as SB 750 au-thored by Senator Hernandez and spon-sored by BMW passed the AssemblyTransportation Committee by a vote of 8to 5. If ultimately passed and signed intolaw, SB 750 will exempt automakersfrom providing electronic key code in-formation to locksmiths, requiring mo-torists to contact the automaker to get areplacement key for their vehicle.CAWA and aftermarket industry advo-cates have been battling this legislationfor nearly a year and have argued theirconcerns about motorists being incon-venienced and often stranded in danger-ous situations because they were notable to obtain a replacement key from alocksmith due to automakers refusal toprovide this information. In addition,CAWA argued that this bill is anti-con-sumer and anti-competitive, and whilethis resonated with many legislators, itwas not enough to convince them to vote

against the measure.“This is an unfortunate and un-

timely blow to both consumers and theaftermarket. The key is much more thanthe instrument that enables one to starttheir vehicle,” stated Steve Sharp, ofWORLDPAC, CAWA Chair of theBoard. “The key is coded with securityinformation that is tied into the vehiclescomputer system and will disable anumber of auto components including insome cases the transmission, making thevehicle immobile as well as preventing avehicle from being started after certainmajor repairs.”

The aftermarket industry has de-veloped a system for key coding and ve-hicle programming that the majority ofvehicle manufacturers follow to ensureboth the security of the vehicle as wellas access to the independent repair in-dustry. SB 750 will certainly interferewith the ability to have a vehicle serv-iced outside of the manufacturers’ net-work, and this in turn will createhardship for the consumer as well as cre-ate anti-competitive forces for the inde-pendent automotive repair industry.

CAWA asks supporters to contacttheir legislative advocate, Norm Plotkin,for your immediate questions [email protected] or 916-275-0796.

so we certainly have to respect that.We were disappointed they left theprogram, they were obviously highperformers. We continue doing thetest, we had more than (those 17shops) in the market area,” Avery said.

Tim Crawford, who has ownedand operated Hwy 280 Paint and Bodyat 19360 Hwy 280 in Birmingham, for40 years, was one of those shops. Herecently dropped State Farm after along and beneficial relationship, opt-ing to remove his shop from StateFarm’s Select Service program thanbe forced to use the PartsTrader soft-ware.

“I have been on the State FarmSelect Service program since the verybeginning, a long time. We’ve had avery good relationship with StateFarm,” said Crawford. “But throughthe years, we have realized that theyhave started controlling different partsof my business, from labor rates andlabor times ... to this new PartsTraderprogram, which has really taken thelast aspect of my business out of mycontrol. At that point, State Farm hastotal control over my business, andthat’s not what I went into business for.When they start dictating things to thepoint that it takes all of my profit away,I’m gonna have to take a stand andtake my business back.”

Crawford’s three main objectionsto the PartsTrader program are 1)being forced to use only the vendorswho sign up with PartsTrader, 2) los-ing parts profits and 3) waiting onparts through the bidding processwhich could delay jobs getting startingand causing a “clerical nightmare.”

According to the ASA fact-find-ing report released in early June, thetime frame for “parts pricing” is set attwo hours as a default and can be ad-justed to one hour by the repairer, orthe repairer can set a custom close timegreater than one hour. Pricing remainsopen for the allotted time, and duringthis process, shops are unable to exe-cute on the estimate.

In addition, “the PartsTrader pro-gram would take me from the vendorsI normally use, which was going totake my business out of the Birming-ham area, and make me use vendors Ihave no relationship with,” Crawfordsaid, adding that none of the Birming-ham vendors he uses opted to sign upwith PartsTrader.

The ASA report notes that partic-ipation in the Select Service programis a collision shop decision, but thatparticipation in the PartsTrader pro-gram is a supplier decision.

“Their agreement with us has aprovision that they (repair shops) arerequired to use the tool, and that hasbeen in our agreement for a long time,”said Avery. “We have a tool that we be-lieve meets the need of the customer.Our goal is to have a win-win foreverybody, but there could be a repairerwho doesn’t feels that way and choosesto leave the Select Service program be-cause they don’t feel it is in their bestinterest and that is something they needto decide. But our goal is to get infor-mation from all the stakeholders, whichwould include the repairers and thesuppliers, to have a win for everybody.The goal is to improve across the boardfor our shared customer.”

Three weeks after dropping StateFarm, Crawford says business is boom-ing.

“I am encouraged by the amountof work I have not having State Farm.They were probably 50% of my busi-ness, but I have not found any reduc-tion in my business by leaving them,”Crawford said. “Of course, my cus-tomers came to me for what we do forthem, not because I was a State Farmshop. They come because of the typeof work we do, our customer service,and the quality of our work. I am notreally worried about State Farm send-ing me work or not.” He added, “I feelthat State Farm does not have enoughgood shops left in Birmingham to han-dle their business. In the Birminghamarea, they lost close to approximately40% of their quality shops that didclose to 70% of their work.”

Don Meadows has been the bodyshop manager for 23 years with JimBurke Automotive, a new car dealer-ship that sells seven lines and has beenin business since 1945. They are lo-cated at 517 14th St. North in Birm-ingham. The high volume dealershipdoes $450,000 a month in business.They aren’t sure yet how much busi-ness they’ve lost after being droppedby Select Service due to their refusalto try PartsTrader.

According to Meadows, the deal-ership didn’t want to try the Part-sTrader software because they didn’tlike the idea of having all parts pur-chases going through a third-party ven-dor. “We were told if we did not usePartsTrader, we would be taken off Se-lect Service, and we were the day the

PartsTrader program started,” Mead-ows said, adding that their customersare being affected by having to waitone to three days for State Farm to in-spect their vehicles for estimates andsupplements. “I have called severalshops that are using PartsTrader andnone have had anything good to sayabout the program,” Meadows said. Hefeels State Farm is implementing Part-sTrader because “they want completecontrol of the repair process.”

John Fagan, owner of FaganCollision Repair in Moody, AL., hasbeen in business for 15 years and alsoopted out of Select Service rather thanget on board with PartsTrader. Hedoesn’t like the idea of having to usethe lowest price bid on parts or the factthat State Farm “threw the LKQ (likeand kind quality) parts and aftermar-ket parts into the same mix. It if wasjust a parts locater for used parts, itmight have been OK.” But, mainly, hesaid, he is concerned about “the un-certainty of the LKQ parts they wantyou to buy.” He reported he hadn’t lostany business in the first few weeksafter dropping State Farm.

Donnie Burgett, owner of Don-nie’s Paint & Body, which has been inbusiness for 22 years in Trussville, AL.,

also opted to drop out of State Farm’sSelect Service rather than use Part-sTrader. He feels that if he had gone onthe PartsTrader program, he’d be work-ing more than the 10-11 hours a day hewas already working handling StateFarm clients and claims. The Part-sTrader program would bring addi-tional administrative work, less moneyand a reduction in profits, he said.

“I decided to bail out of the pro-gram after several years because I did-n’t see any benefit for my company ormyself in any way whatsoever,” Bur-gett said. “PartsTrader was going tocreate discounts and maybe even illfeelings with my vendors becausethey were going to have to bid onparts and I felt like parts would becoming in from every direction on onejob, instead of from one direction. It’sall about discounts for State Farm, andI don’t have a problem with discounts,except when it is going to cost memoney. Being on the program wouldcause me extra work, an extra twohours per claim on my part, to saveState Farm money and cost me moneyand reduce my profits.”(To read the rest of this regional story,please see www.autobodynews.com,search “Birmingham Reacts”)


Continued from Cover

Birmingham Reacts


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check it out. What follows is whathappened.

Monday, the first vehicle I measuredwas a 2011 Honda Accord with damageto the left rail and left upper reinforcementarea. The vehicle was on Global BenchSystem with the jigs in place.The left rail was 8 mm back (circle).

The left rail had a sway over 25 mmand sag of 6 mm.

More damage noted by the meas-uring system. I took a picture with thematrix system and this is what I found(see next page).

I am going to use points 5/6,9/10, and 13/14 on the distance table.Point 6-13 is 1237 mm and point 5-14is 1212 mm. Point 5-10 is 1076 mm


“I didn’t know where else to takeit... but when I talked to my neighborsthey told me about your shop,” thecaller said.

How about asking around first?You might even learn a little somethingabout your neighbors; hey they’re prob-ably quite friendly; maybe you’ll actu-ally learn all of their kid’s names, too.

So what’s the problem betweenthe independent and dealer repairshops? It could be from previous deal-ings in the past, and the customer did-n’t like the results. It could be size ofthe shop or the location... the real rea-sons are hard to pin down. I’m not

knocking the quality of work per-formed at a dealer repair shop, no...quite the opposite. I would say I’vealso seen an increase in the quality ofthe independent shops in my area aswell. There’s fewer wrench slinginggrease monkeys out there than inyears past. It really takes a differenttype of “mechanic” than it did eventen or twenty years ago, and that’s notjust for the independent shops... thatgoes for the dealer technicians as well.

Locate a shop you like, find a tech-nician who you feel comfortable with.If your search ends up with that indi-vidual at an independent shop… that’sfantastic! If you can’t find the serviceyou’re happy with anywhere except atthe dealership… well then, there’s onlyone thing to do… take it to the dealer.


Take it to the Dealer

Ford and State Farm Insurance have es-tablished an agreement that could offerlower insurance premiums to Ford driv-ers. Owners of Ford vehicles can nowchoose to have their actual mileage re-ported automatically to State Farmusing Ford’s SYNC technology as partof State Farm’s Drive Safe & Save in-surance model. The new program,which will initially launch in Utah be-

fore rolling out elsewhere, allows StateFarm customers with select SYNC-equipped Ford vehicles to reduce theirauto insurance premiums by using theVehicle Health Report feature to reporttheir mileage. Ford SYNC is an in-carconnectivity system that provides driv-ers with the ability to voice commandand control their mobile devices—suchas cell phones and MP3 players.

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Matrix Wand

and Point 6-9 is 1080 mm. You can goto Mitchell data and verify any point-to-point measurements and comparewith the vehicle being photographed.When I went into the XYZ compari-son, I found that the length was 8mmshort, height was 5 mm down andwidth had moved 25mm and this wasdone with a picture. Dale Matsumoto,the owner of Autobody Hawaii, timedme and it took me 20 minutes from thetime I took the picture until I gave hima print out.

The vehicle was pulled and hereare the pictures:

As you can see, the vehicle hasbeen returned to its correct width,length and height. I proceeded to takeanother ‘after picture’ and measure.

I am going to use points 13-14,

5-6 and 7-8. Points 13-8 is 1225mm and points 14-7 is 1224 mm.Point 13-6 is 1077 and points 14-5

are 1076 mm. To verify that thesemeasurements are accurate, I meas-ured points 13-14 with a tramgauge and found the distance to be1026 mm. I went into Mitchell and

their measurement was 1026 mm.Looking at the distance table in the

picture, it read 1026 mm.All I can say is it’s prettyremarkable.The only way that you can

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Al Brodeur’s Auto Body, Inc. in Marl-borough, MA, offers their customerspeace of mind in knowing that everystep of their repair is being handled ina professional manner. The shop facil-itates the claim from start to finish asthey strive to make the repair processas fluid as possible. According toMolly Brodeur, Chief Operating Of-ficer and daughter of owner AlBrodeur, “Al has always operated anhonest shop, and as a result, our cus-tomer base is large and very loyal.”

Since Al Brodeur opened his shopin 1970 in a small rented space downthe street from his current operation,

he has been very involved with thelocal auto body associations. Heserved as Treasurer and Director ofthe Central Massachusetts Auto Re-builders Association, which has nowmerged with AASP-MA, for over 25years. Molly is currently the Treas-urer for AASP-MA as well as thePresident of the Midstate Chapter ofAASP-MA. Molly notes, “Being soinvolved at the association level hasput us in a unique position to alwaysbe at the front line and directly impactlegislation and regulations that affectour industry every day. In late March2012, AASP-MA was successful inkilling a DRP bill and an anti-fraudbill that were positioned to move outof Committee. Both would have beenextremely detrimental to our industryhere in Massachusetts.”

Beyond their involvement withthe collision industry, Al Brodeur’sAuto Body is a member of both theMarlborough Chamber of Commerceand the Rotary Club of Marlboroughfor over 20 years. They have alsosponsored multiple youth sports pro-grams and participated in variouscommunity fundraising events. Re-

garding environmental concerns, themotto at Al Brodeur’s Auto Body isborrowed from a Native Americanproverb: “We do not inherit the Earthfrom our Ancestors, we borrow itfrom our Children.” Everyone at AlBrodeur’s Auto Body understands theimpact that the collision industry hason the environment, so they strive toreduce that impact as much as possi-ble.

Al Brodeur’s Auto Body ensuresthat their painters are certifiedsprayers of DuPont advanced water-borne paint repair systems. They alsouse SATA high volume-low pressurespray gun technology, and their DeV-ilbiss spray booth is equipped with su-perior filtration systems rated at 99%efficiency, exceeding ASHRAE andEPA requirements. Additionally, theycomply with all EPA regulations re-garding how to properly handle haz-ardous waste by participating inhazardous waste recycling programs,and their recycling efforts extend toinclude the recycling of used parts,sheet metal and cardboard.

The shop uses Spies Heckerpaints, and while their customers owna mixture of older and newer modelvehicles, they have recently noticed anincrease in older model vehicles, 2007model and older. Due to this, theyhave also seen more total losses in thepast year due to the vehicles’ age andmileage. Luckily, Al Brodeur’s AutoBody rarely has issues with matchingpaint, even on older vehicles, due totheir experience refinish techniciansand the sophisticated paint matchingsystems that they use.

Al Brodeur’s Auto Body ishoused in a 6,800-square-foot shopwith 14 employees. They complete re-pairs on approximately 90 to 100 carsmonthly. In addition to standard lifts,welders, the shop utilizes Car-O-Linerframe equipment and a DeVilbissDowndraft Spray Booth. In addition,they upgraded their management soft-ware in 2010, and it has completelychanged the way they operate by en-hancing every facet of their business.

All of the technicians employedby Al Brodeur’s Auto Body are I-CARcertified platinum, and their refinishtechnicians are DuPont certified in

waterborne paint applications. Thoughdirect repair programs are illegal inMassachusetts, Al Brodeur’s AutoBody negotiates repairs with all insur-

ers operating in the state in order tobest serve their customers. They sub-let towing, storage, paintless dent re-pair and rentals to other local vendors.

In discussing current trends in thecollision repair industry, MollyBrodeur notes that it is inspiring to seenews about shops who have success-fully filed lawsuits against insurers for

short pays by utilizing the Assignmentof Rights form. “It’s encouraging tosee shops taking advantage of themechanisms available to be properlyreimbursed for repairs.” She alsonotes that steering continues to be anissue in the Massachusetts market asdoes the labor rate compensation frominsurers as Massachusetts has the low-est reimbursement rate in the country.

In regards to the future of this in-dustry, Molly says. “Our industry willcontinue to strive to meet whateverchallenges lie ahead. We are a resilientbunch and will always work hard torise above any roadblocks. Relation-ships with customers, insurers andemployees will always remain ourfocus.”

Al Brodeur’s Auto Body, Inc.87 Mill Street CentralMarlborough, MA 01752508-485-1082www.albrodeur.com


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

COO Molly Brodeur with Owner Al Brodeur

Al Brodeur’s Auto Body in Marlborough, MA


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and how we distinguish ourselvesfrom our competitors.”

Guided by 11 instructors, the 51-week CRRT program guides the stu-dents on how to repair and refinishstructural and non-structural damageas well as how to prepare cost esti-mates on all phases of repair and re-finishing. Students also learn to repairmechanical and electrical damage. Asa result of completing the program,graduates can achieve certifications inDuPont refinishing, 3M plastics re-pair and Chief Automotive measuringand straightening systems, Black ex-plains.

Based on the industry standard, I-CAR Live, the course includes fivemodules of collision repair and refin-ish training: Nonstructural Repair;Structural Repair; Refinishing; Me-chanical & Electrical Repair; andAuto Customizing. Graduates will bePlatinum I-CAR certified, preparingthem for entry-level collision repair orrefinish technician for a dealership, anindependent body shop or a fleet re-pair facility.

Success has been continuing sincethe program started at UTI Sacra-mento in 2005. One recent examplehas been with Cooks Collision, a largeregional CRRT employer with 20 lo-cations in California. The companyhad been struggling to find estimatorsfor the last two years, and UTI thoughtthere might be an opportunity to part-ner with the business, Black says.

“During follow-up meetings withCooks, UTI learned more about theirneeds and we were able to connect

those needs with the value UTI pro-vided, resulting in a win/win partner-ship,” he explains. Cooks wouldcreate a one-month paid training pro-

gram on estimating to build on thefoundation of the UTI training.

UTI first identified seven candi-dates. “Our hope was to identify fourhires for the program,” Black says,“but after interviewing our seven UTIcandidates, they hired six, and all butone of them was able to advancethrough the training program.”

That group comprises JustinAbner, William Bakke, Colton Dor-man, Carlos Solórzano, and DylanBurtis, who started working with

Cooks Collision in Februaryas junior estimators.

They recently returned toUTI to share their experi-ences and challenge students,telling them to focus on allcourses, including estimat-ing, as they didn’t know theywould become estimatorswhen starting the UTI pro-gram, Black says.

“Our estimating trainingfrom UTI was a great foun-dation to build on during ourtraining with Cooks and we

wished we would have focused on itmore,’ they said,” he reports, addingthat UTI will soon be choosing thenext set of UTI graduates to be inter-

viewed for an opportunity with CooksCollision.

Another recent UTI success isColton Hart, who graduated from theschool in September 2011, accepted ajob a month later working with SunnyStotler in Kalispell, MT., doing cus-tom auto body and refinish repairwork.

He started out at $15, received araise in February and then switched toa flat-rate commission of 40 percentof the total job profit. Quickly, he waspromoted to Refinish and RestorationTech/Airbrush Artist for the two-manshop.

“He now does all the paint andairbrush work and is continually tak-ing on more of refinishing process,”Black reports. “Sunny reports thatthey have business lined up for thenext two years and the community hasbecome a fan of Colton’s airbrushwork, with specific requests for hisdesigns and skills.”

Black said, “Colton is doing hisdream job and is excited to keep learn-ing and developing under the directionof a veteran in the industry, and UTIis very proud of Colton’s accomplish-ments and that he is pursuing hisdreams.”


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Megan Peterson is a student at EVIT taking advantage oftwo new paint mixing systems along with a computer, soft-ware, label printer, paint books, tech manuals and a mixingscale from Leading Edge Auto Refinishes and RiverviewCollision in Mesa


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Program within its Select Service Pro-gram changed all that. More than 100MCRA members, as well as MississippiAttorney General Jim Hood and JohnWells of the Mississippi Department ofInsurance, came together in Pearl, Miss.to hear what body shop owners fromBirmingham, AL had to say about thePartsTrader program. Birmingham isone of the four national test markets

where the PartsTrader program is beingtested.

Usage of the PartsTrader softwarehas been required by State Farm in fourtest markets: Tucson, AZ, Birmingham,AL, Grand Rapids, Mich. and Charlotte,NC. Approximately 10 percent of StateFarm Select Service shops are partici-pating in the pilot.

The Mississippi Collision RepairAssociation invited auto body and repairshop owners from Birmingham to cometo their meeting to discuss their experi-ences with PartsTrader.

“We wanted to know what the pro-gram is and what it will do to our indus-try, and the Birmingham group hadnothing positive to say about the Part-sTrader program,” said John Mosley,who owns and operates Clinton BodyShop Inc. and Clinton Body Shop ofRichland in Central Mississippi. Mosleyis a past president and one of the found-ing members of the association.

“No one from State Farm hascalled, visited or made any attempt toexplain anything about the PartsTraderprogram to our shops or to our local in-

dustry,” Mosley said. “The only knowl-edge we have of this program is what weread in the trade publications and theshort video produced by State Farm. Mypersonal interpretation of the videoleaves me knowing the program is realand they plan to roll it out nationwide.The shops will have no choice but toparticipate in PartsTrader if they remainon the DRP and our choice of parts sup-pliers will be limited and the profit onparts will definitely go down.”

Even though he hasn’t tried it,See Mississippi Reacts, Page 44


Mississippi Reacts

necessary to: order and install originalBMW parts, follow BMW RepairSpecifications and use only BMW NAapproved paint, materials, tools, andequipment for every BMW collisionrepair.

CCRC Certification and Re-certificationProcess Initial Certification Visit The first visit by BMW’s vendor,Summit, will focus on ensuring basiccompliance and review of the ap-proved center’s collision repair facil-ity’s core processes to profitablyrepair vehicles per BMW repair spec-ifications (ISIS/ISTA.) A CCRC’s useof BMW NA approved paint, materi-als, tools, and equipment is also re-viewed.

Following the initial visit, theCCRC’s management team and Sum-mit will develop specific on-site actionplans for technical and ColorSystemtraining to ensure that these mutuallyagreed upon business goals are met bythe CCRC.

Re-certification VisitIf the CCRC continues to comply withthe CCRC Program requirements, theCCRC receives an annual re-certifica-tion visit and follow-up by Summit.

Following the re-certificationvisit, the CCRC’s management teamand Summit will review specific on-site training and action plans to ensurethat these mutually agreed upon busi-ness goals are met by the CCRC.

Certification Program ElementsTechnical and Non-Technical Train-ing Requirements To ensure premium quality collisionrepairs, body and paint technicians willmeet the training requirements listedin Appendix A. Each CCRC musthave a designated individual who isaccountable for approving staff train-ing and determining the training pathfor each individual of the CCRC’sstaff.

The amount of training requiredis based on the CCRC’s body and paintmarket penetration, the size of the col-lision center staff, and the CORA JobClassification of the associates at thecollision center. Training require-ments are reviewed and adjusted on anannual basis. As the collision repairfacility’s staff and market penetrationgrow, so will their training require-

ments. Training is currently offered atthe following five locations: ● Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey ● Spartanburg, South Carolina ● Oxnard, California ● Ontario, California ● Wixom, Michigan Technical training is offered withoutfees; however, transportation costs,lodging expenses, meals, salary, andany other related travel expenses arethe responsibility of the CCRC.

Collision Repair Facility RequirementsThe physical location of the CCRCmust be within the BMW Center’sPMA.

Facility CriteriaIn support of the BMW brand, eachCCRC may use BMW NA approvedCCRC signage only if the facility con-sistently complies with the BMW NArecommended BMW facility guide-lines. This applies whether the facil-ity is on or off site in relation toapproved certified center’s location.

Usage of Original BMW Parts CriteriaThe CCRC Program prohibits the in-stallation of imitation, aftermarket,non-BMW remanufactured, and/orsalvage (allegedly Like Kind andQuality) parts, including glass, on anyyear or model BMW passenger car orSAV. Failure to comply with this re-quirement qualifies for automatic de-certification from the CCRC Programfor at least the remainder of the calen-dar year in which these non-approvedparts were installed.

Tools and EquipmentA CCRC is required to have an on-sitelocation for all approved tools andequipment necessary to properly repairBMW vehicles. The BMW approvedtools, equipment, and materials arelisted in Appendix C. Required tools,equipment, and materials are subject tochange based on technology, requirednew tools, and special tool changes re-lating to new models.

Submission of Monthly Reports BMW NA’s CCRC Program requiresparticipants to ensure timely submis-sion of a monthly Parts Rebate Report.This Report verifies the CCRC’s pur-chases and use of original BMW partson repairs, potentially eligible for a 2%rebate for those parts. This informa-tion must be submitted on a monthlybasis directly to Summit Consulting bythe 15th of the following month. Fail-

ure to comply with this monthly re-quirement of submitting the parts re-bate will result in the CCRC forfeitingthat month’s rebate. Late reports willnot be accepted for the parts rebate.

Failure to Comply with CCRC ProgramElementsCCRCs that fail to comply with theCCRC guidelines will be in jeopardyof forfeiting their certification and therelated BMW CCRC’s monthly partsrebate. This decision will be at thesole discretion of BMW NA.

The CCRC will then have 90 daysto correct the area(s) of non-compli-ance or risk de-certification. Duringthis 90 day period or until such time asthe CCRC has remedied the non-com-pliance issue(s); the BMW CCRC willforfeit all parts rebates. If the CCRCfails to resolve the action item(s) bytheir deadline, they will be de-certifiedand removed from the BMW CCRCProgram.

Summit conducts CCRC facilityon-site inspections of BMW NA-ap-proved paint, materials, tools, equip-ment, and review of the CCRC’s stafftraining requirements. Summit workswith the CCRC’s management team toevaluate and assist the staff to manage

and improve the key elements neededto repair vehicles to BMW repair spec-ifications and help increase profitabil-ity per collision repair.

Summit’s team of seasoned pro-fessionals has extensive experience inthe collision industry with top auto-motive distributors. Each consultanthas the industry knowledge and train-ing skills required to effectively assessand educate the CCRC’s staff to de-velop and utilize the processes for:● Ordering and installing originalBMW parts;● Training collision repair staff;● Repairing BMW vehicles to thehighest quality standards; ● Analyzing financial performance,and establishing action plans; ● Submitting the Parts Rebate reports

2011 BMW CCRC Training Determin-ing the number of technicians and es-timators that must complete training tomeet CCRC Requirements:● 100% of the collision center staffdedicated to BMW repairs based onthe technician’s Dealer EnrollmentManagement System (DEMS) jobclassification will be required to meetthe training standards established by


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

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Mosley declared he isn’t interested inthe electronic parts ordering applicationprogram and his answer to State Farmwill be a resounding “NO!” if Part-sTrader is a requirement to continuewith the Select Service program.Mosley wants to stay with the SelectService program because it helps shopsby saving time waiting on appraisersand allows the shop to determine what

type of part and which supplier wouldserve to properly repair the vehicle in theleast amount of time. However, he iswilling to give up Select Service if it be-comes tied to PartsTrader.

Mosley is one of several Missis-sippi auto body shop owners who op-poses the PartsTrader program because,he says, it forces shops to wait for thesoftware program to gather bids onparts. Supplements or a big repair jobcould create an administrative night-mare, Mosley said, adding that bodyshops would need to hire an additional

employee to sit at the computer all daymonitoring the bid process.

Bill Fowler, who owns BillFowler’s Bodyworks in Southaven,Miss., couldn’t agree more. “The con-cept that adding additional steps andwait times will increase efficiency andcost effectiveness flies in the face oflogic,” he said. “The fact that neitherState Farm nor PartsTrader executivescan offer any tangible evidence that itdoes expedite the process, but insteadanswer direct questions with half-truths,evasiveness and outright misrepresenta-

tions gives great cause for concern andraises the suspicion that there are under-lying ulterior motives to reduce prof-itability for collision repair shops. It isinsulting for State Farm to suggest thatshop owners/operators don’t have thegood sense to procure parts in an expe-ditious manner and they have a betterway that involves foisting considerablymore administrative time onto parts sup-pliers and shop owners, with no cost orconsequence to themselves. RegardingState Farm’s real motivation in de-

See Mississippi Reacts, Page 53


Mississippi Reacts

BMW NA. The total number of dedi-cated and trained BMW techniciansrequiring training will be adjusted totake into account the CCRC’s BMWrepair volume (in dollars) as a percentof its total repair volume. This sameformula will also be taken into accountfor body shop estimators. Exceptions:► SB011 GRAV Aluminum Repair: Aminimum of 2 technicians per CCRCbut at least 50% of body techniciansbased on repair volume; ► SB012 Level 3 Body Repair: Aminimum of 2 technicians per CCRCbut at least 50% of body techniciansbased on repair volume; ► SB018 Glass Repair and Replace-ment: A minimum of 1 technician perCCRC regardless of repair volume.

● Only those courses completed by as-sociates or technicians who are regu-larly involved as part of their jobdescription with physically performingbody and paint repairs to BMW vehi-cles will count towards meeting theskill level requirements

● Technical training courses com-pleted by managers, production coor-dinators, advisors, or other supportstaff members will not count towardscertification requirements. ● Combination technicians will betreated as both body and paint techni-cians.● Training completed by non-produc-tive or support staff will not count to-wards certification requirements.

Technician training course re-quirements are based on CORA job ti-tles, which will be used to determinetraining requirements. It is impera-tive, then, that management lists thecorrect CORA job titles for associatesand that Interactive Career Pathways(ICP)/ Dealer Enrollment Manage-ment System (DEMS) is updated on aregular basis. Please consult withyour Regional Aftersales Develop-ment Manager (RADM) for moreguidance.

Improperly classifying techni-cians can severely impact a CCRC’straining requirements. It also affectsan associate’s ability to log into Cen-terNet and DCSnet to research andobtain the most current repair infor-mation. It is in the CCRC’s best in-terest to regularly review and update

its ICP/RUA staff roster and makesure that associates have appropriateaccess to the BMW website.

The CCRC’s training plan will bedeveloped each year. A CCRC mustthen complete its training plan duringthe same calendar year (no later thanDecember 31st). Adjustments to train-ing plans may occur during the calen-dar year due to newly introducedtraining programs and/or changes tothe CCRC’s technician count. Newlycertified centers will receive a trainingplan at the on-site certification visitthat will be pro-rated based on theircertification date. A center’s progresstowards completing their training planis monitored regularly.

2011 BMW CCRC Program Tool, Equip-ment, and Materials RequirementsInformation Technology Requirements High speed internet service CenterNet access ICP administrative access ISIS/ISTA access on all terminals Separate computer terminal(s) forISIS/ISTA access with printer locatedin or convenient to technicians thatwork in the metal shop Computerized estimating system Frame/Unibody Alignment and Di-mensioning System Any one of the following systems: Car Bench with dedicated or universalfixtures Car-O-Liner bench with Car-O-Tronic/Vision electronic measuringsystem with either EVO 1,2,3 or Car-O-Flex universal fixture system, B66or B76-77 side supports Celette bench with dedicated fixturesor NAJA electronic measuring systemalong with positioning tool NA.1000 Welding and Riveting Equipment Any one of the following CompressionResistance Spot Welders: Car-O-Liner CR600 Celette MIDIspot QSVM 9000 Elektron MI100 Control MIDIspot QSVM 1200 T

Wire Feed Welder: Approved MIG / GMAW welder Other Welding Equipment: Oxy-acety-lene torch Riveting and Bonding Equipment TKR Punch Riveting Tool Aluminum Repair Equipment Aluminum stud welder (Wielander &Schill Stud Welder BSP03) Powerbird stud/punch rivet extractor(PN 81430301745) Pyrosil flame coating kit (PN81430301740)

Dedicated aluminum hand tools con-sisting of body files, body hammers,body dollies, abrasive tools, and basichand tools which are to be stored intheir own, separate tool storage box.Curtain walls to separate aluminumwork stalls, either portable or fixedwith a minimum height of 8’.Hand or special tools (such as files,hammers, dollies, cutters, grinders,spoons, etc.) in sufficient quantities toproperly repair vehicles dedicated toaluminum repair only must be markedas such.

Paint Shop RequirementsRefinish MaterialsNew CCRCs agree to purchase anduse ColorSystem products for all re-pairs and refinish work performedon BMW Group vehicles at its col-lision repair location. As a re-minder, any CCRC enrolled in theCCRC Program before October 10,2007 has the opportunity to utilizeGlasurit, Spies Hecker, or Standoxin lieu of ColorSystem until theirpre-existing paint contracts datedbefore October 10, 2007 expire.Once qualifying pre-existing paintcontracts have expired, conversionto ColorSystem must then occur toremain a part of the CCRC Pro-gram.

Spray BoothDown draft spray booth and oven musthave the following minimum specifi-cations: ● 14,000 CFM (or higher) air flow ca-pacity ● 750,000 BTU (or higher) heating

source Interior lighting system: 1200 LUXoutput, color corrected, with a ColorRendering Index of at least 96 CRI ● Three-stage air filtration system ● Air accelerators recommended for

water-borne applications ● Refrigerant, desiccant, or membraneair filtration/drying unit

The CCRC is responsible for en-suring that government regulationsand restrictions are always followed inregards to paint application, storageand disposal. Please refer to your localEPA and OSHA guidelines.

Thanks to Kenny Tran, BMW ofNorth America, LLC, Body & PaintTechnical Business Assistant and toKevin Miller, BMW Concord Colli-sion Center Manager for informationherein.



BMW CCRC

by Ed Attanasio

If we’re only as good as the informa-tion we possess, people like Richard

Forness are an in-valuable asset toany collision re-pairer anywhere.As a highly-re-spected industryexpert, national ac-count manager forAudatex (a Soleracompany), Fornessis a popular speakerwho talks to bodyshops throughoutthe country about

the current state of the industry andwhere it’s headed. On May 22, this 25-year veteran, who ran a series of highlysuccessful body shops in the GreaterMinnesota-St. Paul area, shared hisviews and offered useful statistics withthe 60-plus East Bay CAA members inattendance.

By closely observing the collisionrepair industry while traveling through-out the Western U.S. for hisjob with Audatex, Forness hasbeen able to keep body shopowners and collision-relatedvendors on the cutting-edge ofnew developments that canimpact their businesses. It’s in-formation that is available toany body shop owner who canfind it, but compiling and pre-senting it in a logical way pro-vides a complete picture of the worldof collision repair, Forness explained.

“We need to know, because we’reheld at a higher level by the public andour customers,” he said. “Knowledgeis power and by having the facts, youcan be a better owner and operator.We need to understand these new ve-hicles, so that we can educate our cus-tomers in the right things. It’s vitalbecause we can’t risk peoples’ liveswith partial knowledge, especially inthis volatile marketplace .”

First, auto accidents are on the de-cline, which is good for the humanrace, but not profitable for the collisionindustry. Previously, the average driverin the United States was in an accidentonce every eight years. Now, it's aboutevery nine years, according to Forness.But, don’t fret about the number of ac-cidents, Forness explained, becausethe news is still positive overall.

“In 2011, there were 22 million

accidents in the U.S. and more peoplewith insurance were filing moreclaims than in 2010,” Forness said.“People are driving less, but there aremore people out there driving, so they

tend to offset each other. These num-bers have gone up for the first timesince 2008, so that means there’s morework out there right now.”

Another obvious factor affectingthe collision industry is bad weather,Forness said. And although it isn’t asimportant in northern California(where we get rainstorms and earth-quakes that are way too infrequent tocount on), bad weather helped the restof the country’s body shops in 2011.

“There were almost 3,000 severeweather events last year, with 1,894tornadoes and a wide range of inci-dents involving hailstorms, hurricanesand high winds. As a result, there weremore claims in 2011, and we can citebad weather as one of the main rea-sons,” Forness said.

Another interesting trend in thecollision repair industry involves thecontinuing spread of aftermarket andrecycled parts, Forness said. “The useof OEM parts in repairs is still drop-ping, and in 2011, there was anotherdrop in their sales overall. America’scars and trucks have reached a recordage of 10.8 years, and despite all of theprice-matching programs offered bythe carmakers, body shops and insur-ance companies are incorporating moreand more aftermarket and recycledparts in their repairs. The proliferationof computer alternative part search en-gines is also making it easier for body

shops to locate these non-OEM parts.”The parts climate is also changing

as new vehicles embrace technologicalchanges while attempting to meet in-creasing CAFÉ standards. “Too many

cars now are being designedlike aircraft,” Forness ex-plained. “As they try to designcars that weigh less whilemaintaining structural integrity,we’re seeing more complicatedparts mixes, consisting of moreparts made of plastic compos-ites, carbon fibers, magnesium,high-strength steel and morealuminum. Also, the drive to-

ward making parts using more eco-friendly materials includes things suchas coconut fibers, soy foam for seatcushions, mushroom roots for use inbumper covers, kenaf (a tropical plant),and Ford Motor Company is research-ing the use of cooked chicken feathersfor use in some of its cars.

One alarming statistic is that moredrivers are uninsured, Forness said. “In2007, 86% of the drivers out there wereinsured, but now it’s down to 82%. It’scaused by the recession, which is stilllingering, and high unemployment.

When the economy further rebounds,the insured rate will increase, but until itdoes, that’s a scary number.”

One question that all body shops wantthe answer to is: will I be in business next

year? Forness pro-vided statistics tooffer a glimpse intothe future of bodyshops in this coun-try. “There are ap-proximately 34,000collision shops outthere in the UnitedStates, and 500-1,000 of those areclosing every year.But, for those whocan survive, there isgood news. As theoverall number ofshops decreases, the

average revenues per shop will growaround 2% every year.”

After the presentation by Forness,East Bay CAA Chapter PresidentTiffany Chichon-Silva announced thatthe chapter’s annual golf tournament,originally to be held on June 2, will bere-scheduled for sometime in August.


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RX-8 2012

Information Shops Can Use Presented at East Bay CAA Meeting

LKQ Industry Relations Representatives Albert Rendon (left)and Lacy Towner attended to East Bay CAA chapter’s Maymeeting in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Owen-Dunn, the CAA’s preferred insurance service provider,was represented by (from left) CWCA Tim Dickson, PatriciaRomero-Kaleel and CSFS/CWCA Marty O’Hara

East Bay CAAChapter PresidentTiffany Cichon-Silva(Accurate AutoBody) brought themembership up tospeed on currentissues and

upcoming events attheir May meeting

Industry expertRichard Fornessgave a highlyinformativepresentation atthe May East BayCAA meeting

For example, companies that havethe technology in place to let con-sumers report the claim via a mobiledevice can capture a wealth of infor-mation on the facts of the loss, in-cluding photos. Incorporating thisdata into predictive analytics toolscan help the insurer assign the claimto the best resource equipped to re-turn the customer to pre-accidentcondition as quickly as possible. Theability for a repair technician to sendmessages to the claims adjuster elec-tronically, versus calling and tradingvoicemails, can ensure speedier reso-lution to questions or issues thatmight otherwise hold up the repair.With customer satisfaction closelytied to the overall time it takes to re-turn their vehicle to pre-accident con-dition, mobility can play a key role inreducing inefficiencies in the overallprocess.

The recession led to a drop-off indriving, reduction in claim and fatal-ity frequency, and a larger number ofconsumers opting to cash-out versusactually repair their car. As con-

sumers begin to ramp up new vehiclepurchases, and see moderate upticksin employment, the industry willgradually return to an environmentthat more closely resembles the mar-ket pre-recession. Over time this willlead to moderate increases in cus-tomers opting to actually repair theirvehicles versus living with the dam-age (i.e. moderate increases in vol-ume of vehicles actually repaired),but the gradual infusion of crashavoidance technologies in new vehi-cles will likely flatten-out any inflec-tions in accident/claim frequency.With the exception of storm or catas-trophe-driven claims activity, it is un-likely the market will see anydramatic change in the current pat-terns of claim frequency over the next18 to 24 months.

Outside of the increases in com-prehensive losses tied to erraticweather patterns and catastrophes,loss costs for liability and collision arereturning to their pre-recession patternof year-over-year increases betweenone and three percent. Inflation in re-placement parts and labor have accel-erated slightly as the U.S. emergesfrom the recession, but still point tooverall increases in repair costs of one

to three percent. As new vehicle salesgrow and ultimately show up inclaims, repair costs will see some in-herent lift. The juxtaposition of greatervehicle complexity in terms of elec-tronics and materials with greaterprevalence of crash avoidance sys-tems may ultimately result in fewerbut more expensive repairs in the fu-ture.

The average consumer todayhas an auto accident once everyseven to ten years. Auto insurers andcollision repairers subsequently havevery limited interaction with con-sumers and few opportunities toshow the value of their products andservices. The real moment of truthfor the auto insurer and the repaireris at the time of an accident. To besuccessful in today’s environment,companies must tap into the notionof disruption – where companies de-velop innovative technologies thatimprove business processes, andfine-tune the messages to customersso they are delivered at the righttime, on the right device, with themost customized content, and placethemselves in a position to meet theexpectations of today’s consumer ina way that delivers value.

Susanna Gotsch is Director, IndustryAnalyst at CCC Information ServicesInc. She has been with CCC since Julyof 1992. Susanna brings twenty-plusyears of experience within the auto-motive claims industry as Director, In-dustry Analyst. She has authored TheCrash Course, CCC’s annual publica-tion on trends impacting collision re-pair and total loss costs since 1995.This publication has become a key re-source for the industry in understand-ing how broader trends within theeconomy, new and used vehicle mar-ket places, and collision industry areimpacting auto claim frequency andcosts. She is also responsible for thegeneration of all trend analyses of theinsurance and automotive industriespublished by CCC since 1995.

In 2011, Ms. Gotsch was selectedas one of five Most Influential Womenin the Collision Repair Industrythrough the annual industry honorar-ium established by AkzoNobel Auto-motive & Aerospace Coatings America(A&AC).

Coypright 2012 CCC InformationServices Inc.All Rights Reserved. Confidential &Proprietary


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Disruption

by Tom Franklin

The CAA’s Glendale-Foothill Chapterheld a special meeting at the Brook-side Country Club, 1133 RosemontAve, Pasadena, CA, on June 13 to heardetails about the new California LaborEnforcement Task Force (LETF). Thepresenters at the meeting includedMark Janatpour, Senior DeputyLabor Commissioner, Freeman Bald-win, Bureau of Automotive Repairrepresentative, Aston Ling,Cal/OSHA Senior Safety Engineer,Nicole Zouein, Board of EqualizationCompliance and Outreach Lead, andTracey York, California EmploymentDevelopment Department Joint En-forcement Agent.

The first presenter was MarkJanatpour who made it known quicklythat this task force could be a team ofenforcers from all of the above agen-cies. They could swoop down on ashop, unannounced, and issue cita-tions for violations of any require-ments pertaining to any of theseagencies. You could feel like the in-fantry, the artillery and air force, wereattacking you all at once. If the hand

grenades or mortar fire didn’t get you,a bomb would. The next two hourswere a litany of possible violationsand citations that go as high as$20,000 or more. Janatpour pointedout that their agencies have new en-forcement weapons like data sharing.A report to one agency that was miss-

ing or inconsistentwith a report toanother agencycould now triggeran investigation,and a complaint toone agency thatmight be relevantto another agency

could also trigger an investigation.Data sharing opens an entirely newPandora’s box of enforcement possi-bilities.

Janatpour opened with a sum-mary of new legislation. For example,now misclassifying an employee as anindependent contractor can result inserious penalties, a public notice andpossibly a revocation of a shop’s li-cense to operate. Another rule makesany advisor, like an attorney or ac-countant, who advises the misclassifi-

cation, jointly liable. This topic wasgreatly enlarged upon by Tracey Yorkwho covered in great detail who qual-ifies as an independent contractor andalso when family members are exemptand when they are not.

Freeman Baldwin, Bureau of Au-tomotive Repair representative, hadthe least to say but pointed up the re-quirements that we’re all familiarwith. An unlicensed shopfaces a penalty of up to$5000 and closure untilbeing licensed. The most fre-quent violation is an inaccu-rate BAR license. Freemansuggests regularly checkingto get updated on new regu-lations, keeping invoices andquality assurance in compli-ance with regulations, andpossibly even participating in their“Education First” program.

Aston Ling, Cal/OSHA SeniorSafety Engineer, presented an in-depth look at the many potential vio-lations and citations a shop might facewhen inspected. If a shop owner hasany doubt about his or her shop’scompliance, a no-cost consultation is

available by calling 800-963-9424.Aston says the best way to avoid vio-lations is to have a good comprehen-sive safety program for employees.New legislation redefines hazards sothat if there is a “realistic possibilityof death or bodily harm,” it could be aserious violation with penalties up to$25,000 and, if willful, up to $70,000.A shop does have a right to an infor-

mal conference, a pre-hearing confer-ence, and a formal appeal up to 15days after a citation. After the 15 days,all bets are off!

The next presenter was NicoleZouein, Board of Equalization (BOE)Compliance and Outreach Lead.Nicole has been a BOE auditor for 14

Chapter Meeting Features CA Labor Enforcement Task Force


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See Chapter Meeting, Page 51

Tracey York and Nicole Zouein

“This bill doesn’t benefit con-sumers, it benefits the auto body shops.It provides them with more money forthe work that they’re doing,” saidFrancis O’Brien of the Insurers Asso-ciation of America.

In a letter to policy holders,Robert A. DiMuccio, chairman andCEO of Amica Mutual Insurance, saidthe legislation that just passed “allowsshops to set inflated prices for laborand repairs and [use] the threat of law-suits to charge these exorbitant repaircosts.”

Until now, if a shop felt that it hadbeen unfairly reimbursed, it could takethe insurer to court, but only using anassignment of proceeds case where theshop would legally seek reimburse-ment representing the consumer.

“This is a great consumer bill,”said Jina Petrarca-Karampetsos,who testified in support of the measureprior to the Senate vote. “This is a greatbill. It’s a fair bill. This doesn’t requireinsurers to set a rate for every shop.This just says to every shop, ‘Hey, ifyou feel you are not getting a fair rate,

then go ahead and prove your positionin court.’”

PCI New England Vice Presidentand Regional Manager FrankO’Brien was actively posting mes-sages on Twitter as the Senate Judici-ary Committee debated the bill on June12. O’Brien said the bill was bad forconsumers and called the measure “theworst auto body bill ever.” He said in-surers described the bill as “unprece-dented” and the “most one-sidedthey’ve ever seen.”

“This bill doesn’t benefit con-sumers, it benefits the auto body shops.It provides them with more money forthe work that they’re doing,” said Fran-cis O’Brien of the Insurers Associationof America.

AIA believes H.B. 7782A allowsfor nationally unprecedented privaterights of action for auto body shops di-rectly against insurers and is "poorpublic policy."

“No other state in the nation al-lows auto body shops to set non-nego-tiable rates and attempt to force themon third-party payers under threat of lit-igation,” said Gary Henning, AIANortheast region vice president. “Thislegislation represents poor public pol-icy which could lead to an explosion of

litigation. It should be vetoed when itreaches the governor’s desk.”

AIA says that Rhode Island is oneof the most expensive states in the na-tion for auto body repairs. Currently,drivers pay the sixth highest collisioninsurance premiums in the nation duein large part to higher-than-averageclaim costs, including labor costswhich exceed the national average by26.7 percent.

The bill also includes specific lan-guage stating that an insured may stillassign the rights of their claim to abody shop if they so wish.

The bill passed the Senate 24-11and is now on the Governor’s desk,provides access to small claims courtfor shops who feel they must sue to befairly reimbursed. Current law wouldrequire a shop to take these types of is-sues before a Superior or DistrictCourt, with proper legal representation.“If this bill passes, a shop can representthemselves in small claims court for afiling fee of $80,” said Petrarca-Karampetsos, speaking on behalf of theAuto Body Association of Rhode Is-land (ABARI).

The measure, originally sponsoredby ABARI, also includes specific lan-guage stating that an insured may stillassign the rights of their claim to abody shop if they so wish.

The insurers testifying against thebill argued that the bill forces them toaccept whatever a shop demands underthe threat of being sued, but that is notso, according to Petrarca-Karampetsos.“This isn’t a name your price bill, thisis a bill that requires a shop to provebefore a court that their price is a fairone, that their charges are reasonable.”

“The bill doesn’t say that insurershave to reach an agreement. It just saysthat they have to negotiate in goodfaith, and if you can’t reach an agree-ment, the insurer may pay whatever itdetermines. If the shop doesn’t feelthat’s fair, the burden is on them toprove it in court.”

“This actually removes a lot of thehassle and delay for consumers,” Pe-trarca-Karampetsos said. “If the shopand insurer don’t agree, this bill says tothe insurer, ‘Just pay the claim on yournumber, whatever number you think isfair, write the check, leave it with theshop, and let them worry about it.’ Thiseliminates all the delays of the past. Butperhaps more importantly, the customeris not involved. It leaves them out of it.”

“This law is a simple, fair solu-tion. It doesn’t require regulation. Itgives insurers a chance to challenge

everything we say, and it does so with-out a sweeping mandate,” says Pe-trarca-Karampetsos.

But that isn’t the only new law thisbill would create.

The measure also makes changesto how total losses are handled inRhode Island. Unless Governor Lin-coln Chafee vetoes the bill, insurerswill no longer be permitted to declare avehicle a total loss if the cost to restorethe vehicle to pre-accident condition isbelow 75 percent of the fair marketvalue of the car.

“This part of the bill is a real winfor consumers,” said Petrarca-Karam-petsos. “Today, it doesn’t matter howmuch a customer might beg and pleadwith their insurer to fix their car, if theydon’t want it totaled. If their insurer gota high bid on the salvage, and can savemoney even by totaling their car at 50percent or less, they total the car, nomatter what their customer wants.”

In addition, the bill sets forth anew definition of fair market value inthe case of total losses.

According to the bill, “Fair mar-ket value” means the retail value of amotor vehicle as set forth in a currentedition of a nationally recognized com-pilation of retail values commonly usedby the automotive industry to establishvalues of motor vehicles.

The new definition, according toPetrarca-Karampetsos, would precludethe use of products developed exclu-sively for the insurance industry, suchas the Audatex, CCC, and Mitchell sys-tems, and require the use of guides likethe NADA book used by car dealers.The Property Casualty Insurers Asso-ciation of America (PCI) and the Amer-ican Insurance Association (AIA) areboth opposed to the bill.

AIA, in a press release on June 13,described the bill as “reckless” andcalled on Governor Chafee to veto themeasure. The association said the lawwould unleash a flood of lawsuitsagainst insurance companies. The billwould take effect upon passage. Down-load the text of the legislation at auto-bodynews.com.



Great Consumer Bill

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I’ve been very busy the past threemonths working on a new project forDan Weaver of the Bakersfield areaand his 11-year-old son BrandonWeaver, a junior race car driver whois number #1 in California and #3 inthe nation for his class, BandaleroBandit Division.

Dan and Brandon wanted me tobuild them a junior motor sports vehi-cle and I’m excited to share this newproject with you. I was pretty pumpedup. I’ve built body kits for the Mus-tang, I’ve worked with Mopar, andbuilt the polyurethane body kits forthe Challenger. Now, it’s going fromparts to a complete vehicle—I am allabout that. This is a challenge for me.It brings on my creativity and I will beable to learn more in depth what ittakes to build a complete vehicle.

I started with a basic foundationand that’s a great way to get a headstart. What I decided to do with thisproject is to build backwards. Westarted with a Legend body becauseBrandon is just a little guy, 70–80pounds max. This way I can gain thewheel base and get some ideas about

width and positioning. We got a Leg-end vehicle and I stripped the body offit and I had Brandon’s dad, Dan, lookaround and get some bodies. Theylooked like miniatures of NASCAR,

so we could makea plug. Making theplug means gettingthe shape and de-sign in place andmodifying it tolook like what Danwants. Dan fell inlove with my Mus-tang and he likes

my style of the bodies. Using Fiber-glass is obviously better than metal atthis point because race cars get allbanged up, they get wrecked and thenthey have to change out the body.

We cut the body in half because itwas a little long, shortened it up, got itto fit the wheel base of the Legend,spliced it together and cut off the frontend because we’re not going to beusing that front end. I took pre-exist-ing body parts that I’ve made andpulled some parts out of molds so Ican cut them up and modify them to

fit this car, which I would call a ‘mini-me’ because it’s a smaller version.

Next, we took the splash off aMustang hood, cut it down, andspliced it in so we can get our hoodlooking right, and then we got thebody secured to the frame. We defi-nitely needed to make acces-sories, so I came up with thescoop, the rear wing acces-sory, the left and right quarterscoops and the front fenderscoop, and that gives us ninepieces, which means I need tomake 9 molds. With all thatbeing said, the proper processof doing this is sculpturing itout and making sure all sides are sym-metrical, such as the left rear wheelwells matching the right wheel wells.I am modifying the rear of the car tolook more like the Mustang, and thesides I have to modify to make thelines look more like the Mustang, togive them a Rich Evans designed ve-

hicle. We are using some features toreplicate the Mustang. The whole ideais to use the taillights and headlightsfrom a Mustang. We don’t want tohave to re-create the wheel and haveto get into tooling expenses by mak-ing our own headlights and taillights,

so we need to utilize what’s out there.After getting it pretty close, I’m

using 80-grit sandpaper. PCL #901once again has stepped up to the plate.I cannot build any cars without thatproduct. After shaping with 36-grit andthen 80-grit, I’m ready for primer. Forthe first process of primer, I lay about


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Brandon Weaver.(From File)

three gallons of primer on the body.PCL is both a timesaver and moneysaver. I’ll use 80-grit to shape it, thenguide coat it, then come back with150-grit, re-primer it with another gal-lon or gallon and a half of primer, sandit again with 150-grit and come backwith 400 wet. Then, we’re ready formolds and that’s the point where we

are at now. Three months of hard workto get to the molds.

I am excited about this project.It’s another challenge. I have to thankmy sponsors, PCL, 3M, SATA sprayguns, Infratech heat lamps and Soft-Sanders, as well as Brandon and hisdad for allowing me and believing inme to do this project.

Also, check out my new website,builditwithRichEvans.com. DIY (Do-

it-yourself) car builders arethe root the of American carculture and one that I grewup in. If you guys are build-ing cars out in your garage, Icould show up at your placeand give you three days offree help with your own do-it-yourself car building proj-ect. Fill out an onlineapplication from my newwebsite. We’re teaming upwith my sponsors for free

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years, but the last three years she’sbeen assigned to SCOP, the“Statewide Compliance and OutreachProgram.” As part of this programSCOP specialists will go door-to-doorvisiting businesses to make sure theyhave the state tax and fee permits and

licenses displayedthat they need tooperate. They alsomake certain staterecords are up-dated and correct.Unregistered busi-nesses are givenan opportunity to

register within one week, but if therehas been an obvious intent to evadetaxes the owner might be issued amisdemeanor citation.

The last presenter was TraceyYork, California Employment Devel-opment Department (EDD) Joint En-

forcement Agent. This department col-lects and distributes unemploymentand disability benefits and monitorspayroll tax deductions. A major focusof enforcement is combating the un-derground economy and any failure tocorrectly pay state taxes and Workers’Compensation. As noted earlier, a keyfocus is identifying any misclassifica-tion of an employee as an independentcontractor. While the IRS requiresonly three elements to classify an in-dependent contractor, the State of Cal-ifornia considers eleven factors.Information sheet DE 2318 Rev. 3,passed out at the meeting and availablefrom the EDD, specifies these factorsas they apply to the automotive indus-try. Penalties for misclassifying goback three years and can require pay-ing all unpaid wages, back taxes,workers’ compensation and other un-paid payroll deductions. Also the po-tential for “data sharing” with otheragencies could result in additional as-tronomical penalties. As Tracey says,“It’s definitely not worth it.”


Chapter Meeting

Freeman Baldwin

Farmers Insurance Involved in Two Fraud Prosecutions,Two Shop Owners Arrested and Sentenced for FraudThe Amador County District Attor-neys Office, in conjunction with theCalaveras County District AttorneysOffice, obtained a “no contest” pleato a single count of insurance fraudfrom a body shop owner in ValleySprings, CA, as a result of their in-vestigation.

Larry Robbins, owner of FranksFrame and Body Shop, was sentencedto 36 months felony probation, 60hours of community service, orderedto surrender his Bureau of AutomotiveRepair (BAR) license and pay approx-imately $28,000 in restitution.

The investigation involved postrepair inspections of vehicles repairedby Robbin’s shop, Franks Frame andBody Shop, 127 Main Street, ValleySprings, California. Farmers Insurance,SIU Major Operations Unit, conductedpost repair inspections on Farmers in-sured vehicles and supplied the inspec-tion documentation to the AmadorCounty District Attorneys Office andCalifornia Bureau of Automotive Re-pair for investigation. In 2011, The Cal-ifornia Attorney General, on behalf ofthe Bureau of Automotive Repair, filedformal accusations, alleging; fraud,misleading statements and departurefrom accepted trade standards.

“This case illustrates the cost offraud for Auto Repair shops and own-ers. The shop owner has been orderedto surrender his BAR license and paysignificant restitution,” stated SeanZavala, Farmers Director of Special

Investigations. “We will assist law en-forcement on criminal matters and fileour own civil actions when appropri-ate to deter anyone who submits falseinsurance claim. It is our commit-ment to our policyholders to protecttheir premium dollars,” Zavala added.

In a separate case, Santa ClaraCounty District Attorney’s Office, inconjunction with the California High-way Patrol Insurance Fraud Task Forceserved Santa Clara shop owner DongSuk Choi with an arrest warrant onone felony count of Insurance Fraud.

The investigation involved there-inspection of one vehicle previ-ously repaired by Choi’s repair shop,Choice Auto Body at 1975 LafayetteStreet in Santa Clara, California. There-inspection was conducted by Farm-ers Insurance, Major Operations Unitin cooperation with an Investigatorfrom the California Highway PatrolInsurance Fraud Task Force, GoldenGate Division ISU. The Investigatorsfound that Choi had not completed therepairs according to the agreed uponestimates including the repair of itemsthat were written to be replaced in theinsurance estimates.

Farmers says it applauds the ef-forts of the Santa Clara District Attor-ney’s Offices and the Amador andCalaveras County District AttorneysOffices and the California, Bureau ofAutomotive Repair for their ongoingefforts in the fight against insurancefraud.

State Farm’s PartsTrader program, theuse of shops’ estimating and otherdata, and how one state regulatoroversees auto insurers, were amongthe topics at a recent board meeting ofthe Society of Collision Repair Spe-cialists (SCRS).

A number of participants at themeeting held on April 24 in OklahomaCity, OK, wore large buttons oppos-ing “data mining” by the “Big Three”information providers, indicating theywanted the ability to “opt out” of hav-ing their shop estimating data aggre-gated and used or sold. The buttonswere part of the follow-up to a jointstatement that SCRS and two othertrade associations sent in January toCCC Information Services, Mitchelland Audatex, voicing concern aboutcollection and use of shop data.

SCRS Executive Director AaronSchulenburg said that as of late April,only CCC had provided a formal re-sponse to the associations’ request.

“The response addressed that theyhave a mutual concern in protection ofdata, but didn’t really address thequestions that we’d asked relative toan opt-out policy or discontinuation ofcollecting the data,” Schulenburg said.

He said it is his understandingMitchell and Audatex are working ontheir responses, which he said the as-sociations intend to share with the in-dustry.

One aspect of data privacy con-cerns that Schulenburg said the asso-ciation has looked into were reports ofvehicle accident histories showing upon CARFAX reports—instances inwhich the vehicle owner presumed theinformation could only have been ob-tained through the collision repairshop that prepared an estimate on (orrepaired) the vehicle.

In two of the three cases of thistype of situation that SCRS lookedinto, Schulenburg said, the CARFAXdata actually had been sourced thoughlocal police accident reports. In a thirdinstance, a woman seeking to trade-ina vehicle was upset that a CARFAXreport indicated that her vehicle hadhad structural damage repair, whenshe knew this wasn’t the case. Shecontacted the shop shown on theCARFAX report as having done the

repairs. SCRS worked with CARFAXand determined the report was in error,incorrectly linking collision damageon one vehicle to the VIN of another.CARFAX was able to correct theerror, Schulenburg reported.

He also said that SCRS held ameeting in late April with I-CAR andrepresentatives of many of the top au-tomakers to discuss increasing theamount and availability of publishedOEM repair procedures. The meetingwas the result of another joint state-ment by SCRS and other trade associ-ations last November recognizingpublished automaker repair proce-dures as the “official industry-recog-nized repair standards for collisionrepair.” The associations also asked I-CAR to create an industry council “toidentify gaps in existing OEM proce-dures and develop processes to close(those) gaps.”

The need for training and stan-dards was illustrated in a presentationby SCRS board member Paul Val,who brought to the Oklahoma Citymeeting a quarter panel his Arizonashop had removed from a poorly-re-paired vehicle brought into his shopbecause of a water leak in the trunk.Val said the MIG welds used to “at-tach” the quarter panel didn’t pene-trate, and no weld-through primer orcorrosion protection had been applied.

“You could literally just pull thequarter off,” Val said.

He said his shop had to do $3,000in re-repairs to the vehicle. He said theshop that had done the original workunder an insurer direct repair programpaid his shop for the rework with acredit card – and remains on the directrepair program.

“Someone is going to get killed inone of these cars,” Val said.

Also at the meeting, a presenta-tion by representatives of the Okla-homa Department of Insurance wasprobably both heartening and dis-heartening at times for collision re-pairers.

On the upside, Michael Copelandof the Department’s anti-fraud unitconfirmed the regulator is now fo-cused more on fraud against con-sumers by insurers, rather thanconsumer insurance fraud, which had

been its priority under some previousInsurance Commissioners. Copelandalso said he’d like to partner morewith the Oklahoma Auto Body Asso-ciation to address issues of concern.

On the other hand, Jason John-ston, a senior claims processor and re-viewer for the Department, seemed toacknowledge the state’s anti-steeringlaw is being interpreted loosely. Thelaw prohibits insurers from makingshop referrals unless requested by thevehicle owner.

“But we’ve determined the insur-ance company can say, ‘Do you havea place in mind, or we can offer a re-pair place,’” Johnston said. “We give(insurers) that option.”

He said he’s probably had only ahalf dozen complaints related to steer-ing, and they are difficult to addressbecause it’s usually a shop’s wordagainst the insurer’s. He said an audiorecording or affidavits - enough toshow a pattern - could help.

But he was also asked how a shopcan combat some of the subtle but per-ceived as unfair “steering” techniquesused, such as an insurer telling a cus-tomer the process could be slower atthe non-DRP shop and thus could re-sult in the customer having to paysome of their own rental car costs(even if the customer has 30 days ofrental coverage on their policy). John-ston’s only suggestion: Perhaps thenon-DRP shop can offer something tobetter compete for that customer’sbusiness, such as a free rental car.

State Farm’s PartsTrader programhad been the focus of a closed sessionof SCRS’ board meeting, but duringthe open session, Schulenburg askedState Farm’s George Avery if the in-surer would move forward with Part-sTrader if shops, dealers and otherparts vendors are resistant to it.

“At this point, we are moving for-ward,” Avery said. “e are moving


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CALIFORNIA

SCRS Meeting Discusses Insurance Regulation, State Farm

with Ed Attanasio

Shop and Product Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Shop Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Social Media for Shops

with Erica SchroederShop Showcase

The Right Causewith Mike Causey


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].

See SCRS Meeting, Page 54

During the past 15 years or so, I'venoticed that many body shops spenda great deal of time and money pro-moting to referral sources that neversend a single job. There is somelogic to continually dripping onprospects in the hope that at least afew of them will send a job or twoone day. And if the promotion goingout isn't too costly, it can't hurt.

But what if more effort were ap-plied to reinforcing those sources thatactually do refer jobs? In a busy mar-ket, I know of a shop that promotesto 200 insurance agents a month.Less than 10% of those agents everrefer work to the shop, and evenfewer actually send work on a regularbasis. This particular shop also has aDRP with an insurance company thathas regular agent meetings and hasmade the conference room and areaavailable for agent and managermeetings fairly frequently. This hasresulted in significantly more refer-

rals by agents who attend meetings atthe shop. In checking with othershops that market to agents, I foundthis was a common occurrence. Oncean agent either came to a shop,brought his or her vehicle to the shopfor repairs, or had a customer use thatshop with a good result, the agentthen did actually refer business to theshop.

A physician's Hippocratic oathsays, "First do no harm." Someonecontemplating a referral to a shopwill have a similar concern: "First,avoid any harm." An agent or otherreferral source knows that referring ajob to a shop that does a bad repairwill reflect badly on him or her andmay lose that customer or client. Sogreat caution is exercised in makingreferrals. On the other hand, I've spo-ken with agents who said they hadgotten a glowing report from a cus-tomer who had been referred to ashop and found that referral formed

an even closer bond with the cus-tomer. In a case like this, referrals canbe an excellent way to solidify orbuild business.

This should be a clear messageto a shop owner or manager seekingto build referral business. Getting thereferral source to come to the shop tosee it in action, or better yet to bringhis or her own vehicle in for repairswill greatly improve the chances ofgetting referral business. Dependingon the financial capability of theshop, it could even be worthwhile tooffer to do a free repair to a poten-tially high volume referral source.

Much depends on a shop care-fully identifying who has referred ajob. When a real referral source hasbeen identified, it's time to reinforcethat willingness to refer in every waypossible. Many shops send thank younotes or offer a free car wash as athank you. Others offer small giftslike theater tickets, dinner for two ata nice restaurant, or a voucher for useat a beauty parlor, local gym or bar-bershop. Some agents aren't allowedto receive gifts, so a more subtle formof appreciation is in order. Like theshop, agents, car dealers and other re-ferral sources are also looking tobuild their business. Posting theircard or flyers at the shop would be aminimal thing to do, but hosting apromotional event at the shop couldbe appropriate for someone who fre-quently referred business.

Some events can be a win-winfor both the shop and an agent or

dealership promotional person. Asafe driving event for teenagers canbring in parents with insurable andrepairable vehicles. In a previous ar-ticle I wrote about a car care clinicfor a woman's professional networkgroup. Promoting a good referralsource as a sponsor and co-presenterfor such an event would be an espe-cially effective way to reinforce thatsource of referrals.

Happy customer referrals canalso be enhanced with recognition.One shop tracked the number of jobsper month and year and awarded aprize to the 10,000th customer. Ashop might also create a "CustomerAppreciation Day" once a month, andinvite all customers who had referredjobs to come in for a fancy lunch andalso perhaps a car wash. Unique sou-venirs could also be awarded, like acoffee mug or special hat or T-shirtwith the shop's logo. The key elementwith individuals who refer businessis to create a sense of family and be-longing. And when one of these re-ferring customers comes back forrepairs on his or her vehicle, the shopmight award a surprise rebate.

It all comes down to recognizingwho actually sends work. Radio, TVand publication ads reach out to thegeneral public. Flyers, mailers, e-mails and more, target potential (butnot yet real) referral sources. Butthere's nothing like reinforcing andrewarding those who send the realjobs and provide the funds for reach-ing out to grow even more.

Maximizing Referrals to Your Shop

Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.

with Sheila LoftusYour Turn

Opinions Countwith Dick Strom

Shop Showcasewith Janet Chaney

Industry Overviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Interviewwith Janet Chaney


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


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manding that this program be imple-mented—I believe insurance compa-nies view shop profits as money theyleft on the table. They won’t be satis-fied until they have it all,” Fowler said.

Fowler said he won’t participate inthe program either.

“I think this PartsTrader debaclehas caused many a shop owner to dragout the Select Service agreement theysigned and revisit just exactly all thethings they agreed to,” said Fowler.

“They are coming to a collective real-ization that all the language, terms andconditions contained in that agreementaren’t just words to fill space. Each andevery one of those conditions will even-tually come to fruition and many are re-considering if it is worth it. As far as megiving the program a try, I have beenquoted as saying, ‘If you put a s#!tsandwich in front of me, I don’t have totake a bite to tell you I don’t like it.’ So,no, there is no chance I will participatein the program, either voluntarily or in-voluntarily.”

To read the rest of this regional ar-ticle log on to Autobodynews.com.


Mississippi Reacts

through our test. We’re obviously gath-ering information, making adjustmentsalong the way. But I can tell you thatState Farm is moving forward with this.We think it is in the best interest of ourcustomer. I know we don’t have agree-ment, and that is fine, and I carry thatinformation back. (And) somethingcould happen that I can’t predict. But Ican tell you that, right now, that we are

moving forward with the process withour Select Service providers.”

Schulenburg said SCRS also hadworked with State Farm on an issuerelated to shops in several marketsbeing asked by the insurer to attemptrepairs before replacing a part, but ifreplacement eventually proved neces-sary, local State Farm claims staffwere telling the shop they could onlypay for one or the other, but not both.Schulenburg said State Farm was ableto communicate to their staff that “ifit’s legitimate to have attempted re-

pair and then it’s necessary to replace,that certainly there is no (company)policy prohibiting (paying for) that.”Avery said advance communicationbetween the shop and the insurer isthe key.

“We had cases where it reallyboiled down to there being no agree-ment up front,” Avery said. “So that’swhat we communicated. Please havecommunication with the repairer upfront and say ‘Look, if we decide topull this and it doesn’t work, what arewe talking about?’”


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SCRS Meeting PartsTrader’s letter, from CEO RobCooper can be read in full at autobo-dynews.com. Search “PartsTrader.” Itreads in part: There has been a great dealof public commentary on this initiative,and much of it has been negative. Un-fortunately, much of the commentary hasbeen based on inaccurate information.We are working to rectify this throughongoing industry communications andproduct education to all constituentgroups. This is one of the reasons wehave recently launched our new web siteat www.partstrader.us.com.website.

PartsTrader Issues Open Letter


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July 2012 Western Edition