Se 0613 issue web

The Mississippi Collision Repair As-sociation (MCRA) and the AlabamaAutomotive Repair Industry Societyof Excellence (ALARISE) co-spon-

sored the first Southern AutomotiveRepair Industry Conference and Ex-hibition in Biloxi, MS, on April 26-27.

Presenters included Aaron Schu-lenburg of SCRS, Rick Leos withToyota Motors, Ray Gunder and hisattorney Brent Geohagen.

The inaugural event washeld at the Beau RivageCasino and Hotel in Biloxi,MS, and kicked off Fridaynight with a reception and ex-hibition featuring more than18 vendors demonstratingtheir products and services toover 200 attendees from col-lision repair shops fromacross the Southeast.

“The event can be best de-scribed as an unqualified suc-

cess, both in terms of informationpresented and the impressive numberof attendees from seven states,” said

by Melanie Anderson

In Delray Beach, FL, Eddie Quin-tela, 42, owner and operator of Colli-sion Concepts, recently spent $10,450

on filing fees for53 separate law-suits against insur-ers for short pays.Quintela says he’snot worried aboutthe money. Hewill recoup courtcosts and attor-

ney’s fees when he wins his cases,plus recover the compensation he

should have received in the first placefor properly repairing the vehicles. Todate, he and his customers have wonevery single case they’ve filed againstinsurers.

According to Quintela, his planto get insurers to pay for underpay-ments is pretty simple and easy to do.

“If we cannot get an agreed pricewith an insurance company to prop-erly repair a vehicle, we engage thecustomer,” said Quintela. “We giveour customers a couple of options: 1)they can pay the difference, or 2) thecustomer can sign an Assignment of

Florida Shop Owner Files 53 Lawsuits toCounter Short Pays by Insurers

See Southern Conference, Page 28

First Southern Automotive Repair IndustryConference Held in Biloxi, MS, April 26–27

See 53 Lawsuits, Page 16

Eddie Quintela

John Mosley with Aaron Schulenburg

by John Yoswick

A consultant whose study indicatedthat the vast majority of the industryfinds the current way that paint andmaterials compensation is calculatedis a poor methodology is now sayingmore accurate and fair calculation sys-tems exist, are being used by someshops and are being accepted by someinsurance companies.

“The most important messagehere is that by properly presentingitemization and documentation usinga paint material calculation system, weare actually able to resolve these con-flicts,” consultant Steve Lanza of

Richfield Associates said at the Colli-sion Industry Conference (CIC) heldin Phoenix in April.

Lanza’s firm in 2012 released itsfindings that compensation for paintand materials has not kept pace withincreases in the costs of these products,and that 64 out of 68 industry partici-pants interviewed think the currentway paint and materials compensationis calculated is a poor methodology.Only four people (including represen-tatives of three repairer operations andone estimating system provider) ratedthe current system as “adequate” or“good.”

CIC Continues Discussion of Alternatives to ExistingPaint and Materials Calculations

See Paint and Materials, Page 13

MID Issues Bulletin to Insurers: Cover, Feather,Prime and Block for Hail Damaged CarsApril saw some unprecedented haildamage due to near record size hail-stones in parts of Mississippi, espe-cially metro Jackson, and Louisianathat Autobody Newswrote about in ourMay issue.

On May 10, the Mississippi In-surance Department (MID) issued abulletin to insurers regarding labor andmaterials associated with feather,prime and block, in particular. MID re-inforced a similar bulletin comingfrom Attorney General Jim Hood onthe same subject (see p. 9, this issue)which was issued on April 19.

The MID bulletin reads in part:“After the March 18, 2013, severe

hailstorms hit the Jackson metropolitanarea, an unusually large number of au-tomobile claims were filed with insur-ance companies. The MississippiInsurance Department (MID) has re-ceived complaints from some policy-holders and auto body repair shopsconcerning issues related to the repairof insured vehicles. Therefore, MID is

issuing this Bulletin to provide insur-ance companies and their adjusterswith information regarding the han-dling of these automobile claims.”

“MID has become aware thatthere have been issues between ad-justers and auto body repair shops re-garding specific repairs that areconsidered necessary by these manu-als. Specifically, there have been is-sues regarding the coverage offeathering, prime and block of dam-aged vehicles. Currently, this repair isconsidered necessary by these manu-als, and it is the opinion of MID that,when necessary in view of the dam-age, this is a repair that should be cov-ered by insurance companies.”

“Therefore, MID directs insur-ance companies to inform their ad-justers to review billing statements andapprove any repairs and charges nec-essary to indemnify policyholders, in-cluding appropriate charges forfeathering, prime and block of dam-

See MID Bulletin, Page 29

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

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AutoNation Chevrolet Coral Gables . 25

BASF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 35

Car-Part Pro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

CCC Information Services . . . . . . . 15

Certified Automotive Parts

Association (CAPA). . . . . . . . . . . 11

Champion Pneumatic . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

CSS USA, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Don Reid Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers

FL, GA, AL, MS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 37

Gray-Daniels Auto Family . . . . . . . . . 5

Gus Machado Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Honda-Acura Wholesale Parts

Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-21

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 31

Innovative Tools & Technologies, Inc . 23

Jim Ellis Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

KBS Coatings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 33

Landers Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . . 4

Malco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Mercedes-Benz Wholesale Parts

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

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 8

Nalley BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Nissan Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 32

Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers . 35

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

Preval Spray Gun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Rare Parts, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . 13

Southtowne Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Subaru of Gwinnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 36

Tameron Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Inde

xofAdvertisers

ContentsREGIONALAlabama Students Compete at SkillsUSA,Winners Receive Awards from ALARISE. 10

Alabama to Start Producing its FirstAcura Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Atlanta Body Shops and Car Washes Safefor Now from ‘Red Light District’ Zoning Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Auto Body Bookkeeper Takes Plea Dealfor Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Belle Glade, FL, Shop Burns to the Ground . 6Bernard Arden Lamphere Sr. . . . . . . . . . . . 9First Southern Automotive Repair Industry Conference Held in Biloxi, MS, April 26–27 1

FL Senate Passes Bill to Save Drivers $12on Registration Fees; Could it Cost Jobs?. 13

Florida Shop Owner Files 53 Lawsuits toMake Insurers Pay Their Fair Share . . . . 1

Former Florida Body Shop BookkeeperSentenced to 3 Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

GCIA Met on DEG; Plans Golf TournamentOctober 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

GCIA Completes 2013 Collision LaborRate Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Mercedes-Benz Plans $70M Expansion,600 Jobs in AL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

MID Issues Bulletin to Insurers to CoverFeathering, Prime and Block ofDamaged Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Mississippi Legislature Lures Auto Parts Plant . 6Mississippi’s Attorney General Hood TellsInsurance Companies to Cover HailDamage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Sports & Imports of GA Teams Up withNABC to Recycle Rides . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Stolen Shop Cars Found in GA . . . . . . . . . . 9

COLUMNISTSAttanasio: Google+ Is an Emerging Starfor Media-Savvy Body Shops . . . . . . . . 14

Franklin: The Power of Persistence inMarketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

NATIONAL16 Arrested in Multi-State Car Theft andFraud Conspiracy, Dealerships andIndividuals Targeted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

ABRA Awarded Farmers MSO of the Year Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

ABRA Has Acquired 23 WA PrecisionCollision Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

AkzoNobel Opens its FIT Awards forNominations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Allstate’s Profit Dips 7.4%, ExpandsEsurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

AMI Accepting Applications forCosette/Westerlund Award . . . . . . . . . . 36

ASA Business Meeting Emphasizes Unity, Transparency, Inclusion & Collaboration . 36

Automaker, OEM and Recall News . . . . . . 22Avery Names New CIC Standards CmteLeaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Axalta Coating Systems Launches Rival™ Economy Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

BLS Stats Show Increase in Numberof Body Shops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

CARFAX Hit by $50M Federal LawsuitFiled by 120 Automotive Dealerships . . 37

Carlyle Group to Sell 50,000 Share Stakein Hertz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Car-O-Liner Names Peter Richardsonto Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

CARSTAR to Support “Hire Our Heroes”

Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36CIC Attendees Overwhelmingly SupportBMS Data Standard Over EMS butSome Vague on the Differences, EMSis Functionally Obsolete . . . . . . . . . . . 38

CIC Continues Discussion of Alternatives to Existing Paint and Materials Calculations . 1

Collision Repair Education Foundation and Partners Announce First of $300,000in Student Scholarships, Will BeAnnouncing More Shortly . . . . . . . . . . 35

Colorado Auto Dealers Find Support inState Legislature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

CREF Seeks Employers For SummerStudents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Dan Risley Appointed Interim ExecutiveDirector of ASA, Outlines ASA Positionon PartsTrader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

DEG Received 1,300 Inquiries in 2012, Up 30%, Expects More than 1,500 in 2013 . 4

Ford Adds 38 New Parts to CollisionParts Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

GEICO Foundation Donates to CREF inCA, FL, DC & NY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Hermanek and Ricciotti Join CREFBoard of Trustees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

I-CAR Announces Keynote SpeakersReginald Modlin and John McElroyfor Boston July Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

I-CAR Plans New-Format IndustryConference in July in Boston . . . . . . . . 26

Industry Demonstrates Early Confidencein SEMA Show with Six Percent ExhibitorIncrease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Maine Legislature Holds Hearings onRight to Repair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Minnesota Senate Passes New Paint,Materials Tax Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Mitchell ITR Says Collision Parts IndexDeclined Last Year For First Time inTen Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

OK Court Reverses Finding on Fordand Dealership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

OK Workers Comp Opt-Out Law. . . . . . . . . 6Only Two Small 2014 SUVs PerformedWell in Front-End Crash TestsAccording to IIHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

PartsTrader Announces New FeedbackFunction Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Progressive Sues Other Insurers ForAlleged Patent Infringement . . . . . . . . . 30

Rhode Island Industry Attorney: “BodyShops Suffer From an Image Problem”. 32

Safelite Named in New Lawsuit AllegingWindshield Separation Due to PoorInstallation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Safelite Opens Chicago Store . . . . . . . . . . . 6SEMA Show Enhances Services forCollision Repair Market, Adds Upto 20,000 Sq. Ft. for 2013 . . . . . . . . . . 30

Stacy Bartnik Joins Team PRP asExecutive Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

State Farm’s Campus Project in Texasis Growing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Texas Franchise Bill Passes House andMoves to Senate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Two More Insurers Require Inspectionsfor Glass Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

U.S. Supreme Court Rules AgainstTowing Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

uParts Gets $2M in Financing . . . . . . . . . 38VeriFacts & Airbag Solutions CreateRestraint Systems Clinic . . . . . . . . . . . 38

www.autobodynews.com | JUNE 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

GCIA Completes 2013 Collision Labor Rate SurveyThe Georgia Collision Industry Asso-ciation (GCIA) recently completedtheir 7th Annual Labor & MaterialsRate Survey for Metro Atlanta andGeorgia. The Survey was conductedby CSi Complete to ensure unbiaseddata collection. CSi Complete is aprovider of customer satisfaction in-dexing to collision repair, insurancecompanies and other service indus-tries and you can learn more informa-tion about the company by visitingtheir website at www.csicomplete.com.

GCIA’s goal in conducting thisannual survey and sharing the resultsis twofold:►To utilize an impartial company toidentify and communicate statisticallyvalid figures representing the prevail-ing labor and material rate for colli-sion repair services offered inGeorgia, and►To communicate the results of theresearch to both collision repair facil-ities, insurance carriers and the ap-propriate parties involved in servingthe consumer in the repair and claimshandling process.

The GCIA encourages all ClaimsManagers and insurance company ex-ecutives to thoroughly review the

2013 GCIA Labor Rate Survey Re-sults and urges you and your companyto join the GCIA in our efforts to alle-viate the variances between the actualprevailing rates (as shown in our sur-vey) versus the rates some carriers arecurrently compensating collision re-pair shops for materials and labor inGeorgia.

The GCIA has conducted thissurvey for seven (7) consecutive years.No other industry association in theUS has collected this amount of accu-rate data on collision materials andlabor rates. This year, 305 shops par-ticipated across, and the results clearlydemonstrate the actual prevailing ratein the Georgia marketplace.

It is the GCIA’s intention that theinformation offered, be used to ensureyour company is fulfilling its obliga-tion to the policyholder, by reimburs-ing for the actual prevailing rates inMetro Atlanta and Georgia. If youhave any questions about the GCIA,or the results of this survey, contactGCIA Executive Director, HowardBatchelor, at [email protected].

For complete survey results go togcia.org/about/labor-rate-survey/. Au-tobody News will summarize the datain our next issue (July, 2013).


Jennifer Vasseur, 38, who workedas a secretary and bookkeeper forA&E Auto Body in Eagle Lake, FL,pleaded guilty to grand theft andmaking false entries on the books ofa corporation.

She accepted a plea deal oncharges of stealing more than$20,000 from the business. Her sen-tencing is scheduled to take placeJuly 9.

If Vasseur repays $20,729 inrestitution by the time of her sen-tencing hearing, she is expected toreceive six months in jail followedby seven years of probation, accord-ing to the plea agreement. If she doesnot repay the entire amount, her pun-ishment will be left in the hands ofCircuit Judge Catherine Combee.

The maximum punishment forthe charges of grand theft and mak-ing false entries on a corporation’sbooks is a total of 20 years in prison.

Vasseur was arrested in May2011 after an investigation by theState Attorney’s Office in Bartow.

Investigator David W. Lyonwrote in an affidavit that Vasseurwrote unauthorized checks in hername, her husband’s name and tocash.

Auto Body BookkeeperTakes Plea Deal for Theft

Mercedes-Benz recently held agroundbreaking ceremony for thelatest expansion at its Alabama autoplant: a 900,000-square-foot partsconsolidation center.

The facility will create about600 jobs, although plans are stillbeing finalized and it’s not clearhow many of those people will beemployed by Mercedes or its con-tractors and service providers. Acombination of all three are ex-pected to work from the facility,which will streamline logistics op-erations and support the receiving,handling and sequencing of parts.

The plant began producing theM-Class SUV in 1997, added the GL-Class SUV and R-Class crossoversince then and is preparing to launchtwo new models: the C-Class sedanand a new SUV.

“With the addition of two newproducts and ongoing high demandfor our current vehicles, our logis-tics operations are becoming in-creasingly more complex,” saidMarkus Schaefer, head of Mer-cedes, Alabama operations.

Mercedes-Benz Plans $70MExpansion, 600 Jobs in AL

The Georgia Collision Industry As-sociation met in Atlanta May 16 andhosted guest speaker Arthur Har-ris, administrator of the DatabaseEnhancement Gateway (DEG).

The DEG, launched in 2008,was created to give repairers an effi-cient means of creating solutions forproblems found in today’s estimat-ing systems. Information providers(IPs) do a good job of continuallyupdating their systems, but new ve-hicles and repair processes changeconstantly.

In addition, GCIA members re-viewed 2013 OSHA requirementswith speaker Chuck Elliott fromKPA. Managing OSHA safety com-pliance is a critical, complex task.For over 25 years, KPA has special-ized in OSHA safety, serving over5,000 dealerships and auto servicecenters across the U.S.

In addition, the GCIA is alsoplanning its annual golf tourna-ment for Wednesday, October 2 atthe Atlanta Trophy club in Al-pharetta.

For questions about the GCIA,contact Howard Batchelor [email protected] or call at 770-367-9816.

GCIA Met on DEG; PlansGolf Tournament October 2

In Talladega County, Honda’s autofactory recently started its mass pro-duction of the Acura MDX SUV.

This marks the ninth vehiclecurrently in production on Al-abama’s assembly lines. It also isthe first model produced in the statefor Acura, which is Honda’s luxurybrand.

The decision to transfer MDXproduction to Alabama from aHonda plant in Canada was an-nounced in 2011. Since then, theLincoln plant has added nearly $400million in investment and 350 jobs,partly to prepare for the new addi-tion.

The 4,000-worker plant, whichalso produces the Odyssey minivan,Pilot SUV and Ridgeline pickup,has been expanding its annual ca-pacity.

The 2014 MDX being pro-duced in Lincoln is a redesign. Be-cause of advanced technologies inthe updated model, significant up-grades were made at the plant. Theyinclude a third plastic injectionmold machine, which required aphysical expansion of the plant, anda third stamping press that will becompleted later this year.

Alabama to Start Producingits First Acura Models

www.autobodynews.com


In 2012, the Database EnhancementGateway (DEG) received more than1,300 inquiries, an increase of approx-imately 30% from the previous twoyears, DEG Administrator ArthurHarris reported. This year, DEG ex-pects to receive more than 1,500 in-quiries.

The DEG was built to help ad-dress individual estimating databaseissues on specific vehicles. As a freeservice, those who use estimate sys-tems may submit inquiries to the DEGwhen they encounter questions orconcerns relative to estimating data.The DEG acts as a go-between forshops and information providers—CCC, Mitchell and Audatex—to im-prove the quality and accuracy of thedata used to generate collision repairestimates and to provide feedback toinformation providers.

As an advocate, the DEG willprocess all submitted database in-quiries to information providers untila conclusion is reached. All issues andresponses are posted on the websiteand visible to all. Through feedback

by repairers, the DEG can help fixfootnotes, inaccurate labor times,missing parts, incorrect part numbers,and substrate identification. Upon re-ceiving an inquiry, Harris said thequestion is posted on their website andforwarded to the information providerwithin 24 hours. Many inquiries areresolved and responded to within 2-3days, depending on the complexity ofthe inquiry and responsiveness of theinformation provider. Response timesare posted directly on the website data-base for clear transparency into theprocess times for each of the three in-formation providers.

The DEG database is a valuabletool for the collision repair industry asit provides valuable feedback on miss-ing, unclear or potentially inaccuratedata within the estimate systems, Har-ris said. Often, an inquiry can result inchanges to the database or P-Pages.Shops are also encouraged to submitpictures or short videos with techni-cians performing the task in questionor related to the problem.

See DEG Inquiries, Page 19

DEG Received 1,300 Inquiries in 2012, Up30%, Expects More than 1,500 in 2013


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Mississippi Legislature Lures Auto Parts PlantGov. Phil Bryant called the Missis-sippi Legislature back into specialsession in late April to consider eco-nomic incentives for what lawmakerssay is a tire manufacturer that wantsto open a plant near West Point.

He and other leaders are trying tokeep a lid on details of the project, in-cluding what incentives—or howmuch—they want taxpayers to fund,the Clarion Ledger recently reported.

“This is an exciting project and agreat testament to the quality of ourworkforce,” said Bryant.

Despite the efforts at secrecy,lawmakers have been talking about apotential auto supplier project nearWest Point for weeks.

Rep. Gary Chism, R-Columbus,whose district includes part of WestPoint, said he’s heard a Japanese tiremanufacturer wants to locate in a“megasite” created just outside WestPoint in Clay County. He said he’salso heard the project would bring

600-800 jobs to an area that badlyneeds them, with unemployment atmore than 18% after a meat plantclosed six years ago.

House Ways and Means Chair-man Jeff Smith said, “Let’s just put itthis way, the Nissan project had a$363 million incentives package fromthe state, counting everything. Thisrequest (for incentives) is much, muchsmaller, but the overall investment isalmost as much as Nissan.”

About $1.4 billion to date hasbeen invested in the Nissan plant nearCanton, Smith said.

Smith said state taxpayers endedup investing about $78,000 per jobcreated at Nissan. He said this projectwould be “much, much less than$78,000 per job.”

“We learned a lot from Nissan,”Smith said. He added that with Nissanand Toyota plants, plus expansions onthe horizon, “We’ll soon be the De-troit of the South.”

Atlanta Body Shops and Car Washes Safe forNow from ‘Red Light District’ Zoning RegulationsIn newly proposed legislation revi-sions, Atlanta car washes and autobody shops seem to be safe for now.

Atlanta City Councilman AlexWan and his supporters in Neighbor-hood Planning Unit-F (NPU-F) hadproposed legislation to remove the‘grandfather clause’ which would ef-fectively close down numerous tar-geted businesses on Cheshire BridgeRd.

Although businesses, such asKong’s Body Shop, have been a fix-ture on Cheshire Bridge Road formore than 27 years, councilman Wanand NPU-F want to close them down.

Kong’s opened their doors in1986, and ten years later the City andthe NPU-F proposed a zoning changein 1996 from C (Commercial) to NC(Neighborhood Commercial).

Businesses, such as Kong’s, wereprotected under the ‘grandfatherclause,’ which allowed businesses tooperate under the new zoning regula-tions.

The controversial zoning changes,proposed by Atlanta City Councilmem-

ber Alex Wan, would essentially zoneout adult businesses, as well as carwashes and auto repair shops, along thepopular road considered the city’s redlight district. Wan and members ofNPU-F argue the changes were part of a1999 study of the road and approved in2005 by the city council.

Wan said in an email to con-stituents that he would only targetadult businesses in his proposed re-zoning ordinances for Cheshire BridgeRoad. That means car washes and autobody shops, which were included inthe original legislations to be zonedout, are safe for now.

He also is extending the amorti-zation period for the adult business tofive years, rather than the original twoyears.

Sung Kong, owner of KongAuto Body Shop and Auto Glo HandCar Wash, says his businesses wouldalso be impacted if the zoningchanges are made, and has been ask-ing people to sign a petition askingWan to stop moving forward with hisproposed zoning ordinances.

An auto repair shop in Belle Glade, lo-cated in Palm Beach County, FL,burned to the ground May 7. The shop,Performance Auto Parts and Service,was located in a building built in 1939.

The fire started around 11:50 p.m.and by the time fire crews arrived,flames were shooting through the roofand the building had collapsed.

Vehicles surrounding the buildingand nearby propane tanks became athreat and several cars were damaged.

No one was inside at the time ofthe fire, but the owner says he losttwo security dogs in the blaze.

Investigators say a faulty light fix-ture sparked the blaze. Palm BeachCounty Fire Rescue spokesman Capt.Albert Borroto said the fire was likelystarted by a faulty fluorescent light bulb.

Shortly after the fire, ownersRosemary and Steve Groves of Per-formance Auto Shop and Service,were already at work trying to rebuildtheir business.

“It’s really tough,” Rosemarysaid. “It’s really tough trying to deal

with it and losing everything.”The couple, who live in a mobile

home next door to the business, wokeup to the fire.

“I’m thankful that we’re aliveourselves and we still have a home,”Rosemary said.

On top of the loss, the Grovesdon’t have insurance on the old build-ing. In 1939, it was an icehouse forproduce packaging companies to helpkeep their crops cold.

The family took over the busi-ness in 2009, Steve said.

Without insurance, they wonderwhat they’ll do for their customers.

Four cars were destroyed insidethe fire and numerous others on theoutside were damaged.

“We’re hoping that we can re-place them,” she said. “We’re goingto try to find them another vehicle.”

However, the couple had theirlife savings put into the business.

“We’re a strong family and I’msure we can figure out how to do it,”she added.

Belle Glade, FL, Shop Burns to the Ground

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin recentlysigned into law legislation allowing em-ployers to implement an alternative to thestate’s traditional workers compensationsystem. The signing makes Oklahomaonly the second state after Texas to allowemployers to leave the traditional state

workers comp insurance system. The lawwill decrease permanent and temporarytotal disability benefits and shorten ben-efit durations, which is expected to re-duce Oklahoma workers comp systemcosts by $125 million annually, or12.5%, according to an April report.

OK Workers Comp Opt-Out Law

Safelite Opens Chicago StoreSafelite AutoGlass recently opened anew store located at 6538-40 OgdenAvenue in Berwyn, IL.

Safelite now has a total of 10 lo-cations in the Chicago area.

The 4,000-square-foot facilityhouses up to 200 auto glass products,according to the company.

Hector Perez serves as the storemanager.


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Angela Wray, 36, a former book-keeper for Celico Auto Body in Bun-nell, FL, was recently sentenced tothree years in prison and Circuit JudgeJ. David Walsh told her she was re-sponsible for paying back $58,964 shestole from Celico Auto Body.

The owner of the business, Car-los Celico, had noticed his businesswas low on cash flow but he originallychalked it up to the poor economy, hesaid.

Wray’s body went limp after theverdict was read and two bailiffscaught her before she fell to the floor.

“I do not find this to be a ridicu-lous or a silly charge,” said Walsh.“It’s a very serious charge.”

While the defendant sat in a chair,Walsh noticed she was having troublesitting up and told bailiffs to let herlean over and place her head betweenher knees. By then, a third bailiff en-tered the courtroom to assist. All threepulled her out of the chair and allowedher to lie down on the carpet with herfeet elevated. The shackles on herwrists and ankles remained.

On March 28, a six-panel juryunanimously agreed Wray had stolen

from her employer and used themoney to take trips, pay off credit carddebt and go dining and shopping. Ju-rors reached their verdict in 12 min-utes.

Wray’s employment at CelicoAuto Body ended in the fall of 2010.By the summer of 2011, authoritieswere notified of some discrepancies inthe business’s bookkeeping. Later thatyear, she was arrested by the FloridaDepartment of Law Enforcement.

In a separate case in New Jersey,Wray had pleaded guilty in June 2011in a New Jersey Superior Court to atheft charge and was sentenced to 45days in jail. She was convicted ofstealing $44,000 from a landscapingcompany she had worked for from2004 to 2006.

The story of that arrest wasbrought to Celico’s attention and hedecided to review his company’s ac-counting. He soon contacted law en-forcement with his discoveries.

“(The sentence) should’ve been alittle bit longer, but it’s OK,” Celicosaid.

Walsh also sentenced Wray to 15years of probation to be served after

she is released from prison. The judgesaid she could cut that probationaryperiod in half if she pays the restitu-tion in full by then and commits no vi-olations.

During closing arguments, Assis-tant State Attorney Jennifer Duntonsaid Wray “made the conscious deci-sion” to steal from Celico 127 timesduring a 3½-year period.

“She knew what was beingchecked and what wasn’t,” said Dun-ton. “No one was (checking) behindher and she knew it. She blamed Mr.Celico, attacked his business practicesand then said it was a loan. There’sbeen no acceptance of responsibilityin this case,” Dunton told the judge.

Celico received $25,000 in insur-ance as a partial reimbursement. Hesaid he borrowed another $35,000from a private individual. He said hedid so in order to save his business. Hestill owes money to that person, hesaid.

Six people testified on Wray’s be-half, including her husband, FlaglerCounty Sheriff’s Deputy ChristopherWray, who said he always let his wifehandle the family’s finances. He said

he never noticed changes in lifestyle—even though the family took regu-lar trips to Disney World and Sea-World—and said he believed his wifenever stole anything from Celico AutoBody.

“How could she be convictedwhen there’s nothing to show for it?”he said on the stand.

During his testimony, ChristopherWray said his wife told him not to tes-tify during her trial. He said she ad-vised him not to do so “for fear ofretaliation.”

Defense attorney Regina Nun-nally asked him about Celico’s “con-nections” within the Sheriff's Officeand whether he or his wife worriedthat was where the retaliation wouldcome from.

“(My wife) didn’t want anyonepointing fingers at me,” ChristopherWray said. “(She) didn’t want thesheriff coming after me in any shapeor form.”

Angela Wray will be credited forthe 65 days she has spent in jail. Shewill spend the remaining time in thecustody of the Florida Department ofCorrections.

Former Florida Body Shop Bookkeeper Sentenced to 3 Years



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In the wake of a hailstorm that cre-ated havoc for Mississippi residentsleft with damaged homes and cars,Mississippi Attorney General JimHood sent a letter to all insurancecompanies on April 19 instructingthem to cover specific proceduresonvehicles damaged by the hail-storm.

In the letter, Hood asks all insur-ance companies conducting businessin the state to pay for necessary pro-cedures to restore recently damagedvehicles to their pre-accident condi-tions.

After the recent hailstorms leftnumerous Mississippi residents withdamage to their businesses, homesand vehicles, Hood’s office receivedreports that some insurance compa-nies were not including certain pro-cedures that would restore vehicles topre-accident condition in their esti-mates.

Essentially the same messagewas given by the Mississippi Insur-ance Department (see cover story.)

The body shops have stated thatthey will not make these repairs with-out payment from the insurance com-panies. The letter from Jim Hood isaddressed to “General Counsel of In-

surance companies” and reads as fol-lows:

A recent hail storm in Mississippicaused significant damage to manyMississippians’ businesses, automo-biles, and homes. Our office has re-ceived reports that some insurancecompanies are issuing estimates thatdo not include certain automobile re-pair procedures specified by the in-surance companies’ own manualsand/or software as necessary to re-turn vehicles to their pre-accidentcondition.

Furthermore, our office has sur-vey responses from over thirty auto-body repair shops. The survey resultsindicate that claims for certain repairsspecified as necessary by the insur-ance companies’ own manuals and/orsoftware, such as feather, block andprime, denib and finnese, masking ofjambs, broken glass clean up, andmore are not being included in esti-mates issued to the insureds. Theseauto-body repair shops have notagreed to make these required repairswithout payment by the insurers.

The refusal to include in an esti-mate the work required by the insur-ance companies’ own manuals and/or

software to return vehicles to theirpre-accident condition has created anenvironment for companies poten-tially to take unfair advantage of in-sureds and/or auto-body repairshops. The inconvenience and finan-cial damage to property caused bythe hail storm should not be com-pounded by the shift of covered ex-penses onto the automobile owner orauto-body repair shop. All insurancecompanies should be aware that suchpractices could subject the companiesto civil or criminal penalties.

Therefore, I am asking you totake whatever steps are necessary tocorrect this inconsistency in your busi-ness practices. Please communicate toyour staff the necessity to consult theprocedure pages provided by yourchosen manual and/or software andyour responsibility to pay for repairsaccording to the labor allowancesprovided by your databases. Your co-operation in protecting Mississippi in-dividuals and businesses is greatlyappreciated. If you have any ques-tions, please contact the ConsumerProtection Division at 601-359-4230.

Sincerely yours,Jim Hood, Attorney General

Mississippi’s Attorney General Hood Tells Insurance Companies to Cover Feather,Prime & Block, Denib and Finesse, Masking of Jambs, Glass Clean Up, Etc. Bernard Arden Lamphere Sr., 88,

of Port St. Lucie, FL, died April 12,2013. He was born Feb. 6, 1925 inNew Berlin. He recently moved toPort St. Lucie from the Finger LakesRegion. Mr. Lamphere worked atCornell University in Ithaca for 27years as an Environmental, Health,and Safety Officer. He worked prioras an Auto Body Repairman Special-ist at R&H Pontiac in Groton, havinglearned the trade of body and fenderwork at Veteran’s Vocational Schoolin Troy. He served in the U.S. Armyduring World War II.

Bernard Arden Lamphere Sr.

In Snellville, GA, a car stolen fromPremier Autobody & Collision in lateApril was recovered a few blocksaway because of a complaint about anillegally parked car.

According to the GwinnettCounty Police report, stolen items in-cluded a computer, a VolkswagenPassat and a Ford that had not yetbeen repaired. Forced entry was notneeded to take the cars since the keyswere in plain sight. The culprits alsotook the keys to the owner’s Mer-cedes, but the vehicle was not taken.The recovered vehicle was the Ford.

Stolen Shop Cars Found in GA


In April, 35 collision repair and auto-motive refinishing students competedin the annual Alabama SkillsUSA con-test. The first day of the competitionwas held at Bevill State CommunityCollege in Sumiton, AL, with day twoat BJCC Convention Center in Birm-ingham, AL.

In all, 35 contestants from 14schools (12 secondary schools andtwo post-secondary schools) com-peted for the coveted top placements.

Of those students, 18 competed in au-tomotive refinishing technology and17 competed in collision repair.

Winners are:Automotive Refinishing Technology,secondary schools:

1st Place: Nathan Pearl, MarshallTechnical School, Guntersville, AL2nd Place: Tyler Tayler, DekalbCounty Technology Center, Rainsville,AL3rd Place: Houston Darnell, MuscleShoals Center for Technology, MuscleShoals, AL

Automotive Refinishing Technology,post-secondary schools:1st Place: Austin Leak, Gadsden

State Community College, Gads-den, AL2nd Place: Vince Pearce, WallaceState College, Hanceville, AL

Collision Repair Technology, sec-ondary schools:1st Place: Treyson Burder, ShelbyCounty School of Technology,Columbiana, AL2nd Place: Matthew Dunn, AlbertP Brewer High School, Somerville,AL3rd Place: Noah King, Dekalb CountyTechnology Center, Rainsville, AL

Collision Repair Technology, post-sec-ondary schools1st Place: Drake Weaver, GadsdenState Community College, Gadsden,AL

2nd Place: Caleb Burleson, WallaceState College, Hanceville, AL

The Alabama Automotive Re-pair Industry Society of Excellence(ALARISE) will award $1,000 eachto the four first place winners to helpcover expenses of traveling to the na-tional competition in Kansas City,MO, June 24-28. In addition, twosecondary students each received a$500 scholarship provided by DuPontand ALARISE.

“It is refreshing to see the excite-ment of young students wanting toenter the collision industry,” said Ron-nie Smallwood, collision director ofthe Alabama SkillsUSA competition.“During the past few years, I haveseen a definite increase in the skilllevel of the students.”

Sponsors of the 2013 AlabamaSkillsUSA collision repair competitionincluded: Joe Hudson Collision, River-chase Collision, Earls Collision, LynnLayton Collision Center, Jim BurkeCollision, Myers Auto Collision, BushAuto Collision, Ace Autobody, BevillState, PPG, Rozars, Allstate, Keystone,3M, Shoals Bumper, Alabama Auto-motive Finishes, Town & County Ford,Tameron, Benchmark Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge and Ivan Leonard Chevrolet.

Alabama Students Compete at SkillsUSA, Winners Receive Awards from ALARISE

A group of SkillsUSA contestants work on an es-timatics test

The Texas Franchise Tax Bill, Sub-stitute House Bill 500, that will helpresolve independent repairer fran-chise tax issues recently passed theHouse and moved to the Senate.

Currently, automotive serviceand collision repair shops owned andoperated by new or used car dealer-ships are taxed at half the rate usedto tax the independently owned busi-nesses doing identical work. TheTexas state tax code classifies deal-ership sales as “retail” and allowstheir service and repair business tobe included under that banner.

Once passed in the Senate, thisbill will allow automotive repair shopsto be taxed the same amount that deal-ers, parts stores and tire stores are nowtaxed.

ASA requests that Texas mem-bers send a letter to their legislatorsurging them to support this bill.Visit ASA’s legislative website atwww.TakingTheHill.com.

According to Charles Parker,executive director of ASA-Texas,“This legislation is critical in helpingthe independent repair shops of Texasby correcting the unfair taxation ofindependent repair shops throughoutTexas.”

Texas Franchise Bill PassesHouse and Moves to Senate

State Farm Insurance is building abig regional office campus inRichardson, TX, near State Hwy.190. It is reported to become thelargest office development in theDallas-Fort Worth area.

Late last year, developer KDCsaid the State Farm office complexwould be about 1.5 million squarefeet.

But in the almost six monthssince word of the project came out,the office complex has grown by al-most another 1 million square feet,real estate sources say.

That will make it one of thelargest corporate office projects everbuilt in the Dallas area–on par withthe huge Electronic Data Systemsheadquarters built in Plano starting inthe 1980s. A campus that size caneasily house somewhere up to 8,000workers.

General contractor Austin Com-mercial is building the State Farmproject, the first phase of which willbe ready in the fall of 2014.

The almost 10-acre project isbeing financed by J.P. MorganChase. Looking around Texas, onlyExxon Mobil’s new Houston campusis bigger than the State Farm project.

State Farm’s Campus Project in Texas is Growing

An Oklahoma appellate court rejecteda trial court’s decision that had foundFord Motor Company “vicariously li-able” to disgruntled customers of anow-defunct dealership. The case in-volved an Oklahoma dealer that closedits business only seven months afterFord approved its purchase of the deal-ership. During its operation, thedealer’s employees executed boguschecks and failed to deliver vehicles,title certificates, or to pay balances ontrade-in vehicles. The disgruntled cus-tomers sued, and the trial court foundFord vicariously liable under an agencytheory and directly liable for approvingthe transfer of the business to an inex-perienced and undercapitalized dealer.The appellate court reversed, holdingthat Ford’s reasonable control over itstrademark did not create an agency re-lationship that rendered Ford liable forthe dealer’s bad acts. The appellatecourt relied on decisions that a “manu-facturer/franchisor may exercise somecontrol or protect its national identity,reputation, and trademark from aban-donment without creating an agencyrelationship with its dealer/franchisee.”The appellate court decided that Fordowed no duty to the disgruntled cus-tomers under Oklahoma law.

OK Court Reverses Findingon Ford and Dealership


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Sports & Imports Collision Inc.,with locations in Duluth and Cham-blee, GA, recently teamed up withthe National Auto Body Association(NABC) and State Farm to donatethree vehicles through the RecycledRides program to three local organ-izations.

The car giveaway was held May3 at the Grand Hyatt in Atlanta, GA.

As a member of NABC, Sports &Imports Collision refurbished the ve-hicles as part of a national vehicle do-nation program.

The three vehicles refurbishedwere a 2008 black Nissan Altima,which was given to the Savannah In-terfaith Hospitality Network of Coastal

County; a 2006 light green ChryslerTown & Country van to the AugustaGA Family Promise organization; anda 2010 burgundy Nissan Altima wasgiven to Family Promise of Ouachitain Monroe, LA.

Businesses that donated serv-ices or goods towards the refur-bishment of the vehicles includeFinishMasters, Hayes Chrysler,Wheel Wizard, Kaufman Tire, DentMonster, Dye Werks and GwinnettPlace Nissan.

Sports & ImportsCollision employeeswho worked on the do-nated vehicles includeJorge Dimas, DerylHarris, Don Herr,David Smith, JohnBunn, Jim Koehn,Bruce Meinert, MikeMorrow, Devin John-son, Dan Mann, EricRanalli, Andy Lang-maid and coordinatorEmily Behrendsen.

Sports & Imports of GA Teams Up with NABC to Recycle Rides


Emily Behrendsen, Sports & Imports, ChuckSulkala, NABC, LaVanda Brown, InterfaithHospitality Network of Coastal GA-Savannah,Gene Hamilton, owner of Sports & Imports,Tithia Young, Interfaith Hospitality Network ofCoastal GA-Savannah, GA, and MichelleHamilton Coombs, Business Manager ofSports & Imports Collision

This burgandy Altima was repaired at the Sports & Imports location in Chamblee, GA. From left:Michelle Hamilton Coombs, Business Manager Carol Swanson, Andrew Boggs, Dean Willis, EricRanalli, Larry Henson, Arthur Jones, Bonnie Bustamante, Adam Hewett, Don Herr, John Suponic,and Andy Langmaid

2008 Nissan Altima refurbished for SavannahGA Interfaith Hospitality Network of CoastalCounty

Emily Behrendsen, Sports & Imports, Chuck Sulkala, NABC, MichelleHamilton Coombs, Business Manager with Sports & Imports, GeneHamilton, owner of Sports & Imports, and Tracy Owens, AllstateInsurance


The Florida Senate recently passed abill that rolls back automobile fees,saving an individual driver $12 a yearon annual registration.

The Senate passed the bill (SB1832) on a 39-0 vote.

The state will make up the lostmoney—between $220 million and$230 million—by eliminating a decades-old tax break to insurance companies.Those companies pay a state tax on in-surance premiums but also get a rebateworth 15% of the salary paid to theirworkers.

“The tax credit has helped pro-duce jobs over the years,” said SamMiller, executive director of theFlorida Insurance Council, the state’slargest insurance trade association. “Itis not clear that repeal of the creditwon’t endanger job creation. The stateshould move cautiously and be sure.”

Indeed, a united front of businessand insurance lobbyists had opposedthe measure, many of them suggestingthat getting rid of a tax break to pay forthe rollback could cost the state thou-sands of insurance-sector jobs.

Sen. Jeremy Ring, a Margate De-mocrat, who described lobbyists’ rhet-oric as “there’d be Armageddon if thispassed,” said “it’s nice to finally call abluff.”State lawmakers increased auto fees in2009 to help close a multibillion-dollarbudget gap, part of a $2.2 billion pack-age of tax and fee increases.

It included a 35% increase in an-nual tag fees, which went up $5 to$11.40, depending on a car’s weight.The initial vehicle registration feewent from $100 to $225. And the costof an initial driver’s license increasedfrom $27 to $48 and a renewal got

boosted from $20 to $48.Earlier this year, Senate President

Don Gaetz had asked his committeechairs to review the state’s many taxincentives.

Sen. Audrey Gibson, a Jack-sonville Democrat, voted ‘yes’ after fail-ing to stop the bill with an amendmentrequiring a study of the tax rollback.

Sen. Thad Altman, a Viera Re-publican, said the increase had neverbeen discussed in committee and cameup only late in the 2009 legislative ses-sion in budget conference.

“This is giving back to the peopleof Florida their hard-earned dollars,”he said.

Sen. Nancy Detert, a Venice Re-publican, called it “a Robin Hood bill,”and Jeff Clemens, a Lake Worth De-mocrat, said the measure was “a directbreak for working people.”

But Miller said the incentivethat’s paying for the tax break has beenin place for more than 25 years, andwas reaffirmed and expanded in 2003.

“We have seen companies thathave been able to expand or maintainjobs, resulting in the industry employ-ing more than 180,000 Floridians injust the last four years,” he said. Thetax credit “is part of the broader con-sideration that companies take into ac-count when deciding to place ormaintain jobs in our state, and we thinkit is working.”

There is no companion bill in theHouse, meaning that chamber willhave to consider the Senate version forit to become law.

Speaker Will Weatherford saidhe hadn't ruled out the bill's consider-ation but added it likely would have tobe referred to a committee first.

FL Senate Passes Bill to Save Drivers $12 on Registration Fees; Could it Cost Jobs?

The study concluded the currentsystem is flawed in part because onsmaller jobs, repairers do not receiveadequate compensation, and for largerepair jobs, insurers believe materialscharges become excessive.

It also found that while averagecosts for paint and materials havegrown by 50% since 2005, the averagecompensation rates paid by insurershave risen by only 23%. Lanza saidthat even some repairers he spoke withwho don’t currently have a problemwith the system are concerned aboutthe future given this continuing dispar-

ity in the growth of costs versus com-pensation.

“Of the individuals I spoke with,78% agreed that in order to keep upwith industry standards and keep pacewith future cost increases, we need todo something, and they agreed that aalternative calculation system has to beimplemented,” Lanza said.

The study, commissioned byComputerLogic (which produces thePMCLogic paint and materials cost-calculation system), included inter-views (each 30 minutes or longer) withshops, insurers, suppliers, associationexecutives, consultants and trade pub-lication editors.

Continued from Cover

Paint and Materials


“What’s this Google+ thing I’m hear-ing about?” or “Should my businesshave a Google+ page?” and “We justfigured out this Facebook thing andnow we have to worry about doingGoogle+?” are among the commentsI’ve heard recently at CAA meetings.

I’ve been paying close attentionto Google+ for more than a year now,watching it to see how it evolves andgrows and reading blogs about it. Theconsensus is that Google+ is quicklybecoming a go-to site for companiesof all sizes. People and businesses likeit because it offers exposure and inter-activity without sacrificing securityand privacy.

Instead of Facebook which has“likes,” Google+ allows the user to cre-ate “Circles,” which can be brokendown into separate groups. You cancreate as many Circles as you desire,including your college classmates, soft-ball team members, co-workers, or rel-atives, for example. Each message orinteraction can be focused and tailoredto each Circle. It’s more targeted andmore importantly, you’re not botheringpeople with news or photos of thingsthat probably won’t interest them.

Google+ also has an interestingfeature called “Sparks” which are es-sentially a list of the user’s favoritehobbies, activities or organizationsthat interest them. Once these Sparksare selected on the user’s profile,Google+ will automatically suggestappropriate content to the user. Theseinclude links to pertinent and timelyarticles, videos, photos, podcasts andsound files that are directly related tothe individual’s or company’s partic-ular interests.

Google+ also has a very popularvideo chat feature called “Hangouts”that enable the user to conduct videochats within their Circles. There arealso “Huddles,” an online chat featuresimilar to what you might find onAOL or Skype. All of these featureswork together to engage people andkeep them involved, which is the maingoal of social media in general.

To find a body shop that usedGoogle+ extensively, I found MarinaAuto Body, with two locations in LosAngeles. When I talked to the ownerTom Williamson, he had nothing but

positive things to say about his expe-rience with Google + and his results.He told me about Pixel Motion, acompany in Orange County, CA, thathe contracted to do his web and socialmedia work.

Pixel Motion is a boutique digitalagency that does marketing and webdevelopment with a focus on the au-tomotive industry. Most of theirclients are automotive manufacturersand car dealerships, but they alsowork extensively with a select numberof collision centers and body shops.

I contacted the agency’s Directorof Social Media Natalie Ricker topick her brain about social media andGoogle+ for automotive companiesand body shops specifically.

“My mentality when approachingany form of social media always is thesame—will it keep people’s atten-tion?” Ricker said. “So, I post whatpeople want to know, which can in-clude anything from the weather, localevents happening in their area, links toarticles that are related to car safety,quotes of the day, or maybe just a pic-ture of an adorable dog. My postsvary, so the fans never see the samething every day. When fans comeacross the page, they will want to likeit because of how people-friendly it is.We aren’t pushing promotions. We’reshowcasing the fact that we love ourcustomers and employees; we love tohave fun and keep you informed andentertained. That’s the message wewant to convey.”

With people getting into accidentsevery nine years on average, socialmedia like Google+ is valuable forbody shops that want to stay in theircustomers’ minds when the unfortu-nate does occur.

“When the next collision doeshappen to them or someone theyknow, what shop do you think will bethe first to pop in their head?” Rickersaid. “We use this same approach withGoogle+. If a potential customer issearching on the web for a premiercollision center near Los Angeles, willthey choose the one that has a com-plete profile with pictures and funposts, with people in their Circles, orwill they choose the one that has anincomplete profile that didn’t bother

to personalize their page?”It’s all about the presentation with

any type of social media, Ricker ex-plained. “Body shops need to have anattractive Google + page, no question.Organically, they will rank next toother business listings that haveGoogle places, so they need to standout. If someone sees a picture of just amap, they move on. They want to seea picture of the body shop. It makes itfeel more legitimate and professional.

“One of the biggest differencesbetween Facebook and Google+ isGoogle Hangouts,” Ricker said.“Body shops can use this tool to theiradvantage with other Google users.Let’s say a customer wants to see theprogress of the repair of their vehicle.With Google Hangouts, they canemail an invite to their technician to“hangout” or video chat with them.They can then see the friendly smileof the technician and interact withthem face-to-face. Should the techni-

cian have time, he can also even givethem a virtual tour of the progress oftheir vehicle with a company laptop.”

Another great thing about Googleis they offer amazing data that canhelp body shops to find out what’sworking and what isn’t.

“We recommend that our clientskeep track of their Google+ page’sprogress through Google Analytics,”Ricker said. “It’s easy to track wheretheir visitors come from, (cities, searchengines, social sites, etc.), how longthey are staying on the site and whichpages are the most popular. We trackthese analytics every month and send areport to our clients with screenshotsof different data. We then provide anin-depth analysis with recommenda-tions on how to improve. We also rec-ommend Google Webmaster Tools,which is also full of insightful data andmetrics. A lot of this information canbe overwhelming, so we simplify itand explain it to our customers.”

Google+ Is an Emerging Star for Media-Savvy Body Shops

with Ed Attanasio

Social Media for Shops

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



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Benefits or Assignment of Proceedsand I will go after the insurance com-pany on their behalf. I’ll step intotheir shoes. Every customer I’ve dis-cussed this with agrees to take thesecond option.”

Currently, Quintela has 80 cus-tomers he is representing in court. Inone week alone, he filed 53 cases.The insurance companies he’s cur-rently in litigation with include StateFarm, GEICO, USAA, Travelers,Bristol West, Infinity and others.

Collision Concepts, a 10,000-square-foot shop, currently has sevenDRPs. Quintela and his staff of 11work on 80–100 vehicles per month.He’s been in business since 2002.Prior to owning his shop, Quintelawas an estimator for State Farm from1994–2002. His family owned bodyshops while he was growing up.

Over the past year, Quintela—in-spired by shop owner Ray Gunder ofLakeland, FL—has been taking ac-tion against insurance companies onbehalf of his customers.

“The insurance companies al-

ways try to steer my customers awayfrom me anyway, no matter what,even if I wasn’t doing this. Now thatI have to fight to keep my customerto begin with, I feel like I don’t haveany reason why I shouldn’t go afterthe insurance companies for every-thing they owe,” said Quintela.

The business of making insurerspay what body shops feel they areowed is well worth the effort, timeand expense, said Quintela.

“If you were to look at this effortjust as a business itself, the return oninvestment is great because not onlyam I recovering the money I shouldhave been paid in the beginning (forproperly repairing a vehicle), I’m re-covering my court costs and my at-torney’s fees as well. At the end of theday, I’ve recovered my investment,plus I got paid what I should have gotpaid to begin with.”

All he said he’s spending is time,and after one or two cases, the legalsteps became easy and are hardly timeconsuming.

“Once you do one or two cases, itbecomes really easy because youknow how it works. It’s very routine,”said Quintela. “The file gets put on mydesk once the work begins on the car

and I scan the file over to my attorneyand that’s it. If it takes me more than15 minutes, it takes a lot of time. Andthe best thing about it is, we fix the carright away. We write our estimate, andwe don’t care what the insurancewrites. Whatever the difference is iswhat we are suing for.”

For example, Quintela and hislegal counsel, Brent Geohagan ofLakeland, FL, (also Ray Gunder’slegal counsel), recently levied a law-suit against Infinity Insurance Com-pany on behalf of a customer for theinsurer’s short pays of “reasonableand necessary” repair costs. The law-suit claims an underpayment of $611for the insurer’s arbitrary discount onparts, failure to provide ample con-sideration for numerous necessary re-pair processes, related materials,labor rates and quality replacementparts.

Recently, Quintela received aState Farm estimate sheet that statesthe shop is responsible for conductingsafety inspections and checks.

“How can State Farm tell us thatwe’re responsible for conducting anynecessary inspection and safetychecks, but refuse to reimburse theircustomers for the cost of us doing

them?”Quintela and Geohagan have al-

ready settled numerous short-paycases and have won them all.

What Quintela finds somewhatamusing is that the insurance compa-nies will settle one day and the verynext day, refuse to pay for the samethings they just settled in a previouslawsuit.

“We just settled with State Farm.They just paid me, plus my attorneyfees and their attorney fees and courtcosts, and the next day they comeback and do the same thing. They arestill fighting it. And, I just got a checkfrom another insurance company andthe next day I am suing them for thesame exact things. These insurancecompanies go to court, they lose, theysettle, but the next day they are outdoing the same exact thing. Theywon’t give up. They try to wear youout, hoping that one day you just goaway, or they make it so hard to dis-courage other shops from doing it,”Quintela said.

However, Quintela believes it isimportant for body shops to stand upfor themselves and feels his effortsare helping the collision repair indus-try move in the right direction.


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53 Lawsuits


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Continued researchMore recently, Lanza’s firm was re-tained by Highway CARSTAR Colli-sion in Chagrin Falls, OH, a shopowned by Lanza’s father Frank, to domore research into the alternativemethods of calculating paint and ma-terials compensation. The current sys-tem, while certainly the easiest, isprobably the least fair and accurate,Lanza said. Use of a paint scale with aratio factor for other types of materi-als was seen as being less easy to use,but somewhat more accurate and fair.Use of a paint and materials calculatoralso seemed more fair and accurateand yet easier to use. But, Lanza said,not all paint and materials calculatorsare the same.

“We took a look at over 1,000 es-timates from more than 20 differentshops,” Steven Lanza said. “We lookedat various size jobs with various paintlines. We determined there are differ-ences between alternative paint andmaterials calculation systems.”

Some of the calculators take thesurface area of the panels being refin-

ished into account, for example, Lanzasaid. Others are still based on refinishhours or some other system.

Frank Lanza said he has re-searching the topic for more than threeyears, with data comparing the varioussystems on more than 3,000 estimates.He said he has tried five calculationsystems, “finding different flaws ineach one of them,” but that some arebetter than others in terms of offeringa “a fair and accurate solution.”

For his own shop, he said, hechose a system that uses list (or “user”)prices for paint and materials. Whatshops actually pay can vary based onmany factors, he said, but list prices arepublished and consistent nationwide.

“The major issue that I foundwith the calculators that I didn’t(choose) is they were based on costand allowed the shop to put their ownmark-up on it,” Frank Lanza said.“Well, I bet if I asked, everyone in herehas a different cost depending on yourvolume and who your distributor isand what kind of products you’reusing. And everybody has a differentidea of what the mark-up should be.So what I tried to do was to be consis-tent, and so that’s the reason I use the

Continued from Page 13

Paint and Materials


One rule you’ll find in many sales andmarketing books is that the averagesale is made after the sixth visit or call,but the average sales person gives upafter the third visit or call. This infor-mation provides a reliable way to in-crease sales power. The usual sale ina collision repair shop is just gettingthe owner of a vehicle who brings itinto the shop is leave the keys and letthe shop do the repairs. But generallya shop also works to sell dealerships,fleet management companies, insur-ance companies and more on referringbusiness to the shop. While these salesefforts involve direct calls and visits,perhaps the most common violation ofthis rule is the sale to the vehicleowner who comes in for an estimate.

Back in the ‘90s, I visited a shopwhere the owner said he had a nearlyfoolproof method of capturingprospects that came in for an estimateand didn’t leave the vehicle. He had aseries of postcards he sent out after theprospect left. The first simply invitedthe prospect to come back and em-phasized the shop’s superior cycletime, paint quality, customer satisfac-tion and more. The next offered somefreebees, like a detail or wash. And thenext offered a financial consideration,like a lower rate if it was self-pay orperhaps a rebate on insurance jobs. Hesaid he captured nearly half of thosehe lost when they came in. In today’s

digital world where snail-mail isviewed as too slow to be of value, animmediate e-mail or Facebook orTwitter message might be more effec-tive. But how many shops stop afterthe first, second or third message, ifthey send anything at all. And of thosethat follow up with a phone call, howmany even go to a third call?

A lot of guys might say six callswould be ridiculous. But might therebe a good reason to make those sixcalls? Last year I wrote about the life-time value of a repeat customer. I fig-ured that in 15 years a driver mighthave a reason to visit the shop three-to-five times and generate at least$5,000 worth of business. In a shopthat depends heavily on repeat busi-ness, this should be reason enough tomake the calls or send messages.

When it comes to making thecalls, the old nemesis of sales peoplemight come into play. It’s well-knownthe biggest obstacle to persisting insales is fear of rejection. An estimatormay feel that fifth or sixth call willjust annoy the prospective customerand do more harm than good. If thefollow-up calls are just repeats of theones before and lack any new reasonto call, indeed, the prospect could getannoyed and hang-up the phone. It’strue. No call at all is better than a to-tally unplanned call with no strategicreason in mind. To make the six-call

strategy work, every one of the callsmust have a specific purpose thatrings true to the prospective customer.

Like the shop owner that sent fol-low-up postcards, the first few callsshould follow the same pattern: em-phasizing the shop’s superior cycletime, paint quality, and customer sat-isfaction. The next call could offersome freebees, like a free rental car, adetail or wash. And the next couldoffer a financial consideration. But atthis point, if there is still no sale, thenext calls have to take the push to anentirely new level.

Once again, in my previous arti-cle, I quoted marketing guru JayAbraham who says: “Until you iden-tify and understand exactly how muchcombined profit a client represents toyour business for the life of that rela-tionship, you can’t begin to know howmuch time, effort and ... expense youcan afford to invest to acquire thatclient in the first place.”

At some point you have to askyourself, how much would it be worthto get this customer for a lifetime? Someshops buy jobs from tow-truck drivers.Some shops pay dealerships a monthlyfee to get their work. How much wouldyou be willing to pay the customer to gethis or her business for life?

That fourth, fifth or sixth callcan’t be just another “canned presen-tation.” At this point there has to beenough on the table to really capturethe prospect’s attention. For example,you might ask him or her if someoneat work or among family and friendsalso needs body work on a vehicle. Ifso, it could be feasible to offer thisprospect half price or less if one of theother vehicles also comes in for repair.

Here is shot at getting severallifetime customers. Once you’ve gonebeyond the basic three calls, thesenext three calls must be creative andbuild on the prospect’s ego or desirefor the best possible deal.


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The Power of Persistence in Marketing

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

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

list price as opposed to cost.”

Benefit to insurersHe said one thing that works in insur-ers’ favor with paint and materials cal-culators is that the system candistinguish which items have sales taxthat must be charged to the insurer bythe shop and which do not.

“In our state, the shop has to paysales tax on certain items that do notleave with the car,” Frank Lanza said.“What happens is if you group paintand materials all together into oneitem, and then it’s taxed, that is reallydouble taxation. The insurance com-pany might care about that.”

In one example shown at CIC,for example, separating out taxableand non-taxable paint and materialswould reduce by $9.25 the amount theinsurer would have paid under thecurrent system of just multiplyinglabor hours by a materials rate.

One shop owner at CIC said thepaint and materials calculators areprobably a more accurate and fair wayto determine compensation, but in hisexperience insurers won’t accept theitemized invoice the systems produce.

Frank Lanza disputed that as-sertion.

“There are parts of the country,where the calculator is the prevailingcompetitive price. Insurance compa-nies are accepting it,” he said. “So it’sup to us to prove to the insurance com-


Paint and Materials



The DEG public database hasbeen available for five years, saidHarris, who has been with the non-profit for over two years. As the ad-ministrator, Harris is responsible fordaily operations of processing in-quiries and is assisted by a joint oper-ating committee. With 25 years in theindustry, Harris’ background includesmanaging a collision center at a deal-ership in Rochester, NY, and in an-other position, working as a trainingand education director and liaison be-tween the collision repair shop and in-surance companies to resolve issues.

“We are really excited about the30% increase of inquiries because itmeans the industry is taking advan-tage of the resource, and that it is pro-viding a necessary and useful tool forcollision shops,” Harris said. “Thatsaid, we know we are only scratchingat the surface. If you look at the num-ber of body shops in the U.S. (ap-proximately 35,000), 1,300 to 1,500inquiries in a year is probably not rep-resentative of the full spectrum of datacorrections that need to be addressed.We think there are more areas withinthe databases that can be resolved ifmore people were exposed to howeasy it is to communicate with IPsthrough our process, and how effec-tive that communication is when esti-mators submit issues.”

In December 2012, the DEGlaunched a redesigned website(www.degweb.org) that is easier tonavigate. Users can jump right intothe inquiry process with an easily vis-ible “Open Inquiry” button located onthe home page. The most significantaddition to the website is the additionof a “Top 10 List” for each of the threeinformation providers. These lists aregenerated by the most frequent issuesposted by users or enhancementsusers would like to see.

In the Top 10 Lists for all threeinformation providers, the top userconcern listed for each is “Feather,Prime and Block”—users would liketo see the systems generate a pop-upto add feather, prime and block laborto the estimate. The user would createthe time, but the system needs the op-tion to add it, without creating a man-ual entry. Another top concern isadding an option—“add for prep rawpart”—for preparation time for plas-tic parts (in addition to bumpers) thatare shipped raw or in an unprimedstate.

In addition, the newly designedwebsite continues to includes links toestimating guides or “P-Pages” foreach estimating system.

“We are really excited about thenew design of the website,” Harrissaid. “It gives the user the opportunityto get to a few key areas right away.”

The DEG is equally funded by theSociety of Collision Repair Specialists(SCRS), the Automotive Service Asso-ciation (ASA) and the Alliance of Au-tomotive Service Providers (AASP) asa free service to the industry.

Sponsors include industry or-ganizations such as AutomotiveBody Repair News, PPG, Washing-ton Metropolitan Auto Body Associ-ation (WMABA), DuPont, SherwinWilliams and Keenan Auto Body.

“While the service is free to use,we really rely on financial supportfrom the industry, both in the form ofsponsorships and donations from sat-isfied end-users. This support lessensthe ongoing financial reliance on theprimary funding associations, allow-ing them to redirect funds to new re-sources that help the industry in otherways,” Harris said. “All the servicesthat we do are free.”

For more information or to submitan inquiry, go to www.degweb.org.


DEG Inquiries

pany this is what we need. I’ve been inbusiness for 41 years. I have never hadan insurance company that cheated me.I never have. I would rather work withan insurance company than a customer-pay any time. Because you know withthe insurance company, you’re going to

get paid. If you can prove (the costs) tothem, they will pay you.”

John Yoswick, a freelance writerbased in Portland, Oregon, who hasbeen writing about the automotive in-dustry since 1988, is also the editor ofthe weekly CRASH Network (for a free4-week trial subscription, visitwww.CrashNetwork.com).Email at:[email protected].


Paint and Materials

www.autobodynews.comCHECK IT OUT!




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Ed Morse HondaRiv iera Beach

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Headquarter HondaClermont

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Hendrick Honda BradentonBradenton

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


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AUTOMAKER, OEM, AND RECALLAUTOMAKER, OEM, AND RECALL

, ,, , ,R OEMR OEMR, OEMAUTOMAKER, OEM, OAUTOMAKER, OEM,AUTOMAKER, OEM,AUTOMAKER, OEM, OAU OM R AU OM R AUTOMAKER AUTOMAKER, OEM,O AUTOMAKER, OEM,AUTOMAKER, OEM,AUTOMAKER, OEM,O , , M M M,U U U M M MR R R E E EE E E K K K M M M T T T K K K A A A A A A E E KE A A A AK AK AK MA MA MA U U U M M MM M M R K K K O O O AUTOMAKER, OEM, DDNNNNA DDDDANDANDDDNNNNAAAAANANDNNDDAND A C EC C R L A C EC R R R C C C RE RE R R R L L L L L L A A A E E E CA CA AL AL LL LL L L R RECALLAUTOMAKER, OEM, AND RECALL

Autobody News June 2013FLORIDA • GEORGIA • ALABAMA • MISSISSIPPI


Subaru is recalling just over 10,000of its 2014 Forester wagons becausethe floor mats can interfere with theclutch, brake or gas pedals.

The recall affects Forestersmade from January 2013 throughMarch. The company says the floormats can curl when exposed to heat.The problem was discovered in carsarriving at a port in Vancouver, WA.The National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration says the mats coulddistract the driver or interfere withoperation of the car. Subaru tracedthe problem to improperly manufac-tured backing on the mats.

Subaru Recalls 10,000 +Forester Wagons

Ford Motor Co. recently an-nounced it would hire an additional2,000 workers at its Kansas CityAssembly Plant in Missouri tomeet increased demand for F-150pickups and for the upcoming pro-duction of the new Transit familyof commercial vehicles.

The increases will come intwo phases. Ford will add 900 jobsand a third work crew in the thirdquarter to build F-150s. Starting inthe fourth quarter, Ford will hire anadditional 1,100 workers to gear upfor production of the Ford Transitcommercial van, which begins in2014.

About half the 2,000 workerswill be new hires. The other halfwill be workers who were laid offtemporarily in the second quarterof 2012 when Ford moved produc-tion of the Escape crossover fromKansas City to Louisville.

The Kansas City plant isFord’s largest in the United Statesand includes two separate bodyshops, two separate paint shopsand two final assembly lines.

Ford is spending $1.1 billionto retool and refurbish the KansasCity plant. The expansion includesa 437,000-square-foot stampingplant, which was completed in2012, and a 78,800-square-footpaint shop.

Ford to Add 2,000 Jobs atKansas City Plant for F-150

The National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration is upgrading an in-vestigation into steering assemblyfailures on 195,000 Ford Crown Vic-toria police cars, the Detroit News re-cently reported.

NHTSA said it is upgrading aninvestigation it started in Septemberto an engineering analysis for the2005-08 Ford Crown Vic Police In-terceptor vehicles after six complaintsand 15 total reported incidents.

Ford said in a letter to NHTSAin November that it was investigat-ing whether a prior crash or vehicleservice may have an impact on thesteering system issues.

The Dearborn automaker beganinvestigating after it was contactedby the Ontario Provincial Police inMarch 2012 after the steering sys-tem failed during routine driving.Police in Montgomery County, MD,contacted Ford about two other po-lice vehicles that had steering sys-tem failures. Ford noted one of thevehicles had been in four previouscrashes.

NHTSA said the mechanicalconnection between the steeringwheel and rack and pinion steeringassembly consists of the steeringcolumn and an upper and lower in-termediate shaft.

Allegations of a loss of steeringcontrol are mostly related to a sepa-ration of the upper and lower shaftswithin the steering the column. Theincident rate involving subject vehi-cles is 7.7 per 100,000 vehicles.

NHTSA Investigates FordPolice Vehicles

The National Highway TrafficSafety Administration (NHTSA) an-nounced Chrysler is recalling 532Ram 1500 pickups to ensure thewindshields are being properly de-frosted and defogged.

Chrysler engineers observed afault code linked to the coolant sys-tem function.

The NHTSA said in the af-fected vehicles, the coolant bypassvalve may stick in a position thatdoes not allow coolant to flow intothe heater core. Thus, these vehiclesfail to conform to the requirementsof the Federal Vehicle Motor SafetyStandard No. 103, ‘Windshield De-frosting and Defogging Systems.’

The models were manufacturedJune 25, 2012, through December12, 2012, according to NHTSA.

The recall campaign impacts498 vehicles in the U.S. and 34 inCanada, according to a Chryslerstatement. More than one-third ofthe vehicles are still with dealers.

Chrysler Recalls Ram Trucksfor Windshield Defogging

A lawsuit claims that unintendedacceleration incidents are endanger-ing owners of Ford, Mercury andLincoln vehicles manufactured be-tween 2002 and 2010.

The suit, filed in Huntington,W. Va, charges that Crown Victoria,Escape, Taurus, Thunderbird andother models can surge out of con-trol and alleges that they lack a fail-safe mechanism to stop the vehicle.

The suit targets Ford vehiclesequipped with electronic throttlecontrol and says the control canmalfunction, sending the vehiclesout of control.

The suit claims Ford has re-ceived “hundreds if not thousands”of complaints from owners, includ-ing police departments, about theproblem. Ford said it has workedwith the NHTSA to address theproblem, an approach it says is “farmore scientific and trustworthy thanwork done by personal injurylawyers.”

Suit Says Fords Prone to Unintended Acceleration

Honda is recalling nearly 46,000 FitSport small cars in the U.S. andCanada to fix a problem with theelectronic stability control system.

The recall affects cars from the2012 and 2013 model years. Hondasays the stability control system canlet the car tilt too far before it appliesthe brakes to prevent a crash.

The defect was discovered ingovernment testing of models with aparticular type of tires. Honda says itdoesn’t know of any crashes or in-juries from the problem.

Honda Recalls Nearly 46,00Fit Sport Small Cars

Porsche 911 Coolant Leaks

A pressure regulator that over or un-derinflated spare tires for five daysearlier this year has led to a recall of123,308 units of the 2013 Nissan Al-tima. Sedans that were manufacturedfrom March 21-26 are those possiblyaffected by the temporary tire snafu.

Those notified of the issue cantake their sedans to their local Nis-san dealer, who will check the tirepressure and correct it if necessary.

Nissan Recalls 2013 Altimasfor Spare Tire Inflation

U.S. safety regulators are investigat-ing coolant leaks in Porsche 911sports cars that could cause roadwayspills and send vehicles careening outof control.

The probe by the National High-way Traffic Safety Administration af-fects about 10,000 models with theGT1 engine from the 2001 through2007 model years.

The agency that a hose fittingcan fail and cause rapid coolant leakswithout warning. The coolant cancover the road and cause drivers tolose control of their cars. The agencysays it has 10 complaints of coolantleaks.

More than 480,000 Chrysler Groupvehicles either are being recalled orare under investigation, according tothe NHTSA. The recall involves theJeep Grand Cherokee from 2005through 2010 model years manufac-tured from Feb. 11, 2004 throughMarch 9, 2010, as well as the JeepCommander from the 2006 through2010 model years manufacturedfrom Jan. 31, 2005 through March10, 2010. NHTSA officials indicateda transfer case electrical failure mayresult in an unintentional shifting ofthe transfer case into the neutral po-sition.

480,000 Chrysler Units Involved in Recall


Infiniti Launches Factory-Sponsored Towing ServiceInfiniti North America has launched afactory-sponsored towing service toshops participating with the InfinitiCertified Collision Repair Network. Infiniti said its new towing service de-livers damaged vehicles directly to In-finiti Certified Collision RepairNetwork shops. The purpose of thetowing program is to provide Infinitivehicle owners with confidence that therepair will meet the company’s stan-dards. Infiniti owners can call a toll-freephone number, 800-662-6200, to initi-ate the towing service following an autoaccident. The vehicle will be trans-ported to any Infiniti certified shopwithin a 50-mile radius. Infiniti said be-coming an Infinity Collision RepairNetwork facility offers key marketingadvantages for collision shops.

Infiniti said certified shops havedirect access to OEM technical infor-mation, specifications, resources andtools to ensure consistent and qualityrepairs.

Infiniti North America estab-lished the Infiniti Certified CollisionRepair Network to reward and dis-tinguish body shops that meet andexceed Infiniti standards for train-ing, equipment, customer serviceand quality repair work.

Nissan North America will delivervehicle owners directly to the shopdoor. Nissan is offering a factorytowing service to Nissan CertifiedCollision Repair Facilities, ensuringrepairs are performed to Nissan’shigh standards. The towing service isoffered at no charge to the Nissanowner or the collision shop. For theNissan owner, a simple toll-freephone call to 1-800-NISSAN-1 initi-ates the towing service. The vehiclewill then be transported to a NissanCertified Collision Repair Facilitywithin a 50-mile radius.

Nissan Gives Free TowingService to Certified Shops

Nissan is cutting prices on seven ofits 18 models in the U.S., hoping itscars and trucks will show up in moreInternet searches by shoppers.

The price cuts vary with theamount of equipment on each modeland will run from 2.7% or $580 onthe top-selling Altima midsize car to10.7% or $4,400 on the Armada bigSUV. Other models getting price cutsinclude the Sentra compact car, Jukesmall crossover SUV, Murano mid-size crossover, Rogue small crossoverand the Maxima full-size car.

Jose Munoz, Nissan senior vicepresident of sales and marketing forthe Americas, said the vehicles get-ting the price cuts account for 65%of Nissan’s U.S. sales. The stickerprices, he said, were higher thansome competitors for similar mod-els, and that kept Nissan vehicles outof some Internet searches.

“In some of the customersearches we may not appear,” Munozsaid. “This is an indication that wecertainly want to be on the shoppinglist and we want to be considered byas many customers as possible.”

The company plans to reducerebates and other discounts to offsetsome of the price cuts.

Nissan Cuts Prices onSeven U.S. Models

Chrysler Group LLC reported its pre-liminary 2013 first-quarter results, in-cluding net income of $166 million onrevenue of $15.4 billion. As anticipated,the quarter was negatively affected bythe reduced vehicle shipments that re-sulted from key product launches,namely the 2013 Ram Heavy Dutytrucks and the 2014 Jeep Grand Chero-kee, as well as preparation for the sec-ond-quarter production launch of theall-new 2014 Jeep Cherokee.

Chrysler Reports FirstQuarter Net Income

Mercedes-Benz has selected the auto-motive consulting firm SCI to developand manage its Certified Collision Re-pair Program. SCI will ensure certi-fied collision centers meet or exceedMercedes-Benz’s strict set of repairstandards in terms of shop training,customer handling and repair quality.SCI will help certified collision repaircenters meet the standards, includingongoing audits to ensure that partici-pating shops keep knowledge andskill sets current. SCI will also leadprogram management and communi-cation. Said Bob McDonald, presi-dent of SCI, “The program will notonly help shop personnel more effec-tively serve customer needs, but it willincrease operational productivity andcreate an opportunity for shops to re-alize sustainable growth.”SCI hasmanaged the BMW Certified Colli-sion Repair Center Program since2003 and has also been the adminis-trator for the Lexus Certified CollisionCenter (LCCC) Program since its in-ception in 2006.

Mercedes-Benz Selects SCIfor Certified Repair Program


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The Maine legislature recently held ahearing on LD 788, Right to Repairlegislation, titled “Vehicle Owners andRepair Facilities.” The hearing washeld in the Joint Committee on Labor,Commerce, Research and EconomicDevelopment.

Ken Boyce, the owner of Ken’sAuto Repair Inc. in Buxton, ME, pre-sented testimony on behalf of the Au-tomotive Service Association (ASA).He has 29 years of experience in autorepair. Boyce made arguments in op-position to the Right to Repair legisla-tion throughout his testimony. He said:

“There are lots of conflictingopinions about the right to repairissue. In my opinion, this legislationhas no purpose. All it would do is cod-ify an agreement that was reachedover a decade ago at the behest of theU.S. Congress after they expressedtheir desire to not inject themselvesinto the middle of the situation.

“The existing agreement betweenautomakers and the aftermarket wasreached in 2002. It has been around solong that some of the original manu-facturers involved—such as Pontiac,Mercury, Saab, Saturn andSuzuki—no longer even exist. Withthe formation of the National Auto-motive Service Task Force (NASTF),

and the introduction of the SecureData Release Model (SDRM), theagreement is strong and in a state ofcontinual improvement. The threatthat the manufacturers might takeaway the information is the last-ditchcry of the flat world, yet the manufac-turers’ support for NASTF has onlystrengthened over the past decade.There is no evidence of that everchanging. All evidence points to theircontinued support.”

Boyce concluded his testimonywith strong remarks: “I see nothingpositive that will come from this legis-lation. It will do nothing to compel theflat world to subscribe to informationor purchase tooling that the OEs al-ready have to offer, nor will it compelany technician[s] to get the trainingthey need. Instead, all that I can see ithas to offer, through unintended cir-cumstances, is to flatten out the roundworld of shops like mine. I don’t wantthat and my customers don’t want that.The key is proper education, propertooling, and support of the agreementthat is already in place, not legislation.If our voluntary, industry service infor-mation process fails, we will be the firstin line asking for the state of Maine’shelp. We see no signs of failure to date.ASA opposes ME LD 788.”

Maine Legislature Holds Hearings on Right to RepairGeorge Avery, chairman of the Colli-sion Industry Conference (CIC), hasappointed several new individuals tooversee the organization’s StandardsCommittee in a final effort to researchpossible solutions for the developmentof industry repair standards before thecommittee is permanently shut down inNovember. Michael Quinn, seniorvice president of business developmentfor uParts Inc. and past CIC chairman,has been named chairman of the com-mittee. Mike LaVasseur, president andchief operating officer of Keenan AutoBody, and Paul Krauss, president andCEO of Craftsman Autobody, havebeen named vice chairs of the commit-tee. Brett Bailey, owner of A&BCARSTAR, will also play a key role onthe committee.

George Avery provided anoverview of the work that the CIC Stan-dards Committee has been charged withfor the remainder of 2013 during themost recent CIC meeting in Phoenix.“The Standards Committee membershave worked hard over the past fewyears and I don’t want that good workto go to waste. I would like to thankthose who worked hard to get us this farand encourage anyone who has a pas-sion for the subject to join the commit-tee,” Avery said. “Having past CIC chair

Michael Quinn step in as committeechair, as well as Mike LaVasseur andPaul Krauss as vice chairs, is exciting.They bring the repairer’s perspectiveand overall understanding of all stake-holders in the auto body repair industry.”

Avery said key issues that theStandards Committee will research in-clude examining shop equipment andcapabilities requirements, OEM repairprocedures and recommendations, andpossible facility inspection and verifi-cation processes.

The Standards Committee willmake a report on shop equipment andcapabilities requirements, and will clar-ify issues surrounding OEM repair pro-cedures during the next CIC meeting,which is scheduled for July 23-24 at theWestin Boston Waterfront hotel inBoston.The committee will finalize itsstandards work this fall. It will presentfindings on the research it has com-pleted and suggest possible repair stan-dards solutions for the future duringCIC’s November meeting in Las Vegas.

“After November, the committee’swork will conclude,” Avery said. “We’renot going to ‘saw sawdust’ any morewith the topic because, as the CIC Mis-sion states, ‘the forum [communicates]findings and possible solutions, andwhen it comes up to that point it stops.”

Avery Names New CIC Standards Cmte Leaders

Subaru’s 2014 Forester was the onlyvehicle to get the top “good” rating inthe results released by the Insurance In-stitute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport wasrated as “acceptable.” But fast-sellingmodels such as the Ford Escape, HondaCR-V and Jeep Wrangler received only“marginal” or “poor” ratings from theIIHS.

Small and midsize SUVs, whichget decent gas mileage and have thecargo and passenger space of largerSUVs, are among the fastest-growingsegments of the U.S. auto market. Salesgrew 50 percent from 2005 to last year,when U.S. consumers bought morethan 2.5 million of them, according toWard’s AutoInfoBank.

The IIHS ratings are influentialbecause many auto shoppers find themwhile researching vehicles on the In-ternet. The group says its crash testsand ratings are designed to get au-tomakers to improve crashworthinessof their vehicles.

The ratings are for the institute’s“small overlap” crash test that coversonly 25 percent of a vehicle’s front end.The test was added to the IIHS evalua-tions last year, with the institute aimingto push automakers into bolstering the

crash resistance of their vehicles.The group’s tests are more strin-

gent than the U.S. government’s full-width front crash test. The institute saysthat in many vehicles, a crash affectingone-quarter of the front end misses themain structures designed to absorb theimpact of a crash. Yet such crashes ac-count for nearly a quarter of the colli-sions that cause serious or fatal injuriesto people in the front seats, IIHS said.

The new Ford Escape, the top-selling small SUV so far this year, gota “poor” overall rating, while Honda’sCR-V, the No. 2 seller, got a “mar-ginal” rating. Toyota’s RAV-4, anotherbig seller, hasn’t done the testing yetbecause Toyota asked for a delay to im-prove the vehicle’s structure, the IIHSsaid.

Other SUVs getting “poor” rat-ings were the Jeep Patriot, Buick En-core, Kia Sportage and HyundaiTucsons, the institute said. The BMWX1, Nissan Rogue, Mazda CX-5, Volk-swagen Tiguan and Jeep Wrangler two-door all got “marginal” ratings.

The Forester and Outlander Sporteach received the IIHS’ coveted “TopSafety Pick Plus” award because theyperformed well in multiple tests in-cluding the small offset crash.

Only Two Small 2014 SUVs Performed Well in Front-EndCrash Tests According to IIHS


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I-CAR has re-engineered its annualevent to focus on topics relevant tothe entire Inter-Industry including re-pair organizations, vehicle OEMs, in-surers, educators, suppliers and relatedservices providers.

The conference will be held atThe Westin Boston Waterfront inBoston, MA.

I-CAR’s July 2013 Inter-IndustryConference theme is: Driving Excel-lence… In Technology: The ChangingWorld of Vehicle Technology & What itMeans to You. The conference is de-signed to benefit industry leaders whorecognize that vehicle technologychanges are significant, moving quicklyand broadly, and represent significantchanges for the collision repair industry.

To this end, I-CAR is invitingtechnical leaders from NHTSA, IIHS,the Center for Automotive Research,vehicle OEMs, and OEM suppliers toshare their knowledge on the vehicletechnology developments comingsoon to the collision repair industry.According to I-CAR CEO & Presi-dent, John Van Alstyne, “Our focus forthe conference is to help our industrybetter understand the impact associ-ated with rapidly evolving vehicletechnologies such as collision avoid-ance, telematics and CAFE driven ve-

hicle lightweighting and architecturechanges, and to learn about these di-rectly from the technologists that arehelping to create the future.”

This fast-paced conference be-gins with a luncheon on July 24 at12:30 p.m., and then proceeds into ageneral session with speaker presenta-tions and a recap panel until 5 p.m.That evening, attendees will have theopportunity to attend the I-CAR Net-working Reception and SponsorShowcase Event.

Day Two kicks off at 8 a.m. withI-CAR Business over Breakfast,where four national awards will bepresented along with presentationsfrom John Van Alstyne, I-CAR CEO& President as well as I-CAR Boardof Directors Chair, Bill Brower. TheDay Two general session follows at 9a.m. with more technical insights andconcludes at 11 a.m. following anInter-Industry panel that will discussthe impact vehicle technology changeswill have on industry repair and busi-ness practices.

Those interested in attending mayregister, and reserve a room at TheWestin Boston Waterfront by going to:www.i-car.com/events&meetings.

I-CAR’s goal is to provide theInter-Industry important information

related to automotive technologytrends that impact vehicle design andultimately repairability. It is critical forthe Inter-Industry to gain insights di-rectly from those engaged with the fu-ture of vehicle technology to betterunderstand where the vehicles of to-morrow are going and when, so that asan industry, we are properly prepared.

I-CAR has invited technically fo-cused leaders from organizations suchas NHTSA, IIHS, Center for Automo-tive Research (CAR), vehicle OEM’sand OEM suppliers, who will discusstopics such as advancements in inte-grated vehicle safety systems, evolvingvehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-vehiclecommunications, occupant and pedes-trian safety, the impact of CAFÉ on ve-hicle design, and the potential forautonomous vehicles. Additionally, anInter-Industry thought leader panel willdiscuss the repair and business impactsassociated with today’s rapidly evolv-ing vehicle technology landscape.

Given the technical focus of thisconference, only one conference hour,over Thursday’s breakfast, will pertainto I-CAR business with speeches fromI-CAR CEO & President, John VanAlstyne and I-CAR Board Chair, BillBrower, including presentation of fourtraditional I-CAR national awards.

I-CAR Plans New-Format Industry Conference in July in BostonPartsTrader LLC announced April 23that its latest release includes a newfeedback function which allows re-pairers and suppliers to provide feed-back on the performance of theirtrading partners. In meeting withPartsTrader users across the initialfive markets, repair facilities andparts suppliers consistently requestedthe capability to provide measurablefeedback within the product. “It’scritical for us to deliver the ability toprovide real-time feedback on per-formance,” said Dale Sailer, Part-sTrader’s Vice President of BusinessDevelopment.

Within the ordering functional-ity of the PartsTrader application,each party will—on randomly-se-lected transactions— provide quan-titative feedback on how well theother party performed. Users mayalso provide proactive feedback ona business partner, if desired. In a fu-ture release of PartsTrader, this feed-back will be utilized to present astar-based rating on each repairerand supplier.

PartsTrader Announces NewFeedback Function Release

American Family Insurance and En-compass have joined the ranks ofinsurance companies requiring in-spections prior to authorizationgiven for auto glass repair and re-placement claims via outside net-works, according to reports.

Dora O’Brien, owner of LongStar Auto Glass in Coolidge, AZ,says both American Family Insur-ance and Encompass are now requir-ing inspections prior to authorizationof repair and replacement. She saysSafelite processes claims for bothAmerican Family and Encompass.

“It started with American Fam-ily Insurance with us and in the lasteight or so months it now involvesseveral other companies that Safeliteprocesses glass claims for,” saysO’Brien.

“Most recently, our first En-compass insured was told he willneed to have a random inspection.He has a vehicle that requires awindshield that is only availablethrough the dealer,” she added.

Two More Insurers RequireInspections for Glass Repair

Car-O-Liner®, a leading globalprovider of collision repair equip-ment to the automotive aftermarket,hired Peter Richardson as a KeyAccounts Manager.

In his new role, Peter will workclosely with thec o m p a n y ’ sOEM and MSOpartners acrossNorth America.

“We are ex-cited that Peteris joining theCar-O-L ine rfamily. He is a

powerful addition to our team,” saidJeff Kern, Car-O-Liner President ofthe Americas. “Establishing a strate-gic partnership with our customers isof high importance to us. Peter’sknowledge of the industry is an assetto reinforce our relationships with keyOEM and MSO partners.”

Peter joins Car-O-Liner after10 years at Shure Manufacturingwhere he was responsible for sales,marketing, and customer service.Before that, he spent 12 years atSBC Telecommunications in vari-ous sales and account managementpositions.

Car-O-Liner Names PeterRichardson to Management

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A woman who says she lost both her hus-band and young daughter in a rollovercrash in which the windshield allegedlyseparated from the vehicle has filed suitagainst Safelite, whom she claims re-placed the windshield in the vehicle. Thesuit was filed in U.S. District Court inClark County, Nev., according to courtdocuments obtained by glassBYTEs™ .The suit was filed by Iwona Patnaude,who is listed as the surviving spouse ofJason Patnaude and Victoria Patnaude,and Nancy Patnaude, Jason’s mother.

The suit alleges that on December27, 2011, Jason Patnaude was drivinga Toyota Tundra westbound on I-94 inNorth Dakota when he began to “slideupon contacting a patch of snow and

ice on the roadway.” Both Iwona andVictoria Patnaude were passengers inthe vehicle at the time of the accident.

“Directional control of the subjectTundra was lost and could not be re-gained,” attorneys write in the court doc-uments. “The subject Tundra crossed thehighway’s median and rolled over acrossthe eastbound lanes and off the roadway.During the incident, the windshield of thesubject Tundra separated from the vehi-cle. During the incident, the roof of thesubject Tundra collapsed. Jason R. Pat-naude and Victoria Patnaude sustainedfatal head injuries in the crash. Jason R.Patnaude and Victoria Patnaude died atthe scene.” During the incident, attorneysallege “the windshield separated from the

rest of the vehicle, contributing to the de-gree of crush sustained by the subjectTundra’s roof structure. … The Safelitedefendants’ negligent installation of thewindshield on the subject Tundra resultedin its failure in the rollover incident.”

In addition to the Safelite Groupand its third-party administration arm,Safelite Solutions, Anthony J. Stark islisted as a defendant in the suit. His ad-dress is listed as Safelite AutoGlass, 62Spectrum Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89101.

Patnaude’s attorneys allege that“as a direct and proximate result of theincident addressed in this complaint,plaintiff Iwona Patnaude sustained se-vere nervous shock and emotionalupset secondary to her close proximity

to and observation of her fatally injuredand suffering husband and daughter.”

The claimants are seeking a jurytrial and reimbursement for injuries aswell as damages in excess of $50,000.Safelite PR manager Melina Metzgerhas confirmed the company performeda windshield replacement on the vehi-cle six years prior to the accident, butdecline to comment further.

Other defendants listed in the law-suit include Toyota Motor Corp., ToyotaMotor Sales USA, Toyota Motor Engi-neering & Manufacturing North Amer-ica, Toyota Motor Manufacturing ofIndiana, AutoNation USA Corp., DesertScion/Toyota, Steve Romeo and LisaArmstrong, as well as Centennial Toyota.

Safelite Named in New Lawsuit Alleging Windshield Separation Due to Poor Installation

I-CAR® announced that Chrysler GroupLLC Director of Regulatory Affairs,Reginald R. Modlin, will serve askeynote speaker during the I-CAR Inter-Industry Conference in Boston. As Di-rector of Regulatory Affairs, Modlin isresponsible for all aspects of productsafety and environmental compliance.His key responsibilities include policydevelopment to guide reaction of legis-lation and regulations in the NAFTA re-gions vehicle emissions certification,

fuel economy strategy and reporting, andvehicle safety compliance demonstra-

tions and resolutionof compliance is-sues with EPA andNHTSA. ReginaldModlin has beenserving in this ca-pacity for 14 yearsand has been withChrysler for 38years.

On July 24 and 25, renowned Au-toline TV host and author John McEl-

roy will serve asmoderator leadingthe I-CAR Con-ference attendeesthrough the fast-paced, compre-hensive “30,000-ftview” agenda on“The ChangingWorld of Vehicle

Technology & What it Means to You.”The conference concludes with a panelwho will discuss the repair and busi-ness impacts associated with today’srapidly evolving vehicle technologylandscape. I-CAR speakers includetechnical leaders from NHTSA, IIHS,the Center for Automotive Research(CAR), vehicle OEMs, and OEM sup-pliers.

I-CAR Announces Keynote Speakers Reginald Modlin and John McElroy for Boston July Meeting

John McElroyReginald Modlin



Bill Fowler, MCRA member andpresident of Bill Fowler’s BodyworksInc. in Southaven, MS.

On Saturday morning, vendorsand collision repair shop owners andmanagers participated in classroom

presentations spe-cific to their re-spective segmentsof the industry.While the vendorsdiscussed variousapproaches to ef-fectively market-ing their products,

collision repairers enjoyed presenta-tions by Tony Nethery, Business De-velopment Manager for Colormatch,and Mike Ganske, Regional BusinessDevelopment Manager for PPG.

Fowler reported that Nethery pre-sented information designed to assistthe shop in increasing their bottomline by recognizing many of the seem-ingly insignificant operations andparts that have been referred to as “theforgettables.” Items like re-settingelectronics, tinting colors, masking in-terior surfaces, and many other com-monly overlooked labor operations, aswell as parts typically not consideredsignificant enough to document, likeclips, bulbs, and seam sealers, cancontribute substantial amounts to salesfigure when consistently invoiced.Blueprinting repairs before they com-mence, instead of simply writing thetypical estimate, can streamline the re-pair process, allowing for increasedvolume in workload.

Mike Ganske’s discussion,“Leading Change 2013,” gave usefulstatistical information that made shopsmore keenly aware of recent changesin the industry as well as some that arecoming in the near future to helpshops be up-to-date and competitive.According to Ganske, there is cur-rently a $16 billion over capacity inthe collision repair business, meaningthere are too many shops vying for thesame dollar, which will lead to evenmore shops leaving the marketplace inthe near future. Using a figure of $1million to represent average gross an-nual sales per shop, 16,000 shops willhave to close in order for shops thatmanage to remain in business to main-tain that average. Given that there arecurrently fewer than 40,000 repairshops in business today, that is an

alarming figure and a difficult realityto face. Add to that the increasingcomplexity of materials and collisionavoidance systems being incorporatedinto vehicles currently under design,and the picture is even bleaker. Therewill be considerably fewer vehiclesthat qualify as candidates for repair,resulting in substantially fewer repairsto go around. In addition, substantialinvestments will have to be made inequipment, training and businessmanagement in order for any collisionrepair shop to remain competitive andviable.

After lunch, Aaron Schulen-burg, Executive Director of the Soci-ety of Collision Repair Specialists(SCRS), reported on topical issuescurrently in the industry. The firsttopic was an overview of concernssurrounding insurance mandated partsprocurement programs, such as Part-sTrader. Schulenburg spoke to feed-back the association has received onhow the various programs have beenreceived in various markets.

Schulenburg pointed out that, de-spite being in place for over a year insome markets, there has still been noevidence presented that the PartsTraderprogram is providing any of the sug-gested benefits to collision repairers.Schulenburg’s presentation gave anoverview of communications from avariety of carriers utilizing differentprocurement platforms to repair facili-ties operating under their program, fur-ther demonstrating how cumbersomeand intrusive these mandated programscan be into the repair business when itcomes to managing vendors and parts.In one instance, the carrier recognizedthe “frustration” repair facilities expe-rienced from being obligated to order avariety of parts from different suppli-ers in different states.

Schulenburg also addressed theongoing dialogue between I-CAR andrepairer organizations regarding therecognition of OEM published repairprocedures as the industry’s standardof repair. His presentation demon-strated the importance of such discus-sion as Schulenburg pointed tocontrasts between “standard” pro-grams in the U.K. and the U.S. In lightof recent legislation filed in the U.S.House and Senate seeking to repealparts patent laws, he additionally gavea slide show presentation illustratingcommon problems shops experiencewhen procuring both used and after-market parts that lead to parts returns.From the audience perspective, the

demonstration was very effective atexposing the incredible waste of timeand money shops are subjected towhen attempting to incorporate unfitparts into the process.

Rick Leos, Toyota Motor SalesCollision Repair Program Developer,previewed the Predictive EstimatingProgram that could prove to revolu-tionize the way estimates are written.Under development for years, the pro-gram is much more comprehensive inpresenting labor operations and partsthat have traditionally been over-looked. Leos said additional informa-tion is scheduled to be released inJune, with a possible roll-out at theend of the year. Interest in the programhas been expressed by several othermanufacturers and it could prove to bea real game changer in the way esti-mates are prepared in the future by in-creasing efficiency and decreasingcycle times.

Steve Lanza with Richfield Asso-ciates, and his father Frank gave a jointpresentation that focused on improvingnegotiating skills and the urgent needto change the way shops collect for col-lision repair materials. Steve has ex-tensively studied the paint and materialbilling method currently in use and

gave the audience solid reasons why achange is needed. He cited the fact thatsince 2005, shops have experienced a61.9% increase in the cost of materialswhile only managing a 27.1% increasein compensation. Steve stressed theneed to incorporate one of the materialcalculating programs currently avail-able and predicted that failure to do socould ultimately lead to the demise ofone’s business.

Frank Lanza, a repair facilityowner from Chagrin Falls, OH, gave acolorful lesson in negotiating skillsand related several personal storiesabout negotiating with insurers. Hestressed the importance of never los-ing one’s temper and being profes-sional at all times. He shared one ofhis “Frankisms”—when negotiatingwith insurance personnel, always keepin the back of your mind: “I love you,but I love me more.”

Ray Gunder, with his attorneyand friend Brent Geohagen, were thelast speakers of the day, addressing acrowded room about taking back theindustry. They discussed their journeyin taking on the insurance industry in amodern day David-and-Goliath battleto get fair and reasonable resolution toindustry wide problems—short pays,


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aged vehicles, whether discovered aspart of the written estimate or as partof the repair process. With respect tofeathering, prime and block proce-dures, appropriate charges should beapproved whether included in thepaint/materials rate or broken out as aseparate charge.”

“In addition to ensuring that pol-icyholders are treated fairly with re-spect to the payment of claims, MIDalso has the duty and responsibility toensure that insurance rates remain fairand reasonable for all Mississippi pol-icyholders. Consequently, MIDwishes to make clear that by issuingthis Bulletin, it is not encouragingpayment for repairs that are not nec-essary, appropriate or covered by theinsurance contract.”

To download the full story go towww.autobodynews.com and search“Mississippi Insurance DepartmentMemo.”

steering and rate suppression. Gunderspoke of his days of desperation that

led him to believe he had but twochoices—take a stand and fight backor close his doors once and for all.Geohagen told the audience of hisoriginal skepticism with Gunder’sstory and observed that few peopleoutside the collision repair industrywould believe such an incredible story,one that is all too familiar to people inthe industry.

“Gunder’s successes are the stuffof legend and he serves as an inspira-tion to the rest of us. Despite over-whelming adversity, it is possible toprevail. It just takes determination,”said Fowler. “It was a perfect endingto a perfect conference.”

John Mosley, President ofMCRA and owner of Clinton BodyShop in Richland, MI, said the first-ever southern industry event was a bigsuccess with outstanding speakers anda great turnout. He especially enjoyedRick Leos’ presentation about the Toy-ota predictive system and urges allbody shop owners and managers notfamiliar with the new program to dotheir research, as the new program willbe a “game changer.” He hopes nextyear’s event will be twice as large.

Steve Plier, acting president ofALARISE, was extremely pleasedthat the first southern conferenceturned out to be such a huge success,with repairers coming from Alabama,Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missis-sippi and Tennessee.

“Not only were the attendeesfrom repair facilities pleased and en-thused about the conference, but wealso received great comments fromour participating vendors,” said Plier.“To be the first joint effort betweentwo state organizations resulting in aturnout that represented six southernstates I feel speaks volumes that re-pairers are understanding issues mustbe addressed and the route to changeis through awareness and education

within and of the industry.”Without the sponsors, Plier said

the conference would not have beenable to take place. “I would like tovery much express my gratitude to thesponsors for their participation forwithout them the conference wouldnot have taken place.”

Sponsors included: EdwardsChevrolet, PPG (Rozars and Automo-tive Paint Supply), Automotive Color,Gray Daniels, National Coatings Sup-ply, Overnights Part Alliance, AdvanceEquipment Solutions, All Star AutoLights, Byrd’s Automotive Inc.,CARS, ComputerLogic/PMC LogicInc., DuPont Performance Coatingsand O’Reilly’s Auto, English Color andSupply, Enterprise, LKQ, Mitchell,The Clip Man, and Urethane SupplyCompany.

Plans for the 2014 conference arebeing made for April 11–13 with stateorganizations in Georgia, Alabama,Mississippi, Tennessee, and possiblyFlorida, working together to coordi-nate the second annual Southern Au-tomotive Repair Industry Conferencein Biloxi, MS.

Special thanks to Bill Fowler forproviding summary information forthis article.


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Industry Demonstrates Early Confidence in SEMAShow with Six Percent Exhibitor IncreaseNearly 2,000 exhibitors are con-firmed to participate in the SEMAShow Priority Booth SelectionProcess taking place later this month.The number represents a six percentincrease over the number of compa-nies that participated in the processin 2012.

“With the increased commit-ment exhibitors are demonstratingearlier in the year, it’s apparent theSEMA Show provides unmatchedbrand-building visibility and salesexposure in one venue,” said PeterMacGillivray, SEMA VP of eventsand communications.

Manufacturers exhibit at thefour-day event each year to show-case new automotive parts and ac-cessories, and to connect with morethan 60,000 buyers from throughoutthe world. Through programs andfeatures such as the New ProductsShowcase, product demonstrationsand sectionalized floor plan, ex-hibitors are able to connect with themost relevant buyers.

“The earlier a company signs

up, the more likely they are to takepart in all the added-value programswe have available,” MacGillivraysaid. “We’ve seen direct connectionsbetween the amount of planning acompany does to the level of successthey achieve.”

Nearly 70 percent of buyersvisit the SEMA Show with a planand identify the exhibitors they wantto meet with in advance, accordingto a 2012 SEMA Show survey. Themost influential factors that buyersreported as having an impact on theirdecision to visit an exhibitor wereparticipation in the New ProductsShowcase, the Show directory list-ing, and pre-Show contact from anexhibitor.

Companies may still sign up toexhibit at the upcoming show atwww.SEMAShow.com/buyabooth.Attendee registration will be avail-able from the site in early May.

The 2013 SEMA Show takesplace Tuesday-Friday, November 5-8, in Las Vegas, Nevada at the LVHConference Center.

SEMA Show Enhances Services for Collision Repair Market, Adds Up to 20,000 Sq. Ft. for 2013The 2013 SEMA Show will includeenhanced features for the Collision Re-pair & Refinish market, including anexpanded show floor area, targeted ac-tivities both inside and outside the LasVegas Convention Center, and an un-surpassed educational program. Theupgrades come as a result of the fast-growing interest from both exhibitorsand buyers in the collision market seg-ment.

“As interest grows and the land-scape changes, we continue to evolveand are excited about the plans for2013,” said Peter MacGillivray, SEMAVP of events and communications.

Last year’s SEMA Show featured330 exhibitors in the Collision Repair& Refinish area and the Tools &Equipment area, the two sectionswhere many exhibitors feature prod-ucts for the collision market. These ex-hibitors were housed in over 88,000square feet in North Hall of the LasVegas Convention Center. For 2013,the Collision Repair & Refinish sec-tion will expand into an adjacent areaof the LV Hotel, accommodating up to

20,000 square feet of additional space.“The expanded floor section

makes it really easy and convenient forbuyers to see all the products in thecollision market within a definedarea,” said MacGillivray. More than20,000 SEMA Show buyers expressedan interest in collision repair products,and 87% of all buyers have buying in-fluence.

Those in the collision market arealso able to network and expand theirknowledge during several industrymeetings and educational events tak-ing place. The Collision Industry Con-ference (CIC), the National Auto BodyCouncil (NABC) and the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS)are amongst the groups hosting meet-ings during the SEMA Show.

A comprehensive Repairer DriverEducation program is also presentedby the SCRS.

“From the impressive growth ofexhibitors, to attendees who are reach-ing out to SCRS already looking toregister and ask questions about oureducation, it is clear the collision in-

dustry is really excited about thisyear’s show,” said Aaron Schulen-burg, SCRS Executive Director. Schu-lenburg says that the 2013 RepairerDriven Education program will in-clude fresh and inspiring content,while continuing to remain relevant tocollision repairers.

“Each year we have taken feed-back from past attendees and used it toamplify our upcoming offerings,” hesaid, noting that 2013 will be thegroup’s fourth year partnering withSEMA to present the educational pro-gram. “This year, we are adding to theformat with designated tracks that canguide repair industry professionalsthrough the week-long program basedon their core interests in what theyneed for their business. Some want tobetter understand how to manage theirbusiness, and what makes it tick, whilesome are looking for ways to enhanceand grow it through new business op-portunities or untapped customerbases; others may be looking for waysto best position their business to makeit more attractive when they wish to

sell it, or learn how to compete in aconsolidating marketplace. Regardlessof interest, there is something foreveryone and the objective remains thesame: to address real issues faced bycollision repairers, while providingtangible information that they can di-rectly apply to their business whenthey return home.”

SEMA Show exhibitors began se-lecting the location for their boothsduring the Priority Booth SelectionProcess, beginning with exhibitors inNorth and Central Halls, followed bythose in upper and lower South Halls.

The 2013 SEMA Show is set forTuesday-Friday, November 5-8, 2013,in Las Vegas, Nevada. The annualevent typically attracts more than130,000 individuals from 125 coun-tries, making the annual show the pre-mier automotive trade event in theworld. Manufacturers come to theevent to showcase products that en-hance the styling, performance andfunctionality of cars, trucks and SUVs.

For details, visit www.SE-MAShow.com.

Progressive Sues Other Insurers For Alleged Patent InfringementProgressive Insurance has filedpatent-infringement lawsuits againstState Farm Mutual Automobile Insur-ance Co. and Hartford Financial Serv-ices Group Inc. over auto coverageand premiums based on vehicle usage.

According to the lawsuit, the insurersare infringing three patents that relateto vehicle monitoring and ways themonitoring is used to determine insur-ance rates. Both complaints were filedin federal court in Cleveland.

Stacy Bartnik Joins Team PRP as Executive DirectorTeam PRP has named Stacy Bartnikas its new executive director. Bartnikmost recently served as VP of opera-

tions for CARSTAR. She is the im-mediate past president of the NABCand as a trustee for CREF.


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Mitchell ITR Says Collision Parts Index DeclinedLast Year For First Time in Ten YearsThe average price paid for collisionparts took a dip in the latter half of2012—according to Mitchell’s Q22013 Industry Trends Report—thefirst time that the indexed price forparts has decreased in 10 years.

“When we created the MitchellCollision Parts Price index (MCPPI)in 2003, we wanted to track infla-tionary trends in parts use over a pe-riod of time,” said Greg Horn, VicePresident of Industry Relations ofMitchell. His recent article providesthe first 10-year-long review of in-flationary trends in parts pricing.Mitchell developed the index by firstcreating a “market basket,” similar tohow governments determine theConsumer Price Index of the com-monly used goods and services.Mitchell created the market basketby selecting the 20 most frequentlyreplaced collision parts.

“Interestingly, for the first time,we saw a decrease in the indexedprice for the market basket,” wroteHorn. “The 2012 decrease was notevident when we ran the index reportearly in 2012, so the decrease was inthe latter half of 2012. That led us tothe next question: what type of partor vehicle origin is driving the de-

crease?” Horn says that althoughthere were moderate increases in theAsian and European market basket,the domestic vehicle parts marketbasket experienced such a decreasethat it offset this. Estimates have ahigher number of new, OEM partson average than any other part type,such as recycled or aftermarket.

“The decrease in the averageOEM part price for domestic vehi-cles was a mere $6.33 ($245.12 for2012 vs. $258.12 for 2011) but thatdrove a 0.14 decrease in the overallmarket basket index,” writes Horn.The expansion of the competitionparts price matching programs fromthe domestic OEs is driving the de-crease in the overall index becauseof the large number of domestic ve-hicles in the U.S.... and the over-whelming dominance of new OEMparts selected on the average re-pairable estimate.”

Horn notes that whether or notthe decrease will continue dependson a number of factors, such aswhether the total fleet of repairablevehicle claims continues to age andwhether the OEs continue to aggres-sively price match to retain marketshare in part sales.

On April 22 the Automotive ServiceAssociation (ASA) announced thatDan Risley had been named interimexecutive director. The announcementcame a little over a month after Risleyjoined ASA as Executive Vice Presi-dent. Risley began his 24 year careerin his family’s collision repair businessin Illinois, and has worked for AllstateInsurance for six years since leavingSCRS, an experience he says gave him“a completely different perspective”on insurers and how they operate,something that will benefit the associ-ation and ASA members.

“My perspective on insurers ischanged,” Risley told a trade industrymedia source recently, “I walked inthere with my preconceived notionsabout what insurance companies do,why they do it, what influence theyhave, what they try to influence andwhat’s important to them. And some ofthose things were true, and a lot ofthem really weren’t. A lot of themwere completely different than what Ithought they would be.

Risley’s most recent position withAllstate involved overseeing part ofthe insurer’s DRP network. “I was themarket claim manager for the GoodHands Repair network. Basically, Ihad oversight [of the shops] in half of

the country and the staff that overseesthem. Again, it was a very unique per-spective that I was able to attain, be-cause I got to see firsthand what wasreally important to insurance compa-nies.

“What motivates [insurers] withsome issue, may be the completely theopposite of what you might read in thetrade press or what you might hearfrom the industry in general. Thebroader perspective [I gained fromworking at Allstate], when we ap-proach a particular issue, is going toallow me to maybe have a little bit dif-ferent strategy and tactic in terms ofhow we might address that and maybebring it to a resolve a little bit quicker.”

One of those insurer related is-sues the association is currently en-gaged with is State Farm’s PartsTraderinitiative.

Risley believes there has beensome confusion around ASA’s positionon PartsTrader. He explained, “ASAdoes not support PartsTrader and, by theway, nor should we. As an associationit’s not our role to support or endorse agiven product. ASA does not supportState Farm and nor should we.”

“We view PartsTrader in a verysimilar vein as we do an estimatingsystem or a CSI vendor. We didn’t

support any insurance company man-dating those. So this falls in that samebucket. We don’t endorse or supportany insurance company mandatingthe use of specific products.” Risleysaid.

Risley said that members thathave participated in the pilot haveshared concerns about how the systemworks, and that while they have con-cerns, they are working with Part-sTrader and State Farm to improve thesystem. Risley explained that the as-sociation has maintained an active di-alog with both PartsTrader and StateFarm on the issue and he believes thisongoing dialog has led to some confu-sion about ASA’s position.

Risley said, “We’ve very clearlyheard from our membership that thishas been a product that has not been avalue-add. It has actually cost themmore in administrative time, it’s moreof a burden.”

Commenting on parts e-com-merce generally, Risley believes theconcept is here to stay regardless ofthe outcome of State Farm’s pilot withPartsTrader.

“We’re not going to stop partsprocurement. We’re not going to stope-commerce. That stuff is going tohappen. But we can play a role in mak-

ing it better,” explained Risley.Right now, though, there are con-

cerns about the value these new prod-ucts and processes bring to thecollision repairer.

“Someday could it be possiblethat those products are driving morevalue back down to the repairers? Theanswer is ‘yes.’ It will eventually getthere. But when that does happen, re-pairers are going to adopt them all bythemselves because it’s going to helpthem be more efficient,” explainedRisley. “If it’s not helping them bemore efficient today and we’re beingtold we have to use them, that’s a com-pletely different context for us. Whywould we support that?”

Risley has also said that ASAviews the use of Most Favored Nation(MFN) clauses in DRP contracts as amuch bigger concern for repairers thanPartsTrader.

“We’ve heard a lot of noise onPartsTrader, and heard relatively noth-ing on the most favored nation clauses[but] the PartsTrader piece probablyaffects a smaller subset of the indus-try, when the most favored nationclause not only affects your StateFarm business, but it has the possibil-ity of impacting every job that comesthrough your shop.”

Dan Risley Appointed Interim Executive Director of ASA, Outlines ASA Position on PartsTrader

In Rhode Island, the annual StateHouse auto body shop war has re-newed, with an exasperated Jina Pe-trarca-Karampetsos telling wearysenators — more than four hours intoa late-night hearing: “Body shops suf-fer from an image problem.

“And that image problem is per-petuated by individuals who don’tknow the facts, who portray us asgreedy thieves,” the sister of formerRep. Peter Petrarca — and lawyer forher father’s Providence Auto Body —told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“We’re body-shop people. Weprotect your second-biggest asset,”but “we are not doctors. We are noteven carpenters. We’re body-shoppeople so we actually are, amazingly,people that make victims of insurancecompanies.

“Some people actually feel badfor insurance companies when theycompare them to us.”

She suggested the senators seethe insurers instead as “unreasonable”people who “refuse to negotiate.”

However, the hours-long hearingand debate drew little attention outsidethe two affected industries. The hear-ing ran more than 5½ hours. It drewexecutives and lobbyists from Nation-wide Mutual, PCI, Amica, the Ameri-can Insurance Association, amongothers, and from the other side, theAuto Body Association of Rhode Is-land and a number of its members, in-cluding John Petrarca.

The battle centered on this year’sversion of the right-to-sue legislationthat cleared the General Assembly at2:58 a.m. in the final hours of lastyear’s session, which Governor Chafeeultimately vetoed.

The bill co-sponsored by SenateMajority Leader Dominick Ruggerioand Majority Whip Maryellen Good-win would require insurers to negoti-

ate payment rates with body shopowners and give the body shops theright to sue the auto insurance compa-nies if these negotiations do not resultin an “agreed price.”

This year’s bill is not identical.For example, the rewritten bill wouldno longer require an insurer to pay thelegal bills of an auto body shop thatprevailed in court.

But it is substantially the same.And so are the arguments pro and con.And people affiliated with the bodyshops gave at least $18,850 from Jan.1-March 31 to the campaign funds ofHouse Speaker Gordon Fox and Sen-ate President M. Teresa Paiva Weedand their top deputies.

Campaigning for a veto last year,the American Insurance Association(AIA) issued this statement: “No otherstate in the nation allows auto bodyshops to set non-negotiable rates andattempt to force them on third partypayers under threat of litigation.”

In his subsequent veto message,Chafee said: “While I understand thedesire to ensure auto body employeesare adequately compensated for theirskills and attention to safety, I believethis bill would hurt Rhode Island con-sumers by raising their auto insurancerates and impairing their existing con-tract agreements with their insurancecompanies.

“With many Rhode Island fami-lies continuing to struggle as our stateeconomy recovers, I do not believe itis appropriate to pass on any unneces-sary additional costs to consumers,”Chafee said.

Rhode Island drivers already paythe fifth-highest collision insurancepremiums in the nation, $351 herecompared with $290 on average na-tionwide, according to a March 11“Special Report” from the PropertyCasualty Insurers Association of

America.But Petrarca-Karampetsos told

the senators that more than 70 of the700 companies that write property ca-sualty insurance in the state “paymuch higher than $45 an hour. Muchhigher. They pay over $70 an hour.”

“All it asks them to do,” she saidof the legislation, “is negotiate. … Itis beyond me how this is such an un-conscionable controversial thing thatmakes us look like greedy thieves.”

Goodwin is sympathetic. “I justbelieve [for] the auto-body industry,it’s a matter of fairness,” she saidTuesday. “These have been ongoingdisputes for years and years and yearsbetween the auto-body industry andthe insurance industry.”

Asked why the state should inter-vene in a private dispute over howmuch repair shops should be paid,Goodwin said: “People have the rightto sue all the time when they can’tcome to some type of agreement.What is so wrong about going intocourt and having a court settle some-thing that cannot be settled?”

As for warnings that higher rateswill follow, Goodwin said the insur-

ance industry “has some of the deep-est pockets in America. They can bat-tle back. … I am looking out for thesmall business owner, the little autobody shop and the consumer at thesame time.”

Added Ruggerio: “I am not con-cerned about it because, personally Ithink if the auto bodies have thatleverage, then the insurance industrywould deal a little more fairly if theyhad something like that hanging overtheir head.”

In the weeks leading up to thisyear’s hearing, the Property CasualtyInsurers Association of Americalaunched a $30,000 radio ad cam-paign.

“If you think this all sounds alltoo familiar, you’re right — the autobody shops are at it again!,” the ad be-gins.

If passed, the bills “could beharmful to drivers by increasing thecost of having a vehicle repaired fol-lowing an accident, potentially forc-ing you to pay even more for yourinsurance coverage.”

“Let’s stop the auto body repairrip-off, once and for all,” the ad said.


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Rhode Island Industry Attorney: “Body Shops Suffer From an Image Problem”

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruledunanimously that federal truckinglaws don’t preempt a state claimagainst a New Hampshire towingcompany. The court ruled in a Man-chester case involving RobertPelkey, who had to go to a hospitalfor an infection and then suffered aheart attack. He used a handicappedparking spot, and left his car parkedthere while he was hospitalized. Thecar was towed by Dan’s City AutoBody when it wasn’t moved during awinter parking ban and then sat in the

towing business’s lot for two months.The shop believed it was abandoned.It eventually took ownership of thecar and traded it. Pelkey sued Dan’sCity Auto Body under the ConsumerProtection Act. The case ended up inthe New Hampshire Supreme Court,which overturned a superior court’sfinding and ruled in his favor.

The attorney for the tow com-pany appealed, citing federal truck-ing laws that were passed in the1980s to unify trucking and tow reg-ulations among all the states.

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Sixteen people have been arrested ona federal indictment charging 21 de-fendants involved in a multi-state cartheft conspiracy. The conspiracy is al-leged to have utilized several differentschemes to steal and misappropriatevehicles, commit bank fraud in orderto obtain vehicles and obtain insur-ance proceeds by staging accidentsand filing false theft reports, theClaims Journal reported on May 1.

The indictment alleges that thedefendants stole luxury vehicles,SUVs and pickups from individualsand automobile dealerships in theEastern District of Missouri, Iowa,Illinois and Indiana, which they trans-ported to the Eastern District of Mis-souri. They disabled any trackingsystems, like OnStar, on the stolen ve-hicles so that they couldn’t be tracedby law enforcement.

In addition, it is charged that thedefendants themselves, or “straw”purchasers, made false statements onloan applications and submitted fraud-ulent earnings statements in support toobtain loans to purchase typicallyhigh-end vehicles. The defendantsused and then sold or disposed of the

vehicles, while the loan defaulted, ei-ther immediately or after a short pay-ment history.

According to the indictment, thedefendants also practiced fraud relatedto the titling of vehicles, obtaining byfalse statements apparently legitimateownership to vehicles they had stolenfrom individuals. On many occasions,the defendants falsely claimed to havedone repair work which wasn’t actu-ally performed on vehicles submittedto their businesses, inducing lien hold-ers to pay the defendants money toavoid the issuance of a mechanicslien. Over 100 vehicles have beenfully identified as being involved inthe criminal activity, although inves-tigators believe many more were ac-tually involved.

Charges include conspiracy, bankfraud, mail fraud and receipt of stolenmotor vehicle. If convicted, thesecharges carry penalties ranging from5 to 30 years in prison and/or fines upto $1,000,000. In determining the ac-tual sentences, a Judge is required toconsider the U.S. Sentencing Guide-lines, which provide recommendedsentencing ranges.

16 Arrested in Multi-State Car Theft and Fraud Conspiracy,Dealerships and Individuals Targeted

Axalta Coating Systems Launches Rival™ Economy BrandAxalta Coating Systems, formerlyDuPont Performance Coatings, has in-troduced a new single stage polyurethaneenamel called Rival™, formulated toprovide just the right mix of price andvalue for the economy commercial trans-portation segment.

Rival™ is designed for dealers,independent shops, fleets and munic-ipalities who want a cost effective fin-ish that features good performance,good color capability, and good ap-pearance at a maximum applied VOCof 3.5 or 2.8 lbs/gal.

Designed using mixing tonersfrom an advanced technology platform,Rival™ delivers good hiding with onecross-coat for most colors. The breadthof the Rival™ color offering includessolid and metallic colors to provide theability to match thousands of commer-cial fleet color positions. Rival™ iscompatible with other Axalta commer-

cial finishes undercoats and offers atwo-year warranty to AOQ-Commer-cial refinisher shops.

“We have expanded our com-mercial finishes product line to givepainters the flexibility to choose thebest system needed for the job: from apremium quality Imron™ finish to ournewest economy segment offering,Rival™, there’s a system specificallydesigned to deliver the performanceand value they’re looking for.” saidFran Cassidy, Axalta Coating Sys-tems commercial segment manager.

In addition to providing high-performance products to the commer-cial segment for more than 40 years,Axalta Coating Systems productshave earned more commercial andOEM approvals than any other paintmanufacturer.

See the website www.pc.dupont.com or call 1.800.438.3876.

AkzoNobel Automotive & Aero-space Coatings Americas is now ac-cepting nominations for the 2013FIT Sustainability Awards. Ak-zoNobel launched the FIT Programin 2009 in an effort to bring aware-ness and create a desire for changewithin the collision repair industryrelated to this critical global issue.FIT which is an acronym for Focus,Innovation and Talent, the three keycriteria for the award, was estab-lished as an expansion of the MostInfluential Women in the CollisionRepair Industry Program.

The FIT award is presented toorganizations and institutions thatare seeking to advance sustainablebusiness practices within the colli-sion repair industry. Past recipientshave included the California Auto-body Association, Enterprise Hold-ings and Keenan’s Autobody. Eachof which have been forerunners intheir respective areas of the industrypertaining to the issue of sustain-ability.Nominate by June 30, [email protected].

AkzoNobel Opens its FITAwards for Nominations

ABRA Awarded FarmersMSO of the Year AwardABRA Auto Body & Glass has beenawarded the Farmers Insurance Na-tional MSO Group of the Year. Theaward recognizes ABRA for its su-perior customer service, low cycletimes, commitment to innovation,company cooperation, overallfriendliness and staff professional-ism, along with facility appearance.“We are extremely proud of ourpeople, processes, and perform-ance,” said Tim Adelmann, execu-tive vice president of ABRA.

The GEICO Philanthropic Founda-tion recently donated $46,000 to theCollision Repair Education Founda-tion to provide $6,000 in collisionstudent scholarships and $25,000 inspecial school grants in 2013. Anadditional $15,000 will go towardsthe general fund, the Collision Re-pair Education Campaign, whichsupports all Education Foundationactivities including the UltimateCollision Education Makeovergrant. The scholarships and schoolgrants will go to support studentsand schools located in the specificGEICO markets of southern Cali-fornia, southern Florida, Washing-ton, D.C., and New York.

GEICO Foundation Donatesto CREF in CA, FL, DC & NY

Thirty-eight new parts were addedto Ford Customer Service Divi-sion’s (FCSD) Collision PartsTruckload Program, with the listprice reduction averaging 16 per-cent. Ford says the program plays akey role in helping collision repair-ers deliver “high-quality, cost-effec-tive repairs” to their customers.The 38 part additions include eighttail lamps, six mirrors, two head-lamps, four valances, four wheels,four grilles/GORs/GOPs, three iso-lators, three fascias, two parkinglamps, one radiator and one bumperbracket. The Truckload Programcurrently covers more than a dozenreplacement part types, includingbumper fascias, steel bumpers,bumper bars, exterior lighting, mir-rors, car and truck radiators, wheels,header panels, grilles/GORs/GOPs,isolators/impact pads/shafts andvalances. Ford states that by offer-ing Ford and Lincoln wholesalingdealers competitive prices on bulkpurchases of high-volume collisionparts, the Truckload Program allowsthem to compete more effectivelyagainst non-OEM copy parts andother parts specified by insurancecustomers. “The truckload programstarted 2013 with great sales mo-mentum, after completing a record2012,” said George Gilbert, Truck-load Program manager for FCSD.“We’re competitive with the after-market imitation parts, which meansmore vehicles can be repaired withthe parts that were exclusively engi-neered for their specific vehicle’smake and model.”

Ford Adds 38 New Parts toCollision Parts Program

Minnesota Senate PassesNew Paint, Materials Tax LawThe Minnesota Senate has passed anomnibus tax bill that includes a newsection on sales tax for the collisionrepairers in the state. The MinnesotaHouse passed the bill on April 24.

The 354 page bill adds the saleof motor vehicle repair paint andmaterials to the definition of a tax-able retail sale and would imposesales tax is on the gross receiptsfrom the retail sale of paint and ma-terials. The bill provides a long listof materials that would be consid-ered taxable under the law includingprimer, paint, clear coat, thinner,abrasives, body filler, buffing pads,grinding discs, degreasers, maskingtape, sealer, tack cloth, waxes, weld-ing rods and more.

If signed into law, the new taxlaw for collision repairers wouldbegin on June 30.

The Department of Labor’s Bureau ofLabor Statistics (BLS) estimates thatthe number of shops in the countrygrew by about 130 shops each quar-ter since the beginning of 2012. Thechange appears significant becausethe number of collision repair facili-ties has not grown, year over year, inany quarter since the first quarter of

2002, when it was a mere 34 shopsnationwide. The latest BLS estimatesshow that the U.S. industry grew by402 shops in the first three quarters of2012 alone and the trend projectsmore than 500 by the end of the year.The number of shops is still approxi-mately 1500 less than it was in 2008,including the 400 new locations.

BLS Stats Show Increase in Number of Body Shops


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The Collision Repair Education Foun-dation (CREF) announced the firstround of winners which are $300,00 inscholarships given out in May 2013 bythe Foundation. The Scholarship is inits sixth year and is funded by the en-tire collision industry through the Col-lision Repair Education Campaign.The Scholarships offer students finan-cial assistance with tuition and othercosts.

Winners of the GEICO nationalscholarships and tool grants are:Kyle Wright, Chantilly STEM Acad-emy, Chantilly, VA; OliviaBarszczewski, Alfred State, Alfred,NY; Shannon Braswell, SarasotaCounty Technical Institute, Sarasota,FL; and Gerardo Olivera, CerritosCollege, Norwalk, CA. Each receives$1,000 cash and $1,000 (retail) intools.

Winners of the Gerber Collision& Glass student scholarships andtool grant winners are: Lino Merazand Asare Boatneg, both of LincolnCollege of Technology, Melrose Park,IL. The students received $2,000scholarship and $1,000 in tools.

Winners of the PPG IndustriesFoundation scholarships are: Joseph

Crawford, Arkansas State in MarkedTree, Marked Tree, AR; Justin Fur-man, Washtenaw Community College,Ann Arbor, MI; Jessie Jensen,Bridgerland Applied Technology Col-lege, Logan, UT; and RyanStenzel,Ridgewater College, Willmar,MN. These students received a $5,000scholarship. In addition, JonathanThigpin, Rolla Technical Institute,Rolla, MO, won $750 for the PPGMVP Industry Student Scholarship.

Winners of the Service Kingspring tool chest grant are: SierraPellettieri, EVIT (Mesa, AZ); MatthewAdams, Universal Technical Institute,Belton, TX; Jovanny Jimenez, TexasState Technical College, Waco, TX;Sherdrick Russell, Universal Techni-cal Institute, Houston, TX; and An-dreass Berryman, EVIT Trade School,Mesa, AZ. These five students each re-ceived a 7-drawer roll cabinet andfive-drawer top chest, valued at $2,00each.

Winners of the Alliance of Auto-motive Service Providers Massa-chusetts (AASP-MA) tool grants are:Paul Ballota, Shawsheen Valley Tech-nical High School, Billerica, MA;William Clough, Shawsheen Valley

Technical High School, Billerica, MA;and Yscasia Cummings, SoutheasternRegional Vocational Technical HighSchool, South Easton, MA. Winnersreceived $1,200 in tools.

Winners of the CCC MichaelSalvatore Memorial Student RepairTechnician Scholarships: BrianStevenson, Francis Tuttle TechnologyCenter, Oklahoma City, OK. Brianwon the top scholarship of $5,000; andtwo students won the $2,000 scholar-ships: Stephanie Franklin, LansingCommunity College, Lansing, MI; andDiego Trujillo, Wiregrass GeorgiaTechnical College, Valdosta, GA;Evan Scott, Pennsylvania College ofTechnology, Williamsport, PA.

CREF also awarded severalscholarships. The secondary studentwinner of a $5,000 award is ShelbyWilliams, Applied Technology Center,Rock Hill, SC. The post-secondary$5,000 award recipient is ShenaWhite, Cape Fear Community Col-lege, Wilmington, NC.

Three students won the Lon Bau-doux Legacy Scholarship. Recipientsof the $1,000 award are: Erick Esco-bar, Norwalk High School, Norwalk,CA; Tyler Hardin, OSU Institute of

Technology, Okmulgee, OK; and An-tonio Fondren, Hennepin TechnicalCollege, Brooklyn Park, MN. The LonBaudoux Legacy Scholarship was cre-ated to honor Lon Baudoux, I-CARDevelopment Manager, who passedaway in 2008. Lon highly valued edu-cation, especially for secondary andpost-secondary students. This scholar-ship is funded mainly by I-CAR staffand I-CAR instructors who workedwith Lon at I-CAR.

Additional scholarships includethe Board of Trustees Scholarship.This $2,000 award went to secondarystudent Brian Stade, Applied Technol-ogy Center, Rock Hill, SC, and topost-secondary student Zach Reisner,Hennepin Technical College, Brook-lyn Park, MN.

The Domenic Brusco–Wyo-Tech Collision Repair StudentScholarship, a $850 award, went toZachary Gullion, WyoTech,Blairsville, PA. The Domenic BruscoScholarship is funded by Collision Re-pair Education Foundation Board ofTrustee member Domenic Brusco.

The Collision Repair EducationFoundation will announce additionalscholarship and tool grant winners.

Collision Repair Education Foundation and Partners Announce First of $300,000 inStudent Scholarships, Will Be Announcing More Shortly


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The Automotive Service Association(ASA) held its annual business meet-ing April 19–20 at the Hurst Conven-tion Center in Hurst, Texas. Thethemes of the meeting were: Unity,transparency, inclusiveness and col-laboration.

“The board is committed to notonly working more closely with eachother, but also with our affiliated as-sociations. In fact, we shortened theopen board meeting to accommodatean interactive session with the affili-ates in attendance,” said Darrell Am-berson, AAM, vice president ofoperations at LaMettry’s Collision,Minneapolis, and ASA’s new chair-man. “We recognize the strength of anational association goes hand inhand with the strength of our affili-ated associations.”

“The changes that took place atthe national business meeting showthat ASA is a member-driven associ-ation, and the direction and excite-ment that came from this meetingdemonstrate that ASA is headed inthe right direction and the membersare in good hands with the newboard,” said Jeff Lovell, AAM, exec-utive director of ASA-Northwest.

“ASA-Midwest is pleased tohave had the opportunity to meet withthe ASA board and Dan Risley (in-terim executive director) during theannual business meeting. As a result

of those conversations, we are excitedabout the direction and opportunitiespresented by the new leadership,”said Sheri Hamilton, AAM, executivedirector of ASA-Midwest.

ASA’s board of directors also em-phasized the importance of the associ-ation’s governmental affairs efforts.ASA plans to increase its visibility asthe industry’s leader in the develop-ment of public policy for independentautomotive repairers. In addition to theexisting tools in place for ASA’s mem-bership—grassroots support, the ASAPAC and the Washington, D.C., officelocated on Capitol Hill—the board re-viewed a new design for ASA’s publicpolicy advocacy website, TakingThe-Hill.com, which will launch soon.

“We finished building the foun-dation for a new era at ASA and nowwe will be aggressively pursuing thosewho want to be part of the future of theautomotive repair profession. Theboard is eager to collaborate with ourexisting industry partners, and excitedabout the potential to build new rela-tionships within the industry that willbenefit the members of ASA,” saidRon Nagy, AAM, owner of Nagy’sCollision Centers in Ohio and ASA’simmediate-past chairman.

“We also have laid the founda-tion for a radical new ASRW withpositive changes in the works for bothNACE and CARS.”

ASA Business Meeting Emphasizes Unity,Transparency, Inclusion & Collaboration

CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Ex-perts is supporting 3M’s efforts inpartnering with the Collision RepairEducation Foundation’s Hire OurHeroes campaign. The initiativeprovides scholarships and supportfor collision repair training, with agoal of driving employment in thecollision repair industry for Amer-ica’s veterans. Enrollment to winscholarship funds from the CollisionRepair Education Foundationopened on Jan. 1, 2013, and remainopen through May 15, 2013. The3M Hire Our Heroes program alsowill help fund rehabilitation for thewounded veterans through Opera-tion Comfort’s Automotivation pro-gram. It provides opportunities forwounded soldiers to channel theirautomotive skills, or learn new ones,to restore vehicles through the Na-tional Auto Body Council (NABC)Recycled Rides program for othermilitary veterans. ParticipatingCARSTAR shop owners throughoutthe U.S. will support the campaign.

For every qualifying purchaseof 3M products by a CARSTARshop owner, 3M will contribute tothe campaign to reach a $250,000goal.

CARSTAR to Support “HireOur Heroes” Campaign

Colorado legislators voted to ap-prove a bill that requires all auto-mobile manufacturer franchiseagreements to conform to currentfranchise law rather than to meet thelegal requirements when the con-tract was signed, despite officialsfrom the Alliance of AutomobileManufacturers (AAM) calling themeasure an “extraordinary” and“shocking” shift of the balance ofpower. This is the fourth time in thepast five years that the ColoradoAutomobile Dealers Association(CADA) has brought a bill to givedealers more power in their negoti-ations with the national and interna-tional companies that supply themtheir products. They included billsto bar manufacturers from requiringmajor dealership upgrades morethan once every seven years and torequire that auto makers that closeddealerships due to bankruptcy togive those dealers first right of re-fusal if they reopen a franchise inthe area. The right-of-refusal bill re-sulted in a lawsuit against the state.

Colorado Auto Dealers FindSupport in State Legislature

The Automotive Management Insti-tute (AMI) is now accepting applica-tions for the Richard Cossette/ GaleWesterlund Memorial Scholarship.The scholarship honors the contribu-tions these individuals made to AMI,ASA and the collision repair industry.The scholarship recipient will receive$1,000 toward the recipient’s ex-penses to attend the 2013 InternationalAutobody Congress & Exposition(NACE) in Las Vegas, Oct. 16–18. Tobe eligible for the award, the follow-ing requirements must be met:► Applicant must work in the colli-sion repair industry► Applicant must demonstrate aninterest in self-improvement throughmanagement education► Applicant must own or work fora business that is an ASA collisiondivision member in good standing► If the applicant is not the busi-ness owner, he or she must be rec-ommended by the business owner.

To request a scholarship appli-cation, call AMI at (800) 272-7467,ext. 101, or online at www.amion-line.org. Applications must be re-ceived by AMI on or before Aug.23, 2013. Winners will be notifiedby Aug. 30, 2013.

AMI Accepting Applicationsfor Cosette/Westerlund Award

The Carlyle Group is selling itsstake in Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.,approximately 50,000 shares heldby investment funds associated withThe Carlyle Group. Goldman Sachswill act as underwriter in a regis-tered public offering of those shares.Hertz said the sale of stock by theinvestment firms represents practi-cally the entire interest the fundsheld in Hertz stock. Reuters reportedthat prior to the sales, CD&R andCarlyle were the second and thirdlargest shareholders in Hertz, re-spectively, according to ThomsonReuters data. The three investmentfunds bought Hertz from FordMotor Co. in 2005 for $5.6 billion.Hertz operates its car rental businessthrough the Hertz, Dollar andThrifty brands from approximately10,460 locations worldwide. Thecompany claims to have the secondlargest market share in the off-air-port car rental market in the UnitedStates. The Carlyle Group pur-chased DuPont’s Performance Coat-ings and Service King this year.

Carlyle Group to Sell 50,000Share Stake in Hertz


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The owners of 120 auto dealershipshave filed a federal lawsuit againstCarfax Inc., alleging that the vehiclehistory reporting company engages inanti-competitive practices and violatesantitrust laws.

The suit, filed in U.S. DistrictCourt for the Southern District of NewYork, seeks damages of more than $50million. It also alleges that Carfax,through exclusive agreements withauto companies and popular classifiedauto Web sites, is “monopolist in thesale of vehicle history reports.”

Larry Gamache, a Carfaxspokesman, said the company is “notable to comment” on the suit. Carfaxis a unit of R. L. Polk & Co.

In an interview with media last De-cember, Gamache said Carfax drawscustomers because it works hard to buildits brand and deliver a quality product.

“We have to prove over and overagain that the Carfax vehicle historyreport is the vehicle history report ofexcellence,” he said. “And if we don’tdo that, our partners are free to choosealternatives.”

The Automotive News article wasabout how some dealers were angeredby Carfax’s success as the dominantused-vehicle history reports provider.

The lawsuit’s plaintiffs include

dealership owners from California toVermont. Their attorney, LeonardBellavia, a partner at Bellavia BlattAndron & Crossett in Mineola, NY,says more plaintiffs are expected.

“I have about 25 or 50 more deal-ers that have sent paperwork express-ing a desire to join the suit,” Bellaviasays.

The lawsuit alleges that Carfaxprovides “cash or noncash marketingsupport” to auto manufacturers and toclassified sites Autotrader.com andCars.com as part of exclusive agree-ments that shut out its competitors.The suit also alleges that Carfaxcharges dealers “a significantly higherprice” for its vehicle history reportsthan other providers charge.

Dealers typically pay $16.95 perreport or a flat monthly fee for an un-limited number of reports per dealer-ship location, the suit alleges. “Themonthly fee ranges from $899 perdealership location for some dealers to$1,549 per dealership location forother dealers,” depending in the num-ber of vehicles in the dealership’s in-ventory, according to the suit.

It alleges that Carfax forces deal-ers to buy its vehicle history reports asa result of its exclusive agreements with37 of 40 manufacturer certified pre-

owned programs. Virtually all of theagreements require dealers to provideCarfax reports as a condition of partici-pating in the programs, the suit alleges.

Also at issue is that Carfax hasexclusive agreements with Cars.comand AutoTrader.com. Those agree-ments stipulate that dealers who listused vehicles for sale on those sitescan only post vehicle history reportsfrom Carfax, according to the suit.

Ten firms are approved on theNational Motor Vehicle Title Informa-tion System, a national data base ofvehicle title information to which 41states contribute, according to the U.S.Department of Justice Web site.

Carfax’s main competitor is Au-toCheck, owned by Experian Auto-motive Inc.

Mentioned, but not a focal pointof the suit, is the alleged inaccuracyfound in some Carfax reports. Bellaviasays that is a concern of dealers andcan be cured as a byproduct of a “freemarketplace.”

The lead plaintiff in the suit isMaxon Hyundai-Mazda in Union, NJ.Its dealer principal, Mike Ciasulli, whois allegedly furious with Carfax butsubscribes to the reports as a conditionof the Hyundai certified used-vehicleprogram in which he participates.

CARFAX Hit by $50M Federal Lawsuit Filed by 120 Automotive Dealerships

ABRA Auto Body & Glass an-nounced that it has acquired 23 Pre-cision Collision Auto Body repaircenters in the Seattle metro area andthroughout Washington State. Thedeal marks the company’s entry intothe Northwest region. Eighteen ofthe repair centers are centrally lo-cated in the Seattle metro area, withfive additional centers in the citiesof Burlington, Mount Vernon, We-natchee, Kennewick and Spokane.“This is a game-changing acquisitionfor us,” says Duane Rouse, presidentand CEO of ABRA. “We have an ex-tremely strong management team, ascalable integration platform, a fan-tastic brand, and extensive expertiseand experience in the collision repairindustry. Acquiring these repair cen-ters is just one more step in ABRA’songoing growth strategy to betterserve our customers and insurancepartners.” Greg Wright, president ofPrecision Collision, will join thecompany and assume a leadershiprole in the region.

ABRA Has Acquired 23 WAPrecision Collision Centers

Allstate, the largest publicly tradedU.S. car and home insurer, said first-quarter profit fell 7.4 percent ascosts tied to the most expensivestorms rose. Superstorm Sandy,which lashed New York and NewJersey six months ago, cost the in-dustry $18.8 billion, according totrade group Insurance InformationInstitute. Chief Executive OfficerTom Wilson, 55, has been raisingprices for some coverage andchanging policy terms to improveunderwriting profit at Allstate’smain unit, which sells residentialand auto coverage under the in-surer’s namesake brand. That’shelped boost returns as he seeks togenerate better results at a life unitpressured by low interest rates andspends to expand online car-insur-ance seller Esurance. “The Allstatebrand is starting to rebuild,” Wilsonsaid. Premium revenue in Allstate’sproperty and liability business roseto $6.77 billion from $6.63 billion ayear earlier as the company addedcustomers at Esurance.

Allstate’s Profit Dips 7.4%,Expands Esurance

Hermanek and Ricciotti JoinCREF Board of TrusteesSr. VP and Chief Client OfficerDon Hermanek of Insurance AutoAuctions and National Sales Man-ager Renee Ricciotti of 3M havejoined the Collision Repair Educa-tion Foundation Board of Trustees.

The Board of Trustees con-sists of industry members who pro-vide guidance in the organization’sefforts to support secondary andpost-secondary collision studentsnationwide.

CREF Seeks Employers ForSummer StudentsCollision industry businesses seek-ing secondary or post-secondarycollision students for summer em-ployment are asked to contact theCollision Repair Education Foun-dation, who will communicate theemployment opportunities to localcollision instructors and students.Collision industry members seek-ing collision students for summeremployment should [email protected] with theposition details, location, and con-tact person.

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Estimate Management Standard(EMS) is the open, non-proprietarysystem for electronic communicationthat was first deployed in 1994, and isnow the non-proprietary estimate for-mat used by the three major estimatingsystems. EMS is analogous to the olddial-up modem communication, and isobsolete.

The newer Business MessagingSpecifications (BMS) standard is poisedto replace the over-extended EMS. Itcan communicate massive amounts ofdata in a secure and efficient manner.BMS offers collision businesses theability to control what data is madeavailable to the recipients. BMS utilizesthe very flexible XML (markup lan-guage), which provides a consistent in-ternet communication standard, vs. themore limited scope of EMS.

As Fred Iantorno, Executive Di-rector of CIECA, has said in the past:“Implementing the BMS will makeeveryone more efficient and will savethe industry money.”

BMS offers shops three primarybenefits to the Collision Repair indus-try, according to Michael Lloyd,CIECA’s Vice Chairman:

Security—BMS allows users tocontrol data exchanged between itstrading partners. Businesses can trans-mit only the data needed by its suppli-ers, thereby retaining the confidentialityand security of the data that is in theirpossession.

Scalability—In the same way thatthe internet was designed to supportthe communication needs of all users,BMS simultaneously supports theneeds of both small and large busi-

nesses. As a result, BMS allows allbusinesses to exchange data usingcommon data fields or definitions. Re-gardless of size, BMS can meet theneeds of any business.

Efficiency—Since BMS followsthe XML standard, BMS can operatein any environment—server, main-frame, Microsoft Windows, MAC, etc.BMS eliminates the expense and inef-ficiencies associated with re-keyingdata. Once data is part of the BMSrecord, it does not need to be re-en-tered. All transaction history is re-tained, which allows the re-creation ofan estimate from a prior time period,according to Fred Iantorno. BMS is“backward and forward” compatible,meaning that new releases and mainte-nance are easily implemented, provid-ing a lower cost of operation.

Participants at the April CollisionIndustry Conference (CIC) expresseda clear opinion that it’s time for infor-mation providers and others accessingshop estimate data to convert from theEMS standard to the BMS standard.

A poll of more than 200 CIC at-tendees at the Phoenix meeting foundthat 84% supported such a move, how-ever a similar poll at the CIC meetingin January found only one in three CICattendees said they actually understoodthe key difference between the twostandards.

Education participants about thetwo standards has been led by DataPrivacy Committee chairman TonyPasswater, who said the change couldhave significant impact for shops, in-surers, parts suppliers and other indus-try vendors.

Passwater noted that while theolder EMS standard transfers all datafrom the estimate—including cus-tomer, vehicle, parts and labor infor-mation—the BMS standard providesshops with more control over whatdata gets shared, thus making it easierfor them to protect the privacy of datafor customers, business partners andthemselves.

The current EMS standard canonly transmit all the estimate data atonce, no matter how little informationis wanted or needed. The new BMSstandard has the ability to transmitonly the specific data necessary to getthe particular task accomplished, suchas order a part, or notify a car rentalcompany. The BMS is also a more se-cure message which provides a confi-dential data exchange.

A parts vendor, for example, canbe sent just the vehicle information andparts list—not the customer’s name,address and phone number. A rental carcompany or CSI provider doesn’t needevery line item of the estimate.

Passwater said of the industry’scontinued use of EMS, “There’s just

unnecessary personal and businessdata that is being transmitted and cap-tured by other parties that’s not neces-sary.”

He pointed out that EMS, whichwas developed in 1994 and not up-dated in over a decade, lacks standard-ized transfer of email addresses or cellphone numbers, which weren’t asubiquitous back then.

While some information providershave moved to BMS for some or all datatransfer, the vast majority of transactionsare still handled through EMS, Passwa-ter said. By the end of Passwater’s pres-entation, 84 percent of CIC attendeessaid they had a better understanding ofthe key differences between EMS andBMS and that same percentage said in-formation providers should move toBMS and eliminate EMS.

That change, and the eliminationof EMS entirely should happen quickly,according to CIC attendees; one-thirdsaid it should happen in the next sixmonths, another third said it shouldhappen in a year, and 22% said withintwo years seems reasonable. Only 10%said EMS should never be eliminated.


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CIC Attendees Overwhelmingly Support BMS Data Standard Over EMS but SomeVague on the Differences, EMS is Functionally Obsolete

VeriFacts Academy has announcedthat AirbagSolutions and VeriFactsAutomotive have joined together tocreate three new educational clinicsin Restraint Systems. The clinics arenow available through the VeriFactsAcademy for $29 each. The clinicsare designed to give technicians,damage assessors and managers theunderstanding of how the systemswork and the skills necessary forsafe repair of restraint systems.

Said VeriFacts CEO, FarzamAfshar, “The worldwide recall ofairbags demonstrates the importanceof safe installation and repair ofSafety Restraint Systems.”

VeriFacts & Airbag SolutionsCreate Restraint Systems Clinic

uParts Gets $2M in FinancinguParts, Inc. an independent cloud-basedcompany which indentifies, locates, andprocures automotive parts, has an-nounced completion of $2M in financ-ing led by GRP Partners and otherlenders. “It is astounding that in the year2013, repair facilities are [still] placingtheir part orders using the phone & faxmachine” said Alex Adegan, uParts’Founder, President & CEO.

“Can you imagine faxing a listof your destination cities to airlines,then waiting for them to call backwith possible routes, pricing andavailability? Our powerful and intu-itive platform solves this problem byallowing all part orders to be placedwith a single click.”


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