april 2013 northeast edition

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

AASP/NJ hosted the 2013 NORTH-EAST™ Tradeshow at the Meadow-lands Exposition Center in Secaucus,NJ, on Friday, March 8 through Sun-day, March 10. While the expo floorsetup and number of seminars re-mained much the same as the past twoyears that I’ve attended, I was im-pressed with the great variety of ex-hibitors and seminar topics offeredthis year.

For more coverage, see page 40for John Yoswick’s coverage of theEast Coast Resolution Form andLeadership Meeting; my column fea-turing Charles Bryant on p. 44 andpage 38 for other industry reaction tothe event.

Insurer-Mandated Parts ProcurementProgramFor me, the highlight of AASP North-east in 2013 was the panel on insurer-mandated parts procurement programs.

On Friday night, from 6–8 p.m., AaronSchulenburg, Executive Director ofthe Society of Collision Repair Spe-cialists (SCRS), moderated a panel dis-cussion on insurer-mandated partsprocurement programs.

This seminar attracted a large numberof attendees eager to discuss how pro-grams such as State Farm’s Part-sTrader may affect their businessesonce it is instituted nationwide.

Schulenburg noted, “It’s a con-cern because, frankly, as independentbusiness owners, we believe that the

right and responsibility to find partsand to run your business falls on yourown shoulders. And we’re concernedwhen insurers start to enter into thebusiness of telling you how to runyour business. It’s one thing to give

goals, it’s one thingto give objectives,it’s one thing tohave relationshipsif that’s importantto your businessmodel, but tellingyou how you aregoing to performand how you’regoing to run yourbusiness and whatproviders and serv-

ice models you’re going to use is anentirely different story.”

The panel for this seminar con-sisted of three auto body profession-als from various regions of thecountry who have all had some expe-rience with insurer-mandated parts

NORTHEAST™ 2013—Tradeshow, Seminars, and Insurer-Mandated Parts Procurement Panel

See Northeast 2013, 8

Parts Order in PA Leads to Arrest in Fatal CrashA broken headlight led to the arrest ofa man accused of a hit-and-run acci-dent that left another man dead.

Pacurie Huynh, 29, of UpperDarby, PA, was tracked down via apart ordered to repair the Toyota4Runner he was driving when he al-legedly struck the victim, ThomasQuercetti, 28, on Fourth of July lastyear.

Huynh was arrested Feb. 25 andcharged with causing an accident thatinvolved death and failing to give in-formation, according to the criminalcomplaint.

Quercetti was walking home froma friend’s house about 1:30 a.m. on the

shoulder of the 100 block of NorthState Road in Springfield Township,Delaware County, when he was struckby a vehicle. Police said there was noindication that the vehicle tried to stop.

Quercetti, who suffered headtrauma, a broken leg, and a brokenshoulder, and was in critical conditionwhen he was taken to Crozer-ChesterMedical Center, died at home on Feb.20. He had been on life support sinceJuly 4, according to Emily Harris,spokeswoman for Delaware CountyDistrict Attorney Jack Whelan.

The complaint says investigatorslearned in January that evidence sent

See Parts Order Arrest, Page 4

Four of the key participants in the Insurer Mandated Parts Procure-ment panel were (from left) Steve Plier, Dan Hunsacker, Andy Ding-man, and moderator Aaron Schulenburg.

PAINT AND REFINISH TECHNOLOGIESPAINT AND REFINISH TECHNOLOGIESFirst of 2 IssuesFirst of 2 IssuesFirst of 2 Issues

• Custom Painter Stories, p. 24, 29, 42, 46, 50, 52• Companies Talk Tech p. 13, 23, 26• Tips and Tricks p. 26• Training and News, p. 12, 28, 55

Maryland Legislation Would Block Insurer-Mandated Parts Procurement, WMABA: Yes Maryland Delegate Mark N. Fisher(R-27B) has introduced House Bill1375 regarding replacement parts fordamaged vehicles. The bill wouldprevent insurers from requiring a“specific vendor or process for partsprocurement”—in effect it wouldblock requirements like State Farm’sPartsTrader initiative in the state. Thislegislation is one of the first attemptsto address recent insurer initiativesrelative to parts procurement.

The bill language prohibits anadjuster, appraiser, insurance pro-ducer or employee of an insurer fromrequiring a motor vehicle repair facil-ity to use a specific vendor or process

for parts procurement or other neces-sary material for vehicle repair.

The legislation requires an in-surer to authorize repairs to be madeusing genuine crash parts, prohibitingan insurer from requiring repairs to bemade using aftermarket crash partsduring the five years after the vehicleis manufactured. The insured mayconsent to the use of aftermarket crashparts in writing at the time of repair.

The Automotive Service Associ-ation (ASA) and its Collision DivisionOperations Committee have con-ducted educational meetings aroundthe country, met with insurer repre-

See Maryland Legislation, Page 6

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Amato Agency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . 50Auto Land Hyundai-Suzuki . . . . . . 14Axalta Coating Systems . . . . . . . . . 5BASF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 41Car-Part Pro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35CCC Information Services. . . . . . . 17Central Avenue Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62CSS USA, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23DCH Family of BMW Stores . . . . . 37Ditschman/Flemington Auto Group. 12Empire Auto Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Equalizer Industries. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . 45Fred Beans Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Garmat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Generation Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Glanzmann Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . 29GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 59Hackettstown Honda. . . . . . . . . . . 38Haydell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Healey Hyundai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32-33

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers. 53Jaguar Wholesale Parts Dealers. . 55Kia Motors Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Koeppel VW-Mazda. . . . . . . . . . . . 22Lexus Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 57Malco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Maxon Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Maxon Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 47MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . 40MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . 39Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Nucar Mazda. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Plaza Auto Mall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers. 54PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Ruge’s Parts Center . . . . . . . . . . . . 8SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . 19Scion Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 61Security Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep . . . . 7Subaru Wholesale Parts DealersDE, South NJ, PA . . . . . . . . . 20-21

Subaru Wholesale Parts DealersNorth NJ, NY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Thompson Organization . . . . . . . . 31Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 51Tsunami Compressed Air Solutions. 10VIM Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Volkswagen Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 46Walcom USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Yonkers Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Inde

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Contents

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

and adjacent metro areas, Autobody News is a monthlypublication for the autobody industry. Permission to re-produce in any form the material published in AutobodyNews must be obtained in writing from the publisher.©2013 Adamantine Media LLC.

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

ortheast

www.autobodynews.com | APRIL 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

Pennsylvania Chevy Dealer Finance ManagerCharged with 16 Counts of Theft and ForgeryThe finance manager for a dealershipoutside Pittsburgh faces charges offorgery, theft and receiving stolenproperty for allegedly submittingphony signatures on customer docu-ments and keeping money for him-self.

Thomas Carrigan, 35, of Mon-essen, PA, was arrested March 5, ac-cording to police records. Carriganwas working as the finance managerat C Harper Chevrolet-Buick-Cadil-lac, in the Township of Ostrava inBelle Vernon, PA, police said.

According to authorities, Carri-gan allegedly forged a customer’ssignature on a contract after changingthe amount of the down payment. Apolice “affidavit of probable cause”cited only one example, but Carriganis charged with a total of 16 countseach of theft and receiving stolenproperty.

The dealership general manager,Dave Marchitello, first reported thethefts in January, police said.

Marchitello said the dealershipso far has identified $22,400 in grossprofits Carrigan allegedly pocketedfor himself.

“He wasn’t stealing from cus-tomers, which is not to say customersweren’t involved. In effect, he was em-bezzling from us,” the general man-ager said.

He said most of the missingmoney was related to the sale of ex-tended-service contracts and otherF&I products; Carrigan allegedly keptdealership gross profits for himself.

Marchitello said accountants al-legedly discovered 10 customer transac-tions in which money was missing.Carrigan was terminated the same day hewas arrested, the general manager said.

According to court records, thecharges date back to offenses that al-legedly took place as early as August2012.

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REGIONAL250,500 Cars Damaged by Sandy in

15 States Plus DC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Accidental Fire at Starting Line Auto Body

Shop in PA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Collision Care Opens 6th Location in

New Jersey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Fire Damages Auto Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9LIABRA Hosts Town Hall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Maryland Legislation Would Block

Insurer-Mandated Parts Procurement,WMABA: Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

New York Wants to Finalize UnresolvedSandy Claims Quickly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

NJ, NY to Offer Mediation Program forSandy Claims Disputes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

NORTHEAST™ 2013—Tradeshow, Seminars,and Insurer-Mandated Parts ProcurementPanel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

NY Auto Body Class Starts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4NY Officials Investigate Three Insurers

in Sandy Claims Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Parts Order in PA Leads to Arrest in Fatal Crash . 1Pennsylvania Chevy Dealer Finance Manager

Charged with 16 Counts of Theft and Forgery. 3Rhode Island Body Shop Prompts

Zoning Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Rhode Island Senator Goodwin Introduces

Unfair Insurance Claims Practices Bill . . . . . 6Settlement Reached Over Sandy-Damaged

Cars in NJ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Show Attendees React to AASP 2013

Northeast Tradeshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38The Industry Can Unify and Change;

Many Have Made an Impact . . . . . . . . . . . 40

COLUMNISTSAttanasio: Blogging for Fun and Profit . . . . . . 14Evans: Sharing the Love of Custom

Painting with Students at Lincoln . . . . . . . 52Franklin: The Selling Estimator’s

Job Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Insider: Shops’ Inefficiencies Are Legitimate

Concerns for Insurers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Sisk: Charles Bryant Updates Us On What’s

Going On in New Jersey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

NATIONALABRA Auto Body & Glass in Clinton, Iowa,

Wins Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54ABRA Opens Four Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Allstate’s Overton Joins Education

Foundation Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Anthony Fisher Obituary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45ASA Announces Details for 2013

Annual Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Automaker, OEM and Recall News . . . . . . . . 34Bill Luke Fiat Comes from a Long Line of

True Pioneers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Caliber Opens 21st Shop in Los Angeles. . . . . 4California Firms Sue Ford for ‘Overinflated’

Fuel Efficiency Claims of Two Hybrids. . . . 47CAPA Testing on Safety of Aftermarket

Bumper Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58CARSTAR Promotes Rick Miller and Melissa

Miller (no relation) to Leadership Roles . . . 56Edward “Randy” Bevis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Feds Spend $1 Billion on Repair Bill for

Vehicle Fleet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Florida Senate Panel Wants Ban on Texting

& Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Four Collision Industry Members Join

Education Foundation’s Leadership Circle . 58Gerber Opens New Centers in Florida and

Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Hawaii Bill Seeks to Reduce Fees for

Antique Vehicles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Honda Visits Alabama High School

with Message Cars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

How to Donate to Ray Gunder’s Legal Fund . 44I-CAR Adds 4 New Online Courses,

Expands Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58ICRA Adds ‘No Free Lunch’ to Tradeshow. . . 56Indiana Convention & Exhibition Takes Control

of the Future: “What are You Doing?” . . . . 48Industry Gives $5 Million in Support of

Collision Repair Programs throughEducation Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Industry Gives 1,000 Uniforms toCollision Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Industry Veteran Mike Spagnola Joins SEMA . 49Joe Gibbs Racing Hosts Sherwin-Williams

Worshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Keenan Launches Operation Comfort Fundraiser . 54Mitchell Releases 2013 Insurance Predictions . 59NABC Appoints 3M Sales Manager

Ricciotti to Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57NABC Ramps Up Its Social Media Efforts . . . 57NABC To Take Stock of Future at April Meeting . 57NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon to Drive

No. 24 Chevrolet with New Imron ElitePaint Scheme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

NC Shop Opens 6th Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36New Indiana Shop to Follow Lean Production. 62Post Office Unveils 1967 Shelby Forever Stamp. 60PPG Marketing on Demand Website Breaks

New Ground. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12PPG Will Hold Annual MVP Conference

April 7–9 in Scottsdale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55SCRS Donates General Memberships to

245 Collision School Programsthrough Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

SCRS, CREF Ask Industry to SupportTheir Local Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Seidner’s Hires Mike Stacy asCorporate Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Self-Driving Nissan Leaf Controlled from iPad . 55SEMA Exhibit Summit Takes Place April

15–17 in Las Vegas, 7 Months Priorto Nov. 5–8 Show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

SEMA Show Hotels Now AcceptingReservations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Sherwin-Williams Introduces Body ShopPhone App for Consumers . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Shop Owners, Managers Asked toComplete Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

State Farm to Grow in Phoenix . . . . . . . . . . . 16Used Vehicle Wholesale Prices Up

1.3% in January . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54VA Police Make 383 Arrests for Insurance

Fraud in 2012. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Vermont Introduces Aftermarket Bill . . . . . . . 61WIN May 5–7 Conference to Focus

on Recruiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

PAINT SPECIALClaiming Potential Waterborne Profits—

Tsunami’s Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Custom Painter Aaron Wachholz Paints Cars,

Boats & Bikes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24From Hot Wheels to Hot Rods: Kindig-It

Designer Works for Fun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50How to “Touch Up” A Scratched Car in

60 Minutes and Make $95 . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Jon Kosmoski—Painting Legend Uses

SATA Guns Exclusively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Mitch Lanzini Extends his Art from Toy Cars

to Overhaulin’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46New Custom Painter Enjoys the Creativity

of the Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Preval Wins Prestigious Sherwin-Williams’

Vendor of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28The Art of Atomization: Thermo Regulated

Compressed Air and Atomization . . . . . . . 13Waterborne Breathable Air Combo System

Available from Martech Services Company . 26


The BOCES Consortium of Contin-uing Education (BCCE) is offering a100-hour training class on AutoBody Techniques that will provideentry-level instruction on auto bodyskills, techniques and materials.

The course runs from March 5to May 21 and meets every Tuesday,Wednesday and Thursday from 6-9p.m. at Madison-Oneida BOCES,4937 Spring Road, Verona, NY. Thecost is $800.

For more information visit:www.moboces.org. Register onlineor by calling 315-361-5800.

NY Auto Body Class Starts

The Long Island Auto Body Repair-men’s Association met March 19 fora Town Hall open forum to discussclaims problems and solutions.Members were encouraged to bringproblems and resulting solutions tothe forum for discussion.

In addition, the meeting fea-tured a presentation on OSHA stan-dards and compliance, as well as aNew York State Labor Departmentupdate. LIABRA also reviewed theirlegislative agenda for 2013. Enter-prise Rent-a-Car presented informa-tion on their ARMS program.

LIABRA Hosts Town Hall

A Feb. 21 fire at an auto body shopin Silver Spring Township, Cum-berland County, in Pennsylvaniawas ruled accidental. It is believedthat the furnace, which used fuel oil,was the cause of the fire.

Over 55 firefighters respondedto the scene at Starting Line AutoBody on West Trindle Road andtankers were brought in becausethere wasn’t a close enough watersupply to fight the flames.

Freezing temperatures didn’tplay a factor on fighting the blaze,and a heated tent was set up for fire-fighters standing by.

It took about 40 minutes to getthe fire under control, and NewKingstown Fire Chief Curt Hallsaid hard working volunteer fire-fighters made that possible.

“Volunteer firefighters are hardworkers. There’s not too many peo-ple that want to stand in the tentwhen there’s work to be done, so wehad a good crew of personnel work-ing today. The fire was under con-trol quickly, and no injuries at thistime.”

No one was in the auto bodyshop at the time the fire broke outaround 7:30 a.m.

Accidental Fire at StartingLine Auto Body Shop in PA

The current estimate of vehiclesdamaged as a result of Sandy is nowset at 250,500 based on claimsprocessed by insurance companies,according to latest figures releasedby the National Insurance Crime Bu-reau (NICB).

The complete list of states gen-erating Sandy-related vehicle dam-age claims in descending order are:New York 150,000New Jersey 60,000Connecticut 8,000Maryland 5,500Massachusetts 5,000Virginia 4,500Ohio 4,000Pennsylvania 4,000Delaware 2,000New Hampshire 2,000North Carolina 1,500District of Columbia 1,000Rhode Island 1,000West Virginia 1,000Maine 500Vermont 500

The figures are for insuredlosses only and may change as addi-tional claims are received andprocessed. Uninsured vehicles dam-aged by Sandy are not reflected inthese figures.

250,500 Cars Damaged bySandy in 15 States Plus DC

XL Insurance America Inc. andFisker Automotive Inc. recentlyreached an agreement over an insur-ance dispute involving hundreds ofhybrid cars at a New Jersey port thatgot wrecked by Superstorm Sandy.The terms of the settlement are con-fidential.

“Fisker Automotive and XL In-surance America were able to suc-cessfully reach an out-of-courtagreement that resolves their cover-age dispute with respect to the loss ofvehicles at Port Newark duringSandy,” XL spokesperson ChristineWeirsky told Insurance Journal.

Fisker Automotive had been ina legal dispute with XL since last De-cember regarding coverage for thedamaged cars. The Anaheim, CA-based automaker had lost 338 of itshybrid cars worth more than $30 mil-lion. Those cars were unloaded fromcargo ships to be delivered to dealer-ships and were waiting at park facil-ities at Port Newark when Sandystruck. The cars were submerged in5 feet of seawater when the stormslammed ashore on Oct. 29. Onepoint of dispute was whether thesecars were in transit or in storagewhen the damages occurred.

Settlement Reached OverSandy-Damaged Cars in NJ

to the FBI’s laboratory in Quantico,VA, indicated a certain brand of head-lamp was involved in the accident.The headlamp is used in the Toyota4Runner.

Investigators also learned thatone Maryland business supplies theparts to all Toyota dealerships in thenortheastern United States. The deal-ers then order the parts for local auto-body shops. The Maryland businessprovided a list of orders for the partssubmitted from July 4 to Feb. 12.

On Feb. 14, a detective with theDistrict Attorney's Office reviewed an

invoice for a front passenger head-lamp ordered on July 5 by EssingtonAuto Center in Philadelphia fromConicelli Toyota in Conshohocken.

Investigators interviewed the Es-sington manager, who said the car’sowner paid in cash and provided thevehicle identification number. Thatyielded a 2012 Toyota 4Runner regis-tered to Huynh, whom the managerpicked out of a photo lineup.

On Feb. 25, Huynh was seendriving the vehicle near Routes 476and 30. In custody, he said he was theonly person who operated the vehiclebut denied having been in an accident,the complaint says.

Huynh was in custody with bailset at $500,000.

Continued from Cover

Parts Order Arrest

Caliber Collision Centers recentlyopened its newest location in LongBeach, CA, bringing the total numberof locations in the greater Los Angelesregion to 21. The new 11,000-square-foot collision repair facility brings thetotal number of Caliber locations to 123.

Caliber Opens 21st Shop in LA

Legislation has been introduced inHawaii to reduce annual registra-tion fees and state vehicle weighttax for antique motor vehicles.Under the SEMA-supported bill,the registration fee would be re-duced from $45 to $25 each year,and the weight tax would be re-duced from 1.75 cents per pound to1 cent per pound.

Hawaii Bill Seeks to ReduceFees for Antique Vehicles

www.autobodynews.comCHECK IT OUT!


New York regulators will require in-surers to follow additional rules to ex-pedite the resolution of remainingSandy-related claims in New York, In-surance Journal has reported. Thesenew regulations will now cut theamount of time an insurer can delayits decision on a Sandy-related claimin New York.

They will also require insurers toreport to the state’s Department of Fi-nancial Services—on a weekly basis—how many claims are being delayedand individual reasons for each of thedelays.

“While many claims in areas af-fected by Storm Sandy have beenclosed, the Department of FinancialServices is still getting many com-plaints from New Yorkers whoseclaims have not been resolved,” NewYork Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.“These new regulations will push in-surers to move those claims asquickly as possible so people can re-

pair their homes and get back to theirlives.”

New York Financial Services Su-perintendent Benjamin Lawskyadded that, “For the claims that are notbeing resolved, we want to understandwhat the problems are and what iscausing the delays.

“With more information, we maybe able to help reconcile issues to thebenefit of both consumers and the com-panies. The end goal is to ensure thathomeowners receive any funds theyare due as soon as possible,” Lawskysaid.

Under current insurance regula-tions, after a homeowner providesproof of loss, insurers have 15 businessdays to respond with a decision. But ifan insurer is unable to reach a decisionin that time, the insurer must providethe homeowner with a reason neededfor additional time—but doing sogrants the insurer an automatic 90-dayextension.

There is no limit on the number ofadditional 90-day extensions that areavailable to an insurer. Insurers alsomust provide claimants notification ofany documents or forms needed tocomplete their proof of claim within 6business days of receipt of the claim.

The Department of FinancialServices announced regulators are in-stituting the following changes, as aresponse to consumer complaints thatinsurers are taking too long to acceptor deny Sandy-related claims:• If an insurer is unable to make aclaims decision within the allottedtime, extensions are now only 30days, not 90 days.• Any extension letter sent to an in-sured must provide not just the reasonfor the extension, but an estimate ofthe date the insurer expects the deci-sion-making process to be completed.• Insurers must report to the state’sDepartment of Financial Servicesweekly on every claim that has beenextended past the initial 15 businessday decision window. This report willinclude, among other items, theamount of the claimed loss, the reasonneeded for the insurer’s extension, the

number of extensions the insurer al-ready has utilized, and the expecteddate for its decision.• Notification to claimants of whatdocuments and forms will be neededto complete the claim must now beprovided in a written, detailed docu-ment.

“Collecting this information willallow the department to monitor theclaims process and the reasons for anydelays in decisions. It also will en-courage insurers to speed up theprocess of resolving claims,” Lawskysaid.

New York regulators are now alsooffering a voluntary mediation pro-gram option for homeowners disputingtheir insurance claims or dissatisfiedwith denials of their claims arisingfrom Sandy.

According to the latest data from24 insurers that make up the most ofthe insurance market in New York im-pacted by Sandy, roughly 88% of their390,793 Sandy-related claims in NewYork have been closed as of Feb. 22.That means there are still tens of thou-sands of claims that have not yet beenclosed.

New York Wants to Finalize Unresolved Sandy Claims Quickly


Rhode Island state Sen. MaryellenGoodwin (D-1) recently introducedR.I. Senate Bill 465 regarding Insur-ance Unfair Claims Practices. Thebill amends current Rhode Island lawidentifying as an unfair claims prac-tice a motor vehicle’s designation as atotal loss when the cost to rebuild orreconstruct the vehicle to its pre-ac-cident condition is less than 75% offair market value.

Under the bill, any of the fol-lowing acts by an insurer constitutesan unfair claims practice:• Designating a motor vehicle a totalloss if the cost to rebuild or recon-struct the motor vehicle to its pre-ac-cident condition is less than 75% ofthe “fair market value” of the motorvehicle immediately preceding thetime it was damaged.(i) For the purposes of this subdivi-sion, “fair market value” means theretail value of a motor vehicle as setforth in a current edition of a nation-

ally recognized compilation of retailvalues commonly used by the auto-motive industry to establish values ofmotor vehicles,(ii) Nothing herein shall be construedto require a vehicle be deemed a totalloss if the total cost to rebuild or re-construct the motor vehicle to its pre-accident condition is greater than75% of the fair market value of themotor vehicle immediately precedingthe time it was damaged, and(iii) Nothing herein shall prohibit an in-surance company from agreeing todeem a vehicle a total loss at the vehicleowner’s request and with the vehicleowner’s express written authorization,if the cost to rebuild or reconstruct themotor vehicle to its pre-accident condi-tion is less than 75% of the “fair marketvalue” of the motor vehicle immediatelypreceding the time it was damaged.

To view the full text of this bill,please visit ASA’s legislative websiteat www.TakingTheHill.com.

Rhode Island Senator Goodwin Introduces UnfairInsurance Claims Practices Bill

sentatives and convened other colli-sion industry segments to discusscrash parts and parts procurement pol-icy.

The Washington MetropolitanAuto Body Association (WMABA)worked closely with Delegate Fisher

in drafting the language.“We are one hundred percent in

support this bill,” said WMABA Exec-utive Director Jordan Hendler, to atrade media source. “We have alreadybeen in contact with several consumerand automobile dealer groups who willalso stand with WMABA in support ofthis measure.”

The bill has been referred to theHouse Committee on Economic Matters.


Maryland Legislation

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie re-cently announced his administration’splan to offer a mediation program toSandy victims who are in dispute withtheir insurers, the Insurance Journalrecently reported.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomoalso unveiled a similar program thatseeks to expedite the resolution ofSandy insurance disputes.

Christie said his administration isworking to establish a new mediationprocess that gives consumers the op-tion to settle disputed cases withoutresorting to costly and time-consum-ing lawsuits.

“This process is needed to help al-leviate the hardship being experiencedby residents whose property was dam-aged or destroyed by Sandy,” Gov.Christie said.

As of Feb. 15, the percentage ofclaims closed is now 87% overall and91% for homeowners, Christie said.“This mediation program is an oppor-tunity to expediently resolve out-standing claims so that residents cancontinue to rebuild their lives,”Christie said.

Christie said the new program

will allow property owners to submithomeowner’s, automobile and com-mercial property claims to a mediatorwho will review the case and assist insettlement discussions.

The mediation program will beavailable for disputed non-floodSandy-related claims greater than$1,000 that do not include a reason-able suspicion of fraud and are basedon policies in force at the time Sandymade landfall. Insurance carriers willpay for the cost of the mediator.

New Jersey’s mediation effortwill not include flood insuranceclaims at the inception of the programbecause those claims are handled bythe National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP) pursuant to federal regula-tions, according to the statement.

However, the state’s Departmentof Banking and Insurance said regula-tors are continuing to monitor and as-sess the viability of adding NFIPparticipation in certain mediations ata later date.

Under New Jersey’s program,state-regulated insurers are required tonotify insureds with open or unre-solved homeowner’s, auto and com-

mercial claims that they can ask for amediation conference and detailed in-structions for filing that request.

Participation by policyholders iscompletely voluntary. Insurers author-ized or admitted to transact businessin New Jersey and the New Jersey In-surance Underwriting Association willbe required to participate in the medi-ation program.

Surplus lines insurers and risk re-tention groups (RRGs) may electwhether or not to participate in themediation process on a case-by-casebasis.

“We know that other states facingthe aftermath of weather-related dis-asters and storms, such as HurricaneKatrina, successfully operated similarmediation programs. New Jersey’sprogram will help rapidly and amica-bly resolve claims to help residents re-cover from Sandy,” New Jersey’sBanking and Insurance CommissionerKen Kobylowski said.

In New York, Gov. Cuomo saidthe state’s Department of FinancialServices has established a voluntarymediation process for homeownersdisputing their insurance claims or

dissatisfied with denials of theirclaims arising from Sandy.

“Mediation offers a speedy, low-cost resolution of insurance claims forhomeowners who are unable to reachagreement with their homeowners’ in-surance companies on claims fromStorm Sandy,” Cuomo said. “It is alsomuch less expensive for insurers thanlitigation, so it’s a win for everyone.”

New York Superintendent of Fi-nancial Services Benjamin Lawskysaid, “We also know that after othermajor storms, mediation was ex-tremely successful in other states. Sothe Department of Financial Serviceshas issued an emergency regulationdirecting insurers to offer and pay forvoluntary mediation for open and de-nied insurance claims from StormSandy.”

Under the new regulation, home-owners may seek mediation for claimsthat are disputed or if they disagreewith the insurance company’s denialof a claim. The mediation programwill be administered by the AmericanArbitration Association pursuant toprocedures and standards approved byNew York regulators.

NJ, NY to Offer Mediation Program for Sandy Claims Disputes


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A fire that broke out around 6 p.m.on March 7 damaged a ManheimTownship, PA, auto repair shop at920 N. Market St., causing between$25,000 and $30,000 in damage,Manheim Township fire Chief RickKane said.

An employee of the businesswas inside trying to extinguish thefire when firefighters arrived. He wasuninjured but did suffer some smokeinhalation, Kane said. He did nothave to be hospitalized.

Kane said the one-story con-crete block building contains a two-bay auto repair shop. One car wasinside being worked on, but it was re-moved unscathed.

“The garage is split in the back,so there is second-floor storage area,Kane said. “That’s where the bulk ofthe fire was.”

The cause of the fire is “unde-termined,” Kane said, but most likelywas “a furnace issue.”

It was also initially reported thata person was trapped. Kane said the“trapped” person was actually theshop worker who was inside fightingthe fire.

“He was not trapped,” Kanesaid. “He was fine when we got here.We just had to escort him out.”

Fire Damages Auto Shop

Collision Care Auto Body Centershas opened its sixth location in theGreater Philadelphia area.

A former BMW dealership,Collision Care of Marlton is locatedat 120 Route 73 in Marlton, NJ. The35,000-square-foot shop will em-ploy 15 people.

Mayor Randy Brown servedas master of ceremonies for theshop’s grand opening on March 7.

“When [Collision Care Presi-dent] Val Fichera first contacted meindicating his desire to move into theformer BMW location, my first re-sponse was, ‘Why?’” said Brown.

“At the time, the intersection of70 and 73… was just tons of con-struction. Credit to Val and his vi-sion, the intersection and CollisionCare of Marlton is now an upscaleand welcome addition to the boom-ing Marlton area, and his company’shistory has proven that it will serveour community well,” said Brown.

Collision Care Opens 6thLocation in New Jersey

www.autobodynews.comC

www.autobodynews.com

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo re-cently announced that the Departmentof Financial Services is investigatingthe claims practices of three insurersfollowing the aftermath of SuperstormSandy, the Claims Journal recently re-ported.

The three insurers are: Narra-gansett Bay Insurance Company,Tower Insurance Company and King-stone Insurance Company. The regu-lators said these insurers have had“much higher than average” com-plaints rate by consumers to the de-partment.

The regulators said the insurersare being investigated for (1) failureto send adjusters in a timely manner,(2) failure to process claims in atimely manner, and (3) inability ofhomeowners to contact insurancecompany representatives. New YorkState has been tabulating the numberof complaints against insurers andpublishing updated report cards as-sessing insurance companies’ per-formance in the wake of Sandy.

In New York State, InsuranceRegulation 64 requires that damagedproperty be inspected within 15 busi-ness days of a claim being filed, butfor certain Sandy victims, the inspec-tion time was shortened on Nov. 29,2012 to six business days.

Also, in New York State, insurersare required to make a decision on aclaim within 15 business days of com-pleting the claim investigation. If theyare unable to meet that deadline, in-surers are required to send a letter tohomeowners explaining the reason forthe delay. The department is asking in-surers to provide information abouthow many extension letters they aresending, the reasons given for needingthe extension and the projected timeto completion.

“It is essential that people whosehomes were damaged or destroyed byStorm Sandy receive insurance theyare eligible for as quickly as possibleso they can return to their homes andbegin rebuilding,” Gov. Cuomo said.

“We have been working with theinsurance industry to streamline therules and thank the companies whohave responded. But we won’t toler-ate insurers not doing what home-owners paid them to do—respondquickly in a disaster,” the governorsaid.

Benjamin Lawsky, superinten-dent of financial services, said, “We

know that the storm produced ex-traordinary circumstances, but we stillexpect insurers to live up to the high-est standards.”

The Department of FinancialServices said it is investigating thethree insurers’ claims practices by is-suing an Insurance Law Section 308letter — which is a request for infor-mation.

Commenting on each insurer, theregulators said that Pawtucket, R.I.-based Narragansett Bay’s policyhold-ers have frequently complained thatthey have been unable to reach ad-justers or that adjusters have failed toshow up for scheduled appointments.

Naragansett Bay received 11,029Sandy-related claims in New YorkState. Among those claims, 8,882claims closed with payment and 1,356claims closed without payment as ofFeb. 15. It had 147 consumer com-plaints, or a claims complaint rate of1.33%, according to the insurers’ re-port cards.

Regarding Tower Insurance inNew York, the regulators said that thecomplaints about the company createthe appearance that the company hasengaged in a pattern of failing to sendadjusters to inspect damaged proper-ties. “Many New Yorkers had diffi-culty scheduling an inspection withTower, while others have had theirclaims denied over the telephonewithout an adjuster visit,” accordingto regulators.

“The department has also re-ceived several complaints from Towerpolicyholders that they were unable toreach a company representative, thatthe company has delayed the process-ing of consumers’ claims, and that thecompany has improperly deniedclaims under the sewer backup en-dorsement.”

Tower Group received 16,777Sandy claims in New York State.Among them, 10,716 claims closedwith payment and 4,765 claims closedwithout payment as of Feb. 15. It had249 consumer complaints, or a claimscomplaint rate of 1.48%.

Commenting on Kingstone, N.Y.-based Kingstone Insurance, regulatorssaid complaints against Kingstoneconcern the company’s failure to send,or to timely send, an adjuster; sendingan adjuster who only inspected part ofthe property (for example, solely roofdamage and not internal propertydamage); denying wind damage

claims; disputed settlement amounts;and delayed settlement. Kingston’sclaims data were not included in theregulators’ report cards.

Tower Strongly Objects to Char-acterizations of Its Claims Handling

In its official response, Tower In-surance strongly objected to regula-tors’ allegations.

“On Feb. 21, Gov. Cuomo’s of-fice issued a press release announcingthat Tower Insurance Company ofNew York, a member of Tower GroupInc., is among three insurers the NewYork State Department of FinancialServices (DFS) is investigating forclaims practices related to SuperstormSandy,” the insurer stated.

Tower said that on Jan. 18, 2013,Tower received a letter from the de-partment reciting a number of allegedclaims handling violations and re-questing data regarding all Sandyclaims handled by Tower InsuranceCompany of New York.

“Tower responded promptly tothe request, and on Jan 31, 2013, thecompany provided voluminous infor-mation that refutes any factual basisfor the allegations contained in the

January 18 letter. To date, Tower hasreceived no further correspondencefrom the department regarding thedata we submitted,” the company said.

“The alleged claims handling vio-lations listed in the Jan. 18 letter arethe same allegations identified inThursday’s announcement,” the com-pany said.

“As we described in our responseto the DFS’s letter, we emphaticallyreject the allegations set forth in theDFS’s letter and Governor’s press re-lease. We were surprised and disap-pointed to see that the Governor’soffice repeated the same allegations inhis Feb. 21 press release without anyacknowledgement that Tower com-plied with the DFS’s requests with in-formation that fully refutes theallegations contained in the DFS’soriginal inquiry.”

“To date, we have closed over95% of personal auto and homeownerSandy-related claims,” Tower said.

NY Officials Investigate Three Insurers in Sandy Claims Practices


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by Ed Attanasio

In the automotive paint industry, manu-facturers are eager and willing to helptheir customers in areas such as produc-tion, recordkeeping and cost analysis.But now forward-thinking companieslike PPG are reaching out to help job-bers and body shops in their marketing,advertising and media-buying efforts.

Launched in April 2012 for dis-tributors and body shop customers, thePPG Marketing on Demand websitewas created to perform a wide rangeof marketing functions—website de-velopment, the creation andproduction of advertisingand marketing materials, andother tasks to help clientsgrow their businesses andestablish a presence in theirparticular markets. PPG de-veloped the website in con-junction with Brandmuscle,a marketing software andservices firm based in Chicago.

“We are passionate about helpingour distributors and body shops to suc-ceed,” said Cristina Fronzaglia, man-ager of marketing communications,

PPG Automotive Refinish. “Our goal isto help our customers gain a competi-tive edge with their online and offlinemarketing programs. By teaming upwith Brandmuscle, we’re able to assistour customers in executing the types ofmarketing programs that are oftenavailable only to larger organizations.”

Marketing Director Lori Alba isproud of the program PPG invested infor its customers. “PPG wanted to pro-vide its distributors and body shopswith a user-friendly, web-based toolfor creating marketing materials on-demand,” Alba said. “We reached out

to PPG sales reps, distributors andbody shops to find out what theywanted and needed in order to growtheir businesses. With our researchand experience and their feedback, we

were able to create a site that acts as aone-stop marketing resource.”

Alba has additional insight on bodyshops and their marketing needs be-cause her husband manages a large bodyshop in Ohio.“There are thousands ofshops out there with little timeand limited budgets and evenfewer resources to focus onmarketing and advertising. Weknew we had to create a sitethat PPG distributors and bodyshops could use easily andquickly. By making the naviga-tion straightforward and pro-viding features like a workcenter where customers cansave and later retrieve ads they’ve cre-ated, an asset library where they cangrab images and logos, and an extensivehow-to section, PPG Marketing on De-mand is very easy to use.”

Shops and distributors can createhigh-quality customized ads and othertailored marketing materials with afew clicks of the mouse using PPGtemplates for use in newspaper, mag-azine, trade and broadcast advertising.

“While shops will have access tocreate materials online 24/7, they can

also reach out to the PPG Marketing onDemand support team for personalizedone-on-one help with their advertising,”Alba said. “Rather than guessing whatkinds of advertising to run or using ashotgun approach, the PPG Marketing

on Demand support center can help dis-tributors and body shops by providingrecommendations and helping to nego-tiate the best advertising rates.”

For distributors and body shopslooking to create a website withoutspending thousands of dollars, PPGMarketing on Demand can make ithappen easily and affordably, Alba ex-plained. “PPG customers can create aprofessional site at a fraction of the costof doing it on their own, and we canmaintain it for a nominal monthly fee.”

PPG Marketing on Demand Website Breaks New Ground

Launched in April 2012, the PPG Marketing on Demandwebsite can help PPG distributors and body shop cus-tomers to perform a wide range of marketing functions

By using PPG Marketing on Demand, PPG distributors andbody shop customers can create customized websitesfast and affordably

by Robert Mercier, Walcom Thermo DryTechnology Specialist

The coatings industry is constantly for-mulating new ways to adapt theirproducts to new environmental stan-dards, ease of use, and color match.The atomization of these coatingsthrough the spraygun nozzle is an on-going challenge for paint and spraygunmanufacturers alike and is ever-chang-ing. It only makes sense that the phys-ical application side of the process, i.ecompressed air delivery-spraygunspecifications and spraybooth design,change with it.

A painter is faced with a differ-ent set of circumstances to take intoconsideration, depending on changingenvironmental conditions in order toadapt accordingly each day, espe-cially with the new generation water-borne coatings.

The tools provided to him are anessential part of his success rate andcycle time. The spraybooth is meant toprovide a clean, consistently heated, fil-tered work environment so the techni-cian can prevent contamination of thejob. The demand is the same of the com-

pressed air delivery system. It is equallyimportant to the application process andperformance of the spraygun.

Compressed air used in paintbooths is negatively influenced by lowtemperatures in the winter and by highrelative humidity in the summer. Evenwith adequate booth heating or, in thesummer, coolingdryers, the tempera-ture of compressedair entering thespraygun stock hasa hard time reach-ing 20 °C (68 °F).Remember also thatair expansioncauses temperatureto drop an addition10–12 °C (50 °F–54°F), lowering paintatomization air to atemperature under10 °C (50 °F). With relative humidityunder room temperature ‘dew point,’a micro-mist that mixes with the paintmay be generated. Therefore, the ideal20 °C (68 °F) conditions indicated bypaint manufacturers for satisfactoryresults are not met, with correspon-

ding loss of brilliancy, orange peel ef-fects and poor distribution.

Thermodry Technology heats andmaintains the set compressed air tem-perature regardless of climate/roomconditions. This allows the painter touse filtered, heated and thermo regu-lated compressed air, which maxi-

mizes results by eliminatingenvironmental factors both in thebooth and from external weather con-ditions. The operator can set tempera-ture from 20 °C to 50 °C (68 °F–122°F) for the painting phase and up to 70°C (158 °F) for the drying phase. The

PID retroaction system (proportional-integrated-derived) and instant regula-tion of the heating power at SCR(wave cut) keeps the temperature setby the operator constant. The IPHheating system has the same heatingelement features as the equipment,thus providing both tube heating andinternal temperature control, keepingit constant during the entire paintcycle.

A Heated and Thermo Regulatedair delivery system that maintains 68degree nozzle temperature free of hu-midity and gaseous impurities guaran-tees the technician superioratomization at the spray gun nozzle.This results in faster drying times, bet-ter paint flow out, lower paint con-sumption, and the elimination ofimperfections or die back (loss ofgloss.)

Painters will immediately feel thedifference in terms of faster dryingtime, better paint flow-out, lowerpaint consumption and higher appli-cation speed. In addition, painters canexpect significant improvement in thequality of work when using both wa-terborne and solvent based paints.

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— Jack LamborghiniTotal Care Accident RepairRaynham, Massachusetts

People used to think that blogs werelight and breezy, written mostly bysoccer moms or retired teachers andfeaturing their poetry, baby picturesand long-winded opinion pieces. Butover the years blogs have changed ina big way. Nowdays, experts on cer-tain subjects will go to blogs exclu-sively to see what they can’t findanywhere else on the Internet. Blogshave gone from irrelevant to pertinentwithin the past five years, and todaymore companies than ever (includingbody shops) have one blog and maybeeven more.

For those of you who have beeninside fixing cars too long and don’tknow what a blog is, here is my ele-vator speech. A blog is the morphingof two words (web–log) and in simpleterms, it’s a discussion-based or infor-mational site published on the weband including a series of entries (alsoknown as posts) typically displayed inreverse chronological order.

Until 2009, blogs were normallythe work of a single individual or asmall group, and often covered oneparticular subject. More recently‘multi-author blogs’ (MABs) have de-veloped, with posts written by largenumbers of authors and professionallyedited.

More and more companies, in-cluding body shops, are creating blogsfor many reasons, according to AngelIraola, a blog expert and the owner ofNet Business Consulting & Services(NBCS) in Santa Rosa, CA. Iraola hasbeen designing websites and blogs forhis clients since 2006 and has seen ahuge spike in their overall popularity.

“I used to get 1–2 calls everymonth from people asking about blogsand now I get about 5–6 calls a week.Why are they so in style right nowwith companies of all sizes? Becausefor one, they see their competitorsdoing blogs and they want to keep up.Also, they’re easy and affordable toset up and maintain, moreso than web-sites. In addition, people read blogsnow more than ever and they enjoy in-teracting with other readers.”

To get top search rankings onsites such as Google and Bing, blogscan play an instrumental role, Iraolasaid. “By using meta tags and the

proper keywords, blogs can help com-panies to spread the word and enhancetheir Search Engine Optimization(SEO) efforts. I’ve helped some of myclients to become #1 on Google andtheir blogs are one of the main reasonsfor their success online.”

How can body shops use blogs toget more customers? Iraola isn’t giv-ing away his secrets, he said, but heoffered some basic advice. “Post atleast once every week, otherwise yourblog will become stale and peoplewon’t read it. And change up the con-tent, with articles about helpful newsand tips about driving and cars and in-terviews with your employees andfunny, entertaining stories includingvideos, in some cases. Make it inter-esting and varied and solicit com-ments by doing polls and promotingdiscussion with your readers.”

Laurie Kaiser is the marketingdirector at LaMettry’s Collision, withseven locations in the Minneapolis-St.Paul area. Kaiser contracted an out-side firm to create LaMettry Colli-sion’s blog in 2011 after it developedthe shop’s website, she explained.

“They recommended a blog to en-hance our SEO, tell our story and keepengaged with our customers. We alsoattached the blog to some of our socialmedia, such as Twitter and Facebook.We’ve made the content for our blog ateam effort, soliciting feedback andgathering ideas about future blog arti-cles from our employees, customersand even vendors.”

Some of the more popular postson LaMettry’s blog include: Best andWorst Car Commercials for 2013;Why Your Car Gets Poor Mileage inthe Winter; Green Auto Repair:LaMettry’s Commitment to the Envi-ronment; and Congratulations toLakeville High North’s Class of 2012.

Stefanie Almendares is the mar-keting manager at Eur-Asia Motors inSan Francisco, CA. One of the firstthings she did after getting hired earlylast year was create a blog and con-nect it to the shop’s website and its so-cial media.

“We specialize in information andeducation on our blog, because wewant to be an advocate for the indus-try and a source our readers can trust,”

Almendares said. “Sometimes I haveto ask our techs about how to fix cer-tain items, so that I can write aboutthem for our blog. For instance, wewrote a post recently about how longit takes to repair a bumper. I didn’tknow, so I had to learn how a fender isrepaired and how long it takes to com-plete the job, so that I could pass it onto our readers.”

Does Almendares have any tipson how to make it in the blogsphere?

“I post as often as I can and wealways use lots of photos. Our SEOperson told us to use plenty of pic-tures and write alternate text for eachphoto we post. That way, we get morereadership and enhance our searcha-bility.”

Kevin Rains is a second-genera-tion owner of Center City Collision inCincinnati, OH. He delegates the ma-jority of his shop’s day-to-day tasks tohis managers and employees, but han-dles all of his company’s marketing

himself, he explained.“I really enjoy the marketing as-

pect of this business, because it’s al-ways changing with the technology. Istarted blogging way back in 2001 formy church, long before most peopleeven knew what blogs were. Then,three years later I started a blog for ourshop. Now I also publish a blog calledthe Auto Guru Blog, on which I teachreaders about the technology involvedin car repair, so that they know what toexpect.”

How does he know if people readhis blog and has he seen any benefitsfrom it?

“There is no doubt about thepower of blogging, because I haveseen it firsthand. Everything we doonline is there for a reason and SEO isof course a big factor.

“We can’t rely 100% on our blogor our website, because marketing is amix of different things but blogging isa part of that.”

Blogging for Fun and Profit

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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The collision repair world is changingrapidly these days. I recently attendedan autobody association meetingwhere a representative from Toyotaintroduced their new Parts Bridgeproduct. The estimating system withwhich they decide to integrate thisproduct will have exact manufac-turer’s billing prices and technicalservice bulletin information to ensureparts are installed properly. It was sug-gested that this product would elimi-nate most supplements. Suddenly alarge part of the estimator’s job wouldbe reduced greatly.

At the same time, the competitionfor jobs is heating up more and more,and consolidators are buying up manyof the existing shops. The result of thisis sort of a Wal-Mart versus local mer-chants war. Smaller shops are findingit much harder to compete when achain of franchise or consolidatorshops is gobbling up the lion’s shareof the work in an area. How can theyfight back?

When I go around to smallershops, I see a major difference in theway they see the estimator’s role.Often the estimator still has the oldviewpoint that it’s only necessary towrite an estimate when a customercomes in and to get that person toleave the keys for the shop to do thejob. In a chain of corporate-orientedshops, the estimator usually has a dif-ferent role altogether. I would be in-clined to now call that job a ‘collisionrepair sales representative.’ Yes, theestimator still has to sell the customeron leaving his or her car, but muchmore is often required.

I’ve taken the liberty of writingup an estimator job description thatencompasses most of what could beexpected of an estimator today. It is

true that in a larger shop, front deskpeople and customer service represen-tatives may cover many of the ele-ments I’ve listed. But I’ve found thateven in some smaller shops that arepart of a chain, the estimator may stillhave to perform the tasks of sales, cus-tomer follow-up, seeking customer re-ferrals and more. For independentshops and shops like these, this couldbe a reliable guide:

Collision Repair Sales RepresentativeJob Description• Primary duty: To show a customerthe estimated cost and time of repairand to close the sale with the customersigning an authorization and leavingthe keys to the vehicle.• Add-on sales: Estimator may see anopportunity to offer a specialty item,like running board or other item for ahandicapped person, car seat for achild, animal restraint for a pet, ortinted glass, special lights, tires, rims,spoilers, etc. for cosmetic improve-ments.• Secondary key duty: Using the cus-tomer information form to discoverfollow-up and referral job informa-tion, like other vehicles in the family(especially young drivers and their ve-hicles), company vehicles at the cus-tomer's work place, and other possiblevehicle repair needed.• Additional key duty: Using the cus-tomer information form to identifydates and times to re-contact the cus-tomer and maintain a long-term rela-tionship. This can include birthdays,anniversaries, confirmations, gradua-tions, and more. Inquiry should alsobe made about membership in a club,association or other group activitywhere the shop could provide promo-tional items.

• Delivery of completed vehicle:Whenever possible, the estimatorshould deliver the vehicle to the cus-tomer and use this opportunity to askagain about other family, friend andcompany vehicles that may need re-pair.• Follow-up calls: Keeping the cus-tomer advised of progress on the ve-hicle while in for repairs andrefinishing. Also a follow-up callwithin thirty days after the repair todetermine customer’s degree of satis-faction. If not fully satisfied, customercan be invited to come back and haverepaired area buffed and polished.• Prospecting for customers duringslow times: Calling customers ondates and times of events as noted,like birthdays, anniversaries, confir-mations, graduations, and more. Ageneral follow-up call should be madeat one-year, two-year and three-yearintervals. Call should always includean inquiry about the condition of all

family and company vehicles.

Why Good Salespeople Are RareI’ve found in many companies wheresales people are highly valued andhighly rewarded, there is often an atti-tude among other personnel that salespeople are pampered too much andpaid too highly for what they do.

It’s been my experience that ef-fective sales people have an unusualtalent and skill that not many people possess. The best sales people are ag-gressive without being offensive.They are empathetic without beingtimid or subdued. They’re able to per-sist in a pleasant way until theyachieve their objective. While manypeople are reluctant to reach out andtake command, the effective sales per-son is never reluctant to step up andask for the job or the order. Withoutsomeone who possesses that forcefulsales element, many shops and com-panies would not survive.

The Selling Estimator’s Job Description

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


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PPartts LLLiiiinneee::State Farm will grow its operations inthe Phoenix area. A State Farmspokesman recently confirmed thatthe company will boost its establishedoperations in metro Phoenix, as wellas in Dallas and Atlanta. Tempe ishome to State Farm’s current Arizonaoperations. State Farm, based in Illi-nois, reportedly plans to build on itsexisting presence to create regional

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State Farm to Grow in Phoenix

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procurement programs. Andy Ding-man, owner of Dingman’s CollisionCenters in Omaha, NE, has partici-pated in American Family’s APU So-lutions while Dan Hunsaker, ownerof Dan’s Paint and Body, has been re-quired to participate in State Farm’sPartsTrader due to being located inTucson, AZ, one of their test markets.

Due to his involvement withConsumer Auto Repair Excellence,Inc., and Alabama Automotive RepairIndustry Society of Excellence(ALARISE), Steve Plier has receiveda lot of feedback from shops partici-pating in PartsTrader in the Birming-ham, AL, area. Schulenburg stressedthat it is important for shop owners tobe aware of what is happening in thesetest markets in order to “understandthe potential ramifications so youknow how to plan beforehand and canmake an educated decision.”

Hunsaker began the panel discus-sion by explaining that PartsTraderwas a ‘nightmare’ to set up, andthough it is now technically function-ing in his shop, it is not any easier and

he would not choose to use it withother insurers. He dislikes the fact thatthe program dictates which vendors hecan use since he spent years develop-ing relationships with his suppliers.

In regards to APU Solutions,Dingman noted that it is important togrow and change to stay in business,and ordering parts electronically al-lows him to free up his telephone linefor incoming calls from customers.Still, he believes it is important to de-velop relationships with parts suppli-ers, and he noted that the only benefitto APU is that it is quick to search forparts, allowing him to avoid wastingsuppliers’ time with quotes on totalloss cases.

Referencing the feedback gar-nered from shops in the Birminghamtest market, Plier noted that Part-sTrader slowed shops down with ad-ditional administrative duties, takingan average of 45 minutes to gothrough the additional steps in theprocess and increasing to as much asan hour in the case of total losses.Since shops are still using the samesuppliers, many of them feel that it isquicker to call their suppliers.

Hunsaker concurred, noting thatchanging the parts search function to

include AFM or alternate parts caneasily turn into a three-step process,requiring an additional person half thetime to tend to the administrative du-ties created by use of PartsTrader.

Noting that it’s required to useAPU Solutions in order to remain onAmerican Family’s DRP program,Dingman still uses the same suppliersbecause, while APU has a ‘nearly un-limited’ number of suppliers acrossthe U.S. that meet their standards, theshop does not set this criteria, creatinga concern in regards to the quality ofthe suppliers on the program.

Hunsaker expressed another con-cern: these parts procurement pro-grams create and record a pipeline ofthe recommended parts that are notchosen which the insurer is apt toquestion without regard for the rea-sons shops may have chosen a differ-ent supplier, such as quality ordelivery time. The insurer only seesthat the shops are spending moremoney than absolutely necessary onparts.

Confirming Hunsaker’s specula-tion, Dingman admitted that he hasbeen audited by APU requesting docu-mentation explaining why he chose notto buy their recommended parts. He

objects to blindly following APU’s rec-ommendations because “a programcan’t use common sense and knowl-edge of the suppliers out there.” Theprogram can only provide options andinformation, but it’s a poor business de-cision to delay a repair for two days inorder to save $5 on a part. “Using theprogram exactly as it was designed, or-dering only recommended parts, wouldbe a complete train wreck.”

He continued to explain thatclearly documenting why he wouldn’tuse a specific provider wastes valu-able time in going through the mo-tions when he could just order partsfrom the quality supplier he has a re-lationship with. Furthermore, the un-necessary waste of time also affectshis month-end clerical work as hemust use additional time to separateand file documentation for multiplesuppliers.

Plier added that PartsTraderdoesn’t intervene in problems be-tween shops and suppliers, despite thefact that they are the ones “pressuringthe shops to use their suppliers.”Though State Farm claims that shopscan order from whichever supplierthey want, shops are being judged onhow competitive they are, based on



Northeast 2013

the parts they order. Birminghamshops were also unhappy with the lackof information received at meetingsabout the program as they were fre-quently informed that questions wouldhave to be answered at a later date,even when reading directly from theSelect Service Agreement. Manyshops left these meetings feeling ill-equipped to make an educated busi-ness decision.

Schulenburg noted that 17 SelectService shops pulled out the day be-fore PartsTrader launched, and an-other shop withdrew two days later.Plier contributed that these 18 shopswere sickened when they realized howmany things they agreed to do for freeas part of the Select Service Agree-ment, but by sending letters to cus-tomers explaining that they decided towithdraw from the program as part oftheir quality assurance for their cus-tomers’ benefit, these shops were ableto retain over 90% of their customerbase.

When PartsTrader was intro-duced in Tucson, Hunsaker said thatlocal shops resisted immediately. Alarge, nine-dealership supplier pulledout of the program upon realizing thatthey were forced to go through the

program even when ordering suppliesfrom their own parts department. Withthe drive seemingly being to reduceMSRP, which has always been thestandard, it didn’t take long for Tuc-son shops and suppliers to expresstheir disapproval for the program.

Reading a letter from a parts sup-plier who was unable to attend AASPNortheast 2013, Schulenburg ad-dressed the supplier’s view of Part-sTrader. The list of cons was immenseand included inefficient uses of timeas only about a quarter of quotes re-sult in actual orders and filling quotesfor uninterested people takes up to tenminutes each. There has also been anincrease in the use of A/M parts whichundermines OEM pricing and prof-itability, especially as OEMs are not[always] given the opportunity toprice-match like A/M suppliers are.Additionally, suppliers suffer from thelack of relationships with shops, plusPartsTrader will supposedly begincharging suppliers to participate in theprogram in the near future, even whenselling to prior customers.

For suppliers, the pros of in-volvement with PartsTrader are lim-ited to seeing the entire process andpossible increased exposure to a larger

market, assuming that shops are actu-ally interested in buying from themand not just requesting a quote to ful-fill the process.

Plier noted that suppliers inBirmingham view PartsTrader as atrap—many large providers refuse toparticipate at all or plan to removethemselves from the program once theintended participation fee is instituted.

State Farm claims that Part-sTrader offers a chance to bid on partsand increase business, but suppliersobject to giving their parts away.Since the two largest suppliers inBirmingham withdrew from the pro-gram, there is no large OEM or A/Mplayers, so more OEM parts are beingused for local repairs than ever before.

Hunsaker refuses to change hissuppliers as they fulfill all his businessneeds. He quipped that PartsTrader is“a great program if you’re looking forthe cheapest prices and don’t careabout your customers.” The shops arethe one who must call the customer ifsomething is wrong with a part, yetthe insurer wants to dictate that shopsuse cheaper parts without taking cus-tomer service or quality into consider-ation. Though State Farm doesn’ttechnically tell shops which supplier

to use, they are judging shops on theircompetitiveness, measuring shops’performance by the parts they orderand those they choose not to order forwhatever reason.

Shifting the direction of the dis-cussion, Schulenburg noted that, at itslaunch, PartsTrader’s focal drivingpoint was on efficiency, yet StateFarm has no documentation to proveefficiency gains or ease of administra-tive duties. Hunsaker agreed that hehas seen no evidence of increased ef-ficiency through the use of Part-sTrader. He disapproves of the insurerintruding in his business, insisting that“it is an issue to drive margins downas no one in this industry is making afortune.” He is concerned that qualitydealers will be put out of business be-cause of competition from lower qual-ity, less reliable, and less expensivesuppliers. Pointing out that costs areincreasing as profits decrease, Ding-man said he is frightened by the ideaof losing even more profits throughparts procurement, pointing out howmuch worse it will be when shops arerequired to contend with more thanone of these programs at a time.

Though not many adjustments on


See Northeast 2013, Page 30


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A new auto body shop may now locatein Commercial-2 zones in Cumber-land, RI, rather than being restricted toindustrial sites, under an ordinance re-cently approved by the town council.

The change paves the way forCharles Lombardi Jr. of Cumber-land to move his Cumberland Colli-sion shop from Diamond Hill Road toa new facility at 420 Mendon Road,the Valley Breeze reported.

Wrapping up the zoning changeand Lombardi’s petition in a singlemotion, town council members:•Amended the zoning code to allowauto body repair shops in a C-2 zone;• Rezoned Lombardi’s proposed sitefrom C-1 to C-2;• Waived the need for Lombardi towin the zoning board approval that fu-ture auto body applicants will need.

The final 6-0 vote means Lom-bardi returns to the Planning Boardwhere his major land development ap-plication already has master plan ap-proval. His lease expires at the oldJoly’s Auto Body location in January2014.

Under the zone change, the townis restricting future auto body shops in

commercial zones to only those thatuse a water-based coating system anda dustless sanding system. All workmust be done inside and landscapingmust screen outdoor autos, parts andtrash from public view. Lots must alsobe at least 10,000 square feet and setback from the road at least 25 feet.

An applicant in a commercialzone must also secure a special usepermit from the zoning board

John McCoy, an attorney whoheads Cumberland’s zoning board,waited in the audience until 10:30p.m. for his chance to strongly objectto the waiver for Lombardi.

“The council can amend, canchange from C-1 to C-2,” he said, “butthe zoning board is the permitting au-thority and it’s a big project. You can’tsay, OK make it a special use butwe’re exempting this applicant.”

However, Lombardi’s attorney,Scott Partington, as well as CouncilPresident James Higgins successfullyargued that Lombardi has gonethrough the entire proposal for coun-cilors and an appearance before zon-ers would be repetitive and costly.

Lombardi has been before the

Planning Board twice already, theynoted.

Town council member Bill Mur-ray argued, “How do we help thebusinesses in town grow? This is abusiness that has spent a lot of moneytrying to improve. If we get tied up inred tape tonight or any other timewe’ll start pushing businesses awayfrom Cumberland.”

And town solicitor ThomasHefner reassured councilors, “Youdon’t bow to the zoning board; theydo what you tell them to do.”

Lombardi, who owns a home onAbbott Run Valley Road and is theson of North Providence MayorCharles Lombardi, is proposing a14,000-square-foot addition to thecurrent Mendon Road building that re-makes the facade and creates threestorefronts.

It will sit on an acre and one-halfof land with 200 feet of frontage. Heplans three offices along the front.

Behind the offices will be 12 baysfor his auto body and repair operation,he said. The slope of the land willshield the operation from passersby,he says.

He said he generally handles fouror five cars a week, but is hoping togrow.

Lombardi, who says his high-tech operation is a state-qualifiedtop-tier level, is promising to run atidy operation. “We’re not going tospend this kind of money and ruin itstoring a smashed ‘02 Altima out-side. I don’t do something like that,”he said.

Opposed to the location was resi-dent Frederick Mason, who livesnearby. When he moved in nine yearsago, he felt he was seeing the areashift from commercial to residential,“more of a neighborhood and some-what upper scale.”

Planning and Community Devel-opment director Kelley Morris earliertold the Planning Board in a memothat the change “is not inconsistent”with the town’s long-term planningthat calls for expanding the town’s taxbase in part through “nodes of com-mercial development for small-scale,mixed-use neighborhood orientedcommercial development.” Specifi-cally mentioned, she said, is the Men-don Road corridor.

Rhode Island Body Shop Prompts Zoning Change


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by Dustin Ericson,Suburban Manufacturing, Inc.

Triumph and pitfall stories of today’swaterborne initiative are in front of oureyes and ears every day. One thing wedo know is that by lowering the over-all VOC (volatile organic compounds),waterborne painting has minimizedharsh chemicals that flash off into theatmosphere and your workspace. It hasalso improved the curing process bydrying more uniformly coat-by-coatcompared to solvent-based paintswhich can take weeks to dry. Thiseliminates dimming of color (due tothe primer, base and clear coats curingtogether) over time. Waterborne hasalso seen better coverage with fewercoats using less material.

The issues with waterborne paint‘come to the surface’ very quickly. Thethinking is that since less material isused, this will save cost on a job. Manyhave found that while the waterbornepaint is more expensive, if the job isdone right the first time, those poten-tial savings are realized. However, anew problem has arisen in the chem-istry of a paint job—The Dew Point of

the compressed air stream. With sol-vent-based paints, water droplets werealways an issue, dripping out of a fit-ting onto a panel once it was nearlycomplete. Even someone using a high-

powered air sander in a prep stationwith an overflowing water separatorcould dump the week’s water collec-tion onto a surface.

Nearly all the paint manufactures

suggest a single-digit relative humid-ity (RH). Figuring out relative humid-ity isn’t as much as a science asmeteorologists make it out to be. It isthe Dew Point of the compressed airdivided by the temperature of the com-pressed air. Taking that information, itlooks like there is a simple way ofachieving the single digit RH. Heatingthe air sounds easy, but there are twobig factors to consider: Air has terribleheat transfer capabilities (it’s used asan insulator in double pane windows),and the human hand starts to get sensi-tive at temperatures of 100°F and willburn at 140°F. The logical conclusionmust be to lower the dew point of thecompressed air stream.

Desiccant pots or air dryers havebeen used for years for removing hu-midity from compressed air whenusing solvent-based paints. The mediaacts like a sponge adsorbing humidity,and needs to be replaced when satu-rated. The indicator window on thesepots will change color when it’s timeto change the media. Usually, peoplechange these when they change fromblue to pink or white. Shops also tryand use this older technology when

using waterborne paints. One of the is-sues is the colored indicator windowswill not even start to visually changecolor until the RH is near 24%, whichis 140% out of specification. Usually,what past practice has found is if thedesiccant is changed with the colorbeing pink or white, the RH is 40%plus. This costs shops dollars in lostproduction when troubleshooting paintissues along with slowing productiondown due to longer drying time.Painters think they have dry com-pressed air, but they really don’t. Theonly way to assure you have dry airwith desiccant pots is to check weeklywith a humidity tester.

Tsunami’s solution to this problemis the Ultra System—a complete sys-tem which includes a regenerativedryer, filtration to remove liquid water,oil and contaminates, along with a 80-gallon storage tank. The media in thetowers is quite different from the typi-cal silica gel type medias found in thepots. Under the microscope, it looksmore like honeycomb or porous withthe beads being very small—manymore beads fill the same space, greatly

Claiming Potential Waterborne Profits—Tsunami’s Solution

See Waterborne Profits, Page 41

by Melanie Anderson

Customer painter Aaron Wachholz,owner of X-treme Paint Auto Body &Marine in Wyoming, MN, began hiscareer nearly a quarter century agowhen he was in the Navy, painting andrepairing the landing and captainboats aboard the ship. After his stint in

the Navy, he worked at two bodyshops and eventually started doing hisown custom work as well as custompainting new conversion vans thatwere sold on dealership lots.

Wachholz, 43, started X-tremePaint Auto Body & Marine 16 yearsago and now has four employees. Theservices provided by his business in-clude custom painted graph-ics, custom airbrushing andmurals, auto body collisionand frame repair, fiberglassand aluminum boat repair andcustom motorcycle painting.The shop serves the NorthTwin City Metro area withquality collision repair andcustom paint with award win-ning unique designs. Awardsinclude: DuPont Top Gun:2000, 2001, 2002, 2003;Donnie Smith Custom BikeShow: Best Paint 2009, Best in Class2009, Best in Class, 2006; as well asseveral local car and bike show custompaint awards.

Over the years, he estimates he’scustom painted over 5,000 cars, bikesand boats.

“I like playing with different col-ors, filling out different designs andusing my creativity to create some-thing new,” Wachholz said. “I lovecreating something new and different,utilizing unique colors and color com-binations. I take a vehicle and I’ll de-sign a paint job that flows with thenatural body lines on the vehicle. I

like to take the shape and puta paint job to it that enhancesall of the natural shape andcontours of the body.”

On the flip side, what hehates about custom painting isnot always knowing for surewhat exactly the customer hasin mind, because some cus-tomers come in with a vagueidea or concept that he bringsto life. He has a fear of disap-pointing them, although thathas never happened.

He said one of his strangest re-quests for custom painting was aHummer H2 where the customerwanted a two-toned bright pink.

His most famous customer isJesse Ventura, for whom he did cus-tom paint on a favorite bike. Venturais a former professional wrestler whoutilized his skills learned in the ring to

become Governor of Minnesota.His favorite project was a donated

custom paint job he did last year on a2011 Harley Davidson Street Bob for‘Tribute to the Troops.’ The custompaint utilized custom flakes and mul-tiple candy colors. Raffle ticket sales

were over $40,000 and pro-ceeds were donated to educa-tional accounts for childrenof fallen soldiers.

“The bike was phenome-nal, especially in the sun.That was the coolest job I’veever done because it was thefirst time I ever did a custompaint that made a difference

in the lives of people.” Thisyear he’s working on aHarley Davidson street glidefor the ‘Tribute to the Troops’fundraiser and the bike willbe unveiled in mid March.

As far as tips go, hispaint is PPG Vibrance and helikes using stands made byInnovative Tools. He partic-ularly likes the Octopus standwhich allows him to easilypaint weird, odd-shapedparts. “You can clamp itdown at eye level and work all awayaround the object.” He also likes theirhood and bumper stands which makeit easy to paint a panel in the booth at

the exact height and vertical angle heneeds to do intricate hood artwork.Wachholz used Innovative Tool’s Ul-traRack Paint Stand to paint a customhood for Innovative Tools and their

SuperStand Bumper Standfor a custom painted bumpercover that the company dis-played at SEMA.

X-treme Paint Auto Body& Marine5204 260th Street,Wyoming, MN [email protected]


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by Robert Keppel,Applied Colors

Ever had a customer bring you theirscratched car and ask, “I can’t pay youto make it PERFECT, butcan I pay you to just make itlook BETTER?”

Here’s a little trick formaking this type of customerhappy, and pocketing a quickprofit. I used to do this at myrepair shop in Beaverton,OR, where we called it theUltimate Touch Up.

First, if you’re going toattempt Touch UP, make sureit meets the following crite-

ria:1. The car’s paint color is not lightmetallic. No silver, no gold, no light

blue, no light green.2. The damage is not to a hor-izontal surface. Only touchup vertical surfaces, includ-ing doors, fenders, and quar-ter panels.

Here’s how to execute theUltimate Touch Up, step bystep:1. Mix an oz. of the car’spaint with .25 oz. of cat-alyzed clear. Stir.2.Apply to the scratch with a

thick brush. Be sure to fill above thesurface of the scratch.

3. Cure for 10 min. with infraredlamp.4. Spray with water to cool and solid-ify paint.5.Wrap 1000 grit sandpaper around asolid, flat surface. A firmfoam sanding block or acredit card works well.6. Wetsand in an “x” patternuntil the touch up paint islevel with the panel. Be care-ful not to “dig in” with yourfingers and burn the clear!7.Wetsand by hand the entirearea with 1500 grit sandpa-per.8. Remove paint scratches

with electric polisher: com-pound and wool pad.9. Polish with foam pad.

In 60 minutes, you have aflat, hard-to-see repair that thecustomer can live with. Wenever had an unhappy cus-tomer who chose the UltimateTouch Up.Robert Keppel is president

of Applied Colors, (www.ap-pliedcolors.com), a Tigard,OR, company that producesthe ScratchOut paint touch

up system. It allows auto body shopsto touch up minor paint damage forhalf the time and cost of using theirprimary paint rack.

How to “Touch Up” A Scratched Car in 60 Minutes and Make $95

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Apply paint with brush and cure

Wetsand 1000 & 2000 grit

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Waterborne Breathable Air Combo SystemAvailable from Martech Services CompanyAs the use of waterborne paints be-comes more popular and, in some areasrequired, the need for clean and drycompressed sprayable air is a criticalprerequisite. The need for proper filtra-tion to remove moisture, oil vapors,gaseous hydrocarbons, dirt, rust, scale,and other potentially dangerous con-taminants is a core re-quirement. Then, if thedew point and relative hu-midity can be drasticallylowered, the user can cre-ate a quality of spray airnecessary to properlyapply today’s top of theline waterborne paintproducts.

Tom Wright, Di-rector of Sales & Mar-keting for MartechServices Company, says “The Model50-WB has all the features of a Qual-ity Air Breathing System, Model 50series system, plus the additional abil-ity to lower the dew point and relativehumidity for spraying waterbornepaints.” Furthermore, Wright states,“It only makes sense that if the air issafe as breathable air, then it wouldalso be superior sprayable air. Add away to lower the dew point and the

relative humidity and you have a com-plete combo system.”

The convenience of having a solu-tion to comply with OSHA regulationsfor proper air supplied respiratory pro-tection, and delivering Ultra Clean &Ultra Dry Air from a single system, iscost effective and efficient. The Model

50-WB can process up to50 SCFM of BreathableAir or 35 SCFM of UltraClean & Ultra Dry Air, orany combination withinthose parameters.

The Model 50-WBis designed to work withyour existing compressedair source to properly fil-ter and monitor the com-pressed air for Grade “D”Breathable Air, plus this

system also provides Ultra Clean &Ultra Dry Air for use in spraying water-borne or solvent based paints.

This system can handle up to twopainters at the same time. The Model50-WB is a 50 SCFM system, and isalso available in an 80 SCFM system.

For more information contactMartech Services Company at 1-800-831-1525, or see their website at:www.breathingsystems.com.


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Sherwin-Williams recently an-nounced it has awarded its Vendorof the Year Award to Preval, a divi-sion of Chicago Aerosol. This is thefirst time the company has received

the prestigious award, which recog-nizes a small group of supplierswho have demonstrated substantialsuccess in a variety of categories,including double-digit sales growth,high-quality and high-value prod-ucts, ambitious new product devel-

opment and exceptional service andmanagement.

Peter Sedlak, vice president ofMarketing & Purchasing at Sherwin-Williams Co., said Preval was selectedfor the award, in part, because of the

company’s drive to succeed and theunprecedented success of its relativelynew vFan, a portable airbrush systemthat has been enthusiastically wel-comed among professional contrac-tors as well as a number of otherindustries.

The vFan led to a 12% sales gainin Preval’s Sherwin-Williams con-tracts. And despite the rapid growth inthe paint and coatings industry andothers, Preval has maintained as oneof its core business values an unre-lenting focus on quality, value andcustomer service.

“Somehow, the Preval Spray Teamcan separate themselves fromthe pack by out-servicingmost [of their competitors],”Sedlak said.

Preval, and its parent com-pany, Chicago Aerosol, wererecognized with the award atthe Sherwin-Williams’ ven-

dor luncheon in Nashville, TN.“Winning this award from Sher-

win-Williams, one of the biggestnames in the paint and coatings in-dustry, validates all of the hard workthat we have put into bringing inno-

vative new products to the market andsetting ourselves apart from the com-petition,” said Preval President SamAverbuch.

The vFan is used for precisionpaint and material dispensing; touch-ups and surface repairs; surface prepa-ration; and curing. Distributedworldwide, the vFan is used in diverse

markets across the globe, includingthe appliance, automotive, aerospace,arts, bookbinding, craft and hobby,container, converting, electronics,food and beverage, furniture, homeimprovement, life sciences and med-ical, light emitting diodes (LED),

metal finishing, marine, new homeresurfacing, non-woven, packaging,scrap booking, semiconductor andsolar energy and textile industries.

The vFan Airbrush is the only de-vice on the market that converts to anairgun and achieves both 3-inch fanand 1/16-inch hairline patterns. Amaz-ingly portable, the vFan Airbrush canbe used in all environments whenpowered by 150 Feet of Energy,Preval’s innovative, eco-friendlyaerosol compressor unit. Each canis-ter of 150 Feet of Energy contains 7ounces of VOC-exempt propellantthat powers more than 150 feet of lin-ear paint coverage and up to 40 squarefeet of paint coverage. The vFan Air-brush is also compatible with mostworkshop compressors.

In addition to the vFan, Preval iswell known for its Sprayer, a portable,professional-grade, inexpensive spraysystem that is used for countless ap-plications. The Sprayer is disposable,recyclable, easy to clean and where nocompressor is needed. Preval has alsorecently introduced a number of othercomplementary products to the mar-ketplace.


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Preval Wins Prestigious Sherwin-Williams’ Vendor of the Year

(l to r) Keith Ramsey, Ken Kamien, Matt Spagat,Sam Averbuch, Bryan Smith, Sheryl Ellenbrock,Shawn Orr and Teresa Chapman


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Jonathan Phillips, 35, of SummitCollision Center in Lees Summit,MO, is new to custom painting but hasbeen in the production painting side ofthe business for 12 years. Custompainting caught his attention a fewyears ago when he became interestedin learning more about colors, tech-

niques and effects. So he attended afew Jon Kosmoski House of Kolorseminars and practiced his skills ontwo motorcycles and his own ‘99Mustang, which he painted a darkgreen with metallic flakes.

Phillips, who said he’s always hadan artistic eye, took art classes in school.But his career in auto body paintingstarted because of a friend’s need forhelp in his shop. At the time, Phillipswas in the construction business, but hedecided to work for six months as anapprentice auto body painter learning

the trade.When Phillips

was ready to buyhis own spray guns,the Sagola spraygun line was rec-ommended to him.He liked the guns somuch, he ended upbuying three Sagolaguns from Spray-Tech Solutions overan 8-month period:a base 4500 HVLPXtreme, a HVLP3300 Pro sealer gunand a XLT Xtremeclear gun.

“I was totallyblown away by these guns,” Phillipssaid. “I switched to Sagola after seeinghow well they are made on their web-site. They have no distribution rings orpackings that have to be changed.Sagola also offers a digital air gauge

built in the gun. The HVLP Xtreme re-ally lays out metallics beautifully.”

Phillips loves the freedom of cus-tom painting because it has less struc-ture than collision painting and amistake could be turned into a master-piece with the creativity custom paint-ing allows. He also enjoys the

freedom to mix of colors in custompainting as opposed to in collision re-pair where the paint is ‘non-nego-tiable.’

While custom painting is stillmostly a hobby, he continues to paintcollision repairs for Summit CollisionCenter, which also offers frame repair,body pulling, unibody repair and otherservices. Summit Collision Center hasbeen serving the community in KansasCity since 2002.

New Custom Painter Enjoys the Creativity of the Business

... and after custom paint job by Phillips

Phillips’ 1999 Mustang before custom painting ...

Seidner’s Collision Centers, a 13-shop operation based in Los Angeles,CA, has named industry veteranMike Stacy as director of corporatestrategy.

Stacy has more than 40 years ofindustry experience. He launched hiscareer in 1972 before opening hisown collision repair shop in 1981.Stacy later served as zone vice pres-ident for CCC Information ServicesInc., and most recently served as vicepresident of sales and marketing forVeriFacts Automotive.

“Having Mike with his vast in-dustry experience, knowledge and en-ergy will allow Seidner’s CollisionCenters the opportunity to continueour growth strategy to better serve ourcustomers,” said Steve Seidner, vicepresident and co-owner of Seidner’sCollision. “Mike will be an importantpart of our executive managementteam.”

“I have had the great honor ofvisiting many remarkable shops inmy career and I absolutely can’tthink of a better organization to bealigned with than Seidner’s,” saidStacy. “I am honored to be an inte-gral part of Steve and his teams vi-sion for the future.”

Seidner’s Hires Mike Stacyas Corporate Director

MSRP have been seen on the OEMside of the business, Schulenburgpoints out that the program is still inits infancy and questions how this dy-namic will change when the programgoes nationwide and increases itspressure for downward price trending.Hunsaker said that his first quotethrough PartsTrader contained aMSRP reduction, but he hasn’t expe-rienced the problem again since vent-ing his frustration to State Farm andPartsTrader. Dingman has not seenany changes to MSRP, though he hasnoticed some price differences due tomultiple AFM quotes.

In response to a question aboutState Farm’s claims of increasing ef-ficiency by working on repairs whilewaiting for quotes, Hunsaker ob-jected, saying that while he may beable to save time if he only ran two es-timates daily, his work volumes ne-cessitate running seven or eight quotesin tandem, thus resulting in a reduc-tion in efficiency, not an increase.Dingman insists that APU has not in-creased his efficiency because the pro-gram is not efficient.

Hunsaker is waiting to make adecision about continuing to use Part-sTrader once the program goes na-tional, allowing himself time tobecome acquainted with the system sothat he can make an informed deci-sion. Dingman continues workingwith APU because American Familyrequires him to do so, but he notedthat he would be unable to complywith their demands to use APU if hewas forced to use certain suppliers.

Regarding supplier criteria andreasons for involvement with partsprocurement programs, Hunsaker saidthere is no criterion as evidenced bythe fact that dealers cut prices bygoing lower than MSRP. No one onthe panel was able to supply a reasonwhy parts providers should voluntar-ily participate in programs such asAPU Solutions or PartsTrader.

Dingman feels it is important toget information out there so shopowners can make informed business

decisions, and Plier suggests DRP par-ticipants should re-read their agree-ments and make an educated businessdecision instead of simply participat-ing out of fear. Schulenburg said hebelieves that PartsTrader intends to es-tablish prevailing practices as they ex-pand into the national sphere, but healso believes “they’re waiting to seewhat our industry does—or doesn’tdo.”

Collision Repair 2013On Saturday morning, Jim Mickle,GM Parts Wholesale Automotive In-structor, taught a seminar entitled“Collision Repair 2013” which fo-cused on body structure issues, hightension steel and sheet metal repairs.

Beginning with the 2013 Chevro-let Malibu, Mickle explained that it isdesigned with hardened steel in thefront so the hood hinge will buckle in-stead of coming back into the wind-shield in the event of a crash.

Combined with the use of insula-tion in the fenders, these changesmake the 2013 Malibu more difficultto repair. The Malibu is eco-fitted witha 5.4mm acoustic-laminate wind-shield and 5mm acoustic-laminatedfront door glass while noise is reducedby 16 expanding-foam acoustic baf-fles placed in cavities throughout thebody structure which need to be re-placed after a crash also. Additionally,some pillars contain a mixture of mildand hard steels.

The 2013 Honda Accord featuresHonda’s next-generation AdvancedCompatibility Engineering body struc-ture. Mickle emphasizes that wheneveryou drill into a metal surface, the cor-rosion resistance of that panel is com-promised. The mild steel included inthe structure typically has a tensilestrength of less than 270 mega pascals(Mpa), while high strength, low alloysteel has a tensile strength rangingfrom 300-700 Mpa which means thatheating can be used no more thantwice, and mig welding can be utilizedin the front and rear areas.

Regarding ultra-high-strengthsteel with a tensile strength greaterthan 800 Mpa, also known as DPX,repair is not recommended. This typeof steel should only be replaced at the

factory joints, and sectioning or par-tial replacement is not recommended.Stitch welding and the use of heat torepair damage is not recommended forthis type of steel either, and it cannotbe used as a backing reinforcement ora sleeve. To perform structural or col-lision damage repairs on high strengthsteel, it is often necessary to drill outresistance spot welds. Luckily, GMCollision Repair Technology Centerrecently validated the CryoCobalt drillbit which was developed for use withvery hard metals due to the increasedmicro-sharpness and thicker web.

Mickle insists that it is necessaryto use a weld-through primer whenengaging in front frame sectioning ascutting the frame can expose the metalto corrosion. Additionally, doors con-tain anti-corrosion materials which arenecessary to reapply when doors arereplaced, and certain vehicle struc-tures require anti-corrosion treatmentfor other areas of the vehicle as wellwhich is why it is so important to readthe manufacturer’s repair guidelines.

Mickle’s seminar continued withdiscussions of closed cavity coatings,metal panel bonding and inverter tech-nology. He stresses the importance ofreplacing all seatbelts after any acci-

dent serious enough to deploy airbags,urging the necessity of using onlyOEM airbags due to the dangers ofusing counterfeit airbags which willnot cause the Supplemental RestraintSystem light to illuminate as the man-ufacturer intended. Explaining that theseventh number of the VIN representsthe type of airbag with digits 1–3 rep-resenting front air bags while digits4–6 indicates side impact air bags,Mickle enumerates on the ways to vis-ibly see the differences between OEMand counterfeit airbags.

Noting that carbon fiber bodyparts are scheduled to hit the industryin the middle of 2013, Mickle dis-cusses the use of carbon fiber parts inthe 2014 Corvette ZRI, Ford Fusionand Ford Escape. Running out of time,Mickle quickly summarizes the im-portance of disconnecting the 12-voltbattery and hi-volt battery in specificrepair situations, also mentioning theuse of break-away pedals and a newAC refrigerant in all GM vehiclesstarting in 2013 which will reducegreenhouse gas emissions by 99% aslong as it is installed correctly. In con-clusion, Mickle claims that OEMparts can restore a vehicle’s originallook and performance.


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Hyundai

Continued from Page 19

Northeast 2013

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Babylon HondaWest Baby lon631-669-5800

Dept. Hours:M-F 7-7; Sat 7:30-3:[email protected]

Brewster HondaBrewster

845-278-4177Dept. Hours:

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Dick Ide HondaRochester

800-462-0056 (N.Y.)585-586-4919

Dept. Hours:M-Thur 8-8; Fri 8-5:30; Sat 8-5

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Lamacchia HondaSyracuse

315-471-7278Dept. Hours:

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

Lia Honda of AlbanyAlbany

800-272-6741518-482-2598

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Lia Honda of WilliamsvilleWil l iamsvi l le /Buf fa lo877-659-2672716-632-3800

Dept. Hours:M-Thu 7:30-8; Fri 7:30-5; Sat 8-5:30

[email protected]

Ray Laks HondaWest Seneca716-824-7852

Dept. Hours:M-F 7:30-8; Sat 7:30-5:[email protected]

Clinton HondaAnnandale

908-735-0900Dept. Hours:

M,Tue, F 7-6; W, Thu 7-7; Sat [email protected]

Honda of PrincetonPr inceton

800-682-5941609-683-5941

Dept. Hours:M-F 8-4:30

[email protected]

Honda of TenaflyNorthern New Jersey866-522-4446201-568-7000

Dept. Hours:M-Sat 7-5:30

[email protected]

Honda of TurnersvilleTurnersv i l le

800-883-0002856-649-1584

Dept. Hours:M-F 8-6; Sat 8-4

[email protected]

Hudson HondaWest New York866-483-6917201-868-9500

Dept. Hours:M-F 7-7; Sat 7:30-5; Sun 8-3

[email protected]

Planet HondaUnion

800-964-7280908-964-8411


[email protected]

Rossi HondaVine land

800-893-3030856-692-4449

Dept. Hours:M-F 6:30-5; Sat 7:[email protected]

Route 22 HondaHi l ls ide

973-705-9100Dept. Hours:

M-F 7-7:30; Sat [email protected]

Apple HondaYork

800-960-9041717-848-2600

Dept. Hours:M-F 7-6; Sat 7-4; Sun 10-4

[email protected] Honda

Wexford724-940-2006


[email protected]

J.L. Freed HondaMontgomeryv i l le215-855-3587

Dept. Hours:M-Thur 8-6; Fri 8-5; Sat [email protected]

Shadyside HondaPi t tsburgh

800-468-2090412-390-2908

Dept. Hours:M-F 7:30-5

[email protected]

Sussman HondaRoslyn

800-682-2914215-657-3301


[email protected]

NEW YORK NEW YORK NEW JERSEY PENNSYLVANIA

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Acura of WestchesterWestchester

914-834-8887Dept. Hours:

M-F 7:30-8; Sat 8-4; Sun [email protected]

Curry AcuraScarsdale

800-725-2877914-472-7406


[email protected]

Paragon AcuraWoodside

718-507-3990Dept. Hours:

M-F 8-6; Sat 8-5; Sun [email protected]

Smithtown AcuraSt . James

888-832-8220631-366-4114

Dept. Hours:M-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 8-4

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AUTOMAKER, OEM, AND RECALLAUTOMAKER, OEM, AND RECALL

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Autobody News April 2013NEW YORK • NEW JERSEY • PENNSYLVANIA • DELAWARE


Ford Motor Co. is recalling 230,000minivans because third–row seatlatches can rust and fail to relatch.

The recall of the 2004–2007Ford Freestar and Mercury Montereyminivans is in 20 ‘salt belt’ states, in-cluding Michigan, where the vehicleswere sold or registered.

Ford agreed to recall the vehi-cles in the face of a 14-month inves-tigation by the National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration.

It includes vehicles equippedwith a third-row seat. Ford said it isaware of 80 complaints but no in-juries or crashes.

In August 2011, Ford becameaware of a customer with difficultylatching the third row seat into itsseating position.

Between January and November2012, Ford and NHTSA continued anactive dialogue on this subject andconducted vehicle surveys and testing.

The recall includes about196,000 vehicles in the United Statesand 33,250 in Canada.

Ford dealers will install newthird-row seat latch striker mountingbrackets, which relocate the seat latchstrikers from the potentially corrodedarea. In addition, dealers will installoverlay panels on the exterior of thewheel wells to prevent entry of waterand corrosive elements.

The states where the vehicleswere registered or sold are: Connecti-cut, Delaware, the District of Colum-bia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine,Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,Minnesota, Missouri, New Hamp-shire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Ver-mont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Ford Recalling 230,000 Minivans for Rust

2010–13 Legacy, 2010–13 Outbackand 2013 XV Crosstrek. The recallincludes 2,819 vehicles in Canada.

The engine may start and run for15 minutes, and the engine may con-tinue to start and stop until the batteryin the key fob dies or the vehicle runsout of gas.

The vehicles could pose a dan-ger if parked in a garage because of abuildup of carbon monoxide, whichcould cause asphyxiation.

Subaru dealers will replace thekey fobs and the recall campaign willbegin by the end of April.

Subaru noticed an increase inwarranty claims in July after a sup-plier had made a change to improvethe key fob in 2011. After issuing atechnical report in December, Subarumounted a new investigation.

Porsche is recalling about 2,263 of its2012–13 911 models because part ofthe exhaust system can fall off.Porsche said the models were the 911Carrera, 911 Carrera Cabriolet, 911Carrera 4 and the 911 Carrera 4Cabriolet equipped with the 3.4 liter,6-cylinder engine and the standardrear muffler exhaust system. The au-tomaker said its internal testingshowed the exhaust systems “do notachieve the required service life” andmight fracture, allowing the end tofall off.

Porsche Recalling 911 Models for Exhaust System

Federal safety regulators have openeda new safety investigation into724,000 Ford Escape, Fusion andMercury models over hundreds of re-ports of sudden loss of engine power.

The National Highway TrafficSafety Administration said it hasopened a preliminary investigationinto the 2009–11 Ford Escape and Fu-sion, and Mercury Mariner and Milan.

The vehicles can unexpectedlygo into ‘limp home mode’ at reducedpower, the agency said. NHTSA andFord have received almost 1,500complaints about the problem. Therewere three crashes and one injury.

NHTSA said it analyzed 123complaints about the cars or SUVsgoing into what’s known as limpmode, in which vehicle speed waslimited to 20 mph. Drivers may in-terpret the limp mode as stalling,even though the engines still movethe vehicles, the agency said. Vehi-cles usually go into limp mode whencomputers detect an engine problem.

Ford made a design change in2009 to address complaints but didnot recall the vehicles.

The Fusion and Milan are nearlyidentical cars with the same engines,as are the Escape and Mariner. Fordscrapped the Mercury brand in 2010.

NHTSA said there have been27,500 warranty claims for the issue.Ford has received more than 1,400complaints about the issue.

Feds Probe 724,000 FordModels for Stalling

Japanese automakers led by ToyotaMotor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.topped Consumer Reports’ annualauto rankings, while Detroit’s BigThree automakers lagged behind.

The magazine unveiled its in-fluential 2013 annual auto ratingsissue in Washington, saying Toy-ota’s Lexus unit was top overallbrand with all of its vehicles recom-mended, followed by Subaru andMazda— which tied for second, andToyota and Acura, which tied forfourth.

All U.S. brands were in the bot-tom half of the rankings. Fewer thanhalf of all U.S. vehicles were recom-mended by the magazine, and mostof those came from General MotorsCo.’s GMC and Chevrolet brands.

The ratings are based on feed-back from 1.2 million owners, Con-sumer Reports testing and otherfactors.

Just 20% of Ford Motor Co.’sFord models and 20% of Cadillacmodels were recommended.

Chrysler also fared poorly. Just25% of Chrysler models were rec-ommended.

Acura, Honda’s luxury brand,was the only other brand to have100% of its models recommended byConsumer Reports.

Japanese Automakers RankHigh in Consumer Reports

Hyundai is recalling certain modelyear 2012 Veloster vehicles manu-factured from July 4, 2011, throughOctober 31, 2011 and equipped withpanoramic sunroofs. The panoramicsunroof assembly may have beenweakened during installation at thefactory. If the assembly was weakendat the factory, the panoramic glasspanel may break while the vehicle isin motion leading to personal injuryor a vehicle crash.

Hyundai will notify owners, anddealers will inspect the sunroof’s in-tegrity and replace the sunroof glassassembly, as necessary, free ofcharge. The safety recall will beginin March 2013. Owners may contactHyundai at 1-800-633-5151.

Hyundai Recalling Velostersfor Sunroof Malfunction

Subaru of America is recalling 50,000vehicles in North America becausethe remote engine starter could mal-function and start the vehicle withoutwarning. The Japanese automakersaid the recall covers 47,419 vehiclesincluding the 2012–13 Impreza,

Subaru Recalling VehiclesThat Can Start on Their Own

Ford Motor Co. plans to recall 7,150vehicles built in November, includ-ing the 2013 Escape crossover, be-cause some models are equippedwith a defective child lock on the leftrear door. Also included in the recallare the 2013 Focus and C-Max cars.

The action marks Ford’s fifthrecall for the redesigned Escapesince the vehicle’s launch last year.

The company will inspect 5,638Escapes that were built in LouisvilleAssembly Plant between Nov. 14–Nov. 24, Ford spokeswoman KelliFelker said.

Ford is recalling 1,223 Focuscars as well as 283 C-Max vehicles.Both of the affected models werebuilt at Michigan Assembly Plantbetween Nov. 17 and Nov. 21.

In some of these vehicles, thechild lock on the left rear door maynot work when the driver tries to ac-tivate the locks. The driver may in-correctly believe that the locks arefunctioning properly, Ford said.

About 5,650 of the vehiclescovered by the recall are in theUnited States, Felker said, addingthat Ford was not aware of any acci-dents and injuries due to the prob-lem.

Ford Plans to Recall 7,000 Vehicles for Child Lock Flaw


Nissan Recalls Five 2013 Models for Air Bag ProblemNissan is recalling five of its 2013models in the U.S. because a faultysensor can permanently turn off thefront-seat passenger air bag. The re-call covers the Altima midsize car, aswell as the Leaf electric car,Pathfinder SUV and the Sentra com-pact. Also covered is the InfinitiJX35 SUV. The Altima is Nissan’stop-selling car with 49,000 sold thisyear. Nissan says in documents filedwith safety regulators that it hasn’tdetermined the number of vehiclesaffected by the recall. Front passen-ger seats have sensors that determinethe passenger’s weight and turn offair bags off if a child is on board. Themalfunctioning sensors can turn theair bags off permanently. Nissan saysits dealers will inspect the sensors inApril and replace them free of chargeif necessary.

Honda is recalling nearly 250,000 ve-hicles worldwide for brakes that sud-denly starting braking on their own.The problem is caused by improperelectronics and wiring in the vehicle-stability-assist system. No crasheshave been reported related to the de-fect. Honda Motor Co. said it was re-calling more than 183,000 vehicles inthe U.S., including the Acura RL,Acura MDX and Pilot models. Morethan 56,000 vehicles were recalled inJapan, affecting the Odyssey, Legend,StepWgn and Elysion models. Alsobeing recalled are nearly 8,000 vehi-cles in Canada, nearly 1,000 in Aus-tralia, about 300 in Mexico and 70 inGermany. The vehicles were producedfrom March 2004 through May 2006.

Honda Recalls 250,000 Vehices for Brake Problem

Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling209,000 FJ Cruiser SUVs becausetheir front seatbelt retractors couldfall off. FJ Cruisers from the 2007through 2013 model years are in-cluded in the recall. Toyota said thedriver and front passenger seatbeltsare mounted on the vehicle’s reardoors. If the doors are closed force-fully over a period of time, crackscan form in the door panel around theseatbelt retractor and the retractorcan become detached. Toyota said ithas received no reports of injuriesdue to the defect.

Toyota Recalls 209,000 FJCruisers for Seatbelt

The National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministrations will investigatewhether 561,000 2004–09 ToyotaPrius hybrids have defective steeringshafts. NHTSA said it will decidewhether to grant a defect petitionclaiming the steering column linkagewas improperly assembled. Toyotahas issued two recalls for steering is-sues in the Prius. In November, Toy-ota recalled 669,000 2004–09 Priusvehicles to replace the steering shaftextension assembly. Toyota said dueto insufficient hardness of the exten-sion shaft, parts that connect the ex-tension shaft to the steering gear boxmay deform if the steering wheel isfrequently and forcefully turned tothe full-lock position while driving ata slow speed. In 2006, Toyota re-called 170,000 2004–06 Prius vehi-cles because the intermediate shaft inthe electric power system can crack,which could result in a loss of steer-ing control.

NHTSA May InvestigatePrius over Steering Shafts

Chrysler is spending more than $1billion to build paint and body shopsfor the Sterling Heights plant in sub-urban Detroit. The projects will add a1 million-square-foot body shop anda 425,000-square foot paint shop tothe plant. Construction is expected tofinish this year.

Chrysler Spends $1B onPaint and Body at Plant

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionnesaid the next-generation 200 has beendelayed until January. The 200 hasbeen a strong seller. Its sales rose 44percent in 2012 to 125,476 units,making it the automaker's best-sell-ing car and fifth-best selling name-plate. Sales through the first twomonths of this year are up 21 percentto 20,292 units.

On March 1, the company saidit had a 68-day supply of Chrysler200s.

Chrysler 200 Redesign to beBuilt in January, 2014

Chrysler is telling owners of about2,500 Dodge Challenger muscle carswith V-6 engines not to drive them be-cause a short in a wiring circuit can setthem on fire. Owners also are beingtold not to park the cars in a garage ornear a structure until the problem can

be fixed. The cars are from the 2013model year and have V-6 engines. Theywere made during the eight weeks thatended Jan. 24. Chrysler didn’t identifyexactly where the short occurs, but saidit’s in a place that most owners wouldnever see.

Chrysler Tells 2500 Owners ofChallenger’s ‘Fire Risk’

I wrote an article a few months ago fo-cusing on inefficiency within bodyshops. That is, inefficiencies that aremost commonly associated with therepair process. If it takes you sevendays to repair a vehicle and the shopdown the street could have done it infive days, you’ve just cost everyonemoney.

I recognize that all shops should-n’t be painted with the same broadbrush but in my view, if you’re ineffi-cient you’re guilty by association. Be-cause of inefficiencies, insurersunnecessarily spend money every daythat could have been used to lowerpremiums or offset the impact of a rateincrease. Yes, most insurance compa-nies are profitable, but it’s not as a re-sult of all the great deeds and serviceprovided by body shops.

Most shop owners believe thatinsurance companies are penny-pinch-ing Scrooges looking to take controlover the shops and the industry. Thatviewpoint is shortsighted. We try tocontain our losses by working withshops to ensure estimate accuracy(also known as taking control of theshop). And we also try to find way forshops to be more efficient in the esti-mate and repair process (also knownas taking control of the industry). Torecap the obvious, we will do what-ever is necessary provided it is not il-legal or completely unethical.

I’m certain some of our businesspractices are less than ideal but thefacts are the facts. Shops would not beas advanced as they are today if itweren’t for insurance companiesleading them in the right direction. Wetry to help make you more efficientbecause when you aren’t, we lose andso does the vehicle owner. So do you,as the shop owner.

How does the vehicle owner lose

because of your inefficiency? The in-convenience of being without their carfor a few additional days is just the be-ginning. It can also lead to an increasein our customers’ premiums. Unfortu-nately, our customer won’t associate

that increase in premium to an ineffi-cient repair industry riddled withunder-performers. They blame insur-ers for the rate increase.

The end result is that any addi-tional unnecessary expense in the re-pair of a vehicle costs us money. Howdo we account for the additional ex-pense? The only way we can. We passalong that cost through premiums.What do most consumers do whenthere is a price increase? They look forquotes from other carriers and we po-tentially lose a customer. For some,that’s just free enterprise, but for indi-vidual insurers, that’s a lose, lose andlost scenario.

There is another area that can havean even more profound impact on ourmutual customer: customer service.Back in the day, all shops were sup-posed to do was fix the car. Customerservice was something you received ata hotel or from a switchboard opera-tor. Even though the industry hasevolved significantly, shops are still

better at fixing cars than at servicingthe customer. That’s where ineffi-ciency and lack of process as it relatesto customer service can be devastatingto an insurance company. And Godhelp us if your manager or estimator

doesn’t like us. Itshows in the cus-tomer service re-sults.I would argue that

poor customer serv-ice indirectly costsinsurers moremoney than a fewdays of rental orextra hour on an es-timate. While wedon’t like to admitthis publicly, webelieve you are an

extension of us. Our customers spendmore time interacting with you thanthey spend with us. We can deliveroutstanding customer service but if

you do a poor job of it, we are going topay for it. In short: We need you to bemore efficient.

So that’s a look at what bothersinsurance executives. You may notcare because you have more pressingissues that require your attention be-sides appeasing the ‘rich insurancecompanies.’

The wish of every major insur-ance carrier is fairly simple. First, ahigh-quality, timely and a cost-effec-tive repair should be assumed from aprofessional operation. Insurersshouldn’t have to monitor, correct,scold, chastise or force accountabilityin order to have it done right the firsttime.

More importantly, we wish shopswould value customer service as muchor more than they care about the ac-tual repair. Inefficient or lack of cus-tomer service processes hurts all of us.That’s something that none of us taketo the bank.


Shops’ Inefficiencies Are Legitimate Concerns for Insurers

with The Insurance InsiderInside Insurance

The Insider is a corporate-level executive with a Top 10 auto insurerin the U.S.. Got a comment or question you’d like to see him addressin a future column? Email him at [email protected]

B&R Body Shops in Charlotte, NC,opened its sixth shop location in thearea. The new, 17,000-square-footcollision repair facility will operateas B&R Body Shop-Northlake.

“There has been substantial de-velopment in this area over the pastfew years as evidenced by the growthin specialty retail, as well as the nu-

merous dealerships that have movedup here between Charlotte and theLake,” said Tommy Morgan, ownerof B&R Body Shops. “We have beenseeking a suitable facility on this sideof the city for some time.”

NC Shop Opens 6th Shop

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by Chasidy Rae Sisk

After spending such a wonderfulweekend at the AASP NortheastTradeshow at the Meadowlands Ex-position Center in Secaucus, NJ, onFriday, March 8 through Sunday,March 10, I was curious to see howmy reaction compared to those moreexperienced in the industry. Severalindustry leaders and a few exhibitorstook a moment to talk to me abouttheir reactions to the tradeshow.

Jeff McDowell, President ofAASP NJ, was pleased with this year’sevent, noting that, despite the snow,

turnout was betterthan he thought itwould be, and thenumber of atten-dees and the showas a whole “far ex-ceeded expecta-tions.” Regardingthe seminars, Mc-

Dowell stated that they were all muchfuller than expected. He found LarryMontanez’s seminars particularly use-ful, and in regards to the parts pro-curement panel, he stated “It wasgreat; a lot of information got dissem-inated to people who weren’t fullyaware of what’s going on.”

Though AASP NJ Executive Di-rector Charles Bryant expected thesame success with the show as in pre-vious years, especially with the addi-tional of the Parts Procurement Panel,he was “pleasantly surprised how wellthe show turned out considering thesnowstorm that hit the area on the firstnight, but with a record number ofpre-registrations, we were pretty con-fident. Shops in the northeast arepretty tough. They won’t let a fewinches of snow stop them from at-tending an event like the NORTH-EAST™ show.”

Bryant was pleased with the at-tendance at the seminars also, notingthat the Insurer Parts Procurementpanel discussion was very excitingsince it was the first, to his knowledge,such panel that consisted of activeshop owners talking about their expe-riences with the program. “It was

great to see our region come out forsuch an incredibly important subject.”He was also impressed with LarryMontanez’s seminars and Metropoli-tan Car-O-Liner’s Frame/Unibodymeasuring presentation held on theexposition floor. BASF’s seminar onPaint Costs was standing room onlydue to the large number of attendees.

CCRE President Tony Lombar-dozzi was also impressed with thisyear’s event, noting that it was a big-ger show than the last couple years,and an attendee for the past 25 years,he notes that it has gotten progres-sively better since moving to theMeadowlands. Lombardozzi statesthat, overall, it was a very good show,plus there was a lot of good informa-tion in the seminars, especially DigitalMarketing by Frank Terlep of Sum-mit Software & Marketing Solutionsand the seminars taught by LarryMontanez of P&L Consultants.

Ever a proponent of collisionshop independence, Lombardozzitook a special interest in the Parts Pro-curement panel, warning that “Part-sTrader is a manipulative tool for theinsurer to control the industry, [and]once they have control of the parts,they’ll control everything.” The cus-tomer’s interests cannot be a shop’stop priority if they are involved in acontrol with the insurer since that con-tract takes precedence and “you can-not serve two masters.”

Larry Montanez of P&L Consult-ants also believes that the NortheastTradeshow “seems to have grown eachyear.” He believes that, overall, theshow was pretty well received as henoticed that there were more people inhis classes than anticipated by pre-reg-istration numbers, and he was particu-larly surprised by the number ofpeople who attended the show on Fri-day night, given the snowy weather.

Montanez found particular inter-est in the seminar on alternate fuels aswell as the two hosted by GM Parts.He felt that the Parts Procurementpanel elicited some good discussions,though he fears that programs such asPartsTrader are going to spread toother insurers. “Parts procurement is

not going to stop because for everyshop that pulls out, three more arewilling to do what they ask to stay ontheir programs… if you’re unhappybeing on a parts procurement pro-gram, you have no one to blame butyourself.”

With attendance higher than ex-pected, vendors informed McDowellthat attendees were making purchasesin greater frequency and volumes thanin past years, as well. Mike Clancy,sales representative for Mirka, notedthat the show was very good and therewas a lot of good traffic which sur-prised him given the weather. BillNorthrop of Reliable AutomotiveEquipment’s reaction was similar,though he noted that Friday nightseemed a bit slower due to the weather.While it was the first time that Auto-motive Art exhibited at AASP North-east, President Glenn Camachoreceived an acceptable number ofleads and noted “so far, so good.”

Rick Weber, Parts Director atMaxon Mazda/Hyundai, was quitehappy being at the Northeast Tradeshowwhere he could “see a lot of people,thank people you do business with and

hope to meet people you can do busi-ness with in the future. It’s a win-win sit-uation, and we’re already planning fornext year.” Gina Mahan of Valsparagreed that the show went well in termsof traffic and responses, plus she wasexcited to show off their new look.Peter Teixeria, also from Valspar,added that it is nice to “represent theline, even for existing customers, [sinceit] assures them that we’re here for thelong haul.”

Happy with the 2013 Northeasttradeshow, Bryant notes “Every year,we try to build on the prior show andmake the next show a ‘must attend’event. I think we accomplished that inevery way. It's the only show of itskind and size that you can actuallydrive to, attend a few educational sem-inars, see just about everything that'snew in equipment and technology, andbe home in your own bed the samenight. NORTHEAST™ continues tobe the leading regional show in our in-dustry, and AASP/NJ is looking for-ward to our 37th addition next year.McDowell agrees: “It was a greatshow, [but] we plan to make it biggerand better! Don’t miss it next year!”

Show Attendees React to AASP 2013 Northeast Tradeshow


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Free Twice Monthly NewsletterFree Twice Monthly NewsletterFree Twice Monthly Newsletter

by John Yoswick

If there was a unifying theme to thepresentations at the East Coast Reso-lution Forum and Leadership Meetingheld in Secaucus, NJ, in March, astatement by Charlie Bryant mayhave summed it up as the sessionopened.

“No one can tell me that we don’thave a chance to change things in ourindustry,” said Bryant, executive di-rector of the Alliance of AutomotiveService Providers (AASP) of NewJersey, which hosted the event alongwith the Society of Collision RepairSpecialists (SCRS). “I don’t believethat.”

Bryant cited a list of people hesees as having an impact on the in-dustry including Florida shop ownerRay Gunder, New York shop ownerGreg Coccaro, New York-based con-sultant Larry Montanez, Ohiolawyer Erica Eversman, and TonyLombardozzi of the Coalition ForCollision Repair Excellence.

“They are challenging things andreally making a change,” Bryant said.“They are just a few of the people whohave said no longer will they acceptjust business as usual.”

On behalf of his association aswell as the Auto Body Association ofConnecticut (ABAC) and the NewYork State Auto Collision TechniciansAssociation, Bryant presented anaward at the event to SCRS ExecutiveDirector Aaron Schulenburg, an-other of the people the associationssee as “inspiring others to have thecourage to stand up,”

“Everyone in the room knows thelengths you have gone through to helpchange our industry, the things thatyou’ve done over the years to help fixthe industry,” Bryant told Schulen-burg.

DMV changes in ConnecticutThe number of people in the room forthe annual event was curtailed some-what by a snowstorm that hit much ofthe Northeast the night before. But asin the past, the meeting’s agenda con-sisted primarily of presentations byrepresentatives of shop associationsbased in the Northeast.

Tony Ferraiolo, president of theABAC, for example, discussed his as-sociation’s opposition to a proposedstate law (HB 6495) that he saidwould give inspectors from the Con-necticut Department of Motor Vehi-cles, which licenses shops in that state,arrest-authority and would raise somepaperwork violations to potentially

the level of a ClassB misdemeanor.

“So a good shop,trying to do the rightthing, makes somesimple clerical er-rors, and when theycome into your shopand find paperworkviolations, then yourname gets put in thepaper as a Class Bmisdemeanor,” Fer-raiolo said. “Whatdoes that do to your

business?”Ferraiolo said the association also

has launched a “Monday MorningMotivator,” a weekly fax or email re-minder to member shops about onething that can help improve the accu-racy of their estimates or otherwiseimprove their business.

The association also organized an8-week, $18,000 radio ad campaign toremind motorists that when it comesto collision repair, it’s “Your car, yourchoice,” and to urge them to choose aparticipating shop.

Ferraiolo also said that more thanthree years after an association-ledclass action lawsuit resulted in a juryaward of $15 million against TheHartford, the money has yet to be re-ceived. The jury essentially found in2009 that unfair trade practices by theinsurer led to suppressed shop laborrates. Ferraiolo was unsure why therehas been such a long delay in thejudge’s issuing of a final judgment onthe verdict in the case but said that heexpects that to happen soon, whichwould also bolster a similar lawsuitpending against Progressive Insur-ance. He said attorneys continue to

pursue the Progressive lawsuit despitenot having received payment in eithercase.

“That’s telling you these class ac-tion lawsuits might have some meritfor all of us when they pan out, butyou’re talking 10 years before they are

done,” Ferraiolosaid. “That’s along time. One ofthe named plain-tiffs in the case hassold his shop inthe meantime. Sothese class actionlawsuits are im-

portant but not our total answer, andwe’re committed to keeping themgoing.”

Battles in VermontMike Parker of Parker’s ClassicAuto Works in Rutland, VT, said thatin the past year he’s aware of 13 third-party claimants who have filed com-plaints with his state’s Department ofInsurance after insurers have at-tempted to take betterment as part oftheir auto insurance claims.

“Basically the complaint is: ‘I

don’t want to be made better. I wantto made whole. If you can’t make bewhole without making me better,that’s not my problem,’” Parker said.“And all 13 of them have been paid infull. The Department found in theirfavor all 13 times.”

Parker said legislation (HB 362)has been introduced in Vermont thatwould place new restrictions on theuse of non-OEM parts, including pro-hibiting their use on vehicles with30,000 miles or less.

Parker said that may sound like aconsumer-friendly bill, but he believesany insurer involvement in parts

choice is unwar-ranted. Insurers,he said, have threeoptions under thepolicy: pay it incash, replace thevehicle, or repairthe vehicle them-selves, actually

taking possession of the vehicle andgetting it repaired and returning it tothe insured. Insurers generally opt justto pay the claim rather than repair the

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Aaron Schulenburg and Charlie Bryant

Tony Ferraiolo

Mike Parker

vehicle themselves, he said, in whichcase “they owe the reasonable andnecessary costs of repair, and have noright messing with the body shop orinterfering in the contract between theshop and customer over what parts touse.”

That’s why Parker currently hasfive lawsuits pending against differentinsurance companies for unpaid repaircosts for more than 200 customerswho have signed assignment of pro-ceeds forms, allowing Parker to sue ontheir behalf. The five suits range fromjust under $5,000 to as much as

$49,000. Parker acknowledged thateven if he wins the cases, Vermont lawwill prevent him from collecting forthe legal fees he’s had to spend on thesuits.

Different routes workSCRS’ Schulenburg said the pre-

sentations and discussions at the EastCoast Resolution Forum and Leader-ship Meeting demonstrate that “thereare plenty of different ways to takeback control and for collision repairersto get paid for the work that they’redoing.”

“There is no perfect way. Thereis no one right way,” Schulenburgsaid. “Because every business repre-sented by the associations in this

room is run differently and has a dif-ferent model. And what’s right forTony is right for Tony. And what’sright for Mike is right for Mike. Andfrankly, what Mike does and whatTony does are two different things.The reality of why we’re in this roomis to talk about the different solutionsthat do exist within the industry, topull ideas from each other and to usethose to make our businesses better ifwe can and where we can. It’s notabout a perfect solution and it’s notabout saying this is the right way orthe wrong way.”

The East Coast Resolution Forumand Leadership Meeting is held annu-ally in conjunction with the NORTH-EAST Automotive Services Show,

which is scheduled next year forMarch 21-23.

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). He can becontacted by email at:[email protected].


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increasing the surface area. The dryerswork by flowing humid air throughone or more towers for a predeter-mined time. The controller on the dryerwill switch the flow from the towerbeing used to a new tower which hasbeen regenerated or dried out. The dry-ing cycle takes a small amount of air

flowing from the new tower and re-verse flows through the wet tower,causing the media in the tower to dryout. You could compare this to replac-ing or changing out the older style des-icant pots every few minutes. Thesesystems are completely self-containedand include a built-in bypass so theneed for additional airline plumbing ina shop has been eliminated. The 80-gallon storage tank allows for storage

of ultra clean dry air, adding storage ca-pacity to your air system. Up to fourbooths and prep areas can be run off ofone system, reducing the amount ofequipment and installation costs foreach area. The Ultra systems also pro-vide an indicator message as to whento change the coalescing pre filter. Thisis generally the only required mainte-nance and can be done in a few min-utes.

Painting is a critical process re-gardlesss of whether you are still paint-ing with solvent or have switched towater; and every time you squeeze thegun you need to have exactly the sameresult. By having the ultra-dry low sin-gle digit clean compressed air, you willsave many dollars in increased pro-duction or throughput in your shop aswell as eliminating quality issues or re-work.


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by Ed Attanasio

He’s an artist, a painter, a car cus-tomizer, an automotive builder, ateacher, the author of five books, apaint manufacturer and the creator ofa stunning finish for hundreds ofbreathtaking vehicles and thousandsof custom motorcycles, includingeight cars and six motorcycles fea-tured at SEMA shows. His name isJon Kosmoski, the founder of theHouse of Kolor® in Minneapolis, MN,and even though he’s 75, the man stillbuilds incredible cars and travelsthroughout the country to teach newand veteran painters how to do it Kos-moski-style.

Kosmoski’s current role and im-pressive legacy in the automotivepainting industry through sevendecades starting in the late ‘50s hasearned him titles of “master,” “leg-end” and “icon.” Companies all overthe world clamor to work with Kos-moski through either sponsorships orother projects, and that’s why SATA,the premier manufacturer of paintspray guns, is proud to say that thisamazing painter uses its products andno other.

Jon Kosmoski established theHouse of Kolor® 57 years ago, longbefore he was a world-renowned cus-tom painter. As a 19-year-old studentstudying automotive repair, Kosmoskirebuilt a ‘40 Chevy Coupe and took itto the best shop in town to have hisbaby painted. “When I got that carback, I wasn’t happy at all,” Kos-moski explained. “The paint job was-n’t what I had expected. If this is thebest car painter in town and this iswhat they’re giving me, I was disap-pointed. I thought I can do better thanthis. So, I took night classes on paintand collision repair and jumped into itpretty quickly.”

Within a short time, Kosmoskiwas known throughout Minneapolis

for his skills as a custom painter. Heloved being creative and producingoutstanding cars and motorcycles, buthe wasn’t enamored with the chal-lenging lacquers and enamels of thelate 1950’s, because he discoveredthat they would easily sun-fade orcold-crack. He experimented and ab-sorbed valuable information like apaint sponge, because Jon Kosmoskiisn’t afraid to learn as much as he canabout any subject that will help him todo a better job.

Kosmoski wanted something su-perior to apply to the numerous carsand motorcycles that were now flyingthrough the doors at the House ofKolor® in the early 1960s. “I startedworking with a polymer chemist toproduce custom paints that wouldn’ttarnish or crack and perform well de-spite all of the other problems I wasencountering with existing products.There was nothing out there evenclose to what I wanted, so I had to in-vent it. I started using organic pig-ments way back in 1963, while mostpaint manufacturers were using onlyinorganic pigments.” With his newpaint and by constantly honing hispainting skills and tapping into hiszeal for creativity and innovation,House of Kolor® became a householdname by the mid 1970s.

In 1996, the House of Kolor®

was purchased by the Valspar Auto-motive Coatings Division. Today,

Kosmoski is still involved withHouse of Kolor® in a 12,000 square-foot shop with “Tebo” his electrician,fabricator and mechanic. Jon pro-duces 4–6 cars or motorcycles for carshows and magazine covers everyyear, while traveling worldwide toteach his painting techniques. He’sknown for many things, but has be-come one of the leading experts oncandy paint. One of his true loves ishelping painters to learn what he’sdiscovered over 55 years in this in-

dustry, he explained.“Our unique product line gives

custom painters the flexibility to usetheir creativity and skills to design, in-vent, and create “one-of-a-kind” cus-tom paint jobs that last, Kosmoskisaid. “That’s why I love this business,because creating a one-of-a-kind paintjob requires a combination of techni-cal skill and artistic ability. I enjoypassing all of my knowledge and ex-perience in my training classes, sothat’s very satisfying.”

With a plethora of award-winningvehicles created over the years, Kos-moski cites a handful as his most no-table—all of which starred on theshow floors of SEMA shows over a12-year period. “I would say that my1967 Mustang with a matching mo-torcycle; 1934 Ford 5-window coupewith a 383 in it; 1948 InternationalPickup, which was unveiled at theSEMA Show in 2008, and our 1932Ford Roadster—those are the onespeople seem to like the most.”

After experimenting with a widerange of different spray guns for manyyears, Tony Larimer, the director ofsales & marketing at Dan-Am Com-pany, exclusive independent distribu-tor of SATA in USA, gave a few of hiscompany’s guns for Kosmoski to usein 1999. When he got his hands onSATAjet 2000 B RP (no longer in pro-duction) he quickly became a seriousSATA supporter.

“Tony said try this gun and let usknow what you think,” Kosmoskisaid. “That 2000 RP really turned myhead and I rarely say that about anyproduct! I loved the way it handled al-most immediately. Right then andthere I decided to start using SATAguns exclusively. I used that 2000 fora while, and then when SATA cameout with the 3000, I changed over. The3000 was over-the-top and SATA re-ally stepped up with that gun. Now Iuse the 4000 B RP, their newest gunand it is exceptional.”

To kick off their association in2000, SATA and Kosmoski workedtogether to produce a signature specialetched jet blacks two-gun set. Only500 were produced and they were soldquickly, but you can still find a fewused ones on sale now and again overthe Internet.

Larimer values SATA’s relation-ship with Kosmoski and the House ofKolor® for many reasons. “We’re gladto be associated with Jon because he

uses our guns exclusively and teachesother painters about how to sprayusing SATA guns,” Larimer said.“He’s more than an impressive part-ner, because he’s also my friend of 15years. We talk almost weekly and hispassion for what he’s doing is conta-gious. When people meet Jon for thefirst time, they always come awaysaying wow—what a fascinating anddriven guy and still going nonstop atage 75! He has the energy of six peo-ple. It’s unbelievable.”

Having a visionary like Kosmoskion the SATA team is important, be-cause Jon offers feedback all the timeabout the company’s products andtheir capabilities, Larimer said.

“One of the things I love aboutJon is that he’s an unlimited source ofinformation. Some artist/painters keepa lot of their tips and techniques se-cret, but Jon loves to share his knowl-edge to anyone that wants it. At SATA,we always listen to our painters, sothat we can use their input for our nextgeneration of products.”

Why does Kosmoski covet hisSATAjet 4000?

“I’ve been working with this gunfor almost three years now and it’s abeautiful gun. It gives me a very uni-form pattern and I’ve learned that Idon’t need to apply so much pressurewith the 4000—only about 26–27 PSI.I am a heavy-handed painter by na-ture, when it’s required and the 4000works great when I need to go thatway.

“Also, this gun saves money byimproving my efficiency and usingless paint, while getting a glossier andcleaner look.

“I’ve been teaching painters for35 years now, and I train everyone ona SATA.”

Jon Kosmoski—Painting Legend Uses SATA Guns Exclusively

Jon Kosmoski’s 1967 Ford Mustang got a lotof attention at SEMA in 2004

Jon Kosmoski pictured here with his SATA4000 B RP, the only spray gun he uses on hisaward-winning cars and motorcycles

This 1948 International refinished by Jon Kos-moski was unveiled at SEMA in 2008


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At the NORTHEAST show I was ableto talk to Charles Bryant of AASP-NJ and ask him what’s going on in NJin general. Here’s what he told me:

There is always something inter-esting going on in New Jersey. First,we are proud that the NJ-MVC hasabandoned the proposal to licenseMobile Auto Body shops in our state.That was a battle that took over twoyears to accomplish.

Another real exciting thing is newproposed legislation that would forceinsurers to follow the regulations thatgovern fair claim settlement practicesor face serious consequences. Cur-rently, a one-time violation of the NJUnfair Claim Settlement Practices Actis not considered a violation of the actuntil it is established through what isreferred to as a market conduct survey,that the insurer has violated the actwith enough frequency to create ageneral business practice.

Then, even when it has been es-tablished that the insurer has violatedthe act with enough frequency to cre-ate a general business practice all thatcan happen is the NJ-DOBI can finethe insurer, if they choose to do so. Tomake things worse, a violation of theNJ Unfair Claim Settlement PracticesAct does not state a cause of actionupon which relief may be granted bycivil action.

As such, the act basically has noteeth and allows insurers to violate theprovisions of the act without fear ofany serious repercussions. In essence,the act gives the consumer a falsesense of security and an unjustifiedfeeling that the insurers have a set ofrules that they must follow.

If passed, these bills would allowan insured, claimant or the assignee ofthe insured to file a civil action in acourt of competent jurisdiction against

an insurer for any single violation ofthe NJ Unfair Claim Settlement Prac-tices Act even though the insurer didnot violate any provision of the actwith enough frequency as to indicate a

general business practice. In otherwords, it would make a one-time vio-lation a valid violation.

Upon establishing that (a) viola-tion of the provisions of the UnfairClaim Settlement Practices Act hasoccurred, the claimant shall be entitledto the following:● The full amount of damages as setforth in the final judgment (regardlessof the coverage limits of the policy)● Prejudgment interest● Reasonable attorney’s fees● All reasonable litigation expensesfrom the date of the institution of theaction filed● Punitive damages, when the in-surer’s acts or omissions demonstrate,by clear and convincing evidence, ac-tual malice or wanton and willful dis-regard of any person who foreseeablymight be harmed by the insurer’s actsor omissions

The provisions of the bill intend toincorporate into statutory law certainaspects of New Jersey’s current case

law, which recognize private causes ofaction in first-party and third-partyclaims regarding the bad faith actionsof insurance companies which result inharm to their insureds. See Pickett v.

Lloyd’s, 131 N.J.457 (1993), Samuelv. Doe, 158 N.J. 134(1999), Rova FarmsResort, Inc. v. In-vestors Ins. Co., 65N.J. 474 (1974).

Although theprospect of thislegislation passingsounds great, themight and power ofthe insurance in-dustry to fight sucha proposal makes itextremely hard to

get this type of legislation passed.However, because of the abuse ofNew Jersey residents harmed by Hur-ricane Sandy by certain insurers, it has

a much better chance to get legs.Therefore, we are keeping a closewatch on this legislation and ready tofight for the passage of it if it lookslike there is a realistic chance of actu-ally passing.

We have two great training meet-ings planned for April of this year andmore meetings in the planning stage. The AASP/NJ Lou Scoras MemorialGolf Outing is coming up on May 20,2013 and we are already getting play-ers and sponsors signing up.

I could go on and on because newthings are always happening here inNew Jersey. However, I think this willgive you a pretty good idea of thehighlights for now. Thank you for giv-ing me the opportunity.

Jeff McDowell added that likethe rest of the country, shops in his re-gion are examining the benefits andcosts of assignments of proceeds andparts procurement programs, amongstother general industry concerns.


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Charles Bryant Updates Us On What’s Going On in New Jersey

with Chasidy Rae SiskNortheast News

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

Chasidy with Charles Bryant

Members of the collision repair indus-try as well as distributors around thecountry are invited to make a donationon the behalf of Ray Gunder by send-ing checks payable to: Brent Geoha-gan, Attorney at law; Geohagan, P.A.,3001 Bartow Road Lakeland, FL33803. Please write in the memo area:“Donation to Gunder’s Legal Fund.”

Upon winning his cases, Gunder hascommitted to creating a ‘war chest’legal fund from recovered fees andcosts for repairers to use to fight theirown insurer underpayment battles.

How to Donate to Ray Gunder’s Legal Fund

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Edward “Randy” Bevis, 90, whoowned Bevis Auto Body in Alexan-dria, VA, for four decades, died Feb.16 at Inova Alexandria Hospital. Hehad pneumonia, his daughter JoyGilstrap said.

Mr. Bevis opened his businessin 1949 and sold it in 1989. From thelate 1940s to the early ’60s, heowned an Esso gas station in Alexan-dria.

Edward Randolph Bevis wasborn in Rocky Mount, NC, andmoved to the Washington area as aboy. He graduated from Mount Ver-non High School and served in theArmy in Europe during World WarII.

In 1971, Mr. Bevis, his son, EdBevis Jr., and two other boaters wererescued after being lost at sea offNorth Carolina’s Outer Banks forthree days. Their ordeal was reportedon the front page of The WashingtonPost.

Mr. Bevis was past president ofthe Washington Auto Body Associa-tion. His wife of 35 years, IreneLewis Bevis, died in 1982. Survivorsinclude his wife of 19 years, LoisAnsel Bevis of St. Petersburg, FL,and four children from his first mar-riage.

Edward “Randy” Bevis

The Society of Collision Repair Spe-cialists and the Collision Repair Ed-ucation Foundation ask industrymembers to support their local sec-ondary and post-secondary collisionschool programs, students and in-structors. Now more than ever, in-structors need the industry’s help toensure their students are fully pre-pared to work within the collision in-dustry after graduation, SCRS said.

SCRS and the Education Foun-dation suggest the following waysthe industry can help and participate:• Host a collision class field trip toyour business • Volunteer on their advisory board • Mentor a student for potential fu-ture employment • ‘Adopt’ the school’s collision pro-gram and sponsor several minorprojects to help provide a more pro-fessional atmosphere for the students(i.e. new epoxy floor coating, freshcoat of paint on the walls, studentwork uniforms, etc.)

For more information findingcollision school programs near you,and what type of assistance needed,please contact Director of Develop-ment Brandon Eckenrode at [email protected].

SCRS, CREF Ask Industry toSupport Their Local Schools

In 2012, the Virginia State Police In-surance Fraud Program received1,976 notifications of suspected in-surance fraud. 459 cases wereopened, which is almost twice thenumber opened in 2011. They made383 arrests for insurance fraud andother related offenses—a 66% in-crease over 2011.

Court-ordered restitution wasmore than $3 million in 2012, thesecond highest amount of restitutionordered by the courts since 2001.This brings the total of ordered resti-tution since the program began in1999 to almost $18 million. Sus-pected false insurance claims re-ported to the Insurance FraudProgram—both attempted and col-lected—topped $147 million.

Since the program has been op-erating, more than 19,000 referralshave been made to the Virginia StatePolice, 4,574 fraud investigationshave been initiated, and agents havemade a total of 2,468 arrests for in-surance fraud and related crimessuch as arson and forgery. The Vir-ginia State Police investigates sus-pected fraud in property/casualtylines of insurance, as well as sus-pected workers’ compensation fraud.

VA Police Make 383 Arrestsfor Insurance Fraud in 2012 Anthony Francis Fisher, 86, a resi-

dent of Chincoteague, VA, passedaway at his residence on Saturday,Feb. 9, 2013.

Mr. Fisher was in auto body re-pair for many years and was in theUnited States Coast Guard duringWorld War II.

He was predeceased by hiswife, Thalia Juanita WhealtonFisher; and a son, Mark Fisher.

Born on Sept. 6, 1926, inWilmington, DE, he was the son ofthe late Henry Fisher and BarbaraMerkel.

He was member of St. AndrewsCatholic Church on Chincoteague.

He is survived by his children,Anne Arnold and husband, James,of Disputanta, VA, and DeloresKaminski and her husband, Edward,of Northeast, MD; a daughter-in-law, Roberta Fisher of Herndon,VA; two sisters, Barbara Austin ofCarolina Shores, NC, and TheresaSewell of Lewes, DE.; seven grand-children; six great-grandchildren;and several nieces and nephews.

A funeral service was held onFeb. 15, at St. Andrews CatholicChurch. Interment is at St. Peter’sCemetery, Pilottown Road, Lewes,DE.

Anthony Fisher Obituary

by Melanie Anderson

Custom painter Mitch Lanzini ofLanzini Body Works in HuntingtonBeach, CA, began his career polish-

ing and showing off his toy cars. Asa kid, for Lanzini the Batmobile onTV exemplified hot rods and customcars, and by high school he wasusing cans of spray paint on bicyclesand motorcycles. At 21, he cus-tomized his first vehicle, his ownDatsun truck, that earned him hisfirst magazine cover. Today, Mitch,54, has more than 30years experience inthe business, hasbeen featured onmany more maga-zine covers, and hasowned Lanzini BodyWorks with his wife,Tara, for 20 years.

You could sayMitch was born to bean artist. His grandfa-ther Angelo Lanziniwas a renownedpainter and sculptorin Italy. “Mitchcomes from a long line of artists in hisfamily,” said Tara. “It’s in his blood.His grandfather painted portraits fortwo U.S. presidents and was commis-sioned to paint the Pope’s portraitwhich still hangs in the Vatican today.Angelo’s three sons, including Mitch’sdad, were all artists too.”

Like a typical body shop, LanziniBody Works does collision repair andexterior custom painting work in a4,500 square-foot space. What’s notso usual is some of the other workthey do, like custom painting interior

pieces for a prototype airplane thatwill be featured in the Hamburg AirShow in Germany in March. Othercustom painting and designing jobshave included ambulances, surf

boards, guitars, race cars, bowlingpins, motorcycles, kids’ pedal cars andtheir own line of roller derby skatewheels.

However, building and restoringhot rods is their main line of business.Their two favorite projects are theirown cars, a gold 1933 Speedstar coupeand a purple 1932 Zipper Roadster. The

coupe, Mitch said, is “a piece of rollingart” because many of the parts arehandmade. After working some 300hours on the body, he spent 24 hoursstraight painting it. Over the course ofhis career, Mitch figures he’s custompainted nearly 200 show-stopping cars.

“What I love about painting carsis that it really is a true form of art.”But getting to the painting means hun-dreds of hours of prep time has al-ready been spent. “Even if you’vedone everything right, things can stillgo wrong,” said Mitch. “You’ve put so

much time into a car for so long, andwhen the day comes where you’re ac-tually mixing paint and suiting up togo into the booth, you cross your fin-gers and pray to the paint gods thatnothing goes wrong. Because thereare days when things do go wrong thatdidn’t go wrong the day before, andany painter who tells you he hasn’thad that day is a liar,” Mitch said. “Alittle speck of dust can ruin hours ofprep work. Today’s painters have to bepart chemist and part weatherman be-cause so many things can go wrong.”

His current paint preference isBASF Onyx, and for clears andprimers, he uses Young’s House ofKlear. “The gloss factor of the clearsare amazing and the other products arevery user-friendly, affordable and mixwell,” Mitch said. He also likes theuniversal flattening agent that is “out-standing.” In addition to cars, he usesthe House of Klear products on high-profile artwork he does for an expres-sionist artist because “the clear looksamazing under gallery lights.”

Between 2004–2009, the Lanzinishop was featured in the Velocity net-work TV reality show Overhaulin’

where the concept of the show was to‘borrow or steal’ an old, tired or an-tique car and restore it in one weekand return it as a surprise to its owner.The body and paint work was done atLanzini Body Works, where 25episodes of the popular car make-overshow was filmed.

“It was great to do the show, but

also really challenging because duringfilming, all the other work in our shopcame to a halt, and working non-stopmeant a lot of sleepless nights,” Mitchsaid. “On Overhaulin’, if the car wasready to paint at 2 a.m., you paintedthe car at 2 a.m. We worked throughmany sleepless nights, but as crazy asit sounds, the best paint jobs I’ve donewere done in the middle of the night


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Mitch Lanzini Extends his Art from Toy Cars to Overhaulin’

Mitch and Tara Lanzini

Mitch Lanzini in the paint booth

The Lanzini’s own 1933 Speedstar Coupe

when I was sleep deprived.”When the producers of the show

first approached Mitch with the con-cept and asked if he wanted to be in-volved, Mitch admits he didn’t thinkit was possible to completely restorea car in just one week. He thought theshow would be a train wreck but, ofcourse, he wanted in. The very firstmakeover was a Chevelle and it cameinto Mitch’s shop a mess—a baremetal body full of rust and holes.When the body work was done,Mitch spent all night painting the car,

and when the tow truck showed up at6 a.m., they sent the driver out forcoffee while they walked around the

car with heat lamps. “The paint wasstill wet when the car rolled away,”Mitch said. “It was an intense build.”And that was justthe first of many.That’s when Mitchgot the wake upcall that doing theshow wasn’t goingto be easy by anymeans, and so heasked the produc-ers to rotate film-ing amongst othershops.

A u t o m o b i l edesigner Chip Foose hosted the show,which ran for five seasons, and hasnow returned for its sixth season.Foose is Mitch’s neighbor, closefriend and also has a shop nearby.“Chip is probably one of my bestfriends and someone I respect morethan most. We always have so muchfun hanging out and working togetherbecause we’re like two little kids whojust love to create things. He’s beenaround cars his whole life too, so wehave a lot in common and a lot of funtogether.”

Some of Mitch’s celebrity cus-tomers include comedian Christo-

pher Titus who had his own FOXshow, and race car driver JimmieJohnson. However, Lanzini Body

Works gives everyone who walks intheir doors the same level of attentionand painting excellence.

“The day I know everything as apainter is the day I will retire,” Mitchsaid. “As of now, that hasn’t hap-pened, and it probably won’t for along time to come.”

Lanzini Body Works Inc.17901 Sampson LaneHuntington Beach, CA 92647Phone - (714) 375-2828Fax - (714) 375-2830E-mail: [email protected]


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A collage of pictures from Overhaulin’

1972 Torino

Two California law firms are consol-idating lawsuits against Ford MotorCo., alleging the automaker has led a“false and misleading” marketingcampaign for its 2013 C-Max Hybridand Fusion Hybrid vehicles, the De-troit News recently reported.

Redlands, CA-based McCuneWright, which on behalf of ‘hun-dreds’ of C-Max and Fusion hybridowners is seeking punitive damagesbecause of potentially overinflatedfuel-efficiency claims, said it willconsolidate with a similar lawsuitfiled by San Diego-based Robbins,Geller, Rudman and Dowd.

“There’s a lot of really unhappypeople,” said Rich McCune, partnerat McCune Wright, which has previ-ously filed lawsuits against HyundaiMotor Co. for fuel-efficiency claims.

The new filing will have betweenfive and 10 class-action representa-tives—Ford hybrid owners who saythat their vehicles are not living up tofuel-efficiency claims.

McCune said the law firm hasspoken to “literally hundreds” of hy-brid owners from across the country,and not just those clustered in colderregions with higher speed limits, twofactors that can significantly diminish

fuel efficiency.The original suit stems from the

experiences of Richard Pitkin of Ro-seville, CA, who purchased a C-MaxHybrid in October. Pitkin says he av-eraged only 37 miles per gallon, lowerthan the Environmental ProtectionAgency rated 47 mpg.

The EPA said in December itwould review Ford’s fuel-efficiencyclaims after Consumer Reports foundthe C-Max Hybrid and Fusion Hybridgot significantly worse fuel efficiencythan the EPA window sticker sug-gests.

Consumer Reports said in test-ing, the C-Max Hybrid’s fuel effi-ciency fell 10 miles per gallon short:It got 37 mpg overall, with 35 mpg forcity driving and 38 mpg highways.The Fusion Hybrid, certified for thesame 47 mpg, got 39 mpg in testingoverall, with 35 mpg city and 41 mpghighway.

Ford has said its hybrid vehiclesare built to give customers a choice:Drivers can operate the vehicle con-servatively and achieve EPA mileageclaims. Or they can drive the car forfun, because Ford hybrids get signifi-cantly better horsepower than com-petitor vehicles.

California Firms Sue Ford for ‘Overinflated’ FuelEfficiency Claims of Two Hybrids

A Florida Senate panel has unani-mously approved a bill imposing astatewide ban on texting while driv-ing. But eventual approval by theHouse is far from sure.

The Senate Communicationscommittee voted 9-0 for the bill, SB52. The bill outlaws texting by driversbut exempts police and other emer-gency vehicles.

The proposed law makes textingsubject to secondary enforcement.Police could cite drivers for it only ifthey had been pulled over for anotherviolation such as speeding. A viola-tion would lead to a fine and —if tex-ting resulted in a crash—the driverwould be assessed six points.

The measure has failed fouryears in a row because critics in theHouse have likened it to needlessgovernment intrusion.

Thirty-nine states and the Dis-trict of Columbia already have bans.

Florida Senate Panel Wants Banon Texting & Driving

by Janet Chaney, Exclusive toAutobody News

“Taking Control of Your Future” wasthe motto of the 2013 Bi-Annual Con-vention and Technology Exhibitionsponsored by the Indiana Auto BodyAssociation in Indianapolis, February22–23. This two-day convention was asolid mix of collision repair technol-ogy, education and industry issues.

The freezing rain that hit Indi-anapolis the night before didn’t slowdown this show one bit, althoughMike Anderson, who was scheduledto open the show Friday morning, gottrapped in Toronto by the storm.IABA Executive Director and man-ager of the Convention, Tony Pass-water, took over and gave the event agreat start.

The convention was held at theLincoln College of Technology, a per-fect venue for the event. Over 65 ven-dor booths populated the main halland educational programs were in theclassrooms. The Industry Panel Dis-cussions were built into the Technol-ogy Exhibition. “The success of thisevent was a joint effort between theIndiana Auto Body Association andLincoln College of Technology in-structors and staff,” said Passwater. “Ican’t thank them enough for its suc-cess.”

The show opened with TonyPasswater delivering the theme “TheFuture Is Not Locked In Stone.” Themeeting moved right into a panel dis-cussion “The Future of the CollisionRepair Industry,” which featured,Nick Notte, Sterling Auto Body Cen-ters, Jim Keller, 1Collision, TimAdelman, ABRA and Erick Bickett,FIX Auto. These industry leaders col-lectively represented MSOs, insurer-owned shops, networks and franchisesspeaking very candidly about theirbusiness models and the future of theindustry.

Discussion centered around thecurrent market shift and action steps tomeet new business demands. A fewpoints from this discussion: There willbe more strategic alliances with insur-ers and shops; insurers may fund con-solidators; cost of training needs to beaddressed with the insurers; MSOsoffer insurers a predictable outcomesuch as a valuable single point of con-tact, call centers, etc; lower costs; mar-keting is more important than ever;insurers looking for less cost of claim,

LAE (Loss Adjustment Expense); helpcarriers reduce LAE; independentshops use their entrepreneurial spirit;shops need to offer a predictable out-come; shops need to work on theirSOPs and be consistent. The questionasked by one panelist summed it up,“What are you doing to prepare your-self?”

Ray Gunder, of Gunder’s AutoCenter, Lakeland, FL, Larry Cer-nosek, Deer Park Paint and Body,Pasadena, TX, Greg Coccaro, NorthState Custom, Bedford Hills, NY, andWade Ebert, American Auto Body,Springfield, IL, filled the next paneldiscussion, “Taking Back Control ofYour Business.”

Aaron Schulenburg, ExecutiveDirector of the Society of CollisionRepair Specialists, introduced the pan-elists and asked them to talk abouthow they got started in the businessand how things have changed. The en-trepreneurial spirit was truly repre-sented on this panel.

Greg Coccaro recounted how heand his brother borrowed $500 andstarted fixing cars, primarily foreigncars. They built a successful state-of-the-art collision center based on theircommitment to their customer and ex-ceptional work. This shop is now aMercedes-Benz Certified CollisionRepair Center serving New York’sprosperous Westchester County.

Ray Gunder described his lovefor the business and in the late 1960’sstarted his own shop, which is nowGunder’s Auto Center, a large andsuccessful collision center. Ray’s wife,Deannie, and two adult children,Travis and Jodi, work with him tocarry on the 40-year Gunder tradition.

Wade Ebert’s Dad had a particularlove for Corvettes. He started fixingthem but one day he noticed, “All myfriends grew up and are driving stationwagons.” That was the beginning ofAmerican Auto Body. Ebert said “Idecided to take a shot and work withmy old man.” He is now the secondgeneration at American.

Larry Cernosek from Pasadena,TX, graduated from college with a de-gree in marketing and communica-tion. However, an injury halted hiscareer. When he received a $3,000 set-tlement, Cernosek bought a $2,000pickup and started towing cars. Thatwas in 1975. He now owns Deer ParkPaint and Body and CernosekWrecker.

The speakers onthis panel were all in-dependent shop own-ers and brought adifferent message tothe audience, repre-senting the backboneof the independentcollision repairer. Afew key points fromthis discussion: Un-derstand who you are and what you wantto do; You have to rely on yourself tomake changes in your business; Know

your own labor rate; Do not rely on theinsurance estimate—it is not the blue-print of repair; Meet your legislators;

Meet your Insurance Commissioner;Charge for procedures; If you don’t askyou don’t get; You’re going to have trou-ble swallowing a warranty when youdon’t get paid for the procedure.

Gunder has taken an aggressivelegal approach in Florida to get com-pensated for the work his shop per-forms. Greg Coccaro’s lawsuit withProgressive ended this year in Greg’sfavor. The Texas Insurance Commis-sioner personally visited Larry Cer-nosek’s shop because he wanted tomeet the man who sent in so manycomplaints to his office. AmericanAuto Body was awarded an out-of-court settlement by State Farm in 1999.

At the end of this discussion,


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Indiana Convention & Exhibition Takes Control of the Future: “What are You Doing?”

Tony Passwater, Executive Director of the Indi-ana Auto Body Association, opens the 2013Bi-Annual Convention and Technology Exhibit

Rich Evans, fabricator, customizer and Autobody News columnist,gets the students’ attention at the Indiana convention (see p. 40)

See IABA Convention, Page 51


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Sherwin-Williams Introduces Body Shop Phone Appfor ConsumersMore than 5.3 million. That’s howmany vehicle accidents there were inthe U.S. in 2011, according to the Na-tional Highway Traffic Safety Ad-ministration. If you were involved inone of these, then you know the con-fusion, stress and potential trauma thatcan occur right after a collision.

Now Sherwin-Williams Automo-tive Finishes introduces anew Body Shop App forconsumers to utilize in casethey are involved in a trafficaccident. The new mobilephone application providesusers with all kinds of infor-mation and contact access.

The new app will pro-vide immediate access to the user’sfriends and family contacts, insurancecompany or agent, vehicle identifica-tion data, local emergency services(police, fire, ambulance, and hospi-tals), geographic location of the acci-dent and even tips of what to do ifinvolved in an accident. It is capableof retrieving the contact informationfor nearby towing services, Sherwin-Williams A-Plus™ Network bodyshops, and car rental locations.

“Any time you’re in an accident,it’s a very stressful occasion. Fortu-

nately, most drivers now have theircell phones with them. This new appwill supply drivers with the data andcontact information through their cellphone to make the entire post-acci-dent process go as smooth as possi-ble,” says Troy Neuerburg, Managerof Marketing Business Services atSherwin-Williams Automotive Fin-

ishes.According to Neuerburg,

this mobile phone app alsocan help drivers prepare anaccident report and sharephotos from the scene of theincident. The new app is freefor consumers and can bedownloaded for iPhone users

at Sherwin-Williams iPhone App or forGoogle Android users at Sherwin-Williams Android App, or by going towww.sherwin-automotive.com.

Using GPS data, the Sherwin-Williams Body Shop App is compati-ble with most smart phones anddevices, including Blackberry,iPhone, Nokia/Symbian, Google An-droid, Palm, and Microsoft Windowsmobile platforms.

For more information, visitwww.sherwin-automotive.com or call1-800-SWULTRA (1-800-798-5872).

SEMA has hired industry veteranMike Spagnola to fill the newly cre-ated position of VP, OEM & ProductDevelopment Programs. Spagnolabrings with him 40 years of specialtyauto parts experience, including morethan 20 years of product developmentand project vehicle work.

Spagnola will oversee the newSEMA Product Development Centerlocated adjacent to the SEMA head-

quarters in Dia-mond Bar, CA.The building hasa history of serv-ing as a vehicletechnology cen-ter, giving SEMAthe opportunity tooffer these serv-ices without hav-

ing to start at ground zero.Whilebased in Southern California, theseprograms and services will be avail-able to SEMA members everywhere.

“The SEMA Product Develop-ment Center is going to be an amaz-ing resource for SEMA members,”Spagnola said. “I’m excited to be apart of the expansion.”

“We’re excited to have Mikejoin SEMA in developing servicesthat help members with product de-

velopment and OEM initiatives,” saidChris Kersting, SEMA Presidentand CEO. “SEMA’s vehicle technol-ogy and OEM programs, led by JohnWaraniak and Bill Wolf, haveproven to be extremely beneficialover the years.”

Spagnola’s experience includesretail, distribution and manufacturing.Most recently, he served as Presidentfor Street Scene Equipment where hemanaged the company’s day-to-daybusiness for 16 years. His project vehi-cles have been featured on the coversof more than 50 enthusiast magazines,and honored with more than a dozendesign awards from various OEMs.Spagnola has also completed six yearsof service on the SEMA Board of Di-rectors, a position from which he re-signed effective with his new role as astaff member.

“Through the use of new tech-nology and partnerships, manufac-turers can develop products faster,more accurately and less expen-sively than ever before. Programssuch as SEMA’s Technology Trans-fer, Rapid Prototyping and VehicleMeasuring Sessions can all be en-hanced to help our member compa-nies make and sell more products,”said Spagnola.

Industry Veteran Mike Spagnola Joins SEMA

Mike Spagnola

by Melanie Anderson

Kindig-It-Designs owner DaveKindig started drawing cars when hewas five years old. Self-taught in allaspects of custom car building, Kindiglaughingly says, “I have a design andengineering degree from Legos andHot Wheels.”

Today, Kindig-It-Designs em-ploys 17 people after 14 years in busi-ness in Salt Lake City, UT. Kindig, 42,is a custom car builder, designer andpainter. “We do all aspects in-house—everything from design, chas-sis engineering, body and paint, sheetmetal fabrication, electronics, audio,graphics and custom suspensions,” he

said. Kindig described his shop as aone-stop custom and restoration facil-ity.

“Our forte is not just street rods,or one style of car,” Kindig said. “Wedo cars from any era. We prefer to docustomizing. We work on late modelvehicles as well as the earlier musclecars and street rods back from theearly ‘30s.” On average, the shop isworking on about 34 cars at any giventime, many of which are long-termprojects.

As a young man, Kindig’s passionstarted with VW Beetles. “Istarted off buying Volkswa-gens and chopping the tops,taking tops completely offand making Roadsters out ofthem.” Playing around withthe early Volkswagen Bee-tles snowballed into biggerand better cars, although hestill loves the VWs because it’s hisheritage. Currently, he has a baremetal finished VW that he’s still work-ing on that he says will be a “radical

piece” once it’s finished, a combina-tion of old and new.

With a life built around cars, onewould think Kindig would have sev-eral custom cars of his own, but thatisn’t so. “That’s the funny part aboutit. I’m like the shoemaker that neverhas time for his own shoes,” he saidlaughing. His only completed customcar is a 1961 VW shortened wheel-based dune buggy. “After 14 years inbusiness, I believe that is first car Iever built and finished for myself. Ilive vicariously my hot rod dreamsthrough others’ wallets since I don’thave time for my own.”

By age 20, he was rebuildingVWs and working across the street

from High Per-formance Coatings.He admired the carsthat were pullinginto that place andthe owner fre-quently borrowedKindig’s forklift.One day the ownerof HPC asked himwhen he was goingto come work forhim, and soonKindig started anew career thatlasted more thaneight years. Hestarted off sand

blasting and ended up traveling acrossthe country helping with marketing,operations and national sales. “It was agood opportunity for me. I saw theworld and met a lot of racers and topbuilders.”

However, Kindig never gave updrawing. Eventually, his renderingstacked up on his office wall caught theattention of those in the industry andhis hobby became a side business,then a career.

“I figured out that working 60hours a week for someone else wasn’t

really cutting it. It wasn’t exactly whatI wanted to do,” he said. The amountof work he had with the renderings,painting cars out of his garage and

selling parts on the side allowed himto quit his full-time job with HPC andstart his own business, and Kindig-ItDesigns was born. It started out of hisgarage with barely 1,000 square feet.That only lasted a little more than two

months before he moved into a 4,500-square-foot space for two-and-halfyears before moving into 9,000 squarefeet. Five years later, the shop addedanother 9,000 square feet. Recently,Kindig signed a two-year lease optionto buy the entire 27,000 square foot

building, of which he subleases 6,000square feet to an upholstery shop andwindow tinting business.

Kindig loves his work, but “It’snot like work. It’s like a good-payinghobby. I go to work every day and I

get to sit in my drawing office if I de-sire to and just sit here and draw. It’sbeen very rewarding. It’s calming, andit’s exciting. When I talk to a clientabout building a car, usually the veryfirst thing we do is a rendering. Withina couple minutes, I’m already driving


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From Hot Wheels to Hot Rods: Kindig-It Designer Works for Fun

Dave Kindig at work in his design studio

1964 Cadillac Coupe Deville Convertible built for speedskater Apolo Ohno

1932 Ford Tudor

this car up and down the street, imag-ining what it would look like. Youwant to build a car to somebody’s tasteand by adding your flare and playingoff the customer’s taste, I build a car

that’s very unique. Each car is differ-ent. It is something that will be time-less and classic, it will stop peoplewalking through a show. I love to putthe details into a car and a lotof design flavor.”

His favorite project is awhite 1968 Mustang called‘The Boss’ and is well-known in the show industry.

His most famous cus-tomer is Apolo Anton Ohno,a gold medal Olympic speedskater who commissioned

Kindig to rebuild a 1964 Series 62Cadillac Coupe DeVille that was fea-tured on Hot Rod Television on theSpeed Channel.

Currently, the shop is working ona 1953 GM Parade ofProgress FuturLiner Bus, oneof 12 originals. Of these 12originals, nine are still in ex-istence: one burned up, onewas rear-ended, and oneended up being used for partsand is no longer trackable, ac-cording to Kindig. This bus,No. 3 of the series, is over 11feet tall, 8 feet wide and 33feet long and only seats three.The driver sits in the center,

10 feet in the air. The doors are 16 feetlong and the interior includes a stair-case. Most of the structure needs to berebuilt, and Kindig-It used computer-

generated scanned 3D schematics tomeasure all dimensions of the vehicle.

Kindig said these vehicles arevery sought after and that one of theseremaining vehicles sold for $4.2 mil-lion at Barrett-Jackson in 2008. He

added that his shop has received a lotof national attention because of the ve-hicle. The owner of the #3 FuturLineralso found another original and hascommissioned the shop to rebuild itfrom scratch, updating the replicatedversion with a full modern drive train,modern electronics, smoke machineand air driven doors. This one will be

used for tradeshows.One of Kindig’s favorite products

is PPG paint. “PPG is a great productfor us. I am really impressed with theirclear coats, and the way they link upin a baking situation is obviously more

modern. The colors offer good cover-age, and I like the ability to custommix colors and have the backing ofPPG as far as knowledge to makingbalanced formulas.”

Kindig-It Designs has devel-oped two of their own colors, called‘Kindig-It Cool Clay’ and ‘BadTomato.’


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Schulenburg asked them one lastquestion, “Are you more successfultoday?” Each man said ‘yes’ but allsaid it is not any easier, although per-sonally they are satisfied with whatthey do. Ebert’s reply encapsulatedthe speaker’s sentiments: “There isgreat satisfaction in knowing whole-heartedly that you work for the peo-ple that put the keys in the ignition.”

In addition to these two informa-tive panel discussions, this conventionoffered technical training classes by I-CAR, Car-O-Liner, Chief, Matrix andAllData. Rick Leos from Toyota gavea class introducing Toyota’s groundbreaking Predictive Estimating Sys-tem. Mike Anderson spoke on “Out-sell Upsell and Close.” Rich Evans,well-known TV star of Car Warriorsand other shows, packed the housewith his ‘Vehicle Custom Layout andDesign’ demonstration which was ofparticular interest to the younger col-lision students attending.

George Avery, Claims Consult-ant with State Farm Insurance, and

Dale Sailer, VP Business Develop-ment with PartsTrader, gave an updateof that pilot program. Aaron Schulen-burg commented, “One of the prob-lems the industry is having may bebecause this is a mandatory program.”State Farm does require Select Serv-ice shops to use PartsTrader. The pro-gram is not yet system wide. The pilotprogram is still developing in five dif-ferent areas of the country.

Over 600 people attended theshow. The Indiana Auto Body Associ-ation hosted an Opening Party Fridayevening. The juxtaposition of the twopowerful industry panels reflects thechallenges and opportunities the col-lision repair industry faces. PanelistJim Keller of 1Collision shared histhoughts: “In spite of the ice stormthat hit Indy the night before, theshow traffic was solid and the diverseindustry-related panel discussions,seminars, and presentations were veryenlightening.”


IABA Convention

Search:Autobody Newson Facebook

I did a little traveling this month. I gota call from Tony Passwater, the di-rector of the Indiana Autobody Asso-ciation, who organizes the bi-annualConvention and Technology Exhibi-tion which was held in IndianapolisFeb. 22–23 at the Lincoln College ofTechnology. See Janet Chaney’s pieceon the event, p. 48 this issue.

They wanted me to do an ap-pearance, which is cool, but inter-acting with the students on a projectwould be even cooler. At the end ofthe day, I wanted the students to dothe project and get the experiencewith me guiding and helping. Thechallenge the IABA came up withwas painting a truck and doingsome graphics, some flames. Butthe catch was, they wanted to do itin a five-hour period, and I thought,‘Oh here we go, these guys havebeen watching too many Car War-

rior episodes with 72-hour builds.’But we were able to work it outwhere I thought I could squeeze in apaint job with graphics in a 10-hourperiod, or worse case scenario, a 12-hour period. So, I started reachingout for the tools I would need topull something like this off. I wentto my stencil line. I have pre-drawn

out graphics, such as tribal flamesand traditional flames. I got meas-urements from Tony, which allowedme get the graphics pre-designed,pre-cut and pre-masked before Ishowed up, which would save us alot of time.

On my way to Indianapolis, Iheard there were ice storms and Ithought I’d be cancelled. However, Igot a text that said the show must goon. Luckily, I made it into Indianapo-lis. I was on the last plane in beforethey shut down the airport.

The next morning, I got a ride toLincoln College of Technology and it’sa pretty impressive school. The autobody shop had quite a few completedvehicles. Director of Operations RogerPark showed me around. They were

equipped with spray booths, tools andequipment, frame racks, etc.

What they had lined up for mewas a 1998 green Dodge Dakota. Ireached out to Vintage CollectionPaint Line by Cumberland Productsbecause they have a flat black paintthat we would be using on this proj-ect. I envisioned a two-tone flame de-

sign with a flat black look. When Ishow up, the truck is sanded in 800grit and now I am having to backtracka little bit and rethink this. I talked toBruce Barlow from Vintage Collec-tion Paint Line by Cumberland Prod-

ucts—this product is over the top, andeasy to use. They were willing to pro-vide this product to me. I asked MikeEnglish, Technical Manager, if we putdown the flats, are we able to clearover it, and what timeframe we had toclear over it? The answer was ‘yes,’we could clear over it and we had 24hours. I was jazzed about that becauseit doesn’t throw a wrench in the proj-ect. I met with the top 12 students whowere going to work along with me.They also had bleachers set up for theother students. I started with the ba-sics and interacted with the students,and asked them what they were think-ing. I said we could utilize the lines onthe truck and make it look real cool.We had to take few more parts off thetruck. I brought out the flames and Ihad them lay them out and get cre-ative. I also gave the students someideas and then let them run with it.There was no reason for me to do itfor them. It was about them doing it.


Sharing the Love of Custom Painting with Students at Lincoln

Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.

with Sheila LoftusYour Turn

Opinions Countwith Dick Strom

Shop Showcasewith Janet Chaney

Industry Overviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Interviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

Rich Evans is the owner of Huntington Beach Bodyworks and an award winning painter andfabricator. He offers workshops in repair and customization at his facility to share his uniquetalents. For contacts and design samples visit www.huntingtonbeachbodyworks.com

So, we get started and I am feelingpretty good about the pace we’re at. Allthe students at the Lincoln College ofTechnology were really into the proj-ect and excited about it. I gave them alittle direction and let them get in-volved hands-on so they can walkaway and say, “Hey, I did that.” We’repacing pretty good. Five hours in, wehave it masked and ready for color. Thestudents are working well together.These guys are getting creative, run-ning flames over the shaker scoop anddown the sides, in the back. I broughtsome reverse stencils so we could putmy Rich Evans Design series logo onthe truck. They made their way into thebooth and get it all masked up, tightenup a few places to get the maskingdone right. We’re using SATA sprayguns with 1.3 tip. Using Vintage flatblack paint, we walked around it twoand half times. I let each individual stu-dent get a little bit of spray time in toget a chance to put some color on it.We’re now about 8 hours in and we’recalling it quits for the day. We have a24-hour window with the clear to comeback and clear over the flat black withno sanding necessary.

In the morning, the students de-mask it, go back around it and pre-

clean it, sand out the blowthrough thatcome underneath the tape with 800grit, and tighten up the graphics andget it masked up. With a 1.3 RP gun,the goal is to walk around it with threecoats. But we’re in a time crunch,nearing about 10 hours in, and I hadto jump on a plane in a couple hours.We were able to walk around it threetimes in 25 minutes because theheated booth allows you to move a lit-tle more quickly. Students mixed theclear, and everybody worked together.In 12 hours, we got a flame job, a two-tone complete paint and re-assembled.

The facility and the staff werephenomenal. I had a great visit andinteraction with the students, the up-coming next generation into the in-dustry.

I’d like to thank IABA for havingme come out, and special thanks to theguys from Vintage Paint! For more in-formation about Vintage, go to:www.cumberlandproductsinc.com.


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Follow us on Twitter:@autobodynews

Accept no Substitutes!

SEMA Show Hotels Now Accepting ReservationsSEMA showgoers may now securehotel rooms from the official SEMAHousing Services at www.SE-MAShow.com. Available throughTravel Planners, the reservations comewith guaranteed low rates and perks,such as no resort fees.

“We know that showgoers arebusy, and securing a hotel roomshouldn’t be a time-intensive job,”said Peter MacGillivray, SEMA VPof events and communications. “Byusing the official SEMA HousingServices, attendees and exhibitors canrest assured that they are workingwith a legitimate company and pay-ing the lowest rates.”

SEMA began partnering withTravel Planners in 2011 to provideShowgoers with guaranteed low rateson dozens of hotel rooms in LasVegas during the week of the SEMAShow.

Among the benefits of usingTravel Planners are:• Guaranteed low rate—The housingbureau actively monitors to ensurethat they are offering the lowest pos-sible rates. If guests do find a lowerrate, Travel Planners will match orbeat the lower rate.• No hidden fees—Many hotels inLas Vegas advertise lower rates and

charge a “resort fee” on top of thatrate. SEMA and Travel Planners haveworked with hotels to waive suchfees. The price quoted through TravelPlanners is all-inclusive and will nothave other fees added to it.• Exclusive room blocks—SEMA andTravel Planners lock in prime blocksof rooms at host hotels. As a result,rooms may appear to be sold out tothe rest of the world when in realitythey are being held for SEMA Show-goers who go through the SEMAHousing Services.• Extra level of service—Becausereservations made through TravelPlanners identify guests as SEMAShowgoers, the hotel staff provides ahigher level of service and helps di-rect guests to show-related programssuch as free shuttles. Guests also re-ceive confirmation numbers in ad-vance of the Show and can get hotelhelp from Travel Planners staff at theSEMA Show.

To secure rooms through the offi-cial SEMA Housing Services, reserva-tions should be made from the SEMAShow site www.SEMAShow.com andinclude the official housing seal.Travel Planners can also be reached di-rectly at 800-221-3531 or 212-532-1660.


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The Automotive Service Association(ASA) will hold its next annual busi-ness meeting April 19-20 at the HurstConvention Center in Hurst, TX. Theagenda will include an open meetingof the ASA board of directors onApril 20. Ron Pyle, ASA presidentand chief staff executive, will delivera state-of-the-association addressduring the Saturday luncheon, and anew chairman, along with otherboard members, will be sworn in. Anopen membership forum will also beon the agenda.

All ASA members are invited toattend the open meeting on Saturday,which will be held from 9 a.m. to4:30 p.m. and includes lunch. The of-ficial registration form for the April20 events, and information abouthotel options close to the meeting fa-cility, will be available on the ASAwebsite at www.ASAshop.org.

The Automotive Service Asso-ciation is the largest not-for-profittrade association of its kind dedicatedto and governed by independent au-tomotive service and repair profes-sionals. ASA serves an internationalmembership base that includes stateand chapter groups from mechanicaland collision repair segments.

ASA Announces Details for2013 Annual Meeting

Keenan Auto Body Inc. has launcheda fundraising drive to raise money forthe National Auto Body Council’s(NABC) Operation Comfort initia-tive.

Operation Comfort was foundedin 2004 and provides opportunitiesfor wounded service members to par-ticipate in rehabilitative, adaptivesports and Automotivation, a pro-gram for wounded service membersto work on cars. The organizationalso provides family financial assis-tance and therapeutic trips.

The goal for the fundraiser is toraise $1.5 million to purchase, reno-vate and fully equip the 30,000square foot training facility that willhouse the Automotivation program inSan Antonio, TX.

“We believe in this program andappreciate the opportunity to giveback to those who have given somuch,” said Mike LeVasseur, pres-ident and chief operations officer ofKeenan Auto Body. “We have movedforward by equipping all 11 of ourlobbies with donation pads and freestanding posters that depict exactlywhat the program is all about. We arealso matching dollar for dollar every-thing that we raise.”

Keenan Launches OperationComfort FundraiserIn four separate transactions,

ABRA Auto Body & Glass, a Min-nesota-based vehicle repair com-pany, announced the acquisitionof two corporate repair centersand the opening of two franchiserepair centers in four states. Thelatest deals increase the totalnumber of ABRA repair centersnationally to 95 company-ownedlocations and 46 independently-owned franchises for a total of141 in 16 states.

The four newly acquired repaircenters are located in Omaha, NE;Wilmington, NC; Lebanon, TN; andClearfield, UT.

“There is no doubt we are in ac-celerated growth mode and are ded-icated to following through on ourlong-term expansion and acquisitionplan,” said Duane Rouse, Presidentand Chief Executive Officer ofABRA. “We are focused on the fu-ture and fully expect to increase ourbusiness opportunities while ex-panding our national footprint innew and existing markets.”

“Not only are we are gaining mo-mentum, but it is full steam ahead,”said Tim Adelmann, ABRA’s Exec-utive Vice President of Business De-velopment.

ABRA Opens Four Centers

Claims Vice President Pam Overtonof Allstate Insurance has joined theCollision Repair Education Founda-tion Board of Trustees. The organiza-tion’s Board of Trustees consists ofindustry members who provide guid-ance in the organization’s efforts tosupport secondary and post-sec-ondary collision students nationwide.The Board selects recipients of the or-ganization’s annual student scholar-ships and tool grants, in addition tothe naming the winning Ultimate Col-lision Education Makeover schools.

“I’m excited to be a part of sucha forward-thinking and well-re-spected group of Trustees,” Overtonsaid. “In this role, I’ll have thechance to influence the industry’s fu-ture and I look forward to that op-portunity and working with such adistinguished group.”

Overton began her Allstate ca-reer in Houston, TX, in 1981. She’sheld several claim positions and lead-ership roles. Her most recent posi-tions include: Vice President,Tech-Cor Research; Senior Manager,Allstate Auto Claims; Claim FieldDirector, Southern Region; VicePresident, Claims Property; and VicePresident, Claims Auto.

Allstate’s Overton Joins Education Foundation Board

The average used-vehicle wholesalecost rose above $10,000 in January,the Automotive Dealer ExchangeServices of America reported, butused-vehicle shoppers may soonfind a bit of price relief.

Used vehicle wholesale pricesrose 1.3% compared to last January,in part because so many cars weredestroyed last fall in SuperstormSandy, the Detroit News reported.

But wholesale prices—theprices dealers pay at auction, whichare much less than actual used-carresale values but provide a basis forprice comparison—should soften inthe months ahead, much like theydid during the latter half of 2012,said Tom Kontos, executive vicepresident and chief economist ofADESA in a report.

The average wholesale price ofused cars rose 1.1% to $9,082.Crossover prices jumped 1.7% to$13,568. Truck prices fell 0.2% to$9,961. The average wholesale priceof full-size vans continued to surge;the average price is now $10,116.Mid-size car prices leaped 4.2% to$8,365. January sales of certifiedused vehicles were up 14.9%, ac-cording to Autodata Corp.

Used Vehicle WholesalePrices Up 1.3% in January

ABRA Auto Body & Glass, a Min-nesota-based damaged vehicle repaircompany recently announced theirClinton, IA, repair center has earnedthe prestigious President’s ClubAward for Excellence.

The annual award honors top2012 performing ABRA repair cen-ters across the country for excellencein operations, leadership, customerservice, and overall sales. The Clin-ton ABRA franchise is independ-ently owned by John McEleney ofMcEleney Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Toyota.

Mark Wahlin, ABRA’s VicePresident of Franchise Develop-ment, said, “John McEleney is a fan-tastic business owner whoepitomizes the ideals of leadershipand ABRA values and brand name.We are extremely pleased to presentthis award to him and his entire teamin Clinton.”

For franchise opportunities insmall and midsize markets, contactMark Wahlin, Vice President ofFranchise Development and Opera-tions ([email protected] or763.585.6315).

ABRA plans to continue ex-panding in the years ahead.

ABRA Auto Body & Glass inClinton, Iowa, Wins Award


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The U.S. government spends nearly$1 billion annually maintaining its588,000 vehicles, the GovernmentAccountability Office said in an auditreleased March 7.

In the 2011 fiscal year, the ad-ministration spent $975 million onmaintenance.

The report looked at whetherfederal agencies use original or re-manufactured parts to fix vehiclesand found that agencies have differ-ent policies on whether to use them.

Remanufactured parts are gen-erally cheaper. The U.S. Postal Serv-ice said it “relies heavily on theremanufacturing industry to sustainour vehicle.”

The U.S Postal Service’s fleet ofnearly 210,000 vehicles are on aver-age 16.2 years old, while HomelandSecurity’s 48,917 vehicles are fouryears old on average.

The General Services Adminis-tration’s fleet of 200,000 vehicles are3.5 years old on average and need farless maintenance than other fleets.

Some agencies like the FBI,U.S. Postal Service and Customs andBorder Patrol, use in-house garagesfor some maintenance and repairwork.

Feds Spend $1 Billion on Repair Bill for Vehicle Fleet

PPG will hold its annual spring MVPBusiness Solutions Conference April7–9, at the JW Marriott Camelback inScottsdale, AZ. This MVP Conferencevenue in the desert will provide ad-vanced business thinking and innova-tive solutions to PPG customers.

In keeping with PPG’s tradition ofexemplary and relevant programming,the conference has a notable lineup ofwell-known, motivational keynotespeakers, pertinent seminars and in-teractive workshops all focused onaiding attendees with improving theircollision center performance. Theconference is structured to give par-ticipants exposure to fresh approachesfor advancing their competitive capa-bilities.

“We are committed to helping ourcustomers create a competitive advan-tage in the marketplace,” says JimBerkey, PPG, Director, MVP Busi-ness Solutions. “The industry is everevolving and becoming more complexso it is essential that we develop andoffer our customer partners opportu-nities to gain insight and exposure tothe latest business practices that willdevelop leadership, talent and a cul-

ture that drives continuous, measura-ble and market-driven improvement.”

The comprehensive conferenceschedule is highlighted by prominentkeynote speakers: Sasha Strauss,George Avery and Steve Gilliand.

In his address titled “Branding101/Brand Strategy Essentials,”Strauss, Managing Director at Inno-vation Protocol and Adjunct Professorat USC’s Annenberg School for Com-munication, where he teaches BrandStrategy, will talk about why brandsmatter, who they matter to, how youcan build them into your marketing,advertising and public relation strate-gies.

Avery, State Farm’s spokespersonto the collision repair industry, is anAuto Estimating Consultant, past Na-tional Auto Body Council Presidentand current CIC Chairperson andwell-recognized industry leader. Hewill present an overview and perspec-tive on how the industry landscape ischanging, the possibilities and howState Farm is restructuring to adapt tothe “Industry Headwinds.”

With his characteristic humorousand reality-tested technique (“you’re

not burned out if you’ve never beenlit”), Gilliand delivers his trademarkedand profound presentation titled“Enjoy The Ride™.” This keynotespeaker will challenge you personallyand professionally. From the beginningwhen he shows the audience how to ig-nite their passion to the end with hiscompelling challenge to never loseyour focus, he releases an “explosionof enthusiasm” that is absolutely con-tagious. Fasten your seatbeltas Gilliandoutlines a roadmap for success.

Some of the breakout sessions in-clude:• “Digital Marketing = More Cus-tomers, More Revenue and MoreProfit” where attendees will learnabout the importance of strategy be-fore tactics, 12 powerful digital mar-keting tools and why marketing is aprocess;• “Creating a culture of peak perform-ance and achieving greater results,”focuses mainly on the managementpractices that will create a culture ofpeak performance. This energetic, hu-morous and content-rich presentationis guaranteed to provide you withpractical knowledge on creating a cul-

ture of peak performance and achiev-ing greater results;• “X-Ray Estimating® “An Ace upYour Sleeve,” is a session which of-fers an approach to improving your re-pair cycle time and hours per dayperformance but in a different wayfrom X-Ray Repair Planning®.

The conference is open to ownersand managers of collision centersusing PPG Refinish products. MVPconferences are biannual events andkey components of PPG’s ongoingcommitment to provide advancedbusiness thinking and innovative so-lutions to its MVP customers.

The conference commences onApril 7 with leisure activities that in-clude the Randy Dewing MemorialGolf Tournament or relaxing at the JWMarriott spa or pool followed by awelcome reception.

Prospective attendees are encour-aged to visit www.ppgmvp.com forcomplete conference information andregistration details. Additional infor-mation about PPG MVP Business So-lutions and future conferences mayalso be obtained by calling (866) 237-8178.

PPG Will Hold Annual MVP Conference April 7–9 in Scottsdale

Oxford University is testing out a dri-verless version of the Nissan Leafelectric car using technology con-trolled from an Apple iPad on thedashboard. The car is guided by a low-cost navigation system that gauges itssurroundings through small camerasand lasers discreetly built into the bodyof the car and does not rely on GPS.The iPad flashes up a prompt offeringthe driver the option of taking over aportion of the route. Touching thescreen can switch back to ‘auto drive’where the robot system takes over.

The system is currently beingtested at Begbroke Science Park,near Oxford. The next stage of the re-search will work on enabling the newrobotic system to understand com-plex traffic flows and to make deci-sions on the best routes to take, saidDr. Ingmar Posner, who is co-lead-ing the project.

It’s estimated that the currentprototype navigation systems costsaround $7,625 but, “Long-term, ourgoal is to produce a system costingaround $151,” said Professor PaulNewman, the other co-leader.

Self-Driving Nissan LeafControlled from iPad

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Joe Gibbs Racing Hosts Sherwin-Williams WorshopThe next A-Plus™ Network EcoLean™Level 1 workshop from Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes will beheld April 30 and May 1 at the Joe GibbsRacing (JGR) facility near Charlotte,NC.

Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is one ofthe premier organizations in NASCAR,currently fielding three NASCAR SprintCup Series teams, four NASCAR Na-tionwide Series teams, and a driver de-velopment program. Its driver lineupconsists of Denny Hamlin, KyleBusch, and Matt Kenseth in the SprintCup Series and is owned by Joe Gibbs,a three-time Super Bowl winner as headcoach of the Washington Redskins anda member of the Pro Football Hall ofFame.

JGR has competed in NASCARsince 1992, winning three Cup Serieschampionships, and four NationwideSeries owner’s championships, alongwith more than 175 NASCAR races,including three Brickyard 400s and aDaytona 500.

These Sherwin-Williams exclu-sive EcoLean Level 1 workshops aredesigned to educate attendees aboutmaximizing profitability by improv-ing productivity and eliminatingwaste throughout their facilities. Theprogram is offered to collision center

owners and dealer managers.“The EcoLean curriculum was de-

veloped specifically with collision shopoperators in mind. This upcomingCharlotte workshop, held onsite at aNASCAR championship team’s head-quarters, allows attendees to really seelean production in action,” says TroyNeuerburg, Manager of MarketingBusiness Services at Sherwin-WilliamsAutomotive Finishes. “Through it theywill learn practical processes and usefultips on lean production’s application incollision repair and methods to maketheir collision shops more efficient,productive, and subsequently moreprofitable.”

The EcoLean 1 workshop cur-riculum includes:• Principles of reducing environmen-tal waste• An overview of lean production, andits practical application in collision re-pair• Approaches to making the collisionfacility more efficient and consistent• How to build a lean culture from theground up

To register online for the upcom-ing Charlotte A-Plus UniversityEcoLean Level 1 workshop, go tohttp://www.regonline.com/Regis-ter/Checkin.

CARSTAR Promotes Rick Miller and Melissa Miller(no relation) to Leadership RolesCARSTAR Auto Body Repair Expertshas promoted field service managersRick Miller and Melissa Miller (norelation) to leadership roles within itsfield service and operations depart-ment.

In addition, CARSTAR also re-cently appointed Dean Fisher asvice president of service and opera-tions for the U.S.

Rick Miller, who joinedCARSTAR in 2007 as a regionalservice manager and most recentlyserved as director of field servicesand operations, has led the imple-mentation of the CARSTAR ServiceEDGE model across the country.

With his promotion to assistantvice president of the department, hewill manage the execution of strate-gic business initiatives for theCARSTAR stores, guiding the com-pany’s team of regional service man-agers and leading stores as theyembrace key programs.

Previously, Miller worked withCarter & Carter International in Eu-rope and North America since 1998.He started his collision career in Ger-many as a refinish apprentice thenmoved back to the U.K. to manage

dealer body shops and import recon-ditioning centers.

Melissa Miller has been pro-moted to director of field services andoperations. She joined CARSTAR in2004 as a project manager in Fran-chise Integration, after working as theoffice manager and marketing direc-tor in her family’s collision bodyshop —Randy & Bob’s CARSTAR inChicora, PA,—from 1999 to 2004.

She served as regional servicemanager for Pennsylvania in 2006and was appointed senior regionalservice manager in 2009. She is ac-tive in the Women’s Industry Net-work (WIN) and serves on thecommunications committee.

“Our field service team membersare the connection to our store own-ers, and their leadership, experienceand expertise in working with our net-work are essential to our success as anorganization,” said David Byers,CEO of CARSTAR. “We are proud topromote two members of our fieldservice team who have consistentlydemonstrated the commitment to ourstores, a passion for the industry and atrue understanding of what it takes tosucceed in this business.”

The Society of Collision Repair Spe-cialists (SCRS) has donated 245memberships to secondary and post-secondary collision school programsthrough the Collision Repair Educa-tion Foundation, a $73,500 value.Through the general membership do-nation, each school will receive a win-dow decal, membership certificate,access to SCRS member informationand all association communications.

SCRS Executive Director AaronSchulenburg noted, “Supporting ourindustry’s education system is an in-tegral part of our association’s mis-sion to educate, inform and representthe collision repair professional. It isour hope that the schools and instruc-tors will take advantage of the infor-mation and resources, to help educatetheir students on the activities takingplace within the industry, and that thestudents will foster an appreciation forthe support structure that exists withinthe industry, once they enter the work-force.”

Collision Repair EducationFoundation Director of DevelopmentBrandon Eckenrode noted, “I wouldlike to thank SCRS for their supportof the Collision Repair Education

Foundation and the secondary andpost-secondary collision school pro-grams that our organization works to-wards assisting nationwide. Manycollision instructors are facing limitedbudgets and through working togetherwith industry organizations likeSCRS, we can show the educators ofthe industry’s future professionals thatwe care and are looking to keep themcurrent on industry information. Ilook forward to working together withthe SCRS Board of Directors on help-ing to inform their members of wheretheir local collision school programsare located and how they can get in-volved in supporting the collision stu-dents and instructors.”

Industry members that are inter-ested in supporting secondary andpost-secondary collision school pro-grams through the Collision RepairEducation Foundation should visithttp://collisioneducationfoundation.organd contact Director of DevelopmentBrandon Eckenrode at 847.463.5244or [email protected].

SCRS Donates General Memberships to 245 Collision School Programs through FoundationAn industry issues luncheon called

“There is No Free Lunch” will kickoff the Midwest Auto Body TradeShow, the Iowa Collision Repair As-sociation (ICRA) recently announced.

This luncheon, which will beheld on March 28 from 12 p.m. to 1:30p.m. at Prairie Meadows in Altoona,IA, will address insurance-mandatedparts procurement programs and theproposed Iowa Senate Bill 42, whichis requesting an interim study onDRPs.

Iowa Senator Brad Zaun, whointroduced the bill, and ICRA lobby-ist Scott Weiser will speak at theluncheon. The parts procurement dis-cussion will include insurance repre-sentatives, collision repairers andparts managers.

After the luncheon, the tradeshow will open at 2 p.m. and run till7 p.m. Space has been added to fa-cilitate more than 60 vendor boothsthis year. Product demonstrations andeducational classes will be held onthe stage in the same room as thetrade show.

The educational sessions willcover such topics as:• Social media• OSHA hazard communication/global harmonization rule

• Plastic repairShow specials, gift certificates,

special attendee show discounts anddoor prizes will again be offered atthe show. Also, new car models willbe on the floor for attendees to pre-view.

“The grassroots approach withour members and vendors has provento be a tremendous success for thisindustry event,” said John Arnold,vice president of ICRA and owner ofArnold’s Body Shop, Davenport.

Added Mark Martin of AnkenyAuto Body, “This is a very dynamicshow, and with everyone in the roomfor the entire event, it creates a greatatmosphere for all the participants.We all look forward to coming back.”

“This is a great venue for our in-dustry to get together and learn moreabout what we do,” said Dale Wilgen-busch, ICRA president and co-ownerof Avalon Body Shop in Rickardsville.“There is always so much to gain atone of these events.”

The luncheon costs $25. Con-tact Janet Chaney at (480) 720-2565with any questions.

ICRA Adds ‘No Free Lunch’ to Tradeshow



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NABC To Take Stock of Future at April Meeting The National Auto Body Council(NABC) is expanding the format oftheir April planning and board meet-ing to accommodate an agenda de-signed to help chart the future of theorganization, which strives to pro-mote a positive image of the automo-tive collision repair industry.

The meeting will take place onThursday, April 18 and the morningof Friday, April 19. It is being held atthe I-CAR Training and Support Cen-ter in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. TheNABC is trying to encourage thosewho feel strongly about the work itdoes to participate in the process, sothe meeting place has been selectedfor its convenient location just 30minutes from the O’Hare Airport,with lodging nearby. There is no reg-istration fee. The meeting will start at8:00 a.m. on Thursday and run until5:00 p.m. Matt Ohrnstein of Sym-phony Advisors, LLC will facilitatefor the first half day, as the NationalAuto Body Council assesses its cur-rent goals, determines where it wantsto be in five years, and charts possiblecourses to get there.

Thursday afternoon will consistof committee sessions providing anopportunity for all participants to be-come engaged in discussions. Friday

morning will feature committee re-ports, with a wrap by noon to accom-modate the booking of afternoonflights.

“Just as our regular board meet-ings have open attendance, so, too,does this very special event,” saidNABC National Director Chuck Sul-kala. “It’s a chance for all to voicetheir opinions, concerns and thoughtstogether with members of the Na-tional Auto Body Council. It’s a greatopportunity to see what we’re reallyall about. We look forward to seeingeveryone there.”

Rooms have been reserved at theHampton Inn in Hoffman Estates lo-cated approximately two miles fromthe meeting site. The phone numberfor reservations at the NABC rate of$79 per night is 847-882-4301.Transportation from the hotel and tothe center will be available from7:30–7:45 a.m. Thursday morning.Room reservations should be made asquickly as possible as the room blockis being held only until March 18.

If you would like to attend orhave questions, contact Chuck Sul-kala at 888-667-7433 or [email protected] or MikeMcManus in the NABC office at 414-408-4957,

NABC Ramps Up Its Social Media EffortsThe National Auto Body Council(NABC) recently announced that it isundertaking its official ‘ramp up intothe world of social media’ by invitinginterested parties to create, share andexchange industry-related informationideas on its revamped Facebook andTwitter platforms.

Craig Camacho, National AutoBody Council board member andchair of NABC’s marketing and pub-

lic relations committee, took the leadon the initiative, which includes re-newing and modernizing the look,feel and message of the NABC’sFacebook page and Twitter feed(@AutoBodyCouncil).

NABC’s Facebook page layouthas been updated to be more attractiveand inviting, including a link,www.facebook.com/NationalAuto-BodyCouncil, that makes it easier forpeople to locate and access.

Relevant content, industry news,thought-provoking riddles and, most

importantly, program updates, arenow listed on an almost daily basis.

Dates for Recycled Rides® andFirst Responder Emergency Extrica-tion (FREE) events will be listedalong with information on other cam-paign initiatives such as OperationComfort, Distracted Driving, In-Lan-guage, the Body Shop Image Awardand the Award of Distinction.

In today’s digital and onlineworld, it’s hard to imagine an or-ganization achieving successwithout embracing the benefits ofsocial media, including Face-book, Twitter, Pinterest and themany other available platforms atthe fingertips of marketers

around the world.“There is no better return on in-

vestment then when you grow youraudience organically through socialmedia and I am excited that the Na-tional Auto Body Council is now po-sitioned to make an impact in thisarea,” stated Camacho, who is also themarketing director and social mediamanager at 11-shop MSO KeenanAuto Body. “If you use Facebook,come check us out and ‘like’ the newNational Auto Body Council pagewhich will also feed into our Twitteraccount.”

The National Auto Body Councilhas appointed Renee Ricciotti, 3Mnational key account sales manager,to its 2013 national board.

Ricciotti has been a member ofthe collision industry for nearly twodecades, helping build the 3M Auto-motive Aftermarket Division acrossthe United States. As national key ac-count sales manager since 2008, Ric-ciotti has put her leadership skills andindustry expertise to work to suc-cessfully build multi-functionalteams to effectively serve 3M’s auto-motive customers.

“It’s an honor to be selected toserve on the NABC board to giveback to the collision industry,” saidRicciotti. “I look forward to address-ing industry issues on behalf of themanufacturers, distributors and storeowners I’ve worked with for 20years. I look forward to being in-volved in great NABC programs likeRecycled Rides and Automotiva-tion.”

Ricciotti joined 3M AutomotiveAftermarket Division in 1994 andhas received numerous awards forher performance, including the 3MGolden Step Award, Brick LayerAward and top sales performer.

NABC Appoints 3M SalesManager Ricciotti to Board

The Collision Industry Snapshot sur-vey remains open for new responses.

Collision shop owners and man-agers are asked to consider complet-ing the Collision Repair IndustrySnapshot Survey, which is co-spon-sored by the Collision Repair Educa-tion Foundation and I-CAR.

Through the survey results, theindustry will be able to view statis-tics on the current state of the indus-try and also to highlight careeropportunities to collision students.Only through the participation of col-lision shop owners/managers can thissurvey accurately reflect currenttrends and information on the indus-try.

An electronic tablet (retail value$400) will be awarded to one ran-domly selected respondent that suc-cessfully completes the survey. Allresponses will be kept confidentialand results will be reported in aggre-gate; respondents will not be con-tacted; and the list will not be sold orshared.

Collision shop owners or man-agers (one per location please) are in-vited to take the survey at this link:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Collision_Industry_Snapshot_Survey.

Shop Owners, ManagersAsked to Complete Survey


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Certified Automotive Parts Associa-tion, (CAPA) provides aftermarketparts that have been certified by CAPAto be comparable to the car companybrand part. The claim is based on thenotion that if an aftermarket part usesthe same materials, construction fea-tures, dimensions and geometry as thecar company brand part, then it can beexpected to perform in a comparablemanner to the car company brand part.

Approved by CAPA’s TechnicalCommittee in 2010, the CAPA 501Bumper Parts Standard, like all otherCAPA Standards, is based on compar-ative testing of an aftermarket part tothe car company brand counterpart.

In addition to requirements formaterial composition, mechanicalproperties (strength), construction fea-tures, fit and appearance, the CAPA501 Standard also includes a series offull part dynamic crash tests. Test partsare mounted to a vehicle simulator andare crashed into a fixed, flat, rigid bar-rier at 5 mph. After the crash, highspeed video and detailed graphs of theimpact force and deceleration are usedto compare the performance of the af-termarket part to the car companybrand part. In addition, the amount ofphysical deformation is carefully ex-amined and compared.

“While this testing is extensive

(and the complete procedure is publi-cally available), CAPA’s Board andTechnical Committee wanted to insurethat all performance characteristicswere compared in detail to the carcompany brand parts,” said JackGillis, Executive Director of the Cer-tified Automotive Parts Association.

“Because of industry concernsabout the safety-related aspects ofstructural parts, CAPA raised its ownbar—we requested that the highly re-spected Insurance for Highway Safetyconduct a series of high and low speedcrashes. The sole purpose was todemonstrate the parts meeting theCAPA requirements will, in fact, per-form in a comparable manner to thecar company brand part in both highand low speed crashes. While this mayappear to be an overly comprehensiverequirement—crash testing is complexand costly—CAPA is committed to re-assuring both consumers and the col-lision repair industry about theperformance of the parts it certifies,”added Gillis.

While CAPA 501 Bumper PartsStandard provides the industry withconfidence in the use of a CAPA Cer-tified bumper part, only one manufac-turer has chosen to submit their partsto CAPA for Certification. ProductionBumper Stampings Inc., (PBSI) a U.S.

based manufacturer and member ofthe Diamond Standard Brand Group,has 29 CAPA Certified front bumpersrepresenting over 40,000 parts avail-able in the U.S. market. “Going for-ward we anticipate the market willdemand that even more of our bumperproducts become CAPA Certified,”said Mike O’Neal, President of PBSIand Diamond Standard. “As the onlymanufacturer certified by CAPA tomeet the CAPA 501 Standards, we areprepared to meet that demand.”

“Unfortunately, the market is giv-ing aftermarket manufacturers whoproduce structural bumper parts amixed message,” stated shop ownerand CAPA Technical CommitteeChairman Mike Schoonover. “In spiteof bumper sawing demonstrations andvideos of ‘exploding’ energy ab-sorbers, shops are still using non-CAPA Certified bumpers and otherstructural parts—regardless of therisks. As long as our various industriesaccept the cheapest parts, there’s re-ally no reason for those manufacturersto produce high quality CAPA parts,despite the stated concerns about po-tential safety issues. The good news,for those shops concerned about re-ducing repair costs and protectingtheir customers from poor qualityparts, there is a CAPA alternative.”

CAPA Testing on Safety of Aftermarket Bumper Parts

I-CAR® says a study has confirmedthat training has a direct impact onperformance, including improvedtouch time, cycle time, and CSIscores and that I-CAR training con-tinues to lead as the industry standardfor performance and knowledge.

To deliver on this industry need,I-CAR has added four additional on-line courses to its course catalog: Sta-tionary Glass (GLA02e), MechanicalSystems Analysis (DAM03e), Dam-age Analysis of Advanced Automo-tive Systems (DAM07e), and WindNoise and Water Leaks (WNW01e).

John Van Alstyne, I-CAR CEO& President stated, “To fully servethe growing training needs of theInter-Industry, I-CAR has developedonline and virtual instructor-ledclasses which are convenient, effec-tive, and essential,” he continued,“That said, as our customer focusgroups have told us, quality instruc-tor-led, Live training with effectiveinstructors remains the preferred wayto learn for many, and the only wayto learn when working with more ad-vanced or complicated subject mat-ter. Therefore, Live training remainsan I-CAR priority for the ultimatelearning experience.”

I-CAR Adds 4 New OnlineCourses, Expands Training

Four Collision Industry Members Join EducationFoundation’s Leadership CircleFour collision industry members havejoined the Collision Repair EducationFoundation’s Industry LeadershipCircle through their $1,000 personalcontributions to the organization.

Domenic Brusco of PPG Auto-motive Refinish; Bill Lawrence ofLC Automotive Group; Tim Morganof Spanesi Americas; and Tim O’Dayof Gerber Collision & Glass have do-nated $1,000 personally to the organ-ization. Monetary donations to theCollision Repair Education Founda-tion assist in the organization’s effortsto support secondary and post-sec-ondary collision repair students andtheir school’s collision programs.

Domenic Brusco, PPG Automo-tive Refinish, Senior Manager of In-dustry Relations, said, “I bothprofessionally and personally believein the purpose, vision and especiallythe staff and Board of Trustees of theFoundation, and it gives me greatpleasure to give back to an industryand business that PPG supports andin which I have been blessed withmany great opportunities.”

Bill Lawrence, owner of LC Au-tomotive Group noted, “The Founda-tion’s effort to enhance technical

education and to link qualified gradu-ates to employment in our industry isa critical component of developing askilled work force for today and thefuture. My businesses and I are com-mitted to the Foundation’s work andwe are happy to contribute to its ef-forts and successes.”

Tim Morgan, Managing Directorof Spanesi Americas, said, “As aproduct of technical education my-self, back in my day it wasn’t such a‘hi-tech’ field to learn as it is today.Schools and educators are faced witha big challenge to make sure they pre-pare students to enter this industryemployable. My donation is a smallpart of what is really needed to makeour students learn, grow, and succeed!I hope others can step up and help forthe future starts today.”

Tim O’Day, President & COO ofGerber Collision & Glass said, “Ger-ber Collision & Glass supports the Col-lision Repair Education Foundation,but a critical part of the Foundation’sdonor base comes from individuals. Iam proud to show my personal supportfor the Education Foundation as ithelps to attract talent into our industryand educate our future employees.”

by Mitchell staff

Mitchell, a provider of technology,connectivity and information solu-tions to the Property & Casualtyclaims and Collision Repair indus-tries, recently released predictions fortrends related to cloud computing andbig data analytics that could affect theinsurance industry throughout 2013.

Focusing on trends expected toimpact an ecosystem that includes re-pair and body shops, insurance com-panies, claims adjusters and payers,Mitchell is forecasting experiencesworkers’ compensation, auto casualtyand auto physical damage profession-als could undergo this year.

“In today’s fast paced, compet-itive business landscape, there is in-creased pressure on the insuranceindustry to think creatively aboutthe services they offer and howthose services are delivered tomaintain a competitive edge,” saidErez Nir, CTO at Mitchell. “Cloudcomputing strategies have beenpopular in the IT-focused environ-ment. We have embraced cloudcomputing at Mitchell, in the way

we deliver software-as-a-service toour customers as well as in how weconsume our own business systems.Beyond the core competencies ourindustry has, in part due to the com-plexity and change 2013 will bring,we expect the industry to continueto deploy various cloud and big datastrategies to help overcome busi-ness and technology challenges.”

The broad industry and specificpredictions from the company’s coreAuto Physical Damage, Auto Causal-ity and Workers’ Compensation divi-sions include:

Large-scale trends:More attention will be given to lever-aging complex data sets: The abilityto incorporate data from multiplesources, such as different areas of abusiness or business lines, and com-bine them with external data sourcesto enable more intelligent decision-making will become central to busi-ness operations. In addition toaddressing the complexities of bigdata (e.g. volume, velocity and datamanagement), companies will explorehow to incorporate ancillary sources

and more sophisticated combinationsof data sets to get an edge on the com-petition.

The demand for cloud computingwill increase: In 2012, adoption ofcloud platforms and services contin-ued to increase along with interest in asingle environment and partner forcloud computing technologies. In2013, insurance carriers will begin toconsolidate cloud computing vendorsand realize the benefits of workingwith a single provider, such as stream-lined and accelerated deployment ofnew offerings, reduced operationalcosts, and improved data exchangeand information sharing.

Micro trends:Recycled parts prices will decrease:We will see a softening of salvage ve-hicle values globally in 2013. As theEuropean debt crisis continues to out-pace our own, the Euro will furthersoften against the US dollar. This willmake it more expensive for Europeansto purchase US-based salvage vehi-cles, reducing demand. An additionalfactor impacting salvage values is theincrease in the annual rate of new carsales, expected to hit 15 million for2012. Combining these factors withthe 250,000 total loss vehicles ex-pected out of Hurricane Sandy willdepress salvage car values in 2013.For consumers, this means that therewill be an increase in the availabilityof recycled parts for vehicle repairs ata lower cost.

The average industry cost to re-pair auto collision damage will in-crease. This will occur, in part, to thesoftening of salvage values, puttingmore borderline vehicles in the ‘re-pairable’ column rather than ‘total

loss’ and an overall inflation of labor,parts and paint in 2013. This will alsooccur from an increase in the cost ofraw materials (such as paint mica andchemicals) as well as plastics and steelprices. In addition, we expect to see anincrease in average hourly body shoplabor charges if the economy contin-ues to recover in 2013.

There will be a rise in healthcareePayment solutions: More carrierswill use ePayment systems to gain acompetitive advantage. They willwork with the provider community tobe better aligned with changes inhealthcare regulation that promoteeBill, eRemittance and ePaymentthrough electronic funds transfer(EFT). ePayment systems provide thecapacity to substantially lower trans-action expenses, decrease the burdenon adjusters and call centers, and en-able similar benefits to accrue to med-ical provider trading partners.

There will be increased attentionon keeping out-of-network costsdown: Despite increased efforts to di-rect injured workers to networkproviders, many state regulations oremployer programs offer the flexibil-ity to use providers of their choice,which puts workers’ comp insurancepayers in the challenging out-of-net-work territory. Therefore, such payerswill leverage third-party negotiationservices to settle out-of-networkclaims. Tapping into an outside teamof skilled negotiators will help work-ers’ comp insurance payers andproviders reach mutually beneficialagreements. The negotiation processwill be accelerated, and insurancepayers will achieve an average of 30–40 percent success rates in negotiatingout-of-network charges.

Mitchell Releases 2013 Insurance Predictions


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The Boyd Group Inc. recently an-nounced the opening of a new repaircenter in Washington and one inFlorida. The Boyd Group now oper-ates 181 locations in the U.S.

The center in St. Cloud, FL, isapproximately 26,000 square feet insize. It was part of the 11 centers ac-quired with The Recovery Room ac-quisition in November 2012, but wasclosed for approximately a year priorto the acquisition. It has now re-opened and operates under the Ger-ber Collision & Glass trade name.

“We welcome the reopening ofthe St. Cloud location, which will

serve Orlando and Kissimmee subur-ban area customers. This center is sit-uated in an attractive location withgood visibility for those traveling onthe E. Irlo Bronson Memorial High-way,” said Tim O’Day, President andCOO of the Boyd Group’s U.S. oper-ations.

The center located in Stanwood,WA, is approximately 4,500 squarefeet in size and previously operated asTwin City Collision. With this addi-tion, the Boyd Group owns and oper-ates 14 repair centers in Washington.

Gerber Opens New Centers in Florida and Washington



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NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon to Drive No. 24Chevrolet with New Imron Elite Paint SchemeFour-time NASCAR Cup Serieschampion Jeff Gordon will drive theNo. 24 Chevrolet SS featuring a newImron® Elite “Real Truck Paint”theme design in the spring race at Tal-ladega Superspeedway on May 5,2013. A preview of the new Imron®

Elite design will be revealed in theirbooth #90225 at the Mid AmericaTrucking Show being held on March21-23 in Louisville, KY.

Gordon’s historic NASCAR CupSeries career started 20 years ago atAtlanta Motor Speedway as the youngdriver burst onto scene in the rainbow-colored Hendrick Motorsports No. 24DuPont Chevrolet. The following sea-son, Gordon started to take the motor-sports world by storm. Now, 20 yearslater with four championships and 87career victories under his belt, Gordonwill race the commemorative No. 24Imron® Elite Chevrolet only one timeat the Talladega Superspeedway. Gor-don, Hendrick Motorsports andDuPont Performance Coatings are cel-ebrating their 21st full season to-gether—the longest current runningdriver/owner/sponsor partnership inNASCAR.

Gordon was successful winningthe final race of the 2012 season in the

silver 20th Anniversary paint schemeon the No. 24 Chevrolet and is hopingfor a repeat in the Imron® EliteChevrolet at Talladega.

DuPont Performance Coatingsproducts have been a constant duringthe storied career of Gordon and Hen-drick Motorsports. The new Imron®

Elite paint scheme uses the popularflame design with DuPont™ flatblack and specially formulated neonyellow, orange and red high glosspaint finishes. The unique design wascreated by NASCAR’s first officiallylicensed artist Sam Bass.

DuPont Commercial Finishes,featuring an array of Imron® prod-ucts, has earned more commercialand OEM approvals than any otherpaint manufacturer. When it comes tolasting appearance, Imron® Elitedemonstrates superior impact resist-ance and retains its gloss and mirror-like finish keeping heavy duty truckand fleet assets in service longer, andrequire less finish maintenance overtime. Imron® Elite finishes are usedon the OEM production line as wellas in aftermarket repair and mainte-nance, allowing “repair-in-kind” ca-pability to achieve an original factoryfinish that lasts.

Post Office Unveils 1967 Shelby Forever StampThe United States Postal Service isfeaturing the 1967 Shelby GT500 aspart of its new muscle car Forever®

Stamp series.

Created by award-winning artistTom Fritz under the art direction ofCarl T. Herrman, the GuardsmenBlue with Wimbledon White stripesShelby is one of five stamps in theU.S. Postal Service’s Forever® stampscollection.

“The ‘67 Shelby GT500 is one ofthe most celebrated muscle cars in theworld,” said Tracey Smith, CarrollShelby Licensing president. “CarrollShelby’s father was a postal workerand allowed him to ride around on hismail runs, so we’re excited to see oneof his automobiles being featured insuch a prestigious collection from theU.S. Post Office. It’s a beautiful tributeto the legacy of Carroll Shelby and hiscontributions to automotive history.”

The ‘67 GT500 featured on thestamp honors the original musclecar manufactured by Shelby Ameri-can. Powered by a 428-cubic-inch,355-horsepower Police Interceptorengine, the monstrous Shelby fea-tured a rear spoiler, grille-mountedheadlights and rocker panel stripes.With only 2,048 built in 1967, theShelby GT500 is both exceptionaland rare.

The 1967 Shelby GT500 is oneof five vehicles featured in the MuscleCar Forever® stamps series, whichwere unveiled at the Daytona 500 byracing legends Richard and KylePetty, and U.S. Postmaster GeneralPatrick R. Donahoe on Feb. 22. TheMuscle Car Forever® stamps are thethird issuance in the “America on theMove” stamp series from the U.S.Postal Service.

“The ‘67 Shelby is as legendaryas the man who built it, so I wanted tokeep with the traditional paint schemeand iconic look of one of the mostpopular muscle cars of all time,” saidFritz. “It was a tremendous honor tobe the artist chosen to create the Mus-cle Car Stamps. Now my work will beamong the special Forever® stampsthat people will collect and pass downfrom generation to generation.”

Industry Gives $5 Million in Support of Collision Repair Programs through Education FoundationThe generosity of the collision indus-try in supporting its’ future profes-sionals was displayed in 2012 as over$4.9 million was donated to collisionschool programs and students throughthe Collision Repair Education Foun-dation. This level of support wasmade possible through 175 totaldonors in 2012. In addition to therecord amount of support, the colli-sion industry surpassed the $10 mil-lion mark in total giving through theCollision Repair Education Founda-tion since 2008, when the organiza-tion began its philanthropic focus.

Through both monetary and in-kind product donations, the 2012 Col-lision Repair Education Foundationdonors helped to provide studentscholarships, student tool grants,school equipment and supply grants,several Ultimate Collision EducationMakeover school grants, and muchmore.

“It is a true testament of the in-dustry’s generosity and support thatthe Collision Repair Education Foun-dation provided over $4.9 million in2012 and the fact that over $10 mil-lion has been provided since 2008,”said Clark Plucinski, Collision Re-pair Education Foundation Executive

Director. “As 175 total donors pro-vided this level of support in 2012,imagine the potential of what could beprovided with even more involved.Collision school instructors need oursupport now more than ever to helpprepare their students with a technicaleducation that would best preparethem for entering the collision indus-try upon graduation. The collision in-dustry should be celebrating thesesupport numbers as I am not aware ofany other technical industry thatshows this type of support for theirschool programs. It is only throughour industry donors that are we ableto announce this level of support andwe look forward to having an evenbetter 2013!”

For additional information aboutthe Collision Repair Education Foun-dation, visit CollisionEducationFoun-dation.org.

Inter-industry organizations andindividuals who are interested in sup-porting the Collision Repair EducationFoundation in 2013 and providing as-sistance to collision schools and stu-dents should contact Director ofDevelopment Brandon Eckenrode [email protected].

Industry Gives 1,000 Uniforms to Collision StudentsThrough the sponsorship of Bar’sProducts, CARSTAR, Cintas, FordMotor Company, I-CAR, PPG Auto-motive Refinish, and Sterling AutoBody, 1,000 Cintas collision studenttechnician uniforms will be distrib-uted to secondary and post-secondarycollision students through the Colli-sion Repair Education Foundation thisspring.

The student technician shirt proj-ect also helped raise $10,000 for theFoundation’s Collision Repair Educa-tion Campaign fund that helps pro-vide student scholarships, schoolgrants, and the Foundation’s UltimateCollision Education Makeover grant.

These technician uniforms willbe distributed to students who appliedfor the Education Foundation’s springscholarship/tool grant opportunitiesand also to all auto body and refinish-ing students competing at the nationalSkillsUSA event in Kansas City thisJune.

Collision Repair EducationFoundation Director of Development,Brandon Eckenrode commented,“What started off as a fun project backin 2009 has grown into a life-chang-ing program that provides collisionstudents with a sense of pride, profes-sionalism, and belonging. To date, theEducation Foundation has provided

nearly 10,000 Cintas technician uni-forms to collision students nationwidethrough the support of industry spon-sors. Instructors share stories with usthat these uniforms provide their col-lision students with a new level of re-spect around school and other schooldepartments are jealous of the supportthat the collision program receives.On behalf of the Foundation staff andthe students that we are able to pro-

vide these uniforms to, thank you tothe sponsors of our spring 2013 tech-nician shirts and we look forward todistributing even more in the comingyears.”

The Collision Repair EducationFoundation will be providing anotherrun of 1,000 technician uniforms thisfall which will be provided to studentsattending NACE, SEMA, and 2013 Ul-timate Collision Education Makeoverapplicant schools.


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SEMA Exhibit Summit Takes Place April 15–17 inLas Vegas, 7 Months Prior to Nov. 5–8 ShowSEMA Show exhibitors may partici-pate in the SEMA Show ExhibitorSummit, a unique conference de-signed to help them improve perform-ance at the upcoming event.

Taking place in Las Vegas, NV,on April 15–17—seven months priorto the actual SEMA Show—the Ex-hibitor Summit is the ideal place fornew and established exhibitors tolearn how to maximize the return ontheir investment.

SEMA 2013 takes place Novem-ber 5–8, in Las Vegas, NV. For details,visit www.SEMAShow.com.

“The summit is the best place forour team to connect with exhibitors andexplain the many programs and serv-ices available to them,” said PeterMacGillivray, SEMA VP of eventsand communications. “During the sum-mit, there are no distractions or inter-ruptions. We’re able to spend qualitytime and give exhibitors a really clearunderstanding of the different resourcesthat are available to them.”

MacGillivray notes that a key as-pect of the Exhibitor Summit is thatworkshops and individual meetingsare conducted by SEMA staff andshow organizers. “It’s important to us

that exhibitors know who to contact,and that their contact is someone whoknows and understands our show,” hecontinued. “Since the Exhibitor Sum-mit takes place seven months beforethe actual event, we’re able to buildon the relationships as they executetheir plans for the show.”

Topics addressed during thesummit include cost-effective ways toset up a booth, resources available totarget buyers, value-added programsand more. Participants may sit downin one-on-one sessions where Showexperts evaluate and analyze the ex-hibitor’s unique needs to help reduceexpenses, and they are able to tour theconvention center.

To make it easy and affordable formanufacturers to attend in the summit,SEMA and its hotel partners offer a lim-ited number of hotel rooms for the sum-mit at no cost to participants. All mealsat the Summit are included as well. Par-ticipants are responsible for travel to andfrom Las Vegas and incidental hotelcharges. Certain conditions do apply.See www.semashow.com/exhibitor-summit, or can be obtained from KatePeterson at [email protected] 702/216-5831.

WIN May 5–7 Conference to Focus on RecruitingThe upcoming Women’s IndustryNetwork (WIN) Educational Confer-ence will focus on recruiting talent tothe industry.

“We know attracting talentedpeople to the collision repair industryis a hot topic,” said Tina Clark, co-chair of the WIN Conference. “Un-derstanding the myriad sub-issuesrelated to recruiting, such as how toattract the best talent, and legal con-siderations during the interviewingand hiring process, enables our mem-bers to be smarter employers, man-agers and employees.”

This year’s WIN EducationalConference is scheduled for May 5-7in Phoenix, AZ.

WIN recently announced thekeynote speakers who will present atthe 2013 WIN Conference.

The general session of the edu-cational conference will feature au-thor and motivational speaker SusanFowler, who will present the confer-ence theme, “Empower the LeaderWithin.” Fowler has more than 15years of advertising, sales, productionand marketing experience, and en-courages finding the balance and con-nection among professional, personaland spiritual lives.

Day two of the conference will

feature Barb Moses, who will present“Empower the Leader Within by theObserver Becoming the Observed.”

“We are proud to unveil the 2013WIN Educational Conference themeand agenda,” said Jessica Voss-Kehl,co-chair of the conference planningcommittee. “Conference attendees canexpect to be inspired and educated onempowering the leader within them-selves, as well as how to help supportand develop the leaders in others. Theycan also anticipate engaging dialogueon careers, hiring and retention in ourindustry, along with hearing what thefuture holds with our emerging trendsand technologies panel discussion.”

To help welcome new women tothe industry, WIN is offering severalscholarships to attend the conference.

WIN is offering six Student Con-ference Scholarships to students en-rolled in a secondary or post-secondarycollision repair technology program.Each scholarship recipient will receivea one-year WIN membership, paidWIN Conference fee, and free hoteland travel to the conference.

WIN is also offering scholarships toemployees of collision repair busi-nesses, including technicians, officeemployees and administrators.

Vermont State Rep. Bill Botzow (D-1) introduced House Bill 362, a billthat regulates the use of aftermarketparts in automobile repairs covered byinsurance. The bill has been referredto Vermont’s House Committee onCommerce and Economic Develop-ment.

The language of the bill includesthe following provisions:• No insurer shall require the use ofaftermarket parts in the repair of anautomobile unless the aftermarket partis at least equal in like kind and qual-ity to the original part in terms of fit,quality and performance. An insurerthat requires the use of aftermarketparts shall consider and be liable forthe cost of any modifications that maybecome necessary when making a re-pair.• All aftermarket parts manufacturedafter Jan. 1, 2014, shall carry suffi-cient permanent identification so as toidentify their manufacturer. Suchidentification shall be accessible tothe extent possible after installation.• Aftermarket parts may not be re-quired by an insurer in the repair ofautomobiles placed in service duringthe two years immediately precedingthe claim report and which have30,000 or fewer miles recorded on the

odometer.• An insurer shall identify clearly onthe repair estimate all aftermarketparts installed on a vehicle, if any. Ifaftermarket parts are installed, the in-surer shall disclose to the claimant inwriting, either on the estimate or on aseparate document attached to the es-timate, the following information inbold-faced, capitalized font no smallerthan 12-point type: “This estimate hasbeen prepared based on the use ofnon-original manufacturer parts. Partsused in the repair of your vehicle byother than the original manufacturer,also known as aftermarket parts, arerequired to be at least equal in likekind and quality in terms of fit, qual-ity and performance to the originalmanufacturer parts they are replac-ing.”

Vermont Introduces Aftermarket Bill



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In 1873, a teenager with an adven-turesome spirit rode into a remotewestern town populated by about1,000 hardy souls, liked what he saw,and decided to put down his roots inthe desert. His name was Frank Lukeand the town was Phoenix. In theyears that followed, Frank married,raised nine children, prospered inbusiness and spent the last 20 years ofhis life in public service. At the timeof his death, in 1939, he was State TaxCommissioner.

Frank Luke Jr. was the fifthchild of Ottilia and Frank Luke. Heonly lived for 21 years but his nameand deeds will live forever in Ameri-can military history. Second only to

Captain Eddie Rickenbacker as theleading ace of World War I, Luke wascredited with 18 kills in nine monthsof combat. Rickenbacker was quotedas saying “Had he (Luke) lived, hewould have put me out of business asthe Army’s leading ace.” LieutenantFrank Luke, Jr. was posthumouslyawarded the Congressional Medal ofHonor, had a statue erected in hismemory in the mall of the State Capi-tol and was further honored whenLuke Air Force Base was named afterhim.

William ‘Bill’ Luke was theyoungest of Ottilia and Frank Luke,Sr.’s nine children. He was always fas-cinated by machines and in 1927, atthe age of 18, jumped at the opportu-nity to get in on the ground floor of ayoung, growing industry. He was tobecome the founder of Bill LukeChrysler-Plymouth and continued ashead of the automobile dealershipuntil his passing in 1988. During hisyears as an automobile dealer, BillLuke found time to pursue interests infarming, cattle ranching, and was abreeder of thoroughbred horses. Atone time he owned a stable of 70 race

horses and won the Arizona BreedersAward many times.

Dorothy and Bill Luke had fivechildren. The youngest was named

Donald ‘Don’ Luke, and, like his fa-ther, displayed an early interest in ma-chines. He began working in thefamily business at the age of 13, pro-gressed up the ladder to General Man-ager and then to President and CEO ofthe Bill Luke Dealerships. Don hasthree sons, Ryan, Chris, and Eric—

bringing the total number of direct de-scendants of the Arizona pioneers, Ot-tilia and Frank Luke, Sr., to well over100.

In May of 2012, The Bill LukeAutomotive Group added Bill LukeFiat to it’s line-up. Bill Luke Fiat islocated in the Tempe Autoplex inTempe, AZ. Eric Luke is the Fiat Di-rector and has remained in the top 3 ofthe Phoenix Zone for car sales sincetaking over the franchise.

Bill Luke Fiat Comes from a Long Line of True Pioneers


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New Indiana Shop to Follow Lean ProductionA new collision repair shop using leanproduction methods is slated to openin Terre Haute, IN, by November.

Ted D. McClintic and Benedict“Dick” Cobb Jr., with a combined 50years of experience in auto collision re-pair in the Indianapolis market, joinedforces to create MC2 Collision. The newbusiness will construct a new 14,000-square-foot facility near the intersectionof First Street and Springhill Avenue.

The new business will employ 15workers, McClintic said, and expectsto repair 50 to 60 vehicles a month.

Cobb said the new business willuse lean manufacturing methods tomore quickly repair cars. “Short of atotally aluminum vehicle, we will beequipped to fix anything,” Cobb said.

The two-acre property was soldin April by Dorsett LLC for $300,000to Cobb and McClintic. Constructionof the new business has started.

“We thought that this corridoralong U.S. 41 is a crossroads of west-ern Indiana. We think it has a lot tooffer, with a reach of six to nine coun-ties,” McClintic said.

Cobb sold his shares in CollisionSolutions, which has five Indianapolislocations.

“The average repair here is twiceas long as in Indianapolis and it is not

because they don’t do good work,”Cobb said. “They [other collision re-pair shops] are busy and also are stilldoing things the old way.

“Lean manufacturing, thosesame principles, can apply to our in-

dustry. It takes a lot of training, butwhen you successfully convert yourbusiness to that, you cut repair time inhalf,” Cobb said.

Cobb and McClintic said theywill be a referral for Dorsett LLC,which sells Mitsubishi, Kia and Nis-san. Cobb said he also plans to ap-proach Mace Ford about workingwith that dealership.

“The trend is for dealerships to getout of the collision repair business, whichis not their core business,” Cobb said.

MC2 Collision Grand Opening

In Lincoln, AL, Honda officials re-cently visited Lincoln High Schoolwith two specially-designed vehicles.

The Odyssey minivan and PilotSUV, models produced at the Japan-ese automaker’s Talladega Countyfactory, are wrapped with photos ofemployees doing things they love todo, from body building to knitting.

The vehicles are part of theplant’s diversity and inclusion initia-tive—What Makes You MakesHonda Better—that highlights thedifferent backgrounds and interestsof its local workforce. The companyis promoting the program in areaschools and at special events.

Honda Visits Alabama HighSchool with Message Cars



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