western edition october 2014

by Stacey Phillips, Assistant Editor

A federal court case involving over-time payment for employees underthe rules of the Fair Labor StandardsAct (FLSA) was filed in State CourtFebruary, 2014, and removed to theFederal Florida Southern DistrictCourt in July. The court’s ruling inSmoluk v. Action Auto Body, LLC, hasthe potential to clarify confusing andcontradictory positions from the De-partment of Labor and rulings by

courts with regard to exempt status foremployees in automotive repair.

The plaintiffs, Jospeh Smolukand Michelle Smoluk, are suing theirformer employer, Franck Tatto andAction Auto Body, LLC., for damagesexceeding $15,000, excluding attor-neys’ fees or costs for breach ofagreement and unpaid wages underthe FLSA.

Franck Tatto and Action AutoBody, LLC., located in Broward


After nearly a year building their newstate-of-the-art facility in SouthernUtah, Red Rock Collision Repair &Auto Painting is expected to open onNovember 1, 2014.

“We’re planning to be a one-stopshop for everything,” said Josh Bor-rowman, the general manager of thecompany. The 16,000 square foot colli-sion repair and painting facility will belocated at 765 N. Red Rock Road in St.George, UT. In addition, they are open-ing a 6,000 square foot mechanical shopon site as well as Red Rock Towing.

Since founding Red Rock Colli-sion Repair & Auto Painting in Janu-ary, the company has operated out ofa temporary location in St. George at1275 E. Red Hills Pkwy.

Mike Keetch, the owner of thecompany, managed MAACO Colli-sion Repair & Auto Painting in St.George for the last 10 years prior tostarting Red Rock. Keetch has alsoowned an auto dealership, ApprovedAuto Sales, in the area for the last fouryears. With 25 years of experience inthe auto body and paint industry,Keetch opened his new company withtwo distinct departments to differenti-ate between the types of services pro-vided.

The collision repair center offersfactory-to-match collision repair usingindustry best practice repair methods,OEM parts and experienced techni-cians, who will all be I-CAR certified.

Borrowman, who worked withKeetch for the last 10 years, said they

by Ed Attanasio

In most parts of the country, snow, tor-nadoes, floods and other severeweather can lead to an unexpectedwindfall for body shops. But most ofCalifornia isn’t usually affected bydramatic seasonal weather. However,when an earthquake hits, like the onethat shook Napa, CA, on August 24 at3:20 a.m. and measuring at a 6.0 onthe Richter scale, everyone, includingbody shops, are impacted. Thequake’s epicenter was located ap-proximately 3.7 miles northwest ofAmerican Canyon near the West NapaFault beneath the Napa Valley Marina,just west of the Napa County Airport.

The earthquake was the largest tohit the San Francisco Bay Area since

Federal Court in FL to Rule on Overtime Pay UnderFLSA for Auto Repair Employees

Napa Body Shops Get Jolted After 6.0 Quake

See Newest Shop in UT, Page 8

See Overtime Pay, 0

The Newest Shop in Utah Opens November 1

See Jolt in Business, Page 14

Cooks Collision Centers, based inRosedale, CA, has acquired six colli-sion repair locations from HolmesBody Shop. Holmes will continue toown and operate the original HolmesBody Shop location in Pasadena, CA.The transaction is Cooks Collision’sfirst MSO acquisition in the SouthernCalifornia market. Terms of the agree-ment were not disclosed.

The Holmes Body Shop loca-tions solidifies Cooks’ position as thelargest independently owned and op-erated collision repair organization inCalifornia, with 25 locations through-out the state. The Holmes collision re-pair centers are located in Alhambra,Canoga Park, Duarte, El Segundo,Riverside and Westlake Village, CA.

“We are very excited about CooksCollision assuming ownership of oursix locations,” said Tom Holmes, ownerand CEO of Holmes Body Shop.“Since 1972, our team has focused ondelivering outstanding customer serv-ice and quality collision repairs to our

customers. We made our final decisionto join the Cooks team based on thehonesty and integrity of the entire

Wood family and Cooks employeesthat we met and dealt with. Our team isexcited to join the Cooks Collision or-ganization.”

Cooks Collision said Holmes willcontinue to own and operate the HolmesBody Shop location in Pasadena, CA.

Six Holmes Body Shop Locations Acquired by CooksCollision Centers, All but Original Shop in Pasadena

Most cars damaged by the Napa Earthquakeneeded just cosmetic work, but obviouslysome vehicle required much more. (Photocourtesy of Michael Smith)

The original Holmes Body Shop location inPasadena, CA, from which it grew into an MSOwith seven collision repair centers throughoutthe Los Angeles area. This location will continueto be owned and operated by Tom Holmes

See Holmes Body Shop, Page 8

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WesternEdition

VOL. 32 ISSUE 10OCTOBER 2014

2 OCTOBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

ContentsREGIONALABRA Auto Body & Glass Expands WAOperations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Allstate Insurance Report: Desert, CentralCA Cities Have State’s Best Drivers. . . . . . . 18

ASA-NW Follows Golf Tourney withFamily Fun Night. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Attanasio - Southern California Shopis Happily DRP-Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

CA Has 100K+ Plug-In Cars and Counting . . 15CA Men’s Colony Inmates Give Backto Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Crews Tackled Blaze at Auto & Truck Repairin Irwindale, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Donated Toyota Eases Military Family’sTroubles in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. . . . . . 18

Freemont Location is Lucky 13 for Mike’sAuto Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Massive Tesla Battery Factory to Be Built in NV . 20Napa Body Shops Get Jolted After 6.0 Quake . . 1Pittsburgh Glass Works Opens DistributionCenter in NV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Six Holmes Body Shop Locations Acquiredby Cooks Collision Centers, All butOriginal Shop in Pasadena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

The Newest Shop in Utah Opens November 1 . . 1Third Party Adminstrator from CA ExpandsInto Texas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Uber, Lyft Approve California InsuranceMinimums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Zipcar Expands Car Sharing in Las Vegaswith UNLV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

COLUMNSAntonelli - Autobody News Launched OurNew Website on September 13. . . . . . . . . . . 4

Attanasio - Is Angie’s List Impartial orIs She Playing Favorites? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Franklin - End Useless Marketing—RedirectFunds and Get Results!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Luehr - Better Blueprinting, Part 2: How toSet Up a Blueprinting Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Yoswick - CIC Committees Look at Autonomous Vehicle Issues, Impact of “Length of Rental” Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Yoswick - October Retrospective—ADP,Non-OEM Parts, AAIA Study. . . . . . . . . . . . 23

NATIONAL21st Century Insurance Files Suit AgainstTwo Jersey Physicians for Alleged AutoInsurance Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

A First-Person Account of the Consolidated MDL Hearing in Orlando, September 11 . . . . . . . . 9

AASP-PA Offers Two New Membership Levels . 61ABRA Auto Body Acquires USA CollisionCenters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Aluminum Association to Present During SCRS’ OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit. . 67

ASA Announces Plans to RelocateHeadquarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

ASA Confirms Detroit as Location andDates for Next NACE-CARS Expo . . . . . . . . 65

Attanasio - AASP-MN President Jerald Stielehas Lifetime of Repair Experience . . . . . . . . 58

AudaExplore Study Finds Major Gap inTrust and Customer Satisfaction inCollision Repair Experience. . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Auto/Steel Partnership to Present DuringOEM Collision Repair TechnologySummit at SEMA Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Boyd Group Acquires Seven Champs Collision Centers in Southeast Louisiana. . . . . . . . . . 61

Car Submerged an Estimated 18 YrsFound in UT Reservoir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Counterfeit Engine Control DevicesFound in Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Crowd Favorite the “Telephone Doctor”Returns for SEMA Education Days . . . . . . . 64

Education Foundation Announces Scholarship Winners Including Nation-wide Students . . . 60

Federal Court in FL to Rule on Overtime PayUnder FLSA for Auto Repair Employees . . . . 1

FL is the Third Most Expensive State inWhich to Own a Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Ford and Chrysler Up, GM down inAugust Car Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Former Texas Prosecutor Asks State toPardon in Fatal GM Crash, AccidentAlready Listed by GM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Four Found Guilty of CA Insurance Fraud& ID Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

GM Posts Best July Sales Since 2007,Toyota Also Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Herkules to Host NASCAR Driver Brendan Gaughan During SEMA Show . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Illinois is Third State to Provide OnlineAccess to Insurer Filings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

K & M Collision Sends Second Version of ‘Open Letter’ Video to NC Attorney General. . . . . . 52

Louisa. Has Most Expensive Auto Insurancein the Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

MS is the 4th Most Expensive State forCar Ownership Overall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

NABC 20th Anniversary Golf Fundraiser,January 14, 2015. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Nationwide Auto Insurance in NJ forFirst Time Since 1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

NC Auto Injury Attorney Urges Drivers to Usethe New NHTSA Online Recall Check . . . . . 62

NC Body Shop Owner and 12-Year Old HelpAuthorities Solve Hit and Run . . . . . . . . . . . 57

NC Shop, K and M Collision, Joins RICO Case Against Seven Major Insurers . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

New Caliber Shop Open in CA. . . . . . . . . . . . . 54New CO Program Asks Shops to ReportPotential Hit-and-Runs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

NJ Firefighter Accused of Arson . . . . . . . . . . . 20NJ is 5th Most Expensive State forAuto Ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

NV Mom Sues Over Device That Disables Car . 54NY Shop Owner’s Forgotten Lottery Ticketis a Nearly-Lost $2.9 Million Winner . . . . . . 53

OEConnection Ships Updated CollisionLinkApplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

PartsTrader Hits 1,000,000th Order Milestone . 31Rise in Accidents Leads to Lower Speed Limitand More Signage in Natomas, CA . . . . . . . 22

Roseville, MN, Police Replace Local Auto Body Shop as Provider After Employees TakeSquad Cars on Joyride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

SCRS Posts Tribute to March Taylor forSupporting and Inspiring the DEG . . . . . . . . 68

Season 34 of MotorWeek 2014 FeaturesCollision Mitigation, Traffic Alerts . . . . . . . . 69

Sisk - Parts Authorization, Indemnification and More—Documentation Part 3. . . . . . . . . . . 42

Theft and Serious Injury at PA Auto Body Shop . 53Toyota to Donate $1 Million to the DetroitInstitute of Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Volvo Reappears on World Market with XC90 . 67When Cars Are as Hackable as Cell Phones . . 20WI is the 5th Cheapest State in Which toOwn a Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

WY is the Most Expensive State in the USfor Car Ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy HayhurstGeneral Manager: Barbara DaviesAssistant Editor: Stacey PhillipsOnline Editor: Victoria AntonelliContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, David Brown,John Yoswick, Janet Chaney, Toby Chess,Ed Attanasio, Chasidy Sisk, David LuehrAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman,Bill Doyle, David Petro (800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Louise TedescoArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

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

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

AAMStraining.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . .64Automotive Art (Refinish) . . . . . . . . . . . .17Automotive ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30AutoNation Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram-FIAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

AutoNation Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram of North Phoenix . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Axalta Coating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Bill Luke Dealerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19BlackWow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28BMW MINI of Escondido . . . . . . . . . . . .40BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . .55Bob Smith BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Bob Smith MINI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Capitol Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Car-Part.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Celette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Cerritos Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram . . .34Certified Automotive PartsAssociation (CAPA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Chief Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42, 43Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70Colortone Automotive Paints . . . . . . . . .24DCH Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram . . . . . .23DCH Kia of Temecula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Del Grande Dealer Group . . . . . . . . .12-13Dent Magic Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Dominion Sure Seal, Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . .20Downtown Motors of LA(Audi, VW, Porsche) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Drew Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53East Bay BMW-MINI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61Eco Repair Systems ofNorth America, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Elk Grove Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38Enterprise Rent-A-Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Equalizer Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . .22Ford Wholesale Parts DealersAZ, CA, NV & UT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Galpin Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33GlasWeld Systems, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Glenn E. Thomas Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . .69Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36-37

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .62Infratech L.L.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Innovative Tools & Technology, Inc. . . .72Kearny Mesa Subaru-Hyundai . . . . . . .67Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .59LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71Los Gatos Luxury Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . .49LumaIII, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Maita Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58Malco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Mark Kia-Mitsubishi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Martech Services Company . . . . . . . . .20Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . .68MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . .54Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .62MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .41Moss Bros. Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . . .7Mossy BMW of Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48Mossy Volkswagen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Motor Guard Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Nicolosi Imports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale Parts Dealers . .66PreFab Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Prima srl, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Puente Hills Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50Rare Parts, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Replica Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Riverside Metro VW-Honda-Hyundai-Nissan-Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . .39Sherwin-Williams AutomotiveFinishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26, 27

Shingle Springs Nissan-Subaru . . . . . .57Sierra Chevrolet-Honda-Mazda-Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Sonnen BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44South Bay Volkswagen . . . . . . . . . . . . .42Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . .63TG Products, Inc. - The Rail Saver . . . .32Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . .68TYC/Genera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers . .65Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . .64Weatherford BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

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www.autobodynews.com | OCTOBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

Stacey Phillipsis our new Assis-tant Editor. Shehas written andedited for numer-ous online andprint publicationsover a 15-yearperiod. Stacey

graduated from the University of SouthernCalifornia with a double major in journalismand political science. Born and raised in LosAngeles, CA, she also lived in Calgary, Al-berta where she edited several magazinesbefore joining Suncor Energy. There shehelped create an online company newsletterthat received the Apex Award of Excellencetwo years in a row. Stacey also co-authoreda commemorative history book for theProvince’s Institute of Chartered Account-ants. After moving back to San Diego in2007, Stacey has spent the majority of hertime writing about local issues. When sheisn’t writing, Stacey enjoys playing tennis,reading and spending time with her family.

Victoria Antonelliis the newly ap-pointed onlinecontent editor atAutobody News.Victoria will bemanaging ournew website andsocial media

pages. She is originally from SouthKingstown, RI, and has lived in San Diego,CA, since August 2013. Victoria graduatedfrom the University of Rhode Island in May2013 with a BA in journalism. Previously,she attended High Point University in HighPoint, NC, for two years, and studiedabroad for a semester at Oxford BrookesUniversity in Oxford, England. Victoriacompleted two internships while in college,one with the University of Rhode IslandMarketing and Communications Depart-ment and another at Rhode Island MonthlyMagazine. Victoria’s favorite color isturquoise and her hobbies include hiking,reading, writing, and photography.

New Talent Joins the Autobody News Editorial Staff

Stacey Phillips is Our NewAssistant Editor for Print

Victoria Antonelli is Our NewOnline Content Editor

Contact Stacey at:[email protected] withyour story ideas and news items.

Contact Victoria at:[email protected] withyour story ideas and news items.

On Sept. 13, 2014, Autobody Newslaunched a new and vastly improvedwebsite, under the same domainname— www.autobodynews.com. En-hanced video handling, strengthenedsocial media connectivity, optimal or-ganization, and an eye-catching colorscheme are just a few of the many up-

grades this advanced template has tooffer. The template is fully responsive,meaning you can view it optimally onany device you carry.

The main functionality is to groupour regional coverage into RegionalContent pages, one for each of theprint issues of Autobody News.

HomeThe home page (see p. 8)displays themost recent articles in the followingcategories—Regional Content, ProductNews, National Events, Recent Asso-ciation Articles and the Video Gallery.The Video Gallery will feature recentvideos that has impacted the industry.

NewsHere you will find National News, Com-pany News, Product News, InsuranceNews, and Automakers and Dealers.Find current and timely news storiesabout automobile companies, new prod-uct releases, insurance dealings, andnews provided by dealerships.

Regional ContentRegional Content is grouped, like ourprint editions, into five major sectionsof the country—Midwestern News,Southwestern News, Western News,Northeastern News, and SoutheasternNews. National News, which is re-placing the former Industry News cat-egory, covers stories that affect allcorners of the US. The regions arecolor-coded at the top of the page tomatch the headings of each section.

Each region now has its own do-main. For example, western.autobo-dynews.com will take you to WesternRegional Content, including News,Associations, and Events. You canalso located and save RSS feeds fromeach of these regional categories.

SPSSPS stands for Shop & Product Show-case. This unique publication givesshop owners and managers a detailed,peer to peer perspective on the prod-

ucts and services being used. Down-loadable PDFs of each issue are lo-cated in this section, with the mostrecent being October 2014.

The next drop down item, Adver-tising in SPS, gives detailed informationabout advertising policies, and how youcan get your products noticed by theowners and managers of over 40,000collision repair shops nationwide.

ColumnsThis tab features articles by industry en-thusiasts. With the help of over 15 con-tributors, AutoBody News is able toproduce thought-provoking, informa-tive features.

EventsThis drop down menu not only listsmeetings, classic automobile shows,and other activities for all five regions,but also national events, including thelatest on SEMA and NACE.


Need Parts?

760-745-8012760-745-7805 Fax

Our parts department is always ready to help you out with our Original Volkswagen Parts & Accessories.

Mossy Volkswagen1695 Auto Park WayEscondido, CA 92029email: [email protected]

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Autobody News Launched Our New Website on September 13

with Victoria AntonelliWeb Window

See Our New Website, Page 6

AssociationsThe association stories come from allfive regions, as well as national associ-ation news. Examples include newsabout the Iowa Collision Repair Asso-ciation (ICRA), Automotive Service As-sociation (ASA), and the LouisianaCollision Industry Association (LaCIA).

Digital EditionsDownload a PDF version of past andpresent regional issues.

Contact UsClick here to find numbers and emailsfor all staff members at AutoBodyNews. Information on how to sign upfor the eNewsletter or a print sub-scription can also be found here.

LoginClick this link in the top right corner tocreate and sign into your account. Youwill need to create an account and login in order to post a comment on an ar-ticle or column for example.

Social MediaOn the top left corner, you will find

links to our Twitter, YouTube, Face-book, and LinkedIn pages. On the leftside of each article, you will also seea Facebook tab, which allows you to“like” our page.

Tips for Smooth OperationIf you’re a frequent flyer on our siteyour browser may store links to ourold site in its cache. If you’re not get-ting active links, go to your historyand delete the cache file, then re-launch autobodynews.com.

Some Ugly Regional Placeholders?You’ll notice some placeholder ban-ner ads on the regional content sec-tions of the website. If you’re adealership doing wholesale parts tradein your area, consider replacing these‘eye catching’ spots with a banner ofyour own. We’ll design it for you atno charge. Email [email protected] for more information.

Take Advantage of Regional CoverageAs a shop owner or association mem-ber we want to know what’s going onwith your shop or your association inyour state. Send us an email with thedate of your meeting in advance, we’llpost it in our regional secction. Let usknow what happened with pictures orvideo. Likewise if there’s somethingspecial going on with your shop, wecan get the word out. Email your de-tails to: [email protected].

Thanks. We hope you enjoy usingour new site.


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Our New WebsiteSince his first day on the job, ElvinValenzuela, warden of the Califor-nia Men’s Colony (CMC), has madea point to reach out to other law en-forcement agencies in need in SanLuis Obispo County, California.

The most recent gesture byCMC, which provides secure housingfor minimum and medium securityinmates, was made possible with theassistance of Vocational Auto BodyInstructor, Thomas Wilt, and the in-mates assigned to his class.

The San Luis Obispo CountySheriff’s Office purchased an over-used forklift in need of serious repair.When asked if there was anythingCMC could do to help, Warden Valen-zuela was happy to continue his tradi-tion of helping those in need.

The organization took the time tonot only restore the forklift, but trans-form the piece of equipment into a“work of art,” according to those in theprogram. Warden Valenzuela and hiscrew were happy to present Sheriff IanParkinsonwith his newly refurbishedforklift as a good neighbor gesture.

It was also an opportunity forthe inmates involved to give back tothe community, according to the or-ganization.

CA Men’s Colony InmatesGive Back to Community

“The acquisition of the sixHolmes locations is a key step in exe-cuting our strategic plan by expandingto the Los Angeles basin and serving

Southern California consumers,” saidRick Wood, co-CEO of Cooks Colli-sion Centers. “Cooks Collision is com-mitted to providing our new SouthernCalifornia customers the same highquality collision repair, customer serv-ice and value that our Northern Cali-fornia customers have come to expectfor the past 33 years.”

Chris Rose, vice president ofSouthern California operations forCooks Collision, said the companyplans to add several more collision re-pair locations throughout the South-ern California market in the future.

Symphony Advisors consultedwith both Cooks Collision Centers

and Holmes Body Shop throughoutthe acquisition process and separatelyVeritas Advisors, Inc. assisted CooksCollision Centers.

are expanding their business to in-clude trucking companies and fleetvehicles because they noticed the in-creased demand.

“What makes us unique is thatwe’re going to have the only downdrafttruck booth in all of Southern Utah,”said Borrowman. They will also have adowndraft car booth and laser framerack.

Red Rock will offer customersmultiple paint lines and options, vary-ing from cost-effective single-stageUrethane to premium commercial fleetpaint. He said the goal is to cater to awider market to meet everyone’s needs.“Currently there is no option for cus-tomers to get their whole car paintedunless they want to spend $4,000 to$5,000,” he said.

Borrowman said their team takespride in offering customers good pricesand quality, guaranteeing all of their re-pairs and paint jobs. “We’ve neveronce turned anyone away,” he said.

His advice to other shops is to“build good, solid relationships andyou’ll never run out of business.”


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Crews were on the scene of a com-mercial fire on Sept. 13 that burnedthrough the roof of an auto bodyshop, according to information onCBS Los Angeles. The Los AngelesCounty Fire Department said it brokeout in the Irwindale Auto & TruckRepair building just after 6:30 p.m. inthe 16300 block of East Arrow Hwy.Officials reported heavy smoke andflames protruding through the roof ofthe building. It was unclear if anyonewas inside when it broke out. No in-juries were reported. The cause of thefire is under investigation.

Crews Tackled Blaze at Auto &Truck Repair in Irwindale, CA

Louisiana is the most expensive state(including D.C.) for estimated an-nual insurance costs, according toBankrate, at $1,277, slightly ahead ofWashington, D.C.

Repair costs are $354 and gaso-line costs an estimated $924 per year.All told, owning a car costs $2,555per year in the state.

See other rate and cost compar-isons from bankrate starting on p. 68this issue.

Louisa. has the Most ExpensiveAuto Insurance in the Country

by Ron Perretta

As an observer of the initial court pro-ceedings for the repairers Multi-Dis-trict Litigation against dozens ofinsurers in the Orlando Federal Court-house [on Sept. 11], I can’t tell you thefeeling that I had and that other re-pairers present expressed whilewatching the proceedings. I’m notsure any words can capture the feel-ing but it was a feeling that I believewas long overdue for repairers... andinsurer’s alike.

While phones and cameras werenot allowed in the courthouse, the pic-ture of the hearing was one I wishevery repairer could have seen.

I was sitting at the back of thecourtroom, close to center and frommy view point I saw 50 plus attorneyswho were there representing the 40plus defendant insurers, all in darksuits, sitting side by side, row afterrow along the entire right side of thecourt room.

In the center, on an elevatedbench were the two Honorable Judges(Presnell and Smith) who sat facing

the court room, and then to my leftwere five attorneys sitting at the plain-tiff’s table who were there represent-ing hundreds of collision repairersfrom various states. To the far left, inspectator’s area were 15 or more shopowners who were plaintiffs in the law-suits to witness this first step in whatwill prove to be, no doubt, a pivotaland historical event for the entire col-lision repair industry.

When provided the opportunityto speak and ask quotations, few camefrom the defending attorneys. JohnEaves Jr. mentioned to the courts thatsince the litigation, some repairershave experienced various levels ofabuse from some insurers as andasked of the court to consider render-ing a ruling to prohibit steering and re-taliatory efforts against those repairerswho are named as plaintiffs in the lit-igation and to enjoin them from ef-forts to harm them by makingdisparaging comments about themand to steer consumers away fromthem. The judge stated in so manywords that he would not render an

by Lee Emmons

K and M Collision LLC of Hickory,NC, has been included as a plaintiff ina lawsuit filed under the Racketeer In-fluenced and Corrupt OrganizationsAct (RICO) against seven major insur-ance carriers and their affiliates. Thesuit, originally filed in an Illinois dis-trict court on April 30, accuses StateFarm, Allstate, GEICO, Progressive,Farmers, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide,and many of their respective sub-sidiaries, for short pays and conspiracyto establish “an artificial market valuefor collision repairs.”

Kevin Michael Bradshaw, VPof Operations at K and M CollisionLLC, says, “I think the lawsuit willuncover and prove what many shopsthroughout the country have knownfor years, that the insurance compa-nies are refusing to pay for proper re-pairs, and are using illegal methods tosuppress the market rate.”

This is the latest in a series ofactions taken by body shops through-out the country in an effort to pushback against insurance company tac-

tics that they believe to be unlawful.The Mississippi Collision Repair As-sociation filed to block State Farm’sPartsTrader parts procurement man-date in the summer of 2013; a Ten-nessee body shop filed suit againstProgressive for steering and short-pays in November of 2013, and RayGunder has filed suit to block StateFarm’s PartsTrader in Florida.

The RICO Class Action plain-tiff, Crawford’s Auto Center, is aPennsylvania-based automobile col-lision repair facility who alleges thatthe defendants conspired amongstthemselves and/or others to “sup-press compensation to repair facili-ties for automotive collision repairscovered by insurance.”

For more on the RICO case, search‘RICO’ at www.autobodynews.com.


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NC Shop, K and M Collision, Joins RICOCase Against Seven Major Insurers

A First-Person Account of the ConsolidatedMDL Hearing in Orlando, September 11

See MDL Opens, Page 63

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County, FL, deny the allegations. Incourt documents, the defendants saythe “… Plaintiffs have been paid allwages due in full and in a timely man-ner.”

According to the lawsuit, JospehSmoluk worked for Action Auto Bodyas a non-exempt service writer fromOctober 1, 1997 to January 25, 2012.Michelle Smoluk claims she per-formed work as a non-exempt secre-tary from approximately May 2004 toJanuary 25, 2012. The plaintiffs saythey worked an average of 50 hoursper week and were not paid the properovertime rate for the hours theyworked over 40 per week, as pre-scribed by Federal and Florida law.

They also say that Action AutoBody received gross revenue in excessof $500,000 per year, which satisfiesthe FLSA’s coverage requirements ofworking in interstate commerce.

According to Section 7 of theFLSA guidelines, unless employeesare specifically exempted from this

rule, “...employers must pay coveredworkers at least one-and-a-half timestheir regular hourly wage for hoursworked over 40 hours a week at agiven job. Employers may choose topay more than time-and-a-half forovertime or to pay overtime to em-ployees who are exempt from over-time under the FLSA.”

The Smoluks are seeking dam-ages for unpaid minimum wage andunpaid overtime compensation forhours they worked in excess of 40 perweek with interest; an equal amountin double damages/liquidated dam-ages; the cost of the action and rea-sonable attorneys’ fees and additionalrelief decided by the court.

If the plaintiffs prevail, there islikely a statute of limitations for anyentitlement going back two or threeyears, at the discretion of the court,from the date on which the case wasfiled. Since the case was filed in StateCourt in February 2014, that would bethe effective date for damages.

The defendants assert that JospehSmoluk was exempt from the FLSAunder the executive and/or profes-sional exemptions and Michelle

Smoluk was exempt under the admin-istrative exemption.

Over the years there has beenconsiderable confusion about the sta-tus of service writers and whether ornot they are exempt from the overtimepay provisions of the FLSA.

The answer appears to lie inwhether or not the employer is a deal-ership or a collision center. The dis-tinction is important, since theexemption for service writers only ap-plies to service writers who work in anauto dealership, that is an ‘establish-ment . . . primarily engaged in thebusiness of selling automobiles,trucks, or farm implements to the ulti-mate purchaser.’ 29 CFR 372(b)(ii).If the service writer works in a colli-sion center, service shop, or someother business which does not actuallysell cars, then the exemption does notapply, according to attorneys.

If Action Auto Body, LLC is adealership, then the service writer ex-emption pretty clearly applies. Thereis a case called Brennan v. Deel Mo-tors, 475 F.2d 1095 (5th Cir. 1973)which is directly on point, and is ac-tually binding on the court where theSmoluk case is pending.

“A body shop would have all of

the general exemptions availableunder the FLSA at their disposal,”said an attorney with a nationwidefirm that represents employers inlabor and employment matters. “Forexample, executive, administrative,professional, computer professional,outside sales. They just would nothave the three commonly used dealer-ship overtime exemptions: salesper-son, partsmen, and mechanic,” saidthe attorney, who is not affiliated withthis case, adding the service writer ex-emption is considered part of thesalesperson exemption.

In 1966, Congress amended theFLSA and created an exemption forany salesman, partsman or mechanicemployed at a retail dealership. A yearlater the U.S. Department of Labor(DOL) confirmed service writers wereexempt from overtime pay; however,they retracted their statement a monthlater and issued an opinion letter say-ing service writers would not be in-cluded in the exemption. Since thennumerous federal cases have ruledthat service employees are exemptfrom FLSA overtime.

On April 5, 2011, the Wage andHour Division of the DOL clarified its



Overtime Pay

Nonmanufacturing establishmentswith certain exempt employees undersection 13(b)(10).(c) Salesman, partsman, or mechanic.(1) As used in section 13(b)(10)(A), asalesman is an employee who is em-ployed for the purpose of and is prima-rily engaged in making sales orobtaining orders or contracts for sale ofthe automobiles, trucks, or farm imple-ments that the establishment is primarilyengaged in selling. As used in section13(b)(10)(B), a salesman is an em-ployee who is employed for the purposeof and is primarily engaged in makingsales or obtaining orders or contractsfor sale of trailers, boats, or aircraft thatthe establishment is primarily engagedin selling. Work performed incidental toand in conjunction with the employee'sown sales or solicitations, including inci-dental deliveries and collections, is re-garded as within the exemption.

(2) As used in section13(b)(10)(A), a partsman is any em-ployee employed for the purpose of andprimarily engaged in requisitioning,stocking, and dispensing parts.

(3) As used in section13(b)(10)(A), a mechanic is any em-ployee primarily engaged in doing me-chanical work (such as get readymechanics, automotive, truck, or farmimplement mechanics, used car recon-ditioning mechanics, and wrecker me-chanics) in the servicing of anautomobile, truck or farm implement forits use and operation as such. This in-cludes mechanical work required forsafe operation, as an automobile, truck,or farm implement. The term does notinclude employees primarily performingsuch nonmechanical work as washing,cleaning, painting, polishing, tire chang-ing, installing seat covers, dispatching,lubricating, or other nonmechanicalwork. Wrecker mechanic means a serv-ice department mechanic who goes outon a tow or wrecking truck to performmechanical servicing or repairing of acustomer's vehicle away from the shop,or to bring the vehicle back to the shopfor repair service. A tow or wreckertruck driver or helper who primarily per-forms nonmechanical repair work is notexempt.

Excerpt from FLSA Regulation §779.372See Overtime Pay, Page 16


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the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake 25years earlier. Significant damage andseveral fires were reported in thesouthern Napa Valley area, and therewas also damage in the nearby city ofVallejo, in Solano County.

Napa, of course, is best knownfor its wine industry, and certainlywineries were damaged. So were dis-tributors and retailers whose inventorywas subject to breakage. Bistro DonGiovanni in Napa lost about a third ofits wine and liquor inventory, worth$20,000 to $30,000, said CurtisBradford, the restaurant’s manager.The quake could lead to economiclosses of as much as $4 billion fromwrecked wine stock and shutteredbusinesses that rely on tourists, ac-cording to an estimate from KineticAnalysis Corp.

Brent Blackwood, the owner ofBlackhawk Body Shop in Napa wasobviously concerned about his shopwhen the earthquake hit, but once herealized that the damage was minimal,his focused shifted to repairing cars.“There was a little sheet rock damage

and quite a bit of broken glass here atthe shop. A few tool carts and a jackfell over, but other than that we werefine. It was just enough to make a bigmess, that’s all.”

Since the earthquake, BlackhawkBody Shop has been inundated withcustomers and business is up at least40%, Blackwood explained. “On anormal day, we do 4–6 estimates, butsince the earthquake, we’re doing 15or more every day. It’s mostly PDR(Paintless Dent Removal) work, but insome cases if the paint was affected,we need to do more than just PDR. Weknew that we would get a spike inbusiness, so we came in the day afterthe shaker and made sure we’d be pre-pared. We have a PDR guy that wework with regularly and he’s normallyhere once a week, but now he’s beendown here almost every day.”

A second-generation body shopowner, Blackwood and his father haveseen a few earthquakes over the years,including the 1989 Loma Prieta quake,but this one hit closer to home. “[LomaPrieta] impacted us, of course, andsome people here in Napa lost theirhomes,” Blackwood said. “We’ve beenhere since 1957 when my dad openedthis shop, so we have second and third-

generation customers. We’ve devel-oped relationships with them over theyears, so seeing their cars coming inand asking them about their homes was

different. In this industry, we makemoney when people get into accidents,but when things like earthquakes hap-pen, everyone is affected and anyone’s

property can be damaged.”Mike’s Auto Body in Napa experi-

enced some toppled shelves andflipped chairs, but overall the shop

came through without dam-age, according to the shop’sManager Brad Woodland.“We were extremely lucky,”he said. “The city green-tagged our building, whichmeans we’re clear for busi-ness as usual. I live here inNapa and we know peoplewhose homes have been red-tagged or yellow-tagged andsome that came down com-pletely.”

Business was alreadybrisk even before the quakehit, so now Woodland’sworkload is over the top, heexplained. “The repairs areall earthquake-related, in-volving dented roofs, hoods,fenders and trunks. Theearthquake has been goodfor us from a business stand-point, but in the end we’re

more focusing on helping people inneed after a disaster like this.”

Randy Lichau, a Napa native andthe owner of Lito Auto Body near



Jolt in Business

Older buildings in Downtown Napa didn’t fare well duringthis 6.0 shaker. (Photo courtesy of Michael Smith)

downtown was shocked by the magni-tude of the quake. “Our refrigeratordanced across the room and it’s a verylarge unit, so I was impressed by that,”Lichau said. “We lost a lot of goodbuildings and several parts of the towntook it hard, but we never shut downand we have been working hard to fixall the cars that have been cominghere.”

Lichau has been fast tracking hisproduction to meet the increased needand getting his customers back on theroad as quickly as he and his crewpossibly can. “We’re coming in earlyand working on Saturdays, becausewe were actually busy even before thequake,” he said. “We’re doing all ofthe glass-related repairs first, replac-ing windshields, headlights, side mir-rors and things that make the carsunsafe to drive. We’ve definitely seena spike in business, but as someonewho was born here and grew up here,a tragedy like this is never a goodthing. We’re happy to be helping peo-ple by fixing their cars and allowingthem to return to their normal lives.”

Insurers will probably cover about$2.1 billion in damage, according to re-search firm Kinetic Analysis. Costsborne by the insurance industry may be

limited because many homeownersdon’t have earthquake coverage, ac-cording to the Insurance InformationInstitute. The costliest earthquakes inthe U.S. have occurred in the state.

But just 10% to 11% of Califor-nia homes with homeowners insur-ance have earthquake coverage,which must be obtained on top of thestandard homeowners policy, accord-ing to the California Earthquake Au-thority, a state-managed earthquakeinsurer. California residents seeking aCEA policy can contact an insuranceagent for a premium quote, or go toCaliforniaRocks.com for an estimate.

“I’m sure more people are goingto buy earthquake insurance now,”Amy Bach, executive director of SanFrancisco-based consumer advocacygroup United Policyholders. Ms.Bach’s main buying tip is: “Don’tforgo buying it because you think thehigh deductible is a rip-off. No earth-quake insurance means you’re carry-ing a 100% deductible!”


On Sept. 3, 2014 Mike’s Auto Bodyacquired Central Collision in Fre-mont, CA, making this 78-year-old,30,000 square foot second-genera-tion body shop its 13th location.With a goal to increase the size ofits market and establish a presencedown the Nimitz Highway 880 cor-ridor, Mike’s Auto Body is taking itssuccessful business approach to Fre-mont, CA, the Bay Area’s fourth-largest city with a population ofapproximately 222,000 people.

CEO Brennan Rose started dis-cussing the acquisition with theowners of Central Collision back inearly 2013 and both parties came toa decision immediately before LaborDay, he explained. “We have been indiscussions with Bill Brunelli, theshop’s owner, numerous times overthe last year and a half and got thecall a month ago saying he wasready to move on and join our teamhere at Mike’s Auto Body. Their op-erational standards, facility structureand employee base will fit ourmodel perfectly. We are very excitedto have the opportunity to expandour market share to the south andundoubtedly we will see other op-portunities arise out of it.”

Freemont Location is Lucky13 for Mike’s Auto Body

Cumulative sales of plug-in elec-tric cars in California have sur-passed 100,000, industry expertsannounced Sept. 8, according toreports in the Sun.com by MorganLee.

As of the end of August, Cali-fornians had purchased 102,440plug-in cars, including both all-elec-tric vehicles and plug-in hybrids thatrun on a combination of electricityand gasoline, according to figurescompiled by HybridCars.com andBaum & Associates, a Michigan-based market research firm.

The sales records date back toDecember 2010, when the all-elec-tric Nissan Leaf and plug-in hybridChevy Volt were first introduced toconsumers in select U.S. markets.

California regulators cele-brated the milestone as the state betson plug-in vehicles to meet aggres-sive goals for reducing emissions ofheat-trapping gases linked to globalwarming.

“This milestone shows that in-dustry and government can work to-gether for the good of the environmentand the good of the consumer,” Cali-fornia Air Resources Board ChairmanMary Nichols said in a statement.

CA Has 100K+ Plug-In Carsand Counting

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Accept no Substitutes!

position. According to their website,“Salesmen, partsmen and mechanicsemployed by automobile dealershipsare exempt from the overtime payprovisions of the FLSA.”

Richard Longo, Director of En-forcement for DOL’s Wage and HourDivision in the Western Region said,“The April 2011 cleanup rule did stip-ulate our current position on this mat-ter and that we don’t take an automaticposition that service writers are ex-empt just because of their job title.That would be consistent with how weapply any of our exemptions. We lookat the facts of the case.

“With that being said, even thoughwe’ve made these changes when ap-propriation came in for the spendingbills they basically didn’t fund some ofthe changes,” said Longo. “We’re tak-ing a non-enforcement position on thematter currently but it does not prohibitindividuals from seeking court deci-sions to determine exempt or non-ex-empt status.”

Longo said that if courts arelooking for interpretive guidance, the

most recent guidance would be theApril 2011 update.

“If the company is able to estab-lish that service writers satisfy one ofthe white collar FLSA exemptions, itwould eliminate any need to recordservice writers’ hours worked or payovertime for hours worked over 40 ina work week,” said the attorney con-sulted. “While service writers typi-cally work long hours, they are usuallypaid quite well. If service writers arefound to be exempt under one of theFLSA white collar exemptions, thiswould be a great victory for bodyshops and collision centers.”

The defendant’s attorney has apolicy of not commenting on pendinglitigation. The plaintiff’s attorney wasunavailable for comment at presstime.

Autobody News will continue tofollow this story and update readers onthe status of Smoluk v. Action AutoBody, LLC.

Details about the applicable FLSAregulations are available on the fol-lowing website: www.ecfr.gov undersection 779.372.

As always, consult a qualified at-torney before acting or reacting to anybusiness news discussion such as this.


ASA-NW Follows Golf Tourney with Family Fun NightThe Automotive Service AssociationNorthwest (ASA-NW) held two funannual events in August to providemembers with opportunities to net-work. On August 13, the associationheld their 21st Annual Golf Tourna-ment, and their 5th Annual FamilyFun Night took place on August 26.Jeff Lovell, President and ExecutiveDirector of ASA-NW, noted “we al-ways have a great time at these twoevents. We can’t always be all busi-ness; we have to have a little funalong the way too!” ASA-NW’s 21stAnnual Golf Tournament was held atthe Elk Run Golf Course in Coving-ton, WA. The sun came out for the130 golfers and sponsors who partic-ipated in the events. Teams enjoyed18 holes, followed by a steak dinnerand raffling of prizes. No one scoreda hole-in-one, so no one received anew car! First place went to JonahHartfield, Justin Smith, ShaneSkillings, and Charlie Marshall.ASA-NW thanks the sponsors whomade the tournament possible. Theproceeds from the event benefit theassociation’s scholarship fund; ap-

proximately $15,000 was raised thisyear. Lovell states, “it was a greattime to get together and network withour members and to help raise moneyfor the ITEC Education ScholarshipFund.” This year was the last yearthat the golf tournament will be heldat Elk Run as the course is closing,but the association is actively search-ing for a new venue for next year.Over 160 members attended ASA-NW’s 5th Annual Family Fun Night,held on the private party deck at Ch-eney Stadium in Tacoma. Attendeescheered the Rainiers on to a 5-3 vic-tory while enjoying a barbeque buf-fet. Lovell believes that networkingis important for members.

“Family Fun Night presents agreat opportunity for shop owners tobring their employees and familiesout for a good time. Everyone gets tonetwork with other industry profes-sionals, and it’s always great to seethe kids get foul balls while laughingand enjoying the game!”

ASA-NW, 7403 Lakewood DriveWest, Suite #7, Lakewood, WA, 98499,253-473-6970, www.asanorthwest.com


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Brandon Walker was serving his coun-try in Japan when his daughter, Kira,was born nine months ago. During acomplicated birth, Kira suffered kidneyfailure and brain damage. Three weekslater, Walker, an aviation electrician inthe U.S. Navy, was transferred to a navalbase on Coronado Island, in San Diego,CA.

In the past few months, Brandonand Kyla Walker have struggled withmounting medical bills and a lack ofreliable transportation. His $27,000annual salary barely covers expensesfor his family of four, including daugh-ter Zoe, 3. “We are right on the brink

of not being able to afford anything,”said Brandon Walker, 26.

His outlook brightened when hisfamily received a refurbished 2012 Toy-ota Corolla in August. The car donationcame from a nationwide programthrough which collision repair compa-nies, insurers and others collaborate toprovide vehicles to families in need. “It’soverwhelming,” Kyla Walker said at anAug. 19 donation ceremony at CaliberCollision Centers in Rancho Cuca-monga. “I’m so grateful everyone wasable to come together and do this for us.”

The Toyota was donated by Es-urance Insurance Services and restoredby Caliber employees, who did the workon their own time. Other businesses do-

nated parts and gifts for the family. “It’ssuch a great feeling to do something forsomebody that needs a car,” said JamesKrauss, Caliber manager.

Brandon Walker said his daughterhas cerebral palsy and requires kidneydialysis each night for 12 hours. KylaWalker hopes to be able to donate akidney to Kira.

Transportation issues have madeit difficult to travel between home,work and the hospital, Brandon Walkersaid. After moving to San Diego, hebought a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta, butthe engine died after three months. Hestill owes $9,400 on the vehicle, but itwould cost more to fix it than the car isworth, he said.

Brandon Walker found out fromco-workers about Support The EnlistedProject, a San Diego-based nonprofitthat gave $330,000 last year to militaryservice and family members for food,rent, car payments and other needs. Thegroup provided diapers, baby wipes,clothes and other necessities to theWalker family, and contacted Caliber,which arranged the donation of the Toy-ota.

The organization also is trying topay off the Jetta loan, but is $3,400 short,said Chief Executive Tony Teravainen.

“This is amazing,” Brandon Walkersaid after seeing the Toyota. “I want tothank everybody. This is going to makemy life so much easier.”

Donated Toyota Eases Military Family’s Troubles in Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Allstate Insurance Report: Desert, Central California Cities Have State’s Best DriversSlow-paced, sprawling Visalia ranksfirst in California and seventh nation-ally as safest among the 200 largestU.S. cities in terms of car collision fre-quency, the Insurance Journal said in arecent online article. Allstate InsuranceCo. on Aug. 26 released its 10th annual“Allstate America’s Best Drivers Re-port,” which contains new data rank-ings and historical rankings from thepast 10 years.

According to the report, the aver-age driver in Visalia will experience anauto collision every 12.4 years — animprovement of one month or more forthe second consecutive year — and acollision rate 19 percent better than theU.S. average.

Fort Collins, Colo. for the fourthyear has held the top spot. Accordingto the report, the average driver in FortCollins will experience an auto colli-

sion every 14.2 years, which is 29.6percent less likely than the national av-erage of 10 years.

Other top safe driving cities in Cal-ifornia were Lancaster, Salinas and Ran-cho Cucamonga. California’s biggestcities didn’t fare as well in the report.San Francisco drivers were 55.6 percentmore likely to be in a collision com-pared with the rest of the nation, puttingit at 190th overall in the U.S. Los Ange-

les ranked 188th, Long Beach was 141stand San Diego was 112th.

According to the National High-way Traffic Safety Administration,33,500 car crash fatalities occurred in2012. Additionally, Allstate researchfound that 70 percent of vehicles in-volved in auto claims are considereddrivable, which indicates that mostclaims are the result of low speed(under 35 miles per hour) collisions.


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by Alexis Madrigal, theatlantic.comImagine this scenario: Self-drivingcars form an orderly procession downa highway, traveling at precisely theright following distance and speed.All the on-board computers cooper-ate and the vehicles reach their desti-nations safely.

What if one person jailbreaks hercar, and tells her AI driver to go fasterthan the other cars? As the aggressivecar moves up on the other vehicles,their safety mechanisms kick in andthey change lanes to get out of the way.It might make efficiency of transporta-tion lower, but this person would getahead.

This is one of many scenariosthat Ryan Gerdes of Utah State Uni-versity is exploring with a $1.2 mil-lion grant from the National ScienceFoundation to look at the security ofthe autonomous vehicle future.

“The designers of these systemsessentially believe that all of thenodes or vehicles in the system wantto cooperate, that they have the samegoals,” Gerdes said. “What happensif you don’t follow the rules? In theacademic theory that’s built up toprove things about this system, thishasn’t been considered.”

When Cars Are as Hackableas Cell Phones

Following their no contest pleas tofelony charges of insurance fraudand identification theft, four sus-pects accused of filing false insur-ance claims for windshield repairshave been sentenced, according tothe Sacramento District Attorney.

David Ludd was sentencedto state prison for two years, whileAaron Bonner was sentenced toone year in county jail and placedon five years of felony probation.

Bonita Clayborn and At-lakea Scott were sentenced to 240days in county jail and placed onfive years of felony probation.

Between May 23, 2011 andMay 24, 2012, the defendants wereaccused of impersonating insur-ance policyholders and submittingapproximately 1,000 fraudulentclaims for automotive glass chiprepairs to numerous insurancecompanies. The insurance compa-nies paid almost $100,000 on theclaims, according to the DistrictAttorney.

They allegedly worked forcompanies based in Sacramento,CA including Safetek Auto GlassConsulting, Auto Glass Profes-sional and Clear View Autoglass.

Four Found Guilty of CA Insurance Fraud & ID Theft

Tesla Motors announced on Sept. 4that Nevada was selected as the offi-cial site for the Tesla Battery Gi-gafactory.

“This is great news for Nevada.Tesla will build the world’s largestand most advanced battery factory inNevada which means nearly onehundred billion dollars in economicimpact to the Silver State over thenext twenty years. I am grateful thatElon Musk and Tesla saw the prom-ise in Nevada. These 21st century pi-oneers, fueled with innovation anddesire, are emboldened by the prom-ise of Nevada to change the world.Nevada is ready to lead,” stated Gov-ernor Brian Sandoval.

“I would like to recognize theleadership of Governor Sandoval andthe Nevada Legislature for partneringwith Tesla to bring the Gigafactory tothe state. The Gigafactory is an im-portant step in advancing the cause ofsustainable transportation and willenable the mass production of com-pelling electric vehicles for decadesto come. Together with Panasonicand other partners, we look forwardto realizing the full potential of thisproject,” said Chairman and CEOElon Musk.

Massive Tesla Battery Factory to Be Built in NV

NJ Firefighter Accused of ArsonRiverside, New Jersey police ar-rested and charged a Riverside FireCompany member with 2nd degreearson. According to authorities,Robert Campolongo, 43, of De-lanco, was arrested Aug. 27 afterpolice say he was driving with asuspended driver’s license. Cam-polongo is accused of a fire thathappened Aug. 17 at the abandonedMortlands Auto Body building onNorth Pavilion Avenue. Investiga-tors say they have surveillancefootage from the area and state-ments from witnesses. He is beingheld at the Burlington County Jailon $100,000 bail. Police continueto investigate. If you have any in-formation, contact Lt. Fisher atRiverside Police Department at856-461-8820.

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Uber, Lyft Approve California Insurance Minimums Rise in Accidents Leads to Lower Speed Limit andMore Signage in Natomas, CAIn response to a rise in accidentsthrough the “across the top” workzone on Interstate 80 in the Sacra-mento area of Natomas, the Califor-nia Department of Transportation andthe California Highway Patrol havereduced the speed limit from 65 mphto 55 mph.

Caltrans also added more sig-nage directing motorists to prepareto merge where on-ramps connect toI-80. In addition, all exit signs havebeen positioned to increase visibil-ity.

“The primary types of traffic in-cidents were rear-end collisions, pri-marily between Truxel and Northgatewhere motorists should slow downand stay alert,” said Caltrans District3 Construction Safety Engineer EdYarbrough.

CHP data shows 29 of 38 traf-fic incidents were rear-end colli-sions. Three drivers had no licenseor were driving with a suspended li-cense. Caltrans will continue tomonitor collisions in the work zoneto see if any more patterns develop.

“Slowing traffic in the workzone can help reduce the incidenceof rear-end collisions by giving driv-ers more time to observe and react

to traffic conditions,” Yarbroughsaid.

Rear-end collisions are the mostcommon type of work zone crash,according to the Federal HighwayAdministration. Distracted drivingalso contributes to 93 percent of rear-end collisions, according to a studyby the Virginia Tech TransportationInstitute.

CHP officers will monitor traf-fic throughout the construction siteand issue citations to motorists whoexceed the 55 mile per hour speedlimit.

The $133 million Across theTop project is adding bus/carpoollanes to I-80 between West ElCamino Avenue and Watt Avenue,and adding one mile of auxiliarylanes in both directions of Interstate80 from West El Camino Avenue tothe Interstate 80/Interstate 5 inter-change.

In an effort to reduce conges-tion in the area, Caltrans created twoexpress lanes which extend fourmiles for motorists who are com-muting through the area and do notneed to exit the freeway. Anotherlane is provided for drivers who doneed to exit.

by Joseph Jaafari,PropertyCasualty 360.com

Amendments made to a CA bill thatwould require minimum insurancestandards for ridesharing have easedopposition from companies like Lyftand Uber which, for the past year,have been waging war with state law-makers on the issue.

Insurance requirements for ride-sharing have remained a heated issuefor taxicab companies, which can payupwards of $1 million in insurance pre-miums per year. They argue that com-panies like Uber and Lyft sidestepexpensive insurance liabilities for theirdrivers by allowing them to drive usingonly their personal insurance.

“Right now, there is no rule,” saysArmand Feliciano, vice president ofthe Association of CA Insurance Com-panies (ACIC). “So we said, ‘Okay,we’re going to make a new commer-cial standard for you.’ When the app ison, it’s akin to turning that light on.’”

ACIC worked with state lawmak-ers, including the bill’s author, Assem-blywoman Susan Bonilla, to requirethat ridesharing companies carry atleast $300,000 worth of insurance cov-erage, making the final change to thelaw last week. Still, that total is just

under half a million less than what’s re-quired of limousines and a quarter ofwhat’s required for taxicabs in some ju-risdictions of CA, according to ACIC.

“We worked closely with the ad-ministration to create that number,” saysFeliciano, who also commends Bonillafor taking a hardline stance on an issuethat has dominated CA headlines.

Even though there has been uni-lateral agreement within the rideshar-ing community, there is still debate onhow the insurance industry shouldmodernize to meet the substantiallyincreased demand for companies likeUber and Lyft.

“We have agreed to a compromisethat provides clarity for the ridesharingcommunity in CA,” Chelsea Wilson, aLyft spokeswoman, tells PC360. “How-ever, a truly permanent solution must in-clude the creation of modern insuranceproducts tailored for drivers who partic-ipate in peer-to-peer transportation.”

Wilson says that innovation in theinsurance marketplace will be the de-termining factor in setting safety stan-dards without hampering the growth ofrideshares.

The bill, AB 2293, is being de-bated on the floor today and, if ap-proved, will go to Gov. Jerry Brown’sdesk for signing.

20 Years Ago In The Collision RepairIndustry (October 1994)Responding to complaints from thecollision repair industry, ADP will bepulling the plug on a program that al-lowed dealers to promote discount re-tail parts prices using ADP’s “PartsExchange New” system.

“As a result of the issues that re-sponsible parties of the industrybrought to our attention, we will betaking discounted OEs off the ‘PartsExchange New’,” ADP’s Rick Tuuriannounced at the Collision IndustryConference (CIC) held in Nashville,TN. “They will be off the system byJanuary 1, 1995. I want to emphasizethat this is no reflection on the waythe discounted OEs themselves aredoing business.”

Although the parts prices listedin the ADP database are the manufac-turers’ suggested retail prices, the“Parts Exchange New” system al-lowed the names of dealers discount-

ing these retail prices to be listed onan estimate. More than 30 dealerswere discounting retail prices throughthe system.

Shop owners at a previous CICmeeting had pointed out that whilethe discounted retail prices affected

what insurers will pay, the shop wasstill being charged the same whole-sale price.

“The dealers are not giving a dis-count, they’re not givinganything up,” Californiashop owner Darrell Malottsaid. “They’re selling atwholesale anyway. Allthey’re doing is putting a dif-ferent retail price downthere. They can mess withthat list price all they wantbecause it doesn’t changewhat they sell it for. The sys-tem encourages them to playthat game and at no cost tothemselves. They’re givingaway our margin for their ad-vertising so that they can beselected by a third-party tomake us buy from a particu-

lar OE vendor, and they didn’t haveto give up a thing.”

►As reported in Autobody

News. ADP’s Claims Services Group(including its estimating system) wasacquired by Audatex (now AudaEx-plore) in 2006. Tuuri (who left Auda-tex in 2004 and spent four years withI-CAR) became AudaExplore’s vicepresident of industry relations in2007. Malott died in 1999.

15 Years Ago In The Collision RepairIndustry (October 1999)After losing a $456 million class ac-tion jury verdict and being assessedan additional $730 million by the trialjudge, State Farm has stopped writ-ing for non-OEM crash parts on itsestimates.

The class action trial concludedearly in October in Marion, IL, withthe 4-man, 8-women jury findingagainst State Farm. A week later, trialjudge John Speroni assessed the in-surer a financial penalty, including$600 million in punitive damages.The total judgment against State


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

California shop owner Darrell Malott was among thosecritical in 1994 of an ADP tool that allowed dealers topromote discounted retail parts pricing through the ADPestimating system. ADP eliminated the system inresponse to industry criticism.

Farm came to $1.1 billion. The in-surer plans to appeal.

In response to the verdict, StateFarm stopped promoting non-OEMcrash parts. A State Farm memo to itsemployees dated October 6 said, “Ef-fective immediately, State Farm willtemporarily suspend quoting non-OEM crash parts on repair estimates.This decision applies countrywideand in Canada, until further notice.”

►As reported in Hammer &Dolly. Other insurers also halted useof non-OEM parts temporarily, butmost returned to the practice of call-ing for their use. State Farm has not,at least in the case of 25 parts types,including hoods, fenders, doors anddecklids. The insurer did, however,appeal the ruling all the way to theIllinois Supreme Court; in 2005, thatcourt overturned the lower court’sjudgment against the insurer. Thecase remains in the news, however,because of a pending lawsuit overwhether one of the judges on the Illi-nois Supreme Court at the time itoverturned the verdict should haverecused himself from the case be-cause of election campaign donationsthe lawsuit alleges he received fromState Farm.

10 Years Ago In The Collision RepairIndustry (October 2004)The Automotive Aftermarket Indus-try Association’s recently releasedstudy, “Collision Repair Trends,” ex-amines a number of the trends thatcontinue to reshape the collision re-pair industry in the United States.

“Total collision repair-relatedsales by aftermarket repair shops in-creased 5 percent in 2003 to $34 bil-lion,” the report states, noting thatthis was driven by an increase in thenumber of miles driven and the in-creasing cost of collision repair pervehicle.

The study forecasts that saleswill increase 5.4 percent in 2004 andan additional 5.1 percent in 2005.

AAIA found that there wereroughly 43,360 shops that specializein collision repair—34,700 independ-ents and 8,600 dealership affiliatedbody shops. That’s a decline of about2,000 shops since 1999.

►The AAIA earlier this year re-branded itself as the “Auto Care As-sociation.” The total collision repairmarket is now estimated at about$33.7 billion—about the sameamount as a decade earlier—but iftotal industry revenue had grown just

by the rate of inflation over thedecade, today’s collision repair mar-ket would need to be about $44 bil-lion to be equivalent. The currenttotal number of shops is estimated atabout 40,100—about 3,200 fewerthan a decade ago, a decline of 7.4percent. Dealership shops account formuch of that decline, dropping toabout 6,350 (down by more than2,200) while there are about 900fewer independent shops.

5 Years Ago In The Collision RepairIndustry (October 2009)Last month’s press conference by Con-necticut Attorney General RichardBlumenthal in which he condemnedsteering by insurers prompted a Hart-ford Business Journal columnist towrite that, “It’s probably not the state’sbusiness whether you, your insurer, oryour Momma chooses the body shopthat fixes your car.”

If someone trusts an insurerenough to do business with them,freelance writer Laurence Cohensaid, why wouldn’t they trust them tosuggest a particular body shop evenif other shops “are unhappy about notbeing included in the big hug fromthe insurers” and say that the pre-

ferred shops “often attach new equip-ment with used chewing gum.”

In a letter to the editor of thepaper, Bill Denya, owner of Denya’sAuto Body in Meridan, CT, and aboard member of the Auto Body As-sociation of Connecticut, said whatcustomers “don’t know about thosesecret deals is that the insurance com-panies typically put huge pressure onthese preferred body shops to reducecosts—and increase insurance com-pany profits.”

Denya said Cohen may havebeen joking about “chewing gum”being used in repairs, but that the as-sociation has “documented countlessinstances of these shops doing signif-icantly substandard repairs.”

“If you needed heart surgery,would you allow your insurance com-pany to select the least expensive sur-geon for the job or would you wantthe best surgeon possible?” Denyawrote.

►As reported in CRASH Net-work (www.CrashNetwork.com), Oc-tober 12, 2009.


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In last month’s Better BlueprintingPart One, we discussed reasons thatshops have failed at Blueprinting. Thismonth we will focus on performingBlueprinting, and how it can greatlybenefit your collision repair shop.

Blueprint Admin StaffingOver the years I tried numerous vari-ations and combinations of people tostaff a Blueprinting program. All ofthem worked better than no Blue-printing program, but some combina-tions definitely worked better thanothers. Much of what influences yourBlueprint staff is simply the size andvolume of your shop. Many clientsrun smaller shops where people wearmany hats. In a small shop it is not un-common for the manager to also bethe estimator, the parts guys and theBlueprint guy. It is pretty easy to de-termine how to staff a really smallshop, but what about a shop that is alittle bigger? I recently worked with a

client that had two estimators, one ofthem liked being in the shop and thesecond one was better at dealing withcustomers. So we moved one of theminto the shop to be the Blueprint Ana-lyst, and the other efficiently handledthe entire volume of customers as theCustomer Service Manager. You mayneed to experiment with differentstaffing combinations to make it workfor your unique needs.

Blueprint Technician StaffingThe best Blueprint team I put togetherhad an older and very knowledgeabletechnician working alongside an ap-prentice disassembly technician. Thiswas a high volume shop and the teamworked in a dedicated Blueprint work-space with a Blueprint analyst whonever left his station. Many advancedshops have taken advantage of the ben-efits that creating a team system brings.It is still possible to use a dedicatedBlueprint area with individual flat rate

techs who are not paid as a team, butthere is a lot of movement of tools andpeople. Some shops using rolling com-puter carts are finding some successperforming the Blueprinting in thetechnician’s stalls. It works, but I stillprefer a dedicated area. Again, there aremany ways to create a Blueprint staffand each shop is going to be a little dif-ferent than the next based on skill level,shop size, personalities, etc.

SpaceDon’t fall in the trap of believing thatyour shop may be too small to be suc-cessful with Blueprinting. I have ana-lyzed damage in space from 2,000 sq.ft. to over 60,000 sq. ft. and the prac-tical application is still the same.

1. Disassemble and analyze the dam-age.2. Move the car until enough parts ar-rive to continuously work on it. (No-tice I said continuously.)

3. Move the car in and fix it. The keyhere is to only allow vehicles on theshop’s repair floor once they are readyto be worked on continuously. If youfollow this discipline, you will findshop space you knew you never had! Some setups used by successful shops:● One or two dedicated Blueprintstalls inside the shop

● Laptop or dedicated computer in theBlueprint area● If possible, keep the area accessiblefor tow trucks● Keep fasteners and fluids in theBlueprint area


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

Better Blueprinting, Part 2: How to Set Up a Blueprinting Area

Recommended ToolsIn addition to the usual hand tools, thefollowing items are needed to com-plete the inspection procedure:1. Parts cart 2. Clipboard 3. Tape measure 4. Tram gauge 5. Tread depth gauge

6. Small mirror 7. Flash light/drop light 8. Mobile Estimating system 9. Creeper 10. Collision estimating system11. Access to OEM parts schematics12. Colored markers 13. Heavy Gloves 14. Safety Glasses

Better Blueprinting TechniquesStep 1. Vehicle Check-inEven though the process of perform-ing a “check-in” with the customerduring vehicle drop-off may not beconsidered a part of the Blueprintprocess, the information obtained isabsolutely vital to the Blueprint. Withthe customer present, this process in-volves walking around the vehicle and

communicating and documenting thefollowing. It is a great way of com-municating the customer’s concernsindirectly to the Blueprint Analyst toensure things don’t get missed!● What damage is a result of the acci-dent?● Unrelated prior damage?● Upsell opportunities?● MILs such as check engine warninglamps on dash – prior or related?● Anything unusual about the vehi-cle’s performance mechanically?● Touch-up paint and other “freebie”promises

Step 2. Identify Mechanical IssuesIdentifying mechanical issues prior todisassembling and disabling a dam-aged vehicle is always preferable. (Butnot always possible.) Everyone can re-late to the delays that are caused whenthese problems are discovered on theday the car was supposedly going to beready! In a collision, mechanical issuescould involve many things; howeverthe most common are suspension, airconditioning /cooling system, wiringand supplemental restraint systems. Irecommend that first you address theseitems by:● Review the customer concerns onthe check-in sheet● Test driving● Performing suspension alignmentprior to disassembly (if possible)● Using a scan tool to help diagnosetrouble codes (check engine lights, etc.)● Always ask the customer how manypassengers were in the car, especiallyif restraint systems were deployed.Check those seatbelts!● Check interior electronics, heat/air,etc.● Check fluid levels

Step 3. Communication between Esti-mator and TechnicianHow many times have you seen a tech-


See Better Blueprinting, Page 28

nician take the front bumper off a carthat was in the shop to get the rearbumper fixed? This is not a compli-cated step, but one that is often skippedwith costly results. Shops need to in-clude this step as a standard procedureand hold people accountable becausethe technician must be properly in-formed prior to touching a singlewrench to the vehicle! Make it part ofyour program to have the estimator orBlueprint Analyst go over the check-in sheet with the technician and alsoreview the estimate if one had beenpreviously prepared. Use the next step(visual mapping) to help with thiscommunication as it will clearly indi-cate what parts need to be removed inorder to properly analyze the damage.

Step 4. Visual MappingA great form of communication be-tween the Blueprint Analyst and thedisassembly tech is the use of a coloredwater marker to write on the vehicle or“visual mapping.” It can sometimes bedifficult to pull the technician aside foran extended period of time to discuss

the details of a particular vehicle’s dis-assembly requirements. This techniquecan help by writing the instructions onthe car in advance. This technique canalso be used by the customer servicerep who is identifying damage duringvehicle check-in and is particularlyhandy when there are multiple dents orscratches on a single panel, somewhich are supposed to be repaired, andsome that are not. When doing visualmapping, you can use any color youwish; however, I prefer to use trafficlight colors: red, yellow and green.

● Red = Don’t fix● Yellow = Caution, Don’t know iffixing yet?● Green = Fix it!You can come up with your own sys-tem of words, abbreviations, or sym-bols to mark the vehicle, but here area couple of the most common ones.

● X = Replace● R = Repair● RI = Remove and Install

Step 5. Meticulous Disassembly in Se-quence (if Possible)In this step, it is time to start disas-sembling the damaged vehicle. If youhave a dedicated Blueprint Analystwho will be keying-in the estimate asthe technician removes the parts, itwill be much easier to remove theparts in approximately the same groupsequence as your estimating systemparts groups i.e. bumper, grille, lamps,etc. This method is not always possi-ble, but you will find that removingdamaged parts and entering damageinto the estimating system with bothpeople following the same group se-quence (Step 10) will make your lifeeasier. You have probably heard the

terms “meticulous disassembly” or“100% Teardown.” This refers to thepractice of taking off EVERY dam-aged component that is bolted or oth-erwise fastened to the vehicle. Thispractice should not only include dam-aged parts but also parts being re-

moved for blend panels or that need tobe removed for access. Damaged as-semblies such as bumpers should notonly be removed as an assembly, but



Better Blueprinting



Zipcar Expands Car Sharing in Las Vegas with UNLVThe University of Nevada, Las Vegas(UNLV) launched a partnership withZipcar on Sept. 3 to offer its car shar-ing service to students, faculty andstaff on campus, as well as commu-nity members.

Two vehicles, a Toyota Priusand Ford Focus, are available foruse by the hour or the day, provid-ing a convenient and cost-saving al-ternative to car ownership. Thesenew vehicles at UNLV come in ad-dition to six Zipcars available at theMcCarran International Airport, in-cluding a BMW 328i, a Mazda 3Hatchback and a Toyota Prius.

The Zipcars will have designatedparking spots located on the UNLVcampus in Resident B Parking Lot forpick-up and return. Students ages 18and older and members of the localcommunity ages 21 and over can re-serve the cars via the Zipcar mobileapp for Android or iPhone, via the webwww.zipcar.com, or touchtone phone.

“Zipcar’s presence at UNLV isa continuation of our efforts to addconvenient alternative transportationoptions for our faculty, staff and stu-dents,” said Tad McDowell, directorof UNLV Parking Services. “Asmore students choose to live on cam-pus and as the UNLV community

turns to mass transit for their com-mute, Zipcar provides the freedomand flexibility for those without a caron campus to get where they need togo.”

“Zipcar and UNLV are bringingthe next generation of students thenext generation of mobility to theirdoorstep,” said Katelyn Lopresti,general manager for Zipcar Univer-sity. “With ‘wheels when they wantthem’ students can forget about thecost and hassles of car ownershipand enjoy the excitement of going toschool in an incredibly vibrant city.”

UNLV students, faculty andstaff can join Zipcar for $25, withrates starting as low as $7.50 per hourand $69 per day. Gas, insurance, andup to 180 miles of driving per day areincluded, and cars can be reserved foras little as an hour or for multipledays.

Zipcar has established relation-ships with more than 350 universitiesacross North America. More infor-mation is available at:www.zipcar.com/unlv. and by follow-ing @ZipcarU on Twitter.

ABRA Auto Body & Glass Expands WA OperationsABRA Auto Body & Glass, a lead-ing national damaged vehicle repaircompany, announced the opening ofits newest franchise repair center inEllensburg, Washington.

ABRA is one of the collision in-dustry’s largest and most-respectedmulti shop repair operators in thecountry. The company uses an oper-ational excellence philosophy thatsignificantly improves its operatingmetrics which distinguishes it fromcompetitors.

ABRA’s repair center portfolionow stands at 239 in 19 states. Thenew repair center is located at 641West University Way in Ellensburg,Washington, about 100 miles east ofSeattle. It is the first ABRA fran-chise in the state and is owned andoperated by Tom and Sandy Morris.

Mark Wahlin, ABRA’s VicePresident of Franchise Developmentand Relations said, “Part of ourgrowth strategy is to expand ourfranchise conversion rates in smalland midsize markets to help meetthe demand of our customers and in-surance partners in the communitiesin which we serve. Opening the El-lensburg ABRA repair center is an-other important step toward meetingour goals.”

ABRA franchise owner TomMorris said, “I am impressed withABRA’s operational excellence phi-losophy, their culture of ethics and in-tegrity. There is no doubt this is greatfor Kittitas County and a tremendousopportunity for our employees toflourish and grow.”

ABRA plans to continue ex-panding in the months and yearsahead as part of its aggressive na-tional growth strategy. It is activelyseeking new opportunities to acquirerepair centers and integrate them intoits industry-leading operating sys-tem. Interested parties in major mar-kets should contact Scott Gerling,Vice President of Corporate Devel-opment ([email protected] or763-585-6210).

For franchise opportunities insmall and midsize markets, contactMark Wahlin, Vice President ofFranchise Development/Relations([email protected] or 763-585-6315).

ABRA is committed to conduct-ing business based on responsiblebusiness practices including imple-mentation of environmentally sus-tainable initiatives, health and safety,and a commitment to the communi-ties it serves.




The Illinois Department of Insur-ance (DOI) is now providing onlineaccess for consumers to view insur-ance company records.

Insurance product filings, such asrates and forms, filed with DOI are nowavailable to the public through the on-line tool SERFF Filing Access (SFA).

Illinois became the third statenationwide to implement the newservice that will provide consumersdirect access to insurance records,the department said.

Prior to submitting a Freedom ofInformation request for records, the re-questor (whether a consumer or mem-ber of the media) may first check theinformation is available to them viaSERFF. All public records not legallydeclared by law to be closed, and forwhich DOI has legal custody and con-trol, are available for inspection.

Documents that are closed (notpublic) are not available on this web-site.

Filings will be available electroni-cally through SERFF upon the comple-tion of DOI’s review. Access SERFF athttps://filingaccess.serff.com/sfa/home/il.

SERFF was developed under theleadership of the National Associationof Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Illinois is Third State to ProvideOnline Access to Insurer FilingsPartsTrader Hits 1,000,000th Order Milestone

PartsTrader announced that it has suc-cessfully processed its 1,000,000thcollision repair parts job since itlaunched its online marketplace inFebruary 2012.

On August 7, Bowman’s AutoService Inc. of Flatwoods, Ky. openeda repair order on a 2011 Ford F-150and used PartsTrader to source andorder the required parts, marking the1,000,000th repair job that has beensupported by the PartsTrader systemin the last 30 months.

“I’ve been working with Part-sTrader for over a year now,” saidDoyle DeLawder, Bowman’s PartsManager. “This system makes it eas-ier to send out quotes and receive re-sponses. It really cuts down on myworkflow.”

Since the initial product launch,the PartsTrader team has workedthrough many product updates andenhancements, all driven by userfeedback such as from Bowman’sAuto Service, Inc.

“Our 80 plus US-based associ-ates have worked very hard for thelast few years to get us to this point,and we’re pleased that an ever grow-ing number of repairers across thecountry are turning to us for theirparts sourcing needs,” said Dale

Sailer, PartsTrader’s Vice Presidentof Business Development.

There are currently more than7,500 collision repair businesses and8,500 suppliers active on the Part-sTrader system, using the online mar-ketplace to process more than $1billion in parts orders annually.

“We’re thrilled to be the one-millionth parts job!” said DeLawder.

Sailer contacted Bowman’s tonotify them of the milestone andpurchased lunch for all of the shop’semployees to commemorate the oc-casion.

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Calif.-based Athens Administrators,a full-service, third-party claims ad-ministration services provider since1976, is expanding into Texas and ap-pointing Vance A. Root as executivevice president, in charge of drivingexpansion and operational efforts inthe Southern United States Region.

Athens’ move to the Texas mar-ket maintains its national growth strat-egy.

Root has over 25 years of expe-rience in the claims and commercialbrokerage arena and has developedclaims programs for some of thelargest accounts in the U.S.

In his role as executive vicepresident, Root will lead the com-pany’s new business developmentand expansion initiatives into Texasand surrounding states, as well asprovide management and oversightof Athens Administrators’ liabilityclaims unit.

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should also have all the grilles, lamps,moldings, fasteners, etc. removed.There are three main reasons that100% Teardown is recommended.

1. To reveal all hidden damage2. Ensure fasteners will be reused3. Facilitate ease in mirror matchingthe replacement parts

Step 6. Divide Parts by Good and Bad(R&R and R&I)As the technician is disassembling thevehicle, the parts being removed shouldbe separated and placed in two visuallyseparate spaces. One space for damagedparts (Bad) and another for parts justbeing removed and later re-installed(Good). I prefer to use a table to lay partsout, but you could also use the floor.

Step 7. Using a Clip SheetClips and fasteners tend to be an oftenoverlooked part of the damage analy-sis process and with costly conse-quences. Some shops consider clipsand fasteners an expense. When dam-aged or missing fasteners are captured

and billed out on the initial Blueprint,they become a profit center! I haveseen several ways to capture and recordthese, but my favorite technique is touse a clip sheet. By the tech taping asample of the damaged clip to a clipsheet and writing out the quantityneeded, the person entering the infor-mation into the estimating system willhave the information. There are two ad-ditional benefits to using this system.1. You can take a photo of the clipsheet to send to the parts vendor.2. The clips are where you can mirrormatch them until the new clips arrive. If your company stocks the neededclips, you should put the new replace-ment clips in a marked bag along with

the old re-usable clips so when itcomes time to reassemble the vehicle,everything the tech needs will bethere. It’s a term called “kitting” be-cause you are actually building a kitwith everything needed to assemblethe car on a parts cart.

Step 8. Re-backing Moldings and TrimAs mentioned, we are trying to build a“kit” for the technician during reassem-bly so cleaning the adhesive and apply-ing new adhesive backing on moldingsand emblems should be done immedi-ately after removing them. There areadvantages to re-backing the trim now.● If molding is painted, lessenschance of damaging paint later on● If they are going to break, it is bet-ter to know now so it can be added tore pair plan

● Is ready to go back on during as-sembly (part of the “kit”)

Step 9. Sequenced Analysis of Dam-age Using Arrow-Down MethodThere are several schools of thoughtabout what sequence to put damage en-tries onto the estimate. Most of us weretaught to start with the point of impactand then work outwards. I don’t agreewith this because it opens up too muchroom for error. Nearly 10 years ago, agood friend suggested that I should usethe information in the estimating systemand take it to the damaged car, insteadof the other way around. By keyingdown through every part in each group,you will now catch parts that may havebeen completely destroyed or torn offduring the accident. I also highly rec-ommend using actual OEM diagrams.

Step 10. Photo DocumentationIn addition to your company’s photostandards, I suggest getting photos ofthe parts as they are being laid out onthe table or floor. Your local insuranceadjuster will most likely appreciate it.

Step 11. Blueprint Verification Process,Loading Parts Cart


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Nationwide Mutual Insurance Com-pany began offering New Jersey autoinsurance policies in August, afterbeing approved to enter the insurancemarket in June.

“We are very pleased to welcomea company of the size and stature ofNationwide Mutual Insurance Co. toNew Jersey,” said the Department ofBanking and Insurance CommissionerKen Kobylowski.

“This is positive news for con-sumers as it gives them more choices.The company’s decision to begin offer-ing auto insurance policies here also in-dicates that the State’s insurance marketis strong and that the Administration’spro-growth policies continue to drawbusiness to the State.”

Nationwide, headquartered inColumbus, Ohio, will initially marketthe auto policies over the phone,through the Internet and through Na-tionwide’s agents in New York, Penn-sylvania and Delaware.

“Nationwide is excited about thisopportunity and the commitment theState and the Department have madeto enhance the regulatory climate inNew Jersey,” said Mark Pizzi, presi-dent and chief executive officer ofNationwide Insurance. “They haveopened the doors to more choices for

New Jersey residents and Nationwideis pleased to be part of this vibrantmarket. Expanding into the GardenState is an important step in Nation-wide’s goal to become a truly nationalbrand.”

The arrival of Nationwide meansthat nine of the nation’s top 10 auto in-surers are writing auto insurance poli-cies in New Jersey. The other top eightare: State Farm, GEICO, Allstate, Pro-gressive, Farmers, USAA, Liberty Mu-tual and Travelers. (American Family,the ninth largest auto insurance com-pany, by premium, in the U.S. does notwrite insurance in the Eastern region ofthe country.)

Overall there are 77 active insur-ance companies and 35 insurance groupswriting auto policies in New Jersey witha total of 5.4 million exposures and $6.82billion in written premiums in 2013.

Nationwide is not new to theNew Jersey insurance and financialservices marketplace. Nationwide of-fers auto insurance in New Jersey

through Harleysville Insurance Co.and Harleysville Preferred InsuranceCompany of Pennsylvania. Nation-wide merged with Harleysville in2012.

Nationwide wrote auto insurancein New Jersey previously, but left themarket in 1981.

Many Nationwide Financial Serv-ices and Nationwide Agribusinessproducts have been available to NewJersey residents for years. Additionally,Scottsdale, Nationwide’s excess andsurplus and specialty insurance com-pany, has served the New Jersey marketfor more than 30 years.

“Nationwide’s entry into the mar-ket is a major milestone for New Jer-sey,” said Commissioner Kobylowski.“The fact that we now have nine of thenation’s ten largest insurance compa-nies writing auto insurance here is aboth a testament to the strength andcompetitiveness of the market and an-other indication that New Jersey is agood place to do business.”

Nationwide Auto Insurance in NJ for First Time Since 1981ABRA Auto Body & Glass, a leadingnational damaged vehicle repair com-pany, announced it had acquired USACollision Centers in Harrison, WestChester, and Cincinnati, Ohio. Thenews follows ABRA’s initial entry intothe state in June 2014. Terms of thetransaction were not disclosed. The re-cent growth in Ohio is part of the com-pany’s strategy to increase its nationalfootprint. ABRA is one of the collisionindustry’s largest multi shop repair op-erators in the country. ABRA’s portfo-lio now stands at 243 repair centers in19 states.

“The acquisition of USA Colli-sion Centers represents a fantastic op-portunity to expand our presence inOhio and continue building on the ex-traordinary success we’ve achieved inthe region,” said Duane Rouse,ABRA’s president and chief execu-tive officer.”

Joseph Sanfillipo, Jr., founder andco-owner of USA Collision Centers,said, “I have complete confidenceABRA will continue the legacy myfamily and I have built over the years.There is no doubt our employees willflourish and our customers will receivethe highest quality repairs and superiorservice they’ve come to expect.”

ABRA Auto Body Acquires USACollision Centers

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Some body shops swear by Angie’sList and call it the “Anti-Yelp,” but inthe end, isn’t it just another advertis-ing-based review system? If you’renot familiar with Angie’s List, it’s apaid subscription supported websitecontaining crowd-sourced reviews oflocal businesses. They currently have2.3 million paid members, althoughthe company lost $1 million last year.

Right now, Angie’s List is underfire and many small service companieshave put her on their enemies list. PoorAngie is getting bad feedback fromsubscribers, investors and businessesalike, for bad reviews from low-ratedbusinesses, disappointing earnings, ex-ecutive departures, and lawsuits alleg-ing misleading practices. Then, there’sthe younger, hipper competition offer-ing similar information for free.

Angie’s List wants users to thinkthey’re consumer-driven, when in fact70% of their revenue comes from ad-vertising. “It’s not advertising fromCoca Cola, it’s advertising from thecompanies they rate,” Jeff Blyskal, asenior editor for Consumer Reportsexplained.

While companies do not pay to belisted on Angie’s List, companies canpay to appear higher up in the searchresults—which Blyskal believes com-promises the validity of the Angie’sList sorting system.

“If you’re looking for a contrac-tor, you’re only going to look at pageone or two. That skews the ratings,”said Blyskal. “It’s about who adver-tises and I don’t think they’re beingstraight with the public on that.”

In a recent statement, Angie’s Listfounder and CMO Angie Hicks said,“Angie’s List is built on a foundationof fairness and transparency. Every-thing at Angie’s List starts with theconsumers. The consumers give the re-views and assign grades. The compa-nies’ A–F ratings are the average of theconsumer reviews we receive. Com-panies that are A–B rated are eligibleto advertise with Angie’s List, but theymust offer a discount with that adver-tisement and if their grades fall belowa B, we pull their advertising.”

Hicks also noted that the companyputs itself through an outside audit inorder to determine that the data-han-

dling process is fair to all businesseslisted on the site, and that these auditshave “always found Angie’s List re-views a fair, impartial, trustworthysource.”

Angie’s List has been criticizedfor the fundamental contradiction be-tween its mission statement whichstates, “Companies can’t pay to be onAngie’s List,” while in reality its top-rated businesses are allowed to adver-tise. Small business owners (like bodyshops) are crying foul, because they’reaware of the fact that if a company ad-vertises with Angie’s List, their nega-tive reviews will be removed. Thecompany’s effort to keep advertisershappy reveals their conflict of interest,which is why subscribers and busi-nesses are claiming that Angie is play-ing favorites.

Angel Iraola from Net BusinessConsulting & Solutions in Santa Rosa,CA has advised his clients in the pastto use Angie’s List, because for manyyears it was better and more crediblethan Yelp, he claimed. But no longer,Iraola said. “The A- and B-rated com-panies on Angie’s List can buy theirway to the top of the default search re-sults and that makes it patently unfair.My automotive repair clients are grav-itating more now toward Yelp, becausethey’re not so blatant about giving spe-cial treatment to advertisers.”

One body shop owner (who choseto be anonymous fearing bad reviewsfrom Angie) said the following: “Itseems to me that just a few short yearsago Angie’s TV commercial was com-pletely different. She seemed to endeach one with the statement ‘no com-pany can pay to be on Angie’s list.’ But,now they’re forced to make money andadvertising seems to be the way they’redoing it. I think ‘truth in advertising’should pertain to everyone, especiallythose that claim complete transparencybut don’t adhere to their own claims.Do we even know if Angie is the realowner or just a paid actor like Flo onthe Progressive commercials? I’ve lostmy faith in this site, so we don’t use itanymore and we took their link off ourweb site as a result.”

How can a body shop owner becertain that Angie’s List is on the upand up or playing games with your re-

views? Iraola says do your due dili-gence and get everything in writing.“Angie’s List is just like any other re-view site” Iraola said. “They need tomake money somehow and at the be-ginning they were going to the cus-tomers to get it. But, how manypeople are going to pay $100 annuallyto find good, honest companies if theyknow that these companies are alsopaying for their positions on Angie’sList? That’s one of the biggest prob-lems with Angie’s List. Are the top-rated companies really there becausethey do excellent work or are theythere because they bought that spot?Once any review site loses its credi-bility and the end users doubt its va-lidity, problems will follow. I hopeAngie’s List can figure out a way tore-invent itself, so that my clients willwant to get involved and the cus-tomers will believe in it again.”

When it comes to review-basedsites, Iraola prefers Yelp to Angie’s

List, especially for body shops. “Yelpis more relevant and many shops stilldon’t like it, but in the end it’s theirbest way to go. I tell collision market-ing people to manage your Yelp pageand respond to every review, both pos-itive and negative. Use it as a tool andstay on it, because if you let a bad re-view sit, it looks like it’s justified. Andstay away from Angie’s List at least fornow. They will undoubtedly re-inventitself to a certain degree very soon, be-cause right now they’re losing trac-tion.”

Curtis Nixon is the president ofAutoBody-Review.com in Chino Hills,CA, a company that verifies everycustomer review by tapping into adatabase that confirms their identityand thereby gets true reviews for itsbody shop clients. “The big problemwith these review sites is that they donot contain verified reviews,” Nixonsaid. “We make sure that the customer


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See Angie’s List, Page 40

This is the most important step! Printthe estimate out. Check off each dam-age entry on your estimate as the cor-responding part is loaded onto the cart.If you have everything checked offyour estimate and there are still dam-

aged parts on the table or floor, youmay have missed something. It’s a sim-ple but very powerful technique. Fi-nally, be sure to place the parts in thesame manner as discussed in Step 6.When you orderly divide the good andthe bad parts on the cart, it makeschecking the replacement parts for cor-rectness (mirror matching) easier to do.

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doing the review indeed had their carrepaired by the shop they’re review-ing. We illicit the reviews by doing acustomer satisfaction survey andwe’re finding out that about 25% ofthe customers are writing reviews onour site as a result. This way, bothbody shops and customers can rely onthese reviews, because they’re real.”

AutoBody-Review.com chargesits body shop clients a monthly feeand does not offer advertising to getany shop at the top of any list. “Stay-ing objective is crucial and that’s whyour reviews carry weight. We nevermanipulate reviews or call customersto have them changed or delete anyreview, negative or positive. Ourplaying field is 100% level, so if ashop does good work, they getpraised and vice versa. Selling ads forprime positions is definitely a clearconflict of interest and not the rightway to do things, in my opinion. Thecustomers should dictate position, notthe almighty dollar and that’s why wewill never sell ads to our body shopmembers—ever!”


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Angie’s ListContinued from Page 32

Better BlueprintingASA-AZ’s Phoenix Chapter Board Prepares NextYear’s Schedule, Calendar Forthcomingby Chasidy Rae Sisk

During the weekend of Sept. 12, thePhoenix Chapter Board of ASA-AZmet in Prescott to discuss and estab-lish plans for the upcoming year.Though the board has been workingover the past year to schedule speak-ers and training for their member-ship, a consistent schedule has yet tobe established.

“The board’s goal was to createa calendar of activities that will serv-ice the entire Phoenix Metro area,”says Luz Rubio, Executive Directorof ASA-AZ.

Jeff Lovell, President and Ex-ecutive Director of ASA-Northwest,attended the meeting to help facilitatethe group’s discussions and guidethem toward completing their goal.

“The majority of the board mem-bers attended, and were prepared to becreative and commit to draft activitiesin their assigned area, with topics suchas industry marketing, employee re-tention, insurance, etc. The event wentvery well,” said Rubio. “The boardmembers took the planning very seri-ously, and the outcome was a list ofmeeting descriptions, dates and possi-

ble locations through August 2015.The calendar showcases meet-

ings in the East Valley, West Valleyand Central Phoenix area which willallow members to attend a meetingin their area. We will also be alter-nating the general meetings withsmall roundtable meetings to allowfor discussion on industry issues andgroup resolutions.”

ASA-AZ recognizes the impor-tance of developing a calendar of ac-tivities in advance because it givesmembers time to plan their atten-dance. As with all industry associa-tions, generating interest and engagingmembers is very important for boththe association and the industry.

“The board members agreedthat their value in being a member ofASA came when they started attend-ing meetings and becoming more ac-tive,” Rubio explains.

“The network of business own-ers that they interact with has addedvalue to their business. We, as an as-sociation, need to get the messageout to our members; it’s not aboutthe discounts that may go away atsome point, it's about the conversa-tions that take place at meetings.”

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

Over the past two issues (see Augustand September Autobody News), in-dustry attorney Erica Eversman hasoffered some insights into the varioustypes of documentation that collisionrepair facilities can use to protect theirinterests and help them obtain propercompensation for work performed. Inthe final installment in this series onrepair documentation, Eversman helpsexplain the purpose for and how to usethe Parts Notice/Authorization and theIndemnification/Hold Harmless Letter,with a few additional documents.

The Parts Notice/Authorization isan important form for repair shops toutilize since most states have statutespertaining to the use of used or after-market parts which requires the shopto notify the consumer if these typesof parts are used to repair their vehi-cle. When choosing the parts to use ina repair, the facility has several op-

tions: new OEM parts, aftermarketparts, or salvage yard parts (which theinsurance industry commonly refers toas “recycled parts”), but dependent onand subject to state laws, the repair fa-cility must be sure that the consumerunderstands which parts are being uti-lized in their vehicle—and that dis-closure can be easily be substantiatedby having their customers sign a PartsAuthorization.

Often, the insurance company in-structs the repair facility to utilize af-termarket parts in the repair, butultimately, the consumer is puttingtheir life in the repairer’s hands, not theinsurer’s. “Nothing gives a repairer theright to knowingly put an unsafe parton someone’s vehicle,” Eversman ad-monishes; however, there will be situ-ations that repairers face when they arenot entirely comfortable with the in-surer’s suggestion to use particularused or aftermarket parts in the repair.In those situations, if the consumer is

unwilling/unable to pay for new ornew OEM parts when the repairer hasconcerns about using used or after-market, Eversman states, “the repairfacility is ethically responsible for per-forming a safe repair, despite pressurefrom insurers, so the repairer must en-sure that the consumer is notified thatthe repairer really prefers to use differ-ent parts during the repair process.”

Although aftermarket or recycledparts may work just fine the majorityof the time, there is always the poten-tial for problems when parts used inthe repair are not new OEM. In theevent of an accident related to the fail-ure of these parts, the repair facilityneeds to make certain it has protecteditself by proving the insurer refused topay for new OEM parts, the consumerwas informed about the use of theseparts but refused to pay the differencefor the preferred parts, and the repairerpossesses this signed document estab-lishing the consumer’s notification and

consent. “People don’t want to thinkabout accidents,” Eversman points out.“Generally, they don’t think of it untilafter an accident when they’re alreadyvulnerable. We, as an industry, need todo a better job of educating consumersin advance.”

In addition to the Parts Notice/Au-thorization, repair facilities that areaverse to installing certain used or af-termarket parts should also ask theircustomers and the customer’s insurerto sign an Indemnification/Hold Harm-less Letter which explains that the re-pairer is only using the specified partsbecause both the customer and the in-surer insisted on them. This documentmakes the insurer liable for the use ofthe specific parts and documents theiragreement to pay for any lawsuits ordamages the repairer suffers for prob-lems with the parts. Insurers rarelyagree to sign this document, often opt-ing to pay for the appropriate part in-stead, but if the insurer insists on the


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Parts Authorization, Indemnification and More—Documentation Part 3

with Erica EversmanThe Legal View

Erica Eversman is an attorney, frequent speaker and author on automotive legal topics.She has been quoted in such publications as The Wall Street Journal Online, USA Today,Kiplingers Personal Finance, Cars.com, Yahoo! News and other trade magazines.

use of potentially unsafe parts and thecustomer agrees, the repair facilitymust protect itself from the insurer’sinfluence; otherwise, the insurer willclaim it has no responsibility for theuse of those parts in the repair.

Because manufacturers don’toffer a warranty on aftermarket parts,using these in a repair can lead to apartial or complete restriction on thevehicle’s bumper-to-bumper warranty.OEMs cannot automatically void awarranty due merely to the use of af-termarket parts, but they can restrictor void the warranty if the aftermarketpart results in problems with the vehi-cle or causes an accident due to partfailure or malfunction. Still, many in-surance companies’ DRP contracts re-quire the use of aftermarket parts, yetthey will not insure the shop’s liabilityif there is an issue.

Though insurers say they will“guarantee” the work of a DRP shop,doing so requires assuming liability,which insurers invariably try to avoid.While they generally say they offerwarranties on the aftermarket or usedreplacement parts, insurance compa-nies’ warranties do not cover the facil-ity’s workmanship unless specificallystated. As a result, consumers are too

often told by insurers that the insurer“guarantees the repair”, but if a con-sumer actually reads what the insureris guaranteeing, it is often nothingmore than a statement that it will try toaddress a problem with an aftermarketpart after the consumer has addressedthe warranty problem with the partmanufacturer. Eversman states, “theinsurance company’s guarantee is use-less. Warranties are like insurance poli-cies – they contain more exclusionsthan actual coverage. The insurers willsay they don’t fix cars—they just payfor repairs and that all of the decisionsfor how the vehicle was repaired werethe collision facilities; however, theirads brainwash consumers by creatingthe impression that insurers are in-volved in the repair. These ads focuson a magical restoration without theinvolvement of the consumer or the re-pair facility. Much of this glib adver-tising creates the wrong impression forconsumers that doesn’t reflect reality.”

Eversman also strongly discour-ages shops from offering a warrantyon anything besides their workman-ship, especially on parts. Thanks to theMagnuson-Moss Warranty Act, insur-ers can offer a warranty for the re-pairer’s workmanship and parts used

in the repair, though this puts them onthe hook to assume liability in theevent of a problem. Eversman advisesshops to “refuse the insurer’s demandsto offer aftermarket or recycled partswarranties. Repairers should clearlystate in all customer documents thatyou guarantee your services and repairwork, but never offer a warranty forany part used in the repair. Doing soonly subjects repairers to potentiallawsuits involving double or trebledamages and the payment of the con-sumer’s attorney fees if there are is-sues with the parts.”

In addition to the documents dis-cussed in detail throughout this three-part series, Eversman feels that shopsshould also be aware of some addi-tional documentation that they mayfind useful. The Customer Notice ofInsurer Deficiency is a form thatserves to inform the consumer of theirinsurance company’s refusal to pay fora proper, safe repair. Eversman notes,“this form can help with the public re-lations battle; the insurance companiesdon’t like to be called out on their ac-tions, so they are more likely to han-dle the problem. It also reminds thecustomer that you are the collision re-pair professional and that you are re-

fusing to perform an unsafe repair, de-spite the insurer’s demand that youbreach this part of your contract withyour customer.”

The Customer Notice of InsurerDelay keeps the consumer in the loopby alerting them to the fact that the in-surer is causing a delay in the repairprocess. The Vehicle Damage Insur-ance Election Form, which only ap-plies in first-party cases, is a documentthat the customer can send to their in-surance company demanding to knowwhat specific remedy under the insur-ance policy the insurer is choosing.This forces the insurer to definewhether it is “electing to repair” andaccepting all liability for the repair orpaying for the loss in money. Thoughthe insurer is unlikely to sign this doc-ument, the customer can note their re-fusal to responds to the request, andthis can be useful if a trial is necessaryas the insured has the right to demanda response from the insurer to ques-tions related to their claim.

A Notice of Additional Cost is anice way to inform the insurancecompany of an additional repair cost,granting them a specific amount oftime to respond before resuming the


See Documentation Series, Next Page

The marketing world has changed sig-nificantly during the past few years. Somuch has moved on-line that mostother marketing expenditures may nolonger make sense in your area. If youtrack results from your marketing ef-forts, you have probably noticed thelack of business coming from printads, print version yellow page, andother phone book ads. It may be timeto pull the plug on non-productivemarketing and make better use ofthose funds. As insurance companiesestablish toll-free numbers to reportclaims, you should probably stop mar-keting to most agents. Unless you havenearly unlimited funds to advertise justto keep your name in front of the pub-lic, you should probably end off radioand TV advertising. And stop payingfor useless advertising schemes. Thesemoves should free up money to pay forreal marketing results.

So where should you redirectthese funds? Mainly you want to dou-ble up on-line and live contact efforts.On-line yellow page, Superpage, andsimilar services will allow prospectivecustomers to find you. Enhancingyour website, Facebook page andother social media will be one gooduse for expanded expenditures, butthis should only be a start. As the vol-ume of collision repairs decline due toadvances in vehicle accident avoid-ance technology, to survive shops willhave to embrace other profit centers.This may call for a new mindset notfamiliar to most shop owners andmanagers. For example, merchandisestore marketing rule number one is“Get as many people as possible intothe store!” People like to go to famil-

iar places and prefer not to have to tryout a new place if they are happy withthe old one. The intent is always tomake a prospective customer’s firstexperience so incredible, they will al-ways come back first before trying outany other place. How can a shop makeuse of this fundamental principle?

Perhaps it’s time for shops tocopy what dealerships have done fordecades. Shop owners and managersaccustomed to $2000 repairs and up,may scoff at a couple of hundred dol-lars here and there in profits fromvending machines, accessories, audiosales, and cosmetic automotive mer-chandise. But keep in mind that many“profit-centers” have a second benefitas marketing opportunities. Everynew person that comes into the shopshould be given a powerful propa-ganda piece. This should be a bookletfeaturing the shop’s “special” features.Shop personnel often think prospec-tive customers know what equipmentshops have, and what they do, but thisis rarely true. A booklet should spellout why a shop’s frame machine,welding equipment, and painting ca-pabilities are better than the competi-tion, and why special skills inrepairing hybrids, electric vehicles,exotic cars and more make this thebest shop to repair a vehicle. The real-ity is the public is generally unawareof shop expertise, and the unspokenmessage of the booklet is that ourcompetitors are unlikely to have thishigh quality equipment and systems(even though they may have it too).

Sharing or piggybacking busi-nesses is increasingly popular as rentsgo up. Local grocery stores now often

have a Starbucks or similar conces-sion in the store. Some hamburgerchains now have a donut vendor con-cession or a pizza concession sharingthe space. Sharing the cost of a spaceagain frees up funds for marketing andperhaps advertising deals on lineusing Craig’s List, eBay and othersites. Auto glass, headlights, acces-sories, cosmetic fixes, running boards,pet restraints,, child proofing, oldercars with no GPS are all profit-centerprospects for sales and/or installationsand add new names to an e-mail mar-keting list. A shop might want to part-ner with an automotive accessoriesvendor and provide an alternate dis-play area—and not only share in thesales profits, but also profit from in-stallations and again capture prospectnames. In a shop where estimatorsonly write estimates a few hours aweek, product sales and installationfees can be an on-going supplementalcommission opportunity.

Beyond front office space, a col-lision repair shop also has a hugeamount of space compared to mostbusinesses. Some shops open up re-pair space for mini-trade shows, andnot only for collision repair products.Convention centers are costly placesto hold trade shows, and small groupslike furniture and equipment vendorscould appreciate a local space to showproducts. This could bring in localbusinesses with company vehiclesand provide an opportunity to solicittheir vehicle repairs. Another alterna-tive is more community-based uses ofspace. Sundays some shops makeopen space available for meetings,church groups, school groups, andboy or girl clubs or activities.. Kid’sactivities bring parents, especiallymoms who can be good prospects forvehicle repair. Redirecting marketingfunds like this will generate far moresales than old-style advertising andpromotions.

End Useless Marketing—Redirect Funds and Get Results!


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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

repair, since this saves rental car timefor the insurer. It also gives the im-pression that the insurance companymust respond to you because you’rein control of the repair process.Lastly, an Authorization and Releasegives you the right to use photos orvideos of the repaired vehicles foryour own purposes (such as on your

website).Obtaining proper repair docu-

mentation is essential to providingcustomers with the best possible re-pair. Eversman encourages all colli-sion repair facilities to protect theirbusinesses by contacting a local attor-ney to begin drafting these vital doc-uments.

Erica Eversman is the ChiefCounsel for Vehicle Information Serv-ices, Inc. and founder of the Automo-tive Education and Policy Institute.


Documentation Series


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AudaExplore Study Finds Major Gap in Trust and Customer Satisfaction in Collision Repair ExperienceAudaExplore™ has released a studyshowing a major gap in trust and cus-tomer satisfaction in repair shops andinsurance carriers. The study foundthat collision repair technicians are lesstrusted than many other professionsand that almost half (48 percent) ofconsumers surveyed believe that repairshops sometimes, rarely or never pro-vide great customer service. Insurancecompanies didn’t fare much better,with only 22 percent of respondentssaying carriers decreased their stresslevel after a car accident. There is aclear consensus that repair shops andinsurance carriers must improve in theareas of communications, trust andprice.

“With increased competition,employee turnover, evolving vehi-cles, digitally empowered consumersand endless streams of data, the re-lationship between customers andcompanies has changed dramati-cally,” explains Adam Vasquez, VPMarketing, AudaExplore. “We areliving in the Era of Disruption, andproviding a great customer experi-ence is more important than ever. Inthis new era, it’s not just about thenumber of shops or the size of yournetwork; it’s about building trustwith constant communication and

transparency throughout the repairprocess.”

CommunicationsWhen it comes to delivering a greatcustomer experience, communicationis the driving force. According to thesurvey, respondents find timely elec-tronic updates valuable, with morethan one in three wishing they re-ceived these more often. In fact:● 74 percent say they would like tobetter understand the work their repairshop is doing.● 62 percent say that it would be veryor somewhat valuable to receivetimely electronic status updates, suchas email alerts, text messages, or so-cial media notifications during the re-pair process.● Being kept informed on progress ofrepairs ranked highest (4.2 on a scaleof 1-5) among a list of eight customerdesires.

TrustOut of five professions (teacher, doc-tor, law enforcement, automotive col-lision repair technician and lawyer)collision repair technicians rank sec-ond to last on the trust scale. Twenty-eight percent of those polled reportedtrusting collision repair technicians the

least. In addition:● Only half of those surveyed believethat repair shops always or often pro-vide the most qualified technicians.● Less than half (49 percent) believetechnicians always or often performonly repairs that are necessary.

CostOverall, respondents would like more ac-curate estimates and better premiums, andthey don’t believe insurance providers aredoing a satisfactory job in this area.● Only 34 percent of those surveyedbelieve a fair price is charged alwaysor often.● Almost half (46 percent) of respon-dents say that repair shops sometimes,rarely or never deliver a final price thatmatches the original estimate.● For insurance carriers, more thanone-third (34 percent) of those sur-veyed say they would like more accu-rate collision repair estimates.

“The research shows that there isa gap today with customer expecta-tions that is having a negative impacton insurance carrier and repair shopbusiness,” continued Vasquez. “Byleveraging advanced data and technol-ogy to manage customer expectations,insurance carriers and repairers cankeep customers informed, making re-

pairers more trusted and helping tobetter manage the difficult price con-versation.”

This study sheds light on some ofthe present issues in the collision repairindustry, unveiling that ultimately, com-munications is the driving force behindcustomer satisfaction. By solving thesechallenges, customers will not only bemore informed and trusting, but com-panies will position themselves to besuccessful in a competitive marketplace.

For more details about the study,please visit www.collisionrepairinsights.com.

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Lawmakers and regulators on a state,federal and international level areworking to make sure they can stayahead of the quickly-developing “dri-verless vehicle” technology—but whatwill it mean for collision repairers?

That was one of the questionsconsidered in a presentation at themost recent Collision Industry Confer-ence (CIC), held in Detroit, Mich. Thecommittee looked at what laws andregulations are being enacted sur-rounding the technology, and what thatcould mean for collision repairers, in-surers and other industry segments.

Steve Regan, chairman of thecommittee, said that for insurers, thenew and costly safety-related equip-ment involved in autonomous carswill impact repair costs. Access to oruse of “black box” data will continueto be an issue. And liability related tothe repair of the vehicles could be anissue for insurer offering garage-keep-ers, as well as liability policies for col-lision repairers.

The auto manufacturers and sys-tem suppliers will potentially face lia-bility if their systems are controllingthese vehicles, Regan said, but someof that liability is addressed in thestate and federal regulations being en-acted.

“We started tracking these lawsand noticed the missing component,”Regan said. “There’s no protection inany of these laws for those who are fix-ing the cars.”

That’s an issue the industry willneed to continue to monitor, Regansaid.

‘Length of rental’ formulas discussedAlso at CIC in Detroit, a panel tack-led a new twist on the issue of cycletime. The topic: Do insurer formulasused to calculate the number of “rentaldays” on an initial estimate drivedown cycle time? Do they set unreal-istic expectations for consumers? Dothey add friction and inefficiencies?Or do they do some combination of all

of these things?Pat O’Neill of Bodyshop Revo-

lution, who moderated the discussion,noted that there is a wide variation inthe formulas shops and insurers use todetermine expected “length of rental”(often used as a proxy of “cycle time”)and even in the statistics about averagelength of rental that are reported by the

rental car compa-nies or informationproviders.

Data providedby Enterprise Rent-a-Car, for example,found that lengthof rental in the sec-ond quarter of this

year averaged 10.7 days nationally, butranged from a low of 8.9 days to a highof 14.1 days in another. With a 5-daydifference between some states, repair-ers on the CIC panel asked, is it reason-able for an insurer to set length of rentalexpectations using a national formula?

Panelist Darrell Amberson of

LaMettry’s Collision in Minnesotaread some of the formulas that theCIC committee had collected that in-surers use (or require their direct re-pair shops to use) to establish theinitial completion date, which may beincluded on the paperwork given tothe vehicle owner. Those formulasranged from one day for every threehours of labor to one day for every sixhours of labor on the estimate. Someformulas allow the shop to excludeweekends or delays caused by parts.

Panelist Aaron Schulenburg ofthe Society of Collision Repair Spe-cialists said one insurer acknowledgedto the association that it recognized itshours-per-day formula for its direct re-pair shops was outside the norm forthe industry, but that it set that goal tomake sure its shops prioritized that in-surer’s work over one who had set anunrealistic hours-per-day goal to try toget its work prioritized.

If the goal is to drive perform-ance, Schulenburg said, that’s one


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Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

John Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon who has been writingabout the collision industry since 1988. He is the editor of the weekly CRASH Net-work (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com). Contacthim by email at [email protected].

CIC Committees Look at Autonomous Vehicle Issues, Impact of “Length of Rental” Formulas

Pat O’Neill

thing. But when it establishes unreal-istic expectations for the consumer,and requires multiple adjustments bythe shop and rental car company to thecompletion date information, that im-pacts efficiency and customer satis-faction. He said it’s also unfair for ashop to have to pick-up the cost of arental if repairs exceed a calculationbased on an unrealistic formula.

“The shop didn’t sell a rentalcoverage policy, and they didn’t profitfrom the sale of that policy,” Schulen-burg said.

“My concern is: Is that the bestway to drive behavior,” Ambersonasked about the formulas. “If you’regoing to push us to fix cars faster, isthat really the best way to do it? Imight suggest there are more cooper-ative ways to do this. This feels like anegative approach with a negativeconsequence if we don’t achieve whatyou’re looking for, and on top of thatcauses us to create an unrealistic ex-pectation to the customer, which onlyirritates and frustrates them.”

Amberson said that his companyis making an effort to reduce cycle timeby using blueprinting – but that “theformulas insurance companies usehave very little to do with the improve-

ments we’ve shown in our numbers.”Chris Andreoli of Progressive In-

surance, the lone insurance companyrepresentative on the panel, agreed thatthe customer should not be given inac-curate completion date information, butthat length of rental formulas can beused as a starting point in that conver-sation.

He agreed that using the same for-mula for every vehicle across the na-tion isn’t as accurate a system as he

believes the indus-try will develop asdata sophisticationimproves. He pre-dicted that at somepoint shops and in-surers will be ableto establish moreaccurate comple-

tion dates based on data that will in-clude year, make and model of vehicle,as well as market or region.

“I think that’s where the level ofsophistication needs to go in the in-dustry,” Andreoli said.

Not a lot of consensusThe panel did not seem to agree on howoften consumers currently are beinggiven an accurate completion date.

Curtis Nixon of UpdatePromise.comsaid his company’sresearch indicatesshops are hittingpromise dates 88percent of the time;however, he shareddata showing theimpact on CSIbased on the num-

ber of times a promise date changes, achart that showed the impact on CSI foras many as 12 such promise datechanges on a job.

The rental car companies on thepanel seemed to experience morechanges to the initial completion dateinformation than an 88 percent accu-racy stat indicates.

“We do see a lot of changes,” saidMckenzie Spalding of Choice AutoRental, a regional company in the TwinCities market of Minnesota. “It happensa lot.”

“We see an average of 2-4 changesthat occur per claim,” concurred FrankLaVioila, assistant vice president forcollision industry relations at Enterprise.

Amberson said using better datainstead of arbitrary formulas could re-duce or eliminate such changes, whichimpact shop and rental car company

efficiency as well as potentially lowercustomer satisfaction.

Because of such formulas, Am-berson said, “Sometimes we meet thecustomer’s basic expectations butwe’re not exceeding the customer’s ex-pectations. We’re not wow’ing them.We’re not creating raving fans. Andthat’s what we should be striving for.We should be striving for excellence,not just a tolerable experience for thecustomer.”


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It’s been a busy season for the Auto-motive Service Association (ASA) asthe national office prepares to relo-cate its headquarters in a few weeksfrom Colleyville, Texas, to nearbyNorth Richland Hills. In addition, theassociation recently held its success-ful NACE|CARS trade show in De-troit. Effective immediately, theassociation’s 800-ASA-SHOP (272-7467) number is changing to (817)514-2900. Please update your recordsto reflect this change. And effectiveOct. 1, 2014, the association’s newheadquarters will be located at 8209Mid-Cities Blvd., North RichlandHills, TX, 76182.

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Direct Repair Programs (DRPs) havebecome the main source of revenuefor body shops nationwide, and thatdoesn't appear to be changing anytime soon. While many collision re-pairers look at DRPs fondly, others donot. One body shop owner in southernCalifornia said enough to DRPs, andeven though his numbers have dippedslightly since then, he’s sleeping betterat night knowing his profits per car arecontinuing to climb.

Owner Hiten Adhvaryu, 36,purchased Quality Assured CollisionCenter in Long Beach, CA in 2007.In 2008, the shop had its worst year asthe economy imploded, but by themiddle of 2009, the business was al-most back to normal. Since then, theshop has improved its revenues everyyear.

Adhvaryu’s theory for success issimple--concentrate on the work andeverything else will fall into place.“The work comes first and that’s ourapproach,” he said. “There are thingsthat will happen in any business thatyou can’t control, but you can controlthe quality. Once we get a customer inhere, we go out of our way to exceedtheir expectations. Getting customersisn’t easy and we work hard to acquirethem, so once they’ve agreed to bringtheir car here, we want to perform at ahigh level. Repeat customers and re-ferrals are the backbone of any busi-ness and collision is a great exampleof that.”

Quality Assured operates out of a63,000-square-foot facility that wasbuilt in the 1940s, but Adhvaryu isproud of the fact that his approach tofixing cars is cutting-edge, not old

school. If there is a new form of tech-nology available to him, Adhvaryuwill adopt it without hesitation, hesaid, as long as it helps his business ina tangible way.

“I always want to be on the cut-ting-edge of every aspect of the newtechnology in this industry,” Adhvaryusaid. “We were one of the first shopsin the area to spray waterborne and afirst adapter with our management sys-tems. We’re ramping up to work on thenewer aluminum cars and our peopleare certified to work on the new FordF150s. If we can use something to doa better job, we will pursue it, but onlyif it makes sense for us.”

During the summer of 2010, Ad-hvaryu received a phone call from All-state offering to set his shop up on aDRP, he said. “They said we’ve beenwatching you and we’re seeing somegood things, so we’d like to set you upon the program. I was so excited and Icalled my brother to share the news.Business was good and we had just ex-perienced our best year ever. When All-state explained the DRP, we thought,this is too good to be true. Well, unfor-tunately—it was.”

After signing on the dotted linewith Allstate, reality started to seep inand the relationship quickly soured.

“It became evident that I had todo all the work up front and invest allthe money in parts upfront,” Ad-hvaryu said. “When we started theDRP we had to put up nearly $50,000for parts and labor because they werebringing us a lot of cars. That’s theway DRPs work and that was irritat-ing, but not a real deal breaker at thatpoint. But, when Allstate started mak-ing more demands, I realized this isn’ta true partnership. I began to feel likean employee instead of a partner.”

Adhvaryu had to change his busi-ness model to adhere to the DRP. “Wewere able to survive the financial im-pact, but it was starting to put a strainon the business. After that initial deluge,Allstate wasn’t sending us enough carsto justify the investment and then theykept re-inspecting our estimates andwrestling with us on every one. My pol-icy has always been to avoid debt at anycost, but this DRP had me in the holealmost right from the beginning. After a

while, we started asking ourselves, isthis really a good deal for us?”

Quality Assured’s lone DRP com-pletely fell apart when Allstate askedAdhvaryu to compromise the qualityof one particular repair.

“The final straw was when theywanted us to fix a car that I didn’t feelwas safe. It’s one thing to save money,but it’s another thing to make an unsaferepair in order to save a few bucks. Ivalue my customers more than anyamount of money in the world and Iwant to be able to sleep at night.”

Finally, Adhvaryu convinced theinsurance adjustor to come out andlook at the car. It was determined thatit shouldn’t be repaired, and thereforewas totaled. The price was too highand the risks too numerous, so Ad-hvaryu pulled the cord on the DRP.

“I told Allstate that I don’t want tofix a car and provide a lifetime warrantyon the work if the repair is not up to ourstandards. What happens if the cus-tomer complains for whatever reason?What can I tell them? So, I told Allstatethank you for the opportunity but takeme off the program right now.”

Amazingly, the world did not stop


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Owner Hiten Adhvaryu (back row, fourth fromleft) and his staff at Quality Assured CollisionCenter in Long Beach are proud to be known as“an independent that is independent from theinsurance companies.”

Quality Assured Collision Center in Long Beach,CA is DRP-free and flourishing


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K & M Collision, a NC shop that isknown for strong advocacy (see pre-vious story this page and search auto-bodynews.com), posted a consumer-

oriented video on YouTube that it pro-duced in support of Louisiana Attor-ney General Buddy Caldwell’s actionagainst State Farm.

“These kinds of unfair trade prac-tices aren’t just a problem in Louisiana,”owner Meredith Bradshaw states inthe video. “They pose a threat to con-sumers here in North Carolina andthroughout the United States.”

The text of a related video states“After an accident, one of the mostcommon things you’ll hear from aninsurance company is ‘if you takeyour car to a shop that’s not on our re-

ferral program or preferred list, wewon’t warranty or guarantee the re-pair’.

“This statement isn’t just mis-leading, It’s completely false.The insurance company doesnot, has not and will not war-ranty the repair even if yourcar is repaired at their directrepair facility.

“Let’s say you do followtheir recommendation, andtake your car to one of theirshops. If there are problemswith that repair, the shop it-self is liable, in exactly thesame way that K&M is liable

for any of the repairs that we perform.“The shop you choose, whether it

be an insurance preferred shop or anindependent shop, is solely responsiblefor the warranty on the repairs to yourvehicle.

“So why do insurance companiesmake this misleading statement to theirpolicyholders? It’s just another scaretactic.

“In reality, the insurance com-pany itself doesn’t provide any guar-antee. In fact, with the pressure theyplace on their shops to turn out highvolume, they create an environment

that’s more likely to result in bad re-pairs.

“But they don’t have to worryabout that. Because ultimately, the shopis responsible.

“At K&M Collision we don’tparticipate in referral networks. Ouronly priority is to serve our customersby fixing their car the right way. Youcan rest assured that any repair thatcomes through our doors is guaran-teed for life.”

A previous version of the videowas suspended from YouTube becauseof a copyright complaint from the In-surance Institute for Highway Safety(IIHS) due to its use of one of the or-ganization’s crash test clips. K & MVice President of Operations MichaelBradshaw alleges State Farm per-suaded IIHS to file the complaint.

“The basis of their complaint wasthat we used a few-second clip of acrash test to give our viewers a senseof the way a ‘crash management sys-tem’ works,” says Bradshaw. “Wefound this clip on YouTube, created bywhat we thought was an independent,nonprofit organization dedicated toconsumer safety. We’re also certainthat our brief, educational use of thisclip constitutes ‘Fair Use.’ However,

we didn’t notice that this ‘independent,nonprofit organization’ was foundedby State Farm.”

Bradshaw says K & M has coun-tered the copyright claim throughYouTube and is awaiting word on theoutcome. He says the video has gottenthe attention of the North Carolina At-torney General’s office, and they haveeven taken an interest in the IIHS’s ef-fort to remove K & M’s video fromYouTube.

“We will be documenting StateFarm’s efforts to get our content re-moved from the Internet and willcontinue to fight back and notify theindustry press about their actions,”Bradshaw says. “People should knowthat the IIHS, supposedly a non-profit organization dedicated to high-way safety, is nothing more than apuppet of State Farm, an organiza-tion responsible for putting unsafecars on the road.”

The new version of the video canbe viewed directly at http://kandm-collision.com/open-letter/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Video&utm_campaign=2ndVersionofAGLetter

A link can also be viewed at:www.autobodynews.com.


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K & M Collision Sends Second Version of ‘Open Letter’ Video to NC Attorney General

Meredith Bradshaw narrates the second version of theopen letter video. Previous videos are viewable online


An attempted auto theft at a collision re-pair shop in Pittsburgh, PA on August 30left the shop manager seriously injuredin the hospital and nine cars damaged.Pittsburgh police are investigating the in-cident that took place at Ultimate AutoBody Shop, in business for more than 30years. Mike Harlack, the manager, no-ticed someone getting into a new Subaruthat had just been dropped off that morn-ing and was ready to be put on the rack.

“He thought it was one of hisfriends at first,” said Joe Sokolowski,the owner of the shop. Sokolowski saidwhen the car started Harlack openedthe door to stop the thief. A surveil-lance video, aired on WTAE PittsburghAction News 4, showed Harlack beingdragged away by the car before hittingthe side of a tow truck and falling tothe ground, with a broken leg. Thethief sped away, hitting eight cars andtotaling the Subaru before runningaway.

Sokolowski said he wished thatHarlack wouldn’t have tried to stop thethief. “I just hope he’s going to be okay,”said Sokolowski, who has worked withHarlack since the shop first opened andconsiders his colleague a close friend.

Ultimate Auto Body specializes incomplete collision repair and works onthe police cars for the City of Pitts-burgh Bureau of Police and the MountOliver Police Department. The autobody shop is continuing operationsduring this difficult time; however,

Sokolowski said it is frustrating as asmall business to have Harlack in thehospital and the thief at large.

Autobody News contacted the po-lice department for an update andlearned no arrests have been made. Ul-timate Auto Body Shop is offering a$500 reward to identify the thief.


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A change in Jerry Ritieni’s routine onJuly 19 almost cost him close to $3 mil-lion. When the Extreme Auto Bodyowner stopped at Cumberland Farms inSyosset, NY, to buy $10 in Quick Piclottery tickets, he placed the tickets inhis center console, instead of their usualspot—clipped to his visor mirror.

There they sat until Ritieni foundthe tickets a month and a half later whilesearching for his Vermont house keys.After entering the numbers online at hisshop, he became a millionaire in theblink of an eye.

“I’m a joking-around kind of guy, so

my son, friends and employees didn’t be-lieve that I had won the lotto, until I spedout of the parking lot,” said the Massape-

qua local. “Kenny [an employee] said, ‘Ithink he’s serious, he hasn’t left the shop

during business hours in 22 years, andhe’s been gone for almost an hour!’”

Ritieni, 48, says that he will con-tinue to work. “The money is life-eas-ing, not life-changing,” Ritieni explains.“I never had a retirement plan, whichwas always a concern of mine, so it’snice to have that taken care of.”

Ritieni’s 20-year-old daughter and17-year-old son are his priorities, specif-ically their college tuition. He alsobought the building next door to hisshop for expansion purposes.

“I drove into a Maserati dealershipnext door to the lottery office while myson was in the car, just to mess withhim,” said Ritieni. Ritieni said he’s

happy with the way the community re-sponded to his win.

“I live by my father’s words: Behonest, be fair, and do the right thing,”said Ritieni. “A lot of the locals said I wonbecause of good karma and I believe thatto be true.”

Ritieni said he is not affiliated withany DRPs, and that the customer is thepriority. “Everybody wants to make aliving, but money is not my driving fac-tor,” said Ritieni. “I don’t believe in tak-ing advantage of people. At my shop,everybody gets what they paid for, andeverybody gets treated the same.” Aftera cash buyout and tax deductions, hecollected $1.3 million.

NY Shop Owner’s Forgotten Lottery Ticket is a Nearly-Lost $2.9 Million Winner

Theft and Serious Injury at PA Auto Body Shop

Extreme Auto Body owner Jerry Ritieni infront of his NY shop with the winning ticket(Photo courtesty of VICTORALCORN.COM)

www.a

when he quit his DRP, Adhvaryu said.“We’re actually healthier now than be-fore, because we’re not fixing as manycars but we’re making more per vehi-cle for the ones that we’re getting, with-out any DRPs. Our net is more and wecan say that we’re not sacrificing thequality of either the repairs or the parts.

“DRPs are a one-sided partner-ship between an insurance carrier andthe shop, and it is definitely not a win-win situation for both sides,” Adhvaryusaid. “In reality the only true partnerin our industry is the relationship be-tween the shop and its customers andit’s the only true partnership we careabout. Around here DRP stands for De-creased Repair Profits.

“My point is that the insurancecompanies should do what they knowbest which is to insure people and let theshops decide what's best when it comesto repairing cars,” he said. “In many in-dustries in this country, we let the con-sumer decide where they can take theirbusiness. There is a lot of informationout there for consumers to do researchand find really good shops that will

work for them and not the insurancecompany. If you balance the positivesand negatives in a DRP environment,only the insurance company gains whilethe shops and the customers lose.”

Adhvaryu said that while hisDRP with Allstate didn’t work out, hewould be open to considering DRPsagain in the future.

“We work with all insurance com-panies and I’d be open to listening totheir programs – if they make sense formy business. If they will allow me to doit our way without going into debt andcutting corners on repairs, I have noproblem working with them in a DRP.”

In the interim, Adhvaryu likes tocall his shop “an independent that is in-dependent from the insurance compa-nies.”

“We’re trying to get cars in here,of course, because if we’re not grow-ing we’re dying, but we want to do itthe right way. I know that the quickestway to get business is to hook up withsome insurance companies, but wedon’t need them. We’re DRP-free andhappy about it, because at the end ofthe day we have complete control ofevery repair, including the types ofparts we want to use and the way wewant to fix them.”


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DRP-FreeA new Denver Police Department(DPD) program asks shops to keep aneye on customers' damaged cars, andreport potential hit-and-run suspects toofficals. The purpose of the program,called Denver Auto Body Alert, is to“establish a two-way communicationbetween police and local auto bodybusinesses,” DPD said. Body shopowners who opt in will receive infor-mation about suspect vehicles believedto have been involved in hit-and-runaccidents. If a customer brings a simi-lar car in for repairs with matchingdamage, shops are asked to contact po-lice before doing any work that couldalter potential evidence. From kdvr.com

New CO Program Asks Shops to Report Potential Hit-and-Runs

New Caliber Shop Open in CAThe Encinitas Chamber of Commerceand City Council members Lisa Shaf-fer and Tony Kranz welcomed Texas-based Caliber Collision Centers to townduring a ribbon-cutting ceremony heldSept. 10 in Encinitas, CA. For itsEncinitas location, Caliber CollisionCenters chose to occupy an existingauto body repair shop at 204 NorthCoast Highway 101. Now there aremore than a dozen locations in the SanDiego region, 88 in CA and 188 in theU.S, according to a Caliber news re-lease. “We are committed to addingcenters across every Caliber market toprovide industry-leading customer con-venience and CSI metrics,” said CEOSteve Grimshaw.

Pittsburgh Glass Works OpensDistribution Center in NV

A Las Vegas, NV mother says her carwas disabled electronically on morethan one occasion, even though herpayments were never more than 30days late. During one of these in-stances, she was bringing her child tothe doctor, according to I-Team Re-porter Glen Meek.

Nevada law says a buyer isn’t indefault until the payments are 30 dayspast due. Now, legal aid lawyers aresuing the finance company, alleging thecompany has been violating the graceperiod. Mary Gibbs-Bolender boughta Chrysler Town and Country minivanand claims she did not learn until aftershe made her down payment that aPassTime GPS unit was installed.

The class action lawsuit was filedon behalf of Gibbs-Bolender and oth-ers in a similar situation by the lawyersfor Legal Aid Center of Southern Ne-vada and the Kemp-Jones-CoulthardLaw Firm. The suit alleges that the fi-nance company was violating Nevadalaw by repossessing the car and elec-tronically denying Gibbs-Bolender theuse of her vehicle.

NV Mom Sues Over Device ThatDisables Car

Car Submerged an Estimated18 Years Among 4 Fishedfrom Reservoir in Utah

Pittsburgh Glass Works (PGW) openeda distribution center in Las Vegas, NV.It is located at 4701 Cameron StreetSuite K, Las Vegas, NV 89103. “As aleader in the automotive replacementglass industry, PGW recognized theneed for this additional location to fillgaps in our service areas to our cus-tomers. We are excited and look for-ward to working with our existingcustomer base as well as new cus-tomers in the Vegas area,” according toofficials. PGW held a grand openingOct. 2, 2014 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Four vehicles were fished out ofPineview Reservoir, UT, on Sept. 13,2014 and a fifth was located, but isstill under water. Authorities in WeberCounty are investigating the situation.

Search and Rescue deputieswere testing new sonar equipmentwhen they stumbled across the uniquefind.

According to a press releasefrom the Weber County Sheriff’s Of-fice, the vehicles appear to have beendumped off the embankment of thepull-outs on the reservoir’s southside. The vehicles were found about30 to 50 feet out from the shore inabout 30 to 40 feet of water.

Search and Rescue dive teamsworked with a towing crew to hoistthe vehicles out of the water. Thefifth vehicle is located closer to thedam, and officials said that vehiclewill be removed later due to thelength of time it takes to extract thevehicles, according to Mark Greenand Robert Boyd of Fox 13 SaltLake City.

They say the first vehicle was aDodge Raider with a license platethat expired in 1996. The second ve-hicle was a Suzuki Samurai with aregistration that expired in 1999. Thethird vehicle was a Ford pickup truckthat expired in 1999. The fourth ve-hicle was a Toyota 4Runner that wasreported to be stolen out of OgdenCity on August 30 of this year.

The press release stated that nobodies were found and it is not be-lieved any of the cars were occupiedwhen they were submerged.

Officials are working to deter-mine if the other three vehicles werereported stolen, but they figure thereis a good chance that is the case, ac-cording to Fox 13.


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OEConnection Ships Updated CollisionLink ApplicationOEConnection LLC has launched anew version of the CollisionLinkShop application. It provides accessto OEM-quality part illustrationsthrough catalog integration, ensuringall the correct parts needed for repairare ordered. Shops will also have anew and improved workflow andWeb-based user interface, whichhelps streamline the parts orderingprocess and keep shops organized.

“We spent a great deal of timewith collision shops and dealers learn-ing about and understanding theprocess of buying and selling parts,and that has helped us identify newvalue-added features that are a part ofour next-generation CollisionLinkShop application,” said Bill Lopez, di-rector of collision and OEM programmanagement for OEConnection. “Ourprimary focus is to make sure we con-tinue to provide a parts procurementsolution that is easy to use while meet-ing the needs of our users, both bodyshops and automotive franchise deal-ers. Features we’ve included in newCollisionLink Shop focus on makingbody shops more productive and effi-cient when it comes to ordering parts.”

In addition, the new Collision-Link Shop will feature the ability tolocate, source and purchase recycledparts by providing an integrated

workflow with Car-Part Pro.“Car-Part is seen as a market

leader in recycled parts locating andsourcing,” said Lopez. “We feel byenhancing CollisionLink to includerecycled parts as part of our work-flow and feature set, we are deliver-ing a solution that builds upon thevalue it already delivers to currentbody shop users of CollisionLink.”

The CollisionLink Shop all-makes, all-models parts ordering andfulfillment solution is currently used bythousands of collision shops acrossNorth America on a daily basis tosource, price and purchase OE collisionparts from automotive dealerships. Six-teen automakers in the U.S. and Canadautilize CollisionLink to administer theirparts marketing programs, enablingdealers to more effectively competewith non-OEM parts suppliers for thesale of OE parts. Through Collision-Link, collision repair facilities are ableto more effectively manage repair costswhile improving repair quality, cycletime and customer satisfaction.

CollisionLink Shop is offered tocollision repair facilities at no cost.OEConnection will begin upgradingcurrent shops to the new version ofCollisionLink Shop this fall. Seehttp://marketing.oeconnection.com/clshopcomingsoon.

Former Texas Prosecutor Asks State to Pardon in FatalGM Crash, Accident Already Listed by GMA former Texas prosecutor has askedthe state to pardon a woman whopleaded guilty in a 2004 car crash thatkilled her fiance, saying she now be-lieves the accident was caused by afaulty General Motors ignition switch.

Candice Anderson was driving a2004 Saturn Ion in November 2004when the car suddenly veered off aroad and ran into a tree in Van ZandtCounty, southeast of Dallas. Her fi-ance, Gene Mikale Erickson, who was25, was killed. Anderson, then 21, wasseverely hurt.

Because there were no skid marks,authorities believed Anderson was atfault and charged her with negligenthomicide. Anderson pleaded guilty andwas sentenced to five years of proba-tion and 260 hours of community serv-ice.

GM has said the faulty switches –which have resulted in 17.1 million ve-hicles being recalled – have caused 13deaths. GM spokesman Jim Cain saidWednesday the automaker is not “con-firming the identity of any of the accidentvictims out of respect for their privacy.”

But Anderson’s attorney, RobertHilliard, said the National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration in Mayconfirmed for Erickson’s mother that

the crash was caused by a bad switch.In an email to Rhonda Erickson,

Kevin Vincent, chief counsel for the Na-tional Highway Traffic Safety Adminis-tration, wrote that although his agency“does not have direct information fromGM about individual identities, we un-derstand that GM counts Mr. Erickson’sdeath in its list of thirteen deaths.”

In a letter written this week tothe Texas Board of Pardons andParoles, Leslie Poynter Dixon, a for-mer Van Zandt County district attor-ney, said she would have dismissedthe case against Anderson if she hadknown about the crash’s true cause.

“It is my opinion that no actionor omission of Ms. Anderson was thecause of the accident that led to hercriminal charges. Had I known at thetime that GM knew of these issuesand has since admitted to such, I donot believe the grand jury would haveindicted her,” Dixon wrote.

Dixon, now in private practice,did not immediately return a phonecall on Wednesday.

“I feel it is important that, at thispoint, we come together to do whateverwe can to alleviate any further damageand pain that this horrific tragedy causedher,” she said in the letter.


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The North Carolina State HighwayPatrol honored three citizens on a re-cent afternoon after they went theextra mile to help catch the killer of awoman that lost her life in a hit-and-run accident on May 21, according toreports by Annie Blackburn writingfor the Lincoln Times News.

First Sgt. Daryl Conley and Lt.Doug Amos were on hand to presentthe Second Mile award to 12-year-oldRandy Guardado, William “Bill”Boone and Gary Gaston, for goingout of their way as citizens to help lawenforcement in solving the hit-and-rundeath of Sherry Kittle.

The antennae from the vehicle ofinterest was found in the grass just be-yond the scene of the investigation onU.S. 321 near Summerow Road whereKittle was hit, said Sgt. Kelly Stewart.

Travis Kirk Fitzpatrick, 33, wascharged with felony hit-and-run afterofficials say he struck and killed SherryKittle on Highway 321 near Lincolnton.Fitzpatrick eventually turned himself in.

Troopers worked with Skeet’s AutoBody Repair & Wrecker Service inConover, where William “Bill” Boonewas able to determine that the antennae,together with pieces of a broken right frontheadlight, were from one of three Chevymodels—a Suburban, Tahoe or Silver-

ado—from between 2001 and 2006.After information from a result-

ing Crime Stoppers tip, troopers wentto a residence on Little MountainRoad in Sherrills Ford, where theyfound a gray Silverado truck withdamage to the windshield, grill, head-light housing area and passenger side

mirror, as well as a missing antennae.The truck was in a secluded wooded

area, parked next to a building down adirt drive from the home, officials said,noting it was not visible from the road.

Fitzpatrick was not at home. Buthis mother, who also lives at the resi-dence, gave investigators his cell-

phone number, they said.He was charged with felony hit

and run and placed under a $25,000secured bond.

Kittle was walking along MaidenHighway/Business 321 when she wasstruck by a vehicle that left the scene. Kit-tle was later pronounced dead at CMC-Lincoln. According to Sgt. Kelly Stewart,the supervising investigator on the scene,were it not for the actions of Guardado,Boone and Gaston, Highway Patrolmight still be investigating the crime.

Sgt. Stewart credited the chain ofevents beginning with Guardado and hisrespect for human life. The 12-year-oldwas so devastated by Kittle’s death thathe scoured the debris field in his yarduntil he found an antenna that helpedHighway Patrol narrow down the searchfor the suspect vehicle to a Chevy.

It was Gary Gaston that went a stepfurther. Though employed by the HighwayPatrol as a telecommunications manager,Gaston used his knowledge of the area andhis own time to further narrow the search tovehicles of the particular make and modelthat were owned by people who livedaround the scene of the hit and run.

After knocking on numerous doors,Highway Patrol was given the final tipthey needed to identify the suspect whichled to his arrest.

NC Body Shop Owner and 12-Year Old Help Authorities Solve Hit and Run

Members of the Kittle family, at left, posewith individuals who helped the HighwayPatrol investigate the hit-and-run death ofSherry Kittle: telecommunications shift su-pervisor Gary Gaston, Randy Guardado andBill Boone of Skeet’s Auto Body Repair

21st Century Insurance, a group of in-surers which are a part of the FarmersInsurance Group of Companies, hasfiled a lawsuit in the Superior Court ofNew Jersey against two medical doctorsand their professional organizations al-leging that they knowingly submittedfalse, fraudulent and misleading billing,treatment and testing records to obtainpayment for Electromyography/NerveConduction Velocity (EMG/NCV) stud-ies that it is alleged were not medicallyvalid for the reasonable and necessarytreatment of patients. The complaint alsoalleges that the EMG/NCV tests wereperformed inaccurately and interpretedin such a manner as to misrepresent theclinical condition and medical status ofpatients. The detailed civil complaintseeks restitution and reimbursement ofall monies paid to defendants as well ascompensatory and treble damages underthe New Jersey Insurance Fraud Pre-vention Act (N.J.S.A. 17:33A-1, et seq.)including investigation costs, costs ofsuit, interest and attorney’s fees. 21stCentury Insurance also seeks an orderdeclaring that defendants are not entitledto the payment of bills for EMG/NCVstudies submitted by defendants forclaims under automobile insurance poli-cies issued by plaintiffs.

21st Century Insurance Files SuitAgainst Two Jersey Physiciansfor Alleged Auto Insurance Fraud

Many body shop owners are contentwith making a decent profit, whileothers are willing to work toward bet-tering the collision industry in theirstate. Jerald Stiele, president of theAASP-MN and the owner of HopkinsAuto Body in Hopkins, MN, fits intothe latter category. Stiele, 40, is athird-generation body shop owner,who takes pride in offering full andmechanical collision repair.

Hopkins Auto Body was estab-lished in 1963 by Stiele’s grandfather,Floyd Stiele. Today, Stiele co-ownsand manages the shop with his uncle,Dale Stiele. “When I first came on-board fulltime, I was working as anestimator,” Stiele said. “Prior to that Iworked on and off through the sum-mers in high school and in college,cleaning the shop floor and maskingcars and whatever other entry leveltask that needed to be done.”

Initially, Stiele wasn’t expectinghis path to lead to collision repair.“After graduating from North DakotaState University with a degree in Eco-nomics, I did not go into the business,because at that time, the shop con-sisted of a six-car garage and therewasn’t room for me,” he said. “Today,we’re working out of a 26,000 square-foot shop that fixes approximately 150vehicles every month and employs 16people. I run the front office and Dalemanages the production/shop floorand we work very well together. But,getting into this industry wasn’t a slamdunk at the beginning.”

Stiele is proud of what AASP-MNhas achieved. “In Minnesota, we havea really strong association and we’reproud of the fact,” he said. “WheneverI travel to out-of-state conferences,people from other state organizationstell us that we’re a really well-re-spected group. We have a strong asso-ciation that starts with ExecutiveDirector Judell Anderson and a boardthat works really well together. Judell’sassistant Jody Pillsbury runs the officereally well and Tom Kluver is havinggreat success as our new recruiter.We’ve got a great team here and that’swhy we’ve been so successful.”

AASP-MN’s membership con-sists of 697 shops, both mechanicaland collision. We asked Stiele, “what

are some of your major concerns withthe future of the organization?”

“From a body shop’s perspective,we want to retain the control of ourbusinesses and our procedures,” hesaid. “The way we manage and orderour parts really concerns us and I knowit’s the same thing across the wholecountry. DRPs are a reality in this in-dustry and some of them can be greatpartnerships, but we don’t want to com-promise our work as a result. AASP-MN’s main concern is that we don’twant to lose control when it comes tothe parts and part venders that we useon our repairs. We’re being asked tohandle more and more of the adminis-trative work as it gets handed off to usby the insurance companies, so we con-stantly have to be adjusting to that. Itnow takes us additional front office staffto fix these vehicles, which of coursemeans that we’re making less profit onthese cars. Yes, we’re still profitablewith our DRPs, but we’re starting to seethat our DRPS are less profitable andwe’re obviously concerned about that.”

Stiele believes that in some cases,aftermarket parts are suitable. “New,OEM is not the only way to go in everysituation, in my opinion,” he said.“There are situations that call for the useof aftermarket or LKQ parts. As shopowners, we know when it’s right to usethem. The point is—we want to makethe determination and we don’t want tobe forced or coerced into making thosedecisions, because they can impact thequality of our work and cycle time.

“Minnesota is one of the few stateswhere we have aftermarket parts legis-lation on the books,” Stiele said. “If theowner does not want aftermarket partsthey can specify that. So it’s a matterof who talked to the customer first. Alot of times it’s the insurance companythat will talk to them and say ‘Hey---there are going to be aftermarket partsincorporated into the repair of your car.’They don’t ask, they tell them. It willfix it back to pre-accident conditionwith a lifetime guarantee and you knowso it’s up to them to say yes sometimesthat’s the case. In some cases, the after-market parts don’t fit as well, but inother cases, they work just fine.”

“Many shops are torn about thewhole topic of steering, but in a perfect

world it would be better to not exist al-together,” Stiele said. “If an insurancecompany is steering business awayfrom another shop, that’s bad obvi-ously. But, if they’re recommendingone shop over another, that’s called aDRP. Collectively at the AASP-MN,we agree that from the perspective ofthe entire industry, we’re better offwithout steering. We would rathercompete with each other fairly and gainour business through marketing anddoing a good job, by focusing on thingslike quality and customer service. Wehave anti-steering laws in Minnesota,which may lead to less steering--atleast that’s the intention.”

The majority of shop owners havea love/hate relationship with the DRPconcept, and Stiele is no exception.

“The DRP relationships are thebiggest change in this industry, nodoubt. Many body shops rely exclu-sively on their DRPs. Our DRPs makeup is around 40% of our total business.

We have three main relationships withlarger insurance companies, but handlea lot of customers and insurance com-panies outside of the DRP arrange-ment.”

It’s hard to say what the futureholds, but Stiele is excited to be work-ing in today’s collision industry in Min-nesota.

“We really enjoy using technologyto do a better job, whether we’re usingtablets or smart phones to capture datafrom vehicles and writing the esti-mates. We’re working on being alu-minum-ready and spending the moneyand time needed to get onboard in thatregard. It’s a significant investment asall of the necessary equipment isn’tcheap. It’s important for us to be readyas the manufacturers start increasingthe use different types of metals andmaterials. I can’t predict how many orwhen the new F-150s will start show-ing up, but when they do I want ourshop to be trained and ready.”


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The Collision Repair Education Foun-dation has announced the winners ofseveral scholarships it administers.

The Atlanta I-CAR VolunteerCommittee awarded a $5,000 studentscholarship to Godofredo Pacheco ofMaxwell High School of Technologyin Lawrenceville, GA, through the Col-lision Repair Education Foundationthis spring. This scholarship will assistPacheco with education costs to con-tinue his technical education study ofcollision repair. Funding for this schol-arship was made possible through thecommittee hosting annual golf and carshow fundraiser events.

I-CAR Georgia State Chairmanand Atlanta Committee Chairman GerryPoirier stated “The members of the At-lanta I-CAR Committee have continuedto focus on supporting new techniciansentering the collision field. This schol-arship will be the third awarded since2012 that will help replenish our dwin-dling technician base. The fundraisingefforts are a critical part of what ourcommittee members and supportingbusinesses have done to make thisscholarship a reality. Many thanks goout to everyone who made this possi-ble.”

The I-CAR Northwest Regionhas awarded two $1,000 collision stu-dent scholarships through the Colli-

sion Repair Education Foundation.Collision students from Washingtonwere eligible to receive these scholar-ships. Funding for these scholarshipswas made possible through the local I-CAR volunteer committee hostingfundraising events.

The 2014 I-CAR Northeast Re-gion collision student scholarship win-ners include:

Anatoliy Fesenko – Green RiverCommunity College (Auburn, WA.)

Michaelangelo Vega-Ortiz –Bellingham Technical College (Belling-ham, WA.)

PPG Industries Foundationawarded four collision students with$5,000 scholarships through the Col-lision Repair Education Foundation.These scholarships are awarded tofull-time students in a post-secondaryschool with a focus or degree in colli-sion repair and who have demon-strated interest and involvement in thecollision repair community throughextracurricular activities. The fundswill be used to assist students with ed-ucational expenses such as tuition,books, tools, and equipment.

The student winners of the 2014PPG Foundation Scholarships include:

Elizabeth Mahsem (Madison Col-lege, Madison, Wis.)

Ian Zapata (College of Lake County,

Grayslake, IL.)Rita Gonzales (Texas State Tech-

nical College, Harlingen, TX)Seth Cushing (NCK Tech, Beloit,

KS.)Additional funds were raised dur-

ing PPG’s recent MVP Business Solu-tions Conference in Phoenix, Ariz.,and these were used to create the PPGMVP Industry Student Scholarship.The selected collision student winnerof this $2,100 scholarship is AshleyThomas from Washtenaw CommunityCollege, Ann Arbor, MI.

“PPG strongly believes in sup-porting the future professionals of theindustry and assisting them with anytype of educational barriers theymight encounter,” said Domenic Br-usco, PPG Automotive Refinish, sen-ior manager, industry relations. “PPGhas supported the Collision RepairEducation Foundation for over 20years and we look forward to contin-uing our support and growing this re-lationship in the future.”

Industry members interested inworking together with the CollisionRepair Education Foundation in sup-porting secondary and post-secondarycollision repair students, instructors,and their school programs should con-tact Director of Development BrandonEckenrode at 847-463-5244.

Education Foundation Announces Scholarship Winners Including Nation-Wide Students

A Florida man has been chargedwith one count of trafficking incounterfeit engine control devices—an offence that carries a maximumpenalty of 10 years in federal prison.The goods at issue are counterfeitversions of goods produced and mar-keted by Hondata for use in modi-fied Honda and Acura vehicles.

In a plea agreement filed with aU.S. District Court, the defendantadmitted that, beginning in 2009, hearranged for Hondata’s K-Pro andS300 devices to be reverse-engi-neered. The counterfeit devices boreHondata’s trademarked name, aswell as counterfeit serial numbers.The defendant also admitted creat-ing counterfeit packaging, labels, in-structions and compact discs for thedevices.

The investigation in this matterwas conducted by the Federal Bureauof Investigation. For more informa-tion on how to protect your intellec-tual property, go to www.sema.org/ipr.

Counterfeit Engine ControlDevices Found in Florida

www.autobodynews.com


The Boyd Group Inc. has signed a de-finitive agreement and concurrentlyclosed the acquisition of Champ’sHolding Company, LLC (“Champ’s”)the company announced in a news re-lease on Sept. 12.

Champ’s is a premier full-serviceauto collision repair service providerin southeast Louisiana, owning andoperating seven collision repair cen-ters. Champs locations are in NewOrleans, 4047 South Carrollton Ave.;Elmwood, 200 Edwards Ave, Hara-han, LA; Kenner, 1601 22nd Street;Westbank, 3621 Lapalco Blvd., Har-vey, LA; Northshore, 2501 FloridaStreet, Mandeville, LA; Hammond,500 South Morrison Blvd.; and BatonRouge, 6137 Siegen Lane.

Champ’s has grown significantlysince its inception in 1978 and gener-ated sales of approximately $37 mil-lion for the trailing twelve monthsended June 2014. This acquisition in-creases the number of Boyd collisionrepair locations to 313 across 16 statesand five provinces.

“We are very pleased to enter theLouisiana market which will expand

our reach to new customers, increaseour geographical footprint for our in-surance industry partners and also pro-vide us with another new market fromwhich to execute our single locationgrowth strategy,” said Brock Bul-buck, President and Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the Boyd Group. “With thisacquisition we strengthen our positionas the largest multi-shop operator inNorth America in terms of number oflocations, and demonstrate our abilityto add attractive multi-shop operationsin line with our growth strategy.”

“Our team is proud of the busi-ness we have built over the last 36years,” added Champ’s PresidentDanny Kingston. “Champ’s decadesof growth and success in the collisionbusiness are a direct result of the ef-forts of our knowledgeable, friendly,and professional team. We are excitedto build on our accomplishments aspart of the Boyd team.”

The total purchase price consider-ation of approximately $35.0 million.It is within the range of other recentmulti-location acquisitions completedby Boyd.


Boyd Group Acquires Seven Champs CollisionCenters in Southeast Louisiana Since the Alliance of Automotive

Service Providers of Pennsylvania(AASP-PA) formed in 1955, it hasbeen a member association for shopowners in the state, but now, the as-sociation has decided to offer twonew membership levels. For thefirst time, AASP-PA will offer freememberships to students studyingin the automotive field in a PAschool, and the association will alsooffer a low-cost membership to in-dustry professionals, such as tech-nicians, towers and service writers,among others.

AASP-PA’s goal in offeringthese two new levels of membershipis to continue to further their initia-tive of educating all automotive serv-ice providers throughout the state ofPA, and the Student Membershiplevel in particular will aid in their at-tempts to engage the younger gener-ation and show them the value ofeducation, leadership and involve-ment in industry associations.

The association’s Student Mem-bership level is available to studentsstudying in the automotive field in aPA high school, technical school or atthe university level. The free StudentMembership includes an electronicversion of “Pennsylvania Automotive

& Insider News,” the association’s bi-monthly magazine, and invitations toselect chapter meetings and trainingevents as well as free enrollment inASE’s Student Certification Program(a $30 value). To sign up, studentscan visit www.aasp-pa.org/member-resource/student-membership.aspx.

The Technician Membership isavailable to anyone working in theautomotive industry in PA, such astechnicians, tower and service man-agers. Technician Members will re-ceive an electronic copy of“Pennsylvania Automotive & In-sider News” bi-monthly, invitationsto select chapter meeting and train-ing events, reimbursement for thecost of up to three ASE Certifica-tions, and potentially, a discount onpersonal electric bills. The cost of aTechnician Membership depends onwhether the individual’s employershop is a member of AASP-PA; thefee is $50 per year for employees ofmember shops, or the TechnicianMembership costs $100 annually ifthe employer is not an associationmember.

For more information or to signup, visit www.aasp-pa.org/member-resource/technician-member-ship.aspx.

AASP-PA Offers Two New Membership Levels


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The North Carolina auto accidentlaw firm of Riddle & Brantley LLP,is urging consumers to use the Na-tional Highway Traffic Safety Ad-ministration’s (NHTSA) new OnlineRecall Check feature on their web-site. Drivers can now use this tool tosearch for recalls which may affecttheir particular vehicle by enteringtheir car’s Vehicle IdentificationNumber (VIN).

“As we saw with General Mo-tors’ defective ignition switches, it isextremely important for consumersto stay up-to-date on recalls whichmay affect the safety of their vehi-cles,” said attorney Gene Riddle,partner at Riddle & Brantley. “Ourfirm is urging drivers to use theNHTSA’s tools to keep their familiessafe.”

According to an August 20,2014, report from the AssociatedPress, U.S. automakers have recalledover 40 million vehicles this yearalone. Over 29 million of these vehi-cles were the results of extensive re-calls from General Motors after faultyignition switches blamed for causingmultiple accidents leading to over adozen fatalities and many more in-juries.

Before the creation of the tool,drivers had to search multiple sourcesto make sure that their vehicles hadnot been recalled. According to theNHTSA’s VIN checker website, thisnew tool lists all ongoing safety re-calls, any recalls which have beenconducted in the past 15 years, and allrecalls by major car and motorcyclemanufacturers. The checker does notcover non-safety related recalls, re-calls for international vehicles orultra-luxury cars, or vehicles whichare over 15 years old.

According to an August 14,2014 press release from the NHTSA,consumers were previously limitedto searching using a car’s make andmodel year. Now, the addition ofVIN searches will allow consumersto find alerts specific to his or herparticular vehicle. In addition to thecreation of this checking tool, theNHTSA is also mandating that automanufacturers maintain a list of cur-rent recalls which affect their modelson their websites. Automakers mustupdate this information at least oncea week.

To use the NHTSA’s recallchecker, consumers should visit:https://vinrcl.safercar.gov/vin.

NC Auto Injury Attorney Urges Drivers to Use the NewNHTSA Online Recall Check

Herkules to Host NASCAR Driver Brendan GaughanDuring SEMA ShowHerkules Equipment Corporation willbe hosting NASCAR Driver Bren-dan Gaughan at the 2014 SEMAShow, being held in Las Vegas, Ne-vada November 4-7. Gaughan will be

signing autographs and chatting withfans on Tuesday and Wednesday, No-vember 4 and 5, from 1 to 3 pm, in

the Herkules booth #11139.Brendan Gaughan has been a

NASCAR Driver since 1997 with hisdebut in the Camping World TruckSeries and winning this race in 2000.A Georgetown University graduateand family man, he holds 17 careerwins and 83 top-five finishes through-out all of the NASCAR Series races.His latest win was in June 2014 at theNASCAR Nationwide Series GardnerDenver 200 race. His website is:www.brendangaughan.com.

Herkules Equipment Corpora-tion, established in 1984, is a leadingmanufacturer for the AutomotivePaint & Body Repair industry, hav-ing designed, manufactured andpatented the first Paint Gun Washer.They have been manufacturing qual-ity vehicle lifts and scissor lift tablesfor close to 30 years, providing manyindustries with ergonomic solutionsfor countless applications. Herkulesalso supplies Sparkle Clean, AirJacks, Carts & Stands, and CrushingEquipment.

For more product information,please contact Herkules at 800-444-4351, or at [email protected] or visittheir website at:www.herkules.us.

NASCAR Driver Brendan Gaughan will besigning autographs on Nov. 4 & 5 at theHerkules booth during the SEMA Show inLas Vegas, NV

order at that time as he anticipated theinsurers would not make it necessaryto do so... but he would consider it ifindeed their behavior warranted it.This was pivotal as it placed the con-cern in the judge’s minds as well asbecame part of the record. Repairerswill be documenting any such in-stances and share them with their legalcounsel.

The five attorneys representingthe repairers were Mississippi attor-neys John Eaves Sr., John Eaves Jr.,Allison Fry, Hal Wilkins andFlorida’s own Brent Geohagan, who,as most know, has represented RayGunder in his ongoing legal quests.

Because this was a pretrial hear-ing, the judges were cordial yet to thepoint regarding their conveying thecourt’s expectations for the attorneys.The judges made it clear to all that friv-olous filings and unnecessary delaysand such would not be tolerated, and

due to the sheer volume of the issuesand evidence that was to be presented,that the court would be quick to dis-courage and stop such behavior. Basedupon the limited questions posed by theinsurer attorneys, the judge’s messagehad been received clearly and dulynoted.

Upon conclusion, as the courtrose to its feet and the judges left thebench, while it was quiet and subdued,there was a sense of relief along withexcited expectations by the repairerswho were there. They knew that this

was the beginning of long overduechanges in the automotive collisionrepair and casualty insurance indus-tries normal behavior and practices.

It wasn’t a day of reckoning…but I firmly believe it is the first dayof its beginning!


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MDL Opens



The Roseville Police Department in MNhas hired a new auto body shop after em-ployees from its former vehicle repairvendor reportedly drove squad cars at“irresponsible” speeds on the way to befixe, as reported by Johanna Holub atLillieNews.com.

On the morning of Thursday, Sept.4, there were two phone calls from “con-cerned citizens” regarding two markedsquad cars “being driven at excessivespeeds” on County Road C, which has a40 mph speed limit, from Victoria Street

to Western Avenue. The departmentfound the vehicles were being driven byemployees from a local auto shop the de-partment used for repair services. Theemployees came to the Roseville PublicWorks garage to pick up two squad carsthat needed body work following a po-lice pursuit that took place overnight, andwere supposed to drive the vehicles tothe repair shop. They had authorizationto do so. The department decided to “endbusiness dealings” with the shop.

“The department recognizes its ac-

countability to the community,” the state-ment reads.

Lt. Lorne Rosand said the vehicleswere equipped with everything “exceptthe rifle,” which is secured in the policearmory before a vehicle is taken to anylocation for repair work. Because the de-partment contracts several vendors forservice including a local dealership,Rosand said mechanics often pick up po-lice vehicles and drive them to the shopfor repairs. Certain repairs also require atest drive to be sure the problem is fixed.

They’ve never had a problem with ven-dor employees driving their vehicles un-professionally until now.

“It’s not uncommon for civilians todrive our cars,” Rosand explained. “Wejust hope they do so in a manner that rep-resents the city in a very positive way.These two individuals did not.”

But, from now on, the departmentplans to put in the “best effort possible”to have a city mechanic or police officerdrive squad cars to be repaired, Rosandadded.


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Roseville, MN, Police Replace Local Auto Body Shop as Provider After Employees Take Squad Cars on Joyride

Nancy Friedman was recently featuredin a column by Ed Attanasio, so we werepleased to see that she’ll be back at theSEMA Show this year with her session,“Have You Asked Your Customer toMarry You? (Are You Really En-gaged?).” The session will be offeredtwice during SEMA Education Days.

Friedman spoke with SEMA aboutwhat attendees can expect from her ses-sions.

SEMA: What is a Telephone Doc-tor?

Nancy Friedman: I got that namefrom an editor in Davenport, Iowa, whosaid, “You’re the doctor. You’ve got theprescription for everything.” We knowmore business is lost to poor customerservice and poor treatment than to poor

products, and it’s usually done on thephone. There are people in businesseswhose job is to answer the phone andhave more of a service mentality than asales mentality, and that’s so wrong.

SEMA: What is the right thing fora business to do after the phone rings?

Friedman: There are many leadgenerators around the country who cantell you how to make the phone ring.That’s great, but what happens when itdoes ring? The phone can ring, but turn-ing it into a sale is what matters. Com-panies hire people to pick up the phonewhen it rings, but often they get screwedup and lost when somebody answers.

SEMA: What’s the biggest tele-phone mistake businesses make?

Friedman: We’re just not friendly

enough. Companies spend hundreds ofthousands of dollars to make that phonering and, if it’s not handled just right, allthat money is wasted. We answer thatphone and we’re in a bad mood. We let itring too long. We answer the phone im-properly or without a name. You get lessthan 30 seconds to build that rapport.

SEMA: Your session includessomething called “Poor Man’s Jeopardy.”What’s that?

Friedman: If you watch “Jeop-ardy,” you know there’s a big board withbells and whistles. We don’t have thebudget for all the bells and whistles andthe big board. Instead, I bring a bag, andthe bag has golden nuggets, little piecesof information. I go through the audi-ence. They get to pick out a nugget and

the nugget may say “irate caller.” Itmight say “closing skills” or “telephonegreeting” or “voice mail phrases.” Theyget to pick a nugget and each nuggetcould represent one hour of information.However, we have scaled it down to twoor three minutes. By the end of the hour,we will have covered 15 to 20 goldennuggets of sales and service.

SEMA Education Days will featuremore than 60 educational sessions in 12different tracks, ranging from new-vehi-cle technology to best business practicesto marketing strategies and emergingtrends in the industry.

The complete schedule of SEMAShow Education courses and educationalevents is available at:www.SEMAShow.com/education.

Crowd Favorite the “Telephone Doctor” Returns for SEMA Education Days

The Automotive Service Association(ASA) announced that NACE | CARS2015 will again be held in The MotorCity, July 23–25 by ‘popular demand.’

The ASA Board and managementconsidered feedback from attendees, ex-hibitors, and other industry constituents.Dan Risley, ASA Executive Director,stated “The response for Detroit wasoverwhelmingly positive. Many saidthis was the best event in recent mem-ory. Attendees were pleased with the ed-ucation and training, and numerousexhibitors made significant sales on theshow floor. There were many requestsfor the exhibition to continue throughSaturday, and we will incorporate thatfor 2015.”

Partnering with industry organiza-tions and associations is key to the successof Industry Week, and that format willcontinue. I-CAR, CIC, CCIF, MERA,NABC, and CREF have already commit-ted to Detroit next year.

I-CAR will again host the centerstage in the exhibit hall to provide edu-cation and awareness on advancing ve-hicle technologies and related repair andindustry trends, maintain a booth formembership, provide live technicaldemonstrations in the demo zone, andoffer add-on I-CAR training sessions inclassrooms.

John VanAlstyne, I-CAR CEO &President, said “We are very pleased with

the results of Industry Week this year. At-tendance was up significantly on theNACE floor and the I-CAR Conferencewas a great success. We are committedto NACE and will continue with a simi-lar footprint in 2015. We also plan tocontinue holding the I-CAR Conferencein conjunction with Industry Week mov-ing forward, shifting to a biennial ca-dence, so make plans to attend our nextConference in 2016.”

● CIC will once again host thesummer quarterly meeting during In-dustry Week following a successfulmeeting this past July in Detroit.

● CREF will hold its annual golffundraising event during the week.

● After drawing a larger-than-ex-pected Canadian contingency, and withclose proximity to the growing Cana-dian market, CCIF will be back onceagain with their education program, ses-sions, and a keynote speaker.

● MERA will host a series of ses-sions again in 2015.

● NABC will produce the Recy-cled Rides program on the exhibit floor.Other organizations are currently evalu-ating co-located meetings and an-nouncements are forthcoming.

“On behalf of the ASA members,the board of directors, and our team, weare pleased to be working with I-CAR,CIC, CRES, CCIF, MERA, NABC, andothers for the benefit of the automotive

repair industry,” said Darrell Amber-son, ASA Chairman. “With our organi-zations working together we canprovide the most current education andtraining in the market. We look forwardto seeing everyone in Detroit the weekof July 20, 2015.”


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General Motors has posted its bestJuly sales since 2007. GM sold256,160 cars in July, a 9% uptickfrom July 2013. Retail sales wereonly up 4%, though—perhaps asign that those who buy cars forfleets have more faith in GM thanindividual customers. This is theninth straight month of year-over-year sales growth for GM, and animprovement from June whenyearly growth was at around 1%.Toyota said it sold 215,802 cars lastmonth, an 11.6% increase over ayear ago.

GM Posts Best July SalesSince 2007, Toyota Also Up

The National Auto Body Council(NABC) is holding its 20th Year An-niversary Golf Fundraiser onWednesday, January 15, 2015 inPalm Springs, California. Thefundraiser at the Tahquitz Creek GolfResort will be a highlight of specialactivities NABC is planning to com-memorate its anniversary. Hertz willcontinue as the presenting sponsorfor the annual event, which is one ofthe NABC’s major sources of fund-ing to support its ongoing communityservice programs. These programsinclude NABC’s signature RecycledRidesTM, First Responder Emer-gency Extrication (FREETM) andthe Distracted Driving Initiative.

“Last year’s golf event was asold-out success, with a lot of posi-tive feedback from participants, andplans are underway to raise that bareven higher this year,” said DavidMerrell of Parts Trader and DomenicBrusco of PPG Automotive Refin-ish, co-chairs of the NABC fundrais-ing committee.

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The Society of Collision RepairSpecialists’ (SCRS) OEM CollisionRepair Technology Summit will beheld on Wednesday, Nov. 5th at theLas Vegas Convention Center dur-ing the SEMA Show. The Summitwill allow the industry to explore

how automotivedesign, technol-ogy and materialsimpact repairabil-ity, and how inturn repairabilityinfluences struc-tural design anddevelopment. The

full-day program will include fourunique panel discussions with au-tomakers, equipment suppliers, cer-tified repair facilities, and OEMcertifiers/auditors and will also fea-ture special presentations from sub-ject matter experts on automotivematerials. Registration is requiredto attend and seats will be limited.Register today at:www.semashow.com/scrs.

As the newest development to theagenda, SCRS has announced thatDavid Rigg, Project Lead with the

Auto/Steel Partnership (A/SP) Ad-vanced High-Strength Steel (AHSS)Repairability Project, will provide adetailed overview of the market de-velopments and repairability researchtaking place between the steel indus-try and the automakers. The A/SP is acollaboration between the steel com-pany members of the Automotive Ap-plications Council of the Steel MarketDevelopment Institute and ChryslerGroup LLC, Ford Motor Companyand General Motors Company to pur-sue research, validation and educationthat help automakers enhance vehiclesafety, fuel economy and improve de-sign and manufacturing. Through theA/SP, automakers and steel companieshave worked to drive improvementsand innovation in vehicles on theroad—and in repair businesses—today.

“Participating in the SCRS OEMCollison Repair Technology Summitallows us the opportunity to interactwith the leaders of the automotive re-pair industry to better understand theirneeds, so that we can incorporate theminto our project plan,” said Terry Cul-lum, director of the A/SP. “Our goal is

to share the latest technology on theseinnovative advanced high-strengthsteel materials so that they can be re-paired in the field using the best prac-tices developed from our repairabilityproject.”

Rigg will deliver visibility intothe technological advancements beingmade in the steel industry relative toautomotive materials, and an overviewof how their market is developing as aresult of increased collaboration to-wards ever evolving safety and sus-tainability goals. He will share reasonsbehind the automakers’ continued re-liance on steel as a critical substrate;and what their industry is doing to aidin the development of that relationship.The presentation will ultimately ad-dress how repairability plays a role inmaterial research and development,and the prevalence steel will have inthe vehicles of tomorrow.

In addition to his role with theA/SP, Rigg serves as Global ServiceLead - Structures, Front and RearClosures at General Motors where heis responsible for the development,consensus, documentation and im-plementation of Global Service Re-

quirements. He also represents serv-ice at the Advanced Vehicle Devel-opment Center for body structures.In his previous position as BodyService Engineer, Rigg was respon-sible for authoring collision repairmanuals; however, his career withGM extends back to 1998.

Rigg’s formative years were spentworking in his father’s body shop mak-ing the traditional advancements fromwashing cars to eventually straighten-ing frames and writing estimates. Hisfirst-hand experience in the repair com-munity has given him valuable insightinto the collision repair industry.

For more information about SCRS’Repairer Driven Education (RDE) se-ries, and to register for the OEM Colli-sion Repair Technology Summit andother RDE sessions, please visit:www.semashow.com /scrs.


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In early August, the Society of Colli-sion Repair Specialists (SCRS) an-nounced the launch of the firstissue-specific collision repair industryforum being held at the SEMA Show.The OEM Collision Repair Technol-ogy Summit will be held on Wednes-day, November 5th at the Las VegasConvention Center and will explorehow automotive design and technol-ogy intersect with repairability, andhow developments in this area impactthe collision repair process and theprofessional businesses planning fortheir future in the ever-changing land-scape of this industry. Registration canbe made at www.semashow.com/scrs.

In addition to panel discussionswith technology experts representingthe automakers, certified repair facili-ties, equipment suppliers, and certi-fiers/auditors, the program will featurespecial presentations from subjectmatter experts on automotive materi-als.

SCRS announced that DougRichman, Technical Committee Chair-man of the Aluminum TransportationGroup (ATG) will offer insight into therole aluminum will play in collision re-

pair businesses now, and in the future.“The ATG is eager to share with

SCRS session attendees key insightson aluminum’s long history in the au-tomotive industry,” said Richman.

“Aluminum-intensive vehicles havebeen in the marketplace for manydecades and are regularly repaired asneeded. Within the next ten years,seven out of 10 new pickups produced

in North Americawill be aluminum-bodied, accordingto a recently re-leased survey ofautomakers con-ducted by DuckerWorldwide. Asaluminum use in

auto bodies grows exponentially in thenext decade, we applaud the SCRS’efforts to educate and train repair pro-fessionals to be better prepared for thechange in status quo materials thatcome through their shop doors.”

Richman will deliver visibilityinto the technological advancementsbeing made in the aluminum industryrelative to the automotive market, andan overview of how their market is de-

veloping as a result of increased inte-gration into our modern fleet. He willshare reasons behind the automakersinterest in, and use of, aluminum; andwhat their industry is doing to aid inthe development of that relationship.

In addition to his role with theATG, Doug Richman is Vice Presidentof Engineering and Technology forKaiser Aluminum. He joined Kaiser in1996 and was appointed to his currentposition in 2001. Before joining Kaiser,Richman was Vice President of Auto-motive Castings for Alcan Aluminumand his background also includes al-most 20 years of experience in devel-opment and design management atGeneral Motors.

Richman is a long-standing mem-ber of the ATG, serving as technicalchairman of the sub-committee. Healso serves as co-chairman of the So-ciety of Automotive Engineers (SAE)Light Metals committee.

The OEM Collision Repair Tech-nology Summit is made possiblethrough support from PPG RefinishProducts, Ford Motor Company, BASF,Toyota Motor Sales and The Hertz Cor-poration.

For more information about SCRS’Repairer Driven Education (RDE) se-ries, and to register for the OEM Colli-sion Repair Technology Summit andother RDE sessions, please visit:www.semashow.com/ scrs.


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Volvo is trying to regain a footholdworldwide with the introduction ofits XC90 full-size crossover, thefirst for China’s Zhejiang Geely’sacquisition of the Swedish au-tomaker from Ford in 2010. Thepremium seven-seater will contendagainst models like the LexusRX350, BMW X5 and ChevroletTahoe. Its arrival is considered crit-ical for Volvo dealers who havewatched sales plummet since Ford,in the midst of financial difficul-ties, sold the brand to the Chinesecompany for $1.8 billion.

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Seven years ago this month in August of2007, the Society of Collision Repair Spe-cialists (SCRS) and the collision repaircommunity lost a dear friend and tremen-dous asset with the untimely passing ofMarch Taylor. Those that were fortunate

enough to have beentouched by Marchknew him as a dedi-cated family man, aninnovative shopowner, an experi-enced master techni-cian, and a selflessand iconic collisionindustry leader andcontributor. He was afixture within SCRS,the SCRS Board of

Directors and a mentor to many of us in ourcareers and businesses.

March was passionate about ad-dressing inaccurate estimating data andvolunteered his time collecting, re-searching and processing hundreds ofdatabase inquiries. He was a technicianat heart and was insistent on identifyingareas where the data failed to reflect thereal world requirements technicians’face in the repair process. His work wasthe catalyst and inspiration behind thecreation of the Database EnhancementGateway (DEG), and the concept tohave a centralized point for our indus-try to submit inquiries to.

The DEG (www.degweb.org) is aninitiative that was developed to help ad-dress collision repair estimates data,through proactive feedback from the col-lision repair industry to the informationproviders (IPs) that supply the databasesfor the various estimating products. TheDEG was created, and is equally fundedand maintained by SCRS, Alliance ofAutomotive Service Providers (AASP)and Automotive Service Association(ASA). It is a perfect example of our or-ganization putting membership dollars atwork to address real issues in the indus-try. The DEG has processed more than7,000 inquiries from the industry, manyof which have resulted in changes to theestimating system database, or necessaryexplanations of how they work.

The process is simple, the shopsubmits the inquiry to the DEG and theadministrator works with the represen-tatives from the IPs to bring the inquiryto resolution. Here are some great recentexamples of responsive results fromDEG submissions:7112 - 2004 VW Beetle Left Door Skin6939 - 2013 VW Beetle Roof Panel6602 - 2013 Chevrolet Camaro SS SideBody Drip Molding

If you are using electronic estimat-ing systems to itemize your repairprocess and price your services, it is im-portant to pay attention to the informa-tion being used to create the estimate.

Talk to your estimating staff about theDEG and visit www.degweb.org tocheck it out today.

The DEG and all of its successesare dedicated to the memory of ourgood friend, March Taylor.


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March Taylor

With relatively cheap repair and in-surance rates, why is Wyoming themost expensive state in which to owna car? Gas prices. The state is themost expensive for annual estimatedgas costs, and it’s not even close.Wyoming is over $350 more expen-sive per year than second-ranked Ala-bama. It costs about $1,588 annuallyto fill your car up in Wyoming. At$324, repair costs are reasonable, as isinsurance at $792. In total, it costsabout $2,705 per year to own a car inthe most expensive state.

Mississippi is the third-most expen-sive state for annual estimated gaso-line costs, at $1,231. Other costs arenot too outrageous: the state ranks asthe 21st most expensive for insuranceat $901, and repair costs come in at$356 per year. But thanks largely tothose gas prices, owning a car in Mis-sissippi comes with an annual esti-mated cost of $2,487.

WY is the Most Expensive Statein the US for Car Ownership

FL is the Third Most ExpensiveState in Which to Own a Car

MS is the 4th Most ExpensiveState for Car Ownership Overall

Repair costs are about in line withOhio’s, at an annual estimated cost$329, and insurance is the third-cheap-est of all states at $658. Wisconsin,though, is 1 of 22 states with gasolineprices over the annual estimated costof $1,000 ($1,031). That’s over halfthe annual estimated car ownershipcost of $2,018 in the state.

WI is the 5th Cheapest State inWhich to Own a Car

According to Bankrate.com there isno one cost that is astronomical inFlorida when it comes to owning acar, but all three factors Bankratemeasured were on the high side. Es-timated annual repair costs are $377,11th most-expensive among the 50states and D.C. Insurance costs are$1,124, comfortably in the top-10most-expensive states, and gasolinecosts are $1,015. Overall, the cost ofowning a car per year in Florida isabout $2,516.


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Season 34 of MotorWeek, television’slongest-running automotive series, cel-ebrates the reinvention of the automo-bile. Upcoming 2015 and 2016 modelswill feature the highest level of info-tainment, safety, and driver’s aid tech-nology ever on four wheels andMotorWeek will cover all of it in ex-citing detail. This new technology istransforming how automobiles interactwith consumers as well as how theydrive, paving the way for the emer-gence of the autonomous, self-drivingcar. The new season of MotorWeekpremieres on public television stationsnationwide beginning Sept. 5, 2014.

Season 34 of MotorWeek willhighlight advanced functions such asCollision Mitigation, Lane Keep As-sist, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, andother driver aids that are a step to-wards cars that completely drivethemselves. While this approachmay be somewhat alarming to auto-motive enthusiasts, it will be a boonfor everyone that loves or needs theeveryday freedom that driving anautomobile provides. “The au-tonomous automobile will not onlycontinue America’s love affair withthe automobile, but move it to aneven higher level of usefulness,”says John Davis, MotorWeek Host

and Senior Executive Producer.One new technology, Collision

Mitigation, which uses a radar aidedbraking system to slow and even stopa vehicle to avoid a collision, will be-come a special focus of MotorWeek’scontinuing commitment to drivingsafety. In season 34 MotorWeek will

inaugurate a new test for cars with au-tomatic braking systems. MotorWeekwill add a low speed barrier test, thefirst all-new test in our Road Testregime in a generation. This new bar-rier test was created to measure the ef-fectiveness of the various automaticbraking systems among differentmakes and models. MotorWeek Sea-son 34 will reveal how automaticbraking systems react in low speedcollisions; one of the most commonaccidents causing billions of dollars

in insurance claims for injuries andproperty damage.

The season premiere of Motor-Week features the newest addition tothe BMW family, the exotic 2015BMW i8 advanced hybrid, the com-pact 2015 Lincoln MKC utility, the700-plus horsepower 2015 DodgeChallenger SRT Hellcat, along withthe all-new 2015 Acura TLX. Otherhighlights from MotorWeek’s newseason include road test reviews of the2015 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, de-signed and engineered to be the fasteststreet-legal Camaro ever built; and thenew 2015 Lexus NX, the brand’s firstcompact luxury crossover.

MotorWeek’s line-up of popularsegments returns with Master Techni-cian Pat Goss offering do-it-yourselfcar care advice at Goss’ Garage.Yolanda Vazquez will continue to tackleconsumer news and trends in FYI andMotor News. Roving reporter ZachMaskell goes Over the Edge with aquirky and fun look at the auto world inoverdrive, while Brian Robinson re-views the newest motorcycles andscooters in Two Wheelin’. MotorWeekalso continues its decade-long empha-sis on the widening availability andpracticality of hybrid and electric vehi-cles in Green Motoring.

Season 34 of MotorWeek 2014 Features Collision Mitigation, Traffic Alerts

MotorWeek Cast Members

It costs more to fix your car in NewJersey than in any other state, withan annual estimated cost of $393.New Jersey is also the third-most-expensive state for auto insuranceat $1,244 per year. Gas, though, isaffordable, with New Jersey rank-ing as the sixth cheapest state inthis category at $783. For owninga car in New Jersey, you pay about$2,421 per year.

NJ is 5th Most Expensive Statefor Auto Ownership

It was an up and down sales monthfor the Big Three US automakers,with Chrysler and Ford seeinggains while General Motors saw re-tail sales decline, though fleet salesmade up some of the ground. Alltold, a total of 1.58 million light ve-hicles were sold in August, accord-ing to data from Wards Auto. Thisbrings the year-to-date total to 11.3million units, a 5% increase over2013.

Ford and Chrysler Up, GMdown in August Car Sales

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Clean Sheets® Mixing Boards are used by thousands of repair shops to mix epoxies, body !ller, !berglass, plastics, gel, puttyand touch-up paint.•••••••••••••••••••••••• P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P Prererererererererererererererererererererererererererererererereveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveveventntntntntntntntntntntntntntntntntntnts s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s cocococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococostststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststlylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylyly r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r 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• Prevents costly reworks • Bonded on 3 sides• Non-absorbing, heavy-duty paper with grip for mixing• Pays for itself the first week you use them!

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CaCaCaCaCallllllll y y y y youououour r r r lololololocacacal l l l l JoJoJoJoJoJobbbbbbbbbbererererererererer o or:r:r:r:r:r:r:Call your local Jobber or: wwwwwwwwwwwww.w.w.w.w.w.clclclclclcleaeaeaeansnsheheheheetetetetsmsmsmsmsmfgfgfgfg.c.c.c.c.comomomomwww.cleansheetsmfg.com8888800000000000---333333666555555----111111133333330000008888800-365-1308

Clean Sheets®“!e Original Patented Mixing Pad

Since 1988”

Advertise in our CLASSIFIEDSECTION for $50 per

column inch!

800-699-8251 [email protected]

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