Autobody News April 2012 Southeast Edition

Florida Senate Bill 540, the compan-ion bill of Florida House Bill 885, hasdied in the senate.

Florida H.B. 885 passed theHouse with language that eliminatesthe current 80 percent threshold for atotal-loss vehicle to receive a certifi-cate of destruction—which wouldallow potentially unsafe vehicles to bebranded as "repairable" and put backon the roads, according to the Auto-motive Service Association (ASA).

ASA opposed the Senate bill if itincluded language similar to H.B.885. ASA appreciates the Florida col-lision repairers who took the time tocontact their legislators to express op-position.

To view the full text of thesebills, visit ASA's legislative website atwww.TakingTheHill.com.

According to ASA, the HouseBill would allow insurers to determinewhether the vehicle receives a certifi-cate of destruction.

The Automotive Service Associ-ation announced its opposition to thisbill because the amendment could:● Allow unsafe vehicles to operate onFlorida’s highways. The amendmentwould require dangerous vehicles tobe branded “repairable” when suchvehicles should not be put back on theroads as they cannot be adequately re-paired to operate safely.● Allow insurance companies to de-termine whether or not a vehicleshould obtain a certificate of de-struction. Without the current 80percent threshold that requires atotal-loss vehicle to obtain a certifi-cate of destruction, vehicles thatshould not be repaired can be re-turned to the roads.● Create dangers for consumers whowould be unable to identify the levelof damage that a vehicle has sus-tained since the vehicle brandingwill not reflect the actual designation

Florida Total Loss Legislation Passes in House,Companion Bill Fails to Move in Senate

See FL Amendment, Page 6

of 3issuesSPECIAL

PAINT & REFINISH TECHNOLOGIESPAINT ISSUE

Ray Gunder of Gunder’s Auto Cen-ter has been pressing insurers to pro-vide full compensation to hiscustomers for “necessary processesand materials needed to properly andthoroughly repair his customer’s ve-hicles” through filing litigationagainst the insurer, specifically StateFarm, on the customer’s behalf.

The first instance required a law-suit to be levied against the insurer byGunder brought the matter of unpaidprocedures and paint and material in-voicing to court and was settled dur-ing a court ordered mediation andactual litigation was avoided. StateFarm agreed to pay all the procedural

See Gunder, Page 8

State Farm Pays Gunder’s Processes and MaterialsPreviously Denied—Without Litigation

On March 16, a group of 188 U.S.lawmakers led by U.S. Senator Deb-bie Stabenow (D-MI) urged PresidentObama to crack down on “predatory”Chinese pricing practices, which theysaid are threatening the U.S. autoparts industry and could cost the U.S.more than a million jobs.

“We cannot wait until furtherdamage is done,” the nearly 200members of the House and Senate—including all the Democratic membersof the House Ways and Means Com-mittee—said in a letter to PresidentObama. “Seventy-five percent of thejobs in the automotive sector are inauto parts, and these jobs are at risk inevery state in the nation.”

The Congressional letter encour-ages Presidential action against Chi-nese predatory trade practices in thissector to be one of the “first and high-est priorities” of his Administration’srecently created Interagency TradeEnforcement Center. The lawmakers

praised the administration’s creationof the Interagency Trade EnforcementCenter to promote a more coordinatedeffort, which they say will provide theUnited States additional resources toexamine China’s and other nations’trade violations. This effort, unlikeany that have taken place in recentmemory, asks the Administration tofurther investigate the barriers thatChina has adopted and initiate appro-priate action to level the playing field.

The complaint is supported bythe United Steel Workers. “Most tradecases are filed by the private sectorafter substantial injury has occurred.China’s practices in this sector havealready caused harm, but the goal isalso to alter its policies before thecomplete decimation of our domesticindustry. In these critical economictimes, we must take every appropriateaction to address unfair trade practicesby foreign countries,” said USW Pres-

See Chinese Auto Parts, Page 21

Nearly 200 Congressmen and Senators Write inOpposition to China’s Auto Parts Practices

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REGIONALABRA Auto Body & Glass Expands

Operations into TN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Auto Lift Manufacturer Cares for

Alabama Youth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Auto Supplier Daehan Catches Fire in GA . 17Christian Brothers Automotive Opens

First Florida Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Exide Technologies to Add About 100

Jobs in GA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4FL Total Loss Legislation Passes in House,

Companion Bill Fails to Move in Senate . 1GA Collision Industry Association Conducting

6th Annual Labor Rates Surveys . . . . . . 6Insurance Commissioner Hudgens Speaks

in Dawson, GA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Kia’s West Point, GA, Plant Makes

500,000th Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Ray Gunder to Sponsor Free Legal Seminar

for Collision Repairers in Lakeland, FL . . 9State Farm Pays Gunder’s Processes and

Materials Previously Denied—WithoutLitigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Volkswagen Announces Plans to FurtherInvest in Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

COLUMNISTSChess - CAFE Standards Will Affect More

Than A Shop’s Miles Per Gallon . . . . . . 44Franklin - Sprucing Up Your Shop For Spring. 16I-CAR - Oil Spill at the I-CAR Tech Centre

in Appleton, WI, Raises Awareness . . . 22Insurance Insider - ‘Survival of the Fittest’

Also Applies to Collision Repairers . . . . 20Nigro - Feather, Sand and Fill: Paint

Operations Body Shops PerformBut Don’t Get Paid For . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Schroeder - LeMans Body and Paint: Still a Family Affair After 53 Years in theLos Angeles Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Sisk - County Line Auto Body: NJ ShopGrows From Chicken Coop toMulti-Building Complex . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Weaver - What If You’re Looking for Morethan One Waldo? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

NATIONAL22 West Virginia Vocational Schools to

Integrate I-CAR Professional Development Program into Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . 28

275,000 Subaru Forester SUVs From2009–2012 Recalled For Rear SeatBelts Failing to Lock Properly . . . . . . . . 46

Assured Performance Network OffersOther OEM Rewards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Atlanta Dent Company Expands its Servicesin Roswell, Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

CARSTAR Expands Sales/Marketing Teams. 41Chrysler Launches Certified Collision

Repair Facility Program . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Fix Auto Appoints Tim Clark as Senior VP,Insurance Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Ford Probes 2005-06 Ford Taurus Throttles. 33GM Recalling 2012 Regal Sedans . . . . . . 31Guardian Auto Glass acquires Glass Specialty

Company of Bloomington, Illinois. . . . . 12Helpful Documents, Tools And Information

Only a Click Away for Shops . . . . . . . . 37Hyundai Recalling 2011-12 Sonata Hybrids

For Rear Seat Belt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Infiniti Launches National Certified Collision

Repair Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Infiniti Recalling 2003-04 Infiniti M45

Sedans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Infiniti Recalls 2003-2005 Q45 Sedans . . 17Iowa Shop’s Action and Iowa Collision Repair

Association, Established in 2005, Starting to be Heard Statewide . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

LQK Has Record Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Mexico Implements New Mandatory

Auto Insurance Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Mitchell’s Claims Triage Available to Carriers . 41Montana Collision Repair Specialists’

Legislative Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Nearly 200 Congressmen and Senators

Write in Opposition to China’s Auto Parts Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Nissan Leaf Nationwide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29NORTHEAST™ Trade Show Leadership

Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39PSE Appoints Guy Barnes as VP, Sales

& Marketing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41The Levan Group—Where Crash and

Mechanical Parts Intersect. . . . . . . . . . 14TopTech Finder Unites PDR Techs with

Body Shop Managers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Toyota Recalls Another 681,000 Vehicles. 35Verifacts Symposium Recognizes Achievement,

Industry Unknowns, and Negotiation . . . 47Women’s Industry Network Holds Planning

Meeting in Late January, Will Hold Annual Conference in May in Atlanta . . . . . . . . 33

PPAAIINNTT SSPPEECCIIAALL2012 Ridler® Award Winner Features

BASF’s Glasurit® Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Airbrush Artist JoAnn Bortles is Writing

Her Seventh Painting Book . . . . . . . . . . 34BASF Advises Shops to Join the Move to

Waterborne Coatings Now . . . . . . . . . . 18Bobby Alloway’s 5 Essential Tips for

Achieving a Flawless Black Finish . . . . 32Custom Painter Charley Hutton Explains

Step-By-Step How to Create RealisticWood Grain Effects With PPG Products. 30

PCL Has Been Primed Since 1929 withClear Solutions for Shops . . . . . . . . . . 12

RBL Products New Pre-Treat System . . . . 36

Contents

Southeast

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy HayhurstGeneral Manager: Barbara DaviesAssistant Editor: Erica SchroederContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, Stefan Gesterkamp, John Yoswick, Lee Amaradio,Toby Chess, Mike Causey, Dan Espersen, Tom McGee, Jeff Webster, Rich Evans,Ed Attanasio, Chasidy SiskAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman (800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Kristy NavarroArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and adjacent metro areas, Autobody Newsis a monthly publication for the auto body industry. Permission to reproduce in any form thematerial published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher.©2012 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody NewsBox 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018; (800) 699-8251 (760) 721-0253 Faxwww.autobodynews.com Email: [email protected]

Arrigo Dodge-Jeep-Chrysler. . . . . . 18BASF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 45CCC Information Services . . . . . . . . 5Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47CSS USA, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Delray Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Don Reid Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Ford Wholesale Parts DealersFL, GA, AL, MS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Galloway Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Gus Machado Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Hendrick Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25

Hyundai of Orange Park . . . . . . . . . . 6Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 39Jerry Ulm Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge. 10-11Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. . 7Mazda Wholesale Parts . . . . . . . . . 44Mercedes-Benz Wholesale Parts

Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers. 46MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 21Nalley BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Nissan Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 43Palmers Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31PCL Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers . 40PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Preval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Safety Regulation Strategies . . . . . 29SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . 16SCA Appraisal Company . . . . . . . . 37Serra Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Serra Automotive Group. . . . . . . . . 19Solution Finish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42South Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Southtowne Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . 35Subaru of Gwinnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 46Tameron Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 45Volkswagen Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Inde

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Texas stop sign

Winter vs Auto: Let Spring Begin

Neosho, MO

Jackson, MI Laurens, SC

Upstate, NY Austin, MN tornado

Christian Brothers Automotive openedtheir first franchise location in Floridalast month, located at 23650 VeneziaDrive in Land O’Lakes.

Thelocation is equipped with nineservice bays and encompasses nearly5,000 square-feet. Land O’Lakes fran-chise owner Larry Giannone and hiswife, Cindy, of Tampa decided to in-vest in the company “because of itsvalues,” he said according to the LandO’Lakes Patch.

“It’s afaith-based fran-chise,” Giannonesaid. The hon-esty and integrityof the business iswhat drew Gian-none, a 20-yearindustry veteran,in.

The franchise prides itself on tak-ing time for repairs and getting themdone right, the first time.

“We’re not a quick-service,” Gi-annone said. “An oil change will takeabout 40 minutes.”

Giannone is on site every day, and

the business’ shuttle service will dropcustomers off back at home or a shop-ping center, then return to pick themup once their service is complete.

Technicians at Giannone’s fran-chise also involve the customer in therepairs. If they find something thatneeds to be repaired, the technicianswon’t just tell the customer—they’llshow them.

“We’ll show you,” service man-ager Don Kalogerson said to the LandO’Lakes Patch. “We’re not abouthigh-pressure sales.”

Christian Brothers Automotive isa full-service repair shop—equippedto do everything a dealer can do.

The shop is also equipped to“flash” vehicles’ computer systems—updating the software in a car, similarto a Windows update, Giannone said.

If Christian Brothers finds some-thing on a vehicle that is still underwarranty, a technician will alert thecustomer and make arrangements todrop off the vehicle at a local dealer-ship, Giannone said.

Christian Brothers Automotive ofLand O’Lakes is open from 7 a.m. to

6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

For more information, visitcbac.com/store/land-o-lakes or call813-949-0100.

The Christian Brothers Automotivefranchise was started in 1982 and hasbeen franchising since 1996. Currentlythe franchise has a total of 94 franchiseunits. Start-up costs for businesses want-ing to join the franchise range from$65,000 to $70,000. The franchise isheadquartered in Houston, TX.


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Auto lift manufacturer, MAHA USA,invited and wholeheartedly wel-comed students and teachers from thelocal YES program to their establish-ment in order to give them careersupport and guidance in February.

Youth Enrichment Services(YES) is a local non-profit programthat strives to help students, age 16-21, achieve educational and careergoals. They primarily focus on in-creasing the development and em-ployability of the youth they serve.

During their visit, the YES stu-dents had the opportunity to seeMAHA USA in full production. Byobserving their team, the students in-evitably realized that there are a mul-titude of careers available at an autolift manufacturing company. Theseinclude Welders, Laser Technicians,Power Coaters, Metal Fabricators,and Sales Managers.

When students have real life ex-periences such as this it makes a hugeimpact on the career path they chooseand, ultimately, their future.

More information about thisauto lift manufacturing company isavailable at www.maha-usa.com.

Auto Lift ManufacturerCares for Alabama Youth

Christian Brothers Automotive Opens First Florida Location

Exide Technologies Inc. announcedplans to create up to about 100 newjobs in Columbus, GA, by the end of2013 on March 1. This expansioncomes as the company kicks off pro-duction of new the new Edge AGM(Absorbed Glass Mat) battery, ac-cording to the Atlanta BusinessChronicle.

The Milton, GA-based companysaid it has already added 60 of the100 new jobs at the plant. The facilitycurrently has 167 employees.

The new advanced manufactur-ing operation for the Edge AGM is apart of a broader $70 million produc-tion expansion project, supported inpart by $34.3 million in fundingthrough the Stimulus Act.

The Edge AGM’s applicationsinclude micro-hybrid vehicles, idle re-duction commercial vehicles and otherstrategic market segments. Exide saidit is working with auto manufacturersin North America to feature AGM bat-teries in new vehicles.

The AGM battery will beginshipping to aftermarket retailers inMarch for use in any existing vehicle.

Exide Technologies to AddAbout 100 Jobs in GA

Kia’s West Point, GA, plant hit amilestone on Leap Day this year—500,000 vehicles produced.

The plant, which opened on Nov.16, 2009, hit this accomplishment justover two years after productionstarted, according to USA Today. Theplant’s milestone vehicle was a whitepearl Optima SX, according to the At-lanta Business Chronicle.

Kia added two additional workshifts to the plant recently, boostingtotal employment to 3,000. Kia alsoinvested $100 million in to the plant,expanding its total capacity to360,000 units per year.

“Building 500,000 vehicles injust over two years is quite a mile-stone for our first U.S. manufacturingplant to accomplish,” said Byung MoAhn, CEO for Kia Motors America.“The commitment from each one ofour team members is a big reasonwe’ve been able to achieve 17 con-secutive months of record sales. Theirdedication to building world-class,high-quality vehicles is apparent ineach vehicle we produce.”

Kia’s West Point, GA, PlantMakes 500,000th Vehicle

Land O’Lakesfranchise ownersCindy and Larry

Giannone

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The Georgia Collision Industry Asso-ciation (GCIA) is encouraging allGeorgia shops to participate in the 6thAnnual Georgia Collision IndustryLabor Rate Survey.

The purpose of this survey is toprovide Georgia collision shop own-ers with prevailing rates for labor andmaterial so all shops can be paid fairlyfor the work they perform. Make sureall Georgia collision businesses arerepresented by participating.

The survey reminder cards havebeen mailed, look for it in the mailsoon. The survey is also available on-line. It only takes a few minutes tocomplete, shop owners can also visitthe link below to take the survey fortheir businesses:

http://www.csicomplete.com/gcia/sur-vey.aspx

The survey is being conducted byneutral third-party, CSi Complete, aprovider of customer satisfaction in-dexing to the collision repair industry.CSi Complete will follow up with

phone calls to those who do not sub-mit their survey online.

Please enter the Posted DoorRate for survey purposes. Do not in-clude any rates that may exist betweenyour repair facility and any contractedcustomer such as a Fleet Account orInsurance DRP Program.

If businesses are represented bymore than one location, please com-plete a survey for each location.

Shop identities will not be pub-lished with the results of this surveyand will remain confidential. Namesare only needed to track demo-graphics and ensure that only onesurvey is cast per Repair Facility lo-cation.

Any questions, contact HowardBatchelor at [email protected] orcall at (770) 367-9816.


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Georgia Collision Industry Association Conducting6th Annual Labor Rates Surveys

Georgia Insurance CommissionerRalph Hudgens spoke to the public atthe Dawson Rotary Club in Dawson,GA.

Hudgens said Georgia insurancecompanies are suffering. He told Daw-son Rotary Club members on Febru-ary 29 that companies are losingmoney on homeowner’s policies, ac-cording to WALB News Albany.

Hudgens blames costly wind andhail damage for auto and home claims,but he says copper theft is also a fac-tor—both of which may lead to higher

premiums in the state.Hudgens says companies want

you to group policies under one holderto make up the difference because theymake money on auto coverage. Manycompanies are encouraging customersto group their policies under one nameand one insurance company.

“That is why there is such an en-couragement to couple their home-owners, with their auto and their life,and their long term care and liabilitypolicies,” Hudgens said to WALBNews Albany.

Insurance Commissioner Hudgens Speaks in Dawson, GA

of the vehicle as “unrebuildable.”This language would put drivers atrisk by removing the only guaranteefor consumers to ensure that theirvehicles are safe to operate onFlorida’s roads.● Permit unsafe vehicles that are sup-posed to be dismantled and crushedby automotive recyclers to be sold as“repairable,” creating a situation

where the source of undamaged recy-cled parts will be seriously diminishedand local jobs most definitely com-promised.● Increase the risk for criminal activ-ity as vehicles that are badly damagedwould be allowed to obtain a cleantitle and sold to unsuspecting pur-chasers.

To view the full text of the bill,as well as ASA’s letter to the legis-lature opposing the amendment,visit ASA’s legislative website atwww.TakingTheHill.com.

Continued from Front Page

FL Amendment

Volkswagen Group of America an-nounced March 13 plans to invest $40million to build a warehouse in RoaneCounty, TN, for distributing domesticauto parts for the Chattanooga-madePassat. The 400,000-square-foot facil-ity is expected to open by spring 2013and will employ up to 45 people by2016.

The facility will operate at theRoane Regional Business and Technol-ogy Park in Kingston, TN. Kingston isa small town of about 5,000 outside ofKnoxville.

Addressing the need for in-creased infrastructure, the facility willbegin as a redistribution center to serv-ice warehouses and will later expandto include a parts distribution center.The redistribution Master Depot willsupport the US, Canada and Mexico.The parts distribution operation willimprove service parts delivery times toover 100 dealers in the surrounding re-gions.

“This new facility is exemplaryof the commitment that VolkswagenGroup of America has to meeting the

needs of our dealers and our growingcustomer base,” said Rawdon GloverExecutive Vice President of After-sales, Volkswagen Group of America.“Our continued investment in the U.S.market affirms that Volkswagen isdedicated to the economic vitalizationof the communities where we do busi-ness.”

“I’m grateful Volkswagen is ex-panding its presence here in the stateand bringing new jobs to RoaneCounty,” said Tennessee GovernorBill Haslam, “because projects suchas this bring more direct and indirectinvestments to Tennessee.”

Roane County Executive RonWoody said of the project announce-ment, “I couldn’t be more pleased thatVolkswagen has chosen Roane Countyto be the site of their new Southeast-ern distribution facility. We appreciateVW’s confidence in us and our work-force—and certainly appreciate theirinvestment in our community. We lookforward to a long and fruitful partner-ship with them for many years tocome.”

Volkswagen Announces Plans to Further Invest in Tennessee

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the parts you need.

and material invoicing as well as Gun-der’s legal fees and costs associatedwith that case against them. Shortlyafter that settlement, once again, onbehalf of his customer, Ray found itnecessary to file yet another lawsuitagainst the nation’s largest personalauto insurer to compel them to pro-vide reasonable compensation fornecessary processes and related paintand materials. Just moments beforegoing before the judge for the firsthearing on the matter, the insurer,through their legal team, agreed to paythe entire amount due plus Gunder’slegal fees and costs.

This month, another one of Gun-der’s customers was denied consider-ation for the necessary paint relatedprocedures (i.e. prime, block andfeathering aka fill, sand and feather)and the labor called for to re-set elec-tronics on a customer’s vehicle.

Upon the denial, as customary,Ray contacted his customer and ex-plained the denials and short-pay anddiscussed possible activities to collect.

Ray’s customer became extremely ag-itated and immediately contacted theState Farm claim representative andexpressed his dismay, both by phoneand in writing via e-mail.

After several calls and discus-sions, three days later State Farmcalled the customer to advise that theywould pay the paint related “PrimeBlock and Feathering” and relatedmaterials as well as re-setting the ve-hicle’ electronics, including resettingthe programmed stations in the radiowhich were noted by Gunder’s priorto performing the repair which re-quired disconnecting the battery.

The customer, elated wrote thefollowing to Ray; “I am, as always….totally satisfied with the work Gun-der’s did on my Nissan. they make itan art…. and that is precisely why Ihave been a loyal customer sinceabout 1976. my largest claim withGunders, has been over $48,000.00. Ihad a new silver CLK55 AMG Mer-cedes. a work truck turned in front ofme and I hit him hard. Gunder’s didsuch a superb job, that when my leasewas up, the Mercedes rep couldn’teven tell it had been wrecked. I mostcertainly hope i don’t have another,

but if I do, it will go right back to rayGunder’s body shop.”

When asked for a comment Raystated: “The customer’s commentssay it all for me. That’s what we’rehere for and that’s all we want to do…serve our customers with the best pos-sible service and quality workmanshipwe can…it appears we have met thatgoal and we’ll continue to do just thatand just keep pounding that rock!”



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ABRA Auto Body & Glass, a Min-nesota-based damaged vehicle repaircompany and industry leader contin-ues its national expansion with theannouncement of their newest fran-chise location in Clarksville, Ten-nessee, just north of Nashville.

Final preparations are under-way for the opening of ABRA’s 39thstate-of-the-art franchise located at855 Kraft Street in Clarksville. Itwill be one of the largest collisionrepair centers in the area with morethan 21,000 square feet of repairtechnology and shop operations. Theofficial opening is scheduled forApril 2.

Operations Director DwayneBrown said, “We are combining twobody shops into one and look for-ward to doing the ABRA way ofbusiness…we are quite impressedwith the ABRA process and howwell orchestrated it is.”

The new franchise will be inde-pendently owned by the Wyatt-John-son Automotive Group, one ofTennessee’s top GMC-Buick dealer-ships. Brown said the repair centerwill be a large and modern facilitythat can handle a great deal of vol-ume.

ABRA Auto Body & GlassExpands Operations into TN

As a result of overwhelming interestand questions from repairers and con-sultants across the nation, a CollisionIndustry Legal Seminar is being pro-vided for collision repair profession-als by Ray Gunder of Gunder’s AutoCenter and Barrett Smith of AutoDamage Experts (ADE).

This event promises to provide aunique opportunity for many as therehas been a great deal of interest re-garding the success repairers acrossthe country have had in their efforts toaid their customers in the recovery ofthe full costs required for a proper andthorough repair.

Together, Gunder and Smith areco-sponsoring this legal seminar andthe duo’s legal counsel, Brent Geo-hagan, Esquire, will provide an openforum to offer information and to an-swer questions as to how repairersmay improve their businesses andservice to their customers, whilelessening unnecessary interference,encumbrances and potential liabili-ties.

“This will not be the standardtraining on “how to increase work

flow”, “cycle times” or “KPI’s” andsuch,” said Smith, “However, the in-formation gained during this meetingwill likely enable attendees to workmuch more effectively and to betterserve the needs of their customers andtheir businesses through more effi-cient administrative processes whileavoiding unnecessary legal liabilities.This information, properly employed,will likely result in greater profits andreduce operational costs and frustra-tions.”

The intent of this seminar will beto provide information on legal basicsincluding an overview of the muchdiscussed processes involving the“Power of Attorney” and “Assignmentof Proceeds” (aka Assignment of Ben-efits). Answers to attendee’s individ-ual questions as to how it may benefitthem, their business and their cus-tomers will be available along withother topics such as:● Understanding the Repairer’s LegalResponsibilities● Understanding the Customer’sLegal Responsibilities● Understanding the Insurer’s Legal

Responsibilities● Understanding the difference be-tween 1st and 3rd Party Claims forRepairers● Understanding Tortious Interference● Relationship Building Based uponKnowledge and Respect● Recognizing Legal Liabilities andHow to Avoid Them and/or ChannelThem to the Appropriate Parties● How to Turn Potential Liabilitiesinto Significant Profits and ImproveYour Bottom Line.● Making your Repair AuthorizationsLegally Iron-Clad and Profitable● The Importance of Knowing andUnderstanding your State’s Laws andRegulations as They Relate to YourBusiness● Recognizing and Understanding“Unfair Trade Practices” and how toavoid them● Post Repair Inspections…A QualityRepairer’s Best Friend and a Poor Re-pairer’s Nightmare!● Understanding “Diminished Value”and its Benefits to Repairers and TheirCustomers ● Understanding “Federal Anti-Trust

Laws” and What Repairers Can andCannot Discuss Openly Without Fear ● Summary of the March 2012 CCREMeeting held by the PennsylvaniaCollision Trade Guild

This Seminar Will be Open toAll Collision Repair Professionalsand Industry Supporting VendorRepresentatives and will be held atRegal Chevrolet at 925 US Hwy 98South, Lakeland, Florida 33801 onSaturday April 14th, 2012 at 11:00a.m.

To register simply send your e-mail with your full name and com-pany name and contact information to:[email protected] with “AT-TENDING LEGAL SEMINAR” inthe subject line; please feel free to usethe same e-mail address if you haveany questions or need additional in-formation.

Note: If others within your or-ganization will be joining you in at-tending this seminar, please providetheir full name and title so necessaryarrangements and provisions can bearranged. Sandwiches and beverageswill be provided.


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by Ed Attanasio

When it opened its doors more thaneight decades ago, Pacific Coast Lac-quer (PCL) Automotive was providingproducts for body shops painting auto-motives such as Ford Model A’s, Hud-son Roadsters and Austin 7’s. Today,the brands and names have changed,

but PCL still markets a wide range ofpaint-related products to the collisionindustry, including surface cleaners,pre-treatment coatings, primer surfac-ers, primer sealers, single stage top-coats, aerosols and solvents.

The body shop business haschanged in a big way since 1929, backin the days before DRPs or labor ratesurveys. But according to Ruben La-guna, PCL’s Director of Sales andMarketing, quality products backed bysolid customer service is still a formulafor success and longevity. Since beinghired by the company in 1988, Laguna

has seen PCL grow and change withthe times and is proud of the com-pany’s role by providing solutions forbody shops that are 100% compliantand make financial sense as well.

“I tell my customers that ourproducts offer all three things: Per-formance, quality and price,” Lagunastated. “That’s why they represent a

great value across the board. You cansave money, but are you sacrificingquality or performance as a result?And just because you pay more, doesthat necessarily mean you’re gettingreal value?”

Manufacturers of automotive re-finishing products have come andgone over the years and PCL is proud

to be the only manufacturerof its type still doing businessin California. By developingnew products through its ex-tensive R&D efforts at itsheadquarters and factory inLos Angeles, PCL has devel-oped a wide range of innova-tive products, includingseveral that can be used with

both solvent and waterborne paint sys-tems,” Laguna explained.

Body shops make up 85% ofPCL’s total revenues through morethan 300 paint suppliers and jobbersstatewide. The company’s best-sellingproducts are its primers and clears andwithin the last few years, the manufac-turer’s flat black and flat clear topcoatshave become extremely popular, espe-cially with customizers making thefashionable trend more commonplace.

Twenty-four years ago, changesin California’s environmental lawsdrastically changed the types of sol-vents that had to be used for cleaningpaint guns. PCL quickly became thenumber one provider of these types ofsolvents in the California market, be-cause they were able to change rapidlyand adhere to the new requirementsquickly.

In addition, all of PCL’s compli-ant cleaning solvents adhere to SouthAir Coast Air Quality ManagementDistrict (SCAQMD) Rule 1171,which began requiring more water-borne cleaners starting in 1999. All ofPCL’s products are designed to meetand/or exceed local and national envi-ronment and air quality laws and re-quirements, according to Laguna.

Exemplary hands-on customerservice has long been a key element to

PCL’s continued success, Laguna ex-plained. “If you use our products, youalso get our knowledge and our yearsand years of experience. We respond

quickly to questions and concernswithout fail, and if one of the bodyshops using our products gets cited forsome reason, we’re there to representthem and address the violation. Itdoesn’t happen very often, because weformulate our products to be 100%compliant across the board, but whenit does, we do everything we can torectify it.”

Training in order to learn the ap-plication techniques associated withany of PCL’s products is also alwaysavailable, Laguna said. “Our products

are very easy-to-use, so most of ourcustomers don’t require training. Butif they want it, we will come out thereand train them right at their shop. Weback every product we make andthat’s why we’ve been serving the au-tomotive industry continually for solong.”

By making products that have be-come invaluable to body shopsthroughout California over thedecades, PCL has survived several re-cessions without taking a hard hit, La-guna said. “Between 2007 and 2008,

when the economy took a beating, weincreased revenues by 20-25%. Whentimes are lean, more body shops buyour cleaners, primers and sealers par-ticularly, because they know they willdo the job, saving them time andmoney.”

Susan Simmons is a 30-year vet-eran of the automotive paint industryand is the store manager of Finish-Master in Montclair, California. Serv-icing approximately 200 SouthernCalifornia body shops, Simmons hasbeen working with PCL since she en-tered the field, she said.

“PCL has definitely found sev-eral niches over the years and by pro-viding compliant products ataffordable prices, they’ve done verywell,” Simmons said. “We sell theirprimers, surfacers, sealers, clears andsolvents to a wide range of differentcustomers, from custom shops to do-it-yourselfers to hobbyists, restorationshops and of course, regular bodyshops. We get customers who call usall the time and ask specifically forPCL’s products, especially their flat

black paint fast-drying prod-uct.”

Simmons values the sup-port and accountability of-fered by PCL, she said.“Paul Casanova is my PCLrep, and he is always avail-able and willing to help us inany way. He has assisted usin training and on numerousspecial projects. If we ever

have any issues with PCL products,Paul is there to do whatever it takes tomake it right. If there is any hint oftrouble, he replaces the product with-out question. PCL definitely followsthrough and stands behind all of theirproducts, which makes working withthem a no-brainer.”

PCL Automotive3150 East Pico Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90023(800) 752-1566www.pclautomotive.com

PCL Has Been Primed Since 1929 with Clear Solutions for Shops

Guardian Auto Glass LLC announcedFebruary 27 it has formed a new com-pany, Guardian Auto Glass Bloom-ington, LLC to acquire the assets ofGlass Specialty Company based inBloomington, Illinois. Guardian AutoGlass provides glass repair and re-placement services for automobiles,

buses, trucks and recreational vehiclesand now has more than 75 locationsthroughout the United States. GlassSpecialty began operations in 1957and currently provides auto glass re-placement and repair services frommultiple servicing locations acrossIllinois.

Ron Talley, current CEO of GlassSpecialty will serve as vice presidentand managing partner of the new com-pany. “We at Glass Specialty are ex-cited to partner with Guardian AutoGlass and look forward to expandingour business in Illinois and in adjacentcommunities,” said Talley.

“Glass Specialty is a well estab-lished business with experienced anddedicated employees,” said Marc Tal-bert, vice president and managing part-ner of Guardian Auto Glass. “This newpartnership will provide Guardian AutoGlass the opportunity to expand ourfootprint.”

Guardian Auto Glass acquires Glass Specialty Company of Bloomington, Illinois



by Ed Attanasio

It’s like water and oil; church andstate—the Democrats and the Re-publicans. For many decades, therehave always been two disparatesources for collision and mechanicalparts. But now, still mired in aneconomy that is improving but lag-

ging, aftermarket parts distributorsare starting to think outside the partsbox and adding mechanical parts totheir collision inventory and viceversa. When ancillary revenue be-comes vital to the bottom line, everycompany starts looking harder forthe “new, new thing”. By being aone-stop parts source and expandingtheir inventories, companies are in-creasing profits and building a larger,more loyal customer base.

The Levan Group, Inc. has beenin business for two decades and hasfive locations in California and Texas,so owner Kenny Levan has seen thecollision parts industry change and re-invent itself on many levels. That’swhy he began incorporating mechan-ical parts into his collision inventorywithin the last several years.

“We’re always looking for waysto increase our revenue, because onceyou rely totally on certain types ofparts, you’re limiting yourself,” Levansaid. “We discovered that our bodyshop customers want certain mechan-ical parts to supplement their crashparts. It’s a matter of convenience andif we can match the prices they’refinding elsewhere, it’s an easy deci-sion for them.”

By offering a limited range of me-chanical parts, such as radiators, lamps,window regulators, shocks, brake partsand struts, for example, the Levan

Group has attracted a new group ofcustomers, including nearby mechani-cal shops, walk-in cash customers anda whole new business segment theyhad never tapped into before—the do-it-yourself (DIY) market.

“The DIY customers are startingto save money by doing repairs theywould not consider before,” Levan

said. “Now, we get about 30%of our business from thesepeople. And by adding morechemicals, clears, bondo andsand paper (he does not sellpaint), we are appealing moreand more to the growing DIYpart of our overall business.”

Owned and operated by sixbrothers, Kenny, Michael,Brandon, Andy, Harry, andHenry; each Levan overseesone location while Andyworks at all five warehouseswhen required. It’s a hard-working family that came tothe United States from Viet-nam 33 years ago. In 1988,

they started the Levan Group with lit-tle capital but lots of sweat, Levansaid.

“I came to this country when Iwas 13 and I always tell people, Istarted working the minute I got offthat boat and haven’t stopped yet,” hesaid. “It’s a family business, so wemake the decisions together and wework as a team. We’re always think-ing of new ways to make our companybetter, and adding parts or supplies toour inventory has turned out to be a

wise move. We carry mechanical partsat all of our Bay Area locations andwill be expanding to include Sacra-mento very soon. By the end of 2012,all of our Northern California loca-tions will have collision and mechan-ical parts, as well as shop supplies.”

Other parts distributors havemerged collision and mechanical partsand seen it lead to more profits and ad-ditional customers as well. SSF Im-ported Auto Parts in South SanFrancisco is such a business, market-ing both mechanical and collisionparts with good results, according toBill Foxworthy, the company’s Colli-sion Parts Director.

“When business slows down,both mechanical and collision shopsstart looking around for new sourcesof income,” Foxworthy explained.

“Body shops obviously need mechan-ical parts to complete a lot of their re-pairs and more and more people arebuying salvaged cars, fixing them upand re-selling them, especially with alot of the higher-end imported vehi-cles we sell parts for.”

SSF sells a fair amount of frontend parts, water pumps, fans, bear-ings, condensers, wheel components

and air conditioning parts tobody shops. Conversely, me-chanical shops are buyingmore headlights, grill, em-blems and other accessory-type body parts as needed,according to Foxworthy. It’shit-and-miss and tough totrack, but Foxworthy knowsthat SSF is providing a value-added feature by offeringboth. SSF sells collision partsfor 80% of the car nameplatesthey also sell mechanicalparts for, including BMW,Mercedes-Benz, Porsche,

Volkswagen, Audi, Mini Cooper, Saaband Volvo.

“Sure, our mechanical lines areour bread and butter,” he said. “Butwe’re starting to see that the two typesare slowly morphing together, so werealize that we need to keep selling

both. When business starts lagging,we see a spike in collision parts sales,so we know it’s a necessary part ofwhat we’re selling. We’re in an age ofconvenience and shops realize time ismoney. If they can improve cycletimes as a result, it’s a win-win, defi-nitely.”

Foxworthy has been in parts forseveral decades, so he has seen theparts industry change with the Inter-net and other technological advances,he said. “The auto repair industry hasseen a lot of drastic changes, but inother ways they’ve been reluctant tochange. Selling both mechanical andcollision parts would be a logical al-ternative, especially when we’re allfighting for that extra dollar. But, it’snot the traditional way of doingthings, so aftermarket distributorsaren’t going that way. The overall at-titude is we're not going to changesomething that's already working. But,we all know that’s shortsighted think-ing.”

By incorporating aftermarket col-lision parts into their inventory mix,Midway Aftermarket in Kansas City,Missouri has benefitted by the resur-gence in the DIY market while ap-pealing to body shops that want a mixof recycled parts coupled with new af-termarket parts, Marketing DirectorAimee Studna explained.

“For more than 20 years, our sal-vage yard has been our core business,”she said. “Several years ago, westarted identifying a need with ourcustomers who wanted a mixture ofrecycled parts and aftermarket parts,both collision and some mechanic alparts, mostly air conditioning partsand radiators. Now customers askabout them and we sell them rightalongside the crash parts and our re-cycled inventory. This way they get amix of new aftermarket and recycledparts, which appeals to a lot of the in-surance companies.”

Can collision and mechanicalparts co-exist together in the samewarehouse? Will automotive shops ofall types gravitate toward this one-stopshopping approach to acquiring partsand how will the OEM’s react when itstarts becoming more than just aminor trend? Stay tuned, becausewe’ve learned that if money is in-volved, people will adapt and quicklychange their ways of thinking in thepursuit of increased profits and a big-ger piece of the overall parts pie.

The Levan Group—Where Crash and Mechanical Parts Intersect

Inside Sales Rep Leo Puentes, Owner/Manager KennyLevan and Sales Rep Andrew Knowles market a widerange of both collision and mechanical parts at the LevanGroup

Kenny Levan runs the San Jose, Calif. location for TheLevan Group. He started selling collision repair parts inaddition to his mechanical inventory to better cater to thedo-it-yourself market and body shops looking for a one-stop solution

Bill Foxworthy is the Collision Parts Director atSSF Auto Parts, a company that sells bothmechanical and collision aftermarket parts forbrands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz,Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi, Mini Cooper,Saab and Volvo


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I N F IN I T I


It’s been said that a picture is worth athousand words. Yet, with today’s dig-ital cameras in cell phones, even, pic-tures are worth less than a dime adozen. Yesterday’s promotionalpieces, flyers, brochures and evenwebsite pages, all may have nice pho-tos, but people are less impressed withthem these days. To really make animpact on a potential source of refer-ral business, you need to get them tocome to the shop and see the realthing. One live contact is easily worthmore than a thousand pictures.

With spring arriving, this couldbe a good time to spruce up the shopand push for some live visits by refer-ral coordinators you’ve been chasing.Over the winter some aspects of yourshop may have fallen into disrepair orworse. Getting an entire shop show-case-ready is generally not an easytask. Spare parts storage and the paintmixing room may have become major

eyesores. Walk through the shop andimagine you have an insurance execu-tive or dealership owner walkingalong with you. Try looking at yourplace from his or her eyes and takesome notes. These could be the im-provements that make the differencein how your shop is valued as a placeto refer customers.

A few standard interior-decorat-ing measures can make a major dif-ference in how your shop is perceived.If you often have spare parts or someother eyesore in your office or waitingarea, a useful device to hide that kindof thing is the room divider. These aregenerally just a couple of free-stand-ing 2’x 6’ or 3’x 6’ panels hinged to-gether, but depending on how they’repainted or covered with fabric or usedto display promotional posters, theycan be a significant visual asset in anotherwise drab room. If the office orwaiting area is uncomfortably small,

a mirrored wall gives an illusion oflarger space and also reflects light tobrighten a dimly lit room.

Although a body shop is in theautomotive painting business, it’ssurprising how many shops fail toadequately paint their buildings,driveways and equipment. Just paint-ing the spray booth doors makesthem look newer and better main-tained at a glance. The same is trueof the paint storage room. Olderequipment like ancient frame ma-chines and welding equipment canbe spruced up quickly with a coat ofthe metallic paint you use on vehi-cles every day. Dealership shops aremore likely to have identifying signsover bays indicating body work,frame work, welding, etc.

Dealership driveways also usu-ally have painted lines to direct cus-tomers to various parts of the facility.But an independent shop can add a

perspective of professionalism byadding a few signs around to desig-nate how various bays are used andperhaps some painted lines on drive-ways. These simple cosmetic meas-ures will make a major difference tovisitors accustomed to well organizedand generally very clean offices.

While these improvements mightbe made to impress an insurance ex-ecutive or dealership owner, otherchanges might be added for more spe-cific visitors. Some shops have begunto take advantage of the “baby boomgeneration” achieving the status of“seniors,” and looking for ways to al-leviate physical problems that cancome with aging. Special handicapaccess elements around the shop canassist an older person taking a shoptour and the shop could profit fromoffering and installing handicap-as-sistance devices like power runningboards. Driving schools have begun

Sprucing Up Your Shop For Spring

Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.

with Sheila LoftusYour Turn

Opinions Countwith Dick Strom

Shop Showcasewith Janet Chaney

Industry Overviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Interviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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

to multiply as public schools dropdriver training classes. Some shops in-vite student drivers in to look at heavyhits to alert them to what can resultfrom hazardous driving. A shop show-case might add a display to that effect.Also a shop that caters a bit to mothersand parents should consider addingsome child-entertainment items thatcould be emphasized when showing amother or parent around the shop.This kind of convenience can make amajor difference when a prospect iscomparing competitor shops in yourarea.

While all of these improvementswould significantly help sell your shopto prospective referral source visitors,the impact on shop personnel should-n’t be overlooked. Sprucing up a workbay and perhaps making some im-provement in the appearance of stan-dard worker clothing tells a technicianhis or her work is valued and espe-cially appreciated at this time. Thissame technician is likely to also pres-ent a better P.R. image when peopleare coming through on a tour. Effi-ciency studies have shown that per-sonnel in general perform better inwell organized, attractive spaces. You

may have started out to simply makeimprovements to impress anyone com-ing through on a shop tour, but youcould also be pleasantly surprised tofind that your improvements have re-duced cycle time and made a majordifference in your financial bottomline.


The U.S. National Highway TrafficSafety Administration and NissanNorth American has issued a recallwarning for 2003-2005 model yearInfiniti Q45 cars, according to Con-sumer Reports.

The luxury sedans may haveelectrical wiring that, over time,may develop a resistance which pre-vents the front seat-mounted side airbags from deploying during a colli-sion.

According to NHTSA, thefault lies with the wiring connec-tors used in the Infiniti Q45 luxurycar. Nissan explained that move-ment between the connections de-velops an oxide film between themetal contact points. Over time,that film increases the electricalresistance between the contactsand possibly prevent the electronictrigger of the side air bags when

needed during a collision.Nissan says it believes about

5,777 Infiniti Q45 sedans may havethis issue with front side air bagelectrical systems. And in 2009 and2010, it has already fixed about 75percent of the vehicles affected bythis recall. However, it will notifythe remaining Q45 owners—about1,349—of the recall starting March12.

Owners will be instructed tobring in their recalled Infiniti Q45sedans to local dealerships. Me-chanics there will inspect and mod-ify the side air bag wiring free ofcharge.

For more information, con-sumers can call Nissan’s toll-freecustomer service line (800-647-7261) or visit the NHTSA website:www.SaferCar.gov.

Infiniti Recalls 2003-2005 Q45 Sedans

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Daehan, an auto supply company lo-cated just outside of West Point, GA,caught fire March 17.

The company supplies parts,mostly metal car parts that protectdrivers from the engine and electri-cal wiring, for Kia, most notably theKia West Point facility nearby. Theparts supply company remainedclosed Monday March 19 as fire-fighters investigated the cause of theblaze. No one was hurt but the build-ing was severly damaged.

“My boss man called and toldme you don’t even have to come in.He started telling me that the build-ing was on fire. At first I thought hewas joking, but I started gettingmore calls and texts,” Chris John-son, a worker at the plant, said toWSFA News Montgomery, AL.

In response to this fire, Kiaclosed their West Point, GA, plantfor two days—Monday March 19and Tuesday March 20.

A Kia spokesman told Reutersthat the interruption would have alimited impact on sales, due to theplant’s inventory.

For more information pleasevisit www.kmmgusa.com

Auto Supplier DaehanCatches Fire in GA

Environmental legislation and in-creasing restrictions on VOC emis-sions continue to transform thecoatings industry and collision repairbusiness. Waterborne paint systemshave become more prevalent as thebest way to radically reduce green-house gasses. At BASF, this environ-mental breakthrough has also becomean opportunity for product and serv-ice innovation to add superior value,helping increase shop safety, produc-tivity, quality and, ultimately, cus-tomer satisfaction.

Innovative BASF Products LeadsAs a world leader in automotive refin-ishing products, BASF introduced oneof the first waterborne systems withthe launch of the Glasurit® 90-Line™in 1992. Ahead of its time, the high-performing 90-Line began a revolu-tion that has not only made manycollision repair shops more environ-mentally friendly, but has improvedquality and throughput — throughease-of-use, low material consump-tion, fast-drying formulas, better hid-ing and easier blending.

Moreover, the fact that approxi-mately 70 percent of all new cars arefinished with waterborne paint make90-Line an ideal system for repair. Andwhen it comes to quality, it’s reassur-ing to know that the world’s finest au-tomobiles—including Mercedes-Benzand BMW—have waterborne paint. Inaddition, ultra-luxury cars such asMaybach and Rolls Royce are handsprayed at the plant with 90-Line.

For collision repair centers thatdemand high productivity, superiorquality and cost efficiency, BASF’s R-M® automotive finishes continue to bethe right choice. R-M’s low-VOC wa-terborne basecoat—Onyx HD™ —has been used by many independentcollision repair centers and car dealer-ships for almost two decades. The sys-tem brings next-generation processesinto the shop, while offering excellentversatility, durability and cost effec-tiveness along with superb colormatching with BASF’s proprietaryCOLOR-MAX® system. And, OnyxHD does all this while meetingtoday’s most stringent VOC regula-tions at local, regional and nationallevels.

The combination of R-M’s fastdrying primers, high gloss “no-bake”clears and Onyx HD low-VOC water-borne basecoat reduce cycle time and

energy consumption while helpingpreserve the environment. Beinggreen with Onyx HD can actually save

you some green, helping make thebusiness case to switch to the water-borne system.

More Than Just Great ProductsBASF’s Glasurit® 90-Line™ and R-M® Onyx HD™ paint products aresupported by industry-leading lifetimewarranties, along with technical train-ing programs, advanced color infor-mation systems and businessmanagement programs.

SmartTrak® is a state-of-the-artcolor management system that pro-vides fast and accurate color formulas.It’s designed to help increase shopprofitability and productivity throughcolor updates, inventory and stockcontrol management, formula cus-tomization, cost and low-VOC track-ing, advanced reporting and more.

The company’s comprehensiveVisionPLUS® program is an industry-leading suite of value-added programsgeared specifically for collision repaircenters. This full-service toolkit helpscollision center managers and ownersmonitor, grow sales, streamline busi-ness operations and gain a solid com-petitive edge in the industry. And,VisionPLUS Online is a turnkey toolthat allows collision repair centers totrack, analyze and advance their busi-ness in real time. This allows for im-mediate and continuous improvement,increasing shop productivity and prof-itability.

Better to Lead Than Follow the PackIn the U.S., some state and local ju-risdictions are taking the lead in

regulating automo-tive refinishing emis-sions. California andDelaware, for exam-ple, have developedpractice standards forshops to reduce VOCemissions. And, as afurther indication ofthings to come,Canada has alreadyrequired all shops toswitch to waterbornebasecoats.

Clearly, shopswould be well advisedto stay ahead of com-ing legislation andswitch to waterbornesystems before it be-comes mandated.

When consideringconversion to a water-

borne paint system, be sure to consultwith your BASF representative. Be-yond the regulatory considerations,

keep in mind the following advan-tages:• Reduced basecoat solvent emissionsby approximately 90 percent• Increased quality and customer sat-isfaction• Improved color matching• Improved throughput• Applied with conventional sprayequipment and easy to clean up• Improved safety (less toxicity, lowerodor and reduced flammability)• Reduced hazardous waste

Before you make the final deci-sion to change to a waterborne paintsystem, it is important to be aware ofnot only the advantages of using wa-terborne technology, but also key dif-ferences when compared to a solventsystem. There are many questions ashop should ask before switching towaterborne coatings. Let the expertson Waterborne Automotive Finishesfrom BASF answer them for you.

For more information aboutswitching to waterborne, contact yourBASF representative by calling 800-825-3000, or visit www.basfrefin-ish.com.


BASF Advises Shops to Join the Move to Waterborne Coatings Now


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The collision repair industry has toomany body shops. I’m not sure anyonewould seriously dispute that. Thesooner we can rid ourselves of 15,000body shops, the better all of us will be.Yes, it’s true, all of us will be far betteroff. This includes insurance companies,vendors, body shops themselves andconsumers.

How can we make this happen ata faster pace? That may be beyond thelimited scope of this mastermind, butit wouldn’t be an Insider article with-out a recommendation or two, sobuckle up and get ready.

The car manufacturers shouldfurther develop their certificationprograms and join together as onevoice to educate consumers at thepoint of purchase. “If your car is inan accident, you must take it to anOEM Certified Repair Facility toguarantee a proper repair. Takingyour vehicle to a body shop outside

the Certified program could result inan improper repair and compromiseyour safety.”

Sadly, that statement isn’t sometrumped-up idea to scare people. It’s afact and the motoring public should

know that while there are more than35,000 body shops in the country, toosmall a percentage are prepared to re-

pair aluminum, iden-tify substrates, weld“exotic” metals anduse proper-sectioningprocedures.

The complexitiesof today’s vehiclesprovide a significantchallenge to repair-ers. And five yearsfrom now, the 2012vehicles will looklike a Model A doestoday.

U n f o r t u n a t e l y,there aren’t a lot ofpeople who fully un-derstand the implica-

tions. Most industry pundits willprobably tell you that I’m solely re-ferring to the Mom-and-Pop body

shops as being ill-equipped or lackingin necessary repair information. Aucontraire, mon frère…I’m referring toshops that might be just like yours,maybe even most shops. I’m not try-ing to lose readers, just the shops thatare clinging to their outdated businessmodels and procedures like a motherbear to her cub.

And since we aren’t likely tosee car manufacturers creating so-phisticated certification programsthat virtually eliminate the bottom-feeders, there is an alternative. Onethat is probably a little more hu-mane. For the Rhodes Scholars andmy fellow Ivy league compadres, Ioffer you: The Darwin Theory. Yes,a concept so primitive that a cave-man could follow along. Flo?Maybe not.

It’s a simple but effective con-cept. Survival of the fittest is surelythe answer to the ills of this over-pop-


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‘Survival of the Fittest’ Also Applies to Collision Repairers

with Rick WhiteShop Management

with Stefan GesterkampPaint Management

with Gonzo WeaverGonzo’s Toolbox

with Richard ArnoldJobber Journal

with Dale DelmegeAsk Dale

Mainstream Media

Automakers’ Actions and Analysisby Autobody News Staff

Shop Showcaseby Autobody News Staff

with Ed AttanasioShop and Product Showcase

with Ed AttanasioConsumer Callout

with Walter DanalevichShop Strategies for Savings

with The Insurance InsiderInside Insurance

with Ed AttanasioCustom Corner

with Chasidy Rae SiskCompany Connections

with Chasidy Rae SiskNortheast News

with Chasidy Rae SiskShop Showcase

with Erica SchroederShop Showcase

with Erica SchroederShop Snapshot

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

ident, Leo Gerard.This letter follows action by the

United Steelworkers (USW) and othersto identify broad sets of practices uti-lized by China to protect its auto partssector to the disadvantage of its com-petitors. The Congressional letter rati-fies USW concerns and calls forimmediate action. The USW representsabout 850,000 workers in the UnitedStates and Canada in a wide variety ofindustries, ranging from glass makingto mining, paper, steel, tire and rubberand other manufacturing environments.

The United Steelworkers (USW)says that America’s auto parts sectorcontinues to be threatened by unfairlytraded auto parts imports from Chinaand its policies that exclude US prod-ucts from their markets. The USW laudsthe 188 members of Congress whosigned the Congressional letter, demon-strating broad political support behindintentions to stop China’s protectionist,predatory and illegal trade practices.

The lawmakers included manyfrom the auto manufacturing states of

the upper Midwest, which will likelybe important in Obama’s bid for re-election in November.

They said China uses a “vastarray of policies” to give its auto partsproducers an unfair trade advantage.

Those include Chinese limits onimports of foreign auto parts and sub-sidies that drive down the prices autoparts that are made in China, the law-makers said.

“These tactics are working. Chi-nese auto parts exports are rapidlygrowing and have increased almost900 percent since 2000,” the lawmak-ers said.

The appeal follows Obama’s re-cent decision to establish an intera-gency task force to boost U.S.enforcement of trade agreements. Thelawmakers urged Obama “to use allexisting authorities” to protect theU.S. auto parts sector, but did not out-line a particular course of action.

Advocates have said the admin-istration’s options include bringing acase at the World Trade Organizationor initiating an action under U.S. traderemedy laws that would lead to dutiesor other restrictions on imports fromChina.

ulated industry. If you are from anarea where deer are prevalent, youmay be able to better relate to mybody shop reduction initiative. Inmany states, deer have become aproblem. There are too many deer andnot enough predators to keep the pop-ulation down. The answer to thatproblem is open season.

How does this relate to bodyshops? I’m not suggesting open sea-son where we shoot the weak andvulnerable. There’s no need to sug-gest that when we have a naturalpredator. Consolidators are the yingto the yang, the french to the fry, andthe predator on the bottom-feedingbody shops.

Thankfully, the mega-mightyshops are slowly and steadily elimi-nating competition from the market-place. It’s a slow, arduous process butone that will ultimately yield the pos-itive result we all seek (even thoughyou may not know you want it),which is fewer shops. Consolidatorsreceive a substantial number of callsevery month from shops looking tosell their businesses. It has become abuyer’s market, and those with capi-tal are licking their chops but patiently

waiting. Why buy today when theprice tomorrow is going to be a littlecheaper? The Mom-and-Pop shopsare dying a slow death, and the longerthey wait to sell, the less they aregoing to get.

Most insurance companies arehappy to see the attrition of shops, al-though the rate of decline is less thandesirable.

This isn’t about eliminating theMom-and-Pop businesses that wewere once the backbone of Americaand still play a big role. It is abouteliminating the undersized deer, theone with a limp and the one that can’tsee very well. By eliminating theweak, the larger, more astute opera-tors can continue to grow at a rapidrate. That will raise the overall qualityand efficiency of shops in this indus-try. The shops that can better serve ourcustomer. Ooops, I mean our mutualcustomer.

The Insider is a corporate-levelexecutive with a Top 10 auto insurerin the U.S.. Got a comment or ques-tion you’d like to see him address in afuture column? Email him at [email protected].



Chinese Auto Parts


A small motor oil spill incident at theI-CAR Tech Centre in Appleton, Wis-consin in the spring of 2011 has raisedour awareness of the many considera-tions involved with a material spillinto the environment. What started asan accidental collision between asnowplow and a 55-gallon drum of

waste oil on an adjoining property re-sulted in an experience we wouldnever want to repeat.

There were several steps and de-cisions that had to be made to assureproper cleanup. What was morestressful than what we knew about theincident was what was unknown. Howfar had the spill traveled? Was thegroundwater contaminated? Whatpublic agencies might have to be in-volved? How much was this all goingto cost?

We thought we’d share our expe-rience to perhaps benefit another fa-cility that might encounter a similarincident.

Discovery and Initial StepsThe spill was discovered in mid-Aprilas the snow melted (see Figure 1). A55-gallon drum of motor oil in a park-ing lot near the Tech Centre propertywas damaged by a snowplow duringthe winter. Some 30 gallons of spilledoil was carried off the pavement along

with the melting snow. A rainstormfurther aggravated the situation.

The company that provided thesnow plowing offered to immediatelycome in and dig out all of the contam-inated soil and stone, take it to a locallandfill, and replace it with fresh newmaterial. The offer was put on holdwhile we sought legal and other pro-fessional advice. We were informedthat because we discovered the con-tamination and it was on our property,we were responsible for immediatecontainment to minimize environ-mental impact. We were also respon-sible for addressing possibledownstream contamination.

A local civil engineering and en-vironmental firm was hired to assessthe spill. Their observation showed“visual and olfactory evidence of pe-troleum contamination.” That initialobservation was verified by a coresampling. It was recommended thatwood chips and hay bales be layeredon the visible spill areas in an attemptto contain it (see Figure 2). The engi-neering firm added a ten-foot ab-sorbent boom to the containmentefforts. They were also required to in-form the Wisconsin Department ofNatural Resources Regional SpillsCoordinator.

The Wisconsin Department ofNatural Resources was the only publicagency that had to be involved withthe incident. Numerous photographswere taken of the site, including aerialphotographs. An early concern wasthat the oil had leaked into a ditch con-taining surface water (see Figure 3).Whether the oil had contaminated anygroundwater was unknown untilweeks later.

CleanupA couple weeks after the initial obser-vation, it was agreed that the snowplowing company that first made theoffer to remove the spill would be al-lowed to do so, but only under theguidance and direction of the civil en-gineering and environmental firm.

Excavation began in May. Due tothe electrical and telecommunicationsunderground conflicts, it all had to bedug out by hand (see Figure 4). Nearlysix tons of soil were excavated,

loaded, and sent to a qualified landfill.The depth of the excavation varied,but it was no deeper than 6". By lateMay, the spill was entirely contained.By early June, all affected soil was re-moved. This had to be confirmed byanother round of soil samples.

The final 13-page report by thecivil engineering and environmentalfirm, in color and spiral bound, con-tained the entire testimony since thefirm was hired. An appendix includedall the photos, lab analysis charts, andstatements from everyone involved.The firm’s final observation wassummed up in the statement: “Giventhe amount of oil releasedand the amount of contami-nated material hauled away,the environment has been re-stored to the extent practica-ble.”

The excavated area hadto be backfilled with cleantopsoil and seeded. Thesnow plowing company han-dled all the expenses for thespill cleanup, except for theinitial core sampling that I-CAR had authorized on itsown.

One of the last steps was receiv-ing a final signoff from the WisconsinDepartment of Natural Resources Re-gional Spills Coordinator. That two-page report did not come until weeksafter the final engineering report wasprinted and delivered. The DNR re-port stated that the spill was cleanedup to the extent practicable, and nofurther cleanup is needed. Thegroundwater was not contaminated.The spill had not migrated into thedrainage ditch. It was also noted thatno citations had to be issued in con-nection with the spill. Final landscap-

ing of the area could then begin. Thefinal cost to I-CAR was much lessthan what we had feared.

Suggestions for a Similar IssueIn case a facility encounters a similarissue, we can only suggest beingforthright with the environmental au-thorities. It will do no good to try andhide the incident or ignore the issue.Contact the local agency and ask,“What do I need to do about an out-door oil spill?” Similar to a vehicleowner involved in their first collision,a facility owner doesn’t know what todo when an accident occurs.

We took the initiative to contact thelocal engineering firm to do a coresample. We then asked the firm whatdo we do next? Their advice was totake every effort to contain the spill.Being upfront about the incident is al-ways the best approach.

ConclusionThe affair required us to collaboratewith legal, engineering, and environ-mental firms that we had little or no

contact with previously. As it turnedout, the spill did not contaminate sur-rounding groundwater. It was con-tained and cleaned up in a relativelyshort time. We hope this story of ourexperience will help whatever con-taminant spill situation you may en-counter.

with Kathy Steck-FlynnAutobody CSI

with Dan EspersenALL OEM Information

with Tom McGeeALL OEM Information

with J.R. CarlsonConsumer Callout

Automaker Actions and Announcementswith Jeremy Hayhurst

Autobody Techwith Jeremy Hayhurst

Parts Profileswith Larry Williams

Automaker Actions and Announcementswith Janet Chaney

I-CAR Tech

Amaradio Explains CRAwith Lee Amaradio Jr.

Consumer Callout

The Right Causewith Mike Causey

with Ed AttanasioShop Showcase

Say What?!

This article first appeared in the I-CAR Advantage Online, which is published and distrib-uted free of charge. I-CAR, the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair, is anot-for-profit international training organization that researches and develops qualitytechnical education programs related to collision repair. To learn more about I-CAR, andto subscribe to the free publication, visit http://www.i-car.com.

Oil Spill at the I-CAR Tech Centre in Appleton, WI, Raises Awareness

Figure 1 - The spill was discovered in thespring after the snow melt

Figure 2 - Sawdust and hay bales were firstadded to the site for containment

Figure 3 - There was a fear that the spill hadmigrated into a nearby drainage ditch

Figure 4 - The excavation had to be done by hand due tothe obstructions in the area



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Autobody News April 2012FLORIDA • GEORGIA • ALABAMA • MISSISSIPPI


Infiniti has launched a new nationwideInfiniti Certified Collision Repair Net-work, a comprehensive program de-signed to recognize and distinguish bodyshops that meet or exceed standards forrepair work, training, equipment and de-livery of Infiniti customer service.

The new certification program isopen to both Infiniti retailer-ownedand independent collision shops.

“The purpose of the certificationprogram is to provide the resources tohelp ensure consistency of the repairof Infiniti vehicles on a national basis,”said Carnie Colliver, senior manager,Parts and Service, Infiniti Americas.

“Each Infiniti owner that comesinto these certified facilities presentsadditional face-to-face opportunitiesto reinforce the Infiniti Total Owner-ship Experience.”

The certification program will beconducted in conjunction with DuPontPerformance Coatings (DPC), whichwill assist in the implementation ofthe program’s certification process,and I-CAR, the Inter-Industry Confer-ence on Auto Collision Repair, whichwill conduct technician training.

“Facilities that have the willing-ness to participate in this programmust have the commitment to achievehigher standards in the collision repairindustry. This program will be a plat-form to satisfy all aspects of their cus-tomers’ automotive service needs,”said Colliver.

● Infiniti Certified Collision Re-pair Facilities will be able to distin-

guish their facility from non-Certifiedrepairers, by an ever expanding mar-keting package including but not lim-ited to:

● A shop plaque acknowledgingto customers the facility is a memberof the Infiniti Collision Repair Net-work and recognized as meeting therequirements set forth by Infiniti

● Customer marketing materialsexplaining the benefits of using thecertified shop network for repairs andthe use of OEM collision parts

● Exclusive website for InfinitiCertified Collision Repair Facilities toobtain program and technical infor-mation

● Infiniti owner awareness mar-keting initiative

● Shop locator for owners toidentify Certified shops in their area

“The overriding goal is to pro-vide a better customer experience—with an assurance of safety throughthe repair process and facility stan-dardization, and the financial preser-vation of the vehicle to help minimizediminished value after collision re-pairs,” added Colliver.

“Certified network collision repairfacilities will deliver a professional re-lationship consistent with the Infinitibrand—and enjoy the added prestige ofbeing recognized by Infiniti as meetingour stringent factory standards.”

For more information on en-rolling contact the Infiniti collisiongroup via email at: [email protected]

Infiniti Launches National CertifiedCollision Repair Network

Chrysler Group’s Mopar Brand hasannounced that enrollment is nowopen for the newly launched ChryslerRecognized Certified Collision RepairFacility program. This program in-volves the services of Assured Per-formance Network and allows dealersand independent collision repair facil-ities to meet the qualifications neces-sary to be recognized by Chrysler as acollision repair facility of choice forits Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat andRam vehicle owners.

Chrysler’s program managedby Assured Performance Networkwhich is designed to benefit OEMparts purchases and ensure customersatisfaction via Certificates of Au-thenticity.

Under the program, shops willbecome a “Chrysler Recognized Cer-tified Collision Repair Facility,” andreceive official signage from Moparwith Chrysler Group logos. The certi-fication opens the shop for approvalfor other programs, not yet specified.

Member shops will receive 5%rebates on 100% OEM Chrysler col-lision repair parts. When repairs arecompleted with OEM collision repairparts, a Write Certificate of Authen-ticity, to help the resale value of thecustomer’s vehicle, will be created forthe customer’s records. Updates willbe made to the CARFAX vehicle re-port showing 100-percent OEM partswere used in the repair, and that aChrysler Recognized Certified Colli-sion Repair Facility made the repairs.

Shops will also receive a busi-ness development report to help eval-uate the business and identify keyimprovemments.

“We announced earlier this yearthat Mopar would be changing theentire ownership experience of ourvehicles, and this program is anotherimportant step forward,” said TonyBrenders, Vice President of Techni-cal Service Operations, Mopar.“Working with Assured PerformanceNetwork, we will not only expandour repair capabilities across theU.S., we will also ensure that thework performed will be to the highestlevel of quality.”

The new certification process re-quires key business standards includ-ing:

● Road to Gold: Attaining andmaintaining I-CAR Gold Class Pro-fessional shop status

● Minimum welding standards:Owning and utilizing squeeze typeresistance spot-welding equipmentwhich duplicates the original assem-bly process

● Minimum measurement stan-dards: Utilizing structural straighten-ing equipment with three- dimensionalmeasurements

The program launches on March26, 2012. Shops interested in begin-ning the certification process canvisit:www.ChryslerCertifiedShop.com formore details and program registra-tion.

Chrysler Launches Certified CollisionRepair Facility Program

Assured Performance Network Offers Other OEM RewardsChrysler joins GM and Nissan in thecertified collision shop program man-aged by Assured Performance Net-work which is designed to benefitOEM parts purchases and ensure cus-tomer satisfaction via Certificates ofAuthenticity.

Assured Performance Net-

work also offers member benefitswhich earn 5% rebates from GMand Nissan. GM and Nissan areproviding an incentive and rewardfor shops to use more genuine GMand Nissan parts and less after-market.

Members can receive a rebate

of 5% off list price on GM and Nis-san parts when you repair using100% GM and Nissan parts on ALLrepairs using GM and Nissan colli-sion parts.

Members can print and presenta “Certificate of Authenticity” totheir customers illustrating that

you have used 100% Genuine GMand Nissan parts to repair their ve-hicle.

The posting and auditing processis automated with 100% Write ESP(enhanced settlement process).

For more information see:www.assuredperformance.net


OK, I really do fix cars for a living. Itake a car that’s acting up, locate theproblem, and make the appropriate re-pair. Sometimes I haven’t a cluewhere to look when I start, but with afew proper tools, a little ingenuity,and a whole lot of experience I’ll findthe problem eventually.

It’s like finding Waldo, that nerdylittle guy dressed in red and white whotravels a lot and specializes in challeng-ing people to locate him. He sometimeshides in plain sight. You’ll usually haveto look closely to find him. Except my“Waldo” doesn’t wear a red and whitecap to give himself away. My Waldo isusually something to do with a compo-nent or part that has failed, or has de-cided to be difficult. I sometimes thinkthat these weird repair jobs that end upat my shop are like an elaborate game of“who can find Waldo first?”

I’m not always the first guy to tryand find Waldo. A lot of times a cus-

tomer will take their car to a relativeor next door neighbor, or they’ll findthe cheapest shop or the closestgarage in their area. I’ll hear a cus-tomer tell me they always go to a cer-tain shop for all their repairs, so theythink nothing of going to a specialistfor repairs. But, when that doesn’twork it’s time to ask for a recommen-dation for a shop that can make the re-pairs. Now, of course, this isn’t trueof everyone. A lot of people have afamily mechanic they have used foryears, while others believe the dealer-ship is the only place to go for repairs.Whichever or whatever way worksfor each and everyone is just fine withme. One way or another somebodyhas to find Waldo.

When it comes to cars, Waldocan be pretty crafty. He can be hidingin thousands of places. He can beunder the hood, behind the dash, inthe trunk, or under the seat. He can be

well concealed or under layers ofcomponents—carpet, plastic, or en-gine parts. With today’s cars he caneven be inside a computer lurkingabout in the form of a corrupted bit ofinformation. I never know where he’llshow up, but I’ll do my best to findhim. The other day I was on a Waldohunt for a whacked out gas gauge.The fuel gauge was stuck on emptyon this ‘03 Ford Van. It came from an-other shop after they had given up onit. The shop had already tried a newsending unit in the tank, but it onlylasted a day or two before the gaugequit again.

So where is that little beanie capwearing weirdo hiding this time? Istarted with behind the steeringwheel. After doing the self test on thedash it was clear the gauge was notresponding, so I broke out the gaugesimulator and hooked it up to the fuelgauge. Even with the tester adjustedto 160 ohms (full tank reading) itnever budged off of empty. GotchaWaldo! You’re in the instrument clus-ter… aha! Got ya this time for sure yaskinny little twerp!

I got the new cluster approved andinstalled it the next day. I hooked up tothe scanner, checked that all the pro-gramming needed was done. That’stypical stuff… mileage, tire size, etc …not a big deal (with the right scanner,an IDS in this case or the dealer partsdepartment can set most of it up for youwhen you order it. Actual program-ming needs vary from year to year, sobe careful to follow all manufacturer’sdirections). I was so convinced that Ihad this one I didn’t think I needed torecheck my work, so I was in for a sur-prise when the gas gauge didn’t moveright away. I’ve seen this before. It cantake a minute or two, or up to 20 min-utes if the key was on while filling upthe tank. I didn’t recall turning the keyon when I was installing the new clus-ter, but by the time I had the van off thelift and backed out of the shop thegauge was working. Done, problemsolved. Waldo, you’re out-of-here!

Boy was I wrong. Seems oldWaldo had to come back just a fewdays later. The gauge is back onempty again just as it did with the firstshop. Now what is he doing? Waldo

is a crafty kind of nerd. Is he messingwith me? I’m about to “go mechanic”on his butt.

Back to the gauge tester again.This time the gauge reacted with everymovement and changed with everysetting I could put it through on thetester. I knew the empty reading onthis tank is around 15 ohms and a fulltank is 160, so I should have a readingsomewhere in between those readingsfrom the tank sender. It was 16 ohms?Oh, come on. Is this tank empty? Igave the tank a couple of knocks withmy knuckle “rap, rap, rap” and askedsheepishly, “You in there, Waldo?”

I got an approval to drop the tankdown to check it further. I could tellthe other shop changed the tank send-ing unit. They had butt-connected thelead together (Gee, ya could have justdisconnected it) but I did notice some-thing rather strange about the sendingunit. The float was bent around thefuel pump and an edge of the bail wastrapped against the actual fuel pumpbracket. Waldo is up to somethinghere, and it’s not the sender.

I grabbed a flashlight and lookeddown in the tank. There inside the tankis the tray that the fuel pump rests in.It’s mainly there as a way to control thesloshing affect of the fuel and to helpgive the gauge a steady reading. Theonly thing was the tray wasn’t stayingin place. It had broken free from thebottom of the tank and was slidingback and forth as the van drove downthe road. “Waldo, you’ve been a verynaughty little fellow,” I said to myself.

The only thing that made senseabout the dash being bad was thatsomebody must have tried to sendvoltage back up the sending wires tothe dash, and it probably knocked thegauge out. It wouldn’t have been hardto do with the gauge and fuel pumpleads all in the same connector. Some-body could have easily (accidently Ihope) crossed the wrong leads, whichcreated another Waldo. While theoriginal Waldo remained in hiding in-side the gas tank the whole time.

Now I just have to tell the cus-tomer where I found him at this time.Great, just great—two Waldo’s in twoplaces in one car. I think I’ll let Waldoexplain this one to the owner himself.

What If You’re Looking for More than One Waldo?






Mainstream Media













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


How much money are you losing eachyear by not charging for Feather, Sandand Fill (aka Feather, Prime and Block)?If you’re charging nothing, I can guar-antee you $5,000 more in yearly profitsif you follow this advice and start get-ting compensated for the necessary workyou’ve always been doing.

Feather, Sand and Fill is a non-in-cluded procedure that takes the sur-face from 150-grit level smoothness tothe condition of a new, undamagedpanel that can then begin the refinishprocess. The labor and supplies usedwith with feather, prime and blockmay fluctuate based on the nature ofthe repair area and should be consid-ered when deciding which work needsto be performed. I will address the is-sues many shop owners have in get-ting insurance companies to pay forthis procedure, the laws involved, andpossible solutions to consider.

In 2006, the Collision IndustryConference Estimating Committee de-fined feather, prime and block as“non-included refinish operations thatcomplete the process from 150 grit tothe condition of a new, undamagedpanel... The body/paint labor and ma-terials necessary to prepare the re-paired area from 150 grit to thecondition of a new undamaged part isa valid and required step in theprocess. The labor and material al-lowances for these operations requiresan on-the-spot evaluation of the spe-cific vehicle and damage.”

Despite this clarification, shopsare still having trouble claiming thisprocess and being paid for the workand materials. Some insurance com-panies say that Feather, Sand and Fillis included in the repair process,which simply isn’t true. In addition,often times, on many insurance com-pany estimates, they state that feather,

sand and fill is included in the repairprocess, which directly contradicts thelaw, the P-Pages, and the logic of ourbusiness. Of course, the insurancecompanies don’t want to pay for thiscostly operation becuase they’vehaven’t had to pay for it for years.

An even stronger argument can bemade using the language in the federalregulations imposed through the EPA’s6H rule. “On January 9, 2008, the EPAaccepted a new standard known as theHAPs 6H rule to reduce the public’shealth exposure to Hazardous Air Pol-lutants (HAPs). The agency’s main ob-jective is to significantly lessen theamount of HAPs released into the en-vironment during paint stripping orsurface coating operations.

During such work practices, themost dangerous chemicals, namely,methylene chloride (MeCl), cadmium,chromium, lead, manganese andnickel compounds, represent signifi-cant risk to employee health if properengineering and administrative con-trols are not in place.”

The 6H rule requires that thisportion of the process needs to bedone by the paint department, in anenclosed space, and is therefore a re-finishing procedure, not a body repairprocess. This rule helps solidifyFeather, Sand and Fill as a refinishingprocess by definition of the law, but itstill isn’t properly compensated for bythe Insurance Companies.

This means that any application ofprimer that is sprayed through a HVLPspray gun must be done by a certifiedpainter, inside an enclosed sprayboothand billed as a paint procedure.

But how should your shop chargeand get paid for it?

It is a judgment call that must benegotiated on the spot. The repairprocess only takes you up to the 150

grit level, but I have to get the panelsto pre-loss condition before the refin-ish process can take place. I am facedwith this issue on almost every singlejob and I approach it by talking withthe adjuster directly. I say “If the P-Pages state that this is a necessaryprocess to repair a job and bring itback to pre-loss condition, then whywould it not be covered?” So, first Iprove my point that it’s a necessarypart of repairing the vehicle. I cite The6H rule that supports claiming it as arefinishing process. At this point,some insurance companies will payfor the operation, while others simplywill not pay. In this case, the insurancecompanies are forcing auto bodyshops to break the law by not listingthe procedure as a refinishing processand therefore admitting to violatingthe 6H rule. Failure to comply to the6H rule can result in hefty, daily finesand even jail time. If your shop does-n’t report or charge for it, you are in away admitting to breaking the law.

Another typical response is thatcharging for feather, sand and fill is notcompetitive in the market, and becauseother body shops are allowing the in-surance agencies to take advantage ofthem, they claim that all shops shouldfolllow suit. I also hear “you’re the onlyshop that charges for this process,”which simply isn’t true. So the insur-ance company is literally telling us thatbecause other shops aren’t recoupingthese costs, we should all lose the rev-enue and break the law.

So how do you calculate the costsof FSF (or FPB)?

A simple forumla that I’ve comeup with over the years in the business,and doing my own time studies is asfollows: I use .3 per repair hour to cal-culate FSF. The example we’ll use is a2 hour repair. 2 X .3 = .6, Refinish

labor rate = $48 x .6 = $28.80, Paintand Materials = $27 x .6 = $16.20.

Total costs associated with FeatherSand and Fill on a 2 hour job is $45.

If a shop performs two of theseeach week, there is a yearly loss of$4680 a year. In addition, at a sales taxrate of 8%, the state is losing $375 ayear for each shop not being paid forthis process.

If you simply use the formulaabove, your painter’s efficiency goesup and you’re no longer supplyingthese materials for free.

Determine your repair times first,state this is only a repair process, firstnegotiate your body repair time andspecify that this is only for the repairs,not for refinishing.

Once that is established then younegotiate your time and costs forFeather, Sand and Fill by using myformula. This will increase yourpainter’s efficiency, it will increase theprofitability of your paint supplies andit will add to your overall businesssuccess and bottom line.

If you try these methods and theydon’t work, you should show the ad-juster the P-Pages, even reference thisarticle. Ask the adjuster to prove toyou that you don’t have to do this stepwhich is required by all three estimat-ing systems and established as an in-dustry standard. What do they say? Ifyou’re still not being compensated,have them call me.

Write us, let us know if you’recharging for this operation. The onlyway for justice and fair compensationfrom insurers is through cooperationand unity among shop owners. Allow-ing the insurers to strong arm your bot-tom line is costing us thousands eachyear. A standard formula can be ap-plied to all jobs that account for thesecosts in a fair and transparent manner.

Feather, Sand and Fill: Paint Operations Body Shops Perform But Don’t Get Paid For

with David BrownShop Showcase

with Attorney Martin ZuradaBody Shop Law

with Domenico Nigro

The Community-Focused Body Shop

with Janet CheneyShop Showcase

Domenico Nigro is the president of Nigro’s Auto Body, a very progressive shop fortheir community in Philadelphia. In addition to many productivity innovations, Nigro’sinstalls equipment for disabled drivers, has developed several phone Applications,and represents products which directly support charities such as United Way and theNational Breast Cancer Foundation. Contact him at: [email protected].

22 West Virginia Vocational Schools to Integrate I-CAR Professional Development Program into CurriculumThe West Virginia Department of Ed-ucation/Division of Career and Tech-nical Education will integrate theindustry recognized I-CAR® Profes-sional Development Program™–Ed-ucation Edition into the curriculumof all 22 secondary and vocationalschools in the state of West Virginia.

This marks two firsts for I-CAR.West Virginia’s initiative marks the

first time I-CAR training will be usedat a statewide level within a schoolsystem’s curriculum and West Vir-ginia will be the first publicly an-nounced adopter of the I-CAR®

Professional Development Pro-gram™–Education Edition.

I-CAR, the Inter-Industry Con-ference on Auto Collision Repair,provides training for several areas of

the collision industry, including ca-reer and technical schools. Studentsthat receive this training will have theopportunity to benefit from a dy-namic, role-relevant education thatdirectly aligns with I-CAR’s indus-try-recognized training program anda solid foundation to work from asthey begin their collision industry ca-reers.

Kathy D’Antoni, West VirginiaAssistant State Superintendent ofSchools said, “Our vision is to growa highly skilled and quality drivenworkforce that leads the way for abetter tomorrow. The Business andEducation segment must work to-gether to make sure the curriculumbeing taught in our career technicalcenters satisfies industry needs.”


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2011 Equus

TopTech Finder Unites PDR Techs with Body Shop ManagersTopTech Finder, an open job market-place bringing together automotive re-pairers and paintless dent repair(PDR) technicians, announces itswebsite is now available at:www.toptechfinder.com. By provid-ing an online search engine to connectautomotive repairers and qualifiedPDR technicians, TopTech Finderputs power and convenience back intothe hands that count. In addition, be-cause of the damaging storms in theSoutheast and Midwest, TopTechFinder is waiving all fees on jobsposted in the month of March by bodyrepair shops in effected states.

TopTech Finder is the vision ofCEO Jeff Herman, who developed theidea to help body repair shops easilyconnect with reputable PDR techni-cians to fix hail damaged vehicles.“When hail storms hit, a shop’s regu-lar PDR resources are often over-whelmed with work. Shops are thenforced to choose from techs who ar-rive at their door, without any knowl-edge of the tech’s reputation, qualityof work, experience, or training.Shops have told me horror storiesabout handing that first customer carover to an unknown tech”, said Her-man. “TopTech Finder solves this

problem by letting repairers investi-gate techs before they hire them.”

Repairers of all types can posttheir PDR jobs for free on the site.They can then search for techs and seetheir online profiles. Tech profilesshow qualifications including experi-ence, training, certifications, and as-sociations. If satisfied, repairers caninvite techs to the job. Conversely,techs can search for and apply forjobs. Body repair shops, retail PDRbusinesses, hail teams and other re-pairers can create their free, no obli-gation account at:www.toptechfinder.com.

Nissan opened up sales for their Leafall-electric vehicle to all states in theUS on March 1, 2012. After the EV'sinitial launch in limited markets atthe end of 2010 and a piecemeal,state-by-state roll out throughout2011, the Nissan Leaf will finally beavailable to order all around the U.S.Nissan sent out a statement saying inpart, “We are officially a 100% elec-tric nation. Look out for an e-mailaround 3/1/12 detailing when youcan order your Nissan Leaf.”

Nissan Leaf Nationwide

Mexico Implements New Mandatory Auto Insurance LawsTwo of the most popular Mexican des-tinations for US and Canadian touristshave passed new laws recently requir-ing drivers to carry auto liability insur-ance at all times. Baja California Norte(home of destinations such as Tijuana,Ensenada, Rosarito, and San Felipe)and Jalisco (home of destinations suchas Guadalajara, Lake Chapala, andPuerto Vallarta) have passed laws re-quiring that all drivers carry liabilityinsurance. Other states have had simi-lar mandatory auto liability insurancelaws in place for some time.

Derek Kartchner, Vice Presidentof Business Development forhttp://www.mexpro.com said, “We feelthis is a good step towards solving ahuge problem; whether in the US or inMexico uninsured drivers create an un-needed burden at the time of an acci-dent, and cost all drivers more. Weapplaud the states that have taken stepstowards alleviating the number ofuninsured drivers in Mexico, and en-courage other states to do the same.”

Jim Labelle, CEO of IIG said,“While this is an important law, wewould also urge our customers to en-sure they are protecting their own in-terests. Not only should visitors toMexico purchase Mexico Auto Liabil-

ity coverage, but also Comprehensiveand Collision coverage. We encourageall of our customers who drive to Mex-ico to obtain a similar level of cover-age in Mexico that they carry in theUSA or Canada.”

Labelle’s firm has insured over 1million US and Canadian plated vehi-cles since launching its website a littleover ten years ago. Visitors to Mexicocan purchase and print their policies inreal time on http://www.mexpro. com.All policies sold on the site meet thenew state requirements, and manyother optional coverages are availableto ensure that consumers are properlycovered when driving in Mexico.

For more information about theselaws or to purchase a Mexico Auto In-surance policy visit http://www.mex-pro.com or call 1- 888-467-4639.

LKQ Corp. has announced results forits fourth quarter and full year endedDec. 31, 2011. Income for the fourthquarter was $56.1 million, a 36 per-cent increase over the 28 cents pershare reported for 2010. For the fullyear 2011, income from continuingoperations was $210.3 million.

LQK Has Record Results

Charley Hutton, custom painter ex-traordinaire, explains how to create arealistic, wood grain look with a fewsimple tools and PPG Envirobase®

High Performance basecoat.A painted wood-grain effect is

one way to add a distinctive look toyour custom build. In this step-by-step article, Charley will show youhow to paint a panel with one style ofwood in the center, framed by anotherwood grain look.

Creating the wood grain effect isabout having the right tools. You’llwant to have a variety of sponges,some with loose density for creatinglarger grain, and others more densefor tighter grain. Sea sponges areideal. You’ll also need a choice ofbrushes, preferably inexpensive oneswith stiff bristles. The brushes areused to create very tight grain lines,what we call the “dry brushing” tech-nique. And finally, you’ll need an air-brush and compressor for shadowingand highlighting.

Of course, like learning any spe-cial effect technique, it will take somepractice to get the technique down.“Some of the techniques I’ve learnedactually came by accident,” said Hut-ton. “For example, Paul Stoll, PPG’scustom painter/trainer, and I discov-ered a cool trick while doing a ’49 tinwoody. We didn’t like the look wewere getting, so when we went towipe the paint off, it smeared and cre-ated a really nice wood grain effect—and I’ve been using this techniqueever since.”

The PaintTwo colors of basecoat are neededfor the wood-grain look—a dark,reddish brown (T442 Woody Brownat 800.0 pts. and T430 Green 100.0pts.) and a lighter tan color (T429Trans. Golden Yellow at 940.0 pts.,T442 Brown 40.0 pts. and T430Green 20.0 pts.) In my case, Huttonuses PPG Envirobase® High Per-formance basecoat and he says itworks wonderfully.

“I especially like the fact that ifyou apply some paint and you don’tlike the effect you’re getting, you caneasily re-wet again with more water-

borne color, giving yourself a freshstart,” said Hutton.

Painting the Outer Frame(1) Hutton starts with a white base-coated panel, masked off to create acenter panel. Each end of the outerframe should be masked with miteredcorners, typical of wood frames.

(2) Start with the top and bottomportions of the frame. Wet your finersponge with the lighter tan color,squeezing out the excess by pressing itinto the side of the mixing cup. Then,simply drag the sponge across the sur-face in one direction, repeating theprocess several times. Next, we needto mask the outer frame to create abeveled look. With ¼-inch tape, maskfrom the side where you want the lightsource to appear to come from. Do thesame with the bottom edge. Then maskthe frame panels, leaving only the bot-tom edges of the frame exposed.

(3) Then, as the paint begins todry and get sticky, drag your glovedhand across the painted surface. As itbegins to drag it’ll create authentic-looking grain with that knotty look.After dragging all the way across thepanel for several strokes, start fromthe center and drag, and make smallerswipes in succession, gradually taper-ing your strokes to short swipes. If the

paint starts to set, just re-wet it withmore waterborne paint.

(4) After finishing the top andbottom of the outer frame, mask thecorners off before doing the sides. Besure to “under mask” a bit, which inthe end will create a darker line high-light. Then, using your sponge andgloved hand, create the wood-grainlook on the side panels, as you did onthe top and bottom. Remove themasking on the corners and allow thepaint to dry.

(5) Next, we need to mask theouter frame to create a beveled look.With ¼-inch tape, mask from the side

where you want the light source to ap-pear to come from. Do the same withthe bottom edge. Then mask theframe panels, leaving only the bottomedges of the frame exposed.

(7) Airbrush the areas left un-masked. This will darken them andcreate the illusion of shadows.

(8) After creating the darkershadow lines, re-mask over the linesin preparation of creating a lighter,highlight line. Once you airbrush theunmasked areas of the frame, makingit darker, the area covered by the tapewill leave a lighter, highlight line.

(10) Shadow and Toning. Next,


Custom Painter Charley Hutton Explains Step-By-Step How to CreateRealistic Wood Grain Effects With PPG Products

1 2 3

reduce the same lighter color with aclear basecoat T490 at 2:1, and re-duce 4:1 with reducer. This willmake the color more transparent.Airbrush the outer frame panels toadd tone and accentuate the grain inthe wood. When the ¼-inch lines areunmasked it will leave the lighterhighlights.

Painting the Center Panel(11) After it’s dried, re-mask the outerframe, and remove the masking fromthe center—you’re ready to create thewood grain effect on the middlepanel. With the sponge, use the sametechnique as the outer frame to applythe color. Start at one end and drag thesponge in straight lines across thepanel. Keep applying coats and as thepaint begins to dry, it’ll get sticky andcause the sponge to drag. This createsa streaked, grained look.

(12) Now you want to add tonewith a paintbrush and the darker, reddishshade of brown. Dip the brush into themixing cup and tool it out, so little is lefton the bristles. Using light strokes,swipe the brush across the panel, creat-ing the darker streaks. First, applystrokes horizontally across the panel. Besure to leave streaks to mirror the in-consistent color of natural wood.

(13) Next, airbrush the panel invertical, up ‘n down strokes. This iscalled “ribbing.”

(14) If you’d like to add a simplelogo, this is the stage to do it. Usingthe same paint you used to tone thewood, airbrush the cut-out of thelogo. This will create a darker high-light around the letters, creating a de-bossed effect.

For more information about theproducts used in this project, pleasevisit www.ppg.com.


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GM Recalling 2012 Regal SedansGeneral Motors is recalling about 3,6332012 Buick Regal sedans for parkinglights that fail to activate when driversturn on the vehicle’s headlight switch,according to Consumer Reports. Ac-cording to the National Highway TrafficSafety Administration, this flaw violatesU.S. safety standards and may cause anincreased risk of vehicle collisions dueto reduced visibility of the Buick car.

NHTSA says the recalled BuickRegal parking light malfunction iscaused by a software programmingerror during the sedans’ manufacturefrom February 2011 to last month. GMwill notify Buick Regal owners affectedby this safety flaw to bring their cars into local dealerships where the vehicle’s“body control module” will be repro-grammed for free.

Bobby Alloway loves the color black.Alloway, who has been building andpainting hot rods for years, was namedthe 2011 Autorama Builder of the Yearat the 59th Detroit Autorama earlierthis year. The award was just the latest

in a long series ofcoveted accoladesfor the painter, in-cluding Goodguys’Street Rod andStreet Machine ofthe Year, the DonRidler MemorialAward, America’s

Most Beautiful Roadster, plus count-less others. He was inducted into theRod & Custom Hall of Fame in 2004.

“It s rich, classy and doesn’t‘hurt’ any car,” says Bobby. “No oneever says, ‘that s an ugly color’ whenit s black.”

Some painters avoid black be-cause of its reputation for being un-forgiving in calling attention to eventhe tiniest of flaws. Alloway maintainsthat the prep and painting processshould be the same, regardless ofwhether the car is red, blue, white or

black. What is the secret to his flaw-less finishes? “The key is to not be ina hurry,” says Bobby. “Don’t take anyshortcuts.”

Here are some tips from the mas-ter himself:

Tip 1: “Make sure the car is straightas an arrow,” says Bobby. He followsthis rule religiously regardless of thepaint color.

Tip 2: Choose the right black color.Bobby uses PPG Deltron®, and is cur-rently a big fan of DCC9300 for singlestage work and DBC9700 when usingbasecoat. “It s a rich black,” saysBobby. “It s also friendly to use andisn’t prone to ‘printing’ (the kind ofunwanted imprint that can occur whenyou set a panel aside on a towel orrag).” For clearcoat, Bobby’s processincludes PPG Concept® DCU2002.Where two to three coats of clear arerecommended, Bobby and his teamwill apply additional coats.

Tip 3: Get the fat out (aka any ‘or-ange peel’),” using 600 grit sandpa-

per. “This is where most peoplemake their mistake,” says Bobby.“They’re afraid they’ll remove toomuch material by using the coarsepaper. You want to flatten it out sothat all that’s left is sand scratches.

This is where having five or six coatsof material is essential, since three tofour of them may be sanded off incertain areas.”

Tip 4: Sand single parts or panelsusing sanding blocks of varying sizesand shapes. Alloway’s hot rod shopuses many styles of blocks, but willalso make a new one if needed for theproject. “This doesn’t have to be ex-pensive,” says Bobby, “You can make

them yourself depending on what youneed.”

Tip 5: Sand, sand and sand somemore. Follow the 600 grit with 800,1000, 1200, 1500, 2000 and 2500 grit

sandpaper. Do not skip a sin-gle step! Whereas three to fourdays of sanding might be typ-ical, it is not uncommon for avehicle in Bobby’s shop to besanded for several weeks. TheAlloway process requires aflow coat of DCU2002 whichis sanded and buffed.

For more informationabout Bobby Alloway, please

visit www.allowaysrodshop.com. Formore information about the productsmentioned in this article, please seewww.ppg.com.


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The 2012 Ridler® Award winner an-nounced at Detroit Autorama® Febru-ary 26 was the 1955 Ford T-Bird,owned by Dwayne Peace of Tyler,Texas. The car was painted withBASF’s Glasurit® 90-Line™ BrilliantRed waterborne paint.

“BASF’s Glasurit paint has beenon six of the last 11 Ridler award win-ners,” said Vitor Margaronis, Mar-keting Director, BASF CoatingsSolutions, North America. “We’revery proud of this achievement andthe quality of our products.”

The list of products used to paintthe car included Glasurit’s Epoxy801-72, Polyester Filler1006-26, 90-Line Waterborne Basecoat and HSMulti Clear 923-155.

A total of 64 vehicles competed

for the coveted award at the DetroitAutorama. Vehicles are judged basedon three criteria: creativity, engineer-ing and workmanship.

“The execution of the plan andthe quality of the build were out-standing,” said Butch Patrico, Co-chairman of the Detroit Autorama andRidler judging supervisor. Patrico alsosaid the process for this build wassimilar to what a major manufacturerwould do to build a prototype. "Thiswas not a normal build. He didn’t fol-low a cookie cutter process.”

The car was painted by JacobEdens and Jeff Greening of GreeningAuto Company in Nashville, Tennessee.

“The entire painting process tookabout six months,” said Jesse Greening.“The color helped it show very well.”

The Ridler award is named afterDon Ridler, who started promotingAutorama in the 1950s. With his ex-pertise, Autorama became one of thetop hot rod shows in the country. Fol-lowing Ridler’s passing in 1963, a de-cision was made to create an award tohonor his memory. The Ridler awardhas been given out to the best newcreations since 1964. Cars must beshown for the first time to be eligiblefor the award.

To learn more about BASF refinishproducts visit: www.basfrefinish.com.

2012 Ridler® Award Winner Features BASF’s Glasurit® Paint

The 2012 Ridler Award Winner from DetroitAutorama is the 1955 Ford T-Bird owned byDwayne Peace featuring BASF’s Glasurit90-Line Brilliant Red paint

Women’s Industry Network Holds Planning Meeting in LateJanuary, Will Hold Annual Conference in May in Atlanta The Women’s Industry Network(WIN) Board gathered in Dallas, TX,in late January to review the group’sactivities in 2011 and plan for 2012and early 2013.

“This Strategic Planning meetingis a yearly event that we rely on tohelp keep us focused and on-track toachieve the goals we have set out forour organization,” said Board Chair,Victoria Jankowski.

WIN will focus on these primaryareas this year: enhancing the value ofWIN membership and sponsorship;improving WIN’s web and socialmedia presence to provide a more ro-bust communication and educationalvehicle for members and sponsors;forming a Task Force to conduct aneeds analysis on our website and so-cial media presence and make recom-mendations to the Board; increasingindustry visibility of WIN, our activ-ities and our members; providing aWIN presence at strategically signifi-cant industry events; making WINpromotional materials available uponrequest to WIN members who arewilling to represent the organizationat events of importance to them; es-tablishing a more robust operationaland governance structure for the

Board of Directors; refining standardsfor Board nominations and subse-quent executive appointments; refin-ing the WIN nomination process andput additional form around the execu-tive appointments.

“This new executive appoint-ment process will be implemented asthe current term ends and the new onebegins,” said Jankowski.

The 7th Annual WIN Confer-ence, “Be The Change!”, will be heldon May 6-8, 2012 in Atlanta, GA.

Keynote speakers for this annualconference will be Robyn Benincasa,an adventure racer, firefighter andmotivational speaker, and CathyBonner, CEO of Service King Colli-sion Repair Centers. Benincasa willpresent a keynote address titled “Ex-treme Change: Adapt, Overcome &Win As One,” in which she will sharestories of triumph through adversity.Bonner will also present a keynote ad-dress titled “The Ten Commandmentsof Leadership.”

For more details please visitwww.womensindustrynetwork.com.

Infiniti Recalling 2003-04 Infiniti M45 SedansNissan North American has issued arecall of about 8,120 Infiniti M45 lux-ury sedans, according to the NationalHighway Traffic Safety Administra-tion. The agency says the 2003-2004model years of the Infiniti M cars havea flaw that causes the gas gauge to dis-play a higher fuel level than theamount of gas actually in the vehicle’sfuel tank, according to Consumer Re-ports.

NHTSA first investigated re-ported problems with the InfinitiM45’s fuel gauge last December. Andaccording to the latest report fromNHTSA, they traced the issue to afaulty circuit board used in Infinti M45sedans made from March 2002through June 2004.

Nissan is expected to begin noti-fying customers affected by this recallin mid-April. Owners will be in-structed to bring their recalled InfinitiM45 cars to local dealerships wheremechanics will modify the fuel sys-tem’s circuit board for free. For moreinformation, consumers can call Nis-san’s toll-free customer service num-ber (888-327-4236) or visit theNHTSA’s website: www.SaferCar.gov.

Ford Probes 2005-06Ford Taurus ThrottlesA federal probe was launched in Feb-ruary into 2005-06 Ford Taurus sedansby the National Highway TrafficSafety Administration after 14 con-sumer complaints of stuck throttles.

According to NHTSA’s Office ofDefect Investigations (ODI), the ma-jority of consumers have complainedof high engine speeds—up to 4,000RPMs—when shifting the Ford Taurusout of gear and into Park or Neutral.Others have complained of difficultyin slowing or stopping a moving car,according to Consumer Reports.

In some of the cases reported tothe federal safety agency, drivers al-legedly had to shut off the Taurus’engine and/or shift into Neutral inorder to stop the vehicle. The allegedincidents are believed to be related tothe cars’ cruise control cables—how-ever, engineers with Ford Motorsand NHTSA’s ODI are working todetermine what causes the throttle tostick and determine whether abroader recall of the Ford Taurus isnecessary.

Consumers can file a vehiclesafety complaint onNHTSA’s website,www.SaferCar.gov.



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Airbrush Artist JoAnn Bortles is Writing Her Seventh Painting Bookby Erica Schroeder

Airbrush artist JoAnn Bortles, whoowns Crazy Horse Custom Painting,and lives in Waxhaw, NC, started air-

brushing her art onto motorcycles as ateen in the seventies on a dare. A life-long interest in art led her to Parson’sSchool of Design in New York City,but she eventually had to return to

suburban Connecticut to help out herparents. She had taken welding classesin high school and became a certifiedwelder after returning home. Sheworked various factory jobs for thenext few years until the words “Ifyou’re such a hotshot artist, why don’tyou try and paint my bike tank?”jolted her into the world of custompainting.

Her painting career really tookoff after the unexpected death of afriend in 1993. Her friend David hadalways pushed JoAnn to take herpainting to the next level, saying sheshould be more serious about her tal-

ent. After he passed away unexpect-edly JoAnn decided to honor hismemory by taking a crack at becom-ing a professional custom painter. Soshe moved to Florida, which then, asnow, was a hot spot for custom paint-ing and honed her craft.

“Being around all these greatpainters made me really want to upmy game,” said JoAnn. While inFlorida JoAnn met and married herhusband (now ex-) and they moved toWaxhaw in 1996. When she got toNorth Carolina, JoAnn realized it wasa totally different game and since shewas relatively unknown in the areashe had a hard time finding peoplewho would let her paint their cars.

“Those first years in North Car-olina were pretty rough,” said JoAnn.She painted hot rods, motorcycles,boats, just about anything she could.

Then in 1998 JoAnn showed sixmotorcycles she painted at theEasyriders Bike Show in Charlotte,NC. The six bikes took home the sixtop trophies, including Best of Show.This got the attention of one of theEasyriders Magazine editors and hetold her if she did well at their showin Columbus, OH, that the magazinewould do a feature story on her.JoAnn’s Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute

bike won Second Place Bestof Show at the Columbusshow, so the magazine did thearticle on her.

The publicity from the arti-cle and her awards at Char-lotte attracted many morecustomers and was a turningpoint for her career. JoAnnwas featured in (and wrote herown articles for) SouthernLiving, Easyriders, VTwin,Street Rodder, Hot Rod,American Iron, Ironworks,

Hot Bike, VQ, and many other maga-zines.

She has also written no fewerthan six books on custom paintingwith publisher Motorbooks. Her firstbook “How to Custom Paint YourMotorcycle” was published in 2005.JoAnn is currently working on herseventh book with SATA SprayEquipment, to be titled The CompleteGuide to Automotive Painting: FromPrep to Final Coat, which will havea heavy focus on waterborne paintingtechniques, using PPG’s Envirobasewaterborne paints in particular.

The book is slated to come out

in 2013 and will have two main sec-tions. The first half will focus onvehicle restoration from plastic re-pairs to sheet metal to body restora-tion. JoAnn’s welding andbodywork background will shapethis how-to section. The second half

will focus on custom painting usingboth waterborne and solvent tech-niques. One of the main projects inthe book will be restoring a 1967Firebird that has been waiting forattention for 20 years.

The car is “pretty rough” saysJoAnn, but by the end of the year shewill have the car restored completely.

The book will detail this process andJoAnn hopes it will show her readershow manageable a big project can beif approached with the right attitude

and processes. The goal is tomake the book answer anyquestion about bodywork,painting and custom work.The book will be availablethrough all SATA jobbersworldwide in addition tobeing sold on Amazon,Barnes and Noble and otherbooksellers.

JoAnn started using PPGpaints in 1995, and she saysshe couldn’t be happier with

their products.“PPG is without a doubt the most

user-friendly product I’ve ever used,”said JoAnn, “And that’s what makes itthe best bargain for painters. The highquality of PPG products actually savepainters time and money. PPG prod-

ucts make my painting lifeeasier.”

JoAnn stands behind herwork and the durability ofPPG’s products with a con-sumer guarantee on her workfor 5 years.

JoAnn also says that of allthe waterborne paints she hasused, PPG paints thesmoothest with the tightestlines. She finds it especiallyunique for painting wood-grain faux finishes. She alsostill uses PPG’s solvent-basedpaints for some applications.

“Whether I’m using solvent or water,I use whatever works best for thepainting situation,” said JoAnn.JoAnn also likes SATA Spray Guns.She recalls first starting out using thecheapest equipment she could find.Then when she met the people atSATA and tried out their products shesaid she realized why you would pay

more to use these guns.“Paint is so expensive,” said

JoAnn, “When the paint is allmixed and you’re ready to gointo the booth, is not the timeto find that you have a prob-lem with your paint gun. Andtime is money. Having goodquality equipment makes allthe difference.”Joann now uses SATA gunsexclusively on her work.

“Using good equipmentchanged the way I work,” said

JoAnn. She is really thankful for someof her other product relationships, in-cluding Evercoat, Gerson, AmericanTape and Meguiar’s.

A close-up of the 1965 Impala SS that JoAnn painted inLas Vegas; this car has taken home several awards forbest flames

The Stevie Ray Vaughan mural JoAnn won 2nd Place Bestof Show with at the Cleveland EasyRiders Show in 1998

The ‘67 Firebird JoAnn is restoring and customizing forher seventh book. This is what the car looks like beforeany work has been done. The after photo will look far dif-ferent. According to JoAnn, many of her projects looksomething like this when she gets started.

A close-up of some burlwood woodgrain Crazy Horsepainted on a ‘46 Ford

JoAnn astride one of her custom creationswith a favorite spray gun, a SATA RP. The bikewon Best Motorcycle Paint of the Year in 2005

“Just being able to say I workwith these companies is a very hum-bling experience, it shows just how farI have come,” said JoAnn.

JoAnn says her process reallydepends on the vehicle she is work-ing on; she generally creates a pre-work drawing on the computer toshow the client and get their input.Sometimes JoAnn and the customerwill collaborate on the design a bithere, and sometimes the customer ishappy with the initial drawing. Thenafter customer approval she startspainting. JoAnn basically free-handsa lot of the art; sometimes she usesArt Tool templates on more compli-

cated projects.“The templates are re-

ally a time saver,” saidJoAnn. She often uses acombination of templates,sketching and free-hand toget the look she wants.

“Custom paint is onlyas good as what’s under-neath it,” said JoAnn. And inher shop, much of the body-work and prep are handled by her as-sistant David Malkin.JoAnn has won dozens of awards forher work, including PPG’s Top 5 MostOutstanding Paint in 2006, Best ofShow and First Place at the 2006

Easyriders Bike Show,GoodGuys Shows BestFlames in 2005, Best Paint atthe Boardwalk Show at 2005Daytona Bike Week, Big BearCar Show Best Flames in2009, Best Painted Motorcycleof the Year in 2005 and 2012,and many other awards.

JoAnn will attend the SEMAshow this year and will alsopaint a 1932 Ford on PowerBlock TV’s Muscle Car sec-tion in the coming weeks. She

is also a member of the SEMA Asso-ciation and serves on their SBN SelectCommittee.

For more information aboutJoAnn and Crazy Horse CustomPainting, please visit www.crazy-horsepainting.com.

Crazy Horse Custom PaintingPO Box 623Waxhaw, NC [email protected](704) 843-3780


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JoAnn painted this 1939 Ford in 2005 with real fireflames, it was the first real fire paint that she did and itwon PPG's Top 5 Most Outstanding Paint in 2006

JoAnn and her 2004 Crazy Horse Chopper which hasbeen driven hard. The paint job has held up extremelywell, a testiment to the work and product quality

Toyota Recalls Another681,000 VehiclesToyota has issued recalls for theirCamry, Venza and Tacoma models,reaching a grand total of 681,000 vehi-cles. According to Consumer Reports,the smaller portion of the recall in-volves 70,500 model year 2009 Cam-rys, and 116,000 Venzas from 2009 to2011. The larger parts of this recall be-longs to the 495,000 Tacoma trucksfrom model years 2005 to early 2009.

The Camry and Venza recall hasto do with the contact-type stop lampswitch; silicon grease may havereached the inside of the switch andcaused an increase in electrical resist-ance. If this occurs, warning lamps onthe instrument panel may be illumi-nated, the vehicle may not start, or theshift lever may not shift from the"Park" position. In some cases, the ve-hicle stop lamps may become inoper-ative. Tacomas may experiencefriction between the spiral cable andthe retainer in the steering wheel spiralcable assembly may occur in some ve-hicles.

Toyota hopes to alert affectedowners in early April. The fix shouldonly require about 30 minutes andwill be done for free at the Toyotadealeship. [email protected]

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by Suzanne Taylor

Atlanta Dent Company, the paintlessdent removal company in Roswell, GA,has expanded and grown their businessto include interior restoration, full de-tailing, and paint. They have expandedinto these other services to become acomplete source for automotive recon-ditioning for their 250 plus wholesaleaccounts, including collision centers,body-shops, and automobile dealers,plus thousands of retail customers.

Owners Troy Loupe and RoyTaylor incorporated Atlanta Dent Com-pany in 2000. With more than 40 yearscombined industry experience theygrew the company to 14 mobile techni-cians specializing in dings, dents andhail. They also added a managementstaff and an office team.

In March 2008, Troy and Roy ac-quired the local franchise for InteriorMagic International Inc., a completeautomotive interior reconditioningcompany. ADC was just chosen as co-franchise of the year for Interior Magic,which has more than 40 franchises in17 states and is recognized in Entrepre-neur Magazine as one of the top 500

franchises in the US for 2008, 2009,2010, 2011, and 2012. It was ranked asthe number one “automotive recondi-tioning franchise” in Opportunity WorldMagazine in 2009. They currently havesix certified technicians who service themetro Atlanta area providing highest

quality work for cigarette burn repair,leather repair, stain removal, alloywheel repair, windshield chip repair,carpet dying, vinyl repair, odor re-moval, headlight restoration and more.These additional services have ex-ceeded their client’s expectations.Magic Finish, a division of InteriorMagic, offers full detailing services tonew and used automotive dealerships.With more than 30 employees, theyhave interior and exterior services thatfollow a comprehensive checklist to de-liver a quality product. “Quality First.Every Car, Every Time.” By streamlin-

ing the detail department, and provid-ing extras like custom floor mats, theyhave satisfied a needed service in theautomobile industry.

Atlanta Auto Color Inc., wasformed in July 2009 to offer customersa one-stop shop for exterior automotivereconditioning. Their auto paintingservices provides an affordable alterna-tive to body shop painting for minorcollision repair and paint damage. Ifyou need your bumper repaired, pinstriping, paint blend, or scratch touch-up, they are pleased to offer you theseprofessional services. All of their highlytrained technicians are OSHA and EPAcompliant. Once again, instead of thetraditional body shop approach, AtlantaDent Company becomes a one-stopshop for retail and wholesale customers.

Their fully trained and insuredtechnicians throughout the companyspecialize in quality repairs with excep-tional customer service, and a 100%satisfaction guarantee. This principlehas grown their business and built theirexcellent reputation in the automobilerepair community. Their workmanshipis their business card. Well-equipped for

a hail storm, they have a network ofbody shops and more than 200 qualifiedpaintless dent removal specialists. Theyare a preferred provider for most insur-ance companies.

They have a 5,000 sq. ft. retail fa-cility at 993 Mansell Road in Roswell,GA. Green initiatives include paperlessinvoicing. The marketing strategy hasbeen revamped with an updated inter-active website and mobile application.They also use Facebook and other so-cial media to inform their customers,promote the retail shop, and educatetheir customers. Atlanta Dent’s site hasbecome a public relations vehicle fortheir business partners and clients, as in-formation and accolades are shared.They are writing educational blogs forthe website, automotive columns forlocal magazines, and increased emailmarketing. Atlanta Dent is also very ex-cited about their targeted advertisingcampaign and their increased exposurein the community.

Visit their website at www.at-lantadent.com for more information orcontact Suzanne at [email protected].


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RBL Products has introduced its Pre-treatment system in the automotive af-termarket. The system is very simple.It consists of a water-based conversioncoating that is applied by wiping ontoa bare metal surface. The product pro-tects against corrosion and promotesadhesion. The directions are simply,you just wipe the pre-treatment ontothe bare metal. Then let it air dry. Theaverage dry time is between 2–5 min-utes. You can then apply primer sur-face directly over the pre-treatment. Itcan be used on Hot and cold rolledmetal, galvanized, stainless steel, alu-minum, and other exotic metals.

The pre-treatment system was de-veloped as a substitute for wash, etch,and epoxy primer. Expensive primersand waiting for 24 hours, as well asadhesion and corrosion issues, are nowa thing of the past.

The pre-treatment system chem-istry was developed and patented byHenkel Corporation. RBL Productsrecently was granted exclusive rightsto convert the technology into pre-sat-urated wipes and markers. Henkel isthe largest pre-treatment company inthe world. The same process is used

on every car produced since WorldWar ll. Every vehicle as soon as it en-ters the paint shop is processed by amulti-stage zinc phosphate dip andrinse system before it enters e-coatand primer.

RBL president, Ron Lipsonstated “The pre-treatment product putsback what was removed from themetal when grinding and sanding oc-curs. Once the industry understandsthe product and how it works it willbecome standard on all bare metal re-pairs. Insurance companies are goingto mandate this product where appli-cable.” For more information visitwww.rblproducts.com.

RBL Products New Pre-Treat System

A bare metal piece treated with the RBL Pre-treatsystem (left) and a non-treated piece (right)

Atlanta Dent Company Expands its Services in Roswell, Georgia

Atlanta Dent Company’s motto is, “We makeyour car look and feel new again!”

by John Yoswick

Looking for tips, tools and resourcesto help your business, defend your po-sitions or do your part for the indus-try? Here’s a collection of links tosites, documents and information youmay find interesting and useful.

— Motor Information Systems hasreleased a revised edition of its Guide toEstimating (http://tinyurl.com/7zhbvr3),its explanation of what is and is not in-cluded in its estimating labor times (thesystem used by CCC Information Serv-ices). Revisions made in the February2012 version are highlighted in bluewithin the guide.

The new guide, for example, in-dicates that recalibration of the steer-ing angle sensor is not included inMotor labor times. Bumper labortimes are now shown to include lampswhen mounted to the bumper but notinclude optional equipment lamps orthose not mounted to the bumper.Labor times for fender inner panelsare now shown to include grinding,filling and smoothing welded seamsup to 150 grit sandpaper. The guide

adds electrical wiring to the list ofnon-included items on frame labor,steering column overhaul, trunk lid,lift gate and quarter panel times.Hinge pillar glass and moldings arenow listed as included in cowl, hingepillar and dash panel times.

— I-CAR has actually loweredthe cost of its online training(http://tinyurl.com/7rsb2sb) to make itcomparable (on an hourly basis) to thefee for its live, classroom training.There are now more than four dozenonline classes available, some vehicle-specific (such as “Ford F-150 FrameReplacement”) and others more gen-eral (such as “MIG Brazing”).

— Although the National High-way Safety Administration (NHTSA)said earlier this year it had found nodiscernable defect that led to two firesin Chevrolet Volts weeks after theycrashed, it is standing by its recom-mendation (http://tinyurl.com/7jd88tu)that shops not store severely-damagedvehicles with a lithium-ion battery in-side or within 50 feet of a structure oranother vehicle.

— Whether or not your shop par-

ticipates in State Farm’s “Select Serv-ice” program, it can be interesting tocheck out the program’s revised shoplocator system (http://tinyurl.com/7yegybx) that policyholders, agents orclaims personnel can use to locate aparticipating shop. Rather than locat-ing shops based solely on proximity,the system now ranks shops based ontheir current performance score fromState Farm (although those scoresaren’t shown on the site). Interest-ingly, only three shops appear on firstpage of search results; users have toclick through to subsequent pages(each of which lists five shops) to seeadditional shops - potentially includ-ing shops that could be much closer totheir home or work than ones higherup on the search results.

— Ask shops about their naggingconcerns about the future, and chancesare they’ll mention the increasingcrash avoidance technology on newvehicles. They probably weren’theartened by the fact that DavidStrickland of the National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration recentlysaid his agency will decide next yearwhether to mandate vehicle-to-vehicle communication technologiesin new cars, which he said could ad-dress up to 80 percent of crash sce-narios

“We have been working on thisnotion for over a decade,” Stricklandsaid, according to the Detroit FreePress. “We really do feel very bullishon the prospect of getting it on theground.”

But those who make a livingbased on auto crashes can take somemeasure of comfort from a recent re-port (http://tinyurl.com/7ujp5ws) fromthe Highway Data Loss Institute. Itsays that even with such mandates, itcan take decades before new safetyfeatures are in 95 percent of vehicleson the road. According to the report,it won’t be until 2016 that 95 percentof vehicles have front airbags, for ex-ample, and until 2028 for side airbags.

Based on that trajectory, forwardcollision crash avoidance technologywon’t be in 95 percent of registeredvehicles until 2049, the Institute pre-dicts.

— And just in case you want toread more about future vehicle tech-nology, an article (http://tinyurl.com/6s88yp6) in a BBC news magazineasks, “How close are we to a crash-proof car?” It quotes a Volvo techni-

cal adviser who says the automakerhas pledged that after 2020, no onewill be killed or seriously injured inone of the automaker’s new cars.

And Wired magazine in February(http://tinyurl.com/7foslf4) featured afascinating look at the “autonomouscar,” one that essentially drives itself.

— This may come under the sar-castic heading of, “Tell me something Ididn’t know,” but the highly-publicizedreport (http://tinyurl.com/6ukvr4s) re-garding paint and materials compensa-tion methodologies released earlier thisyear also found that while averagecosts for paint and materials havegrown by 50 percent since 2005, theaverage compensation rates paid by in-surers have risen by only 23 percent.

Much of the coverage of thestudy focused on the fact that it foundthat 64 out of 68 industry participantsinterviewed think the current waypaint and materials compensation iscalculated is a poor methodology.Only four people (including represen-tatives of three repairer operations andone estimating system provider) ratedthe current system as “adequate” or“good.” The study concluded the cur-rent system is flawed in part becauseon smaller jobs, repairers do not re-ceive adequate compensation, and forlarge repair jobs, insurers believe ma-terials charges become excessive.

The study, conducted by Rich-field Associates and commissioned byComputerLogic (which produces thePMCLogic paint and materials cost-calculation system), included inter-views with shops, insurers, suppliers,association executives, consultantsand trade publication editors.

—If you’re interested in somedocuments that challenge the insur-ance industry, the Consumer Federa-tion of America issued a report(http://tinyurl.com/6phzony) earlierthis year that says insurance premiumshave become an undue economic bur-den on low- and moderate-incomeAmericans, and that state regulatorsshould do more to help reign in thesecosts.

“What is undeniable is that highauto insurance costs for (these) house-holds either impose a substantial fi-nancial burden or greatly limiteconomic opportunity, especially ac-cess to jobs,” said the report’s authors,who are a former Texas regulator andthe executive director of insurance at

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County Line Auto Body in Howell, NJ,has been a successful shop for nearlythirty years, but recently they havemade several major improvements tothe business.

Founding owner, Gary GardellaSr. is putting his faith in his two sons:co-owners Rich Gardella and GaryGardella Jr. His close connectionwith his sons has led to some majordecisions in the business designed tobenefit County Line Auto Body andtheir customers.

In 1982, Gary Gardella Sr., alongwith a partner, opened County LineAuto Body as a two-bay shop that liter-ally had been converted from a chickencoop. From the very beginning,Gardella and his partner had high ex-pectations, working hard to show localcustomers through their dedication anddetermination that they would providequality auto body repairs, despite theshop’s chickenish appearance. Overtime, the coop shop expanded, and newemployees were hired as customersshared their experiences, leading to re-peat customers and new clientele.

Some years later when Gardellaand his partner split up, Gardella dedi-cated even more time and energy intohis business; however, it was difficultto run a thirty-man operation with littlemanagement to draw upon. Luckily, histwo sons decided to join the businessin 2001. Rich Gardella, 24 at the time,was finishing college, while Gary Jr.,at 21, was working in the shop. Bothyoung men had spent years around thebusiness, working for their father afterschool and during their summers. Be-tween the paint and detail shops, theyunderstood the basics of the business.Rich attended school in order to learnestimating, while Gary Jr. took on therole of production manager.

During this time period, Gary Jr.also became involved in sport compact

drag racing, beginning a successful ca-reer lasting eight years during whichhe won several championships and setseveral national records. When thepopularity of the sport diminished in

2008, he became involved indrift car racing, both across thecountry and overseas. His teambecame one of the best inAmerica. A few months ago,Gary Jr. decided to step out ofmotorsports due to a lack ofprogram partners, and is nowable to focus all of his energyon the family business.

Since his sons became co-own-ers, Gary Sr. says they have “helpedto take the business to another level.”The three Gardella men work closelywith their shop teardown manager,Jay Crisson, to make County LineAuto Body the best it can be. Gary Sr.runs the paint shop and any othershops that are short-handed whileRich manages the office, Gary Jr. is incharge of production, and Jay man-ages teardown and assembly.

With his sons’ involvement,Gardella has recently begun makingseveral big changes to his thirty-year-old business. The shop has begun usinga new management system and is im-proving paint efficiency with theDuPont Cost Tracking System. TheGardellas have also been hard at workupdating and preparing for the deliveryof new shop equipment. And wherebetter to house said equipment than anew building? Gary Sr. has a newbuilding underway for their complex.They broke ground in September 2011,plan to continue the building throughApril, with a June 2012 completion.

County Line Auto Body employsthirty technicians. The shop consists ofmultiple buildings on one property, to-taling thirty-five production bays. Thenewest building will add an additional8000 square feet to the work area.

Gary Jr. adds that he “is in theprocess of marketing and advertisingthrough social media and local printmagazines, something County Line hasnot done before. Rich has been work-ing on developing strategies for up-selling customers, which is new toCounty Line, introducing the shop tooutside mechanical work. The only

mechanical work previously brought inwas strictly related to collision losses,but now the shop has a great mechanicand are beginning to introduce our cus-tomers to many more services, settingCounty Line up as a “one-stop-shop.”

The large shop has plenty ofhardware for major repairs, includingfour Chief frame machines, oneCelette frame machine, and one Car-

O-Liner Speed frame machine. Theyalso have two spray booths and oneedging booth, along with spot, MIGand TIG welders, alignment comput-

ers, tire machines, and wheel bal-ancers. By leveraging the size of theshop, the number of technicians andthe extensive equipment, County LineAuto Body completes between 180and 200 repairs monthly on average.

The shop is I-CAR, ASE, BMW,Nissan and GTR certified. CountyLine Auto Body uses DuPont paints,and though they receive a large mix of

vehicles, they do not typicallyhave problems with color-matching. Says Gary Jr.,“Color matching is an areawhere we have put a lot of ef-fort to excel. Like most shops,we do run into color matchingissues here and there; how-ever, one phone call to ourDuPont rep, and we are able to

troubleshoot and resolve the difficultyquickly.”

When contemplating currenttrends in the industry, Gary Jr. notes


County Line Auto Body: NJ Shop Grows From Chicken Coop to Multi-Building Complex






Mainstream Media













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

For details go to: womensindustrynetwork.com

Mark your calendar & Save the date!

The 2012 Women’s Industry Network Conference offers an exceptional opportunity to establish relationships with other women in collision repair, develop professional skills, and learn to be forward thinking in a dynamic, changing industry. Exchange ideas and share experiences with others in the industry and leave re-energized by remarkable speakers.

May 6 -8, 2012 Atlanta, Georgia

that County Line Auto Body has seen adifference in the demands of direct re-pair programs with a lot of theirguidelines becoming stricter which, in

turn, produces more work for theirwriters. Additionally, some DRPs arerequiring cars to be torn down withintwenty-four and forty-eight hours, atime constraint that places an addeddemand on scheduling and maintain-ing completion dates for previouslyscheduled vehicles.

As he considers the auto body in-dustry’s future, Gary Jr. states “formany collision shops, I see it being arace to the bottom. Many shops Iknow of have been looking to con-tinue and grow their relationshipswith DRPs. Yearly, DRPs are ex-pecting shops to produce more, withthe same monetary figure and thecycle downward continues, which is

making it very difficult for manynewcomers to keep up with the de-mand.”

County Line Auto Body is wellaware of the stress caused bytrying to keep up with eachDRP’s guidelines as they areaffiliated with DRPs for twentydifferent insurance companies.Gary Jr. claims, “it seems to mewe get into the conversation ofhiring new writers once amonth because of the increase

in demand, deadlines and criteria.”Despite all the stress caused by

managing so many DRPs, CountyLine Auto Body maintains a positiveattitude as they focus on customerservice and increasing contact withcustomers to meet their expectations.The Gardellas have even made plansto get out and see the AASP/NJ North-east™ Trade Show, a luxury they havenot previously been able to indulge in.(See related coverage this issue.)

County Line Auto Body278 Alexander Ave.Howell, NJ 07731732-363-5904www.countylineautonj.com


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by Chasidy Sisk and Janet Cheney

Attendance at the recent NORTH-EAST trade show, at the Meadow-lands in Secaucus, NJ, was up 20%from last year, which was up from

the year before. Some seminars wereoverflow seating and organizers hadto pull in extra chairs for people whoarrived late were standing.

Heard and seen at the show weresome familiar figures in the industry.Several took the mike at the NortheastLeadership forum.

One person we all wanted tohear from was the owner of NorthState Custom, Greg Coccaro, whosurprised a number of attendeeswith the revelation that he’s back todoing business with Progressive In-

surance, despitethe long and tor-turous legal bat-tles between thetwo. Even thoughbusiness is rela-tively slow forshops in the area,his Progressive

work has actually picked up. Coc-caro was told by a Progressive em-ployee that “Progressive does nothave a network of shops in NewYork any more, so the intense steer-ing they practiced in this area hassubsided.” Coccaro added, “I’mnow repairing cars for Progressive’s

customers onceagain.” Coccarostill owes some$500,000 in legalfees to defend hisshop’s reputationand his ownname. He hopesto be able to re-

cover his losses due to the causes ofaction in his pending lawsuit againstProgressive.

Another engaging speaker at the

forum was Tony Lombardozzi withAutomotive Collision Repair Servicesin New Hampshire, who repeated hismessage of self-sufficiency for the in-dustry and his advocacy of independ-ence from insurers through his

presidency of the Coalition forCollision Repair Excellence(CCRE). Lombardozzi put itplainly: “The insurer is not athird party to our contract withour customer and should not beinvolved in the repair process.What an insurer appraiserwrites is meaningless. It servesno purpose in the repairprocess.”

The executive director ofshow-organizer the Alliance

Automotive Service Providers of NewJersey (AASP/NJ), Charles Bryant,agreed with Lombardozzi’s assess-ment of insurer involvement. Bryant

underscored thatrepairers not ne-gotiate with insur-ers.

“Offer them acup of coffee, talkto them about lastnight’s hockeygame, and direct

them to the car they want to write anestimate on,” Bryant said. “But don’tgo back there with them and don’t ne-gotiate the repair... You are the experton how to repair cars, not the insur-ance company. Write what needs to bedone, make a proper and safe repairand bill fairly for your work.”

Both stressed that repairers needto take responsibility for educatingcustomers about the repair processand explain why the estimate the re-pairer wrote is the most reliable one.

Janet Cheneygave a quick re-port on a couple ofstate’s associa-tions that don’t al-ways have the earof the nationaltrade press. Seeher article this

issue (p. 40 and 46).

NORTHEAST™ Trade Show Leadership Forum

AASP/NJ Exhibiting at Northeast 2012, their own show

Tony Lombardozzi

Janet Cheney

Greg Coccaro

Charles Bryant


on Facebook

by Janet Cheney

When Tom O’Mara, an Iowa shopowner, was told by an insurance com-pany that they were only going to payhim $52 an hour, even though hislabor rate is $56, he became “mad asheck and was not going to take it any-more.” He called the vehicle ownerand read the state law to him. The lawin Iowa says that if the insurer writesan estimate or has one written forthem, and the repair costs more thanthe estimate, the insurer must pay thedifference. The vehicle owner calledthe insurer and insisted they payO’Mara’s bill. Then O’Mara calledthe Iowa Governor’s office repeatedlyuntil he got a face to face meetingwith Governor Terry Branstad.O’Mara had to convince the gover-nor’s aide first before getting a meet-ing with the governor. He showed himestimates and letters he claims re-vealed insurer threats against him, thelast three years’ worth of price in-

creases he has had to endure, and acopy of the 1963 Consent Decree. “Ihighlighted everything in the ConsentDecree that the insurers agreed not todo anymore,” O’Mara said. “I letthem know this is the third time I’vegiven a copy of the Consent Decree tothe State of Iowa and asked, ‘Whatare you going to do about it? This isstill enforceable.” As a result of thismeeting, the Governor requested thatthe Iowa Department of Insurance re-search three business practices inIowa: collision repair labor rates,steering, and non payment of storage.This was last September.

This story made national news inUSA Today and may have helped opena line of communication between Iowacollision repairers and the governor’soffice.

In only a few years, the ICRA hasbecome an established and recognizedstate organization that supports educa-tion, training, and industry network-ing.

Sales Tax Reimbursement LegislationDue to the abbreviated legislative ses-sion at the State Capital in Des Moinesin 2011, the ICRA Sales Tax Legisla-tion was tabled. Representative TomSands has been working closely withICRA lobbyist Scott Weiser and hascommitted that this initative will befirst in line in the legislative docket in2012.

In 2008 ICRA stopped the ColorAll franchise from getting licensed todo business in Des Moines. Color Allis a franchise that promotes collisionrepair work done in a parking lot undera tent. ICRA has been introduced to thelegislative process at the State Capitalin Des Moines, working with the Na-tional Federation of Independent Busi-ness State Manager, Andy Warren.

In December last year, six BoardMembers of the Iowa Collision RepairAssociation (ICRA) met with Iowa In-surance Commissioner, Susan Vossand approximately twenty representa-tives of the insurance companies. TheDOI recognized the association as rep-resentative of the collision industryand asked them to assist with the labor

rate survey in the next 30 days. Againstthe recommendation of the ICRA, alabor rate survey was done in that shortperiod of time and results have not yetbeen posted. This is a work in processand we are looking for a better work-ing relationship with the DOI andGovernor’s office in Iowa and willmove forward this year on the Gover-nor’s request.

This association is hosting theMidwest Auto Body Trade Show,March 28 at Prairie Meadows, in theDes Moines area. Admission is free,there are management, technical train-ing, and product demos. Over 50 ven-dors are participating. We are veryexcited about this event. It is going tohave great product displays and lots ofshow specials and door prizes.

Most Iowa Community CollegeCollision Repair programs will alsohave booths and bring their students tothe show. Also, three of our dealershipmembers are bringing hot new cars tothe show room floor. Admission is freeand the ICRA is anticipating a greatand enthusiastic crowd. For more in-formation: www.iowacra.com


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Iowa Shop’s Action and Iowa Collision Repair Association, Established in 2005, Starting to be Heard Statewide

the Consumer Federation of America.The report suggests lowering

minimum liability limits, creating spe-cial programs (as has been done inCalifornia and New Jersey) to helplow-income Americans get cheaperinsurance coverage, and eliminatingpolicy pricing elements (such as edu-cation level and credit history) thathurt low-income households.

Meanwhile, another recent reportfrom a coalition of consumer groupssays Insurers overstate their industry’sfinancial losses from natural disastersand otherwise manufacture perceivedcrises to allow them to dramaticallyincrease premiums and profits.

The report (http://tinyurl.com/7t6h8d2) says Americans have for 35years been “victims of this industry’slittle-understood economic cycle, cre-ated by anticompetitive (yet legal) un-derwriting practices, unique andopaque accounting policies and virtu-ally unchecked power when it comesto regulation of insurance rates.”

The report from Americans forInsurance Reform—a project of theCenter for Justice & Democracy atNew York Law School that includesnearly 100 consumer groups—said in-

surers are once again using disasterslike Hurricane Irene to end a 5-year“soft market” of stable rates andheavy competition among insurers,and replace it with a “hard market”marked by extreme rate hikes.

Insurers can overstate lossesfrom disasters, the report says, be-cause they are based on estimates ofunknown future claims, which are,during “hard markets, wildly exag-gerated.”

The study’s authors point out thatinsurers make plenty of profit in bothtypes of markets not through under-writing but through investment of sur-plus that has been set aside for futureclaims. That surplus has risen by afactor of almost 40, the study states,and totaled $580 billion in 2010.

The report urges governments torequire more data from insurers, gainmore control over rates, and repeal in-surer’s antitrust exemption under theMcCarran-Ferguson Act.

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

Continued from Page 37

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CARSTAR Expands Salesand Marketing TeamsCARSTAR Auto Body Repair Ex-perts is expanding its corporate lead-ership and service teams to addindustry experience and expertise,naming David B. James as VP ofMarketing and Sharon Mazanec asRegional Service Manager for theMidwest.

James is an award-winningmarketing professional with over 15years of experience leading corpo-rate strategy and marketing initia-tives. James brings a broadbackground in traditional and onlinemarketing.

Joining James on theCARSTAR Team is SharonMazanec, CARSTAR’s MidwestRegional Service Manager.Mazanec comes to CARSTAR withover 25 years experience in the col-lision repair industry and was re-cently named one of 2011’s MostInfluential Women in the CollisionRepair Industry by AkzoNobel.Mazanec has an extensive back-ground in the collision repair indus-try including Allen SamuelsEnterprises and Sterling AutobodyCenters, among other collision re-pair companies in Texas.

Fix Auto Appoints Tim Clark asSenior VP, Insurance ServicesFix Auto USA announced the ap-pointment of Tim Clark, CPCU, assenior vice president of insuranceservices. As a key member of FixAuto USA’s senior managementteam, Clark will be charged withstrengthening Fix Auto’s existing in-surance relationships and implement-ing new strategic partnerships. Inaddition, Clark will oversee the FixAuto insurance services department,including the Fix Full PerformanceClaims Solution (FFPCS) program.

Before joining Fix Auto, Clarkled Performance Claims where hewas instrumental in launching thenetwork management technologyplatform used by four of the top eightU.S. insurers. Prior to PerformanceClaims, Clark was the vice presidentof insurance services at Safelite AutoGlass, where he was responsible fordeveloping Safelite’s claims out-sourcing strategy for extending man-aged claims solutions to Property andCasualty insurers. Clark began his in-surance claims career at Safeco In-surance, holding a variety of fieldmanagement and corporate positionsbefore becoming an elected officer ofthe company.

PSE Appoints Guy Barnes asVP, Sales & MarketingPainters Supply & Equipment Co.(PSE) has announced the promotionof O. Guy Bargnes to the position ofsenior vice president, sales and mar-keting effective March 12, 2012.Bargnes has served as vice-presidentof sales and marketing since joiningthe company in June, 2010. “Guy hasbeen instrumental in driving sales andmarket share growth of our automo-tive refinish business,” said PSEPresident, Patrick Mayette. “He hasalso lead PSE’s Learning Center ini-tiative to deliver the best value-addedprograms to our customers.”

Bargnes will be taking on addi-tional responsibility in 2012 leadingthe development of the specialtycoatings group which was recentlyannounced at PSE’s national salesmeeting. He will continue to repre-sent Painters Supply on the followingindustry trade organizations: Auto-motive Aftermarket Industries Asso-ciation (AAIA) where he is PBESChairman until May, 2013, NationalAuto Body Council (NABC) andCollision Industry Conference (CIC).

Prior to joining PSE, Bargnesheld senior level sales and marketingpositions at BASF Corporation.

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LeMans Body and Paintwas started in1959 by Lyman Beetley as a smallused-car dealership and collision re-pair shop in Santa Monica. Tragically,he passed away in 1964 at the too-soon age of 54. When his sons,Richard and Robert, took over the

business when they were justteenagers in 1964, they pushed thebusiness more towards the collisionrepair work and slowly phased out theused car sales over the next few years.

In 1974, the brothers purchasedthe building north of the original lot,and then the building south of it in1980. This created a private officespace for managers as well as an ex-panded paint area.

Richard’s children, Kim andKirk, and Robert’s sons, Bill and Ed,took over the business in the late1980s and still manage it today.

According to Kirk, in the early70s his father and uncle were the firstguys in the area to really take theirshop to the next level, with a polishedreception area and a strong emphasison customer service—requiring allpersonnel to dress in a business pro-fessional attire. They also built in

some achitectural flair to the newbuilding which earned them a city ofSanta Monica beautification award.Putting in the extra effort helped bringtheir business and the industry as awhole from the “local garage mental-ity” to an important service business

in the community.When the third generation took

over the business DRP relation-ships were just starting to heat up,so the group took an aggressiveapproach towards insurance con-tracts and rapidly expanded thebusiness. They added a second lo-cation in Los Angeles in 1999 anda third in El Segundo in 2007. Thefamily also brought in long-timefamily friend Ross Kulkin to helpmanage the business. Ross hadspent 10 years on the insurance

company side and was able to addsome great perspective to the group.

Across all 3 locations the busi-ness has 60 employees, sees an aver-age of 350 cars per month and grossesabout $9 million annually. The busi-ness has about a dozen DRP contracts,some for nearly 20 years. The SantaMonica shop encompasses 16,000square-feet, the Los Angeles shop is21,000 and the El Segundo location is

32,000. All 3 locations arealso I-CAR Gold Certified.

“We all try to run it as one,with a uniform approach”said Kirk, “My father anduncle are also still involvedin the business; they’ve beenaround a long time so thereare things that they add in aconsulting manner that arepriceless.”

The family all works to-gether for the common goodof the business by spreading

themselves out among the three loca-tions and meeting weekly to ensureunity.

“While our body shop familycontinues to grow, most people havebeen here a decade plus,” said Ross.

“We have very low turnover whenit comes to our employees,” said Kirk.Painter Sam Share, who is now in hiseighties and started his employmentfrom day one at LeMans, still comesin and helps out the painters in Santa

Monica. He was head painter at Le-Mans for over 35 years, and now hestill comes in to assist the paint de-

partment. His apprentice Oscar Flo-res took over 23 years ago and is stillgoing strong, training his oldest sonEddie to take over paint production,while his youngest son Mario is nowpart of the office management team.

With 3 fully-functional locationsthe business can load level work andemployees across the locations toeven workloads and fill personnelgaps. The business keeps all of their

digital information and bookkeepingon a cloud service. This way any in-formation needed at one business can

be pulled up easily atanother. Recently theirestimating systemprovider, CCC One,has also moved to acloud format and withthat all three shopscan view each other’sestimates and per-formance from their

respective offices.LeMans has used PPG paints for

the last 20 years—after changing totheir Envirobase waterborne productsabout 6 years ago, Kirk says he could-n’t be happier.

“Everyone was afraid in the be-ginning that the colors wouldn’t comeout right, etcetera, but we’ve had verylittle issue with using waterborne,”said Kirk.


LeMans Body and Paint: Still a Family Affair After 53 Years in the Los Angeles Area

with Ed Attanasio

Shop and Product Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Shop Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Social Media for Shops


The Right Causewith Mike Causey

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

Erica Schroeder is assistant editor at Autobody News in Carlsbad, CA. She lovesto talk with owners about their shops and goings on in their areas. Contact herat [email protected], or 800-699-8251

Lyman Beetley and his business partner at the SantaMonica location shortly after it opened in 1959

Kirk Beetley, Bill Beetley and Ross Kulkin in the private office spacejust south of the Santa Monica location

Robert and Richard Beetley with DuPont’s Clyde Milhouse(standing) and DuPont jobber Bob de la Pena in 1972.This article highlighted the class and elevated customerservice the brothers brought to the shop

According to Kirk, DavidGrande with PPG and Jim Williamsfrom FinishMaster really educatedhim on waterborne technologies andadvised him during LeMans’ switch in2007. Kirk said it only took about amonth to 6 weeks for his painters to

get used to spraying waterborne andwith the constant technical supportand excellent service provided byPPG and FinishMaster he was able tostay focused on the front office insteadof the paint production during thetransition.

“We’ve enjoyed a great partner-ship with LeMans, and look forwardto it continuing in the long term,” saidDavid.

Kirk says their paint preparation

process is also more important withwaterborne than with solvent.

“A better quality prep is requiredwith waterborne than with solvent,”said David. According to David wa-terborne is a thinner product and itwon’t fill any small sand scratches

like solvent. So more atten-tion to the prep process helpsto deter this, while the actualspraying process is basicallythe same.

Kirk also says the highcost of changing to water-borne is “a bit overblown.”At his shop, he said therewasn’t a whole lot of cost as-sociated with making thechange and he didn’t have to

change everything about his paint arealike some companies are suggesting.For his shop, he said he gave all thespray booths a deep cleaning andadded additional fans to increase airmovement. This helps combat water-borne’s longer base coat dry times.PPG has also been modifying their topcoats to increase production.

Kirk also says he can’t wait forwaterborne clear coats to come out tocomplete the process, because he

thinks it will cut down a lot on thepaint fume smell, which will reallybenefit shops in densely populatedareas like their locations.

“It’s just about adapting tochanges in the industry,” said Kirk,“My advice to shops making theswitch to waterborne; don’tfear it—embrace the changeand move on to the next chal-lenge.”

PPG also guarantees Le-Mans paint work becausetheir techs are PPG certified.Kirk says this is a nice safetynet for the businesses and re-inforces LeMans’ decision touse PPG products exclu-sively.

David said that PPG backs Le-Mans’ lifetime warranty on their paintjobs, which backs the overall paint jobagainst all issues. Basically, if there isa product failure issue on a job doneat LeMans, PPG will assist in gettingthe vehicle redone.

LeMans’ next step in their expan-sion will be a mechanical facility,slated to open in 2013.

“We’re trying to encompass allaspects of the collision repair and pro-

vide our customers with a one-stop fullauto care experience,” said Kirk, “Wealso want to reduce cycle time by con-trolling more aspects of the repair.”

Ross’s attitude from a marketingstand point is once you capture a cus-tomer you want to retain as muchwork from them as possible.

Kirk says the fact that they havebeen able to remain family owned andoperated for 53 years is a big feat; thegroup has done this by finding eachperson’s niche and letting them takeon that role so no one butt’s heads. Byfinding where each person is strongestthey have been able to work togetherwith minimal conflict.

The fourth generation of Beetleysis coming out of their teen years andare beginning to learn the business;Kirk says he is excited to see the newideas and energy that they will bringto the table.

“We have great managers andshop personnel,” said Kirk, “We are

blessed to have found such great, ex-perienced people and we do our bestto promote a family atmosphere withmutual respect.”

Kirk also attributes a lot of thebusiness’s staying power to theiradaptability.

“We’re adaptable, unlike a lot ofthe businesses that have been aroundas long as we have,” said Kirk, “We’renot stuck in our ways, we embrace theindustry changes as they come.” ButKirk says a lot of times with industrychanges it’s best to do your homework.

“You’ve got to be patient,” saidKirk. “Everyone is out to invent orreinvent the next best tool or businesspractice! We need to focus on ourstrengths and what has worked for us,

keeping an open mind and aneye on our competition.”

LeMans is also known fortheir ability to deliver top-notch customer service for acompetitive price.

“We’re not the highestpriced in town—but we’redefinitely higher in service

than most,” said Kirk.For more information please visit

www.lemansbody.com.

LeMans Santa Monica2107 Lincoln BlvdSanta Monica, CA 90405310-452-3870

LeMans Los Angeles3040 S. Robertson BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90034310-836-2448

LeMans El Segundo200 Nevada StreetEl Segundo, CA 90245310-426-9400


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Ask most people about CAFÉ stan-dards and they would immediatelythink of food quality control. There isanother meaning that you probablyknow and it will drastically impactyour business, but you may not beaware why it will.

CAFÉ stands for Corporate Aver-age Fuel Economy-- the average milesper gallon on an OEM’s passengercars and trucks. The standards forpassenger vehicles will rise from thenational current 27.5 mpg to 35.7 mpgby 2015, while light trucks will gofrom 23.5 mpg to 28.6 mpg. My nextquestion is how will the OEMs ac-complish these figures? Car andtrucks will be lighter and smaller, witha greater use of aluminum, plastics,carbon fiber, magnesium and ad-vanced high strength steels (60 per-cent of all steel in today’s vehicles isAHSS). These exotic materials are thereason that fuel economy will impactbody shops.

Aluminum is being used on vir-tually all makes and models builttoday, not only on upscale importsports cars. The hood on a ToyotaPrius for example is made from alu-minum. You will need to invest innew tools and training to work withincreasing use of this metal.

Even with an increase in the useof aluminum, the percent of usage isrelatively small compared to the useof Advanced High Strength Steels.Steels (AHSS) will pose the biggestproblems for repairers and we need

to look at the challenges for thesesteels. The first area is we need tounderstand is the effect of heat onmetal.

Heat applied to mild steel will in-crease its strength (once it cools).Heat applied to high strength steelswill decrease its strength. Heat ap-plied to ultra high strength steels(UHSS) will destroy the steel. Re-member these facts.

A couple of other facts that youneed to remember: There are twotypes of energy behavior that weneed to recognize when dealing withtoday’s vehicles. The first one is en-ergy absorption. This is the processof dissipating the energy by the de-formation of the part. As the partcollapses, energy is lost as it travelsfrom front to back or back to front.This deformation is accomplishedby use of laser welds (differentthicknesses of metal or differentmetals attached together with laserwelds), collapse zones and rein-forcements. Most of the metal ontoday’s vehicles utilizes highstrength steel with MPa (a megapas-cal is a unit of pressure, which hereis a measure of stiffness or tensilestrength of materials) ratings be-tween 440 and 590. The second

type of energy behavior that we dealwith is energy transfer.

The design of energy transfer isto move the energy away from the im-pact without it deforming. This is ac-complished by making the partextremely strong. Many OEMs uti-lizes ultra high strength steels in thecabin reinforcements (“A” pillar rein-forcement, “B” pillar reinforcementand roof and rocker reinforcements).The MPa ratings are 600 and abovewith some metals reaching over 1400MPa’s for these metals. You ask thequestion why are they using thesesuper metals. The answer is simple.The government and Insurance Insti-

tute for Highway Safety demanded it.Let’s look at Federal Motor VehicleSafety Standard 216A.


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CAFE Standards Will Affect More Than A Shop’s Miles Per Gallon

Tech Notes

National News in BriefWEB WINDOW: - www.autobodynews.com

Regional News in BriefWEB WINDOW: - www.autobodynews.com

with Jeremy HayhurstPublisher’s Page

with Karyn HendricksShop Showcase

with David M. BrownShop Showcase

Shop Showcasewith Jeremy Hayhurst

Hey Toby!with Toby Chess

California Autobody Associationwith David McClune

Collision Repair Association of CA.with Richard Steffen

Insurers Excel at Steeringwith Richard Steffen

Year in Quoteswith John Yoswick

Transition Planningwith John Yoswick

Mainstream Media

My Turnwith Joe Momber

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

Besides hand tools and aluminum stud guns,you will need to know how to weld aluminumand you may need to invest in a dedicatedaluminum welder

Note that the front of the Volvo has collapsedand shortened length is evident, but there is nodeformation in the passenger’s compartment

The IIHS devised a test to determine thestrength of the “B” pillar to withstand roofcrush in a roll over scenario

By the model year the governmentwanted a 2 ½ times gross vehicleweight to be placed at the “B” pillar, butthe IIHS wanted 3 times and by modelyear 2012, 4 times. What happened

was most manufacturers were able tomeet the 2012 standards in 2009 andthose vehicles received a 5 star rating.

We now need to look at heat andits affect on these metals.

I am going to heat the metal withan induction heater and monitor the

temperature with a non contact ther-mometer. I will take a before and afterreading with an instrument to test the


The above 2 welds are fusion welds. Themetal becomes molten (over 2200 degreesFahrenheit) and when it cools, a ring formsaround the weld known as the Heat AffectZone. This area on high strength steel isweaker than its surrounding metal. In thecase of ultra high strength steel, this areahas a strength equivalent to the strength ofmild steel, which has no energy absorptionor energy transfer capabilities

HEAT AFFECT ZONE

MIG Weld

Spot Weld

One method of reducing the heat affect zone isskip welding. A bead length of 25 to 38 MM ismade (#1 weld). A second weld is made(#3) and the weld is closed by last weld (#2).Let’s look at what heat does to metal

The first test was done on a front rail on a2009 Toyota Camry which is high-strengthsteel and has a strength category of 440 MPa.The value of the steel is 16.9 which convertsto a 440 MPa reading

The steel was heated to 1000 degreesFahrenheit for 15 seconds and allowed tocool naturally. A second reading was taken

The strength of the metal dropped to 250 MPa.It lost nearly 50 percent of its strength. This isthe reason why Toyota states in their CRIB#175 -- “Do not use heat for straightening”

A reading of 53.7 or 1380 was observed.Again the part was heated to 800 degreesFahrenheit for 20 seconds

Readings were taken again after the part wasallowed to cool naturally

The reading was 27 or 50 percent less onthe point scale, but was a slightly above600 MPa. Think about this. Fusion weldingtakes place at 2200 degree and this partwas only heated to 800 degrees. Thinkwhat would have happened to the steel if itwas heated to 2200 degrees? It would havelost all of its strength. This is why mostmanufacturers require the cabinreinforcements to be installed at factoryjoints and not sectioned

See Hey Toby!, Page 47

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Montana Collision Repair Specialists’ Legislative Recordby Janet Cheney

The Montana Collision Repair Special-ists is an active association that is ex-periencing growth in membership thisyear. The association’s spring meetingis in Great Falls in April. Guest speak-ers will be Steve Bullock, Montana At-torney General, who recentlyannounced his candidacy for Governor,and Jesse Laslovich, Chief Counsel forthe Montana Securities and InsuranceDivision, who has announced his can-didacy for Montana Attorney General.

This association has a strong leg-islative history. Their most recent leg-islative victory was in 2010 when a billwas passed that ‘prohibits insurers fromdisregarding a cost item identified by anestimating system.’

In October of 2011, Montana StateAuditor, (Insurance Commissioner),

sent an Advisory Memorandum to allProperty and Casualty Insurers doingbusiness in the State of Montana, ad-vising them of the law and stating pos-sible fines.

MCRS Past President, Max Yates,owner of Yates Body Shop in Butte,Montana has served region, HD 74, asState Representative for the last twoyears. Representative Yates has also an-nounced his candidacy to continue hisseat in the State Legislature in 2012/13.For a state as large as Montana, this as-sociation stays very connected throughtelephone calls and email and jobbersupport. Fall and Spring Meetings arewell attended, hosting at least 80 peo-ple. Many shop owners will drive 7-8hours to attend a meeting. Membershipis almost at 100 shops out of about 225in the state. Not bad for a state that hasmore cows than people!

Hyundai Recalling 2011-12 Sonata Hybrids For Rear Seat BeltA recall of 2011–2012 HyundaiSonata Hybrid cars was issued by theU.S. National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration on March 8. Accord-ing to the report, more than 14,700 ofthe Hyundai hybrid vehicles have rearcenter seat belts which fail to meetfederal safety standards. However,Hyundai believes it doesn’t need to fixthe seat belt issue with all Sonata hy-brids—or notify all affected Sonataowner, as required by the usual federalsafety recall procedures, due to thefact that the issue only affects Sonatahybrids manufactured after December2010.

According to the federal safetyagency claims both the lap and shoul-der portions of the rear center seatbelts disconnect when occupants pressthe 3-point safety belt’s unlock mech-anism—a violation of safety stan-

dards. According to Consumer Re-ports, Hyundai claims it will fix therear center seat belt issue in the ap-proximately 1,633 new Sonata Hy-brids still in dealer’s lots. But thecompany has filed a petition with theagency to not fix the approximately13,095 hybrids already in owners’hands “on the basis that the non-com-pliance described is inconsequential asit relates to motor vehicle safety,” saidthe NHTSA recall notice. UntilNHTSA reviews and denies theHyundai petition, Sonata Hybrid own-ers will not receive any notificationfrom Hyundai that their vehicle mayhave this safety issue and that a fix isavailable. Owners can stay on top offederal safety recalls regarding theirvehicles by subscribing to NHTSA e-mail alerts from the agency’s website:www.SaferCar.gov.

275,000 Subaru Forester SUVs From 2009–2012 Recalled For Rear Seat Belts Failing to Lock ProperlySubaru of America is recalling 275,000Forester vehicles from the 2009 to 2012model years. The models have rear cen-ter seat belt systems which do not meetfederal safety standards and could inhibitthe proper installation of child safetyseats, said the U.S. National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration.

NHTSA also says the automaticlocking retractors in the rear center seatpositions of the recalled Subaru Forestersdo not lock properly. This increases therisk of injury to passengers sitting in thatseat position during a collision. The seatbelt flaw could prevent the proper instal-lation of child safety seats in the rear cen-

ter section of Subaru Forester vehicles.Subaru will notify owners of ForesterSUVs, manufactured from November2007 to March 2012, who may be im-pacted by this federal safety recall inmid-April. Owners will be instructed tobring their recalled Foresters to localdealerships where mechanics there will

replace the rear center seat belt assemblywith a new, modified automatic lockingretractor for free. Consumers can callSubaru's toll-free customer support line(800-782-2783) regarding the recall cam-paign identification number WQA-37.Consumers can also visit the NHTSAwebsite, www.SaferCar.gov.

by Janet Cheney

The fourth annual Verifacts Automo-tive Fix it Right/Fix It Smart Sympo-sium, was held February 23–24, at thespectacular Laguna Cliffs MarriottResort in Dana Point, California. Thisinvitation-only symposium was at-tended by 350 collision professionalsincluding shop owners, insurers, andrelated industry partners.

Industry veteran Dale Delmegewas Master of Ceremonies for theday

and a half event. In opening the eventDelmege asked if anyone rememberedthe name of Albert Einstein’s mathteacher?” After the expected and silentanswer of ‘no,’ Delmege answered hisown question: “No one remembers hisname, yet he unlocked the intellectualkey that changed the world.”

This simple question set the toneas Delmege invited the attendees tochallenge conventional thought and

explore the future. The inter-national line up of speakersand panelists came preparedto do that.

A most unusual and gratify-ing segment of the Sympo-sium was Verifacts recognitionof other industries who have aproven commitment of qualityand excellence.

Dr. David Spong, who re-tired as President of BoeingAerospace Support, is the

only two-time recipient of the Mal-colm Baldrige National Quality

Award, the only formal recognition ofthe performance excellence of boththe public and private U.S. organiza-tions, receiving said awards fromPresidents Bill Clinton and George W.Bush. The Baldridge Award is givenby the President of the United States.

Dr. William Buchanan, an Ortho-pedic Surgeon with Kaiser Permanentehas been instrumental in pursuing con-tinuous improvement in the organiza-tion with unprecedented success. Dr.Buchanan also serves as a volunteer onthe Los Angeles Sheriff’s Air RescueProgram. Dr. Buchanan brought a videoshowing an intense display of what theLA Air Rescue people do and how crit-ical systems and procedures are to thisprocess of saving lives.

Los Angeles County Sheriff LeeBaca and the Los Angeles Sheriff’sDepartment Aero Bureau were recog-nized for their exemplary AviationSafety Management System.

Verfifacts CEO, Farzam Afshar,recognized these three with the Veri-facts “Role Model and Safety Award.”

Several presentations followed.Negotiate Like the Pros, by AttorneyJohn Patrick Dolan, was informa-tive, uplifting and much fun. Atten-dees participated in a brief ‘survey’identifying certain behavior styles.

His message: be Tough, Shrewd andCool Under Pressure. ‘Don’t roll overand play dead—there are other op-tions.’

Fix it Right/Fix it Smart soundslike a simple formula, yet the chal-lenge of the unknown from every in-dustry segment was recognized.Discussion points revolved around thetheme of unprecedented change. Rec-ognizing the ‘firehose’ of informationbeing thrown at the industry and howis this to be assimilated and used ef-fectively, to identifying the balance ofcost containment intersecting withnew technology. As one industry rep-resentative confessed, “we are notsure even where we are going.”

Selected industry partners dis-played innovative products and wereavailable for education and discussionthroughout the event.

Verifacts CEO, Farzam Afsharand COO, Mark Olson, are co-

founders of thecompany. Theircollective experi-ence brings a highlevel of innovativethought, skills andindustry knowl-edge to VerifactsAutomotive. TheSymposium is a re-flection of their in-dustry message.

This Symposium brought to-gether a collaboration of informationand an amalgam of industry mindsmelded together to work towards theultimate goal of achieving better re-pairs, better processes, better relation-ships. In short, a better industry andVerifacts would say, ‘Exposing Excel-lence in Collision Repair.’

For more information see:www.verifactsauto.com.


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Verifacts Symposium Recognizes Achievement, Industry Unknowns, and Negotiation

(l to r) Larry Jeffries, CARSTAR Canada, Stacy BartnikCARSTAR USA, and Farzam Afshar, CEO of Verifacts Au-tomotive at the NABC display

Mark Olson,Verifacts COO, talksabout the smartway to fix a car

(l to r) Jeanne Silver CARSTAR Mundelein,Kristen Felder, Collision Hub, and ShawnCollins of 3M, share a moment at the VerifactsSymposium

strength of steels.The next part to be tested was a

“B” pillar reinforcement from a VolvoXC90. The part is constructed of ad-vanced steel alloyed with boron.

I want to end this with a couple ofthoughts.You will need to invest in an inverter3 phase spot welders.You will need to invest in obtaining

data for all structural repairs.You will need to invest in Training,You will need to invest to be compet-itive and safe.

Continued from Page 45

Hey Toby!

This “B” pillar reinforcement on a 2010 ToyotaScion is being replaced at the factory joint inthe roof and it is not sectioned