Autobody News May 2011 Western Edition

On March 16, 2011the Society of Colli-sion Repair Special-ists (SCRS) held itsAnnualAwards Ban-quet at the CrownePlaza Meadowlandsin Secaucus, NewJersey. As always,the highlight of theevent was the pres-entation of the SCRSIndustry Awards, through which the So-ciety recognizes those that demonstrateoutstanding service and achievementwithin the collision repair industry.

“Two Hawaiianwords characterizethese awards andtheir recipients,” ex-plained Dale Mat-sumoto, chairman ofthe SCRS AwardsCommittee. “Thefirst, ‘aloha,’is famil-iar to us as a greetingand farewell; but italso can be used tomean the giving ofone’s self—a lifestyle encompassing alife of giving, sharing, caring and love.”

The Curious Case of Hibbs vs Allstate—Does An Insurer Have the Right to Repair?Let’s say your car is damaged in an ac-cident and you’re properly insured.Most policies say that an insurer caneither pay for the repair or fix the ve-hicle. You feel that the vehicle is toobadly damaged and you want themoney so you expect your insurer tototal the vehicle and give you a check.But instead the insurer says it will paya shop to fix the vehicle. No othercompensation is offered or given. Infact the vehicle is ultimately fixedagainst your will even though you re-fuse to explicitly authorize it or pick itup. It’s eventually sold at auction—tothe body shop owner holding the de-ductible lien on the repair.

The California Court of Appeal,ruling in this situation, explained thatthere’s an 1867 case from New Yorkthat says this is OK—that the insurercan do whatever it wants. However, italso noted that “modern cases,” in-cluding cases in the last century fromMissouri and Colorado, hold that theinsured has a right to get the money ifshe prefers, notwithstanding the pol-icy language. The insured should beable to get the money rather than haveinsurance funds spent on a repair shedoesn’t want, right?

Enter the real life situation andappelate decision ofHibbs vs Allstate.

See Hibbs vs Allstate Page 38

COLUMNS in this issue...Danalevich—Parts Suppliers Purchasing Policy aBenefit or an Expense? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 16Gonzo’s Toolbox—On the Other Side of the Bookstore Counter .p. 29Sisk—Rodi’s in Cherry Hill, NJ, Promotes Customer’s Right toChoose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 49Attanasio—CA Shop Owner Endorses Shop Education &Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 50Yoswick—East Coast Resolution Forum Meets in NJ . . . . . . . . .p. 52Insurance Insider—Insurers Serve “Flavor of the Day” . . . . . . . .p. 54Franklin—Summertime Means Event Time For Shops . . . . . . . . .p. 56

SCRS Announces Achievement Awards: WinnersInclude Toby Chess and Collision Hub

See SCRS Awards, Page 18

State Farm has announced that in thecoming months it will develop a newelectronic parts ordering system for itsSelect Service shops. The new partsordering plan was rolled out to theDRP shops through an online video.In the video, claims consultant GreggMcDonald outlines State Farm’splans, stating that the company willwork with repairers, parts suppliersand technology vendors to develop anew electronic ordering solution. Toview the video message online, go tohttp://www.statefarm.com/landing/b2b/eparts-ordering.asp.

McDonald said the insurer willwork with all segments of the industry

to develop a system to “reduce theamount of time and effort needed tosearch for, source and order all parttypes,” and “to give suppliers a betterview of the process, and access tocomplete parts orders.” McDonaldalso said that the system will includea review tool to allow shops and ven-dors to provide feedback on the partsordering experience, saying “Supplierchoice and decisions regarding whichparts are best suited for the individualrepair will remain in your hands.”

In 2009, State Farm ended anelectronic parts ordering test it hadrolled out in California and Indiana,

State Farm to Offer Electronic Parts Orderingto its Own Select Service Shops

See State Farm Parts, Page 39

Toby Chess winsSCRS’ Humanitarianaward for generos-ity to the industry

Kristen Felder,founder of CollisionHub, accepts theaward for Non-indi-vidual Service tothe industry

PAINT FOCUS ARTICLES in this issue...Getting OSHA-Compliant on Plans, Protection and Painting . . .p. 46PPG’s MVP Spring Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 32Painting with Waterborne at John Force Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 42New Jersey Shop Embraces PPG’s Envirobase® . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 27Revisiting Paint by Numbers: A Deep Dive into Refinish Data . .p. 45

REGIONAL STORIES in this issue...WIN Conference Comes to San Diego May 1st . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 4CA Bill 753—Rental Firms and Recalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 6CA SB 631 Gives Insurance Commissioner More Power . . . . . . .p. 8House Rejects Changes to Bill Banning Emissions Regulations .p. 10CAA Honors Award Winners, New Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 12CAWA-backed Proclamation Signed by AZ Governor . . . . . . . . .p. 13Man Shot to Death at CA Repair Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 16

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REGIONALAllstate to Open 50 Agencies in Florida . . . . . 41Are Southern Auto Workers Disinterested in

Unions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Ariz. Court Says Parents Liable for Kids’

Wrecks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Auto Companies Celebrate Ferraris in Old

Pasadena This Spring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Bill in NV Makes Not Wearing Seat Belt

Primary Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Bill to Raise Auto Liability Rates Would Impact

NV Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Bills Filed in Texas Aimed at Increasing

Insurance Policy Transparency . . . . . . . . . 48CA Assembly Bill 753 Would Force Rental

Firms to Pull Recalled Vehicles from Fleet . . 6CA Suspicious Claims Rise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4CAA Holds Quarterly Delegates Meeting in

Sacramento, Swears in New Board, AwardWinners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Calif. Has One-Fifth of All U.S. QuestionableInsurance Claims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

California Senate Bill 631 Would Give InsuranceCommissioner More Penalty Powers. . . . . . 8

CAWA-Backed Proclamation Signed ByArizona Governor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Collision Repairers in Texas Mourn the Loss ofBob English—Founder, English Color . . . . 40

Florida Autobody Collision Alliance (FACA)Hosts 1st Annual First-ResponderExtrication Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Gunder’s Loses Appeal to State Farm in FL—Court Says ‘Even False’ Claims are Priviledged . 22

Higher Standard Leads to Coveted MagnaSociety Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Honda to Invest $94 Million in Alabama Plant . 35House Rejects Changes to Bill Banning EPA

and Calif. from Regulating Emissions . . . . 10Houston Auto Body Association, SCRS

Association of the Year, Gathers at StateCapitol in Austin to Support SenateBill 1300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Japan Tragedy to Affect Vehicle Supply, N.J.Dealer Group Says . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Man Shot To Death At San Diego, CA, AutoRepair Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

NV Bill Gets Tough on DUIs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4NWLCRA Hosts Supply Company to Talk

About New Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Randall Swedlove Appointed to CAWA Board

of Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Rutgers Engineer is Pioneer in Plastics

Recycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Ryder Acquires Portfolio of B.I.T. Leasing . . . . 4Service King Acquires 8 Alamo Body and Paint

Locations in San Antonio, TX . . . . . . . . . . 53St. Philip’s College in San Antonio Rallies

Around Skills-USA-Winning Classmate . . . 35Tornado Strikes Toyota KY Parts Plant. . . . . . 20Women’s Industry Network Conference,

San Diego May 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Yancey Truck Centers Opens Macon, Ga.,

Location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

COLUMNSAttanasio - California Shop Owner Endorses

Shop Education and Training . . . . . . . . . . 50Attanasio, Chief - Indiana Shop Owner Favors

Chief for Quality, Durability & Support . . . . 19Attanasio, PPG - 32-year-old N.J. Body Shop

Embraces PPG’s Envirobase® HPWaterborne Basecoat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chaney - Three of Largest Auto RecyclingNetworks Merge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Chess - Getting OSHA-Compliant on Plans,Protection and Painting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Danalevich - Is Your Parts Supplier Purchasing

Policy a Benefit or an Expense? . . . . . . . . 16Franklin - Summertime Should Mean Event

Time For Body Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Horn - Revisiting Paint by Numbers: A Deep

Dive into Refinish Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Insurance Insider - Insurers Will Continue to

Serve “Flavor of the Day” to Shops. . . . . . 54PPG’s MVP Spring Conference—Excellent,

Entertaining and Informative . . . . . . . . . . . 32Sisk - Rodi’s in Cherry Hill, NJ, Reminds the

Customer of their Right to Choose . . . . . . 49Stoll - Painting with Waterborne at John Force

Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Weaver - A Day to Reflect—On the Other Side

of the Bookstore Counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Yoswick - ‘2011 East Coast Resolution Forum’

Meets in NJ to Discuss Ongoing Effortsand Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

NATIONALAirbiquity to Supply Air-Over-Voice Technology

to Onstar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28AkzoNobel Launches U.S. Wanda Waterborne . 53ALLDATA and Boyd Group Enter Into Strategic

Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Collision Hub Launches Repair University . . . 52Feds Open Probes of Imprezas and Sorrentos. 28Ford Expands F-150/Lincoln Recall Due to

Airbag Flaws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Ford’s Electric Focus Will Not Lease

Lithium-Ion Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Full Deliveries From Japanese Suppliers

Stalled Until July. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Gas Prices Take Toll on Miles Driven . . . . . . . 36Honda Extends Production Cuts in North

America to May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Hyundai, Kia Running U.S. Plants at Full

Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Insurance Fraud Claims on Rise in New York. 51Japan Supply Chain Will Rattle Earnings

Worldwide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Legislation To Expand CA’s Electric Vehicle

Infrastructure Introduced in State Assembly. 25Microsoft and Toyota Join Forces in

Telematics Venture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36NHTSA to Review Claim Corolla Air Bag Failed. 28Nissan’s Leaf Experiences A/C Sensor

Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28SCRS Announces Achievement Awards: Winners

Include Toby Chess and Collision Hub . . . . . 1State Farm to Offer Electronic Parts Ordering

to its Own Select Service Shops . . . . . . . . . 1Subaru Shows Off Impreza in 3-D at New York

Auto Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36The Curious Case of Hibbs vs Allstate—Does

An Insurer Have the Right to Repair? . . . . . 1Used Vehicle Pricing Expected to Rise in

Quake Aftermath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Verizon Unveils Hybrid and Alternative-energy

Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28When it Comes to Cars, Men Buy Looks,

Women Seek Practicality . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Contents

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

Serving California, Nevada and Arizona, Autobody Newsis a monthly publication for the autobody industry. Per-mission to reproduce in any form the material publishedin Autobody News must be obtained in writing from thepublisher. ©2011 Adamantine Media LLC.

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

AkzoNobel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . .54

Autoland Scientech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Automotive ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . .9

Carlsen Volvo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Chief Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Completes Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Crevier BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Downtown Motors of LA

(Audi, VW, Porsche) . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Drew Hyundai-Volkswagen . . . . . . . . . .36

Elk Grove Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Enterprise Rent-A-Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers

AZ, CA, & NV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Galpin Motors . . . . . . . . . . .25, 30-31, 35

Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Glenn E. Thomas Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge .11

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . .39

Harbor Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Honda/Acura Wholesale Parts Dealers .51

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . .47

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers . .23

LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Mattei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . .51

Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .57

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .21

Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale Parts Dealers .48

PartsCheck Live . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Power Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . . . . .17

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

Quality Stainless Products . . . . . . . . . .16

Rare Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

RBL Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Replica Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Riverside Metro VW-Honda-Hyundai-

Nissan-Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Scorpion Coatings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Sierra Chevrolet-Honda-Mazda-Subaru .38

Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .37

Timmons VW-Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . .46

VIM Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers .44

Volvo Crash Wholesale Dealers . . . . . .45

Weatherford BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Inde

xofAdvertisers

Western


The Women’s Industry Network(WIN) will host their 5th annual WINConference May 1 through 3 at theWestin Gaslamp Quarter in SanDiego.

The conference will be led bytwo keynote speakers; Jennifer Sertland Lauren Fix.

Jennifer Sertl will focus on whatit means to be strategic in the 21stcentury, what it takes to be a leaderand how the soul of your business as

well as your per-sonal soul willdrive your busi-ness and per-sonal success inyears to come.

J e n -nifer is founderand president ofAgility3R, an or-

ganizational effectiveness companywhich fosters collective wisdo-macross all levels within organiza-tions.

Lauren Fix will draw upon herexperiences to share tips for successin our day to day interactions withmales and females alike.

She will address staying con-nected to those you network with,

both male and female; the glass ceil-ing as related to networking and ad-vancement; as well as using your“feminine force” for positive changeand other things to achieve success inour professional and personal lives.

Lauren is the owner of Automo-tive Aspects Inc., a consulting firmthat provides media consulting,broadcast messaging strategy serv-ices and motivational seminars.

She has been a member of theSociety of Automotive Engineers(SAE) since 1980 and is ASE Certi-fied.

WIN’s Conference Speakerswill include Greg Horn withMitchell and Helen Todd with Colli-sion Buzz, among others.

To register online for this con-ference please visit:www.regonline.com/2011_WIN_conference or www.womensindus-trynetwork.com.

Women’s Industry Network Conference, San Diego May 1

The Arizona Supreme Court hasruled that parents of minors are onthe hook financially for auto acci-dents that occur, even when the chil-dren are violating their parents’instructions, according to reportsmade by Insurance Journal.

The high court’s decision inAmy Young v. Kenneth L. Beckand Barbara Beck follows one in2010 by the mid-level Court of Ap-peals. That court held that the par-ents of a 17-year-old Jason Beckwere liable for an accident thatcaused serious injuries to anotherdriver, Amy Young.

The accident occurred afterBeck drove friends around, althoughhis parents had told him after a pre-vious accident that he could onlydrive to school, church or work.

The parents, Kenneth and Bar-bara, argued that they shouldn’t beheld liable when their son drove thefamily car in violation of restrictionsthey imposed.

The court said it was enoughthat the son had consent from theparents to drive the car “for hispleasure and convenience.”

The court of appeals said thefamily purpose doctrine should notbe abolished.

The doctrine “subjects theowner of a [vehicle] to vicarious li-

ability when the owner provides anautomobile for the general use by afamily member,” court documentsexplain.

“The family purpose doctrineimputes liability not because of thehead of the family’s independentfault or breach of a legal duty, butbecause of the ‘agency relationshipthat is deemed to exist between thehead of the household and the driverof the family car.’”

Moreover the high court saidthe doctrine does not require that aparent give permission for everypossible route taken or deviationmade by a family member while op-erating the vehicle.

Excusing the parents from lia-bility because they did not give theirson permission to drive the carrecreationally would enable parentsto “immunize” themselves from lia-bility by imposing unrealistic or un-enforced limitations on their child’suse of the vehicle, the court said.

The Supreme Court of Arizonaaffirmed the ruling of the Court ofAppeals from the Superior Court inMaricopa County, saying “althoughpolicy arguments can be made forand against the [family purpose]doctrine, it is firmly entrenched inour common law and has been re-peatedly applied by Arizona courts.”

Ariz. Court Says Parents Liable for Kids’ Wrecks

CA Suspicious Claims RiseCalifornia has seen a 9 percent in-crease in suspicious insurance claimssince 2008, according to a new re-port.

The National Insurance CrimeBureau (NICB) said questionableclaims originating in California andreferred to NICB from Jan. 1, 2008,through Dec. 31, 2010, rose from15,609 in 2008 to 17,082 reported in2010. Member insurance companiesreferred 16,274 questionable claimsfrom California to NICB in 2009.

Questionable claims are thoseclaims that NICB member insurancecompanies refer to NICB for closerreview and investigation based onone or more indicators of possiblefraud. A single claim may contain upto seven referral reasons.

From 2008-2010, Californiaspawned 20 percent of all of the ques-tionable claims generated in theUnited States. Within California thetop five cities posting the most ques-tionable claims were Los Angeles,San Francisco, San Diego, Sacra-mento and San Jose.The full report is at:https://www.nicb.org/File%20Li-brary/Public%20Affairs/CA-QCs08-10.pdf.

NV Bill Gets Tough on DUIsHarsher punishments will kick inafter fewer drinks if a Nevada DUIbill passes.

The Senate TransportationCommittee on April 5 passedSB91, which would require courtsto send a first-time DUI offender toalcohol treatment if the blood alco-hol level registers 0.15 percent,down from the existing 0.18 per-cent mark.

Nevada DUI Law makes it acriminal offense to drive while intox-icated on drugs or alcohol. Commondefenses include that the breath-test-ing equipment was faulty.

It also draws that line for igni-tion interlock devices, requiring acourt to order a breathalyzer deviceon the vehicle of a higher-level DUIoffender.

A 160-pound man reaches the0.18 percent blood alcohol concen-tration after about eight drinks in thecourse of an hour.

The 0.15 percent level comesafter about seven drinks in anhour.

The bill is sponsored by ClarkCounty Democratic Sen. Mark Ma-nendo and now heads for the Senatefloor.

Higher Standard Leads toCoveted Magna Society AwardRusnak Auto Group With Audi Deal-erships in Pasadena and WestlakeOffer Customers Outstanding Serv-ice, Value and Selection

Audi established the Magna So-ciety Award program in order to rec-ognize U.S. dealerships that stand outas the best of the best. To qualify,dealerships can’t just meet or exceedsales targets. They must also demon-strate the ability to maintain a solidfinancial foundation, merit high cus-tomer satisfaction scores and demon-strate that their facilities and staffrepresent a progressive, Audi culture.

The Rusnak Auto Group isproud to announce its two Audistores, located in Pasadena and West-lake, won the 2010 Audi Magna So-ciety Award. By offering two storesin Southern California, Rusnak Audiis able to offer greater value alongwith a superior selection.

Rusnak Auto Group enjoys a45-year history as one of thestrongest auto retail groups in LosAngeles and sells nine brands of au-tomobiles as well as high-qualityCertified Pre-Owned and pre-ownedvehicles from 11 locations in Arca-dia, Loma Linda, Pasadena andWestlake. Visit Rusnak Auto Groupat www.rusnakonline.com.

Ryder Acquires Portfolio ofB.I.T. LeasingRyder System completed the acquisi-tion of the lease, rental and mainte-nance portfolio of B.I.T. Leasing, aprivately owned, 58-year-old full-ser-vice truck leasing and fleet servicescompany headquartered in Hayward,Calif.

The acquisition was completedin two phases: the first phase com-pleted in August 2010 and the finalphase completed in March 2011.

Ryder acquired BIT’s fleet ofapproximately 364 full-service lease,121 rental, and 72 contract mainte-nance units serving 131 contract cus-tomers from BIT’s service locationsin Rohnert Park, Hayward, San Joseand Watsonville.

Ryder began operation at BIT’sformer Rohnert Park location in De-cember. Customers who were beingserviced from BIT’s former locationsin Hayward, San Jose and Wat-sonville will now be served by one ofRyder’s six existing locations in theBay area. BIT’s existing dealershipbusiness will continue to operate asBayshore International Trucks.

The acquisition is expected toadd approximately $9 million in an-nualized operating revenue toRyder’s Fleet Management Solutionsbusiness segment.

Lauren Fix

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California lawmakers have taken astep toward enacting what would bethe nation’s first law forcing rental carcompanies to pull recalled vehicles offthe road. The legislators have been en-couraged by a mother who testifiedthat such a rule could have saved thelives of her two daughters. A state As-sembly committee voted 6-2 in favorof a bill named for Carol Houck’sdaughters, who died in 2004 whiledriving a rented car that was the sub-ject of a safety recall.

“Consumers need to know thatwhen they rent these cars, that thesecars are safe,” said Assemblyman BillMonning, D-Monterey, who pre-sented AB753 to the committee.

Auto dealers are not allowed tosell or lease cars that have been re-called, Monning said. His bill wouldclose a loophole that allows rental carcompanies to continue doing so.

Representatives of several rentalcar companies said they repair 90 per-cent of vehicles within 30 days of re-ceiving a recall notice and that theirsafety policies make the bill unneces-sary.

They also said that adopting sucha law in California could prompt otherstates to do the same, creating a patch-work of laws that would be difficultfor them to follow.

They said the bill targets their in-dustry unfairly and ignores other ve-hicle fleets, such as those operated bytaxi, limousine and shuttle bus serv-ices, private companies and govern-ments.

“If something needs to be done—and there are different opinionsabout that—we think it needs to bedone at the federal level,” saidThomas Laffey, general counsel forEnterprise Holdings, after the hearing.

Enterprise is the largest U.S. carrental company, with $12 billion inannual revenue and 1.1 million vehi-cles in its fleet. It includes the Alamo,Enterprise and National brands.

Houck’s daughters—Raechel,24, and Jacqueline, 20—were killed in2004 when the steering failed on aChrysler PT Cruiser they had rentedfrom Enterprise in central California.

The car crashed into a truck andcaught fire. The company had re-

ceived a recall notice for the vehicleabout a month earlier.

“The PT Cruiser my daughterswere killed in was rented out threetimes after they received the notice,”said Carol Houck, of Ojai.

Investigators hired by the Houckfamily said the power steering fluidline that was the subject of the recallleaked and caused the steering to fail.Enterprise fought a wrongful deathcase brought by the family for fiveyears before admitting negligence.Last year, a jury awarded the parents$15 million.

Laffey testified that Enterprisehas had 3 billion car rental-days sincethe Houck accident without a singlesimilar incident.

The National Highway TrafficSafety Administration recently askedrental companies to answer detailedquestions about how they handle re-calls, following up on an inquiry toauto manufacturers. The agency “be-lieves that rental car companies have aresponsibility to provide safe vehiclesto their customers,” NHTSA said in astatement.

CAAssembly Bill 753 Would Force Rental Firms to Pull Recalled Vehicles from FleetRandall Swedlove Appointed toCAWA Board of DirectorsRandall Swedlove has been ap-pointed to the California/Nevada/Ari-zona Automotive WholesalersAssociation’s (CAWA) Board of Di-rectors representing Morris Automo-tive Supply in Fontana, California.

He was appointed by Chair ofthe Board, Mary Davis of NGKSpark Plugs in Sacramento, Califor-nia. “Mr. Swedlove is a long timeCAWA member and represents a seg-ment of our membership that has his-torically supported the Associationthroughout the three states we repre-sent” said Davis. “Mr. Swedlove’sparticipation will be critical to the As-sociation’s future goals and we’llwelcome his contributions to the au-tomotive aftermarket industry and itstrade Association”, said Chair Davisfollowing the appointment.

CAWA is an automotive after-market trade association, which rep-resents auto parts jobbers, warehousedistributors, retailers, manufacturersand manufacturer representatives inCalifornia, Nevada and Arizona. TheAssociation provides education, leg-islative, regulatory and business sup-port to the industry and itsmembership.

Refusing to wear a seatbelt in Ne-vada could land drivers in a commu-nity service program under a billconsidered March 30 by the SenateTransportation Committee.

SB235 I would make not wear-ing a seat belt a nonmoving viola-tion for passengers and drivers.

Punishment could include com-munity service or a $25 fine. Itwould also allow police to pull driv-ers over if they suspect anyone inthe vehicle has not buckled up.

Nevadans are currently re-quired to wear seatbelts but policecannot use it as a reason to pull overvehicles.

Supporters of the bill providedemotional testimony, like that ofTina LaVoie, who cried while re-counting her last conversation withher daughter, Hillary. LaVoie saidthat as a parent she did all the rightthings.

“I did lead by example. I woremy seatbelt all the time.” Her daugh-ter, she said, “was always the firstperson with her seatbelt on.”

But the Shadow Ridge HighSchool senior was killed in a Sep-tember 2010 car accident in whichshe was traveling with friends.LaVoie said Hillary knew the law.

“She knew she could take theseat belt off.”

Supporters also includedChuck Reider, chief safety officersat the Nevada Department of Trans-portation.

Reider said 32 percent of allpeople killed in Nevada automobileaccidents from 2005 and 2009 diedbecause they did not buckle up.

There was, however, oppositionand it centered around two key is-sues: racial profiling and human na-ture.

Orrin Johnson with theWashoe County Public Defender’sOffice said SB235 creates a muddyarea for law enforcement because“it’s not easy to see what’s happen-ing on the inside of the car,” so itwould be difficult to defend pullingover a vehicle on those grounds.

Rebecca Gasca with the Amer-ican Civil Liberties Union addedthat the bill could be used as a tool“for stopping a car in order tosearch, interrogate or simply harassa driver.”

Sen. Elizabeth Halseth, R-LasVegas, said her problem with the billwas far more basic. The Oregon na-tive said her home state is proof thatlaws like SB235 won’t save lives.Four of her friends were killed in ve-hicle crashes.

No action was taken on the billMarch 31.

Bill in NV Makes Not Wearing Seat Belt Primary Offense


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In February this year, California Sen-ator Noreen Evans introduced legis-lation expanding the InsuranceCommissioner’s restitution authoritywhich at present is only allowed inlimited circumstances. Simply put, SB631 would grant explicit authority tothe state Insurance Commissioner toorder restitution as part of an adminis-trative enforcement action against aninsurance company. The new powerscould be used to punish broker-agentsand other licensees in all instanceswhere the Commissioner finds any vi-olation of the California InsuranceCode.

The expanded authority wouldprotect consumers from what SenatorEvans described as the “David andGoliath” dynamics that can occurwhen a consumer seeks repayment ofmonetary losses or out-of-pocket costsassociated with wrongful insurancecompany conduct.

SB 631 would allow the Com-missioner to “impose upon an insurer,licensee, or other entity or person sub-ject to the commissioner’s authorityspecified remedies, either by way of

settlement or following a hearing,whenever the commissioner finds thatthere has been a violation of an appli-cable insurance provision.”

“The status quo allows insurancecompanies to violate the law and thensimply nudge consumers away fromregaining the monetary losses they ex-perienced,” said Senator Evans. “Resti-tution-granting authority already existsin several other state departments. Sen-ate Bill 631extends this same authorityto the Insurance Commissioner and si-multaneously provides built-in safe-guard for all parties.”

Evans said the bill also providessafeguards for insurers should theydisagree with the restitution order bythe Insurance Commissioner, becauseunder SB 631 insurers may still seek ajudicial appeal and go to court. Shoulda consumer wish to directly pursue ju-dicial action against an insurer, ratherthan receiving restitution through theInsurance Commissioner, the bill stillallows them to do so, she added.

“The Department of Insurance isrequired by law to protect consumersagainst misconduct from insurers,” In-

surance Commissioner Dave Joneshas said. “However, the InsuranceCommissioner does not have the au-thority to order insurers to restore out-of-pocket expenses or moneywrongfully obtained due to insurermisconduct. This needs to change, andit needs to change now.”

Senator Evans’ office issued anSB 631 Fact Sheet that provides fur-ther information on the proposed leg-islation. According to the Fact Sheet,insurance consumers occasionally suf-fer monetary losses at the hands oftheir insurance providers, for exam-ple, when they receive less moneythan they are entitled to on a claim.Currently, when an insurer breaks thelaw and causes monetary damages to aconsumer, the only path to remedy forconsumers is to sue insurers in court,which is time-consuming, expensive,

and further burdens the courts.Insurance advocacy group Insur-

ance Brokers and Agents of the West(IBA West), representing some 14,000agents and brokers, said it is con-cerned because persons entitled to re-ceive restitution are defined sobroadly as to include insurance com-panies—meaning broker or agentscould conceivably be required to payrestitution to their own insurers in theevent of even minor violations of In-surance Code or regulatory provi-sions. The association also isconcerned that the bill lacks “mean-ingful” limits on the Commissioner’sability to impose financially devastat-ing punishments.

The bill was most recentlyamended on March 24 and a hearingin the Senate Insurance Committeehas been scheduled for April 27.

California Senate Bill 631 Would Give Insurance Commissioner More Penalty Powers

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State lawmakers are debatingwhether the minimum auto liabilitycoverage Nevada drivers need tocarry should be raised for the firsttime since 1954.

Assemblyman William Horne(D-Dist. A34) says some Nevadanswere driving Edsels and gas costless than 50 cents a gallon the lasttime state lawmakers set the mini-mum rates for auto liability insur-ance.

Horne, who chairs the Assem-bly Judiciary Committee, says hefound out from personal experiencethat the current liability minimumsdon’t provide enough to pay to getyou to the hospital, let alone pay fortreatment, if you are the victim of aserious accident.

“It was an auto accident that Ihad, the gentleman who hit me hadthe minimums, as did I. You quicklyknow, I mean... I got transported toUMC Trauma and the minimumswon’t even cover that.”

If the measure passes, Nevadadrivers would have to carry at least$50,000 in liability coverage for anaccident that injures a single vic-tim.

About 40 percent of Nevadadrivers would see rate increases,and opponents say poor people inthe state wouldn’t be able to af-

ford the extra payments which areexpected to run about $300 peryear.

Horne says he is looking out forpoor Nevadans especially, becausethey are the most likely not to haveadditional health insurance, or a sav-ings account that could help thempay for medical costs if they are anaccident victim.

“Missing time off of work dueto the accident, those things affectthe poor more.

So, on the other side, the billactually helps the poor, not hurtthem.”

Horne agrees the increasewould impact four-in-10 Nevadadrivers, but says all of thoseNevadans are driving around carry-ing only enough liability coverage topay for medical expenses in 1950dollars.

“Gas was 24 cents a gallon, thetop TV shows were ‘Gunsmoke’ and‘The Rifleman’ - this gives you anidea about how long ago this wasput in place.”

Horne says he is willing tocompromise, but coverage needs tobe increased.

The measure, AB 120, couldcome up as early as April 12 beforethe Assembly Transportation Com-mittee.

Bill to Raise Auto Liability Rates Would Impact NV Drivers

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The House late Wednesday rejectedDemocratic attempts to soften a bill tobar the Environmental ProtectionAgency and California from regulat-ing tailpipe emissions but delayed afinal vote until April 7, according tothe Detroit News Washington Bureau.

The legislation, co-sponsored byRep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, chair-man of the House Energy and Com-merce Committee, and Sen. JamesInhofe, R-Okla., would block the EPAand California from issuing new regu-lations limiting tailpipe emissions —and other sources of greenhousegases.

“I’m from Michigan. I knowwhat a struggling economy looks like.And I think it is a travesty that thisgovernment is deliberately imposingpolicies that will harm job creatorsand working families,” Upton said onthe House floor April 6.

After debating the bill, the Houserejected a series of Democraticamendments on a mostly party-linevote.

The Upton-Inhofe measurewould overturn a 2007 Supreme Court

decision giving the EPA authority toregulate tailpipe emissions as a dangerto public health under the Clean AirAct.

That ruling allowed California toimpose its own tailpipe emissions lim-its.

The prospect of a patchwork ofseparate state and federal emissionslimits has been harshly criticized byautomakers.

Although the House is expectedthe pass the measure, it faces an uphillbattle in the Senate, which on April 6rejected a measure similar to theHouse plan.

That measure was tacked to asmall business bill sponsored by Sen.Minority Leader Mitch McConnell,R-Kentucky. The amendment was de-feated on a 50-50 vote — 10 votes lessthan necessary to end debate in theSenate.

Other similar amendments todelay EPA rules, including one bySen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan,also were voted down.

White House Press SecretaryJay Carney hailed the Senate vote

to defend the EPA’s “ability to pro-tect public health under the CleanAir Act.”

“The Senate also rejected anapproach that would have increasedthe nation’s dependence on oil,contradicted the scientific consen-sus on global warming, and jeop-ardized America’s ability to leadthe world in the clean energy econ-omy,” he said.

Automakers have stayed neutralon the Upton-Inhofe bill.

The United Auto Workers andother major unions have opposed thebill.

Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, said onthe floor that EPA regulators “drinktheir lattes” and work in “marblepalaces” as they write tailpipe emis-sions regulations.

“The EPA is on a mission to de-stroy American industry,” Poe said.

In the wake of the Supreme Courtdecision, the Obama administrationreached a deal with California and au-tomakers in May 2009 to set nation-wide fuel efficiency standards for the2012-16 model years, hiking

fleetwide efficiency to 34.1 mpg by2016.

The deal essentially extendedCalifornia’s proposed standards na-tionwide, but gave automakers addi-tional flexibility early on.

The pact will cost the auto indus-try about $52 billion over five years,but save 1.8 billion barrels of fuel overthe life of the vehicles.

The Obama administration says itwould save $3,000 per vehicle in gasover the life of the vehicles.

The House measure would barthe EPA and California from takingpart in the 2017-25 tailpipe emissionslimits.

The National Highway TrafficSafety Administration, however, couldgo forward with fuel efficiency stan-dards for the same period.

House Rejects Changes to Bill Banning EPA and Calif. from Regulating Emissions

Ferrari Club of America’s SouthwestRegion, with the patronage of newand returning sponsors, will host the3rd Annual Concorso Ferrari onSunday, May 22. Approximately 140dazzling Ferraris and various spon-sors will line historic ColoradoBoulevard in Old Pasadena, Calif.,between Raymond and PasadenaAvenue from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Our celebration of the cars byFerrari will be one of the most mem-orable days in Southern California,”said Marv Landon, event organizerof the Concorso Ferrari and boardmember of FCA SW. “Thanks to thegenerous support of our sponsors,the public will be able to enjoy thesefantastic cars at no cost.”

The Concorso is opened toJudged and Non-Judged Ferraris.Ferraris from 1999 and earlier areeligible for judging in 10 classes bya panel of 30 Ferrari experts. Thejudging will follow the FCA Na-tional guidelines of the InternationalAdvisory Council for the Preserva-tion of Ferrari Automobiles.

The Concorso Ferrari will alsohost local luxury brand dealershipsduring the event. With more than4,000 vehicles in stock at 10 of itsfranchises in Southern California,Galpin Motors Premier Collectionwill feature a gathering of new

model cars by Lotus and Aston Mar-tin at the event.

As the leading new and pre-owned Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborgh-ini, Porsche and Audi dealer in theGreater Los Angeles area, The AutoGallery will also be present duringthe Ferrari celebration with a displayof its latest new models. The largestNissan dealer in the country, SageAutomotive Group will showcasethe new GT-R supercar and its Mer-cedes-Benz collection with the SLRRoadster.

From its headquarters in Scotts-dale, Ariz., the Barrett-Jackson En-dorsed Collector Car Insurance willalso have a booth on-site to speakwith local collector car owners.

Partnering with TDC RiskManagement, Barrett-Jackson Insur-ance offers premier insurance forclassic, antique, exotic, special in-terest or limited edition vehicles thatowners show in car club activities,exhibitions, parades or private col-lections.

Sponsorship opportunities arestill available, and interested com-panies should contact Tim McGranewith Events International Companyat [email protected] or (818) 706-3814.

For more information, visitwww.fca-sw.org.

Auto Companies Celebrate Ferraris in Old Pasadena This Spring


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The California Autobody Association(CAA) held its Quarterly Delegatesmeeting in Sacramento on March 11and 12.

David McClune, Executive Di-rector for the CAA, swore in the new2011 State Board of Directors whichinclude Gigi Walker, Past President,Dave Picton, First Vice-President,Ben Mendoza, Vice President,

Chuck Reyes, 2011 President, MikePassof, Treasurer, Don Feeley, Secre-tary.

Linda Holcomb, President of theCAA Glendale-Foothills chapter, wasawarded with the organization’s Pres-ident of the Year, 2010 Award at thegroups State Board meeting in Sacra-mento March 12.

“I have concentrated on bringing

back old members who had let theirdues expire, and also new membersthat were not familiar with the CAA.With my knowledge and contacts inthe Automotive Industry I have hadthe opportunity to bring in some ex-cellent guest speakers. The attendanceat our meetings are up,” said Hol-comb, “It was such an honor to re-ceive the President’s of the YearAward from the CAA.”

In addition, Gene Lopez with I-CAR received the CAA’s annual Dar-rell Malott Memorial Award forMember of the Year for 2010 and 1-800-Radiator received the CAAAsso-ciate Member of the Year award for2010.

“I was honored to receive the2010 Darrell Malott annual Award,”said Lopez, “I remember when thefirst one was given out in 1999.”

The Darrell Malott Award isgiven each year to the CAA memberwho contributes most to the organiza-tion.

For more information please visitwww.calautobody.com.

CAA Holds Quarterly Delegates Meeting in Sacramento, Swears in New Board, Award Winners

left to right: Gigi Walker, Past President; Dave Picton, First Vice-President; Ben Mendoza, VicePresident; Chuck Reyes, 2011 President; Mike Passof, Treasurer; Don Feeley, Secretary (notpictured)

left to right: Chuck Reyes, CAA President,Linda Holcomb, Glendale-Foothills CAAChapter President, David McClune, CAA Ex-ecutive Director

left to right: David McClune, CAA ExecutiveDirector, Gene Lopez, I-CAR, Chuck Reyes,CAA President

The California/Nevada/Arizona Au-tomotive Wholesaler’s Association(CAWA) sponsored gubernatorialproclamation that recognized the con-tributions of the aftermarket industryprovides to consumers was passedand signed by Arizona Governor Jan-ice Brewer in March.

The proclamation states thatthe aftermarket industry encom-passes all products and servicespurchased for vehicles after theoriginal sale, including new, recy-cled and remanufactured replace-ment parts, tires and accessories,repairs and the tools and equipmentnecessary to make repairs; the af-termarket industry is a significantsector of the economy with annualaftermarket sales in Arizona of ap-proximately $6 billion and employsapproximately 41,000 people; theaftermarket industry supplies con-sumers with choices for high-qual-ity and affordable replacementparts and services for their vehiclesthat are fundamental to mainte-nance and repair; the aftermarketindustry historically leads the

world in innovation for serviceequipment, repair procedures,maintenance programs, and safetyequipment for the state’s fleet ofvehicles; the aftermarket industrypromotes a long-running, sustain-able practice of recycling and uti-lizing remanufactured and recycledauto parts to conserve materials andenergy; the aftermarket industrycontributes to greenhouse gas re-ductions by fostering awarenessthat a well-maintained vehicleleads to lower tail-pipe emissions;the aftermarket industry is commit-ted to educating motorists about thebenefits of regular vehicle mainte-nance and repair to ensure that ve-hicles are safer, more dependableand fuel-efficient, by participatingin consumer awareness initiativessuch as the Car Care Council’s “BeCar Care Aware” campaign and thedesignation of April as NationalCar Care month.

At the end of the proclamation,Governor Brewer recognized CAWA’scontributions to the automotive indus-try in Arizona.

“We pursued this with her ad-ministration to give recognition to theaftermarket, it’s importance and con-tributions to the economy, environ-ment and the motoring public,” saidCAWA’s President Rodney Pierini.

Pierini also mentioned thatCAWA is working on a similar leg-islative proclamation for Nevada thissession in Carson City.

CAWA backed a similar procla-mation that was signed in Californialast year.

For more information please visitwww.cawa.org.


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Rutgers Engineer is Pioneerin Plastics RecyclingAxion International , a leading pro-ducer of industrial building productsand railroad ties made from 100% re-cycled plastic, has announced todaythat Dr. Tom Nosker, a professor ofMaterials Science and Engineering atRutgers University and inventor ofAxion’s Recycled Structural Com-posite (RSC), was recognized alongwith five of his peers as one of the na-tion’s top Mechanical Engineers. Thedesignation appears in the April issueof Inventors Digest magazine.

“This is a terrific recognition ofDr. Nosker’s tremendous contribu-tion to the world of recycling, and theincredible legacy he’s created,” statedAxion President and Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Steve Silverman. “Tom’scontribution to the world of plasticrecycling goes back to the mid1980’s, when he helped develop PETresin recovery recycling technology,and continues to this day with hiswork in advances in thermoplasticscomposites, design of structures, andeven flame retardant materials. Axionis extremely proud to be associatedwith him and we’re grateful for thecontributions he’s made and contin-ues to make to our society.”


Used Vehicle Pricing Expectedto Rise in Quake AftermathAutomotive News Reporter ArlenaSawyers writes that since theearthquake in Japan, used-vehicleprices have become so volatile thatprice experts are scrambling tokeep up. And dealers, anticipatingnew-car shortages, are going be-yond usual channels to stock used-car lots, often paying more forthose vehicles and then worryingabout having shelled out too much.Prices already were high. The re-cession led to a shortage of usedvehicles, and when demand rose ascredit eased for used-car cus-tomers, prices soared. Then thequake struck.

Reduced production by Japan-ese automakers, such as ToyotaMotor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.,and the threat of production cuts byvirtually all automakers means areduced new-vehicle supply. Deal-ers who are short of new vehicleslook to the used-car lot to meet de-mand.

And prices could go evenhigher. If new-vehicle incentives dryup, as many predict, prices of usedvehicles will rise as new-car transac-tion prices go up.

Full Deliveries From JapaneseSuppliers Stalled Until JulyAutomotive News Editor Jason Steinreports that as inventories of Japan-ese products continue to dry up, Toy-ota Motor Corp. and Nissan MotorCo. have warned U.S. dealers: Fulldeliveries from Japan likely won’t ar-rive until July at the earliest, and per-haps as late as September.

Parts shortages have forced Toy-ota and Nissan to prepare several sce-narios in which full production inJapan wouldn’t begin until at least 30to 90 days after the country’s upcom-ing holiday break, said people whohave been briefed on the situation.

In the best-case scenario, bothautomakers will begin full productiona month after Japan’s Golden Weekholiday that ends May 9.

In an internal document sent todealers Friday, April 15, Toyota saidit will keep building cars in Japan athalf of the original plans until June 3,which will cost the automaker an-other 120,000 vehicles in lost pro-duction. A decision on Toyotaproduction at Japanese plants afterJune 6 “will be made at a later dateafter assessing the situation of its sup-pliers and other related companies,”the document says.

Honda Extends ProductionCuts in North America to MayAutomotive News is reporting thatHonda will extend reductions of vehicleoutput at its U.S. and Canadian plantsthrough May 6. The automaker had pre-viously said it would reduce vehicle out-put through April 22. Decisions havebeen made on a plant-by-plant basis onhow much to cut back production inorder to conserve parts. Affected plantsinclude East Liberty, Ohio, which makesthe Honda Accord Crosstour and CR-V;Greensburg, Ind., which builds theHonda Civic and Civic GX; Lincoln,Ala., which makes the Honda Odyssey,Pilot and Ridgeline; Marysville, Ohio,which produces the Accord and theAcura TL and RDX; and Alliston, On-tario, which builds the Civic and theAcura CSX, MDX and ZDX. Hondahas been altering production schedulesat those plants since March 30 in thewake of the March 11 earthquake andtsunami in Japan. The automaker said itanticipates that additional productionadjustments will continue after May 6.Honda has already restricted dealer or-ders for June, so that allocated colorsand trim levels for U.S.-built vehiclescannot be altered. It also has suspendedU.S. dealer orders for Japan-built mod-els that are sold here.

Hyundai, Kia Running U.S.Plants at Full SpeedHyundai and Kia, South Korea’sbiggest carmakers, are running fullshifts at their U.S. plants with over-time, unaffected by parts shortagesthat are curbing output for Japan-based competitors. Hyundai’s plant inMontgomery, Ala., aims to squeezeout 10 percent more Sonata andElantra sedans than its 300,000-unitcapacity this year, said Robert Burns,a spokesman for the factory. About 80miles east, Kia’s plant in West Point,Ga., has run extended weekday shiftsand Saturday work since last year andexpects that to continue for the fore-seeable future, said Corinne Hodges,a spokeswoman for Kia. ExpandedU.S. output at Hyundai and Kia con-trasts with assembly reductions at theNorth American plants of Toyota,Honda and Nissan implemented afterJapan’s earthquake on March11. U.S.-based General Motors and Ford alsocut some assembly, and ChryslerGroup canceled overtime shifts toconserve supplies of parts that mightgrow scarcer. Globally, 1.5 millionunits of auto production might be losttemporarily because of damaged op-erations at Japan-based parts and ma-terials suppliers.


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This month let’s take a look at partsordering considerations that will im-prove your bottom line. Think for amoment of all your part suppliersboth OEM and aftermarket. Do youknow what the return parts policy isfrom each supplier? You should ifyou want to maximize your businessprofits.

What is their return policy onparts that do not fit? Will they reim-burse you for full labor or just the partcost and leave you with a “catch youon the next one” policy?

Not too long ago, it was no “bigdeal” to return parts for credit monthslater. Some of us may even remembercredits issued with certain part suppli-ers for returns where we did not evenproduce evidence in the form of an in-voice. Well, times have changed con-siderably when ordering auto bodyparts. Today we have the option of or-dering parts by the traditional voicephone communication or a variety ofelectronic options which include fax,text, digital and e-mail.

Before ordering parts, Do youknow if there is a1) Maximum part return date2) Credit for returns for damagedparts3) Credit for returns on electricalparts4) Warranty for reconditioned wheels5) Warranty for off road usage6) Warranty for CAPA aftermarket

parts (like kind & quality)7) Warranty for Mechanical Parts8) Warranty for Chrome parts9) Warranty for New sheet metalrust through10) Warranty for Non-CAPA after-market parts11) Optional mechanical service war-ranty Agreement12) Transferable warranty to a non-original owner13) Policy for compensation to shopfor wrong parts received14) Fee for shipping cost on specialorder parts15) Restocking fee after 30 Days

Having answers to the aboveparts ordering warranty concerns willassure you maintain and improve yourparts department profit margins.

For example, recently our autobody shop in Santa Barbara, Califor-nia had a very positive parts warrantyexperience involving our aftermarketparts supplier.

Our repair shop had customer ap-proval to proceed with repairs to their2010 Honda Civic. Their insurancecompany, to my complete surprise,stipulated in the repair estimate the useof an aftermarket fender and frontbumper. I questioned the insurancecompany adjuster to make sure therewas no mistake on their proposed esti-mate for such a new vehicle. The In-surance adjuster replied the insured’s

policy stipulates using aftermarketparts when available in exchange for alower annual policy premium. Uponhearing this news I decided not to makea fuss and proceeded with repairs.

All appeared well until the carbumper was installed. After the bodytech installed the bumper it was quiteobvious there was a “quality of fit”problem. The bumper end did notmeet the attachment point of the after-market left fender. Additionally, therewere noticeable one-inch gaps in frontof both headlamps. How Sweet!!!

I immediately addressed the issuewith our aftermarket supplier who re-ferred me to the district manager. Thedistrict parts manager asked me totake a few digital pictures of the mis-fit and send them to him to forwardonto the manufacturer. Within 24hours he authorized the aftermarketparts manufacturer to pay 100% of allthe body & paint labor, including paint

supplies. We then reported the poten-tial catastrophe to the insurance com-pany who authorized us to install anOEM bumper. We proceeded withcompleting the repairs.

A couple of weeks later we re-ceived payment in full for $653.93from the aftermarket parts supplier.The insurance company even com-mented on how well we handled po-tential part warranty replacementcrisis. This could have turned uglyif we choose to involve a less rep-utable aftermarket part supplierwhose warranty did not conform tofull reimbursement for parts andlabor.

By choosing carefully your sup-pliers part sales warranty, you will ex-perience increased productivity andretained shop profits.

May you all receive many “PER-FECT FITTING PARTS” and addedincome to your bottom line!

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A man found shot at a Point Loma-area auto repair shop was declared

dead at the scene the morning of April19, according to reports made by SanDiego’s 10 News.

A customer dropping off her carfound the man at Joe’s Auto Repairin the 1900 block of Rosecrans Streetin San Diego around 7:30 a.m.

Witnesses reported hearing gun-shots at the location at around 7:15 a.m.

The owner of Point LomaSmog, which is located next door,told 10News that owner of Joe’sAuto Repair is the person who wasshot.

Police are looking for an older-model, green sedan that might be con-nected to the incident.

More information about the in-vestigations as it progresses can befound at www.autobodynews.com.

Man Shot To Death At San Diego, CA,Auto Repair Shop


“The second, ‘kina’ole,” meansflawless-as in doing the right thing forthe right reason with the right feeling.Most individuals can, and will, do therights things; but it is the deep feelingsin our heart that makes us to things,for the right reason. This year’s win-ners embody the meaning of boththese words.”

Below is a summary of thisyear’s awards, their recipients, andthe achievement being recognized.

Humanitarian Award: Toby ChessThis award recognizes an individualor group within the industry whose ef-forts advance the industry throughsupport of humanitarian activities intheir community outside the industry.

As one of the industry’s premiereinstructors, Toby Chess has a longhistory of providing enlightening in-formation in an entertaining, thought-provoking way. In all that time, he hasnever lost sight of the individual’srole in the community and the abilityone person has to make a differencefor those who need it most.

Toby spent much of 2010 travel-ling the nation, educating first respon-ders on the technological advancementsin today’s vehicles and delivering theknowledge they need to respond toemergency situations quickly and effi-ciently, in order to keep themselves andvehicle occupants safe.

Toby’s community service didn’tstop there. During the holidays he leda team of “Santa’s helpers” to donatetoys and gifts to families of U.S.Marines. These presents included over100 new bicycles, four SUVs, a 12-passenger van, two cars and a giantbox truck filled to the brim with toys.“Toby truly leads by example,” notedSCRS Past Chairman Gary Wano.“We thank him for his generous spiritand his dedication to helping thoseless fortunate.”

Collision Industry Non-Individual Serv-ice Award: Collision HubThis award recognizes contributions tothe collision repair industry that origi-nate at a corporate or company level.

Collision Hub has served as a cat-alyst for the explosion of inter-indus-try dialog upon the national scene. Apremier professional networking sitefor the collision repair industry thatdeploys a suite of modern communi-

cations technologies, including liveWeb broadcasts of industry meetings,Collision Hub has been extremely ef-fective at helping associations likeSCRS expand their message to agreater audience. Collision Hub, andits founder Kristen Felder, are primeexamples of service to the industry.

Affiliate Association Award: The Hous-ton Autobody Association (HABA)The Affiliate Association Award rec-ognizes an SCRS affiliate that exhibitsexemplary actions on behalf of thecollision repair professional.

The recipient of this year’s awardwas selected based on the volume offeedback from SCRS’other affiliate as-sociations as the Houston Auto BodyAssociation mixed their vigor for ad-

vancing their market with some out-of-the-box thinking to achieve greatertransparency in their state’s claims set-tlement practices. Working with theTexas Insurance Department, and so-licited participation from the entiremarket, they facilitated a documentedsurvey of carrier practices and madethem available to the public. The ini-tiative’s success sparked interest fromour other associations interested in cre-ating greater transparency in their ownareas toward the ultimate goal of im-proved understanding of the carriers’processes in a non-legislativeway thatbrought benefit to all repairers.

Regional Lifetime Achievement Award:Eddie KizenbergerFor decades Ed Kizenberger has

worked on behalf of the collision re-pair industry in his native New York.He founded the New York State AutoCollision Technicians Association andthe Long Island Auto Body RepairersAssociation, and serves as executivedirector for both. In addition, theNortheast Leadership Meeting wouldnot exist without his influential in-volvement. He has broken significantbarriers regarding legislation at hisstate capital by showing lawmakersthat the collision repair industry is notafraid to voice its opinion and standup for itself. He has never hesitated toassist other states or associationswhen a helping hand is needed.

“Ed is never shy to roll up hissleeves to display the leadership and


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Continued from Page 1

SCRS Awards

See SCRS Awards, Page 20


SHOP & PRODUCTSHOP & PRODUCTSHOWCASESHOWCASE

Jimmy Lefler owns and operates fiveextremely busy body, mechanical, andglass shops based in Evansville, Indi-ana, that are repairing more than 200cars per week, juggling eight DRPs,employing 80 people and doing ap-proximately $9 million in annual sales.So, when it comes to purchasingequipment to run his shops, CEOLefler expects that his machines willperform day-after-day without break-ing down or requiring extensive main-tenance. That’s why he’s been buyinghis racks, computerized measuringsystems and lifts from Chief Automo-tive Technologies, a leading manufac-turer of pulling, measuring, anchoringand vehicle specification products.

Lefler is a third-generation bodyshop owner whose grandfather,Leroy, founded Leroy’s Paint &Fender Repair as a dirt floor garagein 1952. Times have changed. For al-most 60 years, Lefler has been ahousehold name for fixing cars in thetri-state area on the borders of Indi-ana, Kentucky and Illinois. Leflershas been winning national awardsfor the family’s contributions to thecollision industry, while expandingand succeeding in a very competitivemarket with more than 60 bodyshop/collision centers listed in thesouthern Indiana region.

Jimmy started working in thefamily’s business in 1986 in the partsdepartment. “I did it all in the begin-ning—fixed cars, washed vehicles,worked as an estimator and cleanedfloors—anything and everything tolearn the business. In 1996, I boughtout my father and starting runningthe operation,” he said.

The Lefler family has had a long-term mutually beneficial relationshipwith Chief, he said. “We bought ourfirst rack from them in 1982, after wesaw their demonstration. That wasthe key, because it was very inform-ative and they showed us everythingthat the machines could do. We haveone Chief machine right now that’sbeen here for 18 years and it’s stillgoing strong. It’s paid for itself sev-eral times over, that’s for sure. Today,we own three Chief measuring sys-tems, four racks and a drive-overlift/pulling system.”

Chief Automotive Technologiesstarted manufacturing its first pullingsystems in 1972, and it rapidly be-came a leader in the industry. Thecompany has stepped up over theyears, driving technology changes,including the introduction of comput-erized measuring systems and com-prehensive vehicle specifications.

Lefler’s VP/Operations ManagerEd Dietz praised Chief’s exemplarycustomer service for keeping histechs informed and productive whilethey are working with the manufac-turer’s machines.

“Our techs can get a Chief tech-nical person on the phone immedi-ately, and that’s critical,” Dietz said. “Itallows my technicians to resolve theirissue and stay productive, which is soimportant to our cycle times. If theyhave to sit on hold or wait to get a callback, that’s time that’s been lost.”

Roger Tutt, production managerfor Lefler’s Evansville North shop,has consistently received fast andaccurate information from the Chiefcustomer service team whenever hehas needed it.

“They make it easy. The only timeI ever need technical service fromChief is a computer-related issue, andthe technical service hotline walks meright through it every time,” he said.“The ability for a Chief technical per-son to log in remotely to see what thetech is looking at on the Genesis com-puterized measuring system com-puter is a ‘game changer’ for service.”

Lefler has all his techs trained byChief, he said, to ensure that theyknow every detail involved in the op-eration of these machines. “We re-cently brought Ken Soupene, a Chiefinstructor, on-site for a week of trainingfor all of our technicians. It was great,because all of our employees wereable to go through the training in areal-world setting, without costing usa decline in production or cycle times”.

A big part of what Chief brings tothe equation for Lefler is its training,

which allows techs to get certifiedand earn I-CAR credits in theprocess, Lefler said. “They make thetraining very effective and compre-hensive,” Lefler explained. “It’s top-notch all the way. Soupene is one ofthe best instructors we have ever en-countered from any company, andhe taught most of my techs how towork these machines.”

Chief’s support starts with train-ing and continues after the sale viathe company’s equipment reps onthe ground, Lefler said.

“Mark Lee is our equipment repand he has proven to be one of thebest we have ever worked with,” Leflersaid. “He’s very responsive and is al-ways readily available to answer anyquestions after the sale. Customerservice is a big deal, because we’reusing these Chief racks on a dailybasis, and we work them hard. So, weneed to have a guy like Mark whoknows these machines inside and outand is dedicated to servicing ourneeds. I know that if we need a part ina hurry, he’ll drive it over here, eventhough his company is in Indianapolis,a 3.5-hour ride from here. That’s thekind of customer support we’ve beengetting from Chief and reps like Mark.”

Lee, owner of Lee Equipment,has been selling Chief equipment toLefler for the past five years, and hasa long history with the manufacturer,he explained. “Chief doesn’t makecheap machines, but the quality isthere and the products’ longevity anddurability is the proof. I have cus-tomers who are still using the sameChief machines that they bought 35years ago.”

Jimmy Lefler is a third-generation body shopowner who owns five locations in SouthernIndiana

Lefler Collision &Auto Glass CentersLocation: Evansville and Newburgh, IN

Telephone: 812-423-4044www.leflers.com

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision & Mechanical Repair

Facility Employees: 80

In Business Since: 1952

DRP Programs: Eight

Number of Locations:Three collision body shops &two mechanical/glass shops

Combined Production Space:47,800 square feet (combined)

Chief Automotive TechnologiesPhone: (800) 445-9262email: [email protected]: www.chiefautomotive.com

Lefler Auto Body Tech Rodney Blandford works on a vehicle using the shop's Chief Impulse framerack, one of the Chief machines that Lefler counts on to repair approximately 200 cars weekly

Indiana Shop Owner Favors Chief for Quality,Durability & Support

All of Lefler’s shops are busy day and night,doing $9 million in annual sales despite arocky economy

by Ed Attanasio


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PropertyCasualty 360.com has re-ported that in the last three years,California has seen a 9-percent in-crease in the number of questionableclaims (QCs) reported, according tothe National Insurance Crime Bu-reau (NICB).

Dominated by questionablevehicle thefts and faked/exagger-ated injuries, these QCs are re-ferred to the NICB by the morethan 1,100 member insurance com-panies and require at least one (andas many as seven) indicators ofpossible fraud.

“California sees the most, byfar, vehicle thefts per year,” saidFrank Scafidi, director of public af-fairs for NICB. “Many of these arewhat we call ‘owner give-ups;’thefts reported to police by ownerswho actually had a role in the vehi-cle’s disappearance.”

Scafidi added that faked/ex-aggerated injuries are dominat-ing not only California’s fraudactivity, but all of the fraud wesee across the country. “A lot ofpeople will seize upon an autocollision as a means to seek ille-gitimate or excessive payments,”Scafidi said.

The claims in Calif. made upjust nearly 50,000 of the 250,350QCs across the country between

2008 and 2010, though were few incomparison to the 235,000 claimsreports that are submitted to ISOdaily.

When it came to policy type forCalifornia QCs, the most common(54 percent) was personal automo-bile, with other common policytypes being personal property, work-ers’ compensation and employer’sliability, and commercial automo-bile.

The most frequently used re-ferral reasons for these QCs werequestionable vehicle theft andfaked/exaggerated injury followedby fictitious loss, prior loss/dam-age, and faked damage. Addition-ally, the most common overall QCloss types were bodily injury, theft,collision, bodily injury relating toautomobiles, and vandalism andmalicious mischief.

The cities posting the mostQCs were Los Angeles, San Fran-cisco, San Diego, Sacramento,and San Jose, comprising nearly25 percent of QCs from 2008 to2010. In all three years, Los An-geles far outweighed the othercities with between 1,500 and2,000 QCs each year. Even in sec-ond place San Francisco, between500 and 650 QCs were reportedannually.

Calif. Has One-Fifth of All U.S. Questionable Insurance Claims

creativity necessary to succeed,” saidSCRS Immediate Past ChairmanBarry Dorn. “He stands up for therights of the consumer and repairerbecause it is the right thing to do; hedoesn’t take ‘no,’ for an answer. Ihave learned a lot from him, as hasour membership and the industry.He’s an invaluable resource.”

Special Recognition: Greg CoccaroThere are years in which SCRS findsindividuals deserving of recognition,yet are hard to fit into a specific cate-gory. In those cases, SCRS presents a“Special Recognition.”

While we all strive to live hon-estly, lead by example, and like tothink we would do the right thing inthe face of adversity, Greg Coccarohas proven over the past year that hedoes. In the past year his character hasbeen put to strenuous test, and he hascome through-despite some signifi-cant struggles-placing his personaland professional integrity at the fore-

front of his life’s decisions. Where theless steadfast would have faltered,Greg wasn’t afraid to put it all on theline. For his dedication and tenacity ofspirit SCRS acknowledged him withthis very special award.

Collectively this year’s award re-cipients, through a variety of accom-plishments, represent the best of thebest that the collision repair industryhas to offer. “It’s satisfying to be ableto devote this night to those individu-als who set a positive tone for our pro-fession and serve as an inspiration forus as we move forward,” added SCRSChairman Aaron Clark. “Their enthu-siasm for the industry is infectious,and as a result they motivate us togive our best as well.”

In addition to the recognition ofindividual acheivments, SCRS wasfortunate to also honor and thankthose that make the association’s ef-forts throughout the year possible. Asa token of appreciation, SCRS pro-vided its long list of Corporate Mem-bers with a specific mention ofgratitude and a commemorative dis-play to recognize the ongoing supportreceived by these corporations.


SCRS Awards A tornado struck a manufacturingplant on the southeast side of Hop-kinsville, Kentucky, on April 4, toss-ing pieces of the roof, collapsing part

of the aluminum structure and injur-ing seven people, officials said.

The plant, Toyoda Gosei Auto-motive Sealing Kentucky (TGASK),makes weatherstripping for Toyotavehicles.

The plant is located betweenHopkinsville and Pembroke, Ken-tucky.

About 184 employees were in-side TGASK when the storm arrivedshortly before noon, said Paul Ray,spokesman for the Hopkinsville Po-

lice Department.None of the injured had life-

threatening injuries, said spokes-woman Jessica Beckham of JennieStuart Medical Center. Ray said theinjuries were mostly bumps andbruises.

Tornado watches were in effectthe rest of that night in portions ofLouisiana, Mississippi, northwesternFlorida, most of Alabama and north-ern Georgia, including Atlanta. Severethunderstorms were moving throughand flood warnings were issued insome areas.

Numerous trees and power lineswere down across the area, the Sher-iff's Office said.

“It could have been a lot worse,”Ray told CNN. The plant was “veryfortunate that at that time, there werevery few injuries, and only minor in-juries.” All employees had been ac-counted for, he added.

The full affect of the damages tothe building and its possible affect onproduction at the plant have not beenfully disclosed.

Tornado Strikes Toyota KY Parts Plant

TGASK sustained damage to the east side ofthe plant after the tornado


On April 7th, 2011 the United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Cir-cuit upheld a lower court’s ordergranting summary judgment in favorof State Farm Insurance in Gunder’sAuto Center’s claim against the na-tion’s largest personal auto insurer forslander and tortious interference witha business relationship. (See Autobo-dynews.com for background.)

To recover for slander in Florida,the claimant must show (1) publica-tion of a false statement; (2) about theplaintiff; (3) to a third party; and (4)damage resulting to plaintiff from thepublication.

To state a claim for tortious inter-ference in Florida, the claimant mustshow (1) the existence of a businessrelationship; (2) knowledge of the re-lationship on the part of the defendant;(3) an intentional and unjustified in-terference by the defendant; and (4)damage from the breach of the rela-tionship.

The court found that, “althoughdenied by State Farm, we assume thestatements allegedly made by StateFarm disparaging Gunter’s weremade and are untrue. Nonetheless, weagree with the district court that StateFarm’s statements were privileged:

Under Florida law a privilegedstatement is one in which “A commu-nication made in good faith on anysubject matter by one having an inter-est therein, or in reference to which hehas a duty, is privileged if made to aperson having a corresponding inter-est or duty, even though it containsmatter which would otherwise be ac-tionable.

The court continued: “Becauseall statements were made to StateFarm insureds in the context of aclaim under a State Farm insurancepolicy, and because all statementsconcerned a matter of mutual interestto the insureds andState Farm—thequality, timeliness and costs of vehi-cles repairs—the statements wereprivileged.

The privilege raises a presump-tion of good faith on the part of thespeaker, but the privilege is not ab-solute. The privilege is forfeited ifthe statements are made with expressmalice: [w]here a person speaks upona privileged occasion, but the speakeris motivated more by a desire to harmthe person defamed than by a purposeto protect the personal or social in-terest giving rise to the privilege,

then it can be said that there was ex-press malice and the privilege is de-stroyed.

Gunder’s failed to proffer suffi-cient evidence of express malice toraise a material issue of fact for a jury.The statements of which Gunter’scomplains—even assuming their fal-sity—supports no inference of malice,and Gunter’s failed to proffer extrin-sic evidence of express malice. Sum-mary judgment was due on Gunder’sslander claim.

On the tortious interference claimby Gunder, the court ruled “Gunder’smakes no allegation that State Farminterfered with customers or prospec-tive customers of Gunder’s who werenot State Farm insureds. As a matterof law, “[t]here can be no claim [fortortious interference with a businessrelationship] where the action com-plained of is undertaken to safeguardor promote one’s financial or eco-nomic interest.”

The court continued, ““[u]nderFlorida law, a defendant is not astranger to a business relationship,and thus cannot be held liable for tor-tious interference, when it has a su-pervisory interest in how therelationship is conducted or a poten-tial financial interest in how a con-tract is performed.”

Gunder had argued in court thatState Farm had lost the priviledge be-cause it used improper means, but wasunable to prevail because the testi-mony detailing the improper meanshad earlier been stricken from thecourt’s records.

The court continued, “ On appeal,Gunder’s cites—for the first time— [aparagraph in the] amended complaintto claim it pleaded improper means.Even if Gunder’s has preserved thisargument, the only arguably impropermeans Gunder’s alleged are the state-ments Gunder’s claims State Farmmade to its insureds about the costs,quality, and timeliness of Gunder’s re-pairs. These statements are the samestatements upon which Gunder’sgrounds its slander claims. Even as-suming the falsity of those statements,as earlier discussed, those statementswere privileged; they fail to show theimproper means needed to defeatStateFarm’s privilege against a tortious-in-terference claim.”

Ray Gunder, the founder ofPolk County’s Gunder’s Auto Center,

a 43 year-old auto collision repairand mechanical shop, made the fol-lowing statement after the judgmentwas delivered:

“Last night, after getting thecourt’s decision, I re-read it and justsat in disbelief just staring at it forhours. Is it really possible in thiscountry for a huge conglomerate likeState Farm to attack my small busi-ness with what are known to be out-rageous lies and be considered legallyprivileged?

“As I understand it, the legal ruleis that the so-called ‘privilege’ is for-feited if derogatory and defamatorycomments re made with ‘ExpressMalice.’

“To be considered ‘Express Mal-ice’ one would need to reach the levelof calling me and/or my family mur-derers and rapists.

“State Farm came after us in2004 in an attempt to silence myvoice by attacking our company’sreputation in our community andtheir attempt to financially destroyour business by steering customersaway with totally untrue and outra-

geous lies… and that, according tothe court, at least in my case… islegal!? This ruling is justice?

“It’s important to understand thatif this ruling stays; every honest andethical shop owner in the industry isin jeopardy of similar efforts againstthem if they don’t fall in line and doas they’re told by this megalith insurerand other insurers who may chose tofollow suit!

Continued Gunder, “This rulingis scary for all of us. Although this isbut one ‘leg’ of my legal journey tocorrect the harmful and predatorypractices of some insurers, it’s a verybitter pill to swallow!

“Know this; I’ve been knockeddown but I’m not knocked out. I’mgoing to continue to “pound that rock”and find the justice that I believe ex-ists in our legal system!

While I’m not a poker player,the term ‘I’m all in’ is indeed appli-cable as I’m too far invested in timeand finances to quit now and I’venever been one to see a wrong andnot try to make it right and with the


Gunder’s Loses Appeal to State Farm in FL—Court Says ‘Even False’ Claims are Priviledged

See Gunder Appeal, Page 24

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TrueCar.com has released a refresheddemographic study based on car-buy-ing behavior in 2010, examining gen-der differences in auto buying.TrueCar.com’s study was based onover eight million retail purchases in2010.

“The study shows that womencar buyers are more cost-consciousand purchased fuel-efficient vehi-cles while male buyers were com-pletely the opposite, purchasingvehicles that were either big andbrawny, like a large truck, or chose ahigh-priced, high-performance vehi-cle,” said Jesse Toprak, Vice Presi-dent of Industry Trends and Insightsat TrueCar.com.

Some of the key findings of theTrueCar.com study include:● The brand with the highest percent-age of retail sales to females in 2010was MINI (47.9 percent), followed byKia (46.8 percent), and Honda (46.0percent) compared to 2009 when Sat-urn and Kia tied at 45.2 percent andMINI came in third at 45.0 percent.There were fifteen brands with a fe-male ratio over 40 percent in both2009 and 2010.● The highest percentage of malebuyers primarily purchased exoticbrands.

There were five brands in 2010 at10 percent or less for retail sales towomen, including Ferrari (6.4 per-

cent), Lotus (7.2 percent), Lamborgh-ini (7.4 percent), Maybach (8.0 per-cent), and Rolls Royce (9.3 percent)compared to 2009 when there were sixbrands; including Bugatti (0 percent),Maybach (3.7 percent), Ferrari (5.1percent), Lamborghini (5.5 percent),Rolls Royce (8.0 percent), and AstonMartin (9.0 percent).● The top ten models that had greaterthan 50 percent retail sales to femalesand at least 1,000 annual retail salesin 2010 were: Volkswagen New Bee-tle, Kia Spectra, Nissan Rogue, Volk-swagen Eos, Hyundai Entourage,Volvo S40, Jeep Compass, HondaCR-V, Nissan Sentra, and HyundaiTucson.

– The top ten models that hadgreater than 50 percent retail sales tomales and at least 1,000 annual retailsales in 2010 were: Porsche 911,GMC Sierra, Chevrolet Corvette,Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-Series,BMW M3, Ford Ranger, Toyota Tun-dra, Dodge Ram and Audi S5.

TrueCar.com also examined themost current market prices and listeddiscounts for all of the brands andspecific models that were trackedwith over 1,000 vehicle sales annu-ally.


best legal representation one couldhope for, we will continue to moveon.

“What one doesn’t find in thisdecision is one of the most impor-tant parts; State Farm speaking im-properly and slandering Gunder’s“once” is privileged in the courtsopinion, but speaking lies “over andover” again knowing they are lies isindeed “Express Malice”, said RayGunder.

“We will prove that State Farmhas continuously committed Slanderwith Express Malice and have doneso regularly with an evil intent.

“I believe with right there’smight and Gunder’s will press on andwe will begin by giving serious con-sideration to submitting a request fora review and appeal with the UnitedState’s Supreme Court.”

A copy of the court’s ruling maybe found at: http://www.courtlis-tener.com/ call/26Fy/gunders-auto-center-v-state-farm/

In another lawsuit the shop haspending against the insurer in PolkCounty Court, a judge has granted theshop's request to compel State Farmto make documents and a number ofwitnesses available to the shop's at-torney as part of the discoveryprocess. Among those that shop at-torney A. Brent Geohagan seeks todepose in the case are representativesof at least eight repair shops thatserve State Farm insureds in PolkCounty.

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When it Comes to Cars, Men Buy Looks, Women Seek Practicality

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-SanFrancisco and San Mateo Counties)announced legislation March 24 toprovide market certainty for the infra-structure that is needed to support Cal-ifornia’s electric vehicle consumerfleet. The legislation, Assembly Bill631, will place into law a decision bythe California Public Utilities Com-mission (PUC) to not regulate electricvehicle charging stations as utilities.Assemblywoman Ma is joined at thepress conference by the San FranciscoEnvironment Department, Environ-mental Defense Fund, Plug in Amer-ica, the San Francisco CaliforniaApartment Association and the Cali-fornia Business Properties Association.

“Electric vehicles are the nextgeneration of fuel for California’sgreen economy,” said Assembly-woman Ma. “AB 631 will provide theinfrastructure to support PresidentObama’s goal of putting 1 millionelectric vehicles on the road by 2015.”

“Plug-in electric vehicles are thefuture of clean transportation, and we

need to do everything we can to makeit easy for cities, businesses and pri-vate citizens to site and install EVcharging stations,” said San FranciscoEnvironment Department DirectorMelanie Nutter.

“Assemblywoman Ma’s bill willhelp make a vibrant EV market in Cal-ifornia, and will go a long way towardscreating a charging infrastructure thatwill combat range anxiety that mightotherwise discourage potential EV driv-ers from giving up their gasoline cars.”

“Electric vehicles are a true‘game changer’ that can save driversthousands of dollars in gas costs whilereducing pollution and increasing ourenergy independence,” explainedWade Crowfoot, Regional Director ofthe Environmental Defense Fund.“Assemblywoman Ma’s bill recog-nizes this opportunity. It will help at-tract entrepreneurs to build chargingstations while keeping alive a struc-ture that is able to ensure electric ve-hicles advance both environmentaland infrastructure priorities.”


Legislation To Expand California’s Electric VehicleInfrastructure Introduced in State Assembly

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Major foreign automakers have beenplacing their US factories in thesouth, including Montgomery, AL,due to the generous state and local in-centives as well as a workforce thatis resistant to unions, according to theLos Angeles Times.

Montgomery is the home ofHyundai Motor Manufacturing Ala-bama, LLC.

UAW organizers are currentlyattempting to persuade southern-lo-cated companies to let the unionmake its case to workers. The paperreports, for example, that members ofthe United Auto Workers tried to lureHMMA employee Deric Golden intosigning a union card, an offer he de-clined.

UAW President Bob Kingwants Hyundai and the other compa-nies to agree to a set of organizingprinciples for “fair elections” thatwill allow the union to make its pitchto employees in a setting that's free ofworkplace “tension, fear and dis-cord,” according to the report.

Yancey Truck Centers OpensMacon, Ga., LocationYancey Truck Centers opened itsnewest full-service Internationaltruck sales and service location inMacon, Ga. Located at 1320 GuyPaine Rd.

Yancey Truck Centers’ Maconstore is the fifth Yancey Truck Cen-ters store operating in the state.

The Macon location will pro-vide middle Georgia with the parts,service and warranty for entire lineupof International Trucks products in-cluding heavy-duty, medium-dutyand IC bus, as well as new and usedtrucks.

The new location will supportIdeaLease for renting and leasingtrucks, as well as being an Inter-national authorized PartSmartdealer.

International Fleet Charge willalso be accepted at the Macon storefor customer convenience.

And as a fully authorized Inter-national, Cummins and Caterpillardealer, the Macon store will serve awide variety of customer needs.

In addition to Macon, YanceyTruck Centers also operates in Al-bany, Blackshear, Tifton and Val-dosta, Ga.

Are Southern Auto WorkersDisinterested in Unions?


The Mid-State Chapter of theFlorida Autobody Collision Alliance(FACA) provided hands-on training toCentral Florida area First-Responders

including Fire Department personnelfrom the areas of Lakeland, Auburn-dale and Winter Haven on April 13.

I-Car certified instructor; SteveLaszlo, was on hand to assist in thetraining and provided information oncurrent vehicle construction technol-ogy and related materials.

Training forcused on avoidingareas on newer vehicles where airbagsor electrical components could pose apotential risk. Newer hybrid and all-electric vehicles can be dangerous foremergency personnel unfamiliar withthe cars mechanics.

Activities took place at 6:30 pm atAll Pro Used Auto Parts, 1425 Old

Dixie Highway Auburn-dale, FL 33823-9505.

All Pro UsedAutoParts provided the ex-ample vehicles for thetraining.

Food and beverageserved to participantswas also provided byGunder’sAuto Centerand Subs and Such ofLakeland.

The Florida Auto-body Collision Allianceis a State-wide associa-tion of collision repair-ers and is committed tothe future of the colli-sion repair industry.

FACA’s mission isto provide the leader-ship needed to raise theprofessional image ofthe industry and to de-velop new industryleaders.

FACA’s goal is toeducate, inform andrepresent the collisionrepair professional inall aspects of the indus-try.

For more informa-tion on FACA pleasevisit:www.FACAFL.com or

contact Ms. Cathy Mills,Executive Director via e-mail at:[email protected] or byphone at (904) 994-6516.

Florida Autobody Collision Alliance (FACA) Hosts 1st Annual First-Responder Extrication Training

Certified first responders and firemen learn electrical and airbag‘hot spots’ to avoid on newer vehicles

Training Instructor Steve Laszlo

The proper equipment used in real-life scenarios was used dur-ing the training

Firefighters were able to put the information learned to workright away with vehicles from All Pro Used Auto Parts


SHOP & PRODUCTSHOP & PRODUCTSHOWCASESHOWCASE

The conversion to waterborne paintin states like New Jersey is a realityfor body shops throughout the North-east, because by 2012 regulationswill likely mandate the use of the newpaint. While some collision busi-nesses are not enamored with theidea of changing the way they’vebeen painting cars for decades,many are happy to say ‘goodbye’ tosolvent and ‘hello’ to waterborne.Proactive shops that see the value inmaking the changeover beforethey’re forced to do so by law arejumping on the waterborne band-wagon right now.

One of these proactive shops isAndrews Auto Body in Brick, NewJersey; a shop that has embracedPPG Envirobase® High Performancewaterborne paint in a big way.

If you live in or around Brick, youknow the name Andrews. This sec-ond-generation body shop has beenaround since 1979, when Rich An-drews, Sr. started his small bodyshop and built a substantial cus-tomer base, many, many years be-fore waterborne paint was evensomething to consider.

But growth dictates new proce-dures. In August of 2009, Rich, Sr.,and his whole family moved to anew, 6,000 square-foot facility. I saythey all “moved” there because theentire family works for the business.Mom (Linda) is the front office man-ager, her oldest son Keith, 36, is theshop’s manager; Rich Jr., 31, is theshop’s lead painter and their sister,Jennifer, is the shop’s assistant officemanager. And dad is still there,watching his sons as they take theirshop to a new level—which includeswaterborne.

Since the move, Andrews haspurchased a towing company anddoes a lot of work for the town ofBrick, Keith Andrews said, whichhas provided a new source of rev-enue for the shop. Simultaneously,Andrews Auto Body made thechangeover to PPG Envirobase®

HP basecoat in their new, larger fa-cility. The moves have paid off in abig way, because the shop is hittingbetter numbers than ever.

“We’ve tripled our revenue sincemoving here and now we’re repairing50–60 vehicles per month,” Keithsaid. “Switching to the PPG water-borne paint has played a big part ofit. This year, we’re on track to do $1.4million, which is very encouragingnews, especially since we’re still in arecession and all the snow this win-ter didn’t help us either. We switched

over to waterborne to stay ahead ofthe game. We know we don’t have todo it until 2012, but we decided—since we’re moving—why not usethe opportunity to do it now? ThePPG rep convinced me that their En-virobase® HP waterborne would be abetter way of doing things, so wemade the move and we haven’tlooked back. PPG Envirobase® HP isa great product and we’re happy withit for several reasons.”

As lead painter it was particularlyimportant that Rich Andrews, Jr. was100% onboard with the switchover toPPG waterborne, because he is theshop’s only painter and runs thecompany’s paint department fromthe mixing station all the way to thepaint booth.

The whole changeover startedwith the training provided by PPG,both on-site and through their train-ing center in Maryland. Rich, Jr. ex-plained, “They trained me on thewaterborne system in shop and thenthey sent me to Maryland for furthertraining. Scott Pearson, from PPGwas great and he made the transitionpainless. Our paint jobber, AlbertKemperle Paint and Body EquipmentInc., played a big role too. The PPGpeople were here several times andthey stayed with us until we were to-tally comfortable with the paint andprocedures. They walked us throughthe process until the result was per-fect. We’d been using solvent since1979, so this was a significantchange, obviously.

“It was a huge change, so Iadmit I was a little reluctant at first,”Rich, Jr. said. “But I didn’t have to re-

do one single car, to be completelyhonest. The color matches are spot-on and the finished product is betterthan solvent. There was a very smalllearning curve, but once I got intothe groove on how to spray it anddry it, it was a pretty smooth transi-tion.

Keith Andrews knows that PPGhas been instrumental in improvinghis production system and he con-tinues to be pleased by the com-pany’s top-notch customer service.“PPG has done a great job in help-ing us be more productive in gen-eral,” said Keith. “Everyone withPPG has been excellent in every as-pect of what they do for us. If I askthem or Albert Kemperle, my PPGjobber, I get it. They respond to mealmost immediately in every case,which is great. That’s all you can askfrom a paint company. PPG hasplayed a very integral part in gettingus to where we are now, so it’s beena great relationship.”

Now that he’s been using thewaterborne basecoat for almost 18months on a daily basis, what doesRich, Jr. think of waterborne in gen-eral? “It may slow you down for afew minutes, but in the end youwon’t be re-doing jobs, because thecolor matches are perfect. With En-virobase® HP, the finished productis better, with zero comebacks orcomplaints. They make the simplematches so simple and it has prettymuch eliminated spray outs. I’mnow doing 3–4 cars a day, and Idon’t have to do even one singlespray out. I’ve reached a pointwhere I can just trust it.”

It may take a few more minutes to paint a carwith waterborne vs. the old solvent days, RichAndrews, Jr., said, but the finished product issuperior in every way.

Andrews Auto BodyLocation: Brick, NJ

Telephone: 732-920-3692www.????.com

Company At A Glance...

Type: Collision Repair

Facility Employees: Nine

In Business Since: 1979

DRP Programs: Four

Number of Locations: One

Combined Production Space:6,000 square feet

PPG Automotive RefinishCompany Contact: Cindy PiazzaPhone: 440-572-2800email: [email protected]: www.ppgrefinish.com

It’s a family affair at Andrews Auto Body in Brick, New Jersey. From left, Rich, Jr. is the shop’slead painter; his sister Jennifer is the assistant office manager; Rich, Sr. started the shop 32 yearsago; his wife Linda runs the front office; and Keith Andrews manages the shop

32-year-old N.J. Body Shop Embraces PPG’sEnvirobase® HP Waterborne Basecoat

Lead Painter Rich Andrews, Jr. doesn’t have tore-do jobs by using PPG Envirobase® HP wa-terborne paint, he said, because the colormatches are on the money 100% of the time

by Ed Attanasio

www.autobodynews.comwww.autobodynews.com

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Verizon showcased some of thenewest energy-efficient additions toits motor vehicle fleet at an event at-tended by President Obama on April1. Verizon, which has the third-largestcorporate vehicle fleet in the nation,was among five companies recog-nized by the president for adding sub-stantive numbers of green vehicles.

Verizon displayed three of its lat-est energy-efficient vehicles at theevent, which featured alternative-en-ergy trucks and cars operated by someof the nation’s largest corporations.

“We’re bringing environmen-tally friendly innovation and ad-vanced technologies to our motorfleet operations,” said Jim Gowen,chief sustainability officer for Veri-zon. “By seizing the opportunity tohelp improve the environment, ourvehicles are saving energy, reducingemissions and improving our green-house gas profile.”

At the event, held in Landover,Maryland, Verizon displayed a hybridChevrolet pick-up, an all-electricChevrolet Volt and a first-of-its-kindhybrid aerial-splicing vehicle. Overthe past few years, the company hasadded hundreds of hybrid ToyotaPriuses, as well as more than 500

compressed natural gas vans and 700hybrid pickups.

Verizon is the first communica-tions company to engineer and deploya hybrid fiber splicing unit. Because oftheir weight, these vehicles (com-monly known as “bucket trucks”) usu-ally consume significant amounts offuel. To reduce fuel consumption, thecompany incorporated a hybrid engineand innovative, onboard batteries thatassist in the vehicles’acceleration, andpower the bucket lift and lighting units.

“We’re replacing less-efficientvehicles with transformational, energy-efficient cars and trucks—a move thatwill have a long-term impact on re-ducing and improving fuel consump-tion and reducing pollutants,” saidWilliam Roberts, president of VerizonMaryland. “This event is a clear ex-ample of what happens when compa-nies are allowed to innovate anddeploy different technologies to meettheir needs while achieving our sharedenvironmentally positive goals.”

Verizon was also the first com-pany in the nation to deploy hybridpickup trucks on a large scale, in acommercial setting. Last year, Verizondeployed more than 700 of these vehi-cles and plans 300 more units in 2011.

Verizon Unveils Hybrid and Alternative-energy Vehicles

Airbiquity, a provider of wirelessconnected vehicle services, an-nounced at CTIA Wireless in Or-lando, the company’s selection toprovide data-over-voice technologyto OnStar’s retail product, OnStarFMV. OnStar’s mirror-mounted re-tail device will bring connected ve-hicle services to virtually anyvehicle. “We’re exceptionally proudof Airbiquity’s eight-year relation-ship with OnStar, the leading brandin connected vehicles,” said DavidJumpa, senior vice-president ofglobal business development, Air-biquity. Currently available on morethan 40 MY 2011 GM models, On-Star soon will be available for instal-lation on most other vehicles alreadyon the road through local electronicsretailers, including Best Buy. “Withour underlying technology, OnStarcontinues to offer an innovative andcost-effective range of services todrivers,” Jumpa said. “Adding On-Star to a car is now as quick and easyas installing a new rear-view mir-ror.” According to Airbiquity, OnStarFMV will be available for purchasefrom North American consumerelectronics retailers in 2011.

Airbiquity to Supply Air-Over-Voice Technology to Onstar

Ford Motor Co. is recalling almost1.2 million F-150 pickups and someLincoln Mark LTs due to faulty airbags. Federal regulators have re-ceived hundreds of instances of in-advertent air-bag deployment, manyof which have resulted in bruises,cuts and even a chipped tooth. Twodrivers said they were knocked un-conscious. Ford, however, said it isnot aware of any accidents related tothe glitch. The recall affects Fordtrucks from model years 2004through 2006.

“If the clockspring jumper wirecomes in contact with the driver sidefrontal air bag lower horn plate, thewire insulation may become chafed,creating a potential short circuit,” theNational Highway Traffic Safety Ad-ministration said. Ford had resistedexpanding the recall because the carmaker didn’t see it as necessary, butit finally caved to pressure from reg-ulators.

“We understand the govern-ment’s desire to reach a broad groupof potentially affected consumersand will recall the remaining popu-lation of trucks for our customers’peace of mind,” a spokesman said.

Ford Expands F-150/LincolnRecall Due to Airbag Flaws

Nissan Motor Co. said there havebeen a few reports of Leaf electriccars failing to restart after they havebeen turned off because of an air-con-ditioning sensor problem.

“If this sensor is activated it willilluminate a warning light on the in-strument panel and may cause the ve-hicle to not restart once it has beenturned off. We are actively investi-gating to determine the root causeand what action is necessary to ad-dress the issue,” the company said ina statement. Nissan isn’t planning arecall because the problem isn’t asafety issue. The company says thecars won’t not stop running whilebeing driven. Nissan says it is tryingto “promptly address this issue.”

Nissan’s Leaf ExperiencesA/C Sensor Problem

Ford’s new all electric Focus isready to hit the market, however itwill be sold without a leased-batteryoption. The lithium-ion batterypack will be included with the carand will not be leased separately.Awaiting customer reaction, Ford isconvinced that leasing the batteriesis not the right strategy. Leasingbatteries would have brought theinitial price down and many pre-dicted that Ford ultimately wouldmake the decision to lease batteries.The Focus has a 28kWh electricmotor with a top speed of 84 mph.It will take around 4 hours torecharge the car, about half of whatits main competitor, the NissanLeaf, needs.

Ford’s Electric Focus Will NotLease Lithium-Ion Batteries NHTSA to Review Claim

Corolla Air Bag FailedThe National Highway TrafficSafety Administration has agreedto review a petition claiming thefrontal air bag of a 2008 ToyotaCorolla failed to deploy during acrash.

The agency said in a statementon its website that it received a peti-tion that “the frontal air bags in theirMY 2008 Corolla failed to deployduring a 55-mph frontal impact witha large animal (a deer). During thiscrash, neither the driver nor frontpassenger was seriously injured inthe incident.”

Feds Open Probes ofImprezas and SorrentosFederal regulators have opened twonew auto safety investigations intoSubaru Impreza and Kia Sorento ve-hicles. The National Highway Traf-fic Safety Administration said itopened an investigation into 50,0002011 Kia Sorento SUVs. NHTSAsaid it has received four complaintsalleging a loss of power because of asudden failure of a transmission in-termediate driveshaft. Another fivecomplaints allege a loss of power be-cause of transmission failure thatcould be related to a driveshaft fail-ure.


Sometime ago I had my first booksigning at a local book store: Steve’sSundry—Books and Magazines. It’sa landmark bookstore in town. Every-one knows Steve’s place. It’s been intown for more than 60 years. It’s agreat place for a large malt at the sodafountain, or to browse around thestore to find a good book. I’m not awell known author; I’m a me-chanic/technician who wrote a book.I really didn’t think there would be acrowd of potential buyers and admir-ers at the book signing. I’m not thatnaive to think I would be bringing ina flood of new customers to the bookstore.

So, instead, I used the time tostudy the people that came in and outof the store. What a wonderful place,a book store. In the back of the storeis an old counter with a bar and sev-eral bar stools. The counter, the sodafountains, and the bar stools are all

original 50’s decor. With malt shakesand great sandwiches. You couldtake the whole day to browse forbooks while sipping on a shake orcoffee. It’s a very pleasant place,nostalgic and modern at the sametime.

One regular customersitting at the end of the barwas sipping away on hiscoffee while texting mes-sages on his Blackberry.On the other end therewas an old couple whoappeared to be in their70’s reading the paperand browsing a book or two. Icould see this Norman Rockwellpainting of them pictured there forprobably the last 40 years doing thesame thing.

My place for the day was at a lit-tle table next to the register. A largestack of my books was neatly spread

across the table. People would walkby, glance, and smile. The owner ofthe store would make short referencesto my book and try to get people in-terested in talking to this so called“author” sitting there all solemn andquiet. The register was busy with

small book purchases and afew patrons from the bar.Very home spun and relax-ing, a lot of ‘hellos’ and“how’s the weather” com-ments throughout the after-noon. Some people would askabout the football game comingup and others would want toknow where a certain book was.All this was going on while I sat

there patiently waiting for the clockto roll around to my designated leav-ing time. Not that I wanted to leave,oh no, I was enjoying the atmosphereand the quiet nature of the daily work-ings of the store.

That brings me to the thoughtthat crossed my mind. Are these thesame people that come to my shopwith an attitude and misconceptionsof the auto industry? Probably so. Ihave often wondered if it’s my atti-tude that brings out the worst in peo-ple, but, the whole time I was sittingthere I was still the mechanic. I wasstill the guy they needed to fix theircar. However these people didn’tknow me as such. I was an unknownauthor signing books.

When someone would ask aboutmy book I would tell them that it wasa book about people and the dailyhappenings at my repair shop. Thatit was funny, but informative, andyou would definitely get somethingout of it. If you knew a person in theauto industry this would make agreat gift and they would get a greatkick out of reading it too. Well,

A Day to Reflect—On the Other Side of the Bookstore Counterwith Gonzo Weaver

Gonzo’s Toolbox This is a new story by Scott “Gonzo” Weaver as posted on his website,www.gonzostoolbox.com. See his book “Hey Look! I Found The LooseNut”, which provides a Good Laugh for Mechanics of Any Age. The bookis available at amazon.com. Contact Gonzo at [email protected]

See Day to Reflect, Page 37


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PPG hosted its invitation-only Spring2011 MVP Conference in PalmSprings at the spectacular Rancho LasPalmas Resort March 27 through 29.The theme of the conference was‘Journey to Excellence’ and excel-lence on many levels was provided formore than 350 fortunate PPG cus-tomers and special guests in atten-dance.

Imagine a collision repair train-ing event that combines a golfingretreat at a top-notch Southern Cal-ifornia resort, high-end illusionistsand magic tricks, nationally knownmotivational speakers, excellent andabundant food, and of course, seri-ous and substantial shop manage-ment training. Add in a spectacularlocation, beautiful weather, and anintimate cocktail party—with livemusic—to introduce a continuoustwo-day trade show, and it’s hard toimagine a collision shop owner whowouldn’t want to be part of it.

Take note, industry, this is theway to hold a collision and refinishconference that leaves the attendeeswondering what can possibily be donenext year to top it. But it wasn’t justfun and games. In fact a good deal ofthe fun and games were designed witha serious purpose in mind, either to il-lustrate good and bad thought habitsimpacting business, or to invite intro-spection about running a collision

business in an era of change and un-certainty. Clearly a lot of planning, re-finement, and foresight went intodesigning the curriculum that drivesthe MVP Business Development Se-ries from PPG.

The MVP program is a series ofbusiness development training coursescovering every aspect of running asuccessful and profitable collisioncenter. Add to that, the opportunity toattend MVP round table forums whereparticipants brainstorm with theirpeers on ways to reduce cycle time,increase productivity and improve inareas where they might be underper-forming, and the full import of theprogram comes together to benefit theshop, its employees, and its cus-tomers.

Jim Berkey, Director of Busi-ness Solutions for PPG Refinish,andNorm Angrove, Senior Manager of

PPG Value-added Programs, ex-plained over lunch that, when intro-duced more than a decade ago, MVP

Business Solutions was the first pro-gram of its kind in the collision repairindustry. Since then, thousands of col-lision center owners and managershave taken advantage of MVP’s inno-vative programs to improve the waythey run their businesses. Said Berkey,“In anticipation of industry consolida-tion five years ago, we started re-building our programs. It was clear tous that the industry was going to de-mand stronger performance aroundquality cost and speed. Feeling goodabout the training received and feelinggood about their paint supplier wasnot going to be enough.”

“Our mission was to addresscycle time reduction, the hardest met-ric to improve, by improving under-standing about what really impactscycle time.”

Both Berkey and Angrove elob-orated on what success means to PPG

and a great deal of their motivationstems from helping shops surviveand thrive due to improved perform-ance. Yes, it means keeping a cus-tomer who uses PPG product, butsuccess really means helping thatshop maintain its DRPs by helpingthem improve continuously. Berkeysaid that most shops (say 90%) knowwhat’s wrong with their operations,roughly half of those know how tochange (say 45%), but only half of

those again (say 20%) can actuallyaccomplish the change.

When asked about trends inDRPs during one of the sessions,Berkey responded, “Look at StateFarm. State Farm has decreased itsDRPs from around 20,000 to some-where around 11,000. It’s just gettingmore competitive. Shops must workon performance if they want to be oneof those shops in competitive pro-grams.”

The Keynote speakers at theevent, introduced by Berkey, set thetone with an energetic talk by GregSmith titled Fired Up, Leading YourOrganization To Achieve ExceptionalResults. Smith’s talk stressed thatsuccess increasingly depends onkeeping your organization heading inthe right direction and acceleratingperformance across the board. Totruly succeed you need a high-energyworkplace that boosts performance,generates more profits, increasessales and provides outstanding cus-tomer service. You must develop aplan that will generate measurable,bottom-line performance improve-ment results immediately. This willallow you to adapt to changing trendsand manage shifts in markets, com-petition and customer preferences ina changing work environment.

Another motivational speakerwas Michael McMillan, Author ofPink Bat: Turning Problems Into So-lutions who spoke engagingly on thenature of problems, and the fear of a“problem pandemic.” Using eventsfrom his childhood, McMillan di-rected the audience to see how manyperceived problems are actually un-seen solutions. You either live each

PPG’s MVP Spring Conference—Excellent, Entertaining and Informative

From top left clockwise: The beautiful Rancho Las Palmas Resort; l to r: Shop Owner Tom Bisson-nette (Parr Auto Body), Norm Angrove (PPG) and Jim Berkey (PPG); Bottom photos: Over 30 ven-dors participated in the Vendor Fair which was well attended by the participants.

The conference kicked-off with a Golf Tournament. The winning 4-some shot a 63 (l to r)Ed Carwile, Chuck Anderson, Benjamin Mahoney and Walter Hughes

Jim Berkey, Director of Business Solutions forPPG Refinish, introduced the keynote speakers

Michael McMillan, Author of “The Pink Bat”was one of the motivational speakers at theevent. His key message was that “Imaginationis more important than knowledge”

with Jeremy HayhurstPublisher’s Page Jeremy Hayhurst is a former geologist, university science publisher, and now newsmagazine

owner who started working in a body shop in high school. Contact him with your ideas andsuggestions at [email protected]

day in a world filled with “problems,”or invert your thinking to perceive aworld of unseen solutions.

The keynotes helped pave theway for the larger message that MVPServices is all about continuousprocess improvement. The success ofany collision center, now and in thefuture, is critically dependent on itsability to compete for business and re-pair vehicles more quickly withoutsacrificing quality or increasing costs.It requires new thinking, newprocesses, and a work culture devotedto continuous process improvement.Most critical are the leadership skillsof managers, supervisors and teamleaders, and their ability to implementand sustain continuous improvementthroughout the organization. MVPLeadership training sessions providea systematic approach for giving at-tendees the skills required to imple-ment change in their collision centers.

The MVP Business Solutionsprogram is designed to provide colli-sion centres with an ongoing, real-world assessment of theirperformance as it compares to top-performing shops of similar size.Once this benchmarking analysis andbodyshop assessment is in hand, anowner or manager can identify anycritical areas of their business thatneed to improve in order for the shopto reach its full potential.

The first day of breakout sessionswere devoted to a variety of shop per-formance topics such as: 360 DegreeMarketing, Load Leveling, ValueStream Mapping, and The Lean Jour-ney in Collision. The second day con-sisted of follow-up workshops thatwere more interactive in nature andgave attendees an opportunity to seewhat type of material would be cov-ered in the full PPG MVP classes,which are offered throughout the yearin various US and Canadian locations.

PPG has worked with customerson implementing Lean for years, andhas identified critical and necessarysteps to go through to work success-fully with customers. One of thebreakout sessions, The Lean Journeyin Collision—A Road Map to Imple-mentation, presented by Jim Berkeyand Randy Dewing, pointed out someunvarnished facts about Lean—thatthe failure rate while implementingLean is far too high. This can be verydiscouraging. On the other hand, thosesuccessful in implementing changes totheir shop culture and process per-formance can rest assured they will

enjoy a competitive edge that otherswill envy. Thinking Lean and actuallyimplementing are two different things.There is no one specific path thateveryone must follow to implementLean and develop processes with lesswaste.

Another session, Value StreamMapping, was designed to see andalign your organization around thegreatest waste elimination opportu-nity. Collision center owners and man-agers know changes to their shopprocesses must be made to obtain im-provement; however, change can bedifficult. It is important that collisioncenters develop a way of routinelyevaluating where their real next op-portunity lies in eliminating wastefrom the collision center process. Theworkshop included exercises with par-ticipants using their own shop data todevelop a value stream map to illus-trate their performance.

A comprehensive implementa-tion plan can be used as a startingpoint for those who have not yetstarted a Lean journey or as a bench-mark for those who are somewhere onthe implementation journey.

Another breakout session, a ‘360-Degree Marketing’Workshop—Devel-oping Your Plan, provided guidanceon building a personalized marketingplan for your business. Led by themarketing experts of the MVP Busi-ness Solutions team, Norm Angroveand JohnMartin, the two-hour work-shop addressed the practical tools col-lision center owners and managers canuse in their business. Starting with amarketing template, each participantfocused on a target audiences andmarketing techniques to attract and re-tain customers, covering strategiesand needs of connecting with the fourgenerations in the marketplace, socialmedia engagement, elevating the cus-tomer experience and new insurercommunication opportunities.

This session focused on the dif-ferent generations that comprise abody shops’s customers, and the dif-ferent ways they need to be com-munciated with. The Boomergeneration (those born 1946–1964)grew up with newspapers, thenightly news, and phone calls. TheX, Y and Z generations grew up withcomputers and Internet and prefertext-based communications. As thesession pointed out, the “Unshake-able Issues” for body shop ownersare that they must learn to commun-ciate with customers the way thecustomers want to be communciatedwith, and learning to use socialmedia is critical to any businessessuccess. As the presenters pointedout, “It took newspapers 100 years toreach 50% penetration in US house-holds, and social media has reached50% househould penetration in only4 years!”

Load LevelingLoad Leveling with Mark Mueller,Brett Bialowas and David Knapp,was an interactive workshop to helplevel the volume of work in the shop

by understanding simple models likethe law of the funnel (Little’s law, seesidebar). Most if not all collision cen-ters are faced with high levels of vari-ation in the incoming work to theshop. There is the classic dilemma ofpressure to take too many sets of keysbased upon current levels of work inthe shop versus the real fear of losingthose keys to the competition. Ascycle time became a critical measurewe have learned more about the rela-tionship between work in process in-ventory at the shop, and the cycle timeat the shop. As we know, as car countincreases, so does cycle time. Thus itis more important now than ever be-fore to influence incoming work flowto any degree possible. The workshoplooked at the impact that variation in

work volume and mix has on theprocess and explored practical workload leveling systems that have beensuccessfully used within collision cen-ter businesses.

Perhaps the most entertainingspeaker of all was magician and co-median, Kevin King, who billedhimself as a practitioner of VerbalPerception Manipulation (VPM) anda “Master of Information” as well as“master of doubletalk.” King usedverbal bafflegab in his talk purport-ing to describe “federal securities


The closing Gala Dinner was held outdoors on the 15th fairway in perfect weather

A Funnel as a Metaphor forYour Cycle TimeLittle’s Law dictates what drives cycletime in any process. Think about afunnel which you want to put marblesthrough. What affects the amount oftime—or cycle time—that it takes toget each marble from the top of thefunnel out of the bottom? First is thesize of the funnel opening, which con-trols how fast things come out. This isthe output rate. The second thing is thenumber of marbles already in the fun-nel. If the funnel is full it takes moretime to get the next one out. If the fun-nel is empty, the next one in comes outmore quickly. This represents the“work-in-process” inventory.

A collision center works thesame way. The output rate—or carsper day—is dependent on the re-sources the shop has to get work done.A collision center process also haswork-in-process inventory. And themore inventory the shop has, thelonger it takes to get the next carthrough.

In the past it was thought a goodthing to have the “security” of a largebacklog of work at the shop. It’s a nat-ural feeling. Imagine a shop with 50cars sitting on the premises and seventechnicians. How many cars can onetechnician touch at once? One! So 43cars are sitting untouched while weare touching maybe seven. The morecars we have in process, relative to thenumber of cars we can touch or finishin a day, drives up cycle time. So atsome point the very cars that havebeen making us feel secure can makeus less competitive.

We are not saying ‘completefewer cars.’ We expect to complete asmany or more as before. We want toget better at working on fewer cars atone time and having fewer idle cars inthe system not being worked on. Any-one who has been successful doingsomething a certain way for a longtime runs the risk of hanging onto tra-ditional ways too long when the modelor the paradigm changes. Today, thosewho are most responsive to changewill survive, and those are the oneswho maintain quality, cost, and speed.


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and accounting practices” but whichsoon devolved into a rapid fire non-sensical speech delivered deadpanuntil the audience could not help butburst into laughter. He proceded toamaze with prodigious feats of mem-orization, identifying hidden itemswhile blindfolded, and some interest-ing variations on standard card tricks.Along the way he offered a few tipson how to use verbal perception ma-nipulation (double-talk) to fend offthose you’d rather not communicatewith. Of course, King’s real messagewas that clear and real communica-tion is the core ‘secret’ of businesssuccess.

When you end this two-day ex-travaganza with a gourmet sit-downdinner catered on the fairway adjoin-ing the last green on the golf course,you begin to understand why a chip-ping contest over a water hazard wouldbe the appropriate prelude to dinner. Arat pack of tribute singers provided afifties-era Vegas after-dinner show un-derneath a brilliant moon. It’s hard toimagine a better ending—or is it just atemporary conclusion—to an eventthat, at its heart, wants to be better andbetter over time.

About PPG’s MVP Business SolutionsPPG’s MVP Business Solutions offersthe industry’s most widely-attendedtraining programs for helping colli-sion centers learn practical, provenways to improve their process im-provement and succeed in a highly-competitive marketplace. The MVPBusiness Development Series offersover 12 courses, encompassing allfacets of managing a profitable colli-sion repair business—from estimat-ing, administrative and organizationalmanagement to sales, marketing andproduction management. In addition,the MVP Throughput PerformanceSolutions Series includes MVP GreenBelt Training, the industry’s most

comprehensive training program forimplementing the practical applica-tion of Lean Six Sigma for collisionrepair.

As a follow-up to Green BeltTraining, the Business DevelopmentSeries also offers training on Job In-struction, Job Methods and Job Rela-tions—critical skills for implementingand sustaining change. Keys to thesuccess of the MVP training programsare the dynamic course topics and real-world expertise and experience ofMVP Certified Instructors.

MVP Job RelationsPositive employee relations is a crit-ical factor for operating a successfulbusiness - and even more criticalwhen implementing new processesand plans for improving perform-ance. This insightful course teachespractical skills for enhancing em-ployee relations and preventing prob-lems from arising, while alsoproviding a strucutred method to ob-jectively solve problems when theydo arise.

MVP Job InstructionGood training sessions with proper in-

struction are critical to the success ofstabilizing performance and sustainingchange. This course teaches a strc-tured, proven way of training that canbe employed in the workplace to en-sure learning is retained and consis-tently applied in support of establishedprocess procedures. Particular empha-sis is placed on the “Learn by Doing”principle, an effective method for en-suring that the employee retains theknowledge and skills required to dothe job.

MVP Job MethodsFinding opportunities for improvementyou can’t readily see is essential to en-suring continuous improvement. Thiscourse teaches how to make the bestuse of people, equipment and materi-als by focusing on how to break downa job and question its every detail. Par-ticipants are taught skills for combin-ing, rearranging or eliminating stepswithin the job to create a new, moreproductive standard operating proce-dure.

Learn more about the MVP series bycalling 866-237-8178 or [email protected].

A rat pack of 50s-era tribute artists finishedoff the event under a picture perfect desertfull-moon

Students in St. Philip’s College’sCollision Technology Departmenthave created a Student Organizationwith officers rallying around one oftheir classmates, Raymond Tolosa,who placed first at the Texas SkillsUSA competition in Vehicle Refin-ishing.

The organization also recognizesthe achievements of Jose Palomo,who is also a St. Philips auto collisionstudent and finished second in thecompetition.

The students are starting afundraiser for travel expenses forTolosa to travel to the Skills USA Na-tionals in Kansas City in June.

The students are also creating aletter announcing the formation of theStudent Organization and its purposeincluding the benefit to the industryand students relating to Skills USAaccomplishments.

St. Philip’s College Auto Colli-sion Repair Program is a 2 year stateaccredited program that offers studentsthree options in their auto collision in-dustry education and career path, in-cluding a 2 year Associates in Applied

Science degree, a Collision RepairCertificate and a Refinishing Certifi-cate.

Tolosa is a Veteran of thearmed forces, and after his serviceto his country decided to take ad-vantage of the opportunity to go tocollege.

“Mr. Tolosa is a Husband and fa-

ther of 3, he has shown and continuesto show tremendous leadership quali-ties in our lab activities and class-room,” said Chris Beardsall, Facultyfor Repair and Manufacturing andAuto Collision Technologies coursesat St. Philip’s College.

According to Beardsall, Tolosaenjoys working on vehicles and hasexcelled rapidly in the 9 months hehas been attending classes.

Tolosa’s Skills USA win was hisfirst attempt in the Refinishing com-petition, earning for the first time in 6years St. Philips Colleges representa-tion in the nationals portion of thecompetition.

Aside from the Skills USA com-petition, Tolosa has also stepped upand was elected the St. Philip’s AutoCollision’s Student Organization’sfirst Treasurer.

“Raymond Tolosa works hard ateverything he does and all the fac-ulty and staff are very proud of hisachievements thus far,” said Beard-sall.

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Honda plans to invest $94 million inits manufacturing facility in Lincoln,Alabama, and will add 20 jobs at thefacility, according to reports made byAutomotive World.

The Associated Press, citingHonda spokesman Mark Morrison,said this investment will go towardsincreasing production capacity and im-proving the flexibility of vehicle andengine manufacturing. The Lincolnplant employs more than 4,000 people.According to the report, the TalladegaCounty Commission approved taxabatements for the project on the nightof 28 March 2011.

The project is expected to becompleted in mid-2012, according tothe Associated Press.

Honda Manufacturing of Ala-bama produces Honda’s Odysseyminivan, Pilot SUV, Ridgeline pick-upand V6 engines for these vehicles.

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In February, the US accountedfor production of 81,717 Honda vehi-cles.

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Microsoft and Toyota Motor Corp.have forged a strategic partnership andplan to build a global platform forTMC’s next-generation telematicsservices using theWindowsAzure plat-form. Telematics is the fusing oftelecommunications and informationtechnologies in vehicles; it can encom-pass GPS systems, energy managementand other multimedia technologies.

The two companies plan to par-ticipate in a $12 million investment inToyota Media Service Co., a TMCsubsidiary that offers digital informa-tion services to Toyota automotive cus-tomers. The two companies aim tohelp develop and deploy telematics ap-plications on theWindowsAzure plat-form, which includes Windows Azureand Microsoft SQL Azure, startingwith TMC’s electric and plug-in hy-brid vehicles in 2012. TMC’s goal is toestablish a complete global cloud plat-form by 2015 that will provide afford-able and advanced telematics servicesto Toyota automotive customersaround the world.

As part of its smart-grid activities,aimed at achieving a low-carbon soci-ety through efficient energy use, TMCis conducting trials in Japan of its Toy-ota Smart Center pilot program, whichplans to link people, automobiles and

homes for integrated control of energyconsumption. TMC believes that, aselectric and plug-in hybrid vehicles be-come more popular, such systems willrely more on telematics services forachieving efficient energy manage-ment.

Microsoft has a long history ofdelivering platforms and services tothe automotive market, including in-car infotainment systems built on theWindows EmbeddedAutomotive plat-form, in-car mapping services withBing and the Microsoft Tellme voiceapplication, and many other consumersolutions.

“Our announcement of our part-nership with TMC is a great exampleof how we continue to invest in the au-tomotive industry and of our commit-ment to power the services that areimportant to consumers,” said Mi-crosoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “It furthervalidates the power of the cloud, as theWindows Azure platform will providethe enterprise-grade, scalable platformthat TMC needs to deliver telematicsin its automobiles worldwide.” SaidAkio Toyoda, president of TMC: “Toachieve this, it is important to developa new link between vehicles, peopleand smart center energy-managementsystems.”

Microsoft and Toyota Join Forces in Telematics Venture

With gasoline costing more than $3.50a gallon in all but one state, there aresigns that Americans are cutting backon driving, reversing a steady increasein demand for fuel as the economy im-proves.

For five consecutive weeks,Amer-icans bought less gas than they did a yearearlier, according toMasterCard Spend-ing Pulse, which tracks the volume ofgas sold at 140,000 service stations.

For the week of April 1, driversbought about 2.4 million gallons lessthan they did one year earlier, or 3.6percent. That was the biggest declinesince December, when people werestaying home because of snowstorms.

Before the decline, demand wasincreasing for two months. Some ana-lysts had expected the trend to continuebecause the economic recovery is pick-ing up, adding 216,000 jobs in March.

“More people are going to work,”said John Gamel, director of gasolineresearch for MasterCard. “That meansmore people are driving, and theyshould be buying more gas.”

Instead, about 70 percent of the na-tion’s major gas-station chains say saleshave fallen, according to a March sur-vey by the Oil Price Information Serv-ice. More than half reported a drop of 3

percent or more, the sharpest since thesummer of 2008, when gas soared past$4 a gallon.

This year, gas prices have shot upas unrest in NorthAfrica and theMiddleEast has rattled energy markets and in-creased global demand for crude oilsqueezed supplies.Agallon of unleadedregular costs $3.77 on average, andonly Wyoming has an average lowerthan $3.50. Gas is already 41 centsmore expensive than at this point in2008, when it peaked at $4.11 in July.

Gas Prices Take Toll onMiles Driven

Subaru of America, Inc. will debut theall-new Impreza at its NewYork Inter-national Auto Show news conferencevia 3-D video. In a show first, atten-dees will throw on some 3-D glasses sothey can experience the lives of Subaruowners—from mud running, to yoga,to car driving—as its new model is re-vealed to the world. You can also catchthe show in plain old 2D on Sub-aru.com. The Impreza is being toutedas the most fuel efficient all wheeldrive vehicle in America. Marking itsbest sales in company history, Subaru’sApril 20th news conference will takeplace on the floor of the Jacob JavitsConvention Center.

Subaru Shows Off Impreza in3-D at New York Auto Show

something like that anyway. Most ofthe time I would get a disagreeablehmmm in response. Others had thatpondering look as if they were goingback into their memory trying to findwhat was so funny about getting theoil changed on their car. And thenwalk away shaking their head. I did-n’t find that in anyway offensive, ordisrespectful. I found it to be a logi-

cal, and a very intelligent way for aperson to state their opinion withoutsaying much at all. I admire folks likethis, the ones that can speak theirminds without uttering a word.

As each and every one of thesepatrons would checkout at the registerthey gladly paid for their things andgave a big thank you to the person be-hind the counter. I never heard oneperson ever ask “why does this cost somuch”, “I think you shouldn’t chargeso much for this sandwich”, “I know aplace down the street that can do the

same thing for half of what you’recharging.”

Now that’s funny, that’s prettymuch what I hear every day. Whatgives? Oh, now don’t get me wrong,it’s not every customer that complainsabout the prices. I have many, manycustomers that are eager to pay for mytime and service, even a few that thinkI’m not charging enough for what I do.I even have some that feel the need toleave a tip. It’s those that want to com-plain and complain and complain thatirks me. I have even had some tell me

that I should give them the part forwhat I paid for it. Does the book storegive you the book for what they paidfor it? Come on people. I wish I knewwhy it is the way it is, but for somereason perfectly sane people arrive atan auto repair shop and become tyran-nical evil forces. Is it the smell of 90weight oil in the air? Could it be theconstant groan of pneumatic tools inthe background? I wish I knew. Maybeafter I retire I’ll take a job somewherepleasant. Quiet, reserved, and ever sonostalgic. Yeah. Like a book store.


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In Hibbs v. Allstate Insurance Companythe Insurer was found to have ProperlyElected To Repair Insured’s Vehicleagainst the insured’s wishes andthereby Satisfied Obligations Under Pol-icy By Electing To Repair Damaged Ve-hicle Instead Of Tendering Costs OfRepair To Insured

In February this year, the CaliforniaCourt of Appeal for the Second Appel-late District issued a decision reversingthe trial court’s summary judgment rul-ing in favor of the insurer and holdingthat when an automobile insurance pol-icy provides the insurer with the optionto pay for damages to or repair an in-sured vehicle, the insurer satisfies itscontractual obligation by electing to re-pair damages even though the insuredrefused to authorize repairs.

However, the Court of Appeal alsoheld that the insurer can be liable in badfaith if it pays for repairs not authorizedby the insured and then recovers fromthe tortfeasor (civil wrongdoer) in sub-

rogation because the subrogation actionmay be prejudicial to the insured’s di-rect action against the wrongdoer.

Harry and Jessica Hibbs’ van wasinsured by Allstate Insurance Com-pany. On April 13, 2004, the van wasstruck by a vehicle driven by JeromeBrooks and the frontwas substantially dam-aged. The van was takento a repair shop whereJessica Hibbs signed anauthorization to repairthe van. The repair shoplater estimated the costto repair the van was $6,500. JessicaHibbs contacted Allstate and advisedthat she believed the van was a totalloss and refused to authorize the re-pairs.

On April 22, 2004, Allstate wasadvised by the repair shop that JessicaHibbs had authorized the repairs, andthat the repairs were substantially com-plete. On May 3, 2004, after the vanhad been repaired it was driven into an-other car by a repair man and again suf-fered front end damage. The Hibbsrefused to authorize repairs and refusedto pick up the van. Allstate paid the re-pair shop the cost to repair the van less

the Hibbs’ deductible. Allstate eventu-ally recovered the cost to repair plus theHibbs’deductible from Brooks’ insurerin a subrogation action and sent the de-ductible to Hibbs, which they nevercashed.

The Hibbs filed a complaint

against Allstate alleging, among otherthings, breach of contract and breach ofthe implied covenant of good faith andfair dealing. The trial court granted All-state’s motion for summary adjudica-tion as to the breach of contract andbreach of the covenant of good faithand fair dealing claims and denied All-state’s motion for costs. Both sidestimely appealed.

The Court of Appeals first af-firmed the trial court’s determinationthat a triable issue of fact existed as towhether or not the Hibbs authorized therepair of their van. The Court of Ap-peals cited to Business & Professions

Code section 9984.9 which requires,among other things, that an automotiverepair dealer give the customer a “writ-ten estimated price for labor and partsnecessary for a specific job... before au-thorization to proceed is obtained fromthe customer.” The Court of Appealfound that the authorization to repairthe van signed by Jessica Hibbs wasvoid under section 9984.9 because therepair shop failed to provide JessicaHibbs with a written estimate prior toobtaining her written or verbal ap-proval for the repairs.

The Court of Appeal next ad-dressed an issue of first impression inCalifornia – whether an insurer that haselected to repair a vehicle under an au-tomobile insurance policy that providesit with an option to repair or pay thecosts of repair, is relieved of its obliga-tion under the policy by its insured’s re-fusal to authorize repairs. Afterconsidering decisions from other juris-dictions, the Court of Appeal held thatwhere the policy clearly and unequivo-cally provides the insurer with the op-tion to repair and the insurer choosesthat option, the insured’s prevention ofthe insurer’s performance by refusing

“The parties cite no California caseon point, and we have found none.There will be one now.”

—Justice P.J. Gilbert


Hibbs vs Allstate

See Hibbs vs Allstate Page 44


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saying it had no plans to implementsuch a program nationally, but that ithad found that electronic parts order-ing “has value.” The Select Serviceagreement that participating shopsmust sign gives the insurer the right torequire electronic parts ordering.

As of yet there is no firm startdate for the test. According to GeorgeAvery, State Farm claims consultant,

the company has yet to work out de-tails about which Select Service shopswill participate or what kind of tech-nology will be used.

“We don’t have a timeline and wedon’t know where we’re going to testit,” Avery said. “Our intent is to givethe repairer the choice of the type ofparts they want to use. We’ll thor-oughly test this solution before we rollit out to our shops, like we do all ofour projects.”

The goal is to improve the effi-ciency and accuracy of the parts or-

dering process to minimize returnsand potentially increase the speed ofrepairs. State Farm could poten-tially benefit through reductions inrental costs and overall repair costsby eliminating supplements and re-turns.

The first electronic parts pro-gram, which was designed based onan OE discounting program, ran from2007 to 2009. “This is just the nextstep in the process,” Avery said.“We’re taking what we learned andapplying that to improve efficiency,

get the right parts and possibly fix thecar quicker.”

Avery emphasized that this pro-gram was not conceived to controlwhat kind of parts repairers should getor where they should get them from.“That’s our message: the choice will bein their hands. State Farm has a deepdesire and commitment for repairers tobe able to make those decisions.”


State Farm Parts

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The collision industry lost one of itsleading members at the end of March;James Robert “Bob” English, Jr.,founder of English Color in the south-ern US.

Bob was raised in Dallas, andtook great pride in having graduated

from Texas A&MUniversity, Classof ‘46, with aBusiness degree.Bob was known byhis friends for hislove of a goodAggie joke, somuch so that he

was given the nickname “Aggie Bob”,which was how he was identified fordecades.

“Bob was just a core Aggie,”said Michael McCabe with EnglishColor, “Our corporate office inRichardson flies the American flagand the Texas A&M flag right belowit.”

Bob was an accomplished busi-nessman who founded EnglishColor & Supply, Inc. in 1946. Thecompany has evolved from selling

automotive batteries out of a paneltruck to becoming one of the largestdistributors of automotive paint andsupplies with 41 locations in 6states and representing productsfrom over 100 suppliers. Even afterBob’s retirement, he continued tohave an active role in an advisorycapacity and strived to maintain apersonal relationship with his dedi-cated employees.

“For our 60th anniversary, Bobdesigned a gold coin to give to all theemployees to thank them for helpinghim achieve 60 years. Along with acoin for every employee, (approxi-mately 250) he gave each employee60 brand new One Dollar Bills. Bobwanted to shake the hand of everyemployee (sales reps, managers,counter personnel, delivery drivers,etc) and thank them for their sup-port,” said Jim English, Bob’s sonand English Color’s current Chair-man.

English Color has locationsserving customers in Texas, Okla-homa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ten-nessee, Alabama and Arkansas.

“This was his business, that be-came a family business when his sonJim and son-in-law Phil came onboard, then Robert our VP was a neigh-

bor kid, then his grand-son Jeff ... to round outthe “family” business.Bob English made us allfeel like family and wewant to stay around,”said Monique Flener,Sales and Marketing Co-ordinator with EnglishColor.

English Color wasoriginally known asEnglish Bros. Aftergraduating from TexasA&M Bob borrowed$1,100 from his parentsto start his own busi-ness. The name “EnglishBros.” was chosen be-cause two of Bob’s fa-ther’s brothers had asurplus sign by thatname that they had usedin their business, andthey were no longer

using it. They let Bob use it at no cost.Bob’s biggest investment when

he started out was a half-ton paneltruck.


Collision Repairers in Texas Mourn the Loss of Bob English—Founder, English Color

Jim English (son, left), Bob English (middle), and Phil Burnett(son-in-law, right) breaking ground on store # 2 in Dallas, TXin March of 1983

Bob English

Bob’s father was SouthwestSales Manager for the National Bat-tery Company, so that’s why hestarted out selling automobile batter-ies.

Bob purchased the panel truck tocarry inventory until he could estab-lish a location, which he eventuallyfound in Frisco, Texas.

Bob fell into the paint supplybusiness just as the battery supplypart of the business began togrow.

He was explor-ing other automo-tive supply optionswhen he decidedto dabble in be-coming a PaintRepresen ta t ive ,and English ColorSupply was born.

Bob worked tire-lessly as an activeleader in the auto-motive industry andhis community, inwhich he was hon-ored to receivemany distinguishedawards.


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body shop needs!

Allstate Insurance says it wants toopen nearly 50 new agency offices inFlorida.

About half of those openingswill be in north Florida, the companysaid, according to reports made by In-surance Journal.

“North Florida has shown in-credible growth for our agencies,”says Bob Jackson, regional salesleader for Allstate’s Florida regionbased in St. Petersburg. “In order tomeet the demands of our current andfuture customers, we’ve made a deci-sion to expand.”

Allstate estimates that each newoffice will mean multiple job oppor-tunities for licensed staff, perhaps asmany as 130 new jobs statewide.

The agencies will sell auto,home and life insurance, according toa spokesman.

Allstate began scaling back onits property insurance writings inFlorida in 2005, after the severe hur-ricane season but it has shown re-newed interest in Florida businesslately.

Last spring, it launched an effortto write about 50,000 new multilinepolicies and began looking into tak-ing out policies from state-backed

Citizens Insurance Corp.In Florida, Allstate operates as

Castle Key Insurance Co.and CastleKey Indemnity Co.

Allstate changed the names ofits Florida subsidiaries to Castle Keyin July 2009.

The insurer said the namechanges were made in order to “bet-ter reflect the fact that these propertycompanies are separately capitalizedfrom Allstate Insurance Co.” Thecompany has about 1,000 agents inthe state.

Allstate agents operate as inde-pendent contractors selling Allstatepolicies. They can own their ownfranchise while drawing on supportand resources from the parent com-pany.

The company said there is nofranchise fee associated with owningan Allstate agency, although candi-dates need to have $50,000 to$75,000 in liquid capital.

The company says that moneydoes not go to Allstate; rather itshows the new agency can pay for thenormal operation costs associatedwith opening and running an agency.

Visit www.insuranceagent.flori-dajobs.com for more information.

Allstate to Open 50 Agencies in Florida

by Paul Stoll, PPG Trainer

John Force Racing drivers have wonthe last five National Hot Rod Associ-ation (NHRA) events, dating back

into late 2010. You don’t do that with-out some body damage to your FordMustang Fuel Funny Cars.

John Force Racing has been

using PPG’s Envirobase® High Per-formance waterborne basecoat ontheir cars for two years now. Envi-robase® HP is very easy to use and re-pair, something that the paint team hasthe opportunity to do on more thanone occasion—when things go bad onthe racetrack. PPG waterbornebasecoat dries to a thinner film thanconventional solvent basecoats, help-ing the team keep the Ford Mustangbodies light. And PPG’s Envirobase®

HP waterborne paint has helped JohnForce Racing go green.

I had the opportunity to go to theteam’s Brownsburg, Indiana shop ear-lier this winter and spend four dayshelping paint the Ford Mustang bodiesfor 2011. I worked with Dean An-tonelli, one of John Force’s crewchiefs and general manager of theBrownsburg facility. Paint shop man-ager and graphic designer BrandonBaker, painter Dave Gregory andJesse Knox were all part of the team.

Creating Robert Hight’s 2011 FordMustang BodyLast year’s carbon fiber bodies are

stripped of the PPG clearcoat andmost of the basecoat too, to keep theweight down. We used a PPG citrus-based paint remover for various rea-sons: first to be safe over the carbonfiber; second, it’s a green productthat’s safe for the environment; and

finally, the water-based stripperworks better than the caustic typepaint removers traditionally used.Envirobase® HP is a latex resinbasecoat that is very flexible and re-sists solvents and chemicals. Thepaint that is not removed, as well asthe exposed carbon fiber, are thensanded with 400 grit dry sandpaper.


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Painting with Waterborne at John Force Racing

Spot primed and sanded Mustang Body readyto move in to booth to spray PPG EHP SilverMetallic base coat

With the first color sprayed and Dry for 30minutes Brandon and Dave begin the maskingprocess

Yellow Paint Mask Brandon cut helps keep thedesign the same on all John Force Racing 2Mustangs

2 Coats PPG EHP White base coat

Ready to cover up the white with TransferTape, and spray Blue

White covered up with transfer tape

Robert won NHRA’s 2011 Winternationals. Proving PPG Envirobase High Performance is not onlyFast in the paint shop but also Fast on the track

Sanding carbon fiber will expose thefibers, so sanding is kept to a mini-mum.

Areas that require a body fillerand any fuzzy carbon fiber exposedfrom over sanding are sprayed withPPG’s ECP A-Chromatic Surfacer.After drying, we sanded with 400 gritdry sandpaper, and finished with 600grit. Envirobase® HP basecoats shouldbe sprayed over a 600 grit (or finer)scratch because of the thinner filmbuild. A sealer could be used to fillsand scratches, but on these cars,sealer is left off to help keep theweight to a minimum.

The Mustang body is now blownoff and cleaned with PPG’s One-Choice® H2O-So-Clean waterbornecleaner. This evaporates quicker andpulls the sanding dust from the sand-ing scratches much better then solventcleaner, leaving a nice surface that isready to paint. Since we are workingon a carbon fiber body, we do not getany static when wiping the body.

The first color to go down will bea metallic silver. I spray three coatsjust in the area where we will mask offthe silver with ½-inch tape for Bran-don’s design. I use an Iwata LPH400

gun with a gold air cap. I let the metal-lic silver dry between coats, whichtakes only five minutes thanks to theTurboAir Drying System® installed inJFR’s booth. Air movement is whatmakes waterborne paint dry fast, andthe TurboAir unit is a turbine blower

that does the job quickly—speed is re-quired at John Force Racing.

After a 30-minute dry time in thebooth, masking begins. We use a plas-tic/vinyl masking tape like FBS. Bran-don also uses his computer skills tocut out a paint mask to aid in speed-ing up the process and, more impor-tantly, to keep all the designs the sameon all the John Force Racing Mus-tangs. The area of the car that will beblue is covered with plastic, so as tonot add excess paint and weight to thecar. The white stripes are sprayednext.

Two coats of Envirobase® HPT400 white toner are sprayed, withfive minutes dry time between coatsand a 30-minute dry time before we’reready for the blue. The white basecoatcovers twice as fast as solvent, so thisstep goes quickly and weighs less dueto fewer coats of paint. This also helpskeep edges between colors muchsmoother.

We mask off the white with atransfer paper that Brandon uses totransfer the vinyl decals he puts on thecar. Again, this is faster than tape andpaper.

I am back in the booth, and Ispray two coats of ‘AAA of SouthernCalifornia’ blue. The Envirobase® HPformula covers quickly, and with theTurboAir blowing, I am ready for thesecond coat as soon as I can reload thepaint gun. In just half an hour, I amready to clean up and we are unmask-ing. We had a couple of small blowthroughs on the first car—easily fixed.A quick mask of the blue and re-spray

a little silver. The second car was per-fect, no blow throughs.

I blew the body off and tacked itwith a PPG tack rag. Dave thenstepped in and sprayed a double coatof PPG EC700 Production Clearcoat.

While custom, multiple-colorpaint jobs are not considered to bevery productive, with the tools at JohnForce Racing and the speed of the En-virobase® HP basecoats, we whereable to spray a body a day while I wasvisiting.

The last part of the job was ap-plying sponsors’ logos on the cars,which I left in the experienced handsof Brandon.

Paul Stoll is a PPG Trainer, who,among his many duties, teaches cus-tom painting classes at PPG trainingcenters across the country. Classes in-clude training using Envirobase® HighPerformance basecoats in custompaint jobs. When not traveling, Stollcan be found at the PPG training cen-ter in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.,(909) 987-0924.


1st coat of PPG EHP Blue water base coat Body unmasked, tacked, ready for Clear Coat

2 coats of PPG EHP Blue. White unmasked 1 Double coat of PPG ECS 700 Clear PPG EHP finished cars getting sponsors logos


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to authorize the repair, excuses the in-surer’s obligation under the policy.The Court of Appeal also rejected theHibbs’ contention that Allstate’s ad-juster chose to settle the claim.

Finally, the Court of Appeal ad-dressed the Hibbs’ contention that All-state breached the implied covenant ofgood faith and fair dealing. The Courtof Appeal held that Allstate did not actin bad faith when it authorized the re-pairs to the van finding that there wasno authority indicating such authoriza-tion constituted bad faith and that anyrepair authorized by Allstate wouldstill be subject to further authorizationby Hibbs’ under Section 9884.9.

The Court of Appeal also foundthat Allstate did not breach the impliedcovenant of good faith and fair dealingby ignoring the Hibbs’ request for amechanical and safety inspection toensure the van was safe or for failingto respond to the Hibbs’ settlement de-mand for full market value, becauseAllstate was not obligated under thepolicy to provide such expert inspec-

tions or to pay full market value for thevehicle.

However, the Court of Appealfound that a triable issue of fact existedas to whether Allstate breached thecovenant of good faith and fair dealingby prosecuting its subrogation claimagainst Brooks. The Court of Appealfound that because Hibbs did not con-sent to the repairs, the repair shop wasnot due any compensation. As a result,Allstate had no right to subrogationagainst Brooks. In addition, the Hibbswere prejudiced by Allstate’s subroga-tion action since Brooks would have aright to an offset against any cause ofaction the Hibbs might be able to suc-cessfully assert against him.

As a result, the Court of Appealreversed and remanded for trial on theissue of bad faith and awarded costs onappeal to Hibbs.

So what does this mean for a bodyshop and its customer? It has beenpointed out in legal commentary andblogs on the case that the ruling up-holding the 1867 New York case basi-cally lets the insurer do what it wants,regardless of the interests of the in-sured. That is the letter of the policybut Colorado and Missouri found oth-

erwise. It is poor public policy when what

the insurer wants frustrates the legiti-mate desires of the insured. The onlything beyond the letter of the policythat the Judge cites is that an insurermight want to repair a vehicle ratherthan giving an “unsafe” (unrepaired)vehicle to the insured. But the vehiclecouldn't be driven anyway. And evenif they did, no way the insurance com-pany would be liable.

Good public policy suggests weshould allow such recovery (instead ofrepair) as consumer friendly. Did theHibb’s feel that the repairs wouldn’t besafe and so wouldn’t drive the vehicleeven if repaired? Maybe someone in asimilar situation thinks the insurer hasincorrectly valued the vehicleand—rather than file a lawsuit (withresulting transaction costs) —thinksmore can be gained if she takes the re-pair money and sells the unrepaired carfor scrap. That might be better thanaccepting a repaired car and selling itto someone else. Perhaps the insuredcan find someone to repair the vehiclehimself for less than the original shop,and wants to pocket the difference.None of these things hurt the insurer,

but they all help the insured. Theyshould be allowed. So this is one ofthose rare instances where Californialaw, rather than leading the pack, rad-ically lags behind it. Following an out-dated, anti-consumer opinion from1867 in New York rather than theweight of modern, pro-consumer, au-thority.

For stakeholders, the takeawaymessage is this:

A. The body shop must give thecustomer a written estimate for price,labor and parts before authorization toproceed with repairs. An authorizationfor teardown and a verbal approval au-thorization over the phone does notsatisfy Section 9884.9

B. Where an insurance policy haslanguage similar to Allstate’s: “All-state will pay for the loss in money, ormay repair or replace the damaged …property at our option”—the languageprovides the insurer the option to re-pair. The insurer may elect to repair thevehicle instead of paying for the lossin cash.


Hibbs vs Allstate

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body shop needs!e-mail:

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Free Monthly NewsletterFree Monthly Newsletter

by Greg Horn, VP Mitchell

Recently, I published an article on re-finish times broken down by vehicletype, age and origin in the Q1Mitchell Industry Trends Report(ITR). I wanted to see if all vehiclesreceived the same treatment in the re-finish process regardless of these fac-tors. “Paint by Numbers: A DeepDive Into Refinish Data,” drilleddown into the refinish data for ayear’s worth of appraisals and com-pared these elements to determine ifthere were significant differences inthe refinish process.

At the outset, I want to stateclearly that this article examines thedata only and is not intended to beconstrued as advocating or refutingany OEM refinish procedure or rec-ommendation. I firmly believe thatevery damaged vehicle is unique andthe proper repair procedure must bedone on an individual basis. This de-termination should include the vehi-

cle’s design, age, condition, finish,location and extent of damage, au-tomaker and paint company recom-mended procedures, and last butcertainly not least, the customer’s ex-pectations.

Our data immediately pointedout that there are in fact differencesin the refinish process appearing onthe appraisals. According to thedata domestic made vehicles, in-cluding trucks/SUVs and older ve-hicles, received slightly feweradditional paint operations. Trucksand SUVs have slightly fewer hoursadded for blending into adjacentpanels, averaging 1.35 hours ofblend vs. 1.4 on average for pas-senger cars on estimates where ablend was specified. Surprising?That’s one way to put it.

The original ITR article spurreda great deal of discussion in the col-lision repair industry. Many ex-pressed that the data didn’t representwhat was truly indicative of the op-erations required; rather they felt itwas representative of what insurerspaid for. In fact, the data does reflectwhat was written and accepted forthe repair because the estimateswere “aged,” meaning at least 90days had elapsed before we queried

the data. Note, I said accepted be-cause these repairs reflect that an ap-praisal was written, a claim wasmade and presumably the repairswere done in accordance with theappraisal.

I also received many questionsabout the difference in allotted hoursfor blend into adjacent panel time vs.full refinish operations and believe itis important to clearly state the differ-ences between the two in the MitchellProcedure Pages.

In order to explain the differenceswe need to clarify our refinish labortime premises. The steps for refinish-ing a new undamaged E-Coated panelinclude:

* Solvent wash* Scuff panel and clean* Mask adjacent panels* Prime or seal as required* Final Sanding and clean* Mix materials* Adjust spray equipment* Apply color * Clean equipment

Mitchell refinish labor timesalso allow for flash times betweencoats.

Revisiting Paint by Numbers: A Deep Dive into Refinish Data


Asia Domestic Europe 1 yr or Less 1 yr to 5 yrs 5 yrs or older Car Truck/SUV

Asia Domestic Europe 1 yr or Less 1 yr to 5 yrs 5 yrs or older Car Truck/SUV

Avg Blend Hrs Only Ests w/Blend1.46

1.44

1.4

1.3

1.42

1.38

1.36

1.34

1.32

1.28

See Paint by Numbers, Page 57

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As I promised in last month’s article,I have put together a checklist to helpyou get ready for an OSHA inspec-tion. This a not a complete checklistand you will probably need some out-side help to help you achieve totalcompliance, but it will help you havea better understanding of what isneeded to get your facility ready foran inspection.

You can also call your stateagency and they will come out a giveyou a courtesy inspection. All viola-tions will need to be corrected, butthere is no fine/ticket issued at thetime of inspection. You should knowthat they will return to check if the vi-olations have been corrected and youwill be on their radar screen. I willneed another article to complete thischecklist, so stay tuned next month.

To see the OSHA standards, go toGoogle.com and type in 29CFR 1910.38. This is the official OSHA web site.

First off, do you have 10 or moreemployees? If ‘yes,’ you will need awritten Emergency Contingency Plan.I took this description from the OSHAManual:

1910.38(b) Written and oralemergency plans. An emergency ac-tion plan must be in writing, kept inthe workplace, and available to em-ployees for review. However, employerwith 10 or fewer employees may com-municate the plan orally to employees.

An example of an Emergency Exit Plan

Do you have a Written Hazard Com-munication Plan?OSHA rule 29CFR 1910.1200 statesthat you need to have an active safetyand health program in operation thatdeals with general safety and health

program elements as well as manage-ment of hazard specific to your shop.

A written plan which describestraining, labeling, Material SafetyData Sheet (MSDS) management andother requirements of “Right-to-Know” must be in place. A good startfor you and your employees is I-CAR’s 4-hour WKR 01 (HazardousMaterials, Personal Safety, and Refin-ish Safety) class. The class deals withMSDS sheets, personal protectionequipment and a number of hazardsthat are common in the body shop.

A couple of other items that youmay want to incorporate into yourplan.● A written procedure for handling in-house employee complaints regardingsafety and health.● An incentive program for reducingwork place injuries● A formal disciplinary policy relatingto safety. I know one shop that willwrite up techs who do not wear theirsafety glasses. Second time is a oneday suspension, third write up is 3-daysuspension, and the fourth write up istermination.

Do you have all your current andpast MSDS sheets? Are they in a con-spicuous location? Did you know thatyou must retain all MSDS sheets for30 years after product is no longerbeing used? After the evacuation plan,this is a big ticket item with OSHA in-spectors. You can obtain them fromyour jobber, manufacturer’s reps andon-line.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)Let’s talk about Personal Protectiveequipment. Look at the picture belowand tell yourself what is wrong.

The refinish tech is mixing paint withno eye protection, gloves, respirator,

and paint suit. He is being exposed toisocyanates and doesn’t know it. Whois responsible for the Personal Protec-tive Equipment (I will refer to it aPPE) and its use? Well, the employeris responsible for providing the equip-ment and the training in using it andthe employee is responsible for actu-ally using it.

Respirators:● A respirator fit test is requires yearly(29 CFR 1910.134).

● Respirators must be placed a sealedcontainer when not in use (29 CFR1910.134)● A program in place for training andproper use of respirators.● The type of respirator used for spe-cific products will be found in the Pre-ventative Measures of the MSDSsheets.● Respirator cartridges need to be re-placed on a regular basis. 3M P100cartridges need to be replacing after40 hours of use or 30 days, whichevercomes first.

Here are some common ques-tions that are asked about PPE:● Are approved safety glasses re-quired to be worn at all times in areaswhere there is a risk of eye injury?● Are protective goggles provided andworn where there is any danger of fly-ing particles and harmful vapors (iso-cyanates for example)?

Getting OSHA-Compliant on Plans, Protection and Painting

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Toby Chess is an I-CAR program instructor, Welding specialist, and former salvage yardoperator. Toby is universally known in the collision industry for his charitable works,worthy causes, and magic tricks. He can be reached at [email protected]

● Are protective gloves issued for var-ious toxic exposures? (Again, you canlook in the Preventative Measures ofthe MSDS sheets for specific type ofgloves that are necessary for a partic-ular product).● Do you have an eye-wash stationand it is properly maintained?● Is protective clothing supplied forpainting (paint suit for protectionagainst overspray and isocyanates)and welding (jackets and gloves)?● Is proper hearing protection equip-ment furnished? Here is an example ofan ear muff.

What Gets Most Scrutiny from OSHA?The area that receives the most atten-tion during an OSHA inspection is thepaint department. Let’s look at some

of the problem areas that need your at-tention. The painter is first on my list.

All painters should be wearing apaint suit, glove and utilize a fresh-airsystem. I think that the fresh air sys-tem incorporates goggles and respira-tor into one system. Your painter canwear a half-mask fresh air system or arespirator, but must also wear gogglesif used instead of the full fresh air sys-tem. (Did you know that the fastestroute for hazardous materials to getinto the blood stream is through theeyes?)

You will also need a CO monitorif you use shop-supplied air. There aresystems that use electric pumps thatproduce no carbon monoxide, oil va-pors, or oil mist. The only drawback

is that the painter will need a separateair hose (The SATA unit pictured uti-lizes one hose. You plug your air lineinto a unit on a supplied belt and asmall hose comes off the unit to theCO monitor and then delivers fresh airto the helmet.)

I ask the same questions everytime I conduct I-CAR’s WKR 01 classto refinish technicians and helpers. Doyou mix paint? Do you clean theguns? When they answer ‘yes,’ I askthem if they wear goggles, respirators,paint suits, and gloves when they per-form both task. The majority answerthat comes back is they ‘only weargloves.’ Isocycantes are present in allthree operations: mixing, painting,and cleaning. The appropriate PPEmust be worn at all times. You need toenforce this rule or you are settingyourself up for a lawsuit. Be fore-warned.

Here are some other areas in thepaint department that need your atten-tion.● All containers need to have aworkplace label. If you mix paint forthe day, it is not necessary, but if thepaint is not used that day, it willneed a label. A piece of masking

tape with the paint code is not suffi-cient.

This is a disaster in the making.● All metal flammable containersmust be grounded● A fire extinguisher must be within10 feet of any inside storage area offlammable liquids (More on fire ex-tinguishers in the next article).● All solvent wastes and flammableliquids must be kept in fire-resistant,covered containers when not in use.● All hazardous liquids must have a


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spill containment system● No smoking signs must be posted inareas of flammable liquid storage● Paint mixing rooms/areas must haveexplosion proof lights.

There are many companies thathave these materials (Grainger is anexample). Craig Oliveira of Kent Au-tomotive gave me his parent com-pany’s (Lawson Products) Safety

Catalogue and I found it to be ex-tremely helpful in getting all the in-formation and products necessary tobe in OSHA compliance. It is free—check with your local Kent Automo-tive Representative or other reputablesource. Next month’s article willfocus on the rest of the shop. Staysafe.


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Bills Filed in Texas Aimed at IncreasingInsurance Policy TransparencyTwo pieces of legislation recentlyfiled in Texas would require insurancecompanies to provide customers withmore complete information on rate in-creases and expand resources avail-able to consumers for shopping themarket.

Rep. Armando Walle of Houstonsays House Bill 2723 and House Bill2724 would “help consumers fully un-derstand the premium increases im-posed by insurance companies and willgive consumers information on howthey can shop around.”

HB 2723 concerns accident andhealth insurance policies. Under themeasure, an insurer must notify con-sumers of the rate increase 60 daysprior to it taking effect, according toinformation posted on the TexasHouse of Representatives’ Web site.

The notice would have to includethe amount of the increase and infor-mation about how to file a complaint.

Additionally, the bill would re-quire the notice to include Web siteaddresses where consumers can accessinformation regarding rate increasejustifications and alternative coverageoptions.

HB 2724 contains similar provi-sions for residential property and per-sonal automobile insurance.

At the time of a policy renewal, theinsurance company would be requiredto provide a side-by-side comparison ofthe new and old rates, as well as provideinformation on any changes in coverageand how to shop around.

The bill also requires insurers togive the deductible in a dollar amount,rather than in a percent of the totalvalue of the policy.

Rep. Armando Walle is servinghis second term in the Texas House ofRepresentatives and serves on theHouse Committee on Insurance andthe House Committee on HomelandSecurity and Public Safety.

He represents House District 140,which includes northern portions ofunincorporated Harris County and theCity of Houston.

“Policyholders deserve clear infor-mation about upcoming rate increaseswith enough time to plan accordingly orshop around if they are unhappy withthe product,” said Rep. Walle.

For more information please visitwww.house.state.tx.us.


Walking into Rodi’s Auto Body inCherry Hill, NJ on a Saturday morn-ing, the first thing I noticed were cus-tomers praising the convenience ofRodi’s being open on Saturdays forestimates, unlike other shops in the

area. The second thing that caught myeye was the prominent lettering on therug spread across the floor: “The in-surance company CANNOT tell youwhere to take your car for repairs.”Joseph Rodi, President of Rodi’sAuto Body, reinforces the message re-peatedly that auto body work belongsto the auto body shop and the cus-tomer, not the insurance company.

Joseph Rodi moved to the UnitedStates from Italy in 1956 when he wasseventeen years old. He worked in abakery fifteen hours a day, seven daysa week, before returning to the tradehe wanted to pursue, auto body repair.After working for local shops and tak-ing trade classes at Woodrow Wilson

High School in Camden during thenight, Joseph Rodi was able to pur-chase a lot and open Rodi’s Auto Bodyin 1965. He received his Doctoratedegree in Business Administrationfrom Somerset University in 2006. Ashis website proudly states, “the pridehe takes in his work has made the dif-ference for thousands in his lifetimeand has helped shape his success inachieving the American Dream.”

Rodi’s Auto Body employs elevenindividuals in addition to Joseph andhis son, Anthony Rodi, who is the VicePresident and Operations Manager ofRodi’s. Although all of Rodi’s employ-ees have been trained in body, me-chanic and/or welding school, JosephRodi believes the trade is in the shopand focuses his attention on training hisemployees accordingly. Their shop en-compasses 10,000 square feet and uti-lizes all of the most recent equipment,including two downdraft spray booths,frame racks and two Car-O-liner align-ment machines which enable them totend to every end of the business, from“scratches to smashes,” as their mottostates. Additionally, Rodi’s uses wate-borne paints because they are better forthe environment.

According to Joseph Rodi, hissuccess results from his insistence on

integrity, hard work and honesty whichhe delivers to his customers throughhis repairs. Customers choose Rodi’sAuto Body because they guarantee fastservice, low prices and honesty, plusthey reinforce with the customer thatall of their work is under warranty aslong as they own the vehicle.

What struck me in talking withJoseph Rodi was his genuine passionfor the business. He has dedicated hislife to serving people in need and introuble because he is filled with a realdesire to give back to his fellow man,

and he is clearly driven by the need toeducate his customers. According tohis website, he fights “for [his] cus-tomers because most of them don’tknow what their insurance rights are.”

Rodi refuses DRP agreementswith the insurance companies becausehe believes it is the customer’s right tochoose an auto body shop and theparts used in the repair, thus allowingthe customer to control the resell valueof their automobile. He compareschoosing an auto body shop to choos-ing a doctor; people go to the doctorthey trust and are comfortable withrather than letting their insurancecompany tell them which doctor tovisit, and Joseph Rodi believes thattreating your auto body needs shouldbe handled in the same manner.

Direct repair programs, JosephRodi says, are not the American-waybecause America was not founded onthe principles of enriching some, the in-surance companies, while impoverish-ing the general public. These insurancecompanies frequently send New Jerseyauto body work to Philadelphia shops.Joseph Rodi refuses to allow insurancecompanies to mandate which materialshe uses in his shop, and he hasthrown insurance representatives out ofhis shop in the past for their demands.He insists that he will repair cars to thecustomers’ expectations, not the insur-ance companies’ liking, and he wonderswhat happened to honesty, integrity,hard work, fairness and perseverance.

Joseph Rodi has served on theCamden County planning board for six-teen years and believes it is time for thepublic to talk to their legislators becausethese politicians have obligations to the

public. Most shop owners serve the in-surance companies instead of the cus-tomer because they are afraid to speakup, but Joseph Rodi professes “Well,I’m not scared; when you’re an honestman, you have no reason to be scared.”

In fact, Joseph Rodi is working on plansfor a car care warranty to replace manyinsurance policies, and he has begun anauto body guild to collaborate with otherlike-minded individuals.

Rodi’s Auto Body 904 Haddonfield RoadCherry Hill, NJ 08002(856) 665-4455

with Rick WhiteShop Management

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with Gonzo WeaverGonzo’s Toolbox

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Automakers’ Actions and Analysisby Autobody News Staff

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

Rodi’s in Cherry Hill, NJ, Reminds the Customer of their Right to Choose

Joseph Rodi, in the lobby of his Cherry Hill shop

Rodi’s Haddonfield Road location

Joseph Rodi likes to display his shop’s numerous media stories

Japan Supply Chain WillRattle Earnings WorldwideGlobal makers of products from mo-torcycles to mobile phones are findingit harder to get the parts they need afterJapan’s earthquake and tsunamiwrecked supply chains, and investorsworry that the worst is yet to come forearnings, Reuters reports detail.

Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson lowered the bottom end ofits 2011 shipments forecast on Tues-day because of problems getting holdof radio components. Revenue fromphone handset maker Sony Ericssonmissed forecasts because of difficul-ties with displays, batteries and otherparts. Apple Inc, which obtains manyparts for its top-selling gadgets fromJapan, expressed concern that marginsare coming under pressure as makersof electronic gadgets around the worldcompete for crucial components.

Toyota said it would cut U.S. ve-hicle production and might have tolower its full-year U.S. sales targets ifparts shortages extend into the sum-mer. “Electronics are used in so manyareas,” said Bryan Keane, equity ana-lyst. “It has the potential to be verywide-ranging. To some extent, it’sgoing to affect everyone. Even if yourdirect supplier isn’t impacted, yoursupplier could get their materials fromsomeone in Japan.”


with Ed Attanasio

Shop and Product Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Shop Showcase


The Right Causewith Mike Causey

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

Shop Showcase stories feature shop owners who are making a difference in the industry.Contact us at [email protected] to tell your story. Ed Attanasio is an automotivejournalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at [email protected].

Shawn Saidi, 48, owns Active AutoBody in Sunnyvale, Calif., a highlysuccessful shop whose motto is “Mak-ing Friends by Accident.” It might bea catchy slogan, but Saidi has suc-ceeded in the collision industry not bychance or by accident. He’s the cur-rent president of the California Auto-body Association’s (CAA) SantaClara chapter, and has enthusiasticallyembraced the leadership role, becausehe wants to make this industry betterand help other shops in the process.

Active Auto Body is located in a13,300 square-foot facility. They fix75–90 vehicles monthly and have twoDRP relationships, from which thecompany derives approximately 25%off their total business. Saidi worksalongside his wife Lisa, who handlespayroll and human resources. Theshop employs 13 people, includingSaidi’s niece Desiree, who works part-time as a receptionist.

Saidi’s journey into collision re-pair began with his passion for restor-ing classic cars. “I was relying onbody shops to do the body and thepaint on these older cars, after I haddone all of the mechanical work,” hetold Autobody News.

“But, I was running into prob-lems with the body shops, becausethey would tell me ‘three months’ andthe car would still be sitting there ayear or more later. Then when I gotthe cars back, the work wasn’t right,so I would basically lose interest in thevehicle and just eventually sell it. Itwas very frustrating because it kepthappening over and over. I told mywife that if I ever go into business formyself, I’m going to get a body shop,and I’ll make sure we do the job right

and meet all our deadlines. We’ll giveit back to the customer better thanwhat they were expecting.”

After retiring from a successfulcareer in the printing industry, Saidiwent into collision repair and openedActive Auto Body in 2002, creating adream and a new era for his wife Lisaand himself.

“We found a location in Moun-tain View and we figured let’s give ita shot and it and see how it goes. Wewere there for five years, then we

moved to this larger facilityin Sunnyvale. We’ve beengrowing every year, even inthis tight economy. Some ofthe credit goes to our newlocation. Our former facilitywas in a ‘body shop row’area, but now we’re in anicer part of Sunnyvale. Wegot the zoning changed inthis area. There weren’t anybody shops around here. Itwas zoned for R&D ware-houses, but no automotive.

Everyone said it’s not going to workand we were really worried, but theold customers came back and they saythey like this new location muchmore.”

Saidi appreciates the two DRPshe has, but he’s also happy that theymake up just one quarter of his busi-ness, saying: “It’s tough, because youwant them, but you don’t want them,if you know what I mean? Some ofthem want you to do things that aren’tright, and those are the ones I have is-sues with. Of the two DRPs we haveright now, one of them is awesomeand the other one wants to have a lit-tle more control. We try to keep thecustomer informed, because in the endthe person we want to make happy isthe customer. If aftermarket parts arebeing put on their car, we let themknow. We tell them that we prefer toput factory parts on their car, but wehave to go with what’s in their policy.Our hands are tied in that situation.”

Why did Saidi join the CAA?“As an outsider looking in, I neededto learn as much as I could about thisindustry fast,” he said. “There are twoways to do it—go knock on otherbody shops’ doors and start asking

questions, or join an organization likethe CAA. When I first saw the CAA’smotto, Integrity, Honesty and Crafts-manship, I thought I want to be a partof that. Everyone has been absolutely

great—from the Board of Directors allthe way to each and every member. Ican go in there and ask them questionslike what type of paint booth should Iuse? What kind of spray guns should Iuse? How do you control your qual-

ity? These people are my competitors,but they’re more than willing to helpme in any way they can.”

One of the top concerns of theCAA’s membership involves findingproperly trained techs that can carrythis industry into the next decade andbeyond. “There’s definitely a short-age of good, skilled techs out there.So right now, we’re talking to I-CAR.We’re pleased to see that their cur-riculum has gotten better and they’veadded more classes. We’re also work-ing in conjunction with Bay Area highschools and junior colleges specifi-cally to get auto body classes in theirschools. That way, students can havea head start when they try to pursuethis career. We feel that through edu-cation, we can get better, hirabletechs.”

Another issue the CAA is very in-terested in is the current state of insur-ance labor rate surveys, Saidi said.

California Shop Owner Endorses Shop Education and Training

Shawn Saidi and his wife Lisa have operated Active AutoBody since 2002. This year, Saidi became the president onthe CAA’s Santa Clara chapter

Active Auto Body is increasing its car countevery year, even in recessionary times


“This is still a problem, and we’reworking on it. We want to know howthey come up with some of these num-

bers, because we can’t figure them out.Right now, California is waiting to see

what (our new) Governor Jerry Brownwill do, so that we can try to get sometype of response. It’s still a huge prob-lem and we want to resolve it.”

Steering by certain insurancecompanies is still also an industry-wide problem, Saidi explained. “Ohyes, we still encounter it quite a bit. Itoccurs when customers want to bringtheir car here, but the insurance com-panies tell them, ‘you have to takeyour car to one of our preferred bodyshops for the estimate.’ They givethem no options. In many cases, thecustomer has already brought their carto us and we’re in the process of dis-cussing the job with them. This kindof thing makes it so much harder to

get the business and it is definitely (il-legal) steering.”

Saidi also does a considerableamount of work for customers whodon’t want to go through their insur-ance companies. “We get them in andout quickly, because we value thiskind of customer. We’ve learned thatthese types of jobs can bring us morework than the insurance companiescan, through referrals and word ofmouth, because it goes a long way.”

At the end of the year, Saidi’sterm as the CAA Santa Clara ChapterPresident will expire, so does he haveany plans to seek higher office withinthe organization?

“I’ve considered it,” he said.

“When I was at the recent CAA Boardof Directors meeting in Sacramento, Istarted asking myself, what can I doafter my term is over? I’ll definitelystay involved in some capacity, oneway or another. If I want to go to thestate level—fine. Either way, I’ll beworking with the CAA, just to makesure that I’m one step ahead of thegame, by knowing what’s going on outthere. We need our message heard, be-cause the insurance companies have alot of money and they’re talking toeach other all the time. If we only have100 auto body shops working together,we’re surely not going to overpowerthem. That’s why we need more mem-bers to keep our voices heard.”

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Painter Javier Espinosa paints roughly 80cars per month for the growing body shop

Insurance Fraud Claims on Rise in New YorkSuspicious insurance claims in NewYork were up about 4.5 percent in2010, an industry report shows.

In 2010, insurers reported a totalof 7,026 questionable claims in thestate, compared with 6,726 in 2009,according to the insurance industry’sNational Insurance Crime Bureau(NICB).

Questionable claims (QCs) are

ones that NICB member insurance com-panies refer to NICB for closer reviewand investigation based on one or moreindicators of possible fraud. A singleclaim may contain up to seven referralreasons.

The 2010 total represents about a10 percent rise since 2007, when 6,378QCs were recorded in the state.

Of New York’s 7,026 question-

able claims reported in 2010, NICBsays 4,016 of them—57 percent—were from New York City alone. Therest were scattered around the statewith the ext highest number—145—originating from Buffalo.

NICB has had task force in NewYork since 2002 to help the industryand officials target insurance fraud ac-tivity.


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by John Yoswick

Collision repair associations leadersfrom around the country met in Se-caucus, New Jersey, in March to shareideas and discuss state legislative orregulatory successes and efforts. The“2011 East Coast Resolution Forum,”an event sponsored by the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS)and the Alliance of Automotive Serv-ice Providers (AASP) of New Jersey,was held in conjunction with AASP-New Jersey’s NORTHEAST® 2011trade show.

Here’s a round-up of some of thenews and discussion from the meeting:

Efforts to regulate mobile repairers Charles Bryant AASP-New Jerseysaid his group has been working forsome time to get the New JerseyMotor Vehicle Commission to regu-late repair businesses that are per-forming work on a mobile basis inviolation, AASP-New Jersey con-tends, with the state’s shop licensinglaw. That law requires that repairs bemade inside a building zoned for au-

tobody repairs and that all paint workbe done inside a booth or a room witha filtration system.

Mobile repair work, such as thatdone on a dealership lot, Bryant said,clearly falls outside these parameters.The Commission, however, had pro-posed bringing mo-bile repairers inunder the shop li-censing program.AASP-New Jerseyopposed this action,showing the Com-mission publishedads by mobile re-pairers indicatingthey were doing farmore than minor cosmetic repairs andpaint work.

Bryant said the Commissionmost recently has taken the proposalto license the mobile repairers off thetable, placing the issue “on hold in-definitely.”

Assignment of proceeds discussedMike Parker of Parker’s Classic AutoWorks in Rutland, Vt., said he recently

received nearly $12,000 from Nation-wide Insurance after successfullysuing the insurer in small claims courtfor unpaid amounts owed to 31 Na-tionwide insureds who had their vehi-cles repaired at Parker’s shop.

Parker used the “assignment ofproceeds” process in order to sue theinsurer on behalf of the vehicle-own-ers for labor and materials on Parker’sfinal invoices that was not paid by Na-tionwide.

He said Nationwide’s attorney atthe 2-day trial last summer argued un-successfully that the case should bemoved to Superior Court, in part be-cause many in thejury pool had alsohad their vehiclesfixed at the shop orhad heard theshop’s radio ads.The jury decided inthe shop’s favorafter 45 minutes ofdeliberation, and Nationwide’s initialappeal was denied. The insurer thenappealed to the state Supreme Court,and also offered to settle with Parker

for the amount owed (about $11,000)less only the interest on that amountthe court had also ordered paid. Parkerdeclined the settlement, and Nation-wide subsequently dropped its appeal.

Despite Parker’s success, anotherattendee at the event urged cautionwhen using the “assignment of pro-ceeds.”

“It’s a very powerful document,but if it’s misused, it will come backand cost you a ton of money,” saidTony Lombardozzi of the CoalitionFor Collision Repair Excellence.

Lombardozzi said anyone con-sidering using the process shouldwork with an attorney that is well-versed in how it works and who alsounderstands the collision repair busi-ness.

Massachusetts Labor rate bill returns Peter Abdelmaseh, executive direc-tor of AASP of Massachusetts, saidthat group hopes the third time will bethe charm, as it tries again to get alabor rate bill passed in that state. Ab-delmaseh said shop labor rates inMassachusetts are the lowest in the

‘2011 East Coast Resolution Forum’ Meets in NJ to Discuss Ongoing Efforts and Ideas

Collision Hub April 18 announces thelaunch of Repair University, a LIVEeducational video series for the colli-sion repairer and insurer, Powered ByChief Automotive Technologies.

The first LIVE episode in the2011 series, Facility Verification &Quality Processes: What It Means toYou, will air May 4th at 9:00 AM PSTon CollisionHub.com and will featureMark Olsen of VeriFacts Automo-tive.

The episode will explore “Ex-posing Your Greatness in CollisionRepair”. By the end of this class youwill have a better understanding ofhow minor changes can have atremendous overall impact on yourdaily operations.

We will cover how internalprocesses can effect cycle time, prof-itability and quality. Most importantly,we will cover the benefits of shop ver-ification and the impact that has onyour customer, both insurance com-panies and vehicle owner. Withtoday’s informed customers, this is aMUST attend class.

“With the invaluable resourcesprovided by VeriFacts Automotiveand the continuing support of ChiefAutomotive Technologies, CollisionHub is thrilled at the opportunity toprovide ongoing educational re-sources to the collision repair indus-

try as a whole,” said Collision Hubfounder and CEO Kristen Felder.

About VeriFacts AutomotiveCommitted to ensuring that collision re-pairers have the correct information andskills necessary to repair today's diverseand complex vehicles, VeriFacts is rec-ognized as one of the industry's onlyon-site, hands-on coaching and qualityassessment solutions available to colli-sion repair and claims professionals.VeriFacts' repair methodologies, tech-nical competency and professional in-tegrity position it to provide a widearray of valuable services to the colli-sion repair, insurance and manufactur-ing communities.

About Collision HubCollision Hub is the premier network-ing and multi-media marketing web-site created for the Collision RepairIndustry. Collision Hub’s mission is toprovide a central network for all par-ticipants in collision repair and relatedindustries. The site encourages partic-ipation of all parties including: tech-nicians, shop owners, suppliers,insurance companies, auto glass in-stallers, towing companies and rentalcar agencies. For more information,visit www.collisionhub.com or con-tact Elizabeth Blackman at [email protected].

Collision Hub Launches Repair University

Charles Bryant,AASP/NJ Executive

Director

Mike Parker

ALLDATA LLC has entered into anagreement with Boyd Group Inc.Under this agreement, the 97 collision

repair facilities operated under BoydAutobody & Glass and Gerber Colli-sion & Glass in both the U.S. and

Canada will use ALLDATA CollisionS3500 as their sole provider of OEcollision repair information. ALL-DATA is the trusted provider of vehi-cle manufacturers’ collision andmechanical repair information to theautomotive service and repair indus-try.

“We are excited to have been se-lected by Boyd Autobody & Glass andGerber Collision & Glass,” saidWayne Mitchell, ALLDATA Directorof Sales and Operations. “ALLDATACollision provides the information forcollision repair facilities to performquality and safe repairs and it is clearthat this is of the utmost importance tothe Boyd Group.”

“ALLDATA Collision is the rightfit for Boyd Autobody & Glass and

Gerber Collision & Glass,” says TimO’Day, President & COO of GerberCollision & Glass. “We evaluated theoptions available in the market and se-lected ALLDATA Collision becauseof the depth of their product and easeof use. ALLDATA’s OE collision andrepair information supports the ac-complishment of our mission to ‘Wowevery customer...Be the Best.’”

ALLDATA Collision was devel-oped at the request of the collision in-dustry. It satisfies the industry’slong-time need for accurate collision-specific repair information and nowwith the latest generation, ALLDATACollision S3500, collision repair fa-cilities can easily search the vast data-base of over 22,000 engine-specificvehicles.

ALLDATA and Boyd Group Enter Into Strategic Agreement

country, an average of $5 less thanthose in the 49th state.

Under the proposed legislation, anewly-established commission woulddetermine the average labor rate na-tionally. The established rate in Mas-sachusetts would be based on that ratebut adjusted up or down based on howaverage technician wages there (as re-ported by the US Bureau of Labor Sta-tistics, compare to other states.

The commission would also de-fine three levels of shops based onverifiable requirements for suchthings as equipment and training. “Alevel” shops would receive not lessthan the rate established by the com-mission; “B level” shops would re-ceive not less than 90 percent of thatrate. Shops that did not apply or meetthe A- or B-level requirements wouldnot have an established minimum rate.

Abdelmaseh said the associationhas estimated that under the legisla-tion, A-level shops would receive an

hourly labor rate above $50 rather thecurrent mid-$30s. Insurers have saidthis would add $100 million to theirannual costs, but Abdelmaseh saidthose estimates are based on all shopsreceiving the A-level rate.

“We have said out of the 1,800shops (in the state), we think that only200 shops will be getting that A-levelrate, and maybe 300 more getting theB-level rate,” Abdelmaseh said.“Those shops will be doing about 60percent of the jobs, because they tendto be higher-capacity shops.”

The association has estimated therise in costs for insurers to the bill tobe about $28 million per year, or about$6 per policyholder in the state. Hesaid the association has proposed orworked with insurers on other changesto regulations that would help offsetmuch of this higher cost.

Insurer free speech discussedThose at the meeting in Secaucus also

discussed recent events in Rhode Is-land where the Property Casualty In-surers Association of America (PCI) issuing two Rhode Island officials in aneffort to halt the enforcement of thatstate’s law that prohibits an insurerfrom recommending repair shops oncea claimant has indicated that he or shehas made a shop choice.

The suit names as defendantsRhode Island Director of BusinessRegulation Paul McGreevy and thestate’s Attorney General Peter Kil-martin. The PCI is asking a court todeclare that the law is an unconstitu-tional interference with free speech,much as courts in several other stateshave when anti-steering laws havebeen challenged.

Taxing issue Janet Chaney of the Iowa CollisionRepair Association said that group ismaking a second effort at pushing fora state law that would in essence allow

Iowa shops to transfer the expense ofsales tax on paint materials they pur-chase to insurers or customers.Chaney said currently shops pay thesales tax on such purchases but adecades-old state law prevents themfrom seeking reimbursed for it by in-surers.

An Iowa House committee lastyear had approved a similar bill, but itfailed to make further legislativeprogress.

Chaney said another recent bill inIowa, which would have established acommission to study the effects of di-rect repair programs on shops, insurersand consumers, was introduced on be-half of a shop in that state, not the as-sociation, and is not expected to pass.

John Yoswick, a freelance writerbased in Portland, Oregon, has beenwriting about the automotive industrysince 1988. He can be contacted byemail at [email protected].


Texas-based Service King CollisionRepair Centers has agreed to acquireAlamo Body and Paint, a multi-loca-tion operator in the San Antonio,Texas area with eight large scale, highvolume locations.

The addition of the Alamo Bodyand Paint locations will make ServiceKing the largest independently andemployee owned collision repair or-ganization in the U.S. with 42 loca-tions throughout the San Antonio,Dallas, Ft. Worth, and Houston areas.

Terms of the agreement were notdisclosed. The transaction is expectedto be completed by May 1, 2011.

Mark Fuller, Alamo Body andPaint’s Co-Owner and President willbe joining the Service King Team asOperations Manager.

“We are very excited aboutAlamo Body and Paint joining theService King Team,” stated Fuller.

“For the past twenty-five years,our success has been driven by ourunrelenting focus on complete satis-faction and respect for our customersand employees,” added Fuller.

Co-Owner Dave Braun willdedicate all his time to Nexsyis Colli-sion, Inc., a developer of a multiplelocation collision repair managementsystem, where he serves as CEO.

Cathy Bonner, President ofService King said in a recorded mes-sage, “Stay tuned for more. We’ve gotmore expansion and more acquisi-tions in mind in Texas.”

Bonner was hired by ServiceKing in 2010 to lead the companythrough an ambitious national expan-sion.

At the time she joined the com-pany, Service King revealed its goalof doubling the size of the companywithin five years. The company had31 locations at the time.

Service King Collision RepairCenters was founded 35 years ago byEddie Lennox, who now serves as itschairman and CEO.

Service King’s Vice President ofCentral Texas, Brent McKinney,said, “We look forward to addingAlamo’s talented employees andskilled technicians to our base of over1,000 Service King teammatesthroughout Texas.”

Symphony Advisors, LLCacted as advisors to Alamo Bodyand Paint throughout the acquisitionprocess.

Service King Collision RepairCenters was founded 35 years ago byOwner, Chairman, and CEO, EddieLennox. Visit www.serviceking.com.

Service King Acquires 8 Alamo Body and PaintLocations in San Antonio, TX

With a successful launch into theCanadian collision repair market seg-ment in February, AkzoNobel’shighly anticipated Wanda Waterbasebasecoat system will be available tothe U.S. collision repair industry inearly second quarter, 2011.

Built on Wanda’s core proposi-tion of simplicity, color and value, thenew Wanda Waterbase basecoat sys-tem provides an easy-to-use, lowVOC option that helps make theprocess of “going green” easier than ever―and at an affordable price

point. Offering simplified mixing ra-tios, segment-leading color docu-mentation, and “right-the-first-time”color matching capabilities, WandaWaterbase is ideal for use on small re-pairs, or total re-sprays. “We’re veryexcited about what this system bringsto U.S. collision repair professionalsbecause it delivers the same greatsimplicity, color accuracy and valuethat our Wanda products are knownfor,” said Mark Rapson, AkzoNo-bel’s Business Manager of TradeBrands, North America.

AkzoNobel Launches U.S. Wanda Waterborne

The Insider offers an unvarnishedlook at various issues impacting thecollision industry from an insurers’perspective.

In past columns I have explored manydifferent perspectives on the value ofdirect repair programs. I believe mostDRPs provide value to the vehicleowner as well as the shop, althoughbased upon the responses I’ve receivedfrom readers, there are a lot of peoplewho disagree with my position.

But from my perspective, mostvehicle owners reap tremendous valuefrom DRPs. DRPs have raised the barfor body shops; it forces them to pro-vide exemplary customer service andhigh quality repairs. They also need tocontinually train their staff and investin equipment otherwise risk being leftbehind as technology evolves. As a re-sult, insurance companies don’t wantto do business with every shop in thecountryand they shouldn’t. Theyshould want the best-in-class repair-ing their policyholders’ vehicles.

But there is one reason why thecurrent DRP models sucks, regardlessof insurance carrier. This exceptionprovides absolutely no value to theshopalthough it does provide a lot ofvalue to the insurance company. Can

you guess what the exception is?Okay, it’s actually not just one thing. Itcan be summarized in four words: fla-vor of the day.

Similar to the ice cream shop inyour neighborhood, insurance compa-nies regularly serve shops a flavor ofthe day (or week or month). Insurancecompanies have a set of guidelines thata shop must agree to in order to partic-ipate in their program. These guide-lines are in writing and allow a shopowner to decide whether or not the pro-

gram is of value to them. I cautiouslyuse the word guidelines because the lit-eral translation is “concessions.” WhileI don’t agree with concessions, at leastthey are in writing. It allows the shopowner to make a business decision asto whether or not the concessions areworth the potential additional work.

Unlike the guidelines, however,the “flavor of the day” isn’t in writing.Unlike in the ice cream shop, it isn’tposted or advertised. And it sure theheck doesn’t taste good.

What I’m talking about is partsusage, paint labor hours, cycle time,repair times, rental car days and thelike…whatever it is that the insurer de-cides that today is most important tothem. There are enough flavors of theday to make Baskin Robbins jealous.

And unfortunately, sometimesthese unwritten rules are weightedmore heavily by the insurer than thewritten ones. Shops are routinelyeliminated from a DRP for not adher-ing to everything that they neveragreed to adhere to in writing.

Sound fair? Not really. What cana shop do? You can say noand jeop-ardize your relationship with that car-rier. Fair? Not at all. This is what werefer to in the U.S. as the 500-poundgorilla or the bully on the playground.

How do these flavors of the dayoccur? Are they handed down fromthe insurer’s corporate headquarters?In most instances, no. It’s somethingthat is usually a result of a local or re-gional claim office. Management inthese offices have the autonomy to dowhatever is necessary to meet theirbudgets. Thus the “flavor of the day.”Local or regional management ana-lyzes data and identifies trends while

trying to figure out what number canbe manipulated to give them the resultthey desire. That’s why the flavor isalways different and ever-changing.

Shops need to find a way to workwithin the system because you aren’tgoing to beat it. I’m not encouraginganyone to give into whatever the in-surance company wants. Nor am I en-couraging fraud. I am encouragingyou to play the game.

Continue to write complete, con-sistent estimates. Perform the workyou write on the estimate. Documenteverything.

As you know, the flavor of theday changes routinely. If you can holdout for a day or a week, somethingelse will be a priority and today’s fla-vor can quickly become yesterday’sold ice cream.

You can’t change the flavor butyou can change what you do and howyou react.


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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 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]

Insurers Will Continue to Serve “Flavor of the Day” to Shops

The Northwest Louisiana CollisionRepair Association (NWLCRA) heldtheir monthly meeting on April 5 inthe Magnolia Room at the LouisianaTechnical College in Shreveport,Louisiana.

The meeting was hosted by Pres-ident, Chris Fielder and Secretary-Treasurer, Bill Burnside.

The I-CAR schedule was dis-cussed and the “test out” procedurethat is now in place. Students have to

register at least 2 weeks prior to thetesting.

If the deadline is missed, youwon’t be able to test. The test will begiven between 5 to 7 PM and thedoors will be locked at 5:00 PM.

For more information, contactBill Burnside or see the I-CAR web-site.

The Skills contest will be heldThursday, April 7, at the Caddo Career& Technology Center.

A motion was made and passedfor the Northwest Louisiana Colli-sion Repair Association to providebreakfast for the competition.

The guest speaker for the meet-ing this month was Charlie Nicholsof Nichols Supply.

Nichols was the guest of KenStephenson with Louisiana Glass &Mirror, Inc.

Nichols gave the group a briefhistory of his time and experience inthe Industry.

His business is located on South-ern Ave. in Shreveport, LA.

His business handles all types ofproducts for Industrial, Janitorial,and Office Supplies. He providessame day service on most of hisproducts.

Nichols also gave attendees a les-son about microfiber paper and how itis made. It is this procedure thatmakes microfiber paper the best prod-uct when cleaning a surface. Becauseof this procedure, a microfiber towelcan be washed and reused severaltimes. This makes microfiber paper

cost effective because it can bewashed without getting destroyed inthe wash.

Nichols Supply also doesn’t in-clude a “fuel charge” for deliveries.Nichols brought several products forthe group to see.

The microfiber roll and box ofmicrofiber towels were thick and ap-peared very durable, according toBurnside, it was easy to see that theycould stand up to several washingsand reuse.

On the chemical side, he broughta product called “ENZ-IT-DET”.This product kills bacteria and odorsin a number of hard to clean surfaces.

He also had a hand cleaner calledRed Dawg. He supplies cleaners forglass, stainless steel, and other sur-faces.

He also mentioned a productcalled “Peet Sorb” which is better thanthe typical oil dry.

Peet Sorb is the only product thatis allowed to be disposed of in land-fills, so he said he sees a mandatecoming in the future.

Nichols is in the process of get-ting more catalogs ordered, so call at(318) 841-4501 to request a copy.

More information can also befound at www.nwlcra.org.


Houston Auto Body Association, SCRS Association of the Year, Gathers at StateCapitol in Austin to Support Senate Bill 1300

The Houston AutoBody Associationasked that membersof the collision repairindustry in Texascontact their Senatorsin support of SB1300, which was upfor committee hear-ing on April 12.

The Texas SenateBusiness and Com-merce committeevoted unanimously topass SB 1300 on thatdate, which will re-quire more disclosurefrom insurers about

their Direct repair Program policies andrequirements.

James Brown, HABA’s President,and many others with the HABA met inAustin April 12 at 7am to show supportfor this bill.

The Texas Department of Insur-ance is in full support of this bill aswell, according to Brown.

The Committee Substitute ver-sion of the bill was passed out of com-mittee, it now heads to the Local &Consent calendar and then it will goto the House Insurance Committee.

“I would also like to extend aspecial thanks to all those who madephone calls and those who came toAustin in show of support for this Bill.

I especially want to thank Larry Cer-nosek personally for the all the timehe spends in Austin on behalf of theHABA and the Collision Industry as awhole,” said Brown. To view the fulltext of this bill search ‘SB 1300’ atwww.autobodynews.com.

Jim Quinten, Automotive Parts & Services Association; GeorgePerdue, Bear Creek Collision Specialist; Larry Cernosek, Deer ParkPaint & Body; Mike Riner, Riner's Paint and Body Shop; Trey Perdue,Bear Creek; David Walla, Walla Company; James Brown, HanleyBros. Certified Collision and HABA President, Don Ward, A-1 Auto& Collision; and Chris Singleton, Goodson Collision Center. HABA isthe SCRS Association of the Year.

NWLCRA Hosts Supply Company to Talk About New Products


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

Summer time is nearly here and shopowners who are interested in attract-ing insurance or other referral busi-ness may be considering putting on anevent.

These can vary widely in terms ofsize and cost. I assisted one dealershipowner in creating quite a large eventto build business for his body shop. Inaddition to insurance DRP coordina-tors. Since he did a lot of work forcommercial contractors and also locallaw enforcement, he invited manycompany owners and managers andalso sheriff’s department personnel.

He put up large umbrellas overpicnic tables all along the driveway infront of his body shop work bays. Nat-urally food and drink vendors were lo-cated along there.

Each work bay was convertedinto a presentation space. By the prepand spray booths, his paint jobber setup demos of spray guns, a color-matching photospectrometer, and var-ious paint supply items.

His 3-M distributor used a bay todemonstrate special materials foreverything from windshield repair tosimple repairs on plastic and fiber-glass auto parts. Another bay houseda paintless dent removal specialist,and some attendees were providedwith small dent removals from theirvehicles. An ongoing demonstration

of the estimating and managementsystems was provided in the bodyshop office. Tours of the entire dealer-ship were given every fifteen minutes.

The cost of the event was in ex-cess of $10,000. Was it worth it? Onesmall insurance company representa-tive agreed to add the shop to theirDRP list. The dealership got a few or-ders for new pick-up trucks, but veryfew new commercial company peoplecame to the event and I didn’t hear ofany new commercial contracts. Wasthe event a wise investment?

I don’t think the dealership ownerconsidered it a success, but the up-grades to the shop were needed and theP.R. value of the event was substantial.Could he have put on an event for less?The answer is a definite “Yes!” Look-ing back, I could see that a dealershipprincipal would have difficulty resist-ing turning a body shop promotionalevent into somewhat of a vehicle salesevent. That increased his cost greatly.

In general I’ve seen more shopssimply put on a barbecue along with atour of the shop. Others have madetheir shop available for a small localtrade show with suppliers and othervendors setting up their demonstra-tions and presentations on long tables.

One disadvantage of this is havingother shop owners coming through.The barbecue event can be focused

purely on insurance company repre-sentatives and/or other referral sources.

An even more economical ap-proach to an event is to participate insomeone else’s event.

One local school put on a safedriving event. The Auto Club and alocal radio station sponsored it. A cou-ple of collision shop owners and alsodriving school owners were invited toset up tables with safe driving infor-mation. In a sense this was more of anevent looking to the future when thehigh school kids would become newdrivers, but parents were also there andhad an opportunity to learn more aboutthe participating collision repair shops.

A more direct event for the gen-eral public was put on by a shop thatbecame a voting location on an elec-tion day. The owner played patrioticmusic and had patriotic banners allover the place.

He even hired a model dressed upin an Uncle Sam costume to conducttours of the shop for anyone inter-ested. Since many voters are long-term local homeowners with moreexpensive high-end cars, the shopowner felt he would reach the kind ofcustomer he wanted.

While a shop event aimed at insur-ance or commercial account attendeeshas to direct their promotional mail,phone calls and faxes to a very specific

list of prospects, the shop focusing onthe general public could use radio, TVand print publication ads to get the wordout. Shops located in a desirable resi-dential area could also distribute flyersdirectly to homes in the area.

Collision shops have one majoradvantage over many other businesseswhen it comes to putting on events.Most shops occupy a fairly largespace overall. Like the dealership I de-scribed, most have many parkingspaces and open repair bays wheredemonstrations and presentations canbe carried out easily.

Few people are aware of the sizeand complexity of a typical bodyshop. The event can be an ideal op-portunity to educate prospective cus-tomers on the advantage of choosing ashop with state-of-the-art spraybooths, frame measuring and straight-ening equipment, top quality weldingequipment and the many special toolsneeded to perform repairs on today’sever-changing vehicles.

Putting on an occasional event isa good promotional effort for a shopbecause it not only provides a reasonto invite key potential referral sourcesto see the shop, but it also motivatesshop owners and managers to clean upthe place and make it presentable forthe event. That alone is worth at leasta small investment.

Summertime Should Mean Event Time For Body Shops

by Janet Chaney

The merger of three of the largest in-dependent auto recycling networks inthe country was announced at theUnited Recyclers Group Annual Con-ference in Colorado. QRP Midwest, anetwork of 33 independent recyclershas joined TEAM PRP affiliates, Ab-solute and Heartland, to form PRPMidwest. This alliance unites 52 inde-pendent recyclers in the Central geo-graphic region of the United States.

Krystyn Roberts of County LineAuto Parts, Kansas City, Missouri is theChair of QRP Midwest and feels thetiming is right, “Both PRP and QRPMidwest are very excited for the futureand the possibilities that will come fromour three independent recycling groups

joining forces. All groups have differ-ent strengths that we have brought tothe table and it just makes sense for usto team up to ultimately better serve ourcustomers and our industry.”

The merger came about quicklyafter the first meeting between the re-cycler groups at which sharing deliv-ery system resources was explored.Ultimately, they recognized the bene-fit of consolidation, leveraging a fullintegration of the three trading net-works. Significant value will be of-fered in better service to PRP Midwestmechanical and collision customersthrough the integrated delivery sys-tems, expanded inventory and accessto better salvage procurement options.

“The merger of these three qual-ity driven membership groups of in-

dependent recyclers will no doubtpositively impact the repair commu-nity in the regions covered,” statesChris Northup, an independent indus-try consultant who is currently re-tained by the TEAM PRP NationalBoard of Directors, “Realistically, thiscould provide the template for a goforward footprint of independent re-cyclers to compete on the nationalscale.” Kent Rothwell, Weaver AutoParts, Carnesville, Georgia, a TeamPRP National Board Member ispleased with the expansion, “TeamPRP encourages individualism as weuse our combined philosophy to buildthe strength of our network.”

Mel Hunke, the General Managerof PRP Midwest has been workingclosely with all entities and sees the

positive change ahead, “ I am very ex-cited about the potential resulting fromthese three networks of auto recyclers,who have a long history of commit-ment to excellence and outstandingcustomer service, joining forces toform one superior source of auto partsfor all categories of customers,” Hunkecontinues, “I am optimistic that PRPMidwest will offer even greater cus-tomer benefits than the three groupshave provided separately in the past.PRP Midwest is ready to assume aleadership role in providing “alternatesource” auto parts to our customers”.

About TEAM PRP: Team PRP isa national network of independentauto recyclers, offering expanded in-ventory, regional transportation sys-tems and knowledgeable support staff.

Three of Largest Auto Recycling Networks Merge


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When blending a panel the re-duction in labor time is due to nothaving to perform the following steps:

* Prime or seal as required* Final Sanding and clean* Mix materials* Adjust spray equipment* Clean equipment

The largest portion of not in-cluded time is for flash time betweencoats. The blend formula is to be usedin conjunction with refinishing an ad-ditional panel on the vehicle and there-fore would not allow for the alreadyincluded flash times on the originalpanel.

Were vehicle owners chargedfor the additional operations thatwere not approved for reimburse-ment by insurers? While this occa-sionally does happen, and is not agreat customer experience for the ve-hicle owner, it is safe to assume thatthis practice does not occur on everyestimate where additional paint oper-ations are performed but not re-

flected in the uploaded estimate.Again, the fact that calling for ablend on a truck or SUV is less fre-quent than on smaller passenger carspoints to the fact that with the largerpanel areas found on trucks andSUVs there is more of an opportunityto blend within the damaged panel.Some may object to this conclusionand say cost shifting was involved,meaning that the additional costswere spread into other areas of theappraisal so that a shop could becompensated for what was truly re-quired. Unfortunately, that may bethe case and there is no way in thedata to isolate instances where costshifting is occurring. It is importantto note that when we looked at blend-ing within the panel, we did not eval-uate how many refinish hours werespecified on the appraisal for a spe-cific panel vs. full refinish time. It isvery likely that the full base and clearcoat were specified in the damagedpanel, however, that data is nearlyimpossible to separate in a data poolof several million estimates. We fo-cused on the blend operation ascalled out in the appraisal.

In looking at the results of theoriginal refinish study, I did not


Paint by Numbers

New Jersey’s association of auto deal-ers is warning of possible repercus-sions as a result of last month’searthquake and tsunami that devas-tated Japan, according to reports madeby Asbury Park Press. See numerousindividual reports in this issue.

“At this time, there are morequestions that answers, but it is clearthat vehicle supply will be affected bythe tragedy in Japan,” said James Ap-pleton, president of the New JerseyCoalition of Automotive Retailers, onApril 5. “How much of an impact theinterruption will have and whichmakes and models will be most af-fected are uncertain.”

The earthquake and walls ofwater that followed put virtually allJapanese auto manufacturing on holdwhile the country assesses the dam-age, the association said.

The manufacturing of parts formany makes and models, from paintpigments to computer chips, even forsome vehicles assembled in theUnited States, has been interrupted aswell, the group said.

Few auto plants were seriously

damaged by the quake, but with sup-plies of water and electricity fleeting,no one can say when factories willcrank up. Some auto analysts said itcould be as late as this summer.

Steve Kalafer, chairman ofFlemington Car and Truck Family ofDealerships in Raritan Township, saidcustomers are asking questions abouthow the crisis will affect availability.Among the company’s dealerships areSubaru, Mazda and Infiniti. TheKalafer family separately owns Clin-ton Honda.

“We have been notified by thedifferent manufacturers of differentshortages, different schedule changesand they will be very severe over thenext 60 days,” Kalafer said April 1.“These cars will be in very short sup-ply, and we are very concerned for ourcustomers being able to have all oftheir orders fulfilled in a timely basisthat has been historic.”

There are signs, though, thatthings might not be as bad as analystsare predicting.

Nissan Motor Co., which hasseen production stop in several areas,

said last week that it expects factoriesto be back in operation in weeks ratherthan months.

March 31, Honda Motor Co. andMazda Motor Corp. said they will re-sume limited production at severalJapanese factories, but full productionwill depend on the availability ofparts.

Tom Stark, vice president atJoyce Honda in Denville, said thedealership has “plenty of inventory.”

“Our pipeline of inventory is notaffected going forward,” he said.

On April 4, Toyota said someproduction interruptions in NorthAmerica are likely, but the companycould not predict location or duration.

The majority of parts for itsNorth American plants come fromabout 550 suppliers in North America,the company said. And Toyota contin-ues to receive parts from Japan thatwere already in the pipeline.

At Honda and Acura, more than80 percent of the vehicles sold in theU.S. are produced in North America.The majority of its parts also comefrom the region, the company said.

Jim Schwartz, co-owner ofSchwartz Mazda in Shrewsbury, saidthe dealership ordered more cars be-fore the earthquake. “We have someextra cars to bolster our inventory aswe see inventory may be a problem aswe move through the spring and intothe summer,” Schwartz said. “Weshould be OK.”

Schwartz said he recently spokewith the president of Mazda who saidthere was no damage to the plantswhere cars are built. “It is just a mat-ter of the supply line getting reopenedand up and running.”

For now, Appleton of the stateauto dealer association said his groupis watching the situation. Demand fornew vehicles has increased as theeconomy has started to recover.

The group said growing demandand a reduction in supply likely willresult in higher prices for many newvehicles.

“If the impact of the catastrophein Japan has even a minor impact onsupply, you will find that demand willsignificantly outstrip supply in themonths ahead,” he said.

Japan Tragedy to Affect Vehicle Supply, N.J. Dealer Group Says

fully explore the question of geog-raphy in the initial finding. Does thearea of the country affect how manyhours of blend time are reported?Herein lies the key; areas in theMidwest and South had fewer hoursof blend time, and they also have thelargest population of trucks/SUVs aswell as more domestic vehicles thanforeign.

When broken out by West Coast,Midwest, Southern and Easternstates, the blend time is lower instates where there are higher volumesof trucks and SUVs being repaired.We can conclude that in today’s col-

lision repair environment, older vehi-cles, domestic vehicles and trucksand SUVs receive fewer blend hoursin part because the panel is beingblended within the panel and in partbecause of the geography of wherethe vehicle is located.

The focus on refinish operationsis particularly important as we seedramatic increases in the cost of abarrel of oil. As Mideast turmoil ad-versely impacts the cost of oil, Amer-icans are shifting towards smallervehicles. Increases in paint costs be-cause of rising oil costs will soon fol-low. While refinish operations have

been an area of contention betweensome collision shops and insurers,when the price of oil rises, so does thefrequency of contention and the vol-ume of questions our editorial depart-ment receives related to refinishing.Looking towards the future, as westart the shift away from large SUVs,the increasing number of smaller ve-hicles on the road will increase thenecessity of blending into adjacentpanels.

Statements and opinions expressedin this article are solely those of theauthor. They are not offered as and

do not constitute legal advice oropinion of Mitchell International,Inc.


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Documents

Autobody News May 2011 Western Edition