November 2012 Western Edition

Two industry organizations, CAWA(California, Nevada, Arizona Automo-tive Wholesalers Association) and theAAIA (Automotive After Market In-dustry Association) are claiming creditfor stopping a bill aimed at restrictingaccess to certain aftermarket parts.

On Sept. 26, the two organizationsclaimed a victory for consumers andthe automotive aftermarket alike as abill aimed at attempting to lock out theindustry from information relative tokey replacement in certain automo-biles was vetoed by Governor JerryBrown.

SB 750, carried by Sen. Hernan-dez, which was sponsored by BMW,sought to exempt automakers fromproviding electronic key code infor-

mation to locksmiths, requiring mo-torists to contact the automaker to geta replacement key for their vehicle.

SB 750 would have deleted theJanuary 1, 2013, sunset provision ex-empting automakers from providingelectronic key code information tolocksmiths so long as the manufac-turer operates a 24 hours a day, 7 daya week (24/7) request line whereby ve-hicle owners can request replacementkeys and receive them within one dayof the request or via the next overnightdelivery.

Arguing in support of this bill, thesponsor, BMW, noted that the January1, 2013, sunset provision was includedto allow BMW to continue the process

See Key Bill Vetoed, Page 16

California ‘Key is in the Mail’ Bill Vetoed,CAWA and AAIA Claim Credit

NACE 2012 in New Orleans

Attendance was down on the show floor butsome booths attracted record business.

ALLDATA’s Dan Espersen imparts his 37 plusyears of experience in “OEM Best Practices”.

CARS chair Bill Moss (l) and NACE chair, RonNagy, address the opening session.

Mike Dolabi (l) of National Autobody PartsWarehouse and Terry Fortner of LKQ on theParts Panel discussion.

Dick Cross, keynote speaker at the opening ses-sion, demonstrates the pyramid top of the or-ganization. See story p. 26.

A New Orleans-style National Anthem kickedoff the keynote address. New Orleans appearsto have recovered its pre-Katrina spirit.

AEII’s Tony Passwater presented on designingand implementing a complete repair plan.

The Autobody News staff doing its part tocover the industry.

Autobody News asked former StateFarm Estimatics Team Manager StevePlier about his thoughts on PartsTraderearlier this month. Plier worked forState Farm for more than 22 years,starting out in 1987 as a property dam-age claim representative handling autoclaims, and in 1993, he moved into asupervisory position where he spent thelast 13 years of his State Farm career asan estimatics team manager. Today,Steve Plier is president of Consumer

Former State Farm Claims Rep, Steve Plier,Now Consultant, Talks ‘PartsTrader’

See Steve Plier, Page 36

CaliforniaNevadaArizona www.autobodynews.comYEARS313131

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2 NOVEMBER 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

REGIONAL15 Years of Successful Toying—But Will

it Keep on Truckin’? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Bodycraft Collision Hosts 8th Annual

Golf Invitational . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4CAA Orange County Chapter Meets

on Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39CAA Ventura Chapter Hosts Jack Molodanof

and Micki Hazz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Caliber Collision Doubles Size with

New Redlands Digs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Caliber Collision Expands in LA;

Opening 18th Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10California ‘Key is in the Mail’ Bill Vetoed,

CAWA and AAIA Claim Credit . . . . . . . . . . . 1Carroll Shelby Foundation Unveils

Signature Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16CAWA Appoints Mike Eldard . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19CAWA Appoints New Director . . . . . . . . . . . . 15CAWA Hosts Buller at Annual SEMA Dinner . 12CAWA Reports BAR Cracking Down

on Fluid Flushers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Cypress College Receives $50,000 in

Makeover Tools, Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . 60Di Giulo’s Management Award . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Drew Auto Center Held Free Hands-On

Seminar for First Responders . . . . . . . . . . 22Driverless Car is ‘Science Fiction

Becoming Reality’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10East Bay CAA Members Get Schooled

at University of Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38FinishMaster’s Industry Golf Tournament

Celebrates 15 Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Fremont Mechanic John Donovan

Memorialized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Glendale/Foothill CAA Chapter Previews

Technology Pre-SEMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Google’s Driverless Cars Raise Safety

and Privacy Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Koreatown (LA) Robbery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Long-time Oregon Body Shop Couple

Sell to Kadel’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Los Angeles County Sets National Teen

Driver Safety Week in Honor ofTeenaged Crash Victim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

LV Police Seek H&R Suspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4New Ford Dealership Opens in Juneau . . . . . . 8Precision Collision Auto Body Hosts

Emergency Extrication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Prosecutor: School District Schemed

with Body Shop Owner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Redding’s Accurate Gets U-Haul. . . . . . . . . . . 4San Diego High School Opens New

Tech Training Facility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Service King Closes on Auto Body World

Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Service King in Deer Valley, AZ . . . . . . . . . . . 19Shop Burns in Las Vegas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Shop Co-Owner Arrested in Disappearance

of Partner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Shops Help Victim of Road Rage Repair Car . . 6

Tesla Unveils Solar Powered Charging Stations. 12Thieves Use Hammer to Break into

South Sacto Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Three Arrested in Grass Valley

Body Shop Burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Top 3 Body Shops Named in Orange County’s

19th Annual ‘Best of 2012’ Contest . . . . . . 9Two Arrested in Shop Theft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Young’s House of Klear Opens

Santa Ana Facility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

COLUMNSAttanasio: The Original Social Media, and

Most Important, is the Phone Call . . . . . . . 44Franklin: The New Co-Op Marketing . . . . . . . 40Gesterkamp: E-Coated Parts Procedure . . . . 24Sisk: The NitroTech Spray Generator

Controls the Uncontrollable. . . . . . . . . . . . 18Yoswick: NACE Keynote Speech Focuses

on Thinking about Business . . . . . . . . . . . 26

NATIONALAmerican Honda Launches ProFirst

Shop Recognition Program. . . . . . . . . . . . 19Automaker, OEM and Recall News . . . . . . . . 34BASF Showcases Newest Additions to

VisionPlus Online Tools at NACE. . . . . . . . 57DEG & the Keys to Successful Estimating

Presented in New Orleans. . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Dykstra Automotive Institute Survey Identifies

Broad Industry Concerns in 2013 . . . . . . . 42Esurance recognizes Three CARSTAR shops

with awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Greg Coccaro Wins Significant Appeal

from Progressive Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . 53Honda Develops New Welding Technology,

UHSS Structure for 2013 Accord . . . . . . . 20How to be a ‘Courageous Leader’

Presented at NACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Insurers Talk MSOs, Consolidation,

the Cloud, and Tech Trends. . . . . . . . . . . . 43John Shoemaker Coaches Shops

to ‘Negotiate for Success’ . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Martin Senour Kicks Off 4Q Training Program . 56Matrix Electronic Measuring, Inc.

Awarded Two Patents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20NABC Gifts 6 Vehicles to Needy New Orleans

Families at NACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58NACE 2012 in New Orleans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1NACE Sees Fewer People, But Quality Events. 28

PartsTrader CoverageASA’s Caspersen Comments on

PartsTrader Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Former State Farm Claims Rep, Steve Plier,

Now Consultant, Talks ‘PartsTrader’ . . . . . . 1George Avery Spoke on PartsTrader

to GCIA Sept. 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54PartsTrader Reduces Minimum

Quote Time to 30 mins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Contents

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy HayhurstGeneral Manager: Barbara DaviesAssistant Editor: Melanie AndersonContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, David Brown,John Yoswick, Rich Evans, Janet Chaney,Toby Chess, Ed Attanasio, Chasidy SiskAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman,Jay Lukes (800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Kristy NavarroArt 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. ©2012 Adamantine Media LLC.

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

Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .60Auto Data Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Automotive ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16BASF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . .45California Superstores . . . . . . . . . . .21Capitol Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Champion Pneumatic . . . . . . . . . . .63Chief Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62Completes Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Downtown Motors of LA(Audi, VW, Porsche) . . . . . . . . . . .25

Drew Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Elk Grove Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44Enterprise Rent-A-Car . . . . . . . . . . .40Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Ford Wholesale Parts DealersAZ, CA, & NV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

G & C Auto Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Galpin Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31, 39Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Glenn E. Thomas Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . .49H & S Autoshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Haydell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Henderson Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . .26Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32-33

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . .51Kearny Mesa Subaru-Hyundai . . . . .38Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers .41

Levan Group, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59Maita Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Malco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .48MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . .50Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers .61MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . .29Nick Alexander MINI . . . . . . . . . . . .64Nick Alexander BMW . . . . . . . . . . . .17Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

North County Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Pro-Spray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Reliable Automotive Equipment . . .14Replica Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Riverside Metro VW-Honda-Hyundai-Nissan-Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Safety Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . . .9Shingle Springs Nissan-Subaru . . .30Sierra Chevrolet-Honda-Mazda-Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Solution Finish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .55That’s Included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Timmons VW-Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . .43Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . .58Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers .52Volvo Crash Wholesale Dealers . . .57Weatherford BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27Wedge Clamp System . . . . . . . . . . .19

Inde

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www.autobodynews.com | NOVEMBER 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

ASA’s Caspersen Comments on PartsTrader MeetingsReductions in parts profits was thebiggest concern voiced by more than125 collision repairers who attendedtwo Automotive Service Association-sponsored meetings recently in Ohiocentered around State Farm’s elec-tronic parts ordering pilot.

The meetings were open to every-one in the collision repair industry atno charge. The first meeting was heldin the Cleveland area Sept. 18; the sec-ond in the Cincinnati area Sept. 19.

Denise Caspersen, manager ofASA’s collision division, presented theelements of the pilot to date, reviewedindustry concerns, and collected anyadditional questions, concerns andsuggestions from attendees.

Repairers are concerned over thepilot’s inclusion of a discounted manu-facturer’s suggested retail selling price(MSRP) column. Suppliers have the op-tion to provide a discounted MSRPalong with the margins of the part andthe quote price. If a supplier elects toprovide a discounted MSRP along witha quote for a part, it could result in lowerprofit margins on parts for the collisionrepair shop if that part is selected. StateFarm stated in July that it does not askfor discounts on parts but if a supplierprovides a discounted MSRP, this datais available to State Farm.

Repairers are responsible for rec-ommending suppliers and determin-ing their default OEM and preferredOEM suppliers. Once a Select Serv-ice shop requests a quote on an esti-mate, the quoting request is sent to allsuppliers whose application “prefer-ences” match the content of the esti-mate. Suppliers, just like repairers, areable to set preferences. Suppliers arealso responsible for setting their mar-ket area, parts type, and rates of de-livery. Meeting attendees questionedwhy State Farm is doing this, whathappens to repairers’ parts profits ifthis goes into effect, where is the effi-ciency, what State Farm sees as the fu-ture for collision claims and the sizeof their Select Service network—andthe reigning question overall—whereis the benefit to the collision repairersparticipating in the pilot?

“We continue to present to StateFarm the concerns of ASA members.If State Farm cannot provide datashowing how this application benefitscollision repairers (operationally/fi-nancially), ASA will respond appro-priately on behalf of repairers,” saidCaspersen. “ASA has provided StateFarm with a timeline for data and willbe meeting with State Farm to assessfuture actions.”


Ron Green, owner of Accurate AutoBody in Redding, CA, recently addedU-Haul truck and trailer rentals to theauto repair business he has been op-erating since 2011.

Accurate Auto Body now offersits customers a variety of movingequipment and supplies designedspecifically for moving householdfurnishings, including moving vans,open trailers, closed trailers, furniturepads, appliance dollies, furniture dol-lies, tow dollies and auto transports.Accurate Auto Body also will sellitems to protect their customers’ be-longings.

Redding’s Accurate Gets U-Haul

An investigation is under way afteran attempted robbery in Koreatownon the night of Oct. 19. The incidenthappened at the Grand Prix AutoBody shop on the 3100 block of WestPico Boulevard. Police responded tothe business at about 8 p.m. after re-ports that it was in the process ofbeing robbed. Several employeeswere inside, so the SWAT team wascalled to the scene but the suspectsfled. It was not immediately known ifthey stole anything. None of the em-ployees were hurt. Contact Los An-geles police at (877) LAPD-24-7.

Koreatown (LA) Robbery

Las Vegas, NV, police are looking fora suspect in a hit and run crash thatleft one woman in critical condition.The unidentified woman was walkingacross Fremont Street in the dark atnight when she was hit, police said.Police said a side mirror from the vehi-cle was found at the scene. Police havenot been able to locate any witnesses.

Some good samaritans did stopand attempt to help the woman andkeep her from being hit by anothervehicle. “I’m telling you, peoplewould not stop,” said Paige Romero.

LV Police Seek H&R Suspect

Three suspects were quickly arrestedafter a burglary at an auto body shopin Grass Valley, CA. The suspectswere arrested at a residence directlyacross the street from the scene of thealleged crime.

The suspects had scaled a fenceand stolen items, including tools,equipment and stereos out of vehi-cles, said Capt. Rex Marks of theGrass Valley Police Department.

“We tied (that burglary) to sev-eral recent incidents in which we hadsuspects,” he said.

Eric Lester, 31, was arrested onsuspicion of second-degree burglaryand possession of stolen property.

Devon Howell, 24, was arrestedon suspicion of having outstandingwarrants and violating probation.

Thomas Bailes, 31, was arrestedon suspicion of possessing drug para-phernalia and violating probation.

“We recovered all of the prop-erty from the (burglary),” Marks said.“We are continuing to investigatetheir connection to other burglaries.”

Three Arrested in Grass Valley Body Shop Burglary

Bodycraft Collision Centers in theSacramento, CA, area hosted their 8thAnnual First Tee Golf Invitational onSept. 10 at the Serrano Country Clubin a benefit for The First Tee ofGreater Sacramento (TFTGS). Body-craft Collision Centers and event co-sponsors have successfully raisedmore than $350,000 for The First Teeof Greater Sacramento over the pasteight years.

The First Tee of Greater Sacra-mento evolved from the success ofthe Sacramento Area Youth Golf As-sociation, and The First Tee’s pro-grams have led the way withcharacter education classes, youthgolf clinics, programs for the dis-abled, and a competitive golf tourthat has developed players for highschool, college and professional golfprograms.

Bodycraft Collision Centershosted a sponsor reception featuringgolf legend and honorary chairpersonTony Jacklin, which preceded theevent on Sept. 9 at Mercedes Benz ofEl Dorado Hills. A post-tournamentreception included speakers fromTFTGS, including Louie Euer, whorecently participated in the PGA spon-sored Ryder Cup Outreach Program.

Bodycraft Collision Hosts8th Annual Golf Invitational

Service King Collision Repair Centershas closed on its acquisition of AutoBody World Inc., an Arizona-based op-erator of eight repair facilities. Termsof the agreement were not disclosed.

With the acquisition, ServiceKing said it is now the third largestcollision repair organization in NorthAmerica. The company now operateseight Auto Body World locations inArizona and 51 Service King loca-tions throughout Texas.

“We are very excited about AutoBody World joining the Service KingTeam,” said Mark Turner, presidentof Auto Body World. “Both compa-nies believe that we’re a great matchfor each other in that we share verycommon cultures. While ServiceKing brings national insurance rela-tionships and financial strength, AutoBody World brings dominance in anew market, with a strong operationsteam and platform for rapid growth.”

The Carlyle Group recently pur-chased majority ownership of Serv-ice King to help the company initiatea national expansion effort. AutoBody World is Service King’s firstacquisition outside of Texas, “but it'snot our last,” said Chris Abraham,CEO of Service King.

Service King Closes on AutoBody World Acquisition

Firefighting crews battled a fire at anauto body shop in Las Vegas, NV, onOct. 9. The fire was reported at about9:30 p.m. on the 2100 block of NorthDecatur Boulevard, near West LakeMead Boulevard. Firefighters respondedto find flames and heavy smoke show-ing from the roof. The cause of the firewas not immediately clear.

Shop Burns in Las Vegas

Dino Di Giulio, of Body Best Colli-sion in Sonoma, CA, shows off TheMaster of Shop Management award atthe Management Success conventionin Glendale, CA. It’s a national honorrecognizing outstanding business per-formance. “The award is a result of ourdrive for continuous improvement,” hesaid. “We feel honored and thankful.All I’m doing is making our businessthe best possible place for customersto take their cars for auto body repairs.

Di Giulo’s Management Award

Thieves hammered windows to breakinto a south Sacramento auto shop onOct. 5 around 2 a.m. after cutting powerto the business in an attempt to knockout the security system at CaliforniaAuto Body on Power Inn Road justsouth of 14th Avenue. Once the secu-rity system was disabled, they smashedout a window and climbed inside. Thesuspect also apparently took a hammerto the wall inside the auto shop.

Fortunately, the security systemhad back-up batteries and an alarmcompany alerted the owner, whocalled police. By the time police gotthere, no one remainde inside. Al-though the alarm still sounded, thepower outage did disable the securitycameras. The shop owner said it didnot look like anything was taken.

Thieves Use Hammer toBreak into South Sacto Shop

Dino and Trina Di Giulio



Shops Help Victim of Road Rage Repair CarRadio listeners in Seattle, WA, steppedup to help a woman who was a victimof road rage. Emily Lawson works fora non–profit organization and said shewas unable to pay for the repairs to hercar. When 97.3 KIRO FM radio airedthe story, two generous listeners of-fered to help Lawson pay for the re-pairs needed to her car.

Shayne Hedahl with SpecialInterest Auto Body in Everett offeredto complete all the repairs needed,and Jason Martin with Auto GlassUSA spoke with Lawson about re-placing the back window that wassmashed.

The damage was done to Law-son’s Ford Escort while Lawson wasdriving home from a family barbecue.She was at a red light and when thelight turned green, a boxy, black SUVcut her off. The SUV was driving er-ratically. Lawson said when it movedover to the shoulder, she was able toget around him.

“He proceeded to follow us,swerving around the road, screamingand waving his arms,” said Lawson.

It was so ridiculous, Lawson andher 25-year-old passenger laughed itoff at first. That is, until both cars gotstuck at a red light. The driver of theSUV stopped behind her, jumped outand ran toward her car.

The man, described as six-feettall and a very muscular 200 pounds,jumped on the back of Lawson’s carand slammed his arms down on theroof hard enough to leave a dent.

Then, Lawson said, he ripped thespoiler off the back of her car andused it to smash through her backwindow. The impact was so hard,pieces of glass flew at the back ofLawson’s head and up onto the dash-board of her car.

“As soon as he busted out thewindow and was still screaming insuch a fit of rage, I thought he wasgoing to kill us,” Lawson says.

When the light finally turnedgreen and Lawson drove away, she saysthe man threw the spoiler back into hercar through the missing back window.A few minutes later she stopped to call911, and she realized a lot of peoplemust have seen what had happened.

“Nobody stopped to help us.That was disappointing. We were twowomen in a car being attacked by this‘Hulk’ guy who was just bashing ourcar up,” said Lawson.

Lawson works for a non-profitthat does outreach to homeless kids.She said she could not afford to fix allthe damage to her car. She was ec-static when she learned she would nothave to pay for the repairs.

Caliber Collision Doubles Size with New Redlands DigsCaliber Collision doubled its capacitywith a move to a new 71,000 squarefoot facility in Redlands, CA. Thenew, state–of–art collision repair fa-cility features the latest in collision re-pair technology and equipment,state–of–the-art customer service sys-tems, and energy–efficient, green tech-nologies throughout its operations.

“We’ve only moved a mile-and-a-half away,” said David Goldstein,Caliber Collision Vice President ofOperations, “but this relocation givesus increased capacity to ensure we de-liver the highest quality repairs in theindustry while quickly restoring Red-

lands customers to the rhythm of theirlives.”

“Our Redlands customers shouldexpect a seamless transition to ournew location and will continue to ben-efit from Caliber’s expert auto bodyrepair and finish, quality auto glass re-pair, free estimates, and a lifetimeCaliber Collision warranty on ouraward-winning work,” said RustyRauls, Caliber Collision RegionalManager for the Inland Empire.

Caliber operates a total of 111collision repair centers throughoutCalifornia, Arizona, Nevada, Okla-homa and Texas.

Los Angeles County Sets National Teen DriverSafety Week in Honor of Teenaged Crash VictimNearly two years after Conor Lynchwas killed instantly by a distractedand unlicensed teen driver in ShermanOaks, the Los Angeles County Boardof Supervisors proclaimed “NationalTeen Driver Safety Week in Los An-geles County” in honor of the 16-year-old.

On October 19, 2010, Conor wasstruck by an 18-year-old driver whenshe failed to yield while he was cross-ing Woodman Avenue with his highschool cross country team. A memo-rial bench honoring Conor’s memorynow sits on Woodman Avenue nearAddison Street.

“Proclaiming National TeenDriver Safety Week in Los AngelesCounty will honor Conor’s memoryand bring attention to the fact that tex-ting and focusing on other things whiledriving can be a fatal mistake,” saidSupervisor Michael D. Antonovich,chairman of the Metropolitan Trans-portation Authority.

The Conor Lynch Foundationwas also commended for its role inraising awareness and promoting thesafety of runners, pedestrians, cyclistsand young drivers.

In 2010, 191 teens from ages 15

to 19 were killed and another 24,616were injured in traffic crashes in Cal-ifornia. Of those individuals, 39 teenswere killed and another 7,120 wereinjured in traffic crashes in Los Ange-les County, according to the Califor-nia Highway Patrol.

The Foundation officially kicked-off the 6th Annual National TeenDriver Safety Week with its 2nd An-nual 5K Run/Walk In Honor of Conorevent at Van Nuys Sherman OaksPark. Close to 2,000 runners and vol-unteers participated in the fundraiserto support the non-profit’s new and ex-isting programs.

“I’m personally touched andmoved that the Board has dedicatedthis very important week to my son,”said Jeri Dye Lynch, president ofthe Foundation. “Obviously, October19, 2010 is a day I’ll never forget,and it still boggles my mind that hisdeath occurred during National TeenDriver Safety Week and just rightafter the Department of Transporta-tion’s Distracted Driving Summit inWashington, D.C. We’re a real fam-ily representing some of those statis-tics, and we will continue to stand upagainst distracted driving.”


Auto Data Labels is a preferred vendor for MSO’s, Dealership Collision Repair Centers, Franchises, Networks, Independent Collision Repair Facilities, and Insurance Companies throughout North America. If your business would like to make Auto Data Labels your “Preferred Vendor” pleasesubmit your info through our “Contact Us” page and we will be more than happy to assist you.


Long-time Oregon Body Shop Couple Sell to Kadel’sBack in 1988, Hank and SandyTarter opened Tarter’s Autobody inKeizer, OR. The business grew from amom–and–pop to a large operation,with three buildings and nine full-timeemployees. It was later renamedKeizer Collision Center.

Hank and Sandy, both in theirmid 60s, recently sold their businessto Kadel’s Auto Body, which operates16 shops in Oregon, Washington andIdaho. It will operate under theKadel’s Keizer Collision Center nameand will maintain the same staff.

Kadel’s newest location marksits third collision repair facility in theKeizer, OR, market, and the com-pany’s 17th shop overall.

“We are very excited with thismost recent addition to Kadel's AutoBody,” said Don Braden, president

and CEO of the company. “Kadel’ssuccess is based on a commitment toquality repairs, excellent customerservice and our support of the localcommunity. Keizer Collision Centerenjoys a very good reputation and willbe a great addition to the Kadel’sFamily.”

“When you’ve virtually started abusiness, it’s kind of a hard thing tostep back,” Hank Tarter said. “Talkingwith them, we got a real good feelwith the people we dealt with.”

Hank Tarter knew the farm hegrew up on near Monmouth wasn’this future, so he learned the auto re-pair trade at a community college inBend and a General Motors school inTigard. Before jumping into it for acareer, he spent several years as a log-ger – until a friend was gravely in-jured in the summer of 1974.

“He’s a paraplegic today,” Hanksaid. “I decided at that point I’d bettergo back to auto work.”

With a partner, he bought NorthSalem Auto Body on Pine Street,eventually selling his interest to starthis shop in Keizer.

Their community involvementincludes Keizer Rotary and theKeizer Chamber of Commerce. Theyhave two children and three grand-children.

New Ford Dealership Opens in JuneauA new Ford dealership opened inJuneau, AK, in early October.

Stanley Management Group Ex-ecutive Director of Dealerships KevinLauver made the announcement inmid September, the Juneau Empirereported.

The group owns the StanleyFord dealership in Kenai. Emeliaand Jose Stanley have owned thebusiness since the fall of 2006. Stan-ley Motor Group also owns sixBudget Rent-A-Car stores in Alaskaand four Driven Auto Body shops.They have about 200 employeesamong their businesses. The Stanleysstarted their automotive empire witha Budget Car and Truck Rental inAnchorage.

“Cars in stock will include theFord F-150 Super-Crew — our prideand joy, and Escape, Expedition, Ex-plorer, Flex, Edge, Taurus and Fusionmodels — many of which are offeredin all–wheel drive,” said Lauver.

Juneau also has the climate androad system that would make it suit-able for sales and service of Ford’selectric Focus C-Max, Lauver ex-plained.

“That is something you don’t seemuch in Alaska,” he said.

Lauver said Stanley plans to builda new facility in two to two–and–a–half

years. The group’s auto body businesswill move into the vacated property.Stanley will also incorporate its BudgetRent–A–Car franchise in Juneau and itsBoss Plow business into the dealership.

“It is a neat triangle,” Lauversaid. “Driven buys all their partsfrom the dealerships. Budget buystheir cars from the dealerships.Driven fixes them and then aftertwo seasons, we re–sell them as cer-tified pre–owned vehicles. It is a re-ally neat synergy.”

Lauver said Stanley is a commu-nity-oriented business which supportslocal organizations. “One of the thingsI’m passionate about is the jobs,”Lauver said. “There are going to be abunch of new jobs here.”

Lauver said Stanley has recruitedJuneau’s Evergreen Motor Works andits Ford–certified technicians. Ever-green co-owner Dave Wall is StanleyFord of Juneau’s new General Man-ager and he and co–owner ToddThingvall are adding Evergreen’smoving lifts to the state–of–the–artequipment Stanley is bringing to thedealership’s automotive department.Evergreen Motor Works co-ownersWall and Thingvall started the busi-ness after the breakup of SkinnerSales and Service, Juneau’s formerFord dealership.

Hank and Sandy Tarter sold their businessto Kadel’s Auto Body


Precision Collision Auto Body Hosts EmergencyExtrication, Jaws of Life and Airbag EventPrecision Collision Auto Body, LKQKeystone Aftermarket Parts and manylocal insurance providers have hosted13 first responder events in Washing-ton State over the past three years.

An extrication class on Sept. 12was held for local Snohomish Countyand King County firefighters andEMT’s in Monroe, WA.

EMT’s who respond to accidentson our streets and highways came to-gether for a free class provided totheir departments by the collision re-pair industry.

The collision repair industry,along with West Coast Fire & Rescue

and Holmatro USA equipment sup-plier, put on this increasingly impor-tant event to help keep our firefightersand EMT’s current with new tech-nologies.

Newer vehicles with highstrength steels (HSS) that are on ourroads today are used at these events.

Insurance companies who do-nated these hard-to-get vehicles in-cluded Progressive Insurance andAmerican Family Insurance.

Vehicles today have many com-plicated structures and can be chal-lenging to access during an accident.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car has sup-ported these classes for the past threeyears by providing brand new hybridcars to help educate our firefighters onthe electric vehicle dangers at an ac-cident.

Precision Collision is a localfamily owned and operated business,is a member of the National AutoBody Council (NABC) www.auto-bodycouncil.org, and has been serv-ing collision repair customers in WAState since 1985.

Fountain Valley Body Works won firstplace for Best Auto Repair Shop inOrange County’s 19th Annual Best Of2012 contest.

Fountain Valley Bodyworks onNewhope Sreet has been under thesame ownership of Dave March for40 years.

Family-owned for almost 40years, Fountain Valley Body Worksprides itself on being one of the bestauto-body shops in Orange Countybecause of the staff's attention to de-tail and customer service. It boasts acustomer-service index of 97.4, withmore than 80% of customers comingfrom referrals.

Fountain Valley Body Works re-pairs about 700 cars each month. TheNewhope location covers more than50,000 square feet and the Euclid ex-press center spans more than 25,000square feet. The facility can work oncars of all makes and models, smalland large repairs.

“We have a huge, yellow 15-feetsmiley face that hangs on the frontand back of the building, and it sym-bolizes happiness. We pride ourselveson being a friendly, down-to-earth fa-cility that everyone seems to love,”March said.

The second place winner is A-Z TechAutomotive located in Mission Viejoand is known for its outstanding cus-tomer service, according to ownerNancy Long. A-Z offers service forvirtually every model, includingAston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari,Jaguar, Maybach, Mini, Porsche andRolls Royce. Owners Doug andNancy Long started A-Z Tech Auto-motive in 1989 in a small rented spacein Mission Viejo with a box of toolsand a floor jack. Doug had been re-pairing cars since 1974. The facilityhas grown to a 10,000-square-footshop with 20 employees.

The third place winner for BestAuto Repair Shop is Star Motors lo-cated in San Juan Capistrano. Theshop specializes in luxury and Euro-pean motorcars with ASE-master cer-tified technicians who have more than50 years of combined factory-trainedexperience. Founded in 1985, StarMotors began as a Mercedes-Benz re-pair shop in Laguna Niguel, and thenexpanded to working on BMW,Jaguar, Lexus, Porsche, Volkswagen,Audi and all other luxury vehicles.Star Motors is one of the few GreenStation Certified auto-repair facilitiesin Orange County.

Top 3 Body Shops Named in Orange County’s 19thAnnual ‘Best of 2012’ Contest

EMT separates rear door to simulate patientaccess. Vehicle was donated by InsuranceAuto Auctions of Seattle

www.autobodynews.comCHECK IT OUT!



Recently, Governor Jerry Brownsigned a driverless car law into effect,but safety and privacy issues are rais-ing concerns about Google’s roboticcar.

In late September, CaliforniaGovernor Jerry Brown signed a dri-verless car law into effect at a cere-mony at Google’s headquarters inMountain View, CA.

According to advocacy groupConsumer Watchdog, the law posesthreats to safety and privacy.

SB 1298 directs the Departmentof Motor Vehicles to write regula-tions covering robot cars by January2015, but the Legislature didn’t re-quire Google to come back for finalapproval before the driverless carsgo from testing stage to the car lot.The law, written by Sen. AlexPadilla, provides no real privacyprotections, the nonpartisan, non-profit group said.

“Substantial safety and liabilityquestions remain,” said John M.Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Pri-vacy Project director. “On the privacyissue, the law gives the user no controlover what data will be gathered andhow the information will be used.”

Consumer Watchdog said thatthere is little question that driverless

car technology will become a reality.The problem is the way the Legisla-ture and Governor rushed to endorsethe technology without considering itsramifications.

“What this demonstrates morethan anything else is Google’s abilityto dazzle and get its way,” said Simp-son. “The governor and many legisla-tors have been taken for a ride byGoogle, and I don’t just mean in theInternet giant’s driverless test vehi-cles.”

It is clear that driverless car tech-nology is coming, so collision repairersneed to be aware of the potential im-pact that this technology might have ontheir businesses and the industry in themid- to long-range future.

“From a collision perspective, Ithink the body shops need to be pre-pared for the future as technology con-tinues to change and they need to beprepared to invest in both their staffand equipment,” said Sharon Ashley,Business Development Manager,Canada for Summit Software andMarketing Solutions. “Without ongo-ing training and more sophisticatedtools that will be required to repairthese types of vehicles, we could see agreat deal of poorly repaired cars inthe not too distant future.”

The law does not give carteblanche to Google to send driverlesscars on to roads. According to Ashley,“There needs to be an actual licenseddriver in the vehicle in case they needto take control of the vehicle.”

But Consumer Watchdog warnsthat rushed technological policy shiftshave seen some poor results for Califor-nia in the past. The last time Sacramentomoved so quickly on such an extraordi-nary technological policy shift was overelectricity deregulation, which endedwith unprecedented massive blackoutsengineered by energy companies likeEnron, Consumer Watchdog said.

The time to ensure that the newdriverless car technology has the nec-essary safety and privacy protectionsis while it is being designed and devel-oped, according to Consumer Watch-dog. Trying to catch up after a newtechnology is developed and broadlyimplemented simply will not work.

“Google has repeatedly demon-strated that it only pays lip service toprivacy concerns and repeatedly vio-lated consumers’ privacy,” said Simp-son. “Consumers must have the rightto give opt-in consent before any datagathered through driverless car tech-nology is used for any purpose otherthan driving the vehicle.”

Google’s Driverless Cars Raise Safety and Privacy ConcernsGov. Jerry Brown, describingGoogle Inc.’s robot cars as “sciencefiction becoming tomorrow's reality,”recently signed legislation allowingdriverless cars to be tested on publicroads.

“Today we’re looking at sciencefiction becoming tomorrow’s reality:the self-driving car,” the Democraticgovernor said at a bill signing eventat Google’s headquarters.

Google co-founder Sergey Brinsaid he could “count on one hand”the number of years it might take be-fore driverless technology becomeswidely available.

Google and other supporters ofthe legislation, Senate Bill 1298, sayrobot-controlled cars could drivemore safely and efficiently than peo-ple, whose errors are responsible fora high percentage of crashes.

“Self-driving cars,” Brin said,“do not run red lights.”

Sen. Alex Padilla, the SouthernCalifornia Democrat who authoredthe bill, called it a ‘dream bill,’ sayingit will save lives, create jobs, easecongestion and reduce emissions.

Opponents of the bill includedthe Alliance of Automobile Manu-facturers and Consumer Watchdog.

Driverless Car is ‘ScienceFiction Becoming Reality’

Caliber Collision Centers recentlyannounced the opening of its 18thcenter in the Los Angeles area. Cal-iber Collision in early October ac-quired the Hooman Collision Centerin Inglewood, CA.

“The acquisition and grandopening of our new Ladera Heightslocation increases our Los Angeleslocations to 18 as we continue im-plementing our 2012 expansionplans,” said Steve Grimshaw, Cal-iber Collision Centers’ Chief Exec-utive Officer. “This new centerprovides additional Caliber Collisioncapacity in the largest automobilemarket in the U.S. while providingour insurance clients the customerfocus, operational consistency andcost management they demand intoday’s competitive insurance mar-ket.”

Caliber Collision’s newly ac-quired 30,000 square foot collisionrepair facility is located less thantwo miles from the LAX airport at737 North La Brea Avenue.

“Our newest Los Angeles loca-tion provides yet another example ofhow we continue to grow across theCalifornia market as the collision re-pair provider of choice.”

Caliber Collision Expands inLA; Opening 18th Center

Young’s House of Klear is pleased toannounce the opening of their SantaAna product distribution satellite fa-cility. Partnering with expert painterAlfredo Jasso, we are able to offerhigh level technical support and rapiddaily material delivery for the Or-ange County market. Initial avail-ability will include the full line ofSouthern Polyurethanes (SPI) prod-ucts, and additional high quality,value priced product lines will fol-low.

Demand for SPI products con-tinue to grow as many shop are ag-gressively looking to find acompetitive cost advantage on paintmaterials, while at the same time ac-tually improving the quality and longterm durability of their refinish work.

Young’s House of Klear re-mains committed to providing betterproducts, better technical education,better service and better value thancurrently offered in Southern Cali-fornia by existing traditional paintjobbers.

Orange County shops are in-vited to call John Young at 818-504-4933 and invite House of Klear andAlfredo Jasso to meet with you andyour painter.

Young’s House of KlearOpens Santa Ana Facility



Prosecutor: School District Schemed with Body Shop Owner to Bill for False Repairs

Randy Buller of Parts Authority willbe the guest speaker at CAWA’s an-nual dinner meeting to be held in con-junction with Industry Week in LasVegas on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 7:00 p.m.at the Venetian hotel.

Buller will cover areas such as:What are the contemporary issuesfacing distributors and their suppli-ers? What does the immediate futurehold for business owners and man-agers, particularly in the areas oftechnology, Internet sales, data, in-ventory, brand reliance and off shoreproduct?

Buller will share his experienceregarding his company, their growthand the development of partnershipsthat were critical to their success. Ifyou are a manufacturer, retailer ordistributor, you need to hear what in-formation and thought–provokingbusiness solutions he will share withyou.

For more information on regis-tration for the dinner meeting, contactJulie Snyder at 800.332.2292, ext. 2or email [email protected]. Allproceeds from the event go toCAWA’s scholarship fund. Watch foran invitation to be coming to industryrepresentatives soon.

CAWA Hosts Buller atAnnual SEMA Dinner

Tesla Unveils Solar Powered Charging StationsTesla Motors unveiled the first of its sixSupercharger stations in six Californialocations (Folsom, Gilroy, Coalinga,Lebec, Barstow and Hawthorne).

The Supercharger stations arepowered by a solar carport systemmade by SolarCity, and will allow theModel S sedan to receive a 90 kilo-watt (KW) charge, which will keepthe vehicle going for 150 miles. Thesolar carport system is designed togenerate more solar power over ayear than the average Tesla vehiclerequires. This will result, according toa press release by the car company, ina “slight net positive transfer” of solarpower being generated back to thepower grid. Tesla plans to install 100Superchargers in “high traffic corri-dors” throughout the U.S. by 2015. Itwill start installing them in Europeand Asia in 2013.

The Supercharger, at 90 KW, de-livers 4.5 times more electricity to thebattery of the Model S than TwinChargers. Elon Musk, Tesla co-founder and CEO, calls the Super-charger network a “game changer forelectric vehicles.” He cites severalreasons why the Supercharger net-work is a game changer, including thelonger traveling distance they provideModel S vehicles.

“Tesla is demonstrating just how

fundamentally better electric trans-port can be,” said Musk.

There is a downside to the Super-chargers: they are only compatible withModel S sedans. Tesla has produced255 Model S vehicles, but only deliv-ered 132, according to a September 25Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) filing. Sources told Wired.comthat each solar carport system “costssomewhere in the neighborhood of$250,000, with the total cost to coverthe planned 100 stations at between $20million and $30 million.”

That is a lot of money for a carcompany that clearly has a cash flowproblem. In the September 25 filings,Tesla reported to the SEC that it is of-fering 4.3 million shares of its stockfor sale. Tesla plans to have $228 mil-lion in cash available from the sale ofits stock. It will need the money as itwas informed by the Department ofEnergy (DOE), according to the fil-ing, that it has until October 31 tosubmit plans for “early repayment”on its $465 million loan.

In the filing, Tesla reported thatit is at “full drawn down” on the DOEloan.

The former transportation director forthe Coachella Valley Unified SchoolDistrict in Indio, CA, schemed with abody shop owner to bill the district forrepairs that weren’t done so they couldpocket the money, a prosecutor toldjurors last month during the trial.

Raul Portillo Lopez, 56, is ac-cused of misappropriating more than$200,000 in district funds between2003 and 2007. He faces 27 felonycounts, including misappropriation offunds and embezzlement.

His longtime girlfriend, Clemen-cia Ochoa, is charged with four felonycounts of grand theft in excess of $400for allegedly signing timesheets forovertime she never worked.

Lopez, who worked for the dis-trict for 25 years and as transportationdirector for the last 10 of those years,authorized more than $109,000 in pay-ments for vehicle parts for district ve-hicle repairs that were instead used athis own auto repair shop, the prosecu-tion alleges.

Lopez also is accused of authoriz-ing payments of more than $75,000 toan auto body shop for bus repairs thatwere never done, and giving the bodyshop’s owner a cut of the repair money.

The body shop owner, GregorioZarate, pleaded guilty to a felony

charge of grand theft in excess of $400in October 2009 and was sentenced toa year in sheriff’s custody and threeyears probation, according to courtrecords.

Lopez is additionally accused ofapproving more than $17,000 in fraud-ulent overtime pay for Ochoa.

“They started coming up with in-voices for repairs on these buses ... Mr.Lopez would sign it, it goes to the dis-trict and Mr. Zarate gets the check, hecashes it and takes it to Mr. Lopez,”Deputy District Attorney WilliamRobinson told the jury in his closingargument. He said Lopez got 75 to 80percent of that money and Zarate gotthe rest.

Robinson said Lopez sent busesto Zarate’s shop even though employ-ees told him the shop did poor work,and Lopez sent the buses to the shopbehind his fleet supervisor’s back.

“I submit to you, ladies and gen-tlemen, the reason he did that was hehad the agreement with Mr. Zarate,”Robinson said.

A transportation expert found noevidence of repairs on buses invoicedfor repair, the buses weren’t taken outof service and Zarate said he didn’twork on some of those buses. In oneinstance, the district was billed for

the same parts twice, Robinson said.He also argued that Lopez au-

thorized payments for hundreds ofparts ordered from Napa, includingparts for vehicles that weren’t part ofthe district’s fleet. Of several mechan-ics who testified, only one said heasked Lopez to order parts and re-ceived parts from Lopez.

“So what happened to them?That’s the big question,” Robinson said.

Lopez started with the district in1981 as a mechanic and worked vari-ous jobs in the transportation depart-ment. He was promoted to director in1997, and was responsible for 100 em-ployees and a nearly $7 million budget,Robinson said.

In fall 2006, district officials sus-pected the transportation departmentwasn’t being run efficiently and hireda consultant, who “concluded therewas mismanagement at the veryleast,” Robinson said.

Lopez was put on administrativeleave in 2007.



Follow us on Twitter:@autobodynews

Accept no Substitutes!


by Tom Franklin

The last chapter meeting of 2012 for theGlendale/Foothill Chapter of the Cali-fornia Autobody Association was heldas usual at the Brookside Country Clubin the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.

The meeting was called-to-orderby President Linda Holcomb. She an-nounced the two speakers for the meet-ing: Tom Gattuso, who heads up theSEMA Trade Show, and Toby Chesswho spoke on ‘Where our Industry isgoing.’ Sponsors for the meeting wereGyant Compliance and D’Angelo’sBusiness Group.

Tom Gattuso is the trade show di-rector for SEMA, the Specialty Equip-ment Manufacturers Association, heldannually in Las Vegas. This year, theshow is being held Oct. 30 – Nov. 2.SEMA attracts well over 60,000 atten-dees. It is the largest event of its kindin the world, covering nearly one mil-lion square feet of convention floorspace! Tom noted that SEMA started in1963, when toy manufacturers of thevarious mini-hot rod and related toyvehicles sought to consolidate themany sticker types from hot-rod groups

around the country into one consoli-dated set of stickers. As technologygrew more complex, the variousgroups saw a need for an umbrella or-ganization. The first organized SEMAShow took place under the bleachers atDodger Stadium. Tom said it was littlemore than some card tables and con-versations between buyers and sellers.At the end of his talk, he said that theshow is still mainly a conversation be-tween buyers and sellers.

Since both CIC and SCRS votedagain to support and sponsor SEMA,rather than NACE, which will be ex-hibiting in New Orleans instead of LasVegas, the collision section of the shownow includes 150 exhibitors in theNorth Hall of the Las Vegas Conven-tion Center. CAA will also have abooth. Both SCRS and I-Car will beproviding training seminars and pro-grams throughout the week. Tom sug-gested a special focus on 2,000 newproducts that will be exhibited at theshow this year. He suggested attendingthe New Products Breakfast Tuesdaymorning, Oct. 30 at 7:30 a.m. Industryexperts will serve as judges and give anInnovation Award.

Tom emphasized having a pre-show, during-the-show, and post-showplan to maximize an attendee's bene-fits. The www.semashow.com websiteprovides a complete floor plan and onecan search by product, category andcompany. CAA chapter presidentLinda Holcomb suggested that no onecould possibly cover the entire show infive days, so a good pre-plan is reallynecessary — plus a comfortable pair ofshoes or rent a scooter.

During the show, a mobile app isalso available this year showing hous-ing, registration and floor plan all onone dashboard. Close attention shouldbe paid to the 800 signs, color drapesand carpeting delineating the 12 sec-tions of the show. Badge scanning willspeed up product visitations and follow-up for a post-show review and analysis.

Tom also pointed out that therewill be some spectacular fun with theshow. The ‘SEMA Cruise’ will put2,000 vehicles that were in booths dur-ing the show in a parade down ParadiseRoad Friday afternoon. And then thereis the Global Rally Cross, racing manyvehicles modified with productsdemonstrated at the show.

The meeting continued with TobyChess speaking about ‘Where our in-dustry is going in the future, and whatare you going to do about it?’

He opened with the fact that aver-age fuel economy would have to befrom 27.5 to 30.7 mpg for cars by 2015,and from 23.5 to 28.6 mpg for trucks.He also noted that even the Ford F150pickup truck would be all aluminum.

All vehicles will be smaller,lighter and safer. Vehicles will havehigh-strength steel that will be ‘replaceonly’ and cannot be repaired. All vehi-cles will have Electronic StabilityControl and steering angle sensors thatwill monitor the number of revolutionsduring the speed of a turn. If the turn istoo fast, there will be an automaticcomputer correction. This will requirerecalibration during every wheel align-ment.

All of this means that every shopwill have to have the tools, equipmentand training to work on these new ve-hicles. These jobs will require longercycle times and far more attention tosmall details.

Now is the time to be prepared forall aluminum repairs. The latest scan

Glendale/Foothill CAA Chapter Previews Technology Pre-SEMA


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tools are a must. No shop that hopes tosurvive in this future can afford to waitto get ready. That future is arrivingfaster than most shop owners realize.

Toby finished with an introduc-tion to the Matrix Measuring System.

From a layman’s point of view,this is a brilliant use of cameras andminute measuring technology to cap-ture an exact picture of any differenti-ation in vehicle structure, from side toside and bottom to top. Toby noted thatyou can only measure length andbreadth with a transguage, but with theMatrix Measuring System, you canadd in depth and that makes all the dif-ference.


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Shop Co-Owner Arrested in Disappearance of PartnerThe co–owner of a Tempe auto bodyrepair shop and his wife are facingmurder and hindering charges afterbeing arrested in connection to whatofficers believe is the homicide ofJason Johnson, the other co–ownerof the business who was reportedmissing since Sept. 14.

Chad Norris, 33, co–owner ofScottsdale Auto Collision Center inTempe, and Tamara Norris, 31, werearrested on suspicion of second–de-gree murder and felony hindering, re-spectively in connection to the case.

A missing persons report wasfiled with Tempe police after it wasreported that Johnson, 45, had notbeen seen since approximately 6 p.m.Sept. 14 at his auto body repair shopnear Priest Drive and Elliot Road inTempe.

Detectives contacted several em-ployees at the business during thecourse of follow–up on the missingpersons report and during question-ing, detectives acquired informationabout a confrontation that happenedbetween Johnson and Chad Norris.

After Chad and Tamara Norriswere contacted about the disappear-ance of Johnson, neither one of themwere willing to cooperate with au-thorities, according to Tempe police.

Detectives then conducted sur-

veillance on the Norrises based on theevidence that they were involved withJohnson’s disappearance.

Later that day, detectives ob-served suspicious activity from thecouple that led them to believe theywere attempting to cover up a crime.

The Norrises were observedleaving their residence with a boxtrailer attached to the rear of an SUV.The couple then drove to an area inPhoenix where they abandoned thetrailer, police said.

Police deployed a canine ca-daver dog and obtained a search war-rant. The search revealed whatdetectives believe to be a homicidescene. Blood was located inside thetrailer along with spent shell casingsfrom a firearm and a wallet that con-tained Johnson’s Arizona driver’s li-cense, according to police.

Investigators believe that John-son was killed and his body hidden inan unknown location and have yet tofind his body.

Two Arrested in Shop TheftTwo men arrested in connection withthe attempted burglary of a Taft, CA,body shop have agreed to plead no con-test to burglary charges. Bryan HenryLandreth, 22, and Corey Joe Huck-ins, 21, will be sentenced on Nov. 13.Landreth was arrested at Devon’s BodyShop and Towing early on Sept. 30 bypolice officers responding to a report ofsuspicious noises. Huckins was arrestedthe next day at a home. Landrethpleaded no contest to burglary and autotheft. Huckins pleaded no contest to onecount of burglary.

Terms of the plea agreement werenot disclosed.

CAWA Appoints New DirectorRichard Reyes has been appointedto the CAWA Board of Directors rep-resenting General Parts Inc., CAR-QUEST. He currently serves asGeneral Manager of Sales and Oper-ations in California and Arizona.

He was appointed by Chair ofthe Board, Steve Sharp of WORLD-PAC in Newark, CA. “Mr. Reyes hasa diversified career in the automotiveaftermarket industry and as a repre-sentative of GPI – CARQUEST, is awelcomed addition to CAWA’s lead-ership,” said Sharp.

CAWA Reports BAR CrackingDown on Fluid FlushersCAWA says BAR’s enforcement of-ficials are cracking down on fluidflushes. Concerned that these pre-ventive maintenance activities maybe being sold unnecessarily to un-suspecting motorists, CAWA saysthey are hearing that enforcement of-ficials are reinterpreting existing pol-icy to crack down on fluid flushesthat do not adhere to strict manufac-turer recommendations. For more in-formation on this issue, contactNorm Plotkin at [email protected] (916)275-0796.



of providing a 24/7 key replacementrequest line while it determined if ad-ditional technology could be devel-oped that provided the same level ofsecurity and accommodates customerneeds. BMW reports that since the ef-fective date of SB 1542, they have re-placed 4,397 keys and in only oneinstance was the key not delivered tothe owner consistent with the provi-sions of that bill.

Therefore, BMW concludes thatoperation of the 24/7 key replacementrequest line is as a suitable alternativeto providing key code information tolocksmiths and that this alternativemeans of providing key code informa-tion should be allowed to continue in-definitely.

BMW said their preference tocontinue the 24/7 key replacement re-quest line rather than provide key codeinformation to locksmiths becauseBMWs are one of the most frequentlystolen vehicles. BMW contends thatreleasing key code information, de-spite existing security measures, couldresult in increased theft risks, to thedetriment of BMW owners.

BMW also contends that very fewlocksmiths possess the sophisticatedequipment necessary to create elec-tronic keys for BMWs and other high-end vehicles and therefore, most BMWowners would need to use the 24/7 keyreplacement request line anyway.

Under the leadership of CAWAand AAIA, working in collaborationwith industry coalition partners in-cluding AAA, CARE, ASCCA, Cal-ABC, advocates were successful incommunicating concerns about mo-torists being inconvenienced and oftenstranded in dangerous situations be-cause of the inability to obtain a re-placement key from a locksmith dueto automakers refusal to provide thisinformation which helped convinceGovernor Brown to veto SB 750.

Arguing in opposition, the AutoClubs contend that this bill would ben-efit only a narrow group of foreignspecial interests and weaken the land-mark, bi-partisan consumer protectionlegislation that was approved by theCalifornia Legislature and supportedby consumer groups, police and firedepartments, cities, insurance compa-nies, and other civic, taxpayer, andbusiness organizations.

The Auto Clubs also contend that

the exemption and sunset clause in-cluded in SB 1542 was provided to givesufficient lead time for auto manufac-tures to come into compliance with thelaw. They note that even though theywere given this lead time, BMW hasfailed come into compliance, despitethe fact that over 90% of auto manu-facturers now provide key code infor-mation as required by the legislation.

Also arguing in opposition, theCalifornia Locksmiths Association(CLA) said claims by BMW that veryfew locksmiths possess the equipmentnecessary to create keys for high-endvehicles such as BMWs are untrue.CLA contends that a large number oflocksmiths (particularly in metropoli-tan areas) possess the appropriateequipment and can provide replace-ment keys or similar device for high-end vehicles within 1-2 hours at a costranging from $100 to $400.

The CLA also noted that lock-smiths carry a $1 million liability bondalong with other insurance and that forsome vehicles, such as Volvo andLexus, the transfer of key code data isdone wirelessly in such a way that thelocksmith is not able to view or haveaccess to the key code information atany time. CLA also notes that trans-mittal of key code data is tracked, so ifa code were to be used by an un-scrupulous locksmith to create a dupli-cate key, such activity would be easilytraced and the perpetrator easily iden-tified. Automotive wholesalers andthe automotive after-market industry,also arguing in opposition to the bill,contend that in some cases key code in-formation is utilized to affect vehiclerepair since information contained inelectronic keys are used to communi-cate with a vehicle's on-board diagnos-tic system. These groups claim that ifthe key code information is faulty ormissing, technicians must create a newkey or similar device to properly diag-nose problems and perform repairs. Itis argued that currently, this processcannot be accomplished for BMWs be-cause the key code information is notreleased.

Therefore, opponents of this billcontend that by withholding key codeinformation, BMW is essentially forc-ing BMW owners to have their vehi-cles serviced at dealerships, therebyeliminating the option for consumersto have their cars serviced at inde-pendent repair shops. The automotiverepair industry claims that this practiceviolates existing law, SB 1146 (Bur-ton), Chapter 1077, Statutes of 2000,

that ensures essential service, repairinformation, parts, and tools are madeavailable by vehicle manufacturers sothat vehicle owners have continued ac-cess to a competitive marketplace forautomotive service needs. The auto-motive repair industry has expressedconcerns that if this bill passes, othervehicle manufacturers may choose tooperate 24/7 key replacement requestlines which would broaden the ex-emption to other manufacturers, to thedetriment of consumers and the auto-motive industry.

CAWA and AAIA say the real suc-cess was in the grassroots participationand involvement by members of theseorganizations who wrote letters, sentfaxes and email and made phone callsurging a veto of the bill.

“This is a tremendous legislativevictory for the aftermarket with an un-believable final push to urge the Gov-ernor to veto this anti-consumer,anti-aftermarket bill,” stated RodneyK. Pierini, CAWA President & CEO.“The industry rallied with letters, faxesand emails to the Governor’s office.This grassroots lobbying effort, alongwith our professional lobbying effortis what made the difference for victory


Established by automotive legendCarroll Shelby, the Carroll ShelbyFoundation will honor the man whodevoted his time to helping childrenin need with the highly-anticipatedunveil of the exclusive Carroll Shelby“Commemorative Signature” Pro-gram. Dedicated to providing finan-cial support for children and medicalprofessionals to help overcome life-threatening health issues and contin-uing education among today’s youth,the Carroll Shelby Foundation willoffer this exclusive commemorativesignature program to raise money forits mission.

“The commemorative signatureprogram is a way to remember andcontinue Carroll’s good work,” saidJenni Shreeves, executive director ofthe Carroll Shelby Foundation. “Wehope people join us in the fight tohelp children at home and around theworld receive the medical treatmentand transplants they so desperatelydeserve, as well as the education theyneed.”

Enthusiasts will have the optionto receive the commemorative signa-ture on an assortment of exclusiveitems including signed art, sculptures,die-cast models, books and more.

Carroll Shelby FoundationUnveils Signature Program

Continued from Cover

Key Bill Vetoed

See Key Bill Vetoed, Page 31


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For many collision shops, spray paint-ing with compressed air means deal-ing with uncontrollable or difficult tocontrol variables, including tempera-ture, humidity and pressure.

“Compressed air is a problem be-cause air changes based on tempera-ture, altitude, and other variables thatcannot be readily controlled,” saysMichael Haydell, president of Hay-dell Industries. As a result, the viscos-ity of painting material also changeswith each use due to moisture andtemperature, as well as the build-up ofstatic electricity. Static makes the ma-terial do what it wants to do, not whatthe painter wants it to do.

Haydell Industries offers a solu-tion to this dilemma in the form oftheir NitroTech Spray Generator.Their vision is to “be the premierprovider of Innovative solutions andsystems for customers’ productivity,”and they achieve this through theirvalues of integrity, excellence, com-

munication and accountability.Haydell Industries was founded in

1986 by Michael Haydell as a manu-facturing representative company. Buttheir focus changed to the productionand distribution of nitrogen-based spraysystems in 2005. They also now sell avariety of shop equipment, includingindustrial paint booths and filters.

The use of inert nitrogen offerspainters a gas to spray with, providinga more consistent finish. This leads toa reduction in the use of wet materi-als, an increase in booth through-put,and a decrease in the cost of booth ex-haust filters. As an added bonus, theNitroTech Spray Generator is also en-vironmentally-friendly as it signifi-cantly reduces the VOCs and HAPsreleased into the air.

Haydell Industries separates theimpurities at a gas level to redirect theair’s properties, and by controlling thetemperature through their hose, theyare also able to control viscosity, while

using ionization processes to eliminatestatic electricity. This uses less paint asthe nitrogen allows the substrate to befully covered in fewer coats than canbe accomplished using compressed air.

Though an air compressor is stillnecessary to supply the NitroTechSpray Generator with compressed air,the compressed air is replaced by a per-fect fluid carrier of Nitrogen, Argonand/or Carbon Dioxide. The system caneasily be integrated into a shop’s exist-ing system without changing sprayequipment, processes or the preferredcoating. The only maintenance requiredfor Haydell’s Nitrogen system is achange of inlet air filters once a year.

Since Haydell Industries’ Ni-troTech Spray Generators reduce the useof materials by 30–50%, collision shopscan save up to 20–30% in material costsby integrating this technology into theirrepairs. Nitrogen spray also reduces ap-plication time by 30–50%, providingeven more savings in man hours.

Haydell Industries received theirpatent for the third generation of theirNitrogen Technology in May 2012.Michael Haydell proudly states, “Ournewest generation uses 250% lesscompressed air than the first genera-tion, making it 250% more efficient.”

Haydell Industries’ impressivelist of clientele includes Boeing, Mer-cedes-Benz and Hendricks MotorSports. Their website claims, “we aregaining momentum, ensuring we re-main in the forefront of any competi-tion, as we keep a firm hold onAdvanced Application Technologiesthrough our nationwide distributionnetwork...

Haydell Industries can be reached at:163 Pellerin RoadLafayette, LA 705601-800-877-43621-337-989-0307 (fax)[email protected]


The NitroTech Spray Generator Controls the Uncontrollable

with Chasidy Rae SiskCompany Connections

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


American Honda Motor Co, Inc. an-nounced the launch of the ProFirstbody shop recognition program onOct. 15. Open to both dealer-ownedand independent collision repair shops,the program is designed to promote thecorrect, complete, and safe repair ofHonda and Acura vehicles and providesupport to shops that have demon-strated a commitment to a high level ofcustomer care and satisfaction.

To qualify, shops must conduct aminimum number of transactionsusing OEConnection’s Collision-Link software, be a designated I-CAR Gold Class Professionals®

business, and have at least one per-son presently employed by the shopwho has completed the I-CAR course,Collision Repair for Honda and AcuraVehicles (HON01).“CollisionLink is a component of theProFirst program because of the nu-merous benefits it provides to bothshops and dealers, said Bill Lopez, Di-rector of OEM Program Developmentat OEConnection. “Through Colli-sionLink, shops can take advantage ofHonda’s Collision Select parts pro-gram, which enables them to use moregenuine Honda and Acura parts whilemanaging their overall repair costs.”Lopez added, “CollisionLink alsohelps to increase efficiencies and parts

ordering accuracy, which means fewerreturns, faster cycle times and, ulti-mately, more satisfied customers”

John Van Alstyne, I-CAR CEO& President stated, “The ProFirst bodyshop recognition program, in conjunc-tion with the I-CAR Gold Class Pro-fessionals designation, will alignparticipating shops with a training pro-gram that is meant to elevate the cus-tomer experience and enable shopemployees to work up to their full po-

tential.” Van Alstyne added, “Trainingand knowledge provide a platform forbusiness and personal excellence, gen-erating benefits for both the organiza-tion and the customer, includingincreased operational efficiencies, re-duced cycle times, minimized repairmistakes, and most importantly, com-plete and safe repairs.”

Qualifying shops will receive ahandsome plaque, a place on the shop-locator tool on the recently-launchedAmerican Honda consumer web site,free access to the Honda and Acuraparts catalog, parts bulletins, serviceand repair information, and more.

Shops will benefit through in-creased recognition of the shop’s pro-fessionalism, increased opportunity toreach more customers and the promo-tion of customer confidence and loy-alty.

To see full program details, go toprofirst.honda.com or profirst.acura.com.

Each shop must enroll as a sepa-rate entity at its place of business asthe ProFirst web site will manage the

shop’s access to the parts catalogsand service information.

Jim Roach, Senior Vice Presi-dent for American Honda’s Parts &Service Division noted, “We arepleased to be working with OECon-

nection and I-CAR for the ProFirstprogram. As the industry changes andautomotive technology changes, wemust make changes in our programs tokeep pace. ProFirst, and our associa-tion with both OEConnection and I-CAR, is a step in the right direction.ProFirst is a win / win for all involved,especially for Honda and Acura own-ers.”

For more information on the I-CARGold Class Professionals® program, visitthe I-CAR website (www.i-car.com) andclick on “Collision Repair Gold ClassProfessionals® “ under the “Training andRecognition” tab.

American Honda Launches ProFirst Shop Recognition Program CAWA Appoints Mike EldardChair of the CAWA Board of Direc-tors, Steve Sharp of WORLDPAC,has appointed Michael Eldard ofADVICS to the Association’s 2012Manufacturers Advisory Council. El-dard was most recently appointed asthe Western Region Account Man-ager of ADVICS and immediatelyprior to that he was a District Man-ager for 10 years with the AkebonoCorporation. He started in the indus-try as a counterman and eventuallybecame store manager before he en-tered the manufacturing segment ofthe industry with Cooper Industries.

Service King in Deer Valley, AZService King Collision Repair Centerson Monday announced the opening ofa new shop location in Deer Valley,AZ. Service King’s new 12,000-square-foot Deer Valley location is itsninth collision repair center in Arizona.The shop—which was established as aresult of Service King’s national ex-pansion effort—currently has eightemployees, but will eventually expandto a 20-employee operation, the com-pany said. “Our insurance partnersneeded help to handle the many cus-tomers they have in the area,” saidspokesman Chris Anderson.

Honda has developed some new tech-nology for vehicle construction, andthey have applied it for the first timein the world to a mass-production ve-hicle; and not just any mass-produc-tion vehicle, the Honda Accord, one ofthe top-five selling vehicles in theUnited States.

The newly redesigned 2013Honda Accord went on sale in theUnited States on September 19, and itsconstruction is the result of Honda’snext-generation Advanced Compati-bility Engineering (ACE) body struc-ture which utilizes the new weldingtechnique as well as hot-stamped andother ultra-high strength steels to buildits cabin structure.

The Accord’s subframe is madewith a combination of steel and alu-minum joined together with a processcalled Friction Stir Welding (FSW).The continuous weld technology gen-erates a stable metallic bond betweensteel and aluminum by moving a ro-

tating tool on the top of the aluminumwhich is lapped over the steel withhigh pressure. Honda says the result-ing weld strength is equal to or greaterthan conventional MIG welding.

Honda also developed a non-de-structive inspection system for qualitycontrol that uses a highly-sensitive in-frared camera and laser beam to in-spect every unit. The carmaker saysthe Friction Stir Welding system it de-veloped for this process can be also beused for aluminum-to-aluminumwelding and could be used for pro-duction of a full-aluminum subframe.

The subframe however, shouldnot cause many repairability issues ac-cording to I-CAR Technical Director

Jason Bartanen, asHonda provides no re-pair procedures at all forthe part, and specifiescomplete replacementonly.

“What will cause someissues is the high strengthsteel used in this car’sbody structure,” saidBartanen speaking fromthe I-CAR Tech Centre inAppleton, Wisconsin.

The newly redesigned2013 Accord body uses

55.8% high-tensile steel, more than inany previous Accord. And 17.2-per-cent of the steel is grade 780, 980 and1,500 MPa, extremely high gradesthat have never before been used inany Accord, and in fact, very fewother cars, according to Bartanen.

“This is one of the first cars touse such high strength steel (1500MPa) in its body structure,” says Bar-tanen. “Most applications only use itonly for bumper beams. But the new

Accord uses ultra-high strength steelin its A pillar and B pillar reinforce-ments as well as its rocker reinforce-ments. Honda is requiring MIGbrazing only in these areas.

While Honda is not the very firstto build such a body structure, none ofthe previous vehicles even come closeto the sales volume of the Accord.“The Volvo XC60 is also using similarultra-high strength steel (1,500 MPa)in the structure,” Bartanen noted.

The Accord has historically soldbetween 250,000 and 400,000 units ayear compared to XC60 sales of ap-proximately 25,000.

Bartanen said I-CAR is currentlyupdating its Honda andAcura training avail-able online. The newAccord will be coveredin I-CAR’s CollisionRepair Overview forHonda and Acura Vehi-cles (HON01) andshould be availablewithin the next fewmonths.

“We have an Ac-cord body in white on

its way here right now,” Bartanennoted. “We are going to paint it toshow the various steels used in this carand prepare it for display at the SEMAshow.”

The ninth generation Accord,which also contains Forward CollisionWarning and Lane Departure Warningtechnologies, officially debuted atdealerships across the U.S. on Sep-tember 19 at a base price of $21,680plus destination charge.


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Honda Develops New Welding Technology, UHSS Structure for 2013 Accord

Matrix Electronic Measuring, Inc. Awarded Two PatentsMatrix Electronic Measuring Inc., adeveloper of advanced measuring de-vices for the automotive collision re-pair industry, has obtained two patentsfor its new vehicle measurement sys-tem called the Matrix Wand.

Rob Bailey, director of sales en-gineering and business developmentfor Matrix Electronic Measuring Inc.,details how the Matrix Wand adds ef-ficiency and quality to shop estimat-ing procedures. Watch now »

The Matrix Wand is a handheldvehicle measurement device used forestimating structural collision damage.The tool, which was publicly launchedin April, uses two cameras that capturethree-dimensional images of vehicledamage. Estimators can use the imagesto measure all damage on a vehicle’sbody and engine components, revealhidden damage, verify repair qualityand enable predictive wheel alignment.

Matrix has been awarded twopatents for the measurement systemand method, which was developed byGuidelight Business Solutions, aglobal business and enterprise appli-cation development company basedin Austin, Texas. Matrix has twomore patents pending on the tool,which the company expects to beawarded soon.

With ownership of the patents,Guidelight said Matrix will be able toreduce the number of competitors inthe market and obtain revenue from li-censing.

“The patented innovations Guide-light has developed for Matrix pushesthe Matrix Wand to the forefront of theburgeoning marketing of vision sys-tems and augmented reality,” saidGeorge Stevens, CEO of Guidelight.

For more information about theMatrix Wand, visit thematrixwand.com.


Drew Auto Center in La Mesa, CA,held a free extrication demonstrationand seminar on Sept. 22.

I-CAR instructor and weldingspecialist Toby Chess and SteveCarpenter, extrication specialist-in-structor, led the hands-on demonstra-tions after a one-hour seminar on howto efficiently and safely cut throughdamaged and mangled late model andhybrid vehicles.

Toby has trained more than2,000 firefighters across the countryon the techniques to quickly andsafely work with new and late modelcars and how to find the weakest

spots on the frames of vehicles madewith high strength steel.

Steve Carpenter also providedstate-of-the-art training equipment fromHolmantro Rescue Tools.

Over 35 Firefighters from ElCajon, Alpine, La Mesa, Lemon Groveand Ramona attended the event andwere able to work on multiple dam-aged vehicles that were donated by theinsurance company sponsors.

Brian Boggeln, Captain of theAlpine Fire Protection District said,“This type of hands-on training is in-valuable for our first responders. We re-ally appreciate getting this opportunity.”

Drew Ford sponsored the freeseminar for firefighters, EMTs, policeand first responders. The seminar was

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Autowrecking, Wawanesa Insurance,FinishMaster, Kent Automotive,Galaxy Towing, and the CaliforniaAutobody Association. Multiple vehi-cles were donated for attendees topractice cutting on.

“We put a lot of effort into thisevent and we’re happy with the turnout.It’s critical that our first responders getthis type of hands-on training,” saidLarry Houk, Drew Collision-Fix Autoand Glass Manager.

Bill Drew, President, added,“We’re happy to host the event. This isour way of giving back to the com-munity.”


For some months now, people keepasking me why I haven’t recently con-tributed to Autobody News. The an-swer is simple, I didn’t feel I hadanything interesting or of value towrite about. This changed a fewweeks ago.

As a paint manufacturer’s rep,there is not a month that goes by with-out being put in the middle of colli-sion repairers and insurers, expectedto chime in on a dispute about what isnecessary for a proper repair. One ofmy customers called and informed methat an insurance agent declined topay for priming or sealing new e-coated parts. The agent told my cus-tomer that sealing or priming newparts wasn’t a necessary step in aproper repair process. Anybody thatknows me well will not be surprisedto learn that I got very excited aboutthis statement. How can someone inour industry make such an irresponsi-ble statement? And then I leaned backand thought about this for a moment.During the course of a year, I visithundreds of shops and have witnessedthis exact procedure performed moreoften than I cared to admit. By sim-ply looking around our industry, aninsurance agent that likely never hadto repair a vehicle for a living couldeasily get the impression that sealingor priming new parts is an optional,but not necessary, step in a repairprocess. I feel comfortable about thefact that most, if not all major paintmanufacturers will agree with me,painting directly over e-coat is not arecommended repair process. Fur-thermore, paint failure as a result ofthis practice would not be covered bymost manufacturer’s warranties.

There are several problems withpainting directly over e-coated parts.Although OEM e-coat is an excellentcorrosion protection coating (not sureabout some of the aftermarket parts),e-coat contains no UV protectionpackage. E-coat is generally epoxybased and unless completely shieldedfrom UV rays, its surface can becomeunstable, resulting in paint layer sepa-ration and peeling. Some of the new-bies in our industry may notremember the early 90’, but many ofus do. How many GM and Chrysler

factory paint peelers did you repair inyour professional career? These carsand trucks peeled for the same reason,UV exposure to the e-coated surface.If you repaired one of these vehicles,you likely remember that the surfaceof the vehicle was powdery after youpeeled of the paint layer. This pow-dery subtends that easily rubbed offonto your fingers was the top layer ofdeteriorated e-coat.

Just put enough paint on it andyou should be fine, right? I wish itwere that easy. The first problem withthis thought process is: how much isenough? Are you thinking 4, 5, or 6coats of paint? 8 to 10 coats on somereds? The truth is that no one knowswhen full coverage is achieved duringthe paint process. Take a piece of glassand paint it with basecoat and clear.After it cured completely, hold it up tothe sun and see if any light penetratesthrough. Attempting this exercise willquickly demonstrate that this ap-proach doesn’t work. It takes muchmore paint than anticipated before100% coverage is achieved throughbasecoat application. Protecting theintegrity of your work through sealingor priming instantly emerges as amore cost effective solution. And ifcost wouldn’t be a factor, the resultinghigh film build of basecoat colorwould present a paint problem of itsown.

The next issue with painting di-rectly over e-coat is stone ship resist-ance. E-coat is a very hard coating.The difference in hardness between e-coat and basecoat is too great for along lasting paint finish. The applica-tion of a primer or sealer to the e-coatwill bridge this cap. Although there isno way of fully preventing rock chipsfrom happening, a sealed or primedsurface will outperform an e-coatedsurface after impact by a large margin.

The last point I like to make is thesurface prep. E-coat is a hard surfaceand sanding it can be a workout. 90%of shops will use a DA sander to prepthe e-coated surface. If you don’t sealor prime the part, how do you know ifyou left enough e-coat behind forproper corrosion protection? Most e-coat layers are only 0.5 to 1 mil tostart with. My observations suggest

that 70% of all sanded e-coat surfacesdisplay some level of transparency orbare metal surfaces. Unfortunately, Ihave seen people paint right over thattoo.

When asked why, the most fre-quent explanation I receive fromshops that paint directly over e-coat iscycle time. Shops don’t feel that theycan afford to give up the time to sealparts in the booth. While I appreciatethe value of cycle time and boothhours, it is no excuse for painting di-rectly over e-coat. Nobody says youhave to do it as a part of your finalpaint work, in a matter of fact, Istrongly advice against it. I proposesealing parts ahead of time, ideally aspart of the cut-in process. Put onegood coat of sealer on the outside ofthe part, let it flash off to a point thatyou can safely turn them over and cut-in the rest. All the shop has to do afterhanging the part is giving the sealer alight scuff by hand for adhesion, clean

and paint. This process allows theshop to maintain booth KPIs and putout a quality repair at the same time.As an added bonus, you will also im-prove coverage and color match aswell.


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Stefan Gesterkamp is a Master Craftsman and BASF representative who has been inthe automotive paint industry for 27 years. He started his career in a custom shopbefore turning to collision repair. Stefan graduated from the University of Coatingsand Colorants in Germany and is the author of “How to Paint Your Show Car.”

A public memorial was held Satur-day, Oct. 19, for longtime Fremontmechanical shop owner John Dono-van, 60, who ran Mowry AutomotiveCenter for 25 years. He passed awayOct. 3 from cardiac arrest, the Fre-mont Argus reports. The memorialwas held 5 p.m. Saturday at theAlameda County Veterans MemorialPark, located at the corner of PaseoPadre Parkway and Walnut Avenue.

“John [was] the best, most hon-est, and nicest mechanic around,” onelongtime customer told mediasources. A memorial is currently inplace at the body shop, located at5100 Mowry Ave.

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During his keynote address at the 2012International Autobody Congress &Exposition (NACE) in New Orleans,LA, former CARSTAR CEO DickCross offered his corollary to a Ma-hatma Gandhi quote by telling a crowdof 800 attendees, “A business is but theproduct of the CEO’s thoughts. Whatshe thinks, it becomes.”

It’s a concept NACE organizersthemselves may need to keep in mindas they acknowledged that while thisyear’s show offered “some big wins,”it also was down slightly in terms ofboth exhibitors and attendees.

Twenty minutes, three times a weekCross kicked off the event by sayingthat although the business successesthat he’s had that were cited in his in-troduction are true, his career has notbeen a “charmed path.”

“I have probably over two-and-a-half decades made every business mis-take that everyone in this audiences hasmade, and maybe even some of themthat you would never make,” Cross said.“Unintentionally, I have made decisionsthat have hurt business performance. Ihave failed to create circumstances thatwould allow everyone to make theircontribution to the cause. I have termi-nated people that I have wondered in theaftermath whether it was the right thingto do. There were times in my careerwhen I hesitated to lay my job as CEOon the line, to stand my ground for whatI knew was right. But as painful as allthose things are to remember and thinkabout, they are the things that drove myobsession to understand and to becomevery good at the job at the top.”

In addition to leading CARSTARfrom 2005–10, Cross has been broughtin by private equity firms to run a half-dozen other under-performing compa-nies, and through his consulting firm,he said he’s helped more than 150 otherCEOs improve their company’s per-formance. He said one of the biggestfailings he sees among many businessowners and CEOs is not regularly set-ting aside time to just think about thebusiness.

“For most of us in this room,thinking is the hardest work that wehave to do,” he said. “If there’s any-thing else to occupy our time besides

thinking, we’ll generally be doing it.My observation is that about 90% ofthe time, most of the CEOs in theUnited States are doing things thathave nothing to do with this job at thetop. But thinking helps you understandwhat the possibilities of your businesscould be, and helps you to understandgenerally how to make it happen.”

He offered several “big picture”ways that CEOs should think about thebusiness. For example, he said that busi-nesses are like products in that they havea life cycle; they begin with an idea, anembryo, and then some go on to growand mature. Whether they go on to con-tinued success or wither and die, Crosssaid, is often up to the person at the top,who can either get complacent andcoast—usually leading to the com-pany’s demise—or who can restart thecycle by finding a new set of customersfor the business or by finding other waysto serve the needs of existing customers.

Cross said good CEOs also recog-nize the difference between leadershipand management. Leadership, he said,sets in front of others very enticinggoals and helps make them want tohelp achieve those things. Managementis only about assembling the resourcesneeded to execute on that vision.

At CARSTAR, he cited as an ex-ample, he worked to help everyone inthe organization realize their purposewasn’t to just fix cars.

“The purpose of CARSTAR be-came: We help people though a crisisin their lives,” Cross said.

The kind of thinking that makes

companies succeed, Cross said, can beaccomplished by those at the top whoset aside 20 minutes a day, three daysa week, to tune out other day-to-daydistractions and just think about thebusiness.

“Running a business is not a full-time job,” Cross said. “You probablyspend most of your time doing otherstuff, stuff that others ought to be doingthemselves rather than having you do it.But you can do a great job running yourbusiness 20 minutes, a day three days aweek, thinking about those things.”

Show leaders offer their viewTwo years after shifting away from hold-ing NACE in Las Vegas each fall, eventorganizers cited a number of reasons at-tendance may have been down this year,from the still-slowly-recovering econ-omy to the New Orleans location, whichhas fewer shops than Orlando within aneasy-to-drive distance.

“Attendance at all the key (show)

events was up,” Lindsay Roberts ofHanley Wood, who manages the showfor its sponsor, the Automotive ServiceAssociation, said just hours before theshow closed. “We had some major play-ers who hadn’t exhibited at the show fora while. We got some of the paint com-panies back. We got some of the OEMsback. But we are a little disappointed.Total attendance is going to be down. It’spretty hard to compare to the Orlandolast year where we up over 20% from the2010 event. We had really hoped wewould see that growth through to thisyear. We’ll release final numbers proba-bly within the next five to seven days.But we do think we’re going to beslightly down over last year.”

But Roberts chiefly cited a con-tinued decline in the number of com-panies exhibiting at the show, whichis down about 17% from as recentlyas 2010.

“What we need is more product,


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Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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

Dick Cross, former CEO of CARSTAR, presentedconcepts from his book, “Just Run It!” Copieson display sold out quickly

See NACE Keynote Speech, Page 30


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Collision repair professionals fromacross North America came together re-cently at NACE in New Orleans, LA,to network, see the latest and greatest inequipment and products, and to con-template a smaller but still high-qualityevent. Some 225 companies occupied50,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space but atten-dees were fewer in number from lastyear’s Orlando venue.

“It was a great pleasure to haveDick Cross open the 30th Anniver-sary general session,” said Ron Pyle,ASA president. “He delivered a prac-tical and easy-to-implement plan forsuccess. I am sure everyone in atten-dance agrees that he was extremelymotivational and an excellent choiceto kick off this very special ASRW.”

Leadership and Management TacticsNACE began October 10 with a seriesof seminars and lectures regardingsales tactics and innovation of paintand materials, including The Art of theDeal—Acquiring and DevelopingNew Locations; Marketing to Genera-tions X and Y; and Paint and Materi-als: The Paradigm Shift.

The afternoon sessions saw afocus on leadership, delegation andcustomer management tactics, aimedat retaining and appeasing your staffand customers. Seminars includedLeadership Best Practices—How toInspire, Delegate and Coach YourTeam to Success, by Mike Anderson;Calming and Retaining Angry Cus-tomers, by Margie Seyfer and Guiltby Association—Defining Your Image,by Tony Nethery. Kurt Lammon ofUrethane Supply Company instructedviewers on how to properly weld plas-tic with nitrogen, while Dan Espersenof ALLDATA taught the best practicalapplications of OEM Information.

I-CAR spokesmen Bob Zelanoand Jeff Poole ran afternoon seminarson Corrosion Protection and Haz-ardous Materials, Personal Safety andRefinish Safety, respectively.

The first day of NACE wascapped off with the Assembly, a con-fidential, closed-door forum for colli-sion repairers.

Profit BuildingNACE continued with tutorials,demonstrations and information per-taining to every aspect of the collisionrepair industry. The exposition portionof the event also opened at 10:00 am,offering the latest products, services

and technologies from industry leaders.The Profit Building Pavilion

portion of the exposition showcasedvendors with customer-driven prod-ucts, such as Autoshop Solutions, De-mandforce, Mudlick Mail Co. and NetDriven Media.

The morning of Oct. 10 saw sev-eral seminars headed by I-CAR. BobZelano ran a seminar on automotivefoams and Tony Nethery instructedparticipants on proper measuringmethods.

Educational highlights included I-CAR representative Shawn Collins’sworkshop on Blueprinting Process andDamage Discovery, (BLU01); I-CAR’sBob Zelano presenting the Steel Unit-

ized Structures Technologies and Repairclass and Bryan Dodge of Dodge De-velopment’s presentation on balancingyour work and life.

Blueprinting Process and Damage Dis-coveryThis new course provided an interac-tive training experience and was filledto capacity during both sessions. I-CAR offered special premiere pricingfor this course launch with a cost sav-ings of $56 for standard pricing.

The new Live Demo coursedemonstrates I-CAR’s commitmentto increased student interaction inthe classroom and uses an actual ve-hicle to demonstrate technique whileengaging students in the learningprocess.

Rich Southerland of Alldata at-tended the Thursday premiere of Blue-printing Process and DamageDiscovery and stated, “This is the bestI-CAR class I’ve attended. I couldn’timagine how this would not benefitany tech or shop employee.”

The course led students be-yond the disassembly of dam-aged parts to help themuncover hidden damage thatcan impact the repair processand provided a number ofdemonstrations, includingquick checks and implementa-tion tips. Students who at-tended the course gained anunderstanding of the definitionof the blueprinting process and

how the process can help improve re-pair quality through a standardized ap-proach to collision repair planning.

The day wound down with theASRW Welcome Party, sponsoredby CCC, was held at the iconic MardiGras World venue, basically a ware-house of larger than life charactersused on floats and in Mardi Grasthemed events. Attendees were touredthrough the warehouse where Mardi

Gras floats are manufactured, andended up at the Grand Oaks Mansionnext door where some excellent localdishes were offered.

NACE events on Oct. 11 endedwith the ASRW Industry Awardsceremony completing the second dayof NACE. The ceremony was held atthe National World War Two museum.

The NACE conference continuedon Oct. 11 with several I-CAR seminars,human resource tutorials and team de-velopment clinics. The ASRW CollisionForum also took place in the morning.

MSO SymposiumThe ten-and-a-half-hour MSO (Multi-store operators) Symposium hosted byMatthew Ohrnstein of Symphony Ad-visors took place Friday. The sympo-sium spanned the duration of theNACE Friday schedule and was com-prised of five panels that aimed to helpmulti-store business owners, many ofwhom take over failing operations inorder to rejuvenate them, improve as-pects of their businesses includingculture, branding, customer relations,leadership and finance.


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See Fewer People, Page 30

NACE Sees Fewer People, But Quality Events

Ron Pyle, ASA President and ASRW Chair

Margie Seyfer presenting Calming andRetaining Angry Customers


more exhibitors on the show floor,”Roberts said. “We need to give atten-dees three days worth of product andpeople to network with. We need theexecutives from these major compa-nies who were here walking the aislesto have booth space on the show floorand to support the show.”

She did say that more than 40companies have already signed on fornext year’s event, up one-third from thenumber who had signed contracts forthis year’s show during the 2011 event.

But NACE organizers have alsogiven themselves the added challengeof holding the 2013 event in Las Vegasnext October 16–19—in the same cityjust two weeks before SEMA, whichhas been working to attract collisionrepair industry exhibitors and atten-dees.

That may have been one of thereasons NACE organizers took the un-precedented step of also announcingthat two years from now, NACE willagain be on the east coast, returning tothe city that hosted the very firstNACE back in 1983: Nashville, TN.

The MSO Symposium also in-cluded networking opportunities forowners, and ended with a networkingreception in the evening.

Shawn Collins held his secondseminar on Blueprinting Process andDamage Discovery, while Bob Zelanotaught the second Structural Straight-ening Steel seminar, both hosted by I-CAR. The seminars were add-oneducational seminars available on bothThursday and Friday. OEMs includingGeneral Motors, Toyota and Nissan allsponsored booths during the show, of-fering promotional giveaways andshowcasing new products.

Expo FloorSome highlights from the on-floor demoarea included exhibits from InnovaElectronics Corp. on how their CarScantools benefit shops and CAS of NewEngland revealing The Truth About Pro-gramming in Today’s Vehicles.

Kaeser Compressors created an in-formative technical (not sales-oriented)presentation titled “Compressed Air Re-quirements for Waterborne Paints.” Itwas held October 10 to help repairers

make practical choices for their shops.Topics included: sources of moistureand contaminants, air system compo-nents that affect paints and finishes, the

impact of air amplifiers and more.Some workshops on Friday after-

noon focused on the financial aspectof collision repair. Mike Anderson ofCollisonAdvice.com spoke on meas-uring performance in Financial BestPractices. Dan Stander of FIX AutoHighland Ranch moderated The Keysto Successful Estimating! panel, inwhich data providers addressed audi-ence questions.

Denise Caspersen of ASA andMelissa Miller of CARSTAR encour-aged women to be courageous leadersin their seminar, one of several in the

Women’s Professional Developmenttrack of NACE. (See story this issue.)

Twenty 2.0 peer benchmarkingA new-to-NACE-this-year, Twenty 2.0peer benchmarking event was attendedby about 20 repairers and ran on Fri-day afternoon hosted by keynotespeaker Dick Cross.

Twenty 2.0 is/was a peer bench-marking/virtual 20 group concept, ap-plicable to both mechanicalservice/repair and collision repairshop owners focused on doing “thejob at the top.” The 90-minute sessionbegan with a half hour introductorysession, followed by an hour-longbreakout session. All participants hadthe opportunity to enroll in the formal(ongoing) Twenty 2.0 virtual 20 groupat the conclusion of the session.

“Shop owners interested in obtain-ing the value of participating in a 20group process with a non-traditionaltime or financial investment won’twant to miss this unique session,” saidASA president Ron Pyle in advance ofthe event. “We’ve taken the 20 groupconcept and upgraded it to the digitalage. Participants who formally enrollwill receive all the benefits of belong-ing to a 20 group, with a virtual twist.”


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Continued from Page 28

Fewer PeopleContinued from Page 26

NACE Keynote Speech

in this long drawn-out battle.”“While the veto of SB 750 is a

victory for the independent repair in-dustry and for locksmiths, it is most ofall a victory for the state’s consumerswho will have convenient access to thekey codes for their vehicles just as thestate legislature had mandated in2006,” stated Aaron Lowe, AAIAVice President of Government Affairs.

John Burton, Chair of CADEMsent a letter supporting the veto, whichread in part:

“In 2000, I authored SB 1146 thatallowed independent repair shops tohave the information necessary toservice their customers’ vehicles. Thismeasure was strongly opposed by theauto industry and dealers that werebenefiting from the exclusivity theyhad to deal with motor vehicles com-puter access codes, etc. It is no secretthat the manufacturers and dealershave a vested interest in keeping thesemotor vehicles computer access codesand tools to themselves because theyhave a captive customer base.

“Statement of policy for SB 1146

was that it was important “to encour-age competition so that consumershave choices available to them in theservice, repair, and parts used in theservice or repair of motor vehicles.”

“The bill took almost two years topass, and there were several negotia-tions with manufacturers, includingprotection for certain proprietary infor-mation.

“In 2006, Senator Migden passedSB 1542, which was sponsored by theAutomobile Clubs, to provide vehicleseffective means of obtaining replace-ment ignition keys in a secure and con-venient manner. Given that more andmore vehicles were designed with“smart keys,” it made it necessary forlocksmiths to have the key code infor-mation from the manufacturers.

“The proponents of SB 1542 pre-sented numerous examples in whichcustomers were greatly inconveniencedwhen locksmiths were unable to createkeys because the manufacturers re-fused to provide them with key codeinformation.

“In some situations, vehicles own-ers were left stranded in unsafe situa-tions or forced to have their vehiclestowed to dealerships, sometimes atgreat distance and expenses, for re-

placement keys. In many of these ex-amples, vehicle owners had to wait along time for their keys to be made bymanufacturers and were forced to payexceptionally high prices.

“BMW sought an exemption toexempt certain manufacturers until2013 from the requirement to providekey information for locksmiths as longas the manufacturers provide a 24/7telephone or electronic request line inwhich the owners could request thekeys within one day via overnight de-livery. The manufacturers who quali-fied for the exemption were all foreignmanufacturers - BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Land Rovers, andPorsche.

“The three-year exemption for theforeign manufacturers was to givethem lead time to perfect theirprocesses in order to comply with thelaw. 90% of the automakers had com-plied with the law. Only it seems thatBMW has refused to do so.

“If I were locked out of my car orlost my key, I would rather have an im-mediate locksmith on duty as opposedto waiting 24 hours to wait for a UPSor FedEx package to come to me. Alocksmith costs between $100 to $400for the replacement. The cost of a deal-

ership replacement key is from $300 to$500 plus towing charges. Locksmithassociation notes that locksmiths carrya $1 million liability bond alone andother insurance. For vehicles such asVolvo and Lexus, the key code transferis done wirelessly. The locksmith doesnot view or have access to the code in-formation.

“The total elimination of the sun-set provides BMW with, if you wouldpardon the pun, a lock on all of its cus-tomers who may have lost their keys. Ipersonally don’t think this is fair. Also,waiting for your keys to be Fed Ex’edin 24 hours versus having a locksmithshow up within a half an hour or anhour is an easy call.

“BMW does claim that out of over400 something people who lost theirkeys, only one did not receive theirkeys within 24 hours. Again, thatseems to be no reason to give BMW amonopoly for replacement keys. Alsoindividual car owners would have theability to go with the 24-hour key re-placement, including the possibility ofhaving the automobile towed at apretty stiff cost, or to call a locksmith.Again, this is a customer’s free choice.I would respectfully request that thismeasure be vetoed.”


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AUTOMAKER, OEM, AND RECALLAUTOMAKER, OEM, AND RECALL

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Honda Recalls 820,000 Civics,Pilots Over Headlight ProblemHonda recently expanded itsMarch recall of vehicles with alow-beam headlight wiring issue toinclude 820,000 Civics and Pilotsin North America, its second bigexpansion of a recall in recentdays.

“[A] potential failure with thewiring of the headlight switch ...may cause the low-beam head-lights to become inoperative” inthe model-year 2002-2003 Civicsedans and 2004-2005 Pilot sportsutility vehicles that have beenadded to the recall, the carmakersaid in a statement. Meanwhile,some 550,000 model-year 2002-2004 CR-Vs and 2003 Pilots werethe vehicles named in the initial re-call in March.

Honda said the low-beamproblem could “increase the risk ofa crash,” but stated that “no crashesor injuries have been reported re-lated to this issue.” The companyadvised owners of the models inquestion to take their cars to author-ized Honda dealers for inspectionand replacement of components inthe headlight wiring system if nec-essary.

Honda also recently expandeda May recall related to a leakypower steering hose to include572,000 model-year 2003-2007Accord V6 cars in the U.S., in ad-dition to the 2007-2008 Acura TLmodels in the original recall.

High temperatures under thehood on those models can causethe power steering hose to crackand leak fluid that could causesmoke or even a fire. Honda saidone engine fire had been reportedbut no reported accidents or in-juries had occurred as a result ofthe problem.

The carmaker said owners ofvehicles being recalled for thepower steering hose issue wouldn'tbe able to have their cars fixeduntil early 2013 due to a shortageof parts.

The company said it beganmailing customers about the low-beam recall in late September.

General Motors Co. is recalling about41,000 Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturncars in the United States because ofconcerns that a defective plastic partmight cause a fuel leak, according tothe National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration. GM’s latest movefollows the company’s recall of473,841 Chevrolet, Pontiac and Sat-urns in September to fix a conditionthat could lead the cars to move whenthe drivers think they are in park. Po-tentially, 40,859 vehicles sold inArkansas, Arizona, California,Florida, Nevada, Oklahoma, or Texascould be affected in the latest recall.

GM Recalls 41,000 Chevy, Pon-tiac and Saturns Over Fuel Leak

Chrysler Halts Tests Plug-insAfter Batteries OverheatChrysler Group LLC temporarily sus-pended testing of its fleet of advancedplug-in hybrid electric vehicles afterthree of the pickups were damagedwhen their prototype lithium-ion bat-teries overheated.

The trucks were unoccupiedwhen the incidents occurred, and noone was injured. But the automakerwill replace the batteries in the testvehicles with units that use a differentchemistry.

“Hiccups happen. We’re disap-pointed, but it by no means spells theend of the program,” said Chryslerspokesman Eric Mayne.

The pickups are part of a fleet of109 trucks being evaluated by theAuburn Hills automaker and a group ofutility companies and municipalitiesacross 20 states. It is part of a programjointly funded by Chrysler and the U.S.Department of Energy.

They include the first-ever factory-produced vehicles capable of reversepower flow. The experimental systemwould allow fleet operators to use theirplug-in hybrids to supply electricity fora building during a power outage, re-duce power usage when electric ratesare high or even sell electricity back totheir utility company.

“You can link them all togetherand establish your own mini grid,”Mayne said.

Chevy Dealer Sells Car forWrong Price, Buyer ArrestedA Virginia man spent four hours in jailafter purchasing a Chevrolet Traversefrom Priority Chevrolet in Chesa-peake, VA. The dealer’s sales staff ac-cidentally sold the SUV to DannySawyer for $5,600 less than theyshould have, and when Sawyer re-fused to sign a new, more expensivecontract for the correct amount, thedealership called the local police al-leging the buyer had stolen the vehi-cle. Law enforcement then pickedSawyer up and held him for four hoursbefore getting the situation straight.

Dennis Ellmer, president of Pri-ority Chevrolet, says he owes Sawyeran apology on behalf of the dealership,and had intended to do right by thebuyer by letting him have the vehicleat the agreed-upon price. But Sawyer’slawyer says it’s a little too late for say-ing sorry. The briefly-incarceratedowner has filed two lawsuits againstthe dealer, accusing the business of ma-licious prosecution, slander, defama-tion and abuse of process. All told, thesuits seek a total of $2.2 million indamages, plus attorney fees. That$5,600 seems awfully cheap now.

GM Recalls SaturnsGeneral Motors is recalling certainmodel year 2007-2010 Saturn Auraand model year 2008-2010 ChevroletMalibu and Pontiac G6 vehicles,equipped with a 4-speed automatictransmission. On these vehicles, thetabs on the transmission shift cableend may fracture and separate.

If the tabs were to fracture andseparate, the shift lever and the actualposition of the transmission gear maynot match. The driver would be ableto move the shifter to PARK and re-move the ignition key, but the trans-mission gear may not be in PARK.The vehicle may not be able to berestarted and the vehicle could rollaway after the driver has exited thevehicle, resulting in a possible crashwithout prior warning. GM will no-tify owners, and dealers will install aretainer over the cable end or replacethe shift cable as necessary. This serv-ice will be performed free of charge.

Dodge Charger As All-WheelDrive Enters Police MarketChrysler Group is upping the ante in thebattle for the police cruiser market, of-fering a new all-wheel-drive version ofits Dodge Charger Pursuit sedanequipped with a powerful 5.7-literHEMI V-8.

“Adding available all-wheel-drivecapability to the already popular DodgeCharger Pursuit will broaden theCharger’s appeal to police departmentsthat are accustomed to dealing withrough winters and adverse weather con-ditions,” said Peter Grady, vice presi-dent in charge of fleet operations for theAuburn Hills automaker.

“With the Charger Pursuit now of-fering dual capability of both rear- andall-wheel-drive, we’ll be able to meetthe needs of our police fleet customersacross the country.”

The all-wheel-drive version willbe equipped with the same engine as theHEMI-powered rear-wheel-drivemodel that achieved the fastest-ever laptime at the 2012 Michigan State Police’sVehicle Evaluation Test at GrattanRaceway in Michigan. The engine de-livers 370 horsepower and 390 lb.-ft. oftorque.

GM Recalling Some SonicsGeneral Motors is recalling certainmodel year 2013 Chevrolet Sonic ve-hicles manufactured from May 29,2012, through August 29, 2012.When a turn signal lamp fails to op-erate, the Body Control Module inthese vehicles does not detect thiscondition and will not indicate thecondition to the driver. These vehiclesfail to conform to Federal Motor Ve-hicle Safety Standard No. 108,“Lamps, Reflective Devices, and As-sociated Equipment.”

If the driver is not aware that theturn signal is not functioning anddoes not have the light repaired, otherdrivers may not be alerted that the ve-hicle is turning, increasing the risk ofa crash. GM will notify owners, anddealers will reprogram the BCM andthe vehicle’s key fobs, free of charge.The safety recall began on October 3,2012.


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Chrysler Sales Up for Smalland Mid-Sized CarsStrong sales of small and mid-sizedcars propelled Chrysler Group to itsbest September since 2007 and its30th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.

The automaker sold 142,041units last month, up 12% from Sep-tember 2011.

Car sales rose 27% to 42,050,while sales of light trucks climbed6% to 99,991.

Through September, ChryslerGroup’s sales totaled 1,250,670, up24%.

All of the automaker’s brandsposted gains in September, with Ramrecording the smallest gain at 4% andFiat the largest at 51%. Chrysler saidsix of its vehicles had record Sep-tember sales.

“With our current productlineup, record low interest rates anda stable U.S. economy, we remainoptimistic about the health of theU.S. new vehicle sales industry andour position in it,” Reid Bigland,Chrysler’s head of U.S. sales, said ina statement.

The Dodge Avenger recordedthe largest gain last month, up 89%to 8,716 units. Sales of the Fiat 500also rose sharply, climbing 51%.

General Motors said it will hire 3,000Hewlett-Packard Co. employees aspart of its ongoing effort to bringmost information-technology workback in-house.

The hiring will be part of a newmulti-year software and servicesagreement between the two compa-nies. GM described the deal as “cost-neutral,” but it did not provide anyadditional details on the size or lengthof the contract or where the workerswill be located.

The employees being hired al-ready work on GM’s business at HPand are expected to be on GM’s pay-roll within six months. An undis-closed number of HP employeescurrently assigned to GM are not af-fected, the companies said.

“These agreements with HP willenable us to accelerate the progress ofour IT transformation by delivering in-creased innovation and speed of deliv-ery to our GM business partners, andreduce the cost of ongoing IT opera-tions,” Randy Mott, GM’s chief in-formation officer, said in the statement.

GM Will Hire 3,000 HP Workers toBring Info Tech Work in-house

Toyota to Add 21 New Hybridsin Next Three YearsToyota Motor Corp. is boosting itsgreen vehicle lineup, with 21 new hy-brids in the next three years, a newelectric car later this year and a fuel cellvehicle by 2015. Japan’s top automakeroutlined its green vehicle plans amidgrowing concerns about global warm-ing and surging gas prices. Toyota willoffer an electric compact called eQ,based on its iQ model, in Japan and theU.S. in December though the numberof the vehicles made will be extremelylimited —about 100. The fuel cell ve-hicle, which runs on hydrogen, will beoffered from 2015.

U.S. Sales Up, GM & Ford DownU.S. auto sales, led by Toyota, Kia,American Honda and Volkswagen,rose 13% last month as the annualizedpace of sales accelerated to 14.9 mil-lion—the highest rate since March2008. The overall results topped ana-lysts’ expectations and signaled theauto industry is poised to continueovercoming mixed economic reportsto finish the year on a strong note.

VW Beetle Convertible to GetPlatform Shared with Jetta, GolfThe convertible version of the Volk-swagen Beetle will get its debut at theLos Angeles auto show in late No-vember, shortly before the car goes onsale in the United States. The launchof the 2013 VW Beetle convertibletrails the arrival of the redesigned Bee-tle coupe by about a year in the U.S.,where Volkswagen expects to gain amajority of sales. Both Beetles useVW’s PQ35 front-drive platform thatis shared with the current Jetta andGolf. VW says the Beetle convertible’sfolding cloth top can be raised or low-ered in about 10 seconds. Safetyequipment includes rollover bars con-cealed behind the back bench seat. Ifthe car’s safety system senses a crash,the rollover bars are deployed.

Maserati Recall: Brake LightsMaserati is recalling almost 1,800 ofits 2008-10 GranTurismo coupes andconvertibles for what it calls a “devi-ation” in the manufacture of taillightassemblies. The assemblies’ bulbs,including those in the brake lights,may fail, the automaker informed theNational Highway Traffic Safety Ad-ministration.

Maserati said it investigatedafter noticing a large number of war-ranty claims. The high-centered brakelight, it noted, was not affected.



Auto Repair Excellence, Inc. (CARE).

ABN: Why did you quit State Farm?Plier: I resigned my position at StateFarm because my responsibilitieswere being defined as ‘manage in aperfect world by numbers.’ Moreoften than not, in this industry, realityis much different than the perfectworld. Reports/scorecards of repairersare formed through a perfect worldcomputerized format. For example:new parts can and are often damagedin shipping, causing returns and de-lays; used parts often are not of qual-ity to be used in the repair process;vehicle owners often leave their vehi-cles (that are safe to drive) at repair-ers on Fridays because a claimsrepresentative has ok’d a rental. Theseexamples are only a few that come tomind that can affect a repairer’s score-card. Some of the numbers/averageson the scorecard include formulas thathave key performance indicators in aweighted format that could never beexplained as how the particular num-ber/average score was determined.Not a comfortable situation when at-tempting to discuss a repairer’s per-formance considering we do not livein a perfect world.

ABN: What do you think of the Part-sTrader pilot program?Plier: My opinion of the Partstraderprogram is not positive. The informa-tion provided to me by repairers onthe program, from individuals thatwere in meetings with State Farm em-ployees during the test pilot roll out inAlabama, the information that is beingprovided by the many different publi-cations and the information providedby State Farm Consultant GeorgeAvery at the recent Georgia CollisionIndustry Association meeting indicateto me there are a lot of questions thatState Farm and/or PartsTrader eitherrefuse to answer or do not have an an-swer for. I would suggest everyone toconsider if something is mandated,why is it being mandated? Items, pro-grams, actions, etc. that have to bemandated usually have a lot more badfor a large multiple sectored groupthan good. Is this the reason the por-tion of the Select Service agreement isbeing actively enforced on this pro-gram? Any repairer on the SelectService program agreed if re-

quested/required by State Farm to usea parts locating/procurement programthey would. There are several otherssections within the Select Serviceagreement with the same type lan-guage that repairers have agreed to.ABN: Why do you think State Farmintroduced this program? Where doyou think State Farm is going with it?Plier: I feel there are multiple rea-sons. First and for the immediatetime, I feel State Farm was aware ofmanufacturers offering parts pricingmatch programs and believed the im-plementation of a program such asPartsTrader could lead to supplierstaking an aggressive approach to ex-pand business by reducing prices in abid/quote program such as this. How-ever, I believe the bigger purpose hereis if successfully implemented, thiswould open the door to the other sec-tions of the Select Service agreementrequiring additional actions from re-pairers as agreed to such as this.

ABN: How do you think the programwill affect the industry? Repairers aresaying this pilot program is inefficientand costs them more than its worth.Plier: I feel if State Farm is successfulwith this program resulting in man-dated use of locating and procurementsystems, the balance of the insuranceindustry will quickly follow with thesame or similar programs. My opinionis this will not be good news for theconsumer. I know State Farm is sayingthis is intended to be focused on claimsexpense and no one should be againstanything that might result in reducedcost, and according to State Farm, apossible reduction in premiums forpolicyholders. I am currently a StateFarm policyholder; I definitely wantmy premiums to be as cheap as possi-ble, but even more importantly, I wantmy vehicle repaired properly. For re-pairers to keep up with the ever-chang-ing technology, training is a must.Equipment requirements must bemaintained so if programs such as thisaffect industry members’ ability tomeet these needs it is not good. I haveread and heard Mr. Avery say StateFarm does not want to tell repairerswho to buy from, but I have not heardState Farm address the actual ineffi-ciencies that to date I have seen thisprogram cause to repairers and otherinefficiencies I have been told of by re-pairers. There does not seem to be anyconcern from State Farm and/or Part-strader that this program does indeedhave an additional labor and adminis-

trative time/expense associated to it forthe repairer and supplier. I read in anarticle, that according to the writer, therepairers they had spoken with sug-gested an average additional 30 min-utes per day. The repairers I havespoken with in Birmingham suggest tome they approximate spending an av-erage of an additional 30 minutes perclaim. Birmingham repairers note youmay have some claims that only re-quire an additional five to ten minutesof additional time, but you also havethose claims they may require an ad-ditional hour of administrative time. Ihave not spoken specifically with anyparts suppliers on the PartsTrader list,but feel any supplier on the Partstraderlist is also incurring additional admin-istrative time and expenses if they arefollowing the rules of the program.

ABN: Does this program offer anybenefits to the repairers?Plier: Based on the current informa-tion provided and from the feedbackreceived from Birmingham area re-pairers, I have not been able to iden-tify what I would consider a benefitfor a repairer on the program. StateFarm has stated they have receivedpositive feedback from their evalua-

tions, the only thing is, to my knowl-edge, State Farm has not to this dateprovided a single item with the indus-try that can be viewed as positivefeedback. If there has been anythingpositive for the repairer, I have notheard nor have I read about it.

ABN: With repairers highly wary ofthe program, what do you think the so-lution is?Plier: I feel the distrust and confronta-tional nature of this industry betweenthe two parties are much deeper thanthis program. I am not sure there is asimple solution for this issue if allsides must benefit. If attempts aremade to identify efficient alternatives,both sides must work together to iden-tify the many different possibilities.There already exist electronic orderingopportunities used by many repairers,so if there is ever to be a solution thatall sides agree to, I feel there will bemultiple businesses/ venders to choosefrom. I do not feel mandating a partic-ular program is the answer.

ABN: Was State Farm too aggressivein launching this program?Plier: Considering the information that


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They don’t have a sports team, a fightsong or a mascot, but it’s a major insti-tution that can help body techs andpainters throughout the country to worksmarter while repairing a leading car

brand. It’s calledthe University ofToyota and it offersthe collision indus-try a unique oppor-tunity to learn howto work on 27 dif-ferent models ofone of the world’smost popular vehi-cles ever made.

When the EastBay chapter of the

California Autobody Association(CAA-EBC) convened for their Sep-tember meeting in Walnut Creek,CA, the evening’s speaker was ChrisRisdon, a senior product educationand development administrator forthe University of Toyota’s producteducation department. That meansthat he’s a mega-expert on how to re-pair any vehicle manufactured by

Toyota within the last two decades.Risdon shared his wisdom with

the shops in attendance and his pres-entation was followed by a spiritedquestion and answer session. Thehottest topic in the room revolvedaround how to properly work on thePrius. With more than one millionnow in the country’s fleet and espe-cially popular in California, bodyshops want to know more than beforeabout this model and the manufac-turer’s other hybrids.

The University of Toyota trainsapproximately 8,500 collision profes-sionals every year at their three loca-tions—in Los Angeles, Jacksonville,FL and New Jersey. The cost for thetraining is nominal and most classeslast no more than two days. The Uni-versity’s mantra is “Fix-It-Rite/Fix-ItSmart” and Risdon explained that itsone of the few institutions of its typein the world.

“We’re one of the few car manu-facturers out there that teach collisionrepair,” Risdon said. “By offering colli-sion professionals the latest tools to fixthese vehicles, it helps the industry as awhole. It impacts the body shops, be-

cause their techs and painters can savetime and thereby money. It’s essentialinformation for any tech or painter andeven more crucial for those who workon a flat rate/commission/bonus plan.As these cars become more and more

sophisticated, the proper informationand associated procedures will be moreessential than ever before.”

Risdon stressed the importance ofaccessing Toyota’s ongoing collisionrepair bulletins, because new, impor-tant information becomes available toshops all the time, he said. “By stayingon top of the changes, you can elimi-nate the guesswork. With our latestmodels and all of the new technologies

involved, such as the 2012 Camry SEwith the new Entune in-car technology,for example, you’re going to need thebest, most updated repair proceduresavailable. We want your techs fixingthese cars with confidence and correct-

ness and without training and data,they’re just guessing. If you don’t havethe latest technical information, you’reprobably fixing it incorrectly.”

Hybrid classes are one of the mostcoveted forms of training offered by theUniversity of Toyota for obvious rea-sons, Risdon explained. When he askedhow many shop owners in attendancehad at least one Prius in their shop rightnow, more than a few hands were raised.

East Bay CAA Members Get Schooled at University of Toyota

Arth & Sons in Oakland, California was well-represented at the meeting with (from left) OwnerRon Arth, Body Tech Scott Ledbetter and Assistant Manager Tom Lehman enjoying the evening.

University ofToyota’s ChrisRisdon was the

keynote speaker atthe East Bay CAA’sSeptember meeting


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“Our 100% dedicated hybrid training isworld-class and our advanced hybridtraining is very popular with body techsnationwide right now. By coming to theuniversity and tapping into this training,you learn how we want it done, andthat’s vital to developing a solid, safeand effective repair plan.”

As Toyota strengthens its positionin the development of new vehiclesusing emerging technologies, the Uni-versity of Toyota will be offering newtraining, Risdon said. “We’ve got a lotof new, exciting things on the boardsright now, including hydrogen vehi-cles and natural gas cars. We’ve alsobeen exploring the viability of an au-tonomous car, which drives itself.

That’s obviously downthe road, but we shouldall accept the reality thatwithin the next six toeight years, conven-tional gas-powered carswill be the minority inthis country.”

The University ofToyota was created tohelp the collision indus-try to fix its cars right,even though it’s not themanufacturer’s main ob-jective, Risdon stated.“We’re actually in thecar sales business, notthe repair business. But,

we know that by fixing our vehiclesproperly the first time they come intoyour shop, it provides a better customerexperience, makes everyone’s liveseasier and makes your techs more pro-ductive. And that’s we provide all thisinvaluable training.”

In other CAA East Bay news,Mike Govette from FinishMaster dis-tributed model trucks for the chapter’s15th annual Model Truck Customiza-tion event, to be held on Nov. 20 at theprestigious Blackhawk Auto Museumin Danville, CA.

The model trucks for this year’s Toys for Tots Model TruckCustomizing Competition on November 20th were passed outto the participants after the meeting. From left, Bill Andrews,head automotive instructor at College of Alameda, Event Coordi-nator/Founder Mike Govette and Peter Lock, head automotiveinstructor at Contra Costa College get ready to compete

Estimator Bernadette Lira (at left) and Owner Giovanna Tanzillo from Uptown Body & Fender inOakland brought Michael Bott (center) owner of Torchio’s Auto Repair as their guest to theEB-CAA’s September meeting


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The California Autobody Associa-tion–Orange County Chapter met onOct. 17 for a presentation about reg-ulations. Guest speaker Jack Molo-danof of Molodanof GovernmentRelations works closely with the De-partment of Insurance and Commis-sioner Dave Jones and is also on theBureau of Automotive Repair Advi-sory Council.

Some of the topics he coveredincluded:● Who will fight for this industry onfuture legislation that could put youout of business? The CAA has a fulltime lobbyist and staff working inthis area.● Do you know how to keep up withthe Bureau of Automotive Repairslaws and regulations? The CAA ispart of the BAR Advisory Board andprovides members with the CollisionIndustry Guide.● Are the insurance companieschanging the rules every day?● Are you aware how the Depart-ment of Insurance can help you? TheCAA works on your behalf to elimi-nate steering and other problemswith insurance companies.

CAA Orange County ChapterMeets on Regulations

www.autobodynews.com


In the early ‘90s, the term “Piggy-back marketing” meant that the trial ofa new product on the market waslinked to another product that alreadyhad wide acceptance in the market-place. The intent was that this weakernew product would be “piggy-backed” on the strength of the “car-rier” product. Soon the practice wasexpanded so that many products were“piggy-backed” on products alreadybeing used. You see this all the timewhen you receive a credit card bill orgasoline credit card bill and find of-fers inside to buy a wide range ofproducts. You know this must be asuccessful strategy because it has con-tinued on so long.

The question is how can a fixedservice like collision repair, use“piggy-backing” to increase sales andbusiness volume? Marketing guru JayAbraham, in his great book GettingEverything You Can Out of All You’veGot, calls this a “host-beneficiary” re-lationship. Greatly simplified, it’s sortof a co-operative marketing planwhereby two (or more) companiesthat are non-competitive but possiblycomplement one another’s products orservices, can either bring customersand sales to one another’s businesses,or bring some other value.

Collision repair facilities engagein this kind of relationship all the time,but probably don’t think of it in thoseterms. DRP relationships are the bestexample. Insurance companies sendcustomers to the shop. The value theyreceive in return mainly consists oflower labor and parts and materialscosts. Dealership relationships andfleet management company relation-ships operate similarly. Some shopsalso have a more direct exchange re-lationship with a towing firm, pin-striping and graphics service, car

rental company, transmission repairshop, personal liability attorney or carwash.

As valuable as these relationshipsmay be, often a few major shops havemost of the best relationships in anarea locked up so that many othershops are out looking for business thehard way. For them, it may be time toengage in some creative thinkingabout other possible “piggy-back” orco-operative arrangements. Eventhough the SEMA Show in Las Vegasis becoming a major gathering placefor collision repair professionals, fewshops have yet to take advantage ofthe vast accessory marketplace. Deal-erships, of course, have entire acces-sory showrooms and enjoy asubstantial profit flow from accessorysales. But few shops can afford to in-vest in a similar showroom, and onlya few push for add-on accessory sales.An obvious “piggy-back” relationshipwould be with one or more accessorystores in the area. But less obvious areother retail establishments that offeraudio-video products or cosmetic ele-ments that car owners should find at-tractive. Some printers now offerwraps for cars. Since vision is impor-tant for safe driving, an optometristmight be interested in a co-op referralarrangement.

A common arrangement is cashfor referrals—especially with a tow-ing company or new and used cardealership. But this is mainly a one-way street and can be very expensive.The ideal co-op arrangement is onewhere the shop also refers business toits co-operative partner. The easiestway to do this is through promotionalprograms. Obviously website linksand other web-based connections areeasy to arrange, but if a shop alsosends out a newsletter or sends sum-

maries of completed work with enclo-sures there is an opportunity to refermany other kinds of businesses, muchas your credit card companies do. If areferring business also has on-lineand/or mail promotions, the arrange-ment would have your shop informa-tion (or even literature) included withtheirs.

Mailing a summary of com-pleted work after a vehicle has beendelivered is a very inexpensive wayto establish a longer-term relation-ship with customers. If a vehicleowner resells or trades-in the vehicle,having a summary of work done onthe vehicle may help keep the pur-chase price higher. Along with send-ing the summary, a promotional offerfor a discounted detail or cosmeticimprovement should be included,plus perhaps a specified discount fora friend, family member or businessassociate in need of vehicle body re-pair. For a shop with deeper pockets,

sending a before and after photoalong with the summary would beappreciated.

A more in-depth approach to theco-op referral partnership can extendto events, educational seminars orworkshops and more. Driving schoolswould be a good candidate for this.New drivers are brought to the shopfor a walk-through to see the damagethat may have been done to vehiclesbecause of careless or reckless driving.And if the driving school has a weeklyor monthly group presentation, theshop should always have someonethere to answer questions. Many shopsnow do exchange events with insur-ance agents and auto dealerships, butthis should only be a beginning. Thepossibilities of piggybacking on thesuccess of other businesses and enter-ing into cooperative promotionalschemes will only be limited by theimagination and ingenuity of a shopowner or manager.


The New Co-Op Marketing

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

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

PartsTrader announced that in two ofthe four markets where the system isbeing used, the minimum time a shopcan give vendors to quote prices onparts has been reduced to 30 minutes,rather than the previous one-hourminimum. The change is designed toimprove the efficiency of using thesystem for shops, the company said.

Suppliers can still quote prices in“overtime” but only until the shop be-gins review of submitted quotes. Thesystem also allows the shop to extendthe deadline in 30-minute incrementsif they wish to receive more quotes, orto use “placeholder quotes” for OEMdealers with which they have estab-lished relationships.

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has been provided to the industry, ‘yes.’I do not believe the details had beenthoroughly reviewed and considered.

ABN: What does it suggest to youwhen State Farm can’t come up with asingle benefit to repairers?Plier:Maybe because there is not a sin-gle benefit associated to the shop in re-gards to this program. I believe if StateFarm had identified benefits for theshops and or the suppliers, we would allhave heard about them by now.

ABN: What kind of damage controlcould State Farm do now?Plier: I’m not sure there is a definitesingle thing that could be focused onhere. There are many issues in the re-pair industry that need to be addressedfor the “RIGHT REASON”—the con-sumer. Many of these issues have beenaround for many years, but have neverbeen addressed. As rules identified inrepair agreements continue to expand,the magnification of the many issuesgrow. For example: the need for an in-dependent third-party survey process

to identify a competitive pricing range;the agreement that the repair proce-dure pages are not pick and choose,but will be honored completely at alltimes, just to name a couple.

ABN: What should affected shops bedoing right now about PartsTrader?Plier: My recommendation would befor each and every repairer on the Se-lect Service repair program or any re-pair program to review their programagreements and then reread themagain. List questions or concerns iden-tified in the agreements and contactthe particular insurance company todiscuss any questions or concerns.After any discussions, make a busi-ness decision based on considerationof all factors of what you feel is in thebest interest of your business.

ABN:What is the background of StateFarm’s previous efforts on this issue?Plier: State Farm had a trial programin California and Indiana in 2009, butdiscontinued the program afterChrysler filed for bankruptcy and GMaccepted a government bailout in2009. The trial was structured differ-ently then as compared to the Part-sTrader program now.

About CAREPlier started his business, CARE, in2010 after leaving State Farm. Hisgoal, focus and efforts with Con-sumer Auto Repair Excellence, Inc.has been to assist repair facility own-ers and manager with a better under-standing of simple businessprinciples, such as understandingtheir business operating cost and theimportance of quality control pro-grams, and to understand simplethings involved in the repair process,that if itemized, they should andcould be compensated for by the ma-jority of the insurance companies.

The services provided by CAREalso involve assistance to repairers byinvestigating issues and questions thatrepairers encounter and providingdocumentation to back the recom-mended positions. Plier assists repair-ers with identifying possible solutionsthat would be beneficial to the indus-try and in particular focused on whatis appropriate and in the best interestof the consumer.

Steve Plier, PresidentConsumer Auto Repair ExcellenceInc. www.consumerautocare.com205-623-9307


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Steve Plier Dykstra Survey IdentifiesBroad Industry Concerns in2013: Especially Financingand SuppliersAccording to the 2012 Dykema Auto-motive Institute Survey, which was re-leased on October 17th, automakerswill have to contend with limited fi-nancial bank lending and raw materialcosts in the following year.

“Every major company has gonethrough tremendous upheaval and dealtwith changes to every step of its supplychain,” said Aleks Miziolek, director ofDykema’s Automotive Industry Group.“There are many challenges still on thehorizon for automotive executives thatmay impact the long term success of theindustry’s future.”

From the total of 100 auto indus-try advisers and senior executives thattook part in the survey, 40% of themsaid that raw materials increasing costsis the main concern of the auto indus-try, while 21% of them said that it is thefinancial bank lending that will affectthe automakers in 2013. Besides thesetwo challenges, the survey also in-cludes labor issues, financially trou-bled suppliers and even the potentialliabilities of self-driving vehicles andother new technologies.

A respectable 43.4% said that theywere working on vehicle-to-vehicle

See Dykstra Survey, Page 47

A NACE panel of three representativesfrom top auto insurers discussed indus-try consolidation, technology and futuretrends during the Collision IndustryForum insurance panel discussion Oct.12. Speaking on a panel moderated byDan Stander of Fix Auto HighlandsRanch in Littleton, CO, the insurers re-sponded to the noticeable consolidationtrend affecting both repairers and insur-ers, specifically the growth of severalMSOs such as The Boyd Group,ABRA, CARSTAR, Service King andCaliber Collision—but also that ofsmaller regional MSOs.

“MSOs that can replicate qualityprocedures are attractive as a group,”George Avery of State Farm said.“Using a score card to rate MSOsacross the board represents an inter-esting opportunity. But just like inde-pendent shops, they must perform tostay on our system.”

Avery said that any MSOs on theirDRPs are measured as individualshops and must compete to perform onthat basis. He recalled State Farms’sexperience with M2, the 27-shop con-solidator in California that closedabruptly back in 2005, reinforced his

company’s interest in finding top-per-forming individual shops, whetherstand-alone or part of an MSO.

“State Farm maintains that whetheryou are an independent or an MSO, youshould be able to compete, and so StateFarm evaluates even MSOs as individ-ual repairers,” Avery said. “I’m not dis-counting [the MSOs’] ability, but I amsaying that those with individual repairfacilities have skin in the game, and thatcan have a lot of value on the customerservice side, which we’re all after.”

Rob Knott of Nationwide con-curred. “We think the mom-and-popsstill have a place,” Knott said. “Someof the challenges that the MSOs haveis over-saturation in certain market-places, so you’re not going to put (alltheir shops in a market) on (the direct

repair program). And then there’s theconsistency issue, when they expandtoo fast and aren’t able to maintain thesame service levels and quality.”

Randy Hansen of Allstate alsosaid each facility on his company’sDRP, even if part of an MSO, has tostand on its own performance.

But the three acknowledged thatMSOs can offer some appealing serv-ices such as call centers, extended hoursand a single point-of-contact. Hansonsaid the collision repair industry suffersfrom a “tremendous amount of ineffi-ciency” that consolidation alone cannotcure. Instead, shops should consider ex-panding their hours of operation orfinding other ways to better utilize theirfacilities and equipment.

Consolidation in the insurance in-

dustry is likely to continue as compa-nies seek to grow. “The only otherway to grow is by taking another com-pany’s customers,” Knott said, andthose are costly acquisitions becauseacquiring a new customer is seventimes more costly than retaining theirown customer, he said.

Avery added that MSOs presentan “interesting platform” in which toexperiment with a change on a largebut not national scale.

“You hear people talk about howthe model is broken,” Avery said.“There are components [of change]that could be perhaps introduced intoan MSO that you couldn’t quite intro-duce companywide. So I feel com-pelled to tell you, not to make anyonenervous about MSOs taking over, but Ido have to say that is a place where youcould possibly go and say, ‘Look, we’dlike to try something different.’” Averysuggested later in the discussion that at-tendees think like a young driver usingher mobile device to find out what todo after a minor accident. “What canwe do together? Can we work togetherto offer her a 48-hour repair?” Avery


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Insurance Representatives on panel (l to r): Moderator Dan Stander, State Farm’s George Avery,Nationwide’s Rob Knott, and Allstate’s Randy Hansen.

See Insurers Talk MSOs, Page 51

While thinking through some socialmedia topics recently I realized thatthe original and still current championof real social media is the simplephone call.

In the past several years, I’vecalled literally hundreds of bodyshops, vendors and collision-relatedbusinesses over the phone to interviewthem for articles I write for AutobodyNews. And every time I encounter astrange phone experience when call-ing a body shop I’m surprised. In anybusiness, the phone is usually the firstcontact you’re going to be makingwith the public, and that’s why it’s soimportant. And in the collision indus-try it’s even more crucial.

Think about it. Your potential cus-tomer gets in an accident. They getthree or four names of body shops intheir area from their insurer and theystart calling them. If they’re left onhold or the person answering thephone is rude or inattentive, manypeople will simply hang up and callthe next shop on their list. So the bigquestion is—do you give good phoneor are you currently losing business byfalling short in this important area ofcustomer service?

Although e-mail and text messag-ing have become more popular waysof communication, we still use ourtelephones almost constantly for bothpersonal and business reasons. Itseems that good telephone mannersare common sense, but my recent ex-periences have led me to believe thatthere are many lessons to be learnedby body shops in the arena of tele-phone etiquette.

The topic of phone protocol andhow some body shops don’t seem tovalue the importance of it becamemore apparent recently when I wascalling a body shop to interview theowner for an upcoming ABN article.First, the phone rang at least 12 timesbefore someone picked up. Okay, I’mthinking, they’re a busy shop, noproblem. It happens.

Then, I heard a voice, but for justa millisecond. “Hold.” It made me feellike I was ordering a pizza for deliv-ery. Without a simple “hello” or “I’mreally busy, can I get back to you injust a minute?” I sat on hold for at

least five minutes, and then the callwent directly to voicemail (or in thiscase, I call it “voice jail’) without anyexplanation. No greeting, just a beep.

So, I hung up and called back sothat the painful process could resumeall over again. This second time, thewoman answering the phone shoutedout “Bill’s.” Not “Bill’s Collision,”which is the actual name of the busi-ness.

But at least this time around wehad a brief conversation. I could hearher chewing gum and her indifferenceto my inquiry was immediately evi-dent. “Is Bill there?” I asked. “No,”she replied. “Do you know when he’llbe returning?” After a long sigh, shesaid, “No idea. Do you want his voice-mail?” Been there, done that, Ithought. “We’re really busy rightnow,” she added. And without any fur-ther warning—boom, I was back onhold.

At that point, I hung up oncemore and decided to try again later.But each time I called, I got the sameperson and each time she seemed evenmore bored than the time before. Icould almost hear her eyes rolling!

The other call I hate is the onewhere the receptionist grills you andafter a series of questions you mightbe allowed talk to the boss. I can un-derstand, because most body shops re-ceive 10-15 sales calls every day, soscreening out the wannabes is crucialand a good phone person is adept at it.But, when you feel like they’re inter-rogating you in the process, that’s badphone protocol. Hey, I’m not trying toreach Obama, it’s a body shopowner—so why are you making mefeel like I’m the paparazzi chasingyour boss down? It’s all about the waythings are said and when a reception-ist gets too protective of his/her boss,it’s a real turn-off.

So, how should body shop em-ployees act on the phone? I asked anexpert on the subject. Her name isCynthia Grosso, a business consult-ant, etiquette coach and author of theowner of the Charleston School ofProtocol and Etiquette in Charleston,SC. She gave me a very simple list ofdo’s and don’ts about phone manners:● Never call someone “Honey,

sweetie, or darling” on the phone, es-pecially if you don’t know them. It’stoo personal and unprofessional.● Be conscious of the tone of yourvoice, especially when you answer thephone. (If you’re having a bad day,please keep it to yourself.)● Be sure to identify yourself imme-diately when the person you are call-ing answers. Dead air will kill a callevery time.● If you happen to be screening calls,do it gracefully without acting like abodyguard and offending the personwho is calling.● Do not eat while talking on thephone. That’s why lunch breaks wereinvented.● Always return phone calls. Make apoint to find the time. It only takes afew seconds to call someone back orto send an email explaining that youwill call them back when you areavailable. Not returning a phone callis the worst offense and inexcusable.

The rule on returning phone calls iswithin 24 hours and the standard foremails is 48 hours for a return re-sponse.

“Phone communication is allabout finding a common language,”Rosso explained. “Everyone wants tofeel important, and keeping that inmind is key to any successful phoneinteraction from a customer perspec-tive. Don’t leave people on hold formore than 30 seconds without check-ing in. And remember this—the tele-phone is your front other door and anextremely valuable component of howto run your business.”


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by Melanie Anderson

Morse High School in San Diego, CA,recently celebrated the opening of itsnew auto body and engineering facil-ity with a dedication and open house.The school’s auto body and engineer-

ing program provides students with aprofessional working environmentwhile still in high school. The new andremodeled College, Career and Tech-nical Education (CCTE) facilities forauto body and engineering werefunded by state Prop. 1D and localProp. S.

The new $3.7 million ‘Tiger PawAuto & Engineering Facility’ nowgives Morse High School students theopportunity to work on cars and gethands-on experience. For the pastseven years, auto repair instructorLeonardo Zarate has been teachingthe automotive repair program in theclassroom only.

The four-year project involvedpartially modernizing a 9,067-square-foot, one-story, wood-framed build-ing, and constructing a new one-story,concrete masonry building measuring6,855 square feet. The larger buildingfeatures an auto disassembly area, in-structional classrooms, a computer labwith 34 PC stations, an engineeringdesign room, and tool/special equip-ment storage. The newer building fea-tures a paint booth, clean room, autoalignment and frame bays, student andfaculty restrooms, faculty offices, anda mechanical/electrical room. Anotherenhancement staff and students are ex-cited about: air conditioning. The newfacility is the only building on campusthat offers air conditioning.

The Morse High School autobody program provides career andtechnical education in the collision re-

pair and refinishing career pathwaywithin the transportation industry sec-tor, including introduction to autobody, transportation technology, andauto body repair and refinishing.

“My students and I give a specialthanks to our ex governor, Arnold

Schwarzenegger, and our presentGovernor Jerry Brown and to thetaxpayers of the State of California,”said Zarate. “We are also grateful toall the collision repair shops in SanDiego and to my advisory board whoevery year kept their doors open forstudent internships.”

Each student now has access tothe Introduction to Collision and Re-pair online curriculum, as well as anextensive library of I-CAR specialtytraining modules. “The new facilityhas everything one could ever imag-ine. There is a large instructionaldemonstration lab with two new liftsused for pre-vehicle inspections andestimating. This area is large enoughto have an entire class of 32 studentswork safely,” said Greg Quirin, Pro-

gram Specialist for the College, Ca-reer & Technical Education program.

In addition, Quirin said, “Thedemonstration lab houses the spe-cialty tools and instruction materials.Across from the demonstration area,there are eight professional repairbays and one paint booth. The boothis state-of-the-art and designed forthe environmentally-friendly water-borne paint products. It has a paintmixing room and two Becca gun-

cleaning machines. The repair bayshave stainless steel work bencheswith ample storage and a computer ateach terminal. The computers in eachbay have Mitchell estimating soft-ware and Indentifix repair informa-tion. Each bay is also equipped witha MATCO professional series toolbox fully equipped with hundreds ofhand tools, and a variety of auto body

specialty tools. The tool boxes eachhave foam cutouts for each and everytool for inventory control. On the eastend of the shop, there is a Jollift 103tframe rack and laser measuring sys-tem, as well as a Hunter DSP 600alignment instrumentation, roadforce wheel balancer and tire ma-chine.

“Several bays are equipped withmig-welders and Prospot weldingequipment. The list goes on and on.

The fact is, if you are a high schoolstudent enrolled in this program, youwill be well- equipped with a plethoraof resources and opportunities for a re-warding career in the auto collision in-dustries,” said Quirin.

“Morse High School is the onlyauto body program in the San DiegoUnified School District,” Quirinadded. “In all of California, there areonly three schools that are NATEF-certified auto collision and repair fa-cilities. Our goal is to be the fourthNATEF training program in the stateand to be the first high school in thestate.”

The Sept. 27 open house and ded-ication included a ribbon-cutting cer-emony and presentation of colors byMorse High School’s Army Junior Re-serve Officers’ Training Corps. Alsoin attendance were representativesfrom the following sponsors: I-CAR,FinishMaster, Fix Auto Mission Val-ley, Kimball Midwest, PPG, MitchellInternational, Sherwin Williams, WestCoast Auto Wreckers, FiberglassEvercoat, State Farm, SkillsUSA andthe California Autobody Association.

San Diego High School Opens New Tech Training Facility

Morse High School auto body instructor Leonardo Zarate with student John Abad

Instructor Leonardo Zarate with students John Abad (l) and Silverio Layna (r)

“This new auto body programwill have full support from thesesponsors to assure the proper, up-to-date industry standards are beingtaught to the kids,” said Hilary Cas-tro, manufacturers sales representa-tive with Sherwin-Williams. “Thisschool and the programs it offers tothe kids are crucial to educate themnot just about collision repair, but toshow them their avenues of educationin front of their eyes.”

Guest speakers at the event in-cluded Morse High School studentsfrom the auto body and engineeringprograms, Principal Harry Shelton,

board member Sheila Jackson, andalumni and city coun-cilman Tony Young.

In his speech, autobody student JohnAbad said, “Can youjust imagine what kindof job offers us stu-dents can receive byjust learning basicknowledge of automo-tive repair? Personally,being in the automo-tive business isn’t justgoing to be a job forme, it’s going to be my

career that I want to have until the dayI retire, because I know there’s alwaysmoney to be made in this industry be-cause as long as people buy cars, theyare going to break and those peoplewill be coming here to Morse TigerPaw because we are the future techni-cians that are going to get the job doneright the first time.”

Morse High School is a tradi-tional high school that includes col-lege, career and technical programssuch as auto body, engineering andculinary. The delicious gourmet appe-tizers and desserts at the open housewere prepared and provided by theculinary students.


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The new $3.7 million ‘Tiger Paw Auto & Engineering Facility’ nowgives Morse High School students the opportunity to work on cars

The new auto body program now includes a computer lab and 34 PC stations

technology, but even more—55.3%—said that their companies wereworking on vehicle-to-infrastructure orsystems, which would allow cars to“talk” to traffic lights and other ele-ments on the grid.

Over 92% said that they’d seen anincrease in demand for their company’sproducts/services over the past year.Most, 76.8%, have had to make internalchanges to meet that growing demand.

Given that vehicles are becomingincreasingly connected to the web,Dykema asked respondents about theirbiggest concerns on that front. Just over35% said that they were worried aboutthe distractions that accompany con-nected cars. However, more than 28%said they had no real concerns.

When asked about investments intechnology, 60.5% said that the weredeveloping “sensor-based safety sys-tems that either warn or assist driversin potential collision situations.”

On the legislative front, the biggestissue of concern was “energy and envi-ronmental legislation.” Part of the sur-vey also discussed potential liabilities ofself-driving vehicles and other emerg-ing automotive technologies; about 1 in3 respondents said driver distraction wastheir chief concern. Approximately 1 in4 had concerns about data ownership oftechnologies.


Dykstra Survey

by Melanie Anderson

John Shoemaker of Virginia is an AirForce veteran with 23 years service inthe automotive field as a technician,trainer and formal instructor, and withseveral additional years as a collisioncenter director for a major dealershipgroup, overseeing three collision cen-ters in Virginia. Shoemaker is now aconsultant with JSE, a company he cre-ated to share 35 years’ worth of auto-motive management experience toassist collision centers in improvingoperations.

During the 30th anniversary ofNACE in New Orleans, LA, Shoe-maker presented Negotiating for Suc-cess — a Look at the NegotiationsNecessary to Keep Your Collision Cen-ter on Top.

Negotiations, Shoemaker says, notonly affect profits, but is important inpreparing a contract or business deal. Tonegotiate successfully, several elementsmust be in place during the preliminarystage of a business deal. Those elementsinclude establishing a set of core values,being honest and ethical, maintaining astandard that meets industry and cus-tomer expectations, delivering asagreed and responding to the cus-tomer’s needs. What is non-negotiableis making a profit.

Are you a negotiator? You can beif you are confident, focused, able tostay on track and be unemotional. Asuccessful negotiator will know the ob-jective before he or she begins, be ableto define the main issues and can focuson them one at a time. Negotiationswill go much smoother if a win-win isdetermined. Always have supportingdocumentation as back-up, which caninclude manufacturers specifications, acomplete damage appraisal and struc-ture measurements. The person withthe most information usually wins, saysShoemaker.

One of the first steps to take whenentering negotiations is identifying theappropriate person with whom to ne-gotiate with. Develop a rapport withthat person and determine their focus.Finding a common ground will helpyou to capitalize on similarities andkeep the conversation from gettingconfrontational. Verbal tone and bodylanguage is important. Keep your emo-tions in check.

It is important that you establishyour repair standards up front. Have acomplete damage appraisal prepared

and itemize each repair step required.Document only the repairs required andisolate prior damage. List customerconcerns.

Negotiating with InsurersWhen dealing with insurers, review theentire appraisal and make a note of the‘no’s’ but keep moving. Go back to the‘no’s’ after reviewing the complete ap-praisal. Negotiate the repair first, then

the labor, but do not negotiate your re-pair standard. Realize that you will notsee eye-to-eye with an insurer. Theirjob is to negotiate the cost down be-cause they have specific numbers tomeet and they are protective of theirbonuses.

Negotiating with Insurer DRPsOne of the best things you can do whennegotiating with a DRP insurer is to de-velop a friendship and a rapport withthe insurance adjuster and get to knowthe insurer’s agents. You want to createa good reference by ensuring the ad-juster’s experience is always good.Promote your efficiencies and yourcustomer service. But also make surethe adjuster knows what you want ontheir program. Agents are required tomaintain training and this can be an op-portunity for your shop to sponsorevents. Having a manufacturer certifi-cation makes your facility more attrac-tive to an insurer and helps establishcredibility. Have space available forthem to work. Use existing work to es-tablish opportunity with the insurer.Look at the number of non-DRP re-pairs performed for the insurer and pro-vide insurer performance reports forthose repairs. This cements your abili-ties and proves a need.

Negotiating with VendorsWhen negotiating with vendors, deter-mine a retail rate for services, such astowing, alignments, and glass work.With parts suppliers, explain yourneeds and cycle time mandates. Findout what they need to get the correct

part and incorporate electronic parts or-dering. Give vendor complete order in-formation to reduces parts errors.

Negotiate inventory levels bydefining guidelines for out-of-stockparts and require them to search otherdealers. Establish a process for parts re-turns and coordinate order cut-offtimes. Set a different time for each ven-dor. In addition, define the deliveryprocess and specify that only complete

orders are delivered. Identify in-spection requirements and negoti-ate parts price differences. Partsprice differences are the #1 causeof supplements, Shoemaker says,while insurance companies strivefor zero supplements. Set a rea-sonable dollar amount for a pricematching estimating system andestablish guidelines for higheramounts. Set a performance meas-

urement tool in place to manage sys-tem reporting; to track parts returns anddelivery delays, to identify damaged orwrong parts and the frequency.

Negotiating with Paint SuppliersExplain your needs to the paint sup-plier. Define the paint level required

and the flexibility you need in yourpaint line. Understand their distributioncapabilities and specify your deliveryexpectations.

Negotiating with the Vehicle OwnerDetermine your customer’s need, iden-tify their concerns and communicate tothe customer so they know you under-stand them. Work to resolve the situa-tion, not to sell. Provide a solution, butmake sure you understand the com-plete situation before answering tooquickly. Be flexible. Educate the cus-tomer on repairs required and write acomplete damage appraisal. Is a com-plete repair needed and will aftermar-ket parts fit their need? It is easier toremove items than to add items later.Discuss a specific time for the repairand determine their transportationneeds. In regards to payment, who ispaying for the repair? Is it beingprocessed through a third party? Is thecustomer aware of the deductible? As-sist with claims processing and re-member that vehicle owners don’t dealwith this everyday. Help them to un-derstand the process and be their advo-cate if necessary.


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by Tom Franklin

October 17th, The Valley-VenturaChapter of the California Autobody

Association met atthe Hilton Hotel,Woodland Hills, tohear two speakers:Jack Molodanof,lobbyist for theCAA in Sacra-mento, and MickiHazz, Website and

social media designer for the ValleyMotor Center.

CAA Representative CindyShillito also presented a CAA Presi-dent of the Year award to chapter pres-ident, Jim Marko, owner of WestlakeAuto Collision. Mr. Marko was se-lected for the award over more thantwenty other chapter presidents.

Attorney Jack Molodanof, a son ofa shop owner and a long-time advocatefor our industry, works closely with theCalifornia Department of Insurance to

gain favorable handling of legislationthat could affect collision repair shops

in California. He is also on the Bureauof Automotive Repair Advisory Coun-cil. At the meeting he discussed severalitems of great interest to our industry.When John Garamendi was InsuranceCommissioner, SB-1460 was passed re-quiring insurance companies that re-quired the use of after-market parts towarranty those parts. A recent bill waspushed by the insurance industry toshift that liability onto the shop in-stalling the part. With the help of Insur-

CAA Ventura Chapter Hosts Jack Molodanof and Micki Hazz, Presents President of Year Award

See CAA Ventura, Page 54Jack Molodanof

Jim Marko receiving President of the yearaward from Cindy Shillito

by Ed Attanasio

On Sept. 18, 120 golfers representingevery aspect of the collision industryhit the links with a passion at HardingPark in San Francisco, an immaculateTPC 18-hole layout that is ranked asthe 13th best amongst municipalcourses in U.S. The annual Harding

Park Tournament was originallyhosted by the San Francisco chapter ofthe California Autobody Association,but when the chapter folded severalyears ago, FinishMaster took over thesponsorship to continue this premiertournament.

Featuring golfers with variedskills, including those with low hand-icaps and all the way to a few first-timers, the tournament started veiledin morning San Francisco fog. Errantgolf balls hit by participants missed

greens completely and ricocheted offmany of Harding’s statuesque Mon-terey Cypress trees all day long, whilemore than a few also splashed intoLake Merced, which acted as hugewater hazard for many wannabegolfers. Using every inch of this 125-

acre course, golfers frightened thelocal birds, as well as squirrels, go-phers and more than just a few coursemarshals. When “Fore!” doesn’twork, “Duck” is also good, they sug-gested.

FinishMaster’s Harding ParkTournament is a non-profit event thatraises much-needed funds for Young

Life, an organization that mentorsadolescents and helps them to livemore productive lives. Tournamentsecondary sponsors were DuPont,PPG & BASF, Oak Distributors, 3MCompany, Norton/Saint Germain, Put-nam Buick Pontiac GMC ofBurlingame, Fiberglass Evercoat, AirFlow Technologies, Transtar Indus-tries, LKQ, Last Call Marketing andEnterprise Rent-A-Car.

Putnam Buick Pontiac GMC ofBurlingame once again sponsored a

hole-in-one, featuring a new vehicleand FinishMaster also sponsored ahole-in-one offering a $10,000 cashprize. Once again, no one came close,so the car and the money are safe foranother year and possibly for eternity,based on the quality of golf exhibited.

First place for the tournamentwent to a foursome consisting ofMike Castro from FinishMaster,Blake Andros, the owner of Blake’sAuto Body, with four locations in theNorth Bay. The victorious foursomealso included two employees fromBlake’s Auto Body, General ManagerMark Sebastian and EstimatorEasan Geroux.

Blake Andros was pleased abouthis foursome’s performance, whichfinished with a score of 54 (18 under),he said. “This is a world-class tourna-ment and one of the reasons we come

out every year. I believe in Finish-Master and the charity, so we donatemoney and support this event withouthesitation. If we can get out there andplay golf and give money to a greatcause at the same time, it’s a no-brainer. There were a lot of very goodgolfers out here, but anyone can playand that makes it more fun. We hitsome good shots, but we were alsolucky. You can be a skilled golfer, butbeing lucky makes it a lot easier!”

Tournament volunteers includedNatasha Theiss of 3M, Doug Rogersof 3M and Jeff Vail of Norton Abra-

FinishMaster’s Industry Golf Tournament Celebrates 15 Years


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(From left) Michael Avery, owner of B-Line Body Shop in San Jose, CA, had breakfast at the CypressGrill before the tournament began, along with Mel Green, Jason Green and Alan Ranieri

(From left) Regional Sales Vice President for FinishMaster Craig Stevenson; Marty Evens, businessdevelopment manager for BASF and KC Fedder, an account manager for BASF enjoyed the SanFrancisco weather and the lovely Harding Park course

3M was well-represented, by District Sales manager, Stan Berceau, and Account Manager, DougRogers, who was asked by his company to help out with the tournament as opposed to actuallyplaying golf in the event

asked. “You might say, ‘Yeah, if youquit making me take all these picturesand jump through these hoops.’ And Imight say, ‘Okay, I’ll stop that.’ So aswe look at the future, I’m leaning to-ward partnering and saying, look, thatcustomer is going to leave us and gosomewhere else. She is not going totolerate inefficiency.”

Cloud Computing and Data OwnershipKnott said technology changes soquickly that it’s hard for insurers andrepair shops to keep up. “Our cus-tomers are pushing insurance compa-nies to evolve with technology and achallenge is how fast can we adoptnew technology. But if we don’tchange we will be left behind.”

Allstate has consolidated 100legacy systems into one delivery plat-form, Hanson said. “It was tremen-dously complex and we spent hundredsof millions of dollars to implement it.We recently adopted cloud computing.It is very flexible and offers more ap-plications and options.”

With cloud computing conven-ience comes the more complex issue

of data ownership.“Cloud computing is great because

it allows you to access your data any-where,” Knott said. “However, there isgreat concern over data ownership andwho has access to the data. Hanson saidthe issue of data ownership is clear toAllstate. “We view it as the customer’sdata, not the shop’s or the insurancecompany’s. It is our obligation to keepit secure and protect it. “State Farm isdeveloping its own cloud and securingthe data is one of the most importantinitiatives,” according to Avery.

Advancing OEM technology is atrend that concerns repairers and insur-ers. Stander asked: “If cars won’t becrashing into each other due to acci-dent avoidance technology, what doesthat mean for repairers and insurers?”

Avery said that accident avoid-ance technology won’t be fully im-plemented for 15 to 20 years. “Withor without that technology, we need tofigure out a way to help our customersin the future. Customers will not tol-erate inefficiency. They will find whatthey want with or without us.”

Hanson said the new OEM tech-nology has the potential to change theway insurers do business, but it’s notclear what those changes will be.

sives. Special credit also belongs toHostess Melissa Perez of FinishMas-ter, and of course, Regional Vice-President of Sales Mike Sheedy ofFinishMaster who was also again thetournament’s director.

Sheedy was thrilled by the colli-sion industry’s participation in thetournament and everyone was im-pressed by the condition of the courseand the favorable weather, he said.

“Everything came together nicelyand it ended up being a beautiful day.We appreciate the great relationships

we’ve developed over the years in ourbusiness and this event only strength-ens those relationships. This tourna-ment provides us with an excellentopportunity to spend time together asgolfers in a relaxed atmosphere. Man-

ufacturers, vendors, jobbers and colli-sion centers are here to celebrate thisamazing industry—one that we’ve in-vested our lives in. Thanks to everyonewho has supported this tournamentover the years. It’s a unique tournamentand we’re happy to be celebrating its15th year.”


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(From left) Volunteer Jeff Vail, account manager from Norton Abrasives, and Hostess MelissaPerez, a district sales manager for FinishMaster, ran the Harding Park tournament, which wasattended by 120 golfers.


Insurers Talk MSOs

by Ed Attanasio

The California Autobody AssociationEast Bay Chapter (CAA-EBC) onceagain will be hosting its annual Toysfor Tots Model Truck CustomizingCompetition to be held Nov. 20 at theprestigious Blackhawk Auto Museumin Danville, CA. It’s the event’s 15thanniversary, but some are concernedthat this could be its last year.

The highly-regarded event is at-tended by 300-400 people every yearand is the CAA-EBC’s signature oc-casion to raise toys for Toys for Totsand money for local automotive tradeschools and area charitable organiza-tions. So, why is its continued successpossibly in jeopardy? Mike Govette,a branch store manager for Finish-Master in Concord, CA, is thefounder of the event, as well as a for-mer president and board member ofthe CAA-EBC, and has been runningthe competition since its inception in1998.

“We can’t get any more modeltrucks,” Govette explained. “A com-pany named Nylint stop making thema few years ago and we were gettingthem imported from a Korean com-pany until just recently. I’ve learnedthat they’re all gone and no more aregoing to be made. If anyone out therehas a connection for getting blank(white) metal model trucks or can sug-gest a viable alternative, we’d be veryappreciative.”

Until then, this year’s competitionwill prove to be spirited once again, asmany of the area’s top body shops tapinto all their skills to convert theseplain model trucks into pieces of art,Govette said.

“These trucks represent the workof many of our most talented collisionrepair technicians and it can get verycompetitive amongst rival shops. Allof the trucks entered are up for thefirst place perpetual trophy, which is

held by the winner for a full year.Their shop’s name is added to the tro-phy, which lists all of the first placewinners since the contest began 15years ago.”

After the contest, all of the modeltrucks are then auctioned off in a silentauction. The funds that are raised usu-ally go to a local charity chosen by theboard of directors, Govette said.

“But, this year the money will godirectly to local colleges and regionaloccupational programs—schools thatteach our next generation of auto bodyrepair technicians as they enter thistrade that we are so proud of. Theseschools have done some tremendousgood for our industry and they designgreat trucks every year.”

The truck competition haschanged and evolved over the years,Govette said. “The contest originallywas to benefit Toys for Tots alone.The dinner meeting, traditionally heldon the third Tuesday of November, in-cluded a toy drive and the trucks wereto be donated as well. It turned outthat many of the trucks were incredi-ble works of art representing hours ofwork and amazing talent and creativ-ity. So, the members wanted to buythe toys back. The marines agreed,and the money went to Toys for Totsthat first year in 1998. Thereafter, thetrucks were auctioned off in a silentauction and the proceeds donated tolocal charities as well as Toys forTots.”

In the intervening years since thatfirst contest, the meetings haveswelled from 100 guests to over 350guests. The toy drive, which nettedaround 75 toys that first year, nowgathers 200 or more toys filling sev-eral barrels at the meeting. The CAA-EBC has also donated more than$15,000 to Toys for Tots over theyears, according to Govette.

In addition, the CAA-EBC hasalso raised thousands of dollars forseveral charities through the event, in-

cluding STAND! Against DomesticViolence, Bridges Intervention Serv-ices, Bay Area Crisis Nursery,Through The Looking Glass and theContra Costa Food Banks, to namejust a few.

Celebrity judges pick the winnersevery year, which adds a whole levelof legitimacy to the model truck com-petition. “Each year we bring in well-known customizers to judge ourcontest,” said Govette. “From locallegends such as Art Himsl, LeonardLopez, Kirk Kapfenstein, DarrylHollenbeck, Steve Martinez, and

Marcos Garcia to renowned cus-tomizer Rich Evans, of HuntingtonBeach Bodyworks, who has appearedon Car Warriors and Pimp My Ride.These talented technicians are bestequipped to judge our trucks, whichnever cease to amaze me.”

The auction nets a considerablesum every year as well, and as a re-sult many of the top model truckscurrently sit in peoples’ homes and inbody shops all over the state. “Pro-ceeds from our auction each year willbring in somewhere between $2,500and $7,000,” Govette explained. “Inthe past 14 years, we have raised over$60,000 for local charities, as well as

15 Years of Successful Toying—But Will it Keep on Truckin’?


“Yellow Racer” made by Mike’s Auto Body inConcord, CA got some great reviews at theToys for Tots Model Truck CustomizingCompetition in 2002

“Red, White & Blue” was the name of thisamazing model truck, built by Carco Collisionfor the competition in 2002

When the San Francisco Giants won theWorld Series in 2010, Crockett Auto Bodycreated this winning model truck, completewith a mini barbecue and grilled baseballs

Although this did not win in 2011, a SpaceShuttle created by Accurate Auto Body was acrowd delight. It’s amazing to think this wasoriginally a model truck

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North State Autobahn Inc., a Westch-ester-NY-based body shop owned byGreg Coccaro, has won an importantvictory in the New York Supreme CourtAppellate Division against ProgressiveNortheast Insurance Company, Pro-gressive Casualty Insurance Company,Progressive Direct Insurance Company,Progressive Specialty Insurance Com-pany, and Nicholas Stanton. The resultlikely creates a case law basis for de-ceptive acts and practices claimsagainst auto insurance companies thatdivert policyholders away from repairshops outside their DRP networks.

In a fifteen page decision, the courtwent into great lengths explaining thehistory of “Business Law Section 349,Deceptive Business Practices” and theintent of it, writing: “This case presentsus with the question of whether a busi-ness entity [North State] has stated avalid cause of action for violation ofGeneral Business Law §349(h) whereit alleges that another business entity[Progressive] deceived and misledprospective customers, causing it tosustain direct economic loss in the formof more than $5 million in lost business

sales. We conclude that it does.”North State sued Progressive

under New York’s deceptive acts andpractices statute, General Business Lawsection 349, for misleading consumersinto taking their damaged vehiclesaway from North State to competingbody shops within Progressive’s “net-work.” North State’s suit alleges thatthe insurance company coaxed cus-tomers away by maligning the shop’swork and pricing.

In North State Autobahn v. Pro-gressive Insurance, the Second Depart-ment’s ruling, denying Progressive’smotion for summary judgment and al-lowing North State’s suit to go forward,confirmed a business’ standing to re-cover for direct harm caused to it by an-other business’ deceptive acts andpractices—even if that business is acompetitor.

Justice Robert Miller, writing for aunanimous panel, held that North State’sallegations concerning Progressive’s actsdepriving consumers of their choice ofbody shop satisfied the statute’s require-ment that the deceptive acts at issue havean impact on consumers at large. Thecourt further held that the law does notrequire that North State identify specificconsumers who were harmed.

The court also rejected Progres-sive’s argument that North State’s in-jury was merely derivative of that of theinjured consumers, finding that NorthState adequately alleged direct harm theinstant customers were misled into tak-ing their vehicles to a network shop, re-gardless of whether such customersultimately suffered pecuniary injury.The fact that North State was a businesscompetitor and not the consumer in thetransaction was held to be irrelevant forpurposes of standing under the statute,under which punitive damages and at-torneys’ fees are recoverable.

“This is a significant decision thatenables businesses to pursue ‘deceptiveacts and practices’ claims in business-to-business disputes—even betweencompetitors—that have an impact onconsumers at large,” said DennisArtese, a shareholder at Anderson Kill& Olick who represented North State.“That’s critically important because itallows well-funded businesses to policedeceptive practices where the state at-torney general does not, and where in-dividual consumers cannot, becausethey just do not have the financialmeans to fight an insurance goliath like

Progressive in the legal system.”Along with Artese, North State

was represented by Finley Harckhamof Anderson, Kill & Olick and solopractitioners Anthony J. Mamo, Jr.and Richard P. Stone.

The Progressive Group was repre-sented by Nelson Levine de Luca &Horst, LLC, New York, N.Y. (MichaelR. Nelson, Kymberly Kochis, andFrancis X. Nolan IV of counsel).

BackgroundIn 2007, North State Autobahn, Inc.commenced this action against the Pro-gressive defendants and a number ofProgressive employees, including thedefendant Nicholas Stanton. Assertedin the complaint, was that the Progres-sive defendants had violated GeneralBusiness Law §349. Specifically, thecomplaint alleged that the Progressivedefendants deceived claimants whosought to have their vehicles repaired atthe plaintiffs’ and other repair shopsthat did not participate in their DRP bymaking misrepresentations as to [Coc-caro’s shop’s] workmanship, price,timeliness of service, and character.North State also alleged that the Pro-gressive defendants issued damage re-pair appraisals well below fair-marketvalue at about one-half the estimate ofthe plaintiffs’ estimate, and that the Pro-gressive defendants represented toclaimants that the plaintiffs would makeonly partial payments for repairs whichwould necessarily require claimantswho had their vehicles repaired by theplaintiffs or other independent shops toincur out-of-pocket expenses.

The plaintiffs further alleged thatthe Progressive defendants engaged insuch deceptive practices in order to mis-lead customers of the plaintiffs andother independent shops to believe thatthey must have their vehicles repaired atrepair shops that were members of theDRP. The Progressive defendants al-legedly failed to inform these claimantsthat the repair shops that participated inthe DRP used inferior aftermarket parts,or were not registered or qualified towork on specific vehicle models. As aresult of the Progressive defendants’ ac-tions, the plaintiffs alleged that they sus-tained direct economic loss in the formof more than $5 million in lost businesssales, and that the public at large sus-tained other damages.

For more on the case, search on“Coccaro” at www.autobodynews.com.

over 2,000 toys for the Marines’Toys for Tots programs. I am mostproud of what our members havedone for our industry. We have hadsome great competitions, customizedclose to 200 trucks, and have helpedfurther the image of the automotiverepair industry as a benevolent andphilanthropic group. I am honored tobe associated with this contest andthe people who participate in it. TheEast Bay Chapter should be proud aswell.”

“It’s great when organizationslike CAA raise funds for us for much-needed scholarships and supplies,”Peter Lock, department chair of theauto technician program at ContraCosta College, said. “The CAA EastBay chapter has always been an out-standing supporter of our program,and we greatly appreciate it. The stu-dents always get into designing andbuilding these model trucks, an everyyear we see more and more top en-tries from the schools involved.”

If you want to attend the event orfor more information about customiz-ing a truck, call Mike Govette at(925) 685-6500.


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Greg Coccaro Wins Significant Appeal from Progressive Insurance,Changes NY Case Law to Allow Claims for Deceptive Acts, Practices

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The Georgia Collision Industry Associ-ation met on Sept. 20 and hosted guestspeaker George Avery, State Farm’sclaims consultant. Avery gave informa-tion about the PartsTrader parts pro-curement pilot program to a crowd ofapproximately 130, some of whom hadtraveled to the meeting from Birming-ham, AL, one of the test markets.

“Mr. Avery gave an overview ofthe PartsTrader program and why theystarted the pilot program,” said GCIAExecutive Director Howard Batche-lor. “He said that they spend roughly $3billion a year on parts and needed a wayto control the cost. The meeting wasmainly subdued until the Q&A sessionat the end. Many of the attendeeswanted to know how this benefits theshops. There [was concern about] addi-tional administrative duties for both thesuppliers and the shops.”

Avery also talked about some ofthe enhancements State Farm has cre-ated since the pilot began. “The esti-mating systems have created aninterface that will update the prices onthe estimate. They have also cut thetime to respond from two hours downto 30 minutes.

Several shops from Alabama alsoattended and said that PartsTraderneeded to work out some of the bugsbefore they implement the program inother areas. Some of the attendees alsomentioned they are willing to try theprogram but asked ‘If this program doesnot work for me, am I able to quit usingit?’ and George replied that ‘This is abusiness decision that each shop shouldreview and evaluate on its own mer-its,’” Batchelor reported.

Steve Plier, President of Con-sumer Auto Repair Excellence, Inc.(CARE), a consulting company basedin Birmingham, AL, was also in atten-dance taking notes. (See interview withPlier this issue.) CARE is a companyfocused on the auto repair industry withits primary focus assisting repair facili-ties with basic fundamentals and basicbusiness principals that are often over-looked resulting in diminished com-pensation and profits for the repairfacility.

Plier said the first number listed in

Avery’s PowerPoint presentation was“$3 billion” which Avery stated was theamount State Farm ‘gives’ to the repairindustry for parts in a year. Later, duringthe Q&A, a member of the audiencespoke up and said he took offense toAvery’s statement of “giving” as the $3billion actually refers to the amount ofparts purchased, not given.

Avery’s slide presentation indi-cated that State Farm holds 41 millionautomobile policies and the insurer han-dles an average of 32,000 claims eachday. State Farm had 20,000 ServiceFirst repairers at the peak of the old

Service First program compared withapproximately 10,300 Select Serviceproviders in the Select Service programtoday.

Avery noted that 63% of all claimsare handled through Select Service,with the lowest percentage of 17% ofclaims being handled through SelectService in Long Island, NY.

“Mr. Avery spoke of meeting withdifferent large providers discussingwhere the majority of delays occurredand noted the response centered onparts delays and that by assisting the in-dustry and improving cycle time to re-duce the time of repairs by one daywould reduce State Farm’s rental ex-pense by $43 million for each day ofcycle time reduced,” Plier reported.

State Farm originally piloted aparts procurement program back in2008/2009 but it was discontinued whenChrysler filed for bankruptcy and GMaccepted government bailout funds.However, during that pilot they discov-ered by their numbers a parts return per-centage between 14–17%, and based onthis fact, the decision was made tosearch for additional options after shut-ting down the pilot. Shortly after theprogram was discontinued, State Farmfiled a request for proposal and Part-sTrader was selected from this process.

“Per Mr. Avery, State Farm wants

to assist the industry (use of PartsTraderand a parts locating/procurement pro-gram) by reducing totals because ofparts competitiveness reducing repaircost. He says this would be an assis-tance to all (the consumer, the OE man-ufacturer, the insurance company, andthe repair facilities),” reported Plier.

During his presentation, Averystated only suppliers nominated by Se-lect Service repairers are and will be onthe PartsTrader list. Avery also said thatPartsTrader is continuing to make im-provements in the electronic processand two of the test market areas now are

operating on a 30-minute bid window.Avery also noted that the number

of repairers in the Chicago metro area,the fifth and final test market who areexpected to test the PartsTrader pro-gram in December, will outnumber thetotal number of repairers currently onthe pilot in the other four test marketscombined.

Plier reported that during theQ&A, the first question asked camefrom a frustrated individual about aslide from Avery’s presentation show-ing a PartsTrader screen shot that indi-cated parts, days of delivery and theshop cost, but not the price that wouldbe listed on the estimate. After severalother attempts by members of the audi-ence to get clear answers on list price,“Mr. Avery eventually admitted that theshops’ margins were not guaranteed toremain what they currently are,” Plierreported.

Another sticking point in the meet-ing centered around whether or not re-pairers in test markets were givingpositive feedback.

“Mr. Avery stated State Farm hadreceived positive feedback from theevaluation from the four current testareas, but he gave no specific examplesof positives,” Plier said. The evalua-tions indicated there must be a bettertraining process and that is being ad-

dressed by PartsTrader. “Mr. Averynoted State Farm and PartsTrader arehand-in-hand in this process and Part-sTrader must prove and provide a valueto the industry.”

As Avery was saying the evalua-tions had returned positive information,Dave McBroom, director of the FloridaAutomotive Collision Association,spoke up to disagree. [Editor’s Note:Dave McBroom, passed away on Oct.11. Read his obituary on page 10.]

“Mr. McBroom told the partici-pants he had flown in from Tuscon thatafternoon so he could be a part of themeeting. Mr. McBroom noted to thegroup he had been in Tuscon for a weekand had spent time in repair facilities onthe program and had completed the stepsto sending out the bids, and then went tothe parts suppliers to see how the pro-gram worked on both sides,” Plier said.

“Mr. McBroom then began nam-ing different repairers and supplierswho had removed themselves from thePartsTrader program. At this point, Mr.Avery spoke up and stated he did notfeel this was fair. The audience becamevocal enough that Mr. Avery allowedMr. McBroom to continue for a few ad-ditional statements.”

In general, members of the audi-ence felt that much of the informationprovided by Avery was very much thesame information that has been pub-lished since the pilot program wasstarted, and that the only new informa-tion he provided was related to whyState Farm was attempting anotherparts procurement program.

“At no time did or could Mr. Averyprovide how this program would bene-fit a repairer and/or a supplier,” Pliersaid. He also reported that several of theaudience questions were repetitive innature because Avery avoided givingspecific answers. The meeting endedlate at 9:45 p.m. Before closing, Batch-elor invited shop owners from Alabamato return for another meeting later thisyear to allow GCIA members to heartheir side of the story now that they hadheard from State Farm.

Special thanks from AutobodyNews to Steve Plier for providing noteson the meeting.

George Avery Spoke on PartsTrader to GCIA Sept. 20: Parts Margins “Not Guaranteed to Remain” As Are

“Mr. Avery eventually admitted that shops’margins were ‘not guaranteed’ to remain

what they currently are”

ance Commissioner Dave Jones andlegislators Jack was able to reach, the

bill was killed, saving shops from sig-nificant potential liability.

Several states now tax services anda study was begun to consider taxingservices in California. This would forceshops and other businesses to be re-

sponsible for withholding a percentageof payments to independent contractors,a costly administrative nightmare. For-tunately the study was vetoed.

Perhaps the hottest item was abill to require insurance companies to

pay for a replacement part if a partprescribed turned out to not be of “likekind and quality” from an OEM part.The insurance industry has vowed tofight this one all the way to theSupreme Court if necessary. Jack also


CAA Ventura

discussed other hot items like thesteering issue and consumer’s right tochoose and the liability for counterfeitairbags issue, where he has helpedpush to get favorable treatment for ourindustry.

Recent CAA meetings hosted theLabor Enforcement Task Force thathas promised more sting traps and vi-olation citations. Jerry Brown’s newappointees have promised “aggressiveenforcement.” Jack works with theB.A.R., Cal/OSHA and other agenciesto try to help point enforcement activ-

ities toward the real wrong-doersrather than attacking reputable shopsfor minor issues. Jack says CAAmembers with concerns can alwayscontact him and he will be glad to as-sist with any problems they mighthave. He added that it’s in a shop’sbest interest to stay in touch with locallegislators, Council members and of-ficials to personally make the indus-try’s concerns known and appreciated.It would also be of great value to at-tend Legislative Day to help makeconcerns understood.

Micki Hazz, Website and socialmedia designer for the Valley MotorCenter (VMC), spoke next. She pro-

vided detailed in-sight into how awebsite could beintegrated withYelp, Facebook,Youtube, andTwitter to providea total, interactiveexperience for col-

lision repair customers and prospects.She emphasized “relationship market-

ing” where people can share photos,videos, opinions and referrals. A showof hands revealed that most shop own-ers and managers present did have awebsite but rarely updated them andmade little if any use of these other so-cial media tools.

Micki showed a video that ex-plained that 95% of young peopleget their news, product informa-tion and peer recommendationson-line. The next generation ofdrivers will rarely, if ever, look at


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See CAA Ventura, Page 62

Micki Hazz


by Melanie Anderson

Two strong women presented “Coura-geous Leadership” at NACE in NewOrleans on Oct. 12. Sponsored byWIN, Women’s Industry Network,Denise Caspersen, ASA Collision Di-vision Manager, and Melissa Miller,CARSTAR Sr. Operational Manager,talked with a group of women aboutwhat it takes to be brave in the work-place and in their lives.

Having courage is not the same asbeing fearless. Courage is the abilityto do the right thing, despite feelingsof fear or discomfort when facing sit-uations of pain, risk, opportunity, un-certainty, hardship or intimidation.

Caspersen and Miller describedthree different types of courage anddiscussed the impact fear has on per-sonal and organizational performance,and how by tapping into your own‘courage history’ you can use yourpast to strengthen your future.

“We’re not all born with courage,but we’re born with the capacity to becourageous,” Caspersen said.

However, acting with courage isoften avoided because of fear, because

it’s easier, people are afraid of embar-rassing themselves or they don’t wanta confrontation. But the benefits couldresult in growth, better communica-tion, advancement, innovation andhappier employees.

The cost of fear is high. Accord-ing to Human Resource ExecutiveMagazine (2008), a third of U.S. em-ployees waste at least 20 hours ofwork time each month complainingabout their bosses. Stress-related ill-nesses account for 1/3 of worker ab-senteeism, and 37% of Americanworkers report being bullied on thejob. Fearful workers are twice aslikely to be depressed and 33% aremore likely to report exhaustion andsleep disorders.

Ways that employees display fearin the workplace could include hostil-ity, hiding mistakes, being distracted,and playing it safe versus taking a cre-ative approach.

Ways to combat fear includelooking for ways to build your confi-dence, not obsessing about things thatfrighten you, gathering facts, seekingmentoring and developing new skills.

“If we can address fear, little by

little, every day, it becomes a habit,”said Caspersen.

Caspersen and Miller asked thegroup of women what they thoughtcourage was and the answers werevaried: willing to take a risk, standingup for yourself, standing up for yourbeliefs, finishing what you started, notgiving up, speaking your truth, andbeing true to yourself.

Caspersen pointed out that weoften make mistakes to learn by.Something her parents told her stillrings loud today: “You always have achoice, but you have to live with theoutcome.”

When considering taking a risk,consider these factors: passion, pur-pose, principle, prerogative, andprofit. These are the right reasons totake a risk. Can you suffer through theanguishing moments that accompany ‘right risks’ while caring intensely?Can you harness that passion and stayfocused and headed in the right direc-tion? Do you have the right set of val-ues? Do you have the power tochoose? And, profit, is only to be con-sidered lastly.

Three different types of courage

were described as: ‘try,’ ‘trust’ and‘tell.’ Those who ‘try’ step up andmake the first attempts to take action.Those who ‘trust’ follow the lead ofothers and let go of control. Thosewho ‘tell’ are those who speak out, as-sert one’s voice, and tell the truth. Andthere are always risks. Your actionsmay harm others. Other people’s ac-tions may harm you. Or, you could becast out of the group for truth telling.

“The ‘tell’ type of courage can bethe most difficult as you may saythings the other person doesn’t wantto hear,” said Miller. “There is alwaysa difference between being respectfuland being offensive. Always make itabout the process, not the person.”

Caspersen and Miller also de-scribed two leadership styles. The firstis called ‘spillers’ — those who relyon fear as a motivator, are negativeduring times of challenge, or who dis-courage others who try to grow.

The other leadership style is‘fillers’ — those who build other peo-ple’s confidence, provide support dur-ing challenges, and encourage othersto grow.

Which kind of leader are you?

How to be a ‘Courageous Leader’ Presented at NACE

Esurance recently honored threeCARSTAR facilities with Auto BodyRepair Expert of the Year awards dur-ing CARSTAR’s annual conference inSan Antonio. CARSTAR said Es-urance presents the CARSTAR AutoBody Repair Expert of the Year awardto the top performing stores in threeU.S. regions. The award is based onseveral key performance indicators,such as estimate cycle time, compli-ance with Esurance’s direct repair pro-gram, re-inspection variance, I-CARGold status and customer service. Theaward was created to recognize the topshops and technicians in the industryfor customer service excellence andcontinuation of technological educa-tion, CARSTAR said. The award-win-ning facilities include the following:● Ace Sullins CARSTAR in Miramar,FL, owned by Kyle Wharff.● Hunter’s CARSTAR in Norwood,PA, owned by Gary Hunter.● Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters,MO, owned by Kerry and BobbieWoodson.

“I congratulate them for earningthe titles, and I thank Esurance for itscontinued campaign to educate tech-nicians in this industry,” said DavidByers, CEO of CARSTAR.

Esurance recognizes ThreeCARSTAR shops with awards

Martin Senour Kicks Off 4QTraining Program The Martin Senour Company kickedoff its fourth quarter training sessionin October, offering courses to colli-sion center professionals on techni-cal skills, estimating solutions, newtechnologies, and updated applica-tion techniques required for collisioncenter profitability. The Fall 2012course lineup, which is held at vari-ous Martin Senour training locationsnationwide, includes an emphasis onsustainable operations from both abusiness and technical standpoint.

“We seek to help collision repairowners, managers and technicians bet-ter practice profitable and more pro-ductive thinking and hands-on doing,”says Jeff Green, Martin Senour Di-rector of Sales. “We also have seensignificant interest for classes regard-ing waterborne technologies, applica-tion certification, and lean practices, sowe’ve provided additional coursesspecific to those practices.” MartinSenour professionals will be providinginstruction on a number of class topicsincluding its VORTEX® waterborne,Tec/Base® and Pro//Base™ refinishsystems, painter certification, andcolor adjustment and blending. Visitmartinsenour-autopaint.com or call 1-800-526-6704 for schedule.


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BASF Showcases Newest Additionsto VisionPlus Online Tools at NACEDuring the 2012 International Auto-body Congress and Exposition at theMorial Convention Center in New Or-leans, LA, Oct. 10-13, BASF Auto-motive Refinish Solutions showcasedtheir latest software tools to improvecollision center productivity.

The Business Analyzer Tool, partof the VisionPLUS online suite ofelectronic tools and systems, gives

body shops the ability to measurethemselves against industry standardsby tracking their costs, sales, and per-formance. Used as a sales marketingtool, the Business Analyzer Toolbreaks down the numbers of a shop’scosts, sales and profit based on sev-eral key indicators, such as paint andmaterial costs, said Vitor Margaro-

nis, Marketing Director of BASFCoatings Solutions.

“We use the tool to help cus-tomers grow their businesses in theareas of improvement they want tofocus on,” said Margaronis. “From abusiness standpoint, we go above andbeyond a paint company. It’s not justabout paint. It's about profits, growth,cost control, and overall better man-

agement of their business.”The Business Analyzer Tool

is available as a mobile app.According to BASF, Vision-

PLUS Online allows collisionrepair centers to track, analyzeand improve their business inreal time so repair facilities candiscover and act on improve-ment immediately, withouthaving to wait for the usualend-of-month reports.

BASF produces coatingsfor the automotive, commercialfleet and collision repair markets.Some of the refinish solutions fromBASF are Limco, R-M and Glasuritpaint products. The offering is sup-ported by advanced color informa-tion systems, technical trainingprograms and business managementseminars.

DEG DATABASE INQUIRY 10/15/2012

Track_# EstimatingPlatform

InquiryCategory

Year MakeModel

ResolutionStatus

OriginationDate

SubmissionDate

ResolutionDate

Total Timeto Resolve

4889 Audatex - RefinishOperations

2012Lincoln MKS Resolved 9/11/2012

6:15:07 PM9/14/20129:02:00 AM

9/14/201212:38:00 PM 00 Days

Inquiry Description Resolution DescriptionPaint CodeSection6_IssueSummaryCRYSTAL CHAMPAGNE PRL Paint codeJZ decoded as a two stage but it is a three stage

Estimated Fix September 2012The paint code JZ has been updated to display as a threestage application in the paint table. The change will appearon the September 2012 release.

Collision damage experts Larry Mon-tanez and Arthur Harris presented “TheKeys to Successful Estimating!” duringNACE in New Orleans, LA, on Oct. 12.

The focus of their presentation cen-tered on DEG, Database EnhancementGateway, a free service funded by theSociety of Collision Repair Specialists,the Automotive Service Association andthe Alliance of Automotive ServiceProviders. The DEG is an advocate foraccurate collision data and acts as a go-between for shops and informationproviders—CCC, Mitchell and Audatex.The DEG was developed to improve thequality and accuracy of collision repairestimates by those who use collision re-pair estimating databases to providefeedback to information providers.

“The DEG was created becausethere was a disconnect with infor-mation providers and DEG was cre-ated to bridge that gap,” said Harris,

DEG Administrator.The DEG public database has

been around for five years, said Harris,who has been with the company for

two years. He describes his job as “fa-cilitating the gap between informationproviders and the estimate user.”

Collision repairers and insurersmay submit questions and inquiries or

ask for assistance with a particularproblem and DEG will work with theinformation provider to reach a resolu-tion. Often, this can result in changes tothe database or P-Pages. Shops are alsoencouraged to submit pictures or shortvideos with technicians performing atask in regards to a question or problemthat arises, said Montanez, a collisiondamage analyst with P&L Consultants.

To submit an inquiry, log on towww.degweb.org and fill out an onlineworksheet.

“The DEG is free and people shouldsend in their inquiries. It helps everyoneget questions answered,” said Montanez.

The DEG database is a valuabletool for the collision repair industry asit provides valuable feedback on miss-ing, unclear or potentially inaccuratedata within the estimate systems, Har-ris said. He adds that the DEG providestimely responses on both the status on

an inquiry and the response from the in-formation provider in question. Userscan also read all other inquiries madeby other repairers and see how the issuewas resolved.

Through feedback by repairers, theDEG can help fix footnotes, inaccuratelabor times, missing parts, incorrect partnumbers, and substrate identification.

In addition, Harris advised thosein attendance at the NACE presenta-tion not to print out the P-Pages, or es-timating guides as he called them,because they could be outdated. Mon-tanez says he downloads the P-Pagesonce a month to replace the older ver-sion from the previous month.

“The P-Pages aren’t guides. Theestimates aren’t suggested. It is themanual,” said Montanez. “The P-Pagesare not open to interpretation.”

For more information on theDEG, go to www.degweb.org.

DEG & the Keys to Successful Estimating Presented in New Orleans

Larry Montanez (l) and Arthur Harris (r) talkedabout the DEG at NACE on Oct. 12

by Melanie Anderson

The National Auto Body Councilgifted six vehicles to needy familiesthrough its Recycled Rides program atNACE on Oct. 11.

Four local shops in the New Or-leans area donated their time to refur-bish the vehicles:• Car Craft Collision Centers (2 cars)• Champ’s Collision Centers (2 cars)• Collision Xperts• Fradella’s Collision Center

Seven years ago, in the wake ofHurricane Katrina, these shops re-ceived assistance from NABC withbasic necessities, such as householdgoods, clothing and technician tools.Now, these shops paid it forward toothers in need.

Recycled Rides is a national ini-tiative through which National AutoBody Council members refurbish do-nated vehicles and gift them to fami-lies in need. In addition to body shopsdonating their labor, insurers, paintsuppliers, parts vendors and rental carcompanies contribute as well.

At the NACE event, five insur-ance companies donated vehicles forrefurbishing: Allstate, Esurance,GEICO, Progressive and State Farm.Enterprise Rent-A-Car donated a ve-hicle as well.

The Maltese family received aFord Escape refurbished by Car CraftCollision Center and donated by En-terprise.

The Jiles family lost their vehi-cles in Hurricane Isaac and received aHonda CRV, refurbished by Champ’sCollision Center and donated byGEICO.

The Easley family received aDodge pickup truck, refurbished byCollision Xperts and donated by Pro-gressive.

Brenda Kenna was overjoyed toreceive a Toyota Camry that was re-furbished by Car Craft Collision Cen-ter and donated by Esurance.

Carolyn Gagliano, a retiredteacher, is thankful for her newChevrolet Impala refurbished byFradella’s Collision Center and do-nated by State Farm.

David Marlowe is retired and hasmajor health issues. He will benefitfrom the Ford Explorer that was re-furbished by Champ’s Collision Cen-ter and donated by Allstate.

“This car is giving me my lifeback,” said Marlowe. “You lose your

last vestige of independence when youlose your transportation.”

For Calvin Schenck, owner ofCar Craft Collision Centers, partici-pating in the Recycled Rides Programmeans paying it forward.

“This journey started seven yearsago as a result of the largest nationaldisaster that the United States had everexperienced. That disaster was namedHurricane Katrina,” Schenck said.“No one could have expected theamount of physical, financial andemotional damage that one eventcould cause. Thousands of peoplewere left jobless, homeless and direc-tionless. We were part of that group.

“As we struggled to get our livesand businesses back together, we werecontacted by people in our industry,who told us that they were ready toroll up their sleeves and help, and thatthey did. We were given hope thatthere were people out there who cared.Help arrived in the form of tool re-placements and emotional support,”Schenck said.

“Before we knew it, we were be-ginning to heal. Had it not been forthe help of these people, we don’tknow if we could have made it. Be-cause of this, we have decided to payit forward. The cars given away arepart of a project that has required usto complete all necessary repairs tothese vehicles, some of which wehave equipped with new tires andpaint jobs. We would also like tothank Mike n’ Jerry’s Paint and Sup-ply, Lamarque Ford and Gulf StatesGlass for the supplies they donated.”

Car Craft Collision Centers do-nated body and paint work to a 2007Toyota Camry. “We put four new

tires on this vehicle and an align-ment, as well as completing an oilchange and a complete analysis ofthe proper function of the vehicleand servicing the A/C system,” saidSchenck.

Champ’s Collision Centers, ownedby Tim and Danny Kingston, workedon two cars, a 2002 Ford Explorer anda 2004 Honda CRV. The cars were do-nated by Allstate and GEICO.

“Both cars have under 100,000miles and should provide safe and re-liable transportation for years,” saidTim Kingston. “Champ’s is proud tohave had the opportunity to contributeto such a great cause benefitting ourcommunity.”

Fradella’s Collision Centers re-furbished a 2007 Impala donated byState Farm. According to Fradella’sVice President Al Waller, the shop re-paired small dents and scratches, re-placed the front bearing, brought itsmaintenance up to date and detailedthe vehicle inside and out.

“The goal is to help people helpthemselves,” said Chuck Sulkala, theexecutive director of the NABC. “Andall of the industry segments commit toplaying a part in seeing that happens.Most that participate find it a life-changing experience.”

The Recycled Rides program wasborn in 2007. Since then, 150 cars aregiven away every year throughout thecountry, said Liz Stein, VP of Indus-try Relations, Assured PerformanceNetwork and VP of NABC. “Imaginethe impact this would be in your com-munity if more people did this.”


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Brenda Kenna received a 2007 Camry at NACE, thanks to the NABC Recycled Rides program and thecollision centers, insurers and other businesses that donated their time, labor, services and products


by Melanie Anderson

The Collision Repair Education Foun-dation hosted an Open House Sept. 25at Cypress Community College in Cy-press, CA to present new equipmentand tools to its collision repair in-structor and students - the first recipi-ents of the $50,000 CaliforniaMatching Makeover Grant.

Audatex, a Solera company, of-fered the $25,000 matching grant toprovide one California school’s colli-sion program with an Ultimate Colli-sion Education Makeover through theeducation foundation. The initial$25,000 came from Audatex, with anadditional $25,000 in contributionsmatched by other industry companies.Solera’s matching funds come from a$100,000 donation from Solera andCEO Tony Aquila, the largest cashdonation ever received by the not-for-

profit education foundation that as-sists secondary and post-secondarycollision programs through industrysupport. The Solera grant was madeavailable exclusively to Californiasecondary or post-secondary schools.

Cypress College, the first schoolto receive this exclusive California-only award, was announced the win-ner during the 2011 SEMA show.With the $50,000 makeover grant, Cy-press College received its wish list ofneeded tools, equipment and supplies.At the open house event, the educationfoundation presented Cypress Collegewith $50,000 worth of equipment andproducts, including a velocity framemeasuring system, desktop and laptopcomputers, hand tools, windshield re-pair system, polishers, detail equip-ment, tool trays and stands to holdfenders or doors and epoxy floors.

Industry supporters of the Cali-fornia Matching Makeover grant pro-gram for Cypress College thatfulfilled the second $25,000 of thegrant include 1-800-Radiator and A/C;ALLDATA; Assured PerformanceNetwork; Chilton Auto Body; Colli-sion Services; Crockett’s Premier Au-tobody; FIX Auto, Hobart, MatcoTools and Oakland Autobody.

“Through all of the companies’participation we were able to fulfillthe school’s $50,000 wish list and thisevent is meant to showcase what theschool received with their support andwho the donors are that made it hap-pen,” said Brandon Eckenrode, As-sociate Director of Development withthe education foundation. “This event,along with our other makeover openhouses, take place months after the an-nouncement due the fact that it takesthat long to coordinate all of the items

being ordered and at the school forthem to showcase it during the event.Plus with the school closed during thesummer, we had to wait until theywere back in session.”

The goal of the Ultimate CollisionEducation Makeover grant is to honora school that has been doing an out-standing job in educating students incollision repair, but needs some finan-cial assistance to improve their pro-gram’s teaching materials andequipment. With strained schoolbudgets, the education foundation andindustry supporters have the opportu-nity to bridge the program’s financialgap and to make a difference in thelives of the students studying collisionrepair. As part of the Makeover grantapplication, schools provide an item-ized wish list which can include anytools, supplies, and equipment that are

needed to by the collision program.Dan Snook, head of the collision

repair department at Cypress College,is credited with bringing in the $50,000makeover grant to his school where150 students are enrolled in the colli-sion repair program. The departmentincludes seven instructors and classesin automotive detailing, collision re-pair, paint and refinishing,structural repair and estimat-ing. Cypress College is theonly NATEF (National Auto-motive Technician EducationFoundation) accredited schoolin Southern California.

An instructor at the col-lege since 1999, Snook him-self graduated from theprogram in 1986.

As a student, he said, theinstructors gave him the op-portunity to make a good liv-ing doing something heenjoyed. And now that he’s an in-structor he enjoys seeing the growthin his students and watching themexcel. While a majority of his studentsare in their mid 20s, some are olderadults who want to learn how to work

on their own cars or start a second ca-reer. Many of the students get jobs inthe industry before they receive theirtwo-year associates degree, althoughSnook pushes his students to finishtheir degrees.

Bill Noxon, 56, is retired from thegrocery warehouse business after 26years. He is in his third semester in the

collision repair program at CypressCollege. “I’ve liked cars all my life. Itstarted out as a hobby,” he said. “Atfirst I enrolled in just the collision re-pair, then I added paint and refinish-ing, then added auto detailing.” He

Cypress College Receives $50,000 in Makeover Tools, Equipment


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Cypress College instructor Dan Snook (holding award) with (l to r) Cypress Mayor Doug Bailey,college president Dr. Bob Simpson and Education Foundation executive director Clark Plucinski

The collision repair program at Cypress College received$50,000 worth of tools, equipment and laptop computers

enjoys the classroom time and work-ing in the lab doing hands-on training.He plans to graduate with an AA de-gree and perhaps get side jobs andwork for himself or get hired at a shop,or buy an old car and customize it him-self. Noxon enjoyed working on carsas a teenager, and back then, he and hisbuddies taught themselves. “Thingsare a lot different now — 35 years latera lot has changed. It was a lot simpler

back then, you could just lift up thehood and see everything, where nowa-days you plug in a computer.”

For many years, Snook has beenoperating his department on a $6,000annual budget for supplies and equip-

ment. The $50,000 makeover grantand other donations from the industrytotally transforms his student shop.

“Everything we do is made possi-ble by the industry partners who do-nate, provide and supply everythingthat we have,” said Snook. “On our$6,000 budget, I couldn’t do anythingmore than a hobby shop with minimumtools, equipment and paint. With com-panies like AkzoNobel, Meguiar’s,

Sherwin Williams, 3M, andothers, we are able to providewhat our students need. With-out them we wouldn’t be ableto operate. It’s ultimately allabout our students to helpthem succeed in the industry.”As he was applying for the

makeover grant, roughly an80-page application, Snooksaid he consulted with his in-structors and asked them whatthey needed for their classes.“Each instructor in the depart-ment received something out

of the grant that they would have neverotherwise gotten their hands on. Theygot the latest and greatest available inequipment and tools.”

Snook added, “The grant has givenus the ability to bring the department

into the next 10 or 15 years with state-of-the-art equipment. As instructorsand as a college that has one of the fewcollision repair facilities left, we are soappreciative of the companies thatcome in and donate, get involved andserve on our advisory committees andgive us direction and support throughdonations. Without them we couldn’tdo what we do,” Snook said.

“Many secondary and post-sec-ondary collision programs throughoutthe country are barely surviving ontheir small budgets. What we’re learn-ing is, without the focus from the in-dustry, schools will continue tostruggle to keep up with the technol-ogy today,” said Clark Plucinksi, Ex-ecutive Director at the CollisionRepair Education Foundation. “With-out the support from the industry andthe education foundation, these stu-

dents — the future of our industry —don’t have the advantages of learningand gaining experience using the lat-est in equipment and tools.” Plucinksiwas a shop owner for 43 years in theWashington, DC area with true2form,a 43-store chain located in Ohio,Pennsylvania, Maryland and NorthCarolina. The chain was sold to theBoyd Group in 2010.

“Our main focus is to help stu-dents and instructors,” said Eckenrode.The Collision Repair Education Foun-dation was founded in 1991 originallyas the I-CAR Education Foundationand its original focus was to help placeI-CAR curriculum into collisionschool programs. In 2008, curriculumsales to the schools transitioned overto I-CAR, becoming a separate organ-ization from the education foundation.The Education Foundation became a501c3 charitable organization thatfundraises and supports collision re-pair education to enhance career op-

portunities in the industry.Since 2009, the foundation has

offered their annual national UltimateCollision Education Makeover schoolgrant to one secondary or post-sec-ondary school’s collision program.Over the past four years, over 200schools nationwide have applied forthis grant. “Non-profit schools are el-igible to apply, and to be a recipientspeaks wonders of the instructors andtheir commitment to students and theirprogram,” said Eckenrode.

In 2011, the education foundationraised $4.1 million and by 2013, theorganization hopes to raise $10 mil-lion annually in materials, supplies,support and cash donations. Accord-ing to Eckenrode, 85 cents of everydollar raised in 2011 in combinedproduct and monetary donations wentdirectly to help schools.

The 2012 Education Foundationsecondary and post-secondarymakeover grant winning schools willbe announced at a Oct. 30 receptionduring SEMA 2012 in Las Vegas. Thefoundation received 70 applicationsfrom schools in 31 states. Accordingto Eckenrode, starting this year, twomakeover grants will be offered sothat secondary and post-secondaryschools don’t have to compete witheach other. Additionally, becausemany of the companies donate theirproducts, the foundation is still able tohelp fulfill the wish lists of schoolswho did not win the makeover grant.

For more information about theCollision Repair Education Founda-tion’s Ultimate Collision EducationMakeover $50,000 school grant, visitwww.CollisionEducationFounda-tion.org or contact Associate Directorof Development Brandon Eckenrodeat [email protected] or call (847)463-5244.


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Instructor Dan Snook (center) poses with his students in the collision repair program at CypressCollege. The college is the first recipient of the new $50,000 California Matching Makeover Grant

This 1968 Subaru 360 was just painted in a specialprojects class

printed media or ads for much ofanything and definitely not for col-lision repair. VMC’s website openswith an invitation to “Join the Val-ley Motor Center experience,” andto make an appointment. With afocus of reviews on Yelp, photoson YouTube, updates on Twitter,and comments on Facebook, all ofthese come together on the website

with links and references to all ofthe above.

Each section of the websiteguides the visitor to these integratedelements plus a shop tour, FAQs, staffphotos, a check-vehicle-progress page,an insurance agent page, and a contin-ual updating of references. The web-site will never be finished, becausethere will also be a continual influx ofnew stories, shop improvements, be-fore and after photos, and more. Sheconcludes that in the future most peo-ple seeking collision repair will search

on-line, and the size and quality of ashop won’t make as much differenceas its presence on the top of multiplesearch engines with a website that sellsthe job without the person setting afoot in the shop.

The one question that remainsunanswered is where a smaller shopthan VMC can get competent websitedesign and maintenance without em-ploying a full-time person like Micki,or paying an arm and leg for high-priced web services. Perhaps this willbe the focus of a future meeting.


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November 2012 Western Edition