Southwestern November 2014 Issue

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On Tuesday, August 26, attorneyJohn Arthur Eaves and shop ownerBill Fowler, of Bill Fowler’s Body-works in Southaven MS, appeared onthe Drake and Zeke Show, a popularearly morning radio talk show in theMemphis, TN area. The reason fortheir guest appearance was to explainthe MDL lawsuit to consumers andeducate them on their rights duringthe collision repair process in hopesof raising awareness about this im-portant issue impacting collision re-pair facilities across the country.

To begin, the radio hosts summa-rized the lawsuit they planned to dis-cuss. In January 2014, Eaves filed acomplaint against insurers on behalfof 21 collision repair shops. Thoughthe lawsuit began in MS, it has spreadand continues to gain traction so thatit is now a national lawsuit, involvingsix states, which will be tried by a sin-gle judge in FL. Multiple insurershave been implicated in the complaintas the habit of insurer steering is an in-dustry-wide problem.

Fowler pointed out that steeringhas become so pervasive in the indus-

by Stacey Phillips, Assistant Editor

Sixty-five collision repair shop own-ers recently traveled to WashingtonD.C. to educate Congress about thestruggle body shops face to protectconsumers when providing a com-plete and safe repair. The majority ofthem were part of a Nationwide Anti-Trust Multi-District Litigation filedearlier this year against multiple in-surance companies in several states.(See also other cover story this page.)

After more than 150 meetingswith representatives and senators overa three-day period, the result was anoutpouring of support for an industry

faced with the challenge of insurancecompanies dictating how they run

Congress Expresses Support of Repair Industry inResponse to Owners’ Trip to Washington D.C.

Attorney John Arthur Eaves and Shop Owner Bill Fowlerappear on Memphis Radio to Discuss MDL Suit

See Congress Support, Page 40

See Memphis Radio, Page 32


Last month we reported on the finalclosing of the purchase of HolmesBody Shop’s seven locations by CooksCollision Centers. The Holmes acqui-sition was initiated in May 2012 andconcluded with the seventh Holmeslocation closing in September of thisyear, after our last issue went to press.With 35 locations in CA, Cooks is thelargest independently owned and op-erated collision repair organization inthe state.

But Holmes is not even the latestmedium size MSO to be acquired bylarger consolidators in California. InSeptember, Service King CollisionRepair Centers acquired Marco’s Col-lision Centers, a medium-sized MSOalso having seven locations in South-

ern California. Shortly thereafterService King reached an agreement toacquire Car West Auto Body, an MSOwith seven shops in Northern Califor-nia.

Is there some kind of ‘rule of sev-ens’ at play here? More seriously, wewanted to know what forces weredriving the acquisition of small tomid-size MSOs and why they seemmore attractive than individual shopsfor acquisition.

Nearly 20 years ago DavidRoberts, the co-founder and formerChairman of the Board for CaliberCollision Centers, wrote an articlepredicting the future of consolidationsin the collision repair industry. It wasentitled Shop Consolidation: Is it In-evitable? Undoubtedly, Roberts an-

See MSO Consolidations, Page 12

MSO Consolidations in CA Heat Up Industry

Matt Parker with House Speaker John Boehner

Pro Spot is Ford’s Rotunda Supplier of the YearCarlsbad’s Pro Spot is very proud to beawarded the supplier of the year awardby the Ford Motor Company RotundaProgram. Pro Spot was approved byFord to supply aluminum repair equip-ment to the Collision Repair Programfor repairs on the new 2015 Ford F-150all-aluminum body truck. The Ford Ro-tunda Dealer Equipment Program is anational program endorsed by Ford

Motor Co. to their dealer base, sellingservice and body shop repair equip-ment. The approved equipment in-cluded: the SP Pulse MIG welders—the most sold Ford-required MIG

welders in North America, the Alu-minum Dent Repair Stations, Fume Ex-tractors, and the SPR Riveter; all ofwhich contributed to the winning of theSupplier of the Year award. “We wouldlike to thank Team Pro Spot for all oftheir hard work and all of our customersthat have supported us in purchasingour aluminum repair products. Thismeans a lot to our team at Pro Spot,”said Ron Olsson, Pro Spot President,“I’m overwhelmed and very honored towin this award from Ford. We havebeen working very hard and appreciatethe trust in our equipment and of course,the overwhelming amount of orders wehave received for the aluminum pro-gram.”

The 2015 F-150 is revolutionizingthe repair industry by mainstreaming alu-minum repair. With the hard work byFord Motor Company in designing a re-pairability-focused, all-aluminum bodyF-150, shops across the country are get-ting prepared to repair the top selling ve-hicle. Pro Spot is proud to be recognizedas a supplier of quality aluminum repairequipment to the Collision Repair Pro-gram and the 2015 Ford F-150 truck. ProSpot looks forward to continuing to de-sign innovative equipment for shops andtechnicians to repair vehicles back to OEstandards.

(l to r) Mike Berardi (Ford Director of Serv-ice Engineering Operations), Ashley Olsson(Pro Spot Director of Communications), RonOlsson (Pro Spot Founder & President) andSteve DeAngelis (Ford Manager of Techni-cal Support Operations). Photo Credit: Ash-ley Olsson

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General Manager: Barbara DaviesAssistant Editor: Stacey PhillipsOnline Editor: Victoria AntonelliContributing Writers: Tom Franklin,John Yoswick, Janet Chaney, Toby Chess,David Brown, Rich Evans, Ed Attanasio,Chasidy Sisk, David LuehrAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, SeanHartman, Bill Doyle, Norman Morano(800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Louise TedescoArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Serving Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, NewMexico and adjacent metro areas. AutobodyNews is a monthly publication for the auto-body industry. Permission to reproduce inany form the material published in AutobodyNews must be obtained in writing from thepublisher. ©2014 Adamantine Media LLC.

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Absolute Mitsubishi-Hyundai . . . . . 31BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 35Bob Howard PDC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Car-Part.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Certified Automotive PartsAssociation (CAPA). . . . . . . . . . . 23

Chevyland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Classic BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Dallas Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Dent Tools Direct USA . . . . . . . . . . . 4Don Carlton Auto Group. . . . . . . . . 20Equalizer Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . . 6Finnegan Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . 2Ford Wholesale Parts DealersTX, OK, LA, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Fowler Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Freedom Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Gillman Acura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26GlasWeld Systems, Inc. . . . . . . . . . 14GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 43Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25

Huffines Chrysler-Jeep-DodgeLewisville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Huffines Hyundai Plano . . . . . . . . . 26

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 40Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 33LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Mac Haik Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Malco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 45Mercedes-Benz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Mike Calvert Toyota. . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . 39MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 29Motor Guard Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13North Freeway Hyundai . . . . . . . . . 36Ray Huffines Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . 15Reliable Chevrolet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Replica Plastics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . . 7Scoggin-Dickey Buick . . . . . . . . . . 27South Pointe Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge. 21TG Products, Inc. - The Rail Saver . 10Toyota of Fort Worth . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Toyota of Laredo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 41Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Volkswagen Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 44Young Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Inde

xofAdvertisers

ContentsREGIONAL

$2 Million Grant to Auto Programs in LA,

AL, MS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Attanasio - Gas Monkey Garage and Dodge

Recruit Mötley Crüe to Rock Dallas . . . 14

Berkshire Hathaway to Acquire Van Tuyl Group,

Largest Privately-Owned Auto Dealership

Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Drug Transport from Texas to Louisiana

Busted, Body Shop Involved . . . . . . . . . 4

Herb’s Opens New Shop in TX . . . . . . . . . . 6

Honda and SolarCity Partnership Will Create

$50 Million Fund for Solar Projects. . . . 38

Increase in Hyrbid Purchases Possible

with Environment-Friendly Fuel Plant

in Louisiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Man Arrested for Vandalism at Car

Dealerships in OK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

New Online Tool for OK Insurance . . . . . . . 6

Service King Honored Breast Cancer

Awareness Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Sisk - ARA and LA Attorney General

Face Off Over “Junkyard Parts”. . . . . . . 10

Society of Collision Repair Specialists Welcomes

Newly Founded Auto Body Association of

Texas as Its Latest Affiliate . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Texan Sentenced in $3M Auto Insurance

Fraud Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Texas Body Shop Celebrates 50th

Anniversary Serving Houston. . . . . . . . 16

Texas Company Sued by MN Attorney General

for Selling Extended Auto Warranties . . 13

WIN Donates Memberships . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

COLUMNISTS

Attanaiso - Body Shops are Tapping into

the Persuasive Power of Video . . . . . . . 20

Attanasio - Chicago Body Shop’s Anti-Texting

Campaign Catches Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Franklin - Are You Marketing to Merely

Survive or Are You Trying to Grow . . . . 30

Luehr - Lean Implementation Strategies . . 22

Texas Civil Case Involves Allstate

& Service King. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Texas Shop Takes Restorations to

a “Radical” Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Yoswick - DRPs 20 years ago, Early CCRE,

ADP Revises Labor Times . . . . . . . . . . 26

Yoswick - Energy Transfer in Today’s

Vehicles Makes Measuring, Multi-Point

Pulling More Important . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

NATIONAL

Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance Joins

CC TRU Parts Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Alcoa Forecasts Record Auto Sheet

Shipments in Q4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Arizona Body Shop Connects With Customers

and Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

ASA Celebrates New Location . . . . . . . . . . 6

Attorney John Arthur Eaves and Shop

Owner Bill Fowler appear on Memphis

Radio to Discuss MDL Suit . . . . . . . . . . 1

Auto Glass Safety Council Updating

Certification Exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Axalta Program Provides Shop Owners

With More Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Cadillac to Introduce New Technology

on 2017 Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Car Donation Helps Army Veteran Get

Back on the Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Car-O-Liner Participation Enhanced

by Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chevrolet Brings Back the Corvette

Stingray in Time for SEMA . . . . . . . . . . 42

Chevrolet Debuts Pickup Concept

Trucks for SEMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Congress Expresses Support of Repair

Industry in Response to Owners’ Trip

to Washington D.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Cruising Through Attleboro, MA in Restored

Police Car for 100th Anniversary . . . . . 43

Deer Collision Statistics Range

Throughout the US. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Ford Recalls 850,000 Cars for

Airbag & Seat Belt Glitch . . . . . . . . . . . 36

I-CAR Launches Two New Refinish Courses. 16

Mercedes Will Train 26,000 in the

Brand’s New Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

PPG Waterborne Shop Conversions

Exceed 10,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Pro Spot is Ford’s Rotunda Supplier

of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Quest Donates $280,000 in Paint

& Abrasives to CREF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Recent MSO Consolidations in CA

Heat Up Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Roush-Modified 2015 Ford Mustang To

Be Revealed at SEMA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

SEMA: Sales of Auto Parts & Accessories

Reach $33B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Senate Subcommittee Looks Into

Effectiveness of NHTSA . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Takata Airbag Recall May Include

GM Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Three Types of Parts Account for

50% of Sales Online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Toyota Moves to Aluminum Hood

for Camry in 2018 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

WIN 2015 Membership Drive . . . . . . . . . . 46

www.autobodynews.com | NOVEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

Autobody News is pleased to introduce Norman Morano who joined ourteam in October as an Advertising Sales Manager. Norm has been a SalesDirector for 13 years handling Hammer & Dolly, New Jersey Automotive,New England Automotive, AASP-News/MN and Wisconsin AutomotiveNews. He has also sold exhibitor space for the past four years at theNortheast Automotive Trade Show. Norm graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1982 with

a BS degree in Environmental Studies. After college he travelled extensivelybefore attending Law School at Rutgers University School of Law. He was

admitted to the bar in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and has kept his NJ bar license active. Born andraised in Nutley, NJ, Norm has also lived in Orono, ME, Berkeley, CA, and Sydney, Australia. Beforeconcentrating on automotive advertising he had his own sign company building his sales contactsthroughout NY, NJ, PA, CT and DE. When he isn't working, Norm enjoys biking, yoga, surfing, motor-cycling, movies, pizza and the New York Times. He has been a resident of the Jersey Shore for the past26 years. Contact Norm to discuss your advertising needs at [email protected].

New Talent Joins the Autobody News Sales Staff

Norman Morano is Our Newest Regional Sales Manager

Contact Norm at: [email protected] to discuss your advertising needs.

In terms of dollars spent on automo-tive replacement parts through onlinepurchasing, or e-tailing, three cate-gories represent half of the dollar vol-ume in 2013, according to E-Tailingin the Automotive Aftermarket fromthe Auto Care Association.

The top three product categoriesare braking systems (primarily padsand shoes); ignition and engine (fuelpumps, alternators, ignition coils, etc.);

and glass, mirrors and lamps.The E-Tailing in the Automo-

tive Aftermarket digital study ana-lyzes the online retail market forsales of aftermarket parts, and servesas the foundation for the Auto CareAssociation to provide a unified esti-mate of online sales within the after-market.

For pricing and more informa-tion, visit www.autocare.org/etailing.

Three Types of Parts Account for 50% of Sales Online


Students from South Garland HighSchool in Garland, Texas were recentlyawarded student memberships to WIN,the Women’s Industry Network. DeniseCaspersen and Petra Schroeder, bothWIN board members, met with the stu-dents at the Collision Repair EducationFoundation – Cars, Careers, andCelebrities Expo, a one-day event inDallas, TX on August 16.

Schroeder, Brand DevelopmentManager at Axalta Coating Systems,donated five WIN Student Member-ships to the group after meetingthem. “I was immediately impressedwith the positive attitude that theseyoung ladies displayed,” she said.

Craig Baughman, the technicalinstructor for the Auto Collision RepairTechnology program at the school, en-couraged his students to attend. “Everyyear we have more and more youngwomen enter our Auto Collision Re-pair program,” he said. “I believe rela-tionships which have the potential todevelop will influence and encouragetheir lives more than words ever will.”

WIN offers support for womeninterested in a career in the collisionindustry through scholarship, net-working and mentoring opportunities.To learn more, go to:http://thewomensindustrynetwork.com.

WIN Donates Memberships

Service King Collision Repair Cen-ters and its teammates joined thefight against breast cancer, launch-ing a charitable partnership with theNational Breast Cancer Foundation,Inc.® (NBCF).

Service King pledged to matchteammate donations to NBCF through-out Breast Cancer Awareness Month inOctober with the goal of spreading thefoundation’s mission of HelpingWomen Now.

“We are honored to partner with afoundation as impactful and inspiringas the National Breast Cancer Founda-tion,” said Chris Abraham, ServiceKing CEO. “The work they do trulymakes a difference in the lives of oth-ers, and we are thrilled that both Serv-ice King and our teammates will beable to help support and honor thoseaffected by breast cancer.”

Service King and NBCF tailoredthe campaign specifically toward rais-ing early detection awareness. The ef-fort will seek to help provideeducation and support services, aswell as early detection through theNational Mammography Program,which offers free diagnostic screen-ings to underserved women across theUnited States.

Service King Honored BreastCancer Awareness Month

Two men pleaded guilty in federalcourt to weapons and narcotics crimeson September 22. Donald “Duck”Jones Jr. and Stokley Austin werecharged with trafficking cocaine out ofa Marrero car dealership in Louisiana.

According to court records, theduo moved multiple kilograms of co-caine from Texas to Louisiana aboardcustomized vehicles from Austin’s Plat-inum Imports.

Austin, 33, faces a minimum of25 years in prison for conspiracy todistribute more than five kilograms ofcocaine and for crack cocaine andweapons charges. Jones, 33, faces atleast 15 years, according to reports byAndy Grimm, NOLA.com

A series of informants told DEAagents in a criminal complaint filed in2013 that Austin was moving largequantities of drugs each week fromHouston. The drugs were sold out ofAustin’s car lot and Jones’ body shopin Destrehan, LA.

The complaint also states thatAustin paid “mules” to drive carsfrom his dealership to his suppliers inTexas, after screening the drivers forcriminal records. He then registeredthe vehicles they used to move thedrugs in the mules’ names and fol-

lowed the vehicles on their route.Agents tailed one of Austin’s

shipments, and engineered a trafficstop where they impounded the vehi-cle after a search dog alerted on nar-cotics hidden in a compartment. TheVolvo sport-utility vehicle was regis-tered to the driver, but the previousowner was Austin’s car dealership, ac-cording to reports by Grimm.

Court records say that a fewweeks later, Austin broke into the DEAimpound after locating the vehiclewith a tracking device. When he real-ized it was a DEA site, he retreated.

Officials found more than twokilograms of cocaine, $45,000 in cashand a rifle and pistol upon arrestingAustin and searching his home in 2013.

They raided Jones’ home on thesame day and found another two kilosof cocaine, 269 grams of heroin, anAK-47 assault rifle and three pistols,Grimm reported.

Drug Transport from Texas to Louisiana Busted, LABody Shop Involved

$2 Million Grant to Auto Programs in LA, AL, MS by Jeff Matthews, thetowntalk.com

Central Louisiana Technical Commu-nity College will use a $2 million grantto revive its program training vehicletechnicians.

CLTCC partnered with threeother institutions: Lawson State Com-munity College in Birmingham, AL;Atlanta Technical College; andCopiah-Lincoln Community Collegein Wesson, MS, to secure $10 millionin funding.

“Today’s transportation vehiclesare modern and highly sophisticated,”said CLTCC Chancellor Rodney Ellis.“Our local employers have voiced con-cerns about a shortage of qualified tech-nicians, and we worked to find asolution. Because of this grant, we willbe able to work with numerous employ-ers to train and produce auto body, mo-bile medium/heavy equipment/diesel,marine and motorcycle repair techni-cians.”

The decision to go after fundingto bring back or expand automotivetechnology and transportation-relatedprograms came from several conver-sations Ellis had with local employ-ers when he took over at CLTCC.

“They talked about all the moneythey were spending to train their staff,

as well as all the money they werespending to recruit and train new tech-nicians,” he said.

Talking with colleagues at otherinstitutions, Ellis found they were hav-ing similar issues. With the idea that“we could make this so much morepowerful if we do this collectively,”Ellis said, the four schools formed theSoutheastern Transportation Network.

CLTCC will begin offering pro-grams at its Alexandria and Leesvillecampuses in the 2015 spring semes-ter. The goal is to expand to some ofthe other campuses starting in the2015 fall semester.

“We are excited about this train-ing initiative because it means therewill be trained individuals in our areato select from when filling these typesof positions,” said Clint Murphy,general manager of All-Star Toyota inAlexandria. “Currently, we have totravel outside of Central Louisiana tofind skilled labor, which is not ourpreference. We have good-paying jobsright here, and we want to hire ourlocal workforce.”

“The $2 million grant is a greatvictory for CLTCC and countless oth-ers who worked very hard to securethese funds,” said Rand Alford, ownerof Alford Motors in Leesville.

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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack an-nounced on Oct. 3 a $91 million loanguarantee to help finance an innova-tive, advanced bio-fuel plant in Rapi-des Parish, Louisiana.

“This partnership is the latest ex-ample of the Obama Administration’scontinuing support for innovative,home-grown energy sources,” Vilsacksaid. “USDA’s support for renewableenergy projects like this helps createjobs in rural areas, promotes U.S. en-ergy independence, and leads to furtherexpansion of the growing and increas-ingly significant bio-economy.”

USDA reached an agreement withSilicon Valley Bank to provide a $91million Biorefinery Assistance Programloan guarantee to Cool Planet to help thecompany finish construction on a bio-fuel plant at the Port of Alexandria inLouisiana. This unique partnership aimsto create jobs, produce advanced domes-tic fuel and reduce greenhouse gases.

The average fuel economy of newcars sold in the US went down from 25.8mpg to 25.3 mpg in Sept., according tothe University of Michigan Transporta-tion Research (UMTRI). An increase insales of light trucks and SUVs could beresponsible for the dip. Still, the nationalaverage is up 5.2 mpg since UMTRIstarted tracking it in Oct. 2007, according

to reports by John BeltzSnyder of auto-blog.com. The group’s Eco-DrivingIndex measures average emissions perdistance driven (with a lag of twomonths) and shows that figure at an all-time low in July of 2014.

People are noticing the benefits ofHybrids, and are more likely than everto invest in one, according to studies byUMTRI that have also found that thosewho own hybrids are content – 83 per-cent plan to buy them in the future.

Out of the 83 percent, “a third saidthey’ll be purchasing a plug-in hybridnext, while three percent will opt for afully electric vehicle. Thirty-three per-cent of hybrid buyers cited environmen-tal impact as the reason for theirpurchase, with 28 percent choosing themfor long-term costs and 25 percent to useless energy. Price points are a big part ofthe average person’s decision to buy ahybrid,” according to Beltz. Experts pre-dict an increase in the number of hybridinvestments, due to the partnership.

The Cool Planet facilities will pro-duce approximately 8-10 million gallonsof reformate per year at full capacity.Often referred to as a “drop-in” fuel, re-formate is an ingredient in gasoline andjet fuel that can be added during the reg-ular refinery process. Many biofuels,like ethanol, are fuel additives that are

instead blended into a finished productto oxygenate fuel. Reformate enhancesthe energy content of gasoline, dieseland jet fuel. Pine chips will be the feed-stock source for the Cool Plant facility,but the company can use almost anytype of renewable cellulosic material.

Another benefit of the facility is thatit will produce biochar, a bioenergybyproduct that has been noted for its abil-ity to sequester carbon and potentially re-duce atmospheric greenhouse gas levels.In Sept., Vilsack announced the USDAissued a conditional commitment on a$105 million loan guarantee to FulcrumSierra Biofuels, LLC to build a bio-re-finery in Nevada to produce renewablejet fuel from municipal solid waste.

USDA awarded conditional com-mitments for other plants in Florida,Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina andOregon. Sapphire Energy paid off itsUSDA loan for a plant in New Mexico.USDA’s loan commitment to CoolPlanet is being financed from the re-mainder of the Biorefinery AssistanceProgram funds authorized in the 2008Farm Bill. An additional project financedfrom these funds is expected to be an-nounced. Congress reauthorized and ex-tended the program in the 2014 FarmBill to include bio-based renewablechemicals and product manufacturing.

Increase in Hyrbid Purchases Possible with Environment-Friendly Fuel Plant in LouisianaHerb’s Paint & Body opened its eighthcollision-repair center in McKinney,Texas, west of U.S. Custer Road andHwy 380, according to Terry Box, dal-lasnews.com. McKinney, Celina, Anna,Melissa, Van Alstyne and Shermanareas will be within the 14,000-square-foot shop’s service range. Dallas-basedand family owned since 1956, Herb’shas collision-repair centers in Dallas,Garland, Richardson, Plano, Frisco andAllen. Herb’s was the first in the Dallasarea to equip its facilities with water-based automotive paint, and hasachieved I-Car Gold Class Status.

ASA Celebrates New LocationAn open house was held on Oct. 13to celebrate the ASA’s move to itsnew national office at 8209 MidCities Blvd., North Richland Hills,TX 76182. ASA board of directors,local businesses and staff were in at-tendance. “In response to the grow-ing needs of our members, ASA took

a proactive assessment of the specificways in which we serve the member-ship and the industry. Our new head-quarters puts us in an optimal positionto be effective, efficient and pertinentfor the long term,” said Darrell Am-berson, AAM, ASA chairman. ASA’snew number is (817) 514-2900.

Herb’s Opens New Shop in TX

A Broken Arrow, OK, man is accusedof vandalizing dozens of cars at deal-erships along Memorial.

Police say 24-year-old WilliamKnox Jr. smashed car windshields be-tween 41st and 51st. According to of-ficials, Knox used his belt buckle tosmash windshields and scratch cars.

Witnesses reported all of this topolice, and officers caught him near41st and Memorial.

Don Carlton AcuraGeneral Man-ager, John Ashley, came in the morn-ing of Sept. 16 to find 25 damaged carsand $20,000 worth of damage. Sevencars at Don Carlton Honda were alsohit.

Police said Knox damaged vehi-cles on at least six car lots. Officials alsofound oxycodone pills on Knox that hedid not have a prescription for.

Man Arrested for Vandalismat Car Dealerships in OK

A ribbon-cutting ceremony during ASA’sopen house Oct. 13 included (l to r): DanStander, Collision Division director; RoySchnepper, secretary/treasurer; DarrellAmberson, chairman; Donny Seyfer, chair-man-elect; Bob Wills, Mechanical Divisiondirector; and Gary Keyes, general director

The Oklahoma insurance depart-ment said that residents can learnmore about insurance company fil-ings by using a new online tool thatcontains rate filings for property,casualty, life and health insuranceproducts, the Oklahoma InsuranceDepartment announced. Consumerscan now search for rate and formfilings using SERFF Filing Accessor SFA. SERFF stands for Systemfor Electronic Rate and Form Fil-ing. Filings may be searched at:https://filingaccess.serff.com/sfa/home/OK at no cost.

New Online Tool for OK Insurance

Check out ourNEW website at:southwestern.autobodynews.com

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The Society of Collision Repair Spe-cialists (SCRS) is pleased to announcethe affiliation of the Auto Body Asso-ciation of Texas (ABAT), a recently-founded association dedicated tolevelling the playing field for collisionrepairers across Texas.

Currently headquartered in Hen-derson, Texas, and in existence sinceJune of this year, ABAT was formedby a group of collision repair profes-sionals hungry for information and de-termined to use that information toinfluence positive change for the in-dustry sooner rather than later.

“A group of us that were gettingtired of being told ‘we were the onlyone’ making requests to ensure faircompensation on our repairs,” saidABAT President Burl Richards; “andwe were getting concerned over whatwe perceived to be insurance over-reach through programs like Part-sTrader. Most of us were from a ruralarea and it was becoming obvious wedidn’t have enough access to informa-tion that would help us make informeddecisions and take an effective standagainst what we thought were unfairpractices. We’d visited the HoustonAuto Body Association and saw thepower of having a bunch of sharp op-

erators in one room. We also under-stood that there was a need for educa-tion on the fundamentals of estimatingand other subjects. Thus, we decidedto form our own association.”

Forty like-minded shops foundthemselves together at an educationalseminar in Tyler, Texas given by localpaint jobber Chad Neal. The prospectsof forming an association were dis-cussed and developments moved for-ward rapidly. “At first people werehesitant to talk about much, becausewe didn’t really know what the anti-trust laws allowed,” added Richards.

“With the help of Barrett Smith,a consultant out of Orlando, FL, wequickly got up to speed. After a fewmore meetings things really took offand we were attracting some of thebiggest shops in the state which gaveus the numbers we needed to be effec-tive as a united voice. Jobbers, suppli-ers, and local OEM paint reps thatjoined were given an equal voice.”

United by the motivation to effectpositive change in a timely manner,the fledgling association reached outto SCRS. “They had a track record ofgetting the right things done and get-ting them done quickly, so it was onlynatural to turn to them,” explained

Richards. “They bring a wealth ofpractical knowledge and educationalinformation to the table, which is ex-actly what our members were lookingfor – SCRS has its finger on the na-tional pulse of the industry and that’sespecially important to our membersgiven their tendency to be geographi-cally remote.”

“There are many areas in thiscountry where repairers haven’t had aconsistent local voice to support theirbusinesses and the ABAT is an exam-ple of an association that developed tomeet that need,” noted SCRS Execu-tive Director Aaron Schulenburg.“Groups like this strengthen our in-dustry and play an important role inthe survival of body shops that con-tinue to experience unrelenting pres-sures on their profitability. We extendour heartfelt welcome to the ABAT,and look forward to providing what-ever leadership and assistance theymay need as they grow and mature, inaddition to providing a national net-work of experienced professionals attheir disposal.

Society of Collision Repair Specialists Welcomes Newly Founded Auto Body Associationof Texas as Its Latest Affiliate

Nearly a year after being convictedin a Houston courtroom, EarlieDickerson was sentenced to 14years in federal prison on Septem-ber 14.

He was charged with de-frauding car insurance companiesout of $3 million.

The 41-year-old is the for-mer office manager at Sanjoh &Associates, a company that rep-resented itself as a law firm butdidn't employ any lawyers, ac-cording to courtroom evidencegathered by The Eagle, Bryan,Texas.

U.S. Attornies obtained aconviction for Dickerson in Octo-ber 2013. Edward Graham, 38,Chase Lindsey, 46, and BrittanyJessie, 24, who are also Bryan res-idents, were arrested in connectionwith the crime.

Lindsey and Jessie took pleadeals and received sentences of 24and 30 months in federal prison.

Graham was convicted withDickerson and, nearly a year afterbeing convicted in a Houston court-room, was set to receive sentenc-ing on Oct. 14, according to TheEagle.

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After Louisiana Attorney GeneralBuddy Caldwell filed a lawsuit in Au-gust against State Farm, accusing theinsurer of illegally forcing LA colli-sion repair facilities to install unsafeparts on consumers’ vehicles, his allu-sion to these parts as “nothing morethan used junkyard parts” created quitea stir amongst professional automotive

recyclers across the country who wereoffended by the derogatory term andconnotations thereof. Michael Wilson,CEO of the Automotive Recyclers As-sociation (ARA), and David Gold,Secretary of ARA and co-owner ofStandard Auto Wreckers, quickly tookup arms to defend their professionwhile Caldwell clarified his position asbeing pro-consumer rather than anti-recycled parts.

In responses to Caldwell’s state-ment, Wilson says, “In this time ofinstant communication, sound-bites,and a 24/7 news cycle, it is impera-tive that public servants are well in-formed about the issues on whichthey comment or desire to influence.Attorney General Caldwell - whoseresponsibilities include serving asboth the People’s Lawyer and theState’s chief legal officer - was veryill-informed when he used his publicoffice to issue a statement that hurtsboth Louisiana’s consumers as wellas several industry sectors dependentupon recycled automotive parts.ARA has reached out to Mr. Cald-well to express disappointment withhis comments, and we urge him torescind his statement so that con-sumers feel confident they can con-tinue to access safe, affordable andenvironmentally-friendly repairs andupstanding recycled parts, and repairbusinesses can fully engage in thestate’s commerce. In contrast to Mr.Caldwell’s comments, the West Vir-ginia Supreme Court of Appeals re-cently affirmed the use ofsalvage/recycled original equipment

manufacturer (OEM) crash parts invehicle repairs and, moreover, ap-plauded insurers for using measuresto reduce premium costs for theircustomers. This ruling is a signifi-cant step forward for the profes-sional automotive recycling industryand the increased utilization of gen-uine, recycled OEM parts. It is un-fortunate that so soon after the WestVirginia ruling, Attorney GeneralCaldwell made his misleading com-ments. It is regrettable that not allstate attorneys general have donetheir homework and educated them-selves about our industry and thecritical role that recycled OEM auto-motive parts play in the market.”

Speaking from a professional au-tomotive recycler’s point of view,Gold finds it “very disheartening anddiscouraging to hear such negativeviews, especially in regards to thejunkyard image which is untrue, par-ticularly of ARA members. Reusing apart is the purest form of recycling,and hearing a government official saythis shows a disconnect between theknowledge of senior officials and ac-tuality.”

Both Wilson and Gold believethat the automotive recycling industryplays an important role in the collisionrepair industry by providing qualityand cost-effective alternatives to newOEM parts, offering another optionfor consumers who may not be able toafford to repair their vehicles other-wise. Gold notes, “there is a lot ofmisinformation out there. Recyclersneed to speak up and take a stand. Weneed positive advocates who under-stand our industry, are willing to learn,and will present accurate informationto help us do a better job of educatingthe public.”

Wilson adds, “as our members’business partners know, the highestcommissioned part is not always thesmartest choice. Offering the vehicleowner an alternative to new OEMparts and utilizing a recycled OEMpart will help keep that vehicle on theroad and returning to that repair shopfor years to come. Utilizing recycledparts builds a strong customer base andpromotes the environment all whileusing parts identical to new OEM

parts. Professional automotive recy-clers provide a crucial link in the auto-motive parts supply industry. Salvageor Green Recycled Parts® are OEMparts, designed by the OEM and builtto meet the OEM’s requirements forfit, finish, durability, reliability andsafety. They are effectively the sameparts, simply distributed to consumersthrough a different channel – new ver-sus used versions of the same parts.”

When questioned about hisstatement on “junkyard parts,” Cald-well does not differentiate betweenthe terms recycled, used or junkyardparts, but he notes, “whichever termyou choose, those parts are only oneelement of the whole culture of busi-ness practices that led us to file oursuit against State Farm… Our case isabout protecting consumers. Con-sumers are not protected when theydon’t know what types of parts arebeing used in the repair of their ve-hicles. Consumers aren’t protected

when no one knows how many milesare on the used parts that are sent tothe body shop to be placed on theircar. Consumers aren’t protectedwhen it is impossible to tell whetherthe parts have been stressed orcracked or damaged in some way intheir prior life, and consumers aren’tprotected when these parts aren’tbeing tested in any way for safetybefore they are put on their vehicleswithout their knowledge.”

In response to Caldwell’s objec-tion to the use of unsafe parts, Wilsonexplains, “While I cannot speak towhat other parts suppliers or indus-tries have in place, ARA is confidentin the strict quality control and in-spection procedures employed byARA member businesses. Profes-sional automotive recycling busi-nesses have quality control andinspection systems in place to ensurethat the product they provide lives up


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ARA and LA Attorney General Face Off Over “Junkyard Parts”

See Junkyard Parts, Page 41


swered, “the answer is ‘yes.’ ”Fast forward to the present time

Roberts told Autobody News, “In thelast 24 months nearly $3 billion ofsales volume in the collision repair in-dustry has changed ownership, whichis 10 percent of the entire industry.”

Roberts is currently the ManagingDirector and Automotive ServicesGroup team leader for FOCUS Invest-ment Banking. He said there are severalreasons for this sudden acceleration, in-cluding the availability of acquisitioncapital and the number of MSOs look-ing to sell. “There are more than 44MSOs with $20 million or more in rev-enues with another 110 between $10and $20 million.”

“Consolidators are looking to getbigger and achieve more scale, whichhas rewards for the acquirers as wellas for insurers and consumers,” saidRoberts, whose company has officesin Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Wash-ington D.C.

“Large insurers have increasinglyrewarded the best performing consol-idators and large MSOs with morevolume. Cars are repaired faster, withless hassle, and more predictable costsand quality.”

We asked Lillian Maimone, for-mer CEO and co-founder of Marco’sCollision Centers, for her perspectiveon the industry. She was excitedabout her upcoming retirement, say-ing, “Marco and I have nothing to doand all day to do it, and we like it that

way. It’s a wonder-ful sense of free-dom and piece ofmind.”

“Seeing thetrends in the newcars and the newequipment that wasnecessary to repair

these cars, I saw ourselves having avery difficult time competing againstthe consolidators. We knew it wouldcost my company hundreds of thou-sands of dollars in new equipment andtraining,”

While running Marco’s, whichwas established in 1972, Maimonesaid her primary function was ensur-ing the company was ready andgeared for the future. “My focus wason dealing with possible threats andopportunities,” she said.

In order to stay informed about

trends in the industry, Maimone regu-larly attended conferences, talked toindustry leaders and listened closelyto what others were saying in forumssuch as the Mitchell webinars, for ex-ample.

“I went to Pepperdine’s businessschool [and used those skills in ana-lyzing the industry.] I spent a lot of mytime looking at what is happening inthe industry and how it was affectingmy company,” she said. Eventuallyshe and husband Marco decided they“didn’t want to be in the game any-more.”

When employees asked why theysold, she explained, “We were the pow-erhouse in our area. We were the bigfish in the little pond.” With the changesin the industry and larger MSOs com-ing in, she said they realized how in-creasingly difficult it would be tocompete.

For example, the benefits theygained as a midsize DRP over theyears were no comparison to the gainsmade by the national DRP programs.She invited her employees to considerthe buying opportunities with the na-tional DRP accounts, rather than localones. “I figured whatever percentage


Continued from Cover

MSO Consolidations

Lillian Maimone


Autobody News asked Vincent Romans, thefounding partner of The Romans GroupLLC, to comment on the recent MSO con-solidations. Romans has over 30 years ofconsulting and operating experience withdomestic and global enterprises. The Ro-mans Group LLC, established in 1996, pro-vides business, market, financial, andstrategic development advisory services tothe property and casualty auto physicaldamage insurance, automotive services,property restoration, and related supplychain segments.

Why are we seeing an increase inthe number of consolidators acquiringMSOs and do you think this trend willcontinue? We are at the early stage of con-solidation, contraction, convergence andconstructive transformation in the collisionrepair industry. Within this industry con-struct, private equity has stepped up its in-terest in acquiring MSO consolidators. Thisinterest is backed by unprecedented privateequity and strategic buyer cash seeking in-vestment opportunities in the MSO modelwhich today provides strong cash flow,growth through both organic and acquisitiongrowth and shorter term investment cyclesthat ultimately drive higher valuations.

How will it affect the collision repairindustry? We will continue to see large mul-tiple location operators (MLOs) be acquiredby the four MSO consolidators. The still

fragmented industry will continue to con-tract to a more normalized number of re-quired collision repairers throughout theUnited States over the next decade. Today,three collision repair segments, ≥$20M,≥$10-20M and the franchise multiple loca-tion, MLO, operators represent 24% of theUS collision repair market. I expect this mar-ket share for these three segments to growover the next three years. Additionally, weshould shortly see the first MSO with annualrevenue of $1.0B. Through September YTD2014 we have seen $650.0M in annual rev-enue transferred through multiple locationtransaction acquisitions among the fourMSO consolidators.

What are the relevant issues facingthe collision industry today? There are nu-merous trends and prevailing conditions thatoffer both risk and opportunity for repairerstoday. No one trend or prevailing conditionhas the impact that the confluence of theseprevailing trends and conditions have. It iswhen one understands that these individualprevailing conditions are part of a conflu-ence of many individual dynamic prevailingtrends and conditions, that you start to real-ize the order of magnitude and the exponen-tial impact they have and will continue tohave on the new world order of collision re-pair within the broader auto physical dam-age ecosystem. We will continue to seehow one company's transformation is an-

other's disruption, while one company's in-novation is another's disintermediation.Some of the short and long term conditionsinclude, but are not limited to changingmacro-economic influences, globalization,consolidation causing industry structuralchanges, telematics and the movement toan integrated electronic claims processmodel, accident avoidance technology as-sociated with semi-autonomous and even-tually autonomous vehicles (VEHBOTS),private equity and strategic buyers, predic-tive analytics, down turn in accident fre-quency, MSO performance contracts, hybridclaims management models, insurers em-bracing the MSO model, trained technicianshortage, parts procurement, repair seg-mentation, urbanization and others too nu-merous to mention here.

How does an independent shop fit inthe picture? Independent high perform-ance, brand recognized shops will continueto provide solid alternatives to the largeMSO consolidator model especially with in-surance companies that embrace their owncustomized repair models and prefer tohave non-MSO providers in the market or amix of MSO consolidators and local marketindependents. Additionally, specialty repair-ers who perform any number of niche mar-ket or high value repair alternatives will havea place in the future collision repair industry.

See Vincent Romans, Page 15

Vincent Romans of MSO Specialists The Romans Group on Consolidation

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MN Attorney General Lori Swansonis suing a Texas auto warranty com-pany for deceptive tactics, saying it’sviolating its promise of a full refundwithin 30 days.

The lawsuit is part of a broaderinvestigation into extended auto war-ranty practices, Swanson said.

The state is seeking unspecifiedcivil penalties, and restitution for af-fected customers of Enterprise FinancialGroup Inc. of Irving, TX. The companyhas sold more than 3,700 extended autowarranties to Minnesota customerssince 2009, according to the state’s law-suit filed Sept. 24 in Hennepin CountyDistrict Court. The warranties, alsocalled service contracts, typically costbetween $1,600 and $2,600.

Auto warranty companies havebeen a perennial source of trouble forconsumers, from annoying robocallsand deceptive warranties to companiescollapsing and leaving policyholderson the hook, according to Bjorhus.. Inan interview, Swanson said she thinksthe improving economy is creating anopening for bad sales practices. “Thesecompanies really seem to be on the

uptick here,” she said.A bulletin her office issued Sept.

24 cautions Minnesotans about highpressure sales tactics and urges themto vet companies and contracts be-fore signing up. Scout for prevalentloopholes, it says.

The warranty pitches are famil-iar to many Minnesotans. They comeby official-looking postcards or phonecalls: the warranty on your vehicle isrunning out, buy a new extended war-ranty from us. People may think theyare getting bumper-to-bumper cover-age when they are not.

Enterprise Financial Group did notreturn several messages seeking com-ment. Its website says it provides con-sumer and vehicle protection programsfor dealers, financial institutions, insur-ance companies and manufacturers.

According to the lawsuit, Enter-prise uses other marketing companiesfor sales such as Precise Auto Protec-tion Inc. and Auto Processing Center.

The warranties go by a range ofnames such as TechChoice New Ul-timate Coverage and Dent Zone AutoBody Guard PDR Contract and VurgeFull Throttle Coverage. They are dif-ferent from the warranties that come

with a new car, which are backed bymanufacturers such as Toyota or Fordand typically cover a much broaderrange of problems.

Enterprise informs customersthey can cancel the contracts within30 days of purchase for a full refundif no claims have been paid. How-ever, the company makes it difficultfor people to cancel with confusinginstructions and runaround, the law-suit said. The full story is available at:http://www.startribune.com/local/276990761.html

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Axalta Coatings Systems announced onOct. 3 that its ProfitNet™ CollisionShop Management System is now in-terfaced with Dealertrack Technolo-gies Dealer Management System(DMS).

ProfitNet is a software programdesigned to measure and manage allaspects of the collision repair business.The program provides collision shopowners with access to information thatthey may need to help make decisionsregarding the productivity and prof-itability of their business.

The new interface, approved viaDealertrack’s Opentrack CertificationProgram, is an electronic bridge be-tween ProfitNet and the DMS to helpcar dealerships to streamline and cre-ate greater efficiencies in managingparts, labor, and production processeswithin their collision repair centers.

“Dealertrack is proud to partnerwith Axalta Coating Systems to createan interface with their ProfitNet offer-ing that is certified by our OpentrackCertification Program,” says SharonKitzman, Vice President and GeneralManager, DMS, Dealertrack.

The interface is designed to savehours of double-entry of data that isused by both systems.

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Richard Rawlings loves fast cars,pretty women and having a good timeall the time, so it was a no-brainerwhen the Fast N’ Loud star opened hisown bar about a year ago, followed bythe purchase of a concert venue in Oc-tober.

The Gas Monkey Garage brand isspreading throughout the country andnow, Rawlings has headquarters wherehe can combine food, music, libationsand cars.

In conjunction with Rawlingsand Dodge, Charger, Challenger andViper owners are about to get theshow of a lifetime in Dallas on Nov.1. The dealers will convene at GasMonkey Live to attend a concert fea-turing Mötley Crüe, while dining onGas Monkey Burgers, Bock BatteredChick Fried Steak, 3-Cheese TruffledMac and Red Chile Grits. It’s a one-of-a-kind highly exclusive event opento Dodge owners looking to have anamazing time while showing off theirvehicles to fellow gear-heads.

Head of Dodge Marketing &Communications, Mark Malmstead, isexcited about the upcoming concertand the chance to partner with Rawl-ings and Mötley Crüe for this un-precedented event.

“We’re big fans of Fast N’ Loudand we met with Richard Rawlingsand The Discovery Channel at theSEMA show last year and started dis-cussing the idea of working together.We talked about an in-show place-ment, which has yet to air and Richardhas done some dealer commercials forus. The relationship has just continuedto evolve from there. We love the wayRichard Rawlings operates, becausehis show is a little different than

what’s out there and he has an edge.As we sat down with him and got toknow him better, we decided to domore with Richard. So, he appearedfor us at the Woodward Dream Cruisein metro Detroit recently and every-one went crazy.”

Rawlings and his show couldn’tbe any hotter. Discovery Channel cur-rently airs Fast N’ Loud in 80 coun-tries worldwide. The reality TV starhas also opened another Gas MonkeyBar N’ Grill in the international termi-nal of Dallas/ Fort Worth Airport. Ifthe Gas Monkey restaurants continueto do well, Rawlings says he wants toopen “15 or 20 more.” He and histeam are currently scouting for loca-tion No. 3, which will likely be out of

the area, but still in Texas.How did the band, the man and

the brand all come together for thisone-of-a-kind event?“Dodge is currently sponsoring Möt-ley Crüe’s Farewell Tour,” Malmsteadsaid. “Last month, Richard purchasedGas Monkey Live, a music venue thatwas formerly owned by country starToby Keith. So, Richard asked us,‘Can you get Mötley Crüe to play atmy new place?’ He was pretty insis-

tent, so Tim Kuniskis (Dodge and SRTbrand CEO) made it happen, basicallyto get Rawlings to stop asking.”

Dodge was pleasantly surprisedwhen it all came together, Malmsteadsaid. “If we can get Mötley Crüe toplay at a bar, which they normallydon’t do and celebrate our 100th an-niversary with a big owner party at GasMonkey Live, we thought wow. Itstarted out as a crazy idea and now it’shappening. The band was a little reluc-tant at first and they had to move a fewdates around, but then they finally saidyes.”

Cars, cars, cars will be an integralpart of the evening and many of themwill get as much attention as MötleyCrüe, according to Malmstead. “We’rehoping for 2,000 people and 1,000 cars,both vintage and late model DodgeChallengers, Chargers and Vipers. Peo-ple can get thrill rides in a Dodge Viperdrift car and a Dodge Challenger SRTHellcat that night as well. We’re going

to provide show parking that night, be-cause the event is foremost a car show.You must own one of these vehicles toattend and you have to send in a photoof it, but the event is free for owners.”

Mötley Crüe has been rockingthe world for 33 years, and is stillgoing strong. Rock stars Vince Neal,Tommy Lee, Micki Sixx and MickMars are all car crazy. Earlier this yearthe video for Mötley Crüe’s classic“Kickstart My Heart” was re-releasedwith new Dodge scenes added.

The video for country musicstar’s Justin Moore’s version of theballad “Home Sweet Home” (from theNashville Outlaws: A Tribute to Möt-ley Crüe album) also showcases a2015 Dodge Challenger Scat Packparked outside the club.

For Dodge Challenger, Charger andViper owners who want more infor-mation about the event, visit:www.dodgerocksgasmonkey.com.


with Ed Attanasio

Media and Publicity for Shops

Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based inSan Francisco, California. He can be reached [email protected].

Gas Monkey Garage and Dodge Recruit Mötley Crüe to Rock Dallas

Mötley Crüe will be performing at a Dodgeowner-only event which is part concert andpart car show on Gas Monkey Live on Nov. 1in Dallas

The Gas Garage Bar & Grill will be THE place to be for Dodge Challenger, Charger and Viper ownerswho can get themselves and their vehicles to Dallas for the concert and car show, which alsocelebrates Dodge’s 100th anniversary

of claims would drop as a result ofthat is enough to make me know thatwe will be in trouble,” she said.

“My employees are better off thisway,” said Maimone. “Several havebeen given a promotion and better op-portunities. I couldn’t give them that.”

Shortly after acquiring Marco’s,Service King reached an agreementto acquire Car West Auto Body, anMSO with seven shops in NorthernCalifornia. With these additions aswell as the 62 Sterling Collision Cen-ters the company acquired earlier thisyear in April, Service King now has191 shops in 20 states, including 18in CA.

Service King, based in Dallasand founded nearly 40 years ago, toldAutobody News that, due to companypolicy, they weren’t able to commentfurther until their acquisition of Car-west was finalized.

However, Service King releasedthe following statement: “Our recentSterling Autobody acquisition andMarco’s Collision Centers acquisitionserve as a platform for our growth in

the California market,” Chris Abra-ham, the CEO of Service King, said inthe press release. “The addition of CarWest and their 360 teammates will give

us an even greaterfootprint in theheart of SiliconValley. We are ex-cited to have theteam on board andlook forward to de-livering the Serv-ice King standardof exceptional cus-

tomer service and high quality repairsin these communities.”

“People are selling because of manydifferent reasons,” said Farzam Af-shar, CEO of VeriFacts Automotive, awell-respected training company thatdescribes itself as the industry’s only“independent onsite quality verifica-tion service and in-shop technician as-sessment provider.”

One reason, Afshar said, “is thatthey able to get a very high rate of re-turn on their investment. In addition,business owners increasingly need tocompete with consolidators in theirbackyard while vehicles are becomingmore complex.


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Continued from Page 12

MSO Consolidations

Some of these models might include vari-ous types of repair segmentation; e.g. alu-minum or other new material/technology,fleet, small hit expedited repair, paintlessdent repair, cosmollision, ethnic market, andcar auction repair. As MSO consolidatorsgain in the breadth and depth of their reachand coverage in markets around the coun-try, insurers will look to balance their localmarket networks with strong performingand recognized branded independent opera-tors. The balance of power will be normal-ized as long as the independent’s metricsand service offering are comparable to theMSO consolidator. Insurers also want tohave local market independents and MSOscompeting with the MSO consolidator sothat the best peer performance is alwaysbeing established in a market among all cur-rent and prospective repairers.

What is the benefit/challenge ofbeing an MSO vs. a single-location shopwhen forming a relationship with insur-ance companies? MSO consolidators andmany non-consolidator MSOs have the per-sonnel, sales/marketing structure andbudget to frequently call on insurance com-pany corporate decision makers as well asmulti-level contacts regionally. They partici-pate on insurance company advisory or re-

view boards which brings them to the tablefor input, old business and new conceptdiscussions, and collaboration on currentand future business process and perform-ance models. They develop multi-level per-sonal relationships that help when issuesneed to be resolved quickly. However, ifservice deteriorates somewhere in thecountry for a larger MSO it could have neg-ative ramifications across their nationalfootprint or some other regional market oftheirs. The MSO consolidator offer insurersbroader multiple market coverage thansmaller MSOs and independents. However,local market MSOs and independents canand do market that they provide that laserfocus local market performance that insur-ers want. Many independents and localmarket MSOs position and market them-selves as high performers relative to theMSO consolidator in their geographic niche.A strong recognized brand with top per-formance metrics relative to a MSO consol-idator can give the independent and localmarket MSO a competitive edge whenvying for insurer DRP business. MSO con-solidators are also offering self-managedand co-managed capabilities for cus-tomized and new DRP models, quality as-surance and self-audit process andprocedures, call centers, and single point ofcontact, all of which helps reduce costs forthe insurer while positioning the MSO con-solidator for business that the independentoperator may find more difficult to secure.


Vincent Romans

Farzam Afsharfile photo



by Victoria Antonelli

Demo’s Automotive in Houston cele-brated its 50-year anniversary in busi-ness on October 4, 2014. On that dayin 1964, Demo Kouzounis opened asingle 3,500 sq ft building with threeemployees. Today, the family-ownedfacilities take up three acres of landand employee 35 technicians who arePlatinum I-Car, Gold I-Car, Master orL-1 Master ASE certified and averag-ing 23 years experience.

According to Kouzounis’s son,Costa, “Demo opened the center be-cause he enjoyed working on cars andliked the idea of running a businesshis way.” And Demo’s way incorpo-rates “customer satisfaction” and hardwork into every job, which Costa saidare the keys to the shop’s success overthe past half century. Demo’s also of-fers a free shuttle service that takescustomers to and from their home orwork to ensure a hassle-free appoint-ment.

Their motto, “fix the problem,charge a fair price, and guarantee thework,” is the first thing viewers seeon the Demo’s Automotive home-page.

Seventy-six year old Kouzounis’four children all play a role in the

shop’s success- Demo Jr. is the colli-sion repair manager, Costa is the gen-eral manager, and both Margo andKatherine are in charge of accounting.Demo and Costa received businessdegrees from the University of Hous-ton, and began as full-time techni-cians after graduation. The brothers’

roles at their father’s shop were deter-mined by their strengths and effort.

Costa said his favorite part ofworking in this industry is “seeing acustomer smile once they see theirfinished product.”

When asked about his fondestmemories over the last 50 years, twoparticular instances stood out forCosta.

“On one occasion, I saw a cus-tomer approach our shop, lookingvery inquisitive as he walkedaround. I quickly walked over tohim. He commented that he had noidea how many different types ofcars we worked on and had heardhow great we were. He saw the flaw-less detail work on our restorations,including one vehicle we were re-pairing that was a wiring clusternightmare due to a collision, andasked why we used heat on the con-nections (which I explained to him).He also saw us using a soap bath toclean the brakes on a Mercedes be-fore we disassembled them. Then, asI walked him back around to thefront of the shop, he commentedwhen he saw [one of the technicians]instructing our two apprentices. Itold him about how we…mentor thenext generation.”

“Many years ago, Demo [se-nior] and I were standing on theservice drive and a customer came inand asked for the owner’s businesscard. That was their first visit. I gavehim our company business card. Thecustomer asked me who the founderof this business was. Demo pointedand circled out into the shop and toldhim all thirty-five of [the techni-

cians] are the founders. Demo toldhim all of you carry the load of thisbusiness on your shoulders each andevery day no matter what challengesyou all may have. As it now turnsout, each of you now have workedon his family’s cars many timesover. …he is just one of our modelcustomers you all have helped gainand retain.”

Costa says he looks forward tomore memorable customer interac-tions, and making Demo’s Automo-tive “stronger and even better” for the100-year anniversary.

Texas Body Shop Celebrates 50th Anniversary Serving Houston

Demo Kouzounis, owner; Demo Jr.Kouzounis, collision repair manager; andCosta Kouzounis, general manager. PhotoCredit: Costa Kouzounis

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Car-O-Liner has entered the social mediarealm, and is now offering a variety ofnews ways for consumers to connectwith the company. These channels in-clude Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+,Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Pinter-est. Car-O-Liner President Jeff Kern, saidhe is excited about the new social mediacommunications and anticipates theseactivities will benefit business relationsthrough technical knowledge sharing.“Our social media connection allows usto not only share our activities, but alsojoin the conversation through communi-cation with both our customers and theindustry,” he said. “It is important to lis-ten and be heard as we extend our reachthrough these interactive tools.”Follow Car-O-Liner at:

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I-CAR announced that two newcourses are now available to RefinishTechnicians: Refinish Materials andApplication Blending (REF08e) andColor Theory, Mixing Toners, andTinting (REF09). These courses havereplaced Color Theory, Application,Tinting, and Blending (REF03).

Josh McFarlin, I-CAR Direc-tor of Curriculum & Product Devel-opment stated, “Nearly all repairsrequire some level of refinishing andtypically, refinish work gets noticedfirst by the customer. Refinish Tech-nicians who take these courses willlearn how to correctly prepare andrefinish a vehicle to ensure properoverall appearance, which can helpimprove customer satisfaction andincrease productivity through bettercycle times and reduced rework.”

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Some industry ob-servers estimatethat only about 20percent of vehiclesin collision repairshops are actuallybeing measured aspart of the repairprocess. Richard

Perry, who oversees training for ChiefAutomotive, believes that changes invehicle materials and structure mean

that at least four times that percentageshould be measured.

“If that vehicle is impacted, itshould be measured,” Perry said. “Weusually know what’s going to happenwith the damage; we just don’t knowthe extent of it, where all it’s gone,how far did it travel through the vehi-cle. You’ve got to be able to find it tofix it. So before the repair we need toanalyze what’s wrong to develop a re-pair plan. During repair, we need to

measure multiple points, and monitorthose during repair because as youstart to make repairs, more than onepoint is going to move at a time. Weneed to monitor all those points.”

Perry said in the past, techniciansmight gauge the extent of the damageby checking to see if the vehicle’sdoors open and close; if they did, theyfelt it was safe to presume the damagehad not extended beyond the passen-


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Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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

Energy Transfer in Today’s Vehicles Makes Measuring, Multi-Point Pulling More Important

If you still think of Chief Automotive as pri-marily a pulling equipment company, thinkagain. Mike Cranfill, vice president ofglobal collision and new business develop-ment for the Vehicle Services Group (whichincludes Chief Automotive) said changes inthe company’s revenue sources reflectchanges in the industry itself.

“I like to think we’re an informationcompany, because if you take the training,the measuring equipment and the data we

provide, almost half of our business isthere,” Cranfill said.

Vehicle Services Group (VSG) is itselfa segment of Dover Corporation, a globalproducer of equipment, systems and serv-ices in a variety of businesses. In additionto Chief, VSG brands include Rotary Liftand Elektron welders. It has about 1,200employees in the U.S., Germany and China.

Its measuring, pulling and weldingequipment sales each account for about

21 percent of its overall revenue, but itssingle biggest revenue source is the vehi-cle measuring data it sells directly to col-lision repairers and also to the estimatingsystem providers.

Does Chief collect data on the vehi-cles that shops are measuring with itsequipment?

“We do not collect it,” Bob Holland,VSG collision director for North America,said. “With our licensing agreement, we

have the right to collect it, but we do not.”Cranfill some companies, such as

those that offer vehicle history informa-tion, may seek that information, but Chiefdoesn’t share it because the informationtells only part of the story.

“The risk is: What does it mean?”Cranfill said. “Even if the data shows the carmeasurers to factory specs, can you guar-antee the repair was proper? Maybe youused heat when you’re not supposed to.”

Chief Automotive Sees Itself as Source of Information As Much As Equipment

See Energy transfer, Page 39

Richard Perry of Chief Automotive discussesthe value of multiple-point pulling during arecent demonstration in the shop at Chief’sheadquarters in Madison, Ind.

Richard Perry


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U.S. drivers are nearly three percentmore likely to collide with a deer inthe next 12 months than they were lastyear, according to new claims datafrom State Farm. The odds driverswill hit a deer in the coming year are1 out of 169, but that likelihood morethan doubles during October, Novem-ber and December, when deer colli-sions are most prevalent.

For the eighth year in a row, WestVirginia tops the list of states where acollision is most likely. The odds adriver in the Mountain State will col-lide with a deer are a staggering 1 in 39,nearly a five percent increase comparedto 2013. Hawaii rounds out the bottomof the list also for the eighth year in arow with odds of 1 in 10,281. Hawai-ians are three times more likely to getstruck by lightning in their lifetime than

they are to hit a deer in the next year.The top five states where a driver ismost likely to collide with a deer are:

Injuries, vehicle damage and fa-talities all can result from vehiclecollisions with deer. In 2012, 175deaths were the result of collisionswith animals, with deer being the an-imal most often struck, according tothe Insurance Information Institute

and the Insurance Institute for High-way Safety.

Deer collisions rose by more than21 percent in Indiana and more thaneight percent in Virginia this year. Thisis the first year South Carolina is in thetop 10 with a 1 in 93 chance of collid-ing with a deer. What causes these sig-nificant changes in deer collision rates?

“Periods of daily high-deer move-ment around dawn and dusk as well as

seasonal behavior patterns, such as dur-ing the October-December breedingseason, increase the risk for auto-deercollisions,” said Ron Regan, ExecutiveDirector for the Association of Fish &Wildlife Agencies. “Changes in colli-sion rates from year to year are a re-flection of changing deer densities orpopulation levels – more deer in a givenarea increases the potential for colli-sion. Deer populations are also affectedby conditions such as new or improvedroads with higher speeds near deerhabitat, changes to hunting seasons tomanage wildlife, winter conditions, andother related factors.”

The national cost per claim aver-age for deer collisions is $3,888, up13.9 percent from 2013 ($3,414), ac-cording to State Farm.

The months a driver is most likelyto collide with a deer in the U.S., mostlydue to mating and hunting seasons, are:November, October, December.

Ten percent of the country’sdeer collisions occur in Pennsylvania(123,941 collisions), though whentaking into account the amount of li-censed drivers in the state, West Vir-ginia still edges out as number onewith a likelihood of 1 in 39 comparedto Pennsylvania’s 1 in 71 (secondranked state).

Deer Collision Statistics Range Throughout the US

Rank State 2014 Odds Percent +/- from 2013

1 West Virginia 1 in 39 + 4.922 Pennsylvania 1 in 71 + 7.833 Montana 1 in 75 - 15.444 Iowa 1 in 77 - 5.555 South Dakota 1 in 82 - 9.3

Alcoa Inc, the largest US aluminumproducer, forecast profit from auto andaerospace components will increase inthe Q4 as it sells a record amount of themetal to carmakers.

Alcoa, which is shifting its focusto manufacturing components and al-loys, said it would deliver a recordamount of aluminum sheet to au-tomakers this quarter as car and truckmanufacturers use more of the light-weight metal. Earnings in the com-pany’s rolled products segment, asupplier of aluminum sheets to car, air-plane and packaging manufacturers,will more than double from a year ear-lier.

Alcoa is benefiting from highercommercial-jet orders and a shift toaluminum components instead of steelamong automakers such asFord MotorCompany, which plans to make its F-150 pickup truck with aluminum bodypanels.

Mr Lloyd O’Carroll, a Rich-mond, Virginia based Analyst at North-coast Research Holdings LLC said that“Auto body sheet has a much highermargin than anything except aircraft. Ithink 2015 is going to get a pretty biglift of usage on the F-150 and of courseall of the margin benefit of that.”

Alcoa Forecasts Record AutoSheet Shipments in Q4

In a world where we are constantlybombarded by texts, tweets, status up-dates, and emails, it’s no surprise thatmany people read fewer books andseem to have some form of ADD. Ayoung person recently told me withpride that he hasn’t read a book sincehigh school.

“I like pictures,” he said.So, on a planet where almost

everyone has a short attention span,how do we communicate effectivelywith the masses? The answer for someis through video—short, sweet and tothe point. Several body shops have ex-perienced great success by workingwith the same video production/mar-keting company and the videos they’reproducing are creating a buzz through-out the collision industry nationwide.

Absolute Perfection Media (APMedia) in Sykesville, MD, is the com-pany producing these attention-gettingvideos for body shops. They’re thehottest new video production companyserving the collision industry and shopsare clamoring to work with them. Pres-ident Lee Emmons is now workingwith more and more shops owners whohave seen his past productions forMark’s Body Shop in Baltimore City,MD, and K & M Collision in Hickory,NC. The appeal stems from their direct,no-nonsense approach. Emmons haslearned the collision industry along theway, he said, and now he’s known asthe “body shop video guy.”

“The power of video and YouTubehas become apparent and now collisionshops want to tell their stories using thisformat,” Emmons said. “These shopsare willing to take on the insurance com-panies and this is the way they’re doingit. We’re also producing videos to edu-cate their customers about things likecertifications and the use of OE parts.These shops have learned that thesevideos are highly effective and very af-fordable and we can turn them out ratherquickly. Once a shop does a few of thesevideos and sees the response, they wantto do more. I’m traveling to K & M nextweek to produce a series of videos abouttheir manufacturers’ OE certifications.Some of the videos I’ve produced forbody shops have gone viral and gaineda lot of national attention, so we’re get-ting new collision clients all the time.”

The Vice President of Operationsat K & M Collision, Michael Brad-shaw, has produced a series of videoswith AP Media and posts them all onhis YouTube Channel.

“We have approximately 10 onthere right now and maybe five morein production. We take an educational

approach to many of the consumer-re-lated issues in this industry, includingtitles such as, Has Your Car Been Re-paired Safely (Watch this case and staysafe after an accident)?; Do You Qual-ify for Diminished Value? (The Insur-ance Company May Owe you Money);An Epidemic of Unsafe Collision Re-pairs; Post Repair Inspections; What isSteering?; Who Guarantees Repairs?;and An Open Letter to the North Car-olina Attorney General.

Short videos with a succinct mes-sage have proven to be highly effec-tive, Bradshaw explained, although insome situations longer, in-depth videosalso work well.

“We were doing longer videos atfirst, mostly 4–6 minutes in length, butnow we’re trimming them down to twominutes and our most recent ones arecoming in at 90 seconds. When we’redealing with certain subjects, the longervideos work just fine, but we also pro-duce shorter ones to convey the mes-sage quickly and present the topic in away that the viewer can absorb easily.”

If you’re getting your car fixedby K & M Collision, you’ve probablyseen one or more of the shop’s videos.

“We loop all of them together andshow them on a monitor in our receptionarea at the shop and we’ve gotten some

great feedback about them from our cus-tomers,” Bradshaw said. “Insurance ad-justors also tend to see them too!”

Mark Schaech, Jr., is the sec-ond-generation owner of Mark’s BodyShop in Baltimore City, MD. Hestarted working with Emmons at APMedia several years ago.

“We have now produced at leastfive videos with AP Media and they’rebeing seen by shops all over the coun-try,” Schaech explained. “We let shopsuse them, as long as they give us anoutbound link. These other owners arerealizing that these short videos are ef-fective, because they can easily conveythe information that we want to com-municate, because this is a very com-plex industry and the average persondoesn’t really know what’s going on.”

Schaech, 41, took over the busi-ness from his father in 2000 and backthen they had six DRPS. But, todaythey have none and some of theirvideos document why.

“The first one we did with APMedia was about a post repair inspec-tion video and it had immediate im-pact,” Schaech said. “A Mazda hadbeen repaired by another shop under aninsurance company’s DRP and it wascompletely hacked and butchered. It


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Body Shops are Tapping into the Persuasive Power of Video

Lee Emmons of AP Media shooting a video for K & M Collision in Hickory, NC, featuring theirreceptionist, Caitlin Adams See Power of Video, Page 28


One of the biggest complaints I hearfrom shops is that it is so hard to getpeople to change their habits and con-form to a new way of doing things.Unfortunately, failing to implement apermanent change initiative has be-come the norm at most collision repairshops these days. Some of this resist-

ance we bring on ourselves by what Ilike to call the “Flavor of the Month.”I am sure most of you can relate to thisscenario when the boss returns fromNACE or some great seminar and allof a sudden he wants to fix everythingovernight! These changes rarely takepermanent hold in the organizationand the more changes managementtries to implement, the bigger the jokeit becomes to the staff. Sad, but sotrue!

There are many reasons that peo-ple are resistant to change, but I amsurprised at how often it is the owneror manager himself that is the realproblem! The art of communicatingand understanding what make yourpeople tick are of utmost importancethese days. The old “iron-fisted” man-agement style of yester-year rarelyworks these days.

How are you going to get yourstaff to buy-into change initiatives andconsistently perform the vital steps re-quired with new processes such asBlueprinting, and other lean concepts?Many great books have been writtenon the subject of change, and I recom-mend you read them and learn asmuch as you can to better understandthe behaviors and intrinsic values ofyou and your team. In addition to youdoing some studies of your own, Ihope you will find these 3 tips helpfulto your change efforts.

ConvenienceOne of the biggest reasons peopledon’t follow the steps is because thesteps are too hard to perform. Callthem lazy, call them whatever youwant, but the reality of it is that if you

give someone a task that is critical tosuccess and the task is too difficult, itis human nature that it likely won’t getdone consistently if at all. Let me giveyou an example. Let’s say that at yourbody shop, you have discovered thatchecking the replacement parts forcorrectness (mirror matching) is

CRITICAL to your success. So if youremove the old parts from the car andthrow them into a big messy pile inthe corner, do you really think theparts guy is going to dig through thatheap to find the parts he needs to mir-ror match vs. the new replacements?Probably not going to happen, right?You must make critical to successtasks as easy as you possibly can ifyou want them to get done. Conven-ience also means keeping tools, infor-mation, and anything else that wouldbe needed to perform a critical taskclose and easily accessible. Things notgetting done are often not a work ethicproblem as much as it is a spatial orprocedural problem.

SpaceIf you were trying to shed a fewpounds and decided that you needto quit eating donuts, do you thinkit would be better to have the boxof donuts that your rental carprovider just gifted sitting on yourdesk, or would it be better to placethe delicious box of devilish delightas far away as possible? My pointis to set up your shop space to helpdrive the vital behaviors to succeed.A classic example of this is when itcomes to Blueprinting. One of thevital behaviors of Blueprinting, inmy opinion, is to have your esti-mating computer out with you atthe damaged car. Can this happen atyour shop, or are your estimatorsstill writing everything down on apiece of paper and then walkingthis back to their office to enter aquestionably accurate supplementinto the estimating system? If this

isn’t bad enough, I still see manyshops that let the technician writethe supplement on a piece of paperand then put it on the estimator’sdesk to key in. What kind of behav-ior does this spatial arrangementencourage? Think about it!

Make it UnavoidableMake it difficult for people todo the wrong thing. Can youthink of any tasks critical orotherwise that are being suc-cessfully performed at yourshop consistently? What isdifferent about those tasksthat you can learn from andapply to your new initiativesand critical tasks? The act ofmoving a vehicle into thetechnician’s stall makes itpretty unavoidable that it willget seen and worked on by thetechnician. Making a task un-avoidable is quite often a visual thing,

and something that has to get done be-fore it can go to the next step. Con-sider the use of visual quality controlin between departments to eliminatedefects, and make it hard to screw up!

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Lean Implementation Strategies

Would you expect your parts person to dig through thismess to perform a mirror match?

“One of the biggest reasons people don’tfollow the steps is because the steps are

too hard to perform”

See Lean Implementation, Page 28




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Recently I read an article that was criti-cal of industry leaders who had not takena stand against DRPs. It brought to minda discussion I once had with (a member)who said there are things associationscan do that make some members happy,but that don’t mean anything. He calledit “feel good stuff.”

For association leaders to de-nounce all DRPs when half or more oftheir membership participate in directrepair programs would be nothing morethan “feel good stuff.” It feels good tothose who are not DRP shops, but whatabout those member shops who choseto go DRP?

It’s very easy to criticize associa-tions that have a neutral position onDRPs, but what would happen if theycame out against them? The best anyassociation can do is to rally againstthe abuses where they exist; to supportlegislation that protects a consumer’sright to choose the repair facility; andto do what it can to advise its mem-

bers on how to determine if DRPs area wise business decision for them.

There are a number of individuals,some of them leaders, who continue toyell about DRPs without offering anyreal solutions. But regardless of whatthey have said, it’s the collision repairprofessionals who have voted by mak-ing the business decision whether toparticipate in these programs.

All the yelling in the world won’teliminate DRPs. Those of you who can’taccept that reality can keep yelling, oryour can roll up your sleeves and go towork on the 65 percent of business thatwill never be DRP. Learn how to better

market your busi-ness and sell colli-sion repairs. Burythe DRP bogeymanand get to work. It’sin your best inter-est.

– From an edi-torial by John Lof-

tus, then the executive director of theSociety of Collision Repair Specialists(SCRS), published in Collision Expert.Loftus retired from SCRS in 2000.

15 years ago in the collision repairindustry (November 1999)Mike Melfi said the Coalition for Col-lision Repair Equality (CCRE) wasfounded about three years ago as an or-ganization to help like-minded shopsowners around the country “take backcontrol” of their businesses and reduceinsurer influence over the industry. Itwas incorporated as a for-profit com-pany so that it would never have to di-vulge a list of its members (which theorganization refers to as “sponsors” or“clients”). About 80 people – includ-ing about a dozen attorneys – attendedthe group’s recent meeting in Phoenix.

“These attorneys are just now re-alizing that there’s money to be madein property damage litigation,” saidAnn Spink, a Louisiana shop owner

and vice president of CCRE. “We be-lieve that legislation and education ispart of the answer but litigation is thebottom line. The reason CCRE existsis to try to put together the documen-tation and the expert witnesses to helpthese attorneys understand how to lit-igate for us. And because they’re classaction attorneys, we don’t have to paythem, just help educate them.”

Shop owner Melfi told CCRE par-ticipants he had predicted the first non-OEM parts lawsuit “victory” wouldtake two years.

“It took three years,” he admitted.“But now I have another prediction. Ifsteering continues, one day on the 6o’clock news, you’re going to see anexecutive of an insurance company inhandcuffs being put in a federal mar-shal’s car being charged with federalracketeering.”

– As reported in Parts & People.The non-OEM parts lawsuit victoryMelfi referred to was the $1.1 billion


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DRPs 20 years ago, Early CCRE, ADP Revises Labor Times

with John YoswickHistorical Snapshot

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

John Loftus

judgment against State Farm in 1999,which the Illinois Supreme Courtoverturned in 2005. A class action law-suit filed in Illinois earlier this year al-leges that seven of the Top 10 insurersviolate federal racketeering laws by il-legally conspiring to use their directrepair programs and other means toenforce “an artificial market value forcollision repairs.”

10 years ago in the collision repairindustry (November 2004)A widespread and significant drop inADP refinish labor times discoveredin recent weeks will be corrected inADP’s November CD update release,which the company says has been sentto ADP customers.

“The operational issues with therefinish times in the October CD are re-vised in the November CD,” ScottJenkins, senior director of “EstimatingSolutions” for ADP said. “The Novem-ber CD is consistent with the SeptemberCD. If the user did not load the OctoberCD, they were not impacted. We are in-structing our customers to load the No-vember CD immediately upon receipt.”

The October CD included manydecreased refinish labor times of 10 per-cent or more. Refinish times for 2000-

2004 Ford Taurus hood, for example,dropped from 3.9 on the SeptemberADP CD to 3.4 on the October CD.Times for a 1999-2004 Pontiac GrandAm fender dropped from 2.4 to 1.9, andthe front door time for a 1999-2004Chevy Cavalier dropped from 3.1 to 2.8.

Although some have looked forsome sort of intent behind the wide-spread reductions, ADP, while avoidingusing the term “mistake,” maintains thatthe problem was an “operational issue,”not an attempt to shave labor times.

“Some of our clients have experi-enced an operational issue regardingrefinish labor on hoods, doors, fenders,roofs, decklid/tailgates and backdoors,” Peggy Adams, operations man-ager for client services for ADP, wrotein an email response to questions aboutthe October CD. “All new estimatescreated with the November CD reflectthe updated refinish labor. We apolo-gize to our clients for any inconven-ience we may have caused.”

The issue has resulted in a flurryof email activity between shops and in-dustry organizations since it came tolight in early November. Part of theconcern was fueled by the fact that var-ious ADP personnel were giving con-flicting - or, at a minimum, ambiguous

- responses to questions about the labortime changes. An ADP tech supportemployee, for example, told one ADPshop customer in the Pacific Northwestthat the revised times were based on“new time studies” ADP had done.

– As reported in Autobody News.Prior to shops accessing the estimatingdatabase information over the Internet,the system providers sent monthly up-dates to the data to shops on compactdiscs. ADP’s Claims Services Group(including its estimating system) wasacquired by Audatex (now AudaEx-plore) in 2006.

5 years ago in the collision repairindustry (November 2009)In the transcript of a small claims ap-peal trial involving two of customers ofG & C Auto Body of Santa Rosa, Calif.,California Superior Court Judge JamesBertoli took State Farm to task for itsrate survey process and arguments re-garding reasonable repair costs.

Shop owner Gene Crozat’s cus-tomers had won after filing small claimscourt cases against State Farm insuredswhen the insurer refused to pay all of G& C’s charges. The insurer appealedboth cases, and the court heard the twoappeals together over two days.

Bertoli said State Farm could usewhatever method it specified in the in-surance contract to determine a reason-able price in first-party claims, even ifthey determined that price, “by readingchicken entrails, and consulting withthe three witches from MacBeth (whichis) just about as accurate as the surveyitself is. I think that survey from a sta-tistical standpoint would get a first-yearcollege student a flunking grade.”

But in a third-party case, the judgesaid, a reasonable charge “implies arange of charges” and “no particularcharge can be said to be the only rea-sonable charge.”

He said State Farm did not try toestablish that G & C’s rate was unrea-sonable, and it appears to fall within areasonable range of prices.

“Quite frankly with regard to thethird-party claims, this Court does notbelieve they should have been liti-gated,” Bertoli said in finding forCrozat’s customers. “I think the an-swer is clear, and I quite frankly see itas an effort on behalf of the insurer totry and suppress the price charged bysomeone outside of their range.”

– As reported in CRASH Net-work (www.CrashNetwork.com), No-vember 16, 2009.


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“Fixing cars is become moreand more challenging than ever be-fore,” said Afshar. “The vehicles areso different now and they may lookthe same outside but what’s inside isnot the same.” With the standardsset by the Insurance Institute forHighway Safety (IIHS) and the Cor-porate Average Fuel Economy, carsneed to be lighter but still passsafety requirements.

Afshar said another challengefor those in collision repair is em-ploying proper technicians with theright mind set. Afshar, who sold hisMSO Sterling Automotive Group in1998, said technology is moving sorapidly that detailed knowledge,training and equipment is becomingeven more necessary for shops to besuccessful and he encourages tech-nicians to be open-minded and learnnew techniques that they’ve neverused before.

was a death trap and it eventually gottotaled and the driver got paid off. Ourvideo told the story and showed theevidence clearly, and that was why itworked so well. Since coming out, theMaryland Attorney General and theInsurance Commissioner has seen thevideo and body shops show it to theircustomers all the time. We get greatfeedback about it and it’s also helpingus to get higher rankings on Google.”

Currently, AP Media is produc-ing a series of four automotive certifi-cation videos for Mark’s Body Shop.

“K & M has done a few OE certi-fication videos and they’re powerful, tosay the least, so we’re doing the same,”Schaech said. “They did a Porsche cer-tification video and now they’re on topof all the search rankings as a result.We use video to inform and educateour customers, but enhanced SEO isalso a big part of it. Years ago, we spenta lot of money on cable advertising andthe response was weak, but thesevideos cost us less and they get us moreresponse. We’ll be making more all thetime, because we can new see they payfor themselves in the end.”


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Cadillac will begin offering advanced “in-telligent and connected” vehicle technolo-gies on certain 2017 vehicles, GeneralMotorsCEO Mary Barra said on Sept. 7during her address at the Intelligent Trans-port System (ITS) World Congress in De-troit. In about two years, a new 2017Cadillac vehicle will offer customers anadvanced driver assist technology calledSuper Cruise and the 2017 Cadillac CTSwill be enabled with vehicle-to-vehicle(V2V) communication technology.

Super Cruise, the working namefor GM’s automated driving technol-ogy, will offer customers a driving ex-perience that includes hands-off lanefollowing, braking and speed controlin certain highway driving conditions.The system is designed to increase thecomfort of an attentive driver on free-ways, both in bumper-to-bumper traf-fic and on long road trips.

Barra said the technology couldmitigate many collisions and improvetraffic congestion by sending and re-ceiving basic safety information such aslocation, speed and direction of travelbetween vehicles approaching eachother. It will warn drivers and can sup-plement active safety features, such asforward collision warning, already avail-able on many production cars.

Cadillac to Introduce NewTechnology on 2017 Models

For the last few years, Chevrolet hasused the annual State Fair of Texasin Dallas to preview its plans forSEMA, according to an article writ-ten by Mark Williams on pickup-trucks.com. This year, the focus ofthe state fair and SEMA is pickupconcept truck parts.

The Silverado “Toughnology”reminds customers that aluminum,the latest material-fad of the autowork, cannot compete with the high-strength of steel, which is locatedthroughout this pickup truck’s frame,cab, body and interior, which, GMhas always noted, is “much less costintensive than more exotic materi-als.”

This concept also showcasesGM accessories like unique grilleinserts, sidesteps, a hard tonneaucover, a carpeted bedliner, fender-flare accents and tinted headlights.A graphic package, including 20-inch wheels and tires, OnStar 4GLTE with Wi-Fi hotspot capability,a wireless charging mat and SiriEyes Free, is also included.Read the entire article:http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2014/09/chevrolet-debuts-a-pair-of-pickup-concept-trucks-for-sema.html

Chevrolet Debuts PickupConcept Trucks for SEMA


By now most shop owners and man-agers have realized that when it comesto marketing, one size does not fit all.Franchises and multiple shop opera-tions that account for about 15 percentof the shops in the U.S. are in a posi-tion to approach marketing from an en-tirely different perspective from theindependent shop owner. But 72 per-cent of the shops are still independent,single-location shops and many ofthese shops market just to keep surviv-ing. The question then becomes, whatdo you mean by “grow?” Growth bycloning or opening other locations ismore of an operational strategy than amarketing proposition. Real growth foran independent shop is simply aboutgetting more vehicles in the door andenjoying more profit on every job.

Franchises and MSOs can affordto advertise just to build name recog-nition to try to drive business to anyshop in the group. But few independ-ents can afford to spend marketingdollars solely on building name recog-nition. A marketing plan has to differ-entiate a shop from the competitionand provide a strong reason to selectthat shop over all the others. A recentarticle in Inc. Magazine might suggestone way to do that. A software com-pany originally called “37 Signals”changed it’s operating philosophy andchanged its name to “Basecamp,” thename of a project management prod-uct that represented 87 percent of theirsales and 90% of their recent growth.

This reminded me of a strategicmove made by Colonel Harlan Sanders

when he was operating a small chain offast food operations with about 100items on the menu. He was having se-rious trouble trying to grow so he hireda consultant named David Thomas.The first thing Thomas did was cut themenu down to a handful of items andrenamed the franchise operation, “Ken-tucky Fried Chicken.” From there on,the growth was phenomenal. Now ob-viously most shops can’t eliminate anyof the steps needed to restore a vehicleback to pre-accident condition, but theycan always choose what they want toemphasize in their marketing. And thismay be the key to convincing the buy-ing public that this shop is the right onefor them.

If you decide to try this approachto marketing, the next question is“what to emphasize?” Paint specialtyshops like Maaco have already begunto capture some of the body work thatindependent shops rely on, but theykeep paint as their central focal point.While any shop is free to make refin-ishing quality their main marketingemphasis, there may be reasons tochoose a different emphasis. One bigadvantage an independent shop hasover franchises and MSOs is the veryfact of their uniqueness. While theseother shops may have a cookie-cuttersameness look, the independent shopowner can individuate any way he orshe chooses. I’ve seen a number ofshops that emphasize the family as-pect of their business. Photos of sev-eral generations of owners adorn thewalls, the website and any ads. The

emphasis, of course, is “we care morebecause for us it’s personal.”

Another key factor in marketingemphasis choice is shop location. Ashop in Silicon Valley or other high-tech region may thrive best with anemphasis on the technical aspects ofcollision repair. A contemporary focuson hybrids and exotic metal repairspecialties could communicate well inan area like this. In an entirely differ-ent direction, I ran across a shop inhorse country that emphasized a spe-cialty in working on horse trailers andlarger transport vehicles. In an agelike ours where big box stores havebecome the norm, a lot of peoplechoose to look for vendors who un-derstand their particular niche in life.Choosing which of these to focus onbrings us back to the question, do youwant to market to just survive, or doyou want to really grow?

Whatever you decide to empha-size in your marketing, to make it a

growth proposition calls for an allout effort. For example, a shop lo-cated in an area where campers andlarge SUVs are commonplace mightchoose to emphasize oversize framemachines and larger spray boothsable to accommodate them. To makethis a growth move, the shop wouldhave to display these capabilitiesmore prominently with colorful pho-tos and stories of exceptional jobs onthe website and literature. But theywould have to go beyond this to goout and be involved in trade shows,vehicle shows, club presentationsand more. Choosing an emphasisthat encompasses a lot of peopleopens up an entire horizon of oppor-tunities to get out and connect withprospective customers. Not everyshop owner is comfortable with thiskind of glad-handing, but if the realgrowth is out there to be gotten, it’sworth while hiring someone with theskill to go out and get it.


Are You Marketing to Merely Survive or Are You Trying to Grow

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

Toyota Motor Corp. is set to becomethe next global automaker to beginmaking the expensive shift fromsteel to aluminum for a high-volumevehicle, according to reports in Au-tomotive News.

The U.S.-built Camry, the coun-try’s best-selling car, is slated to getan aluminum hood in 2018, accord-ing to a source familiar with the plans.

Toyota’s first foray into alu-minum closures in North America willcome next year when the 2016 LexusRX 350 crossover, which is made inCambridge, Ontario, gets an aluminumhood and liftgate, the source said.

The aluminum sheet for theCamry hood likely will come from ajoint venture between Toyota TsushoCorp., a trading company affiliatedwith Toyota Motor Corp., and KobeSteel to produce more aluminumsheet metal in the U.S.

Toyota will be among the ven-ture’s first customers, several sourcesconfirmed. Production is expected tobegin in 2017 and ramp up to fulloutput at the beginning of 2018.

Toyota Moves to Aluminum Hood for Camry in 2018

www.a



Admittedly, the owner of a well-known 80-year-old body shop inChicago was guilty of texting in hisown vehicle himself for several yearsuntil he saw more than a few damagedcars in his shop caused by his cus-tomers’ lapses in attention while tex-ting. Rather than ignore what is nowan national epidemic that causes 1.6million accidents annually, Bob Got-tfred, the owner of Erie-LaSalle BodyShop, decided to start his own anti-texting campaign.

Erie-LaSalle Body Shop wasfounded in 1934 and over the years ithas become a neighborhood institu-tion in downtown Chicago. “We’re thelongest continuously owned auto bodyof its kind in Chicago and Illinois,”Gottfred explained. “We now have ahandful of third-generation customerscoming in here and it’s great to heartheir stories about when their grandfa-ther or even great grandfather broughthis car here decades before. Addition-

ally, we have expanded our servicearea by acquiring a 30-year body shopon the southwest side of Chicago.”

Gottfred, 64, had what he de-scribed as a “marginal interest” in carsas a kid, so his path to owning a bodyshop wasn’t part of his life plan, hesaid. “I grew up working here in theshop as a teenager and to be honest, Iwasn’t crazy about it. I had no inten-tion of taking over the shop, but whenI came home around Christmas time in1975, my stepfather told me he could-n’t do it anymore. His health wasn’tvery good so he said, ‘If you’re inter-ested -- hop in” or he was going to sellit. So, in January 1976 I started runningthe business full-time and then eventu-ally bought out my stepfather in 1995.”

Today, both of Gottfred’s sonswork with him at the shop and eventu-ally the business will belong to them –but not tomorrow, Gottfred said. “Jim(36) and Jay (34) could take over rightnow and do a great job, because they’velearned the business and they’re ready.They’re right at the hand-off point nowand I know it would be a seamless tran-

sition, but I’m not quite ready to retire.I currently work on customer acquisi-tion and foster the great relationshipswe have with the insurance companiesand agents, so it works well right now.Opening the new shop in a very differ-ent market has also been a challenge. Ilike to be the rainmaker around hereand take a lot of the administrative stuffoff my sons’ radar, so that they can con-centrate on the most important things,such as quality and customer service.”

New proposed anti-texting lawshave gained more momentum in thiscountry, most recently led by a docu-mentary called “From One Second tothe Next,” a cautionary tale about thedangers of texting while driving. Thefilm was funded by mobile providersAT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizonand has received major awards and ac-colades.

The genesis of Gottfred’s anti-tex-ting campaign began when he decided


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Social Media for Shops


Chicago Body Shop’s Anti-Texting Campaign Catches Fire

See Anti-Texting Campaign, Page 35

Erie-LaSalle started getting involved in an anti-texting campaign after creating this fire hydrantto raise money for 51 Club, an organization thatraises money for families of firemen killed in theline of duty

try that insurance companies often at-tempt to take control at the accidentscene, moving the damaged vehicleagainst the consumer’s wishes and try-ing to coerce the vehicle owner to agreeto having the repair completed at oneof their DRP shops. Although the con-sumer has the right to choose wheretheir vehicle is repaired and it couldeasily be argued that the insurers aretaking advantage of their customers, itis easier and cheaper for insurancecompanies when they get their way, asthey often do in these situations.

When questioned about why in-surers are so adamant about steeringdespite the possibility of being sued,Eaves noted that insurers profit greatlyby this practice as the benefits to themoutweigh the risk; this is the reason hispending lawsuit and other lawsuits arenecessary. Fowler reminded listenersthat this is a battle the collision repairindustry has been fighting for 25 years,but it has come to a point where qual-ity repair shops will go out of businessif nothing is done to “rectify this trav-esty.”

Moving on to the topic of after-market and OEM parts, Fowler saidthat his opinion has changed. Previ-ously, he believed it should be the cus-tomer’s choice whether or not to useaftermarket parts, but because mostconsumers don’t understand the dif-ferences and implications of usingthese parts, he now feels that it is thecollision repair professional’s respon-sibility to educate the consumer. Hereiterated that “testing proves that af-termarket parts do not always performthe same as genuine OEM parts.”

In response to the radio hosts’question about whether “imitationparts” have been implicated as thecause of any accidents, Eaves unam-biguously stated that the use of poorquality aftermarket parts has caused amultitude of accidents across thecountry. Unfortunately, few peopleare aware of this concern becausethese settled cases included confiden-tiality agreements to prevent themfrom becoming public knowledge.Furthermore, as many parts, includ-ing windshields, tires and airbags, di-rectly affect the safety of the vehicle,investment in parts is more crucialthan ever. According to Eaves,YouTube features many videos onhow aftermarket parts affect vehicle

safety, and documentaries are cur-rently being filmed on this issue aswell.

Eaves is not optimistic that thelawsuit will go to trial quickly, but heis prepared to fight this battle for quitesome time if necessary, noting “this isbigger than just a lawsuit; it’s a cam-paign!” Part of this campaign includesasking Congress to support legislationto restore the proper balance of powerbetween the insurance industry and thecollision repair industry. As precedentfor his request, Eaves cited the Con-sent Decree, a similar situation in the1960s when insurance companies triedto dictate which parts could be usedand how much they would pay for re-pairs. The U.S. Department of Justicesued the insurance industry, and the re-sulting ruling was that insurers cannotforce collision repair facilities to com-promise the quality of their repairs.Thus, the balance of power betweenthese two industries was restored if notenforced. Eaves said he hopes that hiscurrent efforts will yield the same re-sults for the modern collision repair in-dustry.

Directing his attention to whatconsumers can do to aid in this battle,Fowler reminded consumers that theyhave the right to choose the facility thatrepairs their vehicle, and he encouragedthem to act on this right by taking theircar to whichever shop they prefer. Hecautioned that it is a red flag if the in-surer insists on dictating where the ve-hicle is repaired, and this could indicatethat the insurer is engaging in other un-savory practices, such as mandatingwhich parts are used in the repair.

Though vehicle manufacturersprovide specific repair information tomaintain a vehicle’s safety, Fowlersaid he has experienced firsthand thatsome insurers will demand used partsbe installed, even though both he andthe manufacturer warned that such apractice could compromise the vehi-cle’s safety. Despite insurers’ tendencyto use intimidating in their interactionswith both consumers and repair facil-ities, Fowler states, “there are shopsthat try to do what’s right, but they arevilified, disparaged and essentiallysqueezed out of business.”

Eaves agrees that it is imperativefor consumers to trust the facility re-pairing their vehicle as their lives arebeing placed in the hands of these pro-fessionals, and a poor quality repairjeopardizes the safety of the consumer,their family and anyone else on thehighway. The importance of finding a

trustworthy repairer is so great thatFowler founded www.safecars.us, awebsite that promises to place the con-sumer’s safety above all else and plansto feature member shops who havecommitted to this goal.

Although Fowler believes thatsome insurance agents would like todo the right thing for their customers,the rules are passed down from the in-surance companies’ corporate offices,leaving the agents powerless to makechanges. Unfortunately, the insurersare the only ones to benefit, and thesepractices are actually performed to thedetriment of the collision repair facil-ities, the consumers and even lendinginstitutions as an improperly repairedvehicle is apt to create a situation ofdiminished value.

When radio hosts questionedwhy some insurance companies havedepartments that deal in diminishedvalues, Fowler notes, “they pay whenthey’re forced to pay, but they arenever going to voluntarily do the rightthing because it’s not profitable, andeverything they do is profit-driven.”In fact, he warns that diminishedvalue can occur to such an extent thatthe vehicle should have been declareda total loss because it is no longer safe

to be driven on the road! Luckily, di-minished value is an issue that con-sumers are becoming increasinglyaware of, and Fowler encourages any-one with doubts about the safety orintegrity of a repair to get a post-re-pair inspection. His shop will gladlyinspect repairs and provide objectiveassessments, as will many shopsacross the nation. As the show ended,Fowler encouraged consumers tostand up for their rights. Though hewould like to believe that the insurerslook out for their customers’ best in-terests, his observations indicate thatthey are only concerned with profits.“This war has been going on for along time, mostly behind the con-sumers’ backs, but it affects everyonebecause if a car is unsafely repairedand out of control, it is dangerous toeveryone on the highway. The U.S.public needs to be concerned with thisissue… You never know what battlesyou can win until you fight them.Doing nothing only ensures you willlose.”

To access to the radio broadcast, goto http://www.iaba.info/Documents/Newsletters/Issues/2014/10%20October/Full%20Stories/Article%207.html (link is at the bottom of the page).


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The regional recall of millions ofU.S. vehicles with potentially de-fective airbags made by Japan’sTakata Corp. may expand to in-clude General Motors models, ac-cording to documents filed in Sept.with U.S. regulators.

More than 4.3 million carsproduced by automakers, in-cluding Honda Motor Co., Fiat’sChrysler Group and ToyotaMotor Corp., are affected by theregional recalls. They began inJune in certain high-humidityareas of the United States afterthe National Highway TrafficSafety Administration started in-vestigating reports of airbag ex-plosions in Florida and PuertoRico.

The regional recalls initiallyaffected nine automakers, but doc-uments filed by Takata for a Sept.meeting with NHTSA and the af-fected companies listed GM forthe first time as being potentiallyaffected. The Takata documents,posted online by NHTSA, said thenumber of vehicles produced bythe largest U.S. automaker was un-determined.

GM declined to comment.

Takata Airbag Recall MayInclude GM Vehicles

Mercedes-Benz USA and its dealersare spending about $30 millionover the next four years to train26,000 employees and immersethem in the brand’s culture.

Later this year, the first waveof employees will go through atwo-day program called the BrandImmersion Experience at the Mer-cedes-Benz factory in Vance, Ala-bama, near Tuscaloosa.

The investment includes a $6million revamp of the visitor cen-ter at the factory for classroomtraining, including digital interac-tive displays.

“We have been driving hardfor the last few years on the cus-tomer experience,” said GarethJoyce, vice president of customerservices at Mercedes-Benz USA.“It is not just about the product; it isall about the package and how youlook after the customers as well.

“This is just one of the build-ing blocks in our portfolio to drivethat program forward through ourdealer network.”

Mercedes Will Train 26,000in the Brand’s New Culture

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and VanTuyl Group announced on October 2that they have entered into a defini-tive agreement in which BerkshireHathaway will acquire the Van TuylGroup, the nation’s largest privately-owned auto dealership group, rankingfifth among all U.S. auto dealershipgroups.

After becoming a part of the Berk-shire Hathaway family of businesses,the company will be known as Berk-shire Hathaway Automotive. The com-pany will continue to be led by LarryVan Tuyl, who will become Chairman,and Jeff Rachor, who will assume therole of CEO, as well as its experiencedsenior management team. Berkshire

Hathaway Automotive will be head-quartered in Dallas, Texas and continueto pursue its strategy of operational ex-cellence and disciplined acquisitiongrowth, which is the business modelthe company has pursued for the last 62years.

“The Van Tuyl Group fits per-fectly into Berkshire Hathaway fromboth a financial and cultural view-point. Larry Van Tuyl along with hisfather, Cecil, spent decades buildingoutstanding dealerships operated bylocal partners. In recent years, he hasshared management with Jeff Rachor,a seasoned auto retailer who will re-tain a financial interest in all dealer-ships. The Van Tuyl Group enjoys

excellent relations with the major automanufacturers and delivers unusuallyhigh volumes at its 78 locations. Thisis just the beginning for BerkshireHathaway Automotive,” said Berk-shire Hathaway’s Chairman and CEO,Warren Buffett.

“We are proud of all that has beenaccomplished with the support of ourdealer partners, our employees and themanufacturers that we represent. Weare very pleased to have one of theworld’s most respected companies,Berkshire Hathaway, assume owner-ship of our company with the commit-ment to preserving our unique culture,business model and philosophy,” saidVan Tuyl. “I cannot think of a better

steward to continue the legacy of whatmy father and I have built over the last62 years, and I am confident this trans-action will position the company on acourse of continued success.”

The transaction is expected to becompleted in the first quarter of 2015and is subject to obtaining approvalsfrom the major auto manufacturers aswell as certain customary closing con-ditions, including various regulatoryapprovals.

Stephens Inc. is serving as finan-cial advisor to Van Tuyl Group. DLAPiper is providing legal advice to VanTuyl Group, and Munger, Tolles &Olson LLP is providing legal advice toBerkshire Hathaway.

Berkshire Hathaway to Acquire Van Tuyl Group, Largest Privately-Owned Auto Dealership Group

CCC Information Services Inc. an-nounced the addition of the Aftermar-ket Auto Parts Alliance (Alliance) as asupplier to the CCC TRUE™ PartsNetwork on October 16.

The Alliance, which goes to mar-ket under a variety of store brands in-cluding Auto Value and Bumper toBumper, becomes a significant contrib-utor of mechanical parts and repair sup-plies to CCC TRUE Parts Network.

“Providing our customers with ac-

cess to the Alliance’s extensive offeringof repair parts and related supplies viatheir robust MyPlaceForParts™ net-work extends our footprint and providesour repair and insurance customers witheven greater choice and flexibility intheir parts options,” said David Boden,VP, CCC’s Parts Services Group.

“We look forward to workingwith the Alliance and integrating itsparts inventory with CCC TRUE PartsNetwork.”

“Collision repair shops have atremendous need for easy access to me-chanical repair parts and supplies,” saidJon Owens, Vice President of salesand market development for the Al-liance. “Streamlining that access wasthe purpose of our participating in theCCC TRUE Parts Network and wecould not be more delighted with theopportunity to bring our extensive in-ventory to CCC’s customers.”

CCC ONE® Workflow users will

now have access to the Alliance’s net-work of over 2,200 locations that stocknearly 2,000,000 repair parts and suppliesfor both import and domestic vehicles.

Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance Joins CC TRU Parts Network

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to participate in the Great Chicago FireHydrants Project, a public art exhibitionthat celebrates the heroism of Chicago’sfirefighters. This citywide public art in-stallation features oversized replicas ofChicago’s iconic standard fire hydrants,designed, painted, decorated and/ordressed by local artists, architects, andeven fashion and interior designers.These colorful sculptures are placedthroughout the city in tribute to thework and heroism of Chicago’s belovedfirefighters. At the conclusion of eachyear’s exhibition, the hydrants are gath-ered for a final exhibition before being

auctioned, with net proceeds benefitingcharities that support the families of firevictims and other fire safety programs

in the Windy City.As part of his company’s ongoing

philanthropy, Gottfred decided to par-ticipate in the project. “We purchaseda five-foot fire hydrant made out offiberglass for the project to decorate,”Gottfred explained. “We painted thewords ‘Texting & Driving, It Can Wait’on the fire hydrant and then decided totake the whole thing one step further.We had purchased a little Smart Car awhile back and we have our logo on theside of it. We use it to shuttle customersaround or pick up parts and we love it.We thought maybe we can use theSmart Car and the hydrant together toget our anti-texting message out there.We disassembled the front end of theSmart Car and parked it out front of our

shop and made it appear asthough the Smart Car had justbashed into the fire hydrant.We get 40,000 people drivingby our shop every day and sopretty quickly everyone wastalking about it.”

Then last October, Gottfreddecided to use Halloween asan opportunity to take his anti-

texting message to another level, hesaid. “We put a dummy in the frontseat of the Smart Car and deployed an

old airbag we had sitting around andstrapped it to the steering wheel. Later,I went out there and the local policeand fire department were out in frontof the shop. Someone had reported a

car accident with serious injuries, andafter we explained what was going on,we all laughed about it and they took afew photos. We left it there until theend of November and then the hydrantgot auctioned off, raising $500 for the51 Club. We bought it originally for

$1,500 and that money went to Club51 too, so we donated $2,000 total,which was nice.”

Once Gottfred got involved in hisanti-texting campaign, he stopped tex-ting altogether. “When people use theircell phones while driving, the bottomline is that they’re distracted,” he said.“I was doing it too, because you get atext message and your first reaction isto respond to it. But in the end it can re-ally wait. We get damaged cars in hereall the time and the customers willnever admit that they were texting whenit occurred, but I know many of theseaccidents are the result of texting.”

Gottfred teaches CE (ContinuingEducation) classes to insurance agentsand now he has created a class deal-ing with the topic of texting. “We dis-cuss how to insure teenage drivers andwhat can happen when they text,” hesaid. “I show some gruesome videosto get their attention and to raise theirconsciousness about texting.”


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Anti-Texting Campaign

Bob Gottfred (center) has been running Erie-LaSalle Body Shop since 1975 and soon hissons Jim (left) and Jay (right) will be takingover the reins

Erie-LaSalle Body Shop was founded in 1934 and over theyears its iconic neon sign has become a Chicago landmark

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North Freeway HyundaiThe Auto Glass Safety Council™’s(AGSC) Education Committee metOctober 7 during Auto Glass Week inBaltimore, MD to review its plan toupdate the exam technicians musttake to become AGSC accredited.Jeff Olive, chair of the educationcommittee, opened the meeting witha discussion about whether the asso-ciation should publish the questions.

Bob Beranek of Auto GlassConsultants, who chairs the AGSCAGRSS Standards Committee and isa member of the board of directors,proposed waiting until the AGSC hasdeveloped 500 questions. The groupagreed. The exam will feature 70questions.

Members also discussed waystechnicians can challenge questionsthey might have an issue with. MitchBecker of Abra Auto Body & Glass,recommended adding a “challenge”option as a selection for each question.Once a technician completes the timedexam, he would have the opportunityto explain why he challenged a certainquestion. The test results would be onhold until the AGSC Education Com-mittee has a chance to address thechallenge. The committee membersvoted in support of this proposal.

Auto Glass Safety CouncilUpdating Certification Exam

Quest Donates $280,000 in Paint & Abrasives to CREFQuest Automotive Products (QAP) do-nated $280,000 in paint and abrasivesto high school and post-secondary col-lision school programs across thecountry through the Collision RepairEducation Foundation.

The products donated by QAPwill allow students the opportunity topractice their collision repair and re-finishing skills. QAP is committed tobringing awareness of the shortage oftechnicians within the collision in-dustry and acknowledge that manycollision school programs have budg-ets that are shrinking each year.

“QAP strongly believes in sup-porting the future professionals withinour industry and ensuring they obtainthe education that they deserve inorder to be successful in the automo-tive profession,” said David Brunori,President of Quest Automotive Prod-ucts.

“QAP has recently been in-volved with supporting the Colli-sion Repair Education Foundationthrough donating product and rais-ing money with its first Artists 4Education auction, held in the Ma-trix Automotive Finishes booth dur-ing SEMA last year, which raised$25,000 for the Education Founda-tion. We are proud to be working to-

gether with them again in 2014 withthe second annual auction at SEMAthis year (booth 10669).”

Collision Repair EducationFoundation Director of Develop-ment Brandon Eckenrode noted,“This product donation from QAPwill have a significant impact on thecollision school programs by pro-viding instructors with the neededmaterial in order to provide a qual-ity technical education for students.We look forward to working to-gether with QAP to raise additionalfunds through the second annualArtists 4 Education auction at SEMAthis year. I would also invite colli-sion industry businesses to followQAP’s lead in providing both prod-uct and monetary donations to theEducation Foundation so that we canwork towards ensuring that the grad-uating collision students are readyfor entry-level employment withinthe industry.”

Industry members interested inhelping high school and/or collegecollision school programs through theCollision Repair Education Founda-tion should contact Brandon Ecken-rode at:[email protected] or 847-463-5244.

SEMA: Sales of Auto Parts & Accessories Reach $33BSales of automotive specialty-equipmentproducts continue to climb, reaching $33billion in 2013. The number represents a6.7 percent increase over the previousyear and marks the fourth consecutiveyear of growth, according to the SEMAAnnual Market Study that is available atwww.sema.org/2014samr.

“The Specialty Equipment Marketproduced the highest growth since therecent recession,” said Chris Kersting,SEMA president and CEO. “There are anumber of factors that figure into thisupward trend.”

The special-equipment market in-cludes products that enhance a vehicle’sperformance, styling, comfort, conven-ience and safety. Among the factors driv-ing the industry’s growth are:● Street performance products ac-counted for 26% of sales. The renewedfocus on performance models by theOEMs has helped drive interest in thissegment. New models such as the ScionFR-S, redesigns like the 2015 Mustang,and high-performance packages such asthe Hellcat Challenger have inspired theindustry and consumer alike to aim forincreased performance.● There was a healthy upward tick forthe truck market. Sales of specialtyequipment for light trucks grew 8% in2013 to post the market’s best sales year

since 2007. New truck sales continue toclimb amid anticipation for major re-designs to several flagship pickups. Asthe SUV/CUV sector continues to grownine of the top 30 sellers in the US),crossover products present an opportu-nity to diversify and expand light-truckproduct offerings.● The 2014 SEMA Show is shaping upto be the biggest yet as industry opti-mism continues to build. New this yearis SEMA Ignited, a special consumerand media attraction on Friday nightafter the Show. SEMA Ignited mesheswith other consumer-facing associationprojects, all part of a long-term plan toenhance awareness of specialty prod-ucts.● The US economy continues to showpositive signs for industry growth, withgross domestic product rising and un-employment rates dropping. Forecastersare generally predicting sustained mod-erate growth for the US economy overthe next few years. Meanwhile, car buy-ers have shown renewed enthusiasm,pushing new-vehicle sales upward to-ward pre-recession levels.

The SEMA Annual Market Reportis conducted yearly to help SEMA-member companies understand the in-dustry and make informed businessdecisions.

Ford Motor Co. is recalling850,050 2013 and 2014 vehiclesfor an electrical flaw that couldcause airbags and seat belt preten-sioners to malfunction in the eventof a crash, according to reports inAutomotive News.

The affected vehicles includethe 2013-14 Ford C-Max, Fusion,Escape and Lincoln MKZ. Fordsaid in a statement on Sept. 26 therestraints-control module in the ve-hicles could short circuit, causingthe airbag warning indicator to il-luminate.

This is the 12th recall of the2013 Escape, although a spokes-woman said in August that no sin-gle Escape has been involved in allthe recalls.

Flaws that other recalls on theEscape have addressed includefluid leaks that could cause an en-gine fire, doors that can open whilethe vehicle is moving and rolloverairbags that may not deploy quicklyenough.

Ford Recalls 850,000 Carsfor Airbag & Seat Belt Glitch


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At the SXSW Eco conference inAustin, TX, SolarCity® and Honda re-newed their partnership with a newfund expected to finance $50 millionin solar projects. The new commitmentwill make solar power more affordableand available to Honda and Acura cus-tomers and dealerships in the U.S. Thecompanies have completed or initiateda range of solar projects for homeown-ers, dealerships and corporate facilitiesthat total more than 12.5 MW of solargeneration capacity. The two compa-nies have already brought enough solarcapacity online to offset more than 400million pounds of CO2 over a 30-yearlifecycle. The $50 million fund is a fol-low-up to a $65 million fund the com-panies created in 2013.

The partnership, which is aimedat addressing air pollution and globalclimate change by reducing CO2 emis-sions and particulate emissions fromhome, business and transportation en-ergy use, covers the cost of solar equip-ment and installation and makes itpossible for many homeowners to payless for solar electricity than they payfor electricity from utilities, with in-surance, repairs and monitoring serv-ice included.

Envisioning a future in which per-sonal mobility products will be pow-

ered in large part by renewable energy,the two companies have begun imple-menting co-marketing programs thatspecifically encourage owners of eithersolar powered homes or plug-in elec-tric vehicles to adopt the complemen-tary product. The companies have alsocollaborated on advanced projects thatdemonstrate the full potential of dis-tributed renewables combined withplug-in electric vehicles, includingHonda Smart Home US. SolarCity(SCTY) installed the high-efficiencyand cost-effective solar system used inthis project.

SolarCity has developed a propri-etary system that has greatly simpli-fied the process by which homeownerscan go solar. From an initial phone callor Web consultation, SolarCity canquickly assess whether a homeowneris a good candidate for solar, and candesign a custom solar system to meet acustomer’s specific energy needs.Honda and Acura customers and deal-ers interested in solar can find more in-formation at:www.hondasolarcity.com.

“The first phase of this partnershiphas proven that Honda drivers have ahigh affinity for solar power, whileowners of solar-powered homes have ahigh affinity for Honda products,” said

Steven Center, Vice President of theEnvironmental Business DevelopmentOffice of American Honda Motor Co.,Inc. “As we look toward a future inwhich renewable energy will be an in-creasingly pervasive fuel source forpersonal mobility products, we are ex-cited about capitalizing on the techno-logical, environmental and marketopportunities available through part-nerships of this nature.”

“Our partnership with Honda iscreating local jobs and helping to ad-dress air pollution, water pollution andclimate change,” said SolarCity CEOLyndon Rive. “Honda’s commitmentis making a difference for the econ-omy and the environment.”

Based on its vision of “BlueSkies for our Children,” Honda isworking to advance technologies thataddress society’s environmental andenergy concerns through a diverselineup of products and technologies,including more fuel-efficient gasolineengines, natural gas, hybrids, plug-inhybrids, battery electric vehicles(BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles(FCEVs).

Honda is targeting a 30-percentreduction in CO2 emissions from itsU.S. automobile product lineup by2020, compared to 2000 levels. In pur-

suit of its vision for a zero-carbon fu-ture, the company is advancing elec-tromotive technologies in many forms,and will introduce an advanced newfuel cell electric car in 2015.

In keeping with its commitmentto produce vehicles with the lowestCO2 emissions at plants with thesmallest environmental footprint, thecompany is broadly addressing emis-sions, energy, water use and waste inall phases of its products life cycles.In the manufacturing realm, this in-cludes a 95 percent reduction in wastesent to landfills in North America.Honda is working to extend its “greenfactory” and “green purchasing” ini-tiatives to its more than 650 parts sup-pliers in North America and is alsopursuing more environmentally re-sponsible business practices among itsU.S. dealers through the company’s“Green Dealer” program.

Honda is also demonstrating itsvision for zero-carbon mobility andliving with the creation of the HondaSmart Home US, in Davis, California,which was opened in early 2014 andis capable of producing more energyon-site from renewable sources than itconsumes annually, including enoughenergy to power a Honda Fit EV fordaily commuting.

Honda and SolarCity Partnership Will Create $50 Million Fund for Solar Projects

PPG Waterborne Shop Conversions Exceed 10,000PPG Industries’ (NYSE:PPG) automo-tive refinish business has now convertedmore than 10,000 collision centers in theUnited States and Canada to its water-borne systems, with the majority of theseconversions taking place in National Ruleareas rather than in low-VOC (volatileorganic compound) compliant regions.

According to Tim Jones,PPG wa-terborne segment manager, more than10,000 collision centers in North Amer-ica are now using PPG waterborne prod-ucts, with more than 50 percent of theseshops in National Rule markets. Thismeans most PPG customers choose touse waterborne products and systemseven though they are not required to doso to meet low-VOC regulations. Theydo so voluntarily because they want toimprove their productivity, he said.

“Waterborne is not just a compliancesolution anymore,” Jones said. “More than10,000 PPG customers in the U.S. andCanada see the value in superior colormatching, excellent throughput and per-formance, consistent color mixes and otherkey qualities that our waterborne productsprovide. PPG has a long-standing com-mitment to the collision repair industry todeliver high-quality and time-saving prod-ucts. ENVIROBASE® High Performanceand AQUABASE® Plus products are eas-ier to blend and apply; our customers ap-

preciate this and see a real difference intheir shops’ productivity.”

Jones attributed the success ofPPG’s waterborne products to factorssuch as a highly-effective and easy CON-VERT WITH CONFIDENCE® transi-tion process and the service and supportcustomers receive from PPG and its best-in-class distributor partners. “Collisioncenters are converting to PPG’s water-borne with great results,” he said. “Shopsare finding the actual conversion to wa-terborne is simple. They’re also findingthat we support them and view their pro-ductivity as a measure of our mutual suc-cess.”

Envirobase High Performance andAquabase Plus products are now in theirthird generation. PPG introduced its wa-terborne technology to the internationalOEM (original equipment manufac-turer) market in 1986 and brought theworld's first commercialized refinishwaterborne basecoat to market in 1992.Since then, PPG has added new primersand clearcoats to the two brands andwill, according to Jones, continue to ex-pand the product lines’ offerings.

For more information about PPGand Envirobase High Performance andAquabase Plus waterborne products,call 800-647-6050 or visit www.ppgre-finish.com.

ger compartment. But vehicle manu-facturers have strengthened both thelower and upper structures of vehicles,further reducing the impact of visibledamage to the passenger compart-ment.

“I’ve seen some vehicles that hadstraight-on impacts at 50 mph, yet youcan open and close the doors like fac-tory,” Perry said. “The passengercompartment does not react they way

it used to. But that energy is still goingsomewhere; something further back inthe vehicle has to give to absorb that

energy. So that old way of thinking, ofnot measuring everything, results inoverlooking something. That’s whywe need to measure the entire vehicleeach time.”

Perry believes eight measuringpoints is the minimum that should beused to ensure all the damage is lo-cated, though the total number will de-pend on the severity of the impact.Start with four on the center structureof the vehicle, he suggests, then oneon each of the front and rear cornersof the vehicle.

When it comes to pulling, multi-ple towers allow more precise move-ment, he said, given that damage canbe in three directions: lateral, verticaland length-wise.

“The more hook-ups you can put

on at your initial pull, the more thatdamage is going to come out the wayit went in,” Perry said. “But you needto be monitoring it as you pull so youknow you’re going in the right direc-tion.”

Multiple pulling also reduces theamount of force used at any singlepoint.

“If you put more combined forceon a vehicle but less at each locationby doing multiple simultaneouspulling with equalized pressure, youcan repair a lot of things that youcouldn’t before because you’re notgoing to rip and tear it,” he said.“You’re not going to damage and dis-tort it because you’re not putting asmuch pressure at each location.”

Perry shared his measuring andpulling concepts while working on anactual damaged vehicle during a re-cent demonstration in the shop atChief’s headquarters in Madison, IN.Among the features of the company’s“LaserLock” measuring system hepointed out was the dual monitors thatallow a technician to have both meas-uring information and OEM repair in-formation readily accessible.

“The OEMs used to sit on thesidelines because who knew better

about repairs than anybody else? Thetechnician,” Perry said. “After all,he’d been doing it for 20 years, andthings hadn’t changed that much. Butwith the many changes to vehicles

today, who knows most about a vehi-cle now? The OEMs. They designedit. They engineered it.”

That said, Perry believes anotheradvantage of using Chief measuring


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Energy transfer

Lee Daugherty, global data product managerfor Chief Automotive, points out the type ofmeasuring data available through the com-pany’s LaserLock system

Jerry Ralston explains the final assemblyprocesses that Chief frame equipment undergoesat the company’s Madison, Ind., headquarters

Bryan Brown demonstrated the newestElektron welder during a recent media tour ofChief Automotive’s headquarters. Elektron andChief are among the brands owned by VehicleServices Group, based in Madison, Ind.

See Energy transfer, Page 45

their body shops.“We wanted to make the legisla-

tors aware of what the insurance com-panies are doing to the consumer,”said Matt Parker, owner of ParkerAuto Body in Louisiana who is part ofthe lawsuit. “The insurance industryshould not tell us how to repair cars.We’re the professionals here, notthem. We have all the liability, theydon’t,” he said.

Tony Passwater, Executive Di-rector of the Indiana Autobody Associ-ation and President of AEII ConsultingServices, said that what started asmulti-district litigation in April withjust five states, including Mississippi,Florida, Tennessee, Indiana and Utah,and later by Louisiana, is now part of amuch bigger action to regain controlthat he termed “The Movement.”

He said, as part of “The Move-ment,” shop owners representing adozen states went to Capital Hill “…todiscuss the growing concerns for con-sumer safety, the mandating by insur-ers to require repair shops to useuntested and unsafe parts on vehicles,and the intimidation tactics the insur-ers use when a repairer refuses to doso.”

“Most [members of Congress]have had their car repaired and werevery empathetic and were already con-cerned about the issue, so we werevery encouraged by the response,” saidthe lead attorney John Arthur Eaves,Jr. of Eaves Law Firm in Jackson, MS.

Eaves said many were still notaware of the Robert Kennedy-era 1963Consent Decree and now is an excel-lent opportunity to ask them to help

enforce what is the official public pol-icy of the United States government.He said the body shops plan to visitWashington D.C. again in Novemberwhen congress comes back into ses-sion and the hope is that a bill will be

introduced at that time. “The law willreally be a codification of the policy ofthe United States that was set in 1963.”

It was that year that the U.S. De-partment of Justice, under the direc-tion of Attorney General RobertKennedy, investigated the concerns ofthe collision repair industry and found265 insurance companies, and the

three major trade associations that rep-resented insurers, were in violation ofthe Sherman Antitrust Act. An An-titrust Consent Order was signed bythese companies on October 23, 1963,requiring that insurers must refrainfrom “fixing, establishing, maintain-ing or otherwise controlling the pricesto be paid for the appraisal of damage,or to be charged by independent ordealer franchised automotive repairshops for the repair of damage to au-tomotive vehicles or for replacementparts or labor in connection therewith,whether by coercion, boycott or in-timidation or by the use of flat rate orparts manuals or otherwise.”

“If you look at the Consent Decreeand read it, it would look like some-body from today wrote it because allthe things they’ve been doing since the40s they are continuing to do,” said

Parker. “To be honest withyou, everything they’re doingis against the law.”

Parker, who has been in thebusiness for 30 years, said theConsent Decree mandates thatinsurance companies are sup-posed to be in the business ofinsurance, “not telling us howto repair cars, not writing es-timates, not telling peoplewhere to get glass put in theircar. We’re the only business in

the world that has to try to figure outhow to make a profit when we can’teven set our own rates.”

Eaves originally filed the lawsuitin April on behalf of more than twodozen body shops that claimed 16 in-

surance companies manipulated laborrates and other charges and weren’tcompensated for their work.

The Mississippi lawyer said thelawsuit is largely based on antitrust is-sues that surface when insurance com-panies get involved with body shopsby telling them what labor rate theycan charge, what percentages they’re

not going to pay for, andwhat parts they have to puton a car. In the 1970’s, thelabor rate was $16 and themechanical rate was $15.Currently, Eaves said thebody shop rate across thenation is usually half of themechanical rate with nojustification. He said this isdue to insurance companiesthat have artificially sup-pressed the rate and is aclear violation of the Con-sent Decree.

Another main component of thelawsuit is against steering. “Most statesin the country say it is illegal for insur-ance companies to purposely interferein the business relationship of the cus-tomer and the body shop,” said Eaves.However, insurance companies do itregularly, telling customers they have to

go to their DRP body shops or selectservice shops. “That’s a big part of ourlawsuit and one of the things we think ispure violation of the proper balance be-tween the two industries,” said Eaves.“By having the same practices exposedby all body shops in one litigation, thejudge can more clearly see that this is apattern of practice,” said Eaves.

Eaves said that in addition tothese challenges faced by shop own-ers, the industry also has to adapt tonew technology. “Only the shops thatactually get paid for what they do willhave the resources necessary to investin all of this technology,” said Eaves.“That’s basically what the lawsuitcomponent is all about… making surethat people who do the work and do itright get paid for it so they can con-tinue to provide that service to theAmerican customer.”

The next court date is set for No-vember in Orlando, FL. “The allega-tions that are part of the multi-districtlitigation being heard in Florida are notin line with State Farm’s mission toserve the needs of its customers, andour long, proud history of achieve-ments in advancing vehicle safety,”said Dick Luedke, spokesperson for


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Congress Support

See Congress Support, Page 43

(l to r) Joe and Karen Enneking of Enneking Body Shop inIndiana, Congressman Luke Messer and Tony Passwater,Executive Director of the Indiana Autobody Association inWashington D.C.

(l to r) Tony Passwater, Executive Director of the Indiana Au-tobody Association; John Arthur Eaves, the lead attorney forthe case; and Karen and Joe Enneking from Enneking BodyShop in Indiana, during their trip to Washington D.C.

to their customers’ expectations.Often, this includes an extensive in-spection and evaluation of not onlythe automotive part, but the vehiclethe part came from. A physical evalu-ation takes place, along with a reviewof the vehicle’s history, build codes,build date, verification and testing ofmechanical and electrical parts. Partsfound to be of a substandard conditiongrade (Grade C or X, for example),rusted, or otherwise non-repairable,are not listed as available on estimatesor sold to customers. These are just afew examples of the quality controlmeasures that are common practicesof professional automotive recyclingbusinesses.”

Gold believes that recycled partssold by ARA members are safe andmeet OEM standards for fit and func-tionality, and he asks, “why should wetrash good parts and use more of ournatural resources to make new parts?It’s only logical to reuse these parts.Professional recyclers aren’t lookingto dictate or control the repair process;we simply make these parts available

for collision shops to purchase and usein repairs. Recycled parts often savevehicles that would be declared a totalloss otherwise. Speaking plainly, re-cycled parts make sense.”

Fortunately, Caldwell is not com-pletely opposed to the option of usingrecycled parts in the repair process,provided the consumer is informed ofand agrees to their use and that thequality of the parts can be confidentlyascertained to ensure that their usedoes not pose a safety risk to his con-stituents. “In the manufacturers’ pro-fessional opinions, and in the opinionsof many body shops that are commit-ted to good, safe and professional re-pairs, there are parts that cannot bere-used without inherently compro-mising the safety of a vehicle; how-ever, if consumers are looking to becost conscious and are thoroughly in-formed about these alternative repairs,they would seem to be viable op-tions… pending proper disclosure andconsent, this might be an understand-able option for certain consumers. Ourcase is not just about junkyard parts -our case is about consumers and aboutany part, any repair process and anybusiness practice that renders their ve-hicles less safe and less valuable than

they were prior to an accident.”Wilson notes, “We also support

consumer choice regarding what partand repair process are utilized for theirvehicle. Recycled parts are quality al-ternatives that provide repairers theoption of offering consumers signifi-cant additional benefits compared tonew OEM parts. When repairers userecycled parts, they are saving costsfor consumers and helping them tokeep their vehicles on the road. Todayover 70 percent of vehicles aged 7-years and older are declared by insur-ance companies to be “Total Loss”after an accident -- many times this isdue to the high cost of new replace-ment parts. The highest commis-sioned part is not always the smartestchoice. Offering the vehicle owner analternative to new OEM parts and uti-lizing a recycled OEM part will helpkeep that vehicle on the road and re-turning to that repair shop for years tocome.”

Gold agrees that consumer safetyis a top priority which is why ARA hasestablished standards and grading sys-tems as a means of describing the re-cycled parts in the most appropriateway possible, with an emphasis onany imperfections, in order to allow

the consumer to make a choice. Hehopes to see all recyclers join ARAand adhere to these standards to en-sure that all recycled parts being uti-lized in repairs are safe for consumers.

Wilson adds, “ARA is knownthroughout the different sectors of theautomotive parts industry as a dy-namic organization that, for over 70years, has provided valuable partsstandards and certification programsin order to better quantify recycled au-tomotive parts and ARA member busi-nesses’ level of performance toconsumers and auto repair profession-als. With programs such as the Certi-fied Automotive Recycler (CAR) andGold Seal programs, ARA memberscontinue to provide consumers withquality, low-cost alternatives for vehi-cle replacement parts, while preserv-ing the environment for a ‘greener’tomorrow.” Looking to the future,“ARA hopes to move the industry toa point where recycled parts are listedin all relevant business platforms andthat the market be truly allowed to de-termine which parts are utilized.”


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When a Northern Arizona body shopowner heard that the local school dis-trict needed a travel bus restored fortheir students, he said that he didn’thesitate to help out. It took two monthsand 100 hours of work removing dentsand painting the bus, but Jim Bachler,owner of Vince’s Auto Body, said it waswell worth the time.

“In business I believe we shouldgive back to the community. What youget in return is always more than yougive,” said Bachler, who currently hastwo locations for his business, one inSedona and one in Camp Verde, andis planning to open a third within ayear.

One of Bachler’s employees inCamp Verde told him that the directorof support services for the CampVerde School District, Stacey Barker,wanted to convert one of their schoolbuses to a travel bus for athletic trips.The district offers 13 different sportsevery fall, winter and spring.

Barker had a vision for the bus,which included painting it blue, andworked closely with Vince’s AutoBody to plan what the bus would looklike. One of his goals was to ensurethat student athletes had a sense of

pride when they stepped off the bus.He said that he has found that it ele-vates their performance. “I believe incommunity involvement and bringingthe school and community together,”said Barker.

During the past summer sevenemployees at Vince’s Auto Body shop

worked on the project, which involved50 hours of body work and 50 hoursof painting. After the work was com-pleted, Alvey Signs in Cottonwoodtook care of the striping for the bus,spelling out “Camp Verde Cowboys”on the outside, which is the district’smascot.

“I didn’t grasp the magnitude ofthe project until we started,” said Bach-ler, who explained it was the equivalentof painting five small cars.

Bachler started working at Vince’sAuto Body in Sedona as a body andpaint technician in 1986 when the shopfirst opened and became general man-

ager in 1993. When Vince Lansink putthe shop up for sale in 2004, Bachlerand his wife decided to purchase it.

They realized there was also aneed for a body shop in the Camp Verdearea. “The closest one was 20 milesaway and we were already pulling workfrom that area,” said Bachler. “The op-

portunity presented itself in a good wayand we decided to make an invest-ment.” The Camp Verde location wasopened a year ago and focuses on RVcollision repair.

Recently they started buildinganother facility on Highway 260 thatwill concentrate on auto collision re-pair and is expected to be ready withina year.

Bachler has been active in thecommunity for more than 25 years andoften shows his support by sponsoringlocal charities and little league teams.The business donated a minivan to thefamily of David Zenot, a local policeofficer who worked in the area formore than 25 years and died in 2012from brain cancer. Bachler said that heenjoys being able to give back to thecommunity that has supported his busi-ness.

Vince’s Auto Body has been voted“Best Auto Body Shop” by Kudo’sMagazine every year since 1993 as wellas by Red Rock News and Market Sur-veys of America since 2006. “I attrib-ute it to customer care and concern forthe repairs we do for people,” he said.“It takes a lot in a small community tostay on top of the repairs. It’s not aboutthe money, it’s about doing thingsright.”

Arizona Body Shop Connects With Customers and Community

Rod Consalvo, the lead trip driver for the Camp Verde Unified School District, is pictured withthe travel bus

Chevrolet Brings Back the Corvette Stingray in Time for SEMAThe SEMA Auto Show isn’t just anevent for established aftermarketcompanies to showcase their latest

creations. It’s also a chance for newplayers in the business to introducethemselves to the industry. This year,Revorix falls under the latter cate-gory, and it’s prepared a special pro-gram for the Chevrolet CorvetteStingray. The new aftermarket com-pany has just set up its business inAnaheim, California with the solepurpose of creating aftermarket

products that highlights a car’s“functional beauty." Seeing as it’sstill a relative neophyte in the indus-try, you can’t fault Roverix from en-listing the help of Rowen Japan,considered as one of the best after-market car body specialists in Japan.

Together, the two companies cre-ated the Revorix Corvette Package,which features a comprehensive list ofnew aerodynamic components de-signed to give the Corvette Stingray asportier look and improved dynamics.There are no performance upgradesbut that’s not overly important whenyou’re a new entry to the market look-ing to make a name.

The important thing is to estab-lish yourself first, and one way to doso is to build a body kit that will catchpeoples’ attention, which is exactlywhat it has with the Revorix CorvettePackage. It’s a tough task catchingsome eyes at the SEMA Auto Show,but Revorix, with the help of RowenJapan, might have the kit to pull it off.

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When the City of Attleboro recently cel-ebrated their 100th anniversary with aparade, one of the highlights of the daywas the 1975 police cruiser restored thispast summer by two local auto bodybusinesses in MA.

The Attleboro Police Depart-ment initiated the restoration projectin 2011, shortly after Sgt. RonaldGoyette joined the force. Attleboro’sPolice Chief Kyle Heagney asked if

he could help restore a police cruiserto be used for city parades and com-munity events. Goyette, the formerautomotive shop teacher at AttleboroHigh School, began to search for avehicle but said it was challenging to

find just the right one. “We ended uprunning into all kinds of obstacles,”he said.

Finally, as luck would have it, in2013 his mother-in-law mentioned thatshe found an interesting old car hemight want to take a look at. She had noidea her son-in-law had been searchingfor a car and when he went to see it, hefound it was exactly what he had beenlooking for all along, a 1975 DodgeCoronet.

Goyette said it was in immaculateshape for its age. “Unlikemost Chryslers of that era, itdidn’t have any underbodyrot.” Using funds from for-feited drug seizures, the po-lice department purchasedthe car during the first part of2014. The police chief askedGoyette if it could be readyby September 6. “Time be-came our biggest obstaclebecause once we located itthe chief wanted it done intime for the 100th anniver-

sary parade celebration.”The first step was to strip it

down. In addition to having chromeaccessories not used on police cars in1975, the prior owner had additionaladd-ons such as fender skirts. Greg

McGovern of Better Automotive, afriend of Goyette’s who was experi-enced in Chrysler restoration, locatedparts for the vehicle and worked on itfor a couple of weeks. Then the carwas taken to Charlie Soufy at Chaz’sAutobody, who is contracted by theAttleboro Police to work on their ve-hicles.

The owner of the small shop inAttleboro said he has a good relation-ship with the police department and hewanted to show his support for thecommunity where he grew up. Soufyhas gained some new customers afterhelping out with this project and saidhis motto is, “Without my customers, Iwouldn’t have a job.”

Soufy said their biggest chal-lenge was the time frame. “When westarted to take some of the paint offthere was a little more work than weanticipated so my guys kicked intohigh gear,” he said. “Andy Higgin-botham ‘Panda’ and Ken Langill‘Dust Monkey’ stayed late to get thejob done.”

Goyette said Soufy spenta lot of time getting thepaint color just right. “SinceDuPont didn’t list an exactnumber for the paint the cityused on their cruisers, Char-lie mixed it by eye,” he said.“He kept adding until he gotit exactly the way it shouldbe.”

David Viera, the policedepartment’s in-house me-chanic, also helped out withthe car. It is currently beingstored at the police depart-

ment during the winter so they can dosome additional touch ups and interiorwork.

“I think it’s unbelievable in thisday and age you would find peoplewho are ready, willing and able to do-nate their time, services and skill forthe police department, for the commu-nity,” said Goyette.

Cruising Through Attleboro, MA in Restored Police Car for 100th Anniversary

The 1975 Dodge Coronet before being restored

The police cruiser will be used during parades andcelebrations in Attleboro

State Farm Insurance.“A vibrant, profitable auto colli-

sion repair industry is in the interestof State Farm,” said Luedke. “At thesame time, we are advocates on be-half of our customers for reasonablerepair costs. We believe repairer prof-itability and quality auto repairs thatare reasonably priced can both beachieved.

“Our customers choose wheretheir vehicles are going to be re-paired. We provide information aboutour Select Service program while atthe same time making it clear they canselect which shop will do the work,”he said.

Parker Auto Body was part ofState Farm’s Select Service DRP untilearlier this year. Since the businessowner left the program in April, he saidthey have steered a substantial amountof business away from him. “Just inshort pays alone I have over $150,000worth of claims they won’t pay,” hesaid. “Operations that we actually dothe vehicles to make the vehicles safethat they won’t pay us to do.

“These shops need to stand upfor what’s right and quit letting the in-surance industry run their business forthem,” said Parker. “They are just ter-rified that the insurance companiesare going to steer the work away.”

Parker acknowledges their con-cerns but said, “We’re just as busynow as we were because we’re edu-cating consumers.” He has found itbeneficial to explain to consumerswhat the insurance companies aredoing. “They need to take their busi-nesses back and they need to run theirown businesses.”

When Autobody News went topress this month, an additional 25states were in the process of filing law-suits to meet an Oct. 31 deadline be-fore returning to court in November.“What we want to achieve is numberone, that the safety and the quality ofrepairs for the American public is re-stored,” said Eaves. “The industry willnever be the same after this.”

When contacted by AutobodyNews, Allstate Insurance Companyand Progressive both said that due tocompany policy, they do not commenton pending litigation. Stay tuned toAutobody News for more develop-ments.


Congress Support


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Before John Klump started his colli-sion repair and restoration business inRoyse City, TX, he spent time on theweekends and evenings working oncars. One of his customers, GeorgeKaufman, always told him that hiswork was “radical.”

Thirteen years agoKlump opened a shop be-hind his home and named itRadical Restorations. Hesaid that having his shop lo-cated so close to his housewas becoming more than afull time job and four yearsago he move his business toFate, TX.

The technicians splittheir time between collisionrepair and restoration work.Klump said the two sides ofhis business complementeach other and often customers willcome in requesting one type of serv-ice and then learn that he offers more.Over the years he has found collisionrepair work brings in a steady streamof income and restoration is some-thing he has always enjoyed.

“It’s fun to take something beat upand turn it into something nice,” saidKlump. “I’m always up for a challenge.For me, there’s never a plan; it justcomes to me.”

One of his favorite restorationprojects was the “Batvan” he built forRick Crocker, the owner of a classiccar dealership in Mesquite, TX called

Rick’s Rodz. Crocker bought a van thathad been sitting in a field and filledwith chickens and brought it to Klumpto restore. The Batvan was designedby George Barris, who is known forhis famous creations including the1966 Batmobile, the Munster Koach

and KITT from Knightrider.It took Klump about three years to

finish the Batvan, which is all steel hand-built. Some of the highlights include afake missile that comes out of the roof, afake .50-caliber machine gun with elec-tric motors that rolls out of the driver’sside and a flame thrower that throws a10-to 15-foot flame out of the back of thevan. “Rick called me one day and askedif I was up for a challenge,” said Klump.“Before he could finish telling me aboutthe van, I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

When he was 13, Klump savedenough money to purchase his first car,a 1976 Montecarlo, and remembersspending time working on it in his par-ent’s driveway. Before Klump startedhis own business he used to work forRandy Burrows of Burrows AutoRestoration in Nevada, TX. Burrowsencouraged Klump to pursue auto bodywork and was a big influence in his lifeand his business.

Klump is passing on what heknows about cars to his two boys, 12-year-old John and nine-year old Jaxon,and they often help in the shop. Whenthe business relocated to Fate, Klumpleft a paint booth behind his house andhe and his boys often work there on

their own “toys.”Klump said he takes pride in his

jobs and doesn’t cut corners, oftendoing things the old-fashioned way,such as airbrushing by hand. Support-

ing local businesses is also importantto him so he purchases the Matrixpaint he uses in his shop at the nearbyT&T Color Supply.

Giving customers what they askfor is his first priority at Radical Restora-tions. “My business is taking care ofcustomers, having a good relationshipwith the customers and making themhappy,” he said. “That’s how I got busy.I’m here for them, not just the money.”

Texas Shop Takes Restorations to a “Radical” Level

It took John Klump at Radical Restorations about threeyears to restore the “Batvan” for Rick Crocker of Rick’sRodz

Search:Autobody Newson Facebook

Roush-Modified 2015 Ford Mustang To Be Revealed at SEMAThe Roush-tuned 2015 Ford Mus-tang, featuring body, interior, han-dling, and powertrain upgrades, willbe making its first appearance at the2014 SEMA show.

Roush 2015 Ford Mustangmodels feature a more prominentgrille and front fascia with splitterand grille, accompanied by new hoodvents and an available hood scoop,moving the fog lights to the center air

intake. The doors now feature side,and the rear sports a deck lip spoilerand a redesigned fascia. This latestversion features quad exhaust tipspeeking out of the new rear diffuser.

Aerodynamics will improve thenew body pieces. A set of upgraded

Brembo brakes peek out from behindthe new Roush 20-inch wheels withCooper RS3 tires. Two types of ad-justable coilover shocks are said tobe available, according to reports byJason Udy, motortrend.com.

Previous iterations of the RoushMustang came in Stage 1 (cosmetic)and Stage 2 (handling) kits for V-6 andGT models, and Stage 3 (performance)kits for the GT model only. With the

new 2015 Ford Mustang,Roush will offer RS forthe V-6 model, RS1 forthe Mustang EcoBoostmodel, RS2 for the GT,and an RS3 version thatadds a supercharger to theGT’s 5.0-liter V-8. Super-charged versions couldoffer more than one powerlevel with as much as 674hp possible, according toreports by Jason Udy,motortrend.com.

Roush is also ex-pected to offer many of the parts al acarte for owners who want to modifytheir vehicles after purchase. Moredetails will be revealed at the SEMAshow in November.

Roush-modified 2015 Ford Mustang. Photo Credit:www.horsepowerkings.com



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The repair of a 2013 Ford Explorer isat the center of a civil court case filedin Jefferson County District Court inTexas on August 15. Hays Countyresidents Micah and Ericka Harri-son are suing Allstate InsuranceCompany; Michael J. Roche, VP ofClaims for Allstate; Service King Col-lision Repair Center in Texas; and in-surance adjusters Brian Garret,Chris Thurston, Larry Walker andRalph Villapando.

The Harrisons purchased All-state auto insurance for their 2013Ford Explorer. When the car neededrepair on January 11, Allstate advisedthem to bring the vehicle to one oftheir preferred service providers,Service King Collision Repair Centerin San Marcos, TX.

The plaintiffs said that as an in-centive to use Allstate’s preferred serv-ice provider, Michael Roche, VP ofClaims for Allstate, wrote that “All-state guarantees that the workmanshipof covered repairs performed by (Ser-vice King) will meet auto repair in-dustry standards.”

The Harrisons said they were ini-tially told it would cost $10,000 andtake 21 days to repair their vehicle. On

February 14, a month after droppingit off, the car had not been repairedand the estimate increased to $18,000due to additional damage found.

In the meantime, the plaintiffslearned that the re-imbursement cov-erage for the rental car they had beenusing had run out. According to courtdocuments, “Service King only of-fered to cover one half of the addi-tional expense which was caused bytheir delay and negligence.”

After speaking with Allstate’s in-surance adjuster Ralph Villapando, theHarrisons were advised that “…All-state should have considered the vehi-cle a total loss had it been properlyestimated at the beginning of the claimsprocess.”

When the plaintiffs receivedtheir car on March 31, they said theyfound “…the preferred serviceprovider of Defendant Allstate hadnot properly repaired the vehicle.There were residual scratches, paintoverspray, improperly lined hinges,broken parts, paint runs, paint cracks,mismatched paint, damaged parts notreplaced and other issues.”

After talking to several otherAllstate insurance agents, the Har-risons said they were told they wouldhave to resolve the matter directly

with Service King.The Harrisons, represented by E.

Hart Green of Weller, Green, Toups& Terrell in Beaumont, TX, accusethe defendants of breach of contract,deceptive trade practices, bad faith,fraud, breach of warranty and negli-gent hiring.

Attorney John Causey repre-sents three of the defendants, AllstateInsurance, Chris Thurston and LarryWalker. In response to the charges,they deny the plaintiff’s petition.

When contacted by AutobodyNews, Allstate Insurance and ServiceKing both replied that due to com-pany policy they do not comment onpending litigation. Messages to E.Hart Green of Weller, Green, Toups &Terrell were not returned.

When Autobody News when toprint, a court date had not been set.Autobody News will continue to fol-low this story and keep readers posted.

Texas Civil Case Involves Allstate & Service King

data is that the company doesn’t justuse OEM build data but actuallymeasures vehicles off the tires and inclamps just as is done in shops. Thatensures the system offers more accu-rate, real-world measuring data, hesaid, because such a set-up takes intoaccount the slight sagging the frontand rear of a vehicle does when it isup in clamps.

Perry said another key messageto technicians in his training is thatmeasuring is almost always the solu-tion to challenging repairs.

“If you can’t figure out what theproblem is, take more measure-ments,” Perry suggests. “You’ll findit eventually. You’re just not measur-ing far enough. You’re not takingenough points to identify all the dam-age.”


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Senate Subcommittee Looks Into Effectiveness of theNational Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationThe U.S Senate Committee on Com-merce, Science and Transportation’sSubcommittee on Consumer Protec-tion, Product Safety and Insurancerecently held a hearing titled, “Over-sight of and Policy Considerationsfor the National Highway TrafficSafety Administration.”

The purpose of this hearing wasto evaluate the efficiency of the Na-tional Highway Traffic Safety Admin-istration’s (NHTSA) highway andvehicle safety programs. The hearingwas the latest in a series of congres-sional reviews that stemmed fromNHTSA’s handling of General Motor’signition switch failures.

Deputy Administrator DavidFriedman served as NHTSA’s wit-ness. Other witnesses includedJoseph Comé from the U.S. Depart-ment of Transportation, JacquelineS. Gillan of the Advocates for High-way and Auto Safety, Kendell Pooleof the Governors Highway Safety As-sociation, and Robert Strassburgerof the Alliance of Automobile Manu-facturers.

During the hearing, subcom-mittee members from both politi-cal parties had sharp criticism forNHTSA. Sen. Claire McCaskill

(D-Mo.), subcommittee chairman,said: “Nobody on this subcommit-tee believes that there aren’t peo-ple [at the agency] trying to do theright thing … but it’s hard to sithere and listen to you …You wantto obfuscate responsibility ratherthan take responsibility.”

The remarks echoed the tone ofthe House Committee on Energy andCommerce Committee’s report re-leased earlier that same day, detailingNHTSA’s perceived shortcomings inregard to the GM ignition switch re-call.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.),committee chairman, said: “It istragic that the evidence was staringNHTSA in the face and the agencydidn’t identify the warnings.NHTSA exists not just to processwhat the company finds, but to digdeeper. They failed. We’ll keeplooking for answers, and keep work-ing toward solutions – whether itmeans changing our laws or press-ing for change at the companies thatfollow them and the agencies thatenforce them – but we know for surethat NHTSA was part of the problemand is going to have to be part of thesolution.”


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The Women’s Industry Network(WIN) is kicking-off their 2015Membership Drive. WIN member-ship is annual and based on a calen-dar year. Their goal is to reach 400members by 2015.

WIN is focused on engagingwomen in the collision repair in-dustry through education, network-ing and sharing of resources. Thisyear’s drive will include severaloutreach opportunities. A member-ship drive drawing for new mem-bers, renewing members andreferrals, and an added grand prizeof one free 2015 WIN EducationConference Registration Fee will all

be part of the festivities.● NEW MEMBERS Drawing - forall new members who join beforeDecember 31st;● RENEWING MEMBERS Draw-ing - for all current & past memberswho renew before December 31st;● REFERRALS - for all new, cur-rent and past members who refer anew member who joins before De-cember 31st.All entries will be combined into asingle drawing for the grand prize,which does not include travel ex-penses. For more information, visit:http://thewomensindustrynetwork.ning.com/page/join-win-1.

WIN 2015 Membership DriveCaliber Collision teamed up withTravelers to help a U.S. Army vet-eran get back on the road by provid-ing him with a newly refurbishedvehicle in September as part of itsnationwide Recycled Rides pro-gram.

Conley joined the Army in1965 when he was 17 and served hissix-year enlistment as an intelligenceand security specialist. After leavingthe Army, he worked as a pilot forcorporations including General Mo-tors, federal contractors and stateand local police SWAT units. His re-sponsibilities ranged from flyingVIPs in jets to dealing with hostage

and crisis negotiation. About 10years ago, he began to suffer from aseries of medical conditions, includ-ing cancer and liver disease, whichtook a toll on him both physicallyand financially.

“We hope this Recycled Ridesgift will help Richard out of his‘catch-22’ situation in which he isunable to afford to purchase a car butwithout transportation, he is unableto find employment,” said RustyBarsanti, Caliber Collision’s VP ofOperations.

The company plans on giftingmore than 20 vehicles during 2014to military and first responders.

Car Donation Helps Army Veteran Get Back on the Road

