Autobody News February 2014 Southwestern Edition

An intermediate appeals court inLouisiana held that accrued and un-used paid days off constituted earnedwages for which compensation wasdue to a former employee upon sepa-ration under the Louisiana Wage Pay-ment Act (“LWPA”). In Davis, theplaintiff resigned from her employ-ment with the defendant and thenbrought suit demanding she be paidfor the balance of her accrued but un-used paid days off pursuant to thestate law, specifically the LWPA’s re-quirement of prompt payment ofearned wages upon an employee’s dis-charge or resignation. The statute pro-

vides that vacation pay becomes“earned wages” when an employee is“deemed eligible for and has accruedthe right to take vacation time withpay” and “has not taken or been com-pensated for the vacation time as ofthe date of the discharge or resigna-tion.”

The Company argued that pur-suant to its policy, paid days off didnot constitute “vacation pay” becausethe accumulated paid days off aregranted to employees, “in the natureof a mere gratuity”, and, thus, do notconstitute “vacation” for purposes of

Louisiana Court Holds that Paid Time Off Days areConsidered Wages Under State Law

See Paid Time Off in LA, 1

If you’ve been paying the least bit of attention to legal issues in thecollision repair industry over the past decade, you probably know ofErica Eversman, an OH-based attorney and consumer advocatewho specializes in understanding collision repairers’ issues andtheir impact on consumer safety. A noted authority and frequentspeaker on the topics of diminished value, DRP networks and theinfluence insurers attempt to exert over repairers, Eversman servesas a consultant to the industry, assisting repairers to analyze pro-posed regulations and laws affecting collision repair. In addition tocreating “AutoMuse”, an award-winning blog, she is chief counselfor Vehicle Information Services, Inc. and the founder of the Auto-motive Education and Policy Institute, a non-profit organizationgeared towards educating consumers. Though Eversman is obvi-ously busy playing so many roles, she took time from her hecticschedule to talk to Autobody News readers about some of the majorconcerns plaguing the collision repair industry today.

As a consumer advocate, Eversman stresses that consumereducation is vital; “first and foremost, consumers are the people incharge of their vehicles, but if they don’t have the proper informa-tion, they can’t stand up for themselves. They are the only oneswho can effect meaningful change because it is their vehicles andtheir contract with the insurance company.”

Furthermore, collision repairers must comply with consumerprotection laws, so they are the ones at risk of noncompliance wheninsurer interference promotes a situation where repairers are askedto do as the insurer requests, which is always focused on cost andsaving money rather than on providing a quality repair. The shopcan only do so much, and if the consumer doesn’t help, they are es-sentially saying that the repair is good enough, even if it’s not ac-tually safe.

continued on page 14INTERVIEW by Chasidy Rae Sisk

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

This January added another new me-teorological term to collective vocab-ulary even though the phenomenon itdescribes has been known since 1853.January 2014 started off with a frigidslow-moving cyclone known as apolar vortex that wrought havocthroughout the midwest and easternparts of the country with record-breaking low temperatures and icywinds.

Worse news perhaps is that thepolar vortex will get stronger andmove farther south later in January,causing cold to intensify in the Mid-

west and East and drought to build inCalifornia and the West. Impact fromthe another surge of very cold air mayinclude the already familiar risks frombelow-zero temperatures includinglife-threatening conditions and frost-

Shops Weather All Kinds of Winter WeatherDisruptions but More Polar Vortex Coming?

See More Polar Vortex?, Page 26

Projections for Late January

ERICAEVERSMAN

Industry Observations fromCollision Attorney

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A Frame Paint Booths . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Absolute Mitsubishi-Hyundai . . . . . 21Accudraft Paint Booths . . . . . . . . . . 30AutoMax Hyundai Del City . . . . . . . 32BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 31CCC Information Services . . . . . . . . 5Certified Automotive PartsAssociation (CAPA). . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chevyland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Classic BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Creative Metal Manufacturing. . . . . 20Dallas Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48David McDavid Auto Group . . . . . . 19Don Carlton Auto Group. . . . . . . . . 16Equalizer Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . . 8Finnegan Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . 2Ford Wholesale Parts DealersTX, OK, LA, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Fowler Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Freedom Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . 17Gillman Acura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 43Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25

Houston Auto Body Association. . . 36Huffines Chrysler-Jeep-DodgeLewisville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Huffines Hyundai Plano . . . . . . . . . 28Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 35I-CAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Kia Motors Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Martech Services Company . . . . . . 11Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 42Mike Calvert Toyota. . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers. 39MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 29North Freeway Hyundai . . . . . . . . . 38PreFab Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Ray Huffines Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . 6Reliable Chevrolet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Replica Plastics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Scoggin-Dickey Buick . . . . . . . . . . 27Shell Commercial Real Estate . . . . 11South Pointe Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge. 23Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 44Toyota of Fort Worth . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Toyota of Laredo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 41Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Volkswagen Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 45Young Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Inde

xofAdvertisers

ContentsREGIONAL

2 Louisiana Men Accused of Shooting

out Car Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Baton Rouge Tech is Safelite National

Champion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Caliber Opens New Greenfield Shop

in Frisco, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Fire Destroys Well Known Auto Glass Shop

in Tyler, TX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Huntsville, TX, Shop Says Business

is Picking Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Louisiana Court Holds that Paid Time Off

Days are Considered Wages Under

State Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Mike Wigginton Named New Regional

Manager at Hodges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

New CARSTAR Safety and Compliance

Vendor from TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Opelousas Dealership Gets $6M Trustmark

Renovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Rep Says Vehicles Shouldn’t Pay For TX

Windstorm Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Service King Acquires All Six Las-Vegas

Based Collision Authority Repair Centers . 7

Shops Weather All Kinds of Winter Weather

Disruptions but More Polar Vortex Coming?. 1

Texas Repairer Says He Wants His

Tax Refunded. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

COLUMNISTS

Attanasio - How to Improve Your Success

with Google in 2014. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Chess - Honda’s Repair Instructions Need

to Be Read and Followed . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Franklin - Re-Think Your Marketing For

The New Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Sisk - AASP-Massachusetts Prepares for

2014 with a Strategic Plan . . . . . . . . . . 22

Sisk - Montana Repairers Form a Small

Association with Big Goals. . . . . . . . . . . 8

Yoswick - Shops Can Put News and Trends

Related To Auto Insurers To Good Use . 38

NATIONAL

14 Fort Wayne, IN, Shops Opt Out of

State Farm’s Select Service Citing

PartsTrader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

14 States to Increase the Minimum Wage

in 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

A Former Select Service Shop Decides to

“Just Say No” to PartsTrader Mandate . 12

AAIA Releases 67 page 2013 Digital

Collision Repair Trends Report with

Analysis of Whole Industry . . . . . . . . . 42

Beware Hole-in-One Golf Insurance Scams . 44

CCC Acquires Auto Injury Solutions Inc.. . 45

Chrysler Files Suit Against LKQ on RAM

Design Patents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chrysler Seeks Registration of Diagnostic

Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

CIC in Brief, More Next Issue . . . . . . . . . . 31

CIC Roundtable Launches Consumer

Website for OEMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Daydreaming Tops List of Crash-Causing

Distractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Ford Approves Chief and Elektron Equipment

for 2015 F-150 Repairs . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Ford Rep Paul Massie on Repairing the

2015 F-150 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Ford’s 2015 F-150 Launch Focuses Repairer

Concern on Costs and Benefits . . . . . . 16

Ford’s Best Selling F-150 Gets Lighter

and Tougher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Hyundai, Kia Expect to Top 2013 Global

Vehicle Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Industry Observations from Collision

Attorney Erica Eversman . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

K&M Collision of NC Files Six Separate

Shortpay Lawsuits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

LKQ Responds to Chrysler Design

Patents Suit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Meet California’s NEW BAR Chief,

Patrick Dorais . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Mercedes-Benz Recalls Some 2013

Vehicles for OCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Mobileye Integrates with Accel Connected

Car Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

New F-150 Has Aluminum Pinchweld,

Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

New Nevada Driver Authorization Cards

Allow Legal Driving, Insurance Has

Been Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

NHTSA Moves Ahead on Backup Camera

Legislation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

North American Car & Truck Production

Hits 16.6M Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Not All Insurance Carriers Will Sell Policies

to Newly Carded Immigrant Drivers,

Citing History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

OSHA’s New Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Other Lightweights at the Detroit

Auto Show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

State Farm and I-CAR Partner on New

Welding Initiative, Easy Registration,

Reduced Prices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

State Farm to Exit Canadian Market,

Credit Union Buying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

State Farm to Raise Rates in Louisiana,

Up Avg of 3.4% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Study Estimates 9% of Cars will be

Self-Driving by 2035 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

WMABA Lobby Day is January 22 . . . . . . 30

www.autobodynews.com | FEBRUARY 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

LKQ Corporation confirmed that acomplaint has been filed against itby Chrysler Group LLC in the U.S.District Court in the Eastern Districtof Michigan. The lawsuit contendsthat certain aftermarket parts LKQsells infringe Chrysler design patentsrelating to the Dodge RAM pickuptruck. LKQ says it believes that thelawsuit is without merit and will de-fend it vigorously, “Moreover, theparts we sell that allegedly relate tothese design patents represent an im-material amount of our revenue.They represent less than one-tenth ofone percent (0.001) of our estimated2013 total revenue and less than one-half of one-tenth of one percent(0.0005) of our estimated total rev-enue for all the years since the firstpatent was granted (2009 through2013).”

LKQ says it has forged mutu-ally-beneficial business relationshipswith other auto manufacturers andcites its license arrangement withFord, in place since 2009.

The license arrangements allowthe company to sell aftermarket partscovered by certain patents in ex-change for a license fee.

LKQ Responds to ChryslerDesign Patents Suit

Chrysler has filed a patent infringe-ment action against LKQ and Key-stone Automotive, saying thecompanies are producing and/orselling parts that infringe on 10 of itspatented designs, specifically relatedto the Dodge RAM brand. Chryslernoted that LKQ's regulatory filingshave the company stating that one ofthe risks of manufacturing aftermar-ket parts is patent infringement. Thefiling, which was made with federalcourt in Detroit, MI, Jan. 17, hasChrysler looking for a ban on theparts that infringe on the patents anddamages “adequate to compensateChrysler for the infringement, in-cluding the infringers’ profits,Chrysler’s lost profits, and/or no lessthan a reasonable royalty... Damagesalone will not be a sufficient remedyunder the law, and Chrysler has beenand will continue to be irreparablyharmed by Defendants’ infringe-ment of the Ram Design Patents.Only a permanent injunction againstDefendants will be adequate.” Thesuit seeks attorneys fees, a jury trial,and an award tripling the damagesfound at trial.

LKQ has responded (next story.)

Chrysler Files Suit AgainstLKQ on RAM Design Patents


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Caliber Opens New Greenfield Shop in Frisco, TXCaliber Collision Centers continuesits rapid expansion with the an-nouncement today that it has openedits first “from-the-ground-up” green-field facility in Frisco, Texas in morethan 10 years.

“Today’s opening of our new26,000 square foot, state-of-the-artFrisco, Texas center increases ourtotal locations in the Texas market to58,” said Steve Grimshaw, CaliberCollision Centers’ Chief ExecutiveOfficer.

“This preeminent North Texasfacility will be the most advancedCaliber Collision center in our net-work with the latest innovations in-cluding side-load paint systemtechnology, new lobby layout and de-sign for a better customer experience,and a 2,000 square foot Enterprise

Rent-A-Car facility for one-stop dropand go convenience.”

Caliber Collision’s new Frisco,Texas location officially opened forbusiness at 6440 Preston Road,Frisco, Texas. The new CaliberFrisco center will consist of morethan 23,000 square feet of repairspace across 4.5 acres. The facilitywill have 21 service bays, four paintbooths and 158 parking spaces forCaliber’s customers and partners.

“Our new Frisco center bringsCaliber Collision’s total locations to159 as we continue to grow as thecollision repair provider of choice inevery community we serve,” addedMark Sanders, Caliber Collision Cen-ters’ President and Chief OperatingOfficer. “To celebrate this new flag-ship Caliber Collision center, we planon holding a Grand Opening event onThursday, February 13th with ribboncutting, facility tours, and great doorprizes for partners, agents, dealer-ships and dignitaries.”

Caliber Collision Centers is oneof the largest MSO collision repaircompanies in America with 159 I-CAR Gold Class Professional certifiedcollision repair centers in Arizona,California, Colorado, Nevada, Okla-homa, and Texas.

The new greenfield shop in Frisco, TX

Sterling Ford-Lincoln in Opelousas,LA, is inviting the public to attend agrand opening and ribbon-cuttingevent at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 13. The eventwill feature refreshments and prizes.Sterling Ford-Lincoln is located at5524 Interstate 49 North ServiceRoad, adjacent to the SterlingDodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram dealer-ship. Sterling’s Ford-Lincoln opera-tions were previously housed at theBordelon Motors location in down-town Opelousas. The car dealershipis said to be the first Ford-Lincolndealership in the state to feature thenew Trustmark brand imaging con-cept. A news release from the com-pany said the concept utilizes asubstantial amount of glass and en-ergy-efficient materials. “The designallows for an abundance of naturallight with an open-concept floorplan. In leveraging all of the programcomponents—from building materi-als, fixtures and furniture to lightingand accessory materials—the newdealership supports the overall Trust-mark design goals.” Dealership own-ers Art LeBlanc and Robert Cooksaid, “We appreciate our customersand are committed to providing thebest sales and service experience.”

Opelousas Dealership Gets$6M Trustmark Renovation

Steve Guinn, owner of all HodgesCollision Centers in Houston,Spring (2 locations), and Magnolia,TX, has announced that Mike Wig-ginton has joined the Hodges Colli-sion team as the Regional Manager.Overseeing all four Hodges Colli-sion locations, handling personneland on-site operations, Mike hasmore than 20 years of automotiveservice industry experience, includ-ing managing large collision facili-ties.

“Mike is a great choice to leadour Region and is well aware ofwhat it takes to be a good partner,”said Guinn. “He brings a wealth ofhands on industry experience andwe look forward to Mikes’ leader-ship ensuring Hodges is performingsuccessfully in all key areas. We arehappy to have him on our team.”

Mike resides in the Championsarea with his wife of 19 years and 3children. Mike is currently the Pres-ident of the Champions Park StarsSwim Team and enjoys time withhis family, traveling and working onall types of automobiles. Hodgesearned citywide recognition as theHouston Chronicle’s “UltimateBody Shop” for 2003-2004.

Mike Wigginton Named NewRegional Manager at Hodges

After starting October 2012, BearkatCollision has seen its business reallypicking up in the past year. Co-owner with Terry Turner, BobbyBeason said business was good inthe first three months of operationsince there were already customerswho knew the shop was coming andeven waited to have their carsworked on. The high-tech auto bodyshop specializes in collision repairand restoration, repairing and paint-ing cars, trucks, motorcycles, 18wheelers, travel trailers, RV’s, brushguards, even plastic or fiber glassparts like ground effects and spoil-ers. “Our main target customers needcollision repair, from minorscratches to perimeter repair,” Bea-son said. But after the initial rush,things slowed down a bit at BearkatCollision, located on Highway 75just two and a half miles past thePilot truck stop. Beason said that inthe last four months or so, due to on-line networking and word slowlytraveling in the community, BearkatCollision has become a lot busierand more consistent. Beason is a De-Bery, TX, native who moved toHuntsville after management posi-tions at multiple car dealerships.

Huntsville, TX, Shop SaysBusiness is Picking Up

A Corpus Christi-area state repre-sentative told a Beaumont, TX, au-dience that the state insurancedepartment wants to tax auto insur-ance policies of residents who livealong the state's 14 coastal countiesto raise more money to pay forwindstorm insurance. State Rep.Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, saidthe Texas Department of Insuranceintends to hold a public hearing onauto policy assessments in Marchand wants to raise awareness of itamong the 14 counties. "I will callfor Windstorm Unit in Action, forthe 14 counties to come together,"Hunter said in comments ahead ofthe meeting. Hunter serves on ajoint House-Senate select commit-tee with oversight of the TexasWindstorm Insurance Association,which acts as a kind of insurer oflast resort to provide insurance pro-tection in windstorms like Hurri-canes Ike and Rita. Most majorprivate insurers have abandonedwindstorm protection in their homepolicies since Rita struck in 2005.Hunter said he plans to file a coastalwindstorm funding bill in the Janu-ary 2015 session of the Legislatureand that the assessment is unfair.

Rep Says Vehicles Shouldn’tPay For TX Windstorm Tax


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State Farm Mutual Automobile In-surance, which covers about one inevery three cars in Louisiana, israising insurance rates for drivers,according to Associated Press re-ports.

The company announced thatthe increases will average 3.4 per-cent, starting Feb. 17. Going up willbe premiums for liability, collisionand comprehensive coverage.

State Farm spokesman GaryStephenson says the average in-crease per insurance policy will beabout $35 per year.

State Farm has a little more than1 million auto policyholders inLouisiana, making it the biggest car-rier in the state. Overall premiumchanges for individual motorists willvary depending on factors such as thecoverage they carry, the discounts forwhich they qualify, where they live,the kind of car insured, who drives itand how much it is driven.

“The primary [cost] driver isthe uptick in the severity of claims,”Stephenson said. “The value of thevehicles we are covering has in-creased, parts are costing a little bitmore, labor costs are trendingslightly upward.”

State Farm to Raise Rates inLouisiana, Up Avg of 3.4%

CARSTAR the U.S. largest MSO hasrecently contracted with AAM-Straining.com, a Texas based com-pany, to offer safety and environmentcompliance services for all their col-lision locations. AAMStraining.com,launched in May 2013, is a web-based management system designedfor MSOs. They have over 150 colli-sion facilities using aamstraining.com in nine states since theylaunched. Aamstraining.com pro-vides a overview of each MSO loca-tions’ compliance progress.Management can identy with a quickoverview in each shops’ their yearlycompliance efforts. Said Jon Curlee,CEO of AAMStraining.com. “Ourdifference is we provide the leastcost with the best technology alongwith the comprehensive program tokeep shops safe and compliant.”CARSTAR VP of Purchasing, ErnieLaky says “With rapidly changingrequirements, CARSTAR facilitiesneed a comprehensive OSHA andEPA compliance program to providea safe work environment for theiremployees.” CARSTAR endorsesAAMStraining.com comprehensive,yet user friendly, safety complianceprogram to its shops.”

New CARSTAR Safety andCompliance Vendor from TX Tyler fire crews fought a major fire

that eventually destroyed MooseAuto Glass in the 4200 block ofTimms Street in Tyler on the eveningof Jan. 6.

The first call came in at 7:11p.m., and eventually five enginesand two ladder companies, alongwith a district chief and an investi-gator, responded to the scene. In-vestigators say the fire started in themiddle of the building, but thecause is still undetermined. Author-ities say that one of the primaryconcerns in fighting the fire was thepropane tank and seven vehiclesthat were inside the business whenthe fire started. Part of the structure

collapsed during the fire, slowingfire crews’ ability to quickly fightthe fire. The garage is a total loss.The office also suffered moderatedamage.

“Moose Auto Glasshas been around for along time,” said WesDobbs, a member of theMoose family. “It hasgrown tremendously andit’s just gonna be a bigloss for the family. Butthank God nobody washurt.” Family memberssay they plan to rebuild.According to the com-pany website, Moose hasbeen in business in Tylersince 1954, originally on

West Erwin Street.

Fire Destroys Well Known Auto Glass Shop in Tyler, TX

Photo credit: KLTV in Tyler

Moose Auto Glass after fire


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The two men arrested on multiplecounts of criminal damage have beenre-booked on additional counts inconnection with vandalism done tomore than 100 cars on Christmas Eve.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff'sOffice said Christopher Flanagan,19, and Dacotah Hamilton, 20, bothof Marrero, were re-booked on anadditional 82 counts of criminaldamage. They now face a total of124 counts. Deputies said morecharges are expected.

They were first arrested Christ-mas day on 42 counts of criminaldamage. According to detectives,both men admitted to shooting outcar windows with a BB gun on Dec.11, 18 and 24. Investigators said 166vehicles were damaged.

Officials said the two men facefelony and misdemeanor chargesbased on the monetary value of eachincident. Their bond is set at $227,000.

The investigation is ongoing.

2 Louisiana Men Accused ofShooting out Car Windows

Texas passed House Bill 500,amending the tax code definition of“retail trade,” which reclassified in-dependent body shops as eligible fora reduction to 0.5 percent tax, thesame that dealership body shopswere paying under the “retail” clas-sification. But Robert Jordan ofProtech Collision Repair Center inWebster, TX, says he and other re-pairers should have the .05 extrathey have been paying refundedback to them. The Texas Comptrol-ler apparently disagrees: “H.B. 500did not make the amendment to thetax code retroactive, therefore pay-ment adjustments would not bemade for past reports,” said R.J. De-Silva, spokesperson, Texas Comp-troller.

Jordan estimates his additionaltax paid to be $84,000. “I’m not ask-ing for anything that’s not fair andnot reasonable,” Jordan told a mediasource. “I want my .05 back. Anyfool who is not asking for it shouldbe. This is a serious hosing andneeds to be addressed.” Jordan sayshe’s going to refile his tax formsshowing the correct amount hewould have paid had he been adealer shop.

Texas Repairer Says HeWants His Tax Refunded

Service King Acquires All Six Las-VegasBased Collision Authority Repair CentersService King Collision Repair Cen-ters announced Jan. 15 that it has ac-quired Las Vegas-based CollisionAuthority.

Service King, with more than110 locations in Texas, Tennessee,Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, Okla-homa, and now Nevada, acquiredCollision Authority’s 6 collision re-pair centers in the Las Vegas-Hender-son area.

Said Chris Anderson, MarketVice President for Service King,“Collision Authority is the premierprovider of high quality repairs andexceptional customer service in thesouthern Nevada market. Starting in1991, Michael Spears, Vicki Des-saints, and Bill Falls built a locallyowned company with high integrityand values. We look forward to ex-panding their successful culture andoperations.”

With this acquisition, ServiceKing will now operate 18 repairshops in the western United States.Collision Authority’s state-of-the-artrepair facilities cover 210,000 squarefeet and are capable of serving morethan 1,500 cars per month.

Collision Authority’s partners,Michael Spears and Vicki Dessaints,

and 130 team members will be join-ing more than 2,300 Service Kingteammates across the country. Spearshas over 22 years of industry experi-ence, helping grow Collision Author-ity to become the largest and mostsuccessful chain of auto body shopsin Nevada.

“We never intended to sell, butafter spending considerable time withService King, we knew that ServiceKing would be a great fit,” saidSpears. “Service King shares the samecommitment to high quality customerservice and teammate values thatmade our stores number one in LasVegas. This is an excellent opportu-nity for myself, Vicki and the entireCollision Authority team to join thepremier and growing Service Kingbrand.”

“With our current presence inArizona, we are excited about the op-portunity to expand into Nevada andbe able to serve our customers andthe insurance community in theWestern United States,” said ChrisAbraham, Chief Executive Officer ofService King. “We welcome the Col-lision Authority team and are thrilledthat they will be joining the growingService King family.”

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In the early 1980s, a group of collisionrepairers in Montana realized “wefight battles on a daily basis in this in-dustry, and it’s better to do battle as agroup than on our own,” as describedby repairer Bruce Halcro. Theyformed the Montana Collision RepairSpecialists (MCRS) and their currentpresident, Bruce Halcro, describes itas “an awfully active association. Weare very involved in training, and wealso have a strong legislative agenda.”

Representing members from allover the big sky state, MCRS’s mis-sion is “to provide management andtechnical training to enhance the pro-fessional ability of each individualand improve the quality of the colli-sion repair industry in the State ofMontana.”

Halcro expands on this goal,adding the desire to continue to be avoice not only for collision repair fa-cilities in MT but also on a nationallevel, noting “trends in our industrytend to start elsewhere and migrate tomore rural areas like MT, so we liketo stay abreast of these trends to en-sure that our members are aware ofany changes in the industry.”

MCRS strives to be a useful re-source to help all collision repair fa-cilities, whether they are smallindependent shops, larger multi-shopoperators or dealerships. Their mis-sion is to enhance the collision repairindustry in their state and to create asafer, more well-trained industry over-all. Halcro believes that training andlegislation are the two key compo-nents in achieving this initiative.

As part of their efforts, MCRSbecame an affiliate of the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS)about ten years ago because they feltthey needed more of a national pres-ence. Halcro “can’t say enoughabout what SCRS has done for ourassociation and for the industry na-tionally.”

Halcro stresses the importance oflegislative involvement when it comesto reaching MCRS’s goals. In MT,legislators only meet every other year,and since 2014 is not one of theseyears, MCRS is currently focused onplanning and determining which is-sues need to be addressed most. As

such, Halcro is “keeping a close eyeon the parts issue nationally, includingthe different forms of action beingtaken in various states.”

The parts issue is one of thebiggest dilemmas currently facing thecollision repair industry, Halcro be-lieves. “In my shop, parts are always achallenge since we’re located in arural area, but shops have workedthrough this problem for years. Partsprocurement systems cause delays inobtaining parts because they aresourcing them from all over the coun-try, but the insurers still hold us to thesame cycle time standards as urbanareas where parts are much more eas-ily accessible.”

Another problem is that many af-termarket parts ordered are unusableupon receipt, leaving shops to beginthe process all over again. As a result,Halcro believes that there is a need fortighter regulations on parts quality.“Parts procurement systems are beingmandated without any accountabilityas to whether these programs are inthe best interest of the shops. I don’tsee any benefits. Their claim was thatit would improve efficiency, but thisis not true according to feedback fromshops on the program. I see it as beinga trainwreck when it’s rolled out inMT.”

Still, Halcro sees no reason tofocus on one company; he thinks thatState Farm and PartsTrader are takinga big hit on this issue somewhat un-fairly since other insurers are alsostarting to mandate the use of partsprocurement systems, but, accordingto Halcro, “Mandated use doesn’twork. It’s not beneficial, and the deci-sion should be more collaborative.The insurers claim that collision repairshops are their partners, so theyshould spend time with their partnersto determine what’s best for the in-dustry as a whole.”

MCRS’s legislative involvementis important for the association’smembers because it is related to en-suring that consumers’ vehicles are re-paired safely. When shops are forcedto take shortcuts because of insurermandates, the consumers are not get-ting what they paid for, plus it can re-sult in unsafe repairs.

Additionally, when insurancecompanies refuse to pay for certain re-pairs, collision repair facilities are leftwith the choice of absorbing the costor passing it along to their customers.These shortpay situations are unfair tothe consumers, and the shops’ best re-course is through legislative activity.In fact, MT has an unique law, passedseveral sessions ago, that prohibits in-surers from dismissing proceduresthat both they and the collision repairfacility agreed upon. Halcro believesthe law has been hugely successful asit has alleviated many of the shortpaysthat were coming through before itwas passed.

Of course, there are always chal-lenges associated with pursuing leg-islative changes. MCRS is a relativelysmall association, and though theyemploy a lobbyist, they still have tobattle the insurers’ lobbyists, plus theyhave to get legislators to understandthat the issues doesn’t just concern the

insurance and collision repair indus-tries; it is a matter of consumers’safety. Halcro states, “our associationis professional and well-respected atthe Capitol, but there are always chal-lenges. We aren’t there to play poli-tics —we have real concerns that needto be addressed. Sometimes, our ini-tiatives fail. It’s not always pleasant,but it’s important for MCRS’s mem-bers and their customers.”

Halcro also weighed in on someother legislative issues on a nationalscale. Regarding the Right to Repair,he believes “the proper informationshould be available to shops repairingvehicles so that they can properly andsafely repair the vehicles going backon the road.”

The PARTS Act is another causefor attention. Halcro’s opinion is that“manufacturers spend millions ofdollars to pass safety tests with theproper parts and materials designedfor specific vehicles. Aftermarket


Montana Repairers Form a Small Association with Big Goals

with Chasidy Rae SiskWestern Associations

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


Baton Rouge Tech is Safelite National ChampionSafelite AutoGlass®, the country’slargest vehicle glass repair and re-placement company, has crownedCasey Rose from Baton Rouge, LA,as the national champion of its 2014technician competition. The bi-an-nual event—Safelite’s Best of Bel-ron® —brings together the company’stop 12 technicians to compete for thetitle, a cash prize of $10,000 and torepresent Safelite AutoGlass in theinternational Best of Belron® Com-petition, a tournament hosted bySafelite’s parent company, which in-cludes champions from each of its 35countries.

Belron® is the world’s largest ve-hicle glass repair and replacementcompany, with 25,000 employees op-erating in over 30 countries.

The event took place on January10-11, 2014, in Columbus, Ohio, wel-coming guests from all over the coun-try. The competition, which includeswindshield replacement, windshieldrepair, back glass replacement and sideglass replacement, is based on skill,quality and customer service. The 12competitors were identified in a seriesof market and regional competitions.

Representing Safelite’s Mid-South region, Casey Rose has beenwith the company for five years. The

father of two met his wife at Safelite,who is a customer advocate supervi-sor Jill Mace. He will travel to Rome,Italy in May to compete for the inter-national title.

To prepare for the competition,Rose worked closely with his techni-cian manager Tony Darbonne. “Icouldn’t have done it without Tony.Together, we studied the notes thatour technician director provided andI made sure to take time with my cus-tomers,” Rose said. “I just felt goodwhen I stepped away from my vehi-cle after the competition, knowing Icommunicated well with my cus-tomers making sure they understoodwhat was going on. While I am ex-cited to win, each one of the 12 guysare winners.”

Casey Rose (center) accepting his award

parts that mimic these OEm partsaren’t always properly tested, andthis can alter the safety ratings on thevehicle, a key deciding factor formany people when they purchase anew car. We also have a high returnrate on aftermarket parts, and I justdon’t believe they’re always de-signed the same as OEM parts. Theyaren’t all bad, and there is definitelya place for aftermarket parts, but Idon’t believe they belong on a two-year-old car.”

Training is also a key initiativefor MCRS, and a national trainer isscheduled to attend their next meet-ing at the end of March. The associa-tion’s Board of Directors will also bemeeting in February for a planningsession to establish their 2014 agendaand to discuss a potential legislativeagenda for the next session. In themeantime, MCRS strives to maintainan updated website to ensure theirmembers are informed of nationaltrends and issues in the industry. Cur-rently, there are around 100 membersin the association with about 75-80%being repairers and vendors makingup the remainder.

Like most associations, mem-bership and ongoing participation is

always a challenge for MCRS, espe-cially as it pertains to smaller shopswhose owners write estimates and re-pair vehicles, making it difficult forthem to leave their business. Still,Halcro has found that once theycome to a meeting, most of these re-pairers become regular attendees.“This is a tough industry and surviv-ing every day is a challenge, but it’seasier when we face the challengestogether as a group.”

Montana Collision Repair Specialists(MCRS)P.O. Box 1168Sidney, MT 59270www.mtcollisionrepair.com

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the law. The Company argued that thelanguage of its paid days off policyexpressly provided that such time wasa “mere gratuity.” The Louisiana FirstCircuit Court of Appeals disagreed,holding that the “accrual” of the rightto be compensated while not at work,no matter how the employer labels it,is the triggering event that renders thelaw applicable. Furthermore, Com-pany policy stated that employeeswere “entitled” to paid days off,which “accrue” at a specified rate. Thus, the Company policy did not ex-pressly state that paid days off are agift, a donation, or otherwise un-earned. “[I]n the absence of a clear,written policy establishing that vaca-tion time granted by an employer isnothing more than a mere gratuity andnot to be considered an amount due ora wage,” wrote the court, “accrued butunused vacation time is a vested rightfor which an employee must be com-pensated or paid upon discharge orresignation.”

“In light of the specific guidancethe Davis decision contains regarding

the implications of the vacation and/orpaid time off policy language for em-ployee rights under the Wage PaymentAct, Louisiana employers should con-sider review and perhaps revising theirpaid time off policies accordingly,”observed New Orleans based JacksonLewis Shareholder, René E. Thorne.“The intent that such time be a ‘meregratuity’ must be emphatically clearwithout any express or implied lan-guage that the gratuity is in any wayearned or accrued.”

Whether termed vacation, sick,holiday or other form of “paid timeoff” (often shorthanded as “PTO”), allemployers should analyze their PTOpolicies under state law to prevent un-intended consequences thereof. Fur-ther, employer may wish to consideraggressive strategies to avoid payoutobligations.

The case is Davis v. St. Fran-cisville Country Manor, L.L.C., 2013La. App. LEXIS 2241, 1-2 (La.App. 1Cir. Nov. 1, 2013).

This article is provided for newsvalue only and should not be con-strued as legal advice. Employersshould contact a qualified labor at-torney before acting on this informa-tion.


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Paid Time Off in LAState Farm Insurance is getting out ofCanada. The Bloomington-based in-surance giant is selling its Canadianunit to Desjardins Group, Canada’slargest credit union. State Farm, Des-jardins and its French partner CreditMutuel, will invest $1.5 billion in thecombined business. State Farm isnow the fourth largest auto insurer inCanada, though it’s business islargely concentrated in threeprovinces. The new business to berun by Desjardins under the StateFarm brand for some years would be-come the second largest Canadianproperty and casualty insurer with alarger geographical reach. The dealis expected to close in January of2015. At that point, State Farm’s1,700 Canadian workers and 500Agents would work for Desjardins.State Farm Chairman Ed Rust saysthe agreement allows future cooper-ative ventures in Canada. Rust toldCanadian workers in a letter that theregulatory and political response tothe great recession and the com-pany’s US-centric approach limitsState Farm’s ability to respond andadapt to changing Canadian markets.Rust calls the decision to sell “diffi-cult” but good for the new operation.

State Farm to Exit CanadianMarket, Credit Union Buying

After several delays, the Obama ad-ministration is reviewing a revisedrule that could push automakers toinstall backup cameras in more oftheir cars and trucks. The reworkedregulation, submitted to the WhiteHouse on Dec. 25, would set newrear visibility standards for light ve-hicles sold in the United States, ac-cording to a White House databasethat tracks the rulemaking process.

The standards are aimed atkeeping children from being runover and killed by vehicles movingin reverse. Automakers might de-cide to install backup cameras in allof their models. The standards mayalso allow automakers to comply bymaking less costly changes, for ex-ample, by redesigning a car’s mir-rors to reduce the odds that a childbehind the rear bumper will go un-detected.

The administration intends torelease the final rule by January2015. But that’s not soon enough tosatisfy auto safety advocates. Con-sumers Union filed a lawsuit in Sep-tember with the goal of compellingthe Obama administration to makethem a standard feature across theU.S. fleet.

NHTSA Moves Ahead onBackup Camera Legislation

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

As State Farm rolls out PartsTrader invarious metropolitan areas across thecountry, a growing number of shopsappear to be withdrawing from theirSelect Service DRP. Recently, shopsin several states have withdrawn fromthe program, and this trend is nowspreading to NY where Angelo andGus Palakis, owners of Dale-WayAuto Body Center in the Bronx, re-fused to sign up for PartsTrader andwere subsequently removed fromState Farm’s Select Service Program.

In January 2014, Angelo postedon LinkedIn: “State Farm is in theprocess of rolling out PartsTrader inNY. We declined to sign on so we wereimmediately removed from the servicefirst program. Hopefully, most shopsin NY will do the same!” Palakis gra-ciously agreed to discuss his reasonsfor refusing to use PartsTrader.

Angelo was “very upset about theimplementation of PartsTrader be-cause it’s extortion! By State Farmmaking the use of PartsTrader manda-tory, it’s dictating to body shops whereto buy parts from, with potential sav-ings for State Farm at the body shops’expense. You are not given a choice;if you do not use PartsTrader, they re-move you from their Select ServiceRepair Program and start steeringyour customers to other body shops.”

Using PartsTrader would also cre-ate more administrative work for theshops, Palakis believes. In turn, thiswill increase the shops’ cycle times aswell as rental costs for the consumer.Because PartsTrader requires purchas-ing parts from the vendor that bids thelowest price, a ten-part order could po-tentially be shipped from multiple ven-dors. Palakis recently read an articleabout a shop owner using PartsTraderwhose number of vendors grew from30 to 300, most of which were locatedoutside his market area.

“To manage parts from so manydifferent vendors would be very time-

consuming (receiving them, checkingthem, and distributing them),” Palakisexplains. “To return a wrong or dam-aged part would also be very time-con-suming since you have to find wherethe part came from and what proce-dure that vendor wants you to follow.”

Currently, Dale Way has accountswith most of their vendors, grantingthem 30 days to pay their bills, butusing PartsTrader would necessitatepaying for their parts upfront, thoughState Farm won’t pay the shop untilthe repair is finished and the vehicleis delivered to the customer. Accord-

ing to Palakis, “this is a lot oftime that we wouldn’t becompensated for. At thesame time, our parts profitmargins will shrink. For ex-ample, since you’re not pur-chasing your GM parts fromone vendor, you would notbe getting the same discountor service. Our ability to ne-gotiate a better parts dis-

count, as an independent business,would be taken away, leaving us at themercy of the vendors on PartsTrader.

Since opening Dale-Way AutoBody Center in 1981, the Palakisbrothers have developed close rela-tionships with their vendors. “Notonly when it comes to parts; some-times, we may need information orhelp with a vehicle, and they are al-ways there for us. By using Part-sTrader, these relationships would bedestroyed,” Palakis says.

“State Farm asked us to sign onwith PartsTrader and provide themwith a list of our vendors so they canapproach them and basically intimidatethem to sign on and pay a monthly feeor lose our shop’s parts business –those are mafia-like tactics! There is nobenefit to the repairer or the customer.”

Serving the customer’s best inter-est is a high priority for Palakis, but hedoes not feel that State Farm’s actionsregarding PartsTrader align with thisgoal. “We have a responsibility to ourcustomers who entrust their vehicle re-pairs to us, the auto body repair pro-fessionals. They trust us to repair theirvehicles using the best procedures,parts and materials available, but usingPartsTrader would mean I’m puttingthe insurance company’s interest be-fore the customers who authorized usto repair their vehicle in the first place.In the end, the repairer and the con-sumer would lose, while the insurer

and PartsTrader would profit.”In business for over 30 years,

Dale-Way Auto Body Center repairsaround 80 to 100 vehicles monthly.Currently, they participatein DRPS for three smallerinsurance carriers that are“somewhat fair and do nottry to micromanage us,”Palakis shares. In the 1990s,they enrolled in severalDRPs for major insurers,such as Allstate, Geico andState Farm, among others.

Palakis explains that the reasonfor joining these DRPs was becausethey felt that Dale-Way “could serveour own customer better by writingour own estimate, thus eliminating theneed for most supplements and nothaving to wait for adjusters who weremostly incompetent. We also thoughtthese programs could better our in-dustry because they required shops tobe licensed, equipped and trained,thus perhaps leading to higher andfairer labor rates. Obviously, we werewrong.”

Dale-Way began withdrawingfrom these programs as long as a

decade ago when “they tried to micro-manage us and dictate how repairsshould be done,” Palakis recalls. Evenif State Farm was willing to terminate

the mandated use of PartsTrader,Palakis would not rejoin their DRP;“the way that they are strong-armingour industry, I don’t think I wouldtrust State Farm enough to participatein their Select Service Repair Programagain.”

Palakis feels that what State Farmis doing, in terms of their interferencein the repair process, is illegal; hehopes that the lawsuits against StateFarm and PartsTrader are successfulin MS and FL and that more states fol-low suit in resisting this tortuous in-terference via legal channels.

He also believes that “this is just


A New York Select Service Shop Decides to “Just Say No” to PartsTrader

See Just Say No, Page 15

According to Eversman, con-sumers possess the power in relationto shops and insurers, so they must de-mand what they are entitled to or theinsurance companies will steer themto low-cost shops that may not be per-forming quality repairs. These con-cerns should be highlighted because“if consumers had any idea thatthey’re driving potentially dangerousvehicles due to insurer interference,they would be appalled, but they haveno clue what’s going on.”

Actually, insurers have no role inthe repair process whatsoever; theyare only supposed to sign the checkpaying for the repairs, but they’ve be-come involved because the closertheir involvement, the more controlthey can exert, allowing them to avoiddispersing full payment on repairs.Rather than arguing labor rates andshortchanging repairers, Eversman be-lieves insurers should “take a stepback, consider what they are askingshops to do, and reevaluate whethertheir requests are fair.”

When insurers refuse to compen-

sate for the full repair cost, shops areforced to pursue shortpay cases, butEversman admits, “litigation is notpleasant. You may get what you’re enti-tled to at the end of the day, but you haveto trudge through mud to get there.”

Recently, there has been a signifi-cant rise in the number of shortpaylawsuits being pursued in the courts,but this is not a novel or recent experi-ence. Eversman believes that “collisionrepairers have had enough interference

in their businesses from a third partyentity who doesn’t perform repairs oraccept liability. They are tired of beingshortchanged on payments, so they areturning to the courts for attention, butno one is excited to go to court.”

There are benefits to this recentinflux, though. Not only do these law-suits send a message to the insuranceindustry, they also serve to createawareness of these issues amongst re-pairers, attorneys and consumers na-tionwide, raising public scrutiny andhelping to alter insurers’ behavior. Ad-ditionally, it “sheds light on how much

you can trust insurance company adsthat promise to take care of you butdon’t explain how they intend to doso,” Eversman explains.

Eversman hopes these shortpaycases will cause insurance companiesto reevaluate their attitudes. Thoughcollision repairers can’t control in-surer’s behavior, this type of litigationprovides them with an opportunity tobe fairly compensated for their workwhich, in turn, allows them to acquire

the training necessary to branch out toother vehicles.

Still, this concern is detrimental toconsumers, and it should be resolvedby the Departments of Insurance whoinsist this only involves collision repairshops and insurance companies due totheir failure to understand that most ofthese shops that are being short-changed are non-DRP facilities thathave no contracts with or obligationsto the insurance companies. Eversmanis “appalled it has come to this becausethe Departments of Insurance are notdoing their job which is to protect the

consumers since insurance companiesare not properly and fairly payingthese claims.”

Another example of insurer inter-ference in the collision repair industryis seen in State Farm’s mandate forshops on their Select program to usePartsTrader. Eversman insists, “any-thing which is imposed on collision re-pairers from an outside entity isinherently a bad thing. There are otherparts procurement systems that shopsuse, but it is their decision. I find themandate to use PartsTrader troubling,and I’m also troubled by the applicationas recent disclosures have indicated es-timates coming back with alterations tolabor rates which have nothing to dowith parts! This is not what PartsTraderwas intended to do, as represented byState Farm and PartsTrader.”

The state of OH specifically hasa state statute prohibiting repairersfrom installing salvage parts on a ve-hicle unless those parts were removedby an Ohio licensed salvage dealer.Eversman fears that the mandate re-quiring the use of parts procurementsystems, especially PartsTrader, willlead repairers to violate these types ofstatues, creating a dangerous situationwhich could potentially lead to con-


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“There is a confluence of things impacting repairersthat they don’t have much control over.”

the beginning – once State Farm andPartsTrader implement this programacross the country and State Farm hasall its Select Service shops using it,after a period of time, State Farm willutilize PartsTrader to squeeze a big-ger percentage of the parts profitsaway from body shops, maybe evenjust send the parts to the shops andpay them a handling fee.”

What would be Palakis’s adviceto shop owners who are still decidingwhether to sign up for PartTrader?“Just say ‘no’,” he suggests. “If mostshops say ‘no’, State Farm will getthe message and stop the mandateduse of PartsTrader. If this industrykeeps allowing insurers to dictate ourpractices and interfere in our busi-nesses, it will reduce your parts prof-its, and you will have less control ofyour own business.”

Dale-Way Auto Body Center3039 Tibbett Ave.Bronx, NY 10463718-601-8100www.Dale-Way.com

sumer protection-related lawsuits.Eversman feels that these issues

could be rectified easily; “State Farmshould withdraw their mandate re-quiring the use of PartsTrader. Then,PartsTrader would be like other partsprocurement systems, and it wouldhave to compete on its own merits, al-lowing repairers to have more powerin choosing parts, ensuring those partscome from a legitimate source, andadhering to the law.”

Eversman sees the PARTS Act as“an absolute example of the extremesto which any industry will go to getwhat it wants without considerationfor other industries. The patent lawsfocus on rewarding companies thatspend money and produce or designsomething unique, protecting them fora designated period of time. After-market parts manufacturers and insur-ers are trying to obtain an exemptionfor imitation crash parts from the ap-plication of the patent laws, but ifCongress really wants to do some-thing good for the consumers, they

should focus on evaluating patents onmedication; that would be far morebeneficial than exempting imitationparts!”

An interesting side of this pro-posed legislation is the fact that, fordecades, the insurance and aftermar-ket parts industries have claimed thatthe imitation parts are “purely cos-metic” and have nothing to do withhow the vehicle performs in a colli-sion; however, because the parts auto

makers seek to protect are cos-metic—the standard for design patenteligibility—imitation crash parts man-ufacturers are now arguing that theirparts do have a meaningful functionin the car’s performance.

Eversman says “this is a terribleidea! We have patent laws for a rea-son, and since imitation parts manu-facturers haven’t demonstrated asignificant need to change this, wemay as well do away with patents [ifthe PARTS Act is passed] since it un-dermines the entire patent system.”

Though Eversman admits that

she has not been very involved withand is not particularly informed on theRight to Repair, she wants collisionrepairers to be able to make a livingdoing what they’re good at. On theflip side, she has significant concernswith the increasing technology andsophistication of vehicles, as well asthe use of alternate metals and com-posite parts, and she believes the in-dustry is rapidly approaching a pointwhere not everyone has the necessaryskills and equipment to safely repairall vehicles.

Because Eversman also wantsconsumers’ vehicles to be repairedsafely, she can see the value of re-stricting this information to those whohave received the proper training, yetsince she also sees value in permittingany repairer access to this informationin order to repair all vehicles, heropinion is split between these twoconflicting interests.

Additionally, there are manyother challenges facing the collisionrepair industry. For starters, the in-dustry is in a continuous state of flux,partially because of the changing na-ture of the vehicles themselves andalso due to the significant presence of


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Continued from Page 12

Just Say No

“Anything that is imposed on collision repairersfrom an outside entity is inherently a bad thing.”

See Erica Eversman, Page 39

Ford has spend 5 years developing its2015 F-150, the first full size pickupwith a 95% aluminum body, and it hasinvested heavily in a market segmentit already dominates. Ford startedwork in 2009 on the truck programthat yielded the F-150, according toCOO Mark Fields in assessing itsability to service, manufacture andpurchase material before deciding onan aluminum body.

What are the costs of this radicalreengineering to consumers? Ford hasimplied the sticker price will be“roughly the same as the current F-150, from $24,500 to $55,000.”

Maybe. But what is indisputableis aluminum’s inherently higher price.Aluminum sheet currently costs $2.20per pound vs. steel at 75 cents perpound. Analysts say you can roughlycalculate the price premium of thenew F-150 by figuring $2 extra perpound saved (700 lbs.)

If those estimates are correct, thenew F-150 should cost about $1,400more than its predecessor. Ford alsocharges an extra $2,095 for adding theEcoBoost engine option on the currentF-150.

Repairers though have differentconcerns: the impact of probablehigher insurance rates; the complexityof aluminum repair; and the potentialimpact on the iconic brand they’reused to working on.

Writes Craig Trudell in Automo-tive News, “Less than 10 percent of the

more than 30,000independent repairshops in the UnitedStates are certifiedand meet trainingand equipment re-quirements to workwith most alu-minum auto bodyparts, according to

an estimate by Darrell Amberson,ASA chairman. While some dealershipsdo in-house body work, independentbusinesses handle the vast majority ofcollision repair in the United States, hesaid.

“Ford is betting buyers will ac-cept what it estimates will be a 10 per-cent jump in costs to insure the pickupin return for improved fuel economy,towing and payload. Ford must alsoget the aftermarket industry up tospeed as it debuts the highest-profilevehicle ever to swap steel for alu-minum.”

“You don’t get any more main-stream than the F-150,” Amberson,who is also vice president of opera-tions for LaMettry’s Collision Inc. inMinneapolis.

Insurers see the material as moreof a liability and Ford expects rates onthe new F-150 to be about 10 percenthigher than its predecessor. Ford has

said it isn’t worried about this becausethe current F-150 is now about 10 per-cent cheaper to insure than competingtrucks, said Doug Scott, Ford’s truckmarketing manager.

But repair shops need separatehand tools for aluminum and steel suchas wire brushes, grinders and sanders,because corrosion can happen whendissimilar metals come in contact withone another. The repair industry alsohas less experience with differences inhow aluminum springs back from im-pacts compared with steel.

“Aluminum has a very poormemory and it resists straighteningattempts,” noted Jeff Poole, a coor-dinator for I-CAR. “Experience re-ally pays dividends here, and this iswhere we’ve got a learning curveahead of us.”

Ford’s internal data show that 90percent of customers live within twohours of a capable repair facility fortoday’s F-150, and 80 percent are within30 minutes, Ford’s Scott said. Buyers ofthe aluminum-bodied F-150 will havethe same access by the time it arrives indealerships late this year, he said.

“We’ve just been waiting for thereveal to unveil a certification processfor dealer-owned body shops and theindependent channel,” Scott said.

Once the decision was made togo with the material, Ford was able toselect a military grade high-strengthalloy, thicker than what’s used in thecurrent truck, because aluminum isabout one-third the density of steel,Fields told reporters.

“The new F series is going to bemore dent- and ding-resistant,” hesaid. “Our engineers have great tests

where they’re dropping bowling balls.We’ve actually been testing this with anumber of our customers, in the con-struction industry, the mining indus-try, to help us.”

Residual values for the new F-150, which measure how well thetruck retains its worth after years ofownership, could decline because ofhigher insurance costs.

“The automakers can force theircertified body shops to be able towork with aluminum, but that stillcould narrow down the choice and thescope of shops that consumers and in-surance companies will have,” LarryDominique, the president of ALG,which has forecast residual values foralmost 50 years. “This will work itselfout, but it could take 10 years.”

Ford produces its F-series trucksin much higher volume than other alu-minum-centric manufacturers do. Pastexamples of aluminum use in autobodies are inconsistent in terms ofwhether insurance rates rise and affectownership costs that play a role inforecasting residuals, Dominique said.“Truck owners are so damn loyal,” hesaid.

Manufacturing experts and steel-industry advocates say that moving toaluminum will require fundamentalchanges to how Ford truck bodiesmake their way down the assemblyline.

Ford is adding thousands ofsalaried workers including technicalengineers to support new-product in-troductions and assigned Fields thetask of honing its processes.

The complicated switch to alu-minum from steel in the F-150's bodycontributes to IHS Automotive's esti-mate that Ford will need to take aboutsix weeks of downtime at each of itstruck plants to retool and swap out ro-bots and machinery.

However, Ford estimates that 80percent of its customers are or will becomfortable with its use of aluminumbecause they know it in other applica-tions, such as with toolboxes and lad-ders that need to be both strong andlight, Scott said.

The ability of the industry toprove it can handle collision work onthe new F-150 will be tested soonafter the truck reaches the market, said


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2015 Ford F-150

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See Ford’s 2015 F-150, Page 30

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On November 27, 2013, MichaelBradshaw, VP of Operations at K&MCollision in Hickory, NC, filed sixshortpay lawsuits on his customers’behalf. Of the six cases filed, threewere against GEICO, two wereagainst Nationwide, and one was filedagainst Allstate, with amounts rangingfrom $680.95 to $5749.64. Some ofthe claims included in the lawsuitswere Breach of Contract, Bad Faith,and Unfair/Deceptive Trade Practices.K&M Collision is being representedby attorney William E. Morgan ofMorgan Law PLLC in Hickory, NC.

According to Bradshaw, “Theseclaims stem from the insurers’ contin-ual refusal to pay for factory correctrepairs according to manufacturer re-pair specifications and guidelines. Notall insurers are bad; what we’re find-ing is that many of these companiesare doing the right thing and payingfor manufacturer correct repairs; how-ever, there is a select group of insur-ance companies that show completedisregard for manufacturer specifiedrepairs, procedures and safety checkson a consistent basis. Unfortunately,those insurers put us in the position ofeither performing the operations forfree, making the customer responsiblefor the additional costs or resorting tolegal action.”

While the six shortpay casesBradshaw is currently pursuing en-compass a little bit of everything, “themost consistent problem is the failureto recognize and reimburse customersfor manufacturer recommended re-pairs and safety checks.” This is par-ticularly the case when only a fewshops are performing the operation asit leaves the insurance company unin-terested in the manufacturer’s docu-mentation showing the need for therepair, and they will refuse to pay forsomething which other shops don’tcharge, even though the absence of thecharge is due to the fact that it is notbeing done. Bradshaw fears that theseinsurers are “basing their repair stan-dards on sub-standard repairs beingperformed.”

An example of this is seen witha BMW recently brought to the shop.Because the manufacturer’s facilityis only 45 minutes away from K&MCollision, Bradshaw toured the facil-ity and learned about a procedurethey use to correct any imperfections

in the paint; however, Nationwiderefused to pay the shop to performthis procedure, though manufacturerguidelines indicate it is required andshould be billed separately withoutbeing included in the paint time. Theinsurer insisted they have to do whatthe market dictates, and becausemost shops don’t perform this re-quirement, K&M Collision cannotperform it either (or at least theywon’t be paid if they do).

K&M Collision has been in busi-ness since 1991, and though Brad-shaw did not begin working thereofficially until 2006, he has alwaysbeen around this family-owned andoperated business. Despite their deci-sion to refrain from participating inany DRPs, the shop repairs a high vol-ume of vehicles, grossing just over 1.3million this past year.

When questioned about the im-portance of pursuing shortpay law-suits, Bradshaw explains, “in order tomaintain our 12 manufacturer certifi-cations, pay employees, and make aprofit, it’s really a necessity; either wedo it, or we don’t make money. Theshortpay amounts are usually ourprofit margins on these jobs.”

Though Bradshaw just won ashortpay lawsuit against Nationwidethis past summer, he has not seen anyimprovements in their behavior sincethe victory; “they seem to change theway they handle claims, in terms ofwhat they will and won’t pay, everyfew months.” He also notes the odd-ity of how Nationwide handles ap-praisals; they usually send at leasttwo people to the shop, one of whomis generally a supervisor, and theseindividuals will engage in a review oftheir findings before making a deci-sion about what they’ll pay. It is notuncommon for Nationwide represen-tatives to be at the shop for fourhours or more to process just oneclaim.

Additionally, Bradshaw recentlyran into a case where Nationwide didnot believe certain repairs were nec-essary, and even after K&M Collisionproved the necessity by performingmeasurements and providing this evi-dence, the insurer only paid for a por-tion of the repair.

In contrast, Bradshaw notes thathe is seeing some improvements fromsome other insurers. For example, hefiled a claim against one insurer for re-fusing to pay his labor rates because

they claimed the rates were too high.Since the lawsuit was filed, this sameinsurer has not contested four newclaims that were processed withhigher labor rates than the first casewhich caused K&M Collision to lodgethe complaint.

Though Bradshaw believes thatthe majority of insurance companiesare changing their behavior due to therecent influx in shortpay cases beingpursued, for some insurers “this is theway it is and the way it’s going to be.Some of these insurers fear payingone shop more than the others be-cause they have the mistaken beliefthat it’s necessary to pay all shops thesame.”

This is especially untrue as it per-tains to shops that are certified by raremanufacturers, such as Porsche whichonly has around 50 certified shops inthe nation, making it logical that theseshops should receive increased com-pensation when performing the moredifficult repairs that these cars call for.Bradshaw believes there will be“fewer cases being filed in the futuredue to a combination of factors.”

“As always, our main concern is

that our customer’s vehicles are re-paired safely, as close as humanlypossible to their pre-accident condi-tion. The costs involved in havingthe proper equipment, training, facil-ities and staff to repair today’s vehi-cles continues to escalate. But thereimbursement rates have movedvery little in the past several years. Ithink the problem is many times aninsurer is attempting to base pay-ment on the lowest cost in the marketand not the cost of proper repairs inthe market. Based on our conversa-tions with other shop owners aroundthe country, this is a situation I be-lieve is occurring nationwide. I re-main hopeful that someday theseactions will no longer be necessaryas all insurers will choose to do rightby their customers.”

Bradshaw is fairly confident andoptimistic about the outcome of thesepending lawsuits. “We put a lot of re-search into this, and we believe thesecases will be decided in our favor.”Trial dates for these six lawsuits havenot yet been set, but they are expectedto occur sometime during the first halfof this year.


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by Chasidy Rae Sisk

In December 2013, State Farm expe-rienced a dramatic reduction in thenumber of shops participating in Se-lect Service (their direct repair pro-gram) in the Fort Wayne, IN, area due

to the implementa-tion of PartsTrader.Of the 22 localshops participatingin the DRP, 14(over 60%) optedout of the program,though some ofthese shops had

been on the program for decades. Sev-eral shop owners and managers werewilling to discuss their reasons forbeing removed from the Select Serv-ice.

Todd Bonecutter, General Man-ager at Glenbrook Collision at 100 W.Coliseum Blvd in Ft. Wayne, said heopposes PartsTrader as a mandatedtool. “We don’t like being told wherewe can buy our parts or being pre-vented from buying parts from ourusual vendors. This is just a steppingstone for the insurers to dictate other

things in the collision industry. Theystarts with parts, but it’s only a matterof time before they move on to paintsand other materials.”

Jeff Rice, Estimator at KoesterBody Shop at 6818 SR 930 East, alsoin Ft. Wayne, agrees that the changesto the Select Service program are abad thing which is why his shop optedout when use of PartsTrader becamemandated. He also notes that sincebeing removed from the program,there have been big delays in gettingState Farm to get out to the shop tolook at new jobs.

The owner of Dan T. Gratz BodyShop, Dan Gratz, said PartsTrader is“just another way of keeping us underState Farm’s thumb and having themdictate how we run our businesses.They are looking for a way to makemore money off the little guy, the colli-sion shops… Insurer interference is get-ting worse and worse. If we don’t takea stand now, when will we? State Farmneeds to learn that there are shops whowill take a stand for the right thing.”

Since the removal of these shops,State Farm has been using small,sometimes uncertified, shops that

don’t have the proper training andequipment, according to Gratz whosees this as a “lawsuit waiting to hap-pen… State Farm doesn’t seem to re-

alize that they are running shops outof business by doing things like im-plementing PartsTrader which reducesour profits. If we can’t make money,we will have to close our doors. Whois going to repair cars then?”

Eric Knipscheer, owner ofKnipscheer Collision Center at 747 WSuperior St in Fort Wayne, opted outof the Select Service because Part-sTrader did not offer parts from anylocal suppliers. He prefers buying lo-cally for the benefit of his local econ-omy and “really doesn’t appreciatesomeone telling [him] where to buy

his parts.”All four of these shops currently

participate in four to six total DRPs,and the consensus seems to be that theSelect Service program wasn’t partic-ularly problematic until the use ofPartsTrader was enforced. All of thesegentlemen agreed that they’d be will-ing to renegotiate their DRP contractswith State Farm if the insurer ceasedto mandate the use of PartsTrader.

When asked about the advicethey’d give to shops on the Select Serv-ice in areas where PartsTrader is not yetmandated, everyone agreed thatwhether a shop should remain on theprogram after PartsTrader is imple-mented is a personal decision each shopmust make. Bonecutter suggests that“you understand the ins and outs of theprogram so you can evaluate your op-tions and make an educated decision inthe best interests of your business.”

Gratz believes that shops shouldalso consider contacting some of theshops in Fort Wayne that opted out tolearn more about the program andwhy they made the decision to with-draw from the Select Service. Knip-scheer cautions that if PartsTrader is


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14 Fort Wayne, IN, Shops Opt Out of State Farm’s Select Service Citing PartsTrader

Todd Bonecutter

not resisted, “other insurers will adoptsimilar programs if we allow it, andshops will lose the freedom to choosetheir suppliers and to make a profit.”

Mike Hartman, former presi-dent of the Indiana Auto Body Asso-ciation (IABA), is also paying closeattention to this situation. Though

Hartman Auto Body still participatesin Select Service since he is located inan outlying rural area where Part-sTrader is not yet mandated, once thischanges, he will “probably bail out.My sign says Hartman Auto Body, notState Farm Auto Body! I’m not will-ing to be forced to use PartsTrader be-cause I see no benefit to it whatsoever,especially if there are no local vendorson the system.”

From his conversations with

some of the shops that chose to optout, Hartman has found “the shops arenot opposed to using parts procure-ment systems, but they are opposed tohaving it shoved down their throats.Owners don’t like someone coming inand telling them how to run theirshops.”

Another problem cited is thatsince parts vendors in Fort Wayne arenot participating in PartsTrader, shopshave to order parts from outside theirarea, from suppliers they don’t haverelationships with. This negatively im-pacts the shops’ cycle times as they’reforced to wait to receive their parts,and this affects their scorecard withState Farm.

One Fort Wayne dealership optedout of Select Service because the pro-

gram forbade them from purchasingparts from their own parts departmentsince it wasn’t on PartsTrader, andthey didn’t like the loss of control inchoosing their parts, particularly inbeing unable to supply their own bodyshop.

Yet another criticism of Part-sTrader is that it cuts the collision re-pair facility out of the parts profit. InNew Zealand, the parts procurementprogram has progressed and expandedto include paints and materials also,and Hartman fears this hap-pening in the U.S. because“you can’t sustain your busi-ness on labor rates alone.”

Hartman also notes thatthe shops that opted out areseeing State Farm takelonger to write estimates,sometimes taking as long asa week to even visit the shop.Because of this, longtime customersare being steered to shops on the Se-lect Service where estimates are beingwritten immediately. In one such in-stance, a shop waited eight days for anappraiser to come out to view a claim;meanwhile, several appraisers fromState Farm visited the shop for sup-plements, yet they refused to write an

estimate on the new job, according toHartman.

Though State Farm is making itdifficult on the shops that opted out,Hartman believes these shops aredoing a fabulous job with explainingthe reasons for the delays and educat-ing consumers on their right tochoose. Customers have been prettyunderstanding, and some evendropped State Farm because they weredispleased with how the insurer istreating the shops and their customers.

The 14 shops, many of themlarger facilities and dealerships, whichopted out of Select Service were doingapproximately 80% of State Farm’sbusiness in Fort Wayne before Part-sTrader was mandated. The shops thatremain are struggling to keep up withthe increase in volumes while State


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Todd Bonecutter (center) with Glenbrook Collision Staff

See Shops Opt Out, Page 39

As 2013 draws to a close, AASP-MAprepares for what it sees as an excit-ing new year. Though the Board of Di-rectors’ last meeting of 2013 wascanceled due to inclement weather,they have used the time to make plansfor 2014. Executive Director JillianZywien notes “2013 was a year ofchange for AASP-MA, and I am en-couraged by the feedback receivedfrom our leadership and members. Wehad a successful year, and I look for-

ward to 2014.”The association will hold their

first quarter Statewide Informationaland Educational meeting on January14th at the Doubletree Hotel in West-boro, MA, where all statewide andboard meetings are scheduled to con-vene. According to Zywien, “our up-coming State Meeting will focus on anumber of recent AASP-MA projects,including: our strategic planning ses-sion, our new member benefit offer-ings, and updates to our website andsocial media presence. We will also bepresenting on legislative activities andthe decision by Auto Damage ApraiserLicensing Board (ADALB, see Auto-body News, Jan issue) to open the reg-ulations (CMR 211, 212) for updatesand changes. This meeting is a greatopportunity for members and non-members, too.” Additional statewidemeetings are scheduled for March 11,May 13 and September 9, 2014.

AASP-MA’s Board of Directorsmet on January 9th to discuss theADALB’s recent decision to open cur-rent regulations for review by both theADALB and the Division “in an effortto update antiquated language, alignthe regulations with current businesspractices, and make sure the ADALBis doing its job.”

The Board of Directors has se-lected five sections of regulations theywould like to see reviewed: conflict ofinterest, contact with claimant and se-lection of repair facilities, revocationand suspension, conduct of appraisals,

and requirements of personal inspec-tion and photographs. Both CMR 211and CMR 212 are to be reviewed bythe Division’s general counsel andstaff, with those recommendationsbeing reviewed at the ADALB’s nextmeeting on February 25th. After thisreview, a notice of hearing will be dis-tributed for public comment, and theformal hearing will be scheduled.

Regarding AASP-MA’s role inthis review, Zywien explains, “AASP-MA’s legislative committee has set upa meeting to review the regulationsand formulate and submit our re-sponse to the Division and theADALB. On January 7, we will beformulating our strategy for the up-coming ADALB. This is an importantopportunity for our member shops toplay an active role in the rewrite ofthese regulations. Please pay close at-tention to all future association publi-cations as this initiative develops.”

AASP-MA’s Board of Directorsplans to meet monthly in 2014 withsubsequent meetings scheduled forFebruary 25, March 25, April 22, May27, June 24, July 22, August 26, Sep-tember 23, October 28, November 25,and December 16.

AASP-MA has determined thatthey will hold their Annual Golf Out-ing at the Charter Oak Country Clubin Hudson, MA on either June 10th or12th, while Casino Night 2014 will beheld on either November 8th or 15th.Though individual chapters of the as-sociation have yet to establish datesfor their planned events, they intend tohost the same events as in past years,such as the Midstate Chapter’s AnnualBBQ and the Western’s Chapter’syearly Clambake.

At their recent strategic planningmeeting, AASP-MA’s Board of Direc-tor’s primary goals were to “clearlydefine AASP-MA’s mission state-ment, vision, and strategies and toprovide members with a clear under-standing of the association’s directionon behalf of the entire industry... Thisis the first time the Board of Directorshas participated in this kind of exer-cise, and I believe they did a fantasticjob in aligning the new plan to mem-bers’ needs,” Zywien boasts.

The association has also re-

vamped their mission statement to“Building the Success of the Auto Re-pair Industry”, which has been incor-porated into their new logo.

When the Board of Directors wasasked what 2016 if they face no hur-dles, they established a long list oflike-to-haves. In addition to having afunctioning ADALB and increasingmembership to 500 individuals, theywould like to have an auto labor ratechange and a vehicle for sustained in-creases, as well as to strengthen par-ticipant appointees from the industryto the government. They also strive tobe a subject matter expert to legisla-tors, Departments of Insurance, mediaand consumers, plus they’d like to im-prove the image of collision repairowners and facilities to include settingthe standards for the industry. Othergoals include: “have our membershops be proud to be members andhave clout with insurers, to be the ed-ucation provider to the industry and

provide continuing education pro-grams for shops and employees, havean increase in sponsor and vendor in-volvement, and have fair negotiationsachieved through regulatory restruc-turing to include parts procurement.”

While AASP-MA is a known ad-vocate within the industry and amongtheir peers, they have asked them-selves how they will achieve theirplan. Zywien and the Board of Direc-tors respond, “we have the intestinalfortitude, resources, and determina-tion to win. We focus on advancingthe collision industry. We make you amore successful business owner. Wework to solve industry wide problems.We are the experts for our industry,and we have ‘right’ on our side.”

AASP-MA has their work cut outfor them as they aspire to reach theirvisions, but Zywien is optimistic; “Iam really looking forward to delvingdeeper into our strategic plan andtackling some of our goals.”

AASP-Massachusetts Prepares for 2014 with a Strategic Plan

with Chasidy Rae SiskNortheast Associations

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



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bite. The new invasion of frigid airwill produce lake-effect snow down-wind of areas of open water. Whilemuch of Lake Erie has frozen over,most of the other Great Lakes are stillopen. Some areas immediately down-wind of Lake Erie may get colder witha late January outbreak (compared tothe last) as a result.

Beginning on Thursday, January2nd, the polar vortex spewed snowand freezing rains throughout thecountry until about Tuesday, January7th. Over two dozen states from theMidwest to the Northeast and even theSoutheast were impacted by this coldfront, so it’s no surprise that this un-usual event also affected many busi-nesses nationwide, including collisionrepair facilities.

Tiger’s Body Shop in Chicagofortunately did not suffer many ill ef-fects, according to Greg Yonan, amember of the family that owns thefacility. “It was really cold, andthough there may have been an in-crease in accidents related to the icyroad conditions, we haven’t seen the

effects yet. Monday, Jan. 6, was socold that we had several appointmentcancellations because people didn’twant to leave their homes.”

Though their equipment workedfine since the inside of their shop waswell-heated, the water coming in fromthe street froze, and they had to waitfor the city to come out and solve thatproblem. Overall, though, Yonannotes that it has been business asusual.

Mike Hartman, owner of Hart-man Auto Body Inc. in Waterloo IN,noted some effects from the weatherbecause “when a major storm is fore-cast in advance, people heed the warn-ing and stay off the streets. It alsoimpacted volumes quite a bit. We havehad a couple of cancellations eachweek for the last three weeks becausecustomers do not want to get out in thesnow or extremely cold tempera-tures.”

In terms of operations, Hartmanexperienced several cold-related tech-nical difficulties; “our paint booth quitworking when it was -18 degreesFahrenheit and -40 degrees Fahrenheiton the wind chill. I had to go on top ofthe roof, which had 12 inches of snowon it, to reset the main computer mod-

ule. What a trip! It’s also harder towrite a very accurate estimate whencustomers bring their car in and it iscovered with snow, ice and salt. Wewould really like to have the vehiclefor half a day so we could wash it andlet it thaw out.”

Debbie Ross, Office Manager atRoute 1 Auto Body in Fairfield, CT,their shop was lucky enough that theunprecedented low temperatures did-n’t really have a negative impact ontheir business or their equipment. “Wehave been able to service all of ourcustomers. Other than wearing morelayers of clothes, we have beenlucky… We did have a few new cus-tomers whose collisions were a resultof sliding on black ice but not many. Ithink that because the worst weatherwas on a weekend, there were lesspeople on the road because they didn’thave to be.”

For Don Mallon Chevrolet inNorwich, CT, the Polar Vortex gener-ated more business, according to Col-lision Manager, Dawn Barden. “Ithas actually brought us more business,more front and rear bumper coverscracking upon a minor impact, insteadof flexing. One of the customers saidthat a shopping carriage rolled into her

front cover, and it left a hole in it .They are breaking like ice or glassshattering… I do not think that it hasaffected our business in a negativeway here in the collision center; how-ever, in our service department, it hasdefinitely slowed them down; peopledo not want to drive out in the colderweather unless they have to!”

Don Mallon Chevrolet did suffersome technical inconveniences due tothe weather, though. “Our paint boothsprinkler heads froze and broke, leak-ing in the booth and making us twodays behind on paint after repairswere made. My painter says that it istaking more time for the bake cyclenow, and we have added an additionalheater in the paint mix room as wehave water-based paint which is at agreater risk of freezing now with thelow temperatures. The heater in ouroffice has not been able to keep upwith the colder weather either, plusmy customers’ cars are having issueswith the lift gates freezing because thegate shocks grease probably froze,”Barden said.

Craig Camacho, Marketing Di-rector at Keenan Auto Body Inc. inClifton Heights, PA, notes that theirvolumes have increased by 25%


More Polar Vortex?

across the board. “Claim volume hasincreased in our entire servicing foot-print, directly related to the recent lowtemps, snow and ice… Our toolingand machinery was not affected onebit, but our locations were hindered bythe snowfall and the need for snowplows and salt.”

Though Keenan Auto Body ex-perienced some delays due to theirtechnicians being unable to work, Ca-macho looks upon this dilemma gra-ciously. “As they say, family first.Many of our employees and techswere home taking care of their owndriveways and walkways, ensuringtheir families’ safety and the safety ofothers as their primary focus. Our cus-tomers were made aware by our staffsthat, due to the low temperatures,heavy snowfall and ice developing,there may be delays in completingtheir vehicles on time.”

Rich Tornetta, Marketing Com-munications Manager of eight Colli-sionMax Auto Body and Glass Centersin PA and NJ, notes quite a few issuescaused by the Polar Vortex. “Cus-tomers sometimes would not show upfor their scheduled estimate appoint-ments or repairs. This could be due tocars not starting, being buried in snow

or the roads not being adequatelyplowed and salted for safe travel. Theweather has delayed our technicianswho’ve had issues making it in towork on time due to unsafe drivingconditions, cars not starting or beingplowed in by passing trucks. We’dspend time digging out vehicles to berepaired and then gaining access to theparts in the storage facilities which arecommonly located outdoors. Somemornings were spent plowing andshoveling outside bays to get cars in.Once the vehicles got into the shop,we’d sometimes use heat guns and/orair hoses to melt and remove the re-maining snow/ice. The time spentcleaning the storage facilities is timenot spent repairing vehicles, so thishad a negative effect on production.”

Tornetta said that CollisionMaxhad to postpone valet delivery of ve-hicles to their customers because ofthe unsafe driving conditions, andthere were also delays with parts de-liveries which, in turn, caused delaysin repairs. He adds, “below freezingtemperatures made mobile auto glassrepair and replacement difficult forour technicians both due to unsafetravel conditions and because theirfingers would get numb within min-

utes of being outside.” There werealso some technical difficulties as “thespray booth and older equipment tendto fail during cold streaks becausethey’ve been working overtime,” Tor-netta explains.

On the positive side, Tornetta notesthat “collision workflow is up about15% compared to what we normallyrun. Our glass business saw a spike involume as well, due to the extremelylow temperatures which caused manywindshields with small chips to crack.In some instances, increased non-dri-vable volume has caused extendedscheduling on drivable repairs.”

As we move further south, we seeless impact from the cold weather. Ac-cording to Assistant Manager WaltLink, at Nalley Collision in Doraville,GA, suffered few effects caused bythe abnormally cold weather. A fewemployees were delayed due to thesnow, but the cold weather did not im-pact volumes or cause any problemswith equipment.

“We had a bit of ice in the park-ing lot, but we didn’t have an issue.”Link is uncertain whether volumeswere affected as business seems to bepicking up as usual after the holidays,with numbers appearing to be consis-

tent with last year.Alysia Hanks, Office Manager

of Lakeway Collision in Mandeville,LA, states “the weather didn’t reallyaffect us in anyway, except that ourguys hate working in the cold, so pro-duction slowed down a lot!”

The Polar Vortex is a regular cir-culation of strong winds surroundingthe Arctic Pole, but normally, thesewinds keep the coldest air trapped inthe Arctic regions of the NorthernHemisphere. Occasionally the vortexcan become distorted, permitting thissuper cold air to travel further south.Though it is inconvenient and cer-tainly unpleasant, the Polar Vortex ofearly January 2014 seems to have hadlittle long-lasting impact on mostshops’ operations.

However, meteorologists say theduring the third and fourth weeks ofJanuary, more changes will take place.The high amplitude pattern is forecastto get more extreme.pattern will grad-ually change the current mixture ofPacific and Arctic air in the CanadaPrairies and the North Central U.S. toall Arctic air. The air will get signifi-cantly colder over the Canada Prairiesand the much of the eastern half of thenation as a result.


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When you’re running a busy shop,it’s necessary to have many systemsand procedures more or less on auto-matic. There’s no time to addressevery situation newly every time.Lean processes and procedures havebeen carefully thought out so ifeveryone adheres to the system, theshop runs smoothly.

Nevertheless, periodically it’snecessary to re-evaluate any system orprocedure that’s been used for a longtime. I, for example, tend to invest individend-bearing securities that I cancount on generating consistent incomefor the long haul. But from time-to-time I have to weed out the poor pro-ducers and replace them with betterproducers or perhaps just purchasemore of the good producers. An astuteshop owner or manager should do thesame thing with marketing proce-dures.

Sadly many shops fail to accu-rately track the effectiveness of pro-motional ads, mailings, e-mails,website hits and events. At one timethis was understandable. We didn’thave tools like hit counters or e-mailsreceived reports or 800 number calls.But even tools like these don’t reallytell us whether any of these promo-tional responses turned into real jobs.Our only reliable statistic is the cus-tomer’s report about what sent him orher to the shop. Without those num-bers the shop owner or manager hasno real idea what marketing actions todrop and which ones to double up, torefine or replace.

Even with customers’ informa-tion about who sent them, it’s still notalways possible to know how to rein-force the sources that sent business tothe shop. Some insurance companyreferrals will specify the customer’sagent but sometimes the agent is manymiles away so that it’s not practical tomarket to thse remote agents. If mostof the jobs come to the shop referredby one insurance company, how se-cure is it to bet the survival of the shopon one source that could cripple theshop if it stops sending work? Oneagain, the investment metaphor ap-plies. How secure is it to put most ofyour investment money into purchas-ing or holding just one stock, bond orother security? It’s well known that acertain amount of diversity is neces-sary to protect oneself against possi-ble market turndowns.

Another factor that must be con-sidered in a re-evaluaton is the cost ofeach marketing action. Some promo-tional actions are hard to track but costso little it may be worth keeping themin motion. But if a marketing move iscostly, it’s definitely worthwhile totake a close look at how much profitthat action is creating. One shopowner I knew well kept a DRP with alow-profit, cut-rate insurance com-pany that he knew barely made him aprofit on each job. But when he wasable to get a contract with a much bet-ter paying DRP, he dropped the otherone like a rock!

I’ve found that some shop own-ers don’t really know the true cost of

referral arrangements with insurancecompanies, dealerships and other re-ferral sources. If the labor and partsdiscount is calculated per job, andgive-aways factored in, like lot dam-age, totals storage and more, the realcosts of some of those relationshipsmay be much more than they seem tobe at a glance. Like the automatic pro-duction procedure, a shop owner mayhave gotten so comfortable with a re-lationship, he or she may not realizeit’s time to re-evaluate that relation-ship and perhaps consider looking fora new one -- or re-negotiating theprofitability of that long-term situa-tion.

Finally, our world has changedsignificantly with the proliferation ofsmart phones and tablets. New appsfor these pop up daily now, and thereis an expectation that every businesscan provide instant electronic infor-mation. Printed paper phone booksand many publications are now rarely

read or used. Resources spent in thisdirection may be totally wasted. Whileit can be costly to seek out a goodprovider for social media promotionand possibly even a smart phone app,it would be wise to face up to that costnow or be left behind in the dust. Andeven this marketing effort and costmight not be necessary if a shop’s pri-mary customer base is unlikely to seekout or respond to this electronic kindof marketing.

The location, age, environmentand occupations of a shop’s customerscould be such that the shop could getaway with another year of limitedstate-of-the-art electronic marketing.But the young people becoming adultstoday are totally conversant withsmart phones, social media and more.If a shop plans to be in business pastthis year, there’s no getting aweayfrom the need to embrace these newtechnologies and put the marketingdollars in that direction.


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Re-Think Your Marketing For The New Year

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

Mobileye, a Dutch private companyand a leader in camera-based advanceddriver assistance systems (ADAS)technologies for the automotive indus-try and Accel Telecom Ltd., a leadingprovider of cellular based connectedcar solutions, have announced the inte-gration of Mobileye’s Collision avoid-ance system with Accel’s VOYAGERconnected car smartphone. The inte-grated solution allows remote monitor-ing of Mobileye alerts transmitted viathe VOYAGER 3G cellular connec-tion, which is ideal for fleet managers,insurance companies and families thatwant to receive real time updates on

their driver’s behavior on the road.Isaac Litman, Mobileye CEO

commented: “[This] is an elegant so-lution that allows both the driver anda third party to receive Mobileye’s lifesaving alerts in real time which is areal need for fleet managers, busi-nesses, families and more. We arehappy to partner with Accel on thisexciting offering and believe it willenhance the Mobileye experience.”

Marc Seelenfreund, Accel CEOsaid, “the integrated VOYAGER–Mobileye solution will add an addi-tional layer of driver safety via remotemonitoring of Mobileye alerts.”

Mobileye Integrates with Accel Connected Car Technology

Amberson.“People don’t wait until the ve-

hicle is a few years old to start hav-ing accidents,” he said. “We can seethem very early on.”

It’s expected the first F-150s willhit dealerships in the third quarter.Ford said last week that the truck willgo on sale in the fourth quarter.

“This is the biggest bet of theshow and maybe one of the biggestbets ever in the car industry,” MikeJackson, CEO of AutoNation Inc.,said in an interview.

“Ford is going to have to exe-cute, and building at that volume inaluminum has never been done in thehistory of the automobile business.And there are reasons it hasn’t beendone: It’s expensive, and it’s compli-cated and it’s difficult to work with.”

It’s a lot to ask” [of dealers],Jackson said. “But that’s the price ofleadership.”


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Ford’s 2015 F-150Mercedes-Benz is recalling certainmodel year 2013 SL63, SL550, andSL65 vehicles manufactured Jan.16, 2013, through April 30, 2013,according to the National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration. Theaffected vehicles are equipped withan occupant classification system(OCS) that may not detect a verylight person sitting in the front pas-senger seat.

If the OCS does not detect avery light person sitting in the seat,the passenger side air bag would beturned off. In the event of a crashnecessitating side air bag deploy-ment, the passenger would be at anincreased risk of injury.

Mercedes will notify owners,and dealers will replace the passengerside seat cushion including the OCS.The recall is expected to begin in De-cember 2013. Owners may contactMercedes at 1-201-573-0600.

Owners may also contact theNational Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration Vehicle Safety Hot-line at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to:www.safercar.gov.

Mercedes-Benz RecallsSome 2013 Vehicles for OCS

CHECK IT OUT!CHECK IT OUT!

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

The Washington Metropolitan AutoBody Association (WMABA) re-cently distributed invitations for theirupcoming Lobby Day in Annapolis,MD. The event will take place onWednesday, January 22nd from 8:30-10:30am at the Calvert House locatedat 58 State Circle, Annapolis, MD,21401.

WMABA’s Lobby Day willbegin with attendees joining theirMaryland legislators for breakfast,followed by a presentation given byWMABA Executive Director and theassociation lobbyist representativesfrom Alexander & Cleaver. Attendeeswill learn about the 2014 proposedparts legislation for the current leg-islative session which began on Janu-ary 7th.

This legislation is WMABA’s2014 Parts Bill which focuses on aid-ing shops interested in keeping thesame vendors and on providing thebest parts to customers. In addition todiscussing the specifics of the bill,WMABA will also explain how re-pairers and vendors can participate in

the legislative process.Those who register at least a

week before the event will also havethe opportunity to schedule a personalmeeting with their legislator.

“It is very important that repair-ers be involved with their personallegislator and the legislative process,even if they do not actively supportparticular legislation,” states JordanHendler, Executive Director ofWMABA. “You want them to knowyou as the expert when it comes toanything relating to automotive is-sues. Then, they come to you for ad-vice on proposed legislation versus uschasing them down on something thatcould have been easily avoided. It re-ally is rewarding to be active withthose who represent you and yourbusiness’ interests at the capital.”

www.wmaba.com

WMABA Lobby Day is January 22

Search:Autobody News

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CIC chair George Avery welcomedthe CIC body before inviting JohnVan Alstyne, president and CEO ofI-CAR, to present the organization’sinitiatives for the coming year (seeI-CAR story this issue) FollowingVan Alstyne was a presentation byguest speaker Scott Sorrell, CEO ofSales Adrenaline. Sorrell discussedhow to find your value as a businessand how to keep reselling that valueto customers. The afternoon was fo-cused on reviewing each CIC com-mittee—definitions, insurer/repairerrelations, parts and material, dataprivacy, education and training,human resources, governmental,marketing, and technical—and theirplans for the coming year. Notablechanges to the committees includedputting the definitions committee onhiatus, and the appointing of RandyHanson, auto director at Allstate, asthe new chair of the insurer/repairerrelations committee. Hanson willreplace Rick Tuuri. Discussion alsooccured on the data privacy com-mittee on vehicle information tech-nology.

CIC in Brief, More Next Issue

The Collision Industry Conference’sOE Roundtable Committee an-nounced the launch of crashrepair-info.com, a consumer education site,during the first day of the January2014 Collision Industry Conference(CIC) planning meeting in PalmSprings, CA. The site is aimed atproviding consumers with informa-tion that can help them navigate theprocess of getting their vehicles re-paired following a collision. GaryLedoux, assistant national managerof wholesale parts marketing atHonda and a member of the OERoundtable Committee, said the siteis meant to help vehicle ownersmake informed decisions about thecollision repair of their vehicle. Thesite includes OE position statements,collision repair basics, what to do incase of an accident, and links to otherOE sites. Ledoux said the committeerecommends all repairers use the siteas a resource and direct customers tothe site, as is applicable.

CIC Roundtable LaunchesConsumer Website for OEMs

Ford Rep Paul Massie on Repairing the 2015 F-150Paul Massie, powertrain and collisionproduct marketing manager for Ford,spoke at the Collision Industry Confer-ence (CIC) held Jan. 16–17 in PalmSprings, CA. He sought to reassure re-pairers concerned about the forthcom-ing newly engineered 2015 F-150which goes on sale later this year.

“We designed the vehicle so it can beeasily repaired and accessible so the cus-tomer can go where they want to get it re-paired,” said Massie. Massie said there willbe no restrictions on what kind of shopscan repair the vehicle. Ford will not requirea shop to have a separate clean room how-ever, it will recommend the use of curtainsto separate aluminum from steel work andspecific equipment to handle the repairs.The total investment for a shop that is start-ing from ground zero with aluminum re-pair can be as high as $50,000. (AutobodyNews’ next issue will detail a shop’s outlayon clean room setup.)

“That’s if you have absolutely noaluminum equipment,” Massie said.“So if you’re already in the aluminumbusiness and already have the equip-ment and can separate aluminum fromsteel, you’re probably a long way to-wards having the equipment you need.”

Genuine Ford collision repair partswill be available to all shops. All partssold will include instructions on how to

properly install them.Ford will begin its education on

the 2015 F-150 and aluminum repair atthe AASP/NJ Northeast Show March21–23 at the Meadowlands Expo Centerin Secaucus, NJ. A cutaway of the vehi-cle will be featured so repairers can seeall of its structural components. Engi-neers will be present to talk about thevehicle, and I-CAR training developedwith Ford will be available.

Ford is also offering to do a pres-entation on the 2015 F-150 at the nextCIC April 9–10 in Portland, OR, al-though details are not firmed up yet. In-formation will also be available atNACE in July and SEMA in October.

“The goal is to make high-strength,military-grade aluminum alloy collisionrepair mainstream,” said Massie. “Wewant it to be as mainstream as it alreadyis for steel.”

Elsewhere Ford has said it put thenew model through rigorous tests, in-cluding cross-country hauls throughdesert valleys and over high-altitudemountain passes and in climates of 20 de-grees below zero and 120 degrees above.

A disguised F-150 even raced inthe Baja 1000, where it earned the dis-tinction of completing the 883-mile racewhile some other purpose-built race ve-hicles could not.

Search:Autobody Newson Facebook

I tell marketing people at body shopsall the time that if you pay attention toGoogle and stay on top of its periodicalgorithm updates, you’ll be wayahead of the game. It may not soundthat important, but when you thinkabout the fact that every website in theworld is affected by Google in oneway or another, you can see that thosewho know how to use it right will ob-viously have a distinct advantage overtheir competition.

Google’s incarnations (or re-leases) come with little or no warningand every time Google updates itself,it’s an attention-getter for anyone whoworks with the Internet. Named afteranimals (first there was Penguin andthen there was Panda) these updatesrevolve around the fact that Googlewants to reward sites that offer valuewhile penalizing those that containspam and irrelevant content. Thenewest update is called Hummingbirdand it’s been buzzing in every web-master’s ears since it was releasednearly six months ago.

This summer, Google explainedtheir newest update in a simple para-graph: “Hummingbird is paying moreattention to each word in a query, en-suring that the whole query—thewhole sentence or conversation ormeaning—is taken into account, ratherthan particular words. The goal is thatpages matching the meaning do better,rather than pages matching just a fewwords.”

Some people will always try tobeat the system and fool Google with“black-hat” tactics, but in the endthey’re like the IRS. You may getaway with using text that you’re “bor-rowing” from other sites for a whileand do other shady things to rankhighly in local searches, but in theend, the party’s over. And Google isnot like the American justice sys-tem—no one is innocent until provenguilty and they could care less aboutreasonable doubt.

But, do not fear—if you hire a re-spectable webmaster with a goodtrack record that performs honest SEOrelevant to your business and adheringto Google’s rules, you’ll be fine on-line. One company that’s been doingexceptional work for both mechanical

and collision businesses online is RingRing Marketing in San Jose, CA.Their motto is “We Make Your PhoneRing” and they specialize in workingwith small to medium-size companies.Welton Hong, the COO at Ring RingMarketing offered us some valuabletips on how body shops can useGoogle effectively in this new Hum-mingbird environment. “To optimizean auto body shop website for GoogleHummingbird, consider adding morereal-world, question-specific queriesinto your site content,” Hong said.“This could be in the form of blogposts, FAQs and more.”

In the end, Google still valuesand respects original content andquality links over anything else. Anytime you’re going to post somethingon your web site or blog, ask your-self this—is it of real value to mycustomers? Make certain that you’recreating content that is relevant toyour audience and then integrate itinto all of your social media. In-crease your exposure and build yourbrand by positioning yourself as anexpert in collision and getting theword out through to the local media,including radio, TV, print and the In-ternet. And post different types ofcontent to enhance your SEO andcreate more opportunities to engageyour audience—especially video, ac-cording to Hong.

“Add more relevant video con-tent to your site,” he said. “It's muchharder for Google to generate this sortof content in response to inquiries, sothis type of material will be insulated,at least for now, from the negative ef-fects of Hummingbird.”Other Google-related things to con-sider this year:● Ride the Google+ Train: Googlerewards companies that use theirproducts and this is one of their lead-ing products. Too many body shopsset up Google+ accounts in 2013 anddid nothing else. Tell your marketingpeople that you want to use Google+more and devise a plan.

● Going Mobile: The Internet isgoing more mobile every day, so geton the ball and be a part of it. Googlewants you to make your site optimized

for mobile users to attract mobile vis-itors. Right now, half of all Americans(and every 13-year-old girl out there)own smartphones and one-third owntablets. The number is going to growat an explosive rate, so get mobile ofget lost. “Make sure your site is asmobile-friendly as possible,” Hongexplained. “Hummingbird is designedfor mobile users. Mobile visitors arequickly outnumbering desktop visi-tors. You must focus your effortshere.”

● Some Appetizing Google Apps:I use Google Docs every day, becauseit enables me to share documents eas-ily with others, via my desktop, lap-top or smartphone. It saves time,because users can check in wheneverand wherever. Also consider Evernote(a great note-taking app) and ofcourse, Gmail and Dropbox. Googletweaked and improved both of theseapplications in 2013, making them

easier to use and full of new func-tionality.

Whether working on a vehicle orcoordinating your marketing efforts,it’s all about having the best toolsavailable and knowing how to usethem. Google has literally 50-plusbusiness tools to make you more ef-fective and profitable in 2014 and be-yond. So tap into the Google universeand learn which ones are best-suitedfor you.

But, most importantly, learn theHummingbird update and discover itsnuances and capabilities. MakeGoogle a bigger part of your market-ing plan this year and plug away atcreating a significant presence there.Because Google is here to stay and theshops that use it correctly will reaphuge benefits over time. Be patientand stick to your plan and pretty soonyou‘ll hear the phone ringing, fol-lowed by those wonderful words, “Wefound you on Google!”


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Question: What is the major differ-ence between the two Honda Ac-cords?Answer: The “A” Pillar reinforce-ment, “B” pillar reinforcement andRocker panel reinforcement are con-structed of one of the highest strengthssteels seen in passenger cars. Theyhave an 1500 MPa steel rating.Question: What does Honda saywhen these parts are damaged from aside impact?Answer:—Plenty

First and Foremost—Honda states“No body repairs should be at-tempted without first referring to theappropriate body repair manual forcomplete information”. I find itamazing how many collision repairshops in this country will repair/re-place structural components ontoday’s vehicles without having theappropriate procedures when the ve-hicle is estimated and repaired. I alsofind in appalling that many insuranceadjusters will estimate a vehicle with-out having repair data before writingtheir estimate. Furthermore, why dobody shops have to prove that theyneed a certain procedure for a OEMstated position, when they shouldhave this information as well. Just theother day, A shop owner called mefor information to justify why theshop could not use heat on repairinga 2010 Toyota Tacoma frame thatwas damaged in the rear. Moreover, Ifeel that there should be a charge onthe estimate for data retrieval. It costme $300.00 for a one year subscrip-tion to the Honda web site and I don’thave a shop or write estimates any-more. (Sorry for getting off the sub-ject, but I needed to get it off mychest.)

Use of Heat for body straighten-ing and repairs. What does Hondasay? “When you are doing bodystraightening and repair procedures:DO NOT apply heat to any body partduring straightening. This may com-promise the internal structure andstrength of high strength steel parts.Moreover, any part that has heat ap-plied to it during straightening MUSTbe replaced with new parts. Ignoringthese instructions, may significantlyreduce occupant protection in anysubsequent collision.”

Let’s look at what Honda saysabout sectioning. “Because of bodystructure improvements for collisionsafety and rigidity, the materials, steelthickness and internal reinforcementshave become very specific. Followthese guidelines to avoid an unsafe re-pair: avoid sectioning (cut and joint)except for outer panels and floor pan-els unless a specific procedure is pro-vided in the body manual (As I statedpreviously, how do you repair todays

vehicles without having the repairdata) and relace body structural com-ponents as assemblies that match thereplacement parts configuration.Honda dedicates 3 pages in their guidelines for replacement and welding, butI will address this later on in the arti-cle.

Honda states in their body repairnews about seats with airbags “ dam-aged front seat covers should be re-placed and not repaired. Furthermore,Do not install non-factory seat covers,because they may alter the airbags in-tended deployment.”

Honda also states “NEVER at-tempt to modify, splice or repairairbag system wiring. If airbag systemwiring is damaged, replace the wiringharness(es).

What does Honda say about theirTire Pressure Monitoring System(TPMS). “TPMS calibration must bestarted every time you: Adjust thepressure in one or more tires; Rotate

the tires; Replace one or more tires;Replace or update the VSA-modula-tor control unit. A couple of otheritems that should be noted when esti-mating and repairing a 2013 HondaAccord.

Honda now sells replaceableheadlamp brackets that get broken inan accident. It should noted that theyonly work if the following criteria ismet: No damage to the headlamp as-sembly and sealing of the headlamplens and housing is maintained.

Some models may be equippedwith one or more of the followingsystems the require aiming aftercollision repairs (special tools arerequired to complete the aimingprocedures).

Lane Watch—Lane Watch uses acamera and center dash display forblind spot detection. The camera mustbe aimed if the following operationsare performed in the repair process:The camera is removed or replaced,


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

Honda’s Repair Instructions Need to Be Read and Followed

2012 Honda Accord

2013 Honda Accord

4-door Models1 Front Inner Upper Pillar

2 Center Pillar Upper Stiffener

3 Side Sill Stiffener

4 Inside Sill Reinforcement

1,500 MPa (HOT STAMP) STEELLOCATIONS1,500 MPa steel stronger than ordinarysteel, so it can help protect vehicle occu-pangts while reducing overall vehicleweight to improve fuel efficiency. Thenumbered parts in the diagrams beloware constructed of 1,500 MPa steel:

Door mirror is removed and/or re-placed, door panel is removed or re-placed or the door is repaired. Itshould be noted that DTC will not bedisplayed on the dash, but will bestored in the control module.

Forward Warning: The cameramust be re-aimed if the FWC cameraunit is removed or replaced. If thewindshield is removed or replaced, theunit must be re-aimed. Note a dashlight will illuminate if the system is in-operative.

Adaptive Cruise Control(ACC). The millimeter wave radar ofthe ACC must be re-aimed if the radarunit is removed or replaced. If dam-age occurs in the unit’s mounting area,the system needs to be re-aimed. Amalfunction of the unit will be dis-played in the multi-unit dash. Let’slook at welding and repairing the 1500MPa steel on the Honda Accord.

Honda states when repairing andwelding 1500 MPa steel parts as fol-lows:

● NEVER attempt to straightendamaged 1500 MPa steel

● 1500 MPa steel parts MUST bereplaced at factory seams usingsqueeze type resistance spot welds

● MIG weld braze joints should

be used ONLY in locations that cannot be reached with STRS welders.

● To maintain adequate weld ten-sile strength, always set the spotwelder to specifications in the bodyrepair manual.

● NEVER perform MAG (akaMIG) welding on 1500 MPa steelparts

● MIG brazed joint locations arespecified in the body repair manual

● A single or double hole MIDbraze may be specified in the body re-pair manual depending on tensilestrength of the parts being joined.

● A pulsed MID welder MUSTbe used. You can convert most MIGwelders to weld bronze silicon, butyou have better heat management andcontrol with a pulsed welder. More onthis a little later on in the article.

● Parts made of Ultra HighStrength Steel (UHSS) must be in-stalled as complete part. No section-ing allowed. FAILURE TO USE THEPROPER EQUIPMENT OR FOL-LOW THE PROPER PROCEDURESCAN RESULT IN AN UNSAFE RE-PAIR.

Honda specifications for repair-ing and welding steels with 590 to 980MPa ratings: Parts made of High

Strength Steel (590-980 MPa) must beinstalled as a complete part. No sec-tioning is allowed unless a procedureis provided in the body repair manual.Plug welds using a MIG welder maybe done joining body parts with 590-980 MPa steel ratings. MAG (MIG)butt welding may be done only steelparts with a tensile strength of 590MPa and lower. You will need to printout the diagram showing the locationsof the different strengths of steel fromthe Honda web site.

Here is what Honda specifies forwelding 1500 MPa steel on the2013/2014 Honda Accord. You willneed to go to the web site for pictureson the welding procedures.

2014 Accord

1500 MPa Parts WeldingSpecifications______________________________High-Strength Steel (1500 MPa) PartsWelding SpecificationsThe high-strength steel (1500 MPa) ma-terial is used for the front pillar area, theroof side area, the center pillar area, andthe side sill area of the vehicles.

Parts replacement for the rein-forcement and/or the stiffener may be

required depending on the damage tothe side panel. Take notice that spotwelding conditions for welding the re-placement parts differ from the normalwelding conditions. MIG brazing mustbe used where spot welding cannot bedone. NEVER perform MAG welding.

MIG brazing welding methodTo ensure adequate joint strength, use apulsed MIG welder with specified wireand the following brazing technique.This will create a capillary action in orderto liquefy the solder so that it can pene-trate into the upper and lower plates:

• Begin brazing about 5mm (0.20in)before the holes(s).• Move the torch across the hole in azigzag pattern as you close theholes(s).• Continue the brazing operation about10mm (0.39 in) past the hole(s).

Spot welding specifications

• Current: 9000 A• Pressure: 3432 N (350 kgf, 772 lbf)• Welding cycle: 40

NOTE: When spot welding is per-formed, make sure that the following


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See Hey Toby!, Page 40


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Our mission is to create an environment of professionalism, respect, account-ability, excellence, enthusiasm and the ability to collect fair and reasonable compensation for collision repairers who properly restore vehicles to their safe pre-loss condition.

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Texas’ Premiere

Auto Body AssociationNot All Insurance Carriers Will Sell Policies toNewly Carded Immigrant Drivers, Citing HistoryAlthough some insurance companiesanticipate a flood of new policies,many are taking a wait and see ap-proach to the newly legal drivers.

Some car insurance companiesanticipate a new golden market innew driving privileges. Even beforethe cards were available, these carri-ers found that the illegal driver seg-ment is very profitable. The insurancecompanies experience good “reten-tion,” meaning that the policies renewregularly.

Just as important is the fact thatillegal immigrants seldom reportsmall accidents to lower the chancesthat they'll have a brush with the law.Companies like Progressive, FarmersGroup, Bristol West, Infinity P&Cand Alliance United have been put-ting a lot of effort into expanding thispart of their book of business.

Even though many states denydriver's licenses to illegal immi-grants, the law generally doesn't pre-vent insurers from selling insuranceto unlicensed drivers and car owners.Companies like Progressive are al-ready writing car insurance for ille-gal immigrant drivers and expect tosell more now that licenses are avail-able to illegals.

However others are more cau-tious. Farmers Insurance Group ofCompanies, for example, is still tak-ing a wait-and-see approach as towhether it will insure the new mo-torists, according to Robert Com-pan, the company’s government andindustry affairs manager. He esti-mates it will take at least three yearsto figure out whether there’s a profitin the business.

“The law doesn’t mandate thatwe sell it,” said Compan, an execu-tive board member for the NevadaInsurance Council, an educationaland public policy arm of the indus-try.

“But if there’s a profit margin tobe made, of course we’re going tosell it, but how do you rate it if theydon’t have a driving history? Howdo you rate it if somebody doesn’thave a credit history? If we don’tknow how they manage their dailylives, it could be difficult providinginsurance.

“Normally, what we’ll do istake a look at the driving historyand predicate the rates on that, butin this case it’s hard to rate some-body who doesn’t exist in the sys-tem,” he said.

A law passed by the 2013 Legislatureand signed by Republican Gov. BrianSandoval allows immigrants in Ne-vada without citizenship status to ob-tain driver authorization cards. Anincreasing number of states have beenpassing similar laws in recent years,and 11 states and the District of Co-lumbia have enacted such measures.

These cards authorize the holderto drive a motor vehicle on Nevadapublic streets and highways. A DAC isnot valid as identification to obtain anystate benefits, licenses or services orfor federal purposes such as boardingaircraft or entering facilities where IDis required. Driver Authorization Cardsare valid for one year from the date ofissuance. You may renew the card eachyear. All renewals and address changesmust be completed in person.

You cannot drive legally in Ne-vada without a driver’s license but youhave long been able to buy auto insur-ance without one. It’s a little known factthat illegal aliens in Nevada have al-ready been able to insure themselves,purchasing insurance for as little as $30a month and as much as $200. It meetsthe state’s requirements, even if they’vebeen illegally driving the roads.

Las Vegas agent EsperanzaMonte longo sells at least a dozen poli-

cies for liability coverage a month. Shehas sold more than 5,000 policies inthe past eight years for American Ac-cess, a Chicago-based insurance car-rier that saw an opportunity to provideauto insurance to a segment of peoplewho have been ignored by mainstreaminsurance companies. These immi-grants have been considered a highrisk because they can’t produce a validdriver’s license. Montelongo estimatedthat at least 80 percent of the undocu-mented population in Las Vegas al-ready have insurance.

Asked whether from a businessstandpoint she’s looking forward toNevada’s new driver authorization card,which will allow immigrants in thecountry illegally to legally drive in Ne-vada starting , the 58-year-old Nebraska-born woman sat back and chuckled.

“Gosh, I can only hope that there’sa huge fluctuation in business. But I’mnot anticipating it because most of theMexicans here are already insured,” shesaid, referring to Las Vegas.

“And I say Mexicans becausewe’re talking about Mexicans. Nevadais Mexican country. They’re the ma-jority of my customers, and they’refiercely loyal.”

It’s an interesting approach todoing the right thing and yet such pur-

chases have been upstaged by the po-litical hype surrounding the new cardand the boon that an estimated 60,000card-carrying customers are expectedto bring insurance companies acrossthe Silver State under Senate Bill 303,Montelongo said.

The legislation was designed tomake the roads safer on the premisethat motorists will not only be requiredto purchase insurance but also to passDMV tests demonstrating that theyknow how to drive and understand therules of the road.

Aztec isn’t the only insuranceagency doing business in the valley.Nearly 50 such companies, most li-censed and registered under the Ne-vada Department of Insurance, can befound in and around predominantlyLatino neighborhoods. There’s Insur-ance for Less down the block from theAztec Insurance office. There’s El SolInsurance about a mile away. EstrellaInsurance a little bit farther.

Many of these insurance compa-nies here have been selling liability poli-cies for years to immigrant motoristswho want to be covered in case of an ac-cident. In the absence of a license, theimmigrants want to have proof of insur-ance should they be cited for a traffic in-fraction and wind up in court.

Alfonso Garcia, a criminal attor-ney, has represented hundreds of im-migrants who have had to explain toLas Vegas judges why they don’t havea valid driver’s license. Many timesthat proof-of-insurance card brings le-niency, not only from the traffic copbut also from the judge.

“We’re talking about people whoare already on the radar for being in thecountry illegally,” he said. “The lastthing they want to do is get stopped andnot have proof of insurance.”

Mostly, Garcia said, the judges ac-commodate them by reducing chargesand fines for first-time offenders. “Theyknow that just about any of us can getcited for a traffic infraction, and so theygive them a chance,” he said. “Just likethey’d give you or me a chance.”

But because they are living in thecountry illegally, it can be difficult toproduce a driver’s license without firstproducing proof of legal residency.This fact has led some offenderstrekking across state lines to apply fordriver’s licenses in the more lenientstates, such as Oregon, Washingtonand New Mexico.

“But all that’s about to change,”Garcia said. “Now every thing will beabove board with the new law, and thejudges are hip to that.”

New Nevada Driver Authorization Cards Allow Legal Driving, Insurance Has Been Available


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It’s easy as a shop owner to get socaught up in day-to-day operations thatit can be a challenge to follow just thenews directly affecting collision re-pairers.

But there’s plenty of insurance-re-lated news that shops also shouldknow about, because it can help themeducate their customers, market theirbusiness, and maybe even alter howthey vote or shop for insurance them-selves.

Insurer pushes for more alternativepartsAs of this year, The Hartford is nowrequiring its direct repair shops to use“any appropriate alternative part whenit is available” regardless of the age ormileage of the vehicle being repaired.

A memo from Bethany Siddall,director of auto claims for The Hart-ford, tells shops the new policy is sub-ject to state law, and that any salvageparts still must be of the same modelyear or newer than the vehicle beingrepaired. But unless prohibited by statelaw, the new mandate means availablenon-OEM parts must be used even oncurrent model year vehicles.

“Keep in mind that each claimshould be handled on an individualbasis and any variance from this stan-dard should be clearly documented inthe claim file,” Siddall’s memo states.

State Farm encouraging weldingtraining, certification. When I-CARannounced a new lower pricing struc-ture for its welding qualification test-ing (now called Welding Training andCertification) early this year, it also an-nounced that State Farm negotiated adiscount for its Select Service shops aswell. The announced continues StateFarm’s track record of encouraging butnot mandating certain training require-ments on its direct repair shops.

“We believe welding proficiencybenefits State Farm policyholders byproviding quality repairs to policy-holder vehicles,” Russ Hoffbauer, di-rector of property and casualty claimsfor State Farm, said. “While partici-pating in the I-CAR Welding Trainingand Certification is not mandatory forSelect Service repairers, we anticipatethat repairers will be eager to take ad-vantage of this unique opportunity.”

Tardy insurance regulation reportissued by the feds. Nearly two yearsafter it was due, a new report releasedby the Federal Insurance Office in De-cember concludes more federal regu-lation of some aspects of insurance isneeded. Rather than debating federal-vs. state-oversight of insurance, the re-port suggests a hybrid approach, withfederal involvement where beneficialin an otherwise state-based system.

Most of the federal regulationsuggested in the report deals withmortgage insurance and internationalinsurance issues, but it also calls foroversight of personal lines in terms ofpractices related to risk-profilinggroups and individuals based on per-sonal information.

Insurer groups were generallypleased with the report’s support formore consistent state-based regulationof the industry but were more skepticalof its call for more federal involvement.

State insurance regulator group in up-heaval

At the same timewhen increasedfederal oversightof the insuranceindustry is beingproposed, the asso-ciation of state in-surance regulatorsappears to be hav-

ing internal conflicts. Connecticut In-surance Commissioner Tom Leonardiis calling for an outside firm to con-duct a corporate-governance review ofthe National Association of InsuranceCommissioners (NAIC), questioningwhat he sees as poor decisions by thegroup’s executive committee and whathe called NAIC’s “imperial presi-dency.”

Leonardi cited as one example thedecision by last year’s president,Kevin McCarty of Florida, “to givethe Federal Insurance Office one of theNAIC’s three seats on the InternationalAssociation of Insurance SupervisorsExecutive Committee.” He was alsocritical of some insurance commis-sioners’ decision to turn down an invi-tation to meet with President Obama.

“This could be so bad that itmight be the pivotal point we later rec-

ognize that doomed state-based regu-lation. Talk about a self-inflictedwound,” Washington CommissionerMike Kreidler is quoted in the letter.

Leonardi said “cronyism” and the“undue influence of two former [un-named] commissioners,” is undermin-

ing the NAIC andgives fodder tothose who question“whether we are upto the task of regu-lating the largestinsurance marketin the world.”Other state insur-

ance commissioners have raised simi-lar concerns but believe the NAICneeds to attempt to address the issuesinternally before seeking the outside re-view that Leonardi wants.

State enacts new deductible rules.Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett inDecember signed a new law that al-lows insurers to offer zero-deductible

auto policies? Previous state law re-quired a deductible of at least $100.The legislation also drops the currentmandate that policyholders selecting adeductible below $500 acknowledge inwriting that they recognize that “alower deductible means a higher pre-mium.”

Insurer offers telematics as a way forparents to track teen driversEsurance says parents in 39 states whohave installed its DriveSafe telematicsdevice on their vehicle can now pairthe device with their teenage driver’scell phone to limit (on some phonebrands) texting or other use of thephone while the car is in motion. Thesystem also allows parents to monitora teen’s driving behaviors includingroutes taken, speeding, hard braking ordriving past curfew.

Esurance says the information isnot shared with the insurer nor is itused to determine premiums.


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Shops Can Put News and Trends Related To Auto Insurers To Good Use

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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

Tom Corbett

Tom Leonardi

consolidators and multi-shop opera-tors (MSOs). Many MSOs are ac-tively buying other shops, leavingindependent shops feeling that theycan’t compete and providing an es-cape route for shop owners who areexasperated with the current state ofthe industry.

Of course, the still impoverishedstate of the economy comes with itsown set of problems which also neg-atively impact repairers. Finally, thefact that people are driving less andwinters have been milder in recentyears leading to fewer accidents alsoaffects some shops’ business. Overall,Eversman believes there is “a conflu-ence of things impacting repairersthat they don’t have much controlover.”

Fortunately, there are some pre-emptive measures that shops can taketo protect themselves from some ofthese problems.

Stay tuned to Autobody News fora future series on key documentationthat every shop should consider uti-lizing.

Farm presumably seeks new shops inthe Fort Wayne area to join SelectService.

IABA continues to monitor thesituation closely. In October, Missis-sippi’s John Mosely and Lloyd Bushattended IABA’s meeting to discussPartsTrader, and this topic will cer-tainly be pursued at the association’snext meeting. Members of IABA in-clude shops that opted out, as well asthose who stayed on Select Service.

Hartman thinks “it’s really coolto see so many Fort Wayne shopssticking together. This is a really com-petitive area, and it’s amazing to seethese shops supporting one another.I’ve never seen such solidarity.”

State Farm’s has issued the fol-lowing response: “Repairers who wantto leave our Select Service programcan inform State Farm and removethemselves. We are aware that some re-pairers in the Ft. Wayne area have re-cently done that. Our priority is tocontinue to meet the needs of our cus-tomers in the Ft. Wayne area, and wecontinue to do all we can to do that.”

Insurance exec a big, big winnerIra Curry, a 56-year-old vice presi-dent for property-casualty in the At-lanta office of Aspen Insurance, wasone of two winners in December’sMega Millions $636 million jackpot.An Aspen spokesman said Curry hadtaken a leave from the company “todisappear with family for a while.”Curry took the lump-sum cash option,walking away with about $120 mil-lion after taxes.

Insurer to offer policies in anotherstatePennsylvania-based Erie InsuranceGroup will expand into Kentucky, its13th state, by early next year. Erie isthe 15th largest personal auto insurerin the country, although nearly half ofits premiums are from insureds in itshome state.

Idea of city-owned insurer debatedAn editorial in the Detroit News urgedMayor-elect Michael Duggan to drophis idea of starting a city-owned autoinsurance company.

Duggan first raised the idea last fallwhile campaigning to become Detroit’snext mayor. Detroit residents by some es-timates have the highest auto insurance

rates of any city in the country, leadingsome residents to use suburban addresseswhen buying auto insurance. Duggansaid his own auto insurance rates doubledwhen he moved from nearby Livonia towithin the city limits of Detroit.

The newspaper says Dugganshould not take on such a risky en-

deavor but shouldinstead focus onefforts to curtailauto thefts and tolobby the state forreform of the no-fault system. Oneclaim in the edito-rial surely caught

the eye of collision repairers.“If Duggan believes he can lower

premiums by taking the profit out ofinsurance, he’s in for an awakening,”the editorial states. “There is no profitin auto insurance, (Peter) Kuhnmuench(executive director of the Insurance In-stitute of Michigan), says.”

John Yoswick is also the editor ofthe weekly CRASH Network (for afree 4-week trial subscription, visitwww.CrashNetwork.com). He can becontacted by email at:[email protected].


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Shops Opt OutContinued from Page 15

Erica Eversman

conditions are maintained: the speci-fied current, conductivity time, weldingpressure, holding time, and shutdowntime recommended for spot welder.Follow the spot welder manufacturer'sinstructions.

MIG brazing specifications

• MIG brazing machine with pulsecontroller• Wire: CuSi3• Shielding gas: Argon gas (100%)

NOTE:• For details about correct brazingcurrent and voltage, refer to the equip-ment manufacturer’s recommenda-tions.• MIG welding/brazing: Metal inert gaswelding or brazing where 100% Argon(Ar) shielding gas is used. Argon isinert and does not react with themolten weld pool or brazing operation.

Brazing hole sizeFor joining, or brazing of stiffener(340 and 980 MPa) and the high-strength steel (1500 MPa) parts: Drilltwo holes φ8 mm (0.31 in) in about 10mm (0.39 in) pitch.

For joining, or brazing of outerpanel (270 MPa) and the high-strengthsteel (1500 MPa) parts: Drill one holeφ8 mm (0.31 in) at the outer panel.

As I previously mentioned, let’s talkwelding machines.

I purchased a Prospot SP5 after test-ing it at the SEMA show.

This is the 5 in one welder. Youcan MIG Steel, MIG Weld Braze,MIG aluminum, TIG steel and arc

weld all in one machine. It is a 220volt single phase machine that ispulsed. It is a very user friendly andthe welds that are produced are amaz-ing. This machine is overkill for thebody shop. Prospot has the same ma-chine, but with 2 guns (steel, alu-minum or MIG braze—your choice).It is about 25 percent cheaper and I

would highly recommend this unit.You can go to Prospot.com and clickon the SP welder for a video demon-stration of this welder. Now to the ac-tual replacement of the center pillarand rocker reinforcement.


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This diagram is taken from the 2013/2014 Honda Body Repair Manual. It is located in the GeneralDescription under Roof and Side Panel 4 Door Construction

This legend is also found on the same page as the diagram. Note that part number 6 isconstructed of 3 different metal strengths

You will note that there are 3 spot welds (590 steel)welded to reinforcement on the inside of thevehicle along with 4 spot welds

Center Pillar Stiffener Completea: Upper Stiffener [1.8 (0.071)] 1500 —

b: Lower Stiffener [1.8 (0.071)] 590 —

c: Center Pillar Reinforcement [1.8 (0.071)] 980


Hey Toby!

Welding SymbolsPlate spot welding

Plate spot welding

Plate spot welding

MAG plug welding

MAG welding

MIG brazing

L= Welding length unit: mm (in)( ) and ( )*: The number of welds

You will note that the upper and lower out sec-tions of the reinforcement are MIG weld braze

11. From the passenger’s compartment, weld thecenter inner pillar (A) and the roof side rail (B)

You will note that there are 3 spot welds (590steel)welded to reinforcement on the inside ofthe vehicle along with 4 spot welds

1. When replacing the center pillar lower stiff-ener (A) only, weld it to the center pillar rein-forcement (B) and the center pillar upperstiffener (C).( )*: Welding positions with 590 MPa or higherparts. Confirm the plug welding specifications.(■)*: Welding positions with the center pillarupper stiffener (1500 MPa parts). Confirm thespot welding and the MIG brazing specifications

Appointed by Governor Edmund G.Brown, Jr. effective November 8,2013, Patrick Dorais is the new Chiefof the Bureau of Automotive Repair(BAR). In this position, he oversees alloperational matters, including licens-ing and enforcement activities and theadministration of the Smog CheckProgram.

Dorais served as BAR DeputyChief of Smog Check Operations, En-gineering, Research Administrationand Consumer Assistance Divisionfrom 2007 to 2013 and has been work-ing in government in some capacitysince 1986, with a focus on consumerrights.

ABN: What have you learned aboutthe job that you didn’t know initiallywithin your first two months in the po-sition?PD: As Deputy Chief, my focus wasthe administration of the Smog CheckProgram. Since my appointment asChief, I have learned more aboutBAR’s other programs and objectivesthat are aimed at ensuring a fair andcompetitive automotive repair market-place for California consumers. I’vealso learned that we have a great num-

ber of qualified and professional peo-ple her at the BAR that are committedto promoting consumer protection andthe automotive repair industry. I’mhonored to work with these individualsand appreciate their dedication tomaintaining BAR’s mission and val-

ues. Lastly, I’velearned that al-though our stake-holders come fromvarying perspec-tives, we all sharein the same objec-tive –to provideconsumers withquality automotive

repair services.

ABN: In this position, you’re oversee-ing 600 people; an annual operatingbudget of approximately $200 millionand a statewide network of 12 field of-fices. It’s an enormous responsibility,so where do you begin? Are you plan-ning on making significant changesand if so, what will they be?PD: I was involved in the developmentof BAR’s current Strategic Plan, whichidentifies our organization’s goals andobjectives for the next four years. This

plan provides an effective frameworkthat I will follow to oversee and upholdthe services and programs we provideand to make any necessary improve-ments or changes. I believe in the oldadage if it ain't broke, don’t fix it. Wehave a solid plan to follow and we willmake adjustments as necessary to re-flect the interests of consumers andother stakeholders. I also believe insurrounding yourself with good peopleand hiring dedicated staff to get the jobdone right. I used this approach whenappointing Dan Povey as Deputy Chiefof Field Operations and Enforcementand will do the same to fill the vacan-cies for Deputy Chief of Smog CheckOperations and Deputy Chief of Con-sumer Assistance, Licensing and Ad-ministrative Support Programs.

ABN: When I talk to body shops inCalifornia, they feel like many illegaloperators stay off your radar andthereby continue to do shady work.How would you respond to this claim?PD: This issue is something we con-tinue to address, but we can’t do italone. We encourage any shop that sus-pects unlicensed activity to contacttheir local BAR field office and reporttheir concerns so we can investigatethese issues.

ABN: Midnight Body Shops who aren’tlicensed and operating under the radarstill seem to exist in considerable num-bers, according to body shop ownersI’ve polled. How has the BAR dealtwith shady shops and how can they bestopped?PD: BAR utilizes two enforcement

paths for unregistered shops. First, reg-ulations for issuing citations took effectin October 2011, and BAR regularly is-sues citations to unlicensed facilitiesunder this authority. Second, BAR con-tinuously fosters relationships with dis-trict attorneys throughout the state inan effort to create support for criminaland civil filings against unlicensed fa-cilities.

In addition, BAR is exploring anindustry suggestion to require in regu-lation that providers of automotive re-pair services publish their registrationnumbering all advertisements. Thiswill further enhance BAR’s ability toidentify those who are engaged in un-licensed activity.

ABN: When you’re encounteringshops breaking the law, how are theynormally doing it? And is it true that

most of your consumer complaints dealwith mechanical (rather than collision)issues?PD: The most common auto body vio-lation is failure to provide the parts orservices specified on the invoice.When looking at all auto repair com-plaint trends, the majority of com-plaints received by BAR involvemechanical issues. BAR categorizescomplaints by component or the typeof repair. Examples of this are AutoBody, Engine Repair, and AutomaticTransmission. The greatest percentageof complaints received fall under thesecategories.

ABN: Both of your predecessors triedto create a BAR that is a kinder andgentler organization. What is going tobe your approach to enforcement?PD: It’s all about balance and creatingan open line of communication withour registrants and licensees. We willeducate those who are trying to do theright thing to ensure they are in com-pliance. We will also exercise our en-forcement authority for those who aredeliberately harming the consumer ortrying to circumvent the law, andthereby undermining the operations ofthose who truly want to comply. I willensure that our enforcement team hasthe tools and resources they need to ap-propriately address these issues.

ABN: BAR’s Auto Body Inspectionprogram has gained a lot of exposureand I’ve received positive reportsabout it from people within the colli-sion industry. How many inspectionsdid the BAR conduct in 2013 and doyou plan to make any changes to it in2014?PD: In 2013, BAR conducted 104 no-cost auto body inspections. SinceBAR’s highest priority is to protect thepublic, we have set a goal to creategreater awareness of our consumerprograms and to promote increasedparticipation in the Auto Body Inspec-tion Program (Program). To meet thisgoal, BAR, with the assistance of theDepartment of Consumer Affairs(DCA), recently released a YouTubevideo to highlight the Program’s serv-ices. The video has been posted on var-ious social media sites and is availableon BAR’s Web site at: www.autore-pair.ca.gov.

ABN: Of the nearly 15,000 complaintsreceived every year, how many of theseare collision repair-related and how


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Meet California’s NEW BAR Chief, Patrick Dorais

Patrick Dorais

many of these are acted on?PD: Auto body related complaints typ-ically account for approximately 10%of all complaints BAR receives. BARinvestigates all complaints receivedand contacts the consumer to docu-ment their concerns and obtain thefinal invoice before performing an in-spection of the vehicle. BAR addressesany deficiencies identified during theinspection with the shop that per-formed the repairs.

ABN: What are your top three priori-ties overall?PD: Consumer protection is alwaysparamount. We need to get back tothe basics of what we do well, whichis promoting and protecting the inter-ests of California consumers. Overthe past few years, our efforts havebeen focused on several side projectsthat have diverted our attention fromour main objectives. We will renewour consumer focus and ensure thesuccess of our programs, which in-clude the Auto Body Inspection Pro-gram and the rollout of the newOn-Board Diagnostic Inspection Sys-tem (OIS).

Collaboration is also a top prior-ity. BAR does not have all the answerson the best methods for consumer pro-

tection and proper regulation of the au-tomotive repair industry. We want towork with all stakeholders, includingthose inside and outside of our organi-zation, to continue to be a leader in theautomotive repair industry. To do this,we have also prioritized communica-tion and consistency. We strive for reg-ulatory consistency and want to dogovernment in a way where all partieshave a voice and can participate.

ABN: Another of your predecessor’sstated goals was to embrace the tech-nologies available to you to be more ef-fective, including updating your Website and using the Internet/Intranet tomore effectively communicate and dis-seminate relevant information morequickly. How will you continue in thisarea and what changes are you plan-ning technologically?PD: The BAR uses various approachesto disseminate program specific andgeneral information, including Face-book, Twitter, YouTube, news releases,Webcasts, regulatory workshops, pub-lic meetings, publications, and mailinglists. Our public Web site is the mosteffective and comprehensive sourceused to communicate information toconsumers, licensees, and interestedparties. Information provided to con-

sumers includes on-line services tofind Smog Check stations and automo-tive repair dealers and to verify the sta-tus of licenses and registrations,

Smog Check and vehicle main-tenance assistance, outreach and edu-cational information, and disputeresolution and complaint reportingmaterials. Web tools provided toSmog Check technicians, lamp andbrake adjustors, and stations includeinformation on licensing, training,and program updates.

A complete revision to our publicWeb site is currently underway and isplanned for release in mid-2014. Therevised Web site will be more user-friendly for both consumers and indus-try and will include relevant andup-to-date information about BARprograms.

The Web site will feature acleaner look-and-feel and will have aconsumer focus to ensure that impor-tant information is easily accessibleand understood by the general public.

The BAR is also consideringelectronic certificates for lamp andbrake inspections. This process is stillunder consideration and would replacethe current paper certificate with anelectronic certificate similar to those is-sued for Smog Check inspections.


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AAIA Releases 67 page 2013 Digital Collision RepairTrends Report with Analysis of Whole IndustryThe Automotive Aftermarket Indus-try Association (AAIA) has releasedthe 2013 Digital Collision RepairTrends report, an online 67-page de-scriptive analysis of data compiledfrom primary AAIA research, federalgovernment and independent re-search data sources. The report high-lights the size and scope of the U.S.collision industry, including thepaint, body and equipment (PBE) af-termarket, with a brief analysis of theCanadian collision industry. It alsoincludes analyses of factors influ-encing the collision industry, auto-motive collision insurance coverageand the Direct Repair Program(DRP).

According to this year’s report,collision repair-related sales by af-termarket repair shops grew 2.3 per-cent in 2012 to $39.7 billion. Thisgrowth was driven by several factorssuch as increased number of regis-tered vehicles, increased road con-gestion causing a higher frequency ofaccidents per year and the increasedcollision repair cost per vehicle.Powered by Nxtbook Media LLC™,this digital publication retains boththe traditional design and high qual-ity content of AAIA reports. This on-

line production provides added valuewith many new functional enhance-ments. Users can:● Download Excel-based files,charts, tables and graphs that can becopied and pasted for presentations.● Turn pages with the click of amouse.● View pages in a variety of sizesand formats.● Quickly locate what you are look-ing for through a “word search” fea-ture.● Save material for future referencethrough the “bookmarks” feature.● Print the entire publication.

Copies of the new 2013 DigitalCollision Repair Trends report arenow available—cost is $125 forAAIA members and $250 for non-members. To order, visit www.after-market.org and click “MarketIntelligence,” or call AAIA marketintelligence at 301-654-6664.

OSHA’s New ResourcesOn October 24, 2013, the Occu-pational Safety and Health Ad-ministration (OSHA) initiated twonew internet resources to assistemployers in better protectingtheir employees from exposure tohazardous chemicals. These ini-tiatives do not create new manda-tory standards, but rather provideemployers with resources thatOSHA hopes will encourage com-panies to voluntarily adopt saferpolicies regarding hazardouschemicals. According to OSHA,these new resources are neededbecause many of its standards areout-of-date and fail to adequatelyprotect workers from exposure tohazardous chemicals.

One of the new internet re-sources is a toolkit that identifiessafer chemicals that can be used inplace of more hazardous chemicals.This toolkit can be found at:http://www.osha.gov/dsg/safer_chemicals/index.html.

OSHA also created AnnotatedPermissible Exposure Limit tables(annotated PEL tables), which listmore stringent exposure limits forchemicals. The annotated PEL ta-bles can be found at:http://www.osha.gov/dsg/anno-tated-pels/index.html.

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Ford Motor Co. has named ChiefAutomotive Technologies and Elek-tron approved collision repairequipment suppliers for the 2015 F-150 pickup truck. Ford’s F-Serieshas been America’s best-selling ve-hicle for more than 30 years.

To improve fuel economy, Fordhas significantly redesigned the F-150 to replace the vehicle’s tradi-tional steel body panels and bedwith military-grade aluminum. Fordhas also increased the amount ofhigh-strength steel in the new F-150’s frame from 23 percent to 77percent. Properly restoring an alu-minum collision-damaged vehicleto pre-accident condition requiresnew repair methods and equipment.Recognizing this, Ford has added anumber of Chief and Elektron prod-ucts to its Rotunda Dealer Equip-ment program and is encouraging itsdealers to invest in the proper equip-ment and training before the 2015F-150 hits the showrooms later thisyear.

“Chief has the largest installedbase of structural repair equipmentin North America and is a long-timeFord-approved supplier,” says MikeCranfill, vice president of collisionfor Vehicle Service Group (VSG),

parent company of the Chief andElektron brands. “In fact, more than60 percent of Ford dealers withbody shops currently rely on Chiefequipment every day. We haveworked closely with Ford to de-velop a dedicated new structuralholding package and target attach-ments for the 2015 F-150 that willfunction seamlessly with dealers’existing Chief frame racks andmeasuring systems. We are also pro-viding a full range of Elektronwelders designed specifically foraluminum repair.”

In addition to the Chief frameracks, LaserLock™ live mapping™system and Elektron spot weldersthat are already available to Forddealers through the Rotunda DealerEquipment program, Ford has ap-proved the following F-150 specialtools:● Chief Structural Holding with F-150 Kit, Complete (part #128-3000001)● Chief F-150 Holding Kit (part#128-300002)● Chief Deluxe Chain and Clamp-ing Package with Rolling Cart (part#128-619205)

Chief Collet Style Target At-tachment Set for Non-Ferrous Vehi-

cle Openings (part #128-540-200)● Elektron MultiMig 511 Welderwith Standard Torch (part #128-EL900011)● Elektron MultiMig 511 Welderwith Push-Pull Torch (part # 128-EL900012)● Elektron MultiMig 522 DualTorch Welder Complete with Stan-dard and Push-Pull Torch (part#128-EL900010)● Elektron MultiTool AluminumDent Repair Station (part #128-EL930001)

Chief will also introduce newtraining through Chief Universitylater this year that will cover properaluminum repair methods to helptechnicians prepare to work on thenew F-150.

“Our Chief and Elektron tech-nical experts are working with theRotunda team to help dealers ensurethey are ready to properly repair thenew 2015 F-150 as soon as it goeson sale,” Cranfill says. “We canequip them with the training, toolsand equipment they need tosmoothly transition to aluminum ve-hicle repair.”

See www.chiefautomotive.comor call (800) 445-9262.

Ford Approves Chief and Elektron Equipment for 2015 F-150 Repairs

State Farm and I-CAR Partner on New WeldingInitiative, Easy Registration, Reduced PricesState Farm Insurance has teamedwith I-CAR and invites all of its Se-lect Service repairers to participatein I-CAR’s Welding Training & Cer-tification program throughout 2014.This initiative supports State Farm’scommitment to training that will en-able its repairers to perform properwelds that yield quality repairs.

The program offers Select Serv-ice businesses the opportunity to eas-ily register for welding trainingdirectly through a provided link ontheir websites, at newly reduced pricelevels. Russ Hoffbauer, P&C Claimsdirector from State Farm, explain,“We believe welding proficiencybenefits State Farm policyholders byproviding quality repairs to policy-holder vehicles. While participatingin the I-CAR Welding Certification isnot mandatory for Select Service re-pairers, we anticipate that repairerswill be eager to take advantage of thisunique opportunity.”

Repairers who participate in I-CAR’s Welding Training & Certifica-tion program will find they benefitfrom an assessment of shop infrastruc-ture and equipment that includescoaching and trouble- shooting, ensur-ing readiness for a successful training

event. Once a shop passes the assess-ment, each student in class will receivepersonal instruction, have the ability topractice on the equipment that they usein-shop every day, then apply theirskills and demonstrate through a certi-fication test that they have a confirmedlevel of welding skills.

“I commend State Farm forworking with I-CAR to develop thisinitiative that supports the industry’sneed to better prepare repairers forthe welding required today and in thefuture,” states I-CAR CEO & presi-dent John Van Alstyne.

For more information on I-CARcourses, visit www.i-car.com.

Auto Glass Techs are taking notethat the new F-150 has an aluminumpinchweld and that the manufac-turer uses Dow urethane. Alu-minum/galvanic corrosion may be aconcern when replacing the wind-shield on these vehicles.

Ford has done their researchand knows how to bond the glass tothe body without causing corrosion.The company’s paint procedures aresuch the coating will protect the alu-minum from oxidation. What hap-pens when repairers get the vehiclefor glass replacement? What pre-cautions must we take to protect thevehicle from premature corrosion?What products must we use to avoiddissimilar metal interaction?

Dale Malcolm from Dow saysthat the key to reduce galvanic cor-rosion is to “clean and seal thescratch as soon as possible, espe-cially with aluminum.”

His product Betaseal™ 5504GAll-In-One Primer is the company’sanswer to sealing the scratch. Dale’ssuggestion for the best results is toseal the scratch immediately. Thelonger the scratch is exposed tooxygen the more prepping the techmust do.

New F-150 Has AluminumPinchweld, Precautions

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Studies and data suggest that driversneed to pay more attention to the taskof driving to avoid accidents. Ac-cording to a recent study, simplybeing “lost in thought” amounted to62 percent of the distractions listed asa cause of a fatal automobile accident.The report indicates that roughly 10percent of fatal traffic accidents in-volve at least one driver who is dis-tracted. This amounts to about 6,500people killed each year. Cellphoneusage of all types placed second atabout 12 percent in the study. This in-cludes both talking on the phone aswell as texting and dialing. Usingother devices, such as navigationtools, was ranked as being a factor intwo percent of fatal accidents as wasadjusting the climate control or audiosystems. Other major factors includebeing distracted by the scenery orpeople outside the vehicle, which ac-counted for seven percent of acci-dents, and conversing withpassengers, which was listed in fivepercent of accidents. More minorcauses include consuming foods orliquids, adjusting car controls, smok-ing, moving pets and even swattinginsects. These factors were found inabout two percent of the incidents.

Daydreaming Tops List ofCrash-Causing Distractions

Beware Hole-in-One GolfInsurance ScamsAutobody Associations planninggolf events with hole in one prizesneed to watch out for potentialphony insurance scams. A Con-necticut man pleaded guilty inWashington state to two counts ofselling insurance without a licenseand one count of first-degree theftafter insuring golf tournamenthole-in-one prizes and failing topay.

Kevin Kolenda, 55, of Nor-walk, Conn., could spend up tothree months in jail when sen-tenced. He must also pay up to$35,000 in restitution. Kolendastarted his business in 1995 underthe name Golf Marketing. It wentthrough several name changes, in-cluding Golf Marketing Worldwide,Golf Marketing Inc., Hole-in-Won.com and its current name,Hole-in-Won.com Worldwide. Hehas a satellite office in Rye, NY.

Kolenda has been accused sev-eral times of insurance tournamentsand failing to pay hole-in-one win-ners in several states, includingMontana, Ohio, Georgia, Califor-nia, New York, Hawaii, Alabama,Massachusetts, Florida, Connecti-cut and North Carolina.

Ford’s Best Selling F-150 Gets Lighter and TougherIn what many industry analysts con-sider a risky move for Ford, and oth-ers consider a transformative moment,the company is rolling the dice on thepickup line, America’s best-sellingtruck for 37 years and its best-sellingvehicle for 32.

The 2015 F-150 will be substan-tially lighter due to extensive use of alu-minum and more high strength steels.Aluminum alloys are used throughoutthe F-150 body for the first time, as thetruck slims down by up to 700 pounds.

The lighter body then allows othercomponents such as fuel tanks, brakesand powertrains to also shrink, all whilemaintaining or improving driving per-formance and fuel economy, accordingto companies involved, including Alcoaand Novelis Inc.

“This is already the most signifi-cant debut at the auto show,” said JoeLangley, a production analyst for re-searcher IHS Automotive. “Especiallysince Ford will be taking such a biggamble.”

Ford engineers increased the use ofhigh-strength 70,000-psi steel—from 23percent to 77 percent of the frame—toimprove stiffness and durability whilereducing weight. The new frame is up to60 pounds lighter than the current frame.“The frame is the backbone of the

truck, and we delivered a frame that isstronger and more capable than be-fore,” said John Caris, F-150 leadframe engineer. “Our frame team de-veloped exclusive, industry-first engi-neering techniques to create a truckfoundation that is lighter without sacri-ficing toughness. This F-150 frame isthe toughest we have ever built.”

Ford engineers also increased theuse of advanced materials in the F-150 body.

“Our objective was to find mate-rials that allowed us to design the truckto be as tough or tougher than the cur-rent model, yet could help it be hun-dreds of pounds lighter for bettercapability and fuel economy,” said PeteFriedman of Ford manufacturing re-search. “Out of all the materials wetested, we carefully selected only cer-tain grades of aluminum that met ourhigh performance standards in all of ourtests, while allowing us to trim hun-dreds of pounds from the truck.”

The reduced weight of the high-strength, military-grade, aluminum al-loys enables the F-150 to tow and haulmore than ever while also improvingacceleration, braking and handling per-formance. Also, aluminum alloys willnot rust and are resistant to corrosion,helping enhance vehicle life.

Other Lightweights at the Detroit Auto ShowThe redesigned 2015 Ford F-150 andthe 2015 BMW M3 and M4 lead the“lightweight” movement at the 2014Detroit Auto Show.

The push for better fuel economyis helping to drive the movement to-ward lighter weight vehicles. Con-sumer demand for more content, suchas infotainment systems, leather seatsand larger wheels, adds more weight tothe car. Automakers are then underpressure to cut weight elsewherethroughout the body of a vehicle inorder to improve fuel efficiency. Thisnew diet requires new materials such asaluminum, magnesium and carbonfiber, as every pound counts.

The estimated 700 lb weight lossin Ford’s best-selling truck helps thevehicle to “tow more, haul more, ac-celerate quicker and stop shorter,”while “contributing to efficiency,” Fordsaid on Monday. The EPA has not yetpublished fuel economy numbers onthe 2015 F-150.

BMW said its 2015 BMW M4Coupe has a curb weight of around3,300 pounds, “thanks to the rigorousapplication of intelligent lightweightdesign measures.” This reflects aweight savings of around 176 poundsover a comparably equipped previousmodel, according to the automaker.

The weight was reduced throughthe increased use of lightweight mate-rials, such as carbon-fiber-reinforcedplastic and aluminum on a number ofchassis and body components. The2015 BMW M3 and M4 feature a car-bon roof.

Another car in the BMW lineupalso puts the emphasis on light weight.The electric 2014 BMW i3 features abody made of carbon fiber. The au-tomaker says this super-light vehiclegets more miles on a charge than itscompetitors.

An all-aluminum body and chas-sis let Land Rover shave about 800pounds off the 2014 Range RoverSport.

The 2014 Chevrolet CorvetteStingray, which debuted at the 2013Detroit Auto Show, features light-weight materials, including an alu-minum frame, carbon-fiber hood anda removable roof panel on coupes.

Edmunds.com said: As this trendpicks up speed, “lightweight” is be-coming a major marketing point, agood thing for car shoppers concernedabout fuel economy.



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Hyundai and Kia saw their com-bined global sales rise 6 percent to6.9 million vehicles from Januaryto November 2013 from a year ear-lier. The companies said that theyare on track to sell more than 7.5million vehicles globally this year,higher than their earlier target of7.41 million vehicles. Hyundai andKia rank fifth in global vehiclesales, and expect a tough year in2014 as Japanese and European au-tomakers are seen acceleratingcompetition and the United Statesand Chinese markets slow. In theUS, Hyundai’s sales are up 2 per-cent this year through Novemberwhile volume has declined 3 per-cent at Kia in an overall market thathas expanded 8 percent. Solid salesgains in emerging markets likeChina and Brazil outweighed slow-ing sales in the United States andSouth Korea where Hyundai andKia have underperformed rivalspartly due to aging models. Lastyear, Hyundai and Kia sold a com-bined 7.1 million vehicles.

Hyundai, Kia Expect to Top2013 Global Vehicle Sales

CCC Information Services Inc.(CCC) announced on Jan. 7 the ac-quisition of Auto Injury Solutions,Inc. (AIS), formerly a division ofHumana Inc. The transaction bringstogether CCC with AIS, the onlynational, full-service provider ofauto injury medical review solu-tions. “We’re thrilled to welcomeMatt Elges and his team to the CCCfamily. The acquisition of AIS is animportant step in the continued ex-ecution of our strategy to expandinto adjacent segments in order tobetter service the auto claims mar-ket,” said Githesh Ramamurthy,Chairman and CEO of CCC. “To-gether, our platform will be able toleverage proven technology, ad-vanced data analytics and world-class customer service to providecustomers with an array of solu-tions.”

Elges said, “The combinationof CCC and AIS represents a strongstrategic fit that will enable us to ex-pand our reach and leverage ourcollective strengths in developinginnovative new solutions for ourcustomers.

CCC Acquires Auto InjurySolutions Inc.

The National Automotive ServiceTask Force (NASTF) reportedthat the Chrysler Group LLC isregistering diagnostic softwareand tools in both dealerships andaftermarket shops to ensure au-thenticity when servicing cus-tomer’s vehicles. NASTF wasmade aware of this from Chryslerin response to a question NASTFhad asked on this topic. Licenseregistration has been in use bymany OEMs for some time, but inthe near future, unregisteredChrysler tools will not operate.Soon, the wiTECH software willshow a warning to users whosedevices do not hold a valid regis-tration. Registration of theChrysler tool is free, assuming theuser has paid the yearly licensefee. A Chrysler spokesperson toldNASTF that approximately 80–90% of known users have alreadyregistered their device. Later in2014, Chrysler will no longerallow unregistered users to oper-ate their wiTECHs. The other af-fected group will be users ofclones of the wiTECH VCI.

Chrysler Seeks Registrationof Diagnostic Software

Sales of vehicles able to drivethemselves will account forabout 9 percent of global autosales in about two decades, ac-cording to a forecast publishedthis month by auto industry con-sultant IHS Automotive. Thestudy focused on autonomouscars, which can drive with “noattention needed by the driver,”IHS analyst Egil Juliussen said.Such cars are not currentlyavailable for sale, but IHS pre-dicts they will be availablearound 2025. IHS expects globalsales of self-driving cars in 2025to be 230,000—less than 1 per-cent of the 115 million cars ex-pected to be sold that year. Butby 2035, sales of self-drivingcars will reach 11.8 million, or 9percent of the 129 million globalauto sales expected that year,Juliussen said. Most of thosesales will be in well-establishedauto markets such as the UnitedStates, western Europe andJapan. The pace of growth forself-driving cars will exceedthat of electric cars, which havebeen hobbled by the high cost ofbatteries, Juliussen said.

Study Estimates 9% of Carswill be Self-Driving by 2035

As of January 1, 2014, thirteen stateswill raise the minimum wage forworkers. In Arizona ($7.90 per hour),Colorado [pdf] ($8.00 per hour), Con-necticut [pdf] ($8.70 per hour),Florida [pdf] ($7.93 per hour), Mis-souri ($7.50 per hour), Montana($7.90 per hour), New Jersey ($8.25per hour), New York ($8.00 per hour),Ohio ($7.95 per hour), Oregon [pdf]($9.10 per hour), Rhode Island ($8.00per hour), Vermont [pdf] ($8.73 perhour), and Washington ($9.32 perhour), workers will see an increase.All employers in these states need todisplay updated posters with the newstate minimum wage as required bystate law. Additionally, California’sminimum wage will increase to $9.00per hour on July 1, 2014. The Federalminimum wage remains unchanged at$7.25 per hour. However, if yourworkers are in a state that has a mini-mum wage above the Federal rate,you must pay workers the higher rate.

14 States to Increase theMinimum Wage in 2014

North American car and truck pro-duction reached an estimated 16.6million units in 2013, up 4 percent.That would mark the first timesince 2005 that production sur-passed 16 million units. Mexicanplants are expected to have pro-duced a record number of vehiclesin 2013, an estimated 3,071,000units, topping 2012’s record of3,020,404.

Several manufacturers’ NorthAmerican totals are expected tosurpass records set in 2012. Honda,Hyundai-Kia, Nissan and Toyotaall had record producing years in2013, but BMW, Subaru, Volkswa-gen and AutoAlliance—the Ford-Mazda joint venture—producedfewer units in 2013 than in 2012.

While Canada built over 2.4million vehicles in 2012, that num-ber is expected to drop to 1.8 mil-lion by 2020. Since 2010, automakers have invested $42 billion inmanufacturing. The biggest de-clines in Canada are expected tocome at GM and Chrysler.

North American Car & TruckProduction Hits 16.6M Units

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