Se 1113 issue web

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

In July 2013, Michael Bradshaw, VPof Operations at K&M Collision inHickory, NC, was victorious in a court-ordered arbitration against Nationwidefor a short-pay lawsuit filed on behalfof a body shop customer. We wanted toknow what’s happened since.

The underpayments were deter-mined to be reasonable and necessaryrepair costs, but the problem contin-ues as Bradshaw reports that this issueis an ongoing and common with sev-eral specific insurers, including Na-tionwide and GEICO.

Currently, Bradshaw is pursuingsix short-pay cases against Nationwide,three against GEICO, and one againstAllstate. Still, his pursuit of full pay-ment has not yet impacted these insur-ers’ practices. Bradshaw notes, “theycome out and refuse to pay for thesame things they just lost. Their atti-tude is ‘sue us again,’ and I do.”

On a positive note, Bradshawsays that some other insurers who areaware of his short-pay cases have“chosen to do the right thing and paythe full repair bill because they knowthey’ll get tied up in the same litiga-

See Bradshaw Shortpays, 4

by Ed Attanasio

Throughout the years, body shopsowners all over the country have runfor political office and institutedchanges at the local and national level.People have said that the skills accu-mulated while running a body shopcan easily transfer into politics. By ne-gotiating on a daily basis with insur-ance companies, coordinating literallythousands of details monthly andworking with a crew consisting of awide range of distinct personalities,collision professionals are well-suitedfor public office, according to DougConner, the owner of Conner Bros.Collision Centers in Richmond, VA.,an MSO consisting of four locations.

Conner, 69, started painting carswhen he was 17 and worked for localcar dealerships for roughly 15 years.He started his very own shop in 1976with the help of his wife Jean and hisbrother Donnie, another painter.

“I worked for another shop tolearn the business and then got thenerve to start my own,” Connerchuckled. “We signed a three-year

lease and werejust hoping to getsome cars in hereat the beginning.During the firstsix months, wedidn’t know if wewere coming orgoing, to be hon-est. Our originallocation was 3,000square feet. It wasa long building, soif we parked themside-by-side, wecould maybe get atotal of six cars in

the shop at one time. But, eventually,we saved about $10,000 and pur-chased some land close to our origi-nal shop. After our lease expired, webuilt our first shop. We never neededto borrow any money, which was veryfortunate.”

Today Conner is semi-retiredwith his two sons Kevin and Alanrunning his shops, after serving twoterms as a councilman of the ninth

Virginia Shop Owner Says Collision Repair isEasy Compared to Politics

NACE 2013 Proceeds As Expected, Eyes Turn to Revitalized Show in Detroit in 2014

See Collision v Politics, Page 18

Autobody News is Proud to Welcome Readers in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South CarolinaThis is our ASSOCIATIONS ISSUE covering local and national associations and regional events. See pp. 6, 17, 22, 24, 26, 38, 42, and 49.

MSO owner DougConner served twoterms as a council-man in Richmond,VA, and is proud ofthe things he didfor the city, even

though he ran intocomplacency and a

lot of red tape

NC Shop Won Short-Pay Arbitration in July,Have There Been Changes or Consequences?

To no one’s sur-prise, the 2013NACE exhibitionwas a downsizedevent from previ-ous years, but theLas Vegas-venuemay have been themost appropriatelaunching pad forwhat is expected tobe a revitalizedNACE event in De-troit next summer.

Attendance has been down forthe past three years, with a slight

uptick for the 2011 show in Orlando,FL. This year’s event saw another at-tendance dip, which ASA ExecutiveDirector Dan Risley says was ex-pected.

There were significant successesat the 2013 show such as a popularkeynote by industry veteran Mike An-derson and the MSO Symposiumwhich has been growing in atten-dance,

Mike Anderson kicked off the2013 NACE Expo with a keynotespeech entitled “The Future Is Not Setin Stone” at the Opening General Ses-sion/Collision Industry Forum.

Anderson’s familiar audience en-gagement techniques were on displayas he employed humor, moving per-sonal annecdotes, and even his

Tourette’s syndrome ticks, as modelsand metaphors for perseverance, unityand action in the industry.

See NACE 2013, Page 4

Mike Andersonbrought his trade-

mark mix of humor,experience, consul-tation, and evangel-

ism to the NACEkeynote address.

Southeast Edition

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Publisher & Editor: Jeremy HayhurstGeneral Manager: Barbara DaviesContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, Stefan Gesterkamp, John Yoswick, Janet Chaney,Toby Chess, Ed Attanasio, Chasidy SiskAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman, Bill Doyle, David Dawson (800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Louise TedescoArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

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AutoNation Chevrolet Coral Gables . 55BASF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 49Car Bench America. . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Car-Part Pro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Cavalier Ford-Lincoln Greenbrier . . 31Certified Automotive PartsAssociation (CAPA). . . . . . . . . . . 41

Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Crashmax Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Crown Automotive Group . . . . . . . . 16Crown Dodge of Fayetteville . . . . . . 4Dent Tools Direct USA . . . . . . . . . . 42DJS Fabrications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Don Reid Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . 18FIAT Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 32Ford Wholesale Parts DealersFL, GA, AL, MS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Forklift Wrecker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 53Gray-Daniels Auto Family . . . . . . . . . 5Gus Machado Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Hendrick BMW/MINI . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 28-29

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 48Intertape Polymer Group . . . . . . . . 30KBS Coatings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Kernersville Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram. 10Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 45Landers Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . 11Malco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Mercedes-Benz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Mercedes-Benz Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 49Mitchell International. . . . . . . . . . . . 15MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 33Nalley BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Nashville FIAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Nissan Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 52Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers . 53PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Rare Parts, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Roser’s Auto Solutions . . . . . . . . . . 12Safety Regulation Strategies . . . . . 26Sartorius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 35SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . 20Sherwin-Williams AutomotiveFinishes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 25

Southtowne Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . 34Spanesi Americas Inc . . . . . . . . . . . 21Subaru of Gwinnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 51Tameron Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44UniCure Spray Booths . . . . . . . . . . 56Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Walcom USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Inde

xofAdvertisers

ContentsREGIONAL

CARSTAR Opens First Shop in

Jacksonville, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Choice Autobody Repair Association

Advocates for Both Consumers

and Repairers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Independent Garage Owners of

North Carolina Pushes Ahead . . . . . . . . 6

Memphis Dealership Gets 1st Full

Allstate Office on Site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Memphis-area Auto Glass Replacement

Hit by Halt to Vehicle Registration

Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

NC Shop Won Short-Pay Arbitration in July,

Have There Been Changes or Consequences? . 1

New Honda Dealership in Greenville, NC. . . 8

RDA Refinish Distributors Adds Fourth

Location, in Gulfport, MS . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

SC Tire Plant Ready to Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Sisk - Taking it to the Capitol—WMABA Fights

Battles for Shops in DC and Nationwide . 22

Tennessee CRA Advances Professionalism

& Consumer Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Tesla Reaches Deal with Virginia DMV and

VADA, No Deal Yet with MV Dealer Board. 12

Virginia Shop Owner Says Collision Repair

is Easy Compared to Politics . . . . . . . . . 1

Virginia’s John Shoemaker Continues to

Coach Shops in Negotiating for Success . 49

Virginia-Based Automotive Recycling

Association Does More Than Green

the Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

COLUMNISTS

Attanasio - Do Ad Specialties (“Swag”)

Really Make an Impression? . . . . . . . . 53

Attanasio - I-CAR Instructor Looks Back

at 20 Years in the Business . . . . . . . . . 11

Insurance Insider - Cycle Time is

Money for Everyone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Sisk - ABAC’s Decade-Long Battle Against

the Hartford Insurance Co. . . . . . . . . . . 38

Sisk - Rhode Island’s Don Cushing Wears

Multiple Hats in Parts Wholesale and

Auto Body Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Yoswick - November Retrospective on

the Collision Repair Industry. . . . . . . . . 36

NATIONAL

A Profile of the Evolving Collision Repair

Marketplace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

AASP/NJ Announces Early Exhibitors

for Northeast™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

AASPI Opposes State Farm Sand/Buff Policy . 31

Allstate Plans to Increase its MA

Workforce by 130 Agents . . . . . . . . . . 48

Allstate Says Usage-Based Insurance

Increasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

ASA Ohio Writes to State Farm’s CEO

Ed Rust Jr. Opposing Insurer

Mandated Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

ASA-AZ Surveys Wholesale Parts Dealers

on PartsTrader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

AudaExplore™ Introduces GoTime Line

of Driver Focused Mobile Solutions . . . 39

Auto Data Direct Adds 3 New States

to Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Auto TECH Expo to Debut in Chicago

Next April. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Autobytel Acquires Assets Advanced

Mobile LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

BASF Joins ASA as Newest Corporate

Member. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

BMW Asks California Court to Strike

Class Action in Leaking Sunroof Case . 46

Bob Stevenson Joins Carbench . . . . . . . . 48

CAPA Tops 60M Certified Parts . . . . . . . . 48

Consumer Groups Go to Court to Force

Obama Administration’s Hand on

Back-Up Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Faces of NACE 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Franklin - Take 15 Seconds to Think about

Putting Marketing Ideas to Work. . . . . . 30

Lincoln Electric Announces New

Welding Devices/Lifters . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

NACE 2013 Proceeds As Expected, Eyes

Turn to Revitalized Show in Detroit in 2014 . 1

NHTSA Recommends Back Up

Cameras for New Cars. . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Overall Parts Solutions is a NABC

Top Level Member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

SCRS Adds Consolidation Tracks to

SEMA Repairer Driven Education . . . . . 47

SEMA Supports Ban of E15 . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Sherwin-Williams Adds Full Feature

Claims Portal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Todd Chizmar on I-CAR Board . . . . . . . . . 48

Tru-Way’s New Website, Data . . . . . . . . . 48

Urethane Supply Company Offers

New Welding System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

US Auto SAAR to Hit 16.4M, Highest

Level Since 2006. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

WIN Announces Opening of Most Influential

Women Nominations for 2014, Gala to

be Held in San Diego . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

www.autobodynews.com | NOVEMBER 2013 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

Welcome to our Associations Issue which will run in the fall and spring in future. In addition to covering national tradeshows like NACE and SEMA, Autobody News is dedicated to providing

regular coverage of regional auto body and vendor associations. We hope you like the coverage here.

Autobody News is pleased to announce that, beginning in November 2013, we have expanded our circulation into

eight additional states.

These states are North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia—in our Southeast Edition—and Connecticut, Massa-

chusetts, Rhode Island and Maryland—in our Northeast Edition.

This expansion will enable us to reach out to thousands of “new” body shops and provide coverage of these states'

regional auto body association activities and industry events.

Our readers continue to tell us that our coverage of regional industry news keeps them informed about what’s going on locally and what other associations are doing nationwide.

Get in touch with us at [email protected] if you havea regional article or event that you’d like the rest of the

collision community to know about.

elcome to sociai titions Issu to our Ass ueWe h will run in the fa which all e

Is Expanding to New ReadersIs Expanding to New ReadersIs Expanding to New Readers

“We get caught up in how muchthings cost, in Parts Trader, in cycletime, and we forget that what mattersis how we fix the car,” Anderson said.“When the industry gets a black eye, itaffects every single person [in it].”

“With insurers, they try to comein our industry and do things to us andnot with us,” he said, citing his experi-ence living briefly in Hawaii where hewas counseled about developing amore colobarative style while teach-ing.

At the conclusion of his talk An-derson was honored with the 2013 JoeJackson Industry Champion Award,presented by Axalta Coating Systems,which recognizes collision repairers ex-hibiting outstanding leadership, charityor humanitarian works.

MSO SymposiumThe largest Multi-Shop Operator(MSO) Symposium to date was heldon Oct. 16 and provided a strong drawto the shops in attendance. It attracteda sold-out crowd of 275 MSOs.

“We had the combined benefit ofcollision repairers and capital marketleaders, as well as expert speakers onleadership and decision-making con-tribute to our interactive event that fo-cused on the current and future stateof the U.S. collision repair industry,”said Vincent Romans, The RomansGroup, producer of the MSO Sympo-sium. (See p. 32 this issue for the Ro-mans Group Profile of the EvolvingCollision Repair Marketplace.)

The MSO Symposium was fullfrom start to finish. Several attendeescommented it was the main reasonthey came to Las Vegas for the con-vention and a few described the eventas a kind of speed dating process inwhich some smaller MSOs vied for at-tention from the four big players in at-tendance.

“All the major players were repre-sented at this year’s MSO Symposiumand the room was a veritable ‘who’swho’ list,” says Ron Nagy, AAM, ofNagy’s Collision Specialists. “This eventcontinues to deliver.”

“The representation from bothlarge and small MSOs at the symposiumprovided a good view of the changinglandscape occurring within the industryon an almost daily basis,” says FrankLaViola, Assistant Vice President at En-terprise Rent-A-Car. “These changes

will undoubtedly affect all the con-stituents within the industry and helpsus all be better prepared to tackle thesechanges.”

“The attendance at the MSO wasstrong and key MSOs were well-rep-resented,” says Shelton Byrd, Sales

Executive Western Region, MitchellInternational. “The overlying mes-sage of the panel discussion was theimportance of recruiting talented peo-ple and fostering their growth.”

Stone Fort Takes Over the ShowMajor changes will occur in the showmanagement with Stone Fort Grouptaking over the NACE-CARS showfrom current show operator HanleyWood Exhibitions, who has managedthe show for the past 13 years. StoneFort Group offers an experiencedteam to provide conference manage-ment, sales and marketing for NACEand CARS 2014, and will workclosely with the association in a simi-lar capacity to Hanley Wood, who willnow concentrate on the trade showsthat they own.

Stone Fort Group co-foundersSean Guerre and Brian Nessen have 20years of trade show and conference ex-perience, and reportedly have broaderinternational marketing reach thanHanley Wood.

NABC Presented Three VehiclesThe “First Responder Emergency Ex-trication” presentation was deliveredby the Clark County Fire Department

from Henderson, NV, who conductedlive emergency extrication techniqueson late model vehicles. The NABC’sRecycled Rides presentations featuredthree vehicles donated to local com-munity organizations targeting thosein need. The first was a speciallyequipped, handicap-accessible vanthat has been repaired by Gerber Col-lision and donated by State Farm In-surance. The van was donated to theFoundation for Positively Kids andwill be used to transport medically-challenged children so that they canreceive the medical care they need.

NABC also hosted the presentationof two vehicles donated by Allstate In-surance and repaired independently byCaliber Collision and the Van TuylGroup. The vehicles were donated tothe Nevada Partnership for HomelessYouths.

I-CAR PresentationsI-CAR offered three technical presen-tations of its “Repairability TechnicalSupport” initiative, designed to helpbridge the information gap betweenthe repair industry and vehicle manu-facturers. I-CAR hopes to improve in-dustry access to technical repairknowledge, address gaps in repair pro-

cedures, and enhance industry techni-cal communication with OEMs. “Ve-hicle Maker Repair Information andI-CAR Technical Support,” stressedthe importance of OEM repair proce-dures, how to access information on-line and various resources availablewhen accessing them. “Today’s Ad-vanced Vehicle Construction Materi-als & Safety Systems,” focused on theadvanced materials used by car mak-ers and how those materials affect therepair process now and in the future.“Advanced Joining Methods–Under-standing OEM Procedures and RepairProcesses” covered important repairinformation on advanced joining tech-nologies, which ones to use in differ-ent situations, and how to replaceparts following OEM recommenda-tions. All presentations were led byJason Bartanen, I-CAR director ofindustry technical relations, andJamie Boettcher, instructional de-signer and trainer.

NACE and CARS 2014 will takeplace July 29-Aug. 2 at the Cobo Cen-ter in Detroit, MI, and will be co-lo-cated with I-CAR and CIC.

To learn more about NACE, visitwww.ASAshop.org or call (800) 272-7467, ext. 361.


Mike Anderson (l) receives the Joe JacksonIndustry Champion Award from Axalta’sMichael Bennett

Continued from Cover

NACE 2013

Fred Schultz, CEO of Positively Kids, acceptsHandicap-Accessible Van donation


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The Independent Garage Owners ofNorth Carolina (IGONC) recently heldtheir annual Automotive Service &Technology Expo the weekend of Sep-tember 27–29, 2013 at the EmbassySuites Hotel and Convention Center inCary, NC. According to Executive Di-rector Bob Pulverenti, the event wentwell with around 200–250 attendees,but most were from the mechanicalside of the association as IGONC hashad a more difficult time getting colli-sion shops and their vendors involved.

IGONC does their best to put to-gether useful seminars, and this year’sevent featured 14 seminars on man-

agement and busi-ness related topics.Pulverenti believesthese types of in-dustry events areimportant. Theypresent a good net-working opportu-nity for shop

owners to meet and work together,plus they provide a casual setting forinteracting with vendors and suppliers.

Pulverenti would like to see morecollision repairers involved with theexposition but, he says, “it’s likepulling teeth to get the shop ownersand technicians to come.” He notesthat even the monthly seminars put onat the I-CAR training facility inIGONC’s office are not well attendedby local collision shops. In fact, gen-erating interest and participation is oneof the biggest challenges his associa-tion faces.

Because people can research on-line and obtain a good portion of theirinformation that way, many no longersee the value of associations, accord-ing to Pulverenti, “but we still have apurpose and fulfill a need.” Despitethese challenges, IGONC has beenable to maintain their membership,though they haven’t seen much growthsince the recession began. While theyhad planned to expand into SC and VAin 2008, economic difficulties inhib-ited those plans, but they still hope toexpand into those neighboring statesonce the economy improves.

IGONC is North Carolina’slargest member-sponsored, non-profitassociation servicing the automotive

repair, service and collision industry. Itwas established in 1959 by a group ofgarage owners with the goal of help-ing members deal with the challenges

facing their industry. Originally namedthe Independent Garage Owners ofAmerica which eventually becameASA affiliated, but over time, theyended their affiliation with ASA andhave since become associated withSCRS and AASP. Pulverenti notes,“everything changes over time, and wehave to reinvent ourselves constantly,but I still feel like we’re a relativelystrong group compared to other asso-ciations.”

According to their mission state-ment, IGONC exists “to help makeNC’s independent garage owners theabsolute best in the country.” They un-dertake the distribution of the most up-to-date information on automotiverepair and business practices, protect-ing members from unfavorable leg-islative initiatives, and by buildingproductive relations between mem-bers, vendors and consumers.

Though IGONC membershippeaked in the mid-1980s with around1000 members, they have managed tomaintain around 550 members through-out the economic crisis of the pastdecade. Pulverenti believes this is dueto creating a positive perception of whatthe association does, such as providingvendor benefits, education, informationand training. IGONC also plays a rolein legislative matters on behalf of theirmembers, such as when they partici-pated in a rally for Right to Repair sev-eral years ago in the nation’s capital.

Short-term, IGONC’s goals are tocontinue providing information tomembers and to seek benefits to helpput money back in garage owners’pockets. They also constantly monitor

legislation, mostly locally but also on anational scale when necessary. Goingforward, they plan to focus more oneducational initiatives and to look atindustry trends to determine how theycan best serve their members and theautomotive repair industry as a whole.

Since IGONC recentlywrapped up their annual expo,they do not have much on thedocket right now. According toPulverenti, IGONC has a re-pair shop licensing bill they’dlike to introduce when theysense the timing is more fa-vorable.

Pulverenti notes that in-stituting legislation is one ofthe largest challenges facingthe industry today. “Some-times, legislators will introduce a bill,thinking they’re doing good for one ortwo constituents who complained, butthey don’t really understand whatthey’re introducing or how it impacts

the industry, whether in a positive ornegative way.” He finds it frustratingbecause, even if IGONC compilesdocumentation, they are lucky to getan audience with legislators who donot have the time or interest to get in-volved, and he believes the only solu-

tion is for people from this industry tobecome legislators so they understandthe challenges collision repairers face.

Regarding other issues facing the


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Independent Garage Owners of North Carolina Pushes Ahead

See IGONC, Page 12

with Chasidy Rae SiskSoutheast 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].

Thomas Richard at the Regional Auto Center,Greensboro, NC

Clint Rogers of Triangle Collision in Morrisville, NC

Bob Pulverenti


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Car buyers in Memphis will soon beable to purchase insurance for theirnew vehicle before they even drive offthe lot. Chuck Hutton Chevrolet hasbeen tapped to be the first dealership inTennessee to add a full-service AllstateInsurance office on-site. The dealershipis part of an initiative by Allstate, thenation’s no. 2 auto insurance company,to place agencies in dealerships acrossthe country. The program has alreadybeen piloted at dealerships in otherstates. Chuck Hutton chief financial of-ficer Richard Carney says the dealer-ship earned the opportunity to pilot theprogram in Tennessee because it is thestate’s leading seller of Allstate’s ex-tended service contracts—policies thatcover mechanical items that would notordinarily be covered under warranty.“The hardest thing in insurance sales isprospecting,” Carney says. “But in thisbusiness we have 300 people a day thatcome through the lot. That creates a lotof opportunities.” The office will berun by Steve Hutton and is expected toopen Dec. 1. Tennessee state law pro-hibits onsite offices, so the office atChuck Hutton will be located in the oldOldsmobile showroom next door to themain dealership at 2471 Mt. MoriahRoad.

Memphis Dealership Gets 1stFull Allstate Office on Site

CARSTAR is entering the Jack-sonville, FL, market with its firstlocal shop. American CARSTARCollision is located at 13051 BeachBlvd, Jacksonville, FL 32246. Theshop is owned by Randy Sikes.

“In today’s market it is criticalto be part of a winning team,” saidSikes of his new partnership withCARSTAR Auto Body Repair Ex-perts.

The new CARSTAR store willbenefit from the CARSTAR Man-agement System, which providesresources to improve key businessmetrics such as cycle time, partici-pation in CARSTAR’s 19 corpo-rately managed DRP programs, andimproved purchasing power from45 corporately managed purchasingprograms.

“We are thrilled to welcomeRandy and American CARSTARCollision as our first collision repaircenter in the Jacksonville region,”said David Byers, CEO ofCARSTAR Auto Body Repair Ex-perts. “Randy brings excellent ex-perience running a successful bodyshop and we look forward to con-tinuing to build his business as partof the CARSTAR network.”

CARSTAR Opens First Shopin Jacksonville, FL

Hendrick Automotive Group is ex-panding in the Tar Heel State thisweek by adding another Hondadealership. Chairman Rick Hen-drick has partnered with Bob Bar-bour to open Barbour-HendrickHonda Greenville. The dealership,formerly Bob Barbour Honda, offi-cially opened under the Barbour-Hendrick name in Greenville, NC.“Rick and I have been friends since1972 when we were 22 and 23 yearsold,” said Barbour, who opened BobBarbour Honda in 1978. “This deal-ership and its employees have built afine reputation in Greenville, and theHendrick name is well thought ofacross the country,” Barbour contin-ued. “For several years we’ve talkedabout this merger as I’ve looked tospend more time with my family.”Bob Barbour Honda sold more than1,600 vehicles and serviced morethan 6,000 units in 2012. Located at3300 South Memorial Dr., Barbour-Hendrick Honda Greenville is thefirst in the market for Hendrick Au-tomotive Group, which will managethe store.

The company now operates 87dealerships across the country and37 in North Carolina.

New Honda Dealership inGreenville, NC

Mike & Jerry’s Paint and Supply, amember of Refinish Distributors Al-liance (RDA), acquired a new loca-tion in Gulfport, MS. The store willoperate under the name Mike &Jerry’s Pro Body Shop Supply.‘The Gulfport body shop marks thefourth Mike & Jerry’s location. Theprevious three are located inLouisiana—New Orleans, BatonRouge and Hammond.

SC Tire Plant Ready to RollNearly a year and a half after breakingground, the new Continental Tire theAmericas plant in Sumter County, SC,is nearly ready to start production. The1 million-square-foot facility is slatedto begin production by January 2014,but could start even before then, ac-cording to local reports. “We hope tobegin in January 2014, but we’re striv-ing to do better than that,” Tom Tomp-kins, a plant engineer, told local media.“Most of the machines are functional.They’re just in the testing phase.We’ve already produced test tires as afinished product.” When productionbegins, the plant will produce an esti-mated 4.5 million tires a year, with ca-pacity expected to increase to 8 millionby 2021.

RDA Refinish Distributors AddsFourth Location, in Gulfport, MS


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Memphis-area Auto Glass Replacement Hit by Haltto Vehicle Registration InspectionsThe auto glass replacement industryin Memphis is feeling some pain afterthe city halted auto inspection re-quirements for registration renewal,says an article in the AGRR publica-tion glassBYTEs™.

Without this net to catch wind-shield damage, the demand for autoglass repair and replacement work ison the decline. “It’s just about killedthe replacement auto glass industry,”says Shawn Barnett, manager ofA&B Fast Auto Glass in Memphis.“We’ve seen a big decline in busi-ness. It’s dropped by more than 50percent. “We’ve switched over to domore home glass work,” Barnettadds. “We haven’t laid anybody offyet, but we’re a small company so wedon’t have a lot of people.” Mean-while, Jack Morris Auto Glass hasalso felt the “hurt,” according to JackMorris, CEO. The company has lo-cations in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illi-nois, Arkansas and Mississippi.

“Fortunately, we operate in moreareas than just Memphis,” says Mor-ris. “If I were to guess, I would sayour business has been down about 10percent and I would say close to halfof the dip is the economy and theother half is because of this. “We’vecomplained to the state and countyabout this,” he adds.

“Everything [the economy] isjust kind of shaky right now and Idon’t see the halt in inspections end-ing anytime soon. Years ago, it usedto be that residents had to get vehiclesinspected three times a year in Mem-phis, then it went to two times andabout seven or so years ago, it wentto once a year. It helped businesseven when inspections were requiredjust one a year. But with the economythe way it is, if there is a crack in thewindshield, consumers are just decid-ing to put off getting the windshieldrepaired or replaced.”

Mark Yates, a veteran auto glasstechnician in Memphis, says he waslaid off from Jack Morris Auto Glassafter demand for windshield repairand replacements dropped.

“The fact they are no longerdoing vehicle inspections is really

hurting business,” says the 30-yearindustry veteran. “I got laid off alongwith a few others. Before, if yourwindshield had damage, the citywouldn’t pass your car under inspec-tion. After the inspections stopped,the local police were supposed to givemore tickets for damaged wind-shields but we haven’t seen this hap-pen.”

Yates says he submitted applica-tions with other local auto glass com-panies in the Memphis area, but thatno one is hiring.

“I just went and put in applica-tions at two other companies but theyare not hiring,” he says. “Business isslow all around.”

Yates found a position as an autoglass technician near the Sarasota,Fla., and is relocating. He worked inFlorida years ago, but says he leftwhen the recession hit and workplummeted in the state.

“This is what it feels like in Ten-nessee now,” Yates says. “Fortu-nately, business in Florida has pickedup so I’m going back.”

The Memphis City Councilended funding for the auto inspectionstations in late June, effectively shut-ting them down. The Council appar-ently had hoped that either ShelbyCounty or the State of Tennesseewould take over inspection responsi-bilities, according a local report; how-ever, this has not been the case.

Shelby County Mayor MarkLuttrell has said the county govern-ment has no intention of stepping into fund the inspections.

“In other localities, we do run it,but we don’t pay for that,” says Ten-nessee Gov. Bill Haslam. “Where werun it, the users are paying for it or thelocal county is paying for that. Myunderstanding is … we were willingto run it, but we don’t pay for it anywhere else, so it’s not fair for us topay for it here.”

“Right now, the city and countyare developing plans for reinstating in-spections, but at this point I can’t tellyou many details,” Antonio Adams,general services deputy director, saysin another report.

Auto TECH expo, a refocused automo-tive aftermarket trade show, makes itsdebut April 3–5 at the Hyatt RegencyO’Hare in Chicago. Formerly known asShowpower, Auto TECH expo will in-clude a wider variety of training semi-nars for technicians dealing within-depth diagnostics and drivability is-sues. Industry-requested seminars ad-dressing transmissions, brakes, steering

and suspension, emission controls andshop management will be presented bynationally known automotive instruc-tors, according to Michelle Dickemann,president of M D Publications Inc.

This show is a perfect fit for shopsthat once offered specialized servicesbut are now expanding to a wider rangeof offerings to meet the demands ofmotorists.

Auto TECH Expo to Debut in Chicago Next April


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When body shop professionals inNorthern California yell “Show me theMoney!” they’re probably not quotingfrom Jerry Maguire, the 1996 film star-ring Tom Cruise. No, it’s more likelythat they’re referencing Kurt Money,a body technician who is renowned forbeing an especially skilled instructorfor the Inter-Industry Conference onAuto Collision Repair (I-CAR). Virtu-ally all repairers know I-CAR is a not-for-profit training organization focusedon education, knowledge and solutionsfor the Collision Repair Inter-Industryand developing and delivering techni-cal training programs to professionalsin all areas of the Collision RepairInter-Industry.

Money is celebrating 20 years asan I-CAR instructor this year, but he’ssurely not resting on his laurels. As afull-time body man working at Lark-field Body and Paint in Santa Rosa,CA, and teaching a wide range of I-CAR courses, Money’s schedule is

jam-packed. If he’s not mentoringbody techs and fixing cars, he’s en-joying his Harley motorcycle. Moneyis all about teaching people, helpingthem and making a better industry; byvolunteering his time when possibleand showing that he cares.

Money, 56, came to northern Cali-fornia from Spanish Fork, UT—just out-side of Provo—in 1979. After graduatingfrom Utah Valley Technical College,

Money decided tostart his own shopand later hired twoof his classmates towork for him. Itwas called Money’sBody & Paint andbefore long theshop was doingwell. But Kurt wasnot ready to own

and operate his own business at thatpoint in his life. “The business was fine,but I was more into having a good time,

playing a lot of golf, bowling and notpaying attention to the shop. I was play-ing when I should have been workingand pretty soon I ran it into the ground. Itwas a useful lesson and what I learnedwas, I don’t want to own my own shop!”

After working briefly for a Chevydealership’s collision center in Provo,UT and supervising a crew of nine,Money decided to go west. “I loadedmy tools in my van and headed to Cal-ifornia,” Money said. “I was actuallygoing to San Diego, but my voltageregulator failed and caused my vehicleto break down in Santa Rosa. I took itto a dealership and they told me thatthe van made it all the way from Utahon the charge that was left in the bat-tery, which was very surprising.”

After working for a decade as abody tech at a Cadillac dealership inSanta Rosa, Money got a job at Lark-field Body and Paint in 1990, where hestill works today. “It’s a third-genera-tion shop and they treat all of us like

family,” he explained. “Dave Hartmanis the owner and he’s an exceptionalindividual. He’s the best boss I’ve everhad, because he cares about us anddoesn’t treat us like employees.”

In 1985, Money started taking I-CAR classes, to learn as much as hecould about his profession and improvehis skills, he said. “When I first foundout about I-CAR, some of the olderguys told me that I didn’t need to takethose classes. But, I found out that I-CAR was offering information I could-n’t find anywhere else. Back then, theyhad approximately 16 classes and Itook them all. My instructor was a guynamed Bob Puckett and he’s retirednow. When I saw him in action, Ithought to myself, I can do this.”

His I-CAR teaching career startedover a gentleman’s bet, Money said. “Itold one of my fellow techs that I wasthinking of becoming an instructor forI-CAR. But he said, ‘You can’t talk in


I-CAR Instructor Looks Back at 20 Years in the Business

with Ed AttanasioOld School Know How

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

Kurt Money hasbeen teaching techs

through I-CAR fortwo decades

See I-CAR Instructor, Page 15

industry, Pulverenti notes that me-chanical shops are dealing with pres-sure from mass merchandisers and cardealerships, while collision repairersface insurers’ pressure in terms oflabor rates and steering. Labor rates for

collision repair are set unrealisticallywhen looking at the cost of operationsand labor, but trying to convince in-surers to increase the labor rate seemsfutile at times.

Similarly, PartsTrader also nega-tively impacts collision repairers. Pul-verenti explains, “it’s a bad thingbecause obviously bidding on parts re-duces the list price and profit margins,

just like labor rates that are being con-trolled by insurers reduces their profitmargins.”

Unlike ASA, IGONC favorsRight to Repair in some form as theybelieve the information needed tosafely repair a vehicle should be guar-anteed accessible to repairers; how-ever, he is convinced that as variousstates get these bill passed, it will be-

come a non-issue. NC has a bill re-garding Right to Repair in mind, but ithas not yet been introduced as they arewatching for developmens for similarbills in other states.

IGONCPO Box 90426Raleigh, NC 27675-8117800-243-1560, www.igonc.com


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Tesla Motors, the Virginia Department ofMotor Vehicles and the Virginia Auto-mobile Dealers Association have reachedan agreement to allow the automaker toapply for a single dealership license,VADA CEO Don Hall. After the Vir-ginia DMV denyed Tesla’s request inApril to open a dealership in the area,Tesla appealed the ruling in FairfaxCounty Circuit Court.

Tesla has agreed to withdraw thelawsuit it filed after the Virginia Depart-ment of Motor Vehicles rejected Tesla’sbid for a dealership license for its storein the Washington, DC, suburb ofTyson’s Corner, VA.

Now, after much deliberation be-tween the company, state officials, anddealer representatives, the parties havedecided to approve Tesla’s request to op-erate a dealership in Virginia.

Sunni Brown, public relations and

media liaison of the Virginia DMV, of-fered the following statement to Auto Re-marketing:

“Tesla, the Virginia AutomobileDealers Association, and the Departmentof Motor Vehicles, through counsel,came to an agreement and avoided liti-gation regarding the operation of a Tesladealership in Virginia. After the initialruling, the parties to the hearing engagedin discussions and, after consideration ofthose discussions and additional infor-mation presented, the Commissioner candetermine that Tesla may own a Tesladealership in Northern Virginia.”

The automaker now needs to getapproval from the Virginia Motor Vehi-cle Dealer Board, the state regulatoryagency that oversees dealers in the state,before it can begin selling vehicles inVirginia.

Hall couldn’t comment on the de-

tails of the deal because the agreementwas made under a court seal, he said.

“It’s a matter of lots of compromiseon everybody’s part,” Hall said. “No-body is getting exactly what they want.”

The electric vehicle maker wants toeschew franchised dealerships and sell itscars directly to consumers, but dealerfranchise laws in many states prohibit orlimit factory sales.

As Tesla has grown its network ofretail stores, a number of states havemoved to tighten those restrictions on di-rect sales.

Virginia DMV CommissionerRichard Holcomb had rejected Tesla’srequest to open its own store in April.State law allows factory-owned stores ifno independent dealer is available to op-erate the store, but Holcomb said therewasn’t clear evidence that the exceptionwas applicable.

The Virginia Motor Vehicle DealerBoard has yet to receive Tesla’s applica-tion, Bruce Gould, the board’s executivedirector, said. Gould said it typicallytakes a new dealership about two weeksto get approval.

“They’ve rented a location, they’repaying rent, they want to get rolling andwe want to get them rolling,” Gould saidof the board’s regulation process.

A Tesla spokeswoman confirmedthat the company had reached an agree-ment with the Virginia dealers’ group andstate Department of Motor Vehicles. Shesaid Tesla plans to apply for a license toopen a store in northern Virginia, but de-clined to say when it would do so.

“We are encouraged by the settle-ment and look forward to seeking a li-cense to open a store and an associatedservice facility in Northern Virginia,”said the automaker.

Tesla Reaches Deal with Virginia DMV and VADA, No Deal Yet with MV Dealer Board

Continued from Page 6

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tion if they don’t.”In Bradshaw’s July victory against

Nationwide, the insurer’s short-paysincluded: labor rates ($48 Body & Re-finish, $80 Mechanical and $65Frame), procedures (i.e. sand and buff,final detail, road test, color tint and col-lision access time), invoiced paint &materials, sublet markup, fixture usageand a $250 Damage Analysis fee whichincluded a comprehensive part by partinspection of all components including:exterior panels, inner structure, me-chanical components and SRS and seatbelt systems. The award also includedstorage charges at a rate of $50 per dayfor the total amount of $2,506.98 plusaccrued interest until the insurer’s fullpayment is made.

“I’m glad the courts recognizedwhom the repair experts were.” saysBradshaw. “From the beginning I wasvery confident we would succeedthrough our legal system in provingall our charges to be both reasonableand necessary. For any insurer to ex-pect all shops to operate by the samerates, procedures and charges regard-

less of training, manufacturer certifi-cations, equipment and facilities is lu-dicrous. The fact is we have made acommitment to repairing vehiclesproperly, adhering strictly to all man-ufacturer repair methods and guide-lines and what we’re consistentlyfinding with some insurers is they carevery little about manufacturer certifi-cations and proper repairs and onlyabout bottom line cost and the cheap-est repairs possible. My Father (CEO)and I decided if we were going to stayin business and continue to repair ve-hicles properly we could no longer ac-cept insurer dictated repair costs. Wefound that short-pay litigation wasnecessary to stop insurer underpay-ments and provide our customers withthe factory certified repairs their pol-icy affords them.”

Bradshaw credited assistance andadvice from Erica Eversman, RayGunder, Barrett Smith and many otherindustry experts as well as his legal teamof Jason A. Orndoff and William E.Morgan for his legal victory.

Bradshaw admits that there arechallenges to pursuing short-paycases, such as the difficulty of waitingto receive the money rightfully owedto him. He also notes that there has

been a great deal of pushback fromcertain insurers who go out of theirway to steer customers to other shops.

“I hope our actions and resultsencourage other quality-minded re-pairers to seek similar actions againstthe less than ethical insurers. Welearned a great deal in this initial caseand I have had to embark on two morecases against Nationwide for short-pays in the amounts of $5,663.24 and$10,135.52. I’m confident we willprevail as I know we are in the right. Iknow such actions are necessary tostop such behavior and to best serveour community members, our em-ployees and our company,” Bradshawsaid. “We’ll continue to share our ef-forts with others so they may knowthat they no longer have to accept in-surer dictation of repairs, rates, mate-rials and charges.”

Bradshaw hopes that his victoriesin pursuing short-pay cases “will makeit easier for other shops to pursue them.Maybe we’ll even get to the pointwhere the insurance companies just dothe right thing instead of forcing shopsto pursue litigation in order to get paidwhat they are rightfully owed.”

For shop owners interested inpursuing a short-pay case, Bradshaw

advises you to start by finding aknowledgeable attorney who is will-ing to learn about the collision repairindustry and to consult with other at-torneys across the country. It is alsoimperative that you are “meticulous inyour documentation, especially the re-pair contract.”

Bradshaw believes that the solu-tion to preventing such lawsuits frombeing necessary is multi-faceted. First,it must begin by “educating shop own-ers and their personnel as it relates towhat is necessary for proper repairsand how to bill accordingly. Becausemany shops don’t do this, the oneswho do look like the bad guy to the in-surers.”

Next, more legislation is neededto dictate what the insurance compa-nies are required to do when paying fora claim. Finally, consumer educationis key; “we need to teach consumers topurchase proper insurance coveragefrom a carrier who will reimbursethem fairly in the event of a loss.”

One of Bradshaw’s suits againstNationwide involves a vehicle whichwas declared a total loss midwaythrough the repair, and Bradshaw is inthe midst of a battle to receive pay-ment for the work completed thus far.


Bradshaw Shortpays

front of two people, how are you goingto get up there and talk to a group?’ So,we made a bet and it actually providedme with additional motivation. I jumpedin there and started teaching and I’vebeen doing it now for 20 years.”

To see what he could do, I-CARsent Money to Orange County to meetwith Lead Instructor Ronnie Swaggert.“I admit, it was a little intimidating,”

Money said. “I had to make a presenta-tion in front of him and it wasn’t easy. Ilearned a lot from that and now I inte-grate it into my teaching. I use humorand I try to present the information in away that the students can absorb easily.I’m hands-on and I like to teach visu-ally. My approach is I teach the way Iwould want to be taught. I come upwith scenarios that the techs can relate

to and that way they get involved andretain the information.”

By using his proven techniques,a wide range of people within the col-

lision industry have grown to knowand respect Money for his uncannyability to connect with his students.One of these is Dan Welsh, the ownerof Crockett’s Premier Auto Body inPinole, CA and a former I-CAR in-structor who currently sits on the or-ganization’s board. “All I can say isKurt Money is a special individual,”Welsh said. “I keep waiting to run intohis twin, because the man gets somuch done there must be two of them.He’s very methodical and exceedinglyfair and in everything he does, he putsother people first. He never takescredit and makes himself accessible toall his students, by giving them hiscell phone number and even his homephone number.”

Peter Lock, the head instructor atContra Costa College’s auto tech de-partment has been working with KurtMoney since day one. Money periodi-cally teaches Lock’s students weldingclasses and uses the Contra Costa Col-lege’s classroom to teach I-CARclasses on Saturdays, he said. “When Ifirst met Kurt, I was expecting some-one completely different. He pulled upon his Harley with the long hair and hehad a Harley T-shirt on (he owns 86HD T-shirts). I thought, what is going

on with this guy? But after spending aday with him, I realized he’s prettyamazing. He’s a special person and helives to teach. Kurt gives his time freelyand has helped us in so many ways.”

Jim Boyle, the owner of RegalCollision in Vallejo, CA, also goesway back with Money and like every-one else, has nothing but good thingsto say about the man. “He is a uniqueindividual and the one thing I can sayis that his passion for teaching andhelping people really stands out,”Boyle said. “When he gets up there infront of a class, you want to listen tohim. I most appreciate his sense ofhumor and his attention for detail. Heinspires people to be better, and that’swhat teaching is all about.”

Gene Lopez, a regional managerfor I-CAR is yet another Money fan, forseveral reasons. “Kurt is a tech, so hecan deliver the information in a waythat other techs can relate to,” Lopezsaid. “With 20 years of teaching expe-rience at I-CAR, he is an integral partof the Santa Rosa market. He is a self-starter and works wells with other peo-ple, including Maria Reynaga, ourchairman in that region. For him, it’s hislife, not just a profession and that’s whywe value him so greatly at I-CAR.”


Peter Lock (left), the head instructor at Contra Cost College and Jim Boyle, the owner of RegalCollision in Vallejo, CA have known and worked with Kurt Money for many years


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Consumers play a vital role in the col-lision repair industry—and educatedconsumers are the best customers.Choice Autobody Repair Association(CARA) recognizes the importance ofeducated consumers as customers andbelieves that trade associations help re-pairers perform better for their cus-tomers. In fact, President Rick Finney

explains CARA’smission as “to edu-cate the consumersof the collision in-dustry, educate theconsumers on theirrights, so that ifthey are ever in-volved in an auto-

mobile accident, they (the consumer)can make an educated decision on whothey want repairing their automobile.Give back the choice to the customerabout who repairs their vehicle. Makethe consumers the decision maker!”

CARA is a non-profit association

dedicated to educating consumers, andthey believe “it is their choice who re-pairs their vehicle. We’re not anti-DRPor anti-insurance—we’re simply pro-consumer. We want to empower the

motoring public with the confidencethat it’s their opportunity, right andpower to make you their choice.”

CARA was established in late2005 when Finney and several othershop owners in the Ohio Valley de-cided to form their own, consumer-based organization. “We felt that it wasvery important the consumers wereaware of their rights after being in-volved in an automobile accident. Wehave had a very good response fromour consumer awareness campaign.”

Though CARA is based in OH,they are actually a national association

with members throughout the US.They recently started a SouthwesternMichigan chapter in Battle Creek, MI,plus they are planning to add manymore chapters throughout the countryin the near future. Currently, CARAhas around 50 members, and they offerboth associate and corporate member-ships, each of which features variousbenefits, such as discounts on BASFmanagement training, CollisionBilling Services and a plethora of otherpurchasing discounts. CARA alsomakes documentation available tomembers, and they distribute informa-tional fliers to consumers.

One of CARA’S most importantgoals right now is to strengthen the as-sociation by attracting new members.Finney notes, “Whenever I talk to ashop owner, managers, etc., I hear thesame issues, no matter where the per-son that I talk to is from. Ohio, Michi-gan, Florida or California, the sameissues. We need to attract new mem-

bership so that we can better addressthe issues that we are business ownersface on a daily basis.”

Other goals include continuing toaddress industry issues by workingwith other associations to share infor-mation and ideas, in addition to im-proving matters for their members andtheir customers. Finney “would like toshow our membership that we need toregain control of our business as wellas our customer base.”

With so many lofty aspirations, itis no surprise that one of the biggestchallenges CARA faces, like manyother associations, is dealing with thecost of maintaining operations. Finneyelaborates, “we have many issues thatwe need to address, and like anythingelse, it takes time and money. In myopinion, we as an industry need to startmeeting more often with various agen-cies on a consistent basis and bring totheir attention what some of the issues


Choice Autobody Repair Association Advocates for Both Consumers and Repairers

with Chasidy Rae SiskGreat Lakes Associations


Rick Finney

See CARA, Page 35

district in Richmond, VA. He decidedto run for the first time in 2004, whenhe began to see an alarming trend inlocal Richmond politics, he explained.

“There was a period of time inRichmond here when we had a lot ofcouncil people ending up in jail for awide range of reasons. For bribery,outright theft and other things—wewere really in horrible shape here inRichmond for a few years. I was al-ways under the impression that inorder to be a public official, you needto have this degree or that degree, so Inever really considered it. But even-tually I realized that these politiciansmight have degrees, but they don’thave common sense. Their job wasbeing a council member and that wasit. They were professional politicians,essentially. So that’s when I decidedto get interested and involved. I servedfor six years, completing two termsfrom 2006 to 2012 and I never bribedanybody or stole anything from any-one.”

During his first campaign in2004, Conner lost in a three-personrace, but it was a learning experience,he explained. “So, I ran the next timein 2006 and beat the incumbent in aclose race where I won by only 250votes. It was great, because I knew Iwas going to make changes and I wasexcited about the opportunity to play arole in helping the city. It turned outto be an interesting new experience,with surprises every day—just likerunning a body shop.”

Conner immediately saw that hecould apply his skills in the collisionrepair field to use in the politicalarena. Said Conner, “All I can say isthat body shop owners are more thancapable of holding any of these polit-ical positions and handling the re-sponsibilities associated with them. Aperson running a body shop has tonsof experience, both professionally andpersonally that can be easily trans-ferred to being a council person, acongressman or even a senator or agovernor, in my opinion. Educationhelps, but I believe real-world experi-ence is the most important thing re-quired for any job. Serving in publicoffice parallels the collision repairbusiness in many ways, because bodyshop professionals have to developskills to make it, such as negotiation(DRPs), networking (community out-

reach), managing people (employees)and delivering results.”

Conner achieved a lot of reallygood things while being a councilmanfor Richmond and is proud of it. “We

had drainage issues and problems withthe infrastructure, so those were es-sential things that needed to be fixedright away,” Conner said. “We didsome band-aid work, but we never re-ally completely fixed it, and if I hadwon a third term, I am confident wecould have gotten that done. I ran outof time. We had some huge projectsthat were taken care of and that is verygratifying. I started a career and edu-cation commission, which got laborpeople together working with ourschools. It led to the establishment ofa career training facility, which isbeing built right now, to provide nurs-ing training for welfare mothers andpeople who need new careers forwhatever reason. We’re training peo-ple for jobs where there is demand inRichmond, like laboratory techni-cians, pharmacy technicians for med-ical coding professions, for example.In one year, we can train someone tobe a lab tech and we know that com-panies will hire them, because we’realso working with the employers.”

Another significant accomplish-ment that Conner is proud of involveshis outsourcing of the city’s fleet.

“We went to Baltimore andchecked out a fleet service and deter-mined that we could save $200,000 amonth by outsourcing our city’s fleet.With roughly 1,000 vehicles and theirequipment, it was a huge undertaking.The thinking behind outsourcing isjust like a shop running on salary vs.commission. The people who wererunning the fleet were on salary. Now,sure they weren’t making a lot, butthey also weren’t doing much either.By using an outside company, total ac-countability became a part of it andthere was a huge difference right offthe bat. If you have someone workingfor commission or flat rate, they’re

obviously going to be more moti-vated. By outsourcing our fleet, wesaved several million dollars everyyear, because it’s 100% based on per-formance, so we’re not paying for

people or cars sitting arounddoing nothing.”

After a year in office, Con-ner began to see the bad sideof politics and it’s called in-activity.

“When it comes to gov-ernment, nobody wants tostick their necks out, be-cause they’re afraid to losetheir jobs,” Conner said. “Sonothing happens except for alot of talking and posturing.

They’re real good at coming up withreasons not to do something. It’s verytough and if you want to achieve any-thing, you have to stay on it and workat it. It takes a long time and that’swhy we have so many problems inthis country—the inactivity can killyou.

“In planning, for instance, it’s allabout what you can’t do,” Conner said.“For example, some of the sign ordi-nances in this city are ridiculous. Theywould block new businesses from get-ting new signs, for example, with these

lame restrictions, but I told them,‘How do you expect new businesses tocome here when we won’t even letthem have a sign?’ We need new busi-nesses to become successful, so thatwe can build up our tax base and offerservices to our folks, but you’re goingto wrestle with this small businessowner about the size of his sign? It’sin a commercial area, I told them, butyou would think we’re in Hollywood,the way they were reacting. In everysituation, I was advocating small busi-nesses and their rights, because that’swhere I came from. But, red tape willslow you down and discourage you,because there is so much of it. It tooka lot of time and effort, and I did getsome things done, but it was tough.”

Accountability was somethingelse that Conner eventually realizedwas non-existent in local politics, atleast in the city of Richmond. “Theaverage politician talks a lot andmakes a bunch of promises. They’rehoping that people eventually forgetabout what they said. If you do whatyou say you’re going to do, peoplewill remember that, you know? I feellike I was different because I followedthrough and cared and that’s the mostimportant thing I can say about that.”


Conner Brothers Collision Repair has four locations, but islooking to open its fifth soon. Here the shop is sponsoringa local community car wash


Collision v. Politics


Faces of NACE 2013

The Automotive Service Associationof Ohio (ASA Ohio) has sent a letterto State Farm CEO Ed Rust Jr., ex-pressing the association’s oppositionagainst any insurer-mandated parts or-dering system.

In the letter, ASA Ohio PresidentJoe Sanfillipo III explaines the asso-ciation’s concerns surrounding StateFarm’s new policy, which requires allcollision repair shops participating inits Select Service program to elec-tronically order parts through Part-sTrader LLC.

After a brief pilot program wastried in various locations throughoutthe country, it has been reported thatState Farm intends to complete a na-tionwide rollout of the plan by the endof 2014. ASA Ohio carefully reviewedthe information available on StateFarm’s new parts procurement man-date and held open sessions to discussthe proposal. After reviewing the pro-gram and hearing concerns from ASAOhio members, it was determined thatthe State Farm mandate has the poten-tial to disrupt the relationship betweenautomotive repair facilities and their

parts vendors. Furthermore, the letterdescribes that the added influence thatsuch a mandate would give State Farmover collision repair market pricingwould have a negative impact on re-pair facilities’ operations and wouldtake even more control away from au-tomotive repair professionals.

The letter explains that the mostefficient method of ordering parts isin a free market system. Disruptingthis process through a single man-dated system will negatively affect therelationship repair professionals havedeveloped with their customers, whohave trusted them to service their ve-hicles.

In its letter, ASA Ohio encour-ages State Farm to offer the onlineparts ordering system to its SelectService network on a voluntary basis.Should the electronic platform proveto be efficient and improve the auto-motive repair process, then ‘certainly’the industry would adopt the program.


ASA Ohio Writes to State Farm’s CEO EdRust Jr. Opposing Insurer Mandated Parts

www.autobodynews.comCHECK IT OUT!


In existence since 1968, the Washing-ton Metropolitan Auto Body Associa-tion (WMABA) has spent the past 45years supporting member shops andacting as their members’ voice forbusiness and legislative concerns. Theorganization was founded by DC-areashops who sought to work together tocombat some of the common issuesfacing the collision repair industry.

Since its inception, WMABA’s ef-forts have been focused on addressingshop issues and continuing educationon a local and national level, includingaspects regarding legislative issues. Be-cause they emphasize the importance ofaddressing issues on a larger scale,

many WMABAmembers have alsoplayed a key role inestablishing largernational associa-tions, including theSociety of Colli-sion Repair Spe-cialists (SCRS) ofwhich the associa-

tion is an affiliate. WMABA’s servicearea encompasses MD, VA & Washing-ton DC, and as the association contin-ued to grow, they absorbed the VirginiaAuto Body Association.

In 2007, Jordan Hendler becamethe Executive Director of WMABA.Through her previous work withSCRS, NABC and CIC, Hendler hasgained insight into collision repairmarkets and trends across the UnitedStates, and in her current role, she par-ticipates in national industry forums,such as SCRS and CIC, to address is-sues and try to affect positive changefor collision repairers.

On a day-to-day basis, WMABAfocuses on maintaining active in-volvement with current legislative ini-tiatives in VA and MD, meeting withlegislators and shop representatives, aswell as participating in nationalgroups. Additionally, WMABA con-ducts an annual labor rate survey forthe region in order to report their find-ings to individual shop owners, localgovernment and the industry at-large.Hendler also assists with addressingissues at a shop level, including docu-mentation, OEM service providers andother problems that impact shops dur-ing their daily operations.

Hendler notes that the main chal-lenge WMABA faces is keeping shopsinformed and involved with issues inthe industry, including education, yetshe notes, “I don’t feel that we’realone in that; most associations dealwith the same problem.”

One way they strive to combatthese types of issues is through thepublication of their monthly magazineHammer & Dolly, as well as their quar-terly membership newsletter whichserves to disseminate relevant infor-mation and generate shop involvementwithin WMABA’s service area.

WMABA serves their members byoffering representation in legislativematters, both locally and nationally, inaddition to working with individualshops on their issues, such as in the in-stance of short-pay cases. The associa-tion also strives to keep their memberseducated and informed through theirmagazine and newsletter, as well as byholding educational meetings and sem-inars. They act as a resource for vendorand insurer contacts, but most impor-tantly, WMABA is at their members’disposal when they face any type ofproblem or have general questions.

Still, despite the many servicesWMABA provides to their members,Hendler claims that the biggest benefitmembers get from involvement with theassociation is “our peer network whichgives them the opportunity to comparethe issues they face with what othershops are going through. It lets them seethat others are experiencing the sameproblems, and we’re all in this together.”

Regarding the challenges facing theindustry as a whole, Hendler believes“shop awareness is the biggest hurdle. Ifall shops were aware of the proper repairtechniques, tooling and education, theseissues wouldn’t be as hard as they are,but many repairers don’t know how togain access to proper information. Thosewho don’t know are affecting those whodo. It’s not necessarily on purpose, but itis ignorance nonetheless.”

Hendler also notes that the ad-vancement of vehicle technology, tool-ing and regulations is another challengeas it raises shops’ costs at the same timethat insurers are becoming stricter intheir payment of operations and serv-ices, especially for independent shopsthat do not participate in their direct re-

pair programs. Thus, the cost of opera-tion is steadily increasing while theability to earn a profit decreases.

Though PartsTrader has been aever present news item for over a yearnow, WMABA has not taken a stanceagainst their business model specifi-cally but instead is against any insurer-mandated program that dictates whichvendors can be used. “It is an interfer-ence in the collision repair business,”says Hendler. In fact, the association iscurrently working on legislation andan agenda to address the process ofmandating parts or supplies.

Why is WMABA’s legislative workso important? Hender explains, “it is oneof the few options left to us to addressthese problems since the insurers are notwilling to stop their pursuit.” Legislationalso benefits the consumer because it“helps keep the free market free… if in-surers become more involved in all as-pects of collision repair, they reduce theshops’ ability to operate properly and

give the customer the widest capacity ofoptions for a safe repair.”

Hendler admits that there are chal-lenges inherent in the legislativeprocess, noting “it’s arduous at best.”In order to get new legislation to pass,WMABA must meet with legislators toconvince them that the matter is in thebest interest of their constituents, theconsumers, and then, the legislatorsmust vote. Hendler notes that theprocess is long; “we have to go throughall of the committees and hearings toget the vote without the oppositiontearing it down.” Luckily for WMABAmembers, Hendler is not easily dis-couraged and will continue to fight ontheir behalf to make the collision in-dustry better for everyone involved.

Washington Metropolitan Auto BodyAssociation (WMABA)804.789.9649http://wmaba.com/[email protected]


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Taking it to the Capitol—WMABA Fights Battles for Shops in DC and Nationwide

with Chasidy Rae SiskAssociations Assembling


Jordan Hendler,file photo

Getting local shops involved tends topose the biggest challenge for mostcollision repair associations, and thisis currently the focus for the Ten-nessee Collision Repairers Associa-tion (TCRA). As TCRA strives toincrease their membership, ExecutiveDirector Tony Nethery shared someinsight into the association and theirobjectives.

TCRA was established in 2006when three collision repair shop own-ers met for lunch and the conversationturned to “the struggles of going italone in the collision industry,” ac-cording to Nethery. This casual con-versation sparked an idea and a goal,leading to the first TCRA meetingabout a month later which was held ata restaurant in Jackson, TN. One ofthe founders volunteered to serve aschair until a board could be formedand an official charter completed.

Though 50 people attendedTCRA’s first meeting, “the crowddwindled to about half of that when itwas made clear that TCRA was beingformed to increase knowledge andwork together, not to do battle with in-surers,” Nethery explains. Still, enoughinterest was generated to allow TCRAto form a second chapter in Nashvillethe following year. Currently, the Jack-son chapter of TCRA focuses on thewestern part of the state, while theirNashville chapter services central TN;however, since TN is over 400 mileslong, they hope to establish an easternchapter in the near future.

Currently, TCRA consists ofaround 20 member shops, but they areactively seeking new members andsponsors across the state. As such,they are also restructuring their boardand meeting locations and times.While TCRA’s current membership islower than it has been in the past,Nethery believes “our members arecommitted to seeing it grow again.”

Previously, each TCRA chapterhad their own Board of Directors andofficers and would meet monthly ontheir own, but Nethery notes that this“basically resulted in two associationswith sometimes completely differentagendas.” As TCRA tries to increasetheir membership, they are also re-structuring the organization to pro-

mote unity. According to Nethery, “Inorder to try and boost attendance, weare now meeting every other month asa large group and moving the meet-ings to different areas to make travelequal for everyone. At the first of the

year, we hope toelect one set of of-ficers for the stateand include boardmembers from theentire group. Thisallows us to bringin better speakersbecause of the

larger group and keeps us all workingon the same issues. We are also hiringa part time staff member to keep upour website, send out reminders andsolicit new members.”

Anyone in the state is invited tojoin TCRA, and there are definitivebenefits to membership, according toNethery. “Membership in TCRA pro-vides an opportunity to have astronger voice in the industry. Manyyoung shop owners have had the ben-efit of being mentored by their peers.”

TCRA is a member of the Soci-ety of Collision Repair Specialists(SCRS), and they subscribe to SCRS’smission, purpose and objectiveswhich include promoting educationand communication within the colli-sion repair industry. In May 2012,TCRA also entered into an alliancewith the Congress of Automotive Re-pair and Service (CARS) in order toprovide several new industry andbusiness-related benefits to members,including a discount on the cost ofTCRA’s membership.

The top purpose of TCRA is edu-cation and communication betweencollision repairers. They promote aprofessional atmosphere, as seen intheir policy which is detailed on theirwebsite: that all officers, sponsors andmembers of TCRA conduct them-selves and their transactions in a legaland ethical manner; and in addition,follow all guidelines and regulationsset forth by the association duringmeetings and events, and exhibit greatcare regarding the reputation of thisorganization.

TCRA’s objective is “to developa forum for interaction and exchange

of ideas between body shops in TN,promote ethical and best practices,and to communicate with and educatemembers in all matters relevant tothese objectives.” Nethery clarifies,“our mission is to educate the con-sumer and ourselves on how to cor-rectly repair a vehicle and to promoteethical business practices.”

Regarding the emphasis on edu-cation, Nethery notes, “education isimportant for the same reason in thisindustry that it is in any other. An ed-ucated consumer is a customer thatwill make good choices in repair andnot be easily steered by the insurer. Inthe state of TN, there is no license re-quired to do collision repair, otherthan a business license that anyonecan buy. A hairdresser has to have a li-cense to cut hair, but anyone can callthemselves a collision tech and cutyour car in half. The fact that is evensadder is that an insurer will pay them(anyone who says they are a body

shop) the same rate that they pay theshop who is trained and has investedmillions in equipment. This will notchange until our industry begins towork together and develop some sortof license or standards.”

One of the ways that TCRA ispromoting education to members isthrough participation in the annualSoutheastern Conference which in-cludes TN, AL, GA, MS and FL. Theyhave been involved with the confer-ence since 2012 and hope to see an in-crease over the 250 attendees fromlast year when they meet again inApril 2014 in Biloxi, MS.

TCRA also believes that commu-nication is vital in this industry, andNethery explains, “we believe thebiggest problem in the industry is thedivision of the shop owners. Evenfierce competitors need to stick to-gether on key issues that will hinderthe freedom to do business in the fu-ture. That is the value of being part of


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Tennessee CRA Advances Professionalism & Consumer Issues

with Chasidy Rae SiskSoutheast Associations


Tony Nethery

The Women’s Industry Network an-nounced that nominations for the MostInfluential Women (MIW) Awardswill open on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013and will be accepted through Tuesday,Dec. 31, 2013. The winners will berecognized at a gala held during the2014 WIN Educational Conference,May 5-7, 2014, at Paradise Point inSan Diego, CA. The MIW award rec-ognizes women who have enriched thecollision repair industry with theirleadership, vision and commitment toexcellence.

“Being recognized as one of Ak-zoNobel’s Most Influential Women inthe collision repair industry was si-

multaneously humbling and empow-ering,” said Linda Sommerhauser,owner of Autobody Color Co. inKansas City, MO. “I was humbled be-cause I knew that there were so manywithin the industry who could havejust as easily been recognized for theirmany contributions. However, I alsofelt empowered because I was nowpart of a recognized community ofleaders who were committed to mak-ing the path a little easier for others tofollow.”

In addition to the MIW awardsgala, where honorees are presentedwith a Tiffany’s crystal award and cus-tom commemorative pin, WIN hasadded a new element to the programthis year. Recipients will have the op-portunity to invest in the future of col-lision repair by mentoring a WINscholarship winner as they continuetheir education toward a career in theindustry.

“We felt this was an importantway for seasoned professionals to em-brace the future of our industry,” saidMargaret Knell, chair of the MIWPlanning Committee.

Honorees have held positions inevery facet of the collision repair in-dustry, as shop owners, body and painttechnicians, managers, wholesalers,lobbyists, suppliers, insurance ad-justers, consultants, educators, editorsand writers, and industry associationdirectors.

“Being honored as a Most Influ-ential Women in 2011 was an amazingexperience,” said Barbara Davies,co-owner/general manager of Auto-body News. “I was thrilled to be a partof such an impressive group of womenfrom so many different parts of the in-dustry. Having the opportunity to getto know this group of smart, inspiringand creative women has been the high-light of my career in the collision re-pair industry.”

The MIW program’s charteraligns with WIN’s mission to “en-hance the role of women in the indus-try” and has recognized more than 75women for their professional accom-plishments and for going beyond re-quirements of their positions to giveback to their communities. AlthoughWIN membership is not a requirementfor nomination, more than 30 percentof MIW recipients are currently, orhave previously been, members ofWIN.

an association.”TCRA’s most relevant short-term

goal revolves around PartsTrader, andthey are currently trying to exert in-fluence to dissuade PartsTrader fromspreading in their state. TCRA doesnot believe that PartsTrader will im-prove cycle time, but it will allow in-surers to exert control on partsprofitability in the future, just likethey control labor rates today. “All ofthe group hopes that somewhere alongthe way that Parts Trader will bestopped but also believe that it is notlikely that it will. We are encouragingall the OEM parts venders to not signup on Parts Trader. The only thing thatwill stop Parts Trader will be ifenough venders do not sign up for itto work,” Nethery explains.

The topic of Right to Repairyields mixed views amongst TCRAmembers since the association consistsof dealership shops and independentshops, but Nethery notes that it is notreally a big issue in TN at present.Though TCRA is not currently in-volved in any legislative matters, Neth-ery explains that when they’ve pursuedlegislative reform in the past, the chal-lenges they’ve faced are acquiring therevenue to combat insurers’ lobbyistsand, once the law is passed, makingsure that it is enforced.

TCRAPO Box 66Jackson, TN 38302731-394-5628www.mytcra.com


WIN Announces Opening of Most Influential WomenNominations for 2014, Gala to be Held in San Diego

World wide, collision repair is a com-plex industry with many factorsweighing heavily on its practice andprogress, and the environment in NewEngland is no different. There are con-stant legal battles, training issues andnew technology to contend with, mak-ing it difficult for many people to keepup with and stay ahead of all thesechanges. The easiest way for many tokeep up with current trends and infor-mation is supporting industry associa-tions with your involvement on alocal and national level.

Don Cushing of Rhode Island isthe Wholesale Manager at Bald HillDodge Chrysler and Jeep. With nearly40 years of experience in and aroundthe collision repair industry, Cushingis a valuable resource for informationand trends locally and nationwide.Cushing exemplifies this involvementwith several important associations:the Mopar Masters Guild (MMG), theAuto Body Association of Connecticut(ABAC), and the Alliance of Automo-tive Service Providers of Massachu-setts (AASP/MA).

“I take my career with Bald HillDCJ and my involvement with theMopar Masters Guild, ABAC Newsand AASP/MA very seriously, andI’m determined to make a difference!I use all of these avenues to networkwith customers and build relationshipsbecause without our customers we arenothing.”

After graduating ITT Technical In-stitute in 1974, Cushing began his ca-reer as a parts counterperson at a smalldealership in Providence RI, and after afew months, he was recruited by a largedealership, under the direction of ErnieWennerstrom, his current Parts Direc-tor at Bald Hill. After a few years work-ing for various smaller dealershipsduring which he “yearned to get backto the wholesale side of the business,”Cushing was hired as the WholesaleRepresentative at a Chrysler dealershipwhere he was employed for 16 years.

A change came in 1997 whenWennerstrom hired Cushing as BaldHill’s Wholesale Manager and madehim responsible for supplying over1100 customers for their mechanicaland collision departments. Cushingnotes, “I have several parts represen-

tatives that work alongside me in myendeavors to gain customer base andformulate new and exciting ideas toincrease the company revenue.”

Cushing became involved withMMG in 1998 when Wennerstrom in-troduced him to the Executive Boardwho were interested in having Cush-ing create their newsletter. Cushing’scontributions yielded success.

He says, “What started out as asimple updated pamphlet to membershas now turned into a multi-page mag-azine featuring members’ stories, ven-dor profiles, vendor ads and industrynews! The plus side of working for theMopar Masters Guild is that I get tolisten and hear what the ‘Best of theBest’ have to offer at guild events.”

The same year, Cushing beganexpanding Bald Hill’s customer terri-tory into CT, and as Bald Hill acquiredmore customers in their neighboringstate, Cushing met many collision re-pair shop owners who belonged toABAC. Over time, he told them abouthis success with MMG’s newsletter,and in 2001, he helped them launchABAC News, the official newsletterfor ABAC. The newsletter, combinedwith the financial support of its ad-vertisers, allowed ABAC to continuegrowing their educational and legisla-tive programs.

Through his roles with Bald Hill,MMG and ABAC, Cushing also be-came involved with AASP-MA, andin November 2012, he was appointedas their Statewide Association Divi-sion Director. His duties are to servethe Board of Directors by using hisexperience as a vendor to contributeinput on the many concerns and issuesfacing the industry.

Currently, ABAC’s most impor-tant topic is the Hartford Lawsuit. Inregards to this endeavor, Cushingnotes, “This class action lawsuit willcertainly be a game changer in theway that insurance companies conductthemselves in the future, both on thelocal (Connecticut) level, northeastand nationwide.

Increasing membership, the edu-cation of ABAC members and shopowners and legislation are some of theongoing issues that the ABAC is fo-cusing on. These endeavors will prove

extremely valuable as they move for-ward.” He also explains that a few ofthe ways that ABAC works towardachieving their goals is through semi-nars, OEM presentations, guest speak-ers at events and advertising.

Another important concern in CTright now is their Anti-Steering Bill,and Cushing has “always supportedthe fact that everyone has a right tochoose the repairer of their choice.There should be no influence from theinsurance company on where a cus-tomer brings their vehicle.”

One of MMG’s biggest events istheir annual meeting at NADA, andtheir next meeting is scheduled forJanuary 2014 in New Orleans, LA.According to Cushing, “This annualmeeting draws the best Mopar partsmanagers (and the top 100) in thecountry. The motto for the MMG is‘the exchange of information by like-size dealers in a non-competitive en-vironment.’ This meeting combined

with several Performance Groupmeetings throughout the year keepsmembers apprised of new and innova-tive ideas that are brought forth fromthese gatherings.”

Recently, Cushing was elected asPresident of the Southern New Eng-land Mopar Service and Parts Master’sGuild. The group meets once a month,and their variety of guest speakerstends to draw a decent crowd. Cushinghopes that this role will also allow himto aid with necessary industry im-provements; “I plan on using this po-sition to help to further educateattendees in their daily operations andhopefully share some ideas and bestpractices (as we do with the MoparMasters Guild) with each other.”

In regards to issues impacting thecollision repair industry as a whole,Cushing notes, “As we move forwardin the automotive industry, there arechallenges that we all face. The Right


Rhode Island’s Don Cushing Wears Multiple Hats in Parts Wholesale and Auto Body Associations

with Chasidy Rae SiskNortheast Associations


See Don Cushing, Page 31


Jerry Damson HondaHuntsv i l le

800-264-1739256-382-3759

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-5:30; Sat [email protected]

Serra HondaBirmingham

800-987-0819205-949-5460

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5; Sat [email protected]

Autoway HondaClearwater

888-205-2564727-530-1173

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 8-5; Sun [email protected]

Braman Hondaof Palm Beach

Greenacres888-479-0695561-966-5185

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-4:[email protected]

Classic HondaOr lando

888-893-4984407-521-1115

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat [email protected]

Coggin Deland HondaDeland

800-758-0007386-626-1811


Ed Morse HondaRiv iera Beach800-232-1098561-844-8089

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 7:[email protected]

Headquarter HondaClermont

800-497-2294407-395-7374


Hendrick Honda BradentonBradenton

877-706-2021941-752-2123


Hendrick Honda DaytonaDaytona Beach800-953-4402386-252-2301


Maroone Hondaof Hollywood

Hol lywood800-542-8121954-964-8300


Rick Case HondaDavie

877-544-2249Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7:30-4

[email protected]

South Motors HondaMiami

888-418-3513305-256-2240Dept. Hours: M-F 8-7

[email protected]

Carey Paul HondaSnel lv i l le

770-985-1444Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat [email protected]

Ed Voyles HondaMariet ta

800-334-3719770-933-5870 DirectDept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat [email protected]

Gerald Jones HondaAugusta

800-733-2210706-228-7040


Gwinnett Place HondaDuluth

800-277-8836678-957-5151


Honda Mall of GeorgiaBuford/Gwinnet t678-318-3155


Milton Martin HondaGainesv i l le

770-534-0086678-989-5473

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:[email protected]

Nalley HondaUnion C i ty

866-362-8034770-306-4646


Southern Motors HondaSavannah

888-785-8387912-925-1444


Patty Peck HondaRidgeland

800-748-8676601-957-3400


Apple Tree HondaAshevi l le

800-476-9411828-684-4400


ALABAMA FLORIDA FLORIDA GEORGIA

FLORIDA

MISSISSIPPI

HONDA

ALABAMA FLORIDA GEORGIA GEORGIA

ACURA

Jerry Damson AcuraHuntsv i l le

800-264-1739256-533-1345

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-5:30; Sat [email protected]

Acura of Orange ParkJacksonvi l le

888-941-7278904-777-1008


Duval AcuraJacksonvi l le

800-352-2872904-725-1149


Rick Case AcuraFort Lauderdale800-876-1150954-377-7688


Jackson AcuraRoswel l

877-622-2871678-259-9500

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-6; Sat 7:[email protected]

Nalley AcuraMariet ta

800-899-7278770-422-3138


Southern Motors AcuraSavannah

800-347-0596912-232-3222


Flow AcuraWinston-Salem800-489-3534336-761-3682

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-1www.flowacura.com

NO. CAROLINAFLORIDA

GEORGIA

NO. CAROLINA

The Honda and Acura Dealers Listed Here are Su


Burlington HondaBur l ington

800-822-5108336-584-3431

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6:00; Sat [email protected]

Crown Honda SouthpointDurham

855-893-8866919-425-4711

Dept. Hours: M-Thu 7-11; Fri 7-6Sat 7-5; Sun 11-5

www.southpointhonda.com

Hendrick HondaChar lo t te

800-277-7271704-552-1149


Leith HondaRale igh

800-868-6970919-790-8228

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7:[email protected]

McKenney-Salinas HondaGastonia

888-703-7109704-824-8844 x 624Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30

[email protected]

Metro HondaInd ian Tra i l

866-882-9542704-220-1522

Dept. Hours: M-F 6:30-6:30; Sat 7-4www.copytk.com

Vann York AutomallHigh Po int

336-841-6200Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-3

Breakaway HondaGreenvi l le

800-849-5056864-234-6481


Dick Brooks HondaGreer

800-936-9090864-877-1772


Midlands HondaColumbia

877-273-4442803-691-8585

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7-4www.copytk.com

Piedmont HondaAnderson

800-849-5057864-375-2082


Airport HondaAlcoa

800-264-4721865-970-7792

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6:30; Sat 7:[email protected]

AutoNation Honda West Knoxville

Knoxv i l le800-824-1301865-218-5461

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:[email protected]

Bill Gatton HondaBr is to l

800-868-4118423-652-9545


Wolfchase HondaBart le t t

800-982-7290901-255-3780Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7

[email protected]

Duncan’s Hokie HondaChr is t ianburg800-979-9110540-381-3200

Dept. Hours: Mon-Fri 7:30-5:30Sat 8:00-5:00

[email protected]

Hall HondaVi rg in ia Beach800-482-9606757-431-4329


Hendrick HondaWoodbridgeWoodbr idge

703-690-7777Dept. Hours: M-Fri 7-6Sat 8-5; Sun 10-4

Valley HondaStaunton

800-277-0598540-213-9016


West Broad HondaRichmond

800-446-0160804-672-8811

Dept. Hours: M-Thu 7:30-6:30;Fri 7:30-6; Sat 8-3; Sun 11-3

[email protected]

NO. CAROLINA NO. CAROLINA

SO. CAROLINA

TENNESSEE

TENNESSEE

VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA

Hendrick AcuraChar lo t te

800-768-6824704-566-2288


Leith AcuraCary

800-868-0082919-657-0460

Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-4:[email protected]

Performance AcuraChapel H i l l

888-788-0750919-932-2577

Dept. Hours: M-Th 7-7; Fri 7-6; Sat [email protected]

Crown Acura of RichmondRichmond

800-523-4411804-527-6865


Karen Radley AcuraWoodbr idge

800-355-2818703-550-0205


Radley AcuraFal ls Church800-550-5035703-824-5785

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6:00;Sat 8-6; Sun 10-5

[email protected]

got repair info?

NO. CAROLINA NO. CAROLINA VIRGINIA VIRGINIA

ubscribers: HONDA PROFIRST BODY SHOPS

A few years back I attended a man-agement-training seminar put on byKepner-Tregoe, Inc., a prestigiousmanagement consulting companybased in Princeton, New Jersey. Theprincipal speaker noted that the com-pany had completed a follow-up sur-vey to find out how many companieshad implemented the costly plan andprocedures they had developed forthose clients. Sadly, they found thatonly about 20 percent of their clientshad put more than a few of their rec-ommendations to work, and many hadsimply put the entire package on ashelf and forgotten about it. This ten-dency to put new projects on the shelfis common to many kinds of business,and the collision repair industry isn’timmune to it.

Many autobody industry publica-tions have had articles on body shopmarketing for years, often describingspectacular business gains made byspecific shops using one marketing

strategy or another. And yet I seldomsee these strategies put into action byshop owners that I know read the pub-lications. I can only conclude thatthere are too many things on a shopowner’s “to-do-list” to allow him orher to focus on a new marketing strat-

egy. There are only 24 hours in a day,and even less than that in a typicalworkday. Finding the time to intro-duce what might be a complicatednew marketing strategy can seemnearly impossible.

Back around the year 2000, Iheard another speaker named Al Se-cunda who had an interesting new ap-proach to getting a difficult projectunder way. He had written a book en-

titled The Fifteen Second Principle(Berkley Books, 1999). Simply put, hesuggested committing to spending atleast 15 seconds on the project everyday. When he spoke I thought that 15seconds seems like a ridiculouslysmall amount of time. What can you

do in 15 seconds? At the very least, hesaid, you will find out if you careenough about getting it done to spenda few seconds, or you will find out thatyou don’t even care that much. And ifyou do care, even a few seconds areenough to focus on at least one stepyou can take to further the project.

Once into a marketing project,you will often discover that there arepreviously unrecognized reasons why

you didn’t want to take on the project.For one shop, the idea to put up somenew signs ran squarely into a city’slegal prohibition for certain kinds ofsigns. This meant working around theprohibited ones to find those thatwould be acceptable. Another shopowner decided to begin a prior cus-tomer-calling program to dig up somereturn business or referrals. This proj-ect flew in the face of employee re-sistance to phone soliciting andrequired some re-training and even re-cruiting new personnel. With a newproject there is always the possibilityof running into what can seem to beinsurmountable obstacles, but withouttaking a few moments to consider it,nothing will ever be done.

Probably the most frequent bar-rier to getting a new project under waywill be the resistance of people neededto do the work. A manager at UnitedHealth Plan once said, “Unless thepain of not doing something is greater


Take 15 Seconds to Think about Putting Marketing Ideas to Work

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

“Unless the pain of not doing something isgreater than the pain of doing it, most peoplewill choose not to do it”

—United Health Plan Manager

than the pain of doing it, most peoplewill choose not to do it.” Of coursethat suggests punishing people for nottaking action, an unwise approach togetting those projects under way. Butin the real world of many body shopscompeting for limited repair jobs, fail-ing to implement better marketingstrategies can subject one to the realpain of a lost job. Probably a bettermotivational strategy is to give thepeople expected to do the work thecurrent repair volume numbers versusthe potential jobs that can come fromthe marketing initiative, but this can’tbe done in 15 seconds. So what can?

Many body shops in the U.S. areenamored with Toyota’s lean produc-tion philosophy, based on kaisen, theconcept of continuous improvements.When focusing on continuous mar-keting improvements, small incre-mental steps may be best.

Marketing genius Jay Abraham,in his invaluable book Getting Every-

thing You Can Out of All You’ve Gotwrites, “It’s amazing how few com-panies ever test any aspect of theirmarketing and compare it to some-thing else.” Abraham suggests exper-imenting and always testing a smallsample before committing to a majormarketing expenditure. Just devotingthose few seconds every day to eval-uating a marketing initiative couldsave a shop owner a lot of wastedmoney and perhaps zero in on one thatreally brings in the business!

A good example is calling priorcustomers to see if there might bemore need for repairs now, or perhapsa referral to a friend or family mem-ber. So what’s to test? A wronglyworded phone call could annoy theprior customer and do more harm thangood. But some carefully planned testcalls could reveal what approachworks best. And an astute shop ownermight put this test together in just afew seconds. It’s worth a try.


757.282.0021 fax

COLLISIONLINK SPECIALISTS

Cavalier Ford LincolnGreenbrier

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to Repair Act is one. Working for adealership and with our large cus-tomer base, we have always sharedand assisted with information that ourcustomers (collision and mechanicalshops) need. I don’t believe that weshould just sell parts to our accountsand not help them when they are inneed. This is also one of the main rea-sons why I don’t support the PartsAct. We as a dealer of OEM partshave the resources to give our whole-sale customers information on repair-ing their vehicles in the best and safestway possible according to our manu-facturer specifications.”

Though PartsTrader has not yet

impacted the New England area,Cushing believes that these type of in-surer-mandated parts programs are thebiggest challenge facing the industry,and he fears that it will soon spread toimpact his company’s market area. “Ican see alienation of customers, de-layed deliveries, reduced profits andmost of all, dissatisfied consumers.The only winners in this game areState Farm and PartsTrader.”

What can be done about Part-sTrader, insurer steering, and other is-sues plaguing the industry?

Cushing advises, “I hope that allparties involved (mainly collisionshop owners) work towards gettingeducated and ‘doing their homework’before embracing this product. Letyour thoughts be known. Be vocal.Get involved!”


Don Cushing

The Alliance of Automotive ServiceProviders of Illinois (AASPI) re-leased a statement Monday declaringits opposition to State Farm Insur-ance’s new “verbally imposed” pol-icy regarding reimbursement of “wetsand and buff” procedures.

State Farm, according to theAASPI release, has informed anumber of shops that it will not payfor “wet sand and buff” on originalestimates. The insurer has not putout a formal, written notice regard-ing the issue. AASPI regards the

process as a standard in the repairindustry to duplicate the originalsheen by eliminating orange peeland remove any normal imperfec-tions occurring during the refinishprocess.

AASPI is encouraging all colli-sion repair businesses in Illinois to re-quest that State Farm document itemsthey are declining to cover under thepolicy in writing and forward re-ceived documents to AASPI. Thesecorrespondences can be sent to [email protected].

AASPI Opposes State Farm Sand/Buff Policy

by Vincent J. Romans & Mary JaneKurowski, The Romans Group

Part 1 of our annual series exam-ines the largest shop groups in theindustry, their growing marketshare, and an analysis of the num-bers. This year’s report expandsto include Canada.

The impact of globalization isincreasingly evident with theemergence and migration of newand hybrid auto physical damagemodels that exist in other coun-tries throughout the world; someof which are finding their way tothe United States. There has alsobeen an increase in U.S. and for-eign trans-border investments in-volving various segments withinthe collision repair, property andcasualty auto insurance and theautomotive aftermarket ecosys-tem. In light of this, we have ex-panded our annualanalysis and profile of theU.S. collision repair mar-ketplace to includeCanada.

United StatesIn 2012, U.S. merger andacquisition activity formultiple-location platformtransactions took place in10 states and involved 17independent collision re-pair organizations with 128 loca-tions as compared to 48 locationsin 2011. These platform transac-tions shifted approximately $300million in revenue during 2012with average revenue transferredof $2.35 million per location.

Year to date through Septem-ber 2013, we see slower M&A ac-tivity within the collision repairindustry as reflected in the follow-ing chart. The 2013 YTD acquisi-tion activity for multiple-locationplatform transactions took place in5 states and involved 9 independ-ent collision repair organizationswith 59 locations. These platformtransactions have shifted approx-imately $158 million in revenue todate during 2013 with averagerevenue transferred of $2.2 millionper location. See first chart.

Through September 2013,ABRA entered two new markets,Washington and Indianapolis,while Caliber and Service King’s

transactions were in existing mar-kets. Boyd/Gerber entered theMichigan market with its HansenCollision platform transaction.These MLOs also had a numberof single-location acquisitions in2012 and 2013 along with Brown-field and Greenfield locationswhich built out their respectivemarkets.

The following map indicateswhich states had the most inde-pendent multiple-location platform

merger and acquisition activityfrom 2010 through 2013.

Despite the slowdown inmerger and acquisition activitythus far in 2013, multiple-locationoperators, and the collision repairindustry in general, continue tomove through what we have iden-tified as Contraction, Consolida-tion and Convergence.

We believe that ConstructiveTransformation, the inevitable andnecessary heavy lifting associatedwith the integration of different or-ganizations and their businessplatforms, is one of the main rea-sons consolidation momentum hastapered down. Other factors, suchas higher valuations and morecomplex transactions requiringlonger periods for due diligence,also contribute to this temporaryrespite.

We continue to see threemain active expansion strategiesshaping the collision repair indus-

try. One strategy is beingdriven by independentand dealership regionalMLOs which are focusingtheir expansion within ex-isting and/or contiguousmarkets. Another strategyof national independentconsolidators, such asBoyd/Gerber, ABRA andCaliber, is the continuedfocus of activity primarily

within existing markets throughclustering and leap-frogging intonew regions and markets usingplatform acquisitions to gain entry.

Unlike these larger, multi-re-gion MLO companies, there havebeen few regional MLO consolida-tors venturing into new platformmarkets. The northeast marketscontinue to be absent of any sig-nificant MSO market entry.

The third strategy is aggres-sive expansion by franchise con-solidator MLOs such as CARSTARand ABRA. ABRA is onboardingboth dealer and independent fran-chisees in second- and third-tiermarkets. CARSTAR is targeting

growth with independent repairersin specific targeted markets withsome market penetration in thenortheast. Fix continues its two-pronged strategy of building out itsfranchise model in target marketswhile maintaining and growing itsbanner network across a broaderU.S. marketplace. These acquisi-tions, Brownfield and Greenfield,and franchise conversions strate-gies will continue to influence thedirection of consolidation and right-sizing within the collision repair in-dustry and will result in increasedMLO market share in the U.S.

The $20+ million U.S. colli-sion repair segment continues togrow their market share and brandrelatively faster than other seg-ments of the collision repair in-dustry. This growth is being drivenby an increasing number of vari-ables.● Private equity’s continued inter-est in the collision repair industry

► U.S. MSO organizationswith private equity financing andsupport include the following (seechart):


NUNUNUUININININNE E E E ananand d d AFAFTETERMRMMARARAA KEKEKEKEKEEET T T T T GENGGIIIIIAAAAATTTTT FFFFFFFFFF PPPPPAAAAARRRRRRTTTTTSSSSSdididididid stststststrirriribububutototoorsrsrs

Nashville FIATFranklin

615-790-4616615-550-4051 Fax

Mon-Fri. 7:00am-6:00pmSat. 7:00am-4:00pm

[email protected]

Tennessee

A Profile of the Evolving Collision Repair Marketplace

● MLO access to various privateand strategic partner capital forbusiness, market growth, expan-sion and infrastructure develop-ment increasing consolidationthrough single- and multiple-loca-tion acquisitions● The segment’s local and multi-market footprint which offersgreater consumer and insurancecompany choice● Multi-level selling and marketingfor insurer choice brand preferencewith access to insurance companydirect repair claims● Ongoing operational improve-ment, resulting in increased vehi-cle repair quality, higher daily touchtime, increased throughput, lowercycle time, and shorter length ofrental● Business service differentiation,market segmentation and brandrecognition/reputation● MLO market leadership throughsustainable, top-tier, competitiveperformance results● Expanded business hours of op-eration including multiple dailyshifts, weekends and hybrid workshifts● Insurance DRP focus that drivessingle point of contact, operationalconformity, predictable and sus-tained repair quality, and competi-tively ranked repairer performanceoutcomes● An integrated, multi-level salesand marketing approach to captur-ing consumer, insurance, rental,and fleet● Expansion of new and hybridnetwork platforms involving MLOs

United States $20+ Million MLO andthe $10 to $20 Million SegmentsIn the past, we have reviewed andprofiled the $20+ million MLO seg-ment. The 2012 U.S. profile hasbeen expanded to include ourwork on the $10 to $20 millionmultiple-location operator seg-ment. This profile of the $20+ mil-lion and the $10 to $20 millionmultiple-location collision repair

operators includes:● Independent and deal-ership MLO collision re-pair operators processing$20+ million or more inrevenue annually withinthe U.S. market● Independent and deal-ership MLO collision re-pair operators processing

$10 to $20 million in revenue an-nually within the U.S. market● Professionally-managed opera-tors providing performance-based, brand-recognized andcompetitively-differentiated colli-sion repair services● Companies focused on achiev-ing top-tier, self-managed, andcustomer-required performanceresults, high customer satisfac-tion, and consistent and sustain-able quality repairs● Businesses that tend to pursuemultiple customer segments forcollision repair revenue includingproperty and casualty insuranceDRP, automotive dealer, accidentmanagement, rental car, and di-rect-pay consumers● Organizations typically incorpo-rating strategic planning as part oftheir proactive approach to theirbusiness, market developmentand growth● Operators practicing businessprocess improvement and opera-tions excellence; managing the or-ganization by incorporating andintegrating all functional areassuch as finance, personnel, oper-ations, sales/marketing, and tech-nology as a minimum foundationfor their business platform

Both the $20M+ MLO and the$10 to $20M MLO collision repairprofile used for this analysis ex-cludes repair facilities that focusexclusively or primarily on expe-dited paint and cosmollision, paint-less dent removal, glass repair,and mechanical only; and collisionrepair related primarily to auctionvehicles. We do recognize thatwithin these segments some com-panies continue to be in variousstages of strategic growth, trans-formation and transition to busi-ness models approaching that ofan insurance company DRP or di-versified customer collision repairsegment platform.

Portions of this report containa specific segment of multiple-lo-cation networks (MLNs) that in-

clude collision repair conversionand multi-segment customer-fo-cused franchisor Maaco alongwith franchise consolidator net-works CARSTAR and ABRA. FixAuto, currently a hybrid modelwhich includes both franchisemembers and non-franchise re-pairers participating in Fix’s fran-chise brand and its bannernetwork model, are also included.These organizations represent asignificant market segment of thecollision repair industry that war-rants continued tracking and mon-itoring.

There are various types ofmultiple-location networks that arenot currently included here suchas integrated and outsourced autophysical damage and glass net-works, Safelite and LYNX APD,accident management firms suchas The CEI Group, cooperativemarketing, consumer advocacyand management networks likeAssured Performance, and peerperformance groups including TheEverest Partners, PPG’s ParKaizen and the Coyote Group.Nevertheless, we do understandthe value and growing importance

these organizations have amongtheir customers and constituents inproviding solutions and supportingtheir needs.

Key Findings for the 2012 U.S.$20+M MLO Market Segment● The 68 $20+M MLO organiza-tions:►Processed 14.7 percent of the$30.7 billion in collision repair rev-enue nationally►Represent $4,504 billion in rev-enue, up 65 percent from 2006►Represent 3.9 percent of the35,200 collision repair locations● When combining the $20+MMLO organizations and the fourfranchise branded consolidatorMLN networks:►They represent $5.8 billion or19.1 percent of the $30.7 billioncollision repair market● When the $20+M MLO organi-zations are combined with theMLN networks and the $10m to$20M MLO segment:►These combined three seg-ments represent $7.2 billion or23.5% of the $30.7 billion collisionrepair market● Within the top ten $20+M MLOs,


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are that our membership faces in theirdaily business practices. I would per-sonally like to meet with the automo-bile manufacturers, paint manufacturersand departments of insurance.”

In addition to growing their asso-ciation with new members, CARA isalso in the process of schedulingmeetings to address some of the is-sues plaguing the industry, such as theissues related to purchasing paint ma-terials. Addressing the ongoing con-

troversy of PartsTrader, Finney asks,“what is the benefit for shop ownersand their customers? PartsTrader isjust another way for an outside entityto control your business. In my opin-ion, this is bad for our industry, pe-riod!”

Finney believes that Right to Re-pair is a consumer issue, and “everyconsumer has the right to have their ve-hicle repaired wherever they choose.Having said that, as shop owners, webelieve we should have access to the in-formation so that we may be able toproperly repair our consumer’s vehicleas well.”

When asked about CARA’s stanceon the PARTS Act, Finney notes, “Ihave read in a consumer reports issuethat consumer groups estimate the costof collision repairs would raise by 1billion a year, nationally, and con-sumers would foot that bill throughtheir insurance premiums. It is my un-derstanding that when the insuranceindustry calculates the cost to the con-sumer, they are calculated with the re-pairs installing new OEM parts.

As far as the aftermarket partsissue, we keep hearing they are guar-anteed to fit and have a lifetime war-ranty. I believe we would all like to

hear how they must be crash tested andbe subjected to the same testing as theOEM parts are subjected to.”

Overall, CARA’s viewpoint onmany industry issues reverts back totheir mission statement and their beliefthat is should be the consumer’s choiceas to who repairs their vehicle, as is in-herent in the very name of the associ-ation.

CARAPO Box 392Cadiz, OH 43907740-942-3107www.c-a-r-a.org

five are independent and five aredealer groups►These top ten organizations ac-count for 55.9 percent of all$20+M MLO production locations►They represent 54.1 percent ofall $20+M MLO revenue►On average, the $20+M MLOsprocess $3.2 million per produc-tion location, over four times morethan the average annual revenuefor <$20M MLO repairers of$775,718.

● Revenue for the top ten inde-pendent and dealership MLOswas $2.4 billion, an increase of$1.1 billion over 2006’s revenue of$1.3 billion

Key Findings for the 2012 U.S. $10 to$20M MLO Market SegmentAs indicated earlier, this group ofMLOs represents the next levelsegment being tracked as part ofthe broader U.S. market. TheseMLOs compete not only on a local

market basis, but also with the re-gional and larger multi-platformMLOs. They each bring an entre-preneurial and customized ap-proached to how they succeedand compete. They continue togrow their businesses organicallyand through new locations inorder to remain competitive or po-sition themselves as merger or ac-quisition candidates.● The 107 $10 to $20M MLO or-ganizations:

►Represent $1.4 billion in rev-enue►Processed 4.5 percent of the$30.7 billion in collision repair rev-enue nationally►Represent 530 or 1.5 percent ofthe 35,200 collision repair loca-tions● The top 25 processed $409M

revenue and have 140 locationswhile the top 50 represent $745M,over 50% of this segments rev-enue, with 272 locations.



CARA

20 years ago in the collision repairindustry (November 1993)“My time away from the industry thisyear made me more aware than ever thatmany of the people who keep telling ushow we can improve the claims process,improve parts ordering, improve pro-ductivity, improve turn-around time andcut car rental costs don’t know the firstthing about how our shops operate orhalf the steps required to properly repaira damaged vehicle. Computers and soft-ware programs are great, but computersdon’t take the nuts and bolts out of afender, and they can’t comprehend thefact that a left door can’t be replaced witha right door, even if the part numbner onthe invoice is the correct part number.

“It seems that many insurancecompanies—and some shops—havebought into the promise that one or an-other computer system will solve manyor all of their problems. There is alwaysone direct repair program or anothertelling shop owners that something willgreatly expedite the claims handlingprocess…All these promises soundgreat on paper or in panel discussions,but they don’t do the repair work.”

► from a column by Bobby John-son, at that time the owner of B&J Col-lision in Jefferson, Texas

15 years ago in the collision repairindustry (November 1998)PPG has done a comprehensive study ofover 2,000 collision repair facilities. Hereis a snapshot of some of the statistics:

The average labor rate: $34 an hour.Average gross profit per hour per

technician: $45.63 (top 25 percent),$32.57 (middle 50 percent), $19.69(bottom 25 percent).

Labor efficiency (hours sold ver-sus available hours): 154 percent (top25 percent), 118 (middle 50 percent),82 percent (bottom 25 percent)

PPG’s Rich Altieri said it is likelythat repair opportunities will continueto decrease. His prediction: By 2006,40 percent of today’s shops will ceaseto exist. If the collision industry is a$24 billion business, 24,000 shopsdoing $1 million a year in sales wouldtake care of the market.

► As reported in Hammer & Dolly.Indeed in 2006, there were about 36,000shops, 40 percent fewer than the 60,000

Altieri said there were in 1998. (Last yearthere were about 34,500.) The averagelabor rate nationally last year was $45.43,up 33 percent since 1998, but below 41percent cumulative rate of inflation dur-ing that period; to keep up with inflation,the national average last year would havehad to have been $47.89.

10 years ago in the collision repairindustry (November 2003)Collision repairers who are part of StateFarm’s “Select Service” or “ServiceFirst” direct repair programs have beenlauding the insurer for the way it admin-isters its claims management process forvehicle repair. It’s a process that techni-cians and shop owners are saying putstrust in collision repair professionals.

Repairers have often been frus-trated with how insurers handle theclaims management process. For yearsthey have argued that many insurers areoverly involved in the process and don’tlet repairers do their job without tellingthem how it should be done. But StateFarm is taking a different approach.

“To put it simply, State Farm is let-ting the experts—collision repair pro-fessionals—do what they do best,” saysDon Keenan, owner of Keenan AutoBody in Clifton Heights, Penn. Keenansaid State farm respects its Select Serv-ice collision repair shops’ experienceand expertise and “as a result, we’refreed up to do the best possible job.”

The Society of Collision RepairSpecialists earlier this year issued a pressrelease praising State Farm for what theorganization is calling a “professionalapproach to claims management.”

“I have received countless callsfrom members commenting on the pos-itive relationship with State Farm, SCRSExecutive Director Dan Risley said.

► As reported in Auto Body Re-pair News (ABRN). The most recentnational survey allowing shops to rateinsurers with regard to reimbursementpolicies and claims handling efficiencystill found State Farm at the top, but witha score of 64.8 (out of 100), down from93.4 in 2003. In 2003 it had a nearly 30-point edge over its closest competitor.Now two other insurers are within 4.2points of knocking State Farm out of thetop spot. SCRS this past year has beenamong the most vocal critics of State

Farm’s implementation PartsTrader, andRisley, now with the Automotive Serv-ice Association, wrote to State Farm inSeptember saying the insurer’s man-dated use of a vendor “that solely finan-cially benefits State Farm is moredictatorship than partnership.”

5 years ago in the collision repairindustry (November 2008)Minnesota shop owner and NACEchairman Darrell Amberson said (atthe event’s opening sessions) that thecollision industry should also be payingclose attention to increased efforts byautomakers to gain design patents oncrash parts, which could limit competi-tion from non-OEM parts manufactur-ers. He said that while design protectionis a “fundamental right” for any indus-try, it could also drive up parts costs,also leading to more total loss vehicles.

He called on the estimating systemproviders to bring more automation, so-phistication and automaker information

to the systems to help them evolve frombeing “just a guide to a tool that couldbe used to blueprint jobs.” The systems,he said, currently are too incompleteand subject to interpretation.

“Can you imagine a world wherewe didn’t have to spend so much ef-fort negotiating, debating (and) look-ing for non-included operations? Ithink whether an insurer or repairer,we could probably increase our lifeexpectancy if we didn’t have to dealwith this,” Amberson said, drawinglaughter and applause from the crowd.

Overall, Amberson, despite thestruggling economy and the specificchallenges the collision repair industryfaces, is optimistic about the opportuni-ties for those shop owners who embracenew technology and processes, diver-sify their business, and think of them-selves as business people, not repairers.

► from Autobody News coverageof the 2008 International AutobodyCongress and Exposition (NACE)


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November Retrospective on the Collision Repair Industry

with John YoswickHistorical Snapshot

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

For nearly ten years, the Auto BodyAssociation of Connecticut (ABAC)has been engaged in a legal battle withthe Hartford Fire Insurance Company(the Hartford), and though a judge andjury awarded the victory to ABAC, thefight is not yet over as the Hartford hasappealed the ruling to the state’sSupreme Court. Still, Tony Ferraiolo,President of ABAC, remains opti-mistic, noting “this is one of thebiggest things happening in the indus-try right now, and it will rock the coun-try if—no, when—we win next year.”

ABAC filed a class-action law-suit against the Hartford in 2003,claiming the insurer was manipulatinglabor rates across the state and usingsteering practices to direct customersto shops on their direct repair program(DRP). Besides getting a discountedrate from their network of DRPs, theinsurer also had their appraisers usethe same uniform labor rate in their es-timates across the state, thus pressur-ing independent shops to lower theirrates. David Slossberg, lead attorneyfor ABAC in this lawsuit, noted that,as a result of this conduct across theindustry, profit margins for auto bodyshops have decreased from 6% to lessthan 2%, which disregards the shops’expenses related to training, equip-ment and environmental regulations.

In November 2009, a SuperiorCourt jury in Stamford ruled in favorof ABAC, awarding $14.7 million incompensatory damages to the shops

represented in thelawsuit becausethey found that theHartford engagedin unfair tradepractices which re-sulted in a loss toCT body shops.Earlier this year, in

May, Superior Court Judge Alfred J.Jennings granted injunctive reliefwhich mandated that the Hartford “re-frain from interfering with the inde-pendent judgment of motor vehiclephysical damage appraisers in its em-ploy in the performance of their du-ties… including the determination ofthe hourly rate to be applied in calcu-lating the labor component of costs torepair.”

The injunctive relief was grantedafter the jury found the Hartford to beengaging in unfair business practices

through the use of in-house appraisersand their network of DRP shops to ar-tificially suppress labor rates in CT. Inaddition to being prohibited from in-terfering in their appraisers’ judg-ments, the Hartford will also berequired to submit a Quarterly Com-pliance Report to the court whichmust include: (i) the range and aver-age of hourly rates used by each Hart-ford appraiser, (ii) hourly rate(s)charged by all shops under DRP con-tract with the Hartford, (iii) anychanges the Hartford makes to esti-mates or appraisals as a result of rein-spection or supervisory reviews, and(iv) a summary of any adverse or dis-ciplinary action against any of theHartford’s CT-licensed appraisers.

Judge Jennings ruled in favor ofABAC and the shops they represent yetagain in June 2013, awarding $20 mil-lion in punitive damages intended topunish the Hartford for manipulating thelabor rate and to deter other insurancecompanies from engaging in the sameunlawful conduct; the award is believedto be the largest unfair trade practicesaward ever issued in the state of CT.Jennings explained the award wasmeant to send a message to the Hartfordand other insurers that any violations offair trade rules will not be tolerated.

After the Hartford appealed thecourt’s decision, a stay was placed onthe injunctive relief, but Ferraiolo notesthat during the two weeks it was in ef-fect, it seems to have caused other in-surers to begin negotiating higher laborrates and concessions. He emphasizedthat appraisers should be negotiatingrates on a shop-by-shop basis, estab-lishing labor rates based on the individ-ual shop’s business model, the qualityof their repairs and the model of the carbeing repaired. “What we have soughtto achieve in this lawsuit is simply forthe Hartford and its appraisers to follow

the law,” said Ferraiolo. “We alreadywon the case, but now we’re dealingwith the political and bureaucratic non-

sense. Yet, there is merit in thefact that we’ve engaged in aten-year battle, and the jurydecided in our favor.”

ABAC also acts as a“watchdog” on their mem-bers’ behalves, meeting with

legislators to explain how the Hart-ford’s actions negatively im-pact their constituents.Ferraiolo says, “we’ve had alot of success in showing thenegative impact on con-sumers, but the insurers con-sistently try to muddy thewaters. Still, this is industry-changingstuff! As long as it doesn’t become po-litically corrupt, we will win next year.”

Like Ferraiolo, Slossberg is con-fident that after fighting this battle formore than a decade, the ABAC willultimately prevail. “This case should

give hope to all those individuals andsmall businesses who think they can’tpush back against the big insurancecompanies. The ABAC and some1000 small businesses in the State ofConnecticut won a hard fought andwell-earned jury verdict which wasfollowed by carefully written andwell-reasoned decisions by the trialjudge regarding injunctive and puni-tive damages.” While Ferraiolo is def-

initely pleased with the court’s ruling,he is less confident that the Hartfordwill comply with the judge’s man-dates, noting that the insurers justdon’t seem to be getting the message,despite ABAC’s victories in court.

Ferraiolo believes that DRP


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ABAC’s Decade-Long Battle Against the Hartford Insurance Co.

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AudaExplore™ has announced thelaunch of GoTime, a new line ofdriver-focused mobile solutions thatstreamline and accelerate a range ofpartial and total loss claims and repairprocesses while driving an improvedand optimized vehicle owner experi-ence.

“There’s a perfect storm ofchange hitting the market—from anew generation of vehicle owners tothe pervasiveness of mobile devices tonewly available self-service offeringsthat enable new ways of engaging ve-hicle owners never before possibleuntil now,” said Neal Lowell, Auda-Explore’s vice president of productmanagement and innovation. “OurGoTime line of mobile solutions em-powers insurers and repair facilities toaddress these market dynamics headon, with features that take business ef-ficiencies and the vehicle owner expe-rience to the next level.”

The GoTime family of mobile so-lutions is powered by AudaNet, Auda-Explore’s global, intelligent, next-generation claims and collision repairplatform.

GoTime product highlights in-clude:

● GoTime Autosource. Drivesimmediate accuracy and quicker per-

formance for insurance staff and inde-pendent appraisers. According to Au-daExplore, it is the only smart phoneapp with advanced vehicle identifica-tion, one-thumb conditioning, and themarket-driven valuations of Au-tosource, AudaExplore’s valuationservice. AudaExplore says the intu-itive design of GoTime Autosourceempowers appraisers to easily com-plete comprehensive vehicle-side in-spections.● GoTime Repair. Designed to en-able peak performance for collisionrepair facilities through better repairtracking and shop management. Bycombining AudaExplore’s AutoFo-cus body shop management system(BMS) with AudaExplore’s Au-toWatch collision repair trackingsoftware on smart mobile devices,the company states that users canquickly and easily optimize opera-tions, reduce cycle times and maxi-mize customer communications.● GoTime Appraiser. AudaExplorecalls this feature an all-in-one mobilesolution that enables appraisers to ef-ficiently and effectively manage ap-praisal appointments and vehiclerepairs while providing vehicle own-ers with an optimized customer expe-rience. Going beyond just photos,

GoTime Appraiser features drag-and-drop schedule updates, integratedturn-by-turn directions, single-clickcustomer communications, AudaEx-plore’s patent-pending vehicle photoguides, and location-specific repairstatuses and alarms.

“With the mobile technology agecomes new ways of increasing the ef-ficiency and productivity of apprais-ers and collision repair experts in thefield, as well as delivering immediateand optimal communications to vehi-cle owners,” added Lowell. “We arefanatical about providing our cus-tomers’ customers with the best expe-rience possible and are proud to bringthe first three GoTime solutions tomarket, building upon our commit-ment to delivering continuous innova-tion and integrated intelligence for theautomobile claims market.”

In other news, the company an-nounced Oct. 8 it will expand itsglobal automotive data footprint withthe addition of Chrysler vehicle man-ufacturing build data, for vehicles inthe US., Canada and Mexico. The ex-pansion brings Chrysler vehicle builddata accuracy to every country whereChrysler vehicles are sold through Au-daExplore’s AudaVIN™ vehicle iden-tification technology.

AudaExplore™ Introduces GoTime Line of Driver Focused Mobile Solutionsshops are part of the problem becausethey are doing the publicity for the in-surers, claiming that it’s necessary tobe on DRPs in order to stay in busi-ness. He notes, “they’ve helped buildthis big monster, but now they can’tdestroy it.” A & R Body Specialty,Ferraiolo’s shop, is a medium-sized,independent shop which representsthat market that’s in trouble as mostmid-sized shops participate in DRPsin order to stay in operation; however,he insists that while solutions are fewand far between, and shops like his areat a competitive disadvantage due tothe unfair trade practices of the Hart-ford and other insurers, independentmid-sized shops are trying to competein the market by providing educationto both their employees and the con-sumer and by offering excellent cus-tomer service.

Because the case is still in the ap-peals process, none of the shops havereceived any of the awarded funds yet.If the Hartford’s appeal is rejected, eachmember of the class-action lawsuit willhave to apply to receive their share ofthe money, and the trial court will es-tablish a process to distribute the funds.The class originally began with 1000

See ABAC v Hartford, Page 42

How often have you heard the expres-sion Time is Money? It’s a phrase thatapplies to many businesses but—as itpertains to body shops, insurancecompanies and vehicles owners—it isonly half of the equation. In this in-dustry, time equals money and cus-tomer service.

It’s much more expensive to finda new customer than to retain an ex-isting one. As insurers we are awarethat the time it takes to repair an in-sured vehicle is directly tied to the in-sured’s CSI score and retention rates.Low cycle time equals high CSI, sowe need to focus on reducing cycletime.

Here’s what I mean. Althoughcustomer service can’t be defined byan algebraic equation, it’s safe to as-sume that cycle time is less than orequal to customer service. (I promise Iwon’t reference algebraic equationsfor the remainder of the article.) Theimportant idea is that the less time ittakes to repair a vehicle, the greaterthe customer service is. That’s be-cause, even when the vehicle ownerrates customer service poorly in termsof the repair itself—or the handling ofthe claim, the overall score is going tobe better when the repair is donequickly.

Also, if you can get repairsthrough your facility faster, you canmove more repairs through the samefacility and you make more money.For the collision repairer, reducedcycle time equals increased salesequals more money. Increased CSI in-creases customer-driven repeat and re-ferral business. Therefore, reducingcycle time translates to increased col-lision repairer profitability, CSI, andcustomer referrals and repeat business.

I am not suggesting that shopsshould sacrifice quality just so you canget the customer’s car back sooner.But I am pointing out the importanceof managing cycle time. The impor-tance of cycle time goes far beyondthe dollars saved in rental car expense.It also goes beyond the fact that if yourepair the car quicker, you can get an-other car in the shop.

For insurance companies, there’sanother factor: open claim liability.The longer a claim is open, the more

likely the claim will increase, for a lotof reasons. Paying and closing claimsquickly reduces open claim liability,and that’s additional motivation on theinsurer’s part to push for reduced cycletime.

Body shops tend to think that this

is just part of the game for insurancecompanies, that we are just imposingour will on hapless shops to save a fewdollars on a rental car. But if you re-move yourself from that “us-against-them” posturing and think aboutsomething other than arguing with in-surance companies, you will realizethat this just makes sense.

We are all in business to deliver aservice to the customer. You just hap-pen to repair cars; we simply providecoverage in the event of a loss. But thebottom line is that delivering customerservice is a more important businessproposition than anything else theshop or insurance company does. Inthe highly competitive insurance andcollision repair markets, retaining pol-icyholders and getting repeat businesswill make the difference between sur-vival and prospering.

The challenge for insurance com-panies is that we are beholden to thetime that body shops take to make therepairs. With few exceptions, the timeit takes for you to repair a vehicle issolely dependent upon your shop’smanagement and operational effi-ciency. Although you may think it’s aninsurance company goal to manageyour shop, it isn’t. We don’t haveenough manpower or systems to man-age your business for you. Instead weneed shops to be conscientious aboutcycle time. Better cycle time equalshigh customer service scores which

equals greater policyholder retention.It is frustrating as an insurance

executive to realize that we lose poli-cyholders because the customer wasdissatisfied with the length of time ittook to repair their vehicle. I realizethat insurance companies can ad-

versely impact cycle time with out-dated processes or lack of trust(though I’m sure many of you willemail me to point this out). But the

fact remains that there are tens ofthousands of body shops in the indus-try. A small percentage of you under-stand what I am saying. And an evensmaller percentage actually take actionto ensure that cycle time and opera-tional efficiency are dominant in allphases of your facility.

The greater percentage of bodyshops repair cars at their own pace be-cause, after all, they don’t owe any-thing to the insurance company. Theyproclaim that they are repairing the carthe right way and you just can’t rushsuch things. If you are one of thoseshort-sighted people, please don’t re-pair any of my customers vehicles.But for those that want to survive whatis going to be a continual reduction ofshops in the United States, please keepreading.

The moment you are notified thatthere is a claim, we are starting theclock. Why? Because we are doing


Cycle Time is Money for Everyone

See Insurance Insider, Page 47

with The Insurance InsiderInside Insurance

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

Environmental concerns have becomea major priority in the collision repairindustry and removal and reutilizationof recyclable material. The Automo-tive Recyclers Association (ARA) isplaying an increasing role in thismovement.

Since it was established in 1943,ARA has been the only trade associa-tion representing the automotive recy-cling industry. It is dedicated to

efficiently remov-ing and reutilizingautomotive partsas well as seeing tothe safe disposal ofinoperable motorvehicles. ARA hasexpanded to repre-sent approximately

1250 companies through direct mem-bership, plus over 3000 additionalcompanies worldwide through theiraffiliated chapters in 43 states and 14other countries.

CEO Michael Wilson explainstheir mission: ARA aims to furtherservices and programs to increasepublic awareness of conserving thefuture through automotive recyclingand to promote the industry’s valueto the automotive consumer. ARAencourages aggressive environmen-tal management programs to assistmember facilities in maintainingproper management techniques forfluid and solid waste materials gen-erated from the disposal of motorvehicles.

ARA offers many benefits to theirmembers, such as networking oppor-tunities, legislative representation,marketing tools and even discounts onliability insurance and trainingthrough their own university, ARAU.Their website features resources formembers, and ARA publishes weeklyelectronic newsletters as well as a bi-monthly magazine, Automotive Recy-cling, to provide members with

needed information on the latest in-dustry trends, training and technolog-ical updates. According to Wilson,ARA serves members by offering abroad spectrum of programs and ben-

efits for all sizes of automotive recy-cling operations: “business models forprofessional automotive recyclers in-clude both full and self-service plat-forms, and our clients range fromdo-it-your-selfers to independent re-pair shops to large insurance basedcollision repair facilities.”

ARA also maintains two founda-tions for the benefit of their membersand the industry at-large. Their Edu-

cational Foundation hosts a library ofindustry-specific training courseswhich are available through the ARAUniversity. ARA’s Scholarship Foun-dation promotes continuing educationby awarding over $30,000 in scholar-ship grants to the children of theirmembers and their members’ employ-ees.

Discussing the challenges ARAfaces to maintain operations, Wilsonlists branding, consolidation withinthe industry, the exportation of sal-vage vehicles out of the country, theunlevel playing field at salvage auc-tions and with unlicensed or illegallyoperating entities, and advancementsin technology. He says the industryneeds to overcome the competitionand barriers erected by auto manufac-turers seeking to protect their marketshare. ARA also deals with thecommon problems of adapting to thechanges inherent as new generationscome of age, such as how to get them


with Chasidy Rae SiskNational Associations


Virginia-Based Automotive Recycling Association Does More Than Green the Industry

Michael Wilson

CT body shops, but it has since grownto include an estimated 1500 shops af-fected by the Hartford’s practices. Thesheer number of complainants “showsthe breadth and extent of the damagecaused by the defendant’s misconduct,”according to Judge Jennings. In estab-lishing the amount of punitive dam-ages, Jennings also considered the networth of the Hartford, somewhere inthe $12 to $13 billion range, in order toensure the award would be a meaning-ful deterrent to the insurer.

Jennings has not yet determined theamount that will be awarded to ABAC’sattorneys who have not received a centof compensation from this ten-year longlawsuit. Ferraiolo praises the attorneys’dedication to the cause; “our attorneysare aggressive and are working veryhard to win this case. They have just asmuch, if not more, invested since theydon’t get paid unless we win!”

In fact, these attorneys haveproven their support of local auto bodyshops yet again by representing ABACin a second, similar lawsuit which was

filed four years ago against Progressivefor steering and labor rate suppression.This case is being pursued in FederalCourt, and ABAC will be seeking classcertification later this year. As Fer-raiolo stated repeatedly, these lawsuitscould change the collision repair in-dustry if the association is victorious.Industry leaders from other states havealready begun contacting ABAC to ex-press interest and seek advice on howto pursue these types of battles.

The Hartford was contacted foropposing point of view or comments,but none have been received at presstime.

Auto Body Association of Connecti-cut (ABAC)104 Cheshire RdProspect, CT [email protected]


ABAC v Hartford

Search:Autobody Newson Facebook

involved with the association and itsleadership.

Wilson explains their currentfocus: “the professional automotiverecycling industry is not immune tothe effects of the type of seismicevents that have transformed theAmerican automotive sector overthe past few years. Our membersmust be equipped to adapt to the ef-fects of this change in order to meetemerging markets in new and cre-ative ways. We are also focused onproviding our members with theskills and knowledge to meet thechallenges that new, more complexmotor vehicles bring to our facili-ties. A recent Polk report detailedthat the number of vehicles olderthan 12 years has increased by morethan 20 percent, and that percentageis expected to continue to rise for atleast the next five years. Thesenumbers predict a significant waveof inoperable motor vehicles thatwill be arriving soon at automotiverecycling facilities throughout theUnited States. As an industry, wemust seize the opportunities theseincreasing inventories create for theproper and efficient removal andreuse of ‘green’ automotive parts.”

ARA leadership held a strategicplanning retreat earlier this year thepurpose of which was “to articulate afuture that realizes the full potential ofmembers’ businesses. ARA is workingcontinually to engage industry part-ners that want to help advance the au-tomotive recycling profession and, at

the same time, try to bridge gaps be-tween us and those entities that haveminimal interest in supporting policiesthat promote the utilization of OE re-cycled parts.”

Currently, ARA is planning fortheir upcoming 70th annual conven-tion which will be held November6 –9 at the Sheraton Convention Cen-ter in Phoenix, AZ. They are planninga robust program of educational andtraining opportunities for their mem-

bers, such as the Certified AutomotiveRecyclers (CAR) program. ARA iscurrently working on the new CARprogram in order to emphasize the in-dustry’s environmental stewardship.ARA also looks forward to hosting au-tomotive recyclers from around theglobe for the International Roundtable

on Automotive Recyclingwhich will take place imme-diately after their conven-tion.

Recently, ARA partneredwith CIECA in order “toleverage expertise and im-plementation tools of bothparties, develop standardsand advance new businessplatforms. CIECA developstechnology electronic com-

munication standards that allow betterconnectivity within the industry. Thispartnership is increasing parts salesand reducing risk.”

Other pending projects includeARA9001, a quality control systemspecifically tailored to the automotiverecycling industry that is based on el-ements of the association’s currentGold Seal program and continuedrecognition and utilization of theGreen Recycled Parts trademark. The

association also recently releasedARA Direct, an online auction plat-form where members can purchasevehicles from various insurance com-panies, wholesalers, fleets, franchisedealers and others in a manner thatsignificantly changes the means bywhich members’ vehicle acquisitiondemands are met and increases theirinventory.

Though these matters are morethan enough to keep ARA occupied,they work in the regulatory and leg-islative sphere as well. In addition toworking with the EPA to make stormwater permitting appropriate and ef-fective for professional automotive fa-cilities plus regularly educatingmembers on OSHA standards, ARAhas been working with the DOJ to in-crease compliance and enforcement ofthe National Motor Vehicle Title In-formation System (NMVTIS). Theirwork with DOT to combat the use ofcounterfeit airbags has led to ARA’sinvolvement in legislation on thistopic as educate consumers about re-cycled OEM airbags. Wilson believesthis legislation also “benefits bodyshop owners because they will be ableto better identify counterfeit airbagsand also understand the cost-effective


option of using non-deployed recy-cled OEM airbags in repairs.”

ARA also supports evaluations onthe need for and cost of new regula-tions while keeping an eye on howthese changes impact jobs which ben-efits collision repair shops. The cur-rent motor vehicle safety recalllegislation under consideration in theSenate applies to rental fleets, “butARA is taking the opportunity to edu-cate policymakers on the need to in-clude recall data into third partyinventory management systems so re-cyclers can identify through their elec-tronic inventory searches whether aparticular part has been recalled; thisbenefits body shop owners becausethis would guarantee that the recyclerwouldn’t unknowingly sell a recalledpart to a repairer,” says Wilson.

Additionally, ARA has taken aninterest in metal anti-theft legislationto prevent duplicative mandates onprofessional automotive recyclers.Though recyclers are already regu-lated by sales and reporting require-ments, anti-theft legislation proposedin Congress protects city and munici-pality infrastructures as well as bodyshops and consumer assets. Wilsonadmits there are always challenges

when trying to get legislation signedinto law, beginning with misrepresen-tations about recycled parts. In orderto educate legislators about the indus-try, ARA must combat those opposedto the proposed legislation, presentinga challenge since these competitorsoften have significantly more re-sources.

Wilson believes that OEMs needto embrace parts reutilization at thedesign stage. He says, “technologicaladvances are eliminating past barri-ers to foster robust international com-merce. Access to parts data that onlyautomotive manufacturers can pro-vide is crucial to enable the autobody industry as well as automotiverecyclers to compete in emergingtechnologies and business platforms;this is a need both our industriesshare. Only with this important datacan the automotive recycling profes-sion efficiently and accurately iden-tify OE recycled part matches forrepairs and total loss determinationcalculations.”

Another challenge is the expan-sion of parts technology as electronicparts are all being added to the mix ofcollision and mechanical parts inven-tory, necessitating even more specific

data to appropriately describe forreuse. Though ARA has not taken aformal position on PartsTrader, Wil-son notes, “we continue to monitorand evaluate the program’s rollout.Several ARA recyclers are memberson the PartsTrader Advisory Board,and ARA invited PartsTrader repre-sentatives to provide a presentation onthe program at our upcoming conven-tion.”

ARA is also monitoring initia-tives related to Right to Repair, andWilson explains, “ARA has long ar-gued that car owners and independentrepair shops need full access to the in-formation, parts and tools necessary toaccurately diagnose, repair and re-program vehicles. ARA staff has beenactively coordinating with our affili-ated state chapters in New England tomonitor R2R initiative on the statelegislative level as well as continuedto dialogue with stakeholders in-volved in the national Right to Repairconversations.”

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SEMA is supporting legislation (S.344) introduced in the U.S. Senate toban the sale of gasoline containing15% ethanol. The bill would over-turn actions taken by the U.S. Envi-ronmental Protection Agency (EPA)two years ago to permit ethanol lev-els to rise from 10% (E10) to 15%(E15). The agency is only requiringa gas pump warning label to alertmotorists that E15 could potentiallycause equipment failure for vehiclesolder than model-year 2001. “Thislegislation is necessary to protectauto enthusiasts by preventing dam-age to older vehicles and high-per-formance specialty components,”said SEMA Vice President of Gov-ernment Affairs Steve McDonald.“SEMA applauds Senators RogerWicker (R-MS) and David Vitter (R-LA) for their efforts to correct bystatute a flawed decision by the EPA.Unless enacted into law, E15 maysoon appear at a gas station nearyou.” Ethanol increases water for-mation that can then create formicacid and corrode metals, plastics andrubber. Older cars and certain high-performance specialty parts are notconstructed with corrosion-resistantmaterials or able to tolerate thehigher temperatures at which E15may burn.

SEMA Supports Ban of E15

Over 130 people attended an Auto-motive Service Association of Ari-zona (ASA-AZ) meeting on theevening of August 13th that featuredDale Sailer from Parts Trader andGeorge Avery, national spokesper-son from State Farm Insurance. MikeAnderson of Collision Advice facili-tated the meeting in which questionswere answered following presenta-tions by Mr. Sailer and Mr Avery.Among those in attendance were twostate legislators curious about the pro-gram and the impact on constituents.

The meeting coincided with thenational rollout of Parts Trader in Ari-zona, Texas, New Mexico and Col-orado. Arizona was the first state in

which Select Service shops were re-quired to locate and purchase all partsusing the relatively new and contro-versial program without benefit of the“fax only” option. Select Serviceshops are now only allowed to pur-chase parts from vendors that agreedto sign a Parts Trader Agreement.

As a follow up to this meeting,ASA-AZ sent out surveys to new cardealerships parts departments. “Theoverwhelming majority of our colli-sion repair members are opposed tothe mandated use of parts procure-ment programs” stated Luz Rubio,Executive Director for ASA-AZ. Sur-vey results can be downloaded at Au-tobodynews.com.

ASA-AZ Surveys Wholesale Parts Dealers on PartsTrader

The Alliance of Automotive ServiceProviders of New Jersey (AASP/NJ)has announced a list of early regis-trants for its 37th annual NortheastAutomotive Services Show takingplace March 21–23 at the Meadow-lands Exposition Center in Secaucus,NJ. The list of early sign-ups includeAccudraft Spray Booths, Aeromo-tive, American Honda, Auto Body

Distributing Inc, BASF, CCC Infor-mation Services, LKQ, MaxonMazda/ Hyundai, Mitchell, ModelElectronics, Nissan, TEAM PRP, TheRadiator Store, Valspar, UrethaneSupply Company and many more.“Frankly, I can’t remember vendorssigning up this early and I’ve beenaround for at least 30 shows,” saidAASP/NJ president Jeff McDowell.

AASP/NJ Announces Early Exhibitors for Northeast™


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Allstate reports that drivers that aresigned up for its usage-based insur-ance program, Drivewise, will regis-ter more than one billion milesdriven this month. Allstate said thatDrivewise is launching in Kentuckyand Montana this month, making theusage-based insurance product avail-able in 22 states including New Yorkand New Jersey. Allstate’s usage-based auto insurance (UBI) productmeasures mileage, hard braking, ex-cessive speed, and the time of daywhen a customer drives. Using thatdata, Allstate calculates insurancepremium savings for each customerusing its telematics technology. Cus-tomers can receive savings equal to10 percent of premium.

After the first six months of use,savings are based on driving perform-ance calculated from the data col-lected. The company said that sevenof every 10 Drivewise customers savemoney through the program and noone receives an increase. Of the driv-ers earning a discount, the averagesavings is 14 percent per vehicle.

Allstate reports that roughly, athird of all new customers enroll inthe Drivewise program, where it isavailable.

Allstate Says Usage-BasedInsurance Increasing

BMW has asked the U.S. NorthernCalifornia District Court to strike theproposed state class action status of alawsuit filed against the company bytwo BMW owners who claim thatdrainage tubes installed to pull wateraway from vehicles’ sunroofs do notproperly work, leading to water dam-age.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys claim theclass should include California resi-dents who have “owned or leased anyBMW X5 series vehicles, X3 seriesvehicles and 5 series vehicles.”

In response, BMW’s attorneysclaim in court documents, “First, thepurported class is not ascertainable be-cause it includes many persons whohave no claims against BMW NorthAmerica. Those putative class mem-bers whose cars have never manifestedthe alleged defect, those whose sun-roofs leaked for reasons other than thealleged defect and those whose carsare covered under warranty—and thuseligible for repair at no cost to them—cannot claim they suffered any cog-nizable injury and therefore lackstanding.”

The attorneys also claim, “Theclass includes many vehicles purchasedmore than ten years ago, meaning thatthe transactions at issue are well outside

the statutes of limitation of, for exam-ple, plaintiffs’ CLRA (three year), UCL(four year) and breach of express war-ranty (four year). At a minimum, per-sons whose claims are outside thestatutes of limitation should be ex-cluded from any proposed class.”

BMW’s attorneys also point outthat it is difficult to identify ownerswho have “experienced water damagebecause of the alleged defect, ratherthan other reasons—including lack ofmaintenance, accident damage or evenleaving the sunroof or trunk open be-fore a rain storm.”

Citing the certified pre-ownedBMW warranty, attorneys claim thatthe automaker “cannot be held liablefor ‘failing to company with the war-ranty’ or ‘refusing to repair’ if putativeclass members did not comply withtheir own obligations under the war-ranty or if the warranty does not pro-vide coverage for the damage claimed.Determining whether such complianceexists will require individualized in-quiries precluding class certification asa matter of law.”

BMW’s attorneys conclude byclaiming, “Plaintiffs cannot representthe putative class specified in theircomplaint because the class is simplytoo board and faces overwhelming in-

dividualized inquiries and becauseplaintiffs cannot satisfy basic typical-ity requirements. These deficienciesare plain, even at the pleading stage.For the foregoing reasons, the class al-legations therein should be stricken.”

Attorneys for plaintiffs’ MonitaSharma and Erica Anderson claim“BMW designed, manufactured, dis-tributed, sold and leased variousmakes and models of BMW vehiclesthat contain a serious design defectthat significantly impacts both thesafety and value of its vehicles. Specif-ically, numerous models of BMW ve-hicles manufactured during the classperiod were designed so that certainvital electrical components known asSDARS, RDC, and PDC modules, arelocated in the lowest part of the vehi-cles’ trunk. … Because BMW decidedto place these vital electrical compo-nents in what is essentially the lowestpart of the vehicle (the spare tire wellunder the trunk), they are especiallyprone to water damage that can becaused through the normal and ordi-nary use of the vehicle.

“When this water damage occurs,the vehicles become inoperable andpose a serious safety risk to those whoexperience this problem. Althoughthese components are highly suscepti-

ble to water damage, BMW providesno warnings or advisories to BMWowners about the location of this vitalequipment or the importance of keep-ing the vehicle’s trunk compartmentfree of liquids,” they continue.

The attorneys point out thatdrainage tubes are installed to pullwater away from the sunroof.

“Unfortunately, these sunroofdrains were designed in such a waythat they are prone to become cloggedwith dirt, debris, leaves, and other nat-urally-occurring materials. Whenthese tubes become clogged, theycome loose or leak into the trunks ofthe vehicles. These leaks, which even-tually flood the trunks of the vehicles,cause the vital electronic componentscontained at the bottom of the vehi-cles’ trunks to short-shutting off cer-tain components of the automobilenecessary for driving and creating apotential safety risk,” the attorneys al-lege.

BMW had asked the court earlierto dismiss the lawsuit by Sharma andAnderson. The court had not issuedany decision at press time.

BMW Asks California Court to Strike Class Action in Leaking Sunroof Case



NHTSA Recommends BackUp Cameras for New CarsThe National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration (NHTSA) has in-cluded a recommendation in its NewCar Assessment Program (NCAP)that encourages manufacturers toequip new vehicles with a rearviewvideo system. NCAP includes a five-star rating system for raising con-sumer awareness aboutcrashworthiness and rollover safetyinformation. The NCAP update isseparate from NHTSA’s proposedrule to update Federal Motor VehicleSafety Standard No. 111 (Rear ViewMirrors) to require all new passengercars be equipped with a rearviewcamera system. The equipment is in-tended to prevent accidents by alert-ing drivers when pedestrians arebehind the vehicles. Under a lawpassed in 2008, the NHTSA had until2011 to issue the rule to be phased-inby 2014. While the law permittedsensors, mirrors or other devices toprovide drivers with rearward infor-mation, the NHTSA determined thata camera and dashboard displayscreen system was the best solution.The automakers have generally ob-jected to not being provided moreflexibility in determining cost-effec-tive ways to achieve the goal.


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SCRS has included several tracks inits Repairer Driven Education(RDE) series at the SEMA Show thatwill address the consolidation trendin the industry. “SCRS is continuallylooking at ways that we can helpcollision repair business owners suc-ceed in the marketplace, and we re-alize that what defines successvaries for the wide array of repairersoperating in today’s shifting land-scape,” said SCRS Chairman RonReichen. “We suspect that the pri-vate equity entering our industry isgoing to continue to fund acquisi-tions, and that means independentcollision businesses are likely to beinterested in one of two models forsuccess: they will either positionthemselves to compete against con-solidation or position the business tosell for the highest value.” SCRS hasput together several sessions, in-cluding a panel of well-known in-dustry veterans who made headlinesof their own during the sale of theirprevious businesses. The panel, “If IKnew Then What I Know Now –Lessons Learned Selling My BodyShop,” will be held from 3 to 5 p.m.on Thursday, Nov. 7. Panelists willdiscuss things they learned in theprocess that can help attendees in-terested in proceeding down a simi-

lar path best prepare themselves.Subject matter experts include:• Aaron Clark, former owner of Col-lision Solutions, sold to ABRA AutoBody & Glass• Pat O’Neill, former owner of 911Collision Centers, sold to Caliber Col-lision Centers• Dan Bailey, former owner of A&BCARSTAR, sold to CARSTAR Fran-chise Systems• Mike Anderson, former owner ofWagonwork Collision Centers, sold toPohanka Collision Centers

“There is a great deal of com-bined knowledge among these experts,who will be offering first-hand insightinto how to navigate the process ofvaluing and selling your business,”said SCRS Executive Director AaronSchulenburg. “That said, it is very im-portant to point out that we have agreat deal of optimism that independ-ent collision repair owners can thrivein today’s marketplace as well, andhave also defined specific programsthat address solutions for them.”

Perhaps none of the programs ad-dress these solutions more specificallythan Wednesday afternoon’s sessionentitled, “Competing in a ConsolidatedMarketplace.” This session will be ledby Tim Ronak of AkzoNobel and willtake place from 3 to 5 p.m.

Ronak will discuss the most cur-rent consolidation information avail-able as of November 2013 and suggestthe path consolidation may take andthe impact it might have on the indus-try at large. He will compare collisionconsolidation to other industries toidentify strategies that were success-ful within those industries when con-solidation reshaped their businessmodel. Participants will have betterunderstanding on how to navigate inthis environment and insight into sur-vival strategies for their business.

On Friday from 12:30–2:30 p.m.,Scott Biggs of the Assured Perform-ance Network will host a session enti-tled, Creating a Parallel Universe:Reinventing the Collision Repair In-dustry, focusing on profit, prosperityand business survival in the decadesahead. Attendees will see alternativeversions of the future based upon theplans and agendas of insurers, MSOsand OEMs.

The 2013 RDE series is sponsoredby industry organizations such asSEMA, PPG Automotive Refinish, GMGenuine Parts, BASF Refinish, FordMotor Company, AkzoNobel, Hertz,Axalta Coating Systems, Goliath Carts,PBES (a division of AAIA), LKQCorp., SATA, Spanesi Americas, Sher-win-Williams and AASP.

SCRS Adds Consolidation Tracks to SEMA Repairer Driven Education

that internally with our own staff. Weare monitoring and assessing everystep of the claim process. The stop-watch starts the moment you are noti-fied of the claim, and only stops whenthe customer is handed back theirkeys.

The days of measuring cycle timeby the number of days is gone. Insur-ance companies are measuring cycletime by the minute. We can no longertolerate working with shops that aren’tdriven to improve their efficiency andcycle time – especially when yourcompetition down the street under-stands the rules of engagement andhow to win.

I know that all shops aren’t cre-ated equal. Fortunately, we are get-ting better at identifying the “haves”from the “have-nots.” If you aren’tkeenly aware of the cycle time in allphases of your operation, your fatewill be sealed because your cus-tomers won’t tolerate it. Time ismoney. Customer satisfaction and re-tention is driven by how long it takesyou to repair the car.


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Allstate Insurance Co. plans to sig-nificantly increase its Massachusettsworkforce by the end of 2014 by hir-ing 130 more insurance agents. All-state opened its first Massachusettsoffice in October 2012 and has sinceexpanded to more than 18 locationsthroughout the state with more than40 employees. The company plans toopen another 30 offices in the nextyear. Several other national insurancecompanies, including Geico and Pro-gressive, have also entered the Mas-sachusetts market in recent years.

BASF is the newest corporate mem-ber of ASA. “BASF is excited aboutthe changes at ASA. They’re off to afresh start with a new leadership teamand are strengthening relationshipswithin the collision repair industry. Agood example is the combinedNACE/I-CAR/CIC conference in De-troit next year. We believe collabora-tions like this can help the collisionindustry thrive,” said Joe Skurka,manager, OEM and Industry Rela-tions. Visit www.ASAshop.org or call(800) 272-7467, ext. 361.

The U.S. auto industry’s new-vehiclesales in 2014 will hit their highestlevel since 2006 as consumers con-tinue to replace aging cars and trucks.Edmunds.com forecast that sales nextyear will hit 16.4 million vehicles.That would be up from an estimated15.5 million the firm expects in 2013and the highest total since 16.5 mil-lion were sold in 2006. However, theprojected 6% growth rate would bethe industry’s smallest increase sincesales bottomed out at 10.4 million ve-hicles in 2009.

Lincoln Electric announced Sept. 19that it has added a line of magneticangle fixturing devices and handlifters to its Radius tool Welding Gearproduct group. The tools are designedto position steel for tack welding orother pre- or post-weld operations.They also are ideally suited for cut-ting and grinding applications. Themagnetic fixtures are available inthree different models intended forvarious material thickness or applica-tions. The design makes them idealfor tight spaces.

Tru-Way’s New Website, DataTru-Way Company has launched anew, data-driven website offeringpoint-to-point vehicle measuring datafor cars, trucks and SUVs from the1950s to now. The website’s databasecontains more than 10,000 vehicles thatcan be searched by vehicle year andmodel, or by classification—domestic,imports or classics. Said Loretta Clos,manager at Tru-Way. “Tru-Way isunique in [its] offering of valuable his-torical data for older vehicle platformsthat may be difficult to find... with theability to purchase measuring data in achoice of format appropriate for them.”

CAPA Tops 60M Certified PartsThe Certified Automotive Parts Asso-ciation (CAPA) announced that its partsvolume has reached nearly 62 millionCAPA certified parts. In the past fiveyears, CAPA has increased its numberof part applications by and average of16% each year and added 17 new man-ufacturers to the program, bringing thetotal to 43 manufacturers. The numberof CAPA parts sold in the market hasalso increased by 13% in that timeframe. While metal parts have been thebackbone of the CAPA program, plas-tic parts and lights are now the fastestgrowing part categories.

Bob Stevenson Joins CarbenchCar Bench America welcomes BobStevenson to the position of NationalSales and Training. Stevenson will beresponsible for sales and training of;Car Bench®, Inverter Spot Welders,Computerized Measuring, Aluminum-Steel-and MIG Brazing Machines,Self-Piercing Riveting (SPR), Alu-minum Repair Tools and most allother equipment needed to rebuildtoday’s and forthcoming automotivebody and chassis construction. Steven-son brings 20 + years of professionalcollision knowledge and experience inboth paint and equipment.

Todd Chizmar on I-CAR BoardI-CAR announced the appointment ofTodd Chizmar of Chrysler GroupLLC to its international board of direc-tors. The senior manager of technicaltraining for Chrysler, Chizmar hasbeen part of the automotive industryfor nearly 20 years, the last 14 in tech-nical and management roles atChrysler. Said I-CAR chair WilliamBrower, “His insights will be particu-larly helpful as I-CAR begins to sig-nificantly increase its repair-relatedtechnical support of the industrythrough its new Repairability Techni-cal Support and Knowledge initiative.”

Allstate Plans to Increase itsMA Workforce by 130 Agents

BASF Joins ASA as NewestCorporate Member

US Auto SAAR to Hit 16.4M,Highest Level Since 2006

Lincoln Electric AnnouncesNew Welding Devices/Lifters

Sherwin-Williams Automotive Fin-ishes A-Plus Network, in affiliationwith VehicleOwnersGuide.com, hasreleased a new dispatching systemaimed at increasing car count for A-Plus shops and making claims man-agement simpler for insurers. A-Plusshops will now have access to theprovider’s Open Claims Gateway, afull feature claims portal that includesclaims workflow, dispatching, esti-mate review, vendor e-Coupons, con-sumer translations and analytics. Thenew dispatching system is populatedwith the A-Plus Network’s leadingcollision repair facilities and will pro-vide a turnkey repair network for in-surance companies throughout theU.S. and Canada. The Open ClaimsGateway portal will also dispatch carsto A-Plus shops, and then these facili-ties and insurance companies can usethe system to manage the claims.“Open Claims Gateway will be pro-vided free of charge to A-Plus Net-work facilities, and there is no contractto sign,” said Troy Neuerburg, direc-tor of sales excellence at Sherwin-Williams. “This system offersnumerous benefits.” It also includesthe ability to generate a consumer es-timate and an e-Coupon program.

Sherwin-Williams Adds FullFeature Claims Portal

The Urethane Supply Company re-cently released the 6057-C NitroFuzer Welding System, a new nitro-gen welding technology that com-bines hot air and nitrogen welding.The Nitro Fuzer includes fine-flowcontrol regulators on both the air andnitrogen sides. Those are combinedwith output pressure gauges and aflow gauge to give users controlover the amount of gas that is usedduring the welding process. The sys-tem includes a pressure safety circuitto help prevent burn out in heatingelements, an electrically actuatedair-nitrogen switch, and a melt-proofsilicone and fiberglass braided hotair welder hose. The Nitro Fuzeralso features an integrated airlesswelding system to allow for smooth-ing out the nitrogen weld and for re-pairing thermoset polyurethane. “It’sa fraction of the cost and time oftwo-part epoxies,” said Kurt Lam-mon, president of the Urethane Sup-ply Company. “An average six-inchrepair costs about $2 for the plasticwelding rod; with epoxy, it couldcost over $30.” The Nitro Fuzer isshipped fully assembled and in-cludes a variety of accessories andan instructional DVD.

Urethane Supply CompanyOffers New Welding System

by Melanie Anderson andChasidy Rae Sisk

John Shoemaker of Virginia is an AirForce veteran with 23 years of servicein the automotive field as a technician,trainer and shop instructor, and withseveral additional years as a collisioncenter director for a major dealershipgroup, overseeing three BowditchCollision Centers, including a newone in Newport News, VA. Shoe-maker is also a consultant with JSE, acompany he created to share 35 years’worth of automotive management ex-perience and to assist other collisionfacilities in improving operations.

During the 30th anniversary ofNACE in New Orleans, LA, in 2012,Shoemaker presented Negotiating forSuccess—a Look at the NegotiationsNecessary to Keep Your Collision Cen-ter on Top.

Now, a year later, Shoemaker tooksome time to review why the topic of

negotiating is a critical business skill;“shop owners are the only ones thatknow their needs and their abilities.”

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

Shoemaker emphasizes, “Youshould not start to negotiate without aset of core values. Your core valuesestablish your standards; when some-body asks you to do something belowyour standards, you must be able todescribe your core values. Show themhow they fit in your daily business andhow asking you to go outside the pa-

rameters of those values would not bea fair business practice. When they seethat you have established core values,they will look at your business differ-ently and change their requests. De-scribing your standards is the best wayto defend your pricing and negotiate afair price. I see all the time when acustomer comes in for a paint job andexpects to pay $600.00 and comesapart when you give them a price fivetimes higher. If you explain your costsand describe the repair process andwarranties, you become a step abovethe shops that advertise $600.00 paintjobs. I usually ask the customer whythey came to me for an estimate ifthey know of a shop that will do it forthe price they expected, and the gen-eral answer is ‘I heard about the qual-ity of your work.’ That opens the doorfor your negotiations.”

Are you a negotiator? You can beif you are confident, focused, able tostay on track and be unemotional. A

successful negotiator will know theobjective before he or she begins, beable to define the main issues and canfocus on them one at a time. Negotia-tions will go much smoother if a win-win is determined. Always havesupporting documentation as back-up,which can include manufacturersspecifications, a complete damage ap-praisal and structure measurements.The person with the most informationusually wins, says Shoemaker.

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

It is important that you establishyour repair standards up front. Have a


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Virginia’s John Shoemaker Continues to Coach Shops in Negotiating for Success

complete damage appraisal preparedand itemize each repair step required.Document only the repairs requiredand isolate prior damage. List cus-tomer concerns.

Evidence that Shoemaker prac-tices what he preaches is seen in theposters he has made and displayed inBowditch Collision Centers, detailingtheir core values. These signs explainthe process of estimating a repair andwhat equipment is used to completethe repair, as well as defining theshop’s mission, goal, warranty andpayment plan. A sign explaining theircore values lists “provide impeccableservice, secure enjoyable workplace,sensible ethical and moral judgment,safe – quality repairs, positive com-munity involvement, create a positiveand lasting impact, and fairness – hon-est – openness.”

Negotiating with InsurersWhen dealing with insurers, reviewthe entire appraisal and make a note ofthe ‘no’s’ but keep moving. Go backto the ‘no’s’ after reviewing the com-plete appraisal. Negotiate the repairfirst, then the labor, but do not negoti-ate your repair standard. Realize thatyou will not see eye-to-eye with an in-surer. Their job is to negotiate the costdown because they have specific num-bers to meet and they are protective oftheir bonuses.

Negotiating with Insurer DRPsOne of the best things you can dowhen negotiating with a DRP insureris to develop a friendship and a rap-port with the insurance adjuster andget to know the insurer’s agents. Youwant to create a good reference by en-suring the adjuster’s experience is al-ways good. Promote your efficienciesand your customer service. But alsomake sure the adjuster knows whatyou want on their program. Agents arerequired to maintain training and thiscan be an opportunity for your shop tosponsor events. Having a manufac-turer certification makes your facilitymore attractive to an insurer and helpsestablish credibility. Have space avail-able for them to work. Use existingwork to establish opportunity with theinsurer. Look at the number of non-DRP repairs performed for the insurerand provide insurer performance re-ports for those repairs. This cementsyour abilities and proves a need.

Shoemaker explains that “in refer-ence to insurers, it is very important tofind middle ground where you can

help the insurer meet the needs of theirinsured as well as keeping the shopprofitable. Everything in a DRP agree-ment is negotiable, but some items aremore important to the insurer than oth-ers, and the only way you can find thatout is to negotiate. A shop should stayaway from the items the insurer is firmon and work on the things that havewiggle room. The shop must knowtheir basic KPI’s when they begin ne-gotiating. It will help show the insurerwhat the shop is capable of and helpthe shop illustrate their capabilities. Itdoes not help a shop to sign an agree-ment that has a requirement for 3.5touch time when historically they havebeen at 2.2. Know your abilities andyour needs, and relay those to the in-surer through negotiation.”

Negotiating with VendorsWhen negotiating with vendors, de-termine a retail rate for services, suchas towing, alignments, and glass work.With parts suppliers, explain yourneeds and cycle time mandates. Findout what they need to get the correctpart and incorporate electronic partsordering. Give vendor complete orderinformation to reduces parts errors.

Negotiate inventory levels bydefining guidelines for out-of-stockparts and require them to search otherdealers. Establish a process for partsreturns and coordinate order cut-offtimes. Set a different time for eachvendor. In addition, define the deliveryprocess and specify that only completeorders are delivered. Identify inspec-tion requirements and negotiate partsprice differences. Parts price differ-ences are the #1 cause of supplements,Shoemaker says, while insurance com-panies strive for zero supplements. Seta reasonable dollar amount for a pricematching estimating system and estab-lish guidelines for higher amounts. Seta performance measurement tool inplace to manage system reporting; totrack parts returns and delivery delays,to identify damaged or wrong partsand the frequency.

Shoemaker explains the impor-tance of negotiating with vendors:“vendors do not know the needs of theshop owner. This must be relayed tothe vendor through negotiation. If ashop is giving a parts discount to aninsurer, the discount should be sharedby the parts vendor, but you will notget it if you do not ask. Cycle time isnot a normal topic for a vendor; Iknow quite a few parts vendors thatbelieve if the part is ordered, they

have met the requirement. Any partsvendor can order a part—you need tonegotiate until you find one that feelsgetting the part is the top priority. Ne-gotiate a delivery schedule, establish-ing a cut-off time that fits the need ofthe shop and the vendor. Negotiationis what gives the shops the supportthey need to meet customer’s expec-tations.”

Negotiating with Paint SuppliersExplain your needs to the paint sup-plier. Define the paint level requiredand the flexibility you need in yourpaint line. Understand their distribu-tion capabilities and specify your de-livery expectations. According toShoemaker, “negotiating with paintsuppliers is important in respect to de-livery and training. Everybody haspaint, and the prices have becomevery competitive. The separation be-tween paint suppliers is in deliveryand their ability to provide train-ing. Delivery to me is important; somepaint suppliers would prefer to stockyour shelves, rather than have the abil-ity to have regular deliveries. Theproblem with that is you become thewarehouse, purchasing products youmight not immediately need to ensure

you have it on hand, rather than on de-mand ordering. Shop profit marginsare continually decreasing, so pur-chasing items you do not immediatelyneed could narrow your net profitmargin very quickly. Negotiate for on-demand ordering; why have a back-uptint on a rarely used color? Training isthe other big negotiating point forpaint suppliers. Paint products andprocesses are changing rapidly, so besure to negotiate for continual trainingto keep your paint crew up to date onthe products.”

Negotiating with the Vehicle OwnerDetermine your customer’s need,identify their concerns and communi-cate to the customer so they know youunderstand them. Work to resolve thesituation, not to sell. Provide a solu-tion, but make sure you understand thecomplete situation before answeringtoo quickly. Be flexible. Educate thecustomer on repairs required and writea complete damage appraisal. Is acomplete repair needed and will after-market parts fit their need? It is easierto remove items than to add itemslater. Discuss a specific time for therepair and determine their transporta-tion needs. In regards to payment,


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who is paying for the repair? Is itbeing processed through a third party?Is the customer aware of the de-ductible? Assist with claims process-ing and remember that vehicle ownersdon’t deal with this every day. Helpthem to understand the process and betheir advocate if necessary.

Shoemaker clarifies, “customersare all different—the best reason to ne-gotiate with a customer is to determineexpectations. All customers have a dif-ferent idea of how long a repair shouldtake and how it should look when it iscomplete. Find out what the customerunderstands, and then explain the re-pair process to develop an expectationthat the customer and shop can agreeon. If this is set upfront, then the rest ofthe process will go smoothly. Somecustomers want to negotiate price, andthe best way to overcome this is to sellyourself, describe the time and mate-rials required to complete the repair,and instill the value.”

Shoemaker believes that theshops he has worked with have bene-fitted from his seminar on Negotiatingfor Success. “I think the most usefulbenefit is in parts pricing and deliv-ery. Not many shops I have dealt withever asked for a split on the discount

the shop gave to an insurer, nor hadthey asked the parts vendor to absorbparts price differences. Just those twothings benefit a shop tremendously,and it did not occur to them to ask. Itis guaranteed that you will not getsomething you do not ask for, but gen-erally, you will get a portion of some-thing you do ask for.”

Shoemaker identified what he seesas some of the industry’s biggest chal-lenges. “Insurer encroachment is prob-ably the biggest issue affecting thecollision repair industry. Years ago, theinsurers stopped the shops’ ability tomark up towing, then they began reg-ulating glass prices by trying to tell ushow to paint cars by creating a basecoat reduction and reducing blends,and now they are trying to control howwe purchase parts and where we canbuy them. This has to stop, and I ap-plaud organizations like SCRS whospeak for the collision industry atmany levels. Another challenge is lo-cating qualified people. The collisionindustry is famous for shifting peoplearound the industry but not for bring-ing new people into the industry. Bran-don Eckenrode is trying to change thatthrough the Collision Repair Educa-tion Foundation and has had some suc-

cesses. It is very important for shopsto support their local trade schools andcommunity colleges and give youngwilling students an opportunity. Wehave one of the oldest average agelevels of any other industry, and it willimpact us very shortly if we do notbring in new people.”

Shoemaker thinks that Part-sTrader “reduces a shop’s ability tonegotiate in the best interest of theirbusiness. I do not see the value of thisprogram, nor do I feel it has a place inour industry. This program was cre-ated to overcome a need in severalcountries that did not have a parts pro-curement process. The United Stateshas a very well-defined parts procure-ment process and a firm belief in freeenterprise. PartsTrader works againstwhat we have appreciated in free en-terprise.”

In regards to the PARTS Act,Shoemaker believes, “the manufactur-ers should be able to keep their patentsfor the length of the vehicle in ques-tion’s warranty. I do not believe after-market parts should be used on avehicle that is still under a manufac-turer’s warranty. In that respect, I be-lieve 2.5 years is too short. I do believeaftermarket parts have a place in our

industry, but that place should be de-termined by the vehicle owner, not theinsurance company. I think that if thevehicle owner was given the choice,more aftermarket parts would be usedon older vehicles.”

Shoemaker agrees with certain as-pects of the Right to Repair act be-cause he believes that the consumershould be able to choose where theywant to have their vehicle repaired,and he also thinks that the consumer’schosen facility should have access tothe technical information necessary tosafely repair a vehicle. “I see whereshops have the equipment to erase acomputer code but do not necessarilyknow if they fixed the problem. Oth-ers are able to read a code but thenhave to pay for information to under-stand what the codes mean. Manufac-turers need to understand that thedealerships cannot handle all the busi-ness; some don’t even have bodyshops, so holding that informationback is essentially forcing repair shopsto bypass systems. When the bypassedsystem malfunctions, it often reflectson the vehicle, not a shop, it justseems like good business to help oth-ers maintain your product to optimumoperating capabilities.”


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Autobytel has purchased AdvancedMobile LLC, a provider of mobilecommunications services for the auto-motive industry. Autobytel said it willoffer OEMs and dealers the ability toconnect with consumers using a pre-ferred method of text communication,via a secure platform that protects con-sumers’ privacy. Autobytel will alsooffer dealers a comprehensive suite ofmobile products including apps, web-sites, Send2Phone capabilities and textmessage marketing. Advanced Mo-bile, founded in 2006 and based inKing of Prussia, PA, markets a fullrange of advanced mobile technolo-gies that facilitate communication be-tween dealers and car buyers on smartphones and tablets. This platform willbe the core of an array of mobile serv-ices Autobytel will offer to its dealerand manufacturer customers, and willalso be available to consumers throughAutobytel’s websites. “Last year, morethan 326 million U.S. wireless sub-scribers sent more than 2 trillion textmessages,” said Jeffrey Coats, presi-dent and CEO. “This acquisition en-ables us to offer the industry themobile resources it requires to suc-cessfully communicate with car buy-ers in a preferred manner,” Coats said.

Autobytel Acquires AssetsAdvanced Mobile LLC

Auto Data Direct, a Web-basedmotor vehicle record database, hasadded Washington, Virginia and In-diana to its lineup, bringing the com-pany’s state count to 31. Companypresident Jim Taylor said, “This isan important milestone in the growthof our company’s services. ADD’score business is to provide real-timemotor vehicle inquiries to DPPA-qualified companies. We’ve grownfrom Florida records only in 1999 tonow working with 31 states. Ourcustomers value a single point of ac-cess for records so that the process offinalizing transactions is easy, accu-rate, and can be completed from on-line without extra steps to retrievethe information from other sources.”The records provided by ADD in-clude include owner, lien holder, andregistration information as well asvehicle data such as make, model,year, tag and title number, andrecords are made available through asecure internet connection, based ona company’s qualifications under theFederal Driver’s Privacy ProtectionAct (DPPA). ADD also provides anational title pointer with informa-tion from the National Motor Vehi-cle Title Information System.

Auto Data Direct Adds 3 NewStates to Database

Consumer groups are taking theObama administration to federal courtover its about-face on backup cameras.

In a lawsuit filed today in federalcourt in New York, two individualsand four organizations—includingConsumers Union, the advocacy wingof Consumer Reports magazine—asked a judge to order the U.S. De-partment of Transportation to set rearvisibility standards for light vehicles,as required by a 2008 law.

DOT proposed rules in 2010 thatwould have required backup camerasin all new cars and light trucks. Finalrules were delayed multiple times afterautomakers and White House officialsraised concerns over costs. Beforeleaving office this year, TransportationSecretary Ray LaHood set a new goalof completing the standards by 2015.

With the lawsuit, the consumergroups hope to force the administra-tion’s hand and make backup camerasa standard feature on new light vehi-cles several years sooner.

“When Congress ordered this ruleissued in three years, they meant threeyears, not seven,” said Scott Michel-man, an attorney for Public Citizen, aconsumer advocacy group.

Neither the DOT nor the U.S. De-partment of Justice would comment on

the lawsuit. DOT has added the safetydevice to the list of recommended fea-tures under the federal New Car As-sessment Program.

The move does not impose anyrequirement on automakers but it “willencourage both automakers and con-sumers to consider more vehicles thatoffer this important technology,” La-Hood’s successor, Anthony Foxx, saidin a statement.

“While adding this technology toour list of safety features is important,I remain committed to implementingthe rear visibility rule as well,” Foxxadded.

Opposition and supportThe rules still face resistance fromsome car companies, though somesuppliers stand to gain from a man-date.

Trade groups representing au-tomakers challenged the rules in meet-ings with the White House in 2011,saying that backup cameras would beless cost effective than other featuresrequired in cars, such as electronic sta-bility control.

DOT said rearview cameraswould replace electronic stability con-trol systems, which are now requiredby law, as a recommended advanced

technology feature in the NCAP pro-gram.

According to NHTSA estimates,an average of 292 fatalities and 18,000injuries occur each year as a result ofback-over crashes involving all vehi-cles, the agency said in a December2010 report. NHTSA said 228 fatali-ties of those fatalities involve light ve-hicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less.

“Two particularly vulnerablepopulations—children and the elderly—are affected most,” the report said.“Approximately 44 percent of fatali-ties involving light vehicles are chil-dren under five—an unusually highpercentage for any particular type ofcrash. In addition, 33 percent of fatal-ities involving light vehicles are eld-erly people 70 years of age or older.”

Cost per lifeAlso in 2010, NHTSA estimated thatadding a backup camera to a car wouldcost $58 to $203, depending onwhether the car already has a displayscreen, and would save 95 to 112 livesper year—and up to $18 million perlife.

Even without a mandate, backupcameras have become more commonin recent years. They were standard oroptional in 77 percent of 2013 model-

year vehicles, according to Ed-munds.com, up from 32 percent of2008 models.

Trucks, minivans and crossovers,which tend to have more limited rearvisibility than cars, have often been thefirst vehicles equipped with the cam-eras. But some automakers have de-cided to put them into smaller cars, aswell.

When the redesigned 2015 HondaFit subcompact arrives in showroomsnext year, Honda’s entire lineup willhave backup cameras as a standardfeature.

Ami Gadhia, senior policy coun-sel at Consumers Union, said all typesof cars could use better visibility. Evenif backup cameras gain widespread ac-ceptance across the market, that is nosubstitute for a government mandate,she said.

“We don’t see a need for a com-promise on safety,” Gadhia said in aninterview. “We think it should be of-fered across the board.”

Consumer Groups Go to Court to Force Obama Administration’s Hand on Back-Up Cameras

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As I start to pack for my annual pil-grimage to SEMA, I’m thinking aboutall those overloaded shopping bagscarried through the exhibit hallsbulging with what we know in thebusiness as the advertising specialty.Anything emblazoned with your com-pany’s name: pens, scratch pads, keychains, calendars, baseball caps,mugs, bags, foam footballs, clocks,and bottle openers—is called an adspecialty. Although some simplyknow them as “swag” or “chotchke,”other people call them “things that sitaround my office.” I’m guilty of en-abling my hoarding tendencies thisway. We’re so used to seeing them thatit may be a surprise to learn that theautomotive industry is by far thelargest user of these promotionalitems.

Some people (including me) de-light in collecting pens and baseballcaps while others argue that most adspecialties end up in the roundfile and

then the landfill. What will futurecivilzations think about us when in theyear of 2220, archeologists dig up tonsof coffee mugs and refrigerator mag-nets that say “Bill’s Body Shop” or“Tom’s Auto Collision”? Will theylaugh and point out ad specialties as atoken of our society’s eventual de-mise?

Many companies use them as aneffective form of branding and adver-tising, particulaly for businesses thathave infrequent contact with their cus-tomers, like body shops. If you’re abody shop and spending a significantamount of money on ad specialties,you should always ask yourself ‘are

they a good use of my advertisingmoney?’ Have you ever encountereda customer who actually said, “I sawyour name on a desk pad and that’swhy I brought my car here.”

The Advertising Specialty Insti-tute (ASI) is the largest media, mar-keting and education organizationserving the $19.4 billion promotional

products industry, with a network ofover 25,000 distributors and suppliersthroughout North America.

ASI’s CEO is Tim Andrews andI had a chance to talk to him recentlyabout the power of the ad specialtyand how automotive repair businessescan benefit from using them.

“For impressions, ad specialtiesare by far the most cost-effective formof advertising out there,” Andrews ex-plained. “Every time someone seesyour name on a pen or a key chain,that’s called an impression. Duringlean economic times, ad specialtiesare an ideal solution for smaller com-panies that need to get their names outthere, but they can’t afford other formsof conventional advertising. Ad spe-cialties are remembered and kept andmany of them are used by people formany years, based on our research.”

Getting a high-quality ad spe-cialty and personalizing it for your cur-rent customers is also a great way tofurther strengthen your position withyour customer base, Andrews says.

“For your return customers or topinfluencers in your community, per-sonalization is a unique way to reallyconnect even more with your most-prized contacts. If someone has a t-shirtor a pen with their own name on it, they


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Do Ad Specialties (“Swag”) Really Make an Impression?

with Ed Attanasio

Shop and Product Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Shop Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Social Media for Shops

with Erica SchroederShop Showcase

The Right Causewith Mike Causey

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

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

“Nationwide the automotive industry buys morepromotional items than all other consumerproduct companies combined”

— Advertising Specialty Institute

will logically keep it for a much longerperiod of time. It creates additionalvalue and the impressions derived froma personalized ad specialty can be tentimes higher, in some cases.”

Also, instead of buying 2,000cheap plastic pens, for example, maybepurchase a smaller number of higher-quality pens, in order to keep them inthe hands of your customers longer.

“The more they use that pen, yourbrand name and logo will remain fur-ther in the top of their minds, whichmeans your efforts will grow expo-nentially,” Andrews said. “An inex-pensive pen or key chain might getdiscarded after limited use, but if theend-user values it and sees it as beingspecial, it will remain on their desk andin their possession for a much longerperiod of time. It just makes sense.”

The products that leave the mostpositive impressions and those that re-cipients keep longer are: outerwear,shirts, recognition items (awards,plaques), caps/headwear, flash drives,health and safety products, desk/officeaccessories, and bags, according toAndrews.

ASI provided several statisticsthat are worth noting when makingdecisions on promotional products.

● Nearly nine in ten (87%) recipientsof promotional merchandise can iden-tify the advertiser on the item.● Over one-half (52%) of the time, adspecialties leave a more favorable im-pression of the advertiser.● Promotional products deliver thesame or a better ROI than other formsof media.● 81% of product recipients indicatedthat an item’s usefulness is the pri-mary reason to keep it.● There are nearly 8,000 different au-tomotive-related promotional prod-ucts currently in ASI’s database.● The automotive industry buys morepromotional items than all of otherconsumer product companies com-bined nationwide.● Study results show that most peopleown approximately 10 ad specialtyitems on an on-going basis and hold onto them for an average of six months,a far longer time period than any othertraditional form of advertising.

What’s your ultimate goal in giv-ing a pen, hat or key chain away?Who’s your target audience? Are youtrying to reach out to prospective cus-tomers? Or, are you staying in touchwith your VIP clients, those who seemto get into more accidents or have

higher-end vehicles? Are you doing acampaign targeting your vendors, in-surance agents, local community lead-ers or organizations?

It all comes down to finding yourtarget market and continually brand-ing. Many automotive-related busi-nesses use ad specialties as one oftheir main forms of marketing. For ex-ample, glass replacement companiesoften distribute scratch pads, desk cal-endars, and other items to auto bodyshops. Since most body shops fre-quently work with several glass re-placement companies, it’s a good ideafor them to keep their name and phonenumber in front of them. Car dealersoften provide license plate brackets totheir customers with the dealer’s nameand logo—nine times out of ten thecustomer never thinks about it again,

but the dealership is being advertisedto everyone who sees that new car andthinks about buying that model forthemselves.

So, as I run around at SEMA,loading up on pens, hats, key chains,scratch pads and any else I can get myhands on, I will be thinking about thepower of the ad specialty. Ad special-ties are a useful form of branding andthat’s why they’ll continue to be an in-tegral part of the marketing and ad-vertising efforts of almost every bodyshop in this country today.

Recently, for example, a com-pany that manufactures and sells theseitems sent me a nice little key chainflashlight with my name and companyprinted on it. It’s something I mightactually use, if I can find room on myalready overloaded key chain.


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Overall Parts Solutions, a leadingparts procurement and logisticstechnology provider for the collisionindustry has become a top-level Di-amond member of NABC. Based inGrand Prairie, Texas, Overall PartsSolutions provides a collision partstool called OPSTRAX, a Web-basedparts coordination system designedto work with major estimating andmanagement systems. “We look for-ward to being an integral part of theNational Auto Body Council,” saidNick Bossinakis, president of Over-all Parts Solutions. “With the helpof many of our partners in the colli-sion industry, we have been quietlygrowing our business. As we nowtake our business to the next level,we believe we have an obligation tosupport the work of the NationalAuto Body Council, which willstrengthen and benefit all of us inthe collision industry. “ With the ad-dition of Overall Parts Solutions,membership in the National AutoBody Council now includes 199businesses and individuals repre-senting all facets of the collision in-dustry. OPS joins 26 othercompanies at the top-tier Diamondsponsor level.

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