autobody news july 2011 southeast edition

The Georgia Collision IndustryAsso-ciation (GCIA) conducted their 5thannual labor rates surveys for bodyshops in the metroAtlanta area earlierthis year.

CSi complete conducted the sur-veys, which were available online,over the phone and in a mail-in formatin March and April of 2011. Turnoutslightly decreased from the 2010 sur-vey results in which 291 shops partic-ipated.

“With over 500 shops in theMetro Atlanta area, to only have 230respond is disappointing,” said GCIAPresidentHoward Batchelor, “Shopsneed to realize that this survey is in-tended to help establish a fair marketrate in the marketplace.”

Businesses were asked to submittheir posted door rates for body labor,

paint labor, frame labor, mechanicallabor, paint and materials rate andstorage rate.

Paint and materials rates saw thelargest increase over last year’s sur-veys with a 3.28 percent increase. Me-chanical rates also saw a dramaticincrease over 2010 with a 2.07 percentincrease.

“According to this year’s results,there was little change over last year,although the paint & material rate didgo up by 3.28%. This clearly showsthat the increase in raw material costsis affecting the shops profitability onpaint and materials,” said Batchelor.

Shop identities were not pub-lished with the results of this surveyand will remain confidential. Nameswere used to track demographics and

COLUMNS in this issue...Schroeder — Chatham Parkway Collision Center in Savannah, .p. 12Franklin — How to Survive a Summer Slump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 15Weaver — A Homemade Air Bag Light—Brilliant Stupidity . . . . .p. 17Insurance Insider —The “Neutral Information Provider” . . . . . . .p. 20Williams — Apathy a Danger to Parts Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 22Attanasio — Body Shops and Yelp: It’s a Love-Hate Relationship .p. 27Cheney — Auto Recyclers Host Collision Repair Panel . . . . . . . .p. 28

REGIONAL ARTICLES in this issue...GCIA Reveals Labor Rates Survey Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 1Alabama Auto Parts Maker Faces $179K in OSHA Fines . . . . . . .p. 4Joplin, MO, GM Dealer Bolsters Community After Tornado . . . . .p. 6Florida Judge Rules Red Light Cameras Unconstitutional . . . . .p. 7Volkswagen Opens Chattanooga, Tennessee Plant . . . . . . . . . . .p. 9

Allstate to Open Electronic Communication with Non-DRP Shopsby John YoswickSpecial to Autobody News

Allstate Insurance will soon roll-outtechnology that will enable shops thatare not part of the insurer’s direct re-pair program to communicate elec-tronically with the insurer, much as itsDRP shops currently do.

Dan Risley, a project managerfor Allstate at the company’s Illinoishome office, said this new “Transac-tional Non-DRP” system will enableany shop to upload estimates and dig-ital images toAllstate, receive insurer-written estimates fromAllstate.

“We realize not all customers usea network shop, and we want to makeit easier to do business for those shops

and for our customers,” Risley said.Risley’s discussion of the forth-

coming change was just one of recentnews items related to insurance compa-nies that will likely be of interest to

shops. Here’s awrap-up of someof this news.

Insureds areshopping. Con-sumers shoppedand switched autoinsurers more ag-gressively in 2010

than they have for 14 years, accordingto preliminary survey findings fromMcKinsey & Co.

The survey analysis authors told

See Labor Rates, Page 4

Georgia Collision Industry Association (GCIA)Reveals 2011 Labor Rates Survey Results

Texting While Driving Still Allowed in FL, AL, and MSFlorida, Alabama, and Mississippiare among the 17 states that have nogeneral prohibition against textingwhile driving—except for novicedrivers (16, or 17 w/ IntermediateLicense <6 months) in Alabama.Mississippi bans only School BusDrivers and learners from textingwhile driving. Florida has no re-strictions on any driver. The other33 states, including Georgia—whereit is a primary offense, now havebans.

Indiana and Maine become thelatest states to ban texting while driv-ing, Florida drivers, however, cannotbe pulled over for talking or textingwhile behind the wheel.

Thirty-four states, plus the Dis-trict of Columbia and Guam, havetexting bans, according to the Gover-nors’ Highway Safety Association.Thirty states, D.C., and Guam haveprimary enforcement—an officer maycite a driver for using a handheld cellphone without any other traffic of-fense taking place; the others, sec-ondary.

Nine states, as well as D.C. andthe Virgin Islands, prohibit all driversfrom using handheld cell phoneswhile driving. Except for Maryland,all laws are primary enforcement. Nostate bans all cellphone use whiledriving.

See Allstate, 4

See TWD in Florida, Page 13

Dan RisleyNATIONAL ARTICLES in this issue...Toyota to Face First US Sudden-Acceleration Test Trial in 2013 .p. 16SUVs Now Safer Than Compact Cars in an Accident, IIHS . . . . .p. 18Prevalent Airbag Fraud Prompts Increased Penalties in New CA Law .p. 19Eileen Sottile and the Quality Parts Coalition Legislation . . . . . .p. 21

Autobody Online at www.autobodynews.comThe New Laser Welding Technology ● Two Pennsylvania CollisionAssociations ● NHTSA: A Car is Not a Social Networking Device

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REGIONAL

2011 GCIA Annual Golf Tournament

Coming in October . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

AL Home Insurer Drops 73K Policies

Following Storms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Alabama Auto Parts Maker Faces $179K

in OSHA Fines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Auto Insurance Proposal Takes Aim at

AL’s Uninsured. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

AL Auto Insurance Verification System Gets

Final OK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

FL Judge Questions Tickets in Red Light

Camera Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Fort Lauderdale, FL, Gets First Electric

Car Charging Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

GA Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty to

Fraud Charges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Georgia Auto Repair Tax Bill Still Alive

in House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Georgia Collision Industry Association

(GCIA) Reveals 2011 Labor Rates

Survey Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Inspector Gadget—Making a Light Inspection

Tunnel to Find Paint Defects . . . . . . . . . 26

Jackie Cooper Imports Hosts Grand

Reopening in Tulsa, OK . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Joplin, MO, Dealer Works to Bolster

Community & Employees After

Tornado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Kia To Boost Capacity At West Point,

Georgia Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Liberty Tire Helps with Atlanta Clean Up

at Art Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Lost Car Claims in MO Tornado Start to

Come to Insurers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

New Heavy-Duty Shredder Coming to

Ft. Lauderdale, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Nissan Adds Solar Charging Stations to

Tennessee Plant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Nissan Leaf Production Could Be Delayed

at Smyrna Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Texting While Driving Still Allowed in FL,

AL, and MS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Volkswagen Opens Chattanooga, Tennessee

Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

COLUMNISTS

Attanasio - Body Shops and Yelp: It’s a

Love-Hate Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chaney - Auto Recyclers Host Prominent

Collision Repairers in Panel Discussion . 28

Danalevich - Business Financial Security

Preventive Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Franklin - How to Survive a Summer Slump . 15

Insurance Insider - Telling the Tale of the

“Neutral Information Provider” . . . . . . . 20

Schroeder - Chatham Parkway Collision

Center in Savannah, GA, is All About

Dealer Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Weaver - A Homemade Air Bag Light—

Brilliant Stupidity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Williams - Apathy, the Real Opponent in

the Wholesale Parts Business . . . . . . . 22

Yoswick - Allstate to Open Electronic

Communication with Non-DRP Shops . . 1

NATIONAL

Auto Lender Ally, Formerly GMAC, Delays

IPO Due to Market Conditions . . . . . . . 29

Boyd Gerber Group to Acquire 28 Locations

of Cars Collision LLC, Total Now 164 in

North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts Hold

Third Annual Soaps It Up! Car Wash for

Make-A-Wish Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Chevy Volts Selling at Inflated Prices, But

GM Says Volt Will Be Cheaper . . . . . . . 25

Eileen Sottile and the Quality Parts Coalition

Offer Legislative Update . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Hyundai, Kia Face Fair Trade Commission

Antitrust Probe on Auto Parts Pricing

After Allegations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Nissan Suit Goes to Federal Court . . . . . . . 8

Prevalent Airbag Fraud Prompts Increased

Penalties in New California Law . . . . . . 19

School Uses Nanotechnology to Convert

Exhaust Heat into Electricity . . . . . . . . . 16

SUVs Now Safer Than Compact Cars in an

Accident, IIHS Report Says . . . . . . . . . 18

Toyota to Face First US Sudden-Acceleration

Test Trial in 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Contents

Southeast

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy HayhurstGeneral Manager: Barbara DaviesAssistant Editor: Erica SchroederContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, Stefan Gesterkamp, John Yoswick, Lee Amaradio,Toby Chess, Mike Causey, Dan Espersen, Tom McGee, Jeff Webster, Rich Evans,Ed Attanasio, Chasidy SiskAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman (800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Kristy MangumArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and adjacent metro areas, Autobody Newsis a monthly publication for the auto body industry. Permission to reproduce in any form thematerial published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher.©2011 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody NewsBox 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018; (800) 699-8251 (760) 721-0253 Faxwww.autobodynews.com Email: [email protected]

Arrigo Dodge-Jeep-Chrysler. . . . . . . 6Autoland Scientech. . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Bill Penney Toyota. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 27Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Delray Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Don Mealey Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . 20Don Reid Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Equalizer Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Ford Wholesale Parts DealersFL, GA, AL, MS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Galloway Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Global PDR Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . 9GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 25Gus Machado Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Honda Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 10Hyundai Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Kia Motors Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Mazda Wholesale Parts . . . . . . . . . . 8Mercedes-Benz Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

MOPAR Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

NACE / CARS Registration . . . . . . . . 5Nalley BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Nissan Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 18Palmers Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Porsche Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Safety Regulation Strategies . . . . . 11Scorpion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Serra Mazda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Southtowne Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Subaru of Gwinnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 23Tameron Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 22VIM Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Volkswagen Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Inde

xofAdvertisers

ensure that only one survey was castper Repair Facility location.

No rates were used that may existbetween a repair facility and any con-tracted customer such as a Fleet Ac-count or Insurance DRP Program; thereported values represent the posteddoor rate.

For more information please visitgacollisionindustry.wordpress.com.

The PDF tablet of the survey’sfull results can be seen at www.auto-bodynews.com.


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Continued from Front Page

Labor RatesAuto Insurance Proposal Takes Aim at AL’s UninsuredAlabama has consistently been rankedas having one of the highest statewideuninsured-motorist rates in the nation,and lawmakers are pushing forwardlegislation aimed at reducing that rate,according to Auto Insurance News.

By state law, Alabama residentsmust have a liability policy in place inorder to drive legally and are requiredto carry proof of insurance cards withthem in their vehicles. But despite the$500 first-offense fine that can belevied on motorists who cannot pro-vide this proof of coverage, a largepercentage of them still go uncovered.

The Insurance Research Councilestimated that, in 2007 and 2009, be-tween about 1-in-4 and 1-in-5 driversin the state were uninsured.

To identify these uninsured driv-ers and discourage others from drop-ping coverage, lawmakers have giventheir approval to a bill that would es-tablish an electronic auto insuranceverification database.

The database would match upvalid policies with cars registered inthe state, allowing police officers andthe Department of Revenue to quicklycheck whether a given vehicle is cur-rently insured.

The bill that would establish thedatabase would also bolster other

practices already being used to finduninsured drivers.

Currently, auto owners who go toregister their cars must say in writingthat they have coverage in place. Butthe bill, SB 137, would allow the De-partment of Revenue access to thedatabase in order to check whetherthis is actually the case.

Differences in the house and sen-ate versions of the bill still need to beironed out. If both houses manage todo so through a conference committee,it will be sent to the governor’s desk.

Auto parts supplier Saehaesung Ala-bama Inc. inAndalusia,AL, has beencited for eight safety violations by theOccupational Safety and Health Ad-ministration, according to the Birm-ingham News.

OSHA said it proposed fines to-taling $179,300.

Citations were issued afterOSHA conducted a follow-up in-spection to evaluate whether viola-tions found during a 2009 inspectionhad been corrected.

Saehaesung Alabama was citedfor two willful violations, which ex-ists when an employer has demon-strated disregard for the requirementsof the law or indifference to em-ployee safety, OSHA said.

The company, which pro-duces chassis and body parts forHyundai and Kia, can contest thecitations.

Alabama Auto Parts MakerFaces $179K in OSHA Fines

Car Charging Group, Inc., a providerof electric vehicle (EV) chargingservices with the mission to own andbuild a nationwide network of EVcharging stations, and Stiles PropertyManagement, South Florida’s thirdlargest property management firm,have partnered to provide downtownFort Lauderdale’s first EV chargingservices at AutoNation’s headquar-ters, also known as The AutoNationBuilding.

“This is an exciting project forus,” said Car Charging Group CEOMichael D. Farkas. Through a part-nership with Stiles Property Manage-ment, who manages nearly all of theoffice towers on the iconic Las Olasstrip and is recognized for their first-class sustainability program. “Addingto the excitement is that the project isintended for Fort Lauderdale’s largestcorporate tenant, AutoNation, whoalso markets EV vehicles as the coun-try’s largest automotive retailer.”

Miami, Florida-based CarCharging Group will install a Level ll,240-volt Charging station for electricvehicles. The charging station will behoused on the first floor of TheAuto-Nation Building’s parking garage at200 Las Olas Circle.

“In addition to enhancing theamenities we provide to our tenants at

The AutoNation Building, this EVcharging station demonstrates ourlong-term commitment to sustainabil-ity and our ability to lead the marketin designing, developing, construct-ing and managing environmentally-conscious commercial structures,”said Terry Stiles, chairman and CEOof Stiles Property Management.

Car Charging Group, Inc., basedin Miami, Florida, is an owner andprovider of electric vehicle (EV)charging stations with the mission tobuild-out a nationwide infrastructure,enabling EV and PHEV owners tocharge their EVs anytime, anywhere.

As part of its strategy, the com-pany owns, provides, installs andmaintains electric vehicle chargingunits and works with its landownerpartners to identify appropriate loca-tions for its charging stations.

The company provides conven-ient, safe and affordable charging sta-tions away from home incustomer-friendly public locations,including municipalities, shoppingmalls, parking garages, multi-familyresidential, and commercial proper-ties.

AutoNation Inc., America’slargest automotive retailer, owns andoperates 243 new vehicle franchisesin 15 states.

Fort Lauderdale, FL, Gets First Electric Car Charging Station

On June 14 Gov. Robert Bentleysigned into law the legislation thatwill set up the Alabama car coverageverification database and will givepolice and other government officialsonline access to information regard-ing the coverage status of residents,according to Online Auto InsuranceNews.

The new law will also make ver-ification of coverage a necessary stepin the automobile registrationprocess. The system is slated to be inworking order by 2013.

Update: Auto InsuranceVerification System Gets OK

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Crossroads Chevrolet-Cadillac inJoplin, MO, served as as a collectionpoint for community donations ofclothing, food, water and other sup-plies for those hit hard by the May 22tornado.

A cluster of General Motorsfranchise dealers in and near Joplinrecently weathered quite a storm andare continuing to pick up the piecesand do the best they can to supporttheir local community in healng.The dealers also recently broke outtheir checkbooks and more to helpthe community recover from the sin-gle deadliest tornado in national his-tory.

Crossroads Chevrolet-Cadillacwas spared by the killer twister, butthe automaker said the storm’s wickedwinds touched the lives of “nearlyeveryone working there.”

Dealership owner Dan Auffen-berg explained on the Faces of GMblog that on the day after the tornadostruck May 22, nine or 10 employeesshowed up for work. Aufffenberg im-mediately recognized the severity ofthe situation and sent them home, say-ing, “You don’t need to be here. Youneed to be home helping your fami-lies,” according to Auto RemarketingNews.

As of that point, five employeesof Crossroads had lost their homes tothe storm, and the service manager’swife had lost her mother.

“We’re doing everything we canto help the employees of CrossroadsChevrolet come back from this tragicstorm,” Auffenberg said according toAuto Remarketing News, adding thathe has committed $50,000 to help his

employees deal with the storm’s after-math.

Auffenberg said the money isdedicated to making sure his employ-ees “make it through.”

Meanwhile, Crossroads Chevro-let-Cadillac also served as a collectionpoint for community donations ofclothing, food, water and other sup-plies for those hit hard by the tornadoand its aftermath.

“Everywhere you look is rubble,devastation and destruction,” GM of-ficials observed.

The town in southwest Missourisaw a death toll of more than 140 peo-ple, and the tornado destroyed scoresof homes and buildings, including thelocal hospital.

“Yet, as you look closer, you seepeople attempting to clear a patch ofland, anAmerican flag snapping in thebreeze and a sign of thanks,” GMmanagement highlighted. “At thatpoint, you realize that Joplin, Mis-souri, is going to survive because ofthe residents who live here and the as-sistance from people around the coun-try.” And some of these people fromthroughout the country include Cross-roads’ dealer colleagues from neigh-boring areas.

Chevrolet area sales managerGabriel Ismaio doesn’t live inJoplin, but it is part of his territory.When he first arrived the day afterthe tornado hit, Ismaio admitted itwas difficult to grasp what he wasobserving.

“When you see it on the news,you only see it for a few seconds, thenit goes away. But when you’re here inreal life, it hits you pretty hard,” Is-

maio said, according to Auto Remar-keting News.

So Ismaio and Chevrolet zonemanager Ken Sadowski contactedother dealers in their region.

“They all stepped up to the plateand they all helped,” said Ismaio, whonoted other GM dealers came throughwith a total of $80,000 for the reliefeffort.

Previously, the GM Foundationprovided a $100,000 donation to theAmerican Red Cross, and two full-sized Chevrolet vans were presentedto the local YMCA.

Built at the Wentzville, MO,plant, these vans were to be used bythe Children of the Storm program,which provides a safe place foryoungsters to go while their parentsrebuild the families’ shattered lives.

All told, contributions to theJoplin community from the GM familyof dealers, employees and the corpora-tion now total more than $250,000.

“We’re here to help moving for-ward,” Auffenberg said. “It’s going totake a long time to rebuild this com-munity, and we’re here for our em-

ployees and for the city of Joplin.”Moreover, the National Automo-

bile Dealers Association CharitableFoundation continues to actively as-sist dealers in recovering from this tor-nado as well as other devastatingweather and flooding.

“We’ve been very active,” saidBruce Kelleher, NADA executivevice president. “We’ve already sentchecks to dealers in Iowa and Ala-bama to present to their employees.”

Since 1992, the foundation’sEmergency Relief Fund has con-tributed more than $5 million tonearly 6,500 dealership employeesvictimized by natural disasters.

“In letters and phone calls we’rereceiving, dealers and their employeesare telling us that they’re so gratefulfor receiving financial assistance,”Kelleher added. “They’re just so ap-preciative that the foundation is thereto provide some help and relief.”

Dealership employees who expe-rience financial hardships caused bynatural disasters can contact the foun-dation at (800) 252-7233 to apply forassistance.

Joplin, MO, GM Dealer Bolsters Community and Employees After Tornado Devastation


Kia To Boost Capacity At West Point, Georgia PlantKia Motors Corp. said June 2 it willincrease the production capacity of itsWest Point, GA, assembly plant by20%, to help the company keep upwith demand for its vehicles, accord-ing to theWall Street Journal.

The Korean car maker says itwill begin expansion projects at itsGeorgia factory that will raise its totalannual capacity to 360,000 vehiclesby the beginning of next year.

The boost follows an announce-ment earlier this year at the NewYorkInternational Auto Show that the au-tomaker would begin producing itsOptima mid-size sedan at the USplant.

The planned expansion includesthe plant’s stamping, welding, paint

and general assembly shops.The expansion will make room

for the 2012 Optima to join the com-pany’s Sorento crossover utility vehi-cle which is already built at the plant.

Kia and its parent companyHyundai, who have long fought to betaken seriously by rivals and con-sumers in the US, have hit their stridewith efficient attractive and desirablevehicles that appear to be bargainscompared with competitors’ prod-ucts.

The company has also been ableto step ahead of other foreign au-tomakers due to the shortages ofJapanese vehicles resulting from theMarch earthquake and tsunami in thatcountry.


A Broward judge has ruled that lawenforcement officers cannot ticketdrivers for running red lights, ac-cording to Insurance Journal.

It’s another piece of legal wran-gling in the ongoing dispute over redlight cameras in the state.

County Judge Fred Berman re-cently ruled that tickets for runningred lights are unconstitutional whenissued by an officer because the fineis higher than fines imposed on driv-ers caught running through lights oncamera.

Drivers are fined about $260 inofficer-issued citations, while cam-era-issued violations are $158.

Attorney Ted Hollander saidBerman’s ruling sets a legal prece-dent for judges hearing officer-issuedtickets in Broward County. He repre-sented a driver cited by a Davie offi-cer.

Officials said the ruling doesn’tchange the law just yet.

A spokeswoman said Florida’sattorney general will appeal the rul-ing, so this legal battle will continue.

FL Judge Questions Tickets inRed Light Camera Debate

AL Home Insurer Drops 73K Policies Following StormsAlabama’s second largest insurer ofhomes,Alfa Insurance, said it will notrenew policies on one out of every sixhomes it insures in Alabama.

The company said it will sendnotices involving about 73,000 homeswhen they come up for renewal overthe next 16 months.

Alfa’s general counsel, Al Scott,said most of the policies are with land-lords who own multiple rental houses.Some are on individual homes wherethe owners don’t have any other in-surance with Alfa.

Scott said customers with home-owners insurance and either auto orlife insurance won’t be affected.

Alabama’s deputy insurancecommissioner, Ragan Ingram, saidno other major insurer inAlabama hasannounced similar changes.

Alfa officials predict the torna-does in late April will result in about25,000 claims totaling $425 million to$475 million, which would make itthe costliest storm ever for the Mont-gomery-based company.

Alfa President Jerry Newby saidthe storm’s damage is well within thecoverage of Alfa’s reinsurance pro-gram, and the net impact on the com-pany will be no greater than Hurricane

Ivan in 2004. But he said the stormsover the last few years prompted a re-view of Alfa’s procedures.

“While Alfa remains a finan-cially strong insurance company, theincreased frequency and severity ofstorms over the last decade have high-lighted the need for Alfa to review itsoverall property portfolio,” Newbysaid.

After dropping the 73,000 poli-cies,Alfa will still have about 330,000policies on homes and 20,000 on busi-nesses and churches, spokesman JeffHelms said.

Scott saidAlfa customers will getnotice at least 120 days before theirpolicies aren’t renewed, and Alfa willhelp them find other insurance com-panies.

Scott said the changes apply onlyto Alabama, but the company will bereviewing its policies in Georgia andMississippi.

After the tornadoes hit in April,Alfa decided it would no longer writenew policies on homes over 10 yearsold.

Scott said that was to put a holdon new business while the companyreviewed its procedures, and that willlikely be modified.

Insurance Commissioner RalphHudgens announced on June 14 thata Macon insurance agent has pledguilty to insurance fraud charges.

Broadus W. Marshall Jr., 58,was sentenced to ten years of proba-tion, ordered to pay restitution, anddo community service.

Marshall also voluntarily sur-rendered his license as part of theplea agreement.

Marshall was indicted on 7counts of insurance fraud for al-legedly keeping premiums paid tohim for auto and business liability in-surance from his clients.

Marshall was a licensed insur-ance agent for Marshall InsuranceAgency in Macon.

“This type of fraud is nothingnew,” Hudgens said, according to In-surance Journal. “The outcome is al-ways the same. Whenever agents aretempted to keep premium money,they should realize that sooner orlater they’re going to get caught.”

GA Insurance Agent PleadsGuilty to Fraud Charges

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Pittsburgh-based Liberty Tire Recy-cling, a provider of tire recycling serv-ices, has donated tire collection andreclamation services to help anAtlantaarea arts center facing a dilemma.

Crews from Liberty Tire’s plantinAtlanta have collected and recycledas many as 1,000 scrap tires that wereillegally dumped on the property ofThe Arts Exchange in Atlanta. Thereclamation is taking place in mid-May of 2011.

“When the center contacted us totell us what they were facing, we werehappy to offer our assistance at nocharge,” said Dewey Grantham, re-gional sales manager for Liberty TireRecycling. “The warmer months areupon us, and abandoned tire piles canbe a haven for vermin and insects.They can also cause a fire hazard. TheArts Exchange certainly doesn’t wantto face such a situation when they hostoutdoor activities for children.”

Employees at The Arts Centerhave been working to resolve the sit-uation since they discovered the tirepiles in the fall of 2010. When theybegan making inquiries into how to

remove the tires, they learned that thecenter could be charged as much as $2per tire for removal.

“We are a non-profit arts centerthat aims to provide affordable workspace for visual and performingartists,” said Lisa Tuttle, a board di-rector for The Arts Exchange and astudio artist. “Our tenants includeAfrican dance companies, an onlinedigital arts magazine, and a youthsteel band. As you might imagine, wehave limited resources. We arepleased that Liberty Tire is willing toperform this service to us and to thecommunity at no cost.”

Once the tires are collected, Lib-erty Tire Recycling will shred andgrind them into crumb rubber andother saleable commodities, such asrubber mulch for landscaping andplaygrounds; infill for synthetic ath-letic fields; and rubberized asphalt.

“Liberty Tire Recycling has awell-deserved reputation for remedi-ating illegal tire dumps across thecountry,” said Jeff Kendall, CEO ofLiberty Tire Recycling. “We are hop-ing that a few hours of work at The

Arts Exchange will go a long way to-ward creating a safer environment forthe people who rely on the center.”

More information on Liberty TireRecycling, which recycles some 130million passenger tire equivalents(PTEs) annually, can be found atwww.libertytire.com.

Liberty Tire Helps with Atlanta Clean Up at Art Center

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Nissan announced May 27 that it willadd 30 solar-assisted charging sta-tions to its plant in Smyrna, Tenn. andto the company’s nearby US head-quarters.

The Smyrna plant will also bethe future home of the business’ Nis-san Leaf production.

The charging stations will beavailable to Nissan employees andvisitors, starting in July.

The Smyrna car plant is under-going some retrofits that will let thecompany build the Leaf, which iscurrently being built solely in Japanalongside the Infiniti JX and NissanRogue crossovers.

The plant will be able to produce150,000 Leafs a year.

Nissan is also building alithium-ion battery plant adjacent tothe car plant that will be able to pro-duce 200,000 battery packs a year forelectric cars like the Leaf.

Nissan plans to produce Leafs atthe plant by the end of 2012.

Nissan Adds Solar ChargingStations to Tennessee Plant

Canton’s lawsuit seeking to invali-date a state law that bars the city fromannexing the Nissan plant site is nowin federal court. The Clarion-Ledgerreported attorneys for Nissan NorthAmerica moved the case from Madi-son County Circuit Court because thecity raised new issues in an amendedcomplaint. A federal judge can hear acase involving questions of state lawif opposing parties are citizens of dif-ferent states. Nissan North Americais headquartered in Tennessee thoughit is incorporated in California.Canton officials say the 2000 legisla-tion prohibiting the city from annex-ation violates the equal protectionclauses in the US and state constitu-tions. The case is assigned to U.S.District Judge Carlton Reeves. Ahearing date has not been set.

Nissan Suit Goes to Federal Court

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New Heavy-Duty Shredder Coming to Ft. Lauderdale, FLThe U.S. Shredder and CastingsGroup, Trussville, AL, has begun in-stallation of its heavy duty shredder,complete with a 98115 downstreamsystem, at a scrap yard in Ft. Laud-erdale, FL.

The shredder project is a joint op-eration of U Pull It, Davie, FL, Gar-den Street Iron and Metal, Ft. Myers,FL, and Cimco Recycling of Sterling,IL. The shredder will be the thirdshredder installed within the group’soperations.

According to a release, U.S.Shredder’s Engineering Services Di-vision will provide the turnkey engi-neering for all aspects of theinstallation, including the motorhouse’s design, hydraulic and electri-cal systems and civil and foundationrequirements.

According to a U.S. Shredder re-lease, the entire system will be oper-ated under roof.

“The decision to install a U.S.Shredder system was made after ourgroup completed an extensive reviewof all shredder systems available,”says Larry Danielle, owner of U PullIt. “We concluded the shredder is theindustry’s heaviest, and U.S. Shred-der’s support and installation serviceswere the best in the industry.”

The shredder will consist of aheavy duty disc rotor. Castings andwear parts will be provided by thecompany’s wear parts division.

The system will be driven by a4,000 hp DC drive system supplied byAmeriMex, Houston. All system con-veyors and structures will be suppliedby U.S. Shredder’s sister company USConveyor, Mackinaw, Ill. All drummagnets, eddy current separators andsensors will be supplied by SGMMagnetics, Sarasota, Fla.

Completion of the installationand commissioning is expected to becompleted by September 2011.

For more information, contactBill Tigner at 205-999-7670.

Volkswagen Opens Chattanooga, Tennessee PlantVolkswagen is jumping into the U.S.auto market by opening a new plant inChattanooga, TN.

At the grand opening of the planton May 24, the German automakerpresented the 2012 Passat as the keyto building U.S. sales to 1 millionunits by 2018. The $1 billion plant hasbeen producing cars since April.

The new Passat will go on sale inQ3 of 2011 for $20,000 a car.

That’s about $7,000 cheaper thancurrent models built in Germany andclose to the prices of such competi-tors’ models as the Ford Fusion, theToyota Camry, the HondaAccord andthe Hyundai Sonata.

Jonathan Browning, presidentand chief executive officer of Volk-swagen Group of America, said theautomaker wants to make German en-gineering more accessible to NorthAmerican buyers.

“The Passats produced here inChattanooga will be a key enabler toour growth, allowing us to compete inthe core of the midsize sedan seg-ment,” Browning told reporters beforethe unveiling of the plant, accordingto the Associated Press.

Volkswagen intends to produce150,000 sedans annually at Chat-tanooga for the American market, a

big jump for a car that has only hit apeak of 80,000 units annually sold inthe U.S. in its history.

“Das auto is finally back in theStates,” declared Martin Win-terkorn, chairman of the board ofmanagement for Volkswagen AG, theparent company of Volkswagen, ac-cording to the Associated Press.

The plant itself has energy-effi-cient design measures including LEDlighting and rainwater recycling.

Frank Fischer, who heads VW’sChattanooga plant, told the AssociatedPress that the complex uses 35 percentless energy than a standard automo-tive plant.

When Volkswagen selectedChattanooga as the site of their newAmerican plant, they knew that theonly way to make a dent in the US carmarket was producingAmerican cars,said Fischer.

“You have to be a local producerto also be in the market,” said Fischer.

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The March disasters in Japan contin-ues to take its toll on worldwide au-tomotive production; the end-result ofthe disaster yet to be fully realized ona global scale.

On June 14, Nissan announcedthat the natural disasters could affectthe timetable for building the com-pany’s electric Leaf in the US, ac-cording toWard’s Automotive.

Nissan’s Smyrna, TN, assemblyplant, where theAltima, Maxima andNissan’s SUVs are built, is undergo-ing some remodeling that will let thecar company build roughly 150,000Leafs in the US each year.

The plant was scheduled to startfull-scale production in late 2012, butnow Nissan is reigning in those ex-pectations.

“The earthquake is putting [theSmyrna plant] in a very difficult situ-ation, but we are not giving up yet. Isthere potential to delay it? There maybe. We’re assessing right now,”Hideaki Watanabe, Nissan’s vicepresident of zero-emissions vehicles,toldWard’s.

Until the US plant is ready tomanufacture the electric vehicle, Leafproduction will be limited to a solefactory in Japan. That factory has thecapacity to build 50,000 Leafs a year,

which would be shared betweenAmerican, Japanese and Europeanbuyers.

For the US, Nissan had promiseda nationwide rollout of the Leaf by2012, but Watanabe now says a na-tionwide rollout will depend on con-sumer demand and dealer readiness,according toWard’s.

All of these delays are furtheraggravating already annoyed cus-tomers who pre-ordered the Leaf, ac-cording toWard’s. Some are reportingthat the automaker has bumped themoff the waiting list and asked them toreapply. Others complain that the ex-pected-delivery date for their EV hasfluctuated dramatically.

Nissan expects to deliver about6,000 to 7,000 Leaf cars to the US bythe end of summer. In May, deliver-ies for the EV increased dramaticallyto 1,142 units, which is up nearly100% overApril sales. Despite the in-crease, the automaker had hoped todeliver 20,000 Leafs to customers inthe US by summer’s end.

Nissan Leaf Production Could Be Delayed at Smyrna Plant

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The Georgia Collision IndustryAsso-ciation (GCIA) will host their 15thannual Invitational Golf Tournamenton October 12, 2011.

The group promises a fun day ofgolf and fellowship at the TrophyClub of Atlanta in Alpharetta, GA.

The registration deadline is Oc-tober 7. A playing fee of $75 per per-son includes lunch& dinner, unlimitedsupply of drinks and snacks, trophies,Hole in One Car and chances at over$1000 worth of door prizes.

The group is also looking forsponsors, please contact HowardBatchelor at (770) 367-9816 for moreinformation.

Download the information flierwhich includes the registration form,directions to the club, and Sponsor-ship form at www.autobodynews.com

The association will also holdtheir monthly members meeting onJuly 14th at the Crowne Plaza Perime-ter Atlanta NW at 6:30pm.

Patrick Delaney from SummitConsulting International will be theguest presenter. His presentation willcover how to measurably improve theprocesses that impact the profitabilityand customer loyalty of a shop

2011 GCIAAnnual Golf Tour-nament Coming in October

Joplin, MO, residents trying to re-build after losing everything in lastmonths devastating tornado are find-ing a lack of transportation to be oneof the difficult obstacles they’re facedwith. City officials estimate the tor-nado damaged or destroyed 18,000vehicles. About 9,000 insuranceclaims for vehicles already have beenfiled, The Springfield News-Leaderreported June 1.

Some residents are using rentalcars paid for through insurance andothers have borrowed cars fromfriends or relatives. Others are takingadvantage of the city’s trolley system,which has been expanded and is freeof charge during the disaster, CityManagerMark Rohr said accordingto Claims Journal.

Towing companies have beenworking almost nonstop to deal withthe towns damaged vehicles. JamesCain of Corner’s Wrecker said hiscompany towed about 160 vehicleslast week, compared with about 55 ina normal week according to ClaimsJournal.He said he’s tried to help peo-ple, towing about 40 cars for free forcustomers who had no insurance orwhose insurance didn’t cover the cost.

Lost Car Claims in MO TornadoStart to Come to Insurers


Georgia House Bill 388, which aimsto create a sales tax on services ofmany small businesses including autorepair shops, is still alive in the Geor-gia Legislature.

If passed, the bill could havenegative repercussions on the auto-motive service industry. The Auto-motive Service Association (ASA)and the Georgia Collision IndustryAssociation (GCIA) oppose this leg-islation.

Despite the fact that no actionwas taken on Georgia H.B. 388 be-fore the Georgia Legislature ad-journed, the legislation could beconsidered during the special sessionlater this summer.

The ASA and GCIA are askingGeorgia independent automotive re-pairers and consumers to contact theirrespective representatives in opposi-tion to the legislation.

Visit gacollisionindustry.word-press.com or www.takingthehill.comfor more information.

Georgia Auto Repair Tax BillStill Alive in House

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Jackie Cooper Imports, an Oklahomadealership specializing in luxury im-port cars, hosted their grand reopen-

ing celebration on June 16 at thedealership's location in Tulsa, OK.The dealership has been serving theTulsa market since August of 1991and hosted this reopening to celebratethe dealership’s remodel and newbuilding addition.

The event ran from 6 to 8, and in-cluded food and live music from Cyn-thia Jesseen and the Jambalaya JassBand. The expanded, remodeled Mer-cedes-Benz Autohaus now encom-passes 8869 square feet.

The addition allowed the dealer-ship to expand and add an expandedMercedes loaner fleet, a larger show-

room and customer lounge (with moreservices including media enhance-ments & refreshments), inside deliv-ery area, expanded service area andscheduling capacity, enlarged servicedrive, and a full-time concierge.

The building’s architecture wasdesigned byMichael Dwyer and came

to life through Contractor Stava Con-struction of Tulsa.

The dealership is located on 93rdand Memorial Drive in southeastTulsa.

The theme of the event was “AnEvening of Burlesque” and the deal-ership was able to entertain the over600 attendees throughout the evening.

Guests were welcomed by cos-tumed greeters with party favors(garters and rhinestone necklaces), en-tertained by a 7-piece band and cos-tumed singers and enjoyed clothingand jewelry fashions presented bySaks Fifth Avenue.

The opening coincided with thearrival of the 2012 Mercedes-BenzCLS.

For more information please visitwww.jackiecooperimports.com.

Jackie Cooper Imports Hosts Grand Reopening in Tulsa, OK

Jackie Cooper Imports left to right: RichardWasson, Mercedes Sales Manager, SteveLujan, General Sales Manager, Andy Truman,Porsche Sales Manager, Greg Kach, ManagingPartner, Jackie Cooper, Partner

Some of the event’s over 600 attendees linedup to watch the 7-piece band


ChathamParkway Collision Center hasbeen serving Savannah, GA, for the last

seven years. The body shop is ownedby the nearby Chatham Parkway Sub-aru/Lexus/Toyota/Scion dealership butis run independently so they are able toservice all makes and models.

The body shop partners with thedealership, taking in customers thathave been referred to them for service.

“We get a lot of business thatway, but we do all makes and mod-els,” said Joanie Iaco, Body ShopManager. Chatham is able to see anaverage of 180 cars per month.

Chatham em-ploys 16 people intheir 11,000 square-foot space includ-ing; 5 body men, 5painters, 3 estima-tors, one officemanager, one bodyshop manager andone porter who as-

sist technicians on the shop floor.Chatham is also a Toyota Certi-

fied Collision Center, meaning theyhave to meet certain Toyota bench-marks and standards in 10 differentareas, including training and shop ma-terials. Body shops must qualify an-nually for this certification.

“From a customer’s point of viewit’s great—they know all the techni-

cians have been trained to Toyota fac-tory standards as well as ASE and I-

CAR,” said Iaco.Part of the require-

ments for the certifica-tion are for the body shopto have the most cuttingedge equipment, includ-ingwelders, spray boothsand lifts. Chatham usestwo Blowtherm ultra-mix down-draft spraybooths.

Iaco said Chathamis the only Toyota Certified CollisionCenter in the low-country Savannaharea. Their equipment and level oftechnical knowledge is what sets themapart from their competition.

Chatham switched to PPG water-borne paint in 2009.According to Iaco,the paint distributor for PPG made thechange very easy by providing on-sitetechnical support throughout the tran-sition from solvent-based paint.

“We always welcome the oppor-tunity to use a “greener” product andimprove quality at the same time,”said Chatham’s Fixed Operations Di-rector Tom Ryals.

The distributor provided on sitetechnical support for Chatham as longas necessary, accoding to Iaco.

The painttechnicians reallylike the new wa-terborne system.Lead painter JeffCooper said “thepaint match is a loteasier than withsolvent-base. You

don’t get dye back or shrinking likewith solvent-based paint.”

Painter Bob Emiry added “Whatyou see is what you get—a quality fin-ished product.”

“These guys here really love it,”Iaco said of the waterborne paint sys-tem, “they had a really easy time mak-ing the switch.”

Iaco also believes the collison in-dustry is a great career route for womenthat is often overlooked; she workedher way up through the ranks at JMLexus in Margate, FL, for 17 years be-fore moving up to Savannah about 6

months ago. She originally wanted towork as a title clerk for the dealership,but got hired in the body shop instead.

“I really enjoy it; this is a greatshop, a great area and the tech-nicians are all wonderful,”said Iaco.The technicians work in

teams on the shop floor atChatham, making finishing theheavy work load this shopbrings in easier for everyone.“We do a lot of Lexus work

here, so that quality just has tobe there,” said Iaco. Chathamfocuses on quality and theybelieve that starts with theirtechnicians.

Chatham Parkway Collision Center41 Park of Commerce Blvd.Savannah, GA 31405912-443-4443www.cpbodyshop.com

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Some states, such as Maine,N.H. and Utah treat cell phone useand texting as part of a larger dis-tracted driving issue. In Utah, cell-phone use is an offense only if adriver is also committing some othermoving violation (other than speed-ing).

Writing in the Ocala Star-Ban-ner,Melinda Carstensen details howthe Florida Legislature consideredseveral bills concerning the use ofhandheld devices during its recent ses-sion, which ended May 6. One wouldhave required the Department ofMotor Vehicles to make sure drivereducation programs include informa-tion about the dangers of using hand-held devices while driving. Anotherwould have banned handheld cell-phone use while driving for driversyounger than 18. The latter died in theCommunications, Energy and PublicUtilities Committee. The formerpassed the Legislature but died whenGov. Rick Scott did not sign it intolaw.

Sen. Evelyn J. Lynn, R-OrmondBeach, was one of the authors of yetanother bill, SB 80, which would haveestablished the Florida Ban on TextingWhile Driving Law and would havemade texting while driving a second-ary offense. It died in the Transporta-tion Committee.

“I think there needs to be apenalty attached to texting while driv-ing,” Lynn said. “I think anywhere inthe country, if people are lookingdown to text, then they don’t havetheir eyes on the road and that is cer-tainly dangerous.”

According to a July 2009 studyby the Virginia Tech TransportationInstitute, talking on or listening to acellphone while driving increases thelikelihood of a near-crash or crash.Texting and driving makes a near-crash or crash about 23 times as likelyas they would be with non-distracteddriving.

Of all forms of cellphone usewhile driving, researchers said, tex-ting was the riskiest. In Florida,distracted driving is the cause of0.20 percent of fatalities and 1.22percent of injuries, according toAnn Howard, press secretary for

the Florida Department of HighwaySafety and Motor Vehicles.

In 2009, four people were re-ported killed and 1,532 were reportedinjured due to various distractionswhile driving, including toying withthe radio, texting or talking to a pas-senger.

But Howard said it’s difficult topinpoint the accurate number ofcrashes that have resulted from dis-tracted driving.

“You’ve got to understand, some-body’s not gonna hop out of the carafter a crash and say they were tex-ting. That’s just not gonna happen,”Howard said. “Unless the officer canprove it or sees something, it’s notsomething they can track easily forthat same reason.”

The Legislature’s decision not toban texting while driving isn’t any-thing new: In 2010 it considered 11bills regarding distracted driving butpassed none, according to the NationalConference of State Legislatures, anorganization that tracks state legisla-tion.

Although many opponents of tex-ting bans certainly don’t advocate dis-tracted driving, they customarily have

argued for no government interferenceon the issue, saying some of the legis-lation’s measures already are in place.

For example, before beginningdrivers can earn their learner’s per-mits, they must take a written test thatincludes questions about distracteddriving.

A March 2011 poll in the maga-zine Consumer Reports indicated thatyouth were most likely to text behindthe wheel. Of the 1,026 respondents,30 percent said they texted behind thewheel.

However, surprising to some,texting bans don’t necessarily de-crease the number of crashes, accord-ing to researchers at the HighwayLoss Data Institute, which draws sta-tistics from insurance claims.

The institute in September 2010said it studied insurance claims fromdrivers in California, Louisiana, Min-nesota and Washington before andafter bans were introduced. It foundthat in three of those four states, thenumber of crashes actually increasedafter the ban.

According to a prior study by thesame institute in January 2010, bans



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Auto Insurance Report that the per-centage of consumers who got a quotefrom another insurer was up 23 per-cent last year, and the percentage ofthose who actually changed to anotherinsurer was up 56 percent. Only 48percent of consumers have been withthe same insurer for six or more years,down from 53 percent in 2008.

The economy is certainlyprompting some of this trend. Manypeople are looking to shave householdcosts, and may be willing to switch forfar less in savings than it may havetaken them to bother just a few yearsago.

But another reason for the shop-ping may be that auto insurance ad-vertising soared 22.6 percent to arecord-high $5 billion last year, ac-cording to analysis by Dowling andPartners Securities. That reversed a4.2 percent decline in advertising in2009.

Prior to 2009, the industry had in-creased advertising spending forseven straight years. In the pastdecade, insurance industry advertising—the vast majority of which focuseson auto insurance—has grown 211percent from $1.6 billion in 2001. Thebiggest jump in advertising last yearwas by Farmers Insurance, whichspent $505 million, up 125 percentfrom the previous year.

Insureds are confused. Althoughmotorists may be shopping for insur-ance, they don’t necessarily knowwhat they are buying. More than one-third of U.S. drivers who have read atleast part of their auto insurance poli-cies have had trouble making sense ofthem, according to an online HarrisInteractive poll commissioned by In-suranceQuotes.com.

About 87 percent of the 2,079 in-sured drivers surveyed said they hadread at least some portion of their poli-cies, but 36 percent of those driverssaid those policies were somewhat orvery difficult to understand.

Insurance rates outpace laborrates. Increases in auto shop rates arenot quite keeping up with overall in-flation—but pricing for auto insuranceis rising faster.

The national average for bodyand paint labor rates has risen onlymodestly year-over-year since 2006,according to figures from CCC Infor-mation Services. The average body

labor rate rose from $41.42 in 2006 to$44.67 in 2010, up an average of 2.1percent per year (paint labor rates rosesimilarly). The national averagehourly rate for paint materials roseslightly faster, from $22.26 in 2006 to$25.37 in 2010, an average increase of3.5 percent per year.

Overall, according to the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Con-sumer Price Index (CPI) for autobodywork rose an average of 3.44 percentper year for that 5-year period.

By comparison, the CPI for allproducts rose an average of 2.2 per-cent per year. The CPI for auto insur-ance rose an average of 2.6 percentper year, and the CPI for vehicle partsand equipment (other than tires) rosean average of 3.92 percent per year.

But data for the first four monthsof 2011 tells a different story. Theoverall CPI seems to be rising fasterthan that for autobody work, and theCPI for auto insurance is staying evenabove that.

State lawmakers consider insur-ance-related bills. As legislative ses-sions wrap-up for the year in manystates, bills regulating insurers in waysthat impact shops continue to bepassed, considered or rejected.

A bill approved by the NevadaAssembly to establish a program tohelp low-income drivers get low-costauto insurance coverage died in thatstate’s legislature in late May becauseit failed to come up for a vote in theSenate within 110 days of introduc-tion.

North Carolina Insurance Com-missionerWayne Goodwin is urgingmotorists to oppose three bills in thatstate that would strip his office of itsability to cap auto insurance rates.“We hear the insurance companiescalling it auto rate modernization,”Goodwin said. “Well, if making yourrates skyrocket is modern, then youcan just call me old-fashioned.”

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walkerhas signed a law cutting the minimumproperty damage coverage that driv-ers in that state must carry from$15,000 to $10,000.

And in appointing insurancecompany executiveKevin Clinton asthe new insurance commissioner ofMichigan this spring, Gov. Rick Sny-dermade clear his priorities for Clin-ton. Snyder, a Republican, saidClinton must “make sure consumersare protected by making sure financialinstitutions are sound,” and will “leadour effort to eliminate burdensome

regulations that are preventing the (fi-nancial) industry from growing.”

More federal oversight coming.The U.S. Department of the Treasuryin May announced plans to create aFederalAdvisory Committee on Insur-ance to provide guidance to the newFederal Insurance Office created aspart of federal Wall Street reforms.Half of the committee’s members willbe reserved for state and tribal insur-ance regulators; other members will bechosen from the various insurance in-dustries, the agent and broker commu-nity, public advocates and academia.

Allstate looks to change a down-ward trend. Allstate’s acquisition ofEsurance (and Answer Financial, aninsurance quote service) from WhiteMountains Insurance Group is widelyviewed as a good move for the insurer,which has seen its marketshare dropthe past two years. The buy shouldhelpAllstate, as the country’s second-largest auto insurer, better competewith No. 3 GEICO and No. 4 Pro-gressive which, like Esurance, sell di-rectly online and which have beengaining marketshare ground as All-state has faltered. GEICO’s 5 percentgrowth in total premiums last year

puts it on track to catch Allstate (ifAllstate’s rate of decline in recentyears continued) by 2013.

Esurance, founded in 2005, sellspolicies in 30 states and has seen itstotal premiums grow on average by20 percent a year for the past fiveyears.

Anti-texting effort continues.With Indiana recently becoming the32nd state to approve insurer-sup-ported bans on texting-while-driving(Pennsylvania lawmakers are consid-ering a similar ban), State Farm offersa free widget for the Android phonethat it hopes will help drivers avoidthe urge to read or send a text whilebehind the wheel.

The “On the Move” widget al-lows users to compose and reload cus-tomized messages—such as, “I can’trespond right now because I’m driv-ing”—that are sent as automatic re-sponses to incoming text messages.

Collision repairers needn’t beoverly considered with such efforts,however. Research by the HighwayLoss Data Institute showed last yearthat accident rates aren’t reduced bylaws prohibiting drivers from textingor from using hand-held cell phones.

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In my neighborhood, several shops aresaying they’re having a “summerslump.” Maybe it’s the economy.Maybe people have gone on vacationignoring needed repairs. With gasprices sky high people are driving lessand having less accidents. Whateverthe case, it can come down to less busi-ness for the moment. What can a shopowner do to survive this down time?

Perhaps one bright spot is all ofthis is the fact that with less jobs to do,you may have more time to improvemarketing and sales and maybesqueeze more profits out of the jobsyou do get. This could be an ideal timeto take a closer look at previous esti-mates (and estimators) to see if rev-enue and profits were slipping throughthe cracks. Today we have computersoftware to go through an estimate tofind missed opportunities for revenue,but not every shop uses it, or takes thetime to use it even if it’s available. Pe-riodically a wise manager will review

a few estimates to see how his or herestimators are doing.A summer slumpcan be a perfect time to get this done.

When business is slow, less moneyis coming in. It’s also a good time tolook for costs that can be cut withoutharming the bottom line. Since person-nel pay is usually the largest expense ata shop, laying people off is often thefirst choice in cost cutting, but it maynot be the wisest. Cutting back on ad-vertising and marketing during a slowtime is not a good idea, but this can bea good time to get more bang for yourmarketing buck. Today Yellow Pagelistings and ads are outrageously ex-pensive—unless they’re really bringingin customers. One shop did an inven-tory ofYellow Page ad responses to seehowmany calls actually produced busi-ness. The largest percentage of callswas from vendors trying to sell the shopsome service or product. Hardly anycalls produced even an estimate. This isa good place to start cutting costs.

Another area to examine whileyou have the time is closing ratios.How many estimates are resulting inwork orders?Are your estimators cap-turing every possible job? I recall oneshop I visited that often had a poten-tial customer walk through some se-lected areas of the shop to look athighly precise repair operations likeframe measurement and color match-ing. I was told that a little sales talk onthe superiority of the shop’s expertiseoften convinced the customer that thiswas the best place to leave the car forrepairs. This down time could also bea good time to get a couple of displayareas highly polished for customerviewing.

Reviewing prior marketing ef-forts may also produce some unex-pected opportunities. One shop I visithas repaired police vehicles for years,but he says when the sergeant incharge of repairs changes, there is al-ways a danger of that individual hav-

ing his own favorite repair facility.Losing that repair business could bevery costly so he makes it a top prior-ity to get to know a new sergeant im-mediately. A change in personnel atany key business source can representeither a danger of loss or an opportu-nity for gain. During this summerslump there may be time to call onsome dealerships, commercialprospects or potential governmentagencies to get to know the person re-sponsible for outsourcing vehicle re-pairs. It can be a good time to makechange your ally.

Another good use of extra timecan be checking out your neighbor-hood for ways to get more visitors toyour shop. Schools, churches, healthclubs and gyms and other organiza-tions where a substantial number ofpeople come can provide an opportu-nity to host an event at your shop. Oneshop offered a teacher at a church


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How to Survive a Summer Slump

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] Tom’s columns at www.autobodynews.com under Columnists > Franklin

See Summer Slump, Page 25


www.autobodynews.comwww.autobodynews.com

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School Uses Nanotechnology to Convert Exhaust Heat into ElectricityNo one is happy about rising gasprices, and to make matters worse, upto 60 percent of each $4 gallon iswasted, lost as heat that pours out ofthe exhaust pipe.

But what if some of that heatcould be collected and converted backinto electricity that can recharge thebattery that powers the lights, wipers,power steering, or even the electricmotor in a hybrid vehicle?

The technology to do just thatexists, but it’s still a work in progress.The solution lies in thermoelectric de-vices, and engineers at the A. JamesClark School of Engineering, Univer-sity of Maryland, are challenging pre-vious assumptions about the behaviorof the nanoscale materials used tobuild them. Create better materials,they say, and cars will make muchbetter use of that expensive fossilfuel.

But contrary to the common as-sumption in nanotechnology, “better”in this case may not always mean“smaller.” That realization maychange the way engineers develop fu-ture thermoelectric devices.

A material whose response to achange in temperature generates elec-tric potential, or vice versa, exhibitswhat is known as the thermoelectriceffect. Thermoelectric devices cangenerate electricity when heated by

an external source, or quickly cool orheat their environment when poweredwith electricity.

So why doesn’t every car have athermoelectric power generator?

“The reason thermoelectric de-vices have so far been limited to nichemarkets is that their efficiency is stilltoo low,” said graduate student JaneCornett (Department of MaterialsScience and Engineering). “The goalof our work is to design thermoelec-tric materials that convert energyfrom one form to another more effi-ciently so we can promote the wide-spread use of products that recyclewaste heat and effectively reduce ourconsumption of fossil fuels.”

For example, cars manufacturedor retrofitted with a thermoelectric de-vice placed around the exhaust pipecan use waste heat to generate elec-tricity, improving their overall milesper gallon, especially when a power-draining system like the air condi-tioning is in use.

If the device is too bulky and in-efficient, however, it will consumemore energy than it contributes.

To tackle the problem, Cornettand her advisor, ProfessorOdedRabin(Department of Materials Science andEngineering and Institute for Researchin Electronics and Applied Physics),had to challenge some popular theories.

“Previous models told us that theuse of nanomaterials at small dimen-sions would lead to an improvementin power generation efficiency,” saidCornett. “The models also predictedthat the smaller the nanostructure, themore significant the improvementwould be. In practice, people weren’tseeing the gains they thought theyshould when they designed thermo-electric devices with nanoscale com-ponents, which indicated to us thatthere might be an issue with the inter-pretation of the original models.”

Cornett and Rabin have pre-sented a revised thermoelectric per-formance model that confirms thatsmaller is not always better. Using ad-vanced computer modeling to investi-gate the potential of thermoelectricnanowires only 100 to 1000 atomsthick (about 1000 times smaller than ahuman hair), they demonstrate that inthe set of the tiniest nanowires, meas-uring 17 nanometers or less in radius,decreasing their radii does result inthe increased thermoelectric perform-ance previous models predict. Innanowires above 17 nanometers in ra-dius, however, an improvement isseen as the radius increases.

“The surprising behavior in thelarger size range demonstrates that adifferent physical mechanism, whichwas overlooked in previous models,

is dominant,” said Cornett.“People were looking for solu-

tions in the wrong places,” saidRabin. “We’ve created a better under-standing of how to search for the bestnew materials.”

Thermoelectric devices are cur-rently used in a few consumer prod-ucts, including refrigerators and CPUcoolers in computers. They couldeliminate the need for fluorocarbonrefrigerants, giving rise to fluid- andcompressor-free cooling systems thatpose fewer health and environmentalhazards.

Cornett and Rabin’s research issupported in part by the Minta MartinFoundation and the ARCS Founda-tion.

ForMore Information: See “Ther-moelectric figure of merit calculationsfor semiconducting nanowires.” JaneE. Cornett and Oded Rabin. AppliedPhysics Letters 98(1), 182104 (2011)or visit http://apl.aip.org/resource/1/ap-plab/v98/i18/p182104_s1.

The Clark School of Engineering,situated on the rolling, 1,500-acre Uni-versity ofMaryland campus in CollegePark, Md., is one of the premier engi-neering schools in the US, with gradu-ate and undergraduate educationprograms ranked in or near the Top 20.The Clark School garnered researchawards of $171million in the last year.

Toyota to Face First US Sudden-Acceleration Test Trial in 2013Toyota Motor Corp. will face the firsttest trial in February 2013 of lawsuitscombined in federal court that claim adefect causes the company’s vehiclesto speed up uncontrollably, a judgesaid according to Bloomberg News.

U.S. District Judge James V.Selna in Santa Ana, California, saidin a “tentative order” that the firstbellwether trial would be of claims bythe families of two people killed in aNov. 5, 2010, crash in Utah. Paul Van

Alfen died when his 2008 ToyotaCamry crashed into a wall. PassengerCharlene Lloyd died the next day.

Toyota, the world’s largest au-tomaker, recalled millions of U.S. ve-hicles starting in 2009, after claims ofdefects and incidents involving suddenunintended acceleration. The recallsset off hundreds of economic-loss suitsand claims of injuries and deaths.

“The conduct of a trial in the firstquarter of 2013 will markedly ad-

vance these proceedings,” said Selna,who is overseeing most of the federalsuits. Abellwether case is used by thecourt and lawyers for both sides totest evidence and liability theories be-fore moving on to other trials or lim-iting future litigation. Selna pickedthe Van Alfen case from six submit-ted by lawyers for the company andplaintiffs.

In February, the NationalHighway Traffic Safety Adminis-

tration said their probe of possibleelectronic defects found no causesfor unintended acceleration otherthan sticking accelerator pedalsand floor mats that jammed thepedals.

“We are pleased that the initialbellwether will address plaintiffs’central allegation of an unnamed, un-proven defect in Toyota vehicles,”Celeste Migliore, a Toyota spokes-woman, said in a statement.


with Gonzo WeaverGonzo’s Toolbox This is a new story by Scott “Gonzo” Weaver as posted on his website, www.gonzostoolbox.com.

Gonzo has been serving the Tulsa area at Superior Auto Electric for over 27 years. See his book“Hey Look! I Found The Loose Nut”, which provides a Good Laugh for Mechanics of Any Age.The book is available at amazon.com. Contact Gonzo at [email protected].

Sometimes I wonder if the things Ifind wrong with some cars are therefor me to find out how ridiculoussome people can be. I’ve got to ques-tion the thought process and not-so-brilliant ideas that some people have,just before total stupidity takes over. Igotta ask … “What were you think-ing?”

The other day I had a late 90’sGM in the shop. The owner had re-cently bought it from a small car lot,and had no idea of the history of thevehicle. It was one of those “greatdeals” that he couldn’t pass up.Why isit these great deals always have somesort of catch to them? Maybe it wouldbe a good idea to have it checked outbefore you buy it. After looking at it, Imight tell you to “pass it up.” Hon-estly, I’ll never understand why some-one will buy a used car when theyknow nothing about it, or decide afterthey buy it to finally have it checked

out … but they do.This particular creation had some

strange problems. It had a strange bat-tery drain. At first glance all the in-strument cluster warning lights,interior lights, and all the electricalfunctions seemed to be working cor-rectly, but there was a drain strongenough to drain the battery in a day orso. Finding the solution was going tolead to an even bigger problem.

Narrowing it down by watchingthe amp meter for the parasitic drawvalue, and pulling fuses till the num-bers dropped back into factory specswas the next procedure. Of all things,it ended up back to a crossed up cir-cuit between the air bag system andthe charging system. I decided tocheck the air bag system for codes.

This was interesting, it was of-fline. No communication with thecrash box. Hmmm, I’m a little con-fused, because I know I saw the air

bag light come on and go off when Ipulled it into the shop. Turning the keyoff, and then restarting the car didn’thelp me much, because the air baglight was on and then off. But thenagain, maybe it did help. Like I said,the light came on, and then went off… Hey, wait a minute isn’t there sup-posed to be a few seconds before itgoes off? Isn’t this how it verifies itssystems are functioning properly? So,what’s going on here?

As a technician I’m trying to fol-low the codes, the diagnostic charts,and the operating description of thesystem I’mworking on. This particularproblem wasn’t following any typicalscenarios. Take into account this wholething started off because of a batterydrain … I’m really starting to scratchmy head over this one.

I had a lot of different ways to gowith this one. I could try and followthe draw a little further, or I could

chase the problem from the air bagside of it. Maybe, it will all lead to thesame problem. I think I’ll work on itfrom the air bag side of the problem.

The air bag fuses were all good,and the light did come on in the dash.So, I decided to pull the air bag diag-nostic module out and pin check theleads to see if that would go any-where. My first check on any systemis the positive signals and then thegrounds. Why? Because a loss ofground can be seen as an open lead,and if the positive signals are there,you’ll actually find a voltage signal onthe open ground. That’s what electric-ity wants to do: find ground, and takethe shortest path back to the source ofthe voltage.

In this case they were all there,but when I checked the leads to the in-strument cluster the voltage was com-ing towards the crash box rather than

A Homemade Air Bag Light—Brilliant Stupidity

See Airbag Light, Page 19

Sport utility vehicles are now saferthan cars of the same weight, thanksto anti-rollover technology, accordingto a recent study.

The Insurance Institute for High-way Safety said in a report issued June9 SUVs in the 2006-09 model yearshad a driver fatality rate half that ofcars.

“The rollover risk in SUVs used tooutweigh their size/weight advantage,but that’s no longer the case,” thanks toelectronic stability control, said AnneMcCartt, the institute’s senior vicepresident for research, according to theDetroit News. “Pound for pound, SUVshave lower death rates.”

In assessing risk, the study countsthe number of years that each modelhas been on the road andmultiplies thatby the number of that model’s vehicles.SUV driver deaths totaled 28 per mil-lion registered vehicle years, comparedto 52 for trucks and 56 for cars.

Among all vehicles, minivansagain had the lowest driver fatalityrate: 25 per million registered vehicleyears, according to the new report.

The last time the institute con-

ducted a similar study, in 2007, largeminivans had 66 deaths per 1 millionvehicle years, while very large oneshad 39, the lowest overall fatality ratesamong mainstream vehicles.

Researchers say minivans tend tohave the lowest fatality rates in partbecause drivers are more likely to becarrying young children and are morecareful.

The relative risk of different typesof vehicles has changed, as automak-ers have worked to make SUVs morestable and less prone to rollovers.

When the insurance institute con-ducted its 2007 study, for 2002-05models, car death rates were lowerthan SUVs in every weight class butone. In the latest study SUVs in allweight classes had a lower driverdeath rate.

In 2007, the National HighwayTraffic SafetyAdministration requiredall vehicles to be equipped with elec-tronic stability control, or ESC, by the2012 model year.

By the 2008 model year, ESC al-ready was standard on 65 percent ofcars, 96 percent of SUVs and 11 per-

cent of pickups. The technology helpsavoid skidding, as well as maintaincontrol when drivers swerve.

ESC senses when a driver maylose control and automatically appliesbrakes to individual wheels to helpstabilize the vehicle and avoid arollover. Motorists often have no ideaESC has kicked in to protect them.

TheAlliance ofAutomobile Man-ufacturers, the trade association thatrepresents Detroit’s Big Three, ToyotaMotor Corp. and eight other automak-ers, said the new study shows that ESChas become extremely valuable.

“As automakers, safety and inno-vation are two of our most importantvalues, and our actions back that up:Automakers were introducing ESCbefore the government rulemaking onit,” alliance spokesman Wade New-ton said to the Detroit News. “ESC isconsidered so effective that NHTSAhas previously estimated that the tech-nology can potentially prevent 71 per-cent of passenger car rollovers and 84percent of SUV rollovers.”

NHTSA estimated the cost to theautomotive industry of adding ESC

will total $985 million, $111 per vehi-cle with antilock brakes and $479 forthose without ABS.

But the benefits far outweigh thecosts, according to NHTSA.

“Thanks to this technology, weanticipate the number of rollover fa-talities to drop by thousands every sin-gle year,” NHTSA AdministratorDavid Strickland said in a statement.

Rollover crashes, he said, are thedeadliest of all wrecks.

When it adopted the ESC regula-tion in 2007, NHTSA predicted thetechnology could reduce rollovers by84 percent, preventing between 5,300and 9,600 deaths and as many as238,000 injuries a year. Rollovers,which had exceeded 10,000 for years,fell to under 8,300 in 2009.

The insurance institute study saidESC reduces the risk of a fatality in asingle-vehicle crash by 49 percent and20 percent in multiple-vehicle crashes.It also lowers the risk of a deadlycrash by 33 percent overall, and cutsthe risk of a fatal single-vehiclerollover by 73 percent. Federal rules


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See SUV Crashes, Page 31

to the cluster. What now? (Here it’shelpful to remember: I love my job, Ilove my job, repeat as necessary.) Iguess I better pull the cluster andcheck the wiring from there back tothe crash box and see if that goes any-where.

After pulling the dash it didn’ttake a rocket scientist to see what theproblem was. On the back of the in-strument cluster somebody had cut thecircuit board line to the air bag light,and then added a soldered-on wire tothe charge light. So when the chargelight was on, so was the air bag light.Once the car started (provided thecharging system is working correctly)the charge light would go out, and sowould the air bag light. Huh???

You can imagine my “mechani-cal language” was not for the faint ofheart when I found out what wasgoing on. It seems some genius didn’twant to replace the air bag module, sothey invented their own air bag warn-ing light instead. Brilliant stupidity…I think that’s the best way to explain

it. I can’t imagine somebody wentthrough all the trouble to deceive thebuyer of this car for a safety issuesuch as air bags. It should be a crimi-nal offense and it is in some states (seeadjacent story this page.)

After undoing the homemadeairbag light, the draw was completelygone. Now the only thing to do was toreplace the air bag module to bring itback up to working order.

Leave it to some unscrupulousdork out there to try something likethis. I’m not saying anybody wouldhave caught the problem at firstglance. It was a well thought out de-ception. If you were not intentionallylooking for an air bag light delay, Idon’t think you would have caught theproblem. But, I still think it is a goodidea to have any car checked out priorto buying it. Maybe, just maybe, youcan spot problems like this before youown the problem.


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Continued from Page 17

Airbag Light


Consumers must navigate a number ofpotential dangers when considering aused car. They have to make sure themileage is accurate, determine if the en-gine is in reasonable condition, and en-sure that the brakes and suspension arein working order, to name just a few.However, even the most conscientiousbuyer may not think about whether theairbags are in their original condition,especially if the buyer is purchasing acar with a salvage title (a car that hadpreviously been in an accident). Be-cause of this naivety, airbag fraud is be-coming increasingly common.

National Highway Transporta-tion Administration (NHTSA) issueda report on fatal crashes in 2008 thatrevealed troubling information aboutused airbags. In 255 of 1,446 fatal ac-cidents, airbags had not been replacedafter a previous crash. In nearly 50percent of all fatal crashes with non-deployed airbags, these safety deviceswere defective or simply missing. Sowhile non-deployments are rare, fa-talities are likely when airbags do notwork as intended.

In the abstract, airbag fraud occurswhen the original airbag is not replacedor calibrated to its previous condition.Airbags are expensivematerials and thereplacement process is a delicate exer-cise. Unscrupulous used car dealersmore likely to shirk this process to savetime and money in getting cars readyfor resale. By reducing the amount ofmoney put into a car, the potential profitincreases. Repair shops also engage inthis practice for the same reasons. Theystand tomakemoremoney by purchas-ing airbag parts very cheaply over theInternet, yet they can charge a customeror insurance company full price for theparts and labor.

As such, airbag fraud has twodistinct components: insurance fraud,where the airbag cavity is stuffed withconcealable materials such as rags,foam or paper towels while the insur-ance company is billed for actualairbag parts; and refund scams, wherea body shop actually orders a newairbag for a customer but never in-stalls it. Instead, the shop bills the cus-

Prevalent Airbag Fraud Prompts IncreasedPenalties in New California Law

See CAAirbag Law, Page 31


with The Insurance InsiderInside Insurance The Insider is a corporate-level executive with a Top 10 auto insurer

in the U.S.. Got a comment or question you’d like to see him addressin a future column? Email him at [email protected]

In the Middle Ages, civilians didn’thave computers, television, radio,Pong, or even ping-pong. So whatdid they do for entertainment? Onetradition was story-telling. The greatthing about telling such tales wasthat you were forced to use yourimagination. Although it’s importantto note that you weren’t expected tobelieve everything that was beingsaid.

Fairy tales often have a happyending and tell us about a world where

anything is possible. The tale I’mabout to tell you is about the “neutralinformation provider.”

This tale begins in the 1980s,around the time of the first electronicestimating system. For decades priorto the advent of electronic estimating,shop and insurers slaved away prepar-ing handwritten estimates. Alongcame a brilliant man named Maximil-lion. He believed that there was afaster and more accurate way to pre-pare an estimate. He thought he couldequally help body shops and insur-ance companies through the use oftechnology. Because this new ideawould benefit both parties, he thoughthe would be able to sell this newproduct to two different customers. Infact, he could charge the same amountto each. It was the beginning of thenow over-used term “win-win.” Allhe had to do was find a way to takethe data from printed estimatingbooks and put it in an electronic for-mat.

In a matter of three weeks, hecreated a robust software application.He spent the next few months sellinghis product to insurers and repairers

alike. Everyone in the country adoredhim. He was a hero living the Ameri-can dream. He was making far moremoney than he ever dreamed possible.Life was grand. Who would haveimagined that putting a book into acomputer could make so many peopleso happy?

If we were in Medieval Times,our story would have ended there andthe hero would ride off into the sunsetwith a beautiful maiden on the back ofhis horse. But because we’ve wit-

nessed computers,television, radio,Pong and ping-pong (and evenBeer Pong, anewer non-tech-nology-driven ver-sion of Pongfueled by alcohol),we have some-thing else theydidn’t have in theMiddle Ages: “re-ality.” It’s difficultto use your imagi-

nation and dream big when you knowit’s virtually impossible to have ahappy ending with an informationprovider.

Our story resumes with our su-perhero Maximillion looking to ex-pand his very profitable business. Thechallenge is that he now has competi-tion. As a result, he is losing cus-tomers. Max is faced with making hisfirst big decision since deciding to gointo business. Does he sell his productone at a time to 60,000 body shopsspread all across this free and beauti-ful country, or does he sell it to a hand-ful of insurance companies? I thinkwe all know which route Maxtook—the path of least resistance, ofcourse.

The insurance companies pur-chased the estimating system and re-quired shops to buy the program as aprerequisite to be on their direct repairprograms. Maximillion’s profitssoared and so did the insurance com-pany’s leverage.

Here the fairy tale ends and thenightmare begins for the shops. Max-imillion is trying to serve two masters.Unfortunately, it’s not possible. Shops

and insurance companies have differ-ent interests and needs. The once-neu-tral information provider is beingpulled in two different directions.

I think everyone knows who pre-vailed. Maximillion could lose mil-lions if he chooses to side with theshops. Right or wrong, he is heavilyinfluenced by the insurance compa-nies. Although he attempts to remainneutral, it’s nearly impossible in aworld where cost drives most deci-sions.

Now let’s use our imagination asto what happens next. Over the next30 years, the strong influence of theinsurance companies is evident in allthree major estimating systems.We’ve witnessed and experienced theso-called enhancements to the sys-tems, enhancements that were clearlydesigned for one purpose—to appeasethe demands and suggestions of insur-ance companies.

This isn’t a fairy tale. It’s the re-ality of what has transpired. Shopsshould be outraged. They should besending a strong message back to theinformation providers and take actionwhere appropriate. For the informa-tion providers, being neutral shouldnot be a choice but a requirement.

Shops and insurers alike pay a lotof money to the informationproviders. The estimating softwareshould not be influenced by any onegroup or groups. These companiesshould provide information—not aservice where the highest bidder de-cides what’s added or modified to thedatabase or system.

The Insider is a corporate-levelexecutive with a Top 10 auto insurerin the U.S.. Got a comment or ques-tion you’d like to see him address in afuture column? Email him at [email protected].

Telling the Tale of the “Neutral Information Provider”

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The Quality Parts Coalition (QPC) is agroup of about 80 representativesfrom different companies and associ-ations that focuses on preserving com-petition of auto repair parts bysupporting the availability of lower-cost alternative collision repair partsfor consumers and insurers.

Eileen Sottile, a representativefor QPC who hasbeen instrumentalin getting legisla-tion together forthe organization topresent to Con-gress, gave a leg-islative update toAutobody News on

the group’s upcoming endeavors nowthat there is a new Congress on thehill.

QPC came about in response to a2005 patent infringement suit thatFord brought to the InternationalTrade Commission (ITC) againstKeystone, alleging design patent in-fringement of exterior collision repairparts for the 2005 F-150.

It was after this case that coali-

tion members realized they “needed apermanent change to the patent laws,”said Sottile.

According to Sottile, up to thatpoint people in the aftermarket crashpart industry didn’t think they wouldhave design patent issues on cosmeticparts.

Ford brought yet another lawsuitagainst LKQ/Keystone following theF-150 case, and Sottile said that with-out a change in the patent laws car-makers can continually come backwith lawsuits on a part-by-part basisand bankrupt the aftermarket parts in-dustry.

Sottille says QPC was created inresponse to these issues to try to finda solution. This group represents allaspects of the repair industry, in-cluding; insurers, collision shops,seniors, retailers and aftermarketparts companies and manufacturers.Some consumer groups have alsovoiced their support for QPC’s leg-islative endeavors, although they arenot QPC members.

“In most cases we didn’t feelthey even deserved a patent,” said

Sottile. The cosmetic parts in questionare so similar to their aftermarketcounterparts that Sottile said that

QPC has a hard time seeing how theyrose to the standard of getting a de-sign patent.

According to Sottile, the carcompanies currently have a “near mo-nopoly” on the crash parts marketwith 72% control of the market andthese design patents will only increasethat holding.

QPC is gathering support for leg-islation the group may introduce inCongress sometime this year.

QPC originally introduced a billinto Congress in 2009; it aimed tomake the act of providing a part solelyfor the purpose of repair exempt fromdesign patent infringement. It wasbased on current laws inAustralia andthe UK known as “repair clauses.”That bill did not get voted on by thefull Senate and House before their ses-

sion closed.QPC is currently working in a bi-

partisan manner to explore potentiallegislative solutions to the designpatent issue for introduction to thecurrent Congress that is in session.

QPC has had several meetingswith Congress, including a meetingwith the House Intellectual PropertySubcommittee and a full JudiciaryHouse meeting. According to Sottile,the support for reforming designpatent laws with a repair clause isthere, the group is just awaiting rein-troduction in Congress.

“If a patent is awarded, competi-tion in the secondary market shouldstill be permitted,” said Sottile.

Sottile drew the distinction thatQPC has no intention of prohibitingthe protection a patent provides pri-mary competitors against each otherwith the legislation—”but in the sec-ondary market, when the part is onlyprovided for repair, we don’t think itshould be subject to design patent en-forcement,” said Sottile.

For example, QPC believes that


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Eileen Sottile and the Quality Parts Coalition Offer Their Legislative Update

Eileen Sottile

See Quality Parts Coalition, Page 23

APATHY – absence of passion, emo-tion, or excitement.

I hate to say this, but this wordseems best to describe the attitude ofmany parts managers I have spokento. It’s not their fault, just their re-sponse to their daily input of negativeinformation. Every day they get an-other dose of pressure, criticism, anddoom. They worry about the dealer-ship’s future, loss of customers, ris-ing costs and falling profits. All thison top of the daily stress of filling or-ders, creates the natural response,“please just let me survive.” Theyexist on a short term basis, hour byhour, day by day, and month bymonth. This is how it has been forover three years, since the start of thelast economic crash.

We have lost 15% of our dealer-ships. The weak have perished, andthe strong have survived. Here is thegood news… things seem to be get-ting better. According to the L.A.Times, we’ve had a 20% increase inauto sales so far this year! This is thestart of a new growth cycle. Smart sur-vivors are taking this opportunity toshed their fears and expand their op-erations. I say smart because this is thebest time to get aggressive and goafter new business. The survivorshave less competition, and should seesteadily increasing sales.

We will always have a minimumlevel of business. Our customer’slifestyle demands transportation. Ourcommunities are designed with sepa-rate living and commercial areas, andwalking between them is not an op-tion. We must have our cars! Main-taining and repairing a modernautomobile requires trained techni-cians and expensive equipment. Verylittle work can be done by the averageowner. Money for maintenance is stillshort, but repairs are a necessity. Thatmeans steady work for all of us.

Now is the time to be positive.Shake off that dull, negative attitude.Aggressive solicitation of new cus-tomers will pay off for those dealersthat move now. Take some time andvisit your best customers. Congratu-late them for their tenacity and tellthem you will be with them for thegood times ahead. Partners who sur-

vive hard times always find theirbonds stronger. Keep an eye out forcustomer opportunities that you mayhave overlooked. Be ready to servethe new customers that will be callingyou.

There is another major negativeassumption to overcome. Severalparts managers have told me of theirloss of interest in the wholesale mar-ket. The main reason for this is thelack of profit. It seems that there isconstant pressure to reduce costs,starting at the corporate level. I amtalking about the insurance companiesthat cover most of today’s repair costs.In a never-ending search for investorearnings, quality, care, workmanship,and pride are considered to be unnec-essary. The only thing that matters tothese corporations is their bottom line.They constantly push the repair shopto reduce the cost of the repairs. Theshops cannot reduce their labor costany lower; employees are already atthe poverty level. The only place tocut is the cost of materials. The solu-tion for some shops is the use ofcheaper parts. These shops adopt thepractices of the corporations, and con-sider only the cost of materials. Save adollar, no matter what method youuse.

We need to fight back! Quality inboth parts and service needs to beworth more than a 5% discount. Forexample, sheet metal has been a cen-ter of concern for several years. Cheapreplacement imported metal has foundcustomers, at the cost of quality. Nu-merous organizations have come outto support the use of original partsonly. We all agree on the value ofquality in this area. How about the restof the operation? How about qualityof service?

I have never advocated sacrific-ing service and quality for cost. I be-lieve if you pay less, you get less.There is a minimum everyone mustpay for quality service. The competi-tion should be for better service, notcheaper prices. I believe that servicingthe wholesale market is still a reward-ing job. Our final goal, happy cus-tomers, is a worthy goal and customersatisfaction brings us our own happi-ness.

Autobody News has always sup-ported quality in our industry, pro-moting the best products, materials,and service, never “less for less.” Inkeeping with this philosophy, I wouldlike to offer an opportunity for thosedealers who believe in the quality oftheir service to speak out. I would liketo promote those dealers who still be-lieve in customer satisfaction.

Strong, optimistic leaders de-serve recognition and support. Any ofyou that believe as I do, and want tospread their message of quality serv-ice; contact me at [email protected] will include you in my column, andpromote you as a truly distinctivedealership, a good partner in the autobody repair industry.

Take an active, aggressive rolenow in your local community. Attendas many local business meetings ofthe auto industry as possible. Take astand for quality service above all

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design patent laws should preventBMW’s signature grille from Fordrecreating it and using it on their Fi-esta, but it should not prevent after-market parts companies fromrecreating the BMW grille for re-placement on a damaged BMWvehi-cle.

Sottile also argues that thepreservation of competition in theparts market in this manner ulti-mately allows for the consumer tobenefit.

“There’s a big cost difference be-tween these parts; about 25 to 60 per-cent,” said Sottile. “The timing iscritical in this economy.”

For more information aboutQPC and their legislative endeavorsplease visit keepautopartsafford-able.org.

The full text of the QPC’s pastlegislation can also be seen atwww.autobodynews.com.


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Quality Parts CoalitionBoyd Gerber Group to Acquire 28 Locations of Cars Collision LLC, Total Now 164 in North AmericaBoyd Group Income Fund announcedJune 20 that it has entered into a defin-itive agreement to acquire the 28 loca-tions of Cars Collision Center ofColorado, LLC and Cars CollisionCenter, LLC, in a deal valued at ap-proximately $21 million U.S.

Cars is a private company that op-erates 14 locations in Illinois, eight lo-cations in northern Indiana, and sixlocations in Colorado. It generatedsales of approximately US$65 millionin the 12 months endedApril 30, 2011.Subsequent to the acquisition, Boydwill have a total of 45 locations in theChicago-area market, up from 23.

This is the company’s secondmajor acquisition in about year. Lastsummer, Boyd announced its acquisi-tion of the 37 locations of True2FormCollision Repair Centers for $18 mil-lion U.S.

One year ago, prior to theTrue2Form acquisition, Boyd had atotal of 56 U.S. locations. Followingthe True2Form deal, this latest Cars ac-quisition and a number of individualdeals since last summer, the companyhas more than doubled the size of itsU.S. operations to 127 stores. Thecompany has not acquired any addi-tional locations in Canada.

“We are very pleased with theplanned acquisition of Cars, as we con-

tinue to execute on our stated strategyof growing our business,” said BrockBulbuck, President and Chief Execu-tive Officer of the Boyd Group. “By

our estimates, the acquisition will po-sition Boyd as the largest multi-loca-tion collision operator in NorthAmerica, not only in terms of numberof locations, but also in terms of annualsales.After completing this transaction,Boyd will have a total of 164 collisionrepair centers across 13 U.S. states andfour Canadian provinces.

Bulbuck said, “We expect to seesubstantial benefits from the transac-

tion, including expanded critical massand presence in one of our key markets,an expanded national footprint whichtranslates into enhanced value to our

U.S. insurance com-pany clients, as well asadditional synergies.We are confident thatthe similarities betweenthe business models ofBoyd and Cars, as wellas each company’s vi-sion for the future, willresult in an excellentstrategic fit. While weare continuing ourgrowth strategy ofadding eight to 13 newlocations per year, thisacquisition represents aunique and attractiveopportunity to acquireanother strategic multi-

location repair business and achieve ac-celerated growth.”

The transaction is expected to becompleted by July 1, 2011, subject tocertain closing conditions being ful-filled. Funding for the transaction willbe through a combination of cash, U.S.bank debt, third-party financing, and aseller take-back note. Boyd said thecompany will not be issuing any newequity to fund the transaction.

Boyd Group North American Coverage



with Walter DanalevichShop Strategies for Savings Walter Danalevich, AAM, has been the owner of Santa Barbara

Auto Refinishing since 1979. Contact him at:[email protected].

Earlier this year (Autobody News,February, 2011) I wrote a shop sav-ings article (Credit Card ProcessingFees—Dings, Dents, and Crashes atYour Bottom Line) for ABN readerswarning about credit card host pro-cessing fees which could significantlyding their bottom lines. My Februaryarticle pointed out that these fees canbe very substantial for body shops.

If you missed the article, you canread it along with my other columnsin my column section www.autobo-dynews.com/columnists/danalevich-walter.html.

Now I would like to re-emphasizethe importance of taking extreme cau-tion with authorizing Credit Card host-ing agreements and specifically theircancellation fees. A body shop ownercontacted me to share his story involv-ing a nightmarish experience pertain-ing to a cancellation fee he got suckedinto compliments of his prior Mer-chant Credit Card processing Host.

This body shop owner read myABN article and phoned me to expresshis frustration during the past fivemonths as a result of his shop can-celling a merchant credit card hostservice. His shop had recently signeda service agreement, based on thecredit card host’s friendly telemarket-ing sales pitch: “we will give you thelowest credit card processing fee rateson Earth.” Here’s what happened.

The shop’s bookkeeper was con-tinuously aggravated by the creditcard host’s customer service depart-ment. When she called with questionsthey were consistently tossed backand forth between service reps. Nonecould provide adequate explanationsof the reason for transaction fee de-ductions from their business checkingaccount.

Soon afterward, the owner andbookkeeper accepted an offer fromanother Credit Card host, who also of-fered “the lowest processing fee rateson earth.” The new credit card hostsweetened the deal by agreeing to paythe cancellation fee up to $400.Sounds good, right?

The shop owner proceeded tosend an e-mail to his existing creditcard host giving written notice for can-cellation of service. A couple of

months later the bookkeeper perform-ing account reconciliation noticed anunfamiliar automatic withdrawal ontheir business checking account andinformed the shop manager. He as-sumed the fee was taken by the priorcredit card host which he had can-celled months ago. The shop owner in-quired with the Credit Card Host andwas told they have not received a can-cellation notice and were continuing toactively withdraw monthly minimumusage fees as per the user agreement.

The shop owner had fortunatelykept a hard copy of the cancellation e-mail and read it to the credit card cus-tomer service rep. The credit card repmade it sound as if fault was with thebody shop and not the credit card host,and wanted the shop to send a “signedletter” of cancellation of services.Shop manager complied and sent thesame e-mail letter previously sent andattached his signature.

About a month later the shopmanager received a phone call fromthe fast talking credit card host repre-sentative indicating that a new cancel-lation fee of nearly $1,000 was due.The shop owner told him he was crazy(using some colorful language) andthat he wasn’t responsible for their in-adequate customer service. The creditcard host rep acknowledged that cus-tomer service changes had takenplace. The manager requested a break-down of the proposed cancellation feecharges and was told he would receivethem that very same day. No cancel-lation fee invoice was received thatday.

A couple of days later the shopreceived a copy of the initial serviceagreement, signed by the manager,which stated in tiny size 6 print thatthere was a $900 minimal cancellationfee if service was terminated beforethree years had elapsed. There wasalso a cancellation fee of $250 dis-closed in the terms and conditionsmanual. This was the fee the shop wasplanning on forwarding to the newcredit card host for reimbursement.

Also received was a cancellationform invoice for $1,235 which had ab-solutely no explanation attached.

By now the shop owner was notfeeling any love for the self-pro-

claimed “lowest credit card process-ing fee on Earth” company. He wasworried that the credit card host hadpossession of his business checkingaccount bank routing number andknowing the credit card host couldeasily insert a large “dent” into hisbusiness checking account balance atany time.

The body shop owner had ameeting with his bank manager to dis-cuss the best solution and some peaceof mind. The bank manager said a stoppayment could be placed that wouldprevent any future unauthorized with-drawals. However he cautioned thatthere are common ways the credit cardhost can easily get around this secu-rity tool. The bank manager recom-mended that the body shop ownerpermanently close his bank accountand open a new account. The shopowner followed his bank manager’sadvice and now sleeps without the

worry of having automatic with-drawals made to his account withouthis authorization.

This story is a cautionary tale foravoiding crashes to your bottom lineand a reminder for us all to be carefulwho we allow access to our bankingand other financial information. Ohyeah, watch out for the #6 or smallersize print before you sign anything.

Ed—Anyone considering a newcredit card processing provider shouldstart with a review website comparingfees like that at credit-card-processing-review.toptenreviews.comand proceed with due diligence fromthere. Your mileage may vary.

Business Financial Security Preventive Maintenance


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school an opportunity to bring herclass to the shop for an educationaltour to see what collision repair is like.Many shops have a large open spacethat isn’t used on a Saturday or Sun-day afternoon. Offering a space for abake sale or group meeting can getlocal people familiar with the shopand its activities. Most people preferto patronize a familiar business.

Another way to benefit fromchecking out your neighborhood isnoticing what signs are eye-catching.Many business owners are proud oftheir display efforts and would bewilling to share information on whatsigns and displays have been most ef-fective for bringing in new customers.Although these are reaching cus-tomers for a different kind of business,the odds are good that this informationmay open your eyes to a new way toreach local people. It’s unlikely youwould ever try these outreach effortswhen business is good, but taking ad-vantage of this time to reach out mayhelp you survive the “summer slump.”


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Summer Slump Chevy Volts Selling at Inflated Prices, But GM Says Volt Will Be CheaperSeveral Chevrolet dealerships aroundthe country are pricing this already ex-pensive vehicle as much as $20,000above the Suggested Retail Price, ac-cording to GreenTech. Some dealers arereportedly selling Volts as used vehiclesso they can pocket the $7,500 tax credit.

Gas prices have caused a numberof new car buyers to seek to buy theVolt and other electrics and hybrids.

Some dealers and Chevrolet repsclaim that such practices are “exagger-ated.” AutoNation has, even, asked itsdealers not to charge a premium for theVolt. In some cases, however, GM hashad to intervene and has encourageddealers to take the long-term view orapproach to this opportunity.

Some say this is capitalism at itsworst while others retort that the prac-tice of marking up hot vehicles may betermed “un-American”—but hot vehi-cles have always been marked up foryears. What is ironic and even hard tounderstand is that there are indicationsthat potential buyers are actually notbeing turned off or even angry aboutsuch pricing practices—which justdoes not seem to ring true.

This kind of conduct by Chevro-let dealers is really ironic as well asself-defeating particularly since thepublic generally still regards the dealer

body to be not always trustworthy,transparent, or timely with good guysales tactics, according to GreenTech.

Basically, these dealers are blow-ing a great opportunity to demonstrateto new car buyers, particularly, the kindof people who can afford to buy a Volt,that they are fair and above board in thesales process for a new Chevrolet.

Actually, it is very annoying, frus-trating, and even surprising that we keepseeing automotive retailers behave likethis. This is price gouging and an illegalsales practice. These dealers are preyingon people who want to be responsiblecitizens and to be green by buying a Volt.

The even more confounding as-pect of this price manipulation is thatsome dealers will seek to “devalue” thetrade of the green vehicle buyer by sug-gesting that their three year or more oldvehicle is a gas hog and therefore notworth even what Kelley Blue Book saysit should be.

General Motors said June 10 thatdealers in all 50 states can take orders forthe 2012 Chevy Volt, which will comein a model priced just below $40,000.

The plug-in hybrid Volt is nowavailable in six different models, ratherthan three, with the lowest listed at$39,995, or about $1,000 less than the2011 price. The high-end model with

leather, backup camera, navigation sys-tem, and other features is $46,265.Prices include the destination fee butnot other taxes and fees.

Buyers can benefit from a federaltax credit of $7,500 for plug-in vehicleswith batteries the size of the ChevyVolt's. GM is already working on bring-ing down the cost of the electric pow-ertrain in the Volt, as the price is stillhigher than that of traditional hybrids.

Significantly for GM, the Volt willnow be on sale nationwide, rather thanin just seven states and the District ofColumbia. The company took a re-gional rollout approach in an effort towork out kinks in the selling and homecharging station installation process.

Since GM and Nissan, whichmakes the all-electric Leaf, started de-livering their plug-in sedans about sixmonths ago, auto industry watchershave been tracking the monthly salestotals, with both carmakers about evenin total sales for the year to date, ac-cording to GreenCarReports.com.

GM said it expects to sell 45,000Volts to fleet and retail customers in2012. The Volt refresh will include ahandful of new features, includingthree years of OnStar navigation serv-ice, and the same eight-year/100,000mile warranty for its battery.

by Janet Cheney

What happens when two brainiacsspend time together? At AutocraftBodywerks in Austin, Texas it happensto be a Light Inspection Tunnel, usedto find defects in the painting processand perfect the standard of their workin this high end collision repair facil-ity. Owner John Borek and his ITguy, Dan McLaughlin, of Next Tech-nologies, designed and built this LightInspection Tunnel.

The Light Inspection Tunnelcame about through John Borek’s con-tinual quest for improvement in hisbusiness. He believes that if OEM’sare manufacturing automobiles, andcollision repairers are in the businessof remanufacturing automobiles thencertain technology should apply.Borek realized it was becoming moredifficult to find imperfections in re-finish. He also recognized the chal-lenges for paint buffers to reach thelower half of refinished panels toproperly cut and polish cars. Hethought through the process; how dothe manufacturers build, refinish andexamine the cars?

A Light Inspection Tunnel, simi-lar to the OEM’s would work well inthis high end collision repair center,helping deliver customer perfection.

The information Borek was look-ing for was not available from the man-ufacturers, (tunnel lighting technologyis not revealed to the public), so he de-veloped a plan. He went to iTunes anddownloaded all National Geographic

Channel’s ‘Ultimate Factories’ andstudied the auto manufacturer seg-ments. He joined SAE, the Society ofAutomotive Engineers, and exten-sively researched and found several ar-ticles on automotive paint defects andpaint inspection lighting. Informationfrom various sources were gleaned toperfect the project. Borek found many

articles on the subject, one written byCharles Lloyd, “An Objective Meas-ure of Severity for Small Topographi-cal Defects in Automotive Paint,” whoworked with Ford Motor Company. Hefound Ford has done extensive researchon paint inspection lighting and has im-plemented by managing and measuringthrough baseline tests.

After a careful and long discoveryprocess, The Light Inspection Tunnelat Autocraft Bodywerks started tocome together, taking over a year todesign and build.

Everything was custom designedand built to order. Nova Verta USAbuilt the frame of the inspection tun-nel. LDPI Lighting Solutions de-signed and built the lights, whichinclude mirrors in the lights, deliver-ing the technology for defect free re-finish. The Tunnel is controlled by acomputerized low voltage touch-screen panel designed by Next Elec-tronics. It also has a 3 foot lift builtinto the floor to bring the cars to a bet-ter position for inspection, buffing andpolishing. The finished product isworking well in this shop and is also a

handsome piece of engineering anddoes what it was designed to do – de-liver the best product to AutocraftBodywerks customers.

Autocraft Bodywerks is a wellestablished Austin, Texas collision re-pair center. They specialize in Lexusand Honda, however, work on allmodels. The quality of repair and cus-tomer service at John Borek’s shop isFirst Class and the distinctive offeringof the Light Inspection Tunnel is atool used to deliver the best repair tohis valued customers.

The Light Inspection Tunnel isjust one of John Borek’s innovativecreations. If you drive by his houseduring the Halloween season you willsee a life size flying saucer that lookslike it ‘just landed’ and Klatu from‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ willbe stepping out to join the Trick orTreaters.

Borek, who has been in the busi-ness since high school in 1984, is aninnovator and ongoing student of col-lision repair, “Everyday I learn some-thing, when you think you know it allis when you need to get out.”


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on handheld cellphone use while driv-ing also didn’t decrease the likelihoodof crashes.

“There’s no question that textingand driving is a serious distraction,”said Russ Rader, spokesman for theInsurance Institute for HighwaySafety, which administers the data in-stitute. “The question is what will bethe best strategy for dealing with it,and so far it doesn’t appear that thelaws are going to be an effective solu-tion.”

Rader pointed out that althoughtechnology seems to be one cause ofdistraction, and thus the cause of somecrashes, it also could be the solutionto prevent crashes.

In addition to some new car fea-tures that alert drivers when they arenot paying attention, hands-free tex-ting applications, available on manysmartphones, also encourage saferdriving.

Regardless of legislation,Howard, from the Florida Departmentof Highway Safety and Motor Vehi-cles, said drivers should use their bet-ter judgment and keep their eyes onthe road when they are behind thewheel.

“Our advice to the general driv-ing public is you do not have to waitfor legislation to come about thathelps you act right in the car,”Howard said.

“Every driver can make the con-scious decision to pay attention towhat they are doing in the car — andthat’s driving.”


TWD in Florida

Inspector Gadget—Making a Custom Light Inspection Tunnel to Find Paint Defects

The Light Inspection Tunnel designed by JohnBorek, Autocraft Bodywerks in Austin, Texas

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The other day I overheard a womantalking on her cell phone. I couldn’thelp it. She was upset and yelling.

“Try me, buddy,” she screamedinto the phone. “I will Yelp you right

out of business!”Wow, I thought. ‘Yelp’ is now a

verb (like ‘Google’), and obviously apart of some people’s daily language.

If you don’t know about Yelp, it’sa nationwide review site where peoplepost comments about their experi-ences with particular businesses. Itpromotes itself with the tagline: RealPeople. Real Reviews. It’s easy to findat Yelp.com.

For many companies, includingbody shops, Yelp can boost a businesswith great reviews or damage their bot-tom lines with snarky comments andlow ratings from unhappy customers.The problem is that those ‘unhappycustomers’ might really be jealous com-petitors, terminated former employees,or a disgruntled ex-spouse or two.

Yelp is currently getting unfavor-able reviews from a lot of body shopsthroughout the country due to theirpolicies on editing the reviews that are

posted. Some shops are suing the SanFrancisco startup or considering doingso. They allege that the website ma-nipulates customer reviews while the

company claims that their system isdone by computers, not people withan agenda, such as Yelp advertisingsalespeople, for example.

Martin Zurada, a San Franciscoattorney who has represented severalcollision repair companies in differentcapacities over the years, is currently

in the process of puttingtogether a civil suit on be-half of Gene Crozat,owner of G&C AutoBody, with seven loca-tions in Northern Califor-nia.

Zurada has beenwatching the Yelp situa-tion for quite some timeand he believes the web-site is manipulating its re-view system to benefititself and generate in-creased revenues as a re-sult.

“As a business owner, the Inter-net has a lot of power, obviously, be-cause people are Googling, Yahooing


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Original Thought #78

Body Shops and Yelp: It’s a Love-Hate Relationship

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].

San Francisco Attorney Martin Zurada isputting together a suit against Yelp on behalfof G&C Autobody, contending that the websiteis manipulating customer reviews to generaterevenue for the startup

CAA Santa Clara Chapter President Shawn Saidi and his wifeLisa have very mixed feelings. They’ve encountered somequestionable practices by Yelp, yet they realize they receive afair amount of new business from the website

See Body Shops and Yelp, Page 30

URG, the United Recyclers Group,hosted a Body Shop Panel Discussionat their 2011 annual conference in En-glewood, CO, April 15. A lot of com-

mon ground was discovered in thisURG panel discussion, which was ac-knowledged by everyone in the room.The hour-long panel discussion waseffective in its goal of honest dialoguediscussing needs and opportunities be-tween these two industries. All stake-holders want to do better business andthe repairers and recyclers would liketo do business better, together. Over800 recyclers attended the two-dayevent.

“We have grown (our indus-tries) together from mom and poporganizations to the large conglom-erates we are today,” said ClarkPlucinski, Executive Vice-Presidentof Sales and Marketing at True 2Form—which recently became apart of the Boyd Group/Gerber col-lision repair chain. Plucinski re-minded everyone in the room that“We are now all inter-connected inbusiness-to-business relationships.”In resolving difficulties, Plucinskiasked for patience. “These processesare working, but it is like pushing arock up a hill [which keeps rollingback]. We just have to be patient andkeep doing the same thing.”

Gary Boesel, owner and operatorof two CARSTAR collision repaircenters in the Denver area, concurred.“[Things have evolved] over the yearsand are different than they used to be,”saying that somewhere, somehow,collision repairers and recyclers quit

effectively communicating.Facilitator Don Porter, of State

Farm Insurance opened up the discus-sion, asking panelists to introduce

themselves and say a little about theirbusiness. Porter made sure the audi-ence of recyclers was involved, say-ing “You don’t have to be nice tome—just be nice to these people,” re-ferring to the collision repairer pan-elists.

Everyone on the panel shared al-most the same story about the ‘condi-tion’ of parts and on-time deliverydates. In today’s collision repair mar-ket, shops are measured (by insurers)by what proportion of alternative partsthey use, cost effectiveness, and mostimportantly—cycle time. Cycle timewas recognized by this panel as themost critical component in their busi-ness operations today. If a used part isdelivered to a shop that is expectingan undamaged part and they receive apart with undisclosed damage, that isa significant cost to everybody.

Bill Abold, of A&P Auto Recy-cling in Cicero, New York, shared thefrustration he and other recyclers ex-perience. “We work with our collisioncustomers, train our staff, but whenparts are found electronically and theprice is the lowest common denomi-nator, then the shop is going to get thatcheapest part and they are not goingto accept it. We then have to workthrough the price difference with theshop and the insurance company. Thatdoesn’t work for anyone.” This state-ment triggered an ovation from the300 attendees in the room.

There is the beginning of a solu-tion available that could reduce the‘condition’ problem. The AutomotiveRecycling Association, in concert with

CIECA, has developeda standard set of dam-age codes to be used byrepairers and recyclers.They are establishedand accepted, throughCIECA, by both indus-tries. However, thepanel came to the con-clusion that no one isusing them.

The participatingpanelists, who repre-sent a very large seg-ment of the collisionindustry, reported thatthey found no one ac-

tually using the damage codes andfew people knew about them. Re-pairers noted that condition codes on

parts found through third party lo-caters had no meaning to them at all.The Damage Code information dis-cussion was positive for both groups,recognizing that they have some-thing to work towards.

Gary Wano, owner/operator ofG.W. and Son Auto Body in OklahomaCity, OK, said, “Have a little patiencewith us please, sometimes our conceptof a usable part may be different thanyour sales staff’s, but we are workingon this.”

Tim Adelman, Executive VicePresident of Business Developmentfor ABRA Auto Body and Glass,shared these first quarter 2011 statis-tics from 100 ABRA locations. On ascale from 1–10, 10 being the highest,measuring overall CSI, OEM scored 9and Recyclers scored 7.5. For overallquality of parts received, Recyclers:7.4, Accuracy of the Part, Recyclers:8.2 and On-Time Delivery, Recyclers:


Auto Recyclers Host Prominent Collision Repairers in Panel Discussion

United Recyclers Group hosted its first Auto Body Panel Discussion in April: (l-r) Facilitator, Don Porter, State FarmInsurance; Gary Boesel, CARSTAR, Denver, CO; Gary Wano, G.W. and Son, Oklahoma City, OK, Dan Stander, FixAuto, Jerry Standers Collision; Bob Jones, RJones BODYPROS, Des Moines, IA; Clark Plucinski, True 2 Form/Ger-ber; Tim Adelman, COO ABRA Body and Glass

Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

On Creative Marketingwith Thomas Franklin

Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.

with Sheila LoftusYour Turn

Opinions Countwith Dick Strom

Shop Showcasewith Janet Chaney

Industry Overviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Interviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

Janet Chaney has been involved in the collision industry as shop owner and businessconsultant. She serves her clients through Cave Creek Business Development.Contact her at [email protected].


Ally Financial Inc. has decided todelay an initial public offering (IPO)because of weak market conditions,two people briefed on the matter saidto the Detroit News on June 10.

The mortgage and auto lenderand bank holding company was ex-pected to launch a road show ahead ofan IPO planned before the July 4thholiday.

The IPO could come in late Julyor early August, or be pushed untilafter the Labor Day holiday, whenmuch of Wall Street returns from va-cation, said the officials on June 9.They asked for anonymity because theinformation had not been made pub-

lic.The US Treasury Department

plans to raise $5 billion as part of a $6billion offering when Ally goes pub-lic. The Treasury Department owns acontrolling 74 percent stake in Ally aspart of the $17.2 billion bailout duringthe financial crisis.

Ally filed the paperwork March31 in order to launch an IPO. Ally de-clined to comment on June 9.

The Treasury is expected to sellsome shares. Other owners such asGeneral Motors Co., which holds a9.9 percent stake in Ally, and CerberusCapital Management LP, which holdsa 9 percent stake, do not plan to sell

shares.Treasury has received about $4.9

billion in returns from Ally to date, in-cluding $2.2 billion in dividends andinterest.

The company reported a $1.1 bil-lion profit in 2010.

Citi, Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P.Morgan and Morgan Stanley are alladvising Ally on its initial public of-fering.

With more than $172 billion inassets as of Dec. 31, 2010, Ally oper-ates as a bank holding company.

Ally also has operations in mort-gage and commercial finance, and thecompany's subsidiary, Ally Bank, of-

fers retail banking products throughits online arm.

Ally, which was known asGMAC Inc. until last year, wasfounded by GM more than 90 yearsago as its in-house finance arm. It solda 51 percent stake in the company in2006 to Cerberus Capital Manage-ment LP in a $7.4 billion deal.

Ally said it raised its percentageof new car lending to 9.9 percent in2010, up from 6.1 percent, to jumpfrom third highest to the leading autolender.

Bad market conditions may alsodelay other planned IPOs, includingTroy-based Delphi.

Auto Lender Ally, Formerly GMAC, Delays IPO Due to Market Conditions

6.8. “We survey parts people for sup-plier improvement opportunities,” ex-plained Adelman.

For the shops on the panel, rela-tionships with a good quality recyclerwas the most important criteria. Shopsare looking for a good product andwant it to be delivered on time. “Thegoal at our shop is to spend less timeon the phone and on email,” said DanStander, General Manager of FixAuto Highlands Ranch. “It is moretime effective and we don’t have anyconfusion about descriptions.”

The formal panel ended but dia-logue continued throughout the hallsmost of the day. Bob Jones, owner-operator of R Jones Body Pros, inDes Moines, Iowa, put it succinctly,“You guys want to sell us the correctpart and we want to buy the correctpart.”

The inter-industry communica-tion initiated at the April meetingshould help collision repair and autorecycling industries start working forthe common goal: better business foreverybody.

More on the Panelists’ CredentialsThe credentials of the panelists broughttogether by the URG was impressive.

In 2010, Boesel was selected asSmall Business Person of the Year bythe Aurora, CO, Chamber of Com-merce and he sits on the CARSTARNational Advisory Board.

Wano’s family owned business isa Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, and VolvoCertified shop. He is Immediate PastChair of the Society of Collision Re-pair Specialists (SCRS) and in 2008was Body Shop Business’ Executive

of the Year.Dan Stander is ASA’s National

Collision Division Director.Both Bob Jones and Clark Plu-

cinski are Collision Industry Confer-ence, “Hall of Eagles” members.

Jones is a founding member andpast Chairman of SCRS. Plucinskiserves on numerous Industry Boards andwas voted Body Shop Business’ Colli-sion Shop Executive of the Year in 1996.

Tim Adelman now leads ABRA’sindustry relations and serves on nu-merous industry advisory boards.

South Korea’s antitrust regulator hasbegun a probe into allegations thatHyundai Motor Group forced its autoparts suppliers to lower product prices,a person familiar with the matter saidJune 9 according to the Detroit News.

The Fair Trade Commission thismonth visited the offices of HyundaiMotor Co., Kia Motors Corp. andHyundai Mobis Co. after sending thecompanies, all members of theHyundai Motor Group, notice of theprobe, the person said.

It wasn’t clear which auto partsand which suppliers are involved.Hyundai Motor Group, the world’sfifth-largest car maker by sales, de-clined to comment.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motorsusually have price-setting negotia-tions with around 2,000 subcontrac-tors twice a year.

Given their size, Hyundai andother South Korean conglomerateshave enormous leverage in settingprices during negotiations with theirsubcontractors.

Last month, a Seoul court uphelda decision in 2006 by the Fair TradeCommission to fine Hyundai Motorabout 1.6 trillion won ($1.48 billion)

for forcing its parts suppliers to re-duce component prices.

The antitrust watchdog’s latestmove comes as the government is ex-pected to place more emphasis onsupporting small and midsize compa-nies, many of which continue to ex-perience tough times even as thenation’s conglomerates power thecountry out of the 2007-2008 globalfinancial crisis.

With South Korea recoveringquickly from the crisis, President LeeMyung-bak, whose five-year singleterm ends in early 2013, has urgedSouth Korea’s conglomerates to try toshare the “warmth of the economic re-covery” with their smaller peers andprosper together with them.

Hyundai, Kia Face Fair Trade Commission AntitrustProbe on Auto Parts Pricing After Allegations

More than 2,000 volunteers at 140 ofCARSTAR's stores across the US andCanada washed cars to raise funds forthe Make-A-Wish Foundation® andKids with Cystic Fibrosis.

On June 11, thousands of volun-teers across the United States andCanada washed vehicles atCARSTAR locations in hopes ofbreaking the Guinness World Recordfor “Most Cars Washed – MultipleVenues” the franchise set in 2009 bywashing more than 4,000 vehicles ineight hours.

In the process, CARSTAR hopedto raise funds to help grant wishes forthe Make-A-Wish Foundation ofAmerica and serve children with cys-tic fibrosis in Canada. Themed “Washfor a Wish”, the third annual Soaps ItUp! Car Wash was held on June 11,2011 and tickets were sold at partici-pating CARSTAR stores in the U.S.for $10, with 100 percent of the ticketpurchase benefiting the selected char-ities.

While stores across North Amer-ica participated, the host for therecord-breaking attempt was atCARSTAR Collision Care of Milford,OH, owned by Cincinnati native

Keith Foster. The repair facility, lo-cated at 731 State Route 28, in Mil-ford, OH, held special eventsthroughout the week in Cincinnati andled the countdown on washing the carthat broke the record.

“Over the first two years, theSoaps It Up! Car Wash has been ableto unite the CARSTAR family acrossNorth America to help thousands ofchildren in need,” said David Byers,CEO of CARSTAR Auto Body Re-pair Experts.

“We’re grateful that CARSTARis doing so much to help us improvethe quality of life for our wish kidsand their families through a wish ex-perience,” said David Williams,Make-A-Wish Foundation of Americapresident and chief executive officer.

CARSTAR stores in Canadahave been conducting the “Soaps ItUp!” Car Wash for the past sevenyears, and this is the third time theprogram has been done in the US. The2009 event was the first attempt forany group to set the record for thelargest car wash across multiple loca-tions. For more information on the“Soaps It Up!” Car Wash, visitwww.CARSTAR.com.

CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts Hold Third AnnualSoaps It Up! Car Wash for Make-A-Wish Foundation

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and Yelping all the time and lookingat your business online,” Zurada said.“We know that people are going toread the reviews, but the businessowners are rarely given an opportu-nity to respond to any of the reviewsor comments being posted, or at leasttest these claims online.”

Zurada questions the accounta-bility of a site that allows anyone topost reviews without offering achance to question their reasons. “Themotives of these customers are neverdiscussed in these reviews.

For example, you might have adisgruntled vendor who is upset withyou because you didn’t pay them ontime, and so now they’re writing badreviews on Yelp. An angry customerwill write a negative review and itcould potentially be there forever. Youcan’t respond to the validity of theseclaims, so the only way a businessowner can get satisfaction is via thelegal route. But, it’s a long and expen-sive process to take them to court andcollecting is even more difficult.”

Suing Yelp successfully is atricky proposition for many reasons,Zurada explained. “Some businesseshave tried to sue them, but the prob-lem is that the content provider ismerely posting what someone else issaying. They have a certain degree ofimmunity based on basic Internetlaws, so Yelp is not directly liable foritems posted on their website. Ifeverything online was contested, ofcourse, there would be no Internet, sothey have to be protected to a certaindegree. If they’re posting someoneelse’s claims, we have no issue withthat. But, with Yelp passively accept-ing, organizing, and indexing theseopinions from the community, whatthey’re doing is essentially manipulat-ing content in such a way to makemoney. At that point, they’re nolonger a passive content provider.Now they’re actively disparaging yourbusiness. Many companies, includingbody shops, have encountered a situa-tion where Yelp will call them or visittheir business and tell them if you signup, we will help you. It just seems likebusinesses who don’t sign up withthem have more bad reviews appear-ing more often while positive reviewsseem to disappear.”

Zurada has encountered this sce-nario more than once, he said.

“With G&C, we’ve seen it hap-pen—favorable reviews of Crozat’sshops fall off after 30 days, while asmall handful of unfavorable reviewsare still listed there from 2008, for ex-ample. I don’t know what Yelp’s se-cret algorithm is, but it allegedlydetects reviews that are real vs. fakeones. It seems that companies whowon’t sign up with Yelp have morebad reviews and when good ones areposted, they identify them as fake.Good reviews are suppressed and badones stay there forever. That’s ourmain issue with Yelp. Yelp denies itand says they’re neutral, but there hasbeen some considerable litigationagainst them already along this vein.”

Zurada is in the process of re-searching former civil suits that havebeen filed against Yelp, in order to de-vise the best strategy, he said. “We’rein the process of analyzing these othersuits, to see how they were ap-proached and what was either suc-cessful or not in pursuing Yelp.

“Of course, Yelp has gotten verygood at defending these cases, so it’snot an easy task. How do you provedamages? Yelp defends itself by say-ing, hey, we don’t know how these re-views actually affected your business,because you can’t prove who stayedaway based on bad reviews or not. Po-tential customers might not chooseyour shop, because they don’t like thephotos of your facility or any of a hun-dred other reasons. It’s a lawsuit ofsome definite complexity, but Yelp isnot immune to being sued and if theyare manipulating this data to makeprofit, they’re liable for it and bodyshops need to be remunerated for theirdamaged revenues.”

Recently, a group of 66 businessowners filed a lawsuit against Yelp, al-leging that the website has been run-ning an “extortion scheme” and has“unscrupulous sales practices” inplace to generate revenue. They claimthat Yelp’s representatives regularlycall businesses demanding monthlypayments in the guise of advertisingcontracts, in exchange for removing ormodifying negative reviews. Thecompanies involved in the litigationcontend that Yelp informed them thatbad reviews would disappear by sign-ing an advertisement agreement withthe site. One of the plaintiffs in this current lawsuit against Yelp is John Mercurio,the owner of Wheel Techniques, a 25-year-old company that repairs anddoes in-house cleaning, polishing and

custom painting of wheels in SantaClara, California.

It all started with a phone call,Mercurio explained. “The people atYelp contacted me and told me if Ipurchased an advertising plan withthem, they’d help me to get rid of thebad reviews or at least get themknocked down the list,” he said. “But,when I told them no way, they imme-diately removed a total of roughly 505-star reviews off my page. We werelooking at Yelp.com while we weretalking to them, and within a fewminutes the positive review that wasformerly at the top was gone and aone-star review suddenly appeared inits place”

Mercurio felt used and was veryupset at what he saw as a kind of ex-tortion. “It was pretty obvious to usthat they’re in control and what canwe do? In my opinion, the lawshaven’t caught up to the Internet yet,and that’s why it’s hard to sue themand even tougher to win.

“We’ve got a ton of proof, be-cause we’ve been documenting every-thing along the way and I pull reportsfrom Yelp twice per week. They filtermy reviews so that my overall rating

sits at 2.5 stars. One week, I receivedthree reviews that were all at 5 stars,yet my rating remained at 2.5, becauseI won’t buy advertising from them.The 5-star rankings are taken off allthe time without any reason, and theseare 100% legitimate customer re-views. We need to prove that Yelp’sso-called automated system is bogus,and we have evidence that some ofthese reviews were done manually.They wanted $1,000 per month, whichis ridiculous. Yelp has cost me a lot ofbusiness, up to a one third, I estimate.I know for a fact that a lot of peoplelook at our Yelp reviews every month,so it has hurt my business in moreways than we can ever know.”

Shawn Saidi owns Active AutoBody in Sunnyvale, Calif., a highlysuccessful shop located in a 13,300square-foot facility and fixing 75–90vehicles monthly. He is also the cur-rent president for the Santa ClaraChapter of the California AutobodyAssociation.

Saidi says Yelp brings him cus-tomers, but he is also wary of the site,for several reasons. “They actuallygenerate a lot of business for us. Cus-tomers tell us that they see us on Yelp


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Body Shops and Yelp

all the time. Most of our reviews ontheir site are excellent, but we have afew that are really bad. One was froma customer who brought his car to usaround five years ago. About threemonths ago he wrote a lengthy reviewthat reads like a novel. When you readhis review, you can see that we triedto do literally everything we could tomake him happy. But, five years later,he’s still not satisfied. A few monthsago, we let an employee go and rightafter that, we got a bad review thatwas obviously written by this venge-ful former employee. It contains abunch of false information, but there itsits for all to see.”

Saidi isn’t a social media expert,but he can clearly see that somethingis peculiar in the way his reviews aremanaged by Yelp, he said. “I don’tknow how their system works, butwe’ve had more than 100 positive re-views taken off. One of our customerscalled me and told me that they put hispositive reviews aside. This is a legit-imate customer and we’ve repairedtwo of his vehicles, so why are hiscomments deleted? So, we contactedYelp and asked them why. They toldus that their system goes through the

reviews to analyze them for authen-ticity. If it’s a 5-star review and theuser has never posted before, it getsset aside. Then, they tried to sell meadvertising—again!”

The anonymity of the reviewson Yelp protects the users, but it alsocreates a situation fostering unac-countability, Saidi, he explained. “Ifone of my customers has an issuewith one of our repairs, we can sitdown and rectify it. I’m not going toemail the person, sharing commentsback and forth—I’d prefer to sitdown with them and handle it prop-erly person-to-person. We always dowhatever we can to make it right andwe’re proud of our work, but ifthey’re only commenting online andwon’t bring their vehicle back, wecan’t help them.”

Yelp was invited to respond tothis story but declined to do so.

Next month: How can you defendyour reputation when it’s been dispar-aged online?

Law Offices of Martin Zurada785 Market Street, Floor 16San Francisco, CA 94103(415) 637-8483

tomer for the part and returns theairbag to the manufacturer.

Unfortunately, there are no hardstatistics detailing the prevalence ofairbag fraud, but insurance officials areconcerned about the warning signs driv-ing this trend. Jim Quiggle, Director ofCommunications for the CoalitionAgainst Insurance Fraud says, “Airbagfraud is a black hole for data,” and, “No-body knows how widespread it is, butthe warning signals are everywhere.”The coalition’s executive director, Den-nis Jay, is concerned with online sitesselling nonconforming airbag parts inviolation of state law. He explains thatthere are enough instances for con-sumers buying used cars to be con-cerned, because there is a potential for avehicle to not have a functioning airbag.

To address this growing concern,the California Senate recently passedthe Automotive Repair Act (Senate Bill869), which established the Bureau ofAutomotive Repair. Among the manyregulations the Bureau will enforce,auto repair shops would now be re-

quired to return airbags to their originaloperating condition when replaced dur-ing collision repair. Under the newstatute, a repair shop or dealer who pre-pares a written estimate for the replace-ment of a deployed airbag, and whofails to repair and fully restore it, isguilty of a misdemeanor that is punish-able by a $5,000 fine, by one year im-prisonment in a county jail, or by boththat fine and imprisonment. A numberof automakers, including Honda, Mit-subishi, Hyundai and Toyota, applaudedthe legislation. They found it clarifiesrepair shops’ responsibilities, reducesfraud, and promotes driver safety.

Even with the new law in place,drivers should take the followingsteps to make sure that airbag repairsare properly completed. For used carbuyers, checking a vehicle’s Carfax orAutochex history is an important step.This report will indicate whether a carhas been in an accident, which wouldlead buyers to do a VIN number checkon each of the car’s airbags. For own-ers having cars repaired, when the carstarts, an airbag indicator should ap-pear instantly and then go out. A con-tinuous flashing light may indicate anairbag system malfunction. If the lightnever turns on, the airbag may bemissing. Information in this articlewas provided by the Venardi LawFirm. Please visit www.vefirm.com.


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require ESC systems to prevent over-steer and understeer.

In January, NHTSA issued ad-ditional regulations intended to pro-tect motorists in rollover wrecks.Those rules, to reduce the numberof people partially or completelyejected through side windows dur-ing rollover crashes, will beginphasing in during 2013.

NHTSA issued new rules inApril 2009 to toughen roof strengthduring rollovers. Rollovers accountfor less than 2 percent of all crashes,but 40 percent of all fatalities. Therules doubled the roof strength re-quirements for vehicles to 6,000pounds. Heavier vehicles from 6,000to 10,000 pounds, which have neverbeen regulated, must now meet roofstrength standards. The phase-inschedule, which begins in September,will be completed for all affected ve-hicles by the 2017 model year.


SUV Crashes


CA Airbag Law

FLORIDACentury Kia

Tampa800-250-8864(813) 873-8319 Fax

FREE DeliveryParts delivered by Autoway

Courtesy Kia877-646-8080www.brandonkia.com

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M-F 8-6, Sat 8-5

Deland KiaDeland

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Kia of Orange ParkJacksonville

877-674-0211(904) 674-0221 Fax

M-F 7-7, Sat [email protected]

Napleton KiaRiviera Beach

561-296-0000(561) 296-8292 FaxM-F 7:30-5:30, Sat 8-1

www.rivierabeachkia.com

Phil Smith KiaLighthouse Point

888-327-5072(954) 545-7231 FaxM-F 7:30-6, Sat 8-2

www.philsmithkia.com

GEORGIAKia of Conyers

Conyers770-879-9060M-F 7:30-6, Sat 8-2

ALABAMADean McCrary Kia

Mobile800-304-3326(251) 471-3159 Fax

M-F 7:[email protected]

MISSISSIPPIWilson Auto Group

Flowood866-944-1114(601) 914-4291 [email protected]

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Precise fit and finish, easy

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of genuine KIA parts. Your

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autobody news july 2011 southeast edition

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